Line #81 Main/DoorRoulette


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4	%% This list of examples has been alphabetized. Please add your example in the proper place. Thanks!
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9	[[quoteright:350:[[Music/HueyLewisAndTheNews https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/heart_and_soul.png]]]]
10	[[caption-width-right:350:Round and round and round they go! Which door's the right one, nobody knows...]]
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12	What the heroes are looking for is behind one {{door\|Tropes}}. The problem is that the heroes stand in a long hallway or circular room lined with doors in any direction they care to proceed. Every other door but the exit has something disheartening, dopey, dangerous, disastrous or deadly on the other side, but none of them are marked or visibly distinct from each other, so they have no choice but to try each one to find the way out. Named for the game of chance in which there's only one way to win and many ways to lose, this trope is the same thing -- lots of doors lead nowhere (or nowhere ''good''), but only one is the way forward.
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14	The one trying the doors must be quick and slam the door before the danger on the other side emerges (or reaches out to grab them)!
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16	Riddles, such as KnightsAndKnaves, may play some part in the process of deciding which door is the one that leads to reward or safety rather than confusion or danger. More enterprising or less white hatted heroes may fudge against the rules a bit and find [[TakeAThirdOption a more creative method]] to determine which door is the one they want. Sometimes the danger behind the doors is the villain who can do the OffscreenTeleportation trick and be behind each door progressively.
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18	In order to save money on camera shots or the wacky StockFootage, sometimes the shot would show the character opening the door, accompanied by a sound effect that indicates a wild animal, monster or other unexpected danger lurks on the other side without ever showing it. With CGI being more prevalent in filmmaking, though, this is becoming less of a problem. If the scene is lighter fare and/or PlayedForLaughs, you can expect the StandardSnippet from "Yackety Sax" to accompany those trying the doors. The funnier the setting, the more likely it is that an oncoming locomotive will show up behind one of the doors.
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20	An occasional variation is to have a room with no way out but the door one came in through, but opening it the second time, it now leads someplace else.
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22	A form of MalevolentArchitecture. Not to be confused with ScoobyDoobyDoors although often the long shot down the hallway is something both tropes have in common. If the door takes the hero back to the entrance, it's OneOfTheseDoorsIsNotLikeTheOther. For the video game version, see MagicalMysteryDoors.
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24	!! Examples:
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26	[[foldercontrol]]
27
28	[[folder:Advertising]]
29	* There's a Kraft Macaroni & Cheese commercial where Cheeseasaurus Rex is wandering up and down a long hallway of all white doors trying to find the Macaroni and Cheese. He finds various silly and amusing things before he finally finds what he's looking for.
30	[[/folder]]
31
32	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
33	* The English dub of ''Anime/DuelMasters'' uses heavy editing to throw Mimi into this situation in one episode.
34	* In the original ''Manga/YuGiOh'' manga, when Shadi is trapped inside Dark Yuugi's mind, he was forced to do this to find his way out. One door contained the true mind of Dark Yuugi while countless others held nasty surprises. It was implied that had his adversary not shown a rare bit of mercy and helped him at the last moment, he would have been lost there forever.
35	[[/folder]]
36
37	[[folder:Comic Books]]
38	* There was once a recurring ComicBook/ArchieComics strip called ''Open the Door, Dilton'', where Dilton Doiley would open doors leading to {{Visual Pun}}s based on their labels; a door leading to 'Tennis Court' featured a player being sentenced a $500 fee for a double-fault by the judge, and a 'Roller Derby' had people racing derby hats on wheels.
39	* The ''[[ComicBook/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicIDW My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic]]'' comic book had Chrysalis challenge the Mane 6 to find her behind one of the doors in her castle. The wrong doors had creepy movie references behind them, such as Literature/ThePhantomOfTheOpera or a priest of Kali from ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheTempleOfDoom''.
40	[[/folder]]
41
42	[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
43	* ''WesternAnimation/YellowSubmarine''. While the protagonists are looking for Paul inside a hall of many doors, they open several doors leading to (a) King Kong reaching in to get Fay Wray, (b) an oncoming train (John slams the door shut) and finally (c) Paul giving a concert performance.
