Line #3 YMMV/LegendsOfTheHiddenTemple


1	* AccidentalNightmareFuel: The staff never intended the Temple Guards to be scary. In fact, they were supposed to be a toned down version of the original concept where kids ran through a haunted house that was guarded by monsters. The contestants' screams of terror proved otherwise.
2	* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic:
3	** The Temple Run theme really made that last three minutes feel like a life-and-death struggle. The revival lives up to it with an urgent orchestral adventure theme that would sound right at home in ''VideoGame/{{Uncharted}}''.
4	** And the music that plays after successfully making it out of the temple with the artifact is perfect for the sense of accomplishment.
5	** You can listen to all of the music from the series [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gy9HqPENAA4&list=PL4-uFBqTyjez2kzkZAhwbOIwBMjbtzf9k here]].
6	* BrokenBase:
7	** The announcement that the show would be [[http://variety.com/2016/tv/news/nickelodeon-legends-of-the-hidden-temple-hey-arnold-2016-tv-upfront-1201719422/ getting rebooted as a TV movie]]. Some fans were excited while others wished they'd just do a straight revival of the series instead. Those fans would get their wish five years later.
8	** The Shrine of the Silver Monkey. Were the kids idiots for not being able to assemble the statue properly, or was the perceived difficulty justified due to having to ''find'' the pieces first and then put them on a pedestal that seemed to have been made for an adult?
9	* CrazyIsCool: Some of the contestants would do a lot of simply insane stuff in order to complete their temple run.
10	** Jason, the Orange Iguana from "The Levitating Dog Leash of Nostradamus", has to obtain the rope to swing over the pit. Even with grabbing the rope for safety, he's unable to reach the swing. But now that he has the dog leash he ''uses it to lasso the rope'' to his side and swing to safety. Many fans comment that he was essentially Indiana Jones in training.
11	** Tarrah, the Purple Parrot who solos "The Milk Bucket of Freydis" is at the storeroom. Instead of the usual tactic of pushing the vases off the pedestals, the first one she sees has her straighten it out before ''she freaking punches it like she's punching someone's face in''. As Kirk said, [[CrossesTheLineTwice "She wants to be a cop."]]
12	* CreatorsPet: The Green Monkey team seems to be this in the film, as the resident [[AmazingTechnicolorWildlife green monkey]], Mikey, is the one that accompanies the children throughout the temple, and the original Green Monkey shirt is the only team shirt worn by anyone on-screen.
13	* CreepyAwesome: Olmec himself, A giant stone face with glowing eyes and a deep, booming voice. Sounds terrifying, but good luck finding a viewer who doesn't love him.
14	* CrossesTheLineTwice: Tarrah from "Milk Bucket of Freydis" punching the vases in the storeroom instead of the usual pushing off the pedestal? Hilarious. Kirk Fogg saying she wants to be a [[PoliceBrutality cop]]? Has only gotten funnier with time.
15	* DemonicSpiders: The Temple Guards. Many times, the Temple Guards took the first player out one room away from the artifact, ruining their chances since the second player almost never had enough time to retrace the path. If the team had 1 or 1 1/2 pendants, they had to be lucky enough to avoid at least one of the Temple Guards, otherwise they were screwed from the get-go. Even if the team had 2 pendants, the guards could still screw them over in multiple ways.
16	** "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfgRPIoTIHs The Discarded Seal of Ivan the Terrible]]" had the absolute worst Temple Guard placement. All three of them were unavoidable (luckily, the team had 2 pendants). The second one came two rooms away from the artifact, forcing the second player to retrace almost the entire path. And then, one room away, with the clock ticking down, the last Temple Guard appeared, wasting just enough time to stop the team from reaching the artifact. Even worse was that the team in that episode was ''ridiculously'' fast, having been [[{{Railroading}} railroaded]] through the Tomb of the Headless Kings, the Jester's Court, ''and'' the Shrine of the Silver Monkey[[note]] As mentioned elsewhere, all three rooms were considered huge time wasters[[/note]], breezing through all of them without much trouble. Not only that, when the Pit of the Pendulum opened a second level door upon knocking over the pillar, the player was able to stay on the upper level and get to the door immediately, rather than having to drop down and climb back up, as most teams had to do in the same situation. If ''that'' team couldn't do it, ''no'' team could do it.
17	** By Season 3, the Temple Guards would wait for the players to complete the task in the room before appearing (occasionally when one was in the center room, the door can actually be seen moving and so the viewer knows that a temple guard will pop out as soon as the puzzle is completed). In some cases, this led to the partner wasting time in that room trying to unlock a door that's already unlocked, for example, pulling on ropes in the Tomb of the Headless Kings.
