History Main / DoomAsTestPrize

* In ''Theatre/PericlesPrinceOfTyre'', Pericles has to answer a riddle: answer it right and win the hand of a King's daughter, answer it wrong and die. But it's a MortonsFork since anyone who correctly answers the riddle discovers that the King is having an incestuous relationship with his daughter, and therefore the King has them killed.

!!As this is a form of TheReveal, [[Administrivia/SpoilersOff unmarked spoilers abound]]. [[Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned Beware]].

%% This page has been alphabetized. Please add new examples in the correct order. Thanks!

'''Note that this is often a [[TheReveal Reveal]] trope: expect examples to be spoilers'''

* ''VideoGame/TheWellSpeaksToMe'': In ''They Watch from the Walls'', Mr. Pumpkin invites children, most recently the protagonist Carrie, to brave his HauntedHouse "attraction", promising a surprise to anyone who makes it to the end. It turns out that the "prize" is being stuffed in a cage and [[HumanTraffickers sold to pedophiles]].

->''[[AC:"The experiment is nearing its conclusion. The Enrichment Center is required to remind you that you will be baked, and then there will be cake."]]''
-->-- '''[=GlaDOS=]''', ''VideoGame/{{Portal}}''

[[folder:AnimeAndManga]]

* In ''Anime/ProfessorLaytonAndTheEternalDiva'', the characters are entered into a competition with the prize supposedly being eternal life; however, not only are the losers apparently killed (though it's later revealed that they're simply sent away), but the eventual winner is planned to have their personality replaced with that of the host's dead daughter.

[[folder:ComicBooks]]

* Creator/MarvelComics' ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'' #254 has the Four visit the world called Mantracora in the Negative Zone. There, high priest Taranith Gestal selects the finest minds among the people for an unspecified higher purpose. In fact, Gestal is an alien that needs fertile minds to power his spaceship's organic computer; many people so selected are shown in a comalike state, with their heads wired to a central processor.
* In one ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'' story, a couple apply to emigrate from Mega City One to an off-world colony. There are vastly more applicants than openings, so the couple pull every dirty trick possible to get on the short list, and eventually get to go the colony world--which is a barren frozen hell hole. It turned out ''all'' the colonists were people ruthless enough to lie, cheat, steal or even murder, to get to the supposed off-world paradise.

* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1987'': Hippolyta organizes ComicBook/TheContest to find a new Wonder Woman after having a premonition that Wonder Woman will soon die in the line of duty. The whole thing is orchestrated so that an Amazon other than her daughter will be the one to bite the bullet, and by the time Diana susses out her mother's intentions and goes to try and save the winner ComicBook/{{Artemis}} is already in the fight that will claim her life.

[[folder:{{Film}}]]
* In ''Film/{{Flash Gordon|1980}}'', Ming claims that he subjects planets to induced natural disasters to see if they are capable of recognising them as an attack and retaliating. If so they are a threat to him and get destroyed or conquered. (It's possible, though, that he's just saying this to torment Professor Zarkov: the opening scene suggests that he attacked Earth because he was bored.)

-->'''Pinhead''': It is not ''hands'' that call us. It is ''desire''...
* ''Film/PartsTheClonusHorror'': Healthy young men and women in an isolated colony are promised the opportunity to move to America if they pass a rigorous physical fitness exam. The actual reward is death so the body can be harvested for organs.

[[folder:{{Folklore}}]]

[[folder:{{Literature}}]]

* Featured in a Henry Slesar short story called "Examination Day" (later made into an episode of the same name for the revival ''Series/{{The Twilight Zone|1985}}''). A 12-year-old boy undergoes a mandatory IQ test administered by the government. In the last scene the parents are notified that the boy exceeded the IQ limit, and are asked how they'd like his remains to be handled.
* In the ''Literature/GiveYourselfGoosebumps'' book ''Escape From Camp Run-For-Your-Life'', the prize for completing "The Selection" (a series of very dangerous activities) is to become a slave on an alien planet named Xentron.
* In the ''Literature/{{Goosebumps}}'' book ''The Horror at Camp Jelly Jam'', the titular camp encouraged everyone to compete in various games. Those who won enough medals were then kidnapped and [[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext forced to wash a giant monster]].

