History Main / StayOnThePath

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!!Examples

* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'': In ''ComicBook/TheAmazingSpiderManJMichaelStraczynski'' Vol. 2 #46, ComicBook/DoctorStrange sends Peter to the Astral Plane to fight a villain, with a warning not to leave the designated path. He strays off after seeing some random giant spider-shaped thingie and accidentally unleashes a spider-eating Wasp spirit named Shathra who makes his life miserable for a while afterward.

-->''"I have spoken to the lord of this realm. He has given you permission to enter the castle, and will grant you audience. I am honour-bound to warn you to stay on the path through the castle. Straying from the path could mean your destruction. You killed my friend, woman. Stray from your path."''
* In the original ''ComicBook/TheBooksOfMagic'', Tim Hunter and Doctor Occult take a trip into [[TheFairFolk Fairyland]]. Occult gives the warning; Tim actually stays on the path fairly well, until [[Myth/RussianMythologyAndTales Baba Yaga]] uses an illusion of the Doctor to convince him to step off it...and then tries to eat him.
* ''ComicBook/Robin1993'': Tim meets a strange old man named Stephen who can take "shortcuts" through the woods that get him to places faster than a truck going at full speed. Stephen warns Tim that anyone who looses track of Stephen in the woods is be lost there forever. While running through with Stephen to try and save a kidnapped child Tim notes that there are [[EnchantedForest plant and animal species in Stephen's woods that don't belong in North America and he can't hear the cars on what should be the very nearby roadway]].

* ''Film/ApocalypseNow'' has "never get out of the boat" as the guideline for going down the RiverOfMadness. A ferocious man-eating tiger appears when the characters first get ashore.
* ''Film/{{Hoomania}}'' is about a boy who gets transported into a board game with a warning that he must stay on the path in order to win the game. He first goes off of the path by taking a shortcut which leads him to two thieves who trick him into helping them steal a treasure chest and then throw him down a hill back onto the path. The second time, he drives a rocket car into a giant pinball machine out of curiosity, which activates and bounces him around, destroying the car and dumping him far away from the path, forcing him to take a row boat back to the path. He almost lets himself get pulled off the path a third time by a bunch of lazy creatures telling him to relax, which would have caused him to lose the game due to it being his third strike, but this time he listens to the warning and runs. The point of the game was to teach him a lesson about making wise choices. This may have been inspired by ''Literature/ThePilgrimsProgress''.

* ''Literature/ThePilgrimsProgress'' used this as a metaphor for staying faithful to Christianity. The characters constantly persist in [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption straying off the path]].
* ''Literature/RowanOfRin'': The heroes had to journey through a swamp that through some means conjured up illusions of loved ones drowning in the deep mud just off the path. If you rush off to save them [[spoiler:you end up drowning in the mud.]]
* ''Literature/TheHobbit'' has Gandalf give this advice to Bilbo and the dwarves about Mirkwood Forest. Inverted in ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' when Gandalf tells Frodo and Sam to stay ''off'' the roads, but they run afoul of the Nazgûl as a result of Merry and Pippin not following the rule.
* ''Literature/{{Stardust}}'': Creator/NeilGaiman is a fan of this trope, as seen in the Comic Books folder. Anyone who strays from the path through the Serewood will fall victim to murderous plants.
* Creator/RayBradbury's ''Literature/ASoundOfThunder'' justifies this trope: leaving the path while on a hunting trip in the past could lead to TemporalMutability problems a la ButterflyOfDoom. A character messes up, leaves the path and steps on a butterfly. Dystopia ensues.
* ''Literature/HarryPotter'':
** ''Literature/HarryPotterAndThePhilosophersStone'': Hagrid warns Harry not to leave the path in the Forbidden Forest. Off the path he finds life-threatening peril and a creep drinking unicorn blood.
** ''Literature/HarryPotterAndThePrisonerOfAzkaban'': In a more minor sense, one of their 3rd year Defense Against the Dark Arts classes is about hinkypunks, who lure travelers off the path with ghost lights, usually to their victims' deaths, and thus how to resist their charms by staying on a given path.

* In ''Literature/DreamPark'', visitors at the Chamber of Horrors attraction are warned to stay on the green glowing path, as they pass through a holographic diorama of underwater terrors. One woman steps off the path anyway, and [[spoiler: is instantly snatched away and torn to pieces by a shark and an aquatic zombie! Lucky for Dream Park's liability insurance, she turns out to be a hologram too.]]

* In the Literature/{{Dragaera}} universe, if you're in the world of the dead and you leave the path, you'll never be able to find it again, wandering for all eternity even if you're very much alive.

* In one of Creator/JackVance's ''Literature/DyingEarth'' novellas, a traveler's father gives him a charm, which will protect him so long as he remains on the road.
* When traveling the [[MagicalLand Nevernever]] in ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'', wizards usually stick to the safer Ways, lest they wander off into an area that is horrifyingly dangerous. In the Nevernever, quite literally anything can happen.
* ''Literature/RulesForVanishing'': One of the rules of the road in the Briar Glen woods is not to leave it while traveling. When Sara briefly runs off the road, a monster is attracted to the group's location.

* Theatre/RedTheRedRidingHoodMusical: Being an adaptation of Literature/LittleRedRidingHood, of course Red is told by her mother to "stay on the path", and [[ForegoneConclusion of course she doesn't.]] And, true to the original fairy tale, she ends up meeting, well, [[TheBigBadWolf you know.]]

