Line #68 Main/SecretPath


1	[[quoteright:259:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/secret_passage.jpg]]
2	->''"We will take you on safe paths, through the mist. Come Hobbits come! We move quickly. I found it, I did. A way through the marshes. Orcs don't use it. Orcs don't know it. They go round for miles and miles."''
3	-->-- '''Gollum''', ''Film/TheLordOfTheRingsTheTwoTowers''
4
5	Suppose there's somewhere you need to go, but getting there could be difficult or dangerous. Maybe you have to get into a walled city, castle, or SupervillainLair, but the entrance is guarded by armed soldiers, monsters or worse. Maybe you have to cross a minefield or an uncharted [[BubblegloopSwamp deadly swamp]] where one wrong step could [[BottomlessPit drop you into a pit]] from which you would never return. Maybe you've gotten [[TheInfiltration into the enemy base]] and need to go to the control room, but you suspect that the main hallway with signs saying "control room this way" has more [[InsecuritySystem security cameras]] than all the other hallways combined. Maybe there's a range of [[WalkIntoMordor mountains you need to cross]], but your map doesn't show any pass nearby. Maybe you just need to go from one town to another, but you're a widely recognizable fugitive and don't want to be seen by other travelers on the road between them. Whatever the reason, there's somewhere you have to go, and obvious ways to get there either don't exist, would take too long, or [[RightUnderTheirNoses would be near-suicide to use]]. If only there were some special route that's not widely known, one that could get you where you need to go while bypassing many of the obstacles in the way...
6
7	What you need is a Secret Path. This is a passageway that not everyone knows about that can be used to get somewhere that is difficult to reach or to go somewhere without being noticed. Sometimes a local guide will be knowledgeable about paths that outsiders are unfamiliar with.
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9	Although these secret passages are sometimes lauded as "shortcuts," they can sometimes [[ShortCutsMakeLongDelays take longer than more obvious paths]], and can be [[DurableDeathTrap laden with]] [[EverythingTryingToKillYou treacherous hazards]] that make them even more dangerous than the danger they allow travelers to avoid. Expect any secret path through a swamp to be unpleasant, since SwampsAreEvil.
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11	Common types of secret paths include back doors, {{Bookcase Passage}}s, [[AirVentPassageway ventilation shafts]], and [[SecretUndergroundPassage underground routes such as passages]] through {{Absurdly Spacious Sewer}}s or {{Tunnel Network}}s. See also RightUnderTheirNoses and HiddenInPlainSight. If you [[ThereWasADoor make your own]] secret path, it's called DungeonBypass. Compare SecretRoom for a similar concept just with a hidden room instead of a passageway.
12	----
13	!!Examples:
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15	[[foldercontrol]]
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17	[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
18	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Brave}}'': Merida and Bear!Elinor sneak back into the castle via the sewers.
19	* "Manga/{{TheAncientMagusBride}}": The Back Passages are pathways through other worlds that intersect ours at certain places. Travelling the Back Passages can be dangerous because other things live there, and might consider you an enticing meal, or just an unwelcome intruder.
20	[[/folder]]
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22	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
23	* ''Film/BlackCougar'': The toymaker twists the top of his model lighthouse, causing the fireplace to slide away, and the wall behind to open up, revealing his toy-making room.
24	* ''Film/{{Havenhurst}}'': The apartment building has lots of secret passageways throughout it, which explains why the rooms seem smaller than they would realistically be.
25	* ''Film/MisfitHeights'': Dr. Zoltar pulls on a bust on a table, and a nearby slab of wall slides away, revealing a pathway.
26	[[/folder]]
27
28	[[folder:Literature]]
29	* ''Literature/TheBerenstainBearsBigChapterBooks'': ''The Berenstain Bears in Maniac Mansion'' reveals that Farnsworth Grizzly built a number of secret passages into his mansion, including some hidden [[BookcasePassage behind bookcases]], behind the walls and other places. Papa accidentally gets pulled into one when he sits in the wrong chair, and the villains make use of them to hide their loot and themselves, as well as for quickly making their way around the mansion.
30	* ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfDorsa'': Akella, a pirate, knows that every big city has secret tunnels used by smugglers to move illicit goods in or out. She searches for and locates one inside Pellon, which comes in handy.
31	* ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfPrydain'' book ''The High King''. Achren leads the heroes along a hidden path over Mount Dragon into Annuvin, avoiding the dangers of other routes.
