History Main / TheThreeTrials

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* ''VideoGame/BackToTheFuture'': About half the episodes feature this. For example, the three demeanors in Ep. 3: "Citizen Brown".

* ''VideoGame/DeathRoadToCanada'' has three trials in the final stretch, all of them loaded with zombies. First is "Almost There", a 1.5 hour siege (90 seconds in real time) in a cramped location. Second is "City of Crushed Hopes", another siege, this one 4 hours which is 4 agonizing minutes in real time. Finally, third is an actual fight at the border where your team must fight their way across a bridge and then assist the [=RCMP=] in holding the zombies off until their backup arrives.

A common trope in Adventure Games where the hero must achieve [[RuleOfThree three]] specific goals in order to advance the plot. Bob may want to fight the dragon and save Alice right now, but the giant lizard safety inspector has made it clear that he must first find a magic shield from the haunted forge, a spray can of dragon repellent from the future, and a helmet in spite of the mad king's ban on headwear. Whether true or not, the hero is almost always given the impression that the tasks may be completed in any order.

* Present in level 6 of ''Franchise/DevilMayCry 3''. You are presented with three challenges, representing strength, skill and intelligence. Passing one of them gives you nothing, passing two opens the way to the end of the level and passing all three nets you the Artemis gun.

* In ''Film/MortalKombat: Annihilation'' Nightwolf tells Liu Kang he must pass three tests before he can defeat Shao Kahn. The first test is courage, which apparently involves having a hatchet thrown at your head to induce a "dream-state." [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse You never learn what the other two tests were.]]

* Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade: To reach the Holy Grail, Indy must get past three traps: The Breath of God[[note]]"Only the penitent man shall pass" (humbling oneself by kneeling below blades that would otherwise decapitate him)[[/note]], the Word of God[[note]]"Only in God's name shall he proceed" (stepping only on tiles with letters that spell "IEHOVA", what with there being no J in Latin script)[[/note]], and the Path of God[[note]]"Only in the leap from the lion's mouth shall he prove his worth" (taking a leap of faith onto a path rendered invisible by ForcedPerspective)[[/note]].

* The last 3 puzzles in the first ''VideoGame/DarkFall'' game, even called such in the backstory. [[spoiler: The first one is solved by finding a set of colors and inputting them in a certain order; the second via matching the 4 elements to sounds you hear in said trial. The third relies on a [[SimonSaysMinigame sequence of sounds]] in the room with the trial.]]

** In "Baddest of the Bands" Strong Bad must get three bands to sign up for his "Battle Royale of the Bands": he has to get Coach Z and Bubs to re-form their rap duo (which itself requires doing three things to convince Bubs that Coach Z is still "hardcore"), get Homestar a job singing with Pom Pom, and convince Marzipan to enter her band Cool Tapes in the contest instead of playing a benefit for an endangered albino bat. Then once the contest starts, Strong Bad must sabotage all three of the other bands.

[[quoteright:350:[[VideoGame/TheSecretOfMonkeyIsland https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/3trials_4993.png]]]]

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* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'':

* An unspoken Three Trials sequence takes up most of the latter half of ''{{VideoGame/Psychonauts}}'', once Raz gains access to the asylum. He must acquire three items - a straitjacket, an acting trophy, and a portrait of [[MadScientist Dr. Loboto]] - to cobble together a disguise that will fool the short-sighted [[MostDefinitelyNotAVillain 'orderly']] into thinking he's Loboto and letting him use the elevator that will take him to the upper levels. These items are in the possession of three of the asylum's four remaining patients (the fourth had already been dealt with on the way in), and must have their mental problems solved via JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind before they'll hand them over. These comprise full levels, and may be done in any order; and yes, this is the only way, as the 'orderly' [[NoSell is immune to all of Raz's psychic powers]] (HandWaved as being some sort of protection offered by Loboto). The presence of this trope should come as no surprise given creator Creator/TimSchafer's previous experience with adventure games, including ''Monkey Island''.

* An unspoken Three Trials sequence takes up most of the latter half of ''{{VideoGame/Psychonauts}}'', once Raz gains access to the asylum. He must acquire three items - a straitjacket, an acting trophy, and a portrait of [[MadScientist Dr. Loboto]] - to cobble together a disguise that will fool the short-sighted [[MostDefinitelyNotAVillain 'orderly']] into thinking he's Loboto and letting him use the elevator that will take him to the upper levels. These items are in the possession of three of the asylum's four remaining patients (the fourth had already been dealt with on the way in), and must have their mental problems solved via JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind before they'll hand them over. And yes, this is the only way, as the 'orderly' [[NoSell is immune to all of Raz's psychic powers]] (HandWaved as being some sort of protection offered by Loboto). The presence of this trope should come as no surprise given creator Creator/TimSchafer's previous experience with adventure games, including ''Monkey Island''.

