History Main / TrapDoorFail

-->'''Dr. Evil:''' Silence!

* In "The Tachypomp" by Edward Page Mitchell, Rivarol has a trap door over a tunnel right through the centre of the earth, so that anyone falling in will acquire enough momentum to fall ''up'' the tunnel, until they run out of momentum and fall back down, ''ad infinitum''. He uses it to get rid of unwanted creditors. Unfortunately, the wrong person falls in....

** Averted in another episode in which a trap door worked when it [[ForgotAboutHisPowers really shouldn't have]], trapping Green Lantern (who can fly) the Flash (who has super-fast reflexes) and Batman and Robin (who carry grapple lines).

* The endings for Kuma and Panda in ''{{Tekken}} 5'' do this. Both have separate endings, where they are visited by someone. Two large buttons are on the CEO desk. The first drops the visitor. The second drops the CEO.

Of course, there are alternate varieties. Sometimes the trap door fails to kill its victims, and they continue to complain. Other times, the victim is too fat to slip through. Or in true ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' style, it refuses to open until the villain decides to jump up and down on it. Regardless of how it plays out, if the trap door doesn't work the way it should, you've just met a Trap Door Fail.

** The next time someone fails, [[GenreSavvy everybody jumps out of his chair]] before ''[[CrowningMomentOfFunny any]]'' buttons can be pushed. Eventually, [[spoiler:all the people are restrained in their chairs so they can't get up at all]].

** In another episode where Smithers approached Burns for a vacation, Burns tried to dump him into the trap door, [[GenreSavvy but Smithers had the foresight to disable it]].

* Since ''WordGirl'' can fly, trap doors are useless against her.

* A pit opens under [[ImplacableMan Walking Man]] in [[{{Nightside}} ''Judgement Day'']]. He simply ignores it and continues walking on air.

* ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' had a fake-commercial skit where a CorruptCorporateExecutive's trap door malfunctions in various ways: (1) opening too late, (2) opening too gradually, (3) being too small, and (4) opening upward. [[http://snltranscripts.jt.org/87/87mtrapdoor.phtml Stupid trap door company.]]

* In ''Film/DiamondsAreForever'', Bond is in a elevator, and suddenly straddles the sides of the floor, expecting it to be a trap door. [[SubvertedTrope He's gassed unconscious instead]].

* In ''Film/DiamondsAreForever'', Film/JamesBond is in a elevator, and suddenly straddles the sides of the floor, expecting it to be a trap door. He's gassed unconscious instead. In ''Film/TheSpyWhoLovedMe'', the elevator really does have a trap door -- we see it used early in the film. And this time, Bond straddles it and avoids falling in.

** In "Grift of the Magi", the trap door defies the laws of physics and somehow the victims fall from the roof of the very same room. "Smithers, it's doing that thing again!"

->'''Mr. Burns''': Is that so? Well, I have a feeling you'll be... ''dropping'' the charges!\\

* ''AustinPowers: International Man of Mystery'': In this case the trap door dumps the mook into it correctly, however:

* In ''OverlordII'' there is a RunningGag where LesCollaborateurs turn up at the [[PlayerHeadquarters Netherworld Tower]] and give you info that kicks off story-related quests, then start making obnoxious requests of you and get dropped down a trap door for their trouble. After a while a mysterious hooded figure appears to deliver a quest of her own and simply levitates above trapdoor when the Overlord opens it. ([[spoiler: This is actually the mistress of the previous game's Overlord, i.e. your mother.]])

* Likewise in ''Literature/{{Swellhead}} thanks to the hero's LevitatingLotusPosition (he deliberately sat on the trapdoor to shake the villain's confidence).

* The endings for Kuma and Panda in ''{{Tekken}} 5'' do this. Both have separate endings, where they are visited by someone. Two large buttons are on the CEO desk. The first drops the visitor. The second drops the CEO.

* In an episode of ''SuperFriends'', ComicBook/LexLuthor drops Superman down a trap door, but he simply flies out.

''-He hits a button on his desk, causing a trapdoor to open several feet behind the NRC agents-''\\

''(He presses a button on his desk, causing a trapdoor to open several feet behind the NRC agents.)''\\

(Mr. Burns presses a button on his desk, causing a trapdoor to open several feet behind the NRC agents.)''\\

* Sometimes the joke is that the person who was supposed to fall through the trap door is too fat. Seen on ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' and ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy''.
** Another ''Simpsons'' one was when the painters moved Burns' desk, so when Burns sprang it, it opened but not underneath its would-be victim.
*** In another ''Simpsons'' episode, the trap door defies the laws of physics and somehow the victims fall from the roof of the very same room. "Smithers, it's doing that thing again!"
** In the case of ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'', Mayor West hadn't planned on being menaced by an especially portly malcontent.
** In another episode of ''Family Guy'', Carter Peuterschmidt successfully dropped a lawyer through a trap door, only to lead to him defeating the Rancor in a ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'' parody.

->'''Mr. Burns''': Is that so? Well, I have a feeling you'll be... ''[[JustForPun dropping]]'' the charges!
->-''He presses a button on his desk, causing a trapdoor to open several feet behind the NRC agents.''-
->'''Smithers''': [[NoOSHACompliance The painters moved your desk, sir.]]
->'''Mr. Burns''': Ah, yes...

* ''SaturdayNightLive'' had a fake-commercial skit where a CorruptCorporateExecutive's trap door malfunctions in various ways: (1) opening too late, (2) opening too gradually, (3) being too small, and (4) opening upward. [[http://snltranscripts.jt.org/87/87mtrapdoor.phtml Stupid trap door company.]]

Of course, there are alternate varieties. Sometimes the trap door fails to kill its victims, and they continue to complain. Other times, the victim is too fat to slip through. Or in true ''LooneyTunes'' style, it refuses to open until the villain decides to jump up and down on it. Regardless of how it plays out, if the trap door doesn't work the way it should, you've just met a Trap Door Fail.

* ''LooneyTunes'' and ''MerrieMelodies'': A frequently seen trope, where trap doors are disguised by the likes of Yosemite Sam, Wile E. Coyote, etc., only for their adversaries to completely ignore it or go over the trap doors as though they weren't there … and then it works when Yosemite, Wile E., and others try it.

* In an episode of ''SuperFriends'', LexLuthor drops Superman down a trap door, but he simply flies out.

* A non-funny example is used in an episode of ''"Belphegor"'' at one point. An old general Belphegor is after, tries to use a trap door on him, as the man confronts him in his own office. However, the minute he presses the button, Belphegor proceeds to inform him that the trap door is disabled, much to the general's surprise and horror.

* Sometimes the joke is that the person who was supposed to fall through the trap door is too fat. Seen on ''TheSimpsons'' and ''FamilyGuy''.