History Main / TreasureRoom

** ''Literature/TheVoyageOfTheDawnTreader'': When Eusatce stumbles into a dragon’s cave, the narrative makes it clear that he has no idea what to expect (never read the right books), and is stunned at the mounds of gold and treasure the beast was using as a bed.

* ''Franchise/TolkiensLegendarium'':
** Smaug's treasure hoard from ''Literature/TheHobbit''.
** Various Elves in ''Literature/TheSilmarillion'' also have treasure rooms, notably the vaults that Fëanor and later Thingol keep their Silmaril(s) in. Both end up ransacked by the end, the first by Morgoth and the second by [[ElvesVsDwarves dwarves]].
* There's a huge treasure chamber in Creator/RudyardKipling's ''Literature/TheSecondJungleBook'' containing all the gold, jewels and precious artifacts of a now-vanished dynasty. Subverted in that the only person ever to rediscover it is Mowgli, and since he was RaisedByWolves he [[WorthlessYellowRocks doesn't want any of it]]. (Well, except for one shiny object, and that ends up causing more trouble than it's worth.)
* In Creator/RobertEHoward's ''Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian'' stories, these feature in "Literature/TheTowerOfTheElephant", "Literature/QueenOfTheBlackCoast", and "Literature/BlackColossus".
* In ''Literature/TheDreamsideRoad'', Sucora Cloud hid her film library under her antique shop. While this is treasure only to her niece and heir, Enoa, this room also contains Sucora’s key to [[ArchaeologicalArmsRace the Dreamside Road artifact trove]].
* The Lestranges' vault in Gringotts as seen in ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows''. Somewhat more so after the PowerTrio's break-in, due to the triggering of the replicating curse.
* One of these appears in ''Literature/MyNameIsRed''. In this case, it is the personal art treasury of Sultan Murat III, containing the most beautiful objects in the Ottoman Empire. One elderly artist who visits it sees it as akin to nirvana, surrounded as he is with remnants of (what he sees as) a better era. In truth, however, the treasury is dusty and neglected, showing how little the sultan really cares.
* The [[HiddenSupplies Labyrinth]] in ''Literature/{{Pharaoh}}'' holds treasure for Egypt's darkest hour. Don't try to rob it, you'll [[TempleOfDoom get lost and starve]].
* The cave of the eponymous band of bandits in ''Literature/AliBabaAndTheFortyThieves''.

* Subverted in ''Literature/TheRedemptionOfAlthalus''. Althalus hears of the fabulous treasure room of the clan chief Gosti Big Belly, so he goes to rob it. Upon breaking in, he finds out that the majority of the money kept inside is just low-value copper coins, not the gold and silver he was expecting. Later on, Emmy guides him to a room with a hidden basement full of a truly absurd number of gold bricks.
* ''Literature/GentlemanBastard'': The Sinspire luxury casino stores its vast riches in plain sight... on display within a huge tube of [[MadeOfIndestructium utterly indestructible]] Elderglass that runs up the centre of the building. The ''entrance'' to the vault, however, is one of the most closely guarded locations in the setting.

* The ''Literature/VorkosiganSaga'': The climax of ''Captain Vorpatril's Alliance'' involves the characters attempting to recover the contents of an old bunker [[spoiler:hidden directly under [=ImpSec=] headquarters]] filled with a fortune in gold coins, an even larger fortune in antiques and artwork, and a trove of absolutely priceless historical documents, all collectively worth ''billions'' of Barrayaran marks.

* ''Film/NationalTreasure'': The protagonists find the ancient treasure of the Templars, filling a vast underground cavern. Although this is an example where the treasure is not lost forever, but the protagonists only receive a finder's fee of 1% (still worth a fortune).

