History Main / EpiphanicPrison

* According to [[spoiler:R. Giskard Reventlov]] in ''Literature/TheRobotsOfDawn'', this is why Earthmen, not Spacers, are destined to settle the galaxy -- they at least know that they are trapped. Eartmen live in a a nasty increasingly overpopulated world where they take care of almost everything themselves out of luddite anti-robot beliefs, but the Spacers live in incredibly wealthy idyllic utopia worlds where robots happily do all the work for them with no pressure of any sort to leave or improve. It's implied that all the Spacer worlds eventually either collapsed or changed to the point they could no longer truly be considered human after they refused to leave or grow.

** ''Chlo&eacute's Lament'': Chloé Wished to [[RoleSwapAU swap lives]] with Marinette, having convinced herself that the only reason she was HatedByAll was [[DrivenByEnvy that everyone was jealous of her status]], only to find that the Marinette in the new reality is still [[LovedByAll widely adored]] for being a SpoiledSweet girl who doesn't [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections abuse her position]] the way Chloé did. While her KarmaHoudiniWarranty no longer applies, Chloé still has a loving and supportive father, and could turn things around if she recognized that she's responsible for her own isolation... but she [[IgnoredEpiphany repeatedly rejects]] any suggestion that ''she'' [[NeverMyFault is at fault]].

** ''Fanfic/InfinityTrainKnightOfTheOrangeLily'' opens with a [FairytaleMotif fairytale-like Prologue]] wherein the protagonist discovers an AwfulTruth -- that his quest for greatness [[spoiler:led to his demise]] -- but rejects it, trapping himself in one of these. [[PlotParallel This parallels Gladion's situation]], as he angrily denies the negative impact of his own 'grand quest' after his sister [[WhatTheHellHero accuses him]] of having effectively abandoned her and keeping her LockedOutOfTheLoop so that he could "play the hero".

* ''Fanfic/CivilizationVPeaceWalker'' has Snake realize that he [[spoiler:isn't "real"]], which proceeds to [[spoiler:crash the simulation]] and force Rushmore to reveal the truth about what's really going on.

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* ''ComicBook/GreenLantern''

* In ''Fanfic/TheLamentSeriesChaoticNeutral'', each scenario is created by somebody [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor making a Wish]] on [[WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculi]] that [[RealityWarpingIsNotAToy alters reality]], plunging them into a world that serves as their SelfInflictedHell. While escaping their situation ''completely'' is unlikely at best, each lamenter can potentially ''improve'' their situation by recognizing where they went wrong and working on their {{Fatal Flaw}}s... easier said than done.

* Played with in ''Literature/{{Otherland}}'', specifically in the case of Paul Jonas, an amnesiac inhabitant of the virtual reality worlds who is, at first, unaware that he's in a simulation. As the story evolves, he manages to regain his memories a little at a time, eventually remembering exactly who he is and how he got there... at which point the realization strikes [[spoiler:that [[TomatoInTheMirror he's really]] a [[BrainUploading virtual copy]] of the ''real'' Paul Jonas. This realization causes him to cross the DespairEventHorizon, thanks to CloningBlues, but also gives him the resolve to perform a HeroicSacrifice which allows the real people trapped in Otherland with him to survive. After everything gets resolved, the heroes then awaken his real self.]]

* During ''The Killing Dream'' arc of ''ComicBook/{{X 23}}'''s solo series, Laura is trapped in a hellish dreamscape by Hellverine, who wants to seduce her to his service to command his armies by claiming that as a [[CloningBlues clone she has no soul]], and because of all the death she has caused. A manifestation of her true self, [[spoiler:which ''may'' actually be the [[ComicBook/CaptainUniverse Enigma Force]]]] shows her that, despite all of the killing, she never succumbed to the Facility's attempts to break her, and was ultimately as much an innocent victim as those she killed. This, along with her decision to escape what she was made and choose a path and life for herself proves Hellverine wrong, and allows her to permanently throw off his influence and escape. After waking from the dream, Laura ''does'' continue to be troubled by the encounter, though, and a substantial arc for the remainder of the series is her questioning whether or not she has a soul.

