History Main / SelfRestraint

* TruthInTelevision, every now and then. A notable example involves a preacher who was sued for libel and refused to post bail to make a point. The prison wasn't particularly nice, either, and aggravated his health problems. OTOH, his accuser was discredited and fled the country.

* Implied to be the case with the inhumanly strong and almost literally unstoppable [[LightningBruiser Mister Inertia]] in ''GeneralProtectionFault'', as he seems to be waiting for something while in UGA captivity.

* In [[{{Walkyverse}} It's Walky]], Sal is sent to prison. It would take no effort to bust out of there using her superhuman strength, but she stays on principle.

* In ''TheSpecialists'', [[http://thespecialistscomic.com/page-41/ Hartmann.]] Whose motive is that LaResistance hasn't killed him yet, and [[StupidJetpackHitler the Nazis]] will.

* This is the plot of Anton Chekhov's short story ''The Bet''. A young lawyer bets that he could survive fifteen years in a prison, and an older banker offers him a large sum of money if he can spend the whole time in his garden house - a prison with no locks or bars, with only a guard to report if the lawyer has escaped and thus forfeited the bet. The story picks up towards the end of the fifteen years and describes how the two men have changed - the banker has now lost most of his money, and paying his side of the wager will ruin him, and the lawyer has spent his confinement reading every book he has ever wished to read, and now sees that wisdom is far more valuable than material things. [[spoiler:The night before the deadline is up, the banker decides to kill the lawyer to avoid paying him. But when he reads a letter the lawyer had been writing, he realises that the lawyer intended to leave the prison before the time was up, having no interest in the money. Sure enough, the lawyer leaves the next day, nullifying the bet and leaving both men the wiser for it.]]

* A Fleischer ''{{Popeye}}'' has our sailor hero helping Olive with household chores but getting on the wrong side of a policeman who is citing Popeye for numerous vehicle violations. When Popeye accidentally knocks a flower vase off a window sill and it hits the policeman, he suddenly says "I hot a policeman! I broke the law!" He totes the unconscious cop in his car to the nearest jail, sits the cop down and locks himself in a cell.

Usually takes place in a CardboardPrison or a LuxuryPrisonSuite. If the character was arrested to foil some EvilPlan when getting arrested was their true goal, than its a form of XanatosGambit. When capital punishment is involved, it's ForgivenessRequiresDeath. When they invoke the aid of another character, it often overlaps with NoMatterHowMuchIBeg or KindRestraints. A character who normally does this may break out when he's the ProtectorBehindBars. Contrast NeverGoingBackToPrison.

Usually takes place in a CardboardPrison or a LuxuryPrisonSuite. If the character was arrested to foil some EvilPlan when getting arrested was their true goal, than its a form of XanatosGambit. When capital punishment is involved, it's ForgivenessRequiresDeath. When they invoke the aid of another character, it often overlaps with NoMatterHowMuchIBeg or KindRestraints. A character who normally does this may break out when he's the ProtectorBehindBars.

* One episode of ''TheOuterLimits'' (the newer series) has a self-aware robot called Adam that had just killed its creator [[spoiler: after said creator, on the behest of the government, tried to erase Adam's personality and reprogram him as a mindless weapon]]. Most of the episode consisted of a trial determining whether or not Adam should be considered a person fit to stand trial or a piece of haywire machinery that should be immediately scrapped. The entire time he is cuffed with rather hefty restraints. In the end Adam wins the right to stand trial as a person. However, as everyone is leaving the courthouse, the prosecuting attorney who argued against Adam's humanity accidentally walks into the path of a truck. Adam effortlessly breaks his restraints and pushes her out of the way, sacrificing himself in the process.
* Neal Caffrey on ''WhiteCollar'' broke out of prison 3 months before the end of his sentence to find his girlfriend. This suggests that he could have left at any time. It is also ridiculous that the 'tracking anklet' he has in the first season can literally be cut off by a pair of scissors. If he wanted to leave, 5 minutes would be more than enough time to disappear. The real problem for Neal is what to do after he escapes. He does not have the funds to live comfortably in another country and does not fancy a quiet life as a nobody in some backwoods town. Baring those options, he knows that sooner or later Peter and the FBI would track him down and put him into a maximum security prison for a long time. It is easier to just finish his two year probation while [[GildedCage living in a penthouse apartment in the middle of Manhattan]].

