View source for Spikes of Doom

{{trope}}
[[File:spikesofdoombetter 6790.jpg|link=JoJo's Bizarre Adventure|frame|[[Captain Obvious|No... no, that large field of spikes doesn't look at all livable...]] why would that even cross your mind?]]


{{quote|''"It's a spike pit! And if you're even slightly off side...[[Mortal Kombat|FATALITY]]"''|'''Playitbogart''' on [http://www.revver.com/video/881622/rollergames-nes-review/ Rollergames]}}

Spikes. Spikes ''everywhere''.

On the floor. On the walls. On [[The Walls Are Closing In|the walls that are closing in on you]]. On the [[Descending Ceiling]]. On the [[Smashing Hallway Traps of Doom]]. All sharp enough to [[Impaled with Extreme Prejudice|impale you and leave you a bloody, shish-kabob'd hero]] (or at least take off a [[Hit Point]] or two...).

Appearing in more games than the [[Exploding Barrels|barrel]] and the [[Crate Expectations]] ''combined'', the classic deadly spikes might just be the most widely-used videogame object ''ever''. (It should also be noted that while crates and barrels are everyday items that most people see throughout their day, you'd have to search really hard to see a real-life death trap made of spikes.)

Commonly used as an alternative to the [[Bottomless Pit]], a floor covered with spikes spells certain [[Doomy Dooms of Doom|doom]] for the platform-jumping hero - that is, unless you've got an [[Invincibility Power-Up]] or are allowed [[Mercy Invincibility]]. They can be used in other places besides floors - as videogame design throughout the ages has shown, you can put spikes ''anywhere'' to spell the simple message "[[Collision Damage|touch me]] and [[One-Hit Kill|die]]!"

Spikes often take on more natural appearances, such as stalagmites and stalactites in a cave environment, icicles in [[Slippy-Slidey Ice World]], or teeth in a [[Womb Level]].

Spikes have a strange tendency to repeatedly retract into the ground and then come back out again, forming a sort of [[Temporary Platform]].

Spikes also have a strange tendency to [[Stalactite Spite|become disconnected from the wall or ceiling]] and [[Everything Trying to Kill You|come try to kill you]]. Enemies with [[The Spiny|spikes on their bodies]] can often throw them at you and regenerate them at will.

Most video game enemies are ''[[Damage Discrimination|completely immune]]'' to the pointy tips on the spikes. If they walk into them, they'll just turn around and go the other direction. If they step onto a floor of spikes, just keep walking as if nothing's wrong. Many times, the hero will even need to ''[[Cranium Ride|jump on their head and ride them across the floor]]'' in order to survive.

Often, spikes will damage or kill the player even when in [[Real Life]] situations, spikes aren't that sharp. Often spikes have a nasty tendency to kill even when you're not touching the tips of them.

A classic, staple [[Death Trap]] and obligatory part of every [[Death Course]]. Obviously, they aren't just limited to videogames, but that's where they're most known.

'''Spikes of Doom''' are very frequently found affixed to an [[Advancing Wall of Doom]].

See also [[Impaled with Extreme Prejudice]]. Also see [[Spike Balls of Doom]] for a spherical version. Not to be confused with [[Spikes of Villainy]].
{{examples}}

==  Anime & Manga ==
* ''[[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann]]''
** The Gurren-Lagann creates dozens of cone-shaped drills all over its frame in episode 8. In Episode 11, it uses some of those drills to impale an enemy flight-Gunmen and turn it into a jet-pack. It's Giga Drill Maximum takes Spikes of Doom to the next level, as it encases itself in a prison of Giga Drills.
** Guame's Gunmen also has these, at least in its humanoid form. Whoever wants to place spikes on the inner side of the arms, however, is not clear. It only uses these for nearly defeating a member of the Dai-Gurren Brigade. It is defeated by a certain star-shaped Gunmen known as King Kittan, using Kittan Stinger, followed by Hell's Helmsplitter (more Spikes of Doom. Apparently, the show has lots.
*** Chouginga Gurren-Lagann takes Gurren-Lagann's Spikes of Doom to the next level, by creating several drills on its frame and in the rift on each drill, it creates more drills... and once more. Each of the smallest drills it creates are the size of Gurren-Lagann's Giga Drill Breaker, which dwarfs Gurren-Lagann.
* ''[[One Piece]]'' features these on level one of Impel Down. The enitire floor is coated with them, besides a large hole to level two.


== Comic Books ==
* In the [[Don Rosa]] [[The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck|Scrooge McDuck]] story "Treasure of the Ten Avatars", the Duck family encounter this sort of trap ''twice'' when they're investigating an ancient Indian city for treasure, one of them a [[Descending Ceiling]] and the other a [[Fake Platform]].


