Malevolent Architecture: Difference between revisions

[[File:santas-house.png|link=Cave Story|framethumb|350px|Because putting a deathtrap right below your bedroom is totally safe!]]

{{quote|''"Would you put up with a row of whirling knives in the cereal aisle at Safeway?" the [[Double Dragon]] guy asked. "Of course not. Why, then, should [[Duke Nukem]] have to run through a corridor of them to get the [[Heal Thyself|health pack]] he needs to survive?"''|''[[The Onion]]'', [http://www.theonion.com/content/node/28338 "Video-Game Characters Denounce Randomly Placed Swinging Blades"]}}

Contrast [[Benevolent Architecture]]. Game worlds are often made up of equal parts Benevolent and Malevolent Architecture -- thisArchitecture—this is one of the [[Acceptable Breaks From Reality]], as without the former you wouldn't have a game, and without the latter the game would be too easy. See also [[Theme Park Landscape]], which doesn't distinguish between malevolent and benevolent.

** Subverted in that the Anime seems to imply that several people know secret passages and shortcuts (but of course not the heroes). Which leads us into serious [[Fridge Logic]] territory, or in [[Screw theNew Rules Ias Havethe Plot Demands]] territory.

** To be fair, though, in the Hades Sanctuary Arc since the endless staircase + fire clock deadline is turned on the villains who are {{spoiler|renegade Saints who came [[Back Fromfrom the Dead]]}}. It still serves no real actual purpose, besides making it harder for heroes and enemies altogether (and this is used as a plot point to justify that some characters can't come to help in time). This is a recurring argument point in fandom and lots of speculations are made as to how the restrictions and such works, since [[Word of God]] said virtually nothing on this.

{{quote|'''Gwen DeMarco:''' What is this thing? I mean, it serves no useful purpose for there to be a bunch of [[Smashing Hallway Traps of Doom|chompy, crushy things in the middle of a hallway]]. No, I mean we shouldn't have to do this, it makes no logical sense, why is it here?<br />

'''Jason Nesmith:''' 'Cause it's on the television show.<br />

* Another prime example of [[Malevolent Architecture]], created no doubt as a sadist experiment in human psychology: the trap in the chilling movie ''[[Cube]]''. Every room is indeed a puzzle, and the slightest mistake will invite death. In short, everything is explicitly designed to be as lethal as possible, to force the unwilling participants to work together or perish.

** [[Terry Pratchett]]'s ''[[Discworld/Reaper Man|Reaper Man]]'' features the Lost Jewelled [[Temple of Doom]] of Offler the Crocodile God. The priests have a very easy time of it as, of the very few people who ever find the place, none get past the [[Death Course]], even as far as the jolly drawing of a thermometer for the Roof Repair Fund (a joke about the maintenance problems of old English churches, by the way). The priests barely look up from their game of cards to comment, "Heyup, another one for the big rolling ball, then." To date, two people have gotten through -- onethrough—one is Mrs. Cake, feared by all churches as a stubborn busybody, and the other is Death. When the latter showed up, the priests ran screaming thinking it was the former.

*** The {{spoiler|mall organism}} from the same novel is a literal and ''living'' example of this trope.

** How about theThe Temple of Bel-Shamharoth in ''[[The Colour of Magic?]]''.

** Also the Labyrinth in Ephebe as seen in ''[[Discword/Small Gods|Small Gods]]'', and it gets redesigned every so often.{{verify}}

** Iain Sinclair wrote an entire book, (''[[London Orbital]]''), exploring the grimness of the motorway and its surroundings.

** In part 3 of "[[Doctor Who/Recap/S1 E5/E05 The Keys of Marinus|Keys of Marinus]]", a building full of death traps houses one of the titular artifacts.

* British CITV series ''[[Knightmare]]'' invoked this trope on a regular basis - rooms filled with tiles which would send you plummeting into an abyss were common puzzles for the dungeoneers. The most literal examples were Wall Monsters; creatures who would appear in clue rooms and give hints as to which items would be most useful... assuming you could answer their questions correctly, that is. Later seasons sped up proceedings by introducing Blockers, mobile walls who would simply ask for a password... and devour any dungeoneer who didn't possess it.

* In ''[[The Prisoner]]'' episode ''The Girl Who Was Death'', she lures him into a ghost town, to a block of shops for a butcher, baker, and candlestick maker, each equipped with lethal booby traps inspired by their trade.

* Alpha Complex, the dilapidated underground city in the [[Tabletop Games|tabletop roleplaying game]]In ''[[Paranoia (game)|Paranoia]]'' Alpha Complex can be like this, thanks to the benevolent rule of your friend, The Computer (an insane and [[Nineteen Eighty-Four|Orwellian Big Brother type]] A.I. that rules over all of Alpha Complex). Danger lurks around every corner and in every hallway, ranging from nuclear leaks, crazed robots, medical experiments and exploding prototype equipment to your fellow clone citizens out for a quick promotion. The bureaucracy is a maze that strangles you in red tape. And let's not even talk about the food vats. The slightest mistake (such as failing to display the mandatory, required level of happiness, or failing to duck in time) can be instantly fatal, or at least invite summary execution.

