History Main / CaughtInTheBadPartOfTown

In many cities, there is an acknowledged "bad part of town": a place where outsiders just don't go. This trope is what happens when characters who don't belong find themselves in this bad part of town.

** In "Moe N Joe", Bobby picks up a late night collection in the run down neighborhood late at night. He gets ambushed and [[BatterUp beaten by several Black youth armed with baseball bats]], robbed of his cash and his gun, and takes a [[EyeScream ricochet bullet in the eye]].

** In "The Strong Silent Type", Chris tries to buy scag in a rundown Latino neighbourhood. He gets robbed of his Range Rover and wallet, and then gets the [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown absolute shit beat out of him]].
** A downplayed example in "Watching Too Much television". The locals in the rundown Black ghetto make themselves clear to Tony and A.J. that they aren't welcome if they aren't there to buy drugs. Despite one of the locals drawing a gun, and Tony TemptingFate by being a DeadpanSnarker, they're allowed to drive out without further incident.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': In "Lost Our Lisa", Lisa gets stranded on the WrongSideOfTheTracks after getting on the wrong bus. She has to trek back through Springfield's surprising number of bad neighborhoods while Homer searches for her.

[[caption-width-right:350:''[Siren Wailing]'' "Crackton? That doesn't sound right."]]

** A downplayed example in "Watching Too Much television". The locals in the rundown Black ghetto make themselves clear to Tony and A.J. that they aren't welcome if they aren't there to buy drugs. Despite one of the locals drawing a gun, and Tony TemptingFate by being a DeadpanSnarker, they're allowed to drive out without further incident

* ''Disney/LadyAndTheTramp'': After being fitted with a muzzle, a distraught Lady runs away and gets lost in the inner streets of town. She is chased by stray dogs and cornered in an alleyway when Tramp jumps in and fights off the dogs, rescuing her.
* In ''Disney/TheLionKing'', when Mufasa shows Simba the Pride Lands, he informs Simba that the Elephant Graveyard is beyond their waters and they must never go there. Scar coaxes Simba to go there by telling him only the bravest lions are allowed to go there, and Simba tricks Zazu into bringing him and Nala there by telling him they're going to the water hole. When Simba, Nala, and Zazu reach the Elephant Graveyard, they get chased by the hungry hyenas, until [[BigDamnHeroes Mufasa arrives and saves them]].

* In ''ComicBook/BakerStreet'' #1, Susan unwisely attempts to locate the mysterious Baskerville's, and finds herself lost in the bad part of town. She is attacked by a gang of punks and has to be rescued by Sam.

* In ''Disney/TheLionKing'', when Mufasa shows Simba the Pride Lands, he informs Simba that the Elephant Graveyard is beyond their waters and they must never go there. Scar coaxes Simba to go there by telling him only the bravest lions are allowed to go there, and Simba tricks Zazu into bringing him and Nala there by telling him they're going to the water hole. When Simba, Nala, and Zazu reach the Elephant Graveyard, they get chased by the hungry hyenas, until [[BigDamnHeroes Mufasa arrives and saves them]].

* ''Film/AfterHours'' is Paul Hackett's odyssey to survive one night in New York's [[=SoHo=]] district while the world decides to make him an incredibly dark example of the ButtMonkey (as in, "he may end up lynched by an angry mob that mistook him for a thief" kind of ButtMonkey). At one point he even begs the universe to tell him what he did wrong and when he witnesses a murder near the end, he's so far into GivingUpOnLogic that he can only snark that the lynching mob will blame ''him'' for it somehow.
* ''Film/TheBigTease'': When Crawford, Martin and their cameraman is driven by Eamonn to the home of the person who sold Crawford his car, they get caught in the crossfire of a gun fight.

* ''Literature/JediAcademyTrilogy'' has one part where toddlers Jacen and Jaina Solo wind up in the dark underbelly of Coruscant, where they encounter malfunctioning worker droids, cannibalistic street wraiths and various other unsavory types.
* ''[[Literature/HonorHarrington Cauldron of Ghosts]]'': Early in their infiltration of Mesa, Victor Cachat and Thandi Palane are accidentally routed through the Lower Radomsko district, the poorest and most violent seccy district of Mendel, and promptly attacked. Since we're talking about [[BattleCouple Cachat and Palane]], the trope is then promptly reversed onto the attackers instead.