* In ''Literature/TheTripods'' series, girls who win their villages' beauty contests and are sent to serve the Masters wind up dead and preserved in glass.
* One ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' short story depicts a mighty warlord of an incoming chaos invasion holding a contest between several of his chieftains. They each take their war parties and go to the wastelands to impress him. When the protagonists win, it turns out that the reward for winning the warlord's favour is being killed and ritually stuffed - as he fully expects to die in the massive war he is going to, his favourite chieftain's party is to act as his vanguard into the afterlife. Subverted when it also turns out that they knew all along and did their best willingly, considering it an honor - chaos barbarians are like that.
* Creator/LarryNiven's short story "What Can You Say About Chocolate Covered Manhole Covers?". At a party, a man proposes an idea: that the human race was created by aliens placing small groups of Homo habilis at various places around the Earth and letting them evolve separately. When the groups met up and mated, their descendants would have superior intelligence by virtue of hybrid vigor and would make good servants. Some of the people at the party deduce additional information about the aliens and thus pass the aliens' intelligence test. As a reward they're kidnapped and taken to a planet orbiting Alpha Centauri, to be the subjects of a new seeding experiment.

[[folder:LiveActionTV]]
* ''Series/{{Angel}}'': In "Provider", a group of Nahdrah demons offer anyone a chance to solve a unique puzzle in their possession. Fred manages to solve it, then it turns out they were looking for an exceptionally smart person so that they could cut off their head and use it to replace the head of their dying prince. Fortunately, Angel and the others rescue her.
* In the ''Series/BabylonFive'' episode "A Day in the Strife", an alien probe arrives at the station and offers unimaginable technical gifts to anybody who can answer a series of scientific questions. It's actually sent by an unknown culture to identify and destroy any other culture advanced enough to hypothetically be a threat to them.

* There's one episode of ''Series/{{The Outer Limits|1995}}'' series called "Human Trials" where a number of candidates are selected for rigorous and nightmarish training for an important government mission. At the end of the story, every single candidate except one has been eliminated, and the people in charge of the test arrive to congratulate him. When the survivor asks what the mission is, they cheerfully tell him that there ''was'' no mission. They simply wanted to find a physically and mentally tough candidate that they could subject to painful and hellish experiments to test the limits of the human body. They then proceed to do just that.
* ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' episode "Arena". According to WordOfGod, the ForcedPrizeFight was indeed a SecretTest, but not quite as it comes across. The script includes a bit of dialogue (not aired, but included in the Blish novelisation) which reveals the Metrons had planned to destroy the winner of the fight rather than the loser, considering the winner to be a bigger threat to them. Subverted as they are impressed when [[HumansAreSpecial Kirk]] [[SwordOverHead refuses to kill his downed opponent.]]

[[folder:TabletopGames]]

* On the plane of Amonkhet in ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'', those who complete the Trials of the Five Gods are killed and made into zombies to serve in Nicol Bolas's undead army. (To be fair, the losers are also usually killed and made into zombies - just ordinary mummies to be used around the city rather than Bolas's super-soldiers.)

[[folder:{{Theater}}]]
* In Creator/WilliamShakespeare's ''Theatre/PericlesPrinceOfTyre'' Pericles has to answer a riddle: answer it right and win the hand of a King's daughter, answer it wrong and die. But it's a MortonsFork since anyone who correctly answers the riddle discovers that the King is having an incestuous relationship with his daughter, and therefore the King has them killed.

[[folder:VideoGames]]

* In ''VideoGame/{{Portal}}'', the "reward" for completing all nineteen test chambers is a one-way trip into a furnace. Chell narrowly escapes the trap, however.
* In ''[[VideoGame/TheWellSpeaksToMe They Watch From The Walls]]'', Mr. Pumpkin invites children, most recently the protagonist Carrie, to brave his HauntedHouse "attraction", promising a surprise to anyone who makes it to the end. It turns out that the "prize" is being stuffed in a cage and [[HumanTraffickers sold to pedophiles]].

