History Main / TeleportationMisfire

** While most teleports are supposed to be guided and just have a high chance of going wrong due to the [[CrapsackWorld nature of the universe]], the displacer field piece of wargear mentioned in the Ciaphas Cain example in literature is intentionally random. The idea being that the dangers of random teleportation are not your biggest concern when you're about to take a tank shell to the face, and throwing out most of the guidance and safety systems allows the device to be small enough to be carried unobtrusively by a normal human (normal teleporters being the size of a room, similar to Star Trek transporters).

* ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'': [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-761 SCP-761 ("Slightly Less Dangerous Trampoline")]]. When someone jumps on the trampoline they end up in a random location within 15 meters. If there is already a solid object where they arrive they suffer a TeleporterAccident and become merged with the object. Depending on how much of their body is merged with the object they can suffer a TeleFrag.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'': In "Powerless in the Face of Death", Dr. Venture tests out Jonas Jr.'s experimental teleporter, but a power outage causes the warp to go wrong and for him to be split into three pieces -- his head and half of his torso gets stuck in the lab wall, his lower body gets stuck in a TV, and the other half of his torso is somewhere outside (with The Monarch discovering its location in TheStinger).

* ''VideoGame/MouseTrap'' has the IN gate in the center of the maze that the mouse can use to teleport to any of the four corners to escape either the cats or the hawk that shows up from time to time to harass the player.

* The {{Hyperspace}} version of this happens at the start of Creator/CJCherryh's ''Literature/{{Foreigner}}'' series: some malfunction with the {{Hyperspace}} engine sends the human starship to a completely uncharted region of space.

* In French comedy movie ''[[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7136896/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1 Alad'2]]'', after having freed the genie in the previous film, Aladin needs again his help and reconnect him to the magic lamp. However, after that the genie's powers go awry, despite a call to a genie help desk. When Aladin wishes to be transported back to Bagdad, at first the teleportation moves them a few meters away. Then the genie keep missing the mark, sending all over the world, notably to a Franchise/{{Frozen}} Palace where they meet the Ice Queen, or the Americas where they cross UsefulNotes/ChristopherColumbus. One last jump finally reaches the outskirts of Bagdad.

* Literature/ChooseYourOwnAdventure:

* One of the bad endings of ''Literature/StarshipTraveller'' have you and your crew porting onto the surface of a planet that turns out to consist of nothing but water, where everyone ends up drowning on the spot.

** There also exists certain spells (at least in 3.5) that specifically teleports the target to a random location -- ANYWHERE in the multiplanar world of ''D&D'', from the lowest reaches of Gehenna to the world-engine of Mechanus... it's primarily used as a tool to get rid of troublesome enemies who resists damage and conventional status-ailments -- few think to protect themselves from teleportation...

** "Nybor's Joyful Voyage" spell from the ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms''.
** The Blink spell caused you to teleport about at random within a limited area.

* Viki in the ''VideoGame/{{Suikoden}}'' series who randomly teleports between games by sneezing or other accidents. This can be exploited in certain games of the series to allow you to go to areas you cannot access by any other means. Also, she apparently not only teleports through space but through time to some degree as well; there are multiple versions of her.
* In ''VideoGame/WildArms2'' Lilka is infamously unlucky with [[WarpWhistle Teleport Gems]] and begins the game in a random town because of this, as well as being the key to reaching an otherwise unreachable island.
* Gordon Freeman in the beginning of ''VideoGame/HalfLife2''. In the original, the initial cascade resonance warps Gordon to random spots in Xen. It also did the same to the various aliens, later on. In ''[[VideoGame/HalfLifeOpposingForce Opposing Force]]'', this was the secondary fire of the {{BFG}} -- it would drop you down an endless void, or transport you to an area where there was some ammo for your other weapons. Happens as part of ''[[VideoGame/HalfLifeBlueShift Blue Shift]]'''s finale.
* In ''VideoGame/KingsQuestIII'' you could learn an optional random teleportation spell that takes you to a random screen in the area. This is useful for getting out of dangerous situations (as long as you don't randomly end up in the same place).
* In ''VideoGame/{{Diablo}}'', there's a spell called Phasing that teleports you randomly to an area within view. There's also a shrine that does the same thing, with the appropriate flavor text: "Wherever you go, there you are."
%%* The teleport squares from ''Gauntlet''.
* ''VideoGame/KingdomOfLoathing'' has a status effect called "teleportitis" (named after the condition in Nethack), which randomly teleports you around every time you try to adventure. One person [[http://forums.kingdomofloathing.com/vb/showthread.php?t=172962 has played through the entire game this way.]] And they made [[http://kol.coldfront.net/thekolwiki/index.php/Ring_of_teleportation an item with the effect]] in his honor.
* ''VideoGame/{{Heretic}}''/''VideoGame/{{Hexen}}'':
** The series has the chaos device, which transports a player to an apparently random location (usually the start of the level or section)
** ''Hexen'' series also has the displacement/banishment device which does the same to enemies.

