History Main / TrollBridge

* [[TropeNamer The troll in the story]] of "Literature/TheThreeBillyGoatsGruff" threatens to eat the goats that cross the bridge he lives under. The fairy tale might as well be the reason why trolls are often portrayed as obstacles in bridges, since it was between the first introductions of these beings to the British mass public.

** A Troll also has a legitimate job as a toll taker of a bridge into Lancre. It's mentioned that people crossing the bridge pay a certain amount to cross, and 10,000 gold pieces to bring a billy goat across. A footnote mentions, "Trolls may have been slow, [[Literature/TheThreeBillyGoatsGruff but they didn't forget in a hurry either]]."

* A special event in ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 2}}'' parodies the Monty Python scene above, in which TheChosenOne's path is blocked by a bridgekeeper, who will only let him pass if he answers three questions. If he is unable to answer the questions correctly, he will [[CriticalExistenceFailure spontaneously die.]] If he answers all three correctly, he is allowed to pass. However, if he answers the final question with a question, the bridgekeeper himself will be unable to answer, and thus will die (and drop his robes, which are equal to Combat Armor).

->''I'm the grumpy old troll who lives under the briiiiiidge'' (Hey!)\\
''I'm the grumpy old troll who lives under the briiiiiidge'' (Who's there?)\\

All you have to do is thiiiiiiis\\

->''"I'm the grumpy old troll who lives under the briiiiiidge\\
I'm the grumpy old troll who lives under the briiiiiidge\\
Who's there?\\
If you wanna come over\\

Solve my riddle!"''

* Parodied, minus the bridge, in "The Nightman Cometh" episode of ''Series/ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphia''.

* An animated segment on ''Series/SesameStreet'' went like this: "STOP!" [[DramaticThunder *thunder*]] [[http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/The_Bridgekeeper "I am The Bridgekeeper!"]] He requires crossers to answer questions about shapes (and sometimes to play a tune) before they can pass him and cross.
** There were several versions of the segment and the exact rule for crossing varied, but as mentioned it generally involved shapes in some way. In one segment, when a man arrives at the bridge he's told that the rule is "any circles you carry today must be eaten or thrown away". As it turns out, the man ''does'' have several circles (cookies, a pizza, a section of watermelon) in his bag. After the man eats these, the Bridgekeeper tells him he may cross, but the man doesn't want to cross ... [[spoiler:he only came to deliver the Bridgekeeper's groceries]].
* Appeared in ''Series/NorthernExposure'' in the episode when Fleischman leaves the show.

* On ''Series/LostGirl'', a between-seasons webisode has Kenzi searching for a druid and being stopped on a bridge by a short, scrawny guy who demands that she pay a toll. Turns out the guy was an internet troll but got demoted to bridge duty as punishment. However, when Kenzi and her companion try to ignore the troll and cross the bridge without payment, the troll attacks and beats them up. Despite his puny appearance, he is still a troll and has incredible strength. In the end Kenzi's companion agrees to take over the troll's bridge duty for a month so Kenzi can pass unmolested.
* ''Series/{{Merlin|2008}}'' had something like this, with Creator/WarwickDavis playing the bridge-keeper, who simply wanted to impart some cryptic advice before letting Arthur, Merlin, and Gwaine carry on their way.

* In a promotional video for ''VideoGame/GodOfWarPS4'', a troll attacks Kratos and Atreus when they pass above the bridge he was under. In the game itself, the troll is fought in a different area instead, but if Kratos and Atreus go under that bridge, Atreus comments he was expecting to see a troll there, alluding to both the ad and the archetype.
* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'', Link must joust a King Bublin on The Eldin Bridge on horseback.
* That one puzzle in ''VideoGame/TheSecretOfMonkeyIsland''. [[spoiler:The Troll is George Lucas in a Mask, you need to feed him a red herring to pass.]]

* In ''VideoGame/MySims Kingdom'', Spookane resident Yuki stops you from crossing unless you bring her "shinies", found in the nearby ruins. If you don't, she'll bite your face! Okay, not really, but she really wants to!

* In ''VideoGame/KingsQuestI'' the player must get onto an island accessible by three bridges, all of which are guarded by a troll. Options are giving it treasure, or re-enacting "The Three Billy Goats Gruff" by coaxing a friendly goat to the scene.
** In ''VideoGame/KingsQuestVIIThePrincelessBride'', there are no riddles or tests to solve - the only way to get past the very ''un''friendly troll in front of the crystal dragon's cave is to knock him off the bridge.

* ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIVOblivion'' references this for GallowsHumor in an EasterEgg: A dead troll in the river underneath one remote bridge carries a [[GoodbyeCruelWorld suicide note]] bemoaning itself as a failure because "nobody pay brijj tole".
* ''VideoGame/DivinityOriginalSinII'': Reaper's Coast has two ''rival'' trolls who charge a cash fee to cross their respective bridges, each of whom would like you to kill the other. You can argue to one that it's illegally profiting from public property, but [[GeniusBruiser it will retort]] that the bridge clearly hasn't been maintained at all by the State and is open to adverse possession.
-->'''Spirit of a Squashed Traveler:''' Shoulda paid... shoulda paid... always pay... Momma said... can't fool a troll... gotta pay the toll... always pay... shoulda paid...
* ''VideoGame/BaldursGate'': Two Ogrillons demand a toll for you to cross the bridge leading to the gnoll stronghold. [[spoiler: Paying the toll will lead them to attack, on the grounds that if you were willing to fork over that much money without haggling, there's probably a lot more where that came from. Then again, one of the Ogrillons carries the immensely powerful Gauntlets of Dexterity, so this is a desirable result.]]