[[folder:WesternAnimation]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'' movie ''Billy and Mandy's Big Boogey Adventure'', the main characters at one point cannot pass through a gateway until The Gatekeeper has performed "The Test". The Test turns out to be the giant Gatekeeper putting the characters in his mouth. As they taste good enough, they pass the test and have to escape being cooked alive.

* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/SherlockHolmesInTheTwentySecondCentury'' featured puzzles, which when solved would inject the solver with mind controlling nanomachines.
* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' had Robin, Beast Boy, and Cyborg summoned to a mysterious arena, along with many other male heroes and villains to compete for a mysterious "prize." In fact, the alien who summoned them there was simply stealing the powers of everyone who lost so that he could have all their powers for himself. After he's defeated, [[HereWeGoAgain Raven, Starfire, and all the other female heroes and villains get summoned]].

[[folder:RealLife]]
* There are ancient descriptions of Spartans ordering helots to select the best of their number - allegedly to give them freedom, but in reality, to kill off potential rebels.

Compare TheCakeIsALie.

* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'', Jack confronts a two-headed sea monster asking him to solve a riddle, about which one of the heads is telling the truth or lying to him; claiming that they'll grant his wish if he guesses right, or else they will eat him instead. After Jack gives the "right" answer, [[HeadsIWinTailsYouLose he gets eaten anyway]].

* The State Alchemist program in ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' has a rigorous screening process that seemingly rewards the most skilled alchemists with a constant salary in exchange for giving the state their research and [[SuperSoldier occasionally putting their expertise to military use]]. Its actual purpose is to find five people who have [[CreatingLifeIsBad attempted human transmutation and seen the Gate of Truth]], then [[spoiler:use them for a ritual that will harvest the souls of their entire country (which they'll technically be spared from, but only [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness momentarily]])]].

* In one ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'' story, a couple apply to emigrate from Mega City One to an off-world colony. There are vastly more applicants than openings, so the couple pull every dirty trick possible to get on the short list, and eventually get to go the colony world--which is a barren frozen hell hole. It turned out ''all'' the colonists were people ruthless enough to lie, cheat, steal or even murder, to get to the supposed off-world paradise.

* In ''Film/SpacehunterAdventuresInTheForbiddenZone'', the evil cyborg Overdog has built a maze full of deadly traps inside his fortress. Captives are regularly thrown inside and made to run through it. The whole spectacle serves to entertain the crowds, but the twisted game's real purpose is only revealed when heroine Nikki managed to evade all perils and reach the end; she is not freed as promised, but bound to a machine that saps her life energy and transfers it to Overdog's body, making him stronger.

* In ''Literature/TheHistorian'', all of the clues to {{Dracula}}'s survival and whereabouts turn out to have been deliberately planted so that he can identify gifted researchers to be either recruited or vampirised and enslaved.
* In the Creator/PhilipKDick short story "The Hanging Stranger", the protagonist sees a corpse hanging from a lamppost right in the middle of town. He grows more and more confused when no one cares about this incident. It turns out everyone in the town has been killed and replaced by bee people disguised as humans, and the hanging corpse was placed there as a test to get people who haven't been replaced by bees to reveal themselves.
* Creator/LarryNiven's short story "What Can You Say About Chocolate Covered Manhole Covers?". At a party, a man proposes an idea: that the human race was created by aliens placing small groups of Homo habilis at various places around the Earth and letting them evolve separately. When the groups met up and mated, their descendants would have superior intelligence by virtue of hybrid vigor and would make good servants. Some of the people at the party deduce additional information about the aliens and thus pass the aliens' intelligence test. As a reward they're kidnapped and taken to a planet orbiting Alpha Centauri, to be the subjects of a new seeding experiment.
* In ''Literature/TheTripods'' series, girls who win their villages' beauty contests and are sent to serve the Masters wind up dead and preserved in glass.
* ''The Horror at Camp Jelly Jam'' (one of the ''Literature/{{Goosebumps}}'' books) had the kids at a summer camp where people who won enough games [[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext were used to wash a giant monster]].

