History Main / WithMyHandsTied

Female heroines may sometimes incorporate KickChick and CombatStilettos with this trope. Related to PreemptiveDeclaration.

* In "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUoEViYG7Nc Super Natraps X' Turbo]]" from the ''WebAnimation/NatrapsX'' series, Sylvia, the DistressedDamsel in ''VideoGame/KungFuMaster'', beats all the enemies in a stage while tied to a chair. She still can't climb the stairs at the end.

* ''Film/ResidentEvilTheFinalChapter''. Alice is CaughtInASnare so FacelessGoons for the Umbrella Corporation can beat on her with rifle butts. She wrests a rifle off one and uses it to kill the others, [[WithMyHandsTied while hanging upside down by one leg]]. Then she falls right into another trap, and has to escape capture while fighting much of the time with her hands cuffed.

* In ''Videogame/CarmenSandiegoWordDetective'', at one point while you are searching for passwords for a key stasher to free an Acme agent captured by Carmen, you find a microfilm of a note Carmen sent to her henchmen warning them about her ex-partner, Chase Devineaux, along with a dossier of him. In the note, Carmen specifically notes that one time when she still worked with him at Acme, Chase captured three criminals with his hands tied behind his back! [[UpToEleven If you look at the microfilm in the intermediate or advanced levels, she adds that Chase did this while on a highwire!]]

** PlayedForDrama in "A Stirring of Dust". Doyle is BoundAndGagged on the floor, so he kicks one of his captors out the window.

** PlayedForLaughs in "The Female Factor", where Bodie fights a drunk in a pub without putting down or spilling the pint in his hand.

* Kate Kane learned how to fight with her wrists bound behind her during her ComicBook/{{Batwoman}} training.

* One [[Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse Star Wars comic]] showed a young Ki-Adi-Mundi tracking down a group of bandits on his homeworld. Being a young and brash man, he boasted that he could beat the leader with his hands tied behind his back. So she takes him up on it, [[SubvertedTrope and]] SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome.
* In one issue of ''ComicBook/SupermanBatman'', [[DamselInDistress Lois Lane]] makes up for years of helplessness when she's about to be burned at the stake by a bunch of loonies who think Supes is a god. Still tied, she breaks off the stake, knocks a guy out with it and threatens to break his neck with her bare feet unless they release her. It's the timely [[BigDamnHeroes arrival of Batman]] which scares them off moments later, but still.

[[folder:Fanfiction]]
* In chapter 6 of ''FanFic/NarutoTheSecretSongsOfTheNinja'', Naruto is caught up in a big battle with his arms shackled behind his back. Having to take on a sword-wielding opponent who he knows would slice him apart if he tried to fight using only kicks and headbutts, he [[EurekaMoment suddenly recalls]] [[ContinuityNod the LAST time he saw a ninja forced to fight with no arms]] and gets Sakura to throw him a kunai which he catches in his teeth.

** PlayedForLaughs in "The Female Factor" where Bodie fights a drunk in a pub without putting down or spilling the pint in his hand.
** PlayedForDrama when Doyle is BoundAndGagged on the floor, so he kicks one of his captors out the window.

* ''Series/TheProfessionals''. PlayedForLaughs in "The Female Factor" where Bodie fights a drunk in a pub without putting down or spilling the pint in his hand.

* The film of ''Film/CharliesAngels2000'' had Dylan fight off a group of minions while ''tied to a chair'' for the first minute or so. She eventually breaks the chair and gets her hands in front of her but they're still bound the entire time. The fight also begins with her explaining ''exactly'' how she's going to kick all of their asses.

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** Before that, BigBad Hody Jones wipes out a whole pirate crew (Albiet underwater where fish-men have an advantage, and pumped up on stimulants) with his hands shackled together. One pirate realizes that the handcuffs are to show just how outmatched the crew is compared to Hody.
** Trying to restrain main character in handcuffs usually doesn'r work out. Just as example:

*** Enel encase his hand into a giant golden ball to hold hom back. Luffy not only use it to destabilise giant electric bomb, but also deal finishing blow with it.
*** Despite Doflamingo gain considerable advantage, after he tied his hands behind his back, Luffy still was able to block both Doflamingo's [[spoiler:string clone and string-controlled Bellamy]], with only his feet.
** Ace also manage to fight off several [[spoiler:Impel Down]] guards, whith hands chained behind his back.

