History Main / NPCRoadblock

** In ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon'' along with the sequels, a Stoutland-riding NPC in Heahea City keeps you from accessing half of the city because he's searching for items and refuses to let you pass until he's done. Defeating Lana's trial grants access to the rest of the city ... only for the NPC to now block off the exit to Hano Grand Resort. Clearing Olivia's Grand Trial finally moves the NPC to Hano Beach itself, no longer obstructing the path, where he [[WelcomeToCorneria repeats the same line]] about him and Stoutland trying to find the hidden treasures on the beach (which he will never do, as the items respawn constantly there). Later, Hau blocks the fastest route to Professor Kukui by standing on a bridge and looking around for the professor (who's maybe thirty feet away), forcing you to walk around the entire outer edge of the park to reach him.

** In ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon'' along with the sequels, an Stoutland-riding NPC in Heahea City keeps you from accessing half of the city because he's searching for items and refuses to let you pass until he's done. Defeating Lana's trial grants access to the rest of the city ... only for the NPC to now block off the exit to Hano Grand Resort. Clearing Olivia's Grand Trial finally moves the NPC to Hano Beach itself, no longer obstructing the path, where he [[WelcomeToCorneria repeats the same line]] about him and Stoutland trying to find the hidden treasures on the beach (which he will never do, as the items respawn constantly there). Later, Hau blocks the fastest route to Professor Kukui by standing on a bridge and looking around for the professor (who's maybe thirty feet away), forcing you to walk around the entire outer edge of the park to reach him.

** In ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon'' along with the sequels, an NPC in Heahea City keeps you from accessing half of the city because he's searching for items and refuses to let you pass until he's done. Later, Hau blocks the fastest route to Professor Kukui by standing on a bridge and looking around for the professor (who's maybe thirty feet away), forcing you to walk around the entire outer edge of the park to reach him.

** Justified in most instances in ''VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield'', as the people blocking your way forward will almost always be Team Yell Grunts. Their mission is to slow down every Gym Challenger except for Marnie, which means they will prevent ''you'' from progressing until certain event flags trigger that cause them to go away...after which they will obstruct your path again a little bit further down. It also explains why other characters can freely travel about--they allow non-Challengers to pass through. Notably, after defeating Team Yell's leader, [[spoiler:Piers]], Team Yell Grunts stop blocking your path. Other cases do pop up unrelated to Team Yell, however. For example, as shown in the page image, after you get your starter Pokemon, a herd of Wooloo fall asleep in the middle of the road to force the player to go with Hop into the Slumbering Weald, and will only wake up after Zacian/Zamazenta is encountered for the first time.

** Justified in most instances in ''VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield'', as the people blocking your way forward will almost always be Team Yell Grunts. Their mission is to slow down every Gym Challenger except for Marnie, which means they will prevent ''you'' from progressing until certain event flags trigger that cause them to go away...after which they will obstruct your path again a little bit further down. It also explains why other characters can freely travel about--they allow non-Challengers to pass through. Notably, after defeating Team Yell's leader, [[spoiler:Piers]], Team Yell Grunts stop blocking your path. Other cases do pop up unrelated to Team Yell, however. For example, as shown in the page image, after you get your starter Pokemon, a herd of Wooloo fall asleep in the middle of the road to force the player to go with Hau into the Slumbering Weald, and will only wake up after Zacian/Zamazenta is encountered for the first time.

--> '''"Die House"''', ''VideoGame/{{Cuphead}}''

* ''VideoGame/BaldisBasicsInEducationAndLearning'' has It’s A Bully, who will block off hallways unless the player gives him an item, a rare case of the NPC in question being movable.

** Justified in most instances in ''VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield'', as the people blocking your way forward will almost always be Team Yell Grunts. Their mission is to slow down every Gym Challenger except for Marnie, which means they will prevent ''you'' from progressing until certain event flags trigger that cause them to go away...after which they will obstruct your path again a little bit further down. It also explains why other characters can freely travel about--they allow non-Challengers to pass through. Notably, after defeating Team Yell's leader, [[spoiler:Piers]], Team Yell Grunts stop blocking your path. Other cases do pop up unrelated to Team Yell, however, For example, as shown in the page image, after you get your starter Pokemon, a herd of Wooloo fall asleep in the middle of the road to force the player to go with Hau into the Slumbering Weald, and will only wake up after Zacian/Zamazenta is encountered for the first time.

