Line #32 Main/SharkPool


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12	[[quoteright:260:[[Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/8213e4476a75d14d48c88ace536953b4.jpg]]]]
13	[[caption-width-right:260:[[FridgeLogic Where did they find]] an [[AcidPool acid-breathing]] shark?[[note]][[SelfDeprecation They'll let any old hack write a sourcebook these days.]][[/note]]]]
14
15	->''"Why not otters? I wouldn't mind dropping into a tank of otters. They're fun."''
16	-->-- '''Ron Stoppable''', ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible''
17
18	A body of water filled with any variety of unpleasant creatures, such as [[NeverSmileAtACrocodile alligators]], [[ElectricJellyfish killer jellyfish]], {{piranha\|Problem}}s, or [[ThreateningShark sharks]] (with or without [[EnergyWeapon frickin' lasers]] [[Film/AustinPowers on their heads]]). Inconvenient heroes and their sidekicks are either suspended over the pool on [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim a slowly-descending rope]], or are delivered into it by way of a chute or TrapDoor. Also may be used to dispose of [[EvilMinions henchmen]] who have [[YouHaveFailedMe failed for the last time]].
19
20	The hole or vat may contain substances besides water, including molten metal, toxic waste, hot lava, or, for the villain who happens to have a SweetTooth, boiling chocolate, caramel, or any sugary or savory food in liquid form. See also AcidPool.
21
22	Compare with AnimalAssassin, where the dangerous animals are delivered to the victim rather than the other way around.
23
24	See also FedToTheBeast. The SnakePit is a version with less water [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin and more snakes]]. DrowningPit is the critter-free version that does the job with just water. If the animals are just used to dispose of the body after it's been killed by other means, that's FedToPigs. Fictional pirates usually prefer to feed victims to sharks in their natural habitat by making them WalkThePlank. MonsterInTheMoat is a similar concept, but intended for defending a fixed point rather than for dramatic executions.
25
26	Has nothing to do with the TV series ''[[Series/DragonsDen Shark Tank]]''. Nor [[BadGuysPlayPool pool sharks of the billiards table kind]].
27	----
28	!!Examples:
29
30	[[foldercontrol]]
31
32	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
33	* ''Manga/DragonBall'' offered an odd inversion when Emperor Pilaf lowers a cage containing a pair of crocodiles from the ceiling.
34	* ''Anime/ExcelSaga'' features the title character frequently being dropped into a pit of alligators, piranha, and/or various other nasties by her superior-slash-object of obsessive affection, Il Palazzo. When Il Palazzo's wrath is imminent the rope to open the trap door for the pit spontaneously descends (by mechanisms unknown) into his reach. [[Manga/ExcelSaga In the manga,]] the animals in the pit become increasingly ludicrous (''baboons!''), while the main characters lampshade the pit's creatures on a regular basis, for example wondering if Lord Il Palazzo personally hunts the animals put down there, since there shouldn't be any members in the organization besides the main characters.
35	* The boxing club president suspends Mako Makanshoku above a transparent vat of boiling oil in ''Anime/KillLaKill'' episode 1, threatening to turn her into Mako tempura if Ryoko fails to turn in herself.
36	* ''Manga/OnePiece'' had Sir Crocodile leaving the crew locked in a room slowly filling with water and, well, crocodiles in the Alabasta Arc. Also, after the young mermaid Caimie was kidnapped in the Sabaody Archipelago arc, a noble intended to buy her to see how long she could outswim his school of deadly piranhas.
37	* ''Manga/PokemonAdventures'': Aqua Admin Matt, feeling as if LockedInARoom and his handmade DrowningPit variant weren't lethal enough, calls out his Sharpedo to turn it into a makeshift SharkPool. Ironically, attempting to execute a {{Nature Hero}}ine in this fashion wound up taking a bite out of his own fisherman's basket instead -- she got a hold of the Sharpedo's broken-off teeth and used them to break a window and drain the water out.
38	* Rando hangs Yusuke over a pond of piranha-like fishes in ''Manga/YuYuHakusho''.
39	[[/folder]]
40
41	[[folder:Comic Books]]
42	* ''ComicBook/AlanFord'':
43	** In ''Save us please, thank you'', Napoleon [[note]] a villain deluded he's the descendant of the real deal[[/note]] has a shark pool under his room on his ship, which he threatens to feed the group to and to which accidentally feeds a traitorous servant (he only wanted to scare him into confessing)
44	** ''A girl called Brenda'' has the villain owning a swimming pool in which he can introduce piranhas to dispose of incompetent lackeys. He karmically ends up eaten by them.
45	** In ''All-Included OK Trips'', Shirley ultimately feeds the man and woman responsible for the horribly stingy holiday hotels to sharks.
46	** In ''Horror in Hollywood'', Strabalda tries to dispose of her brothers by tricking him into entering a random pond which just happens to house an alligator who can't believe his luck.
47	* Happens regularly throughout various incarnations of ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'', where he utilizes his grappling hook at the last second.
48	** Although the [[Series/Batman1966 Shark Repellent Bat-Spray]] probably deserves a special mention.
49	** And it was on a rack labeled "Oceanic Repellent Bat-Sprays" and there were three other varieties for different animals around it.
50	** In ''The Joker's Five-Way Revenge'' (a notable comics story marking the return of the [[MonsterClown psychotic murderous]] [[DependingOnTheWriter version of the character]]), the Joker threatens an old henchman (who he suspects of having betrayed him) with this... unless Batman volunteers to take his place. Naturally, Batman accepts. Naturally, the Joker reneges and dumps them both in the pool. Naturally, Batman beats the trap, rescues the hostage, and collars the Joker.