* The film ''Film/MackennasGold'' had a treasure valley filled with huge gold nuggets.
* The Cave of Wonders in ''WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}}''. In a twist, the treasure is not what anyone goes into the cave for, and is in fact a [[SchmuckBait test of greed]]: "Touch ''nothing'' but the [[GenieInABottle lamp]]!" [[spoiler:When Abu does touch a piece of the treasure, the entire cave erupts in lava and fire, melting and consuming the treasure and trying to do the same to the heroes.]]
* In ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanTheCurseOfTheBlackPearl'', the pirates have amassed a huge amount of treasure in their island cave that they've horded while searching for the remaining cursed gold coins. Because the curse prevented them from feeling any pleasure, they had no reason to spend any of it (at least until they'd managed to break the curse).
* Subverted in the ''Film/RichieRich'' movie. The villain thinks the Rich family vault is one of these, but when he finally breaks into it he finds nothing but family photographs and other such keepsakes. [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome The money is in the bank and other investments.]]
* The gold depository at Fort Knox, in ''Film/{{Goldfinger}}''. The look on Goldfinger's face when he sees all that gold in piles is wonderful. In the film he plans on irradiating all that gold. In [[Literature/{{Goldfinger}} the book]], he really does plan on trucking it away.
* In ''Film/{{The Count of Monte Cristo|2002}}'', a map leads Edmund Dantes to a hidden vault on that island hiding the centuries old Roman treasure entrusted to his late mentor.
* ''Film/TheHobbitTheDesolationOfSmaug''. Obviously overlaps with DragonHoard. Creator/PeterJackson has absolutely ''ruined'' this trope for any future director by showing us the most humongous treasure vault ever seen on screen. In reality it probably contains far more gold and jewels than have ever existed on Earth.

* The ''Literature/VorkosiganSaga'': The climax of ''Captain Vorpatril's Alliance'' involves the characters attempting to recover the contents of an old bunker [[spoiler:hidden directly under [=ImpSec=] headquarters]] filled with a fortune in gold coins, an even larger fortune in antiques and artwork, and a trove of absolutely pricess historical documents, all collectively worth ''billions'' of Barrayaran marks.

* ClassicalMythology: The story of King Midas starts with Midas cavorting in his own cave filled with all the gold he's taken from everyone else in his kingdom.

* The story of "Literature/{{King Midas}}" starts with Midas cavorting in his own cave filled with all the gold he's taken from everyone else in his kingdom.

* Smaug's treasure hoard from ''Literature/TheHobbit''. Various Elves in ''Literature/TheSilmarillion'' also have treasure rooms, notably the vaults that Fëanor and later Thingol keep their Silmaril(s) in. Both end up ransacked by the end, the first by Morgoth and the second by [[ElvesVsDwarves dwarves]].

* The [[HiddenSupplies Labirynth]] in ''Literature/{{Pharaoh}}'' holds treasure for Egypt's darkest hour. Don't try to rob it, you'll [[TempleOfDoom get lost and starve]].

-->He had expected to find naught save outer gloom in this robbers’ den, and he was surprised to see the whole room filled with bales of all manner stuffs, and heaped up from sole to ceiling with camel-loads of silks and brocades and embroidered cloths and mounds on mounds of vari-coloured carpetings; besides which he espied coins golden and silvern without measure or account, some piled upon the ground and others bound in leathern bags and sacks.

* London, Zurich, and Hong Kong also have massive stores of gold but the exact amount is less certain than Fort Knox. Though the Federal Reserve Bank of New York actually holds a larger reserve, but for numerous clients.

* The treasure of the pharaoh Tutankhamun (AKA King Tut), found in his tomb in the Valley of the Kings.
** Which, considering he was very much a lesser pharaoh[[note]]or maybe not; [[DatedHistory More recent research has determined]] that if nothing else, he held the throne during a rather eventful period for the kingdom[[/note]] who died young, was given a hasty burial in a tomb not even intended for a pharaoh, and intentionally forgotten by Egyptians, this should give you some idea of the kind of ''real'' hoards that were originally buried with the more important pharaohs, and then plundered long before modern times.

