History Main / SealedArmyInACan

* At the end of Star Wars Empire at War Forces of Corruption, an army of Sith troopers in Carbonite is found. However, while an obvious [[SequelHook Sequel Hook]] this was never followed up on.

** In ''Literature/MakingMoney'', the four Gold Golems comprise one of these. [[spoiler:Especially since "gold", in this sense, is a ''number'' meaning "one thousand".]]

* In David Brin's ''Literature/KilnPeople'' people routinely copy their souls into "dittos" that decompose a day or two after activation, and for most nations war has been reduced to a spectator sport where their soldiers' dittos duke it out in arenas for a week. But, it turns out later that [[spoiler: every nation also keeps a stockpile of un-imprinted war dittos in case of invasion, their short lifespans making them of little use for anything but defense. Unfortunately that means a MadScientist might be able to sneak in and bake himself an army.]]

* They do this again in ''Film/HeiseiRiderVsShowaRiderKamenRiderWarsFeaturingSuperSentai'', when the Badan Empire plans to take advantage of the Kamen Rider civil war to set their plans into motion. Just when they believed all but two Riders are left standing, Ryo Murasame/Series/KamenRiderZX (who was undercover in Badan but ousted) reveals that all the Riders were merely lying in wait in the [[EldritchLocation Helheim Forest]]. Ryo then uses the [[TransformationTrinket Rider Lockseeds]] on Kouta Kazuraba/Series/KamenRiderGaim to summon the Riders to fight Badan.

** Played with an interesting twist in ''Series/PowerRangersNinjaStorm''. In the finale, it turns out that, unbeknownst to either the audience or the Rangers, the heroes haven't been ''killing'' the [[MonsterOfTheWeek Monsters of the Week]], they've been sealing them. And the BigBad was keeping track of the exact number of monsters the can could hold, as when it went one over, it would let them all out at once.

* The good version is found in ''The Tower of Geburah''. Five hundred of the best knights of the realm, awakened and ready to kill the hordes of bad guys.

* With Friends Like These... by Alan Dean Foster: Humanity was sealed under a forcefield a long time ago because we scared the aliens that badly. When aliens later release the humans in exchange for helping them against a bigger menace, one of the aliens has the sense to worry, "What happens when we run out of enemies?".

* The Spirit Army from ''VideoGame/MortalKombat''. Resurrecting it was the villains' plot for ''Deadly Alliance'', and it was completely and totally destroyed in the opening of the following installment, ''Deception''.

The Sealed Army in a Can is an army that was so powerful that it was impossible to destroy them and the best that could be hoped for was sealing them away, usually at great cost. With works that employ this trope you can invariably expect that the BigBad's master plan will revolve around awakening this army to do his bidding whether it be to TakeOverTheWorld or just break things. Often times you will get the SealedEvilInACan thrown in with them as a nice bonus. Like the SealedEvilInACan the fact that they were sealed away may have weakened them to the point they can be destroyed or technology has advanced to the point where it can get the job done. [[ImmuneToBullets Or not.]]

Can sometimes be used as SealedGoodInACan for a '''really''' BigDamnHeroes moment; see also AwakeningTheSleepingGiant. In these cases they may not be quite as mindless. For several unique characters (often in separate "cans") see SealedCastInAMultipack. For a single character in multiple "cans", see SealedEvilInASixPack.

* In ''ComicBook/RomSpaceKnight'', Rom's preferred weapon, The Neutralizer, banishes his enemies into Limbo. Thus some Dire Wraiths stole the gun, and later captured Rom, in the hopes of finding a means of returning the many Dire Wraiths he banished and thus create an big renewal of their forces.

* There is a Polish legend that says an entire army of [[KnightInShiningArmor knights]] is slumbering under the Tatra mountains, and will awaken when Poland is in dire need of them. [[KingInTheMountain In some versions of the legend, an old Polish king is slumbering with them]].

** Confirmed in the last leg of the game in which [[spoiler: you have to fight the ressurected Iron legion with a battalion of somewhat more modern troops]]

* ''VideoGame/WolfensteinTheNewOrder'' is cast in an AlternateTimeline where Nazis rule the world. Where did they get the technology to build their robot army? Apparently, they found a cache of technology that is on par with Thule technology and twice as durable. This becomes heavily ironic, because (AND THIS IS A BIG SPOILER) [[spoiler:Not only was the technology designed by Jewish scientists, but the reason why their technology was hyper-advanced was because their scientists took a binding oath to God that they would never apply their technology to real life, and would only use it to help other scientists design even more advanced technology with the sole intent of understanding the universe; no civil wars, no sabotage, all discoveries are shared between all scientists in the project, and nine thousand years to build and evolve their tinkertoys in secrecy equals pure human potential. That means that their religion is SUPERIOR to the Nazi's philosophy, and yet they've been denounced as inferior by the Nazis the entire series, even after discovering what they're capable of.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime'' Airachnid found an army of huge Insecticons in stasis pods underground, and uses them to wreck havoc on the Decepticon warship.
* ''WesternAnimation/MartinMystery'' had an episode when the team had to stop the revival of an evil Chinese emperor. In his tomb they even found an army of Terracotta warriors [[spoiler:facing towards the tomb, while the ones of the other one face away, to better defend the Emperor from attack. The reason for this is the army is there ''to prevent'' the Evil Emperor from rising once more]].

