History Main / UnnaturallyLoopingLocation

* ''Manga/ChainsawMan'': The Eternity Devil turns the eighth floor of a hotel into an infinitely-repeating loop; the Devil Hunters, no matter what manner of exit they find, always find themselves back on the eight floor whenever they enter from another side of the floor. Once the Eternity Devil reveals itself, Denji decides to fight it for several days until it surrenders and allows Denji to kill it, [[HorrifyingTheHorror the pain from being attacked by chainsaws for several days having become unbearable]].

* ''Manga/ChainsawMan'': The Eternity Devil turns the eighth floor of a hotel into an infinitely-repeating loop; the Devil Hunters, no matter what manner of exit they find, always find themselves back on the eight floor whenever they enter from another side of the room.

** ''VideoGame/PaperMario64'': In [[FinalDungeon Bowser's Castle]], there's one segment containing various passages that takes Mario back to the starting room if he enters the wrong one. The flames indicate the order to enter the passages.

* "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWXnt2Z2D1E My house walkthrough]]", created by [[WebVideo/Nana825763]] (better known as the creator of "Username 666") utilises this trope as the central theme, with each loop of the house featuring things getting progressively more eerie. This video features some very impressive special effects, which were realised through practical memes, as nana825763 went to great effort modifying furniture in the house and putting together sets which were gradually changed over the course of filming, giving a sense that things were becoming different every time the footage loops.

** An SCP-087-inspired repeating angular stairway with [[ScoobyDoobyDoors two doors connecting to each other]] on the fourth and sixth floors, another door leading the player here from WebOriginal/TheBackrooms, another reached by a fall from the Brutalist House, another exiting from the skybox area of the Bathhouse to the first floor, and the last one on the fifth floor leading back to the main house.

** An SCP-087-inspired repeating angular stairway with [[ScoobyDoobyDoors two doors connecting to each other]], one of which also leads the player here from WebOriginal/TheBackrooms, another exiting from the skybox area of the Bathhouse, and a fourth leading back to the main house.

*** Marble Garden Zone Act 1 loops vertically, and the beginning of the level has a series of steep vertical drops that cover a much larger vertical distance than would otherwise be possible. Later portions of the level use a trick to that in Metropolis Zone from Sonic 2, where one route heads upwards, another heads downwards, and the two routes mysteriously combine in the opposite direction.

** ''VideoGame/Sonic3AndKnuckles'' uses this multiple times in quick succession in the same level, all while forcing the player to keep sustaining the loop by jumping back onto it to avoid ghosts killing the player. Jumping off at the right point here can be quite difficult and deadly in this.

** ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2'' uses this, but with vertical corridors that the player falls through and must jump out of at the right time instead of the usual diagonal ramps.

** ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog1'''s Labyrinth Zone Act 3 is the initial example of this trope in the series. Its example complicates things beyond the usual level of complexity by making the platform that must be jumped on to escape the loop blocked by a door that only opens if the player jumps off the loop and presses a button to open it on a second platform.

* In ''WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants'' episode "SB-129", when Squidward sends himself to a BlankWhiteVoid, he quickly [[GoMadFromTheIsolation loses it]] and tries to find an exit, looping around whatever direction he runs towards.

** ''Manga/DiamondIsUnbreakable'': The Ghost Alley of Morioh goes around in a loop if someone tries to go back the way they came, always ending up back at the same corner. Likewise, the direction of up is twisted into going back towards the ground. Reimi Sugimoto, who resides there, explains the way to leave is by going in a different direction and keep going straight without looking back, otherwise an otherworldly force will [[DraggedOffToHell drag them to the underworld]].
** ''Manga/SteelBallRun'': Johnny, Gyro, and Hot Pants repeatedly ride through parts of the same forest. Ringo Roadagain, a DeathSeeker, refuses to let them escape unless one of them fights and kills him. Subverted in that [[spoiler:the forest itself is not actually looping. Ringo can rewind time with his Stand and he's using his power to disorient them.]]
* ''Manga/JujutsuKaisen:'' Utahime and Mei Mei once encountered a cursed spirit haunting an abandoned mansion that trapped the two of them in one of the floors by having it loop upon itself. While they disappeared for two days, both girls were able to surmise a few properties of the curse and deduce that the loop was imperfect, since every time they returned to the same spot it took them a different amount of steps. They attempted to break the loop by running in opposite directions, but [[DestructiveSaviour Satoru Gojo destroyed the mansion before they could see if their plan would've worked]].

