History Main / BenchBreaker

* In ''Series/CharliesAngels'', [[Creator/DrewBarrymore Dylan]] breaks her chair with a flip, similar to the ''Film/{{The Avengers|2012}}'' example, although [[WithMyHandsTied her hands stay tied]] after the chair is broken.
* 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 him up to.
* Twice in ''TheBoondockSaints''. 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.]]

* ''Film/{{Red}} 2''. Frank Moss is being interrogated by US officials while handcuffed to a desk. Then a hit team bursts into the building killing everyone. Frank convinces an agent to uncuff him, but too late as the hitmen burst in and shoot him, catching Frank helpless...until he [[UseYourHead breaks the desk with his head]] and [[BadAss uses the pieces to knock out the hitmen]].

* In ''[[KnightAndRogueSeries 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 Creator/DeanKoontz'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.

* In DeanKoontz'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.

* Black Widow of ''Film/TheAvengers'' does a flip ''while tied to a chair'', shattering it on impact and freeing herself. And then she uses bits of the chair as weapons.
* In ''Series/CharliesAngels'', [[Creator/DrewBarrymore Dylan]] breaks her chair with a flip, similar to the ''Film/TheAvengers'' example, although [[WithMyHandsTied her hands stay tied]] after the chair is broken.

* {{Inuyasha}} is, at one point fairly early on in the series, tied to a tree by a demon using her hair like garrote wire. [[TakeAThirdOption He breaks the tree]]. Only a partial example, though, because he [[HalfHumanHybrid doesn't qualify as an ordinary human]].

* 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.

* ''ThePrisoner'' episode "The Girl Who Was Death" had him tied to a chair inside a missile set to launch and destroy London - he struggles against the rope for some time before he realizes he can just pull the back of the chair up and off, freeing himself.
* On ''{{Chuck}}'', whenever Casey gets handcuffed to a piece of furniture, he ends up breaking it and using the attached pieces as a melee weapon.

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* A flashback in ''Film/Unknown2006'' reveals how one of the characters frees himself from the chair he was tied to by breaking the chairback.

** When Spike is revealed to be a ManchurianAgent, Buffy ties him to a chair until she can figure out what to do. Spike even tells her to tighten the bonds. When he's activated however, [[SuperpoweredEvilSide he breaks the chair in berserker fury]] and attacks Andrew, forcing Buffy to chain him up in the basement next time.

** In "Gingerbread" the residents of Sunnydale fall under the influence of a demon and try to [[BurnTheWitch burn Buffy and Willow at the stake]]. Buffy is bound so tightly she can't snap the ropes even with her SuperStrength. When the demon charges her, she breaks the stake and leans forward, [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice impaling it on the tip]].

** In "Gingerbread" the residents of Sunnydale fall under the influence of a demon and try to [[BurnTheWitch burn Buffy and WIllow at the stake]]. Buffy is bound so tightly she can't snap the ropes even with her SuperStrength. When the demon charges her, she breaks the stake and leans forward, [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice impaling it on the tip]].

** In "Gingerbread" the residents of Sunnydale fall under the influence of a demon and try to [[BurnTheWitch burn Buffy and WIllow at the stake]]. Buffy is bound so tightly she can't break the ropes even with her SuperStrength. When the demon charges her, she breaks the stake and leans forward, [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice impaling it on the tip]].

* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''. When Spike is revealed to be a ManchurianAgent, Buffy ties him to a chair until she can figure out what to do. Spike even tells her to tighten the bonds. When he's activated however, [[SuperpoweredEvilSide he breaks the chair in berserker fury]] and attacks Andrew, forcing Buffy to chain him up in the basement next time.

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

* In the ''WesternAnimation/LittlestPetShop2012'' episode "[[Recap/LittlestPetSHop2012S2E2TheNestHatsCraze The Nest Hats Craze!]]," Blythe gets so mad at Whittney and Brittney tying her to a wooden chair that she breaks the chair to escape.

* Doreau does this accidentally in the ''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.

* Black Widow of ''Film/TheAvengers'' does a flip ''while tied to a chair'', shattering it on impact and freeing herself.

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

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 whatever they are tied to.

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

* In the intro scenes of ''BatmanArkhamCity'', 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.