History Main / StrappedToABomb

* One of the characters in the music video for the ''Music/BeastieBoys''[='=] "Sabotage" gets taped and tied to a bomb.

* Not sure if this counts since it's not a literal example, but ''Series/{{Castle}}'' has Beckett standing on a bomb with a pressure plate, which will explode if she gets off of it.

* ''Series/MiamiVice'': The villain of "Smuggler's Blues" ties people to anti-motion tremblers, causing a bomb to go off if anyone tries to cut them loose.

* ''Series/{{Chuck}}'': In "[[Recap/ChuckS4E02ChuckVsTheSuitcase Chuck Vs The Suitcase]]", Chuck manages to steal the purse of [[VillainOfTheWeek Sofia]], assuming that's where she carried the episode's MacGuffin, but she actually [[BatmanGambit played them, assuming it would get stolen]] and [[SomebodySetUpUsTheBomb replaced it with a bomb]]. Chuck's first instinct upon finding it is to [[RelocatingTheExplosion grab it and throw it away]], but Sofia put a pressor sensor in it, meaning it would explode if he let go of it. Thankfully, Sarah managed to [[CutTheFuse disarm it]] in time.

** The pressure sensor variant pops up with Nick in “Grave Danger”. The box is sitting on pressure sensors and the team uses dirt to try and replace Nick’s weight as he’s pulled free with a rope. It still goes off but the dirt muffles it and the main result is dust filled air.

* ''Series/{{The Flash|2014}}'': In "Revenge of the Rogues", Snart and Rory kidnap Caitlin and leave her BoundAndGagged to chair above a bomb in a warehouse. The bomb is rigged with a tripwire to start a timer if anyone enters to rescue her.

* In ''Series/TheProfessionals'' episode "Fugitive", Bodie has his cover blown while infiltrating a terrorist cell. The terrorists decide to [[PrisonerExchange exchange him for one of their own]] who's been captured by [=CI5=], and as insurance hang a canvas bag around Bodie's neck holding 15 pounds of radio-detonated high explosive. The terrorist leader warns that any radio communication might set off the bomb; as [=CI5=] has snipers nearby communicating via radio, this is naturally a concern.
* ''Series/RedDwarf'' episode "Entangled" has Lister attached to a machine that will blow up his groin if he does not pay the debt he owes a group of aliens after losing a poker game to them.
* ''Series/{{SCTV}}'': A quasi-reality show called "Revenge" skillfully prepares and film acts of vengeance as viewer requests...but an angry guy shows up on set wired with explosives ranting about how earlier acts of the show have ruined his life. The show suffers a quick, untimely end.

* ''Series/SledgeHammer'': It happens to Sledge, allowing him the chance to speak his catchphrase one last time before the series definitively ends...

* ''Roleplay/TheDoomyAdventuresOfIrkenDoominess'': A character named [[AliensAreBastards Melissa]] enjoys joking with HeroAntagonist Alyssa, by... strapping bombs onto her. In a world where NobodyCanDie, this is usually PlayedForLaughs, coupled with Melissa's CatchPhrase, "Okay, fine, so I blew your human up."

* ''LightNovel/RebuildWorld'': TheMole in Sheryl's gang Sebla, unknowingly has a stun grenade strapped to him by his partner-in-crime Guyver, which gets triggered at the start of Guyver's ambush of Akira during a monster attack.

* Standard procedures for ''removing unexploded ordinance from inside a person'' actually exist in militaries - mainly ensuring that the rescuers are as safe as possible from blowing up the operating theatre - and apparently, they're nescessary; as this situation can come up unintentionally.

It operates on a similar principle to ChainedToARailway, in that it's essentially a timed DeathTrap. However, the myriad ways to trigger a bomb means that villains can have ''lots'' of fun with this... for instance, rigging the bomb [[MoralEventHorizon to go off when somebody tries to rescue the victim]] (this is ''sure'' to mess with the victim's psyche a lot, and can also subvert a BigDamnHeroes moment by turning it into a SenselessSacrifice.)

%% Image changed per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1449938412054998500
%% Please do not replace or remove without starting a new thread.

