This index is a list of tropes about keys, locks, and anything that is contained and hidden through these mechanisms. Tropes like Closet Key or Blade Lock do not count.
This is a subcategory of Door Tropes. Not to be confused with Prison Tropes, although they can certainly overlap.
Tropes:
- Anti-Interference Lock Up
- Borrowed Biometric Bypass (sci-fi unlocking)
- Chained Heat: Two characters are locked together by handcuffs or chains.
- Cool Key
- Dangerous Key Fumble
- Drill the Lock
- Girl in the Tower: A girl trapped in a tower.
- Handcuffed Briefcase: A character handcuffing their hand on a suitcase for security reasons.
- Hooking the Keys
- Improvised Lockpick
- Hairpin Lockpick
- Shoot Out the Lock: Shooting the lock open.
- Skeleton Key Card
- Interchangeable Antimatter Keys
- Key Confusion
- The Key Is Behind the Lock
- Key Under the Doormat
- Lock and Key Puzzle
- Lockdown
- Locked Door: A door that is locked.
- Locked in a Room
- Closet Punishment: A child is punished by being locked in a closet.
- Locked in a Freezer
- Locked in the Bathroom
- Locked Room Mystery
- Locked Up and Left Behind
- Lockpicking Minigame
- Master of Unlocking: A person skilled at picking locks.
- Open Sesame: The words to open a magical door.
- "Open!" Says Me: Break the lock by force.
- Paper Key-Retrieval Trick
- Pet Gets the Keys: Furry friends retrieve the keys for you.
- Safecracking
- Skeleton Key: The key that opens any lock.
- Sleight of Tongue: Using a Last Kiss to slip something (often a key) to a prisoner to help them escape.
- Songs in the Key of Lock: Instead of a physical key, the lock can be opened by the right music.
- Swallow the Key: Someone swallows the key to prevent entry.
- Two-Keyed Lock: Unlocking the door requires two or more people.
- We Have the Keys: After someone opens a lock with brute force, someone else points out that the key was available.
- Weld the Lock: Melting a lock so no-one can open it.
- Wind-Up Key: Mechanical devices or characters come with large keys in the back to wind up their clockwork.