Line #15 Main/DescendingCeiling


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11	[[quoteright:350:[[Film/IndianaJonesAndTheTempleOfDoom https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/descended_ceiling_indiana_jones.jpg]]]]
12	[[caption-width-right:350:Willie! We are going to die!]]
13	-> ''"That was too close. You were almost a Jill sandwich!"''
14	-->-- '''Barry Burton''' after saving Jill Valentine, ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil1'' (original [=PS1=] version)
15
16	Deceptively simple-looking {{Deathtrap}} intended to turn tall, dark and handsome heroes into short, red and gruesome meat patties. Usually doesn't work because the villain [[BondVillainStupidity stupidly]] leaves (or allows a hero to retain) some object capable of holding back the ceiling long enough for an exit to be made, for the motor powering the ceiling to burn out or simply able to turn the damn thing off. Or he may forget the FiveManBand has a LoadBearingHero with them. Sometimes may be (part of) a LivingStructureMonster.
17
18	Deluxe versions include [[SpikesOfDoom sharp, pointy spikes]] that grow out of the moving surface.
19
20	Occasionally some factories have a Descending Ceiling built in, possibly part of or at the end of a ConveyorBeltODoom. These places clearly have [[NoOSHACompliance lost their OSHA compliance]].
21
22	The impending danger is usually emphasized by multiple shots of the ceiling descending.
23
24	Often subject to MagicCountdown - the ceiling moves back with each shot. The inverse is LiftOfDoom. When the walls threaten to crush a character, rather than the ceiling, that's TheWallsAreClosingIn. Whatever they do it's always JustInTime. This may also be a form of AdvancingWallOfDoom. Video game levels based on this may be {{Escape Sequence}}s.
25
26	See also CollapsingCeilingBoss.
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28	----
29
30	!!Examples
31
32	[[foldercontrol]]
33
34	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
35	* In ''Anime/AngelBeats'' this is one of the traps set up to protect the Guild against Angel. Unfortunately, it works for the SSS as well, meaning TK has to sacrifice himself. Luckily for him, DeathIsCheap.
36	* ''Anime/DoraemonGreatAdventureInTheAntarcticKachiKochi'' have the ruthless shapeshifter robot, Yamitem, having captured Doraemon alive, rendezvous with Nobita and gang and leading them to an ascending platform with a spiked ceiling on top, trying to have everyone killed. The ''real'' Doraemon managed to escape and catch up, leading to a SpotTheImposter moment before Yamitem gets defeated and Doraemon quickly stops the trap.
37	* In ''Manga/GhostHunt'' there is a ghost who makes the ceiling collapse in a school.
38	* Happens during the House of Sagittarius episodes of ''Anime/SaintSeiya''. The cavern beneath the Gold Saint's House, already filled with traps, was rigged to ''collapse'' and crush the one escape corridor underneath. Dragon Saint Shiryu [[HeroicSacrifice stays behind, as is his wont]], to prop up the collapsing ceiling with his bare hands. When the pressure forces him down to his knees, he has a flash of inspiration and punches the ceiling into rubble. Considering he prides himself on reversing the flow of waterfalls with his punches, and all Saints can reduce cliffs to pebbles with their Cosmo, letting the drama trick him into a HeroicSacrifice was a bit of an IdiotHero moment for him.
39	* ''Anime/SDGundamWorldHeroes'' has one in the Almalechal Palace, complete with its own SpikesOfDoom...with the twist being that the "spikes" are actually [[Anime/MobileSuitGundam Z'Gok]] claws.
40	* In ''Manga/StreetFighterAlpha'' Vega's arena is rigged so if more than two fighters fight at a time the ceiling will lower and crush them.
41	* ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'' had a variation on this, where the Descending Ceiling was precisely calibrated so that it took all the strength of Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama, and Hiei to hold it up and keep it from crushing them; it was set up to let the most traitorous member in, with the first one to let go being able to escape in time while the other three were crushed.
