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Hooking the Keys

 Hooking the Keys
type
FeatureClass
 Hooking the Keys
label
Hooking the Keys
 Hooking the Keys
page
HookingTheKeys
 Hooking the Keys
comment
When a character is locked up, traditionally his captors will place the keys to the cell hanging on a peg on the wall directly opposite the cell, and then leave. The keys will be just out of reach of the character who will have to fashion some way of reaching the keys (rod, wire, etc.) from the resources available in the cell. Alternatively, the character can lob things at the keys, hoping to knock them off the wall so they land in a reachable position.
Alternatively, the jailer may not leave, but instead hang the ring of keys on their belt and then obligingly stand with their back to the cell. In this case, the prisoner will have to surreptitiously lift the keys off the belt without being noticed.
Sister Trope to Pet Gets the Keys, Conveniently Placed Sharp Thing, and Within Arm's Reach (when this occurs in a Fight Scene and not in captivity).
 Hooking the Keys
fetched
2023-08-28T16:45:42Z
 Hooking the Keys
parsed
2023-08-28T16:45:42Z
 Hooking the Keys
processingComment
Dropped link to HerbieGoesBananas: Not an Item - UNKNOWN
 Hooking the Keys
processingComment
Dropped link to Rugrats1991: Not an Item - UNKNOWN
 Hooking the Keys
processingUnknown
HerbieGoesBananas
 Hooking the Keys
processingUnknown
Rugrats1991
 Hooking the Keys
isPartOf
DBTropes
 Hooking the Keys / int_12f6bcb
type
Hooking the Keys
 Hooking the Keys / int_12f6bcb
comment
The Crystal Maze: In the game "Key Collection", contestants must use a hook on the end of a long pole to collect keys through a grill, and then find the correct key to open a chest.
 Hooking the Keys / int_12f6bcb
featureApplicability
1.0
 Hooking the Keys / int_12f6bcb
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Crystal Maze
hasFeature
Hooking the Keys / int_12f6bcb
 Hooking the Keys / int_13665790
type
Hooking the Keys
 Hooking the Keys / int_13665790
comment
Averted in Thud!, with Fred Colon being established as a particularly good jailer for, among other reasons, keeping the cell keys in a little tin box on the bottom drawer of his desk, where no one can reach them this way.
 Hooking the Keys / int_13665790
featureApplicability
-1.0
 Hooking the Keys / int_13665790
featureConfidence
1.0
 Thud!
hasFeature
Hooking the Keys / int_13665790
 Hooking the Keys / int_1d2ae502
type
Hooking the Keys
 Hooking the Keys / int_1d2ae502
comment
The Amazing Maurice: Averted. When the rats are locked up in separate cages, Darktan keeps struggling to reach the key that is hanging on the wall just out of his reach. After watching him do this for a while, Maurice just shoves his cage close enough to the wall for him to grab it.
 Hooking the Keys / int_1d2ae502
featureApplicability
-1.0
 Hooking the Keys / int_1d2ae502
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1.0
 The Amazing Maurice
hasFeature
Hooking the Keys / int_1d2ae502
 Hooking the Keys / int_22147342
type
Hooking the Keys
 Hooking the Keys / int_22147342
comment
A variation in Arrow. In "The Return", Slade Wilson has locked Oliver Queen and his little sister Thea in a cell. Oliver has to dislocate Thea's arm so she has the flexibility to reach around the corner and push the button to open the cell door.
 Hooking the Keys / int_22147342
featureApplicability
1.0
 Hooking the Keys / int_22147342
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1.0
 Arrow
hasFeature
Hooking the Keys / int_22147342
 Hooking the Keys / int_249b3519
type
Hooking the Keys
 Hooking the Keys / int_249b3519
comment
Lampshaded in Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle. When Kumar helps spring Harold out of prison, he sees the keys hanging on a hook, saying "Sweet! I was hoping it would be one of these big ring of keys.".
