History Main / EscapeFromTheCrazyPlace

You step out of the prominently-marked Quarantine Room and decide to take a stroll around. Something's not quite right about this place. [[RoomFullOfCrazy There's cryptic writing on the walls]] [[CouldntFindAPen in what looks like blood,]] [[EverybodysDeadDave the halls are strewn with corpses]], the only other people you find are either [[AxCrazy trying to kill everybody else]] [[KillEmAll or getting slaughtered]], [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking your phone can't get a signal]], and the people in charge are either [[TheNeidermeyer completely out of touch with reality,]] [[PointyHairedBoss utterly incompetent]], or [[DyingLikeAnimals helpless]] to fix a situation [[GoneHorriblyWrong gone horribly]], [[FromBadToWorse horribly out of control]].

You step out of the prominently-marked Quarantine Room and decide to take a stroll around. Something's not quite right about this place. [[RoomFullOfCrazy There's cryptic writing on the walls]] [[CouldntFindAPen in what looks like blood,]] [[EverybodysDeadDave the halls are strewn with corpses]], the only other people you find are either [[AxCrazy trying to kill everybody else]] [[KillEmAll or getting slaughtered]], [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking your phone is out of battery,]] and the people in charge are either [[TheNeidermeyer completely out of touch with reality,]] [[PointyHairedBoss utterly incompetent]] or [[DyingLikeAnimals helpless]] to fix a situation [[GoneHorriblyWrong gone horribly]], [[FromBadToWorse horribly out of control]].

You step out of the prominently-marked Quarantine Room and decide to take a stroll around. Something's not quite right about this place. [[RoomFullOfCrazy There's cryptic writing on the walls]] [[CouldntFindAPen in what looks like blood,]] [[EverybodysDeadDave the halls are strewn with corpses]], the only other people you find are either [[AxCrazy trying to kill everybody else]] [[KillEmAll or getting slaughtered]], [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking there isn't a water fountain in sight,]] and the people in charge are either [[TheNeidermeyer completely out of touch with reality,]] [[PointyHairedBoss utterly incompetent]] or [[DyingLikeAnimals helpless]] to fix a situation [[GoneHorriblyWrong gone horribly]], [[FromBadToWorse horribly out of control]].

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* ''{{Pandorum}}''.

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* In the Literature/TimeScout series, most downtimers who end up on Shangri La either want to go home or go crazy. Only JackTheRipper would dream of going uptime to the present and ruling as a god.

[[folder: Web Original ]]

* Ben Croshaw's ''[[TwelveThirteen 1213]]'' stars yet another amnesiac protagonist in a hostile hospital environment full of monsters and madmen. [[spoiler: The twist? The protagonist is not entirely normal himself, and there's a secret the people in charge are keeping that turns the entire situation on its head.]]
* The TropeNamer is the Literature/ChooseYourOwnAdventure ''[[http://jjguest.com/ESCAPE/INDEX.HTML Escape From The Crazy Place]]'' by J. J. Guest. The protagonist starts off in a padded room with a clown named [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed Donald McRonald]]; wacky hijinks and dadaesque nonsense ensue as the unlikely pair attempt to Escape From The Crazy Place and thwart the efforts of the Bowler Hat Guy to keep them trapped there forever. [[spoiler: The game is technically {{Unwinnable}}, though: there are clues that apparently lead to an ending, but they either lead into each other or are simply red herrings. The author admitted that he couldn't come up with a satisfying finale, so there wasn't one...but exploring everything the Crazy Place has to offer is rewarding in and of itself. That, and as one character subtly hints, you can "escape" any time simply by closing your browser...]]
* {{MS Paint Adventures}}' ''Webcomic/{{Jailbreak}}'' starts out like this, causing a [[FollowTheLeader spawn of fan adventures]] to adopt the general idea. The OntologicalMystery of the mental hospital is an extremely easy setting to pull off, though, which means most of the fanworks are, uh, [[SturgeonsLaw uneven in quality]].
* ''Roleplay/RubyQuest''. [[FunnyAnimal Endearing,]] disturbing, [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming heartwarming,]] [[TearJerker heartwrenching,]] [[GrotesqueCute cute, cuddly, dark and bloody.]] A GirlInABox wakes up to find herself in an underwater lab; a boy is imprisoned in the floor below. Employing her wits, she frees the boy, makes a friend, [[BreadEggsMilkSquick and decapitates a zombie.]] This sets the tone for an adventure full of mystery, madness, sweetness and HighPressureBlood. And BodyHorror. Lots and lots of Body Horror. [[spoiler: Stitches (the zombie) is first encountered as a head attached to a bloody, snakelike mess of bones and organs, and his head itself splits open to reveal a gaping maw full of teeth. And Daisy, originally a sweet little puppy-girl, is mutated beyond recognition and serves as the story's first real boss fight.]]