44	** Prior to that, a series of very surreal objects go in and out the doors.
45	[[/folder]]
46
47	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
48	* ''Film/TheAdventureOfSherlockHolmesSmarterBrother''. Professor Moriarty puts one of his henchmen through one of these tests, including tricking him into going through the wrong door and getting killed.
49	* In ''Film/CasinoRoyale1967'', Sir James and Moneypenny end up in a hall with many doors which all look alike.
50	* Happens in ''Film/ForbiddenZone'' as part of the homages to old 1930's cartoons.
51	* ''Film/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix'' has this when Harry and his friends are in the Department of Mysteries and they're trying to find which door is the one with all the glass balls seen in Harry's dreams.
52	* ''Film/It2017'': Played for GallowsHumor when the titular MasterOfIllusion EldritchAbomination creates three doors in one room of its lair, labeled "[[BlatantLies Not Scary at All]]", "Scary", and "Very Scary". They choose the first door, take one look at what's inside, slam it, and force themselves to disbelieve the illusion instead.
53	* In the 1949 film ''Film/IWasAMaleWarBride'', French army captain Henri Rochard (Creator/CaryGrant) experiences a variation on this trope. In the hallway of a U.S. Army office building in post-war Germany, he experiences AcronymAndAbbreviationOverload in a hallway filled with solid office doors labeled with alphabet soup acronyms. He recites what he thinks the acronym on each door means until he comes to the women's restroom. He starts to recite what he thinks the acronym "LADIES" might stand for when a female corporal walks out.
54	* ''Film/{{Labyrinth}}'' has the KnightsAndKnaves riddle variation. Hoggle also helped Sarah escape the oubliette with a magic door. Open it one way and it goes to a cupboard. Open it the other way, and it leads outside.
55	* ''Film/TheMasterOfDisguise'' has a deleted scene combining this trope with ScoobyDoobyDoors where a pair of bad guys chase Pistachio into a hallway of doors and Pistachio somehow appears in a different disguise behind every door which somehow open and close by themselves, leaving the bad guys thoroughly confused. A few moments from this scene and a few extras that weren't used in it can also be found in the movie's end credits.
56	* Neo's path to the Architect in ''Film/TheMatrixReloaded'' has roulette doors.
57	* In the EnsembleCast comedy ''Film/NothingButTrouble'', there is a sequence where a character tries to open several doors in a hallway, only to find bizarre things like tombstones or a room full of bats (and guano). Unusually for this trope, they're not stock footage but actually there. It's a very strange house.
58	* In ''Film/WillyWonkaAndTheChocolateFactory'', the "one door leads to two different locations" variation is used.
59	[[/folder]]
60
61	[[folder:Game Shows]]
62	* ''Series/AmericanGladiators''. The last part of The Eliminator challenge involved the contestants deciding which (paper) door to burst through. If they chose correctly, they had a free run to the finish line. If they chose the wrong one, they had to get past one of the gladiators.
63	* The American version of ''Series/HellsKitchen'' has an unusual variation. In the finale, Gordon Ramsay shows doors to the audience. The finalists stand behind the doors, and only the winner's door is ''unlocked''.
64	* ''Series/LetsMakeADeal''. The Big Deal of the Day was hidden behind one of three doors: Door Number One, Door Number Two or Door Number Three. A {{Zonk}} was hidden behind some doors earlier in the show.
65	* ''Series/ThePriceIsRight'' did it with the Showcase game at the end of the show.
66	* Subverted on ''Series/SilentLibrary''. A recurring punishment is "Bad Door", with punishments including a zombie, a motorcycle spewing exhaust, and more.
67	* ''[[Series/TreasureHuntUS Treasure Hunt]]'' used to do it with good prizes and booby prizes they called "klunks".
68	* Often used on ''Series/TakeshisCastle'' for various events and challenges.