 Hooking the Keys / int_249b3519
featureApplicability
1.0
 Hooking the Keys / int_249b3519
featureConfidence
1.0
 Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle
hasFeature
Hooking the Keys / int_249b3519
 Hooking the Keys / int_25dac2e
type
Hooking the Keys
 Hooking the Keys / int_25dac2e
comment
Jailbreak: A number of variants for this Adventure Game-style comic about breaking out of jail:
One of the guys already has a key, but it doesn't work on his door, so he attempts to use a broken ladder to give it to one of the other prisoners who has a window into his cell. It doesn't exactly work...
One of the other prisoners attempts to use the unconscious prison guard's belt to thread through the window of his cell to retrieve the keys that are lying on the floor outside. This also fails, and he just drops the belt.
 Hooking the Keys / int_25dac2e
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1.0
 Hooking the Keys / int_25dac2e
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1.0
 Jailbreak (Webcomic)
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Hooking the Keys / int_25dac2e
 Hooking the Keys / int_2b140140
type
Hooking the Keys
 Hooking the Keys / int_2b140140
comment
Apple & Onion: In "Falafel's in Jail", Apple tries to used static electricity to get the key across from the cell. Unfortunately, the key flies into Falafel's mouth, and as he coughs it back up, it falls onto the hook again.
 Hooking the Keys / int_2b140140
featureApplicability
1.0
 Hooking the Keys / int_2b140140
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1.0
 Apple & Onion
hasFeature
Hooking the Keys / int_2b140140
 Hooking the Keys / int_3d0be391
type
Hooking the Keys
 Hooking the Keys / int_3d0be391
comment
Hardball: After Kevin's failed trial of digital locks puts the school into Lockdown in "The Odd Cpuple", Mikey and Tiffany work together to fashion a fishing rod, a tennis racquet, wire hangers and duct tape to fashion a reaching device to lift the key to the override box from the caretaker's storeroom so they can shut the system off.
 Hooking the Keys / int_3d0be391
featureApplicability
1.0
 Hooking the Keys / int_3d0be391
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1.0
 Hardball
hasFeature
Hooking the Keys / int_3d0be391
 Hooking the Keys / int_4c095a1f
type
Hooking the Keys
 Hooking the Keys / int_4c095a1f
comment
The Transformers: In the first episode, the Autobots catch Ravage and lock him in a cage. Hound hooks the keys to a protrusion sticking out of his hip but accidentally drops them when he's not paying attention, enabling Ravage to reach out and grab them after extending a hook from his paw.
 Hooking the Keys / int_4c095a1f
featureApplicability
1.0
 Hooking the Keys / int_4c095a1f
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Transformers
hasFeature
Hooking the Keys / int_4c095a1f
 Hooking the Keys / int_529ee66
type
Hooking the Keys
 Hooking the Keys / int_529ee66
comment
Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog: When Scratch and Grounder are arrested and thrown in jail in "Untouchable Sonic", Scratch spots the keys to their cell hanging on a hook in the warden's office. Grounder then extends his arm to grab the keys.
 Hooking the Keys / int_529ee66
featureApplicability
1.0
 Hooking the Keys / int_529ee66
featureConfidence
1.0
 Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog
hasFeature
Hooking the Keys / int_529ee66
 Hooking the Keys / int_5755b96a
type
Hooking the Keys
 Hooking the Keys / int_5755b96a
comment
Defied in a brief gag in The Order of the Stick. One of the tips on a guide to prison guards written by their Genre Savvy Evil Overlord says: "Do not keep big dangly key rings fastened to your belt in plain sight"
 Hooking the Keys / int_5755b96a
featureApplicability
1.0
 Hooking the Keys / int_5755b96a
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1.0
 The Order of the Stick (Webcomic)
hasFeature
Hooking the Keys / int_5755b96a
 Hooking the Keys / int_607f6b7
type
Hooking the Keys
 Hooking the Keys / int_607f6b7
comment
Inspector Gadget: Penny does a high-tech version of this in "Weather in Tibet": using a small powerful electromagnet to pull the keys of the hook on the wall and across the room to her cell.
 Hooking the Keys / int_607f6b7
featureApplicability
1.0
 Hooking the Keys / int_607f6b7
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1.0
 Inspector Gadget
hasFeature
Hooking the Keys / int_607f6b7
 Hooking the Keys / int_60f95f8
type
Hooking the Keys
 Hooking the Keys / int_60f95f8
comment
Nick Velvet: In "The Theft of Cinderella's Slipper", Nick gets locked in coat closet by the killer. He unwinds a wire coat hanger and is eventually able to use it to hook the latch on the outside of the door and unlatch it. However, because he has to use the wire to chip a hole in the door first in order to do so, this takes him hours rather than the usual minutes.