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[[folder: Web Comics ]]

* ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'' had this in '28 Geeks Later'.
* ''LastRes0rt'' dabbles at this with Gabriel and the ''White Diamond Crisis''.

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* The ''KingOfBanditJing'' story arc "Seventh Heaven" has the eponymous King of Bandits ''intentionally'' landing himself in the titular maximum-security prison in order to steal a treasure created by the legendary magician Campari, one of Seventh Heaven's many inmates. Of course, said treasure [[PlanetEris has the power to bridge the real and dream worlds]], and Jing ends up dealing with man-eating mice, the AxCrazy mirror halves of a "saw a man in half" trick gone horribly wrong, and a giant dodo who learns to fly before discovering the tragic truth about Campari and freeing him from his prison, both mental and physical.

* The TropeNamer is the ChooseYourOwnAdventure ''[[http://jjguest.com/ESCAPE/INDEX.HTML Escape From The Crazy Place]]'' by J. J. Guest. The protagonist starts off in a padded room with a clown named [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed Donald McRonald]]; wacky hijinks and dadaesque nonsense ensue as the unlikely pair attempt to Escape From The Crazy Place and thwart the efforts of the Bowler Hat Guy to keep them trapped there forever. [[spoiler: The game is technically {{Unwinnable}}, though: there are clues that apparently lead to an ending, but they either lead into each other or are simply red herrings. The author admitted that he couldn't come up with a satisfying finale, so there wasn't one...but exploring everything the Crazy Place has to offer is rewarding in and of itself. That, and as one character subtly hints, you can "escape" any time simply by closing your browser...]]

* ''Roleplay/RubyQuest''. [[FunnyAnimal Endearing,]] [[NightmareFuel disturbing,]] [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming heartwarming,]] [[TearJerker heartwrenching,]] [[GrotesqueCute cute, cuddly, dark and bloody.]] A GirlInABox wakes up to find herself in an underwater lab; a boy is imprisoned in the floor below. Employing her wits, she frees the boy, makes a friend, [[BreadEggsMilkSquick and decapitates a zombie.]] This sets the tone for an adventure full of mystery, madness, sweetness and HighPressureBlood. And BodyHorror. Lots and lots of Body Horror. [[spoiler: Stitches (the zombie) is first encountered as a head attached to a bloody, snakelike mess of bones and organs, and his head itself splits open to reveal a gaping maw full of teeth. And Daisy, originally a sweet little puppy-girl, is mutated beyond recognition and serves as the story's first real boss fight.]]

* ''TowerPrep'' has been described as "''ThePrisoner'' [[XMeetsY meets]] ''{{X-Men}}''".

* ''TowerPrep'' has been described as "''ThePrisoner'' Meets ''{{X-Men}}''".

* BioShock plays a lot like this in the beginning of the game with Jack seeking the nearest refuge from a plane crash and ending up in Rapture, a city overrun with psychopaths and corruption. The first third of the game is his attempt to escape to the surface with the mysterious Atlas. He still is trying to escape the place throughout the rest of the game, but has some unfinished business before he leaves it behind.

You step out of the prominently-marked Quarantine Room and decide to take a stroll around. Something's not quite right about this place. [[RoomFullOfCrazy There's cryptic writing on the walls]] [[CouldntFindAPen in what looks like blood,]] [[EverybodysDeadDave the halls are strewn with corpses]], the only other people you find are either [[AxCrazy trying to kill everybody else]] [[KillEmAll or getting slaughtered]], and the people in charge are either [[TheNeidermeyer completely out of touch with reality,]] [[PointyHairedBoss utterly incompetent]] or [[DyingLikeAnimals helpless]] to fix a situation [[GoneHorriblyWrong gone horribly]], [[FromBadToWorse horribly out of control]].