A staple of {{role playing game}}s, video games, movies, TV, and wherever stories are told. A big room full of treasure... money, gold and jewels. Usually not organized very well, it's all just piled in together like an episode of ''Hoarders: Filthy Rich Edition''. Often the McGuffin. Often trapped or guarded by a monstrous beast, [[DragonHoard most frequently a dragon]]. Often a cause of LaserGuidedKarma due to all the DeathByMaterialism. Sometimes TheHero might get all of it, but generally they only manage a choice piece or two, if anything. In many scenarios there will be some sort of cave-in, massive flood, or other such death trap which will inevitably chase the hero/heroes out. And since it would take a few days or maybe a week to dig it back out, the treasure is clearly lost forever. Apparently adventurers have never heard of modern excavation equipment.

* In ''[[VideoGame/AstekaIITemploDelSol Tombs & Treasure]]'', you use a mosaic tile within ''El Castillo'' Pyramid to open up a wall, revealing an immense treasure room. This being a puzzle game, you have no use for the stacks of gold or various exotic jars, and instead you collect the items which will help you further investigate the ruins of Chichen Itza. There's also an oddly headless statue smack in the middle of the room. [[spoiler:Returning later to put the head back in place will open a stairway within the room, revealing what's arguably the ''true'' treasure -- magic potions which can shrink and enlarge the drinker.]]

*** ''City State of the Invincible Overlord'', "Revised Guide to the City State". The treasury room of the Hell-Bridge Temple is secured by a triple-locked iron door. The mundane part of the treasure consists of 11,465 gold pieces worth of coins, 16 pieces of jewelry, 32 gems, a map to the TreasureRoom of the main temple of Thoth, two walkie-talkies (with instructions) and a gold helm worth 3200 gold pieces. The treasure's magic items are a +2 sword with a golden scabbard, an Elven Cloak, a Necklace of Prayer Beads, a potion of Polymorph Self, and a Wand of Illusion.

A staple of {{role playing game}}s, video games, movies, TV, and wherever stories are told. A big room full of treasure... money, gold and jewels. Usually not organized very well, it's all just piled in together like an episode of ''Hoarders: Filthy Rich Edition''. Often the McGuffin. Often trapped or guarded by a monstrous beast, [[DragonHoard most frequently a dragon]]. Often a cause of LaserGuidedKarma due to all the DeathByMaterialism. Sometimes TheHero might get all of it, but generally they only manage a choice piece or two, if anything. In many scenarios there will be some sort of cave-in, massive flood, or other such death trap which will inevitably chase the hero/heroes out. And since it would only take a few days or maybe a week to dig it back out, the treasure is clearly lost forever. Apparently adventurers have never heard of modern excavation equipment.

* Subverted in the ''Film/RichieRich'' movie. The villain thinks the Rich family vault is one of these, but when he finally breaks into it he finds nothing but family photographs and other such keepsakes. [[RealityEnsues The money is in the bank and other investments.]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Minecraft}}'''s Ocean Monuments--large underwater maze-like structures--each have a room with a concealed 2x2 cube of gold (the equivalent of 72 blocks of gold ore). Generally you have to defeat its 3 "Elder Guardians" before collecting the gold, unless you want to spend ages battling their mining-speed debuff. [[RealityEnsues Gold isn't particularly useful in this game]], though, so the more valuable treasure room (usually) found in monuments is filled with piles of bright yellow... [[CommonplaceRare sponges]].

* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1942'': While the other four members of Villainy, Inc. are trying to overthrow the Amazons and find themselves fighting not only the Amazons but all the other prisoners of Reformation Island, Queen Clea, Giganta, Zara and Hypnota run for the royal treasure vault, take everything they can pick up and steal a jet plane and take off. All four, and all the loot, have been recaptured and returned by the end of the next day.

*** Issue #45 adventure "Prism Keep". The {{villain}} Irinia's treasury is adjacent to her personal chambers. It contains 3,450 gold pieces worth of coins, 1,040 gold pieces worth of gems, a spell scroll with two spells on it and eight Potions of Flying.