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* CanonDiscontinuity: The clear BlackAndWhiteMorality of this movie and the fact that all the characters know (more or less) what the Cube is and who runs it notably contradict the Kafkaesque atmosphere of the first movie, in which none of the characters even knew the nature or the origin of the Cube. Not to mention that the first 2 movies heavily imply that they are set in an (otherwise mundane) ThePresentDay, while this ''prequel'' is set in some kind of an obviously futuristic [[BigBrotherIsWatchingYou Orwellian]] [[TheTheocracy theocracy]].
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* ThoseTwoBadGuys: Wynn and Dodd start off this way, and would have remained so if Wynn hadn't tried to take charge of events.
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%%* WhereItAllBegan
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* EatTheEvidence: When Dodd is caught redhanded pulling a vital circuit, he swallows it rather than hand it over to Jax. So Jax blows [[AndIMustScream paralysing gas in his face and cuts him open]].
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* SwallowTheKey: Dodd tears out a power coupling to prevent the villains from killing his colleague Wynn and swallows it when their leader Jax confronts him over this. [[spoiler:Subverted, as Jax simply paralyzes Dodd and personally cuts it out of him.]]
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* SwallowTheKey: Dodd tears out a power coupling to prevent the villains from killing his colleague Wynn and swallows it when their leader Jax confronts him over this. [[spoiler:Subverted, [[spoiler:Subverted as Jax simply paralyzes Dodd and personally sprays paralyzing gas in Dodd's face, then [[AndIMustScream cuts it out of him.him]].]]
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* FoodPills: The technicians seem to be provided only with food pills containing specific meals.
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* FoodPills: The two technicians seem to be provided are sent down a silver service tray in the elevator. When they take off the lid, there's only their written orders and a couple of pills.
-->'''Dodd:''' Ah, good. They didn't forget lunch this time. ''(picks up green pill and reads writing on in)'' Goat-cheese salad withfood pills containing specific meals.ginseng, liver fricassee and mango sorbet. Ew, must be you. ''(hands it to colleague; picks up red pill)'' Steak frites. That's me.
-->'''Dodd:''' Ah, good. They didn't forget lunch this time. ''(picks up green pill and reads writing on in)'' Goat-cheese salad with
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* AcronymConfusion: The C,I,A aren't the people who built the Cube; it's just a labelling system for the rooms (hence the commas). Later someone sees one labelled S,O,S and can only comment, "No kidding!"
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* EatTheEvidence: When Dodd is caught redhanded pulling a vital circuit, he swallows it rather than hand it over to Jax. So Jax blows [[AndIMustScream paralysing gas in his face and cuts him open]].
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* BotheringByTheBook: When Dodd refuses to call upstairs about the lack of consent form in Rain's file, Wynn refuses to assist him with the Exit procedure which can only be done by a qualified technician.
* DreamWalker: Test subjects have their dreams monitored and recorded. In Rain's case this is used to provide HowWeGotHere exposition.
* {{Hellevator}}: The wood-panelled elevator can take you up to the implied luxury of the PowersThatBe, or down to the living hell of the Cube. Incidently anyone who makes it to the exit and fails to believe in God is burnt alive in what's presumably an InUniverse RuleOfSymbolism.
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* ScannableMan: The Cube prisoners have bar codes tattooed onto their arms.
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* ScannableMan: The Given that they're in a future dystopia, the Cube prisoners have the requisite bar codes tattooed onto their arms.on the back of the wrist.
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* BaitAndSwitch
** The first victim triggers a booby trap and is sprayed by liquid. He screams anticipating the AcidBath of the first movie, only to find it's water instead. Then it turns out to be a trap after all when his flesh melts off.
** The prisoners find letters stamped on the room: C,I,A. Aha, the [[UsefulNotes/{{CIA}} Agency]] is [[TheCuckoolanderWasRight behind it all!]] Then it turns out that all the rooms have different letters used to identify them.
** The first victim triggers a booby trap and is sprayed by liquid. He screams anticipating the AcidBath of the first movie, only to find it's water instead. Then it turns out to be a trap after all when his flesh melts off.
** The prisoners find letters stamped on the room: C,I,A. Aha, the [[UsefulNotes/{{CIA}} Agency]] is [[TheCuckoolanderWasRight behind it all!]] Then it turns out that all the rooms have different letters used to identify them.
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* AndYourRewardIsEdible: Jax gives Dodd a food pill as a reward for locating Wynn. Once he's gone, Dodd secretly spits it out in case it's [[CyanidePill another kind of pill]].
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* ArmiesAreEvil: The army consists only of brainwashed {{super soldier}}s who work for the evil government behind the Cube.
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* ArmiesAreEvil: The
* CallBack: Various ones to the first movie.
** The booby-trapped rooms are tested by throwing their boots inside first. The booby-traps themselves include the flamethrowers and folding razor-wire trap.
** In the first movie the conspiracy theorist said that "They" come for you at night. Here it's said the SecretPolice do the same when making people disappear.
** [[spoiler:Wynn's actions and words after he is lobotomized are the same as Kazon in his introduction, implying that he is either the same person, or Kazon was lobotomized rather than handicapped.]]
** The booby-trapped rooms are tested by throwing their boots inside first. The booby-traps themselves include the flamethrowers and folding razor-wire trap.
