History Main / ContainmentField

* As mentioned in the intro above, modern Fission reactors typically feature the containment rods being held up by electromagnets. In the event of an emergency, the electromagnets fail and the control rods drop into the reactor to shut it down. In this scenario, the ContainmentField actually contains the ''safety device'' rather than the potentially dangerous reaction. Such an arrangement is but one example of a "Fail-Safe" design.

* Magmatter in ''WebOriginal/OrionsArm'' needs to be kept in place by magnetic fields, since the stuff tends to destabilize atomic nuclei. It is a primary structural reinforcement for megascale structures, but it doesn't usually react with matter, instead passing through 99.9% harmlessly. It's very complicated, though a dozen or so pages detailing its behavior can be found on the site.

* ''Fanfic/BoldoresAndBoomsticks'': The researchers at Devon Corp use such 'hard-light' barriers to contain the captured Grimm they picked up. While the barriers themselves don't fail, their batteries experience much more drain than normal due to the Grimm's untiring assault, and team RWBY are forced to deal with several of the units whose batteries give out mid-journey. Thankfully, the researchers listen to Team RWBY's expliantion about why such barriers can't be the end-all of Grimm containment, and snag recharging stations until their subjects can be moved to a proper enclosure.

* Scranton Reality Anchors in the ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'' are a handy tool used to clamp down on [[FunctionalMagic various]] [[RealityWarping forms]] of [[NegativeSpaceWedgie tomfoolery]] regarding the laws of physics... the catch being that playing tug of war with the fabric of reality can [[TimeCrash end poorly]]. Or the anchor(s) might just [[PhlebotinumOverload blow up]]. Or blow up and ''then'' break reality. And long-term exposure to reality anchors has [[ToxicPhlebotinum unfortunate side effects]]. And the devices are in-universe {{Black Box}}es, with [[PerilousPowerSource any number]] [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve of increasingly]] [[CapturedSuperEntity concerning]] [[PoweredByAForsakenChild explanations]]. And they [[LeakingCanOfEvil aren't 100% effective]]. If they [[NoSell even work at all]] on a particular anomaly. But other than that, they're great.

* In ''Manga/HellTeacherNube'', [[TheRival Tamamo's]] DangerousForbiddenTechnique, [[MeaningfulName Megiddo]], unleashes a monstrous blast of destructive magic at its foe. In order to prevent damage to the vicinities (and conveniently focus all its power on the foe,) Tamamo splits his [[WeaponOfChoice bladed staff]] into four pieces around the target, generating an [[SphereOfDestruction egg-like field of annihilation]].

[[folder: Anime & Manga]]
* In ''Manga/{{Akira}}'', the cryogenic suspension chamber [[spoiler: that houses Akira's remains]] acts as a Containment Field, and, naturally, begins to fail towards the end of the movie. [[spoiler: Akira unfreezes, allowing him to return and destroy almost all of the city... again]].

* Every Gem in ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' is able to create a small bubble-like force field. Gems' bodies are HardLight projections from their gemstones, and enough damage causes the body to dissipate and the Gem must create a new body upon recovering from the injury. This leaves you with a window of time to make a bubble around the gemstone, keeping it in stasis so your enemy doesn't regenerate. This is the number one way of dealing with the MonsterOfTheWeek or some dangerous artifacts, which also have gemstones. [[spoiler: This is because the Gem Homeworld is pretty cruel when it comes to enemies, or underlings who've failed, or just anyone considered to no longer be of use. The monsters are formerly sentient Gems who've been turned into mindless beasts by a FantasticNuke during the BigOffScreenWar and the artifacts are Gems who've been unable to regenerate as their gemstones were used to power technology - some in a very conscious, very hellish state]]. However, the bubbles are quite prone to being popped - they're actually quite weak, meant to make inert Gems stay inert, not resist damage from active Gems. There's a reason the bubbles are kept in a room only TheLeader Garnet can access; it'd be entirely too easy to bump into one, pop it, release a monster that would most likely pop others just by running around, and then we're all pretty much screwed. As it is, bad things have been accidentally freed more than once.

* Modern particle accelerators are actually capable of concentrating destructive amounts of energy in their beams. A failure of the magnetic fields which steer the beam is a very real eventuality, and accelerator designers implement complex machine protection systems that rapidly react to those events in order to avoid damage to the expensive equipment. Simulations show that one beam from the European LHC, at full power, could punch through '''''forty meters of solid copper in 86 microseconds.''''' Similarly, the Relativistic Heavy-Ion Collider (or RHIC) at Brookhaven National Lab in New York contains redundant magnetic containment for its high-energy ion beams; it also needs gigantic thicknesses of solid marble and heavy metal (lead, iron etc) to 'catch' the beam safely when it's dumped out of the accelerator ring. Both RHIC and the LHC also employ complex electronic and mechanical systems that essentially act as a mechanical 'containment field', a la ''Series/BabylonFive''

