History Main / TimeIsDangerous

* ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'' has ComicBook/DoctorStrange's mastery of temporal manipulation, thanks to natural talent as a TimeMaster and a {{Seer}} being magnified by [[spoiler: exposure to the Time Stone - which also made him TheAgeless -]], as ''the'' key part of what makes him so incredibly dangerous: it allows him to gather vast amounts of knowledge, which allows him to mastermind the grand-scale manipulation of the series' colossal GambitPileUp, manipulating characters from ordinary teenagers to the Endless themselves. It gets to the point where the combat related abilities, such as his ability to freeze the series' version of Bizarro in mid-air with minimal effort, are a courtesy detail. The fact that he is ''not'' infallible makes it even more worrying, as the events of the ''Forever Red'' arc in the sequel are precipitated by someone who's invisible to his precognitive senses, resulting in the world being turned upside down and the near-unleashing of [[spoiler: the Dark Phoenix]], an EldritchAbomination that on its last rampage destroyed a galaxy. And this time, there'd be ''two'' of them.
** The sequel elaborates on this, showing the consequences of temporal warfare, and having Frigga state that if a civilisation even ''looks'' like trying to start using temporal warfare, other civilisations will band together to destroy them - and adds that Asgard mastered it, both before and after they became gods.

* ''[[https://www.whofic.com/viewstory.php?sid=43209 Practical Mythology]]'', a ''Series/DoctorWho'' fic, features a lot of fallout from the Last Great Time War, namely time distortions: bits of space where time flows at a different rate or backwards. They function as something akin to a particularly gruesome minefield (just imagine what happens if your leg is subjected to a faster timeflow than the rest).

TemporalParadox is a sub-trope to this. Compare TimeCrash, HyperspaceIsAScaryPlace.

** In "A Stitch In Time", the result of RippleEffectProofMemory is that an entirely new lifetime's worth of memories gets added onto the existing one, which could result in brain damage.
** The episode "Breaking Point" had a time traveller end up a few days in the future to see his wife dying from a gunshot wound. He goes back and tries to prevent it. However, the side effect of the trip is physical and mental degradation. By the end, his wife has had enough and decides to leave him. In a deranged state, he ends up shooting her. Seems to be a case of YouAlreadyChangedThePast, doesn't it? Then the episode does a 180 on this idea and [[spoiler:has the guy go back to the night he first met his wife and shoot his younger self, himself turning to dust. Of course, the worst part is that she was planning on killing herself that day.]]

* Played to the hilt in [[Recap/RickAndMortyS4E1EdgeOfTomortyRickDieRickpeat an episode]] of ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'' which cogently deconstructs why it's a rule that time travel is the one sci-fi trope the protagonists will never willingly indulge in. A chance encounter with a race of [[IntelligentGerbil alien snakes]] leads to them deciding to target Morty with time travel, with endless barrage of [[TerminatorTwosome assassins and guardians]] to fight a war over the Smith-Sanchez family. Rick decides to nip this in the bud by bootstrapping the snakes' history so they discover time travel before ever they ever met, which leads to the war shifting to assassinating snake Hitler. All this draws the attention of the TimePolice, who RetGone the entire alien species.

* The ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRedAlert'' series has several takes on this trope, all consequences of deploying Chronosphere technology. [[GameplayAndStorySegregation This is further complicated]] by the Chronosphere acting as a time machine in cutscenes, but being used as a unit teleporter in-game instead. For starters, the chrono field is lethal to insufficiently protected humans, so trying to chrono-shift infantry results in a bunch of dead infantry. Some games [[LoopholeAbuse let you circumvent this]] by loading your infantry into [=APCs=] and then shifting the vehicles without incident; others transport the vehicles but empty them of their occupants during the journey. Another, far more serious consequence of using Chronosphere tech, however, are the frequently devastating changes to the timeline that occur every time someone tries to make history go their way. As the series grew DenserAndWackier with every installment, these historical changes escalated alongside it until the original game's mostly sane AlternateHistory of WW II and the Cold War had turned into something utterly removed from real-world history.

