History Main / PlotLock

A funny Subset of these is when it specifically states that a key is required. So all those other doors we opened before didn't require a key?

* {{Okami}} does this a couple of times:

* ''Resident Evil'' loves this trope, as many of the games have a playable character who can pick locks, and yet is usually forced to find keys anyway.

* ''Fallout 3'' has numerous doors that are marked as "INACCESSIBLE" or "REQUIRES KEY" rather than "Easy", "Medium", "Hard", or "Very Hard". Some don't count, as the player is never expected to go there. Others do, as they are opened by plot events.

* In ''{{Ultima}} 7'', some doors are locked by magic, and can only be opened with a specific magic spell... which you can obtain with fair ease. Other doors are mundanely locked but can be picked or opened with the skeleton key, and yet others can only be opened with a specific key. It's peculiar that anyone would lock anything with a spell that can be undone by anyone with a spellbook. (And that's not even getting into the sixth game, where you actually had access to the magic lock spell, which turned a mundane lock into a magic lock... effectively allowing you to open any lock anywhere.)

* In ''SplinterCell'', a door that is "locked" can usually be either picked or hacked, depending on the particular locking mechanism in place. If the door is "jammed", however, you're screwed.

* ''Series/DoctorWho'' has the deadlock seal, which the sonic screwdriver can't unlock, appearing one various locks from all places and times for no apparent reason.

* ''DoctorWho'' has the deadlock seal, which the sonic screwdriver can't unlock, appearing one various locks from all places and times for no apparent reason.

** ''MassEffect 2'' highlights all player-usable doors with holographic symbols. Unlocked doors have green symbols and hackable doors have orange ones. Plot Locks have red. Every time you see that red symbol, you know you'll be back later.

* Occurs at least twice in ''MedalOfHonor: Frontline''. In Eye of the Storm, the last truck you have to destroy doesn't appear until you acquire the delivery schedule. Destroying it collapses part of the scenery, creating a bridge to the next level. Later, in Derailed, the door to the last area and exit is locked until you blow up the fuel depot, at which point it magically opens.

* Occurs at least twice in ''MedalOfHonor: Frontline''. In Eye of the Storm, the last truck you have to destroy doesn't appear until you acquire the delivery schedule. Destroying it collapses part of the scenery, creating a bridge to the next level. Later, in Derailed, the door to the last area is locked until you blow up the fuel depot, at which point it magically opens.

* Occurs twice in ''MedalOfHonor: Frontline''. In Eye of the Storm, the last truck you have to destroy doesn't appear until you acquire the delivery schedule. Destroying it collapses part of the scenery, creating a bridge to the next level. Later, in Derailed, the door to the last area is locked until you blow up the fuel depot, at which point it magically opens.

* ''Fallout 3'' has numerous doors that are marked as "INACCESSIBLE" rather than "Easy", "Medium", "Hard", or "Very Hard". Some don't count, as the player is never expected to go there. Others do, as they are opened by plot events.

* ''Fallout 3'' has this in ''The Pitt'' expansion. You're a high-level character who has carved a swath of bloody devastation through the Capital Wasteland. You use super mutant bones for toothpicks, carry around an arsenal that would make a whole military division green with envy and refer to power-armor-wielding Enclave troops as "tin cans". One day you come across a slaver outside a city who threatens you, and quickly becomes yet another amusing statistic in your character sheet. Then you enter the city, and... the game stops you from moving or fighting, allowing you to get beaten to a bloody pulp and then abducted by a ragtag group of baton-armed slavers whose threat level would normally barely register above "target practice".
** Plus the numerous doors that are marked as "INACCESSIBLE" rather than "Easy", "Medium", "Hard", or "Very Hard". Some don't count, as the player is never expected to go there. Others do, as they are opened by plot events.

** ''{{Concerned}}'' gleefully [[http://hlcomic.com/index.php?date=2006-07-17 lampshades this]].

** ''Daggerfall'' also suffered from this, although you could expect as much from a game that allows you to scale almost any vertical surface. Some walls can't be climbed, arbitrarily. Also, your freedom of movement is crippled by the inexplicable inability to climb ''down''.
*** Actually, that could be explained by the fact that it is harder to climb down on an flat-enough surface. Without a rope, anyway. [[ViewersAreGeniuses Not that people who aren't escalade hobbyists would know that, heh.]]

* In AssassinsCreed2 the game disables your throwing knives during at least one of the catacomb chase sequences.

You've been stopped by the PlotLock. A Plot Lock is any example of a BrokenBridge where, for whatever reason, the character ''should'' be able to overcome it, and yet they can't in this one arbitrary situation (where doing so would, of course, break TheOneTrueSequence). On the other hand, not using Plot Locks can sometimes lead to massive SequenceBreaking, which occasionally is even more of a WallBanger than the Plot Lock itself.

* This (along with ''[[{{Troperrific}} many]]'' other RPG tropes) is made fun of in ''[[{{Touhou}} Touhou Dungeon]]''. On the second floor, you have to find a way to bridge across a gap to a treasure chest, in spite of Marisa's arguing that ''everyone in the party can fly'', so why don't we just do that. ([[CassandraTruth They ignore her.]])

** ''Daggerfall'' also suffered from this, although you could expect as much from a game that allows you to scale almost any vertical surface. Some walls can't be climbed, arbitrarily. Also, your freedom of movement is crippled by the inexplicable inability to climb ''down''.

* In {{Okami}}, You can't fix the BrokenBridge between Agata Forest and Taka Pass, even though Ammy can paint them good as new everywhere else.
** By "everywhere else" do you mean "twice in the entire game"?

* There's one BrokenBridge in ''{{Okami}}'' that crossed a flooded river. The problem? Ammy's Rejuvenation ability can restore missing things, and is, in fact, most commonly used to fix bridges. But the game can't have you leaving the forest without fighting your way through the ruins, so for no readily apparent reason, Issun just says "This looks too big even for you, furball," and Rejuvenation doesn't stick.
** Also, when you enter Orochi's castle, there's a broken staircase. Rejuvenation won't fix it. You're forced to jump down into the chasm and work your way through the level. [[spoiler: This becomes obvious when you go back in time to when the staircase was still whole, and you can just go up it and confront Orochi directly.]]

* In ''BaldursGate'' doors often do not have an ordinary locking mechanism and may be warded against simple spells. You'd think that by 40th level wizard would get a non-simple spell to open doors, given how many are protected this way.

* ''{{Iji}}'' can break doors by kicking if her strength stat is high enough. Eventually she encounters doors that require her strength to be 15, well beyond the maximum of 10.