Smashing Hallway Traps of Doom: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

'''Gwen:''' Well, forget it! I'm not doing it! This episode was ''[[Who Writes This Crap?|badly written!]]''|''[[Galaxy Quest]]'' }}

 

Having large items appear on a conveyor belt that crush down are also common... which makes one wonder what these factories are supposed to be making that require so much repeated crushing to make. It also sometimes appears in [[Womb Level|settings that are within giant monsters]], which could be justified because you're within the monster's digestive tract and that the smashing/pounding things are part of its pre-digestion chewing process.

 

 

A one-stop [[Death Course]].

 

{{examples}}

== [[Film]] ==

* Part of the [[Death Course]] parody in ''[[Galaxy Quest]]''.

 

* The Argonauts from Greek mythology had to avoid a similar obstacle on their way to Colchis — the Symplegades, a pair of rocks clashing together to destroy ships attempting to cross the Hellespont. This, of course, makes this [[Older Than Feudalism]].

* The Filipino [[Strong Man]] Bernardo Carpio was trapped for eternity between two mountains who had nothing else to do but bounce their bodies together.

 

== [[Video Games]] ==

* ''[[Resident Evil 4]]''.

** In ''Ghost of Sparta'', there is an underwater section of Atlantis that features these. They cause instant death, thus [[Death Is a Slap on The Wrist|setting you back a few seconds]] to right in front of the trapped area.

* ''[[Eternal Darkness]]: Sanity's Requiem''. Same as above, but less justification.

* The Thwomps in the ''[[Super Mario Bros.]]'' games. Oddly enough, though, the Thwomps were cognizant villains, with eyes and a mouth. Usually, rather then constantly moving up and down, Thwomps would see Mario approaching, and slam themselves down when he was near. It would take them a while to raise themselves again, during which time Mario would be able to pass through. Also, depending on which Mario game you happen to be playing, the Thwomps may deviate from their up-down-up-down pattern of moving; the most recent example being ''[[Super Mario Galaxy]]'', in which certain levels had Thwomp-shaped cubes called Tox Boxes actually rolling around the landscape like gigantic dice. These cubes also appeared in the [[Shifting Sand Land]] level of ''[[Super Mario 64]]''.

** The castle levels of ''[[Super Mario World (video game)|Super Mario World]]'' also had big crushers and spiked pillars which repeatedly crashed into the floor.

** And probably impossible to pass in ''[[Super Paper Mario]]'' in one scene, they move up and down faster than you can pass through! Though flipping into 3D reveals you can just walk behind them.

* The guillotine-like crashing blades in the original ''[[Prince of Persia]]''.

** ''The Shadow and the Flame'' has (slow-moving) crushing walls in its [[Temple of Doom]].

*** Used in the palace segments of ''Two Thrones'', which take place ''in the Prince's home''. You'd think he'd know how to bypass the traps, except for the completely inexplicable ones in the palace ''[[Absurdly Spacious Sewer|well]]''. One possible explanation is that the traps had never been activated during his lifetime, and/or he hadn't really been paying attention when instructed about the bypasses, being kind of an arrogant jerk before SOT. "Who on Earth would dare to attack Babylon?", [[Tempting Fate|he may have said]].

** In the Next-Gen PoP, the traps are actually [[The Corruption]], sentient, and can sometimes actively move toward the Prince.

** This being said, in ''Hunters'' these are absolutely '''horrible'''. These alone make the second run through the planet that they are on ''[[That One Level|unbearable]]''. Going through not 1, not 2, not even 3, no, '''4''' sets of these. With no checkpoints. And you die instantly if they even GRAZE you.

* Occur every so often in the classic ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog]]'' games, and one of the few ways in which he can die instantly [[Chunky Salsa Rule|regardless]] of rings, shield, invincibility or even Super form... less common in the modern Sonic games, but that's just as well given the rise and rise of the [[Bottomless Pit]].

** ''[[Sonic CD]]'' has some blocks in Wacky Workbench that ''look'' like these, but will actually just drop you into the area below if you [[Violation of Common Sense|let them "crush" you]]. This is actually necessary to [[Guide Dang It|reach a Robotizer]].