* ''VideoGame/StarControl'': secondary power of a Arilou Lalee'lay Skiff is random teleportation.
* In the old computer game ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daleks_(video_game) Robots]]'' and its derivatives, one of the tools available to the protagonist randomly teleports them to any empty square. Since there's no guarantee their new position will be any safer than their old one, this is generally reserved as a last resort. Some versions label this move as a 'safe' teleport, while also having a completely random one that can warp you right on top of an enemy for an instant death.
* One of the Geo Panel effects in ''Franchise/{{Disgaea}}'' is warp, which teleports the character on the panel to a random panel of the same colour.

* ''VideoGame/{{Nethack}}'': You can catch teleportitis from different circumstances in the game. Unless you have a ring of teleport control or the teleport control intrinsic, you end up teleporting randomly every few steps. This can be ''very'' dangerous, and not just due to the possibility of suddenly finding youself somewhere you really don't want to be - teleporting out of a shop while holding items you haven't paid for [[ShopliftAndDie counts as shoplifting]].
* In ''VideoGame/AncientDomainsOfMystery'', all teleportation is random unless you have teleport control (which is rare: either drink randomly from pools -- which can cause dooming -- or eat a blink dog that leaves a corpse). The teleportation intrinsic causes you to teleport now and then without being able to choose when, and there are also teleportation traps, wands and spell. All of these are random without the control intrinsic. Trying to aim controlled teleportation into a blocked area also results in a random destination.

* ''VideoGame/{{Nox}}'' had a spell that teleported Jack randomly across the current area, except in the very final dungeon, where it inevitably teleported him to the final key.
* In the [=PS1=] game ''Sentinel Returns'' you actually had an ability which caused a random teleportation, using it caused you to appear on free square on the levels map that was either the same or lower altitude than your current but always a random location. It could actually end you up in a pit with no chance to get out so this REALLY was random.

* ''VideoGame/{{Angband}}'' has Rings of Teleportation, which teleports you randomly every once in a while. Some of its variants have other sources of random teleportation, including mutations and weapon properties. Additionally, the Teleport and Phase Door spells teleport you to a random empty space within a given radius.
* ''VideoGame/BaldursGate II'':
** One of the Bhaalspawn teleports randomly whenever he gets scared, which he found very inconvenient. Someone helped him overcome this so he could settle down - just in time for the city to be besieged by an army of giants intent on killing every Bhaalspawn in there. You can use a spell to artificially induce fear and help him escape, though.
** There's a spell called Teleportation Field. When cast, it creates a zone that will cause every enemy within it to be randomly teleported to another location within the zone each round. There is no saving throw and it ignores magic resistance. The spell is useless most of the time, except in a couple of duels, since you can cast the spell so that half the zone is inside the arena and half is out. If the enemy stays in the zone long enough, they'll eventually be teleported outside the arena and you can turn the 1-on-1 fight into a 5-on-1 [[CurbStompBattle beatdown]].
** There's also a cursed pair of boots that teleports you to a random ''enemy'' every few seconds.
* In ''VideoGame/RagnarokOnline'', the first level of the skill "Teleport" actually lands you anywhere in the current map. Also, if someone sets a warp to a point in a map that [[TeleFrag you cannot be in]], it jumps you randomly in the map too. That is mostly to avoid having to "delete" those tiles from the skill (thus allowing for a ''much'' easier script, even if it might repeat itself a couple times), but it is also abused by some {{Game Master}}s to create random warp portals for events and such.