** In the first movie the conspiracy theorist said that "They" come for you at night. Here it's said the SecretPolice do the same when making people disappear.
** [[spoiler:Wynn's actions and words after he is lobotomized are the same as Kazon in his introduction, implying that he is either the same person, or Kazon was lobotomized rather than handicapped.]]
** Though that doesn't explain how he can be taken down with a GroinAttack.
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* JustFollowingOrders: Dodd has resigned himself to his job of overseeing the deaths of countless people trapped in the Cube by just keeping his head down and obeying the orders sent down to him without question, in the hopes they won't throw him in there as well.
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* JustFollowingOrders: Dodd has resigned himself to his job of overseeing the deaths of countless people trapped in the Cube by just keeping his head down and obeying the orders sent down to him without question, in the hopes they won't throw him in there as well. The trope is later lampshaded by Rain to Wynn.
* NoOneCouldSurviveThat: [[spoiler:When Haskell's bio-chip activated, he screams in pain and apparently falls to his death. The others decide he must be dead and don't go to check in him, only for Haskell to come after them as an ArtificialZombie (though it's not clear if he was OnlyMostlyDead).]]
* RayOfHopeEnding: [[spoiler:Played with when Wynn suggests that Rain escaped and Jax (for once) doesn't have a snappy comeback, implying this is true. Rain then has an ImagineSpot of Rain having found her daughter and hiding in the woods. Wynn himself however ends up back in the Cube as a lobotomized test subject.]]
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* ShootTheShaggyDog: [[spoiler:Rains manages to escape, but will continue to be pursued until recaptured. Wynn is lobotomized and thrown back in the Cube like many Cube "Operators" before him. Everybody else dies except for the villains.]]
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* ShootTheShaggyDog: [[spoiler:Rains manages to escape, but will continue to be pursued until recaptured. Wynn is lobotomized and thrown back in the Cube like many Cube "Operators" before him. Everybody else dies except for the villains.villains and possibly Rain.]]
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* TestedOnHumans: Unlike the other two movies where the purpose of the Cube is only implied to be this trope, this Cube is specifically stated to be used for testing bacteriological and chemical weapons, with sociological testing also going on behind the scenes.
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* TheTheocracy: The omniscient dictatorship controlling the Cube is strongly implied to be a theocracy. "Crimes against country and God" is a notable transgression and anyone who survives the Cube is asked whether they believe in God -- if they answer "No" they are incinerated. No one has ever anwered "Yes".
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* TheTheocracy: The omniscient dictatorship controlling the Cube is strongly implied to be a theocracy. "Crimes against country and God" is a notable transgression and anyone who survives the Cube is asked whether they believe in God -- if they answer "No" they are incinerated. No one has ever anwered "Yes"."Yes" (possibly implying atheists are sent there as a punishment).
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* KillerGameMaster: When Wynn infiltrates the Cube and starts using his knowledge to circumvent the traps, Jax reorganizes the maze so trap rooms completely surround the one he is currently inhabiting.
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* MaliciousMisnaming: Jax keeps deliberately misnaming Dodd with names such as "Mr. Codd", "Mr. Clodd" and "Mr. Wad" to assert his authority and contempt for the 'button guy'. He only adressed him by his proper name when [[spoiler:Dodd shows he's not entirely a coward and purposely sabotages his plans.]]
to:
* MaliciousMisnaming: Jax keeps deliberately misnaming Dodd with names such as "Mr. Codd", "Mr. Clodd" and "Mr. Wad" to assert his authority and contempt for the 'button guy'. He only adressed addresses him by his proper name when [[spoiler:Dodd shows he's not entirely a coward and purposely sabotages his plans.]]
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* WhereItAllBegan
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%%* WhereItAllBegan
*WhereItAllBeganWhyDontYouJustShootHim: Jax is initially content to stack the deck against Wynn when he breaks protocol and infiltrates the Cube, but then he gets a call from upstairs and is told to end it immediately. Jax then orders a purge protocol which seals the doors and turns the current room into an electric death trap. [[spoiler:Dodd interrupts the main power to save Wynn.]]
*
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* YourHeadAsplode: [[spoiler:Meyerhold]]
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* YourHeadAsplode: [[spoiler:Meyerhold]][[spoiler:Meyerhold, courtesy of the BrownNote trap. The rest of his extremities similarly explode and all that's left behind is slightly shredded clothing.]]
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* BrownNote: One of the rooms has sound emitters which cause flesh to instantly and explosively liquefy, like popping a balloon.
* EmptyPilesOfClothing: One of the rooms contains a bunch of bloody piles of clothing. This is because the sound-based trap inside causes the victim to instantly liquefy.
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* ImMelting: A particularely disgusting example happens when a character who appears in the opening minutes gets completely sprayed with some sort of odorlous tissue-eating acid. He initially thinks that it's water, thirstily gulping it down before noticing that his skin turns waxy and starts to flake off.
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* ImMelting: A particularely particularly disgusting example happens when a character who appears in the opening minutes gets completely sprayed with some sort of odorlous odorless tissue-eating acid. He initially thinks that it's water, thirstily gulping it down before noticing that his skin turns waxy and starts to flake off.
