Mobile Maze: Difference between revisions

[[The Maze]] is the parent trope. If paired with an [[Psychological Torment Zone]], it becomes a deadly [[Closed Circle]]. Compare [[One-Way Entrance]]

* The Maze card can do this in ''[[Cardcaptor Sakura (Manga)|Cardcaptor Sakura]]'', also creating Escher-like [[Alien Geometries]].

* Played to hilarious effect in the General White arc of ''[[DragonballDragon Ball]]''. Goku and Android 8 ("Ha-chan") must get through a maze to reach the Red Ribbon officer. The maze is completely normal, except for a single wall which can be toggled to block one of the two passages out. After running back and forth between the apparent dead-ends for a while, Goku and Android 8 finally decide to just split up and take both passages at once. [[Sarcasm Mode|Top-notch security system there, General.]]

* In ''[[Bleach (Manga)|Bleach]]'', Szayel Aporro Granz can control the passages of his lair with his mind. Any path someone tries to take will lead back to him.

* The LabyrinthVirtual Room in ''[[LabyrinthSpy (Film)|LabyrinthKids]]''.

* Highly malicious non-sentient (we hope) one in ''[[Cube (Film)|Cube]]'' and its sequels.

* The labyrinth in ''[[Pans Labyrinth (Film)|Pan's Labyrinth]]'' actually ''helps'' Ophelia at one point, opening a direct path for her before closing back up to keep Vidal away a little longer.

* The [[Definitely Final Dungeon|Definitely Final Dungeons]]s in ''[[Hellboy (Filmfilm)|Hellboy]] I and II'' (Rasputin's tomb and the Elf Kingdom, respectively).

* The world of the Cenobites in ''[[Hellraiser (Film)|Hellraiser]] 2'' is presented as an infinite, every changing dark labyrinth of stone under the control of a floating rotating silver lozenge called Leviathan.

* A less extreme example is the rotating Grand Staircase in [[Harry Potter]]'s Hogwarts Castle. Although not truly a maze, it's still easy for students to get lost on their way to class.

** In [[Graham McNeill]]'s [[Ultramarines (Literaturenovel)|Ultramarines]] novel ''Dead Sky Black Sun'', the city in [[Mordor|the Eye of Chaos]] (possibly with some [[Alien Geometries]] help).

{{quote| ''There was no rhyme or reason to the layout of the fortress, if even such a thing truly existed. Travelling down the same street was no guarantee of arriving at the same place, and doubling back did not return to them to whence they had begun.''}}

** Not to mention the film version, in which the maze is truly ''alive''.

* The Maze on Minos in [[Terry Pratchett (Creator)|Terry Pratchett]]'s ''[[The Dark Side of the Sun (Literature)|The Dark Side of the Sun]]''. It doesn't shift once formed, but everyone who goes in experiences a different maze pattern.

* In the ''[[Castle Perilous]]'' series, the entire castle acts this way. The outer regions are especially chaotic and unstable, the Guest areas are relatively safe with only a few minor gravity and perspective shifts every so often. Since the castle is also a massive [[Portal Network]] to [[What Do You Mean Its Not Symbolic|144,000]] worlds, a trip to the bathroom can lead to adventure, terror, or the bathroom.

* In [[Edgar Rice Burroughs]]'s ''[[John Carter of Mars|The Gods of Mars]]'', John Carter and Tars Tarkus are trapped in such a maze -- withmaze—with [[Gladiator Games|monsters]] for more fun.

* Both the Forest of Wayreth and the Hedge Maze surrounding the Silver Stair in the ''[[Dragonlance]]'' series qualify.

* The eponymous forest of ''[[The Enchanted Forest Chronicles]]'' by [[Patricia C. Wrede]] is a variant of this - its geography is constantly shifting, such that the royal castle can at best be said to be located somewhere near the center of the kingdom. This is because it explicitly obeys fairytale/mythical/plot-determined geography, on top of showing signs of low-level sentience. Directions must be given in classic fairytale style and obeyed precisely if a traveler wants to reach their destination. Even then, the forest can effectively trap or re-route someone who it doesn't want to reach their destination, or make a journey quicker for someone it wants to aid. So heroes can always be sure to arrive just in the nick of time.