* Many dungeons in ''[[Dungeons and& Dragons]]'', especially those with the infamous Grimtooth traps.

** ''[[Tomb of Horrors]]'' is something of a [[Trope Codifier]] amongst [[Tabletop RPG|Tabletop RPGs]]s. The dungeon was pretty much explicitly designed as a place where the layout and traps would provide most of the danger, rather than monsters and combat. Justified in its sequel ''Return to the Tomb of Horrors'' where it's revealed that {{spoiler|the original inhabitant of the Tomb, the lich Acererak, purposefully spread rumors of the fabulous wealth of the tomb to lure adventurers in, killing them and harvesting their soul energy in a bid for godhood}}.

* The finale location in ''[[Heavy Rain]]''. Conveyor Belts which lead into meat grinders, a pit filled with water that can be used to drown kids, Pipes lying around for no reason...''Almost'' justified when you discover it's a scrap reprocessing plant. [[Fridge Logic|But then it just raises more questions!]]

** ''The Sands of Time'' trilogy has sort of an excuse, in that each time the sands are released, buildings start falling apart, necessitating much wall running. The next-gen ''Prince of Persia'', however, makes no excuses, as it's implied people actually moved around the city as ruined as it is. In fact, when asked why she's so athletic, Elika responds that her home does not allow one to be weak. Yes, in a city that basically has no floor, one can imagine.

* Any [[Temple of Doom]] left by an ancient civilization in any [[RPG]], ''ever''. In fact, any ancient ''[[Ruins for Ruins Sake|anything]]''. No wonder all these ancient civilizations died out -- theyout—they probably got killed by their own overly-complicated temples, outhouses and kitchens.

** Attempted justification in ''[[Resident Evil 2]]'', where the police chief was stark raving mad, and did it on purpose.

*** Trevor also was apparently partly responsible for places in town, in particular the police station. One wonders why an entire city was build by such an architect.

* [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] at one point in ''[[Voodoo Vince]]'', in which the titular character stumbles upon a mansion that, for no apparent reason, contains a complex room-rotating system, and the narrator comments "wow, that must have been one screwed up architect."

** One extremely powerful build in ''Jedi Academy'' is to get [[Disc One Nuke|Level 3]] [[Telekinesis|Force Grip]] as soon as possible, which turns [[Malevolent Architecture]] into your weapon of choice.

** Partially (but only partially, mind you) justified by the fact that the aftermath of the Resonance Cascade banged up the place pretty badly, and Marines and aliens shooting [[More Dakka|stuff what go "BOOM!"]] at each other all over the place probably didn't improve things. Nevertheless, the OSHA would probably have had a field day at Black Mesa even pre-Resonance Cascade.

* Goes back at least as far as ''[[Donkey Kong]]'', in which a building under construction is transformed into a series of death traps for poor Mario -- [[No OSHA Compliance|because a gorilla jumps on the beams a few times.]] (Gorillas are heavy -- butheavy—but not ''that'' heavy!)

* ''[[Metal Gear Solid]]'' series is somewhat guilty of this, but not as bad as some other examples. In Shadow Moses Island, there are trap doors around the pillbox armory, and there's a blast furnace room right now to an extremely cold room - the former makes it extremely easy for someone to be incinerated with a misstep (or a [[Video Game Cruelty Potential|helpful little push]]). In Big Shell, the several-story high walkways with trap doors. Good for deterring the careless hero, but what about the guards that have to patrol the areas?!

** To expound, the games makes dungeons out of wells, castles, temples, a water plumbing plant, caves, a ''tree'', a volcano (yeah, tiles and spikes and blocks and puzzles in a volcano), '''the insides of giant fish''', an open forest, the top of a mountain...

** ''Ocarina of Time'' has to take the cake with invisible moving platforms, invisible spikes, illusionary floors, floor tiles that rise up to try to kill you and ''doors'' trying to kill you. Oh, and pots. yes, POTS!

* Likewise for ''Tecmo's [[Deception]]''. Hell, in the sequels, even the buildings inhabited by the heroes are filled with [[Added Alliterative AppealAlliteration|death-dealing devices]] which never shut off.

* ''[[The Seventh7th Guest]]'': Old man Stauf built a house, and filled it with his toys...

