History Main / WheelOfPain

** Spoofed in "Rosebud", where Homer, due to not returning Mr. Burns' teddy-bear, is forced to work one, which turns a display wheel at the canteen.

** In "The Serfsons", the fantasy equivalent of the power plant consists entirely of a huge version of this, which doesn't actually power anything; the resource it's harvesting is literally human misery.

* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddparents'' (the beauty pageant episode) had one of these in ''every'' character's fantasy of them becoming mayor for a day. In Vicky's fantasy, Timmy is the one turning the wheel. In Timmy's Mom's fantasy, it's a bunch of men turning the wheel. When Timmy's Dad actually wins the contest and becomes mayor for a day, he basically makes the fantasy come to life...only it's his hated neighbor, Mr. Dinkleberg. turning the wheel.
** At one point in ''Wishology,'' the fairies are forced to do this by the Eliminators. Cupid asks "What happens if we stop pushing this thing?" [[TemptingFate They decide to find out]]...and discover that it plays the melancholy background music.

* Seen in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheCritic'', when Alice is looking for a preschool for her daughter. One school she visits turns out to be a Dickensian workhouse, complete with a Wheel Of Pain being operated by the children. It turns out its actually a sweatshop that produces Simpsons-merchandise.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil'' episode "Is Mystery", Buff Frog gets caught investigating who's been smuggling corn out of the royal fields of Mewni, and is chained to "the Grinder" with a bunch of other monsters and forced to grind corn into corn-meal.

* King Bumi's pet, Flopsy, was chained to one of these in ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' in Season 2 after the Fire Nation takes over Omashu and overthrows Bumi (or rather Bumi let them win to spare his citzens).

* King Bumi's pet, Flopsy, was chained to one of these in ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender''.

* Spoofed on ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons,'' where Homer, due to not returning Mr. Burns' teddy-bear, is forced to work one, which turns a display wheel at the canteen.
-->'''Lenny:''' Hmm, I wonder what makes it turn.\\

* Gene of {{Godhand}} fame rescues a few humans from one.

* Gene of ''Godhand'' fame rescues a few humans from one.

* Gene of ''VideoGame/Godhand'' rescues a few humans from one.

* ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'' found his father chained to this device by Aku.

%%* ''Anime/DaiMahouTouge'' {{Omake}} had this in the [[CrapsaccharineWorld Fantasy Kingdom]]. (ZCE)

* A Mammoth-pushed variant is shown in ''Literature/TheWayThingsWork'' to power a Merry Go round. Yhe Mammoths have carrots dangling in front of them and are basically tricked into turning one wheel, which is propped up against another with seats dangling off it.

* A Mammoth-pushed variant is shown in ''Literature/TheWayThingsWork'' to power of Merry Go round, the Mammoths have Carrots dangling infront of them and are basically tricked into turning one wheel, which in is propped up against another, which has seats dangling off it.

* Before the widespread adoption of windmills in the Middle Ages, most types of mill worked like this: a person (or an animal such as an ox) pushing on a bar, causing a millstone to revolve and crushing anything between the millstone and the base. Variations on this setup were used for grinding grain and crushing olives or grapes, dating as far back as the Neolithic period, making this trope's basis substantially OlderThanDirt.

* In the medieval period, there were pieces of construction machinery called treadle cranes, powered by people walking in, as in the example above, what amounted to a giant hamster wheel. They were basically the engines of the cranes used in castle and cathedral construction. They could also be powered by animals (a tiny version was found in kitchens, powered by a dog- so common that there was a specific breed of dog created for this, the now-extinct Turnspit dog.)

* Cobra from ''WesternAnimation/GIJoeARealAmericanHero'' in many of its earlier episodes inexplicably kept haggard looking slaves wearing rags, turning wheels and pushing mining carts, despite that fact that Cobra prided itself on using the sorts of advanced technology that would have made it easier to mine via automation.
* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddparents'' (the beauty pageant episode) had one of these in ''every'' character's fantasy of them becoming mayor for a day. In Vicky's fantasy, Timmy is the one turning the wheel. In Timmy's Mom's fantasy, it's a bunch of men turning the wheel. When Timmy's Dad actually wins the contest and becomes mayor for a day, he basically makes the fantasy come to life... only it's his hated neighbor, Mr. Dinkleberg turning the wheel.

* Something similar in principle was actually seriously proposed for use in workhouses in Victorian Britain, not for slaves, but for petty criminals and/or the long-term unemployed. (The two groups were treated pretty much the same back then.) It used a treadmill arrangement that resembled nothing so much as a very large hamster-wheel rather than the traditional capstan, which really isn't very much better, and rarely if ever served any practical purpose because steam power did the same job more effectively.

* The device that raised the anchor aboard an old-fashioned sailing ship worked on this principle. Anchors were incredibly heavy and quite a few men had to work the capstan.

* On a more lighthearted note: Karol Borchard, who used to be an officer on a ship in the Mediterraenean (in ''the 20th century'') mentions in his memoirs a passenger utterly convinced that the ship '''must''' be ran by [[ShirtlessCaptives sweaty]], [[SlaveGalley whip-driven rowers]]. Why? Because she's [[TaughtByTelevision seen it in the movies]].

[[caption-width-right:340:Round and round they go, which is really saying something.]]

This is a common torment for slaves in pre-industrial and fantasy settings, though occasionally it pops up in [[WeWillUseManualLaborInTheFuture futuristic settings]], too. The Wheel of Pain a giant capstan to which slaves are chained and made to drive in order to power some unseen machinery. In Fictionland, it seems, every slave-holding culture has this device. The most notable exception are the slaves held on plantations in the antebellum South of the United States (who were forced to harvest crops ''without'' the help of elaborate machinery).

* Samson, after being captured by the Philistines and blinded, is set to work on one of these.

* Named for the device from ''Film/ConanTheBarbarian1982'', which turned the titular character from a scrawny kid into the musclebound BarbarianHero that rampaged across two films. (Indeed, Arnold Schwarzenegger buffed up ''so much'' for the movie, when he was being filmed pushing it along, the director had to have half the crew on the other side of the wheel pushing the opposite direction so it'd look like Arnie was actually exerting himself.) According to WordOfGod, it's a grain wheel.

Mandatory torment of ancient and fantasy slaves. It's a giant capstan to which slaves are chained and made to drive in order to power some unseen machinery. In Fictionland, it seems, every slave-holding culture has this device. The most notable exception are the slaves held on plantations in the antebellum South of the United States.

Can occasionally [[WeWillUseManualLaborInTheFuture happen in a futuristic setting]]. These wheels often don't even ''do anything'' (or do some trivial little task); presumably they're only used because the bad guys are [[ForTheEvulz just dicks]].

Has little or nothing to do with [[VideoGame/{{Skullgirls}} Painwheel]]. Nor about breaking on the wheel, which is even ''worse''. [[SincerityMode Look it up at your own risk]].

* ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings: Return of the King'' had trolls turning huge wheels to open the gates of Mordor.

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