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* BigBrotherIsEmployingYou: The two main characters ''are'' the Orwellian observers of the Cube's occupants and perform its day-to-day operations. At the same time they also have people to answer to and are inferred to be under constant surveillance themselves, as their masters throw the technicians into the Cube if they become too much of a nuisance. [[spoiler:This is because the technicians are actually another level of the Cube experiment -- observing the observers and such.]]
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* BigBrotherIsEmployingYou: The two main characters ''are'' the Orwellian observers of the Cube's occupants and perform its day-to-day operations. At the same time they also have people to answer to and are inferred to be under constant surveillance themselves, as their masters throw the technicians into the Cube if they become too much of a nuisance. [[spoiler:This is because the technicians are actually another level of the Cube experiment -- observing the observers and such.]]
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Supertrope-subtrope sorting.
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* {{Downer Ending}}/ShootTheShaggyDog: [[spoiler:Rains manages to escape, but will continue to be pursued until recaptured. Wynn is lobotomized and thrown back in the Cube like many Cube "Operators" before him. Everybody else dies except for the villains.]]
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* ShootTheShaggyDog: [[spoiler:Rains manages to escape, but will continue to be pursued until recaptured. Wynn is lobotomized and thrown back in the Cube like many Cube "Operators" before him. Everybody else dies except for the villains.]]
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Dangerously Genre Savvy is being merged with Genre Savvy. Misuse and zero context examples will be cut.
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* DangerouslyGenreSavvy: The minute Jax shows up onscreen he shows his efficiency in eliminating the entire experiment. When [[spoiler:Dodd]] [[SwallowTheKey swallows an irreplacable power coupling]], Jax simply paralyzes the guy and cuts it out of him. He refuses to accept that the heroes are dead until he can confirm it with his own eyes, figures out that they can reprogram Haskell as a super soldier and sends a military team to capture the escaped heroes even after the clean sweep evaporated everyone still inside the Cube.
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* {{Downer Ending}}/ShootTheShaggyDog: [[spoiler:Rains manages to escape, but will continue to be pursued until recaptured. Wynn is lobotomized and thrown back in the Cube like many Cube "Operators" before him. Everybody else dies except for the villains.]]
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* ShootTheShaggyDog: [[spoiler:Rains manages to escape, but will continue to be pursued until recaptured. Wynn is lobotomized and thrown back in the Cube like many Cube "Operators" before him. Everybody else dies except for the villains.]]
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* ImMelting: The unlucky bastard in the opening enters a room and is sprayed with a substance which he thinks is water, since it is odorless and doesn't do any immediate harm. It takes a minute before his body tissues suddenly begin to dissolve into a bloody pile of bone and liquified guts.
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* ImMelting: The unlucky bastard A particularely disgusting example happens when a character who appears in the opening enters a room and is minutes gets completely sprayed with a substance which he some sort of odorlous tissue-eating acid. He initially thinks is that it's water, since thirstily gulping it is odorless and doesn't do any immediate harm. It takes a minute down before noticing that his body tissues suddenly begin to dissolve into a bloody pile of bone skin turns waxy and liquified guts.starts to flake off.
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Moved examples to individual movie entries.
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* EmptyRoomUntilTheTrap: Averted in the room that kills [[spoiler:Meyerhold]], which still contains the "remains" of multiple people--piles of bloody clothing.
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* GovernmentConspiracy: The proto-Cube seems to be controlled by a future theocratic dictatorship.
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* ShootTheShaggyDog: [[spoiler:Rains manages to escape, but will continue to be pursued until recaptured. Wynn is lobotomized and thrown back in the Cube like many Cube "Operators" before him. Everybody else dies except for the villains.]]
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* {{Gorn}}: The movie opens with a character getting sprayed with a liquid that turns out to be a fast-acting form of necrotizing faciitis. The skin of his hand peels off, and he proceeds to melt into a bloody puddle.
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* {{Gorn}}: The movie opens with a character getting sprayed with a liquid that turns out to be a fast-acting form of necrotizing faciitis. The skin of his hand peels off, and he proceeds to melt into a bloody puddle. The same viral agent also infects several other characters later on, albeit in smaller doses.
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* ZombieInfectee: The Cube controllers use a strain of necrotizing faciitis to kill one of the prisoners. The woman in question infects someone else by scratching a guy's arm before dying herself. He quickly becomes a liability to the other two remaining group members and is forced to test every room from that point on, but the former soldier throws him into a trapped room before he can infect anyone else.
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* RageWithinTheMachine: The two protagonists are a division of a vaguely theocratic government responsible for monitoring the declared enemies of the state who are thrown in the Cube to be experimented on. They're both resigned to their horrifying jobs at first, but one eventually realizes what he is part of and tries to rescue the people inside, only for the scary men from upstairs to come down and track him down.
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* BigBrotherIsWatching: Inverted and played with. The two main characters ''are'' the Orwellian observers of the Cube's occupants and perform its day-to-day operations. At the same time they also have people to answer to and are inferred to be under constant surveillance themselves, as their masters throw the technicians into the Cube if they become too much of a nuisance. [[spoiler:This is because the technicians are actually another level of the Cube experiment -- observing the observers and such.]]
to:
* BigBrotherIsWatching: Inverted and played with. BigBrotherIsWatchingYou: The Cube occupants are covertly monitored by the mysterious controllers of the Cube, but the film plays with this by making the two observers the focus characters.
