History Main / KidnappedScientist

An occupational hazard of having a specialized talent in demand is that sometimes "demand" can be taken literally — a professional such as a scientist or engineer is kidnapped and [[AnOfferYouCantRefuse coerced]] into working for the bad guys, under threat to their life or [[IHaveYourWife the lives of their loved ones]]. Although there should be some obvious inherent risks to letting someone hostile to your plans work so intimately with them, doing things no one else in your organization fully understands, the success rate for this method seems to be pretty high — at least until the heroes get around to rescuing them, until the villain decides that they've [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness outlived their usefulness]], or until the scientist takes advantage of everyone's ignorance to sabotage the evil plan or [[LockingMacGyverInTheStoreCupboard craft a weapon that allows him to escape]].

Note that this is not the same as kidnapping someone for information, using them as a LivingMacGuffin, or having someone MadeASlave for menial (or sexual) tasks — but having a professional work intimately with the most delicate aspects of a plan, requiring highly specialized skills.

Subtrope of AnOfferYouCantRefuse. Compare ReluctantMadScientist, KidnappedDoctor, and ForcedCreativity. Also see TheWormGuy, a (usually) more benign version, and DoctorVonTurncoat, a (usually) more amoral version. Inverted with KidnappedForExperimentation, where the scientist is the one ''doing'' the kidnapping.

* Getafix, druid of ComicBook/{{Asterix}}'s village is kidnapped quite often for his knowledge of the super-strength magic potion.
** The plot of ''Recap/AsterixAndTheBigFight'' is kicked off by one such kidnapping attempt being foiled... [[FromBadToWorse because Obelix accidentally clobbered Getafix with a menhir during the fight.]]
** In ''Recap/AsterixAndTheGoldenSickle'', Obelix' cousin Metallurgix is kidnapped because of his talent for making high quality golden sickles.

* Doctor Will Magnus, creator of the ''{{Comicbook/Metal Men}}'', gets kidnapped during ''Comicbook/FiftyTwo'' and taken to Oolong Island so he can build a new [[DoomsdayDevice Plutonium Man]] for Intergang against his will. He's even less happy when they take his medication for his Manic/Depressive Bi-Polar disorder with delusional episodes (since [[NoMedicationForMe going off his meds]] last time was what caused him to create the first Plutonium Man) but he ultimately outsmarts them and brings down their whole scheme.
* In ''[[ComicBook/AthenaVoltaire Athena Voltaire and the Immortal Power]]'', Werner Lang is a German researcher, but would no longer be working with the Nazis if he had any say in the matter. However, the Nazis want his research, and Athena is sent to rescue him.
* ''[[ComicBook/SpiderMan Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man Vol 1 57]]'' contains an interesting play on this trope- The eponymous scientist in this case (Marla Madison) actually agrees to help once Will o’ the Wisp’s situation is explained, forcing Spider-Man to instead focus on fighting off Raxon Oil’s guards.

[[folder:Film — Animated]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheGreatMouseDetective'' [[BigBad Ratigan]] rather unusually kidnapped a toymaker, in order to build a life-size automaton double of the queen. To be fair, he was unlikely to find an actual roboticist in Victorian London.

* ''WesternAnimation/AprilAndTheExtraordinaryWorld'': One of the reasons why scientific progress has been retarded is renowned scientists such as Einstein and Fermi mysteriously disappear just as they are becoming famous. The scientists are being held prisoner by the {{Big Bad}}s to work on their secret project.