* In ''Series/{{Arrow}}'', there's the Glades, the "wild side" of Starling City, which is like a ghetto which occurs most of the common crimes of the city. Thea Queen, the [[EveryonesBabySister protagonist's little sister]] appeared oftenly for the Glades by various reasons (partying, working on Laurel Lance's CRNI or flirting with [[AllGirlsWantBadBoys Roy Harper]]), and in most than one time she was attacked there, being saved by various people, included his own brother (as Arrow/The Hood, without knowing about his SecretIdentity) and her boyfriend Roy.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Daria}}'': The plot of "Legends of the Mall" is driven by the Fashion Club having to catch a bus from the mall and winding up getting off in a less salubrious part of town. Of course, this being Lawndale, the 'bad part' of town isn't too bad.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lost_our_lisa_8.png]]

* Whenever ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' characters finds themselves in [[TheCityNarrows the Shades]], (the most infamous and crime ridden slum in the city of [[WretchedHive Ankh-Morpork]]) it's essentially a countdown (usually a very short one) until multiple crooks try to mug and/or kill them.

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[[folder:Comic Books]]
* During ''ComicBook/BatmanNoMansLand'' many Gotham natives end up in parts of town they know are dangerous while trying to evacuate due to the damaged roads and destroyed buildings making it hard for them to navigate. One family that was attacked by a gang on their way out was rescued by ComicBook/{{Robin|Series}} and ComicBook/{{Nightwing}} who then gave them directions to one of the still viable ways out of the city.

* Doctor Aki Ross from ''WesternAnimation/FinalFantasyTheSpiritsWithin'' dares to venture outside the protected zone, and into the abandoned areas where the deadly phantoms lurk, seeking key pieces that she believes will solve the mystery of the phantoms. The Deep Eyes elite strike team routinely has to cover her butt while she's gathering her {{MacGuffin}}s.

* Subverted in ''VideoGame/ManuelSamuel'', where Death sends Sam into a part of town that is torn appart by gang wars. But to his supprise all gang members are already dead, and the few left get put down by War.

[[AC:Films - Animated]]

[[AC:Film - Live Action]]

[[AC:Literature]]

[[AC:Live Action TV]]

* In ''Series/{{Arrow}}'', there's the Glades, the "wild side" of Starling City, which is like a ghetto which occurs most of the common crimes of the city. Thea Queen, the [[EveryonesBabySister protagonist's little sister]] appeared oftenly for the Glades by various reasons (partying, working on Laurel Lance's CRNI or flirting with [[AllGirlsWantBadBoys Roy Harper]]), and in most than one time she was attacked there, being saved by various people, included his own brother (as Arrow/The Hood, without knowing about his SecretIdentity) and his boyfriend Roy.

[[AC:Video Games]]

[[AC:Western Animation]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': In "Lost Our Lisa", Lisa gets stranded on the WrongSideOfTheTracks after getting on the bus. She has to trek back through Springfield's surprising number of bad neighborhoods while Homer searches for her.

* Subverted in ''VideoGame/ManuelSamuel'', where Death sends Sam into a part of town that is torn appart by gang wars. But to his supprise all gang members are already dead, and the few left get put down by War.

In many cities, there is an acknowledged 'bad part of town': a place where outsiders just don't go. This trope is what happens when characters who don't belong find themselves in this bad part of town.

* ''Literature/TheBonfireOfTheVanities'': Bond trader Sherman [=McCoy=] and his mistress Maria Ruskin accidentally enter the Bronx while driving to Manhattan from Kennedy airport. Finding the ramp back to the highway blocked by trash cans and a tire, [=McCoy=] exits the car to clear the way. Approached by two black men whom they perceive - uncertainly, in Sherman's case - as predators, [=McCoy=] and Ruskin flee. Having taken the wheel of the car, which fishtails as they race away, Ruskin apparently strikes one of the two.
* Whenever a ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' character finds themselves in [[TheCityNarrows The Shades]], (the most infamous and crime ridden slum in the city of [[WretchedHive Ankh-Morpork]]) it's essentially a countdown (usually a very short one) until multiple crooks try to mug or kill them.