* Invoked interestingly in ''Fanfic/{{Bird}}'', a long-running theme of inversion of the source material's motif of physical and authoritive threats means that ultimately most patients at Alchemilla are kept there by their own fears and insecurities. As superpowered humans that are mostly voluntarily institutionalized, the majority can leave at any time they choose. Part of Taylor's journey is realizing she has to, both to protect her friends who ''can't'' leave voluntarily and to grow herself.

* The WesternAnimation/InfinityTrain serves as one in ''Fanfic/InfinityTrainBlossomingTrail'' and ''Fanfic/InfinityTrainKnightOfTheOrangeLily''. The latter opens with a [[FairytaleMotif Fairy Tale-like Prologue]] wherein the protagonist discovers an AwfulTruth -- that his quest for greatness [[spoiler:led to his demise]] -- but rejects it, trapping himself in one of these. [[PlotParallel This parallels Gladion's situation]], as he angrily denies the negative impact of his own 'grand quest'.
** In ''Blossoming Trail'', Henry and Walter's plan is to trap the Apex within The Fog Car with one of these that will prevent them from leaving until they all realize their ideology is wrong. If even ''one'' member clings onto this, it will trap everyone else.
* In ''Fanfic/TheLamentSeriesChaoticNeutral'', each scenario is created by somebody [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor making a Wish]] on [[WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculi]] that [[RealityWarpingIsNotAToy alters reality]], plunging them into a world that serves as their SelfInflictedHell. While escaping their situation ''completely'' is unlikely at best, each lamenter can potentially ''improve'' their situation by recognizing where they went wrong and working on their {{Fatal Flaw}}s... easier said than done.

* ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'' has one in the form of the "Jerryboree", a daycare center in which the Ricks of the multiverses drop off their son-in-law Jerry if they ever end up unwitting tagging along. While the daycare is designed to fulfill Jerry's incredibly basic necessities, there's also nothing stopping them from leaving save for the fact that Jerrys are all typically gutless cowards who if they ever decide to live will inevitably just come back due to not being able to deal with the weirdness of the cosmos.

This often overlaps with LotusEaterMachine, when the prison is made to feel like paradise so you won't want to leave, PsychologicalTormentZone, when you desperately wish you could, and TailorMadePrison. Not uncommon as a form of [[PurgatoryAndLimbo Purgatory or Limbo]]. Also see: ArmorPiercingQuestion, OrpheanRescue and PlatonicCave.

%%* Hell ''itself'' in Niven and Pournelle's ''Literature/InfernoLarryNivenAndJerryPournelle''.

* ''Webcomic/SlightlyDamned'': Kieri (and Kazai) carry Heaven's duties and burdens in their hearts, even in Medius. [[https://www.sdamned.com/comic/1085 It takes them a long time to realize this is a bad thing]].

* A repeated motif of ''Webcomic/KillSixBillionDemons'' is that all of the [[BigBadEnsemble Seven]] are [[TrappedInVillainy trapped]], to one degree of another, in a prison of their own making. [[{{Pride}} Solomon]] is too arrogant to give any autonomy to his empire for fear of eventual anarchy, Mottom is too afraid of the balance of power shifting and her own DecadentCourt to take agency in her own life beyond bleeding her worlds dry, Mammon is bound by his obsession with counting his wealth and the guilt of murdering his family, Gog-Agog is imprisoned by her inability to accept her own existence as a hive mind of worms, Jadis is imprisoned by her own CosmicHorrorStory knowledge, Incubus is imprisoned by his need for praise and affirmation, and Jagganoth seeks to [[ViciousCycle violently destroy his prison of violence]] [[OmnicidalManiac even if it means killing everyone else]]. Even Zoss, the TopGod, admits he has turned the multiverse itself into his prison from his selfish arrogance.

** A metaphorical one of these afflicted Haley when the trauma of losing a huge amount of gold, coupled with a number of pre-existing psychological issues, caused her to speak exclusively in cryptograms that noone else could understand. (Initially no translation was provided, leaving readers to puzzle out the solutions themselves; the print compilations kindly provided the translations) This continued for a substantial amount of time and strips before she finally resolved (most of) her issues and was willing to [[spoiler: confess her love to Elan]].