42	[[/folder]]
43
44	[[folder:Comic Books]]
45	* ''Cherry Comics'': Cherry and AdventurerArchaeologist Oklahoma Smith [[MakingLoveInAllTheWrongPlaces have sex while one is descending on them]] in "Oklahoma Smith and the Lost Temple of Doomed Raiders".
46	* ComicBook/{{Deadpool}} was placed in one of these, except that the ceiling was a giant teddy bear. It was constructed by a villain with a very ''Franchise/{{Saw}}''-like mentality (though he predates the films). The rate at which the bear descended was linked to the victim's speech. All he had to do to survive was shut up. Being Deadpool, he instead dislocated his limbs to get out, talking all the while.
47	* ''[[ComicBook/{{Shazam}} Mary Marvel]]'' #24 has Mary knocked out by the Nightowl, who [[BoundAndGagged binds and gags her]] and places her under an automatic presser. But she removes her gag on a spike from the guard gate, escapes, and captures the Nightowl.
48	[[/folder]]
49
50	[[folder:Film -- Animation]]
51	* In ''WesternAnimation/SherlockGnomes'', Moriarty plans to crush the kidnapped gnomes beneath the base of the Tower Bridge drawbridge, which descends as the bridge opens.
52	[[/folder]]
53
54	[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
55	* ''Film/{{DEBS}}'' (the feature) has a sequence where our heroines get trapped in a safe with descending SpikesOfDoom. [[spoiler:Amy manages to persuade Lucy to deactivate the trap.]]
56	* ''Film/EscapeRoomTournamentOfChampions'' During Ben's nightmare, Zoey goes to use the restroom at the hotel while Ben lays down. He gets up and checks the window when all of a sudden he hears Zoey start panicking because the bathroom door gets mysteriously locked. When the camera pans over to the bathroom door, you can see the ceiling descending.
57	* From the silent film ''Film/TheGolem'': When the Rabbi's magic show at the Imperial court is interrupted by the frivolous courtiers, the magic backfires and causes the ceiling of the palace begins to descend. Luckily, [[LoadBearingHero the Golem saves the day before the worst happens]].
58	* A variant in the remake of ''Film/TheHaunting1999'' has the heroine's ''entire bedroom'' turned into this trope by a hostile supernatural force. Pretty alarming, as the walls, ceiling, and spikey ornamentation writhes and contorts like a living thing rather than closing in mechanically.
59	* ''Film/HighlanderIITheQuickening'' had one of these with a rotating blade attachment, it shredded Ramirez.
60	* ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheTempleOfDoom''. There are spikes that spring out of the ground carrying mysterious impaled skulls that weren't there before.
61	* ''Film/Madhouse1974'' has a [[ShackleSeatTrap shackle bed trap]]. Shackles clamp the victim to the bed, and the weighted canopy drops on top of them, crushing them to death.
62	* Parodied (like so much else) in Creator/NeilSimon's ''Film/MurderByDeath''.
63	[[/folder]]
64
65	[[folder:Literature]]
66	* ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'' #32 had a variant where the purpose was psychological torture, rather than death. (Except the trapped character wasn't the open-space-loving alien the BigBad thought she was.) In fact, the trick to stopping it proved to be threatening to pull a TakingYouWithMe.
67	* In ''{{Literature/Doom}}: Knee-Deep in the Dead'', Arlene has to retrieve a key card from a platform with a descending ceiling.
68	* The gruesome short story "The Iron Shroud" by William Mudford, published in 1830, has this trope as its entire plot.
69	* A famous variation can also be found in Creator/EdgarAllanPoe's "Literature/ThePitAndThePendulum".
70	* This trope may have originated with the ''Literature/SherlockHolmes'' story "The Engineer's Thumb", in which the titular engineer almost gets turned into a hamburger.
71	* In "A Terribly Strange Bed", a short story by Creator/WilkieCollins, some innkeepers murder (in order to rob) their guests by giving them a canopied bed where the canopy can be silently lowered to smother the sleeper.