[[folder:Film — Live-Action]]

* Professor Fenton is kidnapped by that Hun swine Otto von Bruno for nefarious purposes in ''Film/{{Bullshot}}''.
* The opening scene of ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'' shows Bane kidnapping Dr Leonid Pavel, a Russian nuclear physicist, from a CIA transport plane, [[FakingTheDead which he then crashes]]. He later forces the doctor to convert a prototype fusion reactor into a neutron bomb.
* In ''Film/TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen'', The Fantom captures German scientists and their families. He forces the scientists to build advanced technology (like tanks and assault rifles) and reverse engineer the secrets of the League's members [[IHaveYourWife by threatening their families if they don't cooperate]].
* ''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse:''
** ''Film/IronMan1'': Tony Stark and Dr. Yinsen are abducted and told to build the Jericho missile by the Ten Rings or be executed. They TakeAThirdOption.
** ''Film/{{The Avengers|2012}}'', Astrophysicist Dr. Erik Selvig is kidnapped and brainwashed by Loki to help build a portal device powered by the Tesseract

* ''Film/NoTimeToDie'' has Dr. Valdo Obruchev--a Russian scientist who defected to [=MI6=]--being snatched by a SPECTRE commando team because Blofeld wants to get his hands on the weapon he's making. In a subversion, Obruchev is actually working for the ''real'' BigBad of the movie, and plays along because it's convenient for their plans.

* The capture of Jorn in ''Film/RobotHolocaust'', which sets off the plot.

* The film ''Film/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesIITheSecretOfTheOoze'' has Shredder and the Foot Clan kidnapping a scientist that was involved in the development of the Ooze responsible for transforming the Turtles into their present state so he could force said scientist to create an army of mutants. The scientist reluctantly obliges, but uses infant animals and contaminates the ooze so that they retain a child-like intelligence resulting in Tokka and Rahzar. After being rescued by the Turtles, the scientist works with them to formulate an anti-mutagen based on the contamination so that the two mutants can be turned back to normal.
* ''Film/TopSecret'' does this to Professor Flammond.
* In ''Film/WildWildWest'', Dr. Loveless captures America's top scientists in the fields of physics, hydraulics, and explosives and forces them to build a 80 foot tall mechanical spider that can belch out fireballs.

* In Creator/{{Piers Anthony}}'s ''Prostho Plus,'' a group of space aliens with poor hygiene kidnapped a dentist.
* ''Literature/TheRiseOfRenegadeX'': In the first book, Damien's MadScientist mom kidnaps Sarah’s dad to force him to make a hypnotism device for her after reading about how "Dr. Kink" has invented such a device. Actually, Sarah herself is the one who invented that device and her dad has no idea how to duplicate her experiment. Damien points out to his mom that she really should have realized that sooner, as the elder Kink is a biologist and not an engineer.
* In the ''Literature/SnarkoutBoys'' books, Uncle Flipping is a mad scientist who in every book is kidnapped by the bad guys so that his inventions can be used to further their evil schemes.
* A twist in ''The Tightrope Men'' by Desmond Bagley, which takes place from the point-of-view of a man brainwashed and altered by plastic surgery into taking the place of the kidnap victim. In a DramaticIrony his ordeal is AllForNothing as the scientist is drowned when the speedboat used to kidnap him strikes another vessel in the dark and sinks. The doppelganger then has to continue playing the role to find out who was behind the kidnapping.
* In the ''[[Franchise/SherlockHolmes Dr. Watson At War]]'' series by Robert Ryan, the villain cons a British scientist into ''kidnapping himself'', by posing as a sympathetic intelligence officer who's come to warn him he's about to be involved in a homosexuality scandal, but he'll take him away to a "safe and secure location" where he can continue his work while the government works to repress the scandal.

* On ''Series/TheAmericans'', the Soviets kidnap dissident and physicist Anton Baklanov so he can help create a stealth airplane for them.
* In one episode of ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer,'' Spike kidnaps Willow and Xander to force then-novice witch Willow to cast a love spell on Drusilla.

** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS11E1TheTimeWarrior "The Time Warrior"]]: A Sontaran kidnaps scientists from his future to make them repair his spaceship.
** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS37E2TheGhostMonument "The Ghost Monument"]]: The Doctor finds a message in an AbandonedLaboratory from the scientists who used to work there, who were kidnapped, and their families held hostage, and forced to build horrific weapons for their captors.
** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS38E4NikolaTeslasNightOfTerror "Nikola Tesla's Night of Terror"]]: UsefulNotes/NikolaTesla gets targeted for abduction by the alien Skithra because [[spoiler:as {{Insufficiently Advanced|Alien}} scavengers, they refuse to develop the skills to repair their stolen technology and, stuck at the early 20th century, judge Tesla the best mind on Earth to be able to repair their ship and weaponry]].