* In a StoryArc that takes place over a few issues of Marvel's ''[[ComicBook/GIJoeARealAmericanHeroMarvel G.I. Joe]]'' comic, Snake-Eyes's wrists are manacled together with a long chain, which is then thrown over a hook a few feet up a stone wall. He manages to feign death by slowing his heartbeat -- which of course annoys the would-be torturer enough that he lets his guard down -- steal a poker from the torturer, leap up to the hook, pry it free of the wall using the poker, and then use the chain to steal a sword from a guard. At that point, it's all over.

* When ComicBook/{{Gambit}} is captured along with the other Comicbook/XMen in mutant-enslaving Genosha and is hanging by his shackled arms, he deliberately allows himself to be impaled with a steel spike-- which he works out, drops and catches it between his feet, then ''with his feet'' over his head picks an ''electronic'' lock and frees himself.
** In another story, a totally immobilised Gambit takes down the guy who has him bound by spitting chewing gum in his face. Chewing gum that promptly explodes like a grenade thanks to Gambit's mutant powers.

* In one issue of ''ComicBook/CableAndDeadpool'', ComicBook/{{Deadpool}} and Weasel play on this trope by kidnapping a bunch of high-ups from the military, etc., who might need to hire a mercenary, then showing them that Deadpool can beat the Taskmaster with his wrists and ankles manacled. It backfires, though - the military types already knew how good Deadpool was, but they won't hire him because he's too unstable. Also: Weasel lost the key to the handcuffs. Oh ''dears''.
* At one point during the Comicbook/DarkReign-era ''ComicBook/{{Thunderbolts}}'', Mr. X riles Headsman into fighting him, and nearly kills him with both hands behind his back.
* In one issue of ''ComicBook/SupermanBatman'', [[DamselInDistress Lois Lane]] makes up for years of helplessness when she's about to be burned at the stake by a bunch of loonies who think Supes is a god. Still tied, she breaks off the stake, knocks a guy out with it and threatens to break his neck with her bare feet unless they release her. It's the timely [[BigDamnHeroes arrival of Batman]] which scares them off moments later, but still.
* One [[Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse Star Wars comic]] showed a young Ki-Adi-Mundi tracking down a group of bandits on his homeworld. Being a young and brash man, he boasted that he could beat the leader with his hands tied behind his back. So she takes him up on it, [[SubvertedTrope and]] SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome.
* ''ComicBook/TheInfinityGauntlet''. Captain America is stuck up to his ankles in pavement and still faces down the God-Level ComicBook/{{Thanos}}. He gets his shield shattered and smacked to death but still...
* ComicBook/ThePunisher once shot a guy with his hands tied behind his back. [[ImprobableAimingSkills In the head. With the gun upside down]].
* In {{ComicBook/Lucifer}}, [[DarkActionGirl Mazikeen]] is forced into a TrialByCombat, with one hand chained behind her back and ''blindfolded''. Through skill and guile she wins anyway.
* In ''Literature/DominoLady's Jungle Adventure'' # 3, Domino Lady is shackled to a wall but manages to take Mussolini hostage by wrapping her MurderousThighs around his neck.

* Kate Kane learned how to fight with her wrists bound behind her during her ComicBook/{{Batwoman}} training.

* Done as a FunnyBackgroundEvent in ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda2''. While being taken in shackles to [[BigBad Lord Shen]], Tigress keeps getting jabbed by a spear-wielding wolf guard. Finally she's had enough and kicks the spear out of his hand; cue OhCrap look from the guard.
* In the last ''WesternAnimation/DotAndTheKangaroo'' sequel, Dot is tied up and gagged by bubble-shaped aliens who proceed to inspect her to see if she's round or not, she repeatedly kicks them and stamps on their feet in retaliation.

* ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean''
** ''Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanTheCurseOfTheBlackPearl'' has an early scene where Jack Sparrow engages in a daring escape and sword fight while his hands are shackled. At one point he fights while one hand is stuck to a moving cogwheel.
*** Jack actually ''wanted'' to be shackled, just so he could escape (first thing he did was use them to hold Elizabeth in front of him so he wouldn't get shot. Second thing was to use them as a pulley to slide down a rope). As soon as they got the cuffs on him, he says "Finally".
** In the [[Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanDeadMansChest second movie]], he doesn't do much fighting, but he still manages to pull off quite a lot of crazy stuff while tied to a pole.

* Jackie Chan, in ''Film/RushHour'', had a nice battle with both his hands cuffed to a (removed) steering wheel. He also manages to go over a twelve-foot wall with his hands still chained. The post-movie blooper reel has a screamingly funny outtake of the wall climb...
** Only one hand was cuffed to the steering wheel, which just made it an unusual weapon/thing to try and conceal.
** Not the first time he's done this either. In ''Who Am I?'', he escapes from his captors and makes his way '''down''' a three-story building [[spoiler:by turning himself into a human yo-yo]] with his hands cuffed behind his back.
** And in ''Mr. Nice Guy'', near the end, the BigBad ties a bunch of ropes to him so he can beat him up without worry, but Jackie still manages to get the upper hand once.
** He likes this trope. In ''Film/TheTuxedo'' he ends up wearing only the pants of the titular tux and activates "pants only combat".
*** From that same movie, he was fighting off a bunch of mooks from all directions while keeping the movie's plot device from escaping ''by keeping it in a glass that was pressed up against the compulsory lady love's '''face'''.''
* In ''Film/LethalWeapon1987'', Riggs manages to kill Al Leung while tied up and hanging from the ceiling.
* In a slightly unusual variant on this, ''Film/TheOne'' has Creator/JetLi ''practice'' kung fu (apparently hsing yi chuan) while wearing handcuffs.
* In a Villainous version, ''Film/XMenTheLastStand'' has Mystique [[NeckSnap break the neck]] of a {{Mook|s}} with her legs because she's hanging from the wall by her arms.
** Earlier, she tries to strangle a police officer who's interrogating her, with her handcuffs.
* In ''Film/{{Anaconda}}'', Jon Voight strangles Kari Wuhrer to death with his legs while handcuffed to a pole.

* ''Film/FXMurderByIllusion'' (1986). The protagonist is able to knock out a hitman and ties him up with his hands behind his back; but when the hitman revives he's able to partially free himself (in the middle of their struggle) by leaping up in the air and whipping his bound hands underneath his feet in one movement.
* In the first live-action ''Film/{{Hellboy|2004}}'' movie, [[KindheartedCatLover Hellboy]] has to hold a box of kittens out of the way during part of the fight in the subway station. Less well done in the second film, where he vaults around a building fighting a giant monster while holding a baby in his stone hand.
* In ''Film/IpMan2'' Wong Leung manages to handle himself decently while bound by kicking things at his attackers.
* Not tied up, but in ''Film/ThePresidio'', Sean Connery wins a bar fight using only his right thumb, explaing that his "left is much too powerful".
* In ''Film/TheBoondockSaintsIIAllSaintsDay'', Romeo has his hands chained behind his back while he fights a large Frenchman. Romeo dodges his attacks, flips the chains to his front and takes the man down with a submission.
* In ''Film/TheAvengers2012'', ComicBook/BlackWidow's reintroduction is, after being the PlayAlongPrisoner for an indeterminable amount of time, her beating up a gang of Russian thugs while tied to a chair. It's ''amazing''.
* ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'' - the CowardlyLion tries to start a fight with the others, snorting "I'll fight ya with one hand behind my back!" (''And'' standing on one leg, ''and'' with his eyes closed.) [[MilesGloriosus It doesn't go well for him.]]
* ''Film/CasinoRoyale1967'' - Archvillain Woody Allen tries to show to a captured agent that he's just as manly as his uncle Sir James Bond - he sits down at a piano and masterfully plays some Debussy (a passionate pursuit of Sir James), then goes all "Look, one hand!" - then hastily hammers the piano off when it keeps playing without him.
* ''Film/KillerElite''. The hitman protagonist Danny is tied to a chair by his antagonist, ex-SAS man Logan for interrogation and killing. A third party then enters and takes Danny prisoner, binding his hands behind his back. This leads to a [[MeleeATrois three-way fight]] involving two bound badasses trying to kill their captor and each other at the same time.

* ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier'': Cap spends most of the ElevatorActionSequence with one wrist manacled to the elevator wall and ''still'' curb-stomps everyone else in there.
* ''Film/EdgeOfTomorrow''. Because the protagonist is in a GroundhogDayLoop, he's able to dodge every punch thrown at him by a fellow soldier not only with his hands behind his back, but with his eyes closed as well.

* ''Film/{{Spectre}}''. Film/JamesBond defeats two mooks while both tied-up and black-hooded.
* ''Film/GhostInTheShell2017''. While handcuffed to a stripper pole in a BadGuyBar, Major does a BulletDodge before taking out the mook firing at him.
* In ''Film/KingsmanTheGoldenCircle'', [[spoiler: Charlie, [[TheDragon the film's Dragon]] has a mechanical arm. During the [[FinalBattle Final Battle]], his arm is torn off. [[TheHero Eggsy]], ever the gentleman, holds one of his own hands behind his back for the remainder of the fight.]]
--> '''[[spoiler: Eggsy:]]''' [[spoiler: [[PreAsskickingOneLiner Let's make this fair.]]]]
* Subverted in ''Film/LonelyAreTheBrave'' (1962) when the hero gets into a BarBrawl with a one-armed man (played by the same actor who played the one-armed murderer in ''Series/TheFugitive''). To make things fair, he declares he'll fight with one arm held behind his back. [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome As he's not used to fighting in this manner, he gets his ass kicked.]]
* ''Film/TheBourneSupremacy''. Cautious about getting too close to another Treadstone agent, Jason Bourne gets the man to ziptie himself, meaning his hands are tied in front of him and prove only a minor impediment when he attacks Bourne, as they both have the same skill and training.
* ''Film/MoneyMovers'': When Henderson is 'negotiating' with Eric about getting a cut of Eric's planned heist, he has Eric sat in a chair with his hands tied behind his back. Eric manages to get up, fight his way past Henderson's mooks, get out of the house, and over the fence. He is halfway down the hill before he is finally stopped by being tackled by four of the mooks. In the next shot, he has been tied to the chair with copius amounts of rope.
* In ''Film/TheOldGuard'', [[EternalLove Joe and Nicky]] are handcuffed and chained to the floor of a van, surrounded by five heavily armed soldiers who make the mistake of yanking them apart while they're having a romantic moment. Cut to the van arriving at the airport, the guards opening it up...and five dead soldiers tumbling out, with Joe and Nicky sitting there calmly.
--> '''Nicky''': [[RefugeInAudacity I don't suppose it would be possible to get these chains off us?]]
--> '''Keane''': Get 'em on the plane NOW!
--> '''Joe''': [[DeadpanSnarker I guess not.]]

* Subverted in ''[[Literature/KnownSpace The Long Arm of Gil Hamilton]]''. The protagonist uses his [[PsychicPowers psychic arm]] to kill the villain who has him tied up, but that only means he's still stuck there, waiting for either his police colleagues to realise he's gone missing, or a mook to check on why his boss is taking so long.

* Occurs in the ''Series/{{Bones}}'' episode "Two Bodies In The Lab". Brennan does it trying to escape Kenton in the warehouse. It works for a while, until Kenton gets the upper hand on her.

