Shark Pool: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
[[File:SharkPool_OotS_close_1921.png|link=The Order of the Stick
{{quote|''"[[Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?|Why sharks]]? Why couldn't it be otters? I wouldn't mind dropping into a tank of otters. [[Playful Otter|They're fun.]]"''|'''Ron Stoppable''', ''[[
A body of water filled with any variety of unpleasant creatures, such as [[Never Smile At a Crocodile|alligators]], killer jellyfish, [[Piranha Problem|piranha]], or [[Everything Is Even Worse With Sharks|sharks]] (with or without [[Frickin' Laser Beams|frickin' lasers]] [[Austin Powers|on their heads]]). Inconvenient heroes and their sidekicks are either suspended over the pool on a slowly-descending rope, or are delivered into it by way of a chute or [[Trap Door]]. Also may be used to dispose of [[Evil Minions|henchmen]] who have [[You Have Failed Me|failed for the last time]].
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Compare with [[Animal Assassin]], where the dangerous animals are delivered to the victim rather than the other way around.
See also [[Fed to
{{examples}}
== Anime & Manga ==
* In a rare anime example, ''[[Excel Saga (
* Rando hangs Yusuke over a pond of piranha-like fishes in ''[[
* ''[[
== Comic Books ==
* Happens regularly throughout various incarnations of ''[[
** Although the [[Batman (TV series)|Shark Repellent Bat-Spray]] probably deserves a special mention.
** And it was on a rack labeled "Oceanic Repellent Bat-Sprays" and there were three other varieties for different animals around it.
** In ''The Joker's Five-Way Revenge'' (a notable comics story marking the return of the [[Monster Clown|psychotic murderous]] [[Alternate Character Interpretation|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.
* In the comic ''[[
* ''[[Wanted (Comic Book)|Wanted]]'' has [[Lawyer-Friendly Cameo|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.)}}
* In one ''[[Daredevil]]'' storyarc, the hero ends up in an old mansion [[Death Trap|converted into a gigantic house of DEATH]]. At one point, he gets thrown into a tube and ends up in a pool... which, due to lack of maintenance, featured a half empty base, and a suffocating shark. Subversion!
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== Comic Strips ==
* One ''[[
* ''[[
* [[Magic:
{{quote| '''Benalish Hero:''' ''(grinning)'' Jones! Someone put a ''shark'' in my bath!<br />
'''Jones:''' ''(scared)'' R-r-really, o Queen?<br />
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== Films -- Animation ==
* In ''[[The Emperor's New Groove
* In the 1986 ''[[Transformers:
* In ''[[
== Films -- Live-Action ==
* Cleverly inverted in ''[[
* The aforementioned ''[[Austin Powers]]'' example. In the third movie, Dr. Evil ''did'' get sharks with frikkin' laser beams attached to their heads.
* ''[[
** The garbage pit in ''[[
** Revisited ''twice in the same movie'', with both the Rancor and the Sarlacc Pit in ''[[
* ''[[James Bond (
** Ernst Blofeld pulls off his [[The Blofeld Ploy|signature move]] in ''[[
** In ''[[
** Mr. Big/Kananga has a shark pool in his [[Elaborate Underground Base]] in ''[[Live and Let Die (
** Karl Stromberg has a shark pit in his lair in ''[[
** Hugo Drax drops Bond into a pool with a reticulated python in it in ''[[
** Franz Sanchez feeds Bond's friend and collaborator Felix Leiter to a shark in a marine research facility in ''[[
* In ''[[The Phantom (
* Subverted in ''[[Ace Ventura]]: 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.)
* A particularly ludicrous example is the opening scene of the French movie ''Le Magnifique'': A spy is trapped in a phone booth, which is then lifted by an helicopter (!!) and dipped into the sea, where a squad of frogmen attach it to a shark's cage before opening the door. Of course, the scene is purposefully over-the-top as it's a parody of the whole ''James Bond''/''OSS 117'' type of spy literature.
* In the ''Stormbreaker'' movie, [[
* One villain in ''[[Speed Racer (
* In the 1936 ''[[
== Literature ==
* ''[[James Bond (
** The original ''Bond'' books do this too. In the original ''[[
** Leiter is mutilated in ''[[Live and Let Die (
* ''[[Forgotten Realms
{{quote| ''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).}}
* ''[[
** In ''[[Discworld
** 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.
** 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.
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** 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.