=== Tabletop [[RP Gs]]RPGs ===

* ''[[Dungeons and Dragons (Tabletop Game)|Dungeons and& Dragons]]'' gives us "Neth, the Plane that Lives", a sentient dimension which resembles a ''Womb World'', complete with breathable pink fluid in its passages - and a habit of sealing randomly-selected visitors into bubbles filled with digestive fluid. It later spawns a copy of their head from the wall of its "brain" and talks with their voice along with dozens of previous victims'.

* The realm of Tzeench in ''[[Warhammer (TabletopFantasy Game)|WarhammerBattle]] / [[Warhammer 40000 (Tabletop Game)40,000|40k]]'' is like this. It is described as appearing to mortals as a huge crystalline labyrinth that endlessly shifts and changes to trap any would-be intruders. At its center sits the Impossible Fortress, a huge structure not bound by the laws of physics, geometry or sanity. Windows and doors constantly appear and disappear on its surface, and interior rooms and passages keep constantly changing. Even gravity changes in strength and direction at random.

* The Hedge is a realm that lies between Arcadia and the "real world" in ''[[Changeling: The Lost (Tabletop Game)|Changeling: The Lost]]'', forming an ever-shifting hedge maze that keeps the captives of the True Fae from easily escaping back to Earth. It can be reached via portals that temporarily borrow real-world doorframes. The Hedge's thorns are capable of tearing away small pieces of a traveller's soul as they pass through, and terrible ravenous creatures called Briar Wolves dwell there, but it's still generally better to risk it than stay in Arcadia.

== [[Video Games]] ==

* ''[[Kingdom of Loathing (Video Game)|Kingdom of Loathing]]'' has a hedge maze which you must rotate using puzzles of said hedge maze.

* ''[[The Whitewhite Chamberchamber]]''

* ''[[Final Fantasy XI (Video Game)|Final Fantasy XI]]'' has the Sacrarium, which possesses a maze that changes it's layout every game day.

* ''[[Planescape Torment|Planescape: Torment]]'' has Rubikon, a dungeon simulator built in Limbo by a group of Modrons to determine what the deal is about dungeons and adventurers' relation to them. As Modrons are beings of pure law while Limbo is the plane of pure chaos, the place is ''insane''. The dungeon can be reset to respawn items and baddies, and also set to three difficulty levels; doing so will change the layout. It also offers decent experience and some unique loot, as well as an additional party member.

{{quote| Morte: It feels like I'm in a cuckoo clock. A ''cuckoo'' cuckoo clock.}}

** Ravel's Black-Barbed Maze from ''[[Planescape Torment|Planescape: Torment]]''. She seems to have control over its changing shape.

* The Cemetery level in ''Left 4 Dead 2's'' The Parish campaign is a more meta example. While the level is static after it's loaded, the path to the exit changes each time you play. This demonstrates the new power of the AI Director.

* ''[[Primal]]'' has a [[Mobile Maze]] that must be shifted by the player. Three switches must be found that change the configuration of the maze. Activating a switch makes it possible to reach the next switch. The final switch opens a straight path through the center of the maze.

* The Aperture Science Computer Aided Enrichment Center in ''[[Portal (Video Gameseries)|Portal]]'' can be considered a Mobile Maze in that the walls are constantly shifting in order to keep test subjects like Chell trapped inside the designated testing area. Exits can be opened or (more often) closed, not to mention that the entire place can, at any moment, be {{spoiler|[[AIA.I. Is a Crapshoot|flooded with a deadly neural-toxin]]}}.

* [[Skyward Sword|Sky Keep]] is a perfect example of the player-controlled variation, with consoles that change the rooms like the tiles in a slider puzzle.

* The Illuminati's main prison in ''[[Gargoyles (Animation)|Gargoyles]]'' was based around one of these: a condemened hotel with constantly shifting booby-trapped rooms.

* In one episode of ''[[Pinky and The Brain (Animation)|Pinky and The Brain]]'', the scientists experimenting on the mice put them into a virtual reality maze with rotating corridors.

* The Cave of Two Lovers in ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender (Animation)|Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'' has shifting walls caused by the excavations of mischievous [[Mix-and-Match Critters|badgermoles]].

{{quote| '''[[Stoners Are Funny|Chong]]:''' The tunnels… [[Bob Dylan|they are a-changin’]].}}

* Played with in ''[[Ben 10 Ultimate Alien (Animation)|Ben 10: Ultimate Alien]]'' in that,instead of a maze, it's a Three-dimensional cube called the perplexehedren(a security systems for a plot coupon) full of many death traps, including guards. Bonus points for making the only way too the plot coupon involve setting off all the guards.