History Main / PrisonEpisode

** In "Jailbird Johnny", a mistake in the [[CourtroomEpisode judicial system]] has Johnny sent to a women's prison for littering, and seeing as how it was [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin filled with women]], he didn't want to leave. Bunny and Little Suzy, meanwhile, manage to prove he is innocent by reviewing what was going on via an ATM Camera.

* In ''WesternAnimation/AaahhRealMonsters'', Ickis gets put in jail because he was mistaken for a fugitive.

** "Texas vs. Cahill," near the end of Season 5, has Alex unjustly held on murdering an ex-boyfriend, who is defending a crime boss from her prosecution[[spoiler:, until Walker and Trivette manage to prove that crime boss framed her]]. While held in jail, Alex has to deal with inmates whom she prosecuted, until she is saved by an inmate held on trumped-up charges.

** In "Jailbird Johnny", a mistake in the [[CourtroomEpisode judicial system]] has Johnny mistakenly sent to a women's prison for littering, and seeing as how it was [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin filled with women]], he didn't want to leave. Bunny and Little Suzy, meanwhile, manage to prove he is innocent by reviewing what was going on via an ATM Camera.

** In "Jailbird Johnny", Johnny is mistakenly sent to a women's prison for littering, and seeing as how it was [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin filled with women]], he didn't want to leave. Bunny and Little Suzy, meanwhile, manage to prove he is innocent by reviewing what was going on via an ATM Camera.

** In "Jailbird Johnny", Johnny is mistakenly sent to a women's prison for littering, and seeing as how it was [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin filled with women]], Johnny didn't want to leave. Bunny and Little Suzy, meanwhile, manage to prove he is innocent by reviewing what was going on via an ATM Camera.

** In "Jailbird Johnny", Johnny is mistakenly sent to a women's prison for littering, seeing as how it was [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin filled with women]], Johnny didn't want to leave. Bunny and Little Suzy, meanwhile, manage to prove he is innocent by reviewing what was going on via an ATM Camera.

** In "Jailbird Johnny", Johnny is mistakenly sent to a women's prison for littering. Bunny and Little Suzy, meanwhile, manage to prove he is innocent by reviewing what was going on via an ATM Camera.

** "Chain Gang Johnny" serves as a ShoutOut to ''Film/CoolHandLuke''. Johnny and Carl are booted out of a movie theater because of the former being a total nuisance, causing the two to get into an argument, which attract the attention of two incompetent police officers. Johnny and Carl are sent to prison, but escape while posing as a married couple, only to [[HereWeGoAgain get locked up again by the same two incompetent cops]].

** In "Jailbird Johnny", Johnny is mistakenly sent to a women's prison for littering. Bunny and Little Suzy, meanwhile, manage to prove he is innocent by reviewing what was going on via an ATM Camera.
** "Chain Gang Johnny" serves as a ShoutOut to ''Film/CoolHandLuke''. Johnny and Carl are booted out of a movie theater because of the former being a total nuisance, causing the two to get into an argument, which attract the attention of two incompetent police officers. Johnny and Carl are sent to prison, but escape while posing as a married couple, only to [[HereWeGoAgain get locked up again by the same two incompetent cops]].

* "Cellbound," a 1955 Tex Avery-Michael Lah cartoon at M-G-M starred a squat version of Tex Avery's Spike character as a prison inmate. He escapes and hides out in the console of a TV set on a train, entertaining ideas of his new found life of freedom, until the TV set he's in is loaded onto a truck and delivered to the prison warden's office.

* The ''WesternAnimation/ChalkZone'' episode ''The Label Police'' had Snap being sent to Label Prison for removing a tag from his pillow. He spends the episode attempting to break out with the other prisoners, who include the polar bear for putting a "dry clean only" shirt into a washing machine and a 7-year-old girl for solving a jigsaw puzzle that is only for people 8 or older.

* The ''WesternAnimation/CaptainPlanetAndThePlaneteers'' episode "Jail House Flock" has Captain Planet in jail when Hoggish Greedly has him arrested for damaging his equipment and trespassing on his property by lying about intending to replace the wetlands his construction project will destroy. The Planeteers manage to get away and do what they can to clear Captain Planet's name.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSuperMarioBrosSuperShow'': Mario, Luigi, Princess Toadstool, and Toad get sent to [[TheAlcatraz Koopatraz]], a blatantly obvious parody of... well, you know. While there, Toad reunites with his grandfather, and the four heroes escape the prison with him.

