Line #65 Main/PaperKeyRetrievalTrick


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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	%% Image Pickin' thread did not produce a new image: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1617490350077040200
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11	->''"I've spent this whole night looking for a door I can open by sliding a newspaper underneath and poking the key out of the other side of the keyhole so that it falls on the newspaper. Every computer game character gets to do that except ME. It isn't fair."''
12	-->-- '''Larry Laffer''', after finding an unlocked door in ''VideoGame/LeisureSuitLarry1InTheLandOfTheLoungeLizards Reloaded''
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14	A standard trick of the LockedRoomMystery, in which a key must be retrieved [[TheKeyIsBehindTheLock from the other side of a locked door]]. Fortunately, someone left the key in the old-fashioned lock, from which the key can be dislodged with a handy slender tool (icepick, wire, knitting needle), to be caught on a piece of paper slid under the ill-fitting door.
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16	Modern locks are constructed to prevent this, and modern doors' thresholds seldom have sufficient space to do it. Many doors—even in really old houses, depending on architecture—also have door''frames'', which make this an outright impossibility. It's also possible for the key to bounce off the paper. Therefore, it's normally used only in period pieces, or stories set in older houses that haven't been renovated in ages.
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18	It is rarely (if ever) mentioned that this trick is only possible if the key happens to be the right way up in the lock, enabling it to be pushed out.
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20	Probably the best-known subtrope of the LockAndKeyPuzzle, and a classic StockPuzzle.
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22	----
23	!!Examples:
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25	[[foldercontrol]]
26
27	[[folder:Comic Books]]
28	* ''ComicBook/BillyAndBuddy'' once did this, using Bill's ear as the paper.
29	[[/folder]]
30
31	[[folder:Film -- Live Action]]
32	* Played with in ''Film/{{Alone\|2020}}'', where Jess attempts to escape from the basement with this, but the key is stuck in the lock. She notices a bare nail sticking out of a wooden post, pries it out, and uses it to poke the key loose and catch it with her sweatshirt.
33	* Used by the faerie creatures in ''Film/DontBeAfraidOfTheDark''. Unusually, this example shows the key landing on some drawing paper from the ''locked'' side of the door, so the creatures themselves can stay hidden from the audience until a later JumpScare.
34	* In ''Film/HeroicTrio'', two of the protagonists are locked in a storage closet in a hospital as an AxCrazy killer sneaks off the maternity ward to kill babies. They managed to hit the door hard enough to dislodge the key on the other side and slip a hand under the door to get it. This scene is an odd TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture example.
35	* In ''Film/TheWindow'', Tommy manages to unlock the door to his room by pushing the key out the other side and then snatching it with a hanger underneath the door.
36	[[/folder]]
37
38	[[folder:Literature]]
39	* In ''The Baker Street Irregulars'' by Creator/TerranceDicks (about a group of modern-day Sherlock Holmes fans who solve crimes), a SnoopingLittleKid is locked in a room by a suspect, and uses this method only to find someone standing guard outside the door watching the entire process. Fortunately they find it ActuallyPrettyFunny and let him escape.
40	* Bod escapes from the back room of the antique shop this way in ''Literature/TheGraveyardBook''.
41	* Moist tries this in ''Literature/MakingMoney'' (he would, being a mostly reformed criminal) but it doesn't work.
42	* ''Literature/MaryRussell'': Holmes does this to gain access to Mary's locked bedroom in ''A Monstrous Regiment of Women''.
43	* The protagonist of ''Literature/TheOceanAtTheEndOfTheLane'' does this to get out of his bedroom after the BabysitterFromHell locks him in.
44	* Most Creator/EnidBlyton series include this at least once, especially ''The Secret Seven'' and ''Literature/TheFamousFive''.
45	* In ''Literature/TheUnadulteratedCat'' by Creator/TerryPratchett, Sir Terry describes doing this to rescue next-door's gerbils from his cat, based on a vague memory of a "beat the burglar" piece in ''The Eagle'', and being amazed when it actually worked.
46	* In the fourth ''VideoGame/{{Zork}}'' book, ''Conquest at Quendor'', this is used to get the key to unlock the room where the Helm of Zork is kept. Except, they use a doormat. It's this choice or: Go for the glass transom, [[spoiler:breaking it and setting off a bunch of traps (including ''robots'')]]; use a shrinking spell [[spoiler:and get spotted by rats]]; or try blowing the door open [[spoiler:and sending the entire place down.]]