32	* ''Literature/TheDreamsideRoad'': A hidden passage leads from [[spoiler:the Cloud family mausoleum]] and into Sucora Cloud’s secret room, holding her stash of films, made to instruct Enoa in becoming a [[FunctionalMagic Shaper]].
33	* ''Literature/GoblinsInTheCastle'': Toad-in-a-Cage Castle is ''littered'' with secret passages, including one that leads to every room on its floor, and the one that leads from a clock to a staircase that goes down to the dungeons. William's been exploring the castle for years and found many, but knows there's more that he hasn't found yet.
34	* ''Literature/JoePickett'': In ''Savage Run'', there is a local legend about a secret path that allows passage through the otherwise uncrossable eponymous canyon. A local Indian tribe is supposed to have used to escape from the army under cover of darkness. However, the location of the path has been lost for decades. When Joe and his allies are fleeing from killers, his only hope of survival lies in finding it again.
35	* In ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'':
36	** Gollum leads Sam and Frodo through the Dead Marshes, using a path that the orcs don't know.
37	** ''Lord of the Rings'' also has the path the Rohirrim take to get to Minas Tirith, led by Ghân-buri-Ghân.
38	** The hidden West-Gate into Moria, effectively a secret passage to everyone but the Dwarves... and their friend.
39	** [[MeanwhileBackAtThe Meanwhile, back in the Shire,]] young hobbits would occasionally search for hidden passages in Bag End, convinced that Bilbo has concealed his legendary wealth there.
40	** Cirith Ungol, a small, lightly-guarded, and seldom-used pass near Minas Morgul allowing one to enter Mordor without having to cross the Morannon and use the Black Gate itself. Gollum leads Frodo and Sam that way, where the Hobbits discover there's a very [[GiantSpider good]] [[EldritchAbomination reason]] it's seldom-used.
41	* ''Literature/TheHobbit'' has a Dwarven door in the Lonely Mountain that foreshadows the later book's Moria gate — a secret passage into the very heart of the Lonely Mountain whose keyhole only appears on the rarely-occurring Durin's Day and whose key was lost for years.
42	* ''Literature/SpaceMarineBattles'': In ''Fall of Damnos'', Scipio's squad spends most of the novel looking for one to get close to Necron artillery, as all the easy ways are swarming with killer robots. [[spoiler:Jynn provides one.]]
43	* ''Literature/SoldiersOfBarrabas'': The third novel has enemies of Nile Barrabas from his Vietnam days kidnapping his girlfriend and saying "You've got 48 hours before we kill her. [[BringIt Come and get her]]." The BigBad thinks his jungle fortress surrounded by booby traps and ambushes will take care of Barrabas and his men, but they kill an ambush squad and infiltrate up their hidden retreat path, which is free of booby traps.
44	* "Literature/TalmaGordon": The murderer used a secret path [[spoiler:to reach Captain Gordon's chambers from the shore, which only the Captain and trusted members of his crew knew about.]]
45	* ''Literature/TheToughGuideToFantasyland'': Every castle, palace and temple is riddled with these. They're variously used for adultery, escapes or spying. While inside these places, no room can be deemed safe from people spying through holes in the walls.
46	* In ''Literature/AnUnkindnessOfGhosts'', Sovereign Nicolaeus has a secret trapdoor under a chest in his chambers that leads to a SecretRoom with one of the very few windows in the entire starship.
47	* ''Literature/JuniperSawfeather'': Just off the boardwalk at Cape Flattery is a hidden trail through the woods that leads to the waterfall of tears and the CaveBehindTheFalls where [[spoiler:Jolon is imprisoned]]. In ''Echo of the Cliffs'', Naomi tells June and her parents where to leave the boardwalk to find the trail.
48	* ''Literature/AMangoShapedSpace'': Mia's father and grandfather built the family home together, with different visions of how it should look and no real plan. As a result, it has lots of hidden nooks, secret passageways, and stairs inside walls. Once Mia and Jenna used a secret passage to sneak into Mia's older sister Beth's closet and eavesdrop on a slumber party.
49	[[/folder]]
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51	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
52	* ''Series/The100'': Bellamy gets a detailed map of Mount Weather's [[AirVentPassageway air vents]] and unused passages, letting him get to places inside the Mountain while avoiding guards and locked doors.
53	* ''Series/BabylonFive'': When a Soul Hunter arrives, he goes to the local crime lord and buys a guide to the secret ways on the station, [[spoiler:to enable him to get close enough to Delenn to collect her soul]].