* Valve's Developer Commentary in ''VideoGame/Left4Dead'' pointed out a few ways they used this trope, for those who are interested. Everything from car headlights to color schemes are chosen so players can intuit their way through the level. This is important because a little exploration can be very helpful, but a lot of it guarantees more enemies will spawn and possibly overwhelm the players.

* ''VideoGame/ThePath'': The player must stray the girl from the path and meet their wolf in order to succeed in the girl's route in the story, rather than following the game's instructions to stay on the path. Following the path gets you a failure screen.
* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'':
** The Haunted Wasteland in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'' forces you to follow the flags; going off-route will cause you to be swallowed by the desert winds (and teleported back to a checkpoint). A similar puzzle occurs near Pinnacle Rock in the western ocean of ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask Majora's Mask]]''.
** ''VideoGame/ZeldaIITheAdventureOfLink'': Staying on roads neutralizes enemy encounters. While you're on it, no encounters pop up, and if you spawn some then move back onto the path, the "battle" is a barren plain devoid of enemies you can just walk out of. Naturally, there are many places you can't get to by staying on the path. Early in the game, you'll want these encounters (free ExperiencePoints) but as the game begins to go from NintendoHard to [[PlatformHell "Miyamoto, you sadist!"]] they become great ways to die horribly (and naturally, at this point, much harder to avoid.)
* ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'': One of the loading screen tips is that players are much less likely to encounter monsters when following a path. Generally true, but there are also some regions where particularly deadly enemies follow the roads, and some roads lead directly to dungeons or the cities of the opposite faction. Pre-expanion Rexxar followed a very long path through Durotar and Feralas, and was death to any Alliance character who didn't see him coming in time.
* In ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights'', a village has been suspended out of time by Lathander. When you get to the castle you have 3 paths to choose from. If you stay on the correct path, then you get a note from Lathander complementing you on your choice of the middle balanced way. In the others you get attacked by deamon or devils and appropriately chastied by Lathander.

* In ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'' during the coast section, straying too far into the ocean will result in a swarm of unkillable leeches coming in from the depths to kill you.

* Near the last third of ''VideoGame/{{SOMA}}'', Simon Jarett has to enter the [[EldritchOceanAbyss Abyss]], where light barely travels, and the route to station Tau requires following a trail of lights that act as markers. Straying from this path results in being ripped to shreds by [[spoiler: rabid sea creatures infused with [[MissappliedPhlebotinum Structure Gel]], which also makes them averse to light]]. And to make things worse, Simon also has to endure a powerful ocean current, and some of the lights are disabled.
* The guards in ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion'' will sometimes advise you to do just this.
* After entering a dark cellar in ''VideoGame/AmnesiaTheDarkDescent'' Daniel has a flashback to the first time he went through the area. He questions why it's kept so dark, but Alexander insists that he not stray from the lighted path. Since the only monsters in the castle at the time were the ones under Alexander's control, it's not clear what he thought would happen if Daniel didn't follow him.
* At the beginning of ''VideoGame/AfraidOfMonsters'', David is told to "follow the red." What follows is a trip through a surreal nightmare realm, which changes from pitch black walls and floors to insane, tilted rooms. Colored dots lead your way, and if you don't follow the red, you'll end up at the bottom of the pit.

* ''Webcomic/CharbyTheVampirate'': It's a very bad idea for a human to stray from a path in Kellwood Forest as the place is much ''much'' bigger than it looks on human maps and is full of monsters and TheFairFolk.

--> '''Grizzled Old Man:''' [[MoodWhiplash Because that's where all them cottagers are; on the path.]] [[DirtyOldMan You'll get more cock if you stay on the path! *does sucking-off-motion and smiles*]]

* ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' has the half-hour-long episode ''[[Recap/PhineasAndFerbWizardOfOdd Wizard of Odd]]'', wherein Candace invokes this trope, but it is ultimately averted in practice. She insists on following the yellow sidewalk as Isabella the Good Witch instructed and ignores Phineas and Ferb's more "fun" travel ideas...only to find she simply missed out on enjoyment and that nothing awful would have happened if she had gone with her brothers. It turns out that Isabella instructs ''everyone'' heading to Bustopolis to follow that sidewalk.

* In the WesternAnimation/SillySymphony short ''The Big Bad Wolf'', the Practical Pig advises Little Red Riding Hood and his two giddy brothers to take the long road to Grandma's house, since the shortcut goes through the forest where the Big Bad Wolf lives.

** Later it turns out that he really should have stayed on the path, [[spoiler:after being mauled by a [[IncrediblyLamePun Queer-]][[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent Wolf]]]].

* In ''WesternAnimation/FindingNemo'' the School of fish that gives Dory and Marlin directions to Sydney warns the pair to go THROUGH a particular undersea trench, rather than over it. Marlin chose to ignore that warning (on the grounds that it looks like death trap) or possibly didn't hear the warning, while Dory did try to persuade otherwise, however, goes along with him anyway due to Marlin distracting her so she would forget she was disagreeing, leading to a near deadly encounter with jellyfish on her end.

* One ''ComicBook/TheAmazingSpiderManJMichaelStraczynski'' story involves ComicBook/DoctorStrange sending Peter to the Astral Plane to fight a villain, with a warning not to leave the designated path. He strays off after seeing some random giant spider-shaped thingie, and accidentally unleashes a spider-eating Wasp spirit named Shathra who makes his life miserable for a while afterward.

* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZelda'':