47	[[/folder]]
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49	[[folder:Live-Action Television]]
50	* In ''Series/TheBorrowers'', six-inch tall Arrietty tells a human-sized boy to push the key out of the lock, after he has been locked in the nursery by Mrs Driver. Arrietty then pushes the key under the door to him.
51	* ''Series/{{Colditz}}'' – After finding the door locked and the window barred, Dick Player easily manages to bring the key to his side of the door using method. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eadZESeOW3c#t=242]]
52	* ''Series/TheCoroner'': Done by the family of the VictimOfTheWeek to enter the room where [[LockedRoomMystery the murder has occurred]] at the start of "Napoleon's Violin". In this case, it is an old, un-renovated stately home, so old locks and large gaps under the door are justified.
53	* ''Series/DeadMansGun'': In "Death Warrant", Pike gains access to Joe Rule's hotel room by sliding a WantedPoster under the door and using his dagger to poke the key out of the lock on to the poster and drawing it back under door.
54	* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
55	** Used perfectly straight in the classic episode "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS14E6TheTalonsOfWengChiang The Talons of Weng-Chiang]]". Bizarrely, the [[MediaWatchdog British Board of Film Classification]] objected to this scene when they vetted the VHS release, on the grounds that it was teaching children criminal skills. The director pointed out that the concept was used by Creator/EnidBlyton, and his own experience was that it didn't even work, so the BBFC relented.
56	** Used again in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E6TheWomanWhoLived The Woman Who Lived]]", set in the [=1600s=]. The Doctor was going to sonic the lock open, but Ashildr beat him to the punch. Using one of her own {{Wanted Poster}}s, no less.
57	* ''Series/FatherBrown''. Father Brown faces a locked door and asks for a hatpin: as an antique model, the key was left in the keyhole on the far side of the door, and he's able to poke it out and pull it under the door on a sheet of paper. Mrs. [=McCarthy=] looks slightly disappointed, apparently assuming he was going to use a HairpinLockpick.
58	* ''Series/GetSmart'': Maxwell attempts this in "The Return of the Ancient Mariner", but because he's in a comedy series (and also incompetent) the key falls off and ends up on the floor outside.
59	* ''Series/HappyDays'': Richie, Potsie and Ralph are locked in the hall closet by a burglar robbing the Cunningham house, and use this to get out.
60	* The title character of ''Series/{{MacGyver\|1985}}'' has done this on several occasions.
61	* An expanded version is used in an episode of ''Series/TheMentalist'': Not only does Jane retrieve the key this way, but he pulls it back into the keyhole from outside the door using fishing line.
62	[[/folder]]
63
64	[[folder:Theatre]]
65	* ''Theatre/TheOddCouple'': Oscar does this when he's locked in the closet for some reason.
66	[[/folder]]
67
68	[[folder:Video Games]]
69	* Used in ''VideoGame/AloneInTheDark2'' by Carnby to get into the underground wine cellar.
70	* Adventure game ''VideoGame/BargonAttack'' has the protagonist have to do this at some point... the kicker is that he will refuse to use a newspaper for this, because it is "too easy" a solution and that he should find a better option. So instead, he has to use two pamphlets together to slide under the door.
71	* One escape from the ''VideoGame/{{Botanica}}'' casual game series uses this method. Paper isn't necessary, as the key falls on a floor mat already protruding under the (''very'' ill-fitting) door.
72	* You do this while playing as Nico on the second visit to the murdered hacker's apartment in ''VideoGame/BrokenSwordTheSleepingDragon'' using her pencil and a handy nearby newspaper (the first time you [[SkeletonKeyCard climbed onto the balcony and opened the latch on a window with her press ID card]]).
73	* This is one of the first puzzles in the ''VideoGame/CrimsonRoom'' series of YouWakeUpInARoom Flash games. However, unlocking that door only lets you into another locked room, this one more secure.
74	* Played straight in '' VideoGame/DarkFall The Journal''.
75	* One of the least-original challenges in ''VideoGame/EscapeTheMuseum'' is this.
76	* The trope was discussed in a magazine article promoting ''VideoGame/FullThrottle'', by comparing how that game's protagonist, [[BadassBiker Ben]], would open a locked door using a sandwich compared to Bernard Bernoulli from the ''VideoGame/ManiacMansion'' games. Bernard would disassemble the sandwich to use the lettuce and toothpick, according to the trope. Ben would simply eat the sandwich [[OpenSaysMe and kick the door in]].