* In season two of ''Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers'', Rocky, Adam and Aisha are chained to a tree by some Putties. They manage to escape by kicking a soccer ball at the [[AchillesHeel "Z" symbol]] of the Putty holding the keys.

* Regal from ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'' bases his entire fighting style on the fact that [[WillfullyWeak his hands are shackled]], and [[TheAtoner he's not going to take them off.]]
** The one time he actually uses his hands in the game, it turns out that he's actually even more powerful than [[CuteBruiser Presea!]] If his hands weren't tied, [[GameBreaker he could probably take on every boss by himself]]...
* Ryuji Yamazaki of the ''VideoGame/FatalFury'' and ''Franchise/TheKingOfFighters'' series kicks copious amounts of ass with one hand in his pocket (though he'll occasionally pull it out to attack, revealing he's carrying a knife in his other hand.) In his case it is not a self-imposed handicap but rather a sign of respect for a gangster who taught him everything he knows about the life.
** Jhun Hoon always fights with one hand behind his back, and because he's a Taekwondo practicioner, [[ExtremityExtremist he doesn't even use]] ''[[ExtremityExtremist that]]''.
** [[HeroicComedicSociopath Iori Yagami]] has the legs of his pants tied with a belt, and he still has an awesome footwork (have him perform a hard kick up close to the foe; he stretches his leg almost vertically but somehow doesn't pull his standing leg out from under himself), although in his case it's more of a fashion statement than an intentional handicap.
* Cody from ''VideoGame/StreetFighterAlpha 3'', an escaped convict, wears handcuffs. In one of his taunts, he easily takes them off and then puts them on again. This is because he wears them by choice, as his fighting ability has increased to the point that he requires a PowerLimiter in order to even be remotely challenged by anyone. In fact, breaking out of prison in the first place was spurred by his incessant boredom growing out of his head with no one to fight; he ends up going back afterwards because he still admits he's not a very upstanding guy.
** Oro from ''VideoGame/StreetFighterIII'' has one arm tied inside his gi. He refuses to use it until and unless he finds an opponent his equal. In ''VideoGame/StreetFighterV'', he's untied his arm... but now carries his pet tortoise in one hand at all times. (This is to avoid the issue of an AmbidextrousSprite in a 3D game.)
*** Though he'll occasionally pull out his other arm to power up one of his Super Arts, or to perform [[WrestlerInAllOfUs the mother of all body slams.]]
* The first time you meet the BigBad of [[Creator/SquareEnix SquareSoft's]] ''VideoGame/TheBouncer'', Dauragon C. Mikado, he shows off by fighting with one hand chained behind his back. This does make him somewhat easier, but beating him just reveals that, like any self-respecting CorruptCorporateExecutive, he's got a TrapDoor installed in his private suite. Later on in the game, he's shown to actually use the chain as a weapon, too.
* Raiden does this a few times in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4'': first with a couple of [[HumongousMecha Gekkou]] which have tied down all his limbs (Snake frees his arms, but he ''breakdances hard enough to sling the Gekkou around anyway''), next against [[DepravedBisexual Vamp]] (Vamp pins his arms to his back with knives, but he holds him off long enough to free himself) and then with a squad of knife-wielding [[AmazonBrigade FROGs]] ([[spoiler:having lost both arms previously, he fries some of them with electricity, then takes his sword in his foot and fights the rest off.]])

* Lisa from ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil'' on the UsefulNotes/NintendoGameCube has her hands shackled, but can deliver extremely powerful blows on the player.
** [[CursedWithAwesome By using those very shackles as a weapon]].
* Kuroda Kanbe in ''VideoGame/SengokuBasara'' combines this with EpicFlail. He fights with the manacles on his wrists, attached to a giant steel ball which he can swing around with ease. A RunningGag is his failed attempts to remove said shackles. In fact, several of his attacks (including his [[LimitBreak Basara Attack]]) are actually attempts to break the manacles [[ForegoneConclusion that fail]].
* In ''VideoGame/StarWarsBattlefront 2'', Grievous will occasionally boast, "I could do this with one, two, no, [[MultiArmedAndDangerous THREE ARMS]] TIED BEHIND MY BACK!"

