Line #1 Main/BeastInTheMaze


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11	[[quoteright:300:[[Literature/TheMazeRunner https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/maze_runner.jpg]]]]
12	[[caption-width-right:300:Now we know how the book got its name.]]
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14	The worst part about being lost in a maze is sometimes not the fact that it has so many [[CutAndPasteEnvironments twists and turns that look identical]] and [[MobileMaze at times seem to shift its corridors]]. What can really make them troublesome is that sometimes, they are the home of a vicious monster. A creature that prowls the labyrinth in search of prey, the entire maze its giant lair. Often, the creature [[NothingIsScarier isn't seen onscreen]], with the only hints that something is living in there the bones of its victims, giant footprints, claw marks on the walls, {{Shadow Discretion Shot}}s, and [[MightyRoar the occasional roar of something nearby]]. In many cases, this is to intensify the suspense of the one lost in the labyrinth, culminating in TheReveal [[RevealShot Shot]] in which TheHero finally comes face to face with the monster.
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16	Be warned. If the creature catches wind that someone is trespassing within its domain, [[SuperPersistentPredator it will continuously pursue its prey until either they manage to escape its lair or kill the beast]]. Usually in games, this beast ends up being the BossBattle you'll have to win in order to escape. However, it is possible that the creature is too powerful for you to fight, and the only thing you can do is [[AdvancingBossOfDoom keep away from it; you'll die if it catches you]].
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18	This type of creature is a favorite to villains, who tend to confine [[EvilIsNotAToy monsters]] [[TurnedAgainstTheirMasters dangerous to]] [[HoistByHisOwnPetard even them]] [[LockedInTheDungeon to dungeons underneath]] [[EvilTowerOfOminousness their castles]], while at the same time, employing a TrapDoor to drop TheHero and his comrades [[FedToTheBeast into his pet's]] [[TrappedWithMonsterPlot domain]], [[LovesTheSoundOfScreaming thus prolonging their suffering]] as they [[RunOrDie feverishly try to find the way out]] ([[IdiotBall if the villain was stupid enough]] [[GenreBlindness to put one in]][[note]]alternatively, if the villain was ''smart'' enough to include an escape passage as insurance against [[HoistByHisOwnPetard being trapped with the monster themselves]][[/note]]), while trying to keep from being found by the villain's pet.
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20	In some frightening cases, the creature is [[ItCanThink smart enough]] to chase their quarry so that [[BatmanGambit they'll run straight into a dead end and be cornered]].
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22	The types of monsters to reside in the labyrinths vary. It can be the classic [[OurMinotaursAreDifferent Minotaur]], a being of [[BigCreepyCrawlies the giant insect family]], something reptilian like a giant serpent or dragon, and even a sea monster if the lair is underwater. The beast is almost always an AnimalisticAbomination or DireBeast, but can be an EldritchAbomination as well.
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24	Can be used in a TrappedWithMonsterPlot, as well as complicating a DungeonBypass. Similar to a DragonHoard if the beast is guarding a vast treasure within the labyrinth. Similar to AbandonedMine, especially if the beast's presence is a result of DugTooDeep. Can be a variation of SealedEvilInACan, especially if the beast itself is searching for a way out. If the beast within the maze is a KingInTheMountain, be careful not to invoke AwakenTheSleepingGiant. If the maze in question is a PipeMaze or AbsurdlySpaciousSewer, see SewerGator. For beasts that ''are'' mazes, see MobileMaze and LivingStructureMonster. Similar to IsleOfGiantHorrors where monsters reside on an island instead of a maze. For a wider range of monster dwellings, see HomeOfMonsters.
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27	!!Examples:
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29	[[foldercontrol]]
30
31	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
32	* In ''Anime/{{Kakurenbo}}'', five demons hunt the group of children through a maze-like GhostCity in a twisted game of Hide and Seek until only one child is left. Four are straightforwardly monstrous in appearance and methods of hunting; their leader, the fifth, is far more subtle and horrifying.