* The episode of ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'' where Sheldon [[TheTroubleWithTickets receives a red light camera ticket in Penny's car in a previous episode]] and fights it [[CourtroomEpisode in court]]. During the proceedings, he commits contempt of court - or rather utter contempt of the judge - and is sent to jail until he apologizes. Although Sheldon Cooper out-weirds hardened criminals to the point where "you're in my spot" makes a tough con give up his seat to the psycho, the thing that makes him crack and make a grovelling apology is when he realizes the awful truth about the bathroom facilities...

* The episode of ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'' where Sheldon commits contempt of court - or rather utter contempt of the judge - and is sent to the cells until he apologises. Although Sheldon Cooper out-weirds hardened criminals to the point where "you're in my spot" makes a tough con give up his seat to the psycho, the thing that makes him crack and make a grovelling apology is when he realizes the awful truth about the bathroom facilities...

* ''Series/WalkerTexasRanger'': Several, with either the Rangers or Alex posing as inmates to expose corruption. Examples:

** "State vs. Cahill," near the end of Season 5, has Alex unjustly held on murder charges, and while held in jail, she has to deal with inmates whom she prosecuted.

* ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KMJf6hEtco Phineas And Ferb Get Busted.]] While what they are sent to is called a reform school, it is most certainly run like a prison.
** On a lighter note, there's also "Mind Share", a WholePlotReference to ''Mindswap'' by Robert Sheckley, sees the boys and their friends get conned into a FreakyFridayFlip with alien criminals, stranding the kids in an intergalactic prison. As they work to make a machine to contact Candace on Earth, and extended ShoutOut to ''Film/TheShawshankRedemption'' ensues.

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* ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2'' sees Sonic taken to Prison Island after being mistaken for Shadow. A handful of stages take place on the island, some within the prison complex itself.

* At one point in ''[[VideoGame/{{Resistance}} Resistance 3]],'' you are captured by bandits who use a local prison as their base. They force you to fight in a [[GladiatorGames gladiatorial arena]], until one of their own has a change of heart and frees you, giving you The Mutator, a gun that [[BodyHorror essentially makes enemies puke themselves to death.]] Brutal revenge ensues.
* On the route to the GoldenEnding of ''VideoGame/AviaryAttorney,'' the protagonists tell the king that they'll defend him in court and the king, offended at the implication that he doesn't have a HundredPercentAdorationRating, throws them in jail. An allied prosecutor lets them out and says the charges are dropped.
* At one point in ''VideoGame/WatchDogs'', Aiden sneaks into a prison (by turning himself in, gun in hand) in order to frighten/save a witness.
* Connor finds himself in a depressing recreation of Bridewell Prison in ''Videogame/AssassinsCreedIII'', after a violent altercation leads to a cross-city pursuit that gets him arrested and framed.
* ''VideoGame/RandalsMonday'': [[spoiler:After Randal is wrongly accused of Matt's murder.]]

* ''WebVideo/TheTimeGuys'': Doc Chronos, Timmy and Caveman have been arrested by Roman senators (almost), [[AnachronismStew King Confucius of France]], and [[LargeHam Alexander the Great]].
* The ''LetsPlay/HoboBros''' Hobo Theatre series has "The Great Luigi Escape", in which [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Luigi]] breaks out of prison.

* In ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII'', the first (and unplanned) visit to [[{{Film/Tron}} Space Paranoids]] revolves around the party being in a digital prison following an accident involving [[WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitch a mysterious blue alien]]. With the help of a friendly program named Tron, they manage to escape their cell, and subsequently escape the computer that's imprisoned them.
* In ''VideoGame/BravelyDefault'' the party is knocked unconscious trying to pass through the enemy stronghold and are thrown in prison, except for Edea, who very easily takes the cell keys and breaks into the prison to break the rest of the party out. Amusingly, when she enters the prison, a party chat can be viewed where the rest of the party comes to the conclusion that Edea is suffering a far worse fate than them and are planning a wacky escape scheme, only for Edea to come in and point out how loud they were yelling their plans (they're held in separate cells and were unsure of how far they were from each other.). It's even funnier when the random encounters reveal there most definitely ARE a lot of guards patrolling the cells.
* ''VideoGame/SaintsRow2'': The game begins in a prison; your character has to bust out after [[spoiler:awakening from a 5-year coma after the events of the previous game]]. They have to break in (and back out again) later, when a drugs specialist is required.

