History Main / TreacherousCheckpoint

** If playing as Marina or Abella, sleeping in the bed in [[spoiler:the Mayor's house]] can result in [[spoiler:Caligula attempting to rape them, which will trigger a combat encounter.]]

You are trudging through ThatOneLevel, the EliteMooks have worn you down and you are almost out of HealingPotion. Finally, in the next hallway, you see the benign-looking statue that marks a SavePoint! Here is a chance to save your progress, possibly restore your vitality and, if nothing else, catch a much-needed breather. You eagerly approach the statue and wait for its benevolent light to wash over you.

This trope is rare, mostly confined to {{Platform Hell}}s, {{Deconstruction Game}}s, and the nastiest of NintendoHard games. In the middle of a dungeon full of MalevolentArchitecture and EverythingTryingToKillYou the SavePoint may be (metaphorically) the player's only friend. A symbolic betrayal by this last friend may drive an already-aggravated player to RageQuit. But if used carefully, this can throw some ParanoiaFuel on an already-smoldering pyre: in a well-designed game a player expects the place where the game is ''saved'' to be, well, ''safe''. When the game betrays this expectation it hammers in the dread that ''nowhere'' is safe.

Compare PoisonMushroom and ChestMonster, in which hazards and monsters are disguised as desirable items. This trope can overlap but does not need to. And a treacherous Check Point can feel much crueler than treacherous loot because, unless the game uses a JustifiedSavePoint, it is not the ''characters'' within the game who are deceived: the ''player'' is betrayed.

See also InnSecurity, especially if the TraumaInn doubles as a Save Point.

* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV'' the last Save Point is guarded by a boss that only reveals himself when you first try to use it.
* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'', the midboss Nelapa appears as a save point on the overworld. The fact it's located smack in the middle of some ChokepointGeography makes its disguise a bit less effective, though.
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'' has monsters that impersonate save crystals and attack the party if approached. Fortunately they turn into regular save crystals if defeated.
* ''VideoGame/HollowKnight'' has a bench in the Distant Village within Deepnest. The first time the player encounters it, there are strange figures loitering around welcoming them to rest in this friendly place. The instant The Knight sits it gets immobilized by sticky webbing, and the suspicious bystanders close in. The {{Sneaky Spider}}s doff their disguises and leave the Player Character AllWebbedUp with the rest of their prey. Fortunately The Knight can escape easily, and this capture is the only way (short of a tough speedrunning technique) to access Herrah the Beast's lair, so StupidityIsTheOnlyOption (or The Knight is simply a HorribleJudgeOfCharacter).
** In Crystal Peak, immediately following a gauntlet of laser-shooting enemies (that will almost certainly harm some players), there is a bench occupied by what looks like a miner's crystallized corpse. Since it takes up the ''entire'' bench, you cannot sit unless you move it, and [[DieChairDie the obvious way]] to do that is to whack it with your weapon. As soon as you do, it wakes up. HeWasRightThereAllAlong, and you now face the Crystal Guardian in a difficult boss fight.

** It’s initially subverted in ''Joyful'', as Rando protects Buddy as she sleeps at the campfire. [[spoiler: After he abandons Buddy and dies either to falling down a pit or killed by Buddy in a fit of rage, however]]… it’s fair game, as Buddy can either be poisoned, lose items or mags, or be attacked by men, and in one case, kidnapped by someone and stuck in a remote shack ([[spoiler: Thankfully, her captor turns into a Joy Mutant, but since [[OhCrap it blocks the only way out…]]]]).

** The [[spoiler: True Lab]] contains a familiar-looking save point which, when examined, transforms into a [[ChestMonster shape-shifting Amalgamate]]. Since it blocks your way, [[TrapIsTheOnlyOption you have to interact with it]].
** The FinalBoss [[spoiler: can also "save" and "reload" and he uses this power against you in battle [[SaveScumming like the cheater]] he is.]]

** It’s initially subverted in ''Joyful'', as Rando protects Buddy as she sleeps at the campfire. [[spoiler: After he abandons Buddy and dies either to falling down a pit or killed by Buddy in a fit of rage, however]]… it’s fair game, as Buddy can either be poisoned, lose items or mags, or be attacked by men, and in one case, kidnapped by someone and stuck in a remote shack ([[Thankfully, her captor turns into a Joy Mutant, but since [[OhCrap it blocks the only way out…]]).

* ''VideoGame/{{LISA}}'': The game provides campfires throughout the game, where the party can rest to recover their HP and SP. However, resting at a campfire has a random chance of causing negative events to happen, including stealing your items, poisoning your party members, kidnapping one of your party members (forcing the player to pay a ransom to get them back), or even allowing a party member to abandon the party voluntarily, meaning they're gone for good.

[[caption-width-right:300:This does ''not'' fill you with determination.]]

