History Main / BenchBreaker

* In ''CharliesAngels'', [[DrewBarrymore Dylan]] breaks her chair with a flip, similar to the ''File/TheAvengers'' example, although [[WithMyHandsTied her hands stay tied]] after the chair is broken.

** [[DrewBarrymore Dylan]] also does this in ''CharliesAngels'', though [[WithMyHandsTied her hands keep on tied]] after the chair is broken.

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* [[StephenKing Stephen King's]] short story "The Gingerbread Girl", from the collection ''Just After Sunset'', features a version of this. The protagonist is duck taped to a chair by a pyscho who will return in a little while to kill her. She's unable to get free of the tape, so she ends up breaking the chair instead to free herself. This later comes in handy when the psycho returns, as she's able to use the splintered remains of the chair to fight him off.
* In [[DeanKoontz Dean Koontz's]] ''Intensity'', the protagonist escapes her captor by ramming a wall with the chair she is tied to and splintering it. She injures herself in the process.

[[AC:LiveActionTelevision]]

[[AC:{{AnimeAndManga}}]]

* Twice in ''{{The Boondock Saints}}''. Connor, handcuffed to a toilet while his brother Murphy is being taken out back to be shot by two goons from TheMafiya, smashes himself screaming against the toilet trying to break it apart before he finally just rips it up from the floor. [[DeathFromAbove Before he drops the toilet off the roof onto the Russians.]]

* In ''TwentyFour'', Jack Bauer escapes by [[BadAss smashing his chair and attacking his captor]].

* In ''Series/TheAvengers'', Mrs Peel gets handcuffed to a wooden chair. When the time comes, she swiftly breaks the chair and beats up the baddies with the sticks. At the end of the episode, as they stroll off across a golf course, Steed asks her what her handicap is. She shows him the chunk of wood still cuffed to one of her wrists.

* Twice in ''{{The Boondock Saints}}''. Connor, handcuffed to a toilet while his brother Murphy is being taken out back to be shot by two goons from TheMafiya, smashes himself screaming against the toilet trying to break it apart before he finally just rips it up from the floor. [[DeathFromAbove Before he drops the toilet off the roof onto the Russians.

* Twice in ''The {{Film/Boondock Saints}}''. Connor, handcuffed to a toilet while his brother Murphy is being taken out back to be shot by two goons from TheMafiya, smashes himself screaming against the toilet trying to break it apart before he finally just rips it up from the floor. [[DeathFromAbove Before he drops the toilet off the roof onto the Russians.

* Twice in ''{{Film/The Boondock Saints}}''. Connor, handcuffed to a toilet while his brother Murphy is being taken out back to be shot by two goons from TheMafiya, smashes himself screaming against the toilet trying to break it apart before he finally just rips it up from the floor. [[DeathFromAbove Before he drops the toilet off the roof onto the Russians.

This is ''not'' BreakingTheBonds - it usually is done by a normal human who is desperate enough to ram themselves into a wall just to damage the chair, or nearly break a limb leveraging it.

* MaxPayne waits until Franky is out of the room, and then falls backwards on his chair in order to crack the wood.

When a character is [[BoundAndGagged tied to a chair, bench, stool or other sitting device]], they usually try to pick their handcuffs, rub their ropes against a ConvenientlyPlacedSharpThing, or some other action that affects their bindings. Not so with the BenchBreaker; the character manages to break free by destroying the chair itself.

* [[Series/TheAvengers Mrs Peel]] was once handcuffed to a wooden chair. When the time came, she swiftly broke the chair and beat up the baddies with the sticks. At the end of the episode, as they stroll off across a golf course, Steed asks her what her handicap is. She shows him the chunk of wood still cuffed to one of her wrists.

[[AC:LiveActionTelevision:]]

* Doreau does this accidentally SledgeHammer episode, ''Wild About Hammer''. The villain for that episode ties her to a chair. Sledge manages to untie her ankles from the chair before he's attacked. While those two are fighting, Doreau manges manages to stand herself up on her now freed legs, only to trip, fall over backwards, break the chair, and free herself from the rest of the rope.

* Lennie Pike from ''ItsAMadMadMadMadWorld'' breaks the chair that he was tied to after breaking himself free from the pillar and duct tape that the gas station attendants tried tying up him to.

* In ''[[KnightAndRogue The Last Knight]]'', Sir Michael is chained to a bed by a captor and spends most of his time kicking the bedpost to try to detach it from the bed. [[spoiler:He succeeds just in time to aid Fisk in rescuing him.]]

* In ''TheLastKnight'', Sir Michael is chained to a bed by a captor and spends most of his time kicking the bedpost to try to detach it from the bed. [[spoiler:He succeeds just in time to aid Fisk in rescuing him.]]

!Examples

* Lennie Pike from {{Its A Mad Mad Mad Mad World}} breaks the chair that he was tied to after breaking himself free from the pillar and duct tape that the gas station attendants tried tying up him to.

* In [[TwentyFour 24]], Jack Bauer escapes by [[BadAss smashing his chair and attacking his captor]].
* In the episode of BurnNotice where Fiona gets abducted, she breaks the arms of the chair she's handcuffed to so that she can move around the room freely.

* In the intro scenes of ''ArkhamCity'', Bruce Wayne rocks back and forth in a chair he's been tied to, and then escapes from his bonds once he (and it) topples to the ground.

When a character is [[BoundAndGagged tied to a chair, bench, stool or other sitting device]], they usually try to pick their handcuffs, rub their ropes against a conveniently placed shard of glass, or some other action that affects their bindings. Not so with the BenchBreaker; the character manages to break free by destroying the chair itself.