History Main / TimeLoopTrap

* In ''Film/DoctorStrange2016'', the main villain is ultimately defeated this way; as an EldritchAbomination from [[PlaceBeyondTime beyond time itself]], Dormammu has no concept of time which works against him when the film's titular protagonist traps him in a GroundhogDayLoop: because he has no concept of time, he has a RippleEffectProofMemory ''and'' has no idea how to counter the GroundhogDayLoop. He can keep killing Doctor Strange, over and over every loop, remembering every death, yet also knowing each death is meaningless because the loop keeps on repeating until he agrees to GetOut

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]

-->'''Dormammu''': You will ''never'' win!
-->'''Doctor Strange''': No... but I can lose. Again, and again, and again, and again forever... And that makes you my prisoner.

* In Literature/{{Worm}}, this is Gray Boy's power. Not only can he trap his opponents in a loop running over a few seconds each time - loops which will last, according to WordOfGod, for 'just' a few thousand years - but any torture he chooses to inflict on the victims will build up from loop to loop. This makes him easily the most feared member of [[spoiler:the Slaughterhouse Nine, to the point where [[KnifeNut Jack Slash]] is only willing to clone one of Gray Boy out of fear of losing control of him.]]
* In Literature/{{The Dark Tower}}, it is revealed that [[spoiler:Roland]] is stuck in one of these, and is doomed to repeat [[spoiler:his quest for the Dark Tower]] forever. However, the narration offers a glimmer of hope by suggesting "this time will be different."

** At the end of "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS8E3TheClawsOfAxos The Claws of Axos]]", the Doctor permanently traps the malevolent alien entity Axos in a time loop.
** In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS15E3ImageOfTheFendahl Image of the Fendahl]]", it's revealed that the Time Lords placed the lost fifth planet of Earth's solar system in a time loop to prevent [[EldritchAbomination the Fendahl]] from escaping from it. It didn't work.
** In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS16E6TheArmageddonFactor The Armageddon Factor]]", the Doctor uses the partially-completed Key to Time to trap the Marshal of Atrios' command vessel in a time loop, to stop him from launching a nuclear attack on the planet Zeos.
** In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS18E2Meglos Meglos]]", the titular villain traps the Doctor and Romana in a time loop referred to as a "chronic hysteresis". Since they're both Time Lords, they break out of it in minutes.

* In ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'' the plot of Summer 2018 event turns out to be this. There's a [[GroundhogDayLoop Groundhog Day Loop]] that occurs every 7 days in UsefulNotes/{{Hawaii}}, which traps everyone, including our protagonist, within it. Near the end of the event's story, it's revealed that the culprit was BB, who borrowed powers from Nyarlathotep in order to set this all up. She did so in order give everyone, and especially our protagonist, eternal bliss.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

Sometimes a prison isn't enough. Sometimes a villain or hero is so powerful that they that not even death is a solution for their enemies. So what is there to do? Trap them in time. This is when a character is trapped inside of a time loop. They enter the loop, only to end up back in time at the beginning of the loop all over again, usually without any memory of the loop having taken place.

** In ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureVentoAureo'', this is the method to [[spoiler:dispose the BigBad Diavolo]]

** In ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureDiamondIsUnbreakable'', Bites the Dust works this way, looping the victim back in time when it is mentioned.

-->'''Dormammum''': You will ''never'' win!

* In Literature/{{The Dark Tower}}, it is revealed that [[spoiler:Roland]] is stuck in one of these, and is doomed to repeat [[spoiler:his quest for the Dark Tower]] forever. However, the narration offers a glimmer of hope by suggesting "this time will be different."

** In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS18E2Meglos Meglos]]", the titular villain traps the Doctor and Romana in a time loop referred to as a "chronic hysteresis".

* In ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'' the plot of Summer 2018 event turns out to be this. There's a [[GroundhogDayLoop Groundhog Day Loop]] that occurs every 7 days in Hawaii, which traps everyone, including our protagonist, within it. Near the end of the event's story, it's revealed that the culprit was BB, who borrowed powers from Nyarlathotep in order to set this all up. She did so in order give everyone, and especially our protagonist, eternal bliss.

