History Main / InescapableNet

* ''Series/MidsomerMurders'': In "A Rare Bird", the killer uses birding nets to entangle his first two victims before killing them. Justified as birding nets have a very fine, almost unbreakable mesh, and the killer only needs them to hold long enough for him to deliver the killing blow/shot.

* ''Franchise/StarWars'': In ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'', the protagonists find themselves suspended in snare-nets laid by the Ewoks. They are able to quickly escape (thanks to [=R2D2=] producing a small circular saw from its many compartments) but not before the [[KillerRabbit Ewoks]] arrive in force to surround them.

* Subverted in ''Literature/TheCurseOfTheCaveCreatures'', where players who chose the Hunter route can obtain a Sticky Net as one of his default weapons. In ''every'' occasion you're given to use the net, it ends up biting you back with the net either entangling you instead or failing to hold your target in place.
* One of the purchasable items in the ''Literature/FightingFantasy'' Gamebook, ''Literature/TheForestOfDoom'' is a Net of Entanglement, which you can use to ensnare a sleeping ogre.

* In ''Series/TheElectricCompany1971'', Spider-Man catches criminals this way with his webbing.

* ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'': There is significantly little struggling shown but Agatha and Larana's group is [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20160803 captured by Larana's father using a net]] when returning to The Incorruptible Republic of the Immortal Library of the Grand Architect from the adjacent old Corbettite Vaults and only Violetta escapes capture, and she managed to avoid the net entirely.

* In ''WesternAnimation/LadyLovelyLocks'' dragon-hair nets are almost completely unbreakable and are resistant to most magic. Ravenwaves uses one to capture Shining Glory, while Maiden Fairhair uses one to stabilize the castle after a tunnel was dug underneath it.

To some extent this is TruthInTelevision. Animals surprised by nets usually don't have enough time to figure out a way to get out of it before the hunter is able to incapacitate them permanently. Of course, anything that is substantially stronger, smarter or with more escape time than your typical hunted animal doesn't have this excuse. Sometimes, however, heavy weights will be added to the edges of a net to make it more difficult to escape from, or the corners will be attached to long ropes to drag the captured target away. Even without the weights, some nets are just so heavy by themselves that they require several men to carry around as seen in nets used by commercial fisherman which are strong enough to carry hundreds of fish in one catch. Also, as the method they are often portrayed in fiction is used in traps, just the gravity alone is enough to bring an impact equivalent to getting hit even if the net is not heavy as seen in net guns used by policemen. And some nets are designed to tangle people with their holes to make it more difficult to escape despite weighing less than a pound.

-->--'''Bat Thumb'''

* In the ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' anime, Pokémon caught inside Team Rocket's nets will only rarely manage to free themselves, despite them usually being pretty powerful in battle. Usually handwaved as being electric/whatever proof nets. The peak of this trope may be when Team Rocket captured Cresselia, a ''Legendary Pokémon'', with an ordinary net.

** In the ActionPrologue of ''Film/OnHerMajestysSecretService'', Bond traps a Union Corse thug by collapsing a fishing net, hung up to dry on the beach, on top of him. In this case Bond isn't trying to take him prisoner and simply leaves.

* ''Film/{{Octopussy}}''. During the attack on Kamal's palace, some henchmen come charging through a door only to get caught in a net which is hauled into the air by an elephant! The ActionGirl clubbing them as this was going on can't have helped either.

* ''Film/TheRunningMan'': A CODA Net Gun is used to capture the protagonist.

* ''Franchise/StarWars'': In ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'', the protagonists find themselves suspended in snare-nets laid by the Ewoks. They are able to quickly escape, but not before the [[KillerRabbit Ewoks]] arrive in force to surround them.

* ''Film/{{Octopussy}}''. During the attack on Kamal's palace, some henchmen come charging through a door only to get caught in a net which is hauled into the air by an elephant! The AmazonBridge member clubbing them as this was going on can't have helped either.

* ''Film/TheHungerGames'': At one point, Rue is inescapably trapped under a net tied to tree trunks. A [[http://www.leavemethewhite.com/caps/displayimage.php?album=254&pos=718 freeze frame]] reveals the trap's poor set up which Rue should have had no problem escaping from.

* Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse:

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* The ''WesternAnimation/MegaMan'' cartoon useds this on occasion. Since Mega Man's a robot, the nets are either metal or electrified, and one instance has him invoke this in order to get into where Dr. Light's being held prisoner.

* ''Anime/DoraemonNobitaAndTheSpaceHeroes'' have NObita's initially-useless abilities to shoot two thiny strings from his hands getting upgraded into a powerful, all-ensnaring net, which he uses to trap Ikaros' monster form in the final battle.