72	[[/folder]]
73
74	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
75	* This was used as a torture device in ''Series/AlloAllo'' by the Gestapo to get information and once Rene and the German officers told Herr Flick (who was playing an organ at the time) the truth he refused to believe them and went to kill them. They took the cyanide pills their friends had given them [[spoiler:by they didn't work and the General came just in time to free them]]. This was all PlayedForLaughs.
76	* In an episode of ''Series/CaptainScarletAndTheMysterons'' Col. White and Captain Blue are trapped in a hunting lodge with a Descending Ceiling.
77	* One of the games on the Japanese GameShow ''Series/DasshutsuGameDERO'' places a team of players in a room where they have to solve a series of puzzles via LinkedListClueMethodology while the ceiling slowly descends. (Unlike most examples of this trope, the ceiling actually seems to pause if it's about to render the game {{Unwinnable}} by blocking access to any items needed for an unsolved puzzle, but will speed up afterward to compensate.) The puzzles eventually lead to a way to open up a duct at the bottom of one wall, after which one member of the team must crawl in to reach the button that raises the ceiling back up and wins them money, but it's not easy, as the only thing that separates between the one contestant crawling and the button is the plexiglass, which is lubed with oil to make it slippery, also hidden are spider webs designed to slow them down. If time runs out and the ceiling reaches 3 meters below its initial height (this seems to be the height at which it would start to block the duct if it went any lower), the team fails and leaves empty-handed.
78	* ''Series/DoctorWho'': Barbara is almost killed by one (the deluxe spiked version) in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS1E5TheKeysOfMarinus The Keys of Marinus]]".
79	* This was one of the challenges on ''Series/FortBoyard''. The ceiling doesn't crush the contestants as they try to find the right key, but it will sink low enough to block off access to the exit if they're not quick enough, resulting in them being locked in.
80	* ''Series/JonathanCreek'' does this, in one of the episodes, a legendary escape artist attempts to escape from an ancient well, which was believed to be a "doorway to hell". [[spoiler: The escape artist isn't there when they check later. And he is later found dead in a river. Jonathan deduces that the well actually had a massive false Descending Ceiling that descended upon people in the room. The rest is too spoiler-y.]]
81	* In the ''[[Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000 MST3K]]'' episode, ''Hercules Versus The Moon Men'', a hokey spike trap, inspires Joel and the Bots to recreate a classic "booby" trap trick. HilarityEnsues.
82	* ''Series/StargateSG1'' includes at least one episode with two chambers with Descending Ceilin gs.
83	* The fifth episode of ''Series/UltramanAce'' have Ace getting trapped in Giron Man's massive underground cavern and caught in a spiked ceiling that's threatening to crush him. In a typical villainous display of BondVillainStupidity, Giron Man then leaves Ace trapped over there while going to the surface to wreak havoc with his monster, Aribunta, but Ace is able to deliver an Ultra Sign getting his eldest brother, Zoffy, to bail him out.
84	[[/folder]]
85
86	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
87	* In the ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' module ''TabletopGame/TombOfHorrors'', one of the false entrances to the the tomb traps the characters in and then hits them with a Descending Ceiling trap.
88	* The lurker above, from older editions of D&D, is a Descending Ceiling ''Monster''. Apparently, enough stupid adventurers wander into this trope for a species of predators to make a living emulating it.
89	* ''TabletopGame/YuGiOh'' has [[http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Needle_Ceiling Needle Ceiling]].
90	[[/folder]]
91
92	[[folder:Theme Parks]]
93	* Featured in the queue line of ''Ride/IndianaJonesAdventure'' at the Ride/DisneyThemeParks. It's being kept from coming down by several bamboo poles propped in place.
94	[[/folder]]
95
96	[[folder:Video Games]]
97	* In ''VideoGame/AlexKidd in Miracle World'', several rooms in the final castle level would try to trap Alex Kidd in an enclosed space and drop either a curtain of water or SpikesOfDoom on him.