69	[[/folder]]
70
71	[[folder:Literature]]
72	* ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix'' has this when Harry and his friends are in the Department of Mysteries and they're trying to find which door is the one with all the glass balls seen in Harry's dreams. In fact, the doors spin around the group like an actual roulette wheel.
73	* "Literature/TheLadyOrTheTiger" ([[http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stories/UBooks/LadyTige.shtml found here]]) by Frank Stockton. Significant criminals in a "semi-barbaric" kingdom are judged in the king's arena, where they must choose one of two identical doors. One door contains a tiger that will kill the criminal, while the other door hides a beautiful woman whom the criminal must marry. The 'defendant' is considered innocent or guilty based on which outcome befalls him.
74	** Jack Moffitt wrote "The Lady and the Tiger" which is a continuation of the above story. In it, [[spoiler: the door the princess pointed to had the tiger behind it. The man who opened the door then quickly opened the other door, behind which stood his beloved. He hid himself behind the two open doors and the tiger killed the girl. He turned out to be one of the two thieves who died with Christ.]]
75	* Creator/EdgarRiceBurroughs' ''Literature/LostOnVenus'' had one of these: only one of the room's multiple doors led to safety; all the others were deathtraps. (Once the jailers brought you in and left, the lights went out and the floor spun for a while so you'd lose track of which was the safe door.) Food and drink were provided -- most of it poisoned. Oh, and to discourage hesitation, after a while dangerous snakes started slithering in.
76	* ''Seven Ancient Wonders'' by Creator/MatthewReilly has a pair of these puzzles in rooms as {{Death Trap}}s. The rooms quickly fill up with quicksand, and were designed to be disorientating to make it harder to find the correct door.
77	* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire''. Daenerys Targaryen encounters a corridor like this in the House of the Undying, with the doorways containing various prophecies and LotusEaterMachine traps designed to lure her off her path.
78	* ''The Lady Or The Tiger'' is [[DiscussedTrope discussed]] by Picard and Worf in the ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' novel ''Rogue Saucer''. Worf opines that the only appropriate ending is for the man to open the door with the tiger, [[AttackAttackAttack hurl himself upon it, and die an honourable death]].
79	[[/folder]]
80
81	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
82	* In ''Series/The10thKingdom'', our heroes get past this trap in an unusual way: the father has had it at that point, so he picks up the toad who serves as the keeper and [[TakeAThirdOption tosses him into the corridor beyond one of the doors]], which immediately erupts into flame. They then decide to take the other door.
83	* In ''Series/Batman1966'' Catwoman did it with the choice of "The Lady or the Tiger", giving Batman a chance to catch her or die.
84	* In the ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E11TheGodComplex The God Complex]]", there's an eerie hotel in which each room contains the worst fear of someone who has once been trapped in it. Finding the door meant for you means a perversion of your particular faith and subsequent death. There is no door out unless you have no faith in the first place.
85	* Candice set up a fixed, unwinnable version of this trope with her illusion powers in season 1 of ''Series/{{Heroes}}''. No matter what door Micah ran to, ''all the doors'' led him back to the room he was trying to leave.
86	* ''Series/TheMonkees'' - In the episode "Monkee Chow Mein," Micky and Peter must choose between four doors to escape sudden death from the clutches of [[YellowPeril evil Chinese Restaurateurs]].
87	* In ''Series/{{Square One TV}}'' segment "Ghost of a Chance", the protagonist is trapped in a haunted shack and must frequently choose between doors which may conceal an exit, or hidden dangers. [[HilarityEnsues Mathematics Ensues]].
88	[[/folder]]
89
90	[[folder:Music]]
91	* The Music/HueyLewisAndTheNews video for "Heart And Soul" has Huey and the girl trying to escape from a house with a long hallway. One of the doors leads to a wild party. One leads to the band singing. Another leads to a vampire (played by bassist Mario Cippolina) biting a victim. The next, to a track with an old-fashioned locomotive racing toward them, all of which Huey slams closed before finally finding the door leading back out to the normal world. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TdaXhpjHws Watch it here]], starting at approximately 2:53.