* BigBrotherIsEmployingYou: The two main characters ''are'' the Orwellian observers of the Cube's occupants and perform its day-to-day operations. At the same time they also have people to answer to and are inferred to be under constant surveillance themselves, as their masters throw the technicians into the Cube if they become too much of a nuisance. [[spoiler:This is because the technicians are actually another level of the Cube experiment -- observing the observers and such.]]
* BigBrotherIsEmployingYou: The two main characters ''are'' the Orwellian observers of the Cube's occupants and perform its day-to-day operations. At the same time they also have people to answer to and are inferred to be under constant surveillance themselves, as their masters throw the technicians into the Cube if they become too much of a nuisance. [[spoiler:This is because the technicians are actually another level of the Cube experiment -- observing the observers and such.]]
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* TheHeavy: Jax is the most palpable human threat in the film as the evil organization's field man who directly cleans up after their experiment goes awry when one of the technicians revolts. He's shown receiving orders over the phone from people higher up in the chain, but they're never seen.
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* DangerouslyGenreSavvy: The minute Jax shows up onscreen he shows his efficiency in eliminating the entire experiment. When Dodd swallows an irreplacable power coupling, Jax simply paralyzes Dodd and cuts it out of him. He refuses to accept that the heroes are dead until he can confirm it with his own eyes, figures out that they can reprogram Haskell as a super soldier and sends a military team to capture the escaped heroes even after the clean sweap evaporated everyone still inside the Cube.
to:
* DangerouslyGenreSavvy: The minute Jax shows up onscreen he shows his efficiency in eliminating the entire experiment. When Dodd [[spoiler:Dodd]] [[SwallowTheKey swallows an irreplacable power coupling, coupling]], Jax simply paralyzes Dodd the guy and cuts it out of him. He refuses to accept that the heroes are dead until he can confirm it with his own eyes, figures out that they can reprogram Haskell as a super soldier and sends a military team to capture the escaped heroes even after the clean sweap sweep evaporated everyone still inside the Cube.Cube.
* ElectronicEyes: Jax lost one of his eyes due a mechanical mishap and had it replaced with a robotic one. It's only a RedRightHand however and he never uses it for superhuman feats.
* ElectronicEyes: Jax lost one of his eyes due a mechanical mishap and had it replaced with a robotic one. It's only a RedRightHand however and he never uses it for superhuman feats.
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* RedemptionEqualsDeath: [[spoiler:After Dodd has aided the Cube puppeteers for a long time and ignored all the people he's been ordered to kill, he helps Wynn escape from the Cube by sabotaging the Cube's power supply. Dodd is murdered by Jax for his troubles.]]
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* RedemptionEqualsDeath: [[spoiler:After Dodd has aided the Cube puppeteers for a long time and ignored all the people he's been ordered to kill, he helps Wynn escape from the Cube by sabotaging the Cube's power supply. supply, knowing that this would mean certain death. Dodd is then murdered by Jax for his troubles.]]
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* SuperSoldier: The government soldiers are implanted with a chip and "reprogrammed" to become the perfect soldier, feeling no pain and obeying orders without question.
* SurpriseCheckmate: Wynn keeps beating Dodd at chess with moves he never anticipated. This is partly explained by Wynn being able to [[AwesomeByAnalysis visualize entire chess games mentally]].
* SwallowTheKey: Dodd tears out a power coupling to prevent the heroes from killing his colleague Wynn and swallows it when the villain Jax confronts him over this. [[spoiler:Subverted, as Jax simply paralyzes Dodd and personally cuts it out.]]
* SurpriseCheckmate: Wynn keeps beating Dodd at chess with moves he never anticipated. This is partly explained by Wynn being able to [[AwesomeByAnalysis visualize entire chess games mentally]].
* SwallowTheKey: Dodd tears out a power coupling to prevent the heroes from killing his colleague Wynn and swallows it when the villain Jax confronts him over this. [[spoiler:Subverted, as Jax simply paralyzes Dodd and personally cuts it out.]]
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* SuperSoldier: The government soldiers are implanted with a chip and "reprogrammed" to become the perfect soldier, feeling no pain pain, getting superhuman strength and obeying orders without question.
* SurpriseCheckmate: Wynn keeps beating Dodd at chess with moves he never anticipated. This is partly explained by Wynn being able to[[AwesomeByAnalysis [[AwesomenessByAnalysis visualize entire chess games mentally]].
* SwallowTheKey: Dodd tears out a power coupling to prevent theheroes villains from killing his colleague Wynn and swallows it when the villain their leader Jax confronts him over this. [[spoiler:Subverted, as Jax simply paralyzes Dodd and personally cuts it out.out of him.]]
* SurpriseCheckmate: Wynn keeps beating Dodd at chess with moves he never anticipated. This is partly explained by Wynn being able to
* SwallowTheKey: Dodd tears out a power coupling to prevent the
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* YouWontFeelAThing: The Cube surgeon at the end falsely assures Wynn that he won't feel anything of the lobotomy they're going to give him. The first thing Wynn does when they cut into his brain is scream out in terror.