* In ''Literature/IslandOfTheSequinedLoveNun'' islanders who are 'chosen by the goddess' actually have their organs harvested, usually nonfatally.
* In ''Literature/TheHammerAndTheCross'' the viking Ivar the Boneless receives a coded message of challenge, consisting of a sheaf of wheat, an eel, and a capon[[note]]castrated rooster[[/note]]. He offers a reward to anyone who can explain it, which an English slave does: The sheaf stands for Shef, commander of the enemy army, the Eel for Eel Island, where the challenge is to take place... Even though he doesn't actually say it, this implies that Ivar (who [[MeaningfulName has that nickname for a reason]]) is a eunuch, a deadly insult. The slave demands his freedom as a reward, which Ivar grants. As soon as he leaves, he gets a spear in the back.
* One ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'' short story depicts a mighty warlord of an incoming chaos invasion holding a contest between several of his chieftains. They each take their war parties and go to the wastelands to impress him. When the protagonists win, it turns out that the reward for winning the warlord's favour is being killed and ritually stuffed - as he fully expects to die in the massive war he is going to, his favourite chieftain's party is to act as his vanguard into the afterlife. Subverted when it also turns out that they knew all along and did their best willingly, considering it an honor - chaos barbarians are like that.

* A subtle, insidious version occurs in Creator/IsaacAsimov's novel ''The Currents of Space.'' The inhabitants of the planet Florina are tested by the off-planet Sarkian overlords, and the best and brightest are given training, status, and positions of local authority - and are forbidden from having children. This is an anti-eugenics plan intended to make future generations of Florina stupider and more docile.
* ''Literature/DyingEarth'': In the short story "Guyal of Sfere", Guyal is ordered to act as the judge in a contest to determine the most beautiful maiden in a village. He notices that the girls, rather than dressing their best as he would expect, seem to be actively trying to hide their beauty, and that the ones he eliminates from contention seem relieved rather than disappointed. After he picks the winner, he learns that the "prize" for winning the contest is to be sacrificed to a demon.

* In the children's sci-fi novel ''Brainboy and the Deathmaster'', a popular series of video games is used to find orphan child prodigies with exceptional intelligence who can be adopted by the developer and "persuaded" to work on his genetic engineering project.

* ''VideoGame/XCOMEnemyUnknown'': The AlienInvasion is actually a test for humanity set up by the Etherials to learn whether humanity has the technological and psychic potential to serve as their slaves for their (unspecified) goals. To this end, the Etherials have been purposefully feeding humanity their tech and knowledge of psychic powers until humans have surpassed all other races Etherials have previously enslaved. Then, however, their plan has GoneHorriblyRight: the humans have become strong enough to kill them all.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Portal}}'', the "reward" for completing all nineteen test chambers is a one-way trip into a furnace. Chell narrowly escapes the trap, however.

* In ''[[VideoGame/TheWellSpeaksToMe They Watch From The Walls]]'', Mr. Pumpkin invites children, most recently the protagonist Carrie, to brave his HauntedHouse "attraction", promising a surprise to anyone who makes it to the end. It turns out that the "prize" is being stuffed in a cage and [[HumanTraffickers sold to pedophiles]].

* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TimonAndPumbaa'', the two are forcibly enrolled in a fitness camp by a wolverine. Timon blows it off, but Pumbaa takes advantage of the opportunity and becomes very fit, finally managing to make it through the camp's obstacle course. The wolverine then explains that he is actually a carnivore, and prefers to eat the fittest, healthiest specimens, which Pumbaa now qualifies as. However, Pumbaa is now so athletic he manages to escape the wolverine fairly easily.
* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/SherlockHolmesInTheTwentySecondCentury'' featured puzzles, which when solved would inject the solver with mind controlling nanomachines.
* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/HulkHogansRockNWrestling'', both Junkyard Dog and Rowdy Roddy Piper show up at a film shoot to have their distinctive cars appear in the movie. The director has them race for the role. Piper, with the other wrestling heels, cheats his way to victory and gets his car in the movie. The scene is shot and the car is destroyed. And yes, that was how the scene was supposed to go.

* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' had Robin, Beastboy, and Cyborg summoned to a mysterious arena, along with many other male heroes and villains to compete for a mysterious "prize." In fact, the alien who summoned them there was simply stealing the powers of everyone who lost so that he could have all their powers for himself. After he's defeated [[HereWeGoAgain Raven, Starfire, and all the other female heroes and villains get summoned]].

* ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' episode "Arena". According to WordOfGod, the ForcedPrizeFight was indeed a SecretTest, but not quite as it comes across. The script includes a bit of dialogue (not aired) which reveals the Metrons had planned to destroy the winner of the fight rather than the loser, considering the winner to be a bigger threat to them. Subverted as they are impressed when [[HumansAreSpecial Kirk]] [[SwordOverHead refuses to kill his downed opponent.]]

* In ''Film/SpacehunterAdventuresInTheForbiddenZone'', the evil cyborg Overdog has built a maze full of deadly traps inside his fortress. Cyptives are regularly thrown inside and made to run through it. The whole spectacle serves to entertain the crowds, but the twisted game's real purpose is only revealed when heroine Nikki managed to evade all perils and reach the end; she is not freed as promised, but bound to a machine that saps her life energy and transfers it do Overdog's body, making him stronger.

Sometimes, passing a test or winning a competitive event turns out to provide a "reward" that the winners would never want. In short, it's SchmuckBait, but you had to ''earn'' it. Its purpose may be to identify people who need to be dealt with because they're powerful enough to threaten the setter, or to select people who would be suitable for a [[GotVolunteered job they'd never take willingly]], for enslavement, or for [[HumanResources dismantling]].

* The ''Franchise/{{Hellraiser}}'' horror franchise centres around the Lament Configuration, a geometric puzzle which when solved summons a bunch of BDSM demons to rape and torture the solver for eternity. (Some people do so actively knowing about this, thinking that they'll enjoy it. These people usually end up regretting it, but there are [[TooKinkyToTorture a few who really are that perverted]].)

[[AC:AnimeAndManga]]

[[AC:ComicBooks]]

[[AC:{{Film}}]]

[[AC:{{Folklore}}]]

[[AC:{{Literature}}]]

[[AC:LiveActionTV]]

[[AC:TabletopGames]]

[[AC:{{Theater}}]]

[[AC:VideoGames]]

[[AC: WesternAnimation]]

[[AC:RealLife]]

->[[AC:"The experiment is nearing its conclusion. The Enrichment Center is required to remind you that you will be baked, and then there will be cake."]]

* In ''Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone'', the evil cyborg Overdog has built a maze full of deadly traps inside his fortress. Cyptives are regularly thrown inside and made to run through it. The whole spectacle serves to entertain the crowds, but the twisted game's real purpose is only revealed when heroine Nikki managed to evade all perils and reach the end; she is not freed as promised, but bound to a machine that saps her life energy and transfers it do Overdog's body, making him stronger.

-->[[AC:"The experiment is nearing its conclusion. The Enrichment Center is required to remind you that you will be baked, and then there will be cake."]]
-->-- [=GlaDOS=], {{VideoGame/Portal}}

* In one ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' setting, there is a fortress in the Abyss that local demon warlords keep fighting over. The legends says that all the current demon lords passed through it at some point and it is regarded as a proving ground where leaders test their skills against each other. In truth, the legend is mostly true - but the current demon lords observe the fortress closely, using its legend to spot dangerous competitors early.

* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' had Robin, Beastboy, and Cyborg summoned to a mysterious arena, along with many other male heroes and villains to compete for a mysterious "prize." In fact, the alien who summoned them there was simply stealing the powers of everyone who lost so that he could have all their powers for himself. After he's defeated [[HereWeGoAgain Raven, Starfire, and all the other female heroes and villains get summoned].