* An unspoken Three Trials sequence takes up most of the latter half of ''{{VideoGame/Psychonauts}}'', once Raz gains access to the asylum. He must acquire three items - a straitjacket, an acting trophy, and a portrait of [[MadScientist Dr. Loboto]] - to cobble together a disguise that will fool the short-sighted [[MostDefinitelyNotAVillain 'orderly']] into thinking he's Loboto and letting him use the elevator that will take him to the upper levels. These items are in the possession of three of the asylum's four remaining patients (the fourth had already been dealt with on the way in), and must have their mental problems solved via JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind before they'll hand them over. And yes, this is the only way, as the 'orderly' [[NoSell is immune to all your psychic powers]] (HandWaved as being some sort of protection offered by Loboto). The presence of this trope should come as no surprise given creator Creator/TimSchafer's previous experience with adventure games, including ''Monkey Island''.

* An unspoken Three Trials sequence takes up most of the latter half of ''{{VideoGame/Psychonauts}}'', once Raz gains access to the Asylum. He must acquire three items - a straitjacket, an acting trophy, and a portrait of [[MadScientist Dr. Loboto]] - to cobble together a disguise that will fool the short-sighted [[MostDefinitelyNotAVillain 'orderly']] into thinking he's Loboto and letting him use the elevator that will take him to the upper levels. These items are in the possession of three of the asylum's four remaining inmates (the fourth had already been dealt with on the way in), and must have their mental problems solved via JourneyToTheCenterOfTheMind before they'll hand them over. And yes, this is the only way, as the 'orderly' [[NoSell is immune to all your psychic powers]] (HandWaved as being some sort of protection offered by Loboto). The presence of this trope should come as no surprise given creator Creator/TimSchafer's previous experience with adventure games, including ''Monkey Island''.

** Hoagie needs to find power to his Chron-O-John in the 1800's. This involves finding the blueprint for a super battery, components to build said battery, and managing to charge the finished product.

** Parodied in "Strong Badia the Free"; Homsar tells Strong Bad that he'll only join him after he completes the "three ancient tasks of great boredom", but very quickly admits that he was only joking.

* Used in every Creator/TelltaleGames adventure ever, at least OnceAnEpisode. Flat-out {{Lampshaded}} in the ''VideoGame/SamAndMaxBeyondTimeAndSpace: Moai Better Blues''.

* Starting in [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0324.html strip #324]], WebComic/{{the Order of the Stick}} must go through three trials, one each of Body, Mind, and Heart, in order to see an Oracle. The Trial of Body is defeating a hydra, which the team does by [[spoiler:chopping off so many heads that it passed out from not having enough blood to supply oxygen to the heads that regenerated]]. The Trial of Mind is a KnightsAndKnaves riddle; [[spoiler:Haley bypasses it by shooting one of the guards in the foot and seeing how they respond]]. The Trial of Heart is [[spoiler:[[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking a medical exam]], so the Oracle doesn't get sued if someone dies of shock from hearing an unpleasant prophecy]].

* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'': In "The Test", the Gems set up a series of three tests for Steven, who's worried he needs to prove himself as a Crystal Gem after being reminded of the disastrous events of "Cheeseburger Backpack". [[spoiler: The tests turn out to be rigged in Steven's favor, but when Steven overhears the Gems discussing their own worries about being good {{parental substitute}}s for Steven, he doesn't have the heart to expose their ruse.]]

* Starting in [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0324.html strip #324]], WebComic/{{the Order of the Stick}} must go through three trials, one each of Body, Mind, and Heart. The Trial of Body is defeating a hydra, which the team does by [[spoiler:chopping off so many heads that it passed out from not having enough blood to supply oxygen to the heads that regenerated]]. The Trial of Mind is a KnightsAndKnaves riddle; [[spoiler:Haley bypasses it by shooting one of the guards in the foot and seeing how they respond]]. The Trial of Heart is [[spoiler:[[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking a medical exam]]]].

* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' has done this twice, once in "Serious Steven", and again in "The Test".

* Parodied in Episode 2 of ''VideoGame/StrongBadsCoolGameForAttractivePeople''. Homsar tells Strong Bad that he'll only join him after he completes the "three ancient tasks of great boredom", but very quickly admits that he was only joking. It's played straight in a few other episodes, though:
** In "Homestar Ruiner" Strong Bad, in order to get Homestar out of his house, must clear him of the public nudity charge against him, get him back together with Marzipan, and make him the winner of the Race to the End of the Race. Note that each of these is undoing the damage inflicted on Homestar by an earlier set of Three Trials (stealing Homestar's clothes, stealing the head from Marzipan's float, and entering the Race to the End of the Race disguised as Homestar).

* ''VideoGame/TheMatrixPathOfNeo'' has the Merovingians three trials that Neo has to pass to escape the chateau. The first is escaping an M.C. Escher type maze, the second trial is fighting your way through a club of vampires and the third is a fight with the Witch Queen to finally escape.

** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'' has Link gather the three spiritual stones of forest, fire, and water. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, Ganondorf has tricked you into opening the Door of Time for him by collecting all of them]].