51	** In one issue of ''Batman: Streets of Gotham'', The Carpenter (a criminal who specializes in building/fixing evil villain lairs) lampshades the prevalence of this trope while building some commissioned death-traps. However she decides not to fill the pit with alligators as planned, instead she uses [[spoiler: [[PsychoElectricEel electric eels]]]].
52	* In one ''Comicbook/{{Daredevil}}'' story arc, the hero ends up in an old mansion [[DeathTrap converted into a gigantic house of DEATH]]. At one point, he gets thrown into a tube and ends up in a pool... which, [[ForgotToFeedTheMonster due to lack of maintenance, featured a half empty base, and a suffocating shark]]. Subversion!
53	* ''ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse'': In one of the Italian stories Donald wins a holiday vacation but is [[MistakenIdentity mistaken by an international thief for one of her rivals]] because he keeps throwing his name around (which just so happens to also be the name of a lemonade brand that Donald likes), who threatens to throw him into a pool filled with sharks.
54	* In the Creator/ECComics story "Piecemeal" (''Shock [=SuspenStories=]'' #8), a wealthy naturalist with a large collection of rare fish is murdered in typical EC fashion by his buxom wife who falls in love with his younger brother. The latter two then go out for their usual midnight swim, only to encounter in the pool the naturalist's latest acquisition: a shark.
55	* In the comic ''ComicBook/GorskyAndButch'', the MadScientist Dr. Fishstein/Fishmeyer/Fisherking has this as his preferred method of doing evil. Being completely incompetent, he keeps forgetting about water....
56	* Parodied by ComicBook/{{Nightwing}} in ''ComicBook/GothamCityGarage''. He, ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} an ComicBook/{{Catwoman}} sneak into an secret underground facility protected with death traps and Dick wonders if they'll run into the mandatory lava pit or shark pool.
57	-->'''Nightwing:''' Laser hallway. How cliché. What's next, the floor is lava? A room filled with sharks?
58	* One ''ComicBook/ThePunisher'' story has him fight a druglord who keeps a shark in a huge aquarium in his office. Naturally, the glass is broken during the firefight and the druglord gets eaten.
59	* ''ComicBook/Robin1993'': During the ''Zero Hour'' tie-in, where a time-displaced Pre-Crisis Dick Grayson teams up with Tim Drake, the criminal they're chasing leads them to the aquarium and shoots out the huge tanks holding the sharks turning the room the Robins are in into a shark pool. Both Robins are able to escape to the elevated catwalks above the tanks.
60	* Played with in ''ComicBook/{{Sillage}}'' by Ehmte-Ciss-Ronn. His race is naturally aquatic and his shark-equivalents smart enough to recognize him as their master. So instead of activating a trap door, the panic button under his desk instantly floods the whole office.
61	* ''ComicBook/{{Wanted}}'' has [[LawyerFriendlyCameo alternate universe Batman and Robin]] captured by Mr. Rictus, suspended over a tank with a man-eating robotic octopus. [[spoiler:Because they can't remember that they are superheroes, they die horribly.]]
62	* One issue of her solo series has ComicBook/{{X 23}} dive into one to save Gambit.
63	[[/folder]]
64
65	[[folder:Comic Strips]]
66	* ''ComicStrip/DickTracy'': Mr. Crime kept a 90 lb. barracuda in his swimming pool that he used for disposing of who had [[YouHaveOutlivedyourUsefulness outlived their usefulness]].
67	* One ''ComicStrip/TheFarSide'' cartoon features medieval soldiers storming into a castle on the drawbridge. One of them looks down to see what's in the moat, and shouts "Ooh! Goldfish, everyone!"
68	* [[TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering Benalish Hero]] in ''ComicStrip/WhatsNewWithPhilAndDixie'', after [[AsskickingLeadsToLeadership becoming]] the [[PirateGirl Pirate Queen]] [[http://web.archive.org/web/20150428205658/http://www.airshipentertainment.com/growfcomic.php?date=20090308 got this]]:
69	-->'''Benalish Hero:''' ''[grinning]'' Jones! Someone put a ''shark'' in my bath!\
70	'''Jones:''' ''[scared]'' R-r-really, o Queen?\
71	'''Benalish Hero:''' Next time make it a ''big'' one.
72	* ''ComicStrip/TheWizardOfId'' has the moat around the castle filled with {{Stock Ness Monster}}s.
73	[[/folder]]
74
75	[[folder:Fan Works]]
76	* ''Fanfic/YuGiOhArcVPendulumsFifthSwing'': [[spoiler:Malik Ishtar]] kidnaps [[spoiler:Shouzo]] and calls the heroes to find him in the local aquarium. When they arrive, they find that the kidnaper has set a suspended bridge above a shark tank which cannot support everyone's weight, this forcing Zarc to confront him alone (and preventing a physical fight). The shark tank goes through TheWorfEffect in part 2 when [[spoiler:the Winged Dragon of Ra evaporates the water, turns the sharks to charcoal and melts the glass within seconds.]]
77	[[/folder]]
78
79	[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
80	* ''WesternAnimation/AllDogsGoToHeaven'' has Carface owning a tank full of ''piranhas''. He uses them to torture his lackey Killer into explaining how Charlie got Anne-Marie free.
81	* In ''WesternAnimation/DespicableMe1'', Vector's living room sits ''on top'' of a shark tank -- with a ''transparent floor''.
82	* In ''WesternAnimation/TheEmperorsNewGroove'' a pull on the wrong lever drops characters into a crocodile pit. Even the lever's creator [[InventionalWisdom questions the wisdom of this setup]].
83	* WesternAnimation/{{Megamind}} has an alligator pool.
84	-->'''Megamind:''' Predictable? ''Predictable''? Oh, you call ''this'' predictable?\
85	'''Roxanne:''' Your alligators, yeah, mm-hmm. I was thinking about it on the way over.