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* YouWontFeelAThing: The Cube surgeon at the end falsely assures Wynn that he won't feel anything of the lobotomy {{lobotomy}} they're going to give him. The first thing Wynn does when they cut into his brain is scream out in terror.
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Changed line(s) 41 (click to see context) from:
* RedemptionEqualsDeath:
to:
* RedemptionEqualsDeath: [[spoiler:After Dodd has aided the Cube puppeteers for a long time and ignored all the people he's been ordered to kill, he helps Wynn escape from the Cube by sabotaging the Cube's power supply. Dodd is murdered by Jax for his troubles.]]
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* ArmiesAreEvil: The army consists only of brainwashed {{super soldier}}s who work for the evil government behind the Cube.
* AwesomenessByAnalysis: Wynn has the ability to visualize and rapidly analyze complex systems in his mind. He uses this both to easily win a chess game by calculating all the moves and to figure out a safe route through the Cube when he's inside by mapping all the rooms.
* AwesomenessByAnalysis: Wynn has the ability to visualize and rapidly analyze complex systems in his mind. He uses this both to easily win a chess game by calculating all the moves and to figure out a safe route through the Cube when he's inside by mapping all the rooms.
* BigBrotherIsWatching: Inverted and played with. The two main characters ''are'' the Orwellian observers of the Cube's occupants and perform its day-to-day operations. At the same time they also have people to answer to and are inferred to be under constant surveillance themselves, as their masters throw the technicians into the Cube if they become too much of a nuisance. [[spoiler:This is because the technicians are actually another level of the Cube experiment -- observing the observers and such.]]
* BloodierAndGorier: This movie is noticeably gorier than previous installments, with people being blown up, dissected, burned alive, melted into a bloody puddle or rotting away from a flesh-eating virus onscreen.
* BrainwashedAndCrazy: [[spoiler:Haskell]] is remotely reprogrammed by activating the military chip placed into his brain from when he was a soldier. He tries to kill Wynn and Rains before they escape him.
* BloodierAndGorier: This movie is noticeably gorier than previous installments, with people being blown up, dissected, burned alive, melted into a bloody puddle or rotting away from a flesh-eating virus onscreen.
* BrainwashedAndCrazy: [[spoiler:Haskell]] is remotely reprogrammed by activating the military chip placed into his brain from when he was a soldier. He tries to kill Wynn and Rains before they escape him.
* CondemnedContestant: All the people inside the Cube are condemned criminals who have signed an agreement to be used as lab rats in the Cube. Their crimes are whatever the evil government deems them to be, however. [[spoiler:The Cube technicians are themselves also guinea pigs.]]
* DangerouslyGenreSavvy: The minute Jax shows up onscreen he shows his efficiency in eliminating the entire experiment. When Dodd swallows an irreplacable power coupling, Jax simply paralyzes Dodd and cuts it out of him. He refuses to accept that the heroes are dead until he can confirm it with his own eyes, figures out that they can reprogram Haskell as a super soldier and sends a military team to capture the escaped heroes even after the clean sweap evaporated everyone still inside the Cube.
* DangerouslyGenreSavvy: The minute Jax shows up onscreen he shows his efficiency in eliminating the entire experiment. When Dodd swallows an irreplacable power coupling, Jax simply paralyzes Dodd and cuts it out of him. He refuses to accept that the heroes are dead until he can confirm it with his own eyes, figures out that they can reprogram Haskell as a super soldier and sends a military team to capture the escaped heroes even after the clean sweap evaporated everyone still inside the Cube.
* EvilIsHammy: Michael Riley is completely hamming it up as Jax, the main bad guy the controllers upstairs send down. He's basically an over-the-top caricature who just revels in his evil and is clearly enjoying himself thoroughly.
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* FoodPills: The only foodstuff the technicians seem to be provided with.
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* FoodPills: The only foodstuff the technicians seem to be provided with.only with food pills containing specific meals.
* FauxAffablyEvil: Jax behaves like a jolly enforcer of the government and maintains a pleasant but scornful demeanor while he murders people and hunts down his human lab rats.
* FauxAffablyEvil: Jax behaves like a jolly enforcer of the government and maintains a pleasant but scornful demeanor while he murders people and hunts down his human lab rats.
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* GoodWithNumbers: Wynn. [[spoiler: At the end, he is lobotomized and put in the cube, suggesting that Kazan was once a Cube Technician as well, or even that Kazan actually IS Wynn, since Jax sentanced him to "Two more lifetimes", which would make him the only character to have escaped the cube more than once.]]
to:
* FeelNoPain: The Cube soldiers as part of their programming. After [[spoiler:Haskell]] is 'reactivated', he is impaled on a spike by the escaping heroes and shrugs the injury off. When the Cube then undergoes a clean sweep (every occupant inside being vaporized at once) he looks with bemusement at his scorching hand until he's gone.
* GoodWithNumbers: Wynn. [[spoiler: At the end, he is lobotomized and put in the cube, suggesting that Kazan was once a Cube Technician as well, or even that Kazan actually IS Wynn, since Jaxsentanced sentenced him to "Two more lifetimes", which would make him the only character to have escaped the cube more than once.]]