98	* At the end of Stage 8 in ''VideoGame/ArdyLightfoot'', the hallway's ceiling starts to fall, and as hope seems lost for Ardy, the ceiling suddenly stalls; Don Jacoby is using all of his strength to hold up the ceiling to give Ardy enough time to escape. Ardy does, but [[spoiler:the ceiling completely falls as soon as he reaches safely, implying that Don was crushed to death. However, Don shows up--alive and well--to assist Ardy in the final battle]].
99	* In the Illithidae realm from ''VideoGame/BallRevamped IV: Amplitude'', a descenting wall gradually reduces the amount of safe space.
100	* ''VideoGame/BanjoKazooie'' has a large maze in the ShiftingSandLand area. The maze has a time limit, and the ceiling fall and crush you when time runs out. To add to the tension, there are some really good items hidden in the corners, and the [[SongsInTheKeyOfPanic music that plays over the area]] gets faster and higher in pitch the closer the timer gets to running out.
101	* In ''VideoGame/LegacyOfKain: BloodOmen2'', there's one part of the maze in the Eternal Prison where you get trapped by moving pegs and a spiked ceiling begins to descend. Fortunately, it's much further above you than the cutscene makes it look, it descends VERY slowly, and all you have to do is flip a nearby switch with your telekinetic powers.
102	* In ''VideoGame/ConquestOfTheCrystalPalace'', the hallway to the final boss room has a rapidly descending ceiling. If you take too long to break the door open, it crushes you to death.
103	* ''VideoGame/{{Contra}} 4'' has something like this in the final level.
104	* ''VideoGame/DistortedTravesty 3'' gives us a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9QCSApwslo segmented ceiling lined with instant death spikes]] to harass the player.
105	* ''VideoGame/{{Doom}}'' uses many areas with crushing ceilings to inflict critical damage on any poor soul unfortunate enough to get caught under one. There are two versions, both doing the same damage over time. The "slow" descending traps the player by slowing down the crushing process, while the fast one does a quick crush and raise. Also, during the crushing phase, the player can't move because the ceiling is too low. Both of these are introduced in [=E2M4=], the "slow" crusher having blood splatters on the ground, while the fast crusher being a surprise trap covering the key. There is a third type of such mechanism which involves floor going ''up'' and crushing whoever is standing there against the ceiling, but it is mostly found in the user-made levels.
106	* ''VideoGame/DoomII'': In Level 6, if the player is playing above "Hey, Not Too Rough" difficulty, he is pitted against a Spider Mastermind that one would normally be ill-prepared to fight at this point in the game. Fortunately for the player, a switch near the elevator you get off lowers down a crushing ceiling to kill the Spider Mastermind for you. Thus, the level is appropriately named "The Crusher".
107	* ''VideoGame/DustyRagingFist'' have multiple areas with spiked ceilings in the factory and temple stages, where you'll need to defeat every enemy so that the next exit can be unlocked before the spikes crushes you.
108	* Some dungeons in ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion'' contain an interesting [[SubvertedTrope subversion]] (As well as an [[{{Pun}} inversion]]); instead of the ceiling coming ''down'', the floor rockets ''upwards''. Towards a spiky ceiling.
109	* In ''VideoGame/FableIII'', during the quest "Gone, But Not Forgotten" the ghost of Max (one of the two brothers from ''Fable II'' who kept getting involved in supernatural trouble), having gone mad with power after getting his spectral hands on [[TomeOfEldritchLore the Normanomicon]] again, traps your hero in a room with one of these. His brother Sam shows up to save you, but ends up going on a tangent that results in him not stopping the descending, spiky ceiling until the very last second.
110	* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'': Inside the Zone Eater, there is an area with a ceiling that slams onto the ground every few seconds. There are holes in the ceiling that you can hide in, but if you slip up and get crushed, the screen slowly fades out to a GameOver. Fortunately there is a SavePoint in the preceding room.