** In "[[Recap/StarTrekVoyagerS6E12BlinkOfAnEye Blink of an Eye]]", an astronaut from a planet were time operates in a faster rate than the regular universe, ends up dying during the transition to the timeframe on Voyager, while the other one barely survives.

-->'''Annorax:''' When I tell that Time has moods, a disposition to be intuited, I'm not speaking metaphorically.\\

'''Annorax:''' Anger is one of it's moods. Anger and the desire for retribution, vengeance. Time itself has tried to punish me for my arrogance. It has kept me from my wife, denied me my future.

** WordOfGod states that Harry will eventually have to break all the laws of magic as he works to protect the world. There has been a subtle hint in ''Literature/{{Changes}}'' that he may have the rule against time travel "already".

* In ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast'', Kitty Pryde's MentalTimeTravel works by projecting one's consciousness into their past self long enough to alter the past. However, transferring a consciousness back too far into the past puts too much stress on the mind of the traveler, meaning that the only one capable of doing so is Wolverine, whose mind can heal as it is damaged. Furthermore, if the connection is broken at the wrong time, the changes that the traveler made in the past take effect, meaning that changing the wrong thing could potentially leave the surviving mutants worse off in the new timeline.

* ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'' has Doctor Strange's mastery of temporal manipulation, thanks to natural talent as a TimeMaster and a {{Seer}} being magnified by [[spoiler: exposure to the Time Stone - which also made him TheAgeless -]], as ''the'' key part of what makes him so incredibly dangerous: it allows him to gather vast amounts of knowledge, which allows him to mastermind the grand-scale manipulation of the series' colossal GambitPileUp, manipulating characters from ordinary teenagers to the Endless themselves. It gets to the point where the combat related abilities, such as his ability to freeze the series' version of Bizarro in mid-air with minimal effort, are a courtesy detail. The fact that he is ''not'' infallible makes it even more worrying, as the events of the ''Forever Red'' arc in the sequel are precipitated by someone who's invisible to his precognitive senses, resulting in the world being turned upside down and the near-unleashing of [[spoiler: the Dark Phoenix]], an EldritchAbomination that on its last rampage destroyed a galaxy. And this time, there'd be ''two'' of them.

* In ''Anime/{{Doraemon}}'', TimeTravel is achieved by going through a tunnel-like space on your TimeMachine. Should one get knocked out of the machine and into the tunnel, one will be stranded in time. The problem is, Doraemon's time machine is basically just some futuristic devices bolted to a ''tatami'', so the risk of being thrown overboard is always there. Dorami's is safe, because it's a flower-shaped capsule. Have we mentioned that some bad guys have their own time machine, [[Series/PimpMyRide so you can have a chase in time while you chase in time?]]

In many time travel shows, the time machine is generally safe to operate, and the machinery itself is safe.

* Website/{{Cracked}}.com has a [[http://www.cracked.com/article_18564_6-time-travel-realities-doc-brown-didnt-warn-us-about.html list of reasons why time travel sucks]]. [[http://www.cracked.com/blog/5-ways-movies-get-time-travel-wrong/ And again.]] [[http://www.cracked.com/blog/you-cant-bring-tampons-girls-guide-to-time-travel/ And again]], for women only this time. [[http://www.cracked.com/article_23046_6-terrible-realities-past-that-would-ruin-time-travel.html Yet again]], but this time more specifically historic activities such as hospitals.

->''"DO NOT MESS WITH TIME."''
-->-- '''Note from Harry's Future Self''', ''Fanfic/HarryPotterAndTheMethodsOfRationality''

** Episode 5 also implies that [[spoiler: the storm threatening to destroy the town]] is the universe trying to clean up all of the ripple effects of Max using her powers, and [[spoiler: the only way to stop it is to go back to the moment Max first got her powers and allow Chloe to die permanently.]]

** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E12TheStolenEarth Dalek]] [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E13JourneysEnd Caan]] ended up taking an unprotected jaunt through the Time Vortex and turned into a [[LaughingMad madly giggling]] [[MadOracle insane oracle]]. [[spoiler:He also saw what the Daleks ''[[OmnicidalManiac really were]]'' and decided to destroy them.]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]

* ''Series/DoctorWho'' has this crop up fairly often. Since the main character is a time traveller from a species that not only mastered Time Travel, but actually ''invented'' it, who're pretty much defined by it, what with being called "Time Lords". Ergo, they weaponised it. Examples include the De-Mat Gun, which quite literally erases its target from space and time, never having existed. And then there was the Time War.
** Looking at the Time Vortex is a bad idea. 8 year old Time Lords look into the Untempered Schism, seeing the Vortex, and either get inspired, go insane (like the Master) or run away (like the Doctor). This is a relatively mild effect, because this is a species that's evolved for billions of years to adapt to time travel. Others, like Margaret the Slitheen, aren't so lucky. [[spoiler:She got deaged and transformed into an egg.]]
** Also, absorbing the power of the Time Vortex is a bad idea for you and anyone in your way. It'll turn you into an all-powerful god with total mastery over space and time, capable of vaporising a Dalek Empire with the wave of a hand and permanently resurrect someone with a thought, but it will also burn you alive.

* ''Series/SevenDays''. There are so many things wrong with the Sphere. First of all, while it's [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin very accurate]] [[TimeAndRelativeDimensionsInSpace in time travel, landing it]] ''[[TimeAndRelativeDimensionsInSpace where]]'' [[TimeAndRelativeDimensionsInSpace you want to be]] requires precise piloting. Second, [[OurTimeTravelIsDifferent Our Time Travel Is]] '''''[[AgonyBeam really]]''' [[AgonyBeam painful]]''. Third, well, go to the page and check out the list of {{Phlebotinum Breakdown}}s the machine suffered. That's probably not even the full list!

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* In ''Franchise/BackToTheFuture'', the [=DeLorean=] has to be traveling at 88 miles per hour. Which means that unless you know what's going to be in front of you in the time period you're heading to, you're going to crash. By the [[Film/BackToTheFuturePartIII third movie]], Doc seems to be acknowledging this. Marty's a little less sure, but both times Doc assures him that the obstacle he's seeing in the present won't be there in the destination time. Or that something that isn't there in the present ''will'' be there in the future, ([[spoiler:like the rest of the bridge.]])

* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'': In "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS6E23Timescape Timescape]]", Picard is injured when he sticks his hand across the edge of a "time bubble", which causes his fingernails to age faster than his arm. Later, he experiences symptoms of "temporal narcosis" due to a malfunction of the equipment protecting him from being frozen in time. Ironically, its mentioned that taking the "armband" off would merely freeze someone in that timeframe with no ill-effects from the rapid transition from one to the other. Time is funny like that. [[GeniusBonus Or because that particular time bubble was an extreme slowdown while the one encountered earlier that harmed Picard's hand was an extreme speed up. It would make sense that taking off the armband would move you into that time reference.]] Meaning if you took off your arm band in an extreme speed up it would age you into dust, while taking it off inside a slow down would well... [[CaptainObvious slow you down ]]

* ''Series/DoctorWho'' has this crop up fairly often. Since the main character is a time traveller from a species that not only mastered Time Travel, but actually ''invented'' it, who're pretty much defined by it, what with being called "Time Lords" (though it is all but stated that Time Lords are, in fact, a higher caste in Gallifreyan society and it's hinted that you don't necessarily have to be Gallifreyan to become a Time Lord). Ergo, they weaponised it. Examples include the De-Mat Gun, which quite literally erases its target from space and time, never having existed. And then there was the Time War.

* In Marvel, [[ComicBook/AllNewXMen a series of]] [[Comicbook/AgeOfUltron time travel disasters]] has caused a TimeCrash that has snapped RubberBandHistory. This means any time traveler can permanently change history of the mainstream universe without worrying about causality. [[ComicBook/IncredibleHulk The Hulk]] is tasked with going through time to fix it since a normal man whose suit failed ended up with [[BodyHorror different parts of his body aged to different years ranging from 90 to 2 weeks old]].