* GoodWithNumbers: Wynn. [[spoiler: At the end, he is lobotomized and put in the cube, suggesting that Kazan was once a Cube Technician as well, or even that Kazan actually IS Wynn, since Jax
* HeelRealization: Wynn slowly begins to realize that the Cube masters are putting innocent people in the Cube who fall afoul of the state instead of death row inmates. After being forced to carry out his orders to kill one of his former colleagues he turns on them and tries to help the Cube prisoners.
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* LargeHam: The villains, particularly Jax.
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* LargeHam: InstantSedation: Jax paralyzes [[spoiler:Dodd]] by blowing some kind of dust in his face through his pen. The villains, particularly Jax.victim drops to the ground instantly.
-->'''Jax:''' Ooh, instant paralysis. They weren't kidding, were they?
* JustFollowingOrders: Dodd has resigned himself to his job of overseeing the deaths of countless people trapped in the Cube by just keeping his head down and obeying the orders sent down to him without question, in the hopes they won't throw him in there as well.
* KangarooCourt: All the people thrown in the Cube have been selected after show trials condemning them for crimes "against their country and their God", i.e. opposing the dictatorship. Jax even holds a mock trial before Wynn where he just passes down the sentence.
-->'''Jax:''' Ooh, instant paralysis. They weren't kidding, were they?
* JustFollowingOrders: Dodd has resigned himself to his job of overseeing the deaths of countless people trapped in the Cube by just keeping his head down and obeying the orders sent down to him without question, in the hopes they won't throw him in there as well.
* KangarooCourt: All the people thrown in the Cube have been selected after show trials condemning them for crimes "against their country and their God", i.e. opposing the dictatorship. Jax even holds a mock trial before Wynn where he just passes down the sentence.
* LongerThanLifeSentence: At the end, [[spoiler:Wynn]] gets two more life sentences added to his ''existing'' sentence.
* MaliciousMisnaming: Jax keeps deliberately misnaming Dodd with names such as "Mr. Codd", "Mr. Clodd" and "Mr. Wad" to assert his authority and contempt for the 'button guy'. He only adressed him by his proper name when [[spoiler:Dodd shows he's not entirely a coward and purposely sabotages his plans.]]
* MindControlEyes: The mind-controlled soldiers have green eyes whenever they're "activated".
* OhCrap: Dodd hears the elevator outside moving a short while after Wynn left to abandon his post and enter the Cube. With relief Dodd calls him out as a stupid jackass, only to stand face to face with the Orwellian guys from upstairs running the Cube. His expression should be obvious.
* PunchClockVillain: The Cube technicians are tasked with running a giant death maze as part of their permanent jobs. Their affection varies: one is sickened by everything he sees and questions their authorities while the other one is paranoid about ending up in there himself and keeps his head down. Quite literally in fact -- Dodd actually clocks out when he signs off and goes to sleep.
* RedemptionEqualsDeath:
* MaliciousMisnaming: Jax keeps deliberately misnaming Dodd with names such as "Mr. Codd", "Mr. Clodd" and "Mr. Wad" to assert his authority and contempt for the 'button guy'. He only adressed him by his proper name when [[spoiler:Dodd shows he's not entirely a coward and purposely sabotages his plans.]]
* MindControlEyes: The mind-controlled soldiers have green eyes whenever they're "activated".
* OhCrap: Dodd hears the elevator outside moving a short while after Wynn left to abandon his post and enter the Cube. With relief Dodd calls him out as a stupid jackass, only to stand face to face with the Orwellian guys from upstairs running the Cube. His expression should be obvious.
* PunchClockVillain: The Cube technicians are tasked with running a giant death maze as part of their permanent jobs. Their affection varies: one is sickened by everything he sees and questions their authorities while the other one is paranoid about ending up in there himself and keeps his head down. Quite literally in fact -- Dodd actually clocks out when he signs off and goes to sleep.
* RedemptionEqualsDeath:
* ScannableMan: The Cube prisoners have bar codes tattooed onto their arms.
* SuperSoldier: The government soldiers are implanted with a chip and "reprogrammed" to become the perfect soldier, feeling no pain and obeying orders without question.
* SurpriseCheckmate: Wynn keeps beating Dodd at chess with moves he never anticipated. This is partly explained by Wynn being able to [[AwesomeByAnalysis visualize entire chess games mentally]].
* SwallowTheKey: Dodd tears out a power coupling to prevent the heroes from killing his colleague Wynn and swallows it when the villain Jax confronts him over this. [[spoiler:Subverted, as Jax simply paralyzes Dodd and personally cuts it out.]]
* TheTheocracy: The omniscient dictatorship controlling the Cube is strongly implied to be a theocracy. "Crimes against country and God" is a notable transgression and anyone who survives the Cube is asked whether they believe in God -- if they answer "No" they are incinerated. No one has ever anwered "Yes".
* SurpriseCheckmate: Wynn keeps beating Dodd at chess with moves he never anticipated. This is partly explained by Wynn being able to [[AwesomeByAnalysis visualize entire chess games mentally]].
* SwallowTheKey: Dodd tears out a power coupling to prevent the heroes from killing his colleague Wynn and swallows it when the villain Jax confronts him over this. [[spoiler:Subverted, as Jax simply paralyzes Dodd and personally cuts it out.]]