111	* In ''VideoGame/FinalFight 3'''s GameOver screen, your character (either [[{{Ambadassador}} Haggar]], [[{{Ninja}} Guy]], [[ActionGirl Lucia]] or [[TheLancer Dean]]) is bound to a table as a deluxe spiked ceiling descends on them. [[GuiltBasedGaming If you don't slip in a quarter and continue, it's safe to assume]] [[CruelAndUnusualDeath they were pierced AND crushed to death.]]
112	* In ''VideoGame/GodOfWarI'', Kratos must hold one up and slowly inch his way to the exit while being attacked by dogs. Hilariously, if you stick around after escaping, you'll see the dogs get crushed.
113	* In ''VideoGame/GodOfWarPS4'', there are a number of ceiling traps that have to be ''set'' by winding them up and then freezing the gears with his Frost Ax. In one setpiece, you also have to fight some Draugr without your ax, as it is holding up the ceiling. But while Kratos can jump across gaps, draugr can't. So if you run from them, and retrieve your ax, the ceiling will slowly descend towards them, and then crush them, making the fight much easier. Atreus thinks it's hilarious.
114	* ''VideoGame/GoldenForce'' have these obstacles in several ruins, either as spiked ceilings lowering towards the ground or the floor raising to the ceiling to crush you, and you'll need to reach the next area in time or lose a life. Onscreen mooks tends to die horribly in the process.
115	* ''VideoGame/GunstarSuperHeroes'' has this as a boss; the "File Crash/Save Crusher". It's a boss in the Dice Palace where you have to shoot downwards to escape. If you die, your save file apparently gets deleted. Thankfully, this is just an empty threat to scare the player.
116	* ''VideoGame/KingsQuestVI'' had a Descending Ceiling halfway through a labyrinth with an exposed gear mechanism ''inside the room''. It'd be laughably easy except the only way to jam it is a brick found mere inches from a instant-death trap three islands over and several hours back. Oh, and you can't exit the labyrinth once you enter it. Better hope you've got a save before that! (Or you [[GuideDangIt bought the guide]].)
117	** Extra-cruelly, if you try to jam it with the convenient object-to-hand, [[http://tmd.alienharmony.com/pa/kq6/2/k.htm it]] ''[[http://tmd.alienharmony.com/pa/kq6/2/k.htm almost]]'' [[http://tmd.alienharmony.com/pa/kq6/2/k.htm works]].
118	* ''[[VideoGame/Kirby64TheCrystalShards Kirby 64]]: The Crystal Shards'' has this on Shiver Star Stage 4, which makes it probably the toughest level in the game.
119	* ''VideoGame/KirbysReturnToDreamLand'' has a stage in the Egg Engines area where several of the area features the ceiling constantly falling and lifting; each time, the placement of the safe areas was different, and some even had the [[MacGuffin Energy Spheres]] tucked in these safe spots that had to be collected before the ceiling lifted up.
120	* Occurs in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'' in the Forest Temple. Not only is the ceiling falling, spiders hide above the safe squares to doom you. There are also spiked weights in Shadow Temple that you need to prop up, or else you will get squished.
121	* In ''VideoGame/LittleNemoTheDreamMaster'', the [[AutoScrollingLevel auto-scrolling]] House of Toys level has a part in which a ceiling covered with SpikesOfDoom repeatedly tries to strike Nemo from above. There's a similar but more drawn-out example of this in [[TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon Nightmare Land]].
122	* A popular variant seen in both ''VideoGame/{{Marathon}} Infinity'' and ''VideoGame/ShadowWarrior1997'' is one where there is a InsurmountableWaistHeightFence that you can't fit through but ''can'' shoot through, and a tiny, non-notable-looking switch in the distance you have to hit with a high explosive weapon to get the barrier out of the way before you're flattened.
123	* A few are found in the ''Franchise/MegaMan'' franchise, including:
124	** ''VideoGame/MegaManX3'' has a ceiling trap, and you have to fight a miniboss before you can escape. One reason to be careful with Zero during the game is that he'll [[LoadBearingHero hold up the ceiling]] here if you haven't broken him.