%%* This can happen to ''the ball'' in ''VideoGame/BackyardBaseball''.
* In ''[[VideoGame/ChzoMythos Trilby's Notes]]'', you randomly teleport twice, once to the past and the other to the distant future.
* ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'':
** Engineering teleporters. 4/5 times they will teleport you to a preset location, but that other 1/5 times...anything can happen, your character turns into the last person who went through, split into a "good" and "evil" side, turned into various small critters, end up anywhere else on the continent, and the most infamous one, simply teleport a mere 100 yards away from the teleport pad, or 100 yards straight up.
** Later engineer-built items open a wormhole that will take you to a zone you choose. The catch is that it'll send you to one of several places in the zone, and it's not uncommon to end up materializing 100 yards above the ground. Hope you have a Goblin Glider Kit or other slow-fall ability....
** The item "Scroll of Recall" could potentially have this effect. Normally it acts similar to a Hearthstone, sending you back to a previously set home point. If your level is too high for that particular level of scroll, however, the effect becomes more random.
** Also, the archeology artifact, The Last Relic of Argus, is a highly sought after item, because it is a teleporter that you can use during combat, with no casting time. The downside: ''it picks your destination point at random.'' At least the Last Relic takes three seconds to activate, so it's not instant, but it's a whole lot faster than a hearthstone/Astral Recall exit. Also, the destination is selected at random from a large list but you'll always end up at one of the locations. The benefit is that all possible destinations are safe.
** There is a Druid-only spell called One With Nature that functions a lot like the Last Relic of Argus, sending the Druid using it to a random location. In this case, they are all natural locations ([[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin as the name implies]]) such as forests, glades, or jungles.
* The [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Unstable Teleport Plasmid]] in ''VideoGame/BioShock2'' will [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ej2AHBNaq40 teleport all over the place in as you try to acquire it, then will start teleporting YOU all over the place if you're successful in doing so.]]
* In ''VideoGame/QuakeIIIArena'', players can pick up a personal teleporter (shaped like a T), and when they activate it, it just throws them to some random spawnpoint on the map.
* In ''VideoGame/DungeonsOfDredmor'', the player character's first spell in the Mathemagic skill line is a random teleport. The booze Spatial Instability Infusion also gives the player the ability to randomly teleport. As both are only random in location and not in timing, using the skill or quaffing the drink can be useful during the first few levels as a (rather unreliable) method of escape.
* [[Creator/MidwayGames Bally/Midway's]] ''VideoGame/{{TRON}}'' has a pink diamond in the center of the maze in the Tanks mission that would teleport your tank to a random location.
* ''VideoGame/MouseTrap'' has the IN gate in the center of the maze that the mouse can use to teleport to any of the four corners to escape either the cats or the hawk that shows up from time to time to harass the player.
* The Teleportation Potion in ''VideoGame/{{Terraria}}'' teleports you to a random location. It is advised to prepare oneself before using a Teleportation Potion, as it may teleport you into a hazard, on top of a trap trigger, or something else dangerous.
* The ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'' mod Thermal Expansion adds a liquid that, when jumped in, will teleport you to a random place within about 10 metres (including [[GravityIsAHarshMistress up in the air]] or [[TeleFrag inside a solid object]]). ''Drinking'' it increases the horizontal range by several kilometres.
* The early Macintosh game ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cap%27n_Magneto Cap'n Magneto]]'' has the Z-Gate item, which teleports the eponymous hero to a random point on the map.
* The old DOS game ''Laser Chess'' has one Hypercube piece on each side, plus the center square is also a Hypersquare. Moving one's piece onto the Hypercube or Hypersquare would cause it to reappear on a random empty square on the 9 by 9 board. The Hypercubes could also be moved to achieve the same effect.
* ''[[VideoGame/EscapeVelocity Escape Velocity: Nova]]'' has 20[[note]]Actually 21 but one doesn't work.[[/note]] [[OurWormholesAreDifferent wormhole]] ends that send ships instantly[[note]]In zero days just like Hypergates.[[/note]], but randomly, to other ends. By re-entering the wormholes it's possible to randomly cycle through them and end up the where you want.

* Willow and Tara used a spell of this nature as a weapon against Glory in one episode of ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''.

** The titular starship of ''Series/StarTrekDiscovery'' uses a Displacement-Activated Spore-Hub Drive to teleport anywhere in known space, though an early attempt to jump to a system under Klingon attack almost throws them into a star light-years away. This, however, is nothing compared to when an attempt to spore-jump to a friendly starbase throws them into the MirrorUniverse -- and to make it worse, Lieutenant Stamets, who's been controlling the jumps, is left brain-scrambled and delirious and in no condition to get the ship home. [[spoiler:The "accidental" part, however, is {{subverted}} when it turns out that [[TheCaptian Captain Lorca]] deliberately programmed the drive to take them to the MU. In fact, he ''is'' from the MU.]]