*** There are some real crushers that look almost identical to the fake ones in the later level [[Eternal Engine|Metallic Madness]].

* The Waste Disposal section of ''[[Half-Life (video game)|Half-Life 1]]'' had the crushing piston variety.

** The moving walls in ''[[Half-Life 2]]'' just as you go from the old Nova Prospekt building to the new one also count, although they're slow-moving enough to get out of the way in plenty of time if you don't panic.

* ''[[Painkiller]]'' also features the "series of stone blocks smashing down" variety. The trap can be subverted with a physics bug, though - they can be stopped and pushed away using the Painkiller like they were chunks of styrofoam gliding on ice.

* Not so smashy in the ''[[Crusader: No Remorse|Crusader]]'' games. Like most of everything else in the game, [[Stuff Blowing Up|more explody]].

* Inside the giant worm-body of the Many in ''[[System Shock 2]]'', you also see smashing grinding pillars, which are explicitly supposed to be part of its way of digesting organic material.

* Similarly, the interior of the Zone Eater in ''[[Final Fantasy VI]]'' leads to a cave with smashing ceilings, which have [[Corridor Cubbyhole Run|convenient gaps for the party to use as safe spots]].

* [[Orcs Must Die]] has both of these, both the 'coming down from the ceiling' kind and the 'coming out from the walls' kind are avaiable for purchase, [[Death Course|in unlimited numbers..]] - [[Video Game Cruelty Potential]] anyone?

* The Spellhold asylum in ''[[Baldur's Gate]] 2'' has one corridor that randomly smashes shut anyone who wants in there.It is the only trap of this sort in the game, and there is nothing to indicate it will happen. There's also a group of enemies nearby that casts Confusion, causing you to wander around randomly.

* This is very common in ''[[Castlevania]]''. Earlier entries featured instant-kill versions, but in interests of accessibility, they were toned down to dealing heavy damage by ''[[Symphony of the Night]]''.

* ''[[Cave Story]]'' had the Presses, which are Thwomps [[Expy|in all but name]]. The most notable uses of them are found right before and right at the end of the Last Cave, the latter of which had a {{spoiler|string of Presses one had to make carefully controlled Boosts past}}. Heavy Press {{spoiler|the penultimate boss in Hell/the Sacred Grounds}} is a minor deviation, in that it doesn't fall on you until you kill it, which happens to be the world's most blatantly-telegraphed [[Kaizo Trap]].

* You can build these in ''[[Dwarf Fortress]]''. In addition to old standbys like the "stone-fall trap" and weapon traps loaded with ten +iron warhammers+, a bit of creativity leads to things like the Dwarven Atomsmasher (a drawbridge that slams down on an enemy, obliterating them from existence due to a [[Good Bad Bug]]) or artificially-engineered cave-ins.

* ''[[Serious Sam]] - The Second Encounter'' has smashing ceilings in quite a few places. Most notably, in the first level.

* ''[[Contra]]'' games have them making rather frequent appearances. For an example, in area 7 of the first game on the NES.

* ''[[An Untitled Story]]'' has [[Super Mario Bros.|Thwomp]]-like enemies which come crashing down when approached. They even come in [[Underground Monkey|three flavours]].

* The first screen of ''[[I Wanna Be the Guy]]'' features four spiked walls that quickly zip across about 90 percent of the screen, resulting in the usual [[Ludicrous Gibs|messy demise]] of The Kid if he's not already in the safe 10 percent when that happens.

* ''[[Marathon Trilogy|Marathon]]'' occasionally uses these, such as the final gauntlet in Defend THIS!. In a few levels, such as By Committee in ''Infinity'', the doors can crush you.

* One level of the unlicensed Famicom/NES game ''Thunder Warrior'' has Thwomp [[Expy|expies]].

* The crush pillars in the ''Monty Mole'' series.

 

== [[Western Animation]] ==

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Death Course]]

[[Category:Video Game Difficulty Tropes]]

[[Category:This Index Is in The Way]]

[[Category:Older Than Feudalism]]