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{{trope}}
{{Video Game Examples Need Sorting}}
[[File:Chrono Trigger missing secret 7440.png|link=Chrono Trigger|frame|It's not a sidequest. It's just a bad translation.]]
So you have a game with lots of hidden areas, secret stashes of powerups, and generally all kinds of rewards for exploring and [[Rewarding Vandalism|busting down walls]]. You're at the end of the game and have every powerup you've seen, but.. why is there still [[Interface Spoiler|an empty slot in your inventory]]? Why hasn't that [[Broken Bridge|bridge been fixed]]? What ''did'' you miss? Where is this undiscovered item? [[Disconnected Side Area|How do you get to that area]]?!
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Turns out, it... [[Cryptic Background Reference|doesn't exist]]. There ''isn't'' an item for every box in your inventory screen. That [[Broken Bridge]] was just [[Ruins for Ruins Sake|there for flavor]]. Not every type of weapon has an [[Infinity+1 Sword|ultimate variant]]. There's no reason to be paranoid because of [[Interface Spoiler]]. The game just never tells you this, so you're left to wonder what you're missing out on.
This is often spawned from an [[Empty Room Psych]] or something that was [[Dummied Out]], and often creates an [[Urban Legend of Zelda]]. For those into [[
▲See also [[Interface Spoiler]] for another videogame meta-trope based on expectations.
{{examples}}
* Every class (Both humanoids and monsters) in the first ''[[Disgaea]]'' game has its basic form and five [[Palette Swap|recolored]] [[Underground Monkey|upgrades]], except the [[Everything
* ''[[Doom]]'': In some versions, the [[100% Completion|Percent kills/secrets/items]] count at the end of the level will always display 0% if the level doesn't ''have'' anything of that category. This gives the impression that the secrets are ''there'', but you just didn't find any of them.
** Some old level-design books actually suggest [[Trolling|making a "secret area" trigger that can't be reached, so that players will continue to search for it]].
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* ''[[Tomb Raider]] 1'' and ''2'' (and maybe later games too) each have one medikit in a location that's inaccessible (outside of [[Good Bad Bugs|bugs]] anyway), in the first game's case someone contacted Core and found that it was originally going to be accessible in a part of a level that was removed. The original game also has a literal example, as the very last secret in the game (stated as such from strategy guides) does not register on the counter due to a missing trigger-confirmed by people checking in an editor-which of course led to hunts for if there was something else (which was stopped after people got the tools to check the triggers in levels).
* In ''[[Devil Survivor]]'' a Kudlak X Kresnik fusion has unique dialog (appearing only in this fusion) by the components, but has the normal fusion results for demons of their race and level. Making this stand out more is that Shiva is always made by fusing the similarly opposing Barong and Rangda.
* ''[[Mortal Kombat: Deception]]'''s Konquest mode has a ton. The most notorious is likely the Shaolin Temple at the beginning of the game, where attempted entry yields a box of text saying that only a Shaolin monk may enter.
** Also the shuriken.
** Even worse, the "Lightning Staff" sidequest, which leads nowhere and ends with Kung Lao proclaiming they are going to "strike down Shao Kahn", but there's nothing to do to follow up on that.
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* Due to a glitch in one of the dance minigames of the original ''[[Raving Rabbids]]'', it's impossible to get [[One Hundred Percent Completion]], despite rumors it grants a better ending.
** Similarly, the 8th hidden figurine in [[Rabbids Go Home]]. Codes for the other 7 have been released, but nobody has been able to figure out what unlocks #8.
* In the North American and PAL Releases of ''[[Wild
* In ''[[Ridge Racer|Rage Racer]]'', there are several blocked-off roads and tunnels that are not used by any of the courses. Rumor has it that there was a planned fifth track that was [[Dummied Out]].
* There are some doors that are just not meant to be opened at all in ''[[Iji]]''.
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** Isn't that the draft of Transcendence, which you use at the very end of the game to {{spoiler|turn into a swan? You hear it on the Loom because Lady Cygna played it there to turn the Master Weavers into swans; it's a hint that the Loom always repeats the last draft played in its presence, which becomes important at the very end of the game.}}
* Due to a few broken triggers, some secrets in ''[[Serious Sam]] - The Second Encounter'' don't exist but the secret counter still shows like they're there. It also shows up that the game's intro has one stage despite not being playable at all.
* One door in the kitchen of ''[[The
** Because it would lead outside, and leaving the mansion just isn't in the cards; same reason the front door never lets you out.
* The identity of Yan Angwa in ''[[Exit Fate]]'' is never revealed.
* ''[[Lego Star Wars]] 2'''s different versions:
** The Game Boy Advance version features a % completion meter that literally stops at 99%. There is no kind of victory screen or end credits rolling, but as far as anyone knows, there's nothing else.
** A subversion for the consoles and PSP versions: in December 2006, a code was given on [
* Gwen in ''[[Guild Wars]]'' was originally this. She was a little girl who followed you around in the tutorial area, and would give you a tapestry shred marked as a quest item if you gave her enough flowers. After the tutorial, the player never saw her again, nor found a use for the tapestry, even though one could meet her dead mother in the underworld or find items of hers scattered throughout the world. This was never intended to be expanded upon, but so many players demanded closure that Gwen was eventually reintroduced. She now has more backstory than any other character in the game, most of which the player gets to experience first-hand.
