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|'''''[[Star Trek: The Motion Picture]]'''''}}
In the future, no life insurance agency will ever cover [[Transporters and Teleporters|Teleporter]] Accidents. Why? Well to start, it may accidentally send you to [[Random Teleportation|Alpha Centauri instead of Mars]] in a mis-jump, you could wind up dozens (or hundreds, or thousands) of feet in the air, or if you slip you could suffer a [[Portal Cut]] and end up cut in two, then again if it's not there you'll suffer a [[Portal Slam]] as you hit the concrete, which is still far less painful than being teleported ''into solid matter'' and suffering a [[Tele Frag]].
All of which ''pales'' in comparison to what could happen when the teleporter itself malfunctions. If the [[Phlebotinum|Heisenberg compensators]] [[Techno Babble|are misaligned]], then you could come out as an inert mass of carbo-hydrates (or a ''[[And I Must Scream|screaming]]'' mass of carbo-hydrates), or it might hiccup and create an [[Evil Twin]] of you. Then again, the device may work by taking a [[Hyperspace Is a Scary Place|"short cut" through '''Hell''']], so everyone who uses it will [[Go Mad from the Revelation]]... and/or come out with an [[Eldritch Abomination]] on their heels. The possibilities are endless, and more often than not they are irreversible.
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* In ''[[Noein]]'', the Dragon Knights run this risk each time they travel between dimensions. Kuina has it particularly bad, inevitably losing another chunk of himself with each transport; the only one to suffer worse is a [[Red Shirt]] who dies in the first episode when he arrives with half his body missing.
* This is referenced and mocked in the very first issue of ''Hiroshi: Strange Love'', after the titular [[Mad Scientist]] invents a teleporter. According to his assistant, "One, you'll probably end up fusing someone with an animal, two, you'll end up trapped between spaces, or three, your mind will switch with someone else's . . ." {{spoiler|It's number one--the assistant [[Catgirl|merges with a stray cat]].}}
* ''[[One Piece]]''; the first time the Straw Hats meet [[Ditzy Genius]] Dr. Vegapunk, he is working on a warping device, a mistake causing him to "warp" himself into a suit of [[Powered Armor]] (another experiment) and he needs help to get out.
== [[Comic Books]] ==
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== [[Literature]] ==
* A couple of very mild ones happen in ''[[Artemis Fowl]]: The Lost Colony'' in the time-tunnel. Artemis and Holly each wind up with one of the other one's eyes, and No1 loses a couple megabytes' worth of memories.
* [[Lampshaded]], but not used, in ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]]''. In ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy/The Restaurant At The End of The Universe|The
{{quote|''I teleported home one night,
''With Ron and Sid and Meg.
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''And I got Sidney's leg. }}
* [[Arthur C. Clarke]]'s short story ''Travel by Wire'' wryly outlines some of the problems inherent in teleportation, with the system's designer admitting that he'd far rather travel by rocket.
* In ''[[
* While scrambling into action at the climax of the first ''[[Time Wars]]'' novel, [[Red Shirt|several people]] are teleported to the same time and place. The resulting [[Biological Mashup]] is reported to be mercifully short-lived.
* Played straight, and averted in a ''[[Ciaphas Cain]]'' novel. A squad of World Eater Berserker Marines are teleported in front of Cain and co. These Berserkers are fine and butcher their way through hordes of Slaaneshi cultists. However, [[Footnote Fever|the foot notes]] mention that teleporting is inaccurate, especially when done through a planet as was the case here. Its likely that there are dozens of World Eaters entombed throughout the planet's crusts in near misses, unless {{spoiler|the cultists' [[Summoning Ritual]]}} helped.
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* The ''[[Doctor Who]]'' two-parter episode "Silence in the Library"/"Forest of the Dead" featured Teleporter Accidents on a planet-wide scale deliberately like a lifeboat. {{spoiler|The main computer of the Library teleported everybody ''into'' her database in order to save them from evil shadowy pirahna particles.}}
* ''[[The Comic Strip Presents]]'': "The Yob" parodies ''[[The Fly]]'' remake by having a scientist accidentally merged with a soccer hooligan. Also, at the end of the episode, a macho stud ends up with the lower body of {{spoiler|a tomcat}}.
* In the ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' episode "Blood Ties", Willow and Tara are able to get rid of Glory by teleporting her, but seeing as this is the first time they have used the spell, they have no idea where she went. It seems Glory is the victim of a "too high" misfire, but seeing as she is immortal, she survives the fall. (But, it is implied, not unscathed, as she is unseen for the next couple episode -- possibly recovering from injuries suffered when she hit the ground.)
== [[Oral Tradition]], [[Folklore]], Myths and Legends ==
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* ''[[Star Trek: Lower Decks]]'' reveals that transporter accidents now happen often enough that Starfleet has regulations concerning them. After Ensign Boimler is "cloned" by such an accident, one of the two Boimlers has to be transferred back to the ''Cerritos''.
* In ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]'' episode "Holidays of Future Passed" (which takes place about 30 years in the future) Maggie is warned ''not'' to use a teleportation device while pregnant. One can only guess at what might happen (or what has happened) to warrant such a safety tip, but she decides to heed that advice and travel home by air.
* ''[[He-Man and the Masters of the Universe]]''; The [[Nightmare Fuel]] aspect of this Trope is briefly discussed in “Teela’s Trial”, the Trope itself downplayed. Man-at-Arms invents a portable teleportation device, and being the [[Genre Savvy]] type he is, he realizes the danger of a malfunction, and thus takes Adam, Teela, and Orko out to the middle of nowhere to test it. Unfortunately, Trap Jaw is there, and after Ducan successfully teleports himself to a ledge, the villain attacks him in order to steal the device. Duncan throws it to Teela, and in her haste to save her father, uses it and teleports him to… somewhere where they can’t find him. He is, in fact, perfectly safe only a few miles away (well, for the moment, Trap Jaw manages to take him prisoner) but Teela doesn’t know that, thinking some horrid fate might have befallen him and blaming herself for it:
{{quote|'''Teela:''' Oh, Adam, [[It's All My Fault|suppose I made a mistake?]] Suppose he reappeared over the ocean, or in it, or over the I Don’t Like the Sound of That Place Eternal Desert? Suppose he just never reappeared at all??}}
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