History Main / RandomTransportation

* This is how teleportation magic works in almost all VideoGame/{{Roguelike}}s. In some variants there will be jewelry you can wear or an ability you can gain which will let you turn Random Teleports into controlled ones.

* ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'': [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-507 SCP-507 ("Reluctant Dimension Hopper")]] has this power, achieving teleportation by going through different dimensions with approximately the same landscape (moving from point A to B there will put him at B in the real world), but can't control when or where or how long he goes. Dimensions visited include one where there is complete darkness until you turn on a light and find yourself staring eye-to-eye with, basically, the Joker (twice), a GenderFlip dimension, one where plants scream telepathically if you eat them, one where the U.S. presidency is decided by KlingonPromotion, and another where he came back and refused to say anything but "So many spiders..."

* ''VideoGame/{{Terraria}}'': Teleportation potions do this when used. While {{Telefragging}} is avoided, the player has no input on where in the game world they're going to end up. Their usefulness is therefore very limited, as the player could wind up someplace they have no means to escape from.

A form of WalkingTheEarth. Frequently overlaps with TheHomewardJourney, as the intended destination is almost always just getting back home. Compare UnstuckInTime. Compare and contrast TeleportationMisfire, when the means of transportation usually works except when the plot requires it to go wonky.

[[folder:Print Media]]

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', Basic D&D module [=DA1=] ''Adventures in Blackmoor''. When characters trapped in the Inn Between the Worlds pass through the Gate in the cellar, they end up back in the Inn but at a random different time, either before or after they entered (possibly ''long'' before or after).

* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' and Warp travel (a demon-infested alternate dimension that allows FTL travel, sped up or hampered by Warp currents). While ships have a Navigator that allows them to navigate the Warp currents, all too often they end up adrift, and when (if) they do return to realspace, it's only occasionally on target, when not in deep space. And then there's the fact that sometimes you don't even come back at the right ''time'', as one ork Waaaagh found when they ran into their future selves (that one ended in considerable confusion, as the future warboss killed past warboss in order to have two sets of his favorite gun).

** ''WesternAnimation/TransformersRobotsInDisguise2015'' features this as well. For most of season 1, the Autobot's Space Bridge did not work reliably and was just as likely to send them somewhere random as opposed to where they wanted to go. Later on, a Decepticon took a bite out of their Space Bridge and began teleporting to random locations around the world, to all the places they'd previously teleported to over the course of the series.

* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1987'': Themyscira exists in a PocketDimension that is [[DependingOnTheWriter sometimes not even connected to time]] and while the Amazons usually have some control over where they anchor to the physical plane Circe is able to play havoc with the system, which is why Themyscira spends so much time missing. At [[ComicBook/TheContest one point]] Themyscira materialized in a hellish time warping pocket dimension that left the Amazons fighting a hopeless war for ten years before they were able to set a course back, which was only months on earth.

[[folder:Fanfiction]]

[[folder:Film — Live-Action]]

** The First and Second Doctors had little to no control over where the TARDIS went in any given serial. This was particularly troublesome for companions who wanted to go home (Ian & Barbara, Ben & Polly, Tegan). This is most consistent in the earliest serials, in which the First and Second Doctors rarely, if ever, were able to get the TARDIS to land where they intended. In fact, two of the First Doctor's companions returned to their own time (give or take 3 years) not because of the TARDIS, but by procuring an entirely different and more reliable time machine. The TARDIS is effectively unsteerable until the Time Lords pardon the Third Doctor in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS10E1TheThreeDoctors "The Three Doctors"]]. Not only do they restore his [[LaserGuidedAmnesia stolen memories]] of time travel theory, but they replace a core component of the TARDIS they had taken. Presumably, the replacement bit works better than the old one did. ExpandedUniverse (and even [[Recap/DoctorWho20thASTheFiveDoctors In-]][[Recap/DoctorWhoS22E4TheTwoDoctors Universe)]] stories set back during the First and Second Doctor eras often forget that the Doctor never went anywhere on ''purpose'' in those days.