* [[MDK2]] has one point in Stage 3 where the doctor finds a fish bowl and a lighter. he then remarks "Now some more jelly and a blowdryer. If only I could find that monkey". This makes the player assume that three items: a jar of jelly, a blowdryer, and a monkey can be found, however none of those three items exist anywhere in the game. Not in stage 3, stage 6, stage 9, or stage 10. Many people believe it may have been an outtake audio file they never removed.
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* [[Neopets]], the online site, has an odd example. There is a Game called [[Neo Quest]] that you can play. In that game, there is a door that is locked. It has been 10 years since the game was released, yet no key has been found. The Neopets team that runs the site has made numerous jokes about people being unable to find it, yet these jokes cause users to believe that there is no key and/or it was forgotten.
** There may be some truth to this, as there are numerous areas in the game (including occasional major quests) that can only be accessed by [[Viewers Are Geniuses|studying the game's code]]. It would not be beyond the Neopets design team to have coded in a key that can only be found in another section of the game, or requires a ten-digit secret code, or has a 1-in-10,000 [[Randomly Drops|drop rate]].
* ''[[
** In ''Harvest Moon: Magical Melody'', the cover of the game's box shows a number of animals around some of the characters. All of the animals show up in the game, except for the Labrador. Also, one little girl who moves into the town constantly alludes to being frightened of something, considers herself evil and not going to heaven, and has a profile that says she has "some skeletons in her closet". It's never revealed what her deep, dark secret is.
* ''[[Donkey Kong 64]]'' has a number of these - the most prominent being Cranky's mention of a secret level named Great Girder Grapple, which fans have hunted for for years. (This was most likely a joke reference to the original [[Donkey Kong]] game, which is a crucial element of this game.) Another example is a barn with a number of doors in its loft, except one door that never opens. Before deciding on infinite lives, Rare intended to hide a 1-up balloon behind this door.
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* The ''[[Kingdom of Loathing]]'' has the infamous sunken chest item. It's a common item, definitely, and it IS used in conjunction with other items to make a spooky pirate skeleton. However, it still does have an annoyingly alluring "use" link and the text given when it's used almost gives a hint that it should be opened, but the damn thing just will. Not. Open. The game's designers love trolling the users about it, frequently claiming it's the longest-standing undiscovered secret in the game. The worst thing is, they may be telling the truth - or [[Retcon|eventually add a use]] - in which case it isn't this trope.
* Rotating Tanya's character box in ''[[Mortal Kombat]] Gold'' reveals a question mark, but nothing is actually unlocked here. It is rumored that this was for the deleted character Belokk.
* An old Macintosh game called ''[[Quarterstaff: The Tomb of Setmoth]]''. On the overhead map, there was a hallway with a room behind it, but the map showed blank non-doored wall with a single dot. If you knocked on that wall, it sounded hollow. After going back to the game and examine game code; there is no secret room.
* In ''[[The Tower of Druaga]]'', there are a few floors (namely, {{spoiler|floors 25 and 55}}) that ''don't'' have a secret item, not even a [[Poison Mushroom|harmful item]].
* The yellow marble in ''[[Myst|Riven]]'''s fire marble dome puzzle does nothing but throw you off, there is no hidden sixth island.
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* In ''[[Illusion of Gaia]]'', there's a little hole next to the second dungeon's entrance, just the right size to Psycho Slide through—but you don't get that ability until rather later in the game, and at that point, there's no way back. Using a cheat device to give Will the ability early reveals that the hole is just decoration, as solid as any other wall.
* ''[[Persona 4]]'' has "The Eye", which is [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|a blinking eye]] that appears mysteriously at the status screen of a party member after [[Level Up At Intimacy 5|maxing his/her Social Link]]. Apparently, it does nothing, but considering the heavy emphasis of the game on finding out hidden truths, [[Urban Legend of Zelda|this hasn't stopped the fans]].
* ''[[Mortal Kombat 9|Mortal Kombat]]'' has one in the character select screen (in the Xbox 360 version only). The game only has a few unlockable characters, all of which become selectable in the bottom row of the character select screen when unlocked. The [[
* [[Vexx]] has the mysterious floating tower that appears in the background in nearly every level. Supposedly the player was supposed to be able to go there eventually (there was even an extra level shown in the trailer,) but it was cut out of the game.
* ''[[Dark Souls]]'' has a largely useless "pendant" item (it can be sold for a meager value or traded for an uncommon item) you can select at the start of the game in place of more useful items (such as a key that unlocks many doors early on allowing for massive [[Sequence Breaking]]). Egged on by the director playing [[Trolling Creator]], who had referenced a hidden use for it.
** This is referenced in ''Dark Souls 3'' (Note: Dark Souls 2 had a different director) where an NPC will mock the original possessor of a particular item if given it, the only one she comments on despite how it is otherwise minor. While easy to overlook, the icon for this item is of a hand clutching ''the'' pendant.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Video Game Rewards]]
▲[[Category:Missing Secret]]
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