History Main / NPCRoadblock

** In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheMinishCap'':

* ''{{VideoGame/Spectrobes}}'' averts this trope by having every last NPC being both intangible and immobile.
* 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/DarkSoulsIII'' has High Priestess Emma, who will give you the items needed to get to Lothric Castle when the plot wants you there, and no sooner. [[spoiler:You can {{sequence break|ing}} by killing her... if you don't mind having the Dancer of the Boreal Valley (ThatOneBoss even when fought at the appropriate level) turn you inside-out repeatedly.]]
* ''VideoGame/{{EarthBound|1994}}'':
** There is a maze made of NPC cultists. You have to shift certain ones aside by talking to them (though some of them get angry and battle you).
** It's {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d in the first town with the Onett Police Force, who are famous for their road blocks and proud of it. One cop even claims they're going for the record, while a number of other {{Non Player Character}}s complain about how pointless and stupid the roadblocks are and wish the cops would actually do something worthwhile with their time.

* Done unintentionally in ''VideoGame/EarthBoundBeginnings''. In the town of Merrysville you can find an NPC walking in front of the Department store, and there's a chance that he might stop ''[[https://i.redd.it/vrqnszhl8o821.png right in front of its entrance]]'', preventing you from going inside, thus forcing you to wait until he moves again.

* 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.

* In ''VideoGame/StarOceanTillTheEndOfTime'' there is a particular NPC in Airyglyph who just doesn't seem to get the point that you need to get through that door, dammit!

* In ''VideoGame/PaperMario64'', you cannot leave Shiver City during the whole murder mystery segment. Penguins will be blocking both the pipe back to Toad Town Tunnels, as well as the eastern exit out of town.
* ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor'':
** An irate Zess T. will block a door to the west side of Rogueport because you stepped on her contact lens. You can order a replacement lens ''immediately'' after the incident, but if you forget to, you won't be able to purchase one until after Chapter 1, leaving her blocking your way for some time.
** During Chapter 4, there is a guard blocking the gate out of Twilight Town who will not let you pass without the mayor's permission. Your partner will [[LampshadeHanging even remark on the situation]]. When you go to ask the mayor for permission, he will have turned into a pig, and be unable to help you. Fortunately for you, the gatekeeper will then ''also'' turn into a pig, and will be unable to stop you from passing through the gate.
* In ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiSuperstarSaga'', there are multiple large Koopas standing in areas just narrow enough that you can't go around them. You can't do anything with them until Mario and Luigi learn the fire dash maneuver, which allows them to ram the Koopa so hard that he gets knocked over, after which point he gets up and stands in a more convenient location.

* The ''Anime/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/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.

** ''[=HeartGold=]'' and ''[=SoulSilver=]'' actually made a BonusBoss required. In ''Gold'' and ''Silver'', you could just stick to the main quest and leave Ho-Oh/Lugia alone, but the remakes make it an involved mandatory part of the game. Ethan/Lyra will block your way to Kanto and keep standing there until you go fight the version mascot.

** The "line of [=NPCs=]" trope gets its fair share of use too: both ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'' and ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword'' have a strangely cohesive group of [=NPCs=] blocking access to a specific area (a long queue for water blocking South Hyrule Field in TP, and a bunch of women chatting after laundry was done blocking the residential area of Skyloft in SS).

** Red in ''LetsPlay/TwitchPlaysPokemonRed'' walks in just the right place when the Burglar sees him and approaches him, so after the Burglar is defeated he just stands there, blocking the way out, as Red was in between the wall and a table. This is very problematic, since in ''Pokémon'' [=NPCs=] don't move after they are defeated...

A NonPlayerCharacter that prevents the PlayerCharacter from passing through a certain door or passage, [[BrokenBridge effectively blocking it off]]. This means that the player will have to accomplish some task to gain access. The question of why the protagonist [[GameplayAndStorySegregation can't simply force the NPC to move]] is rarely brought up.

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

* The ''VideoGame/EpicBattleFantasy'' series has [=NPCs=] blocking the pathways to special rooms that are reached by getting a certain amount of Medals. In ''3'', they guard various rooms to the sides of each area and vanish when the amount of Medals is obtained. In ''5'', they guard rooms in the art gallery, and move to the side after getting the required Medal amount.

A SubTrope of BrokenBridge. A favorite tactic of the CityGuards. See also InsurmountableWaistHeightFence. Can lead to a ChainOfDeals. Compare and contrast BeefGate, where the character will simply kill you instead of just stopping you, until you can kill it.

->''"Weird place to put a block... Wonder what's in it... Maybe I should stay here and stare at it for a while..."''
-->-- '''Zeekeeper Mascot''', ''VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiDreamTeam''

* ''VideoGame/{{Cuphead}}'': [[TheDragon King Dice]] acts as this, preventing Cuphead and Mugman from reaching the next area until they've completed the current one. Oddly and epically, he has a VillainSong explicitly for this role.
-->''I can't let you pass, 'cause you ain't done everything. Bring me those contracts, c'mon bring 'em to the king!

* Happens in ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor'': An irate Zess T. will block a door to the west side of Rogueport because you stepped on her contact lens. You can order a replacement lens ''immediately'' after the incident, but if you forget to, you won't be able to purchase one until after Chapter 1, leaving her blocking your way for some time.

*** The two kids who block the exits to Kokiri Village at the beginning of the game. The passage they're blocking is pretty big, so they sidestep back and forth, always standing exactly in front of you. Mido does the same at various points: first to stop you from going to meet the Great Deku Tree unless you have a sword and shield on you (even though ''the Deku Tree himself summoned Link'', but then again, [[JerkassHasAPoint the Tree]] ''[[JerkassHasAPoint is]]'' [[JerkassHasAPoint infested with monsters]]), then after you finish the Deku Tree dungeon for some reason (you just need to talk to him to make him move, though), and finally when you venture into the Lost Woods to get to the Forest Temple as an adult (again, he will move if you talk to him).

