History Main / TimeLoopTrap

* The villain of ''Literature/TheStainlessSteelRatSavesTheWorld'' is stuck in one, Ironically, the Special Corps have brought this about without meaning to, provoking his violent hatred of them.

* In ''Literature/{{The Dark Tower|2004}}'', 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 VisualNovel/Remember11, it turns out that the entire plot circling back and forth between a few days in 2011 and a few days in 2012 was all an elaborate trap by the original Satoru to trap the audience in one of these as revenge. To him, the audience is essentially a multidimensional being that can wander freely through time and space and [[RealityWarper change reality wantonly through their understanding of it]].

* In ''Series/{{Loki}}'', Mobius puts Loki into one - endlessly looping him through repeatedly getting beaten up by an angry Lady Sif - when he thinks Loki is messing with him. Well, more than is usual for a Loki, at any rate.

* This is how {{Hell}} works in ''Series/{{Lucifer|2016}}''. 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. [[spoiler:In the finale, Lucifer turns this into therapy with the goal of eventually rehabilitating everyone in Hell]].

* This is how {{Hell}} works in ''Series/{{Lucifer|2016}}''. 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. [[spoiler: In the finale, Lucifer turns this into therapy with the goal of eventually rehabilitating everyone in Hell]].

* ''VideoGame/Destiny2: Forsaken'' sees this happening in the Dreaming City, following the canonical events of the "Last Wish" raid. [[spoiler: The death of the [[JerkassGenie last]] [[OurDragonsAreDifferent Ahamkara]], [[BigBad Riven]] triggers a curse orchestrated by Savathûn. Savathûn wants to break into the [[EldritchLocation Distributary]], where the accelerated timestream will allow her to supercharge her strength by slaughtering everyone there. The loop resets whenever the [[PlayerCharacter Guardians]] kill her daughter, Dul Incaru. What makes it more horrifying for everyone is that ''everyone'' in the Dreaming City is aware of the loop, but are unable to ''not'' act the same way they did in previous loops, and they can't warn people of ambushes or their impending deaths. Only the Guardians are capable of doing anything different, but thus far haven't been able to break the loop.]]
* In ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas Old World Blues'', TheReveal is that the supposed BigBad Dr. Mobius was a WellIntentionedExtremist who did this to his former MadScientist friends in order to prevent them from wreaking havoc on [[AfterTheEnd what was left of the world]] without harming them. Their mental patterns were on a loop, so they were barely aware of what they were really doing (until Elijah, Christine, Ulysses, and [[NiceJobBreakingItHero you]] showed up). They don't remember the outside world except in the vaguest sense, and they continuously do the same experiments over and over, learning nothing from them. In fact, to reinforce it the [[MeaningfulName new names]] Mobius gave them deliberately have to do with infinite loops and endless repetition. A 0 (a loop), an 8 (a sideways infinity symbol), Klein (as in a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klein_bottle Klein bottle]]), Mobius (as in a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobius_strip Möbius strip]]), Borous (short for [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oroborous Ouroboros]], the snake that eats its own tail - though you can point out that it is spelled incorrectly), and Dala (short for [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandala Mandala]], a circular geometric pattern).

* In ''Manga/ChainsawMan'', the Eternity Devil has the power to turn any area into an [[EldritchLocation endless loop]] and also [[TimeStandsStill loop the time around it]] [[YearInsideHourOutside to remove any possibility of outside interference]].

* ''WesternAnimation/DCShowcaseConstantineTheHouseOfMystery''. Because he helped the Flash create a new Flashpoint, The Spectre consigns John Constantine to eternity in the House of Mystery, where he sees his friends as demonic version of themselves who kill him over and over for ''centuries. [[spoiler:The irony is the House of Mystery was meant to be a LotusEaterMachine where Constantine could live forever with his loved ones, safe from those who mean him harm, but his guilt and self-loathing turned it into a SelfInflictedHell.]]

* 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 Franchise/{{Batman}}. This is done by reprogramming his TimeMachine to bring him back to a few seconds before he used it, thus keeping him ([[AssholeVictim and his wife]]) in an eternal loop.

* 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, over time [[TheFogOfAges he forgets who he is]] and becomes Chrovos himself, creating the Cosmic Powers, including Genkins, who then imprison him.

* 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 Franchise/{{Batman}}. This is done by reprogramming his TimeMachine to bring him back to a few seconds before he used it, thus keeping him ([[AssholeVictim and his wife]]) in an eternal loop.

* 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.]]

* This is how {{Hell}} works in ''Series/{{Lucifer|2016}}''. 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.

* ''Your Future Self'' places the main character and his future self in a time loop. The younger version is instructed to convince the future version that what was done is wrong, and has to build a conversational rapport to be convincing. Once the future self feels the guilt of the crime, you're told that you'll leave the time loop.

* In ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', [[AloofBigBrother Uchiha Itachi]] places [[BetaTestBaddie Kabuto Yakushi]] in one of these through the technique of Izanami, forcing him to relive their battle for all eternity until he can come to terms with his mistakes.

** In ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureVentoAureo'', this is the method to [[spoiler:dispose the BigBad Diavolo, forcing him to die over and over again in different ways for all eternity without even the escape of death.]]

** "[[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.