86	* ''WesternAnimation/TheRescuersDownUnder'' has Crocodile Falls, a river named for both featuring a waterfall shaped like a crocodiles head and being infested with crocodiles. [[BigBad McLeach]] tries to kill Cody by feeding him to the crocodiles, but is thwarted just in time. [[DisneyVillainDeath He's not so lucky]].
87	* In the 1986 ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformersTheMovie'', anyone the Quintessons find "innocent" is dropped into a tank filled with Sharkticons. [[AllThereInTheManual According to supplementary material]] the Quintessons would also drop people they found guilty into the tank of Sharkticons. Apparently, they are just {{Jerkass}}es like that.
88	[[/folder]]
89
90	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
91	* In ''Film/NineteenNinetyFourBakerStreetSherlockHolmesReturns'', the so-called 'Tiger Killer' disposes of their second victim by dumping them in the piranha tank at the aquarium.
92	* Subverted in ''Film/AceVentura: Pet Detective'', when Ace stumbles into a literal Shark Pool that turns out to actually vindicate the man he is investigating, who was shaping up before that to be a classic arch-villain. (Ace thought it contained the stolen Miami Dolphins mascot.)
93	* In ''Film/AustinPowersInternationalManOfMystery'', Dr. Evil ''wanted'' a pool full of sharks (with laser beams attached to their heads), but had to settle for ill-tempered mutated seabass. In the [[Film/AustinPowersInGoldmember third movie]], Dr. Evil ''did'' get sharks with [[EnergyWeapon Frickin' Laser Beams]] attached to their heads as a gift from his newly evil son Scott.
94	* ''Film/{{Colombiana}}''. A {{ponzi}} embezzler has a covered pool in his BigFancyHouse, which he delights in telling his PaidHarem is full of sharks that will attack at a single drop of blood. Cue the hitwoman protagonist infiltrating by swimming through the pool, unmolested by the sharks as she's not bleeding. She then kills his bodyguards, lures the mark out onto the pool covers, {{kneecapping}} him so he falls through an open cover. Now that there's blood in the water, the sharks attack him in a frenzy. Cue headlines: SHARKS EAT SHARK.
95	* Cleverly inverted in ''Film/DeepBlueSea'': the shark tank in question was built by the protagonists and most of the movie consists of the sharks breaking into the non-tank parts of an aquatic research base, which itself is a converted submarine pen.
96	* In the 1936 ''Film/{{Flash Gordon\|Serial}}'' film serial, while in the underwater city, Flash is locked in a tank to fight a shark.
97	* ''Film/JamesBond'' villains are notorious for this.
98	** In ''Film/{{Thunderball}}'', Largo tosses a mook who has failed him into a swimming pool. Not so bad, except it has a TrapDoor that opens to let ''in'' a school of hungry sharks. Bond winds up in it too, but (no need for spoiler warning here:) Bond lives.
99	** Ernst Stavro Blofeld pulls off his [[TheBlofeldPloy signature move]] in ''Film/YouOnlyLiveTwice'' by dumping one of his underlings into a piranha tank.
100	** Mr. Big/Kananga has a shark pool in his ElaborateUndergroundBase in ''Film/LiveAndLetDie''. And earlier in his Louisiana lair, [[TheDragon Teehee]] strands Bond in a large pond full of crocodiles and/or alligators.
101	** Karl Stromberg has a shark pit in his lair in ''Film/TheSpyWhoLovedMe'' with push-button TrapDoor access.
102	** Hugo Drax drops Bond into a pool with a reticulated python in it in ''Film/{{Moonraker}}''.
103	** Franz Sanchez feeds Bond's friend and collaborator Felix Leiter to a shark in a marine research facility in ''Film/LicenceToKill''. He survives, but is badly mutilated. Bond is certainly [[{{Revenge}} NOT pleased]] when he finds out.
104	** ''Film/{{Skyfall}}''. While fighting one of the mooks at a Chinese Casino, Bond and the said mook fall into a pit filled with Komodo Dragons. Bond obviously makes it out ok, the henchmen ends up becoming dinner for the lizards.
105	** ''Film/NeverSayNeverAgain''. Fatima Blush turns the Caribbean into a giant version by sending electronically controlled sharks to attack Bond after placing a TrackingDevice on him.
106	* In ''Film/KickAss2'', the main villain has a shark tank as part of his personal supervillain lair. However, the shark does nothing but lay at the bottom of the pool, causing people to think it's dead. [[spoiler:As it turns out, it's just hungry.]]
107	* The opening scene of the French movie ''Film/LeMagnifique'': A spy is trapped in a phone booth, which is then lifted by an helicopter (!!) and dipped into the sea, where a squad of divers attach it to a shark's cage before opening the door. The scene is purposefully over-the-top as it's a parody of the whole ''James Bond''/''OSS 117'' type of spy literature.
108	* In ''Film/MurdersInTheZoo'', Eric Gorman pushes his wife into the zoo's crocodile pond.
109	* ''Film/NoRetreatNoSurrender2'' has another crocodile example, where BigBad Colonel Yuri has a pool filled with crocodiles for disposing prisoners. His CharacterEstablishingMoment sees him crippling a prisoner and flinging said prisoner into the crocodile pit, and later [[UnwillingSuspension dangles two of the heroes]], Sulin and Terri, above said pit. [[spoiler:Yuri's KarmicDeath sees him getting flung into the same pool alongside an exploding jeep]].
110	* In ''Film/{{The Phantom\|1996}}'', the Sengh Brotherhood has a Shark Pool in their ElaborateUndergroundBase. This is one of the parts of the film lifted directly from the very first ''[[ComicStrip/ThePhantom Phantom]]'' story, published way back in 1936, so the trope is at least that old.