* In the 70s and 80s ''Franchise/KamenRider'' series, a highly common plot of the week was a scientist being forced to build some doomsday device or plague or whatever, either by kidnapping the scientist (and it's his kid who runs into the Rider by dumb luck) or the scientist's loved ones (then it's the scientist who runs into the Rider by dumb luck.) Note to scientists: if you ever get kidnapped by any NebulousEvilOrganization run by the disembodied voice of Creator/GoroNaya (and there's a lot of 'em!) do ''not'' expect them to actually keep their deal.
* In ''Series/WalkerTexasRanger'', a geneticist named Susan Lee (played by Creator/JuliaNickson) fell under this trope not once, not twice, but ''three times'' she's appeared. In her first appearance, "Higher Power" (Season 5), she was kidnapped by a Chinese warrior named Chang, who sought instead to kidnap her son, Davey, who is the reincarnation of Master Rin's former master, Lama Dolgin. Then, in "Heart of the Dragon" (also in Season 5), she and her father, Dr. Henry Lee were kidnapped by a Chinese gang led by Jiang Chu, when they were intending to kidnap Henry's student, Henry Wu, who had stolen an ancient Jade Dragon from them hoping it would heal his sister who was left in a coma after their parents were killed by a drunk driver. Lastly, in "Warriors" (Season 6), she and later, Davey, are kidnapped by [[RightWingMilitiaFanatic a gang of conspirators bent on world domination]] to use her research and both their DNA to create and clone a race of [[NoSell powerful]] {{Super Soldier}}s.

* Possibly the UrExample is the genius inventor Daedalus from Myth/ClassicalMythology who was kept prisoner by King Minos both for his further work and to keep the secrets of his former work, i.e. the Labyrinth.

* ''TabletopGame/VillainsAndVigilantes''. Characters are only allowed to have a certain number of insightful ideas (Invention Points). Villains therefore kidnap scientists and other experts and force them to use their Invention Points to create new technology for the villains' use.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Champions}}'' supplement ''The Blood and Dr. [=McQuark=]''. The brilliant scientist Dr. [=McQuark=] was kidnapped by the villain group VIPER and forced to create new technology for them. He pretended to go along with them while hoping for rescue. Just when VIPER's patience ran out, Dr. [=McQuark=] was rescued by the superhero Radion.
* ''TabletopGame/GURPSSupers'' supplement ''Supertemps''. When Harold Wilkesom created a prototype of a weapon that could silently throw metal playing cards, he was kidnapped by the villain group TRADE and forced to continue his research on it. When he learned he would be killed when it was complete, he used the prototype to escape.
* Sometimes, in ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}'', an extraction job is helping a scientist who wants to change to a new company. And sometimes, it's this trope - kidnapping somebody from their current employer because somebody else wants their knowledge and/or skills.

* ''Videogame/Fallout2'': Downplayed by Vic the repairman, who is first found being held captive by slavers using him to construct a radio, except that it wasn't so much that he did the job unwillingly as that he'd been paid for it it, failed to get it right the first time and was held prisoner until he could finish it properly.
* In ''VideoGame/EvilGenius'' the player can kidnap specialists including scientists and interrogate them to unlock new minion types.
* Dr. Fielder from ''VideoGame/HourOfVictory'' is a benevolent Danish geneticist kidnapped by a Nazi InsaneAdmiral to create a biological weapon, and one of your missions have you retrieving him from the Nazi's fortress in the Austrian Alps.

** Dr. Drago Pettrovich Madnar in ''VideoGame/MetalGear'', original inventor of the eponymous battletank ([[{{Retcon}} or at least a more compact version of the concept]]).
** Dr. Pettrovich again in ''VideoGame/MetalGear2SolidSnake''. [[spoiler: [[FaceHeelTurn He's faking it this time.]]]]
** Otacon in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'', whose plans for a defensive missile system were used to build a nuclear-equipped walking battletank.