92	[[/folder]]
93
94	[[folder:Radio]]
95	* In ''Radio/TheGoonShow'' episode "The Yehti", Seagoon finds himself in a building where there is an express train behind almost every door, and flocks of sheep behind the rest. Later, accompanied by Eccles and Bluebottle, he follows Yeti tracks and finds himself in a hallway with a large number of doors. Opening each door in turn, they find things that Seagoon can perceive but the other two can't, things that the other two can perceive but Seagoon can't, things that the ''audience'' can perceive but the protagonists can't, the narrator taking a bath, attractive women who offer Eccles grapes and an explosion that, [[OnceAnEpisode as usual]], 'deads' Bluebottle. Only one door remains -- surely the Yeti must be behind it? [[spoiler:No, another express train.]]
96	[[/folder]]
97
98	[[folder:Theme Parks]]
99	* In the film montage show, ''[=CineMagique=]'' at [[Ride/DisneyThemeParks Walt Disney Studios Paris]], there's a scene where the main character is in the film, ''Film/{{Titanic 1997}}'', and trying to find Jack in a hallway of doors. Behind each door he finds, in order: [[Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean Jack Sparrow]], [[Franchise/TheIncredibles the Parr family]], [[Franchise/ThePinkPanther Inspector Clouseau]], [[Film/TheSilenceOfTheLambs Hannibal Lecter]], [[Film/TheLordOfTheRings Gollum]], and [[Film/TheExorcist Regan [=MacNeil=]]]. [[ItMakesSenseInContext It all makes sense in context]]. [[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext Sort of]].
100	[[/folder]]
101
102	[[folder:Video Games]]
103	* ''VideoGame/Fallout4'''s Nuka-World {{DLC}} has a side-quest where the player must traverse a decaying funhouse run by a stage magician who was transformed into a Glowing One[[note]]A Ghoul whose body emits nuclear radiation[[/note]] when the bombs dropped. One of the rooms is a circular chamber with a spinning floor and about ten different doors, some of which lead to blank walls, others to staged "scenes" (like skeletons watching TV), and of course one leads to the next part of the area.
104	* ''VideoGame/MarioParty5'': The minigame Pound Peril has two dueling characters surrounded by 12 switches in a circle. Eleven of them are hazardous; the objective is to be the first to find the safe switch.
105	* One of the co-operative mini-games in ''VideoGame/WiiParty'' has the actual doors -- some of them have boxing gloves on springs, some have wheels that run you over, and some have other Miis on the toilet. The object is to find the single door in each room that leads to the next one, and eventually meet up in the middle.
106	[[/folder]]
107
108	[[folder:Web Animation]]
109	* ''WebAnimation/TheAmazingDigitalCircus'' has two examples in its pilot episode:
110	** While searching for Caine, Pomni opens several doors only to be hit by boxing gloves, stare into nothingness, or something uncanny or disturbing on the other side.
111	** Pomni later finds the elusive Exit Door, [[spoiler:[[RecursiveReality which leads her to a dimly lit room with another door, and another, and another]]. Each one taking her to a different but similarly dim room, including a larger one with a decrepit computer. The last one leads her back into the Void before Caine retrieves her]].
112	[[/folder]]
113
114	[[folder:Webcomics]]
115	* [[http://drmcninja.com/archives/comic/11p31 A nice webcomic example]] in ''Webcomic/TheAdventuresOfDrMcNinja'', in the "Punch Dracula" arc.
116	[[/folder]]
117
118	[[folder:Western Animation]]
119	* The ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfBatman'' episode "The Nine Lives of Batman" started with this.
120	* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' had an episode, "What Is Reality", where Batman and Robin had to save Commissioner Gordon from a virtual reality simulation constructed by The Riddler. The first obstacle Batman encounters is a hallway full of doors. This being the Riddler, however, the doors were all labeled with clues as to what was behind them. The door labeled "crazy intent", for example, had an oncoming [[VisualPun locomotive]].
121	* Creator/FleischerStudios cartoon ''WesternAnimation/BimbosInitiation'' has this as one of the obstacles in Bimbo's initiation ceremony.