* In ''Anime/JingKingOfBandits'', Jing heads to the prison Seventh Heaven in order to find Campari and steal his dream-making power.
* In ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar'', Kenshiro was lead into Villainy Prison by Jackal and had to fight the notorious killer Devil Rebirth. Later in the series is the Cassandra arc, where he must free his captive brother Toki, but not without a fight against the cruel warden Uighur.
* The ''Anime/DevilMayCryTheAnimatedSeries'' episode "Wishes Come True" has a guy being sent to prison due to the machinations of an evil "wish-granting" demon mask, and Dante not only has to bust him out, but deal with the demonic security staff and the demon mask behind this mess.

* Both ''Comicbook/{{Daredevil}}'' and ''Comicbook/ThePunisher'' have had arcs or issues set in prisons. One time actually had Daredevil put into prison and the Punisher had himself commited to watch Daredevil lose his mind.
* The ''ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes'' had one in the Silver Age, [[GreatEscape the Super Stalag]] [[RecycledInSpace Of Space!]]
* Except for a couple of flashbacks, the whole issue 36 of ''ComicBook/PaperinikNewAdventures'', "The Day That Will Come," is set in Time Zero, the prison of the TimePolice, since Paperinik was ArrestedForHeroism... just in time for a jailbreak. It is one of the darkest issues of the series.
* ''ComicBook/RobynHood'': In ''The Hunt'' miniseries, Robyn is imprisoned in an inter-dimensional prison and has to escape.
* ''Cruel and Unusual,'' an ComicBook/XMen Gold story arc, sees the X-Men imprisoned for a while thanks to a mind-control fuelled FrameUp.
* In ''ComicBook/KidColt, Outlaw'' #118, Kid Colt is duped into being arrested and sent to state prison. Once there he find himself WorkingOnTheChainGang with three villains he had sent there: "Bull" Barton, Dr. Danger, and the Scorpion.
* ''ComicBook/JonahHex'': In an arc starting in #76 of the original series, Jonah his hired by the governor to undercover in the state penitentiary to root out corruption. As part of his cover, he is convicted of bank robbery. However, the whole thing is a scheme orchestrated by Hex's Archenemy Quentin Turnbull, who intends to leave Hex to rot in prison. After the governor, the who only man who could verify Hex's claims, dies Hex is forced to break out of prison in order to [[ClearMyName clear his name]].

* ''Fanfic/PrisonIslandBreak'' is a ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' AlternateUniverseFic with the Contextual Reassignment of a prison -- not just the canon characters going to prison for once, but actively being convicted criminals. Active and completely unrepentant for the most part. All of the powers/talents that make them heroes in canon are simply redirected to criminal ends. Sonic robbed a bank, nearly managed a second one, killed a cop in the process and escaped normal prisons with utter ease. Shadow killed his foster parents, then used his Chaos Control to rape and murder young women. He started killing men "just to even it out" and was only caught by complete accident on his part.

* ''Film/ErnestGoesToJail'' has Ernest going to jail due to the machinations of a crooked lawyer representing an evil crimelord on trial for murder charges who [[EvilTwin is a dead ringer for him]].

* ''Film/BeyondReAnimator'' takes place in a prison, where Herbert West is incarcerated.

* Used a number of times in ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'':
** In the ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'' the Gerudo throw Link into some sort of cell, leaving him all of his equipment, and no matter how many times he escapes and gets caught again, they just throw him back in the same cell. With all of his equipment.
** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast'' begins with a prison sequence, but makes you break ''in'' to save the princess.
** The prison in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'' makes sense, but the one in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'' is absolutely a CardboardPrison. The way out of the cell is hidden behind a pot (though it would still work wonders at imprisoning moblins...or [[TopHeavyGuy any adult male]], for that matter).

* Chapter six of ''VideoGame/MafiaII'', "Time well Spent," follows Vitto as he serves time inside Hartmann Federal Penitentiary.
* In ''VideoGame/MetalGear1,'' Snake is thrown in a jail cell... from which the player can escape in seconds simply by punching the wall. The prison escape sequences of ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' and ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3'', however, were fun and memorable.
* The 1982 ''Escape From Rungistan'' game starts with "escape from a jail cell". You had to (a) ask a guard to bring you dinner (b) give a piece of cheese to a mouse (c) move your bed under a window (d) give a piece of candy to a child and (e) dig a hole in a wall to get out.
* ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRenegade'' has you captured and stripped of your weapons.