111	* In ''Film/SharkNight'', Sheriff Sabin tries to lower Nick into one of these. Nick sets him on fire and he falls in instead. The fire gets put out, but he's devoured by a sand shark.
112	* In ''Film/SharkWeek'', Tiburon makes his captives progress through a series of shark pools, each containing a different type of shark.
113	* One villain in ''Film/SpeedRacer'' keeps a tank of piranhas in his truck which he uses to threaten Taejo.
114	* ''Franchise/StarWars'': The garbage pit in ''Film/ANewHope'' is a combination of this and TheWallsAreClosingIn.
115	* In the ''Film/{{Stormbreaker}}'' movie, Literature/AlexRider is dropped in a tank with a giant Portugese Man o'War. That was in [[Literature/AlexRider the book]], too.
116	* Kim Jong-il has one in ''Film/TeamAmericaWorldPolice'', which he drops Hans Blix into. With live [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squalidae dogfish]] playing the sharks.
117	* ''Film/VoyageToTheBottomOfTheSea''. The ''Seaview'' has a shark tank inside the giant submarine for research purposes. Despite this non-threatening purpose, inevitably someone ends up falling into it during the climax, with fatal result.
118	[[/folder]]
119
120	[[folder:Literature]]
121	* In the ''Literature/AlexRider'' novel ''Stormbreaker'', Nadia Vole tries to kill Alex by dumping him in the giant fish tank where her boss' pet Portuguese man-o'-war lives.
122	* ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}''
123	** In ''The Illusion'', a scientist is dropped into a pit of Taxxons -- giant, eternally-hungry, alien centipedes which eat everything they can get their mouths around.
124	** There's a more literal narrow aversion in ''The Escape''. Marco is halfway to shark morph in the school swimming pool and really wanting to rip into some boys who are bullying him. It's only Jake talking to him that convinces him to reverse the morph and let it go.
125	* The second book of the ''Literature/{{Caretaker}}'' trilogy, ''Whirlwind'' has a particularly nasty version: a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candiru candiru]] pool. The BigBad actually breeds the things just so he can have this nifty pool to threaten people with. People thrown in take many days to die, during which time they are in agony. Some even try to drown themselves in order to avoid this, but "the body's impulse to stay alive is remarkably strong, even with the certain knowledge that one would be far better off dead."
126	* At the end of the Creator/DanBrown book ''Literature/DeceptionPoint'', one of the heroes threatens the villain by holding a wounded assassin over a large group of frenzied sharks.
127	* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}''
128	** In ''Literature/TheLastHero'', EvilOverlord wannabe Evil Harry Dread is cheated and gets [[FriendlyPlayfulDolphin dolphins]] instead of sharks for his pool.
129	** Lord Vetinari is said to have a Scorpion Pit. Various characters have mentioned it, but we've never actually seen it. In ''Guards! Guards!'', Vetinari himself is thrown into a dungeon and reveals that his predecessor was a little too gung ho with this trope, and had used scorpions, snakes, ''and'' rats. Vetinari actually befriended and advised the rats, so now they were the only ones left (and quite loyal to him). Whether or not this is the same place as the aformentioned Scorpion Pit is unknown.
130	** Paul Kidby did an illustration of the scorpion pit for ''The Art of Discworld''. In it is a mime. Hung upside down. Opposite an (unseen) plaque saying "LEARN THE WORDS". Do ''not'' try to do mime in Ankh-Morpork.
131	* ''[[Literature/TheElminsterSeries Elminster in Myth Drannor]]'' features fish-feeding, but with separate mincing (elves are tidy):
132	-->''Symrustar had over a thousand finned and scaled pets here. From the crowning bowl where she now scattered morsels of the secret food she mixed herself (Amaranthae had heard it said that its chief ingredients were the ground flesh, blood, and bones of unsuccessful suitors)''... (after next page there is little doubt).
133	* ''Literature/GentlemanBastard''
134	** In ''The Lies of Locke Lamora'', crime boss Capa Barsavi has an enclosed pool beneath his ship-based headquarters, in which he always keeps "something nasty" for when he drops victims into it.
135	** The city of Camorr also uses a variant as part of its justice system. At the Shifting Market, prisoners condemned for crimes such as rape and murder are granted a reprieve if they can fight off an angry devil fish (which is apparently like a really pissed off octopus) with naught but a tiny dagger. Few people, if any, succeed at this task.
136	* ''Literature/JamesBond''
137	** The original ''Bond'' books do this too. In the original ''Literature/DrNo'', Bond was dropped into a pool with a GiantSquid.
138	** Leiter is mutilated in ''Literature/LiveAndLetDie''; they stole the scene for ''Licence to Kill'', which wasn't written by the creator of Bond.
139	* In ''Literature/TheNightMayor'' the protagonists are trapped in a virtual reality realm built of old movie tropes. At one point, they're captured by an evil cult who throw the male lead into a pool of alligators.
140	* Seneca's idea (see below) is recycled by Creator/RobertHarris in the novel ''Pompeii'', where the main villain does this to a slave who kills a tank of rare expensive fish. In front of the slave's old mother.
141	* Creator/MatthewReilly loves this trope. It all started when the BigBad noticed killer whales hanging around in the dive pool, and got re-used with caimans, Komodo dragons and sharks [[OncePerEpisode in his next books]].
142	* In ''Literature/TheSecretsOfDrearcliffGrangeSchool'', several of the students are the daughters of mad scientists or criminal masterminds; one mentions knowing a man named "Singapore Charlie" whose business is providing such people with deadly animals for their alligator pits and other death traps.