* Every Gem in ''WesterAnimation/StevenUniverse'' is able to create a small bubble-like force field. Gems' bodies are HardLight projections from their gemstones, and enough damage causes the body to dissipate and the Gem must create a new body upon recovering from the injury. This leaves you with a window of time to make a bubble around the gemstone, keeping it in stasis so your enemy doesn't regenerate. This is the number one way of dealing with the MonsterOfTheWeek or some dangerous artifacts, which also have gemstones. [[spoiler: This is because the Gem Homeworld is pretty cruel when it comes to enemies, or underlings who've failed, or just anyone considered to no longer be of use. The monsters are formerly sentient Gems who've been turned into mindless beasts by a FantasticNuke during the BigOffScreenWar and the artifacts are Gems who've been unable to regenerate as their gemstones were used to power technology - some in a very conscious, very hellish state]]. However, the bubbles are quite prone to being popped - they're actually quite weak, meant to make inert Gems stay inert, not resist damage from active Gems. There's a reason the bubbles are kept in a room only TheLeader Garnet can access; it'd be entirely too easy to bump into one, pop it, release a monster that would most likely pop others just by running around, and then we're all pretty much screwed. As it is, bad things have been accidentally freed more than once.

[[caption-width-right:350:"As long as there aren't any surprise malfunctions that suddenly shut down the force field, we're all perfectly safe."]]

** The Warp Core on every ship is encased in a Containment Field, which fails with depressing regularity. Generally just becomes in danger of failing (often due to very heavy damage), since failure means a CriticalExistenceFailure unless it is ejected. The same goes for the antimatter storage. And the ejection systems almost ''never'' work.

* Scranton Reality Anchors in the ''WebOriginal/SCPFoundation'' are a handy tool used to clamp down on [[FunctionalMagic various]] [[RealityWarping forms]] of [[NegativeSpaceWedgie tomfoolery]] regarding the laws of physics... the catch being that playing tug of war with the fabric of reality can [[TimeCrash end poorly]]. Or the anchor(s) might just [[PhlebotinumOverload blow up]]. Or blow up and ''then'' break reality. And long-term exposure to reality anchors has [[ToxicPhlebotinum unfortunate side effects]]. And the devices are in-universe {{Black Box}}es, with [[PerilousPowerSource any number]] [[ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve of increasingly]] [[CapturedSuperEntity concerning]] [[PoweredByAForsakenChild explanations]]. And they [[LeakingCanOfEvil aren't 100% effective]]. If they [[NoSell even work at all]] on a particular anomaly. But other than that, they're great.

* ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'':

* The EnchantedForestChronicles contains an interesting example: [[spoiler:The Wizards erect a magical barrier around the castle that contains the [[KingInTheMountain sleeping king]], one through which only they can pass. The Dragons erect a similar barrier (except that only ''they'' can pass through it) to keep the Wizards from doing whatever they want with the castle.]]

!!Examples

[[folder: Anime and Manga]]

* The use of a magnetic field (called an I-field in this universe) compressing the reactants is how most Franchise/{{Gundam}}s are able to fit a fusion reactor (which should, by all rights be the size of a small city) into a mech the size of a small building. As an added bonus, this means if said field fails we get to see StuffBlowingUp.
** These containment fields are also responsible for most of the Mobile Suit's EnergyWeapons, drawing particles from their reactor and using pressure from the containment field to fuse them into heavier particles, which can then be harnessed as various kinds of particle beams. The [[WaveMotionGun Beam Cannon]] and [[LaserBlade Beam Saber]] are both applications of this technology.
** The 'Mechs and some high-tech vehicles of TabletopGame/BattleTech run off of small fusion engines the same way. The game rules assume that they simply shut down when damaged, instead of blowing up dramatically. Official but optional rules for cinematic explosions or the somewhat more plausible possibility that superheated plasma squeezed hard enough will rapidly expand if the pressure is taken away; not an explosion, but just as lethal to the 'Mech it happens to (less so to others).
* In the [[ComicBookAdaptation supplementary manga]] of ''MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'', if the characters are training and he's around, [[BarrierWarrior Yuuno]] creates these to minimalize damage to the surrounding area. Of course, since his fields are trying to contain the attacks of some very trigger-happy [[PersonOfMassDestruction Persons Of Mass Destruction]], these tend to get destroyed.

[[folder: Comic Books]]
* ''ComicBook/TeenTitans'', supposedly the only thing Kid Flash can't escape from.

[[folder:Film]]

[[folder: Live Action TV]]
* The Warp Core on every ''Franchise/StarTrek'' ship is encased in a Containment Field, which fails with depressing regularity.
** Generally just becomes in danger of failing (often due to very heavy damage), since failure means a CriticalExistenceFailure unless it is ejected. The same goes for the antimatter storage.
** And the ejection systems almost ''never'' work.

* The main fusion reactor of ''Series/BabylonFive'' is maintained by elaborate machinery which acts as a Containment Field.
** It is never really talked about or in danger of failing. Only once did a homicidal maniac slap a bomb to it big enough to "blow through to the reactor", and in an alternate future that never happened Garibaldi "rigged" the reactor to blow. In 2280, when it is scuttled, the explosion clearly originates from the reactor. The words "Containment" and "Field" are never uttered together in either of those instances.
* In ''Series/StargateSG1'' any Replicator held in a containment field is guaranteed to escape.

[[folder: Video Games]]

[[folder: Web Comics]]

** [[RunningGag Gate? What gate]]?

[[folder: Web Original]]

[[folder: Western Animation]]

[[folder: Real Life]]