History Main / KnottyTentacles

%%Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1465184421053022000
%% Please do not change or remove without starting a new thread.

[[quoteright:330:[[WesternAnimation/RobinHood https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/knotty_tentacles.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:330:"Get out of ''that'', if you can!"]]

%% Caption selected per above IP thread. Please do not replace or remove without discussion here:
%% https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1404492079030138900

* In ''VisualNovel/BurlyMenAtSea'', the brothers can tame a Kraken by tying two of its tentacles together.

* In [[WebAnimation/BeeAndPuppycat Bee and Puppycat]], Bee's landlord Cardamon tells a JustSoStory about the creation of jellyfish to his comatose mother. It involves the arms of an octopus rupturing from tying themselves in knots trying to frantically collect the strands of hair scattered by ocean currents a princess gifted him in gratitude. The chunks of his arms fused with the strands of hair and became jellyfish.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': In a ''WesternAnimation/TreehouseOfHorror'' epsiode, Bart becomes a RubberMan calling himself "Stretch Dude." At one point the BigBad has SD and [[CuteBruiser Clobber Girl (Lisa)]] suspended over a vat of boiling lucite, tied there with Stretch Dude's own arms.
* While the tentacle monster in ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'s'' "Beast with a Billion Backs" is not defeated this way, this method or a similar one is used to delay Leela's capture to it.
* As in the mythology example, this happens to Pain and Panic when they try to kill baby Hercules in Disney's ''WesternAnimation/{{Hercules}}.''
* ''WesternAnimation/Ben10Omniverse'': Princess Looma manages to do this to [[RubberMan Ester]] when they fought.
** Ben (as Crashhopper) also does this to [[{{Mummy}} Kuphulu]], one of Zs'Skayr's henchmen, by tying him up in his own bandages. He gets [[LockedUpAndLeftBehind left behind]] as well, adding insult to injury.

* In the 1980s ''WesternAnimation/TheChipmunkAdventure'' movie, the Chipettes escape from a room full of snakes by tying two of them together and using them as a rope to get out of a window.
* In the opening to his cartoon, Touché Turtle does this to a land-walking octopus.
* In an old ''WesternAnimation/FelixTheCat'' cartoon, Felix travels underwater in search of a pirate's treasure and is forced to fight a [[ItMakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext boxing octopus]] for it. To win, Felix grabs each of the octopus's tentacles when it tries to punch him and ties them together.
* ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil'': Star and Marco defeat a Hydra with quick maneuvers to tie its necks up into a knot.
* WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse manages to defeat a worm-shaped gem monster this way in "Bubble Buddies", baiting it into wrapping itself around the legs of a worn-out, abandoned pier. Its struggling collapses the pier on top of it.
* This was used in the first act of ''WesternAnimation/MrBogus'' episode "[[Recap/MrBogusS1E10MuseumMadness Museum Madness]]". Bogus finds himself facing off against the pharaoh's pet [[ReptilesAreAbhorrent cobra]], before fighting the cobra in a BigBallOfViolence. After the fight ends, Bogus is victorious, with the cobra all tied up in knots.

SubTrope of BoundAndGagged, and almost always involves HoistByTheirOwnPetard. Compare and contrast TentacleRope. Little relation to the infamous trope "Naughty Tentacles", other than by pun. Not to be confused with HumanKnot.

* WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse manages to defeat a worm-shaped gem monster this way in "Bubble Buddies", baiting it into wrapping itself around the legs of the pier. Its struggling collapses the pier on top of it.

[[quoteright:330:[[Disney/RobinHood https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/knotty_tentacles.jpg]]]]

* In ''Disney/TheJungleBook'', Mowgli pushes Kaa's coils off a tree and he collapses on the ground in a tangled heap. As he crawls away, his tail ends up tied in a knot, which gets snagged and trips him up.
* In ''Disney/RobinHood'', Prince John punishes Sir Hiss by tying a knot on his throat, then later by tying him around a pole.

* As in the mythology example, this happens to Pain and Panic when they try to kill baby Hercules in Disney's ''Disney/{{Hercules}}.''