* Cinderella from the ''Cinderella Escape'' series spends the whole series with her hands cuffed behind her back, relying [[KickChick entirely on her legs]]. The second game (in which she actually fights people) establishes that her handcuffs are cursed and cannot be removed even by magic, resulting in a fighting style that looks like a mix of [[DanceBattler ballet spins]] and [[HurricaneKick Street Fighter-style spin kicks]]. Every character she meets mistakes her for a legendary fighter who handcuffs herself to train her legs, which she eventually gets used to taking advantage of. The player has the option to remove them, but [[GameplayAndStorySegregation the story still acts as if she is wearing them]]. ([[spoiler:The ending implies that the handcuffs can be removed by TrueLovesKiss, which in this universe can negate any magic, but Cinderella laments that no man would rescue someone like her from her prison, implying that she will spend the rest of her life handcuffed.]])

* In ''Videogame/CarmenSandiegoWordDetective'', at one point while you are searching for passwords for a key stasher to free an Acme agent captured by Carmen, you find a microfilm of a note Carmen sent to her henchmen warning them about her ex-partner, Chase Devineaux, along with a dossier of him. In the note, Carmen specifically notes that one time when she still worked with him at Acme, Chase captured three criminals with his hands tied behind his back! [[UpToEleven If you look at the microfilm in the intermediate or advanced levels, she adds that Chase did this while on a highwire!]]
* The backstory for Jaeyun in ''VideoGame/{{Brawlhalla}}'' mentions a legendary fight where he approached a giant with a stick and said that was the only weapon he was using, to make sure it was a fair fight. The giant was scared and promptly fled... when Jaeyun reads about that tale, he confesses that he lost his armor and weapons while gambling and finding that stick was just a lucky break.
* In ''VideoGame/BugFables'', the mantis ruffians in [[TheAlcatraz the Rubber Prison]] that were released during the wasp occupation are capable of fighting even when cuffed and chained. Their bestiary entry even states that the wasps could've broken the cuffs, yet they didn't, because the ruffians are already dangerous enough.

* The Frieza example in ''Dragon Ball Z'' is parodied in ''WebVideo/DragonBallZAbridged'' when [[IdiotHero Goku]] decides to oblige to by claiming that he'll beat him without his ''shirt''. When Goku bites Freeza's tail, Freeza ends the "game" by slugging him, then rewards him by trying to drown him again.

** In the penultimate episode of season 3 of the SequelSeries, ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra '', the titular heroine manages to put up a hell of a fight against Zaheer with her hands and feet shackled in platinum cuffs that she can’t metalbend. It takes Zaheer blowing her dad off a cliff for him to get the upper hand.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Motorcity}}'', Mike is able to take out Kane's guards with his hands tied behind his back, with Chuck tied to him, and in the series finale he even [[spoiler:takes out Red while chained to a wall--after having been tortured for days]].

* The film of ''Film/CharliesAngels2000'' had Drew Barrymore's character fight off a group of minions while ''tied to a chair'' for the first minute or so. She eventually breaks the chair and gets her hands in front of her but they're still bound the entire time. The fight also begins with her explaining ''exactly'' how she's going to kick all of their asses.

* In the first ''Film/LethalWeapon'' film, Riggs manages to kill Al Leung while tied up and hanging from the ceiling.

* Ryuji Yamazaki of the ''VideoGame/FatalFury'' and ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters'' series kicks copious amounts of ass with one hand in his pocket (though he'll occasionally pull it out to attack, revealing he's carrying a knife in his other hand.) In his case it is not a self-imposed handicap but rather a sign of respect for a gangster who taught him everything he knows about the life.

