History Main / PitTrap

* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendofZeldaPhantomHourglass'', the 8th floor of the Temple of the Ocean King has a fake safe zone only distinguishable by the fact that all the other safe zones have animations, while this one is static. And by falling into it.

* [[TerribleTrio Team Rocket]] in the ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' anime use these so often that they're practically the {{Trope Codifier}}s. They often mess up ''a la'' the standard subversion.

* Team Rocket in the ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' anime use these so often that they're practically the {{Trope Codifier}}s. They often mess up ''a la'' the standard subversion.

* In ''Film/Tremors1'', the last two Graboids set one up to disable the bulldozer, forcing the party to take refuge on a small rock pile [[XanatosSpeedChess and come up with a new plan]].

** In the [[WesternAnimation/WileECoyoteAndTheRoadRunner Road Runner]] short ''Stop! Look! And Hasten!'', Wile. E. Coyote tries to capture the Road Runner with one of these, which he makes from a book titled "How To Build A Burmese Tiger Trap." [[TrappedTheWrongTarget What he captures instead]] is a Burmese tiger (''Surprisibus surprisibus'').

* The ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' manga, ''Manga/InabaOfTheMoonAndInabaOfTheEarth'' has this as [[ThePrankster Tewi's]] most common prank, with [[ButtMonkey Reisen]] being the traps' most common victim. One of it actually
* ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima''

* In ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendofZeldaPhantomHourglass The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass]]'', the 8th floor of the Temple of the Ocean King has a fake safe zone only distinguishable by the fact that all the other safe zones have animations, while this one is static. And by falling into it.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* In [[Series/{{Blackadder}} ''The Black Adder'']], Edmund falls into one, just after [=McAngus=] has casually said "Oh, mind the weasel pit".

* In [[''Series/{{Blackadder}} The Black Adder]], Edmund falls into one, just after [=McAngus=] has casually said "Oh, mind the weasel pit".

* In an episode of ''VisualNovel/HigurashiWhenTheyCry'' Kai, Satoko sets these. Rika falls down one, though Satoko was trying to trap Keiichi.
* Used and [[LampshadeHanging lampshade-hung]] in the anime of ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'', in the episode that introduces Gosunkugi.
* ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima''
** In the Kyoto Arc the BigBad sets one up that's filled with frogs in a temple that Negi's class visits. [[GenkiGirl Makie]] and [[ClassRepresentative Ayaka]] fall into it.
** Negi's father also used one full of onions and garlic [[MundaneSolution to defeat Evangeline]].
* Used to no effect (unless you count it working on Natsu, Gray, and Erza) by Lucy in ''Manga/FairyTail''.
* In ''Manga/ExcelSaga'', Il Palazzo has a PitTrap under the TrapDoor in his underground headquarters. Excel falls into it almost every time she sees Il Palazzo, and is aware of its existence, so it's not really a trap.
* The ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' manga, ''Manga/InabaOfTheMoonAndInabaOfTheEarth'' has this as [[ThePrankster Tewi's]] most common prank, with [[ButtMonkey Reisen]] being the traps' most common victim. One of it actually [[{{Mundangerous}} managed to knock out]] the infamously powerful Yorihime.

* In the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'', Granny Weatherwax triggers one of these. She drops into a pit in which there is already a disgruntled bear. The bear's day, already disrupted, is completely spoilt by this, and it tries to get as far away from the enraged witch as it can. The Dwarf hunters who set the trap consider filling it in would be the ideal solution, but are soon disabused of this notion.
** In ''Discworld/GoingPostal'', those convicted criminals offered an Angel by Lord Vetinari are perfectly at liberty to refuse and can walk out of the room by that door over there.[[note]]Which in these circumstances opens onto a very deep hole in the ground[[/note]].

* In Disney's ''Film/SwissFamilyRobinson'' Francis builds one of these and successfully catches a tiger, then uses the pit and tiger to trap some pirates.

* ''Arduin'' RPG, ''The Compleat Arduin Book 2: Resources''. Table 76: Random Traps - Floor has many of these, filled with a variety of contents: SpikesOfDoom, monsters, pools of acid, a 1,000 foot drop (Splat!), mechanical grinders, molten lava, boiling mud, quicklime and dragon dung.

* A spike-filled one is one of the traps found in the grounds of the Iga ninja dogs in ''Manga/GingaNagareboshiGin''. It is used by Hayato to kill one of the Koga dogs [[spoiler:as well as himself, as he literally [[TakingYouWithMe took the enemy with him.]] ]]

* The ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' manga, ''Manga/InabaOfTheMoonAndInabaOfTheEarth'' has this as [[ScrewySquirrel Tewi's]] most common prank, with [[ButtMonkey Reisen]] being the traps' most common victim. One of it actually [[{{Mundangerous}} managed to knock out]] the infamously powerful Yorihime.

** A similar gag was used in ''From Hare to Heir'', when Yosemite Sam cuts a hole in the floor above a moat and covers it with a rug, then tells Bugs to step out of his bathroom. When Bugs won't come out, Sam tries to push him out and he falls through instead. When Sam makes it back upstairs, he tries to charge at Bugs, only to fall down ''again''.

* ''Disney/TheLionKingOneAndAHalf'': Timon and Pumbaa defeat the hyenas by luring them all into a large pit they dug while Simba is still fighting Scar.
* ''Disney/TheRescuersDownUnder'': Cody ends up in one of these dug by EvilPoacher [=McLeach=] when he frees the mouse that served as the bait. At first, [=McLeach=] is quite surprised to have caught a boy instead of an animal and tries to blame his pet lizard Joanna for having dug the hole. However, when he realizes Cody knows where [[GiantFlyer the eagle Marahute]] is, he reveals his true colors and kidnaps the boy.

* In ''Film/Tremors'', the last two Graboids set one up to disable the bulldozer, forcing the party to take refuge on a small rock pile [[XanatosSpeedChess and come up with a new plan]].

* ''Disney/TheRescuersDownUnder'': [[BigBad Percival]] [[EvilPoacher McLeach]] does this to Cody in order to force him to give up [[GiantFlyer the eagle Marahute]], with Joanna waiting at the bottom to make him her lunch.

** In the [[WesternAnimation/WileECoyoteAndTheRoadRunner Road Runner]] short ''Stop! Look! And Hasten!'', Wile. E. Coyote tries to capture the Road Runner with one of these, which he makes from a book titled "How To Build A Burmese Tiger Trap." What he captures instead is a Burmese tiger (''Surprisibus surprisibus'').

* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000''. Catachan Jungle Fighters are said to use these. Makes sense, since they're basically an army of {{Rambo}}es, and their planet is basically a sentient jungle that actively hates all non-indigenous life.

* In ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendofZeldaPhantomHourglass The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass]]'', the 8th floor of the Temple of the Ocean King has a fake safe zone only distinguishable by the fact that all the other safe zones have animations, while this one is static. And by, you know, [[CaptainObvious falling into it]].