18	** The Temple Guards would finally get a {{nerf}} in the 2021 reboot, as teams are guaranteed two full pendants from the Temple Games to give them, making it impossible for a Temple Guard to end the run. They still can screw up a team depending on placement; the second episode had the frontrunner taken out one room away from the artifact, leaving virtually no time for the second teammate to retrace the path.
19	* EnsembleDarkhorse: Blue Barracuda Missy from "The Lucky Heart-Shaped Pillow of Anne Taylor" and Purple Parrot Tarrah from "The Milk Bucket of Freydis" are two of the most remembered contestants on the show since both were two BadassAdorable girls who soloed the temple all by themselves and were {{Determinator}}s through and through.
20	* FridgeBrilliance: Why is the Lucky Pillow of Annie Taylor in Medusa's Lair? Because it was formerly used as the Heart Room[[note]]In Season One, that room was either the "Heart Room" or "The Room Of The Fallen Columns." While, in Season Two, it could be "Medusa's Lair" or "The Room Of The Mandarin Hand". The third season always had it as "The Chamber of the Sacred Markers", and also would sometimes deviously hide a Temple Guard behind the unlockable door in the middle of the room who would pop out after solving the room's puzzle (said door goes up to the "King's Storeroom"). [[/note]] and the pillow is in the shape of a ''heart''.
21	* GrowingTheBeard: Season two is where the show really gets good as the set becomes more elaborate, Olmec gets a larger role by being the one to describe the physical event rules, and the temple rooms become more puzzle oriented rather than relying on button pressing.
22	* GoodBadBugs: In "The Mask of Shaka Zulu", a lock between what was intended to be a dead-end room and the room with the treasure apparently failed, inadvertently opening up a much straighter, much shorter path to the Temple artifact and the fastest win in the show's history.
23	* SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments: [[spoiler: In the TV movie, Olmec having sacrificed his human form to save his people. Can also count as a tearjerker when you find out he's stuck as a statue forever but the fact that he did put the good of his people first is what makes it so bittersweet.]]
24	** The end of "The Lucky Heart-Pillow of Anne Taylor". Blue Barracuda contestant Missy was nervous throughout the run as noted by Kirk and as seen when she has to calm herself down before entering. Not only does she win, but she's crying TearsOfJoy when she returns triumphant.
25	** A similar end comes from "The Milk Bucket of Freydis", in which Purple Parrot Tarrah survives the entire ordeal with ''[[SugarWiki/AwesomeMoments one second left]]'' and leaps three steps down to her partner for a flying hug.
26	** The fifth episode of the reboot has original host Kirk Fogg in the middle of the Dark Forest encouraging the contestants during their Temple Run! Doubly heartwarming as that episode had two former contestants that competed in the 90's series, Nick (from the "Henry VIII's Great Seal" episode) and Josh (from "The Imperial Purple Robe of Empress Theodora" episode) who became best friends. Though they didn't escape the Temple in time, both contestants redeemed themselves, with Nick clearing a path for his friend and facing down two Temple Guards (Nick infamously got scared out of the temple by a Temple Guard in his episode) and Josh was able to retrieve the artifact, something he was was seconds away from in his original episode.
27	* HilariousInHindsight: Almost two decades after this show came out, Nickelodeon would get another show featuring a [[Series/PowerRangersMegaforce large, talking head that occasionally spouts knowledge but usually just gives blatant lies]]
28	* MemeticLoser: Everyone who couldn't assemble the monkey statue in the Shrine of the Silver Monkey, especially those who put the pieces in the wrong order.
29	* MemeticMutation: "...Through the SHRIIIIIIINNE OF THE SIILVER MONNKEEY."
30	-->"You could bring mention of how one is always given instructions as to how they might make their way through the Shrine of the Silver Monkey. These might be done in a tone that makes it seem as though whomever is listening has a choice, although if you do, it is important to make these [[ButThouMust have no second choice]]. You can also deliver these in a deep voice, with a large Olmec head made of foam. These speeches can be made in a particularly verbose manner, if there is a half-hour timeslot that you wish to fill, but it is vital that you explain every detail. Finally, you must end the speech with your {{Catchphrase}}. The choice is yours, and yours alone."
31	** Due to ''[[WebVideo/MyLittlePonyTheMentallyAdvancedSeries Rainbow Dash Presents: Captain Hook The Biker Gorilla]]'' doing a parody of the series (including spoofing the notorious difficulty of the aformentioned "Silver Monkey"), it's pretty common to see [=YouTube=] comments saying "THE HEAD IS BACKWARDS!".
