History Main / DoomedFellowPrisoner

* Played with in ''Film/ThorRagnarok''. After Thor has been MadeASlave of the Grandmaster, he is introduced to another captive (supposedly the Grandmaster's "cousin", although they look nothing alike, being of different species) who is promptly executed right next to Thor with the "melt-stick". However, the prisoners Thor later encounters in the actual holding area don't meet a similarly grisly end.

* In ''Literature/TheCountOfMonteCristo'', Abbe Faria is Edmond Dantes' cell mate in Chateau d'If, and helps him not only hatch their escape plan but also clues him in to the treasure that makes him rich. But true to this trope, he dies shortly before they can make their escape, in a variation due to reasons unrelated to the prison's administration (due to a seizure in fact).

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[[AC:Film -- Animated]]

[[AC:Film -- Live Action]]

[[AC:{{Literature}}]]
* In ''Players of {{Literature/Gor}}'', Tarl is imprisoned with Nim-Nim, a member of the Urt People. (Urts are giant rats about the size of a small pony. Urt People are humans who live within a herd of urts, are vaguely urt-like in appearance, and can "speak" urt.) Nim-Nim "helps" Tarl to escape, which turns out to be a joke on the part of the Big Bad, who planned the escape so that Tarl will be killed by the urt herd that Nim-Nim brings Tarl to. Nim-Nim excitedly rejoins the herd, but during his time in prison he has lost the herd scent, so he is descended upon and killed as an outsider--which is also Tarl's intended fate. Instead, Tarl kills an urt and uses its carcass to make the other urts think he's an urt, at least long enough to cross the herd and escape unscathed on the other side.

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[[AC:Mythology & Religion]]
* In [[Literature/TheBible The Book Of Genesis]], innocent Joseph is put in a cell with two other prisoners. He decides to predict their futures by interpreting their dreams. He predicts that one prisoner will be pardoned by the Egyptians and one will be executed. He was correct on both accounts.

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[[AC:VideoGames]]

* Played with in ''Film/ThorRagnarok''. After Thor has been MadeASlave of the Grandmaster, he is introduced to another captive (supposedly the Grandmaster's "cousin", although they look nothing alike, being of different species) who is promptly executed right next to Thor with the "melt-stick". However, the prisoners Thor later encounters in the actual holding area don't meet a similarly girsly end.

* In ''Film/BloodrayneIIDeliverance'', Rayne just happen to be thrown in a cell next to the last living member of [[VampireHunter the Brimstone Society]], and they are both scheduled to be hanged. Rayne, being a dhampir, survives the hanging, but her cellmate, being a normal human, doesn't.

* Played with in ''Film/ThorTheDarkWorld''. After Thor has been MadeASlave of the Grandmaster, he is introduced to another captive (supposedly the Grandmaster's "cousin", although they look nothing alike, being of different species) who is promptly executed right next to Thor with the "melt-stick". However, the prisoners Thor later encounters in the actual holding area don't meet a similarly girsly end.

* In ''Literature/TheCountOfMonteCristo'', Abbe Faria is Edmond Dantes' cell mate in Chateau d'If, and helps him not only hatch their escape plan but also clues him in to the treasure that makes him rich. But true to this trope, he dies shortly before they can make their escape due to a seizure.

* In ''Literature/TheCountOfMonteCristo'', Abbe Faria is Edmond Dantes' cell mate in Chateau d'If, and helps him not only hatch their escape plan but also clues him in to the treasure that makes him rich. But true to this trope, he dies shortly before they can make their escape due to a seizure.

The main character in prison or other cell-based captivity. Generally, they are entirely innocent, arrested on the flimsiest of excuses, possibly as a ''test subject'' for a [[ScaleOfScientificSins mad scientist's experiment]] or some [[TheDarkArts equally insane magical ritual]].

* In ''Film/{{Bloodrayne}} 2: Deliverance'', Bloodrayne just happen to be thrown in a cell next to the last living member of [[VampireHunter the Brimstone Society]], and they are both scheduled to be hanged. Rayne, being a dhampir, survives the hanging, but her cellmate, being a normal human, doesn't.

* In ''Fanfic/IAgainstIMeAgainstYou'', Rarity is captured by CT and his Insurrectionists and meets a fellow prisoner called Captain Erberle, striking a quick fellowship. She then explains to Erbele that her battle plan for dealing with CT will be to try the same trick she used against the Diamond Dogs in the episode ''A Dog and Pony Show'' (read:[[PityTheKidnapper annoy the living hell out of CT through being the most insufferable prisoner ever]]). Unfortunately, when she actually tries to implement the plan, [[spoiler:CT tortures Erberle to death in front of her as punishment.]] Rarity, horrified at what her actions have caused, stops completely.

* In ''Fanfic/IAgsintIMeAgainstYou'', Rarity is captured by CT and his Insurrectionists and meets a fellow prisoner called Captain Erberle, striking a quick fellowship. She then explains to Erbele that her battle plan for dealing with CT will be to try the same trick she used against the Diamond Dogs in the episode ''A Dog and Pony Show'' (read:[[PityTheKidnapper annoy the living hell out of CT through being the most insufferable prisoner ever]]). Unfortunately, when she actually tries to implement the plan, [[spoiler:CT tortures Erberle to death in front of her as punishment.]] Rarity, horrified at what her actions have caused, stops completely.