143	* The "slow death caused by being lowered into a pond full of killer fish" idea is OlderThanFeudalism. Seneca wrote about a wealthy Roman in the time of Augustus, Vedius Pollio, who was really pissed off at one of his slaves for breaking a glass when the emperor was visiting. So he decided to have the slave thrown into a pool full of famished moray eels, because that way it'd take longer for him to die. Good times! Thankfully, the story ends with the slave being spared because the emperor finds the idea barbaric.
144	* In the ''Literature/{{SPQR}}'' novel ''The Tribune's Curse'', after the eponymous tribune disappears, a horribly mutilated body answering to his description is found. After expert analysis shows that the body was mauled by a crocodile, Decius investigates the Egyptian embassy, which has an infamous crocodile pool, [[spoiler: finding both the crocodile and the still living tribune who had faked his own death in order to avoid punishment for practicing forbidden magic]].
145	* ''Literature/SpySchool'': Erica learned to swim in one blindfolded (although she had to use grouper instead of actual sharks).
146	* ''Literature/{{Swellhead}}''. Seeing how the ElaborateUndergroundBase looks like a classic SupervillainLair, TheDitz asks where the alligator pit is. Someone presses a button on the CoolChair and the hero and his sidekick nearly fall into a trapdoor from which there's a bad smell and the sound of something thrashing about. [[spoiler:Two people fall in there for real later on, but not our hero thanks to his LevitatingLotusPosition.]]
147	* A particularly chilling example of this trope occurs in the autobiography ''Literature/WhenRabbitHowls'' written by the multiple personalities of a woman. As a punishment her sadistic stepfather [[spoiler:lowers her into a well infested with snakes. The trauma of this single event finally pushes her over the edge and she begins to split off her personalities to deal with her abuse.]]
148	[[/folder]]
149
150	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
151	* In the ''Series/Batman1966'' episode "The Spell of Tut", King Tut uses a Crocodile Pool as a DeathTrap for Robin.
152	* ''Series/{{CSI}}'' has a plot where a killer put a shark in a casino swimming pool, resulting in it eating someone (thus making it a double duty trope with AnimalAssassin).
153	* ''Series/{{Harrow}}'': During a confrontation with the murderer and her {{mook}} in "Aegri Somnia" ("Hallucinations"), Harrow and the thug fall into the aquarium's shark tank during the struggle.
154	* The antagonist of ''Series/TheOuterLimits1995'' episode "The Camp" kept a giant squid-like monster in a tank and used it as a means of executing prisoners. On occasion, a tentacle would be broken off and used as food.
155	* A ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' ''James Bond'' movie parody has archvillain Christopher Walken taking Bond (played by Phil Hartman) through his lair, still under construction due to contractors being behind schedule. Walken shows Bond architectural renderings of what he ''would'' do, including dropping him into a shark tank.
156	* In ''Series/TheVampireDiaries'' the moonstone is placed in a well filled with vervain, making it an AcidPool to vampires. It also contains snakes, though possibly only by coincidence.
157	* One sketch in the BBC series ''Series/TheWrongDoor'' has an evil genius discussing this with a workman fixing his TrapDoor. The workman points out that piranhas aren't that deadly, being omnivores, and pointing out that his last victim is still alive. He then recommend polar bears to be the optimum creatures for a killing pool.
158	[[/folder]]
159
160	[[folder:Mythology and Religion]]
161	* The story of Thecla in the Biblical Apocrypha involves a pool of sharks. Thecla, who learned the value of celibacy from the Apostle Paul, was sentenced to death for the effects her preaching was having on other women. Miraculously, she survived. The lions in the arena refused to harm her, and she threw herself into a pool with live sharks in it, baptizing herself. The sharks, it is said, died the moment she entered the water.
162	[[/folder]]
163
164	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
165	* ''[[TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons Dungeons & Dragons]]''
166	** The add-on ''Dungeonscape'' features an acidborn template... making... wait for it... SHARKS IN ACID. Which is the [[RuleOfCool most awesome idea ever]].
167	** The template can also be adapted to produce "lavaborn" creatures. Guess where they swim around.
168	** ''Literature/{{Dragonlance}}'' module [=DL12=] ''Dragons of Faith''. One of the traps in a maze is a TrapDoor leading to a pool filled with sharks.
169	* The Sultai Brood of ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'''s Khans of Tarkir setting use [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=386512 crocodile pits]]. In particular, "got a diving lesson" is a DeadlyEuphemism that refers to execution in this manner.
170	* [[TheFagin Gaedren Lamm]], the StarterVillain of ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'''s ''Curse of the Crimson Throne'' adventure path, dunks any of his child pickpockets who have [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness outlived their usefulness]] into a pool with his bad-tempered, mistreated pet alligator. The fight with him is deliberately designed to maximize the chance that his attempts to escape the vengeful player characters result in him falling into the water and [[HoistByHisOwnPetard getting eaten himself]].
171	[[/folder]]
172
173	[[folder:Video Games]]
174	* Onwards from the second chapter of ''VideoGame/{{Blood}}'' expect any sizeable body of water to be littered with [[NightmareFuel Gill Beasts]] - nasty amphibious creatures with MoreTeethThanTheOsmondFamily which swim really fast, their bites take a good chunk of your health and their [[HellIsThatNoise constant roars send shivers down your spine]]. Yikes!
175	** Pools filled with [[GoddamnBats Bone Leeches]] are very common in the second game. And 90% of the times, the game REQUIRES you to swim through it.
176	* ''VideoGame/DwarfFortress''
177	** It is possible to create something much worse in ''Dwarf Fortress'' -- the Carp Pool!
178	** There's also a croc pool. Alligators are 15 times bigger and proportionally meaner. And when they finally bite it, there are much more valuable bones and good leather. Tamed crocs outperform turkey in churning out tons of edible eggs... while sitting in their pool and biting in half any goblin who [[TrapDoor happened to drop in]]. Or be chained on the ground like guard dogs, since they're amphibious. Thus, it's possible to have a goblin dodge two guard crocs only to stumble off the road into croc pit with a handful of their brothers and sisters.