* The last segment of ''VideoGame/TexMurphy'': Overseer takes place on the island prison of Alkatraz. Tex Murphy finds himself trapped a cell and must escape and make his way deep into the prison while avoiding deadly security droids.

* ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls''
** Each game in the main series (except for ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIDaggerfall Daggerfall]]'') starts the PlayerCharacter off as a prisoner. Escaping or being released is usually part of the tutorial, before the game [[OpeningTheSandbox Opens The Sandbox]].
** If you commit a crime and then speak to a guard, you have the options of paying a fine, going to jail, or resisting arrest. Choosing to go to jail, depending on the game, either has an amount of time pass based on the size of your bounty or literally puts you in a jail cell with the options to try to escape or sleep in the bed to serve your sentence. In each case save for escape, one of your skills will randomly decrease as part of the punishment. (Simulating not using it due to being in jail.)
** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind Morrowind]]'' has a mission during the main quest to break ''into'' the [[TheAlcatraz Ministry of Truth]], the [[CorruptChurch Tribunal Temple]]'s maximum security prison for blasphemers and heretics, in order to rescue a friend who is imprisoned there. The prison is built into a [[FloatingContinent hollowed-out moonlet]] which hovers over Vivec City, requiring levitation to reach. There, you must sneak past or fight through scores of the Temple's elite [[ChurchPolice Ordinators]] to bring your friend the [[WarpWhistle teleportation scroll]] needed to escape.
** ''[[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim Skyrim]]'' has a second prison episode as well - when you first enter Markarth you get to witness an innocent woman (potentially - you can stop it if you're quick) being murdered in the middle of a crowded city square. If you work with a local miner to investigate, the corrupt guards eventually pin the murder on you and throw you in prison. You're [[PlotTunnel stuck in there]] until you find a way to escape.
* ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'' has Lloyd, the main character, tossed into a Desian prison in the middle of the desert. He busts out on his own, just before the party shows up... too late.

* In ''VideoGame/PlanetAlcatraz'', although the whole planet is technically is a [[PenalColony prison]], the Industrial Area is the only place that most resembles a prison, or more precisely, a labor camp. You're stripped of all belongings and have to run errands for the bosses to get promoted, before having the opportunity to escape. One of the NonstandardGameOver screens implies you spend the rest of your life there working.

* ''VideoGame/DeadToRights'' has an extremely long prison level early in the game, where the player has to compete in various minigames and do a lot of hand-to-hand combat to arrange a prison break.