* TheTheocracy: The omniscient dictatorship controlling the Cube is strongly implied to be a theocracy. "Crimes against country and God" is a notable transgression and anyone who survives the Cube is asked whether they believe in God -- if they answer "No" they are incinerated. No one has ever anwered "Yes".
* TranquillizerDart: The soldiers shoot tranq darts at the escaping prisoners, as their mission is retrieval, not elimination.
* UnusualUserInterface: The advanced programmers from upstairs use an alternate keyboard connected to their mechanical gloves to use the Cube's operating systems much more efficiently.
* UnusualUserInterface: The advanced programmers from upstairs use an alternate keyboard connected to their mechanical gloves to use the Cube's operating systems much more efficiently.
* {{Wingdinglish}}: The Cube computer systems and written orders use both the latin alphabet and a strange alien one to display English. The characters can read both just fine.
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* YouWontFeelAThing: The Cube surgeon at the end falsely assures Wynn that he won't feel anything of the lobotomy they're going to give him. The first thing Wynn does when they cut into his brain is scream out in terror.
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''Cube Zero'' is a 2004 Canadian science fiction/horror film.
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''Cube Zero'' is a 2004 Canadian science fiction/horror film.
film and the third film in the ''Film/{{Cube}}'' series, although it's a prequel to the original.
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[[quoteright:300:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cube_zero_7244.jpg]]
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Crosswicking.
* EvilStoleMyFaith: At the end of the titular DeathTrap filled labyrinth any survivors are asked if they believe in God. If they say "no", the Cube's operators press a button marked "No" which causes the survivor to be incinerated. When the new operator asks what the button marked "Yes" does, the other much older operator says ''he doesn't know'': ''no one'' has ever said "Yes".
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* IdiotSavant: Creepily hinted at with [[spoiler:Wynn]] as having become this at the end. He's lobotimized, thrown back in the Cube, and found by some other prisoners, mirroring Kazan's introducion. The last shot of the film settles on his tapping fingers as a computer interface is softly heard in the background...
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* IdiotSavant: Creepily hinted at with [[spoiler:Wynn]] as having become this at the end. He's lobotimized, thrown back in the Cube, and found by some other prisoners, mirroring Kazan's introducion.introduction. The last shot of the film settles on his tapping fingers as a computer interface is softly heard in the background...
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* {{Lobotomy}}: A man who managed to escape the Cube was recaptured by the people running the Cube project and given a lobotomy, and put back in the Cube.
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* WorldLimitedToThePlot: Averted, where the Cube is shown to basically be a last-chance experimentation chamber for death-row prisoners. [[spoiler:At least until one of the operators helps someone escape and ends up with a forged "confession" and a lobotomy before getting thrown in himself, with heavy hints throughout that that's basically how ''everyone'' ended up in there. Then we find out that what we see in the prequel is basically a first generation prototype compared to the later Cubes, which seem to have less and less of a plausible reason to exist.]]
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* TheBadGuyWins: [[spoiler:Jax and the other villains win. Wynn is lobotomized and thrown back in the cube, and Rains is on the run until she'll be recaptured. Everybody else dies.]]
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* TheBadGuyWins: [[spoiler:Jax and the other villains win. Wynn is lobotomized and thrown back in the cube, cube and Rains is on the run until she'll be recaptured. Everybody else dies.]]
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* IdiotSavant: [[spoiler:Creepily hinted at with Wynn as having become this at the end. He's lobotimized, thrown back in the Cube, and found by some other prisoners, mirroring Kazan's introducion. The last shot of the film settles on his tapping fingers as a computer interface is softly heard in the background...]]
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* IdiotSavant: [[spoiler:Creepily Creepily hinted at with Wynn [[spoiler:Wynn]] as having become this at the end. He's lobotimized, thrown back in the Cube, and found by some other prisoners, mirroring Kazan's introducion. The last shot of the film settles on his tapping fingers as a computer interface is softly heard in the background...]]
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''Cube Zero'' is a 2004 Canadian science fiction/horror film.
Two technicians, Wynn and Dodd, are observing the occupants of another Cube. Having to oversee all the deaths inside on a daily basis, they're both resigned to their permanent jobs and afraid of ending up in there themselves. Things change when Wynn becomes interested in one of the captives and discovers that her use as a lab rat wasn't properly authorized. He heads down to the lower levels to help them, upon which the higher-ups in charge of the Cube project send down their own team to extract Wynn.
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!!This film provides examples of:
* TheBadGuyWins: [[spoiler:Jax and the other villains win. Wynn is lobotomized and thrown back in the cube, and Rains is on the run until she'll be recaptured. Everybody else dies.]]
* BunnyEarsLawyer: Jax is very effective at his work, but has a highly unusual personality.
* EpisodeZeroTheBeginning
* FoodPills: The only foodstuff the technicians seem to be provided with.
* FateWorseThanDeath: [[spoiler:By the end, staying in or around the cube becomes this to Wynn. He actually tries to get himself executed by making it clear that he chooses death over the cube, but he doesn't get a choice in the matter - he already waived this right a long time ago, which he simply doesn't remember. He's lobotomized and thrown back in]].
