History Main / DontWakeTheSleeper

* In the first episode of ''Animation/CrazyCandies'', Marshyo wants to sneak past a sleeping Jackie without waking him up so that he can stand a chance of winning a race. He keeps producing loud sounds, but thankfully, Jackie barely even notices and goes back to sleep each time Marshyo makes a sound.

* The ''{{VideoGame/Gauntlet}}''-clone ''Demon Stalkers'' has an entire enemy type devoted to this: man-eating plants that don't move until you shoot one of them, at which point they all come alive at once.

* In ''Manga/OnePiece'', the Straw Hat pirates have to sneak about a sleeping Big Mom to [[spoiler:rescue Brook]]. She violently lashes out and destroys anything in a half-awake daze before going back to sleep at the most minor provocation, so getting around her is life or death.

* In Creator/LordDunsany's "Literature/TheGodsOfPegana", the gods created the world, but Māna-Yood-Sushāī created the gods, and from this task he now rests, lulled by the endless drumming of Skarl the Drummer (who is technically not a god, despite having been created along with the gods). If Skarl were to cease drumming even for an instant, Māna-Yood-Sushāī would wake up, and his awakening would destroy the world and the gods.
* The first ''Literature/GuardiansOfTheFlame'' novel, ''The Sleeping Dragon'' by Joel Rosenberg has the titular creature, which guards the way back into the characters' reality.
* In ''Literature/JinxHigh'' by Creator/MercedesLackey, there's a Dangerous Sleeper under Tulsa, Oklahoma.
* In Creator/StevenErikson's and Ian Cameron Esslemont's shared ''[[Literature/MalazanBookOfTheFallen Malazan]]'' universe, the whole world is a sleeping goddess, Burn, who dreams reality into being and whom it would be a ''really'' bad idea to wake.
* Mark Thirteen in [[Literature/MonsterHunterInternational Monster Hunter Legion]], an army experiment ''GoneHorriblyRight''. They tried killing him, but it didn't take. So scientists put M13 into a coma and buried him in a nuclear/toxic/nerve gas disposal ground.
* Ur-Example: Kumbakarna, from the ancient Indian epic ''Literature/{{Ramayana}}''. He was a giant demon prince who was cursed by the god Indra to sleep for six months of each year, and was cursed with death if he was woken during that sleep. His brother, the demon-king Ravana, woke him so he could help turn the tide of a decisive battle. It was working for a while, but then guess what happened.
* Jody Lynn Nye's "Waking in Dreamland" and its sequels are set in the world of dreams. All dreams contribute to the setting, but Seven Sleepers give it structure and coherence. When one of these Sleepers wakes up, there is a cataclysmic event called a Changeover in which some other dreamer's vision replaces the previous one. The BigBad of the first novel [[ScienceIsBad wants to find out what happens]] if [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt they all wake up at once]].

* Seen a few times in ''Series/DoctorWho'', most notably in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS26E2GhostLight "Ghost Light"]] and [[Recap/DoctorWhoS33E7TheRingsOfAkhaten "The Rings of Akhaten"]]. Per the Doctor's usual M.O., sleepers are invariably woken.

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[[quoteright:350:[[TabletopGame/DontWakeDaddy https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/untitled_14_5.png]]]]

* In ''Manga/OnePiece'', the Straw Hat pirates have to sneak about a sleeping Big Mom to [[spoiler:rescue Brook]]. She violently lashes out and destroys anything in a half-awake daze before going back to sleep at the most minor provocation, so getting around her is life or death.

* In Season 3 episode 19 of ''Animation/HappyHeroes'', Big M. and Little M. are tasked with drawing on Smart S.'s face in his sleep as part of a test to ensure they're standard bad guys. Big M. sneaks around the bedroom, making sure not to wake Smart S. up... and he and Little M. actually succeed in not disturbing his beauty sleep, even when the latter of the two accidentally sets off a ''disco ball with bright lights, accompanied by loud music and the sound of toys running rampant around the room''.

* The fantasy adventure heroine ''Zethari'' once encountered a temple protecting a man who was eternally asleep, [[RecursiveReality dreaming up the universe]]. She is hired to protect the temple from a villain who is trying to end the world by waking him up.

* In ''Fanfic/AGemOfADay'', [[spoiler:Sunset Shimmer, Sci-Twilight and Pinkie Pie end up having to sneak up to a chimera in order to recover a mystical gem it is holding. Unfortunately, it ends up being awoken by Pinkie's slide whistle]].

