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Door Jam

 Door Jam
type
FeatureClass
 Door Jam
label
Door Jam
 Door Jam
page
DoorJam
 Door Jam
comment
When the hero is isolated from most of his allies and other outside help and forced to confront a villain or some other dangerous situation alone.
Perhaps the hero has just gone through the portal when it suddenly breaks, leaving him with no way back. Perhaps everyone is fleeing but the hero, probably because he is More Hero Than Thou, insisted on everyone else going ahead of him and thus didn't make it in time. Either way, he's trapped with the big boss or in some other dangerous situation, and there's no way for anyone else to come help.
Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_mobile_ad_1'); })Usually this is caused by a Phlebotinum Breakdown at the worst possible moment, but occasionally the situation in question could be designed to only let one person through. The plot does not usually revolve around finding a way back; it's usually a simple excuse to isolate the hero with the villain or monster.
Compare Point of No Return, a specifically video game variant.
Also, not to be confused with a Door Stopper. Nor the door maze game as named by Most Extreme Elimination.
 Door Jam
fetched
2022-05-21T19:42:12Z
 Door Jam
parsed
2022-05-21T19:42:12Z
 Door Jam
processingComment
Dropped link to NegimaMagisterNegiMagi: Not an Item - UNKNOWN
 Door Jam
processingComment
Dropped link to invokedtrope: Not an Item - FEATURE
 Door Jam
processingUnknown
Negima! Magister Negi Magi (Manga)
 Door Jam
isPartOf
DBTropes
 Door Jam / int_1484a16e
type
Door Jam
 Door Jam / int_1484a16e
comment
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone has Harry and Hermione reach a wall of flame and only have one potion that will take them through the flames; thus, Harry has to confront Voldemort alone.
 Door Jam / int_1484a16e
featureApplicability
1.0
 Door Jam / int_1484a16e
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1.0
 Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
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Door Jam / int_1484a16e
 Door Jam / int_1e015a5d
type
Door Jam
 Door Jam / int_1e015a5d
comment
Han Solo riding out to save Luke in The Empire Strikes Back, even though he knows that he won't be able to get back before the doors close.
 Door Jam / int_1e015a5d
featureApplicability
1.0
 Door Jam / int_1e015a5d
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1.0
 The Empire Strikes Back
hasFeature
Door Jam / int_1e015a5d
 Door Jam / int_1ff419c5
type
Door Jam
 Door Jam / int_1ff419c5
comment
In Kingdom Hearts II, right after crossing the Point of No Return, the magical door Sora entered to face Xemnas closes, cutting Sora off from Mickey and Kairi and forcing him to make due with only his standard party members.
 Door Jam / int_1ff419c5
featureApplicability
1.0
 Door Jam / int_1ff419c5
featureConfidence
1.0
 Kingdom Hearts II (Video Game)
hasFeature
Door Jam / int_1ff419c5
 Door Jam / int_2ba1d958
type
Door Jam
 Door Jam / int_2ba1d958
comment
In The Matrix, Agent Smith shoots the phone just after Trinity gets out, leaving Neo with no exit and no choice but to fight him.
 Door Jam / int_2ba1d958
featureApplicability
1.0
 Door Jam / int_2ba1d958
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1.0
 The Matrix
hasFeature
Door Jam / int_2ba1d958
 Door Jam / int_3b34143f
type
Door Jam
 Door Jam / int_3b34143f
comment
Harry Potter:
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone has Harry and Hermione reach a wall of flame and only have one potion that will take them through the flames; thus, Harry has to confront Voldemort alone.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets had this occur when an attempt to sabotage a rescue of Ginny Weasley caused a cave in to separate Harry and Ron, forcing Harry to proceed alone.
 Door Jam / int_3b34143f
featureApplicability
1.0
 Door Jam / int_3b34143f
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1.0
 Harry Potter
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Door Jam / int_3b34143f
 Door Jam / int_45599333
type
Door Jam
 Door Jam / int_45599333
comment
Used in an unusual variant in Tower of God, where the Ragtag Bunch of Misfits were taken out onto the sea to go inside of a giant beast. After the administrators left them out on the open sea, they soon noticed that the motor didn't work anymore. It was rigged by the administrators. They were supposed to die out there or when they would meet Urek Mazino.