33	* Invoked in ''Manga/HoshinEngi'': the penultimate floor of Chou Kohei's cruise ship Queen Joka is a massive labyrinth, infested by many Yokai Sennin including a giant earthworm-man with corrosive powers and a hornet-man who uses pheromones and a bee swarm to command a small army of mummies (which are actually hollow and animated by the bees).
34	* During the Gourmet Pyramid arc from ''Manga/{{Toriko}}'', the titular hero and [[TokenEvilTeammate Zebra]] have to explore the huge maze-like Dungeon which is the Gourmet Pyramid (Which is actually the ''roof'' of a sunken tower belonging to a huge underground palace) and find it infested with many dangerous animals, all of which are classified as special ingredients and need to be killed and prepared in a certain way. The objective of the arc, the Mellow Cola, is the tears of the biggest and baddest beast in the maze, the Salamander Sphinx.
35	* In ''[[Manga/TouhouBougetsushou Inaba of the Moon and Inaba of the Earth]]'', one of ''Franchise/TouhouProject''[='=]s manga stories, one chapter has Reisen and Tewi getting lost in the basement of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, which is where the mentally unstable, highly dangerous Flandre happens to be locked up.
36	* In the Duelist Kingdom arc of ''Anime/YuGiOh'', [[TheHero Yugi]] and [[TheLancer Joey]] fight a three-part duel against the Paradox Brothers in a special labyrinth field. Because the Paradox Brothers control the labyrinth, they set up several hazards like a ghoul that attacks from the walls themselves and a GiantSpider that emerges from a booby-trapped square in one of the pathways.
37	[[/folder]]
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39	[[folder:Comic Books]]
40	* One of Creator/AndreFranquin's ''ComicBook/IdeesNoires'' comics is about a prisoner sent to a maze that [[spoiler:turns out to be a planetoid]]. In a sequel comic, penitentiary officials appear in a helicopter, tell the perp that his sentence has been worsened, and proceed to airdrop a live leopard into the labyrinth.
41	* ''ComicBook/{{Mazeworld}}'': At the center of the DeathTrap-filled maze is the Doomster, a monster which [[IKnowWhatYouFear adapts itself to the fears]] of the person who has managed to venture that far.
42	* ''ComicBook/SimonDark'': In the labyrinth beneath the Moss Estate which Simon and Tom have to pass through to stop the ritual the cultists are performing that will kill everyone in Gotham they run across three monsters. While they do attack the heroes Simon is able to mentally connect with them and realize the trio hates the cult too, and they all team up after the initial misunderstanding.
43	[[/folder]]
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45	[[folder:Gamebooks]]
46	* Given the maze-like nature of the dungeons, this trope is unsurprisingly common in the ''Literature/FightingFantasy'' series of gamebooks, with plenty of monsters roaming the labyrinths either by chance or by choice.
47	* In ''[[Literature/GoldenDragonFantasyGamebooks Keep of the Shadow Lord]]'', you must enter a stone maze where a massive minotaur prowls, looking for a prey... then it's subverted when the beast proves harmless if you [[DeliciousDistraction throw him a bone]] and his human master is the real threat.
48	[[/folder]]
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50	[[folder:Literature]]
51	* In the third book of the ''Literature/GodsAndWarriors'' series, the House of the Goddess, the labyrinthine capital of Keftiu (Crete in real life), has been evacuated in response to a plague, but it's protected by a giant bull.
52	* Used a couple of times in the ''Franchise/HarryPotter'' series:
53	** ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheChamberOfSecrets'' has the Basilisk, which resides within the titular chamber beneath the castle.
54	** In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire'', during the Third Task of the Triwizard Tournament, the Champions have to enter a magical maze with several dangerous beasts in it, including a GiantSpider, a RiddlingSphinx and a [[HybridMonster Blast-Ended-Skrewt]]. The [[Film/HarryPotterAndTheGobletOfFire film adaptation]] [[AdaptedOut leaves the monsters out]], and instead makes the maze hedge itself attack the champions with its branches and roots.
55	* The mysterious beast in ''Literature/HouseOfLeaves'' stalks the explorers of the house, which quickly reveals itself to be an EldritchLocation that twists and changes around them. What the beast is is left ambiguous, with various theories in and out of universe calling it a (or maybe ''the'') minotaur, a personification of the house, or an AnimalisticAbomination.