** The Eleventh Doctor episode [[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E4TheDoctorsWife "The Doctor's Wife"]] further suggests that the teleportation was never as random as it always appeared as [[spoiler:the TARDIS in human form]] tells the Doctor that he didn't always get where he wanted to go, but he always arrived where he needed to be.

* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' and Warp travel (a demon-infested alternate dimension that allows FTL travel, sped up or hampered by Warp currents). While ships have a Navigator that allows them to navigate the Warp currents, all too often they end up adrift, and when (if) they do return to realspace, it's only occasionally on target, when not in deep space. And then there's the fact that sometimes you don't even come back at the right ''time'', as one ork Waaaagh found when they ran into their future selves (that one ended in considerable confusion, as the future!warboss killed past!warboss in order to have two sets of his favorite gun).
* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'', Basic D&D module [=DA1=] ''Adventures in Blackmoor''. When characters trapped in the Inn Between the Worlds passed through the Gate in the cellar they ended up back in the Inn but at a random different time, either before or after they entered (possibly ''long'' before or after).

[[folder:Webcomics]]

A form of WalkingTheEarth. Frequently overlaps with TheHomewardJourney, as the intended destination is almost always just getting back home. Compare UnstuckInTime.

* ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'': [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-507 SCP-507 ("Reluctant Dimension Hopper")]], one of the human [[Wiki/SCPFoundation SCPs]] has this power, achieving teleportation by going through different dimensions with approximately the same landscape (moving from point A to B there will put him at B in the real world), but can't control when or where or how long he goes. Dimensions visited include one where there is complete darkness until you turn on a light and find yourself staring eye-to-eye with, basically, the Joker (twice), a GenderFlip dimension, one where plants scream telepathically if you eat them, one where the U.S. presidency is decided by KlingonPromotion, and another where he came back and refused to say anything but "So many spiders..."

[[folder:Fan Works]]

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

* ''Series/QuantumLeap'' features Sam Beckett leaping at various points in history to SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong. He never knows what time period or into which person he'll Leap into next. A hint of this is almost always TheStinger for a given episode. The leaps generally occur within the U.S. and stay within Sam's lifetime. Though special circumstances have seen these rules broken at least once.
* ''Series/TheTimeTunnel'' has its heroes being randomly transported to various points in the past and, on occasion, the future.
* ''Series/{{Sliders}}'': The show has wormholes the characters can use to go from one alternate Earth to another. The catch is that they have no control over ''which'' worlds they go to. Their timer does gain a small upgrade to allow some control, enabling them to visit any world they have previously been to and track other wormhole users. Originally, the Sliders' timer worked within a specific radius so that no matter which alternate Earth they visited, they were always in the San Francisco area. One of their antagonists made an adjustment to the timer, increasing this radius to 400 miles; meaning the Sliders could now potentially wind up in San Francisco, Los Angeles, or anyplace in between. At some point, they end up having to get a timer from another world, as they miss their original window (meaning they'd have to wait almost 30 years for another one using the same timer).

** The First and Second Doctors had little to no control over where the TARDIS went in any given serial. This was particularly troublesome for companions who wanted to go home (Ian & Barbara, Ben & Polly, Tegan). This is most consistent in the earliest serials, in which the First and Second Doctors rarely, if ever, were able to get the TARDIS to land where they intended. In fact, two of the First Doctor's companions returned to their own time (give or take 3 years) not because of the TARDIS, but by procuring an entirely different and more reliable time machine. The TARDIS is effectively unsteerable until the Time Lords pardon the Third Doctor in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS10E1TheThreeDoctors "The Three Doctors"]]. Not only do they restore his [[LaserGuidedAmnesia stolen memories]] of time travel theory, but they replace a core component of the TARDIS they had taken. Presumably, the replacement bit works better than the old one did. ExpandedUniverse (and even [[Recap/DoctorWho20thASTheFiveDoctors In-]][[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Recap/DoctorWhoS22E4TheTwoDoctors Universe)]] stories set back during the First and Second Doctor eras often forget that the Doctor never went anywhere on ''purpose'' in those days.