* This happened at least once to ComicBook/WonderWoman. She wasn't just tied to the bomb, the bomb was dropped on a city. It was on the cover of a comic. [[http://tytempletonart.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/wonder-woman-da-bomb-bigger1.jpg This one, in fact]].
* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1942'': Dr. Psycho strapped Wonder Woman to a buoy with her indestructible lasso that filled with explosives in order to be a death trap to her, and ComicBook/SteveTrevor and Etta Candy who were coming to her aid.
* The ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'' story "And the Executioner Wore Stiletto Heels" has the villain going above and beyond by covering the victim in glue and sticking the bomb to their chest (and sticking the victim to the ceiling, too). By the time Batman finds them, there's not nearly enough time to do something about the bomb...

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/Cars2'', Mater's filter is replaced by a bomb as a contingency plan to kill Lightning [=McQueen=]. [[spoiler:He later uses it to coerce a confession from the BigBad.]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* ''Film/SpyHard'' plays this for laughs, as the film was a spoof type film. The villain ties up the captured lady agent to the bomb, and after Leslie Nielsen's character arrives, the villain ends up going up with the rocket.

* ''Film/JamesBond'' films:
** ''Film/{{Goldfinger}}''. Film/JamesBond is handcuffed to an atomic bomb and left inside Fort Knox. When the bomb detonates, it will destroy and/or radioactively contaminate the gold supply of the United States, thus causing gold prices to rise and increasing the value of Goldfinger's gold stockpile 10 times.
** ''Film/{{Casino Royale|2006}}'': Bond is trying to stop a gun-for-hire from blowing up a fuel truck to destroy a prototype airliner and manages to remove the flashlight-sized bomb from the truck and [[PineappleSurprise clip it to the bomber's belt while struggling with him]]. Cue a brief moment of WhyAmITicking (followed by a GoryDiscretionShot to Bond grinning) when the bomber triggers it.

* In the climax of ''Film/WhatAboutBob'', Dr. Leo Marvin snaps and tries to kill Bob Wiley by tying him up in the woods and hanging 20 pounds of black powder around Bob's neck. Leo jokingly refers to this as "Death therapy, a guaranteed cure!"; Bob is ''completely'' oblivious to how much Leo hates him, so he immediately accepts that this really is some kind of therapy. Bob effortlessly unties himself but assumes the still-ticking bomb is a prop and takes it with him back to Leo's house.
* In ''Film/NewPoliceStory'', Creator/JackieChan's girlfriend gets strapped to a bomb. In an attempted HeroicSacrifice, she removes the bomb to set it off while Jackie leaves the room to spare him... and nothing happens. [[spoiler: The real trigger was hidden and the bomb went off when she got up later.]]
* At the climax of ''Film/RushHour'', Soo Yung's kidnappers outfit her with a vest covered in C4 charges, rigged to go off if triggered via remote ''or'' if the vest is removed.
* The 1990 ''Film/{{Captain America|1990}}'' film has the hero tied to a rocket at the end of the first act, setting him up to be frozen and appear in modern day.

* In ''Film/SawVI'', four bombs are strapped to William's arms and legs, set to explode in 60 minutes unless he completes his tests and gets the keys to remove them.
* The plot of ''Film/ThirtyMinutesOrLess'' revolves around the hero being strapped to a bomb. And then being ordered to rob a bank or else be allowed to explode.
* In ''Film/TommyBoy'', the title character fakes this to get a TV crew's attention, using road flares and duct tape.
* The hostages during the bank robbery in ''Film/{{Hancock}}'' have explosives wrapped around their torsos.
* The villain straps a bomb to Chun-shim when he takes her hostage and forces her on to the train at the end of ''Film/{{Quick}}''.

* In ''Film/{{Swordfish}}'' the hostages in the bank robbery all have explosive vests covered with ball bearings, turning them all into walking [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M18_Claymore_mine claymore mines]]. Unfortunately for one unlucky hostage, the SWAT team didn't consider that the vests also have a proximity trigger, setting off the bomb as shes dragged outside the bank. The opening scene shows just how much damage the explosion does to the surrounding area with a BulletTime OrbitalShot.

* In ''Film/{{Speed}}'', [[BigBad Howard Payne]] kidnaps Annie, puts her in a vest full of explosives, and handcuffs her to a train pole, so this trope definitely applies.