* ''VideoGame/HollowKnight'' has a bench in the Distant Village within Deepnest. The first time the player encounters it, there are strange figures loitering around welcoming them to rest in this friendly place. The instant The Knight sits it gets immobilized by sticky webbing, and the suspicious bystanders close in. The {{Sneaky Spider}}s doff their disguises and leave the Player Character AllWebbedUp with the rest of their prey. Fortunately The Knight can escape easily, and this capture is the only way to access Herrah the Beast's lair, so StupidityIsTheOnlyOption (or The Knight is simply a HorribleJudgeOfCharacter).

* ''VideoGame/TouhouLunaNights'' had kitsune enemies disguise that disguise themselves as checkpoints and attack the player when they approach. You can spot the fake checkpoints by their tail poking out.

Instead you get blasted with an attack that drops your HPToOne and disables all your PowerUps and [[EquipmentBasedProgression Equipment]]. To top it all off, the statue transforms into a monster and gives chase.

--> PlayerName was killed by [[[YetAnotherStupidDeath Intentional Game Design]]]

You've fallen victim to a Treacherous Checkpoint, a subversion of the oft-encountered CheckPoint or SavePoint. It could be considered the opposite of a HealingCheckpoint (a Harming Checkpoint). It applies whenever the Checkpoint, which is usually always helpful to the player, becomes undesirable and better-avoided.

This trope is normally restricted to {{Platform Hell}}s, {{Deconstruction Game}}s, and the nastiest of NintendoHard games, for good reason. In the middle of a dungeon full of MalevolentArchitecture and EverythingTryingToKillYou the SavePoint may be, metaphorically, the player's only friend. A symbolic betrayal by this last friend may drive an already-aggravated player to RageQuit. But if used carefully, this can throw some ParanoiaFuel on an already-smoldering pyre: in a well-designed game a player expects the place where the game is ''saved'' to be, well, ''safe''. When the game betrays this expectation it hammers in the dread that ''nowhere'' is safe.

Compare PoisonMushroom and ChestMonster, in which hazards and monsters are disguised as desirable items. This trope can overlap but does not need to. And a treacherous Check Point can feel much crueler than treacherous loot because, unless the game uses a JustifiedSavePoint, it is not the ''characters'' within the game who are deceived by it: it is the ''player'' who is betrayed.

** In Crystal Peak, immediately following a gauntlet of laser-shooting enemies that a newer player will almost certainly lose health to, there's a bench occupied by what looks like a sleeping miner. Since they take up the ''entire'' bench, you can't sit on it unless you move them, and the only way to do that is to [[TooDumbToLive hit them, starting a boss battle]].

** In Magus's castle, falling through a trap door in one room will land you in a large cavern with four apparent save points, one in each of the four cardinal directions. One ''is'' a save point, a second is actually a teleporter that will take you to the room you fell from, and the other two [[ChestMonster trigger battles]] with multiple fake save points. These switch around every time you fall into the room[[labelnote:Hint]]The two fake save points are always opposite each other, and the teleporter is always opposite the real save point[[/labelnote]]. It is not bad, though, as these monsters are {{MetalSlime}}s that cannot damage the player and drop an absolute ton of TechPoints upon death.

Contrast PointOfNoReturn, a save point that may be ominous but not treacherous. If a fault in a game's checkpoint system makes it UnwinnableByMistake, it is a GameBreakingBug.

* ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'' has a SewerLevel full of subterranean monsters who will attack the party if they make any sound. After avoiding various noise-making hazards Crono and friends may gladly walk into a SavePoint, which makes a characteristic "ding"... which [[LeftTheBGMOn the monsters "hear"]] and rush out to attack. Once the monsters are defeated however, it works as well as any other save point.

* ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'' has a SewerLevel full of subterranean monsters who will attack the party if they make any sound. After avoiding various noise-making hazards Crono and friends may gladly walk into a SavePoint, which makes a characteristic "ding"... which the monsters "hear" and rush out to attack. Once the monsters are defeated however, it works as well as any other save point.
** In Magus's castle, falling through a trap door in one room will land you in a large cavern with four apparent save points, one in each of the four cardinal directions. One ''is'' a save point, a second is actually a teleporter that will take you to the room you fell from, and the other two [[ChestMonster trigger battles with multiple fake save points]]. These switch around every time you fall into the room[[labelnote:Hint]]The two fake save points are always opposite each other, and the teleporter is always opposite the real save point[[/labelnote]].
*** 'Treacherous' is a bit of a stretch here, as those specific monsters have no way of dealing damage to the player, and drop an absolute ton of TechPoints upon death.

* ''VideoGame/IWannaBeTheGuy'' has a save point that will attempt to kill you. In Impossible difficulty, it's the ''only'' save point.