== Film ==
* In ''[[Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom]]'', the [[Descending Ceiling]] trap. And the spikes that impale people if they move into the light in ''Raiders of the Lost Ark''
* ''[[Krull]]'' had a room in the Black Fortress that had spikes intermittently moving out of the walls in every which direction. Didn't end well for one of the bandits.
* ''[[Cube]]'' also had a room where sound-activated spikes move out of the walls in every which direction.
* In ''[[Event Horizon]]'', the titular ship's gravity drive apparently requires copious amounts of spikes to function properly. The doors have spikes on the edges which close into a tiny square, the hallway into the engine room is best described as a walkway through a giant mulcher... the people who made this ship must have been baked out of their skulls. And none of this has any purpose, even for the sake of gory deaths. In fact, when someone DOES die in there, they land on a walkway over the coolant pool, tearing apart their entire body.
* The Autobot hangar at Diego Garcia in ''[[Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen]]'' is covered in soundproofing spikes, which makes sense considering the top secret nature of the base.
* Deployed on the king's order in ''[[Army of Darkness]]'', when Ash fights some decomposing deadites in a pit. Similar to many video game versions in that, when Ash throws one of his foes against the incoming wall of spikes, it just yanks itself free because its undead body can only be stopped by dismemberment, not impalement.
* In ''[[Hidalgo]]'', the titular horse falls into a spiked pit at one point in the story.
* Rambo constructs traps [[Impaled with Extreme Prejudice|intended to impale enemy soldiers]] in ''[[Rambo|First Blood]]''.
* ''[[The Running Man (film)|The Running Man]]'' had a wall of spikes in a wrestling cage-the villains used a stand-in to make it appear Arnold Schartzenegger's character died on the spikes.
* ''[[D.E.B.S.]]''. A feature of the [[Descending Ceiling]] trap in the bank vault.
* The Emperor causes a snowy courtyard to sprout hundreds of upward-pointing icicles in ''[[The Mummy Trilogy|The Mummy Tomb of the Dragon Emperor]]''.


==  Live Action TV ==
* In a flashback scene from the ''[[Stephen King|Rose RED (film)]]'' miniseries, the psychic girl throws a tantrum and causes water to spray out of the kitchen sink, then instantly freeze into a forest of lethal-looking ice spikes. ''Just short'' of her mother's eyes.
** Instant Spikes Of Doom: Just Add Water?
* ''[[The Prisoner]]'' episode "The Girl Who Was Death" has Number 6 (as Mister X) in a gauntlet that includes a trap door over a rising floor of spikes. That are electrified.
* In the Comic Relief ''[[Doctor Who]]'' parody ''The Curse of Fatal Death'', the Master has the Doctor and his assistant bound to a wall. He proclaims "Say 'Hello' to the Spikes of Doom", and the wall promptly revolves {{spoiler|only to spin back around again with the Doctor and assistant sitting on a sofa. "Say 'Hello' to the Sofa of Reasonable Comfort"}}