179	** Or you could just use one of the many species of [[http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/DF2012:Shark shark]].
180	* Both [[VideoGame/EvilGenius the first]] and [[VideoGame/EvilGenius2 second]] ''Evil Genius'' games include these as a booby trap that can be placed in the lair.
181	* In ''VideoGame/GuildWars2'', the final fight in this Vexa's Lab mini-dungeon occurs over a pool of sharks. The boss regularly shatters portions of the floor and has a number of push/pull skills, causing hapless players to fall in.
182	* One mission in ''VideoGame/HitmanBloodMoney'' features one target who performs onstage above a shark tank. The pyros can be rigged to set her on fire, forcing her to dive into the tank, where she is promptly eaten.
183	* Mechanical shark tanks are an uncommon hazard for motorcycle stuntman ''VideoGame/JoeDanger''.
184	* The Website/{{Facebook}} [[MassivelyMultiplayerOnlineRolePlayingGame MMORPG]] ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mob_Wars Mob Wars]]'' had a weekly [[TemporaryOnlineContent limited heist]] that was offered from the 8th to the 13th of Feb '11 which involved [[http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=269827&id=8743457343 "smuggling a man-eating shark into their private pool"]].
185	* In ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter3Tri'', there is a mission which consists of killing 30 [[CallARabbitASmeerp Sharqs]] in a water filled arena, completely without any armor. Fortunately, the sharqs are one of the weakest waterborne creatures. Unfortunately, they are not the only monsters swimming in the arena.
186	* Exaggerated in ''VideoGame/PaperMarioTheThousandYearDoor'', where every single body of water, from the shoreline of Keelhaul Key to the docks of Rogueport ''to an innocuous, luxurious water fountain'' in Poshley Heights, has piranhas waiting to bite at Mario should he fall in.
187	* ''VideoGame/ScoobyDooNightOf100Frights'': Toward the end of the game, Shaggy is found hanging over a tank of water with a shark in it. Scooby has to jump over the top of the tank, grab Shaggy's legs, and swing his way over to two buttons. The first button somehow causes the shark to vanish, while the second button drains the water so Shaggy won't drown.
188	[[/folder]]
189
190	[[folder:Web Animation]]
191	* ''WebAnimation/HowItShouldHaveEnded'': In the fifth ''Villain Pub'' short, "The Boss Battle", a captured Batman is suspended above a shark pool where Film/{{Jaws}} is waiting to devour him. With enforced BondVillainStupidity, of course.
192	-->'''Palpatine:''' No shark repellent for you this time, Batman! We looks forward to watching your demise. ''[beat, music dies down]'' But it's too bad we won't be able to see it.\
193	''[other villains protests]''\
194	'''Palpatine:''' As standard villain practices go, we must now conveniently leave the room and assumes that the killing device achieves its purpose. That and because it's also closing time. And I'm ready to go home.
195	[[/folder]]
196
197	[[folder:Web Comics]]
198	* Parodied in ''Webcomic/{{Adventurers}}'': the BigBad threatens to throw his enemies into a "vat of boiling sharks", but [[FridgeLogic soon realizes]] that it [[http://adventurers-comic.com/d/0037.html wouldn't work]].
199	-->'''Khrima:''' And this "boiling sharks" idea of yours... Wouldn't the sharks die if we boil them?
200	* Used in the ActionPrologue Action Prologue of ''[[http://ajcomic.com/?p=152 Average Joe]]'' - with [[EnergyWeapon Frickin' Laser Beams]] strapped to their heads, no less...
201	* ''Webcomic/BobAndGeorge'' [[http://www.bobandgeorge.com/archives/041023c With robotic sharks and two other death traps]]
202	* The [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20090617 "Revenge of the Weasel Queen"]] side-story of ''Webcomic/GirlGenius''. Not only a pit of acid, but it's filled with mutant acid-resistant flying piranhas equipped with flamethrowers and battle axes. And much, much more! There's a reason why the Weasel Queen calls it her "Pit of [[DoomyDoomsOfDoom DOOOOOM]]". When you go through the list of threats, Creator/PhilFoglio covers all the tropes of this genre. What trope is covered by the robotic Morris dancers? RuleOfFunny, NinjaPirateZombieRobot, MadScience....
203	* The aforementioned acidborn shark from ''Dungeonscape'' is prominently featured in [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0541.html strip #541]] of ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'', where O-Chul is dropped into a vat of spikes, acid, and an acid-breathing shark. The villains make wagers on his survival in a game show format. Coincidentally (or rather, not), Rich Burlew, the author, was involved in writing said add-on. [[http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=193765 He says]], "If I thought I could have slipped [[Film/AustinPowers laser-headed sharks]] through the WOTC editing staff, I would have."
204	-->'''Demon-roach:''' [[SelfDeprecation They'll let any old hack write a sourcebook these days.]]
205	* [[http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=994 "The Voice of Reason"]] from ''Webcomic/QuestionableContent''.
206	* ''Webcomic/SaturdayMorningBreakfastCereal'': Note for next shark tank: [[http://www.smbc-comics.com/?id=916 use more water.]]
207	[[/folder]]
208
209	[[folder:Web Original]]
210	* Subverted in ''[[https://docfuture.tumblr.com/post/124962587796/the-makers-ark-chapter-6 The Maker's Ark]]'', when a pool of laser sharks was rescued from a villain -- and picked up by an entrepreneurial hero, who turned them into a tourist attraction, complete with merchandise and even an animated TV series.
211	--> Plutocrat had laser sharks that ''made money''.
