History Main / ChainedToARock

* Myth/ClassicMythology:

* Subverted in ''ComicBook/XXXenophile'' story "Rescue 911 A.D.", where the reason why the damsel is chained up has nothing to do with being eaten by the dragon...

-->There was no time for subtleties anymore. Cap smashed through the doors, shield foremost, and looked upon the scene before him in horror.
-->Beaten bloody, hung by their arms from the ceiling by chains, but still alive, the Falcon and Sharon Carter were visible on the walls near the pulpit. First Sharon, then Falc, turned bruised faces towards him. Their feet were at least ten feet above the floor, and their arms showed the strain.

* ''Film/{{Clash of the Titans|1981}}'' distorts the Greek mythic original somewhat, showing the rock-bound Andromeda being rescued from the Kraken by Perseus. To be fair, that's ''far'' from the ''only'' way the movie "distorts the Greek mythic"...

* Myth/GreekMythology:

** Prometheus was also chained to a rock at Zeus's orders, as punishment after he gave fire to humanity. Then, an eagle would fly in [[AndIMustScream every day]] to [[CoolAndUnusualPunishment devour his liver]], which would also regrow every day. [[FateWorseThanDeath Forever]]. (Until Herakles eventually freed him).

* {{Lampshade h|anging}}ung in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'', where it happens to Leela. For good measure, the leader rips her top to expose more cleavage.

* ComicBook/IncredibleHulk had this done to him by Marvel's Zeus, like Prometheus, but instead of eagles, it's vultures, cause he's worth less.

* The myth of Princess Andromeda (see below) is the backstory of Bronze Saint Andromeda Shun from ''Manga/SaintSeiya''. In the final test for acquiring the Bronze Cloth of Andromeda, the candidate is chained to the rock pillars at the bottom of a chasm; as the tide rises, they must hold back the water with the force of their [[BattleAura Cosmo]] alone, or [[KillItWithWater drown.]]

* This happens in ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'' to [[spoiler:Shiori disguised as Asuna]] in chapter 283 during her interrogation.

* Grab any random ''ComicBook/ConanTheBarbarian'' comic book and flip through its pages. Good luck ''not'' finding a chained woman being menaced by a monster.

* ''ComicBook/SensationComics'': In the ''Franchise/WonderWoman'' feature in issue 39 the Holliday Girls Roberta "Bobby" Strong and Glamora Treat are bound hand and foot to stone pillars to be killed and devoured by hungry tigers.

* ''Fanfic/{{FIRE}}'': After kidnapping Falcon and Sharon Carter, Red Skull chains them to a wall in order to lure Captain America into a trap.

* Possible Subversion. In the ''Series/StargateSG1'' DirectToDVD movie, ''Film/StargateContinuum'', the supposed final [[AffablyEvil Ba'al]] ([[SendInTheClones its a long story]]) is secured by alien chains to a sandstone-textured wall awaiting his execution. The possible subversion? The Monster is the symbiote, the removal of which will save Baal's innocent host-body from his millenia-long imprisonment.

* ''Film/{{Clash of the Titans|1981}}'' distorts the mythic Greek original somewhat, showing the rock-bound Andromeda being rescued from the Kraken by Perseus. To be fair, that's ''far'' from the ''only'' way the movie "distorts the mythic Greek"...

* ''VideoGame/TheWitcher3WildHunt'': This is the punishment doled out to [[spoiler: Birna Bran]] for a scheme to ensure [[spoiler: her son Svandrige]] succeeded Bran as king of the [[HornyVikings viking-like]] isles of Skellige. She is left exposed to the ravages of a cold, stormy sea and the local {{Enthralling Siren}}s to tear her apart. This scene is how she is depicted on her card in ''VideoGame/GwentTheWitcherCardGame''.

** Prometheus was also chained to a rock at Zeus's orders, after he gave fire to humanity.

* This happens in ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'' to [[spoiler:Shiori disguised as Asuna]] in chapter 283 during her interrogation.

** In ''ComicBook/ManyHappyReturns'', Comicbook/{{Supergirl}} is chained to a rock by demonic villain Xenon, who intends to slay her to free himself from his prison. Remarkably Kara is rescued by another Supergirl and not for a man.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* More Like Chained to a wall in ''Gunner's Genocide''. After Cloud strife fells unconscious, Gunner sent him to the warehouse but due to him being stronger than Lucario and Greninja, instead of being tied to a chair, Gunner took the worse way by Chaining Cloud to a wall.

Beaten bloody, hung by their arms from the ceiling by chains, but still alive, the Falcon and Sharon Carter were visible on the walls near the pulpit. First Sharon, then Falc, turned bruised faces towards him. Their feet were at least ten feet above the floor, and their arms showed the strain.