 Hooking the Keys / int_60f95f8
featureApplicability
1.0
 Hooking the Keys / int_60f95f8
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1.0
 Nick Velvet
hasFeature
Hooking the Keys / int_60f95f8
 Hooking the Keys / int_65790110
type
Hooking the Keys
 Hooking the Keys / int_65790110
comment
Early on in Pajama Sam 3, Sam is locked in a candy-themed jail cell, with the key hung on a hook on the opposite wall. Sam's method of escape combines two versions of this trope: first he knocks the key off the hook by throwing a Bon Bon at it, and then he hooks the key with a giant candy cane once it's on the floor. (Neither method by itself puts the key within reach.)
 Hooking the Keys / int_65790110
featureApplicability
1.0
 Hooking the Keys / int_65790110
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1.0
 Pajama Sam (Video Game)
hasFeature
Hooking the Keys / int_65790110
 Hooking the Keys / int_6e4a5f96
type
Hooking the Keys
 Hooking the Keys / int_6e4a5f96
comment
In The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones #3, Indy is arrested as a saboteur and locked up in an army camp. Having had his bullwhip confiscated, Indy uses his belt as an improvised whip to hook the keys off the wall and bring them to him.
 Hooking the Keys / int_6e4a5f96
featureApplicability
1.0
 Hooking the Keys / int_6e4a5f96
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones (Comic Book)
hasFeature
Hooking the Keys / int_6e4a5f96
 Hooking the Keys / int_7aaf9e41
type
Hooking the Keys
 Hooking the Keys / int_7aaf9e41
comment
Batman: In Batman #25: "Knights of Knavery", The Joker and The Penguin are locked up in the same jail cell. A guard unwisely gives them a broom to clean their cell. They unwind the wire holding the straw together and fashion it into a hook which they use to lift the keys off the guard's belt. They unlock the cell door, knock the guard unconscious with his own keys, and escape.
 Hooking the Keys / int_7aaf9e41
featureApplicability
1.0
 Hooking the Keys / int_7aaf9e41
featureConfidence
1.0
 Batman (Comic Book)
hasFeature
Hooking the Keys / int_7aaf9e41
 Hooking the Keys / int_8d81bb26
type
Hooking the Keys
 Hooking the Keys / int_8d81bb26
comment
A variation shows up in the NCIS episode "Missing". Tony DiNozzo ends up getting drugged, captured, and trapped in the same room as the missing marine NCIS is searching for by the same Serial Killer who kidnapped him in the first place. Tony uses a knife he had hidden in his belt and a piece of string to get the piece of wood bolting the cell door shut out of the way so the both of them can escape.
 Hooking the Keys / int_8d81bb26
featureApplicability
1.0
 Hooking the Keys / int_8d81bb26
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1.0
 NCIS
hasFeature
Hooking the Keys / int_8d81bb26
 Hooking the Keys / int_8df5521b
type
Hooking the Keys
 Hooking the Keys / int_8df5521b
comment
Superman story The Life Story of Superman: After locking Superman up, Lex Luthor hangs the cell keys on a peg on the wall, only two meters away from the cage, and then he turns around to watch over a monitor. As Luthor is distracted, Superman removes his belt, ties his suit's tie to an end, and uses his makeshift rope to snag the keys.
 Hooking the Keys / int_8df5521b
featureApplicability
1.0
 Hooking the Keys / int_8df5521b
featureConfidence
1.0
 Superman (Comic Book)
hasFeature
Hooking the Keys / int_8df5521b
 Hooking the Keys / int_90a62d7d
type
Hooking the Keys
 Hooking the Keys / int_90a62d7d
comment
Hot Shots! Part Deux: When Topper Harley has to rescue Colonel Walters from a jail cell, he uses a broom to lift the keys from a table next to the sleeping jailer. Played for Laughs when Topper falls short tossing the keys to Walters... and Walters steps completely out of his cell between the bars, retrieves them, and slips back into his cell to let himself out.
