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Spikes of Doom: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
[[File:spikesofdoombetter_6790.jpg|link=Jo
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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
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]].
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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 ==
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* The infamous [[Nintendo Hard]] game ''[[Battletoads (Video 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
* ''[[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.
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* In a rare JRPG example, ''[[Final Fantasy VII (Video Game)|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 (Video Game)|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
* In ''Keith Courage In Alpha Zones'', touching spikes is [[One
* ''[[Knytt]]'' has crystal-like spikes in the eastmost area of the game.
* ''[[La-Mulana (Video 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|Wall Jumps]]; 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.
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** [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 [[
* 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.
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* In ''[[Eversion (Video Game)|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 (Video Game)|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
* 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.
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* Valve's ''[[Portal 2 (Video Game)|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 (Video Game)|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]].
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* [[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 (Video Game)|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
* ''[[Distorted Travesty (Video Game)|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 (Video Game)|Aladdin Capcom]]'' and ''[[Aladdin Virgin Games (Video Game)|Aladdin Virgin Games]]'' both have spike pits in certain stages, but fortunately not instantly deadly ones.
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== Webcomics ==
* ''[[
* 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 (Webcomic)|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.
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