Locked in a Room
| Tropes and genres | |
|---|---|
| Synonym(s) | Trapped in a Closet, Locked in a Closet, Locked in a Freezer, |
| See also | Trapped In Elevator, Can't Escape The Room Unless, Seven Minutes in Heaven, Fuck Or Die |
| Related articles on Fanlore. | |
Locked in a Room is a popular trope in canon where multiple (often two) characters, whom usually share a large amount of animosity, get locked in a room (office, bedroom, safe, closet, etc.) and must spend the episode alone together. During which time they learn a new appreciation for each other... or admit their feelings for each other.
In fanfiction, it's most often used for the second reason so it would get two characters to admit their feelings or "clear the air" between the two. For fandoms that deal with magic or supernatural, like Harry Potter, it's often combined with a magical spell that seals the room until they kiss or more. This specific subversion is also called Can't Escape The Room Unless and particularly popular in Japanese Fanworks and Doujinshi of any kind.
Canon Examples
This is the central premise of Luis Buñuel's 1962 film El Angel Exterminador, the characters come for a fancy dinner party and discover they can't leave.
Fanworks
| Examples Wanted: Editors are encouraged to add more examples or a wider variety of examples. |
- The Night Moves, Archived version (Explicit), Justin and Alex find themselves trapped in a closet, with no way out and nothing to do. (Well, okay, maybe not with nothing to do.) (Justin/Alex)
- In Seven Minutes in Heaven by Antigone2, Usagi Tsukino and Mamoru Chiba get locked into a closed together to play a game of Seven Minutes in Heaven once per canon season.
- The Haunting of Malik Ishtar, Archived version by Misfit_McCoward, in which the group gets trapped in a haunted mansion while play-testing an escape room and Malik and Bakura have to break them out.
Resources
- Locked In works at AO3
- Locked In A Room at TV Tropes