* In ''Film/{{Babe}}'', Ferdinand enlists Babe's help with going into Farmer Hogget's house to steal an alarm clock so he can go back to crowing and not get eaten. Inside the house, Duchess the Cat is sleeping and it is revealed that Ferdinand needs Babe's help because [[PlotAllergy he is allergic to cats]]. Babe promises not to wake up Duchess, but after he gets his foot caught in a ball of yarn, Ferdinand decides to help after all. However, on their way out, Ferdinand is about to let out a SneezeOfDoom. [[SubvertedTrope It isn't that that wakes up Duchess, though]]. It's Babe dropping the alarm clock telling him to hold it in and setting it off that does.

* Ur-Example: Kumbakarna, from the ancient Indian epic ''Literature/{{Ramayana}}''. He was a giant demon prince who was cursed by the god Indra to sleep for six months of each year, and was cursed with death if he was woken during that sleep. His brother, the demon-king Ravana, woke him so he could help turn the tide of a decisive battle. It was working for a while, but then guess what happened.
* In Creator/StevenErikson's and Ian Cameron Esslemont's shared ''[[Literature/MalazanBookOfTheFallen Malazan]]'' universe, the whole world is a sleeping goddess, Burn, who dreams reality into being and whom it would be a ''really'' bad idea to wake.

* In ''Literature/JinxHigh'' by Creator/MercedesLackey, there's a Dangerous Sleeper under Tulsa, Oklahoma.

* Jody Lynn Nye's "Waking in Dreamland" and its sequels are set in the world of dreams. All dreams contribute to the setting, but Seven Sleepers give it structure and coherence. When one of these Sleepers wakes up, there is a cataclysmic event called a Changeover in which some other dreamer's vision replaces the previous one. The BigBad of the first novel [[ScienceIsBad wants to find out what happens]] if [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt they all wake up at once]].

* A running theme in the [[Creator/HPLovecraft Cthulhu Mythos]], with mad cults trying to wake up Great Cthulhu. The most extreme example is Azathoth, whose awakening would destroy the entire Universe, and has to be kept asleep by the eldritch music of innumerable hundred-fingered flutists.
* In the Lovecraft homage "A Colder War" by Creator/CharlesStross, the [[UsefulNotes/SovietRussiaUkraineAndSoOn Soviet Union]] ignores the rule when they try to wake and control Cthulhu (codename: Project KOSCHEI) as a counter to the United States of America's technological superiority. [[spoiler:Cthulhu eats everyone who remains on Earth.]]
* In The Chronicles Of Narnia ''Literature/TheSilverChair'' we are introduced to the sleeping giant Father Time. In his first appearance he does nothing but sleep, then in ''Literature/TheLastBattle'', the last book of the series, Aslan wakes him up and Father Time proceeds to squeeze the sun out with his bare hand, helping Aslan to bring about the end of that world.

* The ''Series/HorribleHistories'' skit "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nH8Rh0mUwNs Don't Wake the Fuhrer]]" is this trope. It's about how Hitler failed to react in time to the D-Day landings because he was insistent that his sleep not be disturbed. So our messenger becomes insistent, but the two guards refuse him access because Mr. Grumpy Pants will be in such a paddy if he's woken up prematurely. Then the soldier stationed in the room opens the door and tells the guards that Hitler is awake and has issued his order. The messenger reads it, and to his shock it's "marmalade on toast und apple strudel." The guards explain that that is Hitler's breakfast order, which must be carried out ''immediately''!

* A Muppet interpretation of the Frog Prince fairy tale had said prince (portrayed by Robin) being held captive by the witch who turned him into a frog. The escape involves putting the witch's henchman (portrayed by Sweetums) to sleep with a lullaby first. Then Robin makes a mistake and wakes Sweetums up, so he has to sing the lullaby again. This process repeats about half a dozen times before Robin actually makes it out of the dungeon.

* In the ''Literature/TheCattleRaidOfCooley'', Fergus notes that ''nobody'' dares to wake Cu Chulainn when he's asleep - the last man who tried found his forehead smashed all the way into the back of his skull.

* ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' has the instance Sunken Temple, where the final boss is asleep and his underlings are fighting to keep you from waking him up. He was originally a guardian, his dreams protecting the world from an evil God - who managed to corrupt him and twist his dreams into nightmares.
* ''VideoGame/EverQuest'' had The Sleeper--or rather, his guardians--as one of the major bosses of the Scars Of Velious expansion. Waking him up results in destroying his dungeon permanently, robbing the community of an important source of loot. The Sleeper himself comes back in a later expansion.
* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaLinksAwakening'' inverts it: your mission is to wake the Wind Fish so you can leave Koholint Island, while the monsters infesting the island try to stop you from doing so. [[spoiler:As it turns out, Koholint Island is just Link and the Wind Fish's shared dream, so waking the Wind Fish [[DreamApocalypse destroys the island and everyone you met over the course of your adventure]].]]
* The MilkmanConspiracy segment of ''VideoGame/{{Psychonauts}}'' revolves largely about the DrivingQuestion of "Who is the Milkman?" and various forces preventing Raz from waking him up.
* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'', the summonable "[[SummonMagic aeons]]" are each the dream of a "fayth", who sleeps in that aeon's temple. There are also a whole bunch of fayth together on a holy mountain, dreaming ''something'', but nobody knows what. [[spoiler: It's Dream Zanarkand -- [[DoomedProtagonist Tidus]]'s home town.]]
* ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'':
** In ''VideoGame/SuperMario64'', you must walk slowly around sleeping Piranha Plant enemies otherwise they will wake and attack you. While they are attacking you they are invincible, but you can kill them while they're sleeping.
** In ''Super VideoGame/MarioParty'', one of the mini-games is "Don't Wake Wiggler!", where each character takes turns petting a sleeping Wiggler without trying to wake him up. As they keep petting him, his Zs become darker and he begins to wake up. The more times Wiggler is pet, the more points the player gets, but the player who wakes Wiggler up loses all their points. The player who ends up with the most points by the time Wiggler wakes up wins, while an angry Wiggler chases the losers away.
* A level in ''[[{{VideoGame/Scribblenauts}} Super Scribblenauts]]'' had an objective to sneak past a sleeping dragon to get a key. Naturally, the path is filled with chandeliers and piles of junk that will shift and wake the dragon if you so much as touch them.
* ''VideoGame/{{Gothic}}'' has the "Sleeper" as a deity worshipped by the cult that inhabits an entire camp in the prison colony. The members of the cult believe that if the Sleeper is woken up, he will free them from the colony. [[spoiler:Then they all find out that the Sleeper is actually a powerful destructive demon, and waking him up is a ''very'' bad idea. Unfortunately, a particularly high-ranking guru of the cult refuses to accept this, and takes a band of loyal followers to wake him up anyway...]]

* There's an ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'' flash game on the Creator/PBSKids website called "Don't Wake Kate". The objective of the game is to get D.W. nine glasses of water without stepping on the toys scattered around her bedroom. If D.W. steps on a toy, she increases the chance of waking up Kate. If she steps on too many toys, Kate wakes up and the game is over.
* In the [[UpdatedReRelease Expanded Edition]] for ''VideoGame/BaldursGate II: Shadows of Amn'', a spacey female thief named Hexxat recruits the player in the Copper Coronet to assist her in entering Dragomir's Tomb in the Athkatla Graveyard to retrieve a great treasure... however, once they are locked in the tomb, she starts ranting in a zombie-like fashion about the need to "Awaken the Sleeper". [[spoiler:Said "Sleeper" is the ''real'' Hexxat; a LesbianVampire who enslaved the unfortunate thief's mind and used her as a puppet to bring down somebody who could slay the vampire who had imprisoned her in that same tomb and free her. Once freed, she drinks her former puppet dry and then, unless the player chooses to kill her right there and then -- something they are discouraged from doing, since it gains them no rewards of any kind -- she makes her way to the Copper Coronet and from there tries to coax her way into the party.]]
* ''VideoGame/SpongeBobSquarePantsBattleForBikiniBottom'' features the aptly named Sleepy-Time robots first introduced in the Rock Bottom stage. If [=Spongebob=] is within the area of the searchlights they shine, he has to sneak quietly to avoid waking them and receiving an unavoidable laser attack. It should be noted you have a ranged attack in the form of the bubble bowl at this point, but [[KungFuProofMook Sleepy-Time Robots will deflect that if you don't launch it close to them.]] The only way to get rid of them at a range is with Patrick or Sandy's special abilities or the Cruise Bubble you get later in the game.
* In ''VideoGame/SonicHeroes'', Team Chaotix's storyline has several missions where Vector, Espio, and Charmy have to get to the Goal Ring without being detected by Dr. Eggman's robots, some of whom are asleep. As a chameleon, Espio can use his {{Invisibility}} to easily sneak past the robots.
-->'''Espio:''' Hey, they're asleep. So stay quiet and move slowly...\\
'''Charmy:''' ''[[{{Keet}} (Loudly)]]'' [[{{Keet}} OK!!!]]\\
'''Vector:''' ''[[HypocriticalHumor (Even louder)]]'' [[HypocriticalHumor Whaddya doing?! Be quiet!]]