* The ''Franchise/ShiningSeries'' is covered with this trope blocking doors and leading the party down paths where events are taking place.

->''Weird place to put a block... Wonder what's in it... Maybe I should stay here and stare at it for a while...''

[[caption-width-right:350:"Don't try to walk through those gaps either. Your footsteps will wake them up."]]

** Also in Mahogany, a man blocks the gym's door, telling you to go sightseeing, and only leaves once you take care of the Red Gyarados at the Lake of Rage and defeat Team Rocket in their hideout.

* ''VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}}: The Forbidden Woods, which allow you access to areas other than Yharnam proper, is blocked by a wall, and the gatekeeper won't let you through without the pass phrase, which you learn after killing Vicar Amelia. [[spoiler: After you enter the Woods, you'll find that the gatekeeper was DeadAllAlong, and apparently has been for some time. No explanation is ever given about how he spoke to you and opened the door.]]

** The cranky Old Man in Viridian City won't let you pass until [[MustHaveCaffeine his coffee takes away the grumpiness]]. (In the original he's drunk and needs to wait until he's sobered up.)

** Another particularly annoying one: in ''Platinum'' you're chasing a criminal who just SET OFF A BOMB. He leaves the vision of the player, but if you follow the path which you saw him leave from, you come to the entrance of a lakefront blocked by two generic men with cameras saying "we're filming the lake." Guess where the whole evil organization sets off another bomb...

** Sometimes a stubborn Pokémon blocks your path in the same way. In Kanto, two Snorlax can be found sleeping in inconvenient places, and won't budge until you play a Poké Flute at it (in ''Gold and Silver'', you instead use a radio station playing the Poké Flute's song to make a new one move). Johto in ''Gold and Silver'' used Sudowoodo, an impassable "dancing tree" until you spray water at it [[CommonPlaceRare with a special water bottle]]. Sinnoh in ''Diamond and Pearl'' have a horde of Psyduck blocking a path until you bring them a special potion to cure their headaches (these ones don't need to be fought).
** In ''VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver'', a police officer in Kanto's Radio Tower (formerly Pokémon Tower) will not let you ascend to any floors above the first, no matter what else you do, citing tightened security measures in the wake of the Goldenrod Radio Tower hijacking earlier in the game.

** When Saffron City is under siege, several buildings are blocked by Team Rocket members standing in front of the door. Bizarrely, you can only get past one when he ''falls asleep'' and somehow moves one square to the right (Or in Yellow, randomly disappears instead).

** A very obnoxious one in ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'' involves a policeman standing at the entrance to a post-game route who refuses to let you past. His reason for not doing so? "There's something up ahead and you can't go through here." Nothing in the entire Pokémon canon hints as to what this mysterious "something" is.

* ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsIII'' has High Priestess Emma, who will give you the items needed to get to Lothric Castle when the plot wants you there, and no sooner. [[spoiler: You can sequence break by killing her... if you don't mind having the Dancer of the Boreal Valley (ThatOneBoss even when fought at the appropriate level) turn you inside-out repeatedly.]]
* ''VideoGame/EarthBound'':

** It's {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d in the first town with the Onett Police Force, who are famous for their road blocks and proud of it. One cop even claims they're going for the record, while a number of other {{NPC}}s complain about how pointless and stupid the roadblocks are and wish the cops would actually do something worthwhile with their time.

[[folder:Puzzle games]]

* 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/{{Mother 3}}'', which often blocks off areas you aren't supposed to visit yet with the same message and for the same reasons.
* Done unintentionally in ''VideoGame/EarthboundBeginnings''. In the town of Merrysville you can find an NPC walking in front of the Department store, and there's a chance that he might stop ''[[https://i.redd.it/vrqnszhl8o821.png right in front of its entrance]]'', preventing you from going inside, thus forcing you to wait until he moves again.

** A man prevents you from entering Cerulean Cave/Unknown Dungeon (where you find Mewtwo) in R/B/G/Y until you're the Pokemon League Champion because there are dangerous Pokemon inside. Said NPC is rather famous among the Pokemon fans, both because of both this very blatant case, and because of the fact that his black hair blended spectacularly with the door behind him, leading to the nickname "Afroman."

** In the same games, there is a salesman in Mahogany Town that sells Rage Candy Bars at the Eastern exit. The problem is that he feels the need to get in your way and push you back towards town if you try to walk past him just so that he can sell them to you, whether you buy his stuff or not. What's even more ridiculous is that he'll still do this even when it gets to the point in the game where he's planning to pack up and leave since the stock's run out. In other words, he's still blocking up traffic just to tell us he's run out of the stuff he was blocking up traffic for ''in the first place''.
** Similarly, there is a NPC at the south exit of Violet City who will not let you pass until you defeat Falkner, Violet City's Gym Leader. Fortunately, he will give you a free item, Miracle Seed, once you do.

** A very obnoxious one in ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'' involves a policeman standing at the entrance to a post-game route who refuses to let you past. His reason for not doing so? "There's something up ahead and you can't go through here." Nothing in the entire Pokemon canon hints as to what this mysterious "something" is.

** Red in ''LetsPlay/TwitchPlaysPokemonRed'' walks in just the right place when the Burglar sees him and approaches him, so after the Burglar is defeated he just stands there, blocking the way out, as Red was in between the wall and a table. This is very problematic, since in Pokemon [=NPCs=] don't move after they are defeated...