56	* The Beast of London in ''Literature/{{Neverwhere}}'' is an archetypal mythical creature comparable to the alligators in the sewers of New York. It takes the form of a gigantic boar and prowls a maze far, far, beneath the city, where it also incidentally guards the prison of the angel Islington.
57	* In the ''Literature/WatershipDown'' story "The Story of the Comical Field," El-Ahrairah goes into a maze that turns out to be home to an undescribed horror.
58	[[/folder]]
59
60	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
61	* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
62	** In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS9E5TheTimeMonster The Time Monster]]", the Kronos crystal is guarded by the Minotaur at the heart of a maze in ancient {{Atlantis}}. Jo is duped into the maze by Krasis, and the Doctor must venture into the maze and confront the Minotaur to rescue her.
63	** "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS17E5TheHornsOfNimon The Horns of Nimon]]" features an alien monster that lives in a maze where the walls shift around to prevent anyone escaping. The Nimon looks something like a bull-headed man, and is explicitly compared to the Minotaur.
64	** "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E11TheGodComplex The God Complex]]" features an alien Minotaur that lives in a hotel-like maze that abducts those who have different faiths and beliefs, it's endless rooms containing the greatest fear of its prisoners to break that faith, reducing the prisoner to uttering "Praise him", allowing the Minotaur to feed on them.
65	** In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E11HeavenSent Heaven Sent]]", the Doctor finds himself in a revolving castle with a mysterious veiled creature that slowly chases him, only pausing when the Doctor confesses one of his secrets. [[spoiler:The Doctor eventually makes it out by breaking through a wall of [[FantasyMetals a substance harder than diamond]] that took him ''[[{{Determinator}} over a billion years to break through]]'', [[CloningGambit having to constantly renew himself every time the monster caught him]]. After he escapes, the castle is revealed to have been his confession dial.]]
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68	[[folder:Myths & Religion]]
69	* Myth/ClassicalMythology: The TropeCodifier is the legendary [[OurMinotaursAreDifferent Minotaur]] of King Minos, who kept him within a gigantic labyrinth.
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72	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
73	* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'':
74	** Two modules have a minotaur with its lair inside a maze.
75	*** B2: Keep on the Borderlands. The minotaur has a cave complex inside the Caves of Chaos. Its caves have a spell on them that causes intruders to lose all sense of direction.
76	*** S4: The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth. Somewhere in the Caverns is a teleportation trap that sends victims to other planes of existence. One possible destination is a giant labyrinth with two minotaurs riding bulls. They will hunt down and kill anyone inside the maze.
77	** In some editions, minotaurs have a racial ability to never be lost in a maze, and are immune to spells that would put them inside one.
78	** Cultists of {{Baphomet}}, demon prince of beasts and minotaurs, sometimes honor him by constructing labyrinths, dumping victims in them, and then ritualistically hunting them while wearing bestial masks.
79	[[/folder]]
80
81	[[folder:Video Games]]
82	* ''VideoGame/ThreeDMonsterMaze'' on the Sinclair [=ZX81=] deposits the first-person player in a labyrinth with a Tyrannosaurus Rex. The objective: escape before you become Rex's lunch.
83	* In ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamAsylum'', in order to obtain the spores needed to make an antidote for Joker's Titan formula, Batman has to traverse the sewers underneath Arkham Island, while being pursued by Killer Croc.
84	* ''VideoGame/{{Bubbaruka}}:'' Several segments involve monsters stalking you throughout strange maze-like halls.
85	* ''VideoGame/Castlevania64'' featured a hedge maze with "The Gardener" a [[WhatCouldHaveBeen a scrapped playable character based on]] Ash from ''Franchise/EvilDead'' [[note]]What with the chainsaw arm and the shotgun[[/note]]. As soon as you meet up with Malus he chases you relentlessly with two unkillable hellhounds until you are both safe.
86	* Monsters wander five of the six mazes of ''VideoGame/EscapeFromTheMindmaster''. They're just trying to find their way out just like you, but if you bump into one, you lose a chance.
