History Main / DurableDeathtrap

* Several of the ''Franchise/IndianaJones'' films. ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk'' has the famous "trap dodging" sequence at the beginning. On the other hand, those traps may have been maintained by the Hovitos. (''Someone'' had to reset the spike trap that got Forrestal.)

** ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade'' had the [[spoiler:site of the Holy Grail]] protected by some traps that should be 1000 years old. FridgeBrilliance kicks in when you realize that [[spoiler:the last Holy Grail Knight is alive, so it's probably him [[JustifiedTrope who keeps traps functional]]]].

[[folder:Films -- Animated]]

* ''Series/{{CSINY}}'': One episode revolved around the investigation of a murder that happened within the apartment of a Depression-era mechanical genius tycoon that had been left completely alone for almost a hundred years. Turns out that what killed the VictimOfTheWeek (a ShadyRealEstateAgent who broke into houses to appraise them before they officially entered the market) was one of various death traps that littered the apartment, created by the man as an elaborate attempt to assassinate a rival from beyond the grave, and that still worked perfectly even if they involved such insane methods as turning a corridor into a furnace and, again, had not been given any maintenance whatsoever in almost one hundred years.

* Several of the ''Franchise/IndianaJones'' films. ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk'' had the famous "trap dodging" sequence at the beginning. On the other hand, those traps may have been maintained by the Hovitos. (''Someone'' had to reset the spike trap that got Forrestal.)

* In ''Film/NationalTreasure'', when they [[spoiler: discover the lost city of gold,]] it is opened through a complex series of counter weights and then the door immediately shuts behind them using equally complex mechanics. Also [[spoiler:the traps and actual city of gold are complicated to the point that even setting them up would be nearly impossible without killing yourself in the process. This also happens in the first one]]. Partially subverted though in that they slowly fall apart after the first use indicating that they weren't durable enough for daily operation but durable enough to be in the single state and then perform a single transition for centuries. Only partially due to the complexity involved in the set up.
** The first film inverted this. The [[spoiler: long stairway containing the titled treasure]] wasn't dangerous because of death traps, it is dangerous because it was made out of wood that has been rotting for over 200 years.

** The situation in Laos deserves a particular mention; it was a real-life {{Acceptable Target|s}} during the Vietnam War, where bombers would offload any excess munitions. There are still numerous non-profits dedicated exclusively to combing farms and safely detonating the explosives.

* Subverted in ''VideoGame/PrinceOfPersiaWarriorWithin'', where both a past and present version of the fortress are visited: the past has many working traps, while in the present most traps have decayed or collapsed. At various times, the only way to get past some traps is to use a time portal to go the present, walk through the nonoperative traps, and then go back to the past in a new portal (note that all other games in the series used this trope to a T). Justified since the locales of the other games were still inhabited until at least shortly before the games' events. In ''VideoGame/PrinceOfPersiaTheSandsOfTime'', the Prince even activates the traps himself before noticing that pits, spikes and whirling blades might not be that effective against regenerating, teleporting sand monstrosities.

* The Angkor Thom temple from ''VideoGame/EternalDarkness'' fits this trope perfectly, featuring hallways equipped with slamming wall sections, ''humongous'' blades capable of slicing a man in a single blow, and holes that fire poisonous darts. Of course, since all the characters are MadeOfIron, Ellia will only die after being hit 3 or 4 times by these traps... ''even though she's the weakest character in the game.''
** Can be chalked up to a great big [[AWizardDidIt the giant rotting bulk of slowly-dying Mantorok in the heart of the temple did it]]. Given that we know [[EldritchAbomination just how powerful]] Anchients are and Mantorok has been repeatedly shown to be capable of manipulating events thousands of miles [[spoiler:and in separate timelines]] even as he slowly kicks the bucket, it's safe to say keeping the traps running would be entirely within his power. Alternatively, Pious and his patron could have done so with equal ease for the exact same reason in order to prevent anybody from getting into the temple.

** The Temple of Pandora in ''VideoGame/GodOfWarI'' circumvents the issue of why to put traps in a place that was in regular use, as it was built ''expressly'' to keep the "unworthy" out, and served no other purpose except gruesomely killing people. Despite supposedly being a thousand years old, almost all of the traps and machinery are in perfect working order. At various points, you see people who attempted to infiltrate the temple as well, living and dead, yet all the traps are reset behind them. [[spoiler: The manual briefly appears to offer an explanation by sharing legends that the architect is actually still alive in the temple somewhere... but in the game, it's eventually revealed that he's been dead for a long time, going back to the problem of no-one to maintain or reset the traps.]] Possibly it's serviced [[AWizardDidIt by the gods]], or the dead {{Mooks}}.
** The Temple of The Fates is in similar position. It's the place where nobody's supposed to live and is mainly designed to protect the Fates from everyone who would want to change, [[ScrewDestiny you know, their fate]]. ''Un''like The Temple of Pandora it's less ambiguous about who's maintaining these traps, as you meet and kill some servants of the Fates such as Theseus and those two unlucky priests, so it's not unreasonable to think they have somebody for that job as well.

** ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade'' had the [[spoiler:site of the Holy Grail]] protected by some traps that should be 100 years old. FridgeBrilliance kicks in when you realize that [[spoiler:the last Holy Grail Knight is alive, so it's probably him [[JustifiedTrope who keeps traps functional]]]].

* ''Franchise/GodOfWar'':

* The Temple of Pandora in ''VideoGame/GodOfWarI'' circumvents the issue of why to put traps in a place that was in regular use, as it was built ''expressly'' to keep the "unworthy" out, and served no other purpose except gruesomely killing people. Despite supposedly being a thousand years old, almost all of the traps and machinery are in perfect working order. At various points, you see people who attempted to infiltrate the temple as well, living and dead, yet all the traps are reset behind them. [[spoiler: The manual briefly appears to offer an explanation by sharing legends that the architect is actually still alive in the temple somewhere... but in the game, it's eventually revealed that he's been dead for a long time, going back to the problem of no-one to maintain or reset the traps.]] Possibly it's serviced [[AWizardDidIt by the gods]], or the dead {{Mooks}}.

** In the ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheKingdomOfTheCrystalSkull'', when Indy and his party enter the pyramid, they stumble across the remains of the dead conquistadors who entered before. Considering the fact that, in order to enter the pyramid (and arm the trap), you have to ''open the top of the entire pyramid'', you really wonder who "closed" the pyramid after the conquistadors. Although it is possible that the natives somehow closed the pyramid, it really stretches the imagination as to ''how'' they go about it when the whole thing is dependent on a few bricks slotted in the right places.

See also RagnarokProofing. A subtrope of TheyDontMakeThemLikeTheyUsedTo and OlderIsBetter. When the deathtrap is one-time-use-only, this can often be an example of AlreadyUndoneForYou.

* It was thought it was just a myth that Qui Shi Huang's tomb was filled with mercury rivers so small ships could sail for eternity, by killing anyone who tries to disturb it. When his tomb was finally found, it was discovered that the tomb is filled with extremely deadly levels of mercury, meaning the legends may be true, and that Huang may get his wish. Even though the tomb hasn't been opened yet, ancient accounts of its construction mention it having bronze crossbows rigged to fire when disturbed. In the past several bronze crossbows from this time period have been found needing little to no maintenance to fire. Fear of these death traps is cited as the number two reason the Chinese government won't allow any expeditions to open the tomb.

-->-- [[http://www.cracked.com/funny-138-archaeology/ Cracked.com]] on Archaeology

Also notable is that several kinds of deathtraps rely on ammunition (such as arrows or darts) that is expended when they're triggered. Other types of traps, such as collapsing passages, falling ceilings or snares, also work only once by definition. Under normal circumstances, these traps are simply manually reloaded or reset after being sprung; in long-abandoned buildings, however, nobody is generally around to this, but despite this the ammunition is always plentiful and the one-use traps always at the ready, implying that they've either never been triggered once or that ''something'' keeps resetting them. Similar questions arise in the case of traps that involve living animals, such as spiders, scorpions, snakes, crocodiles or the like, which normally would either starve in short order or simply die of old age, but which in extreme cases of this trope are waiting, eager and healthy as you please, for would-be explorers to fall into their laps.

* of''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'': Played with in an episode in which Aang and [[spoiler:Zuko]] explore the ruins of a long extinct culture. When they run into a series of booby traps, [[spoiler:Zuko]] [[LampshadeHanging wonders how the traps are still operational after all this time.]] [[spoiler:It is soon revealed that the race wasn't so extinct after all.]]

* ''VideoGame/FreedomFighters'' has explodey (and otherwise useless) cars seasoning its levels. It's a good safety tip to pop a car before using it for cover. The computer controlled opponents conveniently never think of this. Possibly justified by the fact that the enemy troops have no reason to leave burned-our wrecks lying around in areas they're operating in; some of the materials used in building a modern car create some really nasty chemical byproducts when they're burned.

Note that in SpeculativeFiction this can be {{hand wave}}d as being caused by self-repairing technology, and in fantastic settings [[AWizardDidIt magic traps may be exempt]] from decaying or running out of ammo. Still, in most cases it is a [[AcceptableBreaksFromReality grossly unrealistic way to introduce danger into the environment]].

* Both lampshaded and subverted in an issue of ''Comicbook/{{Catwoman}}''. She notes that the deadly traps still functional after centuries would be normal in a movie, but in real life would need maintenance. She soon discovers the owner of the deathtraps is still alive.