** Nikolai Sokolov in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3SnakeEater'', a Soviet scientist who defected, but was rekidnapped by Colonel Volgin so that he could finish the Shagohod.

** Dr. Huey Emmerich in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidVThePhantomPain'', who is kidnapped by [[spoiler: (and is actually quite happy to work for)]] Skull Face, who forced him to build a new walking battletank.
* Used partially in ''VideoGame/MegaMan4''. While he is not the victim of the kidnapping himself, but rather his daughter, Dr. Mikhail Cossack is blackmailed by Dr. Wily to build him an army of robots to defeat Mega Man and take over the world.
** Played straight in the next game with Dr. Light.
** The fifth ''VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork'' game used this as well, with Dr. Yuuichiro Hikari kidnapped by the Nebula syndicate for the duration of the game.

* The Trash-Men in ''VideoGame/{{InFAMOUS}}'' kidnap engineers to help them interfere with the power supply and construct their giant tower of junk.
** And in ''VideoGame/{{inFAMOUS 2}}'', Dr Wolfe, the inventor the the Ray Sphere is kidnapped and forced to work for Bertrand.
* Occurs semi-regularly in ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerTiberianSeries'', most notable examples being Dr. Ignatio Moebius and Dr. Alphonse Giraud. Thing is, Nod scientists are treated ''very'' well and have practically limitless resources, so it is not uncommon for kidnapped scientists to pull a FaceHeelTurn, which is implied to have happened with Dr. Giraud.
* A coercion version occurs in ''VideoGame/BlazBlue''. Litchi Faye-Ling, a talented scientist who used to work for the even more genius Kokonoe, has a certain breakthrough research. The bad guys, Hazama, wanted that, so they coerce her to joining 'on her own will' by dangling the cure for her actual target, her friend-turned-monster Lotte Carmine/Arakune, someone she felt that it was her duty (out of grief and guilt) to save. [[ForcedIntoEvil It's clear that she disliked the prospect of working with the bad guys with aims for world destruction, but she ended up having to do it, unless she wants danger to happen to Lotte if she just leaves him be without her supervision (they also had him in custody).]]
* ''VideoGame/{{Arcanum}}'':
** There's an in-universe short story about some poachers who tried to hunt the mythical Stillwater Giant. They had planned to kidnap a gunsmith to maintain their weapons, but settle on the story's narrator, a chemist, instead.
** Late in the game, this is revealed to be a key component of the BigBad's evil plan: [[spoiler:he enslaved the Black Mountain clan shortly after their banishment, and has forced them to construct a technological portal which will rip a hole in the SealedEvilInACan he's trapped inside.]]
* ''VideoGame/CaptainSkyhawk'': Every fourth mission has you rescuing an apparently kidnapped scientist from an enemy battle station.
* Subverted in ''VideoGame/ClassifiedTheSentinelCrisis''. Your mission revolves around your attempts to rescue Dr. Landau, the Sentinel program's developer who's abducted by Balkan insurgents who wants him to recreate the tech for them. When you managed to find him, [[spoiler:it turns out Landau is a defector secretly working for the BigBad]].
* The BigBad of ''VideoGame/ProfessorLaytonAndTheUnwoundFuture'' has a team of these working to fulfill his goals. In a twist, it's never made entirely clear if the scientists are actually aware that they have been kidnapped.
* [[spoiler: Raven Beak]] kidnaps Quiet Robe in ''VideoGame/MetroidDread'' after the former kills the latter's tribe. He needs Quiet Robe alive long enough to learn how to control the Metroids.
* The climax of ''VideoGame/AnotherCode R'' is [[spoiler:Ashley attempting to save her father from Ryan, who kidnapped him to strong-arm her into getting full access to Another's abilities.]]
* ''VideoGame/WillYouSnail'' features Amelia, an AI researcher who was captured by a corrupt government (known only as The Regime) under false accusations of terrorism so she could develop an AI supercomputer for the purposes of war and surveillance. The Regime forced her to sleep in a prison cell and threatened her family in order to get her to comply with their demands.
* ''videoGame/RedAlert3'': In the campaign, the Pacifier (an artillery HoverTank) was built by FutureTech with some degree of input from captured ''Soviet'' scientists. Why the Soviets don't try making their own once the scientists are rescued is unexplained.