** Justified in most instances in ''VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield'', as the people blocking your way forward will almost always be Team Yell Grunts. Their mission is to slow down every Gym Challenger except for Marnie, which means they will prevent ''you'' from progressing until certain event flags trigger that cause them to go away...after which they will obstruct your path again a little bit further down. It also explains why other characters can freely travel about--they allow non-Challengers to pass through. Notably, after defeating Team Yell's leader, [[spoiler:Piers]], Team Yell Grunts stop blocking your path.

** In ''VideoGame/PokemonPlatinum'', once you defeat Crasher Wake and have the ability to surf, trade a Pokémon with one that already knows Surf, then head straight to Canalave City before actually getting the HM for Surf (You need to do a quest to get to Celestic Town, which is where the HM is located), [[DevelopersForesight two battling trainers will be blocking the way, preventing you from getting into Canalave City]].

** In ''VideoGame/PokemonPlatinum'', once you defeat Crasher Wake and have the ability to surf, trade a Pokémon that knows Surf, then head straight to Canalave City before actually getting the HM for Surf (You need to do a quest to get to Celestic Town, which is where the HM is located), [[DevelopersForesight two battling trainers will be blocking the way, preventing you from getting into Canalave City]].

* AffectionateParody UsefulNotes/RPGMaker game ''VideoGame/JaysJourney'' has a guard that is rigged to only walk back and forth through a narrow corridor (which is a shortcut out of the area that was accessible earlier in the game). When Jay speaks to this guard, he tells the guard to move... but is only met with [[WelcomeToCorneria a single useless phrase over and over again]].

* In the ''Anime/{{Hamtaro}}'' game, ''Ham-Hams Unite!'' for UsefulNotes/GameBoyColor, in one level, there's a hole you need to get through to get Cappy, but there's this one hamster who gets in the way and won't let you through, because he's "scared".

* ''VideoGame/Pentiment'': On the first day, a number of the Bauer family's escaped sheep have flooded into town, blocking Andreas from exploring most of it. (This is to make sure he goes straight to the monastery instead of wandering.)

* In ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaV3KillingHarmony'', after her laboratory becomes available in Chapter 2, Maki stands guard outside and refuses to let anyone enter because if they saw what's inside, her real talent would be revealed.

* Often happened unintentionally in ''VideoGame/{{Marathon}}'' thanks to the terrible AI of the friendly NPC "[=BOBs=]". The developers had this to say on the subject: "BOB jam? [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential Apply grenades liberally!]]"

* Subverted in Beast's Castle in ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII''. The wardrobe is standing in front of a door. You can push her out of the way, but if you wake her up doing so she'll complain and move back into position. Move her fully out of the way and then she'll wake up and engage you in a friendly chat.
* ''[[VideoGame/TrailsSeries The Legend of Heroes - Trails]]'': [=NPCs=] throughout the series occasionally stand by to prevent passage towards a major area until that location becomes available for exploration.

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[[quoteright:350:[[VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/wooloo_9.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Don't try to walk through those gaps either. Your footsteps will wake them up.]]

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* In ''VideoGame/SoulBlazer'', a mole in [=GreenWood=] won't budge from in front of another mole until you give him a ribbon that belonged to his beloved. Once you do so, he literally vanishes; the "trapped" mole explains that he was a ghost and had no idea what had happened to him before giving you the Shield Bracelet.

* Nearly the entirety of ''VideoGame/KaoTheKangaroo Round 2'' revolves around collecting enough coins to bribe the guard who is blocking the way to the BigBad's ship. If you try to walk by without paying, he shoves you away. No, you cannot just knock him out, [[GameplayAndStorySegregation even though throughout the game you defeat lots of other mooks like him with no problem]].

* A RunningGag in the ''VideoGame/TouhouMother'' crossover are the "ants at your feet", which block paths for plot reasons. The player characters refuse to step on them because that would kill them (they don't seem to think of stepping ''over'' the ants... or [[ForgotICouldFly flying]]). This is {{Lampshaded}} repeatedly throughout the game, such as when they are found in a building ("What? Here? Get back to the forest!") or when they give you a gift near the end for being kind enough to never step on them. This is a direct reference to ''VideoGame/Mother3'', which often blocks off areas you aren't supposed to visit yet with the same message and for the same reasons.

* ''[[VideoGame/TalesSeries Tales Of]]'':
** In ''VideoGame/TalesOfPhantasia'', there's a crab in the Alvanista port that is there specifically to block your access to a chest (at least in the PSX version). Talking to it cause Cless to lash out at it.
-->"What do you want from me, crab?!"
** ''VideoGame/TalesOfLegendia'': Werites Beacon has some [=NPCs=] placed in very convenient places, preventing Senel to fully explore the city. This includes a couple fighting or some guy taking a sunbath in a bridge.