77	* Used in ''[[VideoGame/HugosHouseOfHorrors Hugo II: Whodunit?]]'' to have Hugo escape a locked laundry. The [[http://www.pcgamer.com/2013/05/04/saturday-crapshoot-hugos-house-of-horrors-whodunnit/ review of the game in PC Gamer's "Saturday Crapshoot"]] has the reviewer breaking into a raging rant about how cliché and unrealistic this puzzle is.
78	* Discussed in ''VideoGame/LeisureSuitLarry1InTheLandOfTheLoungeLizards Reloaded'', as seen in the page quote. Note that the door Larry was talking about was a sliding door, so it wouldn't have worked anyway.
79	* Shows up in ''VideoGame/TheMysteryOfTheDruids'', but with an added [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome realistic]] touch: the gap beneath the door is too narrow for the key to fit through, so Halligan has to remove the floor tile beneath the lock to make the trick work.
80	* One of the early puzzles in ''VideoGame/MysteryOfTimeAndSpace''.
81	* Subverted in the second ''VideoGame/NightmareRealm'' hidden object game, as the key falls through a crack in the floor while it's being drawn under the door.
82	* In the French adventure game ''VideoGame/LePassagerDuTemps'', this is the very first puzzle you encounter: Entering the house you start in front of.
83	* This is used to get into one room fairly late in ''[[VideoGame/{{Penumbra}} Penumbra: Overture]]'', though bizarrely the room it's done in seems relatively modern.
84	* Optional in ''VideoGame/{{Phantasmagoria}}'' to get into the attic. If you forget to put the paper down, you can just use the fireplace poker to retrieve the key, instead.
85	* This is one of two ways to get into the murder room in ''VideoGame/PostMortem2002''. The other involves regular lock-picking.
86	* Played straight with a newspaper and screwdriver in the bonus game for ''VideoGame/RedemptionCemetery: Embodiment of Evil''.
87	* Escape from the very first room in the [[HiddenObjectGame IHOG]] ''VideoGame/SacraTerraAngelicNight'' is achieved via this method.
88	* Subverted in ''VideoGame/{{Scratches}}'', in which the key lands on the paper but is too large to fit under the door. Michael even lampshades the trope as that happens.
89	* If [[PlayerCharacter Valdo]] gets captured trying to move around Cloux Manor in the final act of ''VideoGame/SecretsOfDaVinciTheForbiddenManuscript'', he has to utilize this to get out of his locked bedroom. The game makes a point of hiding a sheet of paper in the room for him to use in case there isn't one in his inventory.
90	* Another [[HiddenObjectGame IHOG]] example appears in ''[[VideoGame/{{Shiver}} Shiver: Vanishing Hitchhiker]]'' as the means of escape from the hospital's morgue.
91	* Used as the solution to a puzzle in ''VideoGame/SimonTheSorcerer'', when Simon finds himself locked inside a pantry.
92	* ''VideoGame/ThereIsNoGameWrongDimension'': One of the ways the narrator tries to stop you from playing the game is by materializing a locked door. After he lets slip that the key is still in the lock on his side, you use this trick- using a French flag ([[InterfaceScrew the icon for the French language version]]) as the paper.
93	* Used with no modification in ''VideoGame/{{Zork}} II''.
94	* This shows up in prison with ''Videogame/ZorkGrandInquisitor''. Though the genre savvy jailors didn't include a lock on your cell door, so you need first to cast a spell to ''create'' the lock and the key in the first place...
95	[[/folder]]
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97
98	[[folder:Web Original]]
99	* The featured puzzle in day 2 of ''VideoGame/OedipusInMyInventory''.
100	* [[DiscussedTrope Explicitly mentioned]] to be Yahtzee's measure of a good adventure game in his ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRMPJfberWc Zack & Wiki]]'' review.
101	[[/folder]]
102
103	[[folder:Western Animation]]
104	* Used in a parody of ''Franchise/JurassicPark'' on ''WesternAnimation/TheCritic'', when a velociraptor uses this technique to open a door, demonstrating its intelligence. It then dons an evening jacket and [[DistinguishedGentlemansPipe pipe]] as it [[JustBetweenYouAndMe explains its plans]].
105	[[/folder]]

Context Main / PaperKeyRetrievalTrick