* In an episode of ''Series/TheGoodies'', the Goodies fall foul of a MadScientist who ties them to a bomb (after they escape his first inescapable death trap, which involved rising water, an alligator, a candle burning through a rope, and an acid bath).
* This happens to Swan in an episode of ''Series/TokusouSentaiDekaranger''. When the episode was adapted for ''Series/PowerRangersSPD'', the same thing happened to Kat (Swan's counterpart), only now it was some sort of device that would [[{{Bowdlerise}} scramble her DNA]] or something.

* In one episode of ''Series/BlueBloods'', an ex-con Danny put away takes his partner Jackie hostage and ties her to a bomb in order to draw Danny out.

* The ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'' episode "[[Recap/SherlockS01E03TheGreatGame The Great Game]]" is based around having this trope as the conflict.
* An episode of ''Series/{{Alias}}'' had a captured spy tied to a bomb and forced to sing "Pop Goes the Weasel." It explodes when she gets to "pop!"
* In the ''Series/MartialLaw'' episode "Sammo Blammo", Sammo has a bomb strapped to his chest and it will explode if he stops moving.
* Not sure if this counts since it's not a literal example, but ''Series/{{Castle}}'' has Beckett standing on a bomb with a pressure plate, which will explode if she gets off of it.
* In ''Series/TheProfessionals'' episode "Fugitive", Bodie has his cover blown while infiltrating a terrorist cell. The terrorists decide to [[PrisonerExchange exchange him for one of their own]] who's been captured by [=CI5=], and as insurance hang a canvas bag around Bodie's neck holding 15 pounds of radio-detonated high explosive. The terrorist leader warns that any radio communication might set off the bomb; as [=CI5=] has snipers nearby communicating via radio, this is naturally a concern.
* ''Series/{{SCTV}}'': A quasi-reality show called "Revenge" skillfully prepares and film acts of vengeance as viewer requests...but an angry guy shows up on set wired with explosives ranting about how earlier acts of the show have ruined his life. The show suffers a quick, untimely end.
* ''Series/DoctorWho'': In "Revenge of the Cybermen", the Cybermen strap bombs to the Doctor and the surviving members of the beacon crew and force them to march into the heart of Voga.
* ''Series/{{CSI}}'':
** This is the MO of the BigBad in "Immortality": brainwashing his targets (former clients of Lady Heather), strapping them into explosive vests, and sending them into public areas to blow themselves up.
** The pressure sensor variant pops up with Nick in “Grave Danger”. The box is sitting on pressure sensors and the team uses dirt to try and replace Nick’s weight as he’s pulled free with a rope. It still goes off but the dirt muffles it and the main result is dust filled air.
* ''Series/{{The Flash|2014}}'': In "Revenge of the Rogues", Snart and Rory kidnap Caitlin and leave her BoundAndGagged to chair above a bomb in a warehouse. The bomb is rigged with a tripwire to start a timer if anyone enters to rescue her.
* ''Series/TheNewAvengers'': In "The Lion and the Unicorn", the villains strap a bomb to their royal hostage in case Steed attempts a double-cross before the hostage exchange can take place.
* ''Series/MiamiVice'': The villain of "Smuggler's Blues" ties people to anti-motion tremblers, causing a bomb to go off if anyone tries to cut them loose.
* ''Series/{{Chuck}}'': In "[[Recap/ChuckS4E02ChuckVsTheSuitcase Chuck Vs The Suitcase]]", Chuck manages to steal the purse of [[VillainOfTheWeek Sofia]], assuming that's where she carried the episode's MacGuffin, but she actually [[BatmanGambit played them, assuming it would get stolen]] and [[SomebodySetUpUsTheBomb replaced it with a bomb]]. Chuck's first instinct upon finding it is to [[RelocatingTheExplosion grab it and throw it away]], but Sofia put a pressor sensor in it, meaning it would explode if he let go of it. Thankfully, Sarah managed to [[CutTheFuse disarm it]] in time.
* ''{{Series/Bones}}'' had one loosely based on the pizza bomber example in the RealLife section. The guy was an exterminator who answered a call and was strapped into a bomb and forced to rob a bank. The bomb goes off and Booth gets remains on his clothes. A rogue radio broadcaster thought his signal blew up the bomb and he felt so bad that he shut the broadcast down for good.