==  Video Games ==
* To [[Aero the Acro Bat]], spikes are a one-hit kill. Too bad they are apparently standard fixtures in circuses and funparks.
* ''[[Alfred Chicken]]'' wants you to walk across them using invulnerability in order to reach a secret item.
* The infamous [[Nintendo Hard]] game ''[[Battletoads]]'' had tons of these. One section of one level took it so far as to cover every stable surface with these - to survive, you had to use giant snakes as temporary platforms.
* [[Game Boy Color]] game ''Batman: Chaos in Gotham'' had three types of sharp things. The first type was a platform that looked like it had sharp pieces but were really background material. The second type were slightly damaging spikes that you had to jump over. Next, there's a large icicle that instantly kills Batman if he tries climbing it.
* ''[[Castlequest]]'' has floor spikes, ceiling spikes and wall spikes. And the player is a [[One-Hit-Point Wonder]].
* ''[[Castlevania]]: [[Symphony of the Night]]'' has entire corridors lined top and bottom with these. It also has the Spike Breaker armor, which causes them to shatter harmlessly when you walk over them.
** They make you navigate a spike-filled, pitch-black corridor with only your little bat-sonar-peep for guidance to get at the stuff, too. Or you can do a little [[Sequence Breaking]] and navigate it blindly as invulnerable Mist instead.
** Before ''[[Castlevania: Rondo of Blood]]'', even ''touching'' a spike will kill you instantly, with the exception of some spiked platforms in ''[[Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse]]'' that simply took off a lot of your health.
** One stage in ''[[Castlevania III: Dracula's Curse]]'' had whole ceilings of spikes, which left ducking as your only option when dodging enemies.
** ''[[Super Castlevania IV]]'' upped the ante by making you deal with a ROTATING ROOM full of spikes only avoidable by the Tarzan-swing-with-whip trick. As an added incentive for Simon to hang the hell on, there's an example of the cost of failure in the skeleton of a former, less savvy hunter lying in one corner... In that same room, if you choose to hang on to the platform instead of the Swing Ring, a new set of spikes appears on the floor you're trying to land on. Lose-lose situation there.
* ''[[Cave Story]]'' has two types of spikes. One type is found on floors, walls and ceilings throughout the game, and damages you a good bit if you run into it. There is another type of floor spikes which glow red; landing on them is instant death. The [[Bonus Level of Hell]] contains extreme amounts of both spike types.
** Rather hilariously, the first instant-death-spikes you encounter are inside an NPC's house, accompanied by a sign that warns, [[Schmuck Bait|"Watch out! Deathtrap to your left. One touch means instant death!"]]
* ''[[Dark Messiah of Might and Magic|Dark Messiah]]'' features spike walls that enemies can be kicked onto.
* ''[[Donkey Kong Country (video game)|Donkey Kong Country]] 2'' 's bramble levels.
** Subverted in ''[[Donkey Kong Jungle Beat]]''. What looks like an impossibly difficult trap is actually harmless because [[Depth Perplexion|the spikes are in the foreground.]]
** Rambi can destroy the Spikes of Doom in ''[[Donkey Kong Country Returns]]''.
* ''[[Duke Nukem: Manhattan Project]]'' used these in the 5th episode, Fearsome Factory. What's strange about these is that the game is fully 3D rendered, despite being a side-scroller, so there are often instances where you can clearly see a way Duke could walk around obstacles [[No Sidepaths, No Exploration, No Freedom|if only he weren't forced to conform to the path.]] As you might expect, even [[Collision Damage|lightly stubbing your toe on these spikes]] [[Chunky Salsa Rule|is enough to make Duke]] [[Ludicrous Gibs|explode into a pile of gibs.]]
* ''[[Dwarf Fortress]]'' features the Menacing Spike, key component in the Upright Spike Trap. If linked to a pressure plate, these will shoot up, kill any hapless dope standing on it, and if the panel is pressed again will retract and leave the impaled goblin to collapse into a bleeding heap. Having these spikes at the bottom of a fifteen floor falling trap will result in lots of goblin torsos stuck on the spikes, while their limbs are scattered about, [[Gorn|having been shorn off on impact]]. The difference in properties (other than requiring more material and being used only in traps) is that a spike is sharper, though a spear can penetrate deeper (which matters with huge critters).
** Dwarves are just fond of menacing spikes in general; it's one of the common decorations they put on ''everything.'' Dwarves will even stud ''training weapons'' with decorative menacing spikes (which do nothing to alter the weapon's effectiveness, or deliberate lack thereof).
** Subverted in DF2010 where one of the best ways to train your dwarfs for combat is to turn the barracks into a [[X-Men|danger room]] filled with spike traps loaded with blunt training spears. Though training axes are safer (thanks to even larger contact surface), other than this the specific training weapon matters only for skill if wielded, not in traps.
** This entry menaces with spikes of onyx and adamantine. On the entry is an image of spikes in camel bone. The spikes are menacing.
* In a rare JRPG example, ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]'' has one area where, if you run instead of walking, you will slide into a wall of spikes that will take off a significant amount of your party's HP.
* ''[[I Wanna Be the Guy]]'' is full of spikes, which in some rooms almost entirely cover the floors and ceilings. The kid can die even by touching the ''side'' of a spike. At one point, a spike pit ''gets up and chases after you for several screens''! (This one has cost many an [[Let's Play|LPer]] their sanity.) Seriously. These spikes also have a tendency to detach themselves and shoot toward you, though they don't always fire in the direction they point so [[Trial and Error Gameplay|the game can kill you]] [[Wrong Genre Savvy|when you least expect it]].