You step out of the prominently-marked Quarantine Room and decide to take a stroll around. Something's not quite right about this place. [[RoomFullOfCrazy There's cryptic writing on the walls]] [[CouldntFindAPen in what looks like blood,]] [[EverybodysDeadDave the halls are strewn with corpses]], the only other people you find are either [[AxCrazy trying to kill everybody else]] [[KillEmAll or getting slaughtered]], and the people in charge are either [[TheNeidermeyer completely out of touch with reality,]] [[PointyHairedBoss utterly incompetent]] or [[DyingLikeAnimals helpless]] to fix a situation [[ItGotWorse gone horribly]], [[GoneHorriblyWrong horribly out of control]].

An EscapeFromTheCrazyPlace ensues when you have a protagonist trapped in a bottled WorldGoneMad: it might be a hospital suffering an outbreak of the HatePlague, [[RunningTheAsylum an insane asylum taken over by its own inmates]], an underground CityInABottle, a spaceship [[ZombieApocalypse under attack by zombifying parasites]] or generally any setting where a once-orderly (and sealed-off) environment has fallen completely into chaos and the protagonist, who is (or has good reason to believe themselves to be) the OnlySaneMan, is tasked with escaping (usually with the lingering risk of releasing the craziness upon the world at large in the process). Frequently, the protagonist finds fellow survivors; less frequently do these escape, let alone remain sane. Worst-case scenario, [[EvilVersusEvil everyone is out for themselves,]] [[HumansAreBastards and the depths of depravity will be plumbed as the survivors eat each other.]] [[ImAHumanitarian Possibly literally.]]

The EscapeFromTheCrazyPlace is an effective {{horror}} setting, but it can also be played for laughs.

* The TropeNamer is the ChooseYourOwnAdventure ''[[http://jjguest.com/ESCAPE/INDEX.HTML Escape From The Crazy Place]]'' by J. J. Guest. The protagonist starts off in a padded room with a clown named [[NoCelebritiesWereHarmed Donald McRonald]]; wacky hijinks and dadaesque nonsense ensue as the unlikely pair attempt to EscapeFromTheCrazyPlace and thwart the efforts of the Bowler Hat Guy to keep them trapped there forever. [[spoiler: The game is technically {{Unwinnable}}, though: there are clues that apparently lead to an ending, but they either lead into each other or are simply red herrings. The author admitted that he couldn't come up with a satisfying finale, so there wasn't one...but exploring everything the Crazy Place has to offer is rewarding in and of itself. That, and as one character subtly hints, you can "escape" any time simply by closing your browser...]]

* SluggyFreelance had this in '28 Geeks Later'.

* ''PlanescapeTorment'' has this trope nested in itself several times.

* {{Subverted}} in ''BatmanArkhamAsylum'' in that Batman isn't trying to escape from the crazy place, but is still in one.

** The trope is used again in the [[{{Portal 2}} sequel]]. It should be a lot easier to escape now [[spoiler: the Enrichment Center is in ruins, [[TemptingFate right?]]]] Well, guess who wakes up GLaDOS? [[NiceJobBreakingItHero Nice job breaking it, hero.]] However, at the end of the game [[spoiler: GLaDOS actually ''lets you go.'']] This actually counts as a TwistEnding, considering the atmosphere of the game.

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* {{VideoGame/UnrealI}}: You spend the game trying to get of a deadly planet after a prison ship crash, then trying to get off it ''again'' in the add on pack ''Return to Na pali''.

** The trope is used again in the sequel. It should be a lot easier to escape now [[spoiler: the Enrichment Center is in ruins, [[TemptingFate right?]]]] Well, guess who wakes up GLaDOS? [[NiceJobBreakingItHero Nice job breaking it, hero.]] However, at the end of the game [[spoiler: GLaDOS actually ''lets you go.'']] This actually counts as a TwistEnding, considering the atmosphere of the game.

