History Main / LockedOutOfTheFight

* ''BaldursGate'' does this a couple of times, too. Although most of the time you can [[GameBreaker circumvent]] the rule somewhat by buffing the protagonist up before the encounter in question begins.

* During one battle of the Dark Tournament in ''YuYuHakusho'', some finagling by those in charge locked Hiei and Genkai out of one round, leaving Team Urameshi with three people (one critically wounded). They still won, in part due to Kuwabara earning a CrowningMomentOfAwesome.

* At the climax of the ComicBook/{{Inferno}} storyline in ComicBook/{{X-Men}}, the mansion blows up, leaving only Longshot conscious to face Sinister and Polaris. A bit of an aversion though, as Longshot was not the main focus of the story arc; though it was a natural extension of his luck-based powers he would be standing after an explosion. The other X-Men wake up one by one during the battle and join in, leading to a ThisIsSomethingHesGotToDoHimself showdown between Cyclops and Sinister.
* This happens twice near the end of the ''Reign of the Supermen'' part of the DeathAndReturnOfSuperman storyline. The first instance traps Superman and Steel separated from the Matrix Supergirl and forced to face Mongul alone. The second, Superman purposely seals himself, Eradicator and the Cyborg Superman in the Engine Room of Engine City to protect Supergirl, Superboy, Steel and Hal Jordan from Kryptonite Poisoning.

* In the final fight of ''StarWars: Episode I'', Obi-Wan is cut off from the fight between Qui-Gon and Darth Maul by some ominously glowing force-fields, and as such, can't help.
** Obi-Wan gets locked out again in ''Episode III'' when Dooku knocks him out and crushes him under a platform.
* Clint Eastwood movie ''GranTorino''.

* In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndThePhilosophersStone'', the challenges require both Ron and Hermione to stay behind, leaving only Harry to actually reach the stone and fight for it.

** And in book 4, where Harry has to go it alone as the contestant in the Tri-Wizard Tournament.

* In ''KingdomHearts 1'': When Sora is rushing up the stairs to fight Riku/Ansem in Hollow Bastion, he passes the top of the stairs safely but Goofy (and shortly afterwards, [[DonaldDuck Donald]]) are blocked out from the arena by an invisible wall. The same thing happens when he fights some of the end-game bosses. What the hell, this trope is used ''every time'' Sora fights alone in the series

* Repeatedly abused in ''StarWars: KnightsOfTheOldRepublic''. Not only with doors and things, but even a special CutScenePowerToTheMax force power that some bosses use to literally paralyze everyone in the party other than you.

* The final battle in ''PlanescapeTorment'' begins this way with the Nameless One being separated from his entire party upon entering the Fortress of Regrets and eventually arriving to find the BigBad [[spoiler: standing over the bodies of the party members that he had slain in the meantime.]] You can choose to face him alone or trick him into leaving for just long enough for you to [[spoiler: resurrect the entire party!]]. Or just talk him down.

** Arguably, VideoGame/MegaManZero does this as well when the three Guardians only show up after Zero has beaten the three forms of Omega.

* ''StarCraft'' the Arbiter's Stasis ability (and the Mothership's Vortex in the sequel) will disable a group of enemies for a time, preventing them from attacking or being attacked. This lets you lock half the enemies out of the fight while you kill the other half.

* In the WesternAnimation/{{ReBoot}} episode, "Game Over", [=AndrAIa=] and Frisket trapped behind stained-glass while Enzo fights against the user in a Franchise/MortalKombat parody.

** Having your Spies disable enemy teleporters can invoke this in TeamFortress2. The extra 20-30 seconds it takes to walk to the frontline rather than teleport there can guarantee the opposition control over a contested point.

** LeagueOfLegends has different types of crowd-control abilities, designed to disable certain members of the enemy team to stop them fighting back. Veigar has one move that drops a ring near him, stunning anyone who walks into the sides. [[DefiedTrope This doesn't stop ranged attacks.]]

See also InTheEndYouAreOnYourOwn, DeusExitMachina, and RearWindowWitness.

* In EndOfEvangelion, Asuka fights the Mass Production Evangelions alone, as [[spoiler: Shinji is kept from participating as Unit 01 is covered in the cement-like substance bakelite]]. This does not end well for Asuka, and when [[spoiler: Unit 01 finally goes into berserk mode, Shinji arrives just in time to see Asuka being eaten, causing him to snap and trigger TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt.]] Of course FanDumb has [[spoiler: Shinji just moping around during the battle.]]
* In the finale of the first ''RecordOfLodossWar'' OVA, Parn's allies are forced to hold off monsters one by one, leaving him to fight the BigBad one-on-one.

* Self-Imposed and then averted on ''Series/{{Firefly}}''. Wash (yes, Wash!) is about to shoot the guy who's beating Mal to a pulp, when Zoe stops him with, "This is something he needs to do for himself." Mal objects: "No it isn't!" "Oh." They shoot the bad guy.

* [[spoiler: The final boss battle]] in Xenosaga 2

* In [[VideoGame/GoldenSun Golden Sun: The Lost Age]], Agatio and Karst make use of one of Jupiter Lighthouse's traps to separate Mia (who they believed would be their most dangerous opponent, due to her [[ShootTheMedicFirst healing magic]] and [[ElementalRockPaperScissors Mercury Psynergy]]) from the rest of the group. Garet ends up falling in as well, leaving Isaac and Ivan to fight Agatio and Karst two-on-two.

