Trap Door Fail/Playing With

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Basic Trope: A trap door fails at doing its job, and the victim gets stuck, defies physics, or doesn't quite die.

  • Straight: Vick Villain pushes a button, plunging the conviently located Bob into a trap door. Unfortunately for Vick, the opening was too small, and Bob only gets his leg trapped.
  • Exaggerated: Vick pushes the button and the trap door opens...underneath him.
  • Justified: Vick hired contractors who were either half-dead, blind, or both.
  • Inverted: Bob pushes the button for the trap door. It fails, and opens up next to Vick, who laughs, thanking the gods his contractors were so useless.
  • Subverted: The trap door takes Bob without a hitch...
  • Double Subverted: ...then shoots him back out into the room from a different hole after a few seconds.
  • Deconstructed: Vick pushes the button for the trap door. It opens next to Bob, who is charging towards Vick with his sword. Bob avoids the trap, and stabs Vick through the shoulder.
  • Reconstructed: Vick kicks Bob backwards, and Bob falls into the trap door.
  • Zig Zagged: Vick activates his trap door. Bob avoids it. And then falls into another trap door...which shoots him back up through the other one. Still dazed, he maneuvers around the two trap doors, and charges Vick. And falls into another trap door.
  • Averted: The trap door works perfectly.
  • Enforced: "This is the villains' lair. We can't just have the heroes walk through unapposed! Throw in a trap door or two, that'll ratchet up the tension, then we'll drop the tension by making them not work."
  • Lampshaded: "Vick's lair...suprised we haven't fell in any trap doors yet...although they wouldn't really work anyways knowing him."
  • Invoked: "Make it so my trap door fails, I want to see the look on my victim's face...before I pull the true trap door."
  • Exploited: "Vick's trap doors never work, we'll be fine."
  • Defied: ": WHAT ARE YOU DOING!? That trap door is far too small, and to far to the right! DO YOU WANT THE HEROES TO KILL ME!?"
  • Discussed: "Why was that even built like that? You think trap door builders would have a back-up in case this happened."
  • Conversed: "This comedy show is great! Everytime the villain tries to drop the hero in a trap door, it backfires miserably!"

I'm sending you back to Trap Door Fail via my infallible trap door. *Pulls switch* ...Shit, I missed...Could you...Could you just jump in there for me? Thanks.