[[folder:Web Original]]
* In ''Literature/{{Twig}}'', Sylvester and Mary are forced to work without Lillian, their [[DeadlyDoctor Academy supervisor]] in the prison-town of Warrick. Faced with a frustrating lack of access to bioscientific solutions, they perform a home invasion on three local scientist/guards and force them to help manufacture poison gas and enhancement drugs at knifepoint.
[[/folder]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Castlevania}}'', Hector the Forgemaster is not so much kidnapped as manipulated into working for Carmilla. But once he's irrevocably on her side she drops any pretense of diplomacy and [[MadeASlave treats him like an animal]] while still expecting him to create an army for her.

* All the time in ''WesternAnimation/InspectorGadget''. It seemed like half of M.A.D.'s plans involved kidnapping scientists, although they just about never showed the unwilling ones actually working.
* Subverted in ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'' where there is an entire race of kidnapped scientists... whose inventions always seem to go horribly wrong for some inexplicable reason.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': When Mr. Burns tries to capture the Loch Ness Monster, he kidnaps Professor Frink for help.
* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'': Plankton, tired of going to the trouble of stealing the Krabby Patty formula, once "kidnapped" [=SpongeBob=] (albeit in a completely legal way, since he tricked Mr. Krabs into betting [=SpongeBob=]'s contract [[GoKartingWithBowser in a]] [[LostHimInACardGame card game]]) to work at the Chum Bucket and make him one.
* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels'': [[Recap/StarWarsRebelsS4E02InTheNameOfTheRebellionPartII "In the Name of the Rebellion, Part II"]] has Ezra, Sabine and Chopper rescue a group of technicians who were kidnapped by the Empire during a mission with Saw Gerrera. The technicians decide to join the Rebellion at the end, and it is heavily implied that they were kidnapped to work on the Death Star.
* ''WesternAnimation/TangledTheSeries'': In the two-part episode ''Cassandra's Revenge'', Cassandra is after a scroll that contains an incantation that will allow her to control the mysterious black rocks. Said scroll is written in a long-forgotten language, with the only one capable of translating it being [[TeenGenius Varian]]. She abducts him and forces him via TruthSerum to translate the scroll, then uses him as [[HostageForMacGuffin bait to lure Rapunzel to her]].
* [[Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles The TMNT cartoons]] have had this happen a few times. Most of the time, the abducted scientist is [[MadScientist Baxter Stockman]].
** A notable example happened in the 2012 episode "Mikey Gets Shellacne", where Dogpound and Fishface [[IJustWantToBeNormal become desperate to be human again]] and kidnap Stockman to try and make him change them back.
* This has happened at least once per series in the ''Franchise/TheTransformers'' TV shows:
** ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformers'': There were several episodes in the G1 series where the Decepticons would capture or steal from human scientists to further their own goals.
** ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'': An important plot point in Season 2 is that Professor Sumdac (both as revenge for reverse-engineering Megatron's head and because he's the most intelligent human in the show) is held prisoner by the Decepticons so he can help them construct their space bridge. [[spoiler: When it's revealed that Bulkhead is ''the'' expert on space bridges, the Decepticons kidnap him, too]].
** Towards the very end of ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime'', [[spoiler: Ratchet is kidnapped by Soundwave and taken aboard the ''Nemesis'' due to his inventing synthetic Energon. Megatron manages to coerce him to help them create a stable formula (although Ratchet is trying to escape the entire time and manages to turn Preda-King against Megatron).]]
* Serling Roquette from ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'' was kidnapped in order to produce a nano-robotic "fog" capable of stealing information and destroying the computers that held it. She's freed within the episode and later is instrumental in producing Cure-Tech.

* Los Zetas, a major Mexican crime syndicate, has been known to [[http://www.insightcrime.org/slavery-in-latin-america/zetas-enslave-engineers-in-mexico kidnap telecoms engineers]] to build and maintain their communications network. Unlike their usual kidnapping victims, ransoms are not offered and the victims are believed to be killed when they have [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness outlived their usefulness]].
[[/folder]]

** "[[Recap/KimPossibleS1E9AttackOfTheKillerBebes Attack of the Killer Bebes]]" has Dr. Drakken seeking revenge on his old college friends after they mocked him over his scientific skills way back when, [[spoiler:among them being Kim's father, whom Ron impersonates to avert this.]]

* In ''Series/WalkerTexasRanger'', a geneticist named Susan Lee (played by Creator/JuliaNickson) fell under this trope not once, not twice, but ''three times'' she's appeared. In her first appearance, "Higher Power" (Season 5), she was kidnapped by a Chinese warrior named Chang, who sought instead to kidnap her son, Davey, who is the reincarnation of Master Rin's former master, Lama Dolgin. Then, in "Heart of the Dragon" (also in Season 5), she and her father, Dr. Henry Lee were kidnapped by a Chinese gang led by Jiang Chu, when they were intending to kidnap Henry's student, Henry Wu, who had stolen an ancient Jade Dragon from them hoping it would heal his sister who was left in a coma after their parents were killed by a drunk driver. Lastly, in "Warriors" (Season 6), hers and Davey's DNA is vital to creating a race of [[NoSell powerful]] {{Super Soldier}}s, but [[RightWingMilitiaFanatic a gang of conspirators bent on world domination]] sought to use her research for their own nefarious purposes.

* In ''VisualNovel/VirtuesLastReward'''s backstory, [[spoiler:Alice's father]] was kidnapped along with several other scientists and forced to research [[spoiler: human cloning for the Free the Soul cult]].

* In the [[http://www.heroicmultiverse.com/flare/webcomic/index.php?pn=500 crossover comic]] between ''ComicBook/{{Flare}}'' and ''Webcomic/SpyingWithLana'', the two heroines work together to rescue a Belorussian scientist from the CorruptCorporateExecutive J. Reginald Butte.

* In ''Series/WalkerTexasRanger'', a geneticist named Susan Lee (played by Creator/JuliaNickson) fell under this trope not once, not twice, but ''three times'' she's appeared. In her first appearance, "Higher Power" (Season 5), she was kidnapped by a Chinese warrior named Chang, who sought instead to kidnap her son, Davey, who is the reincarnation of Master Rin's former master, Lama Dolgin. Then, in "Heart of the Dragon", she and her father, Dr. Henry Lee were kidnapped by a Chinese gang led by Jiang Chu, when they were intending to kidnap Henry's student, Henry Wu, who had stolen an ancient Jade Dragon from them hoping it would heal his sister who was left in a coma after their parents were killed by a drunk driver. Lastly, in "Warriors" (Season 6), hers and Davey's DNA is vital to creating a race of [[NoSell powerful]] {{Super Soldier}}s, but [[RightWingMilitiaFanatic a gang of conspirators bent on world domination]] sought to use her research for their own nefarious purposes.

* In ''Series/WalkerTexasRanger'', a geneticist named Susan Lee (played by Creator/JuliaNickson) fell under this trope not once, not twice, but three times she's appeared. In her first appearance, "Higher Power" (Season 5), she was kidnapped by a Chinese warrior named Chang, who sought instead to kidnap her son, Davey, who is the reincarnation of Master Rin's former master, Lama Dolgin. Then, in "Heart of the Dragon", she and her father, Dr. Henry Lee were kidnapped by a Chinese gang led by Jiang Chu, when they were intending to kidnap Henry's student, Henry Wu, who had stolen an ancient Jade Dragon from them hoping it would heal his sister who was left in a coma after their parents were killed by a drunk driver. Lastly, in "Warriors" (Season 6), hers and Davey's DNA is vital to creating a race of [[NoSell powerful]] {{Super Soldier}}s, but [[RightWingMilitiaFanatic a gang of conspirators bent on world domination]] sought to use her research for their own nefarious purposes.

* In ''Series/WalkerTexasRanger'', a geneticist named Susan Lee (played by Creator/JuliaNickson) fell under this trope not once, not twice, but three times she's appeared. In her first appearance, "Higher Power" (Season 5), she was kidnapped by a Chinese warrior named Chang, who sought instead to kidnap her son, Davey, who is the reincarnation of Master Rin's former master, Lama Dolgin. Then, in "Heart of the Dragon", she and her father, Dr. Henry Lee were kidnapped by a Chinese gang led by Jiang Chu, when they were intending to kidnap Henry's student, Henry Wu, who had stolen an ancient Jade Dragon from them hoping it would heal his sister who was left in a coma after their parents were killed by a drunk driver. Lastly, in "Warriors" (Season 6), hers and Davey's DNA is vital to creating a race of [[NoSell powerful]] {{Super Soldier}}s, but a gang of conspirators bent on world domination sought to use her research for their own nefarious purposes.

Subtrope of AnOfferYouCantRefuse. Compare ReluctantMadScientist, KidnappedDoctor, and ForcedCreativity. Also see TheWormGuy, a (usually) more benign version, and DoctorVonTurncoat, a (usually) more amoral version.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheGreatMouseDetective'' [[BigBad Ratigan]] rather unusually kidnapped a toymaker, in order to build a life-size automaton double of the queen.

* The opening scene of ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'' shows Bane kidnapping Dr Leonid Pavel, a Russian nuclear physicist, from a CIA transport plane. He later forces the doctor to convert a prototype fusion reactor into a neutron bomb.

* ''Film/MissionImpossibleGhostProtocol'': "Cobalt" takes a Russian nuclear scientist's family hostage to force him to work for Cobalt.

Subtrope of AnOfferYouCantRefuse. Compare ReluctantMadScientist, KidnappedDoctor, and ForcedCreativity. Also see TheWormGuy, a more benign (usually) version.

* ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'': Plankton, tired of going to the trouble of stealing the Krabby Patty formula, once "kidnapped" [=SpongeBob=] (albeit in a completely legal way, since he tricked Mr. Krabs into betting [=SpongeBob=]'s contract [[in a card game) to work at the Chum Bucket and make him one.

* A common occurrence in ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'', being that she ''is'' the daughter of a rocket scientist (her father, James) and a brain surgeon (her mother, Ann):

** Dr. Wanda Wong in "[[Recap/KimPossibleS2E25SickDayTheTruthHurts The Truth Hurts]]". She is kidnapped by Dr. Drakken and Shego, demanding she reveal her scientific secrets to them, threatening to make her talk with a [[TruthSerum Truth Ray]], but the Ray hits Kim and Ron instead while they rescue her. [[spoiler:At the end of the episode, when [[DinnerWithTheBoss Mr. Dr. Possible's bosses come over for dinner]] and [[BrutalHonesty Kim is unable to keep everything her father said about his bosses to herself due to her having been hit by the Ray]] (one has [[DodgyToupee a bad hairpiece]], one is a [[TheBore crashing bore]], and one is [[InsufferableGenius an annoying know-it-all]]) in spite of her attempts [[CannotTellALie to avoid blurting it all out]], Wong is revealed to be the board chairwoman of the space center, and clears up the whole issue when the other board members refused to believe Kim.]]

** Dr. Wanda Wong in "[[Recap/KimPossibleS2E25SickDayTheTruthHurts The Truth Hurts]]". She is kidnapped by Dr. Drakken and Shego, demanding she reveal her scientific secrets to them, threatening to make her talk with a [[TruthSerum Truth Ray]], but the Ray hits Kim and Ron instead while they rescue her. [[spoiler:At the end of the episode, when [[DinnerWithTheBoss Mr. Dr. Possible's bosses come over for dinner]] and [[BrutalHonesty Kim ends up causing a lot of trouble due to her having been hit by the Ray]] in spite of their attempts [[CannotTellALie to avoid blurting it all out]], she is revealed to be the board chairwoman of the space center, and clears up the whole issue when the other board members refused to believe Kim.]]