* In order to reach the endgame BonusBoss Kirin in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXI'', a player has to use one of the many portals in the collection of areas known as [[FanNickname sky]]. Small problem: The portal in question ''also'' transports players to a room full of Magic Pots, and despite [[UrbanLegendOfZelda rumors]], it really does seem to be random.

* ''Series/FlandersCompany'': GadgeteerGenius Caleb has teleporation as a superpower; in episode "Unlimited", when his power gets out of control because of one of his inventions, he starts blinking uncontrollably all over the place, to finally ends up in Egypt.

* ''WesternAnimation/MegasXLR'' "Coop D'Etat" Coop accidentally sends Megas into a teleportation loop, causing them to transport to random place all over the universe one after another.

-->--''Series/StarTrekDiscovery'', "The Butcher's Knife Cares Not For the Lamb's Cry", after an attempt to jump to Corvan II lands ''Discovery'' in the gravity well of a star light-years away

* Gordon Freeman in the beginning of ''VideoGame/HalfLife2''. In the original, the initial cascade resonance warps Gordon to random spots in Xen. It also did the same to the various aliens, later on. In ''Opposing Force'', this was the secondary fire of the {{BFG}} -- it would drop you down an endless void, or transport you to an area where there was some ammo for your other weapons. Happens as part of ''Blue Shift'''s finale.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* In ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' a [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0366.html drunk wizard]] mistakenly teleports the party to the nest of a GiantRoc. On the bonus side, [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0377.html he is so drunk that eating him knocks the bird out]].

* In ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' a [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0366.html drunk wizard]] mistakenly teleports the party to the nest of a {{Giant Roc|s}}. On the bonus side, [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0377.html he is so drunk that eating him knocks the bird out]].

* In ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' a [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0366.html drunk wizard]] teleports the party into a wrong place. On the bonus side, [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0377.html he is so drunk that eating him knocks out that giant bird]].

** In "Where No One Has Gone Before", the ''Enterprise'' ends up in the ''wrong galaxy'' due to the presence of "The Traveler" onboard.
** Implied in the episode "True Q", where Amanda tells Q that when she practices her teleportation, she always ends up somewhere she doesn't want to be.

** In ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'', the ''Enterprise'' is pushed off course by light years by both the Q and the [[LivingShip Tin Man]] object. In one episode, the ''Enterprise'' ends up in the ''wrong galaxy'' due to the presence of "The Traveler" onboard. Implied in the episode "True Q", where Amanda tells Q that when she practices her teleportation, she always ends up somewhere she doesn't want to be.
** In ''[[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Deep Space Nine]]'', Sisko winds up in the MirrorUniverse as well, though not accidentally.

[[MillionToOneChance If you're lucky, you can control when it happens.]] See also TeleporterAccident, BlindJump, and RandomTransportation.

* The Teleport Spell from ''Literature/{{Sorcery}}'' seems designed to screw with the players by default, where it misfires in practically every instance it was available. For instance, trying to use it to escape a landslide will teleport players... ''closer'' to the landslide. The only instance this spell actually works is when attempting to escape the Archmage's Captain, but by doing so you're missing an essential item (obtainable by confronting said captain), rendering the book unwinnable.

** Sometimes there is a chance of "misfire" when teleporting, so be careful which teleport spells you use!

* When WesternAnimation/JohnnyTest uses his MadScientist sisters' lab to get the ability to teleport, they use it to send him to random places as punishment.
* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/XMenEvolution'', a cold-stricken Nightcrawler's sneezes teleport him (and Kitty, who was holding onto him at the time) all over town.
* At the end of the ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' Story Arc / TV Movie, ''Into the Wild Green Yonder'', the heroes enter a wormhole, which could send them anywhere in the entire universe. At the start of the following season, [[spoiler:they end up back at the Planet Express building.]]
* In the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' episode "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E26TwilightsKingdomPart2 Twilight's Kingdom - Part 2]]", when trying to get the hang of her boosted powers, Twilight's attempt at teleportation sends her to random spots all across Equestria.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/HouseOfMouse'' short "Hydro-Squirter", Professor Ludwig von Drake accidentally turns his shower into a teleportation machine, leading to several embarrassing incidents as he tries to travel back to his lab.

* ''Disney/WreckItRalph'' shows Vanellope suffering this, known in the film as "glitching". The most prominent example is when she's [[spoiler:learning to drive. After jumping off a ramp, she teleports about 9 feet high, and slams into the Mentos stalactites, sending them into the [[MadeOfExplodium Diet Cola lava below]]. She learns how to control the glitching by the end of the movie, turning it into a [[GoodBadBugs feature]].]]