* ''WesternAnimation/InfinityTrain'': Any human on the train has a number on their hand [[spoiler: measuring their emotional turmoil, and can't go back home until it's lowered enough to take the number to zero]]. Tulip [[LampshadeHanging mocks]] the idea of an inanimate object trying to help people, but eventually comes to accept it. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, it can go up as well as down, and in Amelia's case can go very, '''[[ReadingsAreOffTheScale very]]''' high.]] The second book starts to [[DeconstructedTrope deconstruct]] this concept, as it's shown some passengers [[{{Unishment}} actually prefer to live on the train]], and thus see their high numbers as an ''encouragement'' to raise hell for everyone else living there.

* ''Anime/TheAnimatrix'' has a story where a professional athlete nearly frees himself from the Matrix by becoming aware of the artificial state of the world around him while breaking the world record of the 100m dash. [[MindScrew We think.]]

* ''Anime/ParanoiaAgent'': The cardboard world that Ikari is trapped in near the end.
* ''Anime/RevolutionaryGirlUtena'', Ohtori Academy serves this for most of the characters, especially [[spoiler:Anthy]] in one popular interpretation.

* According to [[spoiler:R. Giskard Reventlov]] in ''Literature/TheRobotsOfDawn'', this is why Earthmen, not Spacers, are destined to settle the galaxy -- they at least know that they are trapped.

* It's also worth mentioning that although depression cannot be cured by a single "epiphany", Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is somewhat based on this trope. The idea is that depression, anxiety, and other mental illnesses are caused by (or at least worsened by) negative thoughts about oneself, the world, etc. For example, a person with depression and low self-esteem might say to themselves "I'm no good at school, why do I even bother trying?" Because of this way of thinking they do not try or they do try but get nervous and mess up, thus confirming their beliefs they are bad at school and creating a self-fulfilling prophecy. CBT aims to break this vicious cycle by replacing negative thoughts and attitudes with more positive ones, and exchanging bad behaviors/habits for good ones. This type of therapy can be effective against OCD and some other types of mental illness, but it isn't for everyone. Also, as the above bullet point stated, there are often medical causes involved in depression and other mental illnesses so if you or a loved one are struggling with mental illness, please see a professional. You may or may not need medication in addition to therapy, and different types of therapy work for different types of people so do not hesitate to try different therapists until you find one with a therapeutic style that works for you.

* It's also worth mentioning that although depression cannot be cured by a single "epiphany", Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is somewhat based on this trope. The idea is that depression, anxiety, and other mental illnesses are caused by (or at least worsened by) negative thoughts about oneself, the world, etc. For example, a person with depression and low self-esteem might say to themselves "I'm no good at school, why do I even bother trying?" Because of this way of thinking they do not try or they do try but get nervous and mess up, thus confirming their beliefs they are bad at school and creating a self-fulfilling prophecy. CBT aims to break this vicious cycle by replacing negative thoughts and attitudes with more positive ones, and exchanging bad behaviors/habits for good ones. This type of therapy can be effective against OCD and some other types of mental illness, but it isn't for everyone. Also, as the above troper stated, there are often medical causes involved in depression and other mental illnesses so if you or a loved one are struggling with mental illness, please see a professional. You may or may not need medication in addition to therapy, and different types of therapy work for different types of people so do not hesitate to try different therapists until you find one with a therapeutic style that works for you.

** Mementos, the Palace of the Collective Unconscious, manifests as a giant prison, symbolic of everyone feels constrained by the civil order, but are too afraid or uncaring to do anything about it. Fitting with the SevenDeadlySins motif of the game, they collectively represent the sin of Sloth.

* [[Wiki/SCPFoundation SCP]]-[[NumberOfTheBeast 666]], the "[[https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-666 Spirit Lodge]]" is a Tibetan yurt inhabited by a [[DealWithTheDevil demon that tempts addicts with their particular vice]], be it drugs, [[TheGamblingAddict gambling]], or even video games. If you accept its offer and show no signs of intending to stop, it forces you into taking your addiction to lethal extremes. If you show remorse or express a desire to stop however, it [[SecretTestOfCharacter becomes more friendly]] and allows you to leave with your addiction completely cured.