 Door Jam / int_45599333
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1.0
 Door Jam / int_45599333
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 Tower of God (Webcomic)
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Door Jam / int_45599333
 Door Jam / int_4f7a49d9
type
Door Jam
 Door Jam / int_4f7a49d9
comment
A lot of the outworlders in The Keys Stand Alone: The Soft World are apparently victims of this, which is how they got to C'hou in the first place. Different people talk about spells sending them into a rift, or hitting a teleport trap, or simply being sent to the wrong place when their ship warped, and finding themselves trapped on C'hou.
 Door Jam / int_4f7a49d9
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1.0
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 The Keys Stand Alone (Fanfic)
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Door Jam / int_4f7a49d9
 Door Jam / int_65d9acd2
type
Door Jam
 Door Jam / int_65d9acd2
comment
In The Sarah Jane Adventures, when Sarah, Jo, the Shansheeth, and Colonel Karim are trapped in the room with the memory weave self-destructing and the doors deadlocked.
 Door Jam / int_65d9acd2
featureApplicability
1.0
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 The Sarah Jane Adventures
hasFeature
Door Jam / int_65d9acd2
 Door Jam / int_6eb4ca5c
type
Door Jam
 Door Jam / int_6eb4ca5c
comment
There was an episode of Jackie Chan Adventures where a portal between the demon and human worlds could specifically only let one being through. Jade was trapped alone in the demon world and managed to escape because all the demons were fighting over who should get to go through.
 Door Jam / int_6eb4ca5c
featureApplicability
1.0
 Door Jam / int_6eb4ca5c
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1.0
 Jackie Chan Adventures
hasFeature
Door Jam / int_6eb4ca5c
 Door Jam / int_72262aee
type
Door Jam
 Door Jam / int_72262aee
comment
Avatar: The Last Airbender: In "Lake Laogai", the protagonist and his Anti-Hero ally rush after an escaping villain with the rest of The Team not far behind. The villain summons a wall of earth to block the entrance and brainwashes the Anti-Hero, forcing Aang to fight both the villain and his own ally alone.
 Door Jam / int_72262aee
featureApplicability
1.0
 Door Jam / int_72262aee
featureConfidence
1.0
 Avatar: The Last Airbender
hasFeature
Door Jam / int_72262aee
 Door Jam / int_74a4c704
type
Door Jam
 Door Jam / int_74a4c704
comment
In Kingdom Hearts, both the second fight against Riku and Ansem begin with them summoning a magical barrier cutting Sora off from his allies, Goofy and Donald. This justifies the Duel Boss between Sora and the game's most prominent villains.
 Door Jam / int_74a4c704
featureApplicability
1.0
 Door Jam / int_74a4c704
featureConfidence
1.0
 Kingdom Hearts (Video Game)
hasFeature
Door Jam / int_74a4c704
 Door Jam / int_9058ad7e
type
Door Jam
 Door Jam / int_9058ad7e
comment
In the first Terminator movie, Reese explains that the time machine got blown up just after he followed the Terminator through, so "It's just him and me." The subsequent movies also featured just two Terminators going back in time, so apparently he was misinformed. Or made subtle changes to the timeline that resulted in a slightly different future, just like what is stated to have happened to varying degrees in the next two movies.
 Door Jam / int_9058ad7e
featureApplicability
1.0
 Door Jam / int_9058ad7e
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Terminator
hasFeature
Door Jam / int_9058ad7e
 Door Jam / int_9908ca47
type
Door Jam
 Door Jam / int_9908ca47
comment
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets had this occur when an attempt to sabotage a rescue of Ginny Weasley caused a cave in to separate Harry and Ron, forcing Harry to proceed alone.
 Door Jam / int_9908ca47
featureApplicability
1.0
 Door Jam / int_9908ca47
featureConfidence
1.0
 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
hasFeature
Door Jam / int_9908ca47
 Door Jam / int_9a7088bc
type
Door Jam
 Door Jam / int_9a7088bc
comment
Star Trek:
In "Arena," aliens force Kirk to duel the lizard creature alone on the planet's surface and prevent the rest of his crew from assisting him. This is a case where the hero being stranded was actually the plan.