* In one of the CaptainAmerica novels, Cap is kidnapped by a militia group to be put on "trial" for not doing enough to help "real Americans." Cap can and does break out of jail, but he does it secretly to pass along information to other superheroes and law enforcement. He then breaks back ''in'', with the militia none the wiser. This ensures they stay focused on his trial and keep all the best militia members guarding him, so only the B-squad is available to carry out the actual nefarious plan, which is thus thwarted by Cap's partner Comicbook/TheFalcon.

* How can we forget [[StormOfTheCentury Andre Linoge?]]

* {{Superman}}. Because he's the [[LawfulGood Superman]].

* Neal Caffrey on ''WhiteCollar'' broke out of prison 3 months before the end of his sentence to find his girlfriend. This suggests that he could have left at any time. It is also ridiculous that the 'tracking anklet' he has in the first season can literally be cut off by a pair of scissors. If he wanted to leave, 5 minutes would be more than enough time to disappear.

Usually takes place in a CardboardPrison or a LuxuryPrisonSuite. If the character was arrested to foil some EvilPlan when getting arrested was their true goal, than its a form of XanatosGambit. When capital punishment is involved, it's ForgivenessRequiresDeath. When they invoke the aid of another character, it often overlaps with NoMatterHowMuchIBeg or KindRestraints.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'' episode "Bloodlines", When [[TheFlash Impulse]] appears in [[HomeBase the Cave]] and runs amok, he is knocked out by Nightwing and has his hands and feet cuffed. While Nightwing, Robin. and Beast Boy interrogate him, he stays put. But once [[MissionControl Mal Duncan]] arrives and opens an exit, Impulse simply vibrates his body through the cuffs and [[SuperSpeed runs off]].

* Subverted in ''Literature/ArseneLupin in Prison'' as there's no question that Lupin is guilty or could easily escape. The only reason he stays in prison is so he is able to pull off a caper that could only be done if he were in prison. In the next story ''The Escape of Literature/ArseneLupin'' his first escape from prison is part of a plan for particularly spectacular escape.
** His descendent LupinIII has done exactly the same thing on several occasions.

* In one episode of the ''WesternAnimation/MisterT'' cartoon (!!) from the 80s (!!!!!), Mr. T is arrested for theft; his friends ask why he doesn't just break out and he then proceeds to demonstrate that he ''could'' -- and quite easily -- but he says that he is innocent and therefore has no need to run away.

* In ''Series/{{LoisAndClarkTheNewAdventuresofSuperman}}, Superman promises to not use his superpowers since the people of Metropolis thinks that he is the cause of a localized heat wave [[spoiler:(it was actually Lex Luthor)]]. When he saves someone, he is arrested and put in holding, where one of the other detainees starts to mess with him, ("I just tugged on Superman's cape!"). When the jerk tries to punch him, Supes dodges and the bum lands his punch on another guy. The other guy is not happy and Superman just kinda shrugs at the first one, "Kinda sucks to be you right now."

* Subverted in ''Anime/{{Monster}}'', when Tenma gives a false confession just to be able to escape during a transfer to another prison.

** Granted, this is Homer's RunningGag in this episode.
*** In another episode, we see that one of the prisons in Springfield operates on the honor system. And most of the prisoners actually comply.

** Regal did this in earlier in ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'', using a KamehamehaHadoken to destroy the prison cell he and the party were stuck in. He only did this once the party had exhausted all other options, and it took little effort on his behalf. [[spoiler: He refuses to use his hands to destroy anything, as he had to MercyKill the woman he loved with them.]]

* Subverted in ''ArseneLupin in Prison'' as there's no question that Lupin is guilty or could easily escape. The only reason he stays in prison is so he is able to pull off a caper that could only be done if he were in prison. In the next story ''The Escape of ArseneLupin'' his first escape from prison is part of a plan for particularly spectacular escape.