* ''[[Commander Keen|Commander Keen Episode 1: Marooned on Mars]]'' has green spikes that move up and down. They kill you in one hit, but then again so does everything else dangerous in the game as Commander Keen is a [[One-Hit-Point Wonder]].
* In ''Keith Courage In Alpha Zones'', touching spikes is [[One-Hit Kill|instant death]] (same as a [[Bottomless Pit]]), and since Keith only has one life, it's back to the beginning of the level (or game) if he dies. Particularly aggravating when jumping on platforms, or dodging [[Goddamned Bats]] such as the flying skulls in the underworld.
* ''[[Knytt]]'' has crystal-like spikes in the eastmost area of the game.
* ''[[La-Mulana]]'' has lots of spikes, including whole floors of spikes in some areas. However, as you progress through the game and collect Life Jewels, you'll build up so much health that spikes end up serving as a nuisance rather than a mortal threat. At times touching spikes can even be useful to exploit [[Mercy Invincibility]] and/or to [[Damage Boost]] in the right direction. However, some puzzles require making jumps and dodging spikes on the way down; the [[Bonus Level of Hell|Hell Temple]] has a chamber two rooms tall where the player must navigate spike-filled shafts with careful [[Wall Jump]]s; touching a spike or enemy will cause the player to fall down and restart the entire thing. Much less common are long white spikes which can suddenly emerge from platforms, usually from triggering a trap.
** However, the WiiWare remake, according to [http://la-mulana.com/en/blog/game_balance.html an official blog post], will have spikes take off about 1/5 of your health. As if getting knocked around by them wasn't bad enough!
* ''[[The Legend of Zelda]]'' uses this trope, but one of its most noteworthy versions is the boss of the Earth Temple in ''[[The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker|Wind Waker]].'' The villain, a giant, intangible ghost, is met in a room whose walls are covered in spikes. The ghost can blow [[Heroic Mime|Link]], our trusty hero, into the walls and kill him thusly, but if Link can render the ghost tangible, he can then ''throw'' him into the wall, ''at'' the spikes, where he breaks apart into smaller, stab-able ghosts. The underlying message? Hooray for spikes!
* [[MadWorld]]'s rose bushes, though they're a tool for the player to [[Impaled with Extreme Prejudice|violently impale]] [[Mooks]] and present no threat to the player.
* The 2D platformer MMORPG ''[[Maple Story]]'' has spikes here and there. Two areas in particular, Warning Street: Road to the Dungeon and Warning Street: Henesys Dungeon Entrance, are loaded with thorns among other things.
* If you had a nickel for every set of insta-death spikes in a ''[[Mega Man (video game)|Mega Man]]'' game, you could buy every game in the series, and '''''all''''' of its spinoffs. (& if you had even a penny for everytime every player touched those freaking things, you'd be one of the richest beings in history!)
** In the first ''Mega Man'' game, [[Mercy Invincibility]] did not protect you against spikes. Later games allowed damage from enemies protect you from spike damage later.
** In ''Mega Man & Bass'' and ''9'', it is possible to buy a spike guard (Up to three at a time in Mega Man 9) that would make spikes damage you instead of outright kill you. However, the spike guard is used up the moment you touch spikes while you have one, so if you don't get off the spikes while temporarily invulnerable, you'll die from them. Furthermore (As a slight subversion), a Wily boss in Mega Man 9 has an underbelly of spikes that only damage you on contact.
** All four ''[[Mega Man Zero]]'' games had a power-up that permanently turned off the spikes of doom. Its absence in the ZX series is rather hard to forgive. ''[[Mega Man X]] 5'' and ''X6'' also had armors that you can acquire that let you walk on spikes without harm.
*** Speaking of ''ZX'', Ouroboros in ''Advent'' had regenerating ''spiked'' blocks just to add to the madness. And yes, you do need to break some to get to the end. [[Nightmare Fuel|Happy nightmares...]] This is made a bit worse by the fact that Model H is the only armor with an aerial dash enabled. This would make these traps easier, except that same armor has only sabre weapons, making it harder to specifically destroy the regenerating blocks you ''want'' out of your way and not the ones you need to use as platforms to move on. You could use a more balanced armor like ''Model ZX'', but then you lose your mobility...
***** Use QueenBee: flight as long as the energy gauge lasts and a somewhat clunky ranged weapon. Also a good place to master midair form switching.
***** Vulturon can hover in a straight line, break the blocks in all directions from a (short) distance while moving, and stick to (harmless) walls to recover energy. That last segment seems to have been designed for him.
***** And there's always Model H's charge attack (tornadoes), which is suspiciously more effective in destroying the blocks as Grey than as Ashe. Then just dash through - no need for landing in the spiked section.
** X8 had Gravity Antonion's level by mostly this. Including enemies that could [[Damage Discrimination|walk on said spikes.]] Though that's slightly subverted, as the enemy in question could be copied by Axl, who would then be able to use that form with the similar effect. Sadly, this enemy doesn't show up in other levels, which probably would have made it [[Game Breaker|a little too useful.]]
*** X8 may be one of the absolute worst offenders of this trope of ''any Mega Man game'', and that's saying a lot.
*** The whole thing smacks of [[Fridge Logic]]. Megaman, X, and Zero are all made of metal. The spikes are metal. And somehow, touching even the non-pointy side of a spike makes them explode. Hmmm...