* There's a ''WesternAnimation/SylvesterTheCatAndTweetyBird'' cartoon in which Sylvester has to get past dozens of {{Angry Guard Dog}}s to get to Tweety. At the end he tries to sneak in at night when they're all asleep, but then Tweety turns on the alarm clock.
** Same gag is used in the ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' short "WesternAnimation/RomanLegionHare", this time with WesternAnimation/BugsBunny, Yosemite Sam and a cage full of lions.
** Another ''Looney Tunes'' short, "A Pest in the House", involves a tired hotel guest asking manager Elmer Fudd for peace and quiet as he sleeps in his room, and threatening to punch Elmer in the nose otherwise. His slumber is constantly disturbed by the blundering of bellboy WesternAnimation/DaffyDuck, [[MisplacedRetribution with the expected results]].
* The main plot for the WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry short "WesternAnimation/QuietPlease!", in which Spike tires of Tom's racket in trying to catch Jerry, threatening violence if Tom wakes him up one more time. Tom immediately has to sabotage Jerry's vigorous attempts to wake Spike. A later short, "Royal Cat-Nap", replays this scenario with the Mouseketeers, Tom having to prevent them from waking the king he is guarding. [[EveryoneHasStandards They relent and help Tom get the king back to sleep when they realize the penalty is a beheading, however]].
* A villain in ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'', Plasmus, is a not-actually-evil guy who has to be kept constantly asleep or he will transform into a mindless, nigh-unstoppable purple goo monster.

* In the Tex Avery-directed short "Rock-A-Bye Bear", a dog is rescued from the pound by a [[NoIndoorVoice loud-mouthed bear]] who wants someone to make sure things stay quiet while he's hibernating. A rival dog tries to make noise to get the first dog in trouble so he can get the job.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheAngryBeavers'': The episode "Silent But Deadly" involves the eponymous characters waking up to find that several hundred wolverines have decided that the beaver's dam would be a good place to take a nap. The episode follows Norbert and Daggett's attempts to escape their dam without waking up any of the ferocious creatures up. [[spoiler: In the end, the wolverines wind up waking up anyway after a fly lands on one. Norb and Dag run for their lives...only to find even more sleeping (but not for long) wolverines waiting for them outside. They scream in terror.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'': Prismo is the physical manifestation of an old man's dream. Do ''not'' wake that old man up, or you go straight to superjail for murder.
* In the second act of the ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures'' episode, "[[Recap/TinyToonAdventuresS1E18HareTodayGoneTomorrow Hare Today, Gone Tomorrow]]", when Buster is about to leave Elmyra's house, he hears the cries of help from Elmyra's captive pets. Feeling sorry for them, he decides to help them escape. To do that, he has to get the keys to their cages above Elmyra's bed without waking Elmyra up.

** ''Quiet, Pleeze!'' has Popeye taking care of Poopdeck Pappy, who is suffering from a [[HangoverSensitivity hangov—]]I mean, a headache. Some of the gags from ''Sock-a-Bye Baby'' are actually [[RecycledAnimation reused with their original animation]], and it is quite jarring to see how the animation evolved over time.

* The premise of "Le Quiet Squad." WesternAnimation/TheInspector is tasked with making sure there is no noise within the limits of the Commissioner's digs. Naturally, fate and an obnoxious cat have other ideas.

* At least two ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry'' shorts involve Thomas not waking up a character while chasing Jerry, who wants to wake the sleeper.
** The Academy Award winning ''WesternAnimation/QuietPlease'' has Spike the Bulldog as the sleeper.
** The "Mouseketeers" short, ''Royal Cat Nap'', has Tom assigned to keep the king from waking up, which Jerry and Tuffy make difficult. Some of the gags are repeated from ''Rock-a-Bye Bear''.