32	* NightmareFuel:
33	** The Temple Guards? Giant (to a kid at least), savage-looking monsters that pop out of nowhere when you don't expect it, grab you and [[DraggedOffToHell take you to who knows where]]? They sometimes hid in trees and grabbed you with their branches, or hid in ''armor'' that the player was supposed to press themselves against and grab you with ''that''. Many kids screamed and backed away upon finding them during the show's run. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vc2Tbg4GlUc In "Henry VIII's Great Seal"]], a boy got so terrified by a Guard that he ran out of the Temple, causing him to forfeit (though it didn't matter, as he only had a half-Pendant). The frontrunner was also pretty freaked out by the first Temple Guard jump scare (you can even hear her say "Oh my GOD" afterward) and screamed in sheer terror at the second Temple Guard jump scaring her again.
34	*** Seasons 2 and 3 ramped up the scariness with the aforementioned {{Jump Scare}}s by hiding in the props, and revamping several rooms to make them scarier (the Dark Forest, the Crypt, the Tomb of the Headless Kings, etc). In season 3, the Temple Guards would ''always'' [[RightBehindMe wait until the contestant's back is turned before jumping out]] in the Shrine of the Silver Monkey while they solve the puzzle, and the Chamber of the Sacred Markers had a nasty jump scare when solving the puzzle causes a Temple Guard to appear ''right in the door''. And if you were caught in the Hall of the Ancient Warriors -- where you have to go into a suit of armor and grasp two handles to pull it down -- if a Temple Guard is there, they essentially ''kidnap you''.
35	*** The Temple Guards in the 2021 reboot are even ''worse''. Each capture is accompanied by a close-up cam shot of them screaming into the lens for the viewers at home, with a glitched-out negative filter effect.
36	** Olmec himself was kind of creepy, too.
37	** [[http://www.sbnation.com/2013/2/27/4028998/legends-of-the-hidden-temple This review]] several years after the fact goes into detail about how the Temple Run must have been a frustrating, confusing, and ultimately soul-crushing experience for most of the kids who got that far.
38	** Some of the sound effects in the temple were pretty disturbing. One example is The Tomb of the Headless Kings, where when you placed the skull on the correct skeleton, it would say in a spooky voice, "I'm alive ..."
39	* ParanoiaFuel: Those nightmarish Temple Guards could be hiding virtually ''anywhere'' in the temple. Bonus paranoia points go to the Dark Forest and the Room of the Ancient Warriors, where the Temple Guards were hidden ''in the props themselves''. It really helps to hammer home the fact that, as far as the Temple Guards are concerned, ''nowhere and nothing is safe''.
40	* SequelDifficultyDrop: The Dark Forest in the original series was a LuckBasedMission, the premise is contestants having to choose between two trees, one with a key inside and the other with a Temple Guard inside in most episodes. The Dark Forest in the 2021 reboot is just a difficult-to-navigate room with dense foliage to get through.
41	* SequelDifficultySpike: To be expected now that the show's geared towards adults, but the 2021 reboot takes the [[NintendoHard already-difficult]] temple and kicks it up another notch, with far more physical challenge-based rooms and tougher puzzles. One standout example is the Royal Rage Room, which is basically the badass little brother to the King's Storeroom; there are more pots, said pots are a lot sturdier and tougher to break, and there are ''three'' keys to find instead of just one.
42	* SurpriseDifficulty: As mentioned under ThatOneLevel, the temple ''looks'' easy, but it surprisingly isn't - especially since the kids were often exhausted from spending an entire day doing physical challenges. The Silver Monkey statue in particular was actually quite finicky - even if you assembled it correctly, the mechanism wouldn't always work and would require multiple presses. Apparently this was often the case when people tested the mechanism out.
43	* TakeThatScrappy: The film had a purple parrot seen briefly before flying into the temple's force field and disintegrating.
44	** In the 2021 reboot, Olmec has no love for the Shrine of the Silver Monkey, calling it "that damned statue."
45	* ThatOneLevel: It seems like the producers built the Temple and tested it with adults, as a lot of things were out of reach for kids.
46	** The Shrine of the Silver Monkey. Practically ''nobody'' who entered that room could figure out how to put the damn monkey together, making you wonder if the designers ''[[MagnificentBastard deliberately]]'' made it the only room to last the entire run. The pieces were also put in different parts of the room.
47	** In Seasons 2 and 3, the Jester's Court could also qualify, since some kids just couldn't contort their bodies in the way required to hit all the buttons they needed at once. It also didn't help for short kids, too. Mercifully, it was one of the few rooms to have [[AntiFrustrationFeatures never housed a Temple Guard]].
