History Main / EnclosedSpace

Subtrope of ClosedCircle. Horror versions may overlap with TrappedWithMonsterPlot.

* ''The submarine'': Home to an entire [[{{Pun}} sub-genre (heh)]] of [[SubStory war films]]. Archetypal example: ''Das Boot''.

* One of the ''LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya'' light novels is set in a mansion where they are trapped not only by bad weather but by an alien god that can warp space and time.

* ''[[BleakBorderBase The isolated base in a hostile, dangerous location]]'': You could leave the gated walls of the fortress. But either the hostile enemy or the harsh terrain/fauna will kill you. So you hunker down behind the walls and hope you make it to the end of your tour of duty.

* ''[[SpaceIsolationHorror The space ship/station]]'': Often seen in sci-fi horror, like the ''[[{{Franchise/Alien}} Alien]]'' films or the ''VideoGame/SystemShock'' games.

* ''[[BleakBorderBase The isolated base in a hostile, dangerous location'': You could leave the gated walls of the fortress. But either the hostile enemy or the harsh terrain/fauna will kill you. So you hunker down behind the walls and hope you make it to the end of your tour of duty.

* ''The submarine'': Home to an entire [[IncrediblyLamePun sub-genre (heh)]] of [[SubStory war films]]. Archetypal example: ''Das Boot''.

* The ''ComicBook/Eternals2006'' series established that Eternals can't leave Earth's solar system. That's not much of a restriction, but after [[TimeAbyss half a million years of immortality]] it's starting to grate for some of them.
* In ''ComicBook/Miracleman'' the dead humans resurrected by Mors are limited to London or, in one case, to a single room - outside of that area, their android bodies will shut down. One issue involves an attempt to escape this restriction.

* ''The underwater base'' works much like the above. The film ''Film/TheAbyss'' and the game ''VideoGame/{{BioShock|1}}'' feature such locales.

Subtrope of ClosedCircle.

* ''The submarine'': Home to an entire [[IncrediblyLamePun sub-genre (heh)]] [[SubStory of war films]]. Archetypal example: ''Das Boot''.

* ''Film/PanicRoom'': Meg and Sarah are trapped in the building to hide from the burglars. The burglars can't simply take what they want and leave because the loot they're after is stored in the panic room occupied by the pair.

* ''Film/PanicRoom'': Meg and Sarah are trapped in the building to hide from the burglars. The burglars can't simply take what they want and leave because the loot is stored in the panic room occupied by the pair.

* ''The submarine'': Home to an entire [[IncrediblyLamePun sub-genre (owch!)]] [[SubStory of war films]]. Archetypal example: ''Das Boot''.

* ''The deserted/private/uncharted island'': So common it's often passed over. Drop-in of viewpoint characters via shipwreck or plane crash is almost required.

* ''The space ship/station'': Often seen in sci-fi horror, like the ''[[{{Franchise/Alien}} Alien]]'' films or the ''VideoGame/SystemShock'' games.

* ''The Arctic base'': Also similar to the space station. Seen in ''Film/TheThingFromAnotherWorld'' and its more-true-to-the-book remake ''Film/TheThing1982''.

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]

* In an episode of ''Series/RobocopTheSeries'', the title character is thrown into a trash compactor by a group of thugs. He escapes through sheer force of will, although it takes a third of the episode to accomplish it.
* The ''Series/ICarly'' episode "iSam's Mom" features scenes of Sam and her mom (and later, Carly) in a small room in the psychologist's office while being forced to communicate and make up. In this episode we learn that Carly is highly claustrophobic.

** The new series episode "Midnight" features the Doctor and some tourists stranded in a train car which the can't leave due to the fact that the planet's surface is murderously uninhabitable. Uninhabitable, that is, except to beings who seem to come straight out of a nightmare.
* ''Series/{{Sanctuary}}'' uses this often, usually the monster-of-the-week is the thing that's trapped them, but they occasionally use the weather. Also seems to like cutting them off from their gadgets, which leaves them to outsmart whatever it is (before it kills them).

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* There is no known exit to the [[Webcomic/TowerOfGod Tower]], but it's inside is self-preserving and vast. Urek Mazino still wants to get out.

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* The basic setting of ''Manga/{{Euphoria}}''.
[[/folder]]

* The basic setting of ''Euphoria''.

* In Creator/AndreNorton's ''[[Literature/{{Warlock}} Forerunner Foray]]'', Ziantha as D'Eyree is trapped in their city as her powers fail, which may lead to her being fed to the Lurla.

** There's also the train, appearing in ''Murder on the Orient Express'' and ''TheLastExpress''.

[[folder: Anime & Manga ]]

[[folder: Film ]]

[[folder: Literature ]]

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

* The ''Series/{{iCarly}}'' episode ''iSam's Mom'' features scenes of Sam and her mom (and later, Carly) in a small room in the psychologist's office while being forced to communicate and make up. In this episode we learn that Carly is highly claustrophobic.

** The "Base Under Seige" version of the trope is common in the show, particularly during the Second Doctor's era (1966-69).

[[folder: Tabletop Games ]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Chzo Mythos}}'':

* The vaults in the ''{{VideoGame/Fallout}}'' universe worked like this for most of their existence. First extreme radiation from the nuclear fallout kept people from leaving, later some were kept from leaving by ignorance, suppression, or deranged experiments.

* Most of the action of ''{{VisualNovel/Ever17}}'' takes place in an underwater theme park that is slowly falling apart.

[[folder: Webcomics ]]

* The "Base Under Seige" version of the trope is common in ''Series/DoctorWho'', particularly during the Second Doctor's era (1966-69).

* ''Series/{{Lost}}'' counts as the deserted island variant for most of the series (especially the early seasons), and contains many, many more specific examples. The abundance of Dharma Initiative bunkers (commonly called "hatches") provide plenty of opportunities for characters to end up alone together. The most prominent examples of this take place in the Swan hatch throughout season two, particularly the episode ''Lockdown'', in which the blast doors trap Locke and Ben in there. And even when people weren't physically trapped, they were often bound by the duty of regularly pushing the button.

* The ''VideoGame/{{Chzo Mythos}}'' makes use of this trope in all of its four component games. In the first, you're stuck in a mansion. In the second, you're stuck on a spaceship, in the third you are trapped in a HellHotel, and finally the fourth which takes place in a underground complex.