** [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcHR3HizRTA "Wait, what was the name of this boss!?"] .... Oh you suck, Wily.
** ''FINALLY'' gets weaponized by Mega Man himself in ''Mega Man 10'' in the form of the Chill Spike. Shooting the ground or a wall with this weapon causes a set of spikes to freeze up at the impact site. This is the weapon of choice against Nitro Man, who takes the most damage from it when it's used as a tire hazard.
* ''[[Mortal Kombat]]'' ''loves'' using spikes in its death trap levels. Spikes on the floor, spikes on the ceiling, spikes several floors below you, spikes on [[Everything's Better with Spinning|SPINNING]] RAZOR WHEELS OF DOOM...In later versions there are even spikes that have blades at the bases, so you can fall and become an instantly ''paraplegic'' fighter shish-kabob.
* The ''[[Prince of Persia]]'' series is absolutely full of spike traps, though different games have used different types:
** The original game used instant-trigger floor spikes, especially at the bottoms of pits. Anyone who falls onto them gets [[Impaled with Extreme Prejudice]]. The Prince could either inch through the spikes or clear them with a well-timed jump.
** ''The Shadow and the Flame'' lost the spiked pits, but had spikes coming out of walls instead - left walls only, as holes in right walls would be invisible in the game's isometric graphics.
** The ''Sands of Time'' series had retracting spikes in the floor. But in lieu of serving as a temporary platform, they would impale any poor fool who so much as made a sound over them. To add insult to injury, if they managed to do this once, they'd likely do it again as you struggled to free yourself, forcing you to waste a sand tank to escape. Like the original game, however, you could avoid them, either by a well-timed wall run or tiptoeing over them, but you had to do it at the absolute slowest movement speed possible. Enemies also never got near them until the second game, where you could get some righteous revenge by triggering the traps with enemies on them.
* ''[[Serious Sam]]: The Second Encounter'' featured a long corridor with spikes on the walls to each side. The twist was that there was a strong air current trying to blow you sideways into them as you traveled the corridor that you had to fight, and it continually changed strength and direction.
** In ''[[Serious Sam]] II'', upon entering into one of the rooms full of spikes, you'll get "I ''hate'' spikes"!
* Amazingly, Spikes of Doom manage to appear on board the futuristic space ship featured in the point-and-click adventure game ''[[Chzo Mythos|7 Days a Skeptic]]'' as part of the ship's communications apparatus.
* The online ''[[Shift]]'' games play with this; the hero survives the Spikes of Doom because they were {{spoiler|created by [[Breaking the Fourth Wall|shoddy Actionscript]].}}
* They appear all too often in the ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog]]'' series. Unlike most other spikes though, only the sharp edges are typically damaging.
** Curiously, both the original ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog (video game)|Sonic 1]]'' and the original ''Mega Man'' game had a specifically programmed behavior (at least [http://info.sonicretro.org/Spike_damage_behavior in Sonic's case]) with their Spikes of Doom that instantly killed you if you touched them during [[Mercy Invincibility]]. The remakes took out the <s>glitch</s> behavior, but it's never been explained why it was there, in the first place.
** ''[[Sonic 3 and Knuckles|Sonic The Hedgehog 3]]'''s [[Temple of Doom|Marble Garden Zone]] also has an enemy that [[Subverted Trope|subverted]] Spikes Of Doom: it looked exactly like a set of spike, until you got close to it, at which point it rose from the ground slightly and fired glowing projectiles at you. But the spikes on top of this enemy don't actually hurt you; instead they act like a springboard.
** Mystic Cave Zone of ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog 2]]'' is home to the infamous inescapable spike pit. At one point, you need to grab a rope to lower a bridge to cross a pit. If you fall into the pit, you are [[Cycle of Hurting|speared repeatedly]] by a row of spikes at the bottom. It might as well be a [[Bottomless Pit]], given that the shaft is so deep that it can't be escaped (except by Knuckles). Even worse if you're [[Super Mode|Super Sonic]] and therefore can't take damage until you've run out of rings (which happens incredibly slowly)...
*** Actually, because Super Sonic could jump higher than normal Sonic, it was possible for him to escape from the pit... unless Tails had grabbed the rope after you'd fallen in, causing the bridge to cover the pit.
* ''[[Spelunky]]'' has spikes that kill you if you fall on them, but not if you walk past them, or gently lower yourself on top of them.
** It is also possible to throw enemies onto spikes to kill them instantly (and messily). And if any enemy lands on the spikes, they die. Even giant spiders and shopkeepers.
* The ''[[Super Mario Bros.]]''. series is famous for these, especially ''[[Super Mario Bros 3]]'' and ''[[Super Mario World (video game)|Super Mario World]]''.
