Playing With / Dug Too Deep

Basic Trope: A mining operation unleashes Sealed Evil in a Can.

• Straight: A dwarven mining operation unleashes the Dalor.
• Exaggerated:
  • Every time dwarves try to mine something, they unleash a horrendous evil.
  • They accidentally open Pandora's Box, and unleash the thousand and one demons inside.
  • The ancient evil was buried an inch below the surface; it escapes upon the first strike of a pickaxe.
• Downplayed: The demon is in a weakened state, and wasn’t buried that deep anyway.
• Justified: Mithril was the only thing that could contain the Dalor… and as it’s a valuable metal, the dwarves couldn’t resist digging it up.
• Inverted:
  • Dug too shallow: The dwarves thought they were safe inside their mountain fortresses, but if they had just dug a little deeper they would be safe from Krull, the Killer Sun.
  • They find a sealed angel instead, who blesses them with prosperity for their diligence.
  • The Balor digs out the rock to get at the dwarves, rather than the other way around.
  • The dwarves started deep underground, and it's when they breach the surface world that everything goes horribly wrong.
  • The dwarves build a tower or flying vehicle that takes them to the uppermost heights, and find the Garden of Eden or a Floating Continent.
  • The dwarves dig too shallow and too frugally and strike elves.
• Subverted:
  • They hear dark whispers underground, and dig up a seemingly evil temple… but it’s long abandoned and ultimately harmless. The dwarves shrug and go about their business.
  • The dwarves dig right up to the Balor… and quit while they’re ahead, leaving the daemon to rot.
  • The Dwarves unleash a powerful demon, put it down, and resume mining.
• Double Subverted:
  • It’s a double bluff: the demons are sealed into the rock AROUND the temple.
  • The Balor breaks free and goes on a rampage anyway… a minor rock wall is not quite enough to stop a daemon lord, after all.
  • The Dwarves unleash the a powerful demon and put it down. Those below send a real raiding party when the scout fails to return.
• Parodied:
  • The dwarves dig too deep… and then can’t get out of the hole they dug themselves into.
  • The Balor has a cane and false teeth, and incinerates buildings while yelling about getting these damn kids off his lawn.
  • The dwarves somehow manager to release an ancient evil…from a sandpit. Not even a DEEP sandpit.
  • The dwarves' excavation led them to an underground source of evil and misery: The New York Subway system.
• Zig Zagged: While legends speak of an ancient burning evil unleashed by the dwarves in their mines, it turns out it’s not an actual demon, but “merely” the destructive force that is magma. Then it turns out the ‘magama’ is animate, but is good-natured… If destructive. It also turns out the dwarves were corrupted into murderous madness by their greed, and they were burnt to a crisp when they refused to repent… but even then, they weren’t acting THAT evil by their own standards.
• Averted: No mining unleashes anything evil.
• Enforced: It's part of an Aesop about greed and ecology.
• Lampshaded: “There be darker things than ore in these parts, lad…”
• Invoked:
  • A group of cultists deliberately digs too deep, in order to release their dark masters.
  • The lord of evil buried one of his trusted lieutenants in the ground, in order to set up an ambush on the dwarven fortress that would dig there thousands of years in the future.
  • Dwarves - as a race -worship the evil gods, and they deliberately trying to dig them up.
  • The Dark Lord spreads false legends of treasure in the mountain to trick the dwarves into digging for it.
  • The Balor is able to influence the dwarves' minds, driving them to dig until they breach his prison.
  • An organization of fantasy EcoTerrorists finds or creates unspeakable horrors and hides them under rich veins or valuable ores and minerals to prevent ecological damage from mining.
• Exploited:
  • The dwarves, overrun by orcs, deliberately dig randomly into the earth, figuring they’ll eventually unleash SOMETHING that will kill everything in the surrounding area.
  • The adventurer's guild send their operatives into mines in order to counteract these evils when they arrive.
• Defied: “Don’t dig too far into these lands. Might awaken something that should stay asleep.”
• Discussed:
  • “Many an ancient evil has been unleashed by digging in just the wrong direction. I theorize they call the miners to their own destruction, rather than just waiting for the hapless one who’ll chip them out.
  • “Nothing but rock in these lands, lad. Demons ain't nothing but fairy tales.”
• Conversed: “You would think the dwarves would invent something that lets them find these places in advance…”
• Implied: The fortress is empty and scorch-marked, and the last records of the dig-site mentions uncovering a strange blood-soaked ore…
• Deconstructed: All mining operations worldwide stop, in terror of unleashing ancient evils. The remaining metals in the world become hideously expensive, due to supply running cut.
  • Though occasional monster infestation is a risk, actual mining hazard are way more common, and claims more victims. Most miners are more afraid of a cave-in, rather than awakening ancient evil.
• Reconstructed It’s not like every mining operation is filled with monsters: it’s accepted as another hazard of mining, along with toxic air and cave-ins. Methods are developed to find such sealed beings, and proper drills are enacted to ensure miners can escape demon attacks… but even then, such methods are not foolproof.
  • Due to both shortage of metals and need for more reliable weapons for slaying monsters, the world decided to break from Medieval Stasis. Metalurgy is improved to make the best of what's deposits left, and early gunpowder weapons are put to use. After few generations, most of the "evil" is either eradicated, or left to dwell in places that were to dangerous anyway.
• Played For Laughs: It’s a fantasy Godzilla parody, complete with crushed buildings and cries of “Dugzilla!” from Engrish-speaking dwarves.
• Played For Drama: Boris the dwarf survived digging too deep, and has major Survivor's Guilt from unleashing such monsters due purely to his own greed and stubbornness.