* In ''ComicBook/RedRobin'' Tim wakes up chained in the catacombs beneath Paris after being attacked and knocked out by a metahuman in Russia who has kidnapped him for the "Daughter of Acheron". The "Daughter of Acheron" doesn't intend to actually eat him, instead planning on raping and murdering him, but he triggered a homing beacon right before he lost consciousness and his sister Cassandra Cain saves him.

* More Like Chained to a wall in Gunner's Genocide After Cloud strife fells unconscious, Gunner sent him to the warehouse but due to him being stronger than Lucario and Greninja, instead of being tied to a chair, Gunner took the worse way by Chaining Cloud to a wall.

* In ''[[WesternAnimation/MickeyDonaldGoofyTheThreeMusketeers Disney's The Three Musketeers]]'', Mickey is chained in a underground dungeon on an island to drown when the tide comes in. [[spoiler: Just as he's about to drown, Donald and Goofy break him out.]]

* More Like Chained to a wall in Gunner's Genocide. After Cloud strife fells unconscious, Gunner sent him to the warehouse but due to him being stronger than Lucario and Greninja, instead of being tied to a chair, Gunner took the worse way by Chaining Cloud to a wall.

A character (more often than not: young, female, {{virgin|Power}}, [[BeautyEqualsGoodness attractive]], {{royal|Blood}}, and wearing a revealing outfit or sometimes nothing at all) is chained to a rock, wall, or hard surface, with the intention that she will be [[HumanSacrifice eaten by a monster/alien/whatever]]. The reasons vary, but the usual explanation is that she is being sacrificed to appease the monster or whoever sends it, so that the monster will consume only her and spare the rest of the people.

This DamselInDistress will more often than not be saved by a handsome hero. Indeed, many a desperate king has made a plea for someone, anyone to slay the monster and rescue the princess, even going so far as to offer [[EngagementChallenge her hand in marriage]] or [[StandardHeroReward even more]] to any man who can do it. (Not that you can count on [[DudeWheresMyRespect his carrying out his part]].)

Sometimes [[DragonsPreferPrincesses the princess]] is the first woman put up for slaughter; other times she is only the latest of a long line of sacrificial maidens. Why a hero never stepped up to save ''them'' is a question rarely asked.

This DamselInDistress will more often than not be saved by a handsome hero. Indeed, many a desperate king has made a plea for someone, anyone to slay the monster and rescue the princess, even going so far as to offer [[EngagementChallenge her hand in marriage]] to any man who can do it. (Not that you can count on [[DudeWheresMyRespect his carrying out his part]].)

* More Like Chained to a wall in Gunner's Genocide. After Cloud strife fells unconscious, Gunner sent him to the warehouse but due to him being stronger than Lucario and Greninja, instead of being tied to a chair, Gunner took the worse way by Chaining Cloud to a wall

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
* In ''[[WesternAnimation/MickeyDonaldGoofyTheThreeMusketeers Disney's The Three Musketeers]]'', Mickey is chained in a underground dungeon on an island to drown when the tide comes in. [[spoiler: Just as he's about to drown, Donald and Goofy break him out.]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_andromeda01l.png]]

[[folder: Anime and Manga ]]

* Ranma from ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'' once had to pin Ryouga to a statue by wrapping him in chains, just to [[NoSenseOfDirection keep him from getting lost again]].
** And in an anime-only episode, Ryoga had to rescue a girl who was chained to a rock from a group of thugs. When the fight is over, the girl nonchalantly stands up, effortlessly lifting the boulder off of the ground so she can run over to Ryoga, who frees her by blowing the rock up and using it to pummel the regrouping thugs rather than breaking the chains.
** The Super Soba episode had a variant of this, with Ranma pinning a super-strong, somewhat frenzied Akane to the floor of a podium with severed chain links, used to trap each limb. Akane promptly ripped the chunk of floor she was pinned to out of the ground in her anger.

* This happened in ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'' to [[spoiler:Shiori disguised as Asuna]] in chapter 283 during her interrogation.

[[folder: Comic Books ]]

* Comicbook/IncredibleHulk had this done to him by Marvel's Zeus, like Prometheus, but instead of eagles, it's vultures, cause he's worth less.

[[folder:Film]]

* Film/{{JohnCarter}} has the titular character chained at the center of a Romanesque coliseum, to fight for his life against the white apes.

* Done in the Literature/{{Discworld}} novel ''Guards! Guards!'', to Lady Ramkin. Since Ankh-Morpork is built on loam, they had to settle for chaining her to a piece of broken wall.
** Also done in ''The Last Hero'', where the last heroes track down the first hero (A Prometheus Expy), cut him loose, give him a sword, and leave him to seek revenge on the eagle.

* The villagers do this to Amelia in Franchise/RedReaper novel ''Sword Sisters