** There were certain critters in ''Super Mario World'' that were unharmed by walking over spikes, and which Mario could [[Cranium Ride|"ride"]] across a particularly expansive bed of spikes.
** ''[[Yoshi's Island]] DS'' kinda went [[Nintendo Hard]] in the secret levels because of these, with entire levels having nearly all the level either instant death spikes or instant death lava. Especially Yoshi's Island Easter Eggs.
** Every [[Game Mod|ROM hack]] known to man of ''Super Mario World'' and every other ''[[Super Mario Bros.]]'' game have used these in massive amounts. ''[[Kaizo Mario World]]'' and [[Follow the Leader|every hack based off]] [[Platformer Hell|the concept]] has often used entire levels made of killer spikes.
** Most Mario spikes just take you down to small if you have any powerups, and ''[[Super Mario Bros. 2]]'' just takes one hit point. But while Yoshi could in ''[[Super Mario World (video game)|Super Mario World]]'', he couldn't in ''[[Yoshi's Island]]''.
* ''Super [[Metroid]]'' had spikes in a few places, including under lava and acid! Luckily, some spikes are fake and won't hurt you if you touch them, and the fake spikes can be destroyed. Without the X-Ray Scope to see if some spikes were fake, it's pretty much playing with mines trying to see which set of spikes were fake and real. In one specific region, one can freely walk upon the spikes without harm, as every single spike (even in the bottom of a damn cave) are motorized, and without a local power supply, the spikes are harmless.
* The original ''[[Metroid]]'' as well as ''Zero Mission'' have a chamber called "A Bridge Too Far" amongst fans. If you try walking across the bridge, it crumbles underneath Samus, and if you try to jump across and only shortly land every now and then on the bridge, you will hit the spikes in the ceiling just above the bridge. This is a lot easier to get past when you get the Speed Booster.
* ''[[Tomb Raider]]'' is far more full of spike pits than any actual tomb, although Lara was mysteriously unhurt if she just ''walked'' through spikes instead of blindly running through them.
** Presumably, "walking" was video game shorthand for "moving slower and more carefully."
** This made a part late in the first level of ''[[Tomb Raider]] III'' a [[Guide Dang It]]. Progressing in a certain area DOES require walking through an area full of spikes and then jumping up and pulling yourself onto a ledge while standing on the spikes. Better hope Lara grabs the ledge the first time if you don't want to be sent all the way back to your last save...
* The many spikes in ''[[World of Goo]]'' are rather less... triangular than most two-dimensional examples, being more like very long thorns. Goo burst on contact with them, threatening the entire structure.
* ''X-Men Origins: Wolverine'' game had both stationary and retractable varieties. The retractable ones were usually timed to have a rolling effect. Given that you're playing Wolverine [[Good Thing You Can Heal|the penalty for a mistime isn't much at all]]. The stationary ones are great fun for impaling your foes on.
* In ''[[Eversion]]'', {{spoiler|the flowers, as you everse, turn wilted, then into weeds, then into lethal thorns.}}
* The 1st, 3rd, 5th, 10th and 11th level of ''[[Captain Claw]]''. Also non-fatal ones on 3rd, 4th, 12th, 13th and 14th, which still removes 10% of your total hp. 9th, 10th and 13th has random arrows shooting out of the walls as well. 12th has '''stalactites falling from the ceiling'''.
* In ''[[Plants vs. Zombies]]'' you actually get to deploy these in the form of Spikeweeds/Spikerocks. While these do not kill off normal zombies instantly (rather, it drains their health as they walk on the spikes) or the giant zombies AT ALL (they simply smash the spikes with their weapons and walk across the square as though there never was a spike there to begin with), it is [[One-Hit Kill|played straight against vehicle enemies]].
* In one of the [[Action 52]] games called [[They Just Didn't Care|Unerground]], spikes?(spears?, mushrooms?) work in a weird way. They [[Violation of Common Sense|don't damage you if you fall on top of them but will kill the character if you try to walk past them]].
* ''[[Toss the Turtle]]'' uses these to stop the turtle in his tracks. You can get an achievement for hitting enough of them, too.
* ''[[Pokémon]]'' has a sort-of example, with the moves Spikes and Toxic Spikes (and to a similar extent, Stealth Rock). When used, spikes get laid around the opposing team, and any Pokemon that switches in that can't fly/Levitate over them (or is immune to Poison in the latter case) gets hurt (directly with Spikes, or get poisoned with Toxic Spikes). Using the moves again increases the damage done (in the case of Toxic Spikes, a second layer badly poisons Pokemon that switch in so they lose health faster).
** Now there's [[media:597-598 6982.png|Ferroseed and Ferrothorn]] who have the ability "Iron Barbs". Guess what happens if you attack them with a physical contact move?
* In ''[[Prototype (video game)|Prototype]]'', [[Person of Mass Destruction|Alex]] [[Heroic Sociopath|Mercer]] can use these, as one of the special moves for his claw powers. Giant spikes burst up from the ground, skewering a target. You're immobile while charging the groundspikes up, but early on, it's one of the few attacks that does appreciable damage to hunters and tanks. Then there's the [[Limit Break|Groundspike Graveyard]], a move which skewers anything within a thirty-foot radius with spikes (it works best on armor, but lower-level mooks also die).
* In a case of [[Trailers Always Lie]], the trailer for the game ''[[Portal (series)|Portal]]'' shows a crushing ceiling with spikes lowering when the player crosses the entrance to one of the areas. However, while the crushing ceiling is in this section in the actual game, the spikes are not. There is, however, more than one third-party map for Portal that ''does'' have a spiked crushing ceiling, such as "Hetzchase Nailway".
* Valve's ''[[Portal 2]]'' has them, but in this case the spikes ''are'' realistically deadly because they are on two moving walls with spikes ([[Smashing Hallway Traps of Doom]]), so the spikes still kill you.
* ''[[VVVVVV]]'' - The title [[Visual Pun|tells quite a lot]] about the most common hazard in that game.
* ''The Adventures of Rad Gravity'''s final planet, appropriately named Telos (Greek for "end"), is full of these; on the floor, on the ceiling, on the [[Advancing Wall of Doom]], under the [[Conveyor Belt O' Doom]], a long stretch that has to be crossed with a [[Cast From HP]] item, you name it.