87	* ''VideoGame/{{Everhood}}:'' The Cursed Castle area has the Maze Monster, a GiantSpider who wanders the maze in the castle. If it catches you, it will throw you into a battle that you must escape.
88	* In ''VideoGame/HuntTheWumpus'', the player hunts the titular monster (which can be distinguished only by its stench) within a cave whose twenty rooms are connected like the vertices of a dodecahedron.
89	* ''VideoGame/KingsQuestVIHeirTodayGoneTomorrow'' has a literal Minotaur inside a maze ([[BilledAboveTheTitle it's even on the box art]]) that the Winged Ones chuck the protagonist into if he's tenacious and foolish enough to visit their realm. In theory, he's trying to [[SaveThePrincess save their princess]], but mainly it's their attempt to get rid of him. However, if he manages to save the girl and get out alive, they owe him a favor.
90	* The ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' series is made up of these, with the player character having to traverse labyrinth-like dungeons to find one of the BigBad's lead monsters.
91	** A good example of this is Lomei Labyrinth Island in ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild Breath of the Wild]]''. Several walking [[BossInMookClothing Guardians]] are {{Patrolling Mook}}s for the center corridor of the maze, while at least one stationary Guardian can be found lurking around a corner and flying Guardians patrol the top of the maze in case you try to be clever and [[DungeonBypass climb over the walls]]. To top it off, [[spoiler:the end of the maze drops you into a vast basement with about a dozen Guardians, which all activate at once [[SchmuckBait when you open the treasure chest you land in front of.]]]]
92	* The Submerged Castle in ''VideoGame/Pikmin2'' seems to be a fairly normal, water-based cave at first glance. However, [[StalkedByTheBell spending too long on any one particular floor of the cave]] will cause the captains and their pikmin to begin being chased down by an otherworldly, blob-like monster known as the Waterwraith. If the Waterwraith manages to find and corner the captains, prepare to see a lot of Pikmin get flattened underneath its rollers.
93	* One level of ''VideoGame/SlyCooperAndTheThieviusRaccoonus'', appropriately titled "Lair of the Beast", involved Sly sneaking through [[SwampsAreEvil a swamp]] where one of the Fiendish Five [[SwampMonster was housing a giant serpent]], with Sly [[AdvancingBossOfDoom needing to keep ahead of it]] once it appeared onscreen.
94	* The MoleMen from ''VideoGame/{{Vanish}}'' serve as this.
95	[[/folder]]
96
97	[[folder:Webcomics]]
98	* ''Webcomic/DebuggingDestiny'' has Osborne, who begins the story this way. Then the maze gets destroyed.
99	* ''Webcomic/{{Oglaf}}'':
100	** In the comic "The Labyrinth", a royal advisor is obsessed with [[SomedayThisWillComeInHandy building the King a labyrinth]], which the King just gets annoyed with, [[TemptingFate citing he has no reason to need one]]. Then a guard walks in to inform the King that his wife has birthed a monster, [[CrazyPrepared much to the advisor's delight]].
101	** Another has an ArtifactOfDoom guarded by a monster in a labyrinth. Then the monster breaks out of the labyrinth, wearing the artifact.
102	* ''Webcomic/Trevor2020'': What [[spoiler:Trevor]] essentially becomes for the staff at the facility; between the ventilation system and multitude of corridors, part of the horror comes from the fact that he could be ''anywhere''.
103	[[/folder]]
104
105	[[folder:Web Original]]
106	* ''Website/SCPFoundation'': [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-432 SCP-432 ("Cabinet Maze").]] The inside of SCP-432 is an extra-dimensional labyrinth made up of a complex maze of corridors. It is haunted by an unseen monster similar to the Minotaur of Myth/ClassicalMythology.
107	[[/folder]]
108
109	[[folder:Western Animation]]
110	* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyAndFriends'': An abominable snowman guards the icy labyrinth around King Charlatan's palace in "Baby, It's Cold Outside", and attacks the heroes when they try to cross it.
111	[[/folder]]

Context Main / BeastInTheMaze