* The ''Armies of the Abyss'' supplement of ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' mentions Samora, a resort-like area in the Abyssal realm of Azzagrat, the kingdom ruled by Graz'zt. At first, the place seems like the RedLightDistrict of Azzagrat, and it basically is; mortals can gain ''any'' fantasy they desire, for a price, from the [[HornyDevils succubi]] under Graz'zt's employ. But there is a risk. Mortals who take too much advantage of the services are drawn in too deep, until they lose the desire to leave, becoming {{Sex Slave}}s of the succubi - and new customers as well - without even knowing it.
** At the other end of the Lower Planes, ''Tyrants of the Nine Hells'' mentions a location in Dis, the second layer of Hell, called the Garden of Delights, that appears to be a paradise to mortals who enter; it's a beautiful garden where lovely nymphs welcome visitors and lavish affection, along with food and drink of the finest quality on visitors - all for free, no less. The fact that this place is in Hell should [[TooDumbToLive tip people off that it's a trap]]. Dispater, the ruler of the layer, employs efreet sorcerers to maintain the place, and the "nymphs" are [[HornyDevils erinyes]]. The purpose of the Garden is to enspell its visitors with its intoxicating nature to prevent them from wanting to leave, and eventually tempt them to evil. (If the erinyes can't do that because a mortal is incorruptible, they just let the visitor starve; the food is an illusion, and visitors will eventually die of thirst or starvation trying to live on it.)

* ''Literature/TheCatWhoSeries'': In book #8 (''The Cat Who Sniffed Glue''), wealthy parents Nigel and Margret Finch have their twin sons David and Harvey in one of these. They addicted the boys to a life of luxury, then give them just enough of an allowance to let them keep living the good life -- as long as they do everything that their parents tell them to do.

* One issue of ''ComicBook/{{Miracleman}}'' centers around a spy working in a city called [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin The City]] for some shadowy ill-defined government agency. They give her missions to relay information to other agents, who are identified using elaborate [[SpySpeak sign/countersign]] codes. She's also a double agent for another shadowy, ill-defined government agency who she leaks information to. Eventually she goes AWOL and decides to leave the city, at which point it's revealed that [[spoiler:after Miracle Man appointed himself ruler of the entire world and united it under a one-world government, there was no more need for international espionage, and since a lot of ex-spies couldn't function unless they were spying and being secretive, he just stuck them all in one city, wiped their memories of him taking over, and hired 4 people as the leaders of various "agencies". Literally everyone in the city is spying on everyone else while pretending to have regular jobs. And since they technically do have regular jobs, The City still has a viable economy and can contribute to the world without threatening the stability of his government.]]

* A plot point in ''Literature/HitherbyDragons'' is that people can be seperated from the world by a question they cannot answer. Of the few times these ''do'' get answered, the answer is usually along the lines of "the question isn't that important".

* In ''Series/{{Life on Mars|2006}}'' Sam Tyler, the protagonist, is hit by a car in 2006 and wakes up in the '70s. The show revolves around Sam trying to understand how he came to this new place (whether it is Time Travel, a coma, Madness, etc.) and how to get home. When [[spoiler:Sam does eventually get home]], he does receive an [[spoiler: "epiphany"]] but it motivates him to [[spoiler:return to the '70s world, and not to stay in his original world.]] The "new world" itslef is [[spoiler:not explained]] in ''Series/{{Life on Mars|2006}}'' but it is revealed in the sequel series, ''Series/AshesToAshes2008'', [[spoiler:to be a purgatory for police officers]].

* Inverted in the ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'' when Reed is trapped in Doctor Doom's armor. To get out, he has to learn to think like Doom, thus trapping himself much more profoundly.

* ''Franchise/GreenLantern''

* ''ComicBook/TheSandman''
** During a brief tour of Hell, [[spoiler:right before he quits and locks it up]], Lucifer the Morningstar explains to Dream that Hell is an EpiphanicPrison for the damned. They are trapped in Hell because, deep down, they believe they deserve to be trapped there and that their souls belong to Lucifer. Lucifer denies this, claiming that he has no need for human souls, and that they belong only to themselves -- they just hate owning up to it.
** A more specific example is seen in the storyline of the boy at the haunted school, in the same arc. He stays at school even as it fills up with ghosts of the damned, befriending a sad little ghost boy who was murdered there decades ago and can't leave because his bones are still in the attic. After [[spoiler: being tortured to death by the same sadistic ghosts that killed the other boy,]] the kid decides that there's absolutely no reason to stay there any more, and the two of them simply walk out past the gates.