History Main / BarefootCaptives

* ''Manga/TheAncientMagusBride'': When the orphaned and homeless Chise sells herself into slavery out of desperation, she is shown in chains, wearing nothing but a shirt, and barefoot. However, when Elias purchases her at an auction and takes her to his home, he reveals her wanted her as an apprentice and eventual wife. After destroying her chains and giving her a bath, he provides her with proper clothes and shoes.

* In ''Anime/CodeGeassAkitoTheExiled'' [[Characters/CodeGeassSuzakuKururugi Suzaku Kururugi]] loses his shoes after he gets captured by the BigBad; his fellow captive "[[PaperThinDisguise Julius]]" seems to still have his shoes however.

* The five Trick Tower prisoners from the Exam arc of ''Manga/HunterXHunter'' fall under this trope.

* ''Film/{{Dune|2021}} (2021)'': Paul Atreides and Lady Jessica are barefoot when they're captured by the Harkonnen soldiers, with a few shots of their feet emphasizing the fact.

* In ''Anime/CodeGeassAkitoTheExiled'' Suzaku loses his shoes after he gets captured by the BigBad; his fellow captive "[[PaperThinDisguise Julius]]" seems to still have his shoes however.

* ''Series/{{Andor}}'' reduces Cassian to this on Narkina 5, since incoming prisoners must relinquish their footwear before entering the complex. [[spoiler:When inmates fall out of line, the wardens electrocute their unprotected soles through the conductive floor and they can even execute entire floors of prisoners this way.]]

* ''VideoGame/{{ICO}}'' : The deuteragonist [[DamselInDistress Yorda]] get imprisoned in a steel cage hanging on ceiling until Ico letting it down, and is dressed in a rather shabby looking white dress without any footwear.

* In ''[[VideoGame/KingsQuestVAbsenceMakesTheHeartGoYonder King's Quest V]]'', Princess Cassima is clad in rags and bare feet, while being held as a scullery girl by an evil wizard.
** She's also held captive in her bedroom, in ''[[VideoGame/KingsQuestVIHeirTodayGoneTomorrow King's Quest VI]]'', though she's dressed in more elegant clothing and does appear to be wearing shoes (at least after she's taken from her room anyway).

* In ''Manga/FairyTail'' Erza spent part of her childhood enslaved by a cult. She and the other slaves were kept barefoot.

* ''Manga/MagiLabyrinthOfMagic'': The reason Morgiana PrefersGoingBarefoot is because she got used to being barefoot during her time as Jamil's slave. Also she is a KickChick with SuperStrength. If she ''did'' wear shoes, they would be quickly destroyed every time she gets into a fight.

* ''WebAnimation/AFoxInSpace'': After Fox McCloud is captured and taken prisoner by venomian soldiers they are seen confiscating his flight jacket and boots. These were presumably going to be returned to him for his meeting with Andross but [[JerkAss Wolf 'O' Donnel]] makes sure they're "lost" along the way.

* ''Manga/MagiLabyrinthOfMagic'': The reason Morgiana DoesNotLikeShoes is because she got used to being barefoot during her time as Jamil's slave. Also she is a KickChick with SuperStrength. If she ''did'' wear shoes, they would be quickly destroyed every time she gets into a fight.

* Subverted in ''WesternAnimation/{{Tangled}}'', whilst it may Rapunzel is kept barefoot as part of her imprisonment in Mother Gothel's tower, she appears to be barefoot purely by her own choice rather than by Gothel. Indeed, even after escaping the tower, she continues to go barefoot for the rest of the movie and in the SequelSeries ''WesternAnimation/TangledTheSeries'' (where it is expressly stated that she DoesNotLikeShoes).

Normally an InvokedTrope where the character is deliberately deprived of their shoes by their captors. Alternatively, the character may have [[LosingAShoeInTheStruggle ended up without shoes]] while attempting to flee from or fight off their captors or may have been somewhere where shoes are optional or forbidden when they got captured; in either scenario, the captors have little or no incentive to provide replacement footwear given the factors mentioned in the introduction. The trope does not apply to characters who are routinely barefoot for [[DoesNotLikeShoes one]] [[BarefootLoon reason]] [[EarthyBarefootCharacter or]] [[BarefootSage another]] before being [[IHaveYourIndex abducted]], [[{{Prison}} imprisoned]] or [[MadeASlave enslaved]].

On the other hand, being forced to go barefoot in captivity may change a character into someone who DoesNotLikeShoes, even after escaping or being freed.

* Historically, prisoners and slaves have often been kept barefoot, as described in the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barefoot#Slave_codes Other Wiki]]. Changing attitudes to prisoner welfare mean that most nation states no longer practice this, either letting inmates keep their shoes or giving them a substitute pair.

* "Literature/ThePitAndThePendulum" illustrations and adaptations sometimes depict the protagonist as barefoot while imprisoned.

* In ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnline'' when Asuna is [[DamselInDistress held captive]] by Sugou in a cage, he dresses her in a very [[GoGoEnslavement provocative outfit]] which includes no footwear.

* In the ''VideoGame/EarthwormJim'' graphic novel ''Fight The Fish!'', Luana (AKA Princess What's-Her-Name) is kidnapped while barefoot. She stays this way throughout the entire story, even after changing out of her dress and into a jumpsuit. (Of course, the antagonist of the story is a fish with cat minions who don't wear shoes either, so it's unlikely they'd have any shoes to provide her with.) During her imprisonment, Luana meets another prisoner clad in the same kind of jumpsuit and nothing on her feet; this turns out to be [[spoiler:Luana's long-lost mother.]]

* Subverted in ''WesternAnimation/{{Tangled}}'', whilst it may Rapunzel is kept barefoot as part of her imprisonment in Mother Gothel's tower, she appears to be barefoot purely by her own choice rather than by Gothel. Indeed, even after escaping the tower she continues to go barefoot for the rest of the movie and in the SequelSeries ''WesternAnimation/TangledTheSeries'' (where it is expressly stated that she DoesNotLikeShoes).

* ''VideoGame/BackStab'' has this happening in the second stage, after the first ends with you captured alive. You lose your coat, hat and boots and the following escape stage you steal a sword; you then spend the entire stage kicking ass shoeless. You regain boots one level later.

** Fabiana once kidnapped by the Comando Sombra in "Nothing But the Second Best"; she's still wearing shoes up to and including when she's bundled into the gang's helicopter, but all her subsequent appearances play the trope straight.

* In the Legion expansion of ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft,'' one of the main story quests sees the player rescue a captive Maiev Shadowsong. She is clad in tattered clothing and bare feet, until the player gives her her armor and weapon; which she equips.

* In ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'', Kim first meets Dr. Drakken and Shego when she and Ron are sucked up into his base from underwater. Kim's flippers are removed off-camera and she goes barefoot the rest of the scene.

* ''Series/{{Andor}}'' reduces Cassian to this on Narkina 5, since incoming prisoners must relinquish their footwear before entering the complex. [[spoiler:When inmates fall out of line, the wardens electrocute their unprotected soles through the conductive floor.]]