You step out of the prominently-marked Quarantine Room and decide to take a stroll around. Something's not quite right about this place. [[RoomFullOfCrazy There's cryptic writing on the walls in what looks like blood,]] [[EverybodysDeadDave the halls are strewn with corpses]], the only other people you find are either [[AxCrazy trying to kill everybody else]] [[KillEmAll or getting slaughtered]], and the people in charge are either [[TheNeidermeyer completely out of touch with reality,]] [[PointyHairedBoss utterly incompetent]] or [[DyingLikeAnimals helpless]] to fix a situation [[ItGotWorse gone horribly]], [[GoneHorriblyWrong horribly out of control]].

* ''RubyQuest''. [[FunnyAnimal Endearing,]] [[NightmareFuel disturbing,]] [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming heartwarming,]] [[TearJerker heartwrenching,]] [[GrotesqueCute cute, cuddly, dark and bloody.]] A GirlInABox wakes up to find herself in an underwater lab; a boy is imprisoned in the floor below. Employing her wits, she frees the boy, makes a friend, [[BreadEggsMilkSquick and decapitates a zombie.]] This sets the tone for an adventure full of mystery, madness, sweetness and HighPressureBlood. And BodyHorror. Lots and lots of Body Horror. [[spoiler: Stitches (the zombie) is first encountered as a head attached to a bloody, snakelike mess of bones and organs, and his head itself splits open to reveal a gaping maw full of teeth. And Daisy, originally a sweet little puppy-girl, is mutated beyond recognition and serves as the story's first real boss fight.]]

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* ''RubyQuest''. [[FunnyAnimal Endearing,]] [[NightmareFuel disturbing,]] [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming heartwarming,]] [[TearJerker heartwrenching,]] [[GrotesqueCute cute, cuddly, dark and bloody.]] A GirlInABox wakes up to find herself in an underwater lab; a boy is imprisoned in the floor below. Employing her wits, she frees the boy, makes a friend, [[BreadEggsMilkSquick and decapitates a zombie.]] This sets the tone for an adventure full of mystery, madness, sweetness and HighPressureBlood. And BodyHorror. Lots and lots of Body Horror. [[spoiler: Stitches (the zombie) is first encountered as a head attached to a bloody, snakelike mess of bones and organs, and his head itself splits open to reveal a gaping maw full of teeth. And Daisy, originally a sweet little puppy-girl, is mutated beyond recognition and serves as the story's first real boss fight. ([[IGotBetter She gets better, though...]] Maybe.)]]

* ''PlanescapeTorment'' begins with such a scenario: the Nameless One (yes, that's his name) wakes up in a ''morgue'' of all places, manned by some very disturbing and morbid characters who are aided by pitiful zombies. Of course, this is just the prologue: escaping from this particular crazy place is merely the prologue, and the Nameless One has quite a journey ahead of him before he rediscovers who he is and what he must do, [[spoiler: [[WhereItAllBegan a quest which ultimately brings him]] ''[[WhereItAllBegan back]]'' [[WhereItAllBegan to the crazy place]], but that's outside the scope of this article]].
** Given the entire premise of the game is that [[spoiler: the Nameless One is trying to leave behind his forced immortality]] and that it takes place in the setting of ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve, the whole game can be considered to be this trope in a -very- large crazy place.
*** The game is this trope nested in itself several times. The above comment points out how the grand plot fits this trope. In addition, during the course of one playthrough, the Nameless One will: escape from a mortuary of undead and those who merely strive for a final death, escape from a nation of the undead, escape from a [[DeathCourse tomb of deadly traps]] [[spoiler: he built himself in a past life]], escape from a slum of insane folks by following worshipers of chaos through a painted door, escape from a stone which traps him in a false reality [[spoiler: yet another of his past lives made]], escape a fake "dungeon" made by mechanical beings running a psychological experiment on dungeon crawling adventurers, escape from a nonsensical maze that contains a deadly witch, escape from a town whose AlwaysChaoticEvil residents are sending into an EpiphanicPrison because of their ChronicBackStabbingDisorder, escape Hell, escape a fortress filled with furious shades, escape a prison full of [[spoiler: his own past selves]], and finally escape [[spoiler: his own immortality.]] This list is not exhaustive.
* ''VideoGame/{{Portal}}'' puts the player in control of a woman named Chell with no past, no personality, and no way forward except to do as the [[strike:half-]][[AIIsACrapshoot crazed computer]] running the so-called [[MaximumFunChamber "Enrichment Center"]] commands. This involves running through death courses armed with only your wits and an unorthodox {{BFG}} which makes holes in the fabric of space-time that you can use in new and interesting ways. [[spoiler: Eventually, you discover that [[MemeticMutation the cake is a lie]] and you make a bid for freedom through a part of the Center you were never supposed to see, destroying the computer and finally escaping...[[SubvertedTrope only to be dragged right back into Aperture Science, while the credits song reveals that the computer is Still Alive.]]]]

