If anyone [[GenreBlind happens to use a source of ignition]] in a CobwebJungle, you'll have an inferno in seconds.

A bit of Artistic License -- spider silk does shrivel quite rapidly when exposed to intense heat (so yes, a flamethrower can clear out cobwebs), but it doesn't actually burn, much less cause the pyrotechnics that people have come to expect in fiction. On the other hand, the ''dust'' that collects on old cobwebs usually is flammable, so sometimes those dusty old cobwebs really [[JustifiedTrope are as burnable as fiction makes them appear]]. But in fiction even clean, freshly spun spider silk can (and usually will) go up in flames.

Named for [[VideoGame/YouHaveToBurnTheRope a videogame]]. [[IThoughtItMeant Not to be confused]] with the [[TechnologyMarchesOn rise]] of [[TheInternet the World Wide Web]] [[TropeBreaker breaking the premise]] of a story.
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!!Examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder: Anime and Manga ]]

* Subverted in ''OnePiece'', thriller bark arc. When the Zombie spiders attack, the webs are immune to everything but fire... but they MELT. And not immediately... they just get softer and squishier.
* In episode three of ''{{xxxHolic}}'' Kei there are a lot of spider's webs being set on fire (fox-fire that specifically anti-evil properties, mind you) and they even fall to the ground and continue to burn for a while. The villain comments twice on how fox-fire and spider's silk don't mix.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Comic Books ]]

* Inverted in ''Comicbook/SpiderMan'', where said hero occasionally uses his webs to put out fires. Of course, depending on the version, it may or may not be real spider silk he's using.
** He's got different blends. If he knew he was going up against, say, Pyro, he'd mix up a batch of webbing that could be used in this manner, or was at least fireproof.
*** Probably involving copious amounts of [[ScienceMarchesOn asbestos]].

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Film ]]

* This entire trope probably originates from the fact that in old movies (especially B movies), cobwebs were typically made from cotton, and would burn quite handily if set to an open flame. Hollywood writers/directors apparently didn't realize that real webs do not work that way.
* ''Gremlins2TheNewBatch'' when Gizmo shoots the spider gremlin with flaming arrows.
* Averted in ''EightLeggedFreaks'', a horror film about giant spiders; there is a fire but its caused by the presence of explosive gas in the mines where the spiders have taken residence.
* In ''Film/SonOfGodzilla'', giant spider Kumonga (AKA Spiega)'s web is stated to be impossible to cut (not even Godzilla can slash it) but a ''cigarette lighter'' will take it out no problem (fortunately for Godzilla, he's got that atomic breath). Kumonga ''himself'' later catches on fire from repeated blasts of Godzilla's ray.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Literature ]]

* There's a "get through the giant web by burning it" bit in Emily Rodda's ''Literature/RowanOfRin'', although it doesn't ignite the whole place. Also, the minute they've burned enough web to escape, the giant spiders start repairing the hole, so getting through the "gate" there is a little unnerving and they end up brushing spiders off the last person through.
* In one short story, knowledge of this trope was used as a trap in a virtual reality game. The player gets caught in a web, and is expected to use his flare to burn his way out. The trap is that the web is coated in some quick-burning material, so while the spiderweb itself is not flammable, trying to burn it will set off the napalm it's coated in.
* Used in the prison ColdOpen from ''The Bones of Haven'', from SimonRGreen's "Hawk & Fisher" series. Complicated by the fact that this particular CobwebJungle is ''alive'', and mobile enough to freak out when it starts to burn.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Tabletop Games ]]

* Some of these examples are likely to be derived from ''DungeonsAndDragons'', where you could burn webs (and the Web spell) and do fire damage to anything caught in them. In the most recent edition, this doesn't work any more, and Webs (or, for that matter, walls of ice) will remain unaffected by [[BreadEggsMilkSquick heat, fire, and volcanoes]].
** In fact, the 3rd edition Dungeon Master's Guide has a short example dungeon where this method should be used to destroy a colony of spiders inhabiting a cobwebbed roof. (Or the players can not look up and notice the web, and instead get ambushed by spiders.)
*** That example is actually a remake of [[OlderThanyouThink the example dungeon from the 1st Edition [=DMG=]]], updated for the 3E rules and iconic characters.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]

* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'' was one of the first video games to do this, showing up in the first dungeon. Later games have used the mechanic as well.
** And [[FanficRecs/TheLegendOfZelda Fanfic]] too.
** Mocked in [[http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=205 this]] ''VGCats'' strip.
** ''SavageEmpire'' (a spin-off of the {{Ultima}} series) did it about a decade earlier.
** Spider webs are ''not'' burnable in ''SkywardSword''; or, at least, nothing is available to burn them with. You have to cut them up with your sword instead, which is [[ScrappyMechanic extremely tedious, and half the time you get caught in the remnants of the web anyway...]]
* In ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil'', you end up trapped in a room where the exit is webbed over by {{Giant Spider}}s, and when playing as Chris, can burn the web off the door with a flamethrower. If you're playing as Jill, on the other hand, you just cut the web with a knife.
** [[ShownTheirWork It doesn't catch fire in either version, though]]. In the original it simply vanishes, and in the remake it pulls apart when the flame hits it.
* ''IndianaJonesAndTheInfernalMachine'' averts this by having Indy slash through cobwebs with a machete (even though he carries a lighter from the get-go).
* ''TyTheTasmanianTiger'' ''loves'' this trope, and uses it as often as it can. Collectable on the level floor? YouHaveToBurnTheWeb. Arched doorway? [[YouHaveToBurnTheWeb Torch it]]. It gets annoying quite quickly, as your [[ElementalPowers fire boomerangs]] are actually some of your weaker weapons, forcing you to cycle between it and a better one, often while under attack by [[GoddamnedBats funnel]] [[GiantSpider web]] [[ShownTheirWork spiders]].
* In ''ABoyAndHisBlob'', one of the first puzzles is a giant cobweb that kills you if you go through it. You burn it with a torch, but the trope is somewhat averted in that the web doesn't really burn, so much as completely vanish.
* ''Videogame/AndYetItMoves'', an independent platform rotation game, had this for one level. Made more difficult when the fire could burn your [[KillItWithFire poor paper body]].
* One part of ''{{Kuon}}'' involves suddenly finding yourself faced with an entryway blocked off by silk. You already have a knife that's on fire, but in order to get through it you need to find and use the one-time Scythe item.
* In Richard Bartle's original MUD, you encounter a cord in a forest. When you touch it, you discover that it's part of a giant spider's web and that you're stuck to it. Once you've done that, you literally Have To Burn The Web before the spider devours you alive.
* Reaching the final boss monster of ''CuteKnightKingdom'' requires learning the spell of Flame in order to burn the webs blocking the passage. It just disappears, though, no inferno.
* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' encounters webs large enough to completely cover doors in both of her video games. The only solution is to burn them down.
* In the first of the Videogame/DarkParables games, there is a GiantSpider with an equally giant web blocking a doorway through which you must go. Naturally, the only recourse is to burn the web, but you can't do so until you acquire the necessary PlotCoupon (a torch).
* Probably in relation to this, in ''{{Pokemon}}'' the Bug type is vulnerable to Fire type.
* One of the side missions in ''MassEffect3'' of all things gives Shepard a flamethrower weapon for just that purpose.
* In ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'', the webs of the [[GiantSpider Frostbite Spiders]] that sometimes block your path have to be hacked away or burned up with a fire spell. This is a bad thing, since this alerts nearby spiders.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Web Original ]]

* In a later session of SpoonysCampaign, the party encounters a room full of spiderwebs and deals with them by [[RunningGag throwing a flaming bedroll]] into the room. Unfortunately these were phase spiders, which meant they teleported LordKat's character Grae into the room with the burning webs while his friends were outside dealing with more monsters.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Webcomics ]]

* In ''Webcomic/TheAdventuresOfDrMcNinja'', Dr. [=McNinja=] [[http://drmcninja.com/page.php?pageNum=29&issue=14 had this work against him once.]]
** Lampshaded in the alt text: "I don't even know if spiderwebs are flammable. Again, this is ''Zelda'' basically steering this comic."

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* In the ''{{Futurama}}'' episode ''Benderama'' Bender gets trapped in a spider's web and has to use fire to escape.
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