* In the [[Mass Effect]] series generally [[Averted Trope|averts]] this, although the haphazardly arranged [[Exploding Barrels|volatile containers]] [[No OSHA Compliance|is another issue]]. One location in the [[Mass Effect 2|second game]] has this fully in force: Jarrahe Station. The station is accessed after finding a crashed freighter on an uncharted world in which the security mechs it had been transporting [[AIA.I. Is a Crapshoot|got a virus, went crazy, and started killing the crew and randomly self-destructing]]. You trace the ship back to Jarrahe Station. You go on board to find that everyone is dead. Apparently the station's VI was infected by the mechs with the same virus and killed the crew as they attempted to shut it down and reset the system. Mostly the station is just kind of creepy. [[It Got Worse|Then you get to engineering.]] (The [[Malevolent Architecture]] comes into play here). The hallways in the section appear to have steam venting into them. Then the computer tells that it's actual plasma venting into the hallways. So then you have to make your way to the controls way in the back of the section, dodging the vents along the way to restore power to the section and shut the vents down. The plasma was venting due to the [[Axe Crazy]] VI running the place, but one wonders [[Fridge Logic|why there were plasma vents in the hallways in the first place.]]

* In ''[[Girl Genius]]'' [[Steampunk]], old Castle Heterodyne is not only extremely malevolent, but also [[Genius Loci|sentient]], with a ''nasty'' sense of humor. This is somewhat justified by the fact that it was built by the Old Heterodynes, who were extremely powerful [[Mad Scientist]]s, combining fantastic talent at building ANYTHING''anything'' with sheer insanity. It especially likes to test [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20080709 possible heirs]. The place [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20100924 was said] to deserve extensive mentions in an encyclopedy named ''Les Abominations Dangereuses de L'Architecture'' - apparently, the trend is common, the Castle Heterodyne is just a particularly infamous specimen.

* The Temple of Fiends in ''[[8-Bit Theater (Webcomic)|Eight Bit Theater]]'' is like this... well, until it, like every other trope in the comic, is turned right on its head.

* ''[[Brawl in the Family]]'': [https://web.archive.org/web/20101229153806/http://www.brawlinthefamily.com/?p=978 "Who designed] [[No OSHA Compliance|this castle?!"]]

* ''[[Pictures for Sad Children]]'': [http://www.picturesforsadchildren.com/index.php?comicID=379 "Why did I ever move into this house of glass shards at all?"]{{Dead link}}

* The dungeon crawls in ''[[Goblins]]'', being true to "classical" [[Dungeons and& Dragons]] dungeon crawls. There is also a [http://www.goblinscomic.com/12172007/ similarly hilarious scene] as in the ''[[Girl Genius]]'' example above.

* The Hotel Cabal from ''[[Gargoyles]]'' employs ''several'' [[Death Trap]] tropes and provided one of the most chilling episode endings ever seen in a Disney cartoon.

* In ''[[Code Lyoko]]'', Sector 5 or "Carthage" includes about every example of this trope: from crushing walls and [[Descending Ceiling|Descending Ceilings]]s to [[Laser Hallway]] or deadly doors, and even a whole room that just fall down on the heroes. And that's not even accounting the monsters.

** And all of this is on a ''timer'' -- the—the heroes get trapped unless they press a switch within a certain amount of time.

* Being a parody of video games, ''[[Code Monkeys]]'' often has characters navigate through [[Malevolent Architecture]] when traveling within the Gameavision building.

* In the episode "If You're So Smart, Why Aren't You Rich?" of ''[[Batman: The Animated Series|Batman the Animated Series]]'', there is a maze in an amusement park full of death traps, path-blocking puzzles, and highly lethal robots that prevent you from going back the way you came. None of which seems so unusual for Batman until you remember that this was [[Fridge Logic|meant to be navigated by the park-goers]].

* The 2011 ''[[Thundercats 2011|ThunderCats (2011 series)|Thundercats]]'' episode "Journey to the Tower of Omens" has a video game-style [[Temple of Doom]] and ''makes its existence make sense.'' A bunch of [[Warrior Monk|Warrior Monks]]s created it to guard a holy book that no one else should have (hence the gratuitous sharp objects.) ''They'' are extremely [[Badass]] and know where all the traps are, so it would probably be easy for its makers to use. Anyone else would have a hard time not getting ground into hamburger.

* [[Truth in Television]]: Egyptian tombs were equipped with false passages, false burial chambers and even death traps to foil grave robbers.

** Incidentally, modern analysis reveals several chambers in many pyramids that are completely sealed from all sides with tons of rock, that may well be real burial chambers, and those easily accessible ones just fake, or ceremonial. Unfortunately getting into them would require severely vandalizing national monuments, so it may take long before any can be studied.

* Designed to impede your progress? How about prisons? Which, of course, makes for great video game levels.

** It's worth noting that while the building was under construction, Holmes [https://web.archive.org/web/20080611011945/http://www.themediadrome.com/content/articles/history_articles/holmes.htm never let any worker stay on the job for more than a week], making sure that no one knew the exact layout of the building.

* A more passive variant, but there is actually a phenomenon called '''Sick Building Syndrome''' which is basically a much slower real world version of it. [[The Other Wiki]] has a reasonable article about [[wikipedia:Sick building syndrome|reasonable article about it]].

* The [[Berlin Wall]].{{context}}

[[Category:MalevolentVideo ArchitectureGame Difficulty Tropes]]