122	* Happened in the ''WesternAnimation/CourageTheCowardlyDog'' episode "Courage in the Big Stinking City", where behind door number 1 is StockFootage of [[Franchise/{{Godzilla}} King Ghidorah]], behind door number 2 is stock footage of a shark, and behind door number 3... is a cute girl playing a violin. [[spoiler: Until she turns around, revealing [[DemonHead a monstrous screaming face]].]]
123	* The Ghost Zone in ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'' has doors like this that float in midair instead of lining the sides of a hallway. They lead back to Earth, to other places in the Ghost Zone, or to other dimensions or even other time periods. In an odd twist, the Ghost Zone actually has been mapped, so whoever has the map won't have the problem of guessing which door leads where.
124	* In the ''WesternAnimation/EekTheCat'' episode "[=HallowEek=]", Eek was running around a room at the haunted house freaking out, and opens three doors, but there are different monsters behind them that scare him, and then he opens another door and [[Series/MisterRogersNeighborhood Mr. Rogers]] is behind it uttering "Won't you be my neighbor?", which also scares him.
125	* ''WesternAnimation/FostersHomeForImaginaryFriends'': In "Affair Weather Friends", Mac, [[DrunkOnMilk on a sugar bender]], goes through the house of Bloo's new friend Barry and opens several doors trying to find him. One closet contains various possessions and a photo of a family that doesn't look like Barry's, the next is a StalkerShrine to Bloo, and the next contains said family BoundAndGagged. This shows that [[spoiler: Barry isn't what he seems.]]
126	* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/GarfieldAndFriends'', "Mystic Manor", had Garfield searching a haunted house for Odie and encountering this. Behind one door was [[ShoutOut Nancy and Sluggo]], behind another was the manor's crazy caretaker taking a shower, and behind another was a sunny beach crowded with surfers, which results in Garfield being drenched by a huge wave.
127	* ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'':
128	** In ''WesternAnimation/BugsBunnyAndTheThreeBears'', Bugs tries to escape the bears' house after his plan to seduce the Mama Bear [[GoneHorriblyRight works]] [[AbhorrentAdmirer too well]], but finds her behind every door dressed in different lingerie. "Tell me more about my eyes!"
129	** Both ''The Trial of Mr. Wolf'' and ''WesternAnimation/PlaneDaffy'' feature a gag where a character tries to flee his pursuer's house, but finds him behind every door brandishing increasingly deadlier weapons.
130	** In ''Yankee Doodle Daffy'', talent agent Porky is trying to flee his own office, but finds Daffy behind every door doing a succession of musical numbers.
131	* Happens frequently on ''WesternAnimation/MuppetBabies'', where opening the closet door can be a risky proposition.
132	* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': Bart Simpson encounters this when he's in the Shelbyville Zoo trying to leave without being eaten by a tiger.
133	* In the first ''[[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'' cartoon, Leonardo and Raphael are in a hallway with a lot of doors in the Technodrome, when they decide to try to open them. From behind the first a missile comes out, but Leonardo says that there can't be missiles behind every door. Naturally, behind the second are about 20 Foot soldiers!
134	* In the "Mad Mod" episode of '' ComicBook/TeenTitans'', the Titans try to escape Mad Mod's "school". There's a wacky J-Pop number and this trope is crossed over with ScoobyDoobyDoors as the doors change problematically from second to second due to Mad Mod being an illusionist.
135	* In the ''WesternAnimation/WanderOverYonder'' episode "The Void", while trying to escape a dimension where literally anything can happen, Slyvia repeatedly opens a single door to find a way out. Behind it contains tons of [[FreezeFrameBonus Freeze Frame Bonuses,]] including Lord Hater taking a shower, Wander and Slyvia's concept art, a photo of Wander's voice actor Jack [=McBrayer=], a photo of [[Creator/CraigMcCracken Craig McCracken]] and a message saying, [[spoiler:"Thanks for watching Wander Over Yonder and for taking the time to still frame this! - [[Creator/CraigMcCracken CM"]]]]
136	[[/folder]]

Context Main / DoorRoulette