* ''VideoGame/LiveALive'' features a sort of puzzle in the Prehistoric Chapter. You come into a room with one caveman. You talk to the caveman, and another one shows up. Now both are running around frantically. Talk to one of them and a third one will run in. Keep this up and eventually the room will be overrun with cavemen running around, making it quite hard to navigate. This is not a large room, by the way. Finally, your goal is to talk to the twentieth cavemen (this despite the fact that all of them are identical). If you get it right, you'll get a reward and all but one of the cavemen will leave. Get it wrong and they'll just leave, making you start over. Try to leave the room in the middle and you'll find it all but impossible.
* AffectionateParody UsefulNotes/RPGMaker game ''VideoGame/JaysJourney'' has a guard that is rigged to only walk back and forth through a narrow corridor (which is a shortcut out of the area that was accessible earlier in the game). When Jay speaks to this guard, he tells the guard to move... but is only met with [[WelcomeToCorneria a single useless phrase over and over again]].
-->'''Guard:''' We're renovating the tower!\\
'''Jay:''' That's nice. Could you move? The shortcut's over there.\\
'''Guard:''' [[WelcomeToCorneria We're renovating the tower!]]\\
'''Jay:''' ...stupid NPC.
** And later, if you decide to take the staircase at the other end of the shortcut up...
--->'''Guard:''' We're renovating the tower!\\
'''Jay:''' Are you STILL here?!

* The ''Franchise/CodeGeass'' RPG for UsefulNotes/NintendoDS has a few instances of guards blocking item boxes (including the one containing the [[GameBreaker Guren Mk-II Kai parts]]). Talking to them goes into a [[CompellingVoice Geass]] sequence: ordering them to sleep or dance permanently blocks the item, while ordering them to commit suicide or go home clears the way.
* ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'':
** Geno Dome, in the far future, contains a one-eyed guard bot that won't let you through to claim a key. There's no slipping past until you find a deactivated unit of the same model, give it a jump, and lead it back to short-circuit the guard and lock them both into a permanent staring contest.
** Another example occurs early in the game right after Crono's jailbreak, when the guards chase the party into Guardia Forest and cut off the exit. What makes this example particularly JustForFun/{{Egregious}} is that you were flattening guards left and right not two minutes ago.
* A particularly funny example in the ''VideoGame/{{Medabots}}'' [=RPGs=] for the GBA. In the first town, there are four exits leading to other areas. Four [=NPCs=] will be standing in front of them for no apparent reason, going away as the plot progresses. One of them is actually justifiable, as the path is still under construction and it can be assumed the guy was hired to stay there. The others? "I heard Medaropolis has huge markets! I wish I could go shopping there someday!" One assumes that her rationale is that if she can't go, then ''no one else will, goddamnit!''
* ''VideoGame/SlimeForestAdventure'' has moving [=NPCs=], one of which found its way into a corridor. That NPC mentions he doesn't know which way he's going, and despite being able to move, will never leave the corridor when pushed using the whistle. Other [=NPCs=] also block access to other parts of the castle.