[[BodyHorror And why the hell]] is the [[EvilHand back of your hand]] [[HorrorHunger demanding you feed it human lungs?]]

* [[Unreal1 Unreal]]: You spend the game trying to get of a deadly planet after a prison ship crash, then trying to get off it ''again'' in the add on pack ''Return to Na pali''.

* The CG anime ''GregoryHorrorShow'' starts off with an everyman lost in the woods who happens upon a mysterious hotel in the middle of nowhere; he gets not only a room for the night, but the experience of his life as he tries to escape from Gregory House ([[{{House}} not that one]]) and all its crazy inhabitants. [[spoiler: In the end, he confronts his own feelings and manages to escape...only for him to realize how crushingly dull his life is and return to the House, not as its prisoner but as its willing guest.]] The second season has a woman going through much the same ordeal, [[spoiler: [[DownerEnding but instead of solving her personal problems and escaping, she is consumed by them and becomes a permanent resident]]]].

* ''{{Portal}}'' puts the player in control of a woman named Chell with no past, no personality, and no way forward except to do as the [[strike:half-]][[AIIsACrapshoot crazed computer]] running the so-called [[MaximumFunChamber "Enrichment Center"]] commands. This involves running through death courses armed with only your wits and an unorthodox {{BFG}} which makes holes in the fabric of space-time that you can use in new and interesting ways. [[spoiler: Eventually, you discover that [[MemeticMutation the cake is a lie]] and you make a bid for freedom through a part of the Center you were never supposed to see, destroying the computer and finally escaping...[[SubvertedTrope only to be dragged right back into Aperture Science, while the credits song reveals that the computer is Still Alive.]]]]

* ''ThePrisoner''. [[CatchPhrase He is not a number; he is a free man,]] but the people at the glorified madhouse called The Village seem to think otherwise. "Number 6" is forced into their service as an operative, all the while trying to escape; things come to a head in the GrandFinale, [[spoiler: where the minions of The Village gather together to hold a grand celebration ostensibly to honor his achievements, but when the mindless goons begin repeating his words over and over, Number 6 snaps and a glorious GainaxEnding ensues where he discovers that the mysterious Number 1 is himself in an ape mask and shoots his way out with two fellow prisoners to the tune of The Beatles' "All You Need Is Love"]].

* Henry Townshend of ''SilentHill 4'' is one of the rare non-amnesiac cases; in fact, unlike many examples, he's actually ''trapped in his own room'', with the major mystery being the circumstances of his imprisonment. His front door is chained up and no one can hear him. The only way out is a hole in his bathroom, which leads him to a nightmarish mirror world populated by monsters: there are others trapped like this, but despite his best efforts, they all meet a gruesome end at the hands of the serial killer Walter Sullivan. [[spoiler: Eventually, it is revealed that Walter Sullivan killed himself in prison, [[ThanatosGambit but not before completing the first half of a grisly ritual]] [[AGodAmI that has turned him into a sociopathic demigod]]; he is in the process of completing his transformation through a second round of killings, and Henry and his love interest are marked for death unless they can stop him.]]

* Henry Townshend of ''SilentHill 4'' is one of the rare non-amnesiac cases; in fact, unlike many examples, he's actually ''trapped in his own room'', with the major mystery being the circumstances of his imprisonment. His front door is chained up and no one can hear him. The only way out is a hole in his bathroom, which leads him to a nightmarish mirror world populated by monsters: there are others trapped like this, but despite his best efforts, they all meet a gruesome end at the hands of the serial killer Walter Sullivan. [[spoiler: Eventually, it is revealed that Walter Sullivan killed himself in prison, [[XanatosFuneral but not before completing the first half of a grisly ritual]] [[AGodAmI that has turned him into a sociopathic demigod]]; he is in the process of completing his transformation through a second round of killings, and Henry and his love interest are marked for death unless they can stop him.]]