48	** The second iteration of the Throne Room in Season 2 was this due to its new design where the throne has a large wall behind it and rotates when the contestants sit on it to allow access to the next rooms. Not only do contestants have to waste precious seconds waiting for the throne to rotate, but the design meant the objective still needed to be completed even if a contestant's partner already went through the room and if the contestant grabbed the treasure and was escaping the temple.
49	** The Room of the Secret Password. In theory, it's simple: open cupboard, pick up tablet, read password. However, what made it bad was that 1) The cupboards were overhead of most kids and 2) the contestants had to wear mouth guards in the temple, so it killed time either way (either waste time taking the mouth guard out and in again, or waste time by repeating yourself when they couldn't hear you the first time).
50	** Medusa's Lair, which replaced the completely empty Heart Room. Reaching objects wasn't an issue here, but it was difficult for the players to put the snakes in the Medusa head. One of the first players to attempt it spent a ''full minute'' in the room, and because of this the number of snakes was reduced from four to two in later episodes. The room was often used as a dead end or particularly susceptible to a GameBreakingBug when the doors refused to open for a while, costing precious time.
51	** The Tomb of the Headless Kings was probably Season 3's answer to Medusa's Lair. The objective was as hard as it sounds, with the players having to pull on ropes to open ceiling compartments filled with bones, then search through the fallen bones in the dark and find the missing skull to place on one of the two kings' necks. It seemed like almost everyone had to go through every rope before the last trapdoor released the skull, and plenty of players stalled by pulling on the same rope over and over. It also seemed disproportionately likely to house a Temple Guard whenever it wasn't home to the artifact of the week.
52	** The Pit of the Pendulum- you had to swing out and knock down the pillar to open the door. Almost no one could get enough momentum to swing back to the ledge, so you either had to go into the Tomb of the Headless Kings (mentioned above) or take extra time climbing up the wall. Thankfully only used in Season 3.
53	** The Season 3 Temple layout, as evident from how many rooms have already been mentioned, was full of these. It was the only season where the layout never changed and, not surprisingly, had the fewest successful Temple Runs.
54	** The Room of Harmonic Convergence from Season 1. The objective was simple enough: step on two of the five panels adjacent to each other on a raised platform to open an adjoining room. More often than not, this proved to be a dead end and a huge time sink due to no doors opening after every combination was attempted.
55	** The Queen's Armory is the reboot's version of the original Shrine of the Silver Monkey. It has an easy enough task, but it takes ''five'' actions in order to get out of the room by dressing the queen in five different items. It is apparently harder than it looks, as well as time-consuming to get every piece on as well as making sure they stay on. As the season progressed, host Cristela called it the hardest room in the temple and "the dream killer" from how many teams it stopped in their tracks.
56	* ThatOnePuzzle:
57	** It's amazing how difficult that Silver Monkey was. Apparently, assembling the Silver Monkey from three parts scattered around one tiny room is really, really hard. Think about it: you have to grab three parts around the room (large enough parts you can only take one at a time), force them into a base, and then slam the head down hard enough to set off the trigger (some players had to do this several times to get the thing to click). While you're under a rather tight time limit. And you're thirteen or less. And have to make the statue face the camera. [[FromBadToWorse And this is if a Temple Guard wasn't in the room]]. It also was the one room used in every single episode of the show. [[AscendedMeme Acknowledged]] on Creator/TeenNick's "The '90's are All That" block, where one of the pre-commercial bumpers is a contestant trying to put together the Silver Monkey, with the message "This might take a minute."
58	*** The 2021 reboot brings it back, and even Olmec hates the damn thing. The players have an easier time with it due to being adults, but getting the head to hit the trigger is still harder than it looks. That being said, it can ''still'' manage to trap players in the room; the frontrunner in the fourth episode spent a little over a ''full minute'' in the room, not even realizing he had the middle part upside down.
59	*** The TV Movie also acknowledges it when the cast attempts to assemble the Silver Monkey. They assemble it with the head on backwards, and took hours to get it right.
60	--->'''Sadie''': Are you kidding me?!
61	** The Queen's Armory in the 2021 reboot has taken the place of The Shrine of the Silver Monkey in being the "deceptively hard puzzle." This room has managed to trip up every contestant that entered it; despite it having a simple objective, you have to make sure all pieces of the Queen's wardrobe stay on (they're prone to falling off) and it takes entirely too much time to complete. Contestant Nick (who competed in both the original and reboot) stated [[https://twitter.com/NickBorey/status/1458204597764378632?s=20 that the temple run completely blows up players to the point that they're exhausted once they enter this room]], which may explain part of the difficulty.

Context YMMV / LegendsOfTheHiddenTemple