The Invasion of the Sanctuary- A Trope and Why It's Great

I can guarantee you've seen this trope before.


When the Witch followed Digory back to London.

When the monsters made it into the TARDIS.

When Hobbiton burned to the ground.

When the hero made it home only to discover the supervillain was waiting for them there.


Anytime the villain manages to force their way into a place that both the protagonist and the reader thought was safe and untouchable, that's the Invasion of the Sanctuary.

The purpose of this trope is to shatter the protagonist's illusion of safety and to throw them off balance. It's great for giving the readers and 'all is lost' moment. After all, when the place we thought was so beautiful and immortal is invaded and perhaps is destroyed, how much worse can it really get?

Why it works

This technique is almost not used enough to even call it a trope, but trope was the best word I could think of to describe it, so trope it shall be.

The Invasion of the Sanctuary is a wonderful opportunity to make everything look just about as dire as it can get, especially if it follows a moment where we thought we had won or a moment where we thought it just couldn't get worse.

The villain has made it into the one place we thought was safe from them. We're confused and disoriented. Everything is hopeless.

The trope works because it's relatable. At one point or another, everyone has seen something bad happen to a place that they considered untouchable. Maybe your church had a fire. Maybe conflict entered your home, and for a time everything seemed to fall apart. Everyone can relate to this somehow. They feel the betrayal and the shock as the protagonist's safe place is invaded by conflict. They long for it to be fixed, because that is what they would want if they were in the same situation.

So if this trope works so well, how do we replicate it?

To put this trope into your own story, you need only locate two things: the right time and the right place.

How to do it yourself: Choosing the Place

First, the place. Think through your story, think through the world it happens in. What place is the 'safe place' for your protagonist? To identify the safe place, think about it like this: where would your protagonist go for comfort after everything goes wrong? Where would they take comfort, and where would they go if they wanted to forget their troubles for a while?

It can't just be any old place of comfort, either. I'm pretty sure every character has multiple places where they feel safe. But in order to wring maximum pain and maximum terror out of this moment, you need to find the Place. The one and only one that will hurt your protagonist the most.

If you know what place that is, that's where you should attack. It's up to you to decide how the attack should happen, whether the 'invasion' is the villain actually busting into the place the protagonist considers safe, or whether the conflict manages to brush by the sanctuary and cause them to have to abandon it. Some examples:

• In Kung Fu Panda, the sanctuary is the noodle shop owned by Po's Father. When everyone knows Tai Lung has escaped from prison and is headed for the Jade Valley, everyone must leave the valley- including Po's father, who must abandon the untouchable noodle shop.
  
• In The Incredibles, the family's safe place is their house. It is the place where they can be themselves, masks off, and be anonymous. After the false climax, when they arrive home, they discover that Syndrome already found their house and is waiting inside, with their defenseless infant.
  
• In Ready Player One, Wade's sanctuary is the real world. While his home might not be his favorite place in the world, it is safe from the people from the OASIS who are trying to kill him. At least, that's what he thinks. Just when he thinks he is safe, his enemies find him and blow up his entire housing complex before his very eyes.

Choosing the Time

The Place is easy enough to find, but the time is a little trickier. There might be multiple places in your story where invading the sanctuary could work, but again, you want to capitalize on the feeling of disorientation for the protagonist. When their sanctuary is invaded, we want to see them panic. We need the maximum effect of just how wrong this is.

So, in order to place your invasion correctly, find the point in your story where the protagonist will rely on the sanctuary the most. When would it help them the most to have that sanctuary, whether strategically or emotionally? That's when you'll take it away from them. Really make them reel from the blow. Watch the betrayal light up in their eyes, make them feel the wrongness. Capitalize on that moment.

Well, now you have learned how to make the antagonistic force invade the sanctuary. What next? Well, you could take a look around my blog for a start. I did another trope analysis like this just a few weeks ago, which you can read here. I'd love if you joined the email list for this blog as well, and checked out my various social medias! I'll be back on Thursday for another post!