 Hooking the Keys / int_90a62d7d
featureApplicability
1.0
 Hooking the Keys / int_90a62d7d
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1.0
 Hot Shots! Part Deux
hasFeature
Hooking the Keys / int_90a62d7d
 Hooking the Keys / int_9f1766e4
type
Hooking the Keys
 Hooking the Keys / int_9f1766e4
comment
In The Brady Bunch episode "Ghost Town USA", the Bradys are visiting a ghost town on the way to the Grand Canyon, and a crooked gold prospector locks them in a jail cell. He places the keys on a nail and leaves; the Bradys figure out a way to retrieve them per this trope.
 Hooking the Keys / int_9f1766e4
featureApplicability
1.0
 Hooking the Keys / int_9f1766e4
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1.0
 The Brady Bunch
hasFeature
Hooking the Keys / int_9f1766e4
 Hooking the Keys / int_a12cd9cf
type
Hooking the Keys
 Hooking the Keys / int_a12cd9cf
comment
Big City Greens: In "Shark Objects", Alice and a seagull she was fighting are handcuffed together and put in beach jail. Alice is able to swing the gull at the desk to retrieve the key.
 Hooking the Keys / int_a12cd9cf
featureApplicability
1.0
 Hooking the Keys / int_a12cd9cf
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1.0
 Big City Greens
hasFeature
Hooking the Keys / int_a12cd9cf
 Hooking the Keys / int_a9b8d90c
type
Hooking the Keys
 Hooking the Keys / int_a9b8d90c
comment
In Curvy, while being held in prison in Candy World Anaiis reaches through the bars of her cell to grab keys while the guards are ...distracted. She then realizes her cell is easily escapable and busts out.
 Hooking the Keys / int_a9b8d90c
featureApplicability
1.0
 Hooking the Keys / int_a9b8d90c
featureConfidence
1.0
 Curvy (Webcomic)
hasFeature
Hooking the Keys / int_a9b8d90c
 Hooking the Keys / int_b6f64f23
type
Hooking the Keys
 Hooking the Keys / int_b6f64f23
comment
The Bravados: When The Sheriff is killed, he drops the keys to the cell out of reach of the door. The prisoners try desperately to stretch for them, before one of them gets the bright idea of using a blanket to snag them and drag them to the cell.
 Hooking the Keys / int_b6f64f23
featureApplicability
1.0
 Hooking the Keys / int_b6f64f23
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1.0
 The Bravados
hasFeature
Hooking the Keys / int_b6f64f23
 Hooking the Keys / int_cb1d762a
type
Hooking the Keys
 Hooking the Keys / int_cb1d762a
comment
In Poptropica, Episode 4 of Survival Island has you stuck in the cabin of Egomaniac Hunter Myron van Buren. One of the keys you need to escape is in Myron's room, hanging by his bed, and you have to use a spear from his trophy room to hook the keys.
 Hooking the Keys / int_cb1d762a
featureApplicability
1.0
 Hooking the Keys / int_cb1d762a
featureConfidence
1.0
 Poptropica (Video Game)
hasFeature
Hooking the Keys / int_cb1d762a
 Hooking the Keys / int_dd3c2809
type
Hooking the Keys
 Hooking the Keys / int_dd3c2809
comment
In DC's Star Trek, Kirk is locked in a cell with RJ Blaise, with the guard standing outside the energy bars. Kirk spends their time in confinement humming an innocuous tune, which eventually gets on RJ's nerves. Kirk points out that it's because she's not an Andorian, like their guard, who has been lulled to sleep by the melody. It's subverted when Kirk slips his hand between the bars to snatch the key card, and the guard (who was not quite as asleep as it seems) grabs him and chastises him over trying to pull such a simple trick. Double Subverted when Kirk simply grabs the guard and yanks him into the bars, shorting them out.
 Hooking the Keys / int_dd3c2809
featureApplicability
-0.3
 Hooking the Keys / int_dd3c2809
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1.0
 Star Trek (DC Comics) (Comic Book)
hasFeature
Hooking the Keys / int_dd3c2809
 Hooking the Keys / int_e260beed
type
Hooking the Keys
 Hooking the Keys / int_e260beed
comment
In Robin Hood: The Rebellion, Robin tries to open the armoury door by using his belt to hook the latch from the outside. This fails, but Will is able to open the door by using a sword hilt to do the same thing.