212	* The fictional movie trailer ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CY_HGl6W2U Shark Pool]]'', naturally enough, features one of these. However, it's a ''swimming pool'', and the only thing making people go into it is abject stupidity, despite the fact the OnlySaneMan keeps telling them not to.
213	[[/folder]]
214
215	[[folder:Western Animation]]
216	* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries''
217	** The Joker does this in the episode "[[Recap/BatmanTheAnimatedSeriesE34TheLaughingFish The Laughing Fish]]", in a scene adapted directly from the example under "Comic Books".
218	** "[[Recap/TheNewBatmanAdventuresE21MadLove Mad Love]]" does this with piranhas. The Joker had concocted it as one of his many potential ways of eliminating Batman, but gave up on it because there was no way to make it funny. He had wanted to call it the "Death of a Thousand Smiles", but piranhas are incapable of smiling, even when given Joker-Venom. Harley Quinn tried to implement the plan herself to impress him, reasoning that the frowns would ''look like'' smiles if you lowered Batman into the tank upside-down. Joker was furious, however, because [[DontExplainTheJoke she had to explain the joke]].
219	** In "[[Recap/BatmanTheAnimatedSeriesE6TheUnderdwellers The Underdwellers]]", the Sewer King tries to throw Batman into a pool of {{Sewer Gator}}s, but falls in himself. However, the Sewer King laughs and explains that his alligators are 100% loyal and would never harm him.
220	* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond''
221	** In the episode "Unmasked", a member of Kobra who let the plan slip is tossed into a pit of snakes. He doesn't get a last-second reprieve, either.
222	** In the episode "Out of the Past", two mooks try to throw Terry into an alligator pool, but he breaks free and throws one of them in instead. To his credit, the mook fights off the alligators with his machete and escapes.
223	* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'': In "The Mask of Matches Malone!", 'Matches' (actually an amnesiac Batman) attempts to lower the Birds of Prey into a shark tank.
224	* ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017'': Glomgold, of course, has a shark pool. Scrooge, who is no stranger to all manner of bizarre death traps, still takes a moment to comment on it.
225	-->'''Scrooge:''' Where would the sharks come from?\
226	'''Glomgold:''' I've got a great shark guy!
227	* ''WesternAnimation/JackieChanAdventures'' has Jackie and Tohru suspended over one.
228	* ''WesternAnimation/JimmyTwoShoes'': [[{{Satan}} Lucius]] has a TrapDoor that drops into a pit of...eel things in his office.
229	* ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'' used several variants of this:
230	** Dr. Drakken used the standard shark version in his first episode.
231	** Falsetto Jones, the lead villain of "Rufus in Show", had a tank of electric eels.
232	** In his first appearance, Señor Senior Sr. threatened Kim with ravenous koi because "the piranha have not yet arrived." (this was less than a week after he had started his supervillainous career)
233	** Cheapskate villain Frugal Lucre once threatened Kim and Ron with a kiddie pool full of baby snapping turtles in "Low Budget".
234	** Dr. Drakken goes [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill over-the-top]] in "Hidden Talent" by dropping a chained-up Kim in a locked safe into a [[strike:bottomless]] [[DrowningPit very very deep chasm filled with water]], covered in six feet of ice, and containing a shark and man-eating squid. She escapes thanks to a few {{Contrived Coincidence}}s.
235	** Señor Senior Sr. also had a shallow pool with crocodiles.
236	** Professor Dementor had an almost generic shark pool, filled with lava!
237	** In "[[Recap/KimPossibleS3E4BadBoy Bad Boy]]" [[SuperpoweredEvilSide Evil!Ron]] had a piranha pool prepared in order to scare [[TheDragon Shego]] into complete obedience. It worked.
238	* Several ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' show alligator-filled versions.
239	** The final ''Wolf and Sheepdog'' cartoon has Ralph Wolf rigging up a can't-miss deathtrap for Sam Sheepdog, with an armory of weapons at point-blank range, the bluff he's on undercut and rigged to break off over a big tank full of hungry crocodiles -- just as he's throwing the master switch, the 5:00 whistle blows. He rolls his eyes and sighs "Pshaw!" and companionably heads home with Sam.
240	--->'''Sam:''' Better luck next time, Ralph.\
241	'''Ralph:''' Oh, sure! You can't win 'em all, Sam. Nice day, huh?\
242	'''Sam:''' Yep. Good to be alive, Ralph.
243	** In "WesternAnimation/HoneysMoney", Yosemite Sam tries to kill his overgrown stepson Wentworth by putting alligators in the swimming pool. Unfortunately for him, Wentworth makes such a big splash that it sends all the alligators on top of Sam.
244	** During “Stork Naked”, Daffy sets up a group of alligators in his basement as part of his plan to get rid of The Drunk Stork. Daffy inevitably falls victim to it instead.
245	** BigBad Limey Louie drops Daffy into the basement of his tavern in "China Jones", and it's filled with alligators. The scene notably has some RecycledAnimation from “Stork Naked”.
246	** WesternAnimation/BugsBunny in "Half-Fare Hare" is chased around a moving freight train by a pair of hungry hobos looking to make a meal of him. [[RuleOfFunny Improbably]], one of the cars is carrying alligators and has an open top.....
247	* ''WesternAnimation/MegasXLR'' has Kiva and Jamie being suspended over a quantum singularity. Because it's funnier.
248	* Dr. Doofenshmirtz from ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' has done this to Perry the Platypus a few times, such as in "The Ballad of Badbeard" with a pair of alligators.
249	* In ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'', the villain Control Freak sics a ''mechanical'' shark named [[FluffyTheTerrible Glenn]] on Aqualad, because he's GenreSavvy enough to know the hero could command a real one.