* The Russian Navy is this, sealed away by its lack of any ports that don't freeze over except on the Black Sea where it is bottled up by Istanbul controlling the mouth. As a result several naval powers have had sort of a standing ThisMeansWar on any attempt by Russia to conquer Istanbul, going back several generations.
* Some strategic nuclear missile silos are estimated to be able remain functional for decades if not centuries without maintenance. A silo in Russia was recently discovered to have not only survived for two decades of abandonment, but was also able to keep the critical launch systems powered for all that time. The nukes themselves however have markedly shorter shelf life, as modern thermonuclear bombs can only maintain functionally for a maximum of ten years without having the tritium changed.

** A large part of the reason for the rise in large extra-national militias and militarizes (think terrorists) are people finding and unsealing the Soviet Union's sealed armies in a can. The USSR always operated under the mindset that one day the capitalist would come knocking on their door, and after lessons learned from WWII it did not waste weapons. Everything surplus that wasn't used for foreign military aid was sealed away in warehouses. With the collapse of the USSR, suddenly there was no one guarding a lot of these cans. The result was an arms dealer's paradise.

* ''Ninjago'': The Stone Army were sealed in a tomb by the First Spinjitzu Master and are revived by the Great Devourer's venom when the [[SnakePeople Serpentine]] burrow underground in an attempt to collapse Ninjago City.

** The Cybermen in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS5E1TheTombOfTheCybermen "The Tomb of the Cybermen"]] and [[Recap/DoctorWhoS19E6Earthshock "Earthshock"]].

** A large part of the reason for the rise in large extra-national militias and militarizes (think terrorists) are people finding and unsealing the Soviet Union's sealed armies in a can. The USSR always operated under the mindset that one day the capitalist would come knocking on their door, and after lessons learned from WWII it did not waist weapons. Everything surplus that wasn't used for foreign military aid was sealed away in warehouses. With the collapse of the USSR, suddenly there was no one guarding a lot of these cans. The result was an arms dealer's paradise.

** One of these were found under the Long Man in ''Discworld/LordsAndLadies''. They're supposed to wake up in time for some final battle when a wolf eats the sun.
** ''Discworld/InterestingTimes'' has Rincewind discover the "real" Red Army, and use it to save the revolutionaries.
** In ''Discworld/MakingMoney'', the four Gold Golems comprise one of these. [[spoiler:Especially since "gold", in this sense, is a ''number'' meaning "one thousand".]]

* The [[DemBones Cauldron-Born]] from ''Disney/TheBlackCauldron'' and the original story.
* The Titans from ''Disney/{{Hercules}}'' fulfill this role when Hades sets them free to help him take over the cosmos.

* ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'': In a variation on this trope Aragorn gains control of a ghost army of oathbreakers bound to serve the king, in both the film and the book ''The Return of the King'' [[spoiler: and uses it to save Minas Tirith]]. Different from most examples in that they retained their sapience and only agreed to serve him in the battle because he, as rightful heir to the throne, promised to accept it as fulfillment of their broken oath and thus make it possible for them to finally pass on.

* In David Brin's ''Literature/KilnPeople'' people routinely copy their souls into "dittos" that decompose a day or two after activation, and for most nations war has been reduced to a spectator sport where their soldiers' dittos duke it out in arenas for a week. But, it turns out later that [[spoiler: every nation also keeps a stockpile of un-imprinted war dittos in case of invasion. Their short lifespans making them of little use for anything but defense. Unfortunately that means a mad scientist might be able to sneak in and bake himself an army.]]

* The Golden Army from ''Film/HellboyIITheGoldenArmy''. An army of 4900 (More accurately, 70 times 70 soldiers) invincible, untireable, clockwork warriors, to be precise. They're controlled by a MacGuffin that was split into three pieces to prevent it from ever being used again.

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* The [[DemBones Cauldron-Born]] from ''Disney/TheBlackCauldron'' and the original story.

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* One of these were found under the Long Man in ''Discworld/LordsAndLadies''. They're supposed to wake up in time for some final battle when a wolf eats the sun.