* The Literature/DoctorWhoNewAdventures novel ''Toy Soldiers'' has the protagonists on a planet fighting a ForeverWar. At one point they decide to explore the trench system only to find it forms a huge circle with the enemy occupying another part of the same trench.

* ''VideoGame/EpicBattleFantasy'' series: Multiple:
** ''VideoGame/EpicBattleFantasy4'': There's a maze where you need to go through the rooms in the correct sequence to find the exit ([[YouShouldntKnowThisAlready and requires you to find the item showing the way]] even on a NewGamePlus).
** ''VideoGame/EpicBattleFantasy5'': The glitch worlds loop with left leading to the right, and up leading to the bottom of the screen, and vice versa. Except [[spoiler:for the final Redpine one, where going up leads to an OptionalBoss, but all the other sides work the same]].

* ''VideoGame/ManifoldGarden'':
** A core part of the game's design, with all environments exhibiting this on various scales.
** The game's website loops back to the top if you scroll down far enough.

[[folder:Visual Novels]]
* Late in Antonio's fifth season of ''VisualNovel/HavenfallIsForLovers'', Antonio takes the heroine to the abandoned amusement park. There, [[spoiler:the Cult of Blood]] magically entraps them, so that trying to leave the park will eventually take them right back to it.
* ''VisualNovel/SpiritHunterNG'':
** In the first Survival Escape, Akira and Ami try to run away from a car that's barreling down a narrow alleyway towards them. However, no matter how much they run, they remain in the alleyway, and realize that some other solution is required to stay alive.
** The Miroku Mansion is revealed to have a hallway that impossibly loops back around to the Mansion's entrance. Depending on what mask is used to enter the hallway, the mansion changes subtly and offers more clues for Akira and co. to investigate.
* The Infinite Cafe in ''VisualNovel/ThePiratesFate''. It's a small room, comfortably furnished with cushions and fine foods and an ArabianNightsDays scene visible through a window, as well as several exits. However, each of those exits leads only to a room exactly identical to the original, including the perspective of the view, infinitely. Many of the inhabitants ([[spoiler:at least, those that are real]]) have gone mad from trying to find their way out, and yet they don't actually age or die, just wander. How does one escape? [[spoiler:Either learn to accept it as what it is, a place to stop and rest for a while, without trying to escape... or just [[DungeonBypass smash your way out]], because it's actually just a SecretTestOfCharacter.]]

* ''Webcomic/TheInexplicableAdventuresOfBob:'' When Bob, Jean, and Voluptua are trapped in the EldritchLocation of the Cone Ship's interior, they speculate on whether this may be the case, Bob even comparing it to a video game. They never get to confirm it, though.

* ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'':
** In Volume 9, [[spoiler:the team [[TrappedInAnotherWorld ends up in the Ever After]], TheWonderland from the in-universe story of "The Girl Who Fell Through the World". They know that in the story, the way to return to their world is at the giant tree in the center of the Ever After. But every time they try to walk straight there, they somehow loop around to back where they started walking a few steps later. The Ever After is [[{{Railroading}} forcing the team to interact with each acre]] before permitting them to continue forward]].
** During Episode 2, Weiss tries to brute-force the loop as the rest of the team watches her get increasingly flustered returning to where they're sitting. Then she loses her temper and tries to throw a rock into the loop - that ends comically.
-->'''Weiss''':Stupid ''tree''!
-->*''Smack''*

* ''WesternAnimation/CartoonNetworkGroovies'': ''Circles'' parodies Hanna-Barbera's usual {{Wraparound Background}}s by turning one into this trope. [[WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones Barney Rubble, Fred Flintstone]], and later multiple other Hanna-Barbera characters are trapped in Barney's house trying to look for an exit, with the others questioning how they got there in the first place.