* Inverted and invoked in ''Literature/GrandmasterOfTheft''. [[GuileHero Cassidy Cain]] uses this as a strategy to isolate [[SmugSnake Narcissa Richmond]] away from her private military contractors and deal with herself.

* In ''[[FateStayNight Unlimited Blade Works]]'', during the battle at Kotomine Church, Tohsaka Rin and Saber are kept from participating in the battle between Shirou and Archer due to Archer summoning [[{{BFS}} oversized swords]] which prevent them from moving.

* In ''DigimonAdventure02,'' the season one gang has been back in action for a while, but ThePowersThatBe wanted the new kids to fight their own battle in the GrandFinale. This is achieved by having the dimension gate everyone is charging to close after the season two kids are through but the season one kids aren't. The old guard must watch from the sidelines.

* The final battle in ''PlanescapeTorment'' begins this way with the Nameless One being separated from his entire party upon entering the Fortress of Regrets and eventually arriving to find the BigBad [[spoiler: standing over the bodies of the party members that he had slain in the meantime.]] You can choose to face him alone or trick him into leaving for just long enough for you to [[spoiler: resurrect the entire party!]]

* The MegaManX series loves this trope. In X2 and X3 notably, Zero will arrive in the last level, declare he is 'Going ahead to destroy the core.' and will 'catch up to you later.' Also mentioned in the X5 intro stage and after the final battle.
** Arguably, MegaManZero does this as well when the three Guardians only show up after Zero has beaten the three forms of Omega.

* Villainous example in ''GirlsUndPanzer'': Miho's final plan negates Kuromorimine's numerical superiority by having a heavy tank block the entrance to a closed courtyard after she and Maho's flag-tank have entered (knocking out the opposing flag-tank is an InstantWinCondition). It buys her enough time to decide the match [[DuelsDecideEverything one-on-one]] rather than being overwhelmed by multiple opponents and knocked out.

* As the climactic battle of ''WhateverHappenedToTheManOfTomorrow'' approaches, several of Superman's fellow heroes arrive to help, but are kept away by a ForceField until it's all over.

* This is kind of what happened during the big battle in ''TheLionTheWitchAndTheWardrobe'', which is described from the perspective of Susan and Lucy who did not take part in it like their brothers did.
* For a stretch at the end of JimButcher's Literature/TheDresdenFiles novel ''Literature/FoolMoon''.

* Self-Imposed and then averted on ''{{Firefly}}''. Wash (yes, Wash!) is about to shoot the guy who's beating Mal to a pulp, when Zoe stops him with, "This is something he needs to do for himself." Mal objects: "No it isnt!!!" "Oh." They shoot the bad guy.

* Villainous example in ''GirlsUndPanzer'': Miho's final plan negates Kuromorimine's numerical superiority by having a heavy tank block the entrance to a closed courtyard after she and the opposing flag-tank have entered. It buys her enough time to decide the match [[DuelsDecideEverything one-on-one]] rather than being overwhelmed by multiple opponents and knocked out.

* In ''Fanfic/KyonBigDamnHero'', during Kyon and Haruhi's (and later [[MagicalGirl Nonoko's]]) fight with [[HalfLife the Combine]], Koizumi is unable to join because he cannot enter Kuyou's [[PhantomZone shadow song]], and Nagato has to stay in the club room to stall Emiri.

** The first time is in the ''Mass Effect 2'' DLC ''Lair of the Shadow Broker'', where the final confrontation starts with the titular character hurling a big chunk of furniture at the group. Shepard pushes Liara (who's a special party member for that DLC only) out of the way, but the other party member will be struck by it and conveniently knocked unconscious for the duration of the fight. Justified if the third party member is one of the squishier characters like Tali, Mordin, or Jack, less justified when used against tougher party members like Jacob or Garrus, and flat out silly if the third party member is [[MadeOfIron Grunt]].

* Shows up a few times in the MassEffect games. The first time is in the Mass Effect 2 DLC Lair of the Shadow Broker, where the final confrontation starts with the titular character hurling a big chunk of furniture at the group. Shepard pushes Liara (who's a special party member for that DLC only) out of the way, but the other party member will be struck by it and conveniently knocked unconscious for the duration of the fight. Justified if the third party member is one of the squishier characters like Tali, Mordin, or Jack, less justified when used against tougher party members like Jacob or Garrus, and flat out silly if the third party member is [[MadeOfIron Grunt]].
** It also shows up in Mass Effect 3 when fighting the Reaper on Rannoch, as Shepard is stuck on a ledge away from the other party members. Here it's much more justified and given that infantry weapons are completely useless against a Reaper to begin with (Shepard is using a targeting laser to call fire from orbiting ships) the other teammates wouldn't have been any help to begin with.

** Harry himself gets locked out near the end of ''HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince'' when Dumbledore uses a silent spell to immobilize Harry while the face-off with the Death Eaters occurs. Harry realizes the Dumbledore really is dead when he finds he can move again, meaning that the person who cast the spell is dead.