** The Eleventh Doctor episode "The Doctor's Wife" further suggests that the teleportation was never as random as it always appeared as [[spoiler:the TARDIS in human form]] tells the Doctor that he didn't always get where he wanted to go, but he always arrived where he needed to be.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'': [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-507 SCP-507 ("Reluctant Dimension Hopper"),]] one of the human [[Wiki/SCPFoundation SCPs]] has this power, achieving teleportation by going through different dimensions with approximately the same landscape (moving from point A to B there will put him at B in the real world), but can't control when or where or how long he goes. Dimensions visited include one where there is complete darkness until you turn on a light and find yourself staring eye-to-eye with, basically, the Joker (twice), a GenderFlip dimension, one where plants scream telepathically if you eat them, one where the U.S. presidency is decided by KlingonPromotion, and another where he came back and refused to say anything but "So many spiders..."

* The Avalon World Tour arc of ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'' is a result of the magical island Avalon sending Goliath and company not where they want to go, but where they need to be. They visit quite a few places before finally returning to New York.

* ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'' Season 3's "Transwarped" starts a story line about Omega Supreme being endlessly transported to random points in the universe before transporting yet again.

** The Fourth Doctor invoked this trope by installing a randomizer into the TARDIS in order to evade the Black Guardian following the "Key to Time" arc. The Tenth Doctor used the randomizer for fun in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E3PlanetOfTheOod "Planet of the Ood"]]."

* ''Series/{{Sliders}}'': The show has wormholes the characters can use to go from one alternate Earth to another. The catch is that they have no control over ''which'' worlds they go to. Their timer does gain a small upgrade to allow some control, enabling them to visit any world they have previously been to and track other wormhole users. Originally, the Sliders' timer worked within a specific radius so that no matter which alternate Earth they visited, they were always in the San Francisco area. One of their antagonists made an adjustment to the timer, increasing this radius to 400 miles; meaning the Sliders could now potentially wind up in San Francisco, Los Angeles, or anyplace in between.

-->-- ''Series/DoctorWho'', [[Recap/DoctorWhoS4E1TheSmugglers "The Smugglers"]]

* ''Series/DoctorWho''

* ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' and Warp travel (a demon-infested alternate dimension that allows FTL travel, sped up or hampered by Warp currents). While ships have a Navigator that allows them to navigate the Warp currents, all too often they end up adrift, and when (if) they do return to realspace, it's only occasionally on target, when not in deep space. And then there's the fact that sometimes you don't even come back at the right ''time'', as one ork Waaaagh found when they ran into their future selves (that one ended in considerable confusion, as the future!warboss killed past!warboss in order to have two sets of his favorite gun).

The end result is that any attempt to use their fantastic mode of travel is a BlindJump. This forces the characters to go through a series of random AdventureTowns until arriving at their intended destination (assuming they ever do).

* ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'': [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-507 SCP-507 ("Reluctant Dimension Hopper")]], one of the human [[Wiki/SCPFoundation SCPs]] has this power, achieving teleportation by going through different dimensions with approximately the same landscape (moving from point A to B there will put him at B in the real world), but can't control when or where or how long he goes. Dimensions visited include one where there is complete darkness until you turn on a light and find yourself staring eye-to-eye with, basically, the Joker (twice), a GenderFlip dimension, one where plants scream telepathically if you eat them, one where the U.S. presidency is decided by KlingonPromotion, and another where he came back and refused to say anything but "So many spiders..."

* In ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Infinitive_of_Go The Infinitive of Go]]'' by [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Brunner_%28novelist%29 John Brunner]], some college students invent a teleportation machine that allows people to teleport from one Portal to another. However, it is eventually revealed that teleporting also [[spoiler:teleports you to an alternate universe. The greater the physical distance between source and destination, the greater the differences between your origin and destination universes.]]