In "The Savage Curtain," Yarnek disables the Enterprise's transporter until they show whether good or evil is stronger. This leaves Kirk and Spock stranded on an alien planet without the support of their crew, with only a pacifist alien and Abe Lincoln to aid them in fighting history's greatest villains.
In "The Tholian Web" Kirk gets stranded in "interspace" with only limited air in his spacesuit, while complications ensue for the rest of the crew.
 Door Jam / int_9a7088bc
featureApplicability
1.0
 Door Jam / int_9a7088bc
featureConfidence
1.0
 Star Trek: The Original Series
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Door Jam / int_9a7088bc
 Door Jam / int_aeac03f9
type
Door Jam
 Door Jam / int_aeac03f9
comment
Metroid Dread uses this trope much more frequently than earlier Metroid games; often, after the player finds the correct route to go, something will alter or change (such as a turnstyle moving, a floor breaking, or a hazard popping up) that prevents Samus from returning to a previous area until she's collected the necessary power-up to get past it. Atypically of a Metroidvania, this basically means that Samus is roughly able to explore the same amount of map after opening new areas. Even much later in the game, when Samus has collected most of her abilities, there are many spots that can't (or aren't supposed to) be reached until virtually the end of the game, after she has pretty much everything.
 Door Jam / int_aeac03f9
featureApplicability
1.0
 Door Jam / int_aeac03f9
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1.0
 Metroid Dread (Video Game)
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Door Jam / int_aeac03f9
 Door Jam / int_af42a07f
type
Door Jam
 Door Jam / int_af42a07f
comment
In Serenity, River jumps into a horde of murderous Reavers, fights a few of them off, and jams the only door that would allow them to attack her allies. However, that leaves her to fight a small army alone.
 Door Jam / int_af42a07f
featureApplicability
1.0
 Door Jam / int_af42a07f
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1.0
 Serenity
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Door Jam / int_af42a07f
 Door Jam / int_c43df4d8
type
Door Jam
 Door Jam / int_c43df4d8
comment
Doctor Who:
"Dalek", Rose is not quite fast enough to make it through the security doors and ends up trapped with the Dalek.
In the episode "The Girl in the Fireplace", the Doctor broke through a time window to the eighteenth century, breaking the connection of all portals leading to his TARDIS but one which was disconnected at the time.
 Door Jam / int_c43df4d8
featureApplicability
1.0
 Door Jam / int_c43df4d8
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1.0
 Doctor Who
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Door Jam / int_c43df4d8
 Door Jam / int_c6f7e804
type
Door Jam
 Door Jam / int_c6f7e804
comment
Blake's 7. In "Gold", Avon stays back to Hold the Line against guards who've chased them into an airlock transfer tunnel between two spaceships. Unfortunately one ship is about to do a Hyperspeed Escape and so the tunnel seals automatically, stranding Avon on the wrong side — he's saved by a Teleportation Rescue while a poor Red Shirt is sucked out into space. A blooper has the door closing too slowly and Avon getting through, causing the cast and crew to break out laughing.
 Door Jam / int_c6f7e804
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1.0
 Door Jam / int_c6f7e804
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 Blake's 7
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Door Jam / int_c6f7e804
 Door Jam / int_c97b4034
type
Door Jam
 Door Jam / int_c97b4034
comment
In A Hat Full of Sky, young witch Tiffany Aching leads the Hiver (a sort of serial-possessing entity) through the portal into Death, only to discover the door has closed behind her. This presents her with the problem of opening it again...
 Door Jam / int_c97b4034
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1.0
 Door Jam / int_c97b4034
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1.0
 A Hat Full of Sky
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Door Jam / int_c97b4034
 Door Jam / int_d0455938
type
Door Jam
 Door Jam / int_d0455938
comment
The Wild Geese. As the mercenaries are driving across a bridge an aircraft drops a napalm bomb on it, forcing the unit to split into two groups.
 Door Jam / int_d0455938
featureApplicability
1.0
 Door Jam / int_d0455938
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 The Wild Geese
hasFeature
Door Jam / int_d0455938
 Door Jam / int_d578ee98
type
Door Jam
 Door Jam / int_d578ee98
comment
In Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, the transporter has just enough power to beam up Spock and McCoy, leaving Kirk stranded on the planet with the vengeful god.