250	* ''WesternAnimation/TheMarvelousMisadventuresOfFlapjack'': Captain Johnny has one on board his ship in "Liar, Liar, You For Hire?". However, the shark is really [[spoiler:cardboard]].
251	* ''WesternAnimation/TheNewAdventuresOfSuperman'' episode "Luthor's Loco Looking Glass". Lex Luthor puts Jimmy Olson in a DeathTrap involving a sliding floor over a pool of sharks.
252	* A frequent occurrence in ''WesternAnimation/ThePerilsOfPenelopePitstop'', and several variants of this were used, from alligators to man-eating plants.
253	* ''WesternAnimation/ThePiratesOfDarkWater'' features Bloth's Constrictus, a nasty alien creature that lives in a watery pit in his deck, and that he uses to dispose of enemies and [[YouHaveFailedMe stupid crewmen]]. Quoth the first episode:
254	-->'''Niddler:''' I want to be fed!\
255	'''Bloth:''' Niddler, when have I ever lied to you? I'll feed you -- to the Constrictus!
256	* ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'' had HIM invent the "vat of boiling sharks" trick as part of a KnightsAndKnaves setup. HIM being a RealityWarper, HIM could do that in the middle of a test of logic puzzles and get away with it.
257	* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', "Bart The Daredevil", had daredevil Lance Murdock intentionally invoke this by agreeing to jump over a tank filled with man eating great white sharks, ravenous piranha, bone-crushing alligators, and the most frightening of all, a ferocious lion (the lion is actually added into the pool with the other aquatic predators). Lance makes the jump, but then falls off the rim into the tank. Luckily, he manages to survive. Naturally, it was the lion that nearly killed him.
258	* ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'': Lex Luthor keeps a shark tank next to his office. Not for disposing of minions (and certainly not for Superman - he's smarter than that); he just likes the decor. In "Prototype," Sergeant Mills breaks the glass and tries to feed ''him'' to the shark.
259	* From ''WesternAnimation/TheTick'':
260	-->'''[[DiabolicalMastermind Chairface Chippendale]]:''' Unfortunately, the three of you aren't going to be around to witness my historic crime, because I'm going to feed you to my pit of ferocious man-eating alligators!\
261	'''[[NaiveNewcomer Arthur]]:''' What?... What? ''[aside, to The Tick] What''?!\
262	'''The Tick:''' ''[ahem]'' [[LampshadeHanging Standard villain procedure]].
263	* ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBros'': In the episode "Are You There, God? It's Me, Dean", the Monarch has the main characters tied up and prepared to drop them all into a river infested with [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candiru candiru]] fish. Venture mocks him, claiming the candiru's ability to swim up a man's urethra is an urban legend, too bad he's [[http://www.straightdope.com/columns/010907.html wrong]]. (You may now [[NightmareFuel cringe]] if you're a guy.) He has also used an actual pool of sharks to aid in the execution of a purportedly disloyal henchman. Although the sharks didn't touch him, because he'd already [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill replaced the guy's blood with acid]].
264	* Snap Trap from ''WesternAnimation/TuffPuppy'' has a shark tank as his favored methiod of tormenting [[ButtMonkey Larry]]. He also ties Kitty and Dudley up and prepares to dip them into it as a DeathTrap, but presses the wrong button and gets a LavaPit instead. He decides to go with it anyway.
265	* "Truman X: Super villain", an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheXs'', has Glowface trying to sink the family into an acid pool full of robot sharks.
266	* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/StarTrekLowerDecks'' has the four ensigns brought as captives while their superiors are on trial for unspecified reasons. They're suspended above the "Tank of Contempt", which is filled with eels. The eels end up dead when the burners are activated to boil the ensigns if necessary (which begs the question of why the eels were even there).
267	[[/folder]]
268
269	[[folder:Real Life]]
270	* The Golden Nugget Casino Hotel in Las Vegas has a shark tank next to the swimming pool. It even has a transparent water slide that goes through the tank. The Atlantis Resort and Casino in Nassau has a similarly arranged shark tank, pool and water slide.
271	* The Georgia Aquarium has a shark pool with four-foot long Bonnet Head Sharks -- that visitors are encouraged to touch. (They're fairly even-tempered sharks.)
272	* Most aquariums have tanks full of aquatic predators.
273	* The Carbrook golf club in Australia became famous for having [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7ARrPk8zhQ live bull sharks in a water hazard]]. Unlike other examples on this list, however, the sharks were not placed in there by humans and no one really knows where they came from. A popular theory is that some sharks were swept into the lake during a flood, then trapped there when the floodwaters receded. Then they reproduced.
274	* Golf courses in Florida regularly have to call Animal Control to remove alligators from their water hazards and avert this trope.
275	* Vedius Pollio, an ancient Roman equestrian, once executed a slave by having him thrown into a pool of [[LampreyMouth lamprey]]s: primitive jawless fish with [[MoreTeethThanTheOsmondFamily mouths full of rasping teeth]] that use their tooth-covered tongues to rasp away a victims skin in order to drink its blood. This is the only time in recorded history that someone has confirmed to have been killed by lamprey attack, and only then because Vedius Pollio's guards kept the slave from climbing out of the pool.
276	* The orca tanks at Ride/SeaWorld and similar marine parks. Orcas in captivity are far more aggressive than they are in the wild, and have been known to seriously injure and even kill both their trainers and anybody unlucky enough to get caught in the tank. The death of trainer Dawn Brancheau at the hands of an orca at [=SeaWorld=] Orlando in 2010 led to the documentary ''Film/{{Blackfish}}'' about the tribulations of captive orcas, which in turn led [=SeaWorld=] to start phasing out their famous Shamu shows due to both animal and human welfare concerns.
277	[[/folder]]

Context Main / SharkPool