History Main / UnsafeHaven

You can't argue with that, you say to yourself, so you put your undying trust into this safe haven of sorts, perfectly relieved to know that there isn't a snowball's chance in ''Hell'' that anything's gonna happen to [[AllYourBaseAreBelongToUs OHWAITNO the]] BigBad [[AllYourBaseAreBelongToUs broke in and ruined everything.]]

Unfortunately, this "safe haven" was really a... well, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin unsafe haven]] -- a supposedly "safe place" that is either [[LexLuthorSecurity glaringly penetrable]] or [[HiddenInPlainSight right in plain sight]] [[EpicFail (or even both)]] that the BigBad or the hero wouldn't even have a problem finding it or breaking in if he/she were ''blind.'' Or had his/her hands tied. [[BeyondTheImpossible Or if he/she were blind]] ''[[BeyondTheImpossible and]]'' [[BeyondTheImpossible had his/her hands tied.]]

[[FridgeLogic One may wonder why]] anyone would bother using such terrible places for hiding/protection, but it is, nevertheless, quite an effective device to take advantage of to move the plot along, and it is also a commonly-used trope in fiction. It's likely to be of greater effect in lulling the audience into a false sense of security if the work in question is electronic or live-action -- perhaps the heroes really have made it to safety -- but, of course, there's [[UndeadHorseTrope no accounting]] for the savvy fans who [[NotSoFastBucko look at their watch]] or [[InterfaceSpoiler the inventory screen]], or the 500 pages left to go!

[[TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/UselessSanctuary_8380.jpg]]
[[caption-width:331:Told ya he's a jerk.]]

Unfortunately, this "safe haven" was really a...well, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin unsafe haven]]--a supposedly "safe place" that is either glaringly penetrable or [[HiddenInPlainSight right in plain sight]] [[EpicFail (or even both)]] that the BigBad or the hero wouldn't even have a problem finding it or breaking in if he/she were ''blind.'' Or had his/her hands tied. [[BeyondTheImpossible Or if he/she were blind]] ''[[BeyondTheImpossible and]]'' [[BeyondTheImpossible had his/her hands tied.]]

[[caption-width:331:It's not like the place was ''invaded'' or anything!]]

[[AC: ComicBooks]]
* [[XMen The Xavier Institute]] was meant to be a safe haven where young mutants could learn and develop their powers for the sake of peace between humans and mutants. I say "was" because the place was attacked so many times that the XMen eventually just gave up and moved to San Francisco. This solved nothing. Of course, the only place more dangerous for young mutants than the current residence of the XMen is the world outside of it.
** So its actually subverted, since being in the current residence is still safer than being outside it.

* The ''HalfLife'' games are a series of getting yourself to these... the Lambda Complex, Kleiner's Lab, Black Mesa East, and White Forest are all places you are striving to reach for their relative safety... until you get there.

You can't argue with that, you say to yourself, so you put your undying trust into this safe haven of sorts, perfectly relieved to know that there isn't a snowball's chance in ''Hell'' that anything's gonna happen to[[AllYourBaseAreBelongToUs OHWAITNO the]] BigBad [[AllYourBaseAreBelongToUs broke in and ruined everything.]]

* ''DungeonsAndDragons'' adventure I12 ''Egg of the Phoenix''. After the Forces of Evil steal the Egg from Doc's Island, the {{PC}}s manage to retrieve it. The Council of Northending has them take the Egg back to Doc's Island, where it is put in exactly the same place and with the same security as it had before. Not surprisingly, the Forces of Evil manage to steal it again almost immediately.

Contrast CardboardPrison, where instead of the place of detention being laughably easy to [[StormingTheCastle storm]] or find, it's laughably easy to ''escape''. Compare NeonSignHideout, when this trope is played for laughs and fails even more as a ''hide''-out. See also HiddenInPlainSight and RightUnderTheirNoses for when the heroes attempt to hide as close to the bad guys as possible, and DitchTheBodyguards for when the haven is safe, but the protectee refuses to stay.

* Nanking in ''TheCityOfLifeAndDeath''. The Safety Zone is repeatedly violated by the Japanese soldiers.

* The safe havens in ''AlanWake'' are generally, well, safe, being cones of light that drive off the Taken when they come toward him. Except that the havens are powered, and if the power goes out while you're standing there....

** The Death Eaters' meeting in chapter 1 of Deathly Hallows basically consists of Voldemort saying "I think I'd like to infiltrate and take over the headquarters of the magical government." He succeeds almost immediately after, on his first attemtp.

* The [[HalfLife]] games are a series of getting yourself to these... the Lambda Complex, Kleiner's Lab, Black Mesa East, and White Forest are all places you are striving to reach for their relative safety... until you get there.

So you have this [[EverythingsBetterWithPrincesses princess]]/person/[[MacGuffin item]]/whatever of great importance that you totally need to keep hidden or protected from the bad guys (or maybe even the good guys). Or maybe you need to go into hiding for a while and bide your time before you kick your enemy's big, flabby tushy. Well, no problem! There's supposed to be this place down the street that's said to be very safe from outsiders. Granted, it ''is'' only a few dozen meters from where enemy {{Mooks}} go on [[VillainsOutShopping coffee break]], but come on, [[HiddenInPlainSight no one will suspect a thing.]] [[BlatantLies Perfectly safe!]]

Unfortunately, this "safe haven" was really a...well, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin unsafe haven]]--a supposedly "safe place" that is either glaringly penetrable or right in plain sight [[EpicFail (or even both)]] that the BigBad or the hero wouldn't even have a problem finding it or breaking in if he/she were ''blind.'' Or had his/her hands tied. [[BeyondTheImpossible Or if he/she were blind]] ''[[BeyondTheImpossible and]]'' [[BeyondTheImpossible had his/her hands tied.]]

[[FridgeLogic One may wonder why anyone would bother using such terrible places for hiding/protection]], but it is, nevertheless, quite an effective device to take advantage of to move the plot along, and it is also a commonly-used trope in fiction. It's likely to be of greater effect in lulling the audience into a false sense of security if the work in question is electronic or live-action -- perhaps the heroes really have made it to safety -- but, of course, there's [[UndeadHorseTrope no accounting]] for the savvy fans who [[NotSoFastBucko look at their watch]] or [[InterfaceSpoiler the inventory screen]], or the 500 pages left to go!

Contrast CardboardPrison, where instead of the place of detention being laughably easy to [[StormingTheCastle storm]] or find, it's laughably easy to ''escape''. Compare NeonSignHideout for when this trope is played for laughs and fails even more as a ''hide''-out; RightUnderTheirNoses when the heroes attempt to hide as close to the bad guys as possible; and DitchTheBodyguards for when the haven is safe, but the protectee refuses to stay.

Contrast CardboardPrison, where instead of the place of detention being laughably easy to [[StormingTheCastle storm]] or find, it's laughably easy to ''escape''. Compare NeonSignHideout when this trope is being played for laughs and fails even more as a ''hide''-out, and DitchTheBodyguards for when the haven is safe, but the protectee refuses to stay.

Contrast CardboardPrison, where instead of the place of detention being laughably easy to [[StormingTheCastle storm]] or find, it's laughably easy to ''escape''. Compare NeonSignHideout when this trope is being played for laughs and fails even more as a ''hide''-out.