* In Season 16 of ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'', the main antagonist of the season, Chrovos, is shown to be imprisoned inside a black hole, sent there by his creations, the Cosmic Powers. In season 17, one of the powers, Genkins, steals Chrovos' power and travels back to the beginning of the universe to gain power over the ages. However, he overtime [[TheFogOfAges forgets who he is]] and becomes Chrovos himself, creating the Cosmic Powers, including Genkins, who then imprison him.

* The final arc villain of ''WesternAnimation/Ben10Omniverse'', Maltruant, was defeated at the beginning of the universe, with three parts of himself key to his power removed and hidden. Over the millenia, Maltruant puts himself back together and eventually decides to go back in time to the beginning of the universe to try and reshape it in his image. He is then defeated by Ben and Rook, with Paradox disassembling him, thus starting the loop over again.
* In ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'', the one-shot villain Chronos, a time traveling thief who [[TimeCrash nearly destroys time]] in his debut episode, is eventually dealt with in this fashion by Batman. This is done by reprogramming his time machine to bring him back to a few seconds before he used it, thus keeping him ([[AssholeVictim and his wife]]) in an eternal loop.

-->-- ''Film/DoctorStrange''

* ''Manga''JojosBizarreAdventure'':

-->'''Doctor Strange''': No... but I can lose. Again, and again, and again forever... And that makes you my prisoner.

-->'''Doctor Strange''': No... but I can keep losing. Again, and again, and again forever... And that makes you my prisoner.

* In ''Film/DoctorStrange2016'', the main villain is ultimately defeated this way; as an EldritchAbomination from [[PlaceBeyondTime beyond time itself]], Dormammu has no concept of time, which works against him when the film's titular protagonist traps him in a GroundhogDayLoop, Because he has no concept of time, he has a RippleEffectProofMemory ''and'' has no idea how to counter it. He can keep killing Doctor Strange, over and over every loop, bearing withness to each and every death... but the loop keeps on repeating until he agrees to GetOut

* In ''Film/DoctorStrange2016'', the main villain is ultimately defeated this way; as an EldritchAbomination from [[PlaceBeyondTime beyond time itself]], Dormammu has no concept of time, and when the film's titular protagonist traps him in a GroundhogDayLoop, Dormammu has no idea how to counter it. He can keep killing Doctor Strange, over and over every loop... but the loop keeps on repeating until he agrees to GetOut

-->-- ''Film/DoctorStrange

-->'''Dormammu:''' You cannot do this forever.\\

-->'''Dormammu:''' You cannot do this forever.\\
'''Doctor Strange:''' Actually I can. This is how things are now! You and me, trapped in this moment, ''endlessly''.

* In ''Film/DoctorStrange'', the main villain is ultimately defeated this way; as an EldritchAbomination from [[PlaceBeyondTime beyond time itself]], Dormammu has no concept of time, and when the film's titular protagonist traps him in a GroundhogDayLoop, Dormammu has no idea how to counter it. He can keep killing Doctor Strange, over and over every loop... but the loop keeps on repeating until he agrees to GetOut

[[AC:Anime & Manga]]

[[AC:Film — Live-Action]]
* In ''Film/DoctorStrange'', the main villain is ultimately defeated this way; as an EldritchAbomination from [[PlaceBeyondTime beyond time itself]], Dormammu has no concept of time, and when the film's titular protagonist traps him in a GroundhogDayLoop, Dormammu has no idea how to counter it. He can keep killing Doctor Strange, over and over every loop.. but the loop keeps on repeating until he agrees to GetOut

[[AC:Live-Action TV]]

** At the end of [[Recap/DoctorWhoS8E3TheClawsOfAxos "The Claws of Axos"]], the Doctor permanently traps the malevolent alien entity Axos in a time loop.
** In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS15E3ImageOfTheFendahl "Image of the Fendahl"]], it's revealed that the Time Lords placed the lost fifth planet of Earth's solar system in a time loop to prevent [[EldritchAbomination the Fendahl]] from escaping from it. It didn't work.
** In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS16E6TheArmageddonFactor "The Armageddon Factor"]], the Doctor uses the partially-completed Key to Time to trap the Marshal of Atrios' command vessel in a time loop, to stop him from launching a nuclear attack on the planet Zeos.
** In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS18E2Meglos "Meglos"]], the titular villain traps the Doctor and Romana in a time loop referred to as a "chronic hysteresis".