125	** ''VideoGame/MegaManX6'' has Metal Shark Player's stage, which has a trash compactor threatening you with instant death throughout the entire level. Said trash compactor returns in the second stage of Gate's Lab if you're playing as Zero.
126	** Lan has to escape one of these traps in the castle in ''VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork2''.
127	** Uranus could do this in ''VideoGame/MegaManV (GB)''/''Rockman World V'' for a OneHitKill attack.
128	** In a {{homage}} to Uranus, Drill Man in ''VideoGame/Rockman4MinusInfinity'' could do the same thing.
129	** ''VideoGame/MegaManZero1'' has an interesting variation - Zero and Aztec Falcon are fighting ''on top'' of the ceiling, and Zero's trying to prevent it from crushing the Reploids underneath.
130	* In ''VideoGame/LaMulana'', one room in the Chamber of Birth has a switch that causes a spiked ceiling to descend. You need to activate a hidden switch to open a wall that suddenly appears to trap you in, and then use the spikeless other side of the ceiling as a platform.
131	* In ''VideoGame/NinjaSpirit'', the area of the fourth stage leading to the BossRoom is a long corridor with a slowly descending ceiling, with {{Mooks}} to hinder you along the way. You have to reach the end before the ceiling touches your head.
132	* Projector Games, a series of massive local multiplayer [[MiniGame minigames]] often found at Dutch anime cons, contains the game ''Pitfall'' ([[{{VideoGame/Pitfall}} no relation]]) where every player runs down a series of platforms attempting to outrun several buzzsaws at the top.
133	* The trailer for the video game ''VideoGame/{{Portal}}'' shows a crushing ceiling (with spikes no less!) coming down to crush the character (while there are ''flames'' coming out of the pit next to you). In the video, the player simply fires a portal across the room, and one into the wall, and walks through it. [[NeverTrustATrailer The interesting thing about it]] is that there are no fires anywhere in the game except near the end, and there are no crushing ceilings -- and none with spikes -- anywhere in ''Portal''. However, custom maps and mods that re-create cut content restore this, such as the ''VideoGame/PortalTheFlashVersion Map Pack''. Officially, ''VideoGame/Portal2'' includes fast [[SmashingHallwayTrapsOfDoom Crushers]].
134	* ''VideoGame/PortalRunner'': One of Leo's puzzles in the Medieval world dungeon is to hit four switches and then make for the exit before a spiked ceiling kills him.
135	* ''[[VideoGame/BubbleBobble Puzzle Bobble]]'' (''Bust-A-Move'') and ''PB2'' (''[=BaM2=]'') have a variant that pushes the stacked bubbles closer to the line at the bottom and threatens the player's character(s).
136	* ''VisualNovel/RadicalDreamers'', the Japan-only semi-sequel to ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'' that was made obsolete by ''VideoGame/ChronoCross'', had a room trapped with a Descending Ceiling. Amusingly, the game used the same animation clip each time the player looked up to see it, giving the impression that the ceiling was falling almost onto them then teleporting back to the top when nobody was looking at it.
137	* The original ''[[VideoGame/Rayman1 Rayman]]'' game features a level with an unusual variation on this trope, combining it with an inverse RiseToTheChallenge. In it, the eponymous hero is trapped in a vertical tunnel, with two attached weights dragging down the ceiling above, and descending water below. The water is draining at a slightly slower rate than the ceiling's descent, so you need to have Rayman cut the weights from the ceiling to stop it from dragging him down into the water.