* In the ''Comicbook/XWingSeries'', a teenaged Wedge Antilles was restrained by Booster's tentacled copilot while going berserk as his parents were dying. Somehow, off panel Wedge slipped out and got to a window, and the copilot was seen looking startled with its tentacles knotted.

* WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse manages to defeat a worm-shaped gem monster this way in "Bubble Buddies", baiting it into wrapping itself around the legs of the pier. It's struggling collapses the pier on top of it.

* WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse manages to defeat a worm-shaped gem monster this way in "Bubble Buddies", baiting it into wrapping itself around the legs of the pier.

[[caption-width-right:330:"Try getting out of ''that'', if you can!"]]

** Hulk has at least once defeated Mr. Fantastic of ''Comicbook/TheFantasticFour'' by tying him in knots.

[[caption-width-right:330:Try wiggling out of that!]]

** Ben (as Crashhopper) also does this to Kuphulu, one of Zs'Skayr's henchmen, by tying him up in his own bandages. He gets [[LockedUpAndLeftBehind left behind]] as well, adding insult to injury.

[[AC:{{Anime}} and {{Manga}}]]

[[AC:ComicBooks]]
* Comicbook/TheIncredibleHulk has at least once defeated Mr. Fantastic of ''Comicbook/TheFantasticFour'' by tying him in knots. He also tied Doc Ock's arms into knots in retaliation for the beating he received in a Sinister Six storyline.

[[AC:Film]]

[[AC:Mythology]]

[[AC:VideoGames]]

[[AC:Web Original]]
* ''The Adventures of Theatre/TheLeagueOfSTEAM'': In "Tall Tails" three men boast of their encounters with a kraken, including one man who claims he defeated it by tying its tentacles in a nice square knot. [[RightBehindMe While he's talking, a kraken attacks]], but as the man only has one arm now, he's got a good excuse not to volunteer to fight it off. "I need two arms for that!"

[[AC:WesternAnimation]]

* In ''Disney/TheJungleBook'', Mowgli pushes Kaa's coils off a tree and he collapses on the ground in a tangled heap. As he crawls away, his tail ends up tied in a knot, which gets snagged and trips him up.
* In ''Disney/RobinHood'', Prince John punishes Sir Hiss by tying a knot on his throat, then later by tying him around a pole.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': In a WesternAnimation/TreehouseOfHorror epsiode, Bart becomes a RubberMan calling himself "Stretch Dude." At one point the BigBad has SD and [[CuteBruiser Clobber Girl (Lisa)]] suspended over a vat of boiling lucite, tied there with Stretch Dude's own arms.
* While the tentacle monster in ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'s'' "Beast with a Billion Backs" was not defeated this way, this method or a similar one was used to delay Leela's capture to it.

[[quoteright:350:[[Disney/RobinHood http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/robin_hood_kt.jpg]]]]

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/robin_hood_kt.jpg]]

* In ''Film/NightAtTheMuseum: Secret of the Tomb'', Larry escapes from one of the Xiangliu's heads this way.

* Comicbook/TheIncredibleHulk has at least once defeated Mr. Fantastic of ''Comicbook/TheFantasticFour'' by tying him in knots. He also tied Doc Oc's arms into knots in retaliation for the beating he received in a sinister six storyline.

One way of beating something with tentacles, long stretchy limbs, or serpentine features is by tying it up with said features. Depending on the size, this may require physical tying or complex maneuvers.

SubTrope of BoundAndGagged. Compare and contrast TentacleRope. Little relation to the infamous trope "Naughty Tentacles", other than by pun. Not to be confused with HumanKnot.

SubTrope of BoundAndGagged. Compare and contrast TentacleRope. Little relation to the [[Administrivia/PermanentRedLinkClub late trope]] "Naughty Tentacles", other than by pun. Not to be confused with HumanKnot.

* The animated film ''Film/TheSecretOfKells'' has the boy protagonist face off against a tentacle monster to retrieve another magifying crystal to replace the one his mentor lost years ago. Part of his tactics for defeating the thing invokes the trope as he evades the tentacles.

* When attacked by two snakes, the baby [[GreekMythology Hercules]] defeated them by tying them together.