* In ''VideoGame/MaxPayne'', Max is drugged, tied up, whacked with a baseball bat, and still manages to get out and continue his RoaringRampageOfRevenge.
* The last level of the 2005 ''[[VideoGame/ThePunisherTHQ Punisher]]'' game features Frank Castle in Ryker's Island during a prison riot led by Jigsaw. He starts out unarmed, but quickly gets guns from the mooks.
* ''VideoGame/TombRaiderIII'' puts Lara in this.
* ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto2'' has a level where you specifically have to get arrested and then spend time in prison before escaping again.
* ''VideoGame/IllusionOfGaia'' throws Will into the castle dungeon near the beginning of the game.
* ''VideoGame/DivinityOriginalSinII'' opens with the party being trapped in a concentration camp for [[DifferentlyPoweredIndividuals Sourcerers]], with the first act devoted to finding a way to remove their PowerLimiter collars and escape. There's also the main quest "Shadow Over Driftwood", where the party is captured by the mad Sourcerer Mordus following a HopelessBossFight with his [[EldritchAbomination Voidwoken]] minions who web them up and drop them into different cells. However, it's possible to bypass this part of the quest entirely by abusing the Teleport spell and Teleporter Pyramids.
* ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'' has an optional main quest called "Captured!", which sees your player character thrown into prison after either being defeated or turning themselves (and possibly their fellow Grey Warden) in; you can either break out alone (or with said companion) or select two of your party members to break in and rescue you. The latter option is probably the [[MoodWhiplash single biggest source of hilarity]] in an otherwise {{grimdark}} game.
** ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'' begins with a prison episode, as the player character is shackled and guarded by several soldiers with drawn swords, and they have no idea what's happened. Unlike most instances, however, they neither break out nor get rescued; rather, they accompany their captors to deal with the situation at hand.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Temtem}}'', the PlayerCharacter is arrested upon entering the UndergroundCity of Quetzal as the result of a FrameUp, losing their {{Mons}} [[NoGearLevel and gear]]. You escape with the aid of your airship crewmates and have to fight your way through the mines surrounding the prison with a donated party.
* In ''VideoGame/SpaceRangers 2'' engaging in criminal activity may result in the character being sentenced to several months in jail. This triggers one of the game's many text-based minigames. Throughout his stay the character can join a fight club, race cockroaches, become a stool pigeon for the guards and, if he plays his cards right, ''come out much richer than he was going in.'' Granted, he may also die, but that's a minor detail.
* ''VideoGame/DiscworldNoir'' has a brief prison-escape scene at the Patrician's Palace, which takes Lewton into [[spoiler: Leonard of Quirm's secret workshop]]. A subversion because, once he's broken out of his cell, Lewton has to repeatedly break back ''into'' the secret location he'd escaped through to close the case.
* Case 2 of the second ''VisualNovel/AceAttorneyInvestigations''. Notably [[spoiler: the victim here was the ''killer'' in the first case, and the murderer from [[ContinuityPorn the very first case in the series]] appears as a witness.]]
* In ''VideoGame/SplinterCell: Double Agent'', Sam goes undercover as a prisoner to infiltrate a domestic terror organization and earn their trust.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Shadowman}}'' the main character is tasked with tracking down and killing five serial killers and take away the dark souls that empower them. Three of them are in the same prison, and have started a riot. Because the lockdown prevents the player character from exploring the whole prison, he must use portals in Deadside to access different parts of the prison.
* ''VideoGame/{{Silent Hill 2}}'' has a level exploring a prison beneath the lake of the town.
** The main character of ''VideoGame/SilentHillDownpour'' is a convict who escaped after his prison transfer bus crashed in the town. The last level of the game has the town transporting him to a prison where he must finally confront his past.
* In ''VideoGame/FableI'', the Hero is captured and sent to Jack's dungeon for at least a year. Part of escaping involves winning a race against the other inmates and being "rewarded" with a private recitation of the [[Franchise/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy warden's poetry]].
** A similar sequence happens in the Spire in ''VideoGame/FableII'', but this time, you're actually hired as one of the guards, and you have to help break out one of the prisoners in a period lasting about ten years.
* ''VideoGame/DeusEx'' features one of these after [[spoiler:you send a warning signal to the NSF and antagonize UNATCO]]. Getting out of the cell is easy, while escaping the whole prison complex can be nigh-impossible depending on the character build.

[[folder:Web Original]]*

* In "Terrors" of ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'', Superboy and Miss Martian go undercover into Belle Reve to ascertain and foil a break out attempt.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Temtem}}'', the PlayerCharacter is arrested upon entering the UndergroundCity of Quetzal as the result of a FrameUp, losing their {{Mons}} [[NoGearLevel and gear]]. You escape with the aid of your airship crewmates and have to fight your way through the mines surrounding the prison with a loaner party.

* The last level of the 2005 ''[[VideoGame/ThePunisher Punisher]]'' game features Frank Castle in Ryker's Island during a prison riot led by Jigsaw. He starts out unarmed, but quickly gets guns from the mooks.

* ''VideoGame/DivinityOriginalSinII'' has the main quest "Shadow Over Driftwood", where the party is captured by the mad [[DifferentlyPoweredIndividuals Sourcerer]] Mordus following a HopelessBossFight with his [[EldritchAbomination Voidwoken]] minions who web them up and drop them into different cells. However, it's possible to bypass this part of the quest entirely by abusing the Teleport spell.

* ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'' has a main quest called "Captured!", which sees your player character thrown into prison; you can either fight your way out or select two of your party members to break in and rescue you. The latter option is probably the [[MoodWhiplash single biggest source of hilarity]] in an otherwise {{grimdark}} game.

* The ''ComicBook/{{Legion of Super-Heroes}}'' had one in the Silver Age, [[GreatEscape the Super Stalag]] [[RecycledInSpace Of Space!]]