138	* ''Franchise/ResidentEvil'' series:
139	** The infamous [[VideoGame/ResidentEvil "Jill Sandwich"]] moment. Notable in that it really was inescapable from within the room once it triggered. Either you had to replace the shotgun (whose absence on a wall rack triggered the trap) with a rusted one... or hope you were playing Jill for a [[BigDamnHeroes conveniently timely rescue by Barry]] The Remake changes things a little bit: Jill still gets trapped in the room if she doesn't replace the shotgun with the broken shotgun, but if Chris doesn't place the broken shotgun, he can go back to the room and replace the shotgun itself -- the door doesn't lock behind him.
140	** ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4'' contains two rooms with a spiked ceiling, with four sensors that need to be shot out -- this apparently tricks the ceiling into thinking it's hit the bottom, causing it to retract.
141	** ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil5'''s "Lost in Nightmares" add-on, which was heavily influenced by the trap in the first game.
142	* The captive Naoko faces one during the final battle of the Genesis ''VideoGame/TheRevengeOfShinobi''.
143	* ''VideoGame/RickDangerous'' features a descending ceiling trap in two passageways of the Egpytian level.
144	* Several levels in ''[[VideoGame/SeriousSam Serious Sam: The Second Encounter]]'' have crushing ceiling traps both of the "pillar" and "entire ceiling minus a few safe holes" variety. One of them, upon completion, treats the player to a round of applause.
145	* ''Franchise/SilentHill'' series:
146	** Used during the latter half of ''VideoGame/SilentHill3''. During the Borley Haunted Mansion segment, the spiked-ceiling can fall and kill Heather -- if the player avoids being killed by walking forward in a combat stance (she will be crouching slightly, just out of reach), the narrator of the mansion's tour promptly apologizes and assures the player that the contraption was ''not'' supposed to stop there.
147	** ''VideoGame/SilentHill4'' includes such a ceiling (a ''very'' fast one, to boot!) in one of the rooms on the upper floor of the hospital. These rooms are also randomized, so you never know which one is going to have the descending ceiling until you get there. [[spoiler: Fortunately, it can't hurt you: a grating prevents it from going down the whole way, and the descending ceiling is mainly there to give you a quick scare.]]
148	* ''VideoGame/SkiesOfArcadia'' had an interesting subversion of this trope. One of the villains tries to crush Vyse and his crew beneath a spiked ceiling... but the mechanism to start the ceiling doesn't work.
149	* The ceiling presses down (or the level rises up into the ceiling, it's a bit vague) in Marble Garden's second act in ''VideoGame/Sonic3AndKnuckles'', as well as the second act of Planet Wisp in the DS version of ''VideoGame/SonicColors''. The latter of which occurs while Sonic is underground as a drill, in a bizarre twist.
150	* One of these may spawn in ''VideoGame/{{Spelunky}}'' to punish the greedy, unprepared player in the later areas of the game. Hope you saved some bombs to blast free.
151	* ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'':
152	** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'': A few levels, such as [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OX2umKtcuvk&feature=PlayList&p=782D142D502CE2F9&index=38 Ludwig's Castle]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aDMs-19b3A&feature=PlayList&p=782D142D502CE2F9&index=84 Valley of Bowser 2]], and corridor #5 in Bowser's Castle (with SpikesOfDoom and Thwomps).
153	** ''VideoGame/MarioParty4'': In the minigame Booksquirm, the characters are standing on a giant book, and the sheets from the other side begin turning onto them. These sheets have holes shaped like celestial objects, so the characters must stand in key positions to avoid getting crushed. When only one characters remains, they'll win the minigame; but if the last survivors get crushed at the same time, the minigame will end in a draw.
154	** ''VideoGame/MarioParty9'': The minigame Smash Compactor places the players in a small room with a ceiling that periodically falls and crushes them. The goal is to drop down one of the holes that open in the floor to get to safety before the ceiling falls, but only one player can use each hole, and there are never enough holes for everyone, so at least one player is going to be unlucky and get SquashedFlat every time the ceiling falls.
155	** In ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor'', has a room like this in Hooktail's Castle, with one twist: the door remains easily opened, but a spiky maze prevents a straight run to it.