* Later addendums to the [[KingArthur Arthurian myth]] have Arthur and the knights of the Round Table, hidden in a cave and magically kept asleep, only to be awoken when they are truly needed. Waking him up ''early'' would be a very bad plan indeed (although in that case, one wonders why Merlin apparently included a giant gong in the cave). [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt Their success would be a very bad thing]].

'''Charmy:''' ''[[{{Keet}} (Loudly)]]'' OK!!!]]\\
'''Vector:''' ''[[HypocriticalHumor (Even louder)]]'' Whaddya doing?! Be quiet!]]

* A running theme in the [[Creator/HPLovecraft Cthulhu Mythos]], with mad cults trying to wake up Great Cthulhu. The most extreme example is Azathoth, whose awakening would destroy the entire Universe.

'''Charmy:''' [[{{Keet}} (loudly) OK!!!]]\\
'''Vector:''' [[HypocriticalHumor (even louder) Whaddya doing?! Be quiet!]]

* ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'': Prismo is the physical manifestation of an old man's dream. Do NOT wake that old man up, or you go straight to superjail for murder.

* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'' starts with the girls putting an exhausted Professor Utonium to bed after he falls asleep in his lab. That same night, an unusually stupid robber breaks into the girls house, and the rest of the episode revolves around them trying to keep him from waking up the professor. Ironically, it's the professor himself who ends up taking out the robber when he punches him in his sleep, and the girls throws the unconscious thief out of the house. The episode ends with the robber [[HereWeGoAgain scoping out Mojo Jojo's hideout]].

* Later addendums to the [[KingArthur Arthurian myth]] have Arthur and the knights of the Round Table, hidden in a cave and magically kept asleep, only to be awoken when they are truly needed. Waking him up ''early'' would be a very bad plan indeed (although in that case, one wonders why Merlin apparently included a giant gong in the cave).[[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt Their success would be a very bad thing]].

* In the Crystal Caverns in ''VideoGame/HollowKnight'', there's a large, crystal-covered bug sleeping on a [[SavePoint bench]] midway through the area. It's so large that it takes up the entire bench, so if you want to use it, you have to wake it up. Doing so causes it to attack, starting the Crystal Guardian boss fight.

* In ''WesternAnimation/CareBearsMovieIIANewGeneration'', Dark Heart captures all of the Care Bears and Care Bear cousins. After Little Star Buddy injures his arm rescuing Grumpy Bear, True Heart Bear, and Brave Heart Lion, the three [[IOweYouMyLife decide to return the favor]] and get the key from a sleeping Dark Heart to unlock the rest of the cages. The trick is that Dark Heart [[InvoluntaryShapeshifter keeps changing shape as he sleeps]].

* Mark Thirteen in [[Literature/MonsterHunterInternational Monster Hunter Legion]]. An army experiment ''GoneHorriblyRight''. They tried killing him. It didn't take. So scientists put M13 into coma and buried him in a nuclear/toxic/nerve gas disposal ground.

The Sleeper [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin is asleep]]. And must remain so. Waking them up would be the worst idea EVER, and for that reason there might even be some powerful guardians trying to keep you from disturbing their slumber.

* In the ''Literature/TainBoCuailnge'', Fergus notes that ''nobody'' dares to wake Cu Chulainn when he's asleep - the last man who tried found his forehead smashed all the way into the back of his skull.

* In ''VideoGame/SuperMario64'', you must walk slowly around sleeping Piranha Plant enemies otherwise they will wake and attack you. While they are attacking you they are invincible, but you can kill them while they're sleeping.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' episode, "[[Recap/SpongebobSquarepantsS2E15TheSecretBoxBandGeeks The Secret Box]]", [=SpongeBob=] wants to find out what's in Patrick's secret box that Patrick doesn't want him to see, so he decides to sneak into Patrick's house in the middle of the night and snatch the box from Patrick without waking him up. Despite the extremely loud sound effects all of his stealth attempts make, [=SpongeBob=] doesn't wake Patrick up... at least until [[spoiler:he comments to himself relatively quietly that Patrick is a very heavy sleeper.]]

** ''Banjo-Tooie'' has two instances in the first world: a sleeping snake and a sleeping caveman, both of whom need to be approached quietly.