* GoodWithNumbers: Wynn. [[spoiler: At the end, he is lobotomized and put in the cube, suggesting that Kazan was once a Cube Technician as well, or even that Kazan actually IS Wynn, since Jax sentanced him to "Two more lifetimes", which would make him the only character to have escaped the cube more than once.]]
* {{Gorn}}: The movie opens with a character getting sprayed with a liquid that turns out to be a fast-acting form of necrotizing faciitis. The skin of his hand peels off, and he proceeds to melt into a bloody puddle.
* IdiotSavant: [[spoiler:Creepily hinted at with Wynn as having become this at the end. He's lobotimized, thrown back in the Cube, and found by some other prisoners, mirroring Kazan's introducion. The last shot of the film settles on his tapping fingers as a computer interface is softly heard in the background...]]
* ImMelting: The unlucky bastard in the opening enters a room and is sprayed with a substance which he thinks is water, since it is odorless and doesn't do any immediate harm. It takes a minute before his body tissues suddenly begin to dissolve into a bloody pile of bone and liquified guts.
* LargeHam: The villains, particularly Jax.
* RedRightHand: Jax has a cybernetic implant fitted where his right eye used to be. It's never shown or explained what abilities it gives him; it's only ever used to identify him as a villain and explain his hatred for machines via a NoodleIncident.
* SmartPeoplePlayChess: Wynn is prominently shown playing chess with Dodd and beating him at every turn, to show off his advanced mental faculties.
* TomatoInTheMirror: [[spoiler:After Wynn is captured at the end, Jax reveals that Wynn is NOT an employee overseeing the cube. He's just as much a lab rat as the Cube residents, as another layer of the Cube experiment to "observe the observers". So were his colleagues. He can't even choose execution over staying in the cube, as he already waived this right long ago... he simply doesn't remember because the real operators removed this information from his mind.]]
* TheVirus: Another strain of necrotizing faciitis is injected into a character, who, in her death throes, claws at another character, which infects him with the same condition.
* WhereItAllBegan
* YourHeadAsplode: [[spoiler:Meyerhold]]
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Two technicians, Wynn and Dodd, are observing the occupants of another Cube. Having to oversee all the deaths inside on a daily basis, they're both resigned to their permanent jobs and afraid of ending up in there themselves. Things change when Wynn becomes interested in one of the captives and discovers that her use as a lab rat wasn't properly authorized. He heads down to the lower levels to help them, upon which the higher-ups in charge of the Cube project send down their own team to extract Wynn.
----
!!This film provides examples of:
* TheBadGuyWins: [[spoiler:Jax and the other villains win. Wynn is lobotomized and thrown back in the cube, and Rains is on the run until she'll be recaptured. Everybody else dies.]]
* BunnyEarsLawyer: Jax is very effective at his work, but has a highly unusual personality.
* EpisodeZeroTheBeginning
* FoodPills: The only foodstuff the technicians seem to be provided with.
* FateWorseThanDeath: [[spoiler:By the end, staying in or around the cube becomes this to Wynn. He actually tries to get himself executed by making it clear that he chooses death over the cube, but he doesn't get a choice in the matter - he already waived this right a long time ago, which he simply doesn't remember. He's lobotomized and thrown back in]].
* GoodWithNumbers: Wynn. [[spoiler: At the end, he is lobotomized and put in the cube, suggesting that Kazan was once a Cube Technician as well, or even that Kazan actually IS Wynn, since Jax sentanced him to "Two more lifetimes", which would make him the only character to have escaped the cube more than once.]]
* {{Gorn}}: The movie opens with a character getting sprayed with a liquid that turns out to be a fast-acting form of necrotizing faciitis. The skin of his hand peels off, and he proceeds to melt into a bloody puddle.
* IdiotSavant: [[spoiler:Creepily hinted at with Wynn as having become this at the end. He's lobotimized, thrown back in the Cube, and found by some other prisoners, mirroring Kazan's introducion. The last shot of the film settles on his tapping fingers as a computer interface is softly heard in the background...]]
* ImMelting: The unlucky bastard in the opening enters a room and is sprayed with a substance which he thinks is water, since it is odorless and doesn't do any immediate harm. It takes a minute before his body tissues suddenly begin to dissolve into a bloody pile of bone and liquified guts.
* LargeHam: The villains, particularly Jax.
* RedRightHand: Jax has a cybernetic implant fitted where his right eye used to be. It's never shown or explained what abilities it gives him; it's only ever used to identify him as a villain and explain his hatred for machines via a NoodleIncident.
* SmartPeoplePlayChess: Wynn is prominently shown playing chess with Dodd and beating him at every turn, to show off his advanced mental faculties.
* TomatoInTheMirror: [[spoiler:After Wynn is captured at the end, Jax reveals that Wynn is NOT an employee overseeing the cube. He's just as much a lab rat as the Cube residents, as another layer of the Cube experiment to "observe the observers". So were his colleagues. He can't even choose execution over staying in the cube, as he already waived this right long ago... he simply doesn't remember because the real operators removed this information from his mind.]]
* TheVirus: Another strain of necrotizing faciitis is injected into a character, who, in her death throes, claws at another character, which infects him with the same condition.
* WhereItAllBegan
* YourHeadAsplode: [[spoiler:Meyerhold]]
----