'''Calvin:''' Geez, do you think traveling years into the future [[CasualTimeTravel is like driving down the street?!]] We've got to contend with [[SwirlyEnergyThingy vortexes]] and [[FasterThanLightTravel light speeds]]! Anything could go wrong! Of course we have to wear goggles!\\

* ''Series/DoctorWho'' has this crop up fairly often. Since the main character is a time traveller from a species that not only mastered Time Travel, but actually ''invented'' it, who're pretty much defined by it, what with being called 'Time Lords' (though it is all but stated that Time Lords are, in fact, a higher caste in Gallifreyan society and it's hinted that you don't necessarily have to be Gallifreyan to become a Time Lord). Ergo, they weaponised it. Examples include the De-Mat Gun, which quite literally erases its target from space and time, never having existed. And then there was the Time War.
** Looking at the Time Vortex is a bad idea. 8 year old Time Lords look into the Untempered Schism, seeing the Vortex, and either get inspired, go insane (like the Master) or run away (like the Doctor). This is a relatively mild effect, because this is a species that's evolved for billions of years to adapt to time travel. Others, like Margaret the Slitheen, aren't so lucky. [[spoiler: She got deaged and transformed into an egg.]]
** Also, absorbing the power of the Time Vortex is a bad idea for you and anyone in your way. It'll turn you into an all-powerful god with total mastery over space and time, capable of vaporising a Dalek Empire with the wave of a hand and permanently resurrect someone with a thought, but it will also burn you alive.
* ''Series/{{Timecop}}'': In "The Future, Jack, the Future", the protagonist and his temporary partner (played by Creator/BruceCampbell) find a mothballed time travel lab in the past. They find an early version of the pod still using rocket boosters instead of the so-called "timecop propulsion". When Bruce Campbell asks what happened if the speed wasn't high enough, the protagonist pointed him towards the blackened wall at the end of the track.

* ''Series/TheOuterLimits1995'':
** In "A Stitch In Time", the result of RippleEffectProofMemory is that an entirely new lifetime's worth of memories gets added onto the existing one, which could result in brain damage.
** The episode "Breaking Point" had a time traveller end up a few days in the future to see his wife dying from a gunshot wound. He goes back and tries to prevent it. However, the side effect of the trip is physical and mental degradation. By the end, his wife has had enough and decides to leave him. In a deranged state, he ends up shooting her. Seems to be a case of YouAlreadyChangedThePast, doesn't it? Then the episode does a 180 on this idea and [[spoiler:has the guy go back to the night he first met his wife and shoot his younger self, himself turning to dust. Of course, the worst part is that she was planning on killing herself that day.]]
* ''Series/SevenDays''. There are so many things wrong with the Sphere. First of all, while it's [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin very accurate]] [[TimeAndRelativeDimensionsInSpace in time travel, landing it]] ''[[TimeAndRelativeDimensionsInSpace where]]'' [[TimeAndRelativeDimensionsInSpace you want to be]] requires precise piloting. Second, [[OurTimeTravelIsDifferent Our Time Travel Is]] '''''[[AgonyBeam really]]''' [[AgonyBeam painful]]''. Third, well, go to the page and check out the list of {{Phlebotinum Breakdown}}s the machine suffered. That's probably not even the full list!
* ''Series/{{Sanctuary}}'': A time bubble allows people to enter, but violently destroys anything attempting to leave. Time inside the bubble runs six years to each day outside, resulting in three-year periods of no sunlight. Naturally, this is not good for a self-contained ecosystem. Furthermore, if the bubble had expanded too far, the time differential between the different parts of the Earth would have destroyed the planet. [[spoiler:Will and Magnus manage to reverse it, but at the cost of [[RetGone ret-goning]] everyone born inside the bubble.]]
* ''Series/SapphireAndSteel'': Time is outside the (metaphorical) safe corridor in which human life and history exist, and it is constantly trying to exploit weak spots in the corridor walls and break in. This, when it happens, is not a good thing. Time is the ''enemy''.