* ''[[Loco Roco]]'' has them in quite a few places. Togeh, togeh!
* The Warriors' Hideout in the arcade version of ''[[Double Dragon]]'' has gargoyle statues with stabbing spears that take off half your HP. There's also spikes on the floor below, although that is treated as a [[Bottomless Pit]].
* The [[Voice with an Internet Connection]] in ''Depict1'' warns you the first time you see spikes that touching them is instant death. {{spoiler|[[I Lied|They do no damage, and you can pick them up and use them as throwing weapons.]]}}
* The ''[[Jumper (video game)|Jumper]]'' series has spikes as just [[The Many Deaths of You|one]] of the ways in which you can die. Naturally for the [[Nintendo Hard|type of game]] it is, there are lots of them.
* ''[[Limbo]]'' has some amounts of them and they look very sharp.
* ''[[Lost Vikings]]'' have large amounts of them in some levels.
* The [[Doomy Dooms of Doom]] part is subverted since Tux is [[Made of Iron]], but the ''[[Tux Racer]]'' courses Path of Daggers, In Search of Vodka, [[Just for Pun|I Like Spike]], and [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|I Like Spike 2]] all feature spikes prominently.
* Spikes are the main cause of death in ''[[Ivy the Kiwi]]'', but can be protected against by stretching vines above them (or below, if they're hanging from the ceiling and you need to pull Ivy upward for some reason).
* In ''[[Achievement Unlocked]]'' it is required to get impaled by all of them in both games to complete every achievement.
* The dungeon specific trap for the Mana Tower in ''[[Children of Mana]]'' are these. Somehow, they are hidden in pots. They also show up in other dungeons, but not in pots.
* ''[[Purple]]'' has three varieties of spikes. Short ones that take away 1HP (like nearly everything else), long ones that kill instantly and short ones that continually retract.
* ''[[Meat Boy]]'' and ''Super Meat Boy'' are filled with Meat Boy-shredding buzzsaws and other such hazards, causing him to explode in a bloody mess on contact. The Dark Stages in ''Super Meat Boy'' are insane about this, as are the ''[[I Wanna Be the Guy]]''-themed bonus levels (naturally).
* ''[[Joe Danger]]'' has stationery spike traps that send him flying if he lands on one, causing you to start over from the last checkpoint (or at the beginning of the race if there are no checkpoints).
* In the latest expansion to ''[[EVE Online]]'', named 'Incursion', the Space-Zombies {AKA Sansha's Nation} has these all over their ships and structures. Well, technically, they're just spikes, but if you see a Sansha Fleet, you're screwed, unless you brought reinforcements. On the upside, though, that's only when they really begin their Incursions. Mission-Running against Sansha is no more dangerous than against the Angel Cartel, Blood Raiders, Serpentis or Guristas... Well, until they start using ECM, Stasis Webifiers AND Warp Scramblers... Which they do a lot. Simultaneously. (Thank CPP for F.O.F. Missiles)
* The level Cozy Cabin in ''[[Kirby's Epic Yarn|Kirbys Epic Yarn]]''.
* [[Everything Trying to Kill You|All over the place]] in ''[[Quake]]'': spike shooters, spike traps that come out of the walls, and spikes on an [[Advancing Wall of Doom]] are common level design elements.
* ''[[A Boy and His Blob]]'', known for [[Everything Is Trying to Kill You]], has a scene where the boy feeds the blob a cola jellybean to turn the blob into a bubble in order to go underwater. If you touch a stalactite or stalagmite, the bubble bursts.
* In ''[[Nethack]]'' (non-bottomless) pit traps often have spikes at the bottom, which merely cause more damage than a normal pit trap rather than causing a [[One-Hit Kill]]. However, the spikes are often coated with poison, which have a chance of causing a [[One-Hit Kill]] if the victim isn't immune to poison.
* ''[[Distorted Travesty]]'' offers plenty of painful spikes. The sequel even manages to force you to ascend a verticle shaft lined with said spikes using wall clinging. And descend through a maze with every platform protruding said spikes. But starting about halfway through the first game the player is introduced to INSTANT DEATH SPIKES. Before long you find yourself facing huge pendulums and other traps made of said instant-death spikes. As may be obvious the game is [[Nintendo Hard]].
* ''[[Aladdin (Capcom)|Aladdin]]'' and ''[[Aladdin (Virgin Games)|Aladdin]]'' both have spike pits in certain stages, but fortunately not instantly deadly ones.
* Some of the spikes in ''[[Cosmos Cosmic Adventure]]'' are stationary, while others continually retract into the walls and then come out again. Most of the spikes can be removed with bombs.
* Even skateboarders aren't safe. Several ''[[Tony Hawks Pro Skater]]'' games had "Punji Pits" in the editor.
* ''[[The Quest of Ki]]'' has spiked floors and ceilings in many levels. As with almost everything else in the game, Ki will die if she touches them.
* ''Little Samson'' has lots of spike-covered surfaces, but Gamm can walk over them without taking damage.
* ''[[Ecco the Dolphin]]'' has sharp spikes protruding from the underwater walls. Guess what happens if you swim too close to them? *cue loud BOKKKK injury sound*
* ''Bio Miracle Bokutte Upa'' has protruding pencil points of pain in its later levels.
* In ''Kick Master'', wearing Magic Boots would protect you if you needed to walk over spiked floors.
* In ''[[Little Nemo the Dream Master]]'', spikes mean instant death. Naturally, it's a [[Capcom]] game.
* ''[[Something]] series''
** Night of Spikes. The only enemy around is the Tick and most of the obstacles are spikes.
** Hell Ship in the Sky has a Spikitu toss Homing Pidgit Bills. Another one joins and makes things worse.
** Spikitu Castles 1+2 in Something Else. Spikitus are the major enemy in this level. They are immune to Luigi's arsenal of tricks.