[[AC: Live Action TV]]
* In ''Series/{{Starhunter}}'', Dante's niece Percy gets arrested. They talk about how some of the prisoners are in "demand" by males, and she shrugs it off. Later, one of the other prisoners gets hauled off to be raped to drive the point home.

[[AC:Fan Works]]
* In ''[[Fanfic/TheDuskyverse From Dusk to Night]]'', Dusky gets captured and imprisoned by the Leaf Cartel crime family. The next cell over has a stallion named Diligent Duster, who shares his sad story about how he ended up there and what the Cartel's already done to him. He mysteriously disappears just before Dusky can make her escape.[[spoiler: [[SubvertedTrope Then he attacks Dusky, revealing that he's actually a Cartel member with a personal vendetta against her.]] He was just pretending to be a fellow prisoner as an [[ComplexityAddiction overly complicated]] plan to mess with her psychologically before killing her.]]

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[[AC: Western Animation]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/TransformersTheMovie'', Kup and Hot Rod are imprisoned on the Quintesson planet. Next cell over is [[LastOfHisKind Kranix]], who gets fed to the [[ThreateningShark Sharkticons]] in order to show the Quintesson's "justice" system.

[[AC: Comic Books]]
* Inversion: Anytime ComicBook/ThePunisher goes to prison, his cellmate dies very fast--usually at his hands.
** This usually is the case for ComicBook/GhostRider too. Anyone who doesn't measure up to his [[ForGreatJustice standards of innocence]] gets the Penance Stare.

* Inverted in ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl''. When the Black Pearl attacks Port Royal, the pirates in the neighboring cell are freed by a cannonball knocking down the wall, but Jack is still stuck in his cell.
--> "My sympathies, friend. You've no manner of luck at all."

You want to reveal this. But you don't want to sacrifice your main character, since you have, after all, devoted hours of screen time (or hundreds of pages). So, you introduce this trope. All you need her is a name and a face, and a few lines of backstory. The next day, something ''will'' happen to them.

The Law Of Conservation Of Detail is heavily to blame for this trope, as the story needs to elaborate on what is going to happen to the prisoners, but they can't use the main characters, so they need a RedShirt to suffer instead.

* RobertHeinlein's ''Literature/HaveSpaceSuitWillTravel''. Kip is being held prisoner in the Wormfaces' base on Pluto. Two of his cellmates are the enemy's human minions who are going to be RewardedAsATraitorDeserves because the Wormfaces decide that [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness they have outlived their usefulness]]. First one of them is removed from the cell, then the other. The second one to go tells Kip their fate: to be cooked and [[ImAHumanitarian eaten by the Wormfaces]].

* ''DungeonsAndDragons'', module X4 Master of the Desert Nomads. If the bhuts capture the PC party they will chain all of them inside cells. Each night they will take away one of the prisoners (starting with any NPCs) and eat them.

* ''VideoGame/CastleWolfenstein'' (1981). The introductory screens have information given by the {{PC}}'s cellmate. It ends with the other prisoner screaming as he's being dragged away by the Nazis to be tortured.

* In ''VideoGame/TalesOfLegendia'' Shirles meets a friend in the cell adjacent to her. She soon gets dragged off.
** This turns out to be an inversion. She's the one who eventually gets used for an experiment.
* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast'', Zelda mentions something happened to the other princesses, before Link saves her.
** Later subverted, as she finally finds out what happened to the other maidens, being banished to the Dark World and turned into a crystal, in order to break Ganon's seal.
* At the beginning of the fifth and final episode of ''VideoGame/LifeIsStrange'', "Polarized", Max wakes up tied up in a chair by the Big Bad. Depending on the player's choices Victoria might be there, drugged on the floor. Later on, after returning to the same situation via Time Travel, it's revealed Jefferson has killed her, and he's about too do the same to Max.

* Inversion: Anytime ThePunisher goes to prison, his cellmate dies very fast--usually at his hands.
** This usually is the case for [[ForGreatJustice Ghost Rider]] too. Anyone who doesn't measure up to his standards of innocence gets the Penance Stare.

* In ''SnowWhiteAndTheHuntsman'', the title character is in a cell near a young girl. After the witch gets through with her, [[LifeDrinker she's an old hag]].

UpForGrabs

* In ''TalesOfLegendia'' Shirles meets a friend in the cell adjacent to her. She soon gets dragged off.

* In ''TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast'', Zelda mentions something happened to the other princesses, before Link saves her.

* At the beginning of [[VideoGame/LifeIsStrange ''Life is Strange'']]'s fifth and final episode, "Polarized", Max wakes up tied up in a chair by the Big Bad. Depending on the player's choices Victoria might be there, drugged on the floor. Later on, after returning to the same situation via Time Travel, it's revealed Jefferson has killed her, and he's about too do the same to Max.