54	* ''Series/TheFirstLady'': Eleanor puts Hick in an adjoining room to hers inside the White House. Unbeknownst to most people this has a door connecting it, implying that they can continue their affair and says this isn't the first time the White House had such things happen. However, it's unclear whether they do.
55	* ''Series/HelpImATeenageOutlaw'': Lady D. has a secret tunnel that leads out to the village from her wardrobe in the castle.
56	[[/folder]]
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58	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
59	* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'': A campaign module includes a secret path intended to be the faster exit for the party, which spirals along the main path. The book suggests to prevent finding the outside path, to ensure that the player goes through the hazardous portion.
60	[[/folder]]
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62	[[folder:Video Games]]
63	* ''VideoGame/TheAngryVideoGameNerdAdventures'': There are a number of these, usually leading to a [[TheCameo cameo]] and some items. Others end by unlocking [[SecretCharacter Mike Matei and the Bullshit Man]] as playable characters. (Speaking of Mike, he can spot secret paths and destructible tiles, making searching a good deal easier.)
64	* ''VideoGame/IansEyes'': There is a secret passage in the library that Ian and North can open. To do this, they need to push the right letters in the right order.
65	* ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'': Most instances of TheLostWoods require you to traverse a very specific route to avoid being sent back to the entrance.
66	* ''VideoGame/MarchenForestMylneAndTheForestGift'': In the dungeon, there's walls that can be activated to reveal a new path in that spot. Indicated by Mylne having a "!" speech bubble.
67	* The ''VideoGame/NancyDrew'' games contain so many secret passages that characters start lampshading Nancy's improbable ability to find them.
68	* ''VideoGame/{{Omega}}'' includes secret mountain passes, which cut down on travel time in the wilderness.
69	* ''VideoGame/SkiesOfArcadia'': There is a passage through Valua's sewer system that leads to the arena in the Coliseum. The sewer system can also be used to travel from Lower City to Upper City, even though free travel from Lower City to Upper City is supposed to be forbidden.
70	* ''VideoGame/WhatRemainsOfEdithFinch'' has a lot of these built into the Finch house. Edith needs to use these to get into certain rooms because her mother had sealed the doors.
71	[[/folder]]
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73	[[folder:Webcomics]]
74	* In ''Webcomic/TheBeastLegion'', Master Surya reveals an underground passage to the anointment room in [[https://web.archive.org/web/20120730145543/http://www.thebeastlegion.com/issue-05-page-47-anointment-grounds-2/ Issue 5]].
75	* ''Webcomic/HighSchoolLessons'': Westpoint High School contains many, which are often more reliable than the regular hallways.
76	* The underground city of Natanahal in ''Webcomic/InvinceaAndTheWarriorsFromHell'' has several of these, most of them ancient but some new ones discovered or engineered by Ursa-Dra, who has counted all of them.
77	[[/folder]]
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79	[[folder:Western Animation]]
80	* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'': The main characters use the sewers to sneak back into Omashu. There's also supposedly a "secret river" (but not secret enough not to be discussed in Fire Nation grade school) that leads to the Fire Lord's palace.
81	* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyAndFriends'': In "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyAndFriendsE63ThePrinceAndThePonies The Prince and the Ponies]]", the palace is riddled with secret passages, mostly of the kind where a wall folds back to reveal a hidden tunnel at the press of a specific brick, which Phillip, Suzette and the ponies use to sneak about without the guards or duchess' knowledge.
82	[[/folder]]
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84	[[folder:Real Life]]
85	* Disneyworld in Florida is actually built above ground level. This is hidden by the terrain design. Underneath the park are passageways to allow employees to easily get from one part of the park to another more quickly than through the park itself. Contrary to rumor, Disneyland in California does not have underground tunnels, as the idea for them only occurred after construction of the park was finished, and tunneling underneath a theme park was deemed a very dumb idea. Knowing they wanted tunnels for their next park, but discovering the ground in Florida was water-logged to dig into, they built Disneyworld on the "second floor," with the tunnels actually being at ground level.
86	* According to historians like Creator/{{Herodotus}}, Xerxes gained an advantage in the Battle of Thermopylae when a Greek named Ephialtes told him of a mountain pass around Thermopylae, at which point Xerxes secretly sent 20,000 Immortals under the command of Hydarnes through so that the Persians could have the Greeks surrounded.
87	* When naval minefields became a common tactic in modern war, the defenders would have pilots (small-craft captains) who could guide friendly shipping through a safe path. Assuming that none of the mines had come loose and drifted into the path you were using.
88	[[/folder]]

Context Main / SecretPath