Tropes about binds, chains, cuffs, ropes, and other restraints, as well as situations in which characters are physically restrained.
Not to be confused with Self-Restraint, The Fettered, or Morality Chain; these are metaphorical restraints.
Tropes:
Also see:
Restraint methods
- All Webbed Up: When dealing with dangerous spiders, someone gets wrapped up in their webs.
- Bag of Kidnapping: The classic way to kidnap someone is to get them in a burlap sack.
- Bear Trap
- Bound and Gagged: A character is tied up and silenced somehow.
- Carpet-Rolled Corpse: To move a body (dead or alive), someone wraps the body up in a carpet and carries it.
- Caught in a Snare: A trap manages to capture someone and leave them hanging in the air.
- Chained by Fashion: Wearing chains intentionally as a fashion statement.
- Chains of Love: A darker parallel to the Red String of Fate; a symbolic chain shows that two characters are bound to each other.
- Dangled by a Giant: A giant character holds a tiny character by pinching the collar of their shirt between their thumb and index finger.
- Explosive Leash: A device attached to or inside of someone that will explode if the person tries to escape.
- Gelatinous Encasement: A character gets trapped in a mass of slime/ooze/jello.
- Gulliver Tie-Down: A bunch of tiny people tie down their giant opponent.
- Hand Gagging: Putting a hand over someone's mouth to silence them.
- Handy Cuffs: When handcuffs are used to the wearer's advantage.
- Inescapable Net: A non-lethal way to incapacitate someone—snaring them in a net they cannot break free of.
- Jammed Seatbelts: A character is in a car and needs to get out fast, but their seatbelts are jammed and won't let them escape.
- Knotty Tentacles: An opponent with tentacles has said tentacles tied up and knotted to incapacitate them.
- Mummy Wrap: A mummy uses its bandages to wrap its opponent up just like them.
- Murphy's Bed: When a bed (usually a murphy, though not always) manages to trap a character.
- Pinned to the Ground: A character pins another to the ground using either their full body weight or one or multiple limbs.
- Shackle Seat Trap: A normal-looking seat is actually a trap and shackles down whoever is sitting upon it.
- Shipped in Shackles: When a prisoner is not only delivered to a place, but is restrained in every way possible.
- Slave Collar: To show that a character is a slave, they wear some sort of collar.
- Sticky Situation: A character is trapped with an adhesive.
- Summon Binding: A being summoned by Summon Magic has their actions physically and/or mentally restricted through magical means.
- Supernormal Bindings: A character with supernatural abilities requires special, supernatural restraints.
- Tentacle Rope: Tentacles are used to capture or trap someone.
- Tribal Carry: Captured by unwelcoming natives, a character is tied on a pole by their wrists and feet and carried away.
Restrained characters
- Anti-Interference Lock Up: A character is restrained or locked away somewhere, to get them out of the way.
- Banging for Help: A restrained character creates a banging noise to attract help.
- Bench Breaker: Desperate to escape, a character destroys whatever they're tied to.
- Breaking the Bonds: Someone is strong enough to simply break their restraints.
- Bring the Anchor Along: When a character can't untie themselves from something, so they just have to bring the something with them.
- Captive Push: A character(s) has their hands tied and is forced to march ahead by their captors.
- Chained Heat: Two opposing characters are stuck together and must learn how to cooperate.
- Chained to a Bed: A character is tied to a bed under the belief that sex will follow. It does not.
- Chained to a Railway: Chained to the railway for a train to come and kill the captive.
- Chained to a Rock: Someone is being sacrificed to someone (or thing), and is chained to a rock until it comes for them.
- Controllable Helplessness: In a video game, the player can still move and control their character, but there's no way of escaping.
- Conveniently Placed Sharp Thing: A character has been restrained, but they can reach something sharp enough to cut their bonds.
- Conveyor Belt o' Doom: A character is going down a conveyor belt to their death unless someone can save them.
- Handcuffed Briefcase: A briefcase is holding something so important, the person holding it has it handcuffed to their wrist.
- If I Can Only Move: A character, who is often restrained, struggles to move.
- Kind Restraints: Restraints to keep a character from harming themselves or others, usually because they're being forced to behave oddly.
- Life-or-Limb Decision: Someone has to choose between cutting off their trapped limb or dying.
- Locked Up and Left Behind: Once tied up/restrained, a character is just left behind by the people who did it.
- Motionless Makeover: Putting silly stuff on characters who, for some reason, are stuck in a particular pose.
- Pet Gets the Keys: Non-Human Sidekick breaks the character out of captivity.
- Pinned to the Wall: Sharp objects keep someone pinned to the wall.
- Play-Along Prisoner: Someone who could escape whenever they wish, but they decide to stay for some reason or another.
- Slave Galley: A boat is powered by chained-up slaves rowing in the galley.
- Strapped to a Bomb
- Strapped to an Operating Table: A mad scientist-like character has their captive strapped down to an operating table.
- Strapped to a Rocket
- A Taste of the Lash: When someone is strapped down and whipped as a punishment.
- Unwilling Suspension: A character is bound and suspended from the ceiling.
- Wheel of Pain: Whether it has a purpose or not, people are forced to spin some kind of wheel.
- With My Hands Tied: Someone is simply so good at fighting that they can manage it with their hands tied.
- Working on the Chain Gang: Prisoners chained together are forced to do taxing, physical labor.