[[AC:Video Games]]

[[AC:Visual Novels]]

[[AC:Web Animation]]

[[AC:Webcomics]]

[[AC:Western Animation]]

* In the French-German TV serie ''Find me in Paris'', the Time Collectors trap Henri's father in a time loop, where he keeps dropping an apple from his desk and picking it up again and again and again.

Sometimes a prison isn't enough. Sometimes a villain or hero is so powerful that they that not even death is a solution for their enemies. So what is there to do? Trap them in time. This is when a character is trapped inside of a time loop, they enter the loop, only to end up back in time at the beginning of the loop all over again, usually without any memory of the loop having taken place.
Subtrope of StableTimeLoop. Compare to SealedEvilInADuel.

[[AC: Anime & Manga]]

[[AC: Film -- Live-Action]]

--> '''Dormammu:''' You cannot do this forever.
--> '''Doctor Strange:''' Actually I can. This is how things are now! You and me, trapped in this moment, ''endlessly''.

[[AC: Live-Action Television]]
* A version of this occurs in season 3 of ''Series/TheFlash2014'', where the main antagonist of the season, Savitar kills Barry's love interest, Iris. This causes Barry to create time remnants in an attempt to defeat Savitar, but it fails. The sole surviving time remnant, shunned by Team Flash for not being the original Barry, goes insane and travels back in time to become Savitar. Eventually, Barry traps Savitar inside of the Speed Force, and the loop begins again, with Savitar repeatedly getting imprisoned.

** At the end of "The Claws of Axos", the Doctor permanently traps the malevolent alien entity Axos in a time loop.
** In "Image of the Fendahl", it's revealed that the Time Lords placed the lost fifth planet of Earth's solar system in a time loop to prevent [[EldritchAbomination Eldritch Abomination]] the Fendahl from escaping from it. It didn't work.
** In "The Armageddon Factor", the Doctor uses the partially-completed Key to Time to trap the Marshal of Atrios's command vessel in a time loop, to stop him from launching a nuclear attack on the planet Zeos.
** In "Meglos", the titular villain traps the Doctor and Romana in a time loop referred to as a "chronic hysteresis".
* This is how [[{{Hell}} Hell]] works in the series ''Series/Lucifer2016''. When someone enters Hell, they are placed in a torturous scenario (Usually related to how they died), and once the scenario runs through, the loop starts over again, with a lot of the inhabitants not even consciously remembering the loop. This is also one of the rare examples of this trope where escape is possible, with the prisoner only having to forgive themselves for what they've done in their life. Though, according to [[{{Satan}} Lucifer]], no one has ever done this during his tenure.
* In the French-German TV serie Find me in Paris, the Time Collectors trap Henri's father in a time loop, where he keeps dropping an apple from his desk and picking it up again and again and again.

[[AC: Video Game]]

[[AC: Visual Novel]]

[[AC: Web Animation]]

[[AC: Web Comics]]
* ''WebComic/TheAdventuresOfDrMcNinja:'' In "Doc Gets Rad", Doctor [=McNinja=] defeats Sparklelord by throwing him into a time portal, which sends him back to the moment he first came to Earth, causing him to constantly relive that portion of his life over and over. [[spoiler:However, in "The End, Part 1", Doc needs Sparklelord's help to defeat King Radical, so he uses a magical summoning device to free Sparklelord from the time loop.]]

[[AC: Western Animation]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'', the one-shot villain Chronos, a time traveling thief who [[TimeCrash nearly destroys time]] in his debut episode, is eventually dealt with in this fashion by Batman. This is done by reprogramming his time machine to bring him back to a few seconds before he used it, thus keeping him ([[AssholeVictim and his wife]]) in an eternal loop.