 Hooking the Keys / int_e260beed
featureApplicability
1.0
 Hooking the Keys / int_e260beed
featureConfidence
1.0
 Robin Hood: The Rebellion
hasFeature
Hooking the Keys / int_e260beed
 Hooking the Keys / int_edb68237
type
Hooking the Keys
 Hooking the Keys / int_edb68237
comment
Played with in The Great Escape; Hilts is being led to "the cooler" (a solitary-confinement cell) by a guard, who closes Hilts' cell door and then opens it a second later because Hilts lifted his keys. In this case, it seems to be less about Hilts having any expectation of getting free this way and moreso him just yanking the guard's chain.
 Hooking the Keys / int_edb68237
featureApplicability
1.0
 Hooking the Keys / int_edb68237
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Great Escape
hasFeature
Hooking the Keys / int_edb68237
 Hooking the Keys / int_fcbef02c
type
Hooking the Keys
 Hooking the Keys / int_fcbef02c
comment
Pinocchio (2022, Disney): The titular wooden puppet is locked in a cage by Stromboli, and eventually Jiminy Cricket catches up to him. When Pinocchio lies to Jiminy about what happened, his nose grows. Pinocchio continues lying so that his nose will be long enough to hook the key to his cage that Stromboli has hung on a hook on the wall. When Pinocchio finally hooks the key, he tells the truth to shrink his nose so he can unlock the cage.
 Hooking the Keys / int_fcbef02c
featureApplicability
1.0
 Hooking the Keys / int_fcbef02c
featureConfidence
1.0
 Pinocchio (2022, Disney)
hasFeature
Hooking the Keys / int_fcbef02c
 Hooking the Keys / int_fec91a1d
type
Hooking the Keys
 Hooking the Keys / int_fec91a1d
comment
The Rescuers Down Under: Cody and the other animals trapped by McLeach make a long hook to get the key. They successfully hook the key when McLeach's pet goanna Joanna bursts in and breaks the hook apart, then puts the key back in its peg.
 Hooking the Keys / int_fec91a1d
featureApplicability
1.0
 Hooking the Keys / int_fec91a1d
featureConfidence
1.0
 The Rescuers Down Under
hasFeature
Hooking the Keys / int_fec91a1d

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

 Hooking the Keys
processingCategory2
Door Tropes
 Hooking the Keys
processingCategory2
Escape Tropes
 Hooking the Keys
processingCategory2
Prison Tropes
 The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones (Comic Book) / int_31e9c24b
type
Hooking the Keys
 Hot Shots! Part Deux / int_31e9c24b
type
Hooking the Keys
 In The Army Now / int_31e9c24b
type
Hooking the Keys
 Robin Hood: The Rebellion / int_31e9c24b
type
Hooking the Keys
 The Great Escape / int_31e9c24b
type
Hooking the Keys
 The Love Bug / int_31e9c24b
type
Hooking the Keys
 Thud! / int_31e9c24b
type
Hooking the Keys
 Hardball / int_31e9c24b
type
Hooking the Keys
 The Crystal Maze / int_31e9c24b
type
Hooking the Keys
 Pajama Sam 3: You Are What You Eat from Your Head to Your Feet (Video Game) / int_31e9c24b
type
Hooking the Keys
 Poptropica (Video Game) / int_31e9c24b
type
Hooking the Keys
 Jailbreak (Webcomic) / int_31e9c24b
type
Hooking the Keys
 Apple & Onion / int_31e9c24b
type
Hooking the Keys
 Inspector Gadget / int_31e9c24b
type
Hooking the Keys
 Samurai Rabbit: The Usagi Chronicles / int_31e9c24b
type
Hooking the Keys
 The Amazing Maurice / int_31e9c24b
type
Hooking the Keys
 The Rescuers Down Under / int_31e9c24b
type
Hooking the Keys
 The Transformers / int_31e9c24b
type
Hooking the Keys