** 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.
* ''[[
** In ''The Illusion'', a scientist is dropped into a pit of Taxxons -- basically giant, eternally-hungry, alien centipedes which eat everything they can get their mouths around.
** 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.
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== Live-Action TV ==
* In the 2006 ''[[Robin Hood (TV series)|Robin Hood]]'' series, Robin at one point is lowered into a pit of venomous snakes... that were [[You Fail Biology Forever|clearly harmless boa constrictors]].
* One sketch in the BBC series ''[[The Wrong Door]]'' has an evil genius discussing this with a workman fixing his [[Trap Door]]. The workman points out that piranhas aren't that deadly, being omnivores, and even pointing out that his last victim is still alive. He then recommend polar bears to be the optimum creatures for a killing pool.
* The antagonist of ''[[
* A ''[[
* In ''[[The Vampire Diaries]]'' the moonstone is placed in a well filled with vervain, making it an [[Acid Pool]] to vampires. It also contains snakes, though possibly only by coincidence.
* In the ''[[Batman (TV series)|Batman]]'' episode "The Spell of Tut", King Tut uses a Crocodile Pool as a [[Death Trap]] for Robin.
* ''[[
== Puppet Shows ==
* Kim Jong-il has one in ''[[Team America: World Police]]'', which he drops Hans Blix into.
== Tabletop Games ==
* ''[[Dungeons and Dragons
** The add-on ''Dungeonscape'' features an acidborn template... making... wait for it... SHARKS IN ACID. Which is basically the [[Rule of Cool|most awesome idea ever]].
** The template can also be adapted to produce "lavaborn" creatures. Guess where they swim around.
** ''[[
== Video Games ==
* ''[[
** It is possible to create something much worse in ''Dwarf Fortress'' -- the Carp Pool!
** [[It Got Worse]] -- 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 [[Trap Door|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.
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* One mission in ''[[Hitman]]: Blood Money'' 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.
* Mechanical shark tanks are an uncommon hazard for motorcycle stuntman [[Joe Danger]].
* The [[
* Exaggerated in ''[[
== Web Comics ==
* The aforementioned acidborn shark from ''Dungeonscape'' is prominently featured in [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0541.html strip #541] of ''[[
{{quote| '''Demon-roach:''' [[Self-Deprecation|They'll let any old hack write a sourcebook these days.]]}}
* [http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=994 "The Voice of Reason"] from ''[[
* Parodied in ''[[
{{quote| '''Khrima:''' And this "boiling sharks" idea of yours... Wouldn't the sharks die if we boil them?}}
* The [http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20090617 "Revenge of the Weasel Queen"] side-story of ''[[
* ''[[
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== Western Animation ==
* ''[[Batman: The Animated Series
** [[The Joker]] does this in the episode "The Laughing Fish", in a scene adapted directly from the example under "Comic Books".
** "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 [[Don't Explain the Joke|she had to explain the joke]].
* ''[[
** 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.
** 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.
* Several ''[[
** A late-entry ''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.
{{quote| '''Sam:''' Better luck next time, Ralph.<br />
'''Ralph:''' Oh, sure! You can't win 'em all, Sam. Nice day, huh?<br />
'''Sam:''' Yep. Good to be alive, Ralph. }}
* ''[[
** Dr. Drakken used the standard shark version in his first episode.
** Another villain had a tank of electric eels.
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** Professor Dementor had an almost generic shark pool, filled with lava!
** [[Super-Powered Evil Side|Evil!Ron]] had a piranha pool prepared in order to scare [[The Dragon|Shego]] into complete obedience. It worked.
* In ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[
{{quote| '''Niddler:''' I want to be fed!<br />
'''Bloth:''' Niddler, when have I ever lied to you? I'll feed you -- to the Constrictus! }}
* ''[[
* In ''[[Teen Titans (
* From ''[[
{{quote| '''[[Diabolical Mastermind|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!<br />
'''[[Naive Newcomer|Arthur]]:''' What?... What? ''(aside, to The Tick) What''?!<br />
'''The Tick:''' ''(ahem)'' [[Lampshade Hanging|Standard villain procedure]]. }}
* Dr. Doofenshmirtz from ''[[
* ''[[Jimmy Two
* Snap Trap from ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[Batman:
|