** At the climax of the initial Demon King Piccolo storyline, [[spoiler:Piccolo gets Goku to stand and take his long distance attacks by threatening to kill Tenshinhan. Goku had already had one leg broken at this point, and Piccolo uses the circumstances to break Goku's other leg and one of his arms before taking off to finish Goku with death from above. Goku manages to use that one working arm to counterattack, punching a hole through King Piccolo]].
** Earlier, right before the climax of the Red Ribbon storyline, the Red Ribbon Army newest mercenary assassin Tao Pai Pai combined this with the WorfEffect by fighting and killing a soldier who had nearly killed Goku... By using his tongue. Witnesses are obviously spooked...
** When Goku and Piccolo fight in the 23rd Budokai, Piccolo gets Goku with a lucky shot then breaks each of Goku's arms and legs, remembering what happened to his previous incarnation. Then he unleashes a blast that apparently vaporizes the hero...but it turns out Goku learned how to fly during the TimeSkip, and uses the momentum to knock Piccolo out of the ring, winning the match.
* ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' subverts this at the beginning of Goku's fight with Frieza. Frieza initially offers to fight Goku without the use of his hands. By the end of the episode he finds himself forced to break his pledge to counter an attack by Goku. Goku offers him a chance to try again, but Frieza refuses.
** Frieza was more successful when he took on [[MauveShirt Nail]] with one hand behind his back.
** Later on, near the start of the Buu Saga, Trunks made a bet with Goten that he could beat him using only one arm. He couldn't.
** Vegetto makes a similar bluff to Super Buu, which is part of a larger plan to simply annoy him so much that he'll try to absorb Vegetto, allowing him to rescue the others Buu has absorbed. This is also why you might find Vegetto's fighting style includes a lot of kicking in the videogames

* One [[Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse Star Wars comic]] showed a young Ki-Adi-Mundi tracking down a group of bandits on his homeworld. Being a young and brash man, he boasted that he could beat the leader with his hands tied behind his back. So she takes him up on it, [[SubvertedTrope and]] RealityEnsues.

* Subverted in ''Film/LonelyAreTheBrave'' (1962) when the hero gets into a BarBrawl with a one-armed man (played by the same actor who played the one-armed murderer in ''Series/TheFugitive''). To make things fair, he declares he'll fight with one arm held behind his back. [[RealityEnsues As he's not used to fighting in this manner, he gets his ass kicked.]]

* ''Series/BattlestarGalactica2003''. Leoben breaks his cuffs and gets the drop on Kara Thrace simply to show he can during his interrogation. Cylon prisoners after this episode are always excessively chained and restraint-collared.

* Subverted in ''Lonely Are the Brave'' (1962) when the hero gets into a BarBrawl with a one-armed man (played by the same actor who played the one-armed murderer in ''Series/TheFugitive''). To make things fair, he declares he'll fight with one arm held behind his back. [[RealityEnsues As he's not used to fighting in this manner, he gets his ass kicked.]]

* ''Film/{{Us}}'' has Adelaide spending most of the movie handcuffed given it's one of the first things her [[DoppleGanger Tethered]] Red does to her. She only gets free (along the way managing to kill one Tethered by impaling her with her own scissors) after [[spoiler:killing Red and thus being able to take the key from her. And the flashback revealing Adelaide [[TomatoInTheMirror is the Tethered]] shows that it was retaliation, as Red handcuffed Adelaide to a bed before leaving to steal her identity.]]

** Oro from ''VideoGame/StreetFighterIII'' has one arm tied inside his gi. He refuses to use it until and unless he finds an opponent his equal.

* Cody from ''StreetFighter Alpha 3'', an escaped convict, wears handcuffs. In one of his taunts, he easily takes them off and then puts them on again. This is because he wears them by choice, as his fighting ability has increased to the point that he requires a PowerLimiter in order to even be remotely challenged by anyone. In fact, breaking out of prison in the first place was spurred by his incessant boredom growing out of his head with no one to fight; he ends up going back afterwards because he still admits he's not a very upstanding guy.

* In the last ''WesternAnimation/DotAndTheKangaroo'' sequel, Dot is tied up and gagged by bubble-shaped aliens who proceed to inspect her to see if she's like them or not, she repeatedly kicks them and stamps on their feet in retaliation.