* In ''Fanfic/WhipAndWing'', both Daring Do (of ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'') and the titular character of ''Franchise/IndianaJones'' venture through ancient ruins filled with these. They manage to avoid dying, but their pursuers often don't. When Daring finally meets the worker assigned to maintain and reset the traps, [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown she beats him half to death]].

* Picked apart in '' Fanfic/VoiceOfTheCondor'', when the heroes discover the Mountain of the Moon had been inspected and repaired by [[{{VideoGame/Inca}} Dorad Elo]] before they arrived, to lessen the chance of the Chosen Ones being buried by crumbling rock during their search.

* Inverted very nicely in ''WesternAnimation/{{Ben 10}}'' episode "The Ultimate Weapon", with a Mayan temple that's dangerous mainly because it ''wasn't'' built to last. Well, that and the Mayan God Of Death hangs out there; but aside from that, there's a grand total of ''one'' trap. In fact the "ultimate weapon" is just a brittle old sword that crumbles into dust the moment someone lifts it.
* Played with in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', in which Aang and [[spoiler:Zuko]] explore the ruins of a long extinct culture. When they run into a series of booby traps, [[spoiler:Zuko]] [[LampshadeHanging wonders how the traps are still operational after all this time.]] [[spoiler:It is soon revealed that the race wasn't so extinct after all.]]
* Played straight in the original ''WesternAnimation/ThunderCats'' animated series episode "The Tower of Traps". The several traps [[MalevolentArchitecture through the whole tower]] were still active [[spoiler:much after the one who created them died.]]
* In the first scene of ''WesternAnimation/JackieChanAdventures'', Jackie is leading people through the castle of "Mad King Ludwig", said to hold dozens of deadly traps. He spots a hidden wire on the floor and cautions his group to stay back.
-->'''Tourist:''' Aw, c'mon, what are the odds of these traps still -
-->''(Jackie takes the tourist's cap and drops it on the wire. Stone slabs slide out of the walls, slamming together inches in front of the guy's face. When they slide back, Jackie puts the cap back on his head - and [[JawDrop closes his mouth]])''
* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': Despite being the site of a violent battle prior to a thousand years of neglect, all the traps and secret passages of Celestia and Luna's old castle still work in [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E3CastleManeia "Castle Mane-ia"]]. Subverted with the deathtrap part though; they're not meant to hurt anyone. They're there in the first place because of Luna's and Celestia's proclivity for pranks (Twilight even found an old journal, talking about how one of the traps were always Luna's "favorite"). Fluttershy actually is more worried about the dangers of actual old ruins, such as floors giving out and falling debris.
** Played straight in the [[ShowWithinAShow "Daring Do" books]], where Daring goes through ancient {{Mayincatec}} ruins with perfectly functional puzzles and traps. Turns out to be a DoubleSubversion, since all of her adventures in the books, which were thought to be fiction, ''actually happened''.

** Many ancient tombs in China have a cheap and reliable approach: cover the main structure with huge amount of fine sand. Running sand will continue collapse when grave robbers try to dig tunnel into tomb.

* Several of the ''Franchise/IndianaJones'' films. ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk'' had the famous "trap dodging" sequence at the beginning.

* TruthInTelevision: Land mines can last for a very long time. Live ones are a serious problem in Third World countries with decades-old fields lost in the records.
** The situation in Laos deserves a particular mention; it was a real-life {{Acceptable Target|s}} during the Vietnam war, where bombers would offload any excess munitions. There are still numerous non-profits dedicated exclusively to combing farms and safely detonating the explosives.
** European countries including Germany and Britain still discover unexploded bombs from UsefulNotes/WorldWarII. There are also artefacts from the first world war being unearthed in France and Belgium to this day, called an [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_harvest Iron Harvest]].

* Both averted and played straight in The BandsOfMourning, the third book in the WaxAndWayne setting. The heroes are exploring an ancient temple in search of the titular Bands, and they run across a variety of traps while doing so. Some are still active and must be disarmed, but one -- a trap full of HollywoodAcid -- had frozen solid years ago and posed no greater risk than a bump to the head. A good thing too, since acid is the only thing that can kill the otherwise immortal [[VoluntaryShapeshifting kandra]] they were using to disarm the traps.

* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1987'': When--future ComicBook/WonderGirl--Cassie is first introduced she accidentally turns on an "unstoppable" giant murderous automation that her mother was inspecting as the museum had acquired it under the impression it was a large ancient bronze statue from Crete. The this is evidently ancient, and also fully functional and malevolent but fails to live up to it's "unstoppable" reputation.

->''"Your car needs a service at least every 3 years, but a temple built from ''stone'' with primitive tools over one thousand years ago can have a mechanism that runs smoother than a hot curry through a digestive system. Because of ''magic''."''