==  Webcomics ==
* ''[[8-Bit Theater|Eight Bit Theater]]'' tried to [http://www.nuklearpower.com/2006/12/21/episode-785-safety-first/ answer] the Spikes of Doom origin...
* Referenced in an early part of the "video game comic" ''[[Kid Radd]]''. Next level: Sharp Painful Object Land.
* [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0541.html These] [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0542.html two] ''[[The Order of the Stick]]'' strips. The trap is taken ''directly'' from the D&D source book "Dungeonscape" (complete with the acid breathing shark). Only the glass containment was added.
* ''Yamara'' has an obligatory [http://yamara.com/yamaraclassic/index.php?date=2005-06-06 spike pit].
* Parodied in [http://brawlinthefamily.keenspot.com/2009/02/20/141-bluebombervsblueblur/ this] ''[[Brawl in the Family]]'', where Mega Man is killed by touching Sonic's hair spikes.


==  Western Animation ==
* ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'''s episode "The Firebending Masters" features actually a floor that lowers when a tripwire is triggered, revealing the spikes.
* In the 'Popcorn Panic' episode of ''[[The Penguins of Madagascar]]'', the Penguins are pushed towards these by a huge amount of popcorn, prompting Skipper to regret installing the 'decorative' spikes in question.


==  Real Life ==
* There are various man made booby traps used through out the world that really use spikes in a variety of interesting and horrible ways. One of the most well known is the Punji Pit, which the Viet Cong used to trap allied soldiers. Oddly enough, the goal was not [[Impaled with Extreme Prejudice|immediate death by impalement]], but death by ''infection''. They would often rub the tips of the spikes with [[No Dead Body Poops|human feces]].
** The Viet Cong's traps were designed to be somewhat less than lethal so that the enemy would have to evacuate wounded and treat them at a hospital, which they believed to be more damaging to the war effort than simply killing them.
*** There's some truth to that, as it would tie up more soldiers and resources to try to keep a wounded soldier alive than to simply deal with a dead body. Alternatively, the Viet Cong would attack while the other soldiers tried to help the trap's victim.
* In 2008 several spike pit traps were discovered in the forests around the Dutch community of "Helden". The traps contained [http://www.metronieuws.nl/img/1984801410an.png large concrete blocks with metal spikes]{{Dead link}} and were covered in a way that made them nearly undetectable. Two people sustained minor injuries and the suspected culprit was arrested and sentenced a few months later. His motives were never made clear.
* [[Caltrops]] are four spikes arranged so that however you drop one, it will land with one spike pointing up (kinda like the jacks in a game of Pick Up Jacks). The idea is to drop them in the road or in a field somewhere to prevent vehicles or cavalry from operating freely without fear of injury or damage. They were used in the Korean War by the Air Force to cut off roads used by Communist supply lines, so they could come back and bomb the disabled supply vehicles. Pictures of the beaches at Normany show giant caltrops designed to hinder landing craft and tanks. Maybe not immediately threatening, but remember that while you're trying to get around these things or clean them up, you've probably got bad guys opening up with [[More Dakka|machine guns]], [[No Kill Like Overkill|artillery]], and maybe even [[Death From Above|air strikes]] if you're particularly [[Butt Monkey|unblessed in life]].
* This is being tossed around as an idea to ward future Earthlings away from highly radioactive places. Played with, since the spikes would be too massive to be really dangerous (Just foreboding) but the radiation is certainly lethal enough. The idea behind it is that most types of radiation that we generate these days has a half-life a lot longer than [[Eternal English|any language we've ever spoken]]. A "Warning, Radiation" sign would go unheeded if no one can speak English or even read. A giant wall of spikes, however, would certainly act as a [[Shmuck Bait|deterrent]].
* [[wikipedia:File:Radio-frequency-anechoic-chamber-HDR-0a.jpg|Anechoic RF Chambers]] certainly ''look'' that way. Good thing the spikes are actually foam rubber.
* Cypress and mangrove trees have spiky "knee roots" that could potentially impale an unwary explorer.
* Leap Castle in County Offaly, Ireland had one of these in its [[Sealed Room in the Middle of Nowhere|oubliette chamber]]. Prisoners were thrown in, and the "lucky" ones landed on the spike. The not-so-lucky ones simply wasted away from dehydration, starvation, infection, and exposure. ''Three'' large cartloads of human bones were removed from the then-abandoned castle in the 1930's. (Along with a gold watch dated to the 1840's, even though the castle was abandoned at that time.)
* The [[wikipedia:Tsingy de Bemaraha National Park|Tsingy de Bemaraha National Park]] in Madagascar is an entire landscape made of Spikes of Doom. These limestone spikes protrude at all angles, and are exceedingly sharp. As a result, this area is mostly unexplored. One biologist exploring the area stumbled a little, and [[Skyrim|took a spike to the knee]], which prematurely ended his expedition.

{{reflist}}
[[Category:Death Course]]
[[Category:Doomed Tropes]]
[[Category:Video Game Difficulty Tropes]]
[[Category:Death Trap Tropes]]
[[Category:This Index Is in The Way]]
[[Category:Spikes of Doom]]