History Main / DeathTrap

* Lampshade hung in ''Film/TheJewelOfTheNile''. Heroes Jack Colton and Joan Wilder (the latter an author of romantic adventure novels) wind up captured by the villain, who hangs them both over a well, then explains that Jack's rope has acid slowly being dripped on it, while Joan's rope is being gnawed on by rats, creating a race as to who will fall first. Jack demands to what kind of sick mind would think up such a ridiculous setup, and Joan admits it's from one of her books.

* Lampshade hung in ''Film/TheJewelOfTheNile''. Heroes Jack Colton and Joan Wilder (the latter an author of romantic adventure novels) wind up captured by the villain, who hangs them both over a well, then explains that Jack's rope has acid slowly being dripped on it, while Joan's rope is being gnawed on by rats, creating a race as to who will fall first. Jack demands to know where he got the idea for such a ridiculous setup, and Joan admits it's from one of her books.

* ''VideoGame/{{Nightshade}}'' uses these in place of continues--if you lose a fight, you need to escape a trap in order to avoid a game-over. There are a total of seven traps (counting the one you start in at the beginning of the game), and only the seventh is truly inescapable.

[[HydrogenHollywoodide Acid steaming]], blades gleaming, [[EnergyWeapon lasers beaming]],\\

[[HydrogenHollywoodide Acid steaming]], blades gleaming, [[FrickinLaserBeams lasers beaming]],\\

* "Series/{{WonderWoman}}": Happens to Diana quite often, usually occurs in conjunction her being BoundAndGagged by a villain, which certainly complicates the ability to escape, but she manages to escape the villain's plans and still save the day each time.

* "Series/WonderWoman": Happens to Diana quite often, usually occurs in conjunction her being BoundAndGagged by a villain, which certainly complicates the ability to escape, but she manages to escape the villain's plans and still save the day each time.

* ''Literature/WhateleyUniverse'': Mephisto the Mentalist once explains at great length the psychology of death traps: most of them are meant to either [[KansasCityShuffle distract the heroes]] while the villain sets up some other, more mundane plot, or to scare the victim into compliance without actually killing them. In both of those instances, the victims are actually ''meant'' to be rescued as [[ThePowerOfActing part of the intended effect]]. He does admit that a lot of death traps are, in fact, actually meant to kill the victim, usually with the goal of scaring the piss out of someone else who is the real target of their plot. He also mentions that a delayed trap can be useful for establishing an alibi, though the circumstances rarely made that feasible.

When an EvilOverlord wants to dispatch one of his enemies, he tends to go the extra mile. Sure, [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim he could just shoot them,]] but [[ForTheEvulz what's the fun in that]]? So, he instead comes up with an [[ComplexityAddiction over-elaborate]], bizarre, and sadistic means to murder his heroic adversary in some [[CouldHaveBeenMessy potentially]] horrific fashion. Hence, the Death Trap.

* ''[[LetsPlay/{{Dream}} Dream's]]'' and ''[[LetsPlay/GeorgeNotFound George's]]'' Minecraft Death Swap videos feature many death traps, as the goal is to catch your opponent in one and kill them when a swap happens. If you don't survive, the trapper wins.

* ''LetsPlay/{{Dream}}'''s and ''LetsPlay/GeorgeNotFound'''s Minecraft Death Swap videos feature many death traps, as the goal is to catch your opponent in one and kill them when a swap happens.

* LetsPlay/{{Dream}}: Minecraft Death Swap videos feature many death traps, as the goal is to catch your opponent in one and kill them when a swap happens.

* Franchise/WonderWoman villain Nina Close would lock her victims in style masks designed to release a deadly hydrocyanic gas into their mouths if they tried to remove it, forcing them or their loved ones to pay her a ransom.

Ah... you've finally woken up, Agent 00-Trope. I apologize for the KnockoutGas, but sometimes it's necessary for taming my more unruly guests. Now, let me tell you all about [[SelfDemonstratingArticle the fate in store for you]].

When an EvilOverlord (such as myself) wants to dispatch one of his enemies (such as you), he tends to go the extra mile. Sure, [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim he could just shoot them,]] but [[ForTheEvulz what's the fun in that]]? So, he instead comes up with an [[ComplexityAddiction over-elaborate]], bizarre, and sadistic means to murder his heroic adversary in some [[CouldHaveBeenMessy potentially]] horrific fashion. Hence, the Death Trap.

* ''Disney/TheGreatMouseDetective''. Professor Rattigan can't figure out which method to use to kill his ArchEnemy Basil, so he decides to use them all, setting up a series of lethal weaponry to hack, shoot, splatter and squash our heroes, activated by a RubeGoldbergDevice.

* Parodied several times in ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'', most notably in ''Discworld/GuardsGuards'':

* ''WebAnimation/Inanimate Insanity'' has [=MePhone4S=]' death trap to kill the losers.

* ''WebAnimation/Inanimate Insanity'' has MePhone4S' death trap to kill the losers.

* ''Literature/WhateleyUniverse'': Mephisto the Mentalist once explains at great length the psychology of death traps: most of them are meant to either [[KansasCityShuffle distract the heroes]] while the villain sets up some other, more mundane plot, or to scare the victim into compliance without actually killing them. In both of those instances, the victims are actually ''meant'' to be rescued as [[ThePowerOfActing part of the intended effect]]. He does admit that a lot of death traps are, in fact, actually meant to kill the victim, usually with the goal of scaring the piss out of someone else who is the real target of their plot.

* The protagonists of ''Series/{{Castle}}'' run into their fair share of these over the course of the show's eight seasons. Recurring villain [[SerialKiller 3XK]] has a particular fondness for them as part of his narcissistic personality, but there are other perpetrators, too. Memorable examples include, but are not limited to, [[TheProtagonist Castle]] and [[FairCop Beckett]] being LockedInAFreezer, Beckett ending up StrappedToAnOperatingTable by an insane beauty surgeon intent on stealing her (admittedly gorgeous) face, and Beckett spending almost an entire episode forced to stand completely still because someone rigged her apartment with a pressure plate-activated bomb right under her living room carpet.

* ''Series/CSINewYork'' had an episode where an old house was rigged with death traps; the CSI team had to go in because they found the recently dead body of a young man who'd broken in and been killed by one of the traps. They included things like a spiked axe falling from the ceiling if you didn't follow the right steps to deactivate it, and a room that could cook you to death or alternately whose walls would close in on you.

* ''Series/CSINewYork'' had an episode where an old house was rigged with death traps; the CSI team had to go in because they found the recently dead body of a young man who'd broken in and been killed by one of the traps. They included things like an axe falling from the ceiling if you didn't follow the right steps to deactivate it.