 Door Jam / int_d578ee98
featureApplicability
1.0
 Door Jam / int_d578ee98
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1.0
 Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
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Door Jam / int_d578ee98
 Door Jam / int_e5d5d23c
type
Door Jam
 Door Jam / int_e5d5d23c
comment
Many traps in Doom and Doom II locks you up in a room with an army of monsters to kill, with the switch to open the door again being very well hidden, behind all those monsters, or non-existent (which forces you to search for a new path in order to find your way back). Notably is the 8th level of Doom II, Tricks and Traps, where you're thrown into a small room full of Baron of Hell and the strongest boss in the game, the Cyberdemon.
 Door Jam / int_e5d5d23c
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1.0
 Door Jam / int_e5d5d23c
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 Doom (Video Game)
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Door Jam / int_e5d5d23c
 Door Jam / int_e6c59cd1
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Door Jam
 Door Jam / int_e6c59cd1
comment
This happens towards the end of Quake IV - Matthew Kane is the only person able to go through the Strogg teleporter to face the final boss, as he has been partially "Stroggified" himself and the teleporter is fatal to humans (as one unlucky soldier discovered the hard way). His squad mates are still able to communicate with him, though.
 Door Jam / int_e6c59cd1
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1.0
 Door Jam / int_e6c59cd1
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 Quake IV (Video Game)
hasFeature
Door Jam / int_e6c59cd1
 Door Jam / int_ec28245c
type
Door Jam
 Door Jam / int_ec28245c
comment
Dragon Ball Z has a heroic version in the Buu Saga. Piccolo convinces Super Buu to fight Gotenks in the Room of Spirit and Time (AKA Hyperbolic Time Chamber) so that, if Buu proves to be too powerful, he can simply destroy the door and trap the three of them in the room forever. Unfortunately, Buu is so powerful that he actually rips a hole in the fabric of space-time by shouting and escapes. Thankfully Gotenks is powerful enough to do the same after he transforms into Super Saiyan 3, but Piccolo reams him out because his sandbagging and showboating got them into that mess in the first place.
 Door Jam / int_ec28245c
featureApplicability
1.0
 Door Jam / int_ec28245c
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 Dragon Ball Z
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Door Jam / int_ec28245c
 Door Jam / int_f6a54e75
type
Door Jam
 Door Jam / int_f6a54e75
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Kingdom Hearts:
In Kingdom Hearts, both the second fight against Riku and Ansem begin with them summoning a magical barrier cutting Sora off from his allies, Goofy and Donald. This justifies the Duel Boss between Sora and the game's most prominent villains.
In Kingdom Hearts II, right after crossing the Point of No Return, the magical door Sora entered to face Xemnas closes, cutting Sora off from Mickey and Kairi and forcing him to make due with only his standard party members.
 Door Jam / int_f6a54e75
featureApplicability
1.0
 Door Jam / int_f6a54e75
featureConfidence
1.0
 Kingdom Hearts (Franchise)
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Door Jam / int_f6a54e75

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

 Door Jam
processingCategory2
Narrative Devices
 Galaxy Quest / int_bf126a03
type
Door Jam
 Serenity / int_bf126a03
type
Door Jam
 Serenity (2005) / int_bf126a03
type
Door Jam
 Star Trek V: The Final Frontier / int_bf126a03
type
Door Jam
 A Hat Full of Sky / int_bf126a03
type
Door Jam
 Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone / int_bf126a03
type
Door Jam
 Blake's 7 / int_bf126a03
type
Door Jam
 Star Trek: The Original Series / int_bf126a03
type
Door Jam
 HeroQuest (Tabletop Game) / int_bf126a03
type
Door Jam
 Doom (Video Game) / int_bf126a03
type
Door Jam
 Metroid Dread (Video Game) / int_bf126a03
type
Door Jam
 Quake IV (Video Game) / int_bf126a03
type
Door Jam
 Jackie Chan Adventures / int_bf126a03
type
Door Jam
 doorjam
sameAs
Door Jam