* One of these in ''VideoGame/SecretOfMana'' blocks the way back to the main character's hometown. You can exploit a glitch to get past him, but all that's there is a shop selling weak early-game equipment and a bunch of [=NPCs=] repeating the same dialogue you heard back in the beginning.
* In ''VideoGame/DiabloII'', Kaelan and the nameless second guard block the entrance to Jerhyn's palace in Lut Gholein until the player completes the Tainted Sun quest, after which they step away.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Miitopia}}'', the Serious Soldier won't let you go to Greenhorne Castle (and thus, the rest of the game) until you get the Mayor's Introduction. In the demo version, he marks the end of the demo, even if you gave him the aforementioned key item.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Xenogears}}'', there's a mix of this and BrokenBridge.
-->'''Bart:''' That Margie! Leaving a stuffed animal in a place like this! Because of this, we can't get into the bridge.
* ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'':
** When you first enter Hotland, a duo of Royal Guards are blocking the way to a side path which [[DoorToBefore turns into a shortcut after you explore further]]. You can't fight the guards here, but they show up later in another area to fight you. In the Genocide route, which transforms your character into a fearless killer that scares most of the population away, the guards' temporary presence here is replaced with SomeKindOfForceField.
** In a few scripted events, a NPC's presence temporarily prevents you from backtracking until the event is really over (not just seemingly over), most obviously Alphys at the end of the Core.
** In ''VideoGame/{{Deltarune}}'', an NPC in the Hometown library (or "Librarby" as it's called there) tells you that there are some interesting books to read upstairs. Unfortunately, they're blocking the way to said stairs, so you can't go up there. In Chapter 2, you'll be able to go up there... only to find that same NPC now blocking the way to the rest of the room, so you can only read the books on 2 of the shelves.
* ''VideoGame/UltimaIII'' has a rather odd example where you need to talk to a vital NPC who is nevertheless blocked off by other, neutral [=NPCs=]. The only way to get past them is to murder them in cold blood.
* ''VideoGame/DinkSmallwood'' feature an NPC blocking a bridge to the second continent, demanding two gold for passage (money isn't featured in the game at all until the player is "allowed" to cross it). You are free to try and punch him set him on fire, all he'll say is "Did something touch me? A fly, perhaps?"
* ''VideoGame/CthulhuSavesTheWorld'':
** Parodied by sailors who stand in front of buildings of [[PortTown Kingsport port]]. All they say is "This building is for sailors only". Eventually, when you inspect the last sailor, Cthulhu and other members of his group start wondering is there anything behind this door. Eventually, Cthulhu guesses that the developer just stuck in those sailors to block doors [[SelfDeprecation because he was too lazy to make actual maps for these buildings]].
--->''Shoot! We've been found out!''
** However, this trope is played straight in the Innsmouth. When you try to enter Marsh Foundry before sleeping in the inn (for the [[InnSecurity inevitable]] to happen, given [[Literature/TheShadowOverInnsmouth the referenced particular work]]), there will be a citizen standing in front, telling you that the Marsh Foundry is off-limits for outsiders, but [[SchmuckBait then offers you to visit their lovely inn]]. StupidityIsTheOnlyOption here.
* ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter'':
** ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter4 Ultimate'': A lance guardian in the city of Dundorma is located next to a large staircase that leads to the Elder Hall, and won't let the player's character go that way until after they've completed the final High Rank urgent quest in Val Habar's Gathering Hall. The reason is because the Elder Hall only hosts G Rank quests, so the hunter has to rank up to accept them.
** ''VideoGame/MonsterHunterGenerations Ultimate'': A Felyne located in the Soaratorium is blocking the path to the Hunters Pub, and will only let the hunter pass after they've completed all key and urgent quests in Bherna's Gathering Hall and qualified for G Rank missions.
* In ''VideoGame/OctopathTraveler'', several hidden items and treasure chests are guarded by [=NPCs=] standing in front of doors. Nonetheless, you can actually do something about it: Either have Olberic challenge the NPC to a duel or have H'aanit sic one of her captured monsters on them. Regardless of the way, once the NPC is defeated, you'll gain access to the building they were blocking.
* When you first arrive in ''VideoGame/LakeviewValley'', one of the central paths is blocked off by a gigantic cow who's gotten stuck in some debris. The cow doesn't appear to be in any immediate distress, happily eating the nearby grass... which is just as well, as the equipment necessary to extract her safely won't arrive for several days. The player ''can'' opt to speed up the process by [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential taking matters into their own hands]]...
* ''Winged Warrior'' (old PC RPG-style game) throws a few of these, in the form of town guards and civilians, throughout the game, notably in the Forest level where your titular character is outside the Cave Crab's lair (a DiscOneFinalBoss), with a civilian blocking the other path outside telling you "the crab is watching our every move" making your battle against the Cave Crab a ButThouMust After defeating the crab, ''another'' civilian shows up at the cave's entrance telling you "we've come to help, are you alright?"... and simply refuses to budge, thereby forcing you to venture into the cave.
* The ''VideoGame/EpicBattleFantasy'' series has [=NPCs=] blocking the pathways to special rooms that are reached by getting a certain amount of Medals. In ''VideoGame/EpicBattleFantasy3'', they guard various rooms to the sides of each area and vanish when the amount of Medals is obtained. In ''VideoGame/EpicBattleFantasy5'', they guard rooms in the Grand Gallery, and move to the side after getting the required Medal amount.

* ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar'' has yellow NPC units that will block you from entering a new area until your lord seizes a certain castle.

** ''Diamond/Pearl'': you've just gotten the bike, and you want to go back to Floaroma Town to check the trees you smeared with honey. Cue an NPC who wants you to go on the Cycling Road and simply will not let you pass until you go down it and come back. What's especially funny is that there doesn't appear to be ''any reason'' for him to be there - he's not even preventing you from SequenceBreaking, because you are trying to go back ''the way you came''.