* In the book Syren by Angie Sage an army of thousands of Jinnie is freed and commanded by Tertius Fume

* In The Dragon in the Sword, by Creator/MichaelMoorcock, the Eternal champion manages to get access to one of these, composed of all the heroes throughout eternity that fell. (It's implied that they're ones who tried to stop fighting). Each one is described as being as skilled as Erekose, who is able to take on 6 mooks without too much trouble. They take on the concentrated might of all of Chaos.
** [[Literature/TheHistoryOfTheRunestaff Dorian Hawkmoon]]'s Sword of the Dawn, able to summon the savage warriors of the Legion of the Dawn apparently at will and for as long as its wielder remains conscious, may also qualify.
* The Horn of Valere from ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime''. Whoever blows it can summon the Heroes of the Ages to fight for him. Of course, everyone wants it.
* In Creator/RobertAHeinlein's ''Literature/TheDoorIntoSummer'' he mentions in passing that the USA was able to win a war against Russia because of reserve troops kept in suspended animation.
* The good version is found in ''The Tower of Geburah''. Five hundred of the best knights of the realm, awakened and ready to kill the hordes of bad guys.
* A variation appearing in ''Literature/PerryRhodan'' lays the groundwork for the eponymous subplot of the "Orbiter" arc. After driving the Hordes of Garbesch out of the Milky Way Galaxy, the defenders' high commander orders the creation of a secret installation (spread over planets of a handful of solar systems) equipped with everything needed to quickly raise an army of customized clone warriors and equip them with weapons and starships in the event that the invaders should ever return. They never exactly do, but ''1.2 million years later'' -- which is to say, in the series' then-present --, the misinterpretation of a series of "[[NegativeSpaceWedgie space quakes]]" and an automated scoutship's encounter with and capture of a small group of ''the'' worst pirates at the time lead to the systems being activated and the army of clones resembling just those pirates quickly force-grown to drive away...the current humanoid ''inhabitants'' of the galaxy, it turns out. (Thanks to a combination of factors actual violence never breaks out, but things do get quite tense and awkward for a time -- the clones come pre-programmed with remarkably high ethics, but also won't take "no" for an answer.)

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* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'': seen in season 7 when Buffy & co. have to fight [[spoiler:the uber-vamps sealed beneath the Hellmouth]].

** The Cybermen in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS5E1TheTombOfTheCybermen "The Tomb of the Cybermen"]] and in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS19E6Earthshock "Earthshock"]].

** [[spoiler:The entire Time Lord race and Gallifrey itself in [[Recap/DoctorWho50thASTheDayOfTheDoctor "The Day of the Doctor"]].]]
* Played with an interesting twist in ''Series/PowerRangersNinjaStorm''. In the finale, it turns out that, unbeknownst to either the audience or the Rangers, the heroes haven't been ''killing'' the [[MonsterOfTheWeek Monsters of the Week]], they've been sealing them. And the BigBad was keeping track of the exact number of monsters the can could hold, as when it went one over, it would let them all out at once.
* Interestingly enough, the Series/{{Beetleborgs}} did the same thing, since the MonsterOfTheWeek was always summoned out of a comic book, and [[NeverSayDie "returned to the printed page"]] at the end of the episode. The season finale featured Nukus suggesting they summon them all again, this time all at once.
* ''Series/PowerRangersOperationOverdrive'' The Fearcat army in a magic mirror.
* At any given time the majority of the [[Series/StargateAtlantis Wraith]] are in hibernation, as the human populations they feed on couldn't support all of them at once. However, when those currently awake find out about the 6 billion humans available on Earth they begin waking the rest up.

* With Friends Like These... by Alan Dean Foster: Humanity was sealed under a forcefield a long time ago because we scared the aliens that badly. When aliens later release the humans in exchange for helping them against a bigger menace, one of the aliens has the sense to worry, "What happens when we run out of enemies?".

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* Interestingly enough, the Series/{{Beetleborgs}} did the same thing, since the MonsterOfTheWeek was always summoned out of a comic book, and [[NeverSayDie "returned to the printed page"]] at the end of the episode. The season finale featured newly-created VillainSue Nukus suggesting they summon them all again, this time all at once.

* ''Film/BabesInToyland'' (a/k/a ''March of the Wooden Soldiers'') features an army of toy wooden soldiers that were built outside specification (100 wooden soldiers each six feet tall, instead of 600 wooden soldiers each one foot tall). They come in handy defending Toyland from the boogeymen.

* ''{{Hellsing}}'': Alucard has the ability to summon people and creatures that he's drained as familiars. Towards the end, when Integra releases his final PowerLimiter and unleashes his full power, he summons ''everybody he's ever eaten, ever'' [[spoiler: just FYI Alucard is '''The''' original Dracula; He's been around since the Crusades (back when he was "Vlad the Impaler"). [[OhCrap Think about that for a minute]].]]

* While you can't seal away the army itself you can seal everything needed to equip it. Guns, ammo, tanks, planes, [[Squick rations]], can all be held in storage for decades with the right preservation techniques. The United States effectively unsealed its canned WWII military during the Korean war in as little as two weeks.

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