156	** ''VideoGame/SuperPaperMario'' has a similar trap in Merlee's Mansion. You escape by jumping ''on top'' of the descending ceiling. And then again in the final level, after a battle with O'Chunks. This time, he and Bowser stay behind to hold it up while the rest of the heroes continue on.
157	%%** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld2YoshisIsland'' has a level with this and ascending ground.
158	* In the ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' map "Egypt", there are antechambers between some defender respawn rooms and the map at large. Should players get trapped in there when the first point is lost, the ceiling will descend and crush them, prompting them to respawn in the fallback room.
159	* Don't let the explorer get high enough to touch it in ''[[VideoGame/{{Tetris}} Tetris Plus]]''.
160	* ''VideoGame/TombRaiderIII''. Along with the traditional descending SpikesOfDoom in several areas, there's also the "[[ThisIsADrill drill of doom]]" in the Aldwych level.
161	* ''VideoGame/Uncharted2AmongThieves'' features one that is defeated by shooting the teeth of the gears on a nearby wall, causing it to go in reverse.
162	[[/folder]]
163
164	[[folder:Web Animation]]
165	* One April Fool's short on ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'' features Strong Bad using this "motivational tool" in the real world to "help" Strong Sad beat a tricky level in a video game.
166	-->'''Strong Bad:''' You gotta beat this end boss or we're all gonna die! WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!
167	[[/folder]]
168
169	[[folder:Webcomics]]
170	* The trap-filled Castle Heterodyne in ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'' naturally have these. One squashes [[spoiler:Dr. Silas Merlot and his mech]] after the portion of the castle he's in gets activated.
171	[[/folder]]
172
173	[[folder:Western Animation]]
174	* ''WesternAnimation/CodeLyoko'': This is a staple of Sector 5 in Lyoko (along with rising floors and crushing walls). Poor Odd got squashed at least twice.
175	-->'''Odd:''' ''(groans)'' Ever been flattened by a steamroller?
176	* ''WesternAnimation/DadX'': The cell that Foudror imprisons the elves in has a lowering spiked ceiling to have them "reduced to couscous".
177	* ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales1987'': Seen in "Dime Enough For Luck". One of Magica's death traps involves a descending ceiling, threatening to crush Scrooge and the [[NotMyLuckyDay temporarily-unlucky Gladstone Gander]].
178	* ''WesternAnimation/JonnyQuestTheRealAdventures'' plays this deadly straight with a pair of scientists off-screen.
179	* Inverted ''and'' double subverted on ''Literature/TheMagicSchoolBus'', when the class shrinks down and explores the bus's internal workings. Inside a piston chamber, they're afraid they'll be crushed when it moves upward, only to have it stop shy and move down again. They weren't in any danger from the piston ... but the bus itself is placed inside a ''car crusher'' in the very next scene.
180	** Subverted in an episode with the floor rising. The class goes inside an undersea volcano and get stuck between the rising magma and a boulder blocking the exit. Their solution, get out and attempt to lift the boulder off.
181	* Done in the ''WesternAnimation/MegaManRubySpears'' cartoon, complete with spikes. Unlike most examples, Mega was bound to the floor, unable to move as the ceiling descended. Luckily, the handcuffs weren't of the strongest material, which was made sillier by the fact that ''Wily left Mega Man in his base unattended''.
182	* The gang in ''WesternAnimation/{{Wakfu}}'' run into one of these on Wabbit Island.
183	* ''WesternAnimation/WordGirl'''s villain Chuck the Evil Sandwich-Making Guy toys with a new evil lair, which includes one of these that almost leads to Wordgirl's demise.
184	[[/folder]]
185
186	[[folder:Real Life]]
187	* Horrifyingly happened [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Versailles_wedding_hall_disaster in a wedding hall in Jerusalem]] back in 2001, when poor construction led to the floor collapsing during a wedding, killing 23 and injuring 380.
188	* This is usually how people die in earthquakes: the roof falls down and crushes them.
189	[[/folder]]

Context Main / DescendingCeiling