* In ''VideoGame/IllusionOfGaia'', Will's friend Eric is kidnapped and tied to a bomb, from which you have to rescue him in a frustrating DualBoss fight with a time limit.
* Mayor Kroll gets tied to a chair with a bomb tied to him in ''VideoGame/BatmanDoom''. There's a time limit in which to save him, and if you take too long (or [[WhatTheHellHero shoot him yourself]]), you miss out on the bonus level.
* In ''VideoGame/Sly3HonorAmongThieves'', General Tsao's mooks tie Murray to a bomb when he tries to pry open a gas-filled booby trapped box during a mission, resulting in Penelope sending her RC to save him.
* A few enemies in the VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog games do this, either attaching themselves to Sonic or immobilizing him, then exploding. One example is Grabber from ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2'', who will come down from the ceiling when Sonic passes underneath, then grab Sonic, pull itself back to the ceiling, and explode after a short while. Mega Chopper in ''VideoGame/Sonic3AndKnuckles'' is a [[DownplayedTrope downplayed]] variant, latching on to Sonic to drain him of his Rings. ''VideoGame/KnucklesChaotix'' has a benevolent and literal version of this trope: The game chains you to another character at all times--one of the possible characters is Bomb, a walking explosive whom you can grab and throw at enemies, and as Bomb is unharmed after detonating and he'll bounce back via the chain, you can do this over and over. Just don't get caught in Bomb's own explosions.

* In the opening titles of his show, WesternAnimation/SecretSquirrel is tied to a barrel of [=TNT=] with the fuse burning. His wristwatch produces a squirt gun which douses the fuse.
* The final act of ''WesternAnimation/ThePerilsOfPenelopePitstop'' episode "Jungle Jeopardy" has the Hooded Claw in a submarine having tied Penelope to a torpedo and launching it to China. The Ant Hill Mob rescues Penelope and redirects the torpedo back to the Claw.

* Standard procedures for ''removing unexploded ordinance from inside a person'' actually exist in militaries - mainly ensuring that the rescuers are as safe as possible from blowing up the operating theatre - and apparently, they're nescessary.

* ''Series/{{CSI}}'': This is the MO of the BigBad in "Immortality": brainwashing his targets (former clients of Lady Heather), strapping them into explosive vests, and sending them into public areas to blow themselves up.

* In the opening titles of his show, WesternAnimation/SecretSquirrelbis tied to a barrel of [=TNT=] with the fuse burning. His wristwatch produces a squirt gun which douses the fuse.

* The ComicBook/{{Batman}} story "And the Executioner Wore Stiletto Heels" has the villain going above and beyond by covering the victim in glue and sticking the bomb to their chest (and sticking the victim to the ceiling, too). By the time Batman finds them, there's not nearly enough time to do something about the bomb...
* Happens to ''ComicBook/SheHulk'' on the [[https://d1466nnw0ex81e.cloudfront.net/n_iv/600/621051.jpg cover of this comic]]. (But [[CoversAlwaysLie not in the story]].)

* In ''Series/TheProfessionals'' episode "Fugitive", Bodie has his cover blown while infiltrating a terrorist cell. The terrorists decide to [[PrisonerExchange exchange him for one of their own]] who's been captured by [=CI5=], and as insurance hang a canvas bag around Bodie's neck holding 15 pounds of radio-detonated high explosive.

* In ''Series/TheProfessionals'' episode "Fugitive", Bodie is taken hostage and has a bomb strapped to him.

* ''Manga/CaseClosed'' had a case where a civilian was knocked unconscious, strapped to a bomb and then sent into a ski-equipment department of a large store. The intention was to figure out who had been buying red shirts for the past few weeks and, if the mystery wasn't solved soon, the bombs on the man would explode. [[spoiler: Turns out the man was the 'culprit'. The bombs are fake, which Conan figured out when he noticed a lipstick stain on the man's jacket from being in a crowded train and how no reasonable person would go onto a crowded train if they could explode at any moment.]] With the case solved as well, the bombs were taken off and no harm was done.

* The ComicBook/{{Batman}} story "And The Executioner Wore Stiletto Heels" has the villain going above and beyond by covering the victim in glue and sticking the bomb to their chest (and sticking the victim to the ceiling, too). By the time Batman finds them, there's not nearly enough time to do something about the bomb...

* In ''FanFic/MegaManDefenderOfTheHumanRace'', this is played for drama in episode 6 when Kalinka is shackled to a city-destroying ion bomb.

* Film/JamesBond films:

** ''Film/CasinoRoyale2006'': Bond is trying to stop a gun-for-hire from blowing up a fuel truck to destroy a prototype airliner and manages to remove the flashlight-sized bomb from the truck and [[PineappleSurprise clip it to the bomber's belt while struggling with him]]. Cue a brief moment of WhyAmITicking (followed by a GoryDiscretionShot to Bond grinning) when the bomber triggers it.
* Bob Cody, one of the surreal characters in ''Film/{{Interstate 60}}'' walks around with dynamite strapped to his body. This is so he can punish anyone he catches lying.

* The ''Film/CaptainAmerica1990'' film has the hero tied to a rocket at the end of the first act, setting him up to be frozen and appear in modern day.

* It happens to ''Series/SledgeHammer'', allowing him the chance to speak his catchphrase one last time before the series definitively ends...
-->"Trust me. I know what I'm doing."

* ''Series/TheFlash2014'': In "Revenge of the Rogues", Snart and Rory kidnap Caitlin and leave her BoundAndGagged to chair above a bomb in a warehouse. The bomb is rigged with a tripwire to start a timer if anyone enters to rescue her.

[[folder:Theater]]

* ''WebVideo/InternsOfFIELD'': In the first episode, NaiveNewcomer Skyler is taken hostage by Black Skull on her very first day of work... and is a bit too enthusiastic about it.

* As a reference to the ComicBook/CaptainAmerica example, ''WesternAnimation/TheSuperHeroSquadShow'' has an episode where the Scarlet Witch is sent back in time to UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, caught by the Red Skull and then tied to a rocket, but is then saved by Captain America and the Invaders (Bucky, the Jim Hammond Human Torch, and Toro).

* ''WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants'': In "Gary Takes a Bath", one of Spongebob's crazy plans to get Gary to bathe is to strap a bomb to his chest. [[ComedicSociopathy This fails to convince Gary.]]
-->'''Spongebob:''' GARY! THERE'S A BOMB STRAPPED TO MY CHEST! IT'S GONNA EXPLODE IN THREE SECONDS UNLESS YOU TAKE A BATH!
-->''(beat)''
-->'''Spongebob:''' Please?

* One game in the ''Videogame/{{Tekken}}'' series has an ending where three of the fighters are strapped to a rocket as it launches. It returns in ''Videogame/PlaystationAllStarsBattleRoyale'' as Heihachi Mishima's LimitBreak, complete with EvilLaugh.

* In ''Film/SawVI'' four bombs are strapped to William's arms and legs, set to explode in 60 minutes unless he completes his tests and gets the keys to remove them.

* ''Film/SawIII'', where one character is strapped to a bomb and must rip himself free of the chains before it goes off to escape, and the "Shotgun Collar" forced onto a doctor kidnapped to treat Jigsaw himself.

* At the climax of ''Film/MissionImpossibleRogueNation'', [[BigBad Lane]] kidnaps [[spoiler: Benji]] and places him at a public place in London with a time-delay bomb strapped to him, to force Ethan to give Lane the disk.

** There was one earlier example where Andy's Toys spy on Sid in his backyard. They spot a toy soldier tied to a bomb. When Buzz sees this, he freaks out. Possibly used as CharacterDevelopment when Buzz maintains his cool (if not his sanity) when Sid does the same to him later.

* ''Manga/DetectiveConan'' had a case where a civilian was knocked unconscious, strapped to a bomb and then sent into a ski-equipment department of a large store. The intention was to figure out who had been buying red shirts for the past few weeks and, if the mystery wasn't solved soon, the bombs on the man would explode. [[spoiler: Turns out the man was the 'culprit'. The bombs are fake, which Conan figured out when he noticed a lipstick stain on the man's jacket from being in a crowded train and how no reasonable person would go onto a crowded train if they could explode at any moment.]] With the case solved as well, the bombs were taken off and no harm was done.