History Main / TrapIsTheOnlyOption

* ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2003'': In the episode [[Recap/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2003S4E25GoodGenesPart2 Good Genes Part 2]], Mikey doesn't want to go through the Foot Mystics' room, stating that it's an obvious trap. Leo insists they have no choice. [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] when it turns out not to be a trap at all because the Foot Mystics ''want'' the Turtles to succeed.

It doesn't always work. Sometimes it turns out there's little discernible difference between having sprung the trap on purpose than in having walked into it accidentally. Heroes have walked into their doom in the invocation of this trope. But it ''can'' pay off. Three types of heroes have been especially known to succeed: The kind that can think like a [[TheChessmaster Chessmaster]] and use some critical piece of knowledge of the plan to foil the villain's aims while apparently "falling" into their trap, the kind that is a master of thinking on their feet and [[IndyPloy making things up as they go along]], and the kind that is simply [[ImplacableMan far too tough]] and/or [[{{Determinator}} far too stubborn]] to be stopped by such petty trickery. In this case, the trap-layer may well end up BullyingADragon - in the worst-case scenario, their failed trap might have done nothing more than struck a nerve and made the hero decide that ItsPersonal.

--->'''Superman:''' ''"Amalak?! Aboard the Satellite-- Speaking over the intra-vessel hailing frequency?!"''\\
'''Amalak:''' ''"Correct!"''\\
'''Superman:''' ''"Obviously, you've prepared a trap for me-- And I can't be sure you'll keep your word!"''\\
'''Amalak:''' Obviously-- Correct again! But then-- you have no way of knowing I will not keep it, either!"''\\
'''Superman:''' ''"All right, All right! I get the idea-- So I'm here!"''

* ''VideoGame/{{Mercenaries}} Playground of Distruction'' provides the page quote in a late-game mission for the RussianMafia. Mafia boss Sergei offers you a million dollars to drive his HypercompetentSidekick, Josef, to a meeting. Josef knows it's a trap. You know it's a trap. Your MissionControl knows it's a trap. Josef still wants you to take him there because he's confident (for good reason) that you and he can fight your way out of it and the Russian Mafia code means that he can't do anything to Sergei until after the latter has betrayed him. Upon getting him to safety, he pays you the promised million and kicks Sergei out of the mafia.

** His successors weren't much better at evading obvious traps. That line should be changed to "Knowing there's a trap is the first step in looking really stupid when you get caught by it."
** Leto and Thufir's mistake, aside from being tricked by a RedHerring, was underestimating the scale of the trap. When the trap was sprung, their enemies sent ''ten legions'' of soldiers supported by an entire legion of the Emperor's elite Sardaukar. Thufir was completely blindsided by how badly the Atreides' enemies wanted them dead, and how much expense they were willing to endure to make that happen. They had presumed that House Atreides' popularity in the Landsraad (many of the smaller houses were rallied behind Atreides) would make the Emperor hesitate to move against them. Instead, the great deal of support enjoyed by House Atreides and the Duke in particular made them [[DecadentCourt entirely too dangerous for the Emperor to ignore.]]

* ''Film/AvengersEndgame'': Steve, Tony, and Thor see Thanos calmly [[SlouchOfVillainy sitting in the rubble of their base]], waiting for them. They acknowledge that it’s a trap, but move in to confront him anyway. Perhaps most terrifyingly, the "trap" is merely that he is powerful enough to take on all three of them at once and win.

* ''Series/TheATeam'', "[[Recap/TheATeamS3E9Showdown Showdown]]". B.A. asks if the fake A-Team might be an army trap to lure them out. Hannibal says he doesn't know if it is, but he knows that the army will attempt to use it. Whatever it is, the team has to go anyway.

* ''[[Film/RevengeOfTheSith Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith]]''

** Expanded on in the novelization -- this is Anakin and Obi-Wan's standard procedure whenever they encounter a trap during the war.
** Leia's actions in ''Film/ANewHope'' can be interpreted as this. She suspects that the villains have intentionally let them go and bugged their ship to track them to the Rebel Base, but she still opts to go straight there. However, this has an advantage of bringing the Death Star to where they can attack it, preventing the imperials from blowing up any more innocent planets and/or modifying the station to remedy its weakness.

* Averted in ''Film/ThreeHundred''. When Xerxes invites Leonidas to meet after the first battle, one of his men warns him that it could be a trap. Leonidas responds that he ''hopes'' it's a trap, because that would incite all of Greece to join the war against the Persians. Walking into a trap would be the [[HeroicSacrifice best-case scenario for him]].

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* In the ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' episode "Morituri Te Salutamus", Finn and Jake stumble across an arena where they meet a creepy looking zombie known as the "Fight King" who promises them glory if they [[SchmuckBait step through the arena's seal]]. They immediately realize it's a trap and start walking away, commenting on how if they did step through, they'd probably be sealed inside and forced to fight gladiator ghosts for the Fight King's amusement...and they think this is "[[BloodKnight flipping AWESOME]]" and thus they ''run'' back in.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Amphibia}}'': In "All In", [[spoiler:When Andrias offers to leave Earth alone if Anne beats him in single combat, the Plantars quickly peg it as a trap. Anne decides that even if it is a trap, she has to do it. That said, Andrias actually does keep to the letter of his word throughout their fight, not pulling any dirty tricks and taking her on with just his suit's defenses and weapons]].

* Franchise/DCAnimatedUniverse:
** In the ''WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries'' episode "Solar Power", Dr. Hamilton points out that the VillainOfTheWeek is trying to catch the Man of Steel [[BroughtDownToNormal at one of his weak points]]. Superman knows, but because [[IHaveYourWife the rogue has Lois and Jimmy]], he doesn't feel he has a choice.
** Invoked in the ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'' episode "Babel", which begins with Bruce [[NoodleIncident in the middle of telling]] Terry a story about one of his missions back in his days as Batman:

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'': In the episode "Long Way to Morning", Demona poisons Elisa and taunts her with [[CarryingTheAntidote the antidote]], but Elisa's [[PocketProtector badge blocked the poison dart]] so she's actually fine. Goliath and Hudson chase after the antidote anyway, knowing full well it's a trap, because if they don't it will tip Demona off that her plan failed, and she'll come after Elisa again.

The reasons for this vary. Sometimes, it's because one of the hero's TrueCompanions or a LoveInterest is being held hostage, and the hero can't turn his back on them. Sometimes it's because the heroes need a lead to the villain's plot and taking the bait is the only way. Proceeding may ''literally'' be the only option, e.g. it's the only way out of the maze they're in. Perhaps the heroes have an idea of what's in store for them, and the makings of a plan. Or maybe it's just because the hero enjoys a challenge. In any case, the choice is made: trap or no trap, it's their only chance.

** ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'': One mission has Shepard informed about an old human probe that has just ''conviniently'' turned up after twenty years, one armed with a nuke to stop aliens tampering with it. On arrival at the probe's landing sight, all the party members point out how blatantly this is a trap of some kind. And it is.

* The heroes of ''Manga/NurseAngelRirikaSOS'' are invited to a NastyParty at the {{Big Bad}}'s house...which they elect to attend, despite the danger. They want to take the fight to ''him''.

** When Paul Atreides tells his father Leto that their being given Arrakis was possibly a trap, Leto replies with the classic line "knowing there is a trap is the first step in evading it." [[FirstEpisodeTwist Leto got killed before the book was half-over]]. [[NiceJobBreakingItHero Nice Job Evading It Hero]].

* In ''Series/BabylonFive'', Sheridan goes to Z'ha'dum with [[WeUsedToBeFriends Anna]], knowing it's a trap. He plans to make it a very ''[[TakingYouWithMe costly]]'' [[NuclearOption trap.]]

'''[[DoesNotUnderstandSarcasm Mical]]:''' No, Atton, I think it may ''be'' a trap!\\
'''[[DoesNotUnderstandSarcasm Handmaiden]]:''' What are you talking about? It's obviously a trap.\\

* Franchise/{{DCAU}}:

* ''VideoGame/HearthstoneHeroesOfWarcraft'' features Secrets, which automatically trigger in response to the opponent's actions. If you have no cards that can destroy enemy Secrets, your next best option is to use contextual clues to guess what that Secret might be, and purposely trigger the Secret in a way that benefits the opponent the least.

* Various card games allow for counterplay, like counterspells in ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' or Trap Cards in ''TabletopGame/YuGiOh''. If a counter is suspected, and there is no means of defusing it (e.g. countering the counterspell, or destroying the Trap Card), then the next best option is to play a decoy, hoping the counter is wasted on the smaller threat before making the actual intended play.

%%* [[VideoGame/MegaManStarForce Omega-Xis]] takes this trope as a rule of thumb, always.

-->-- '''Josef Yurinov''', ''{{VideoGame/Mercenaries}}: Playground of Destruction''

* In the ''Anime/ReadOrDie'' OAV, one clear path into the I-Jin fortress suddenly becomes apparent. Joker instructs his team to take that path, stating that while it is obviously a trap, he has a few tricks of his own to play. (See the From Russia With Love quote below)

* In an aptly named episode of ''Anime/DigimonAdventure02'' "The Insect Master's Trap", the chosen children enter into Arukenimon's trap to find out what she is up to. Unfortunately, they underestimated just how good of a trap it was.
* The heroes of ''Manga/NurseAngelRirikaSOS'' are invited to a NastyParty at the {{Big Bad}}'s house...which they elect to attend, despite the danger. They want to take the fight to ''him''.
* Sometimes happens in ''Anime/YuGiOh'' when a duelist will intentionally set off an opponent's trap card because he has a strategy to deal with it, such as a counter-trap. A perfect example occurs during Yugi's duel with Pegasus at Duelist Kingdom. Pegasus has his Ryu-Ran attack Yugi's Summoned Skull, causing Ryu-Ran to get caught in Yugi's Spellbinding Circle. Pegasus, however, saw this coming thanks to his Millennium Eye and has a Trap Displacement ready to go, which frees Ryu-Ran and traps Summoned Skull in the circle.
* Happened in ''Anime/YuGiOhZexal'' outside of a duel. Kite had a feeling that Vector was luring Yuma and Astral (and by association, Shark) into a trap but Yuma didn't care because he had to rescue Ray, plus Shark was looking for revenge on the Barian indirectly responsible for putting Rio in the hospital.

* ''Film/Se7en''. After surrendering to police, SerialKiller John Doe promises to lead Detective Mills and Somerset ([[ComeAlone and only these two]]) to where he's left the bodies of his last victims; if so he will plead guilty to all crimes instead of an InsanityDefence. Suspecting John Doe has something more dramatic planned than retrieving a couple of bodies, he's manacled hand and foot, their car is followed by a SWAT team in a helicopter, and Mills and Somerset are determined to be ready for anything. They're not.

* ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublicIITheSithLords'':

* ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'': One mission has Shepard informed about an old human probe that has just ''conviniently'' turned up after twenty years, one armed with a nuke to stop aliens tampering with it. On arrival at the probe's landing sight, all the party members point out how blatantly this is a trap of some kind. And it is.
* In ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'', [[spoiler:the Illusive Man knows that the "derelict" Collector ship is a trap, but sends Shepard and crew to investigate anyway, not wishing to lose the chance to gain intel on the Collectors. He does neglect to tell Shepard it's a trap, so you have no idea until it's sprung.]]

* A villainous example from ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'': in the episode “Darskeid Descending!”, Batman challenges the titular villain to a fist fight without using his powers. Darkseid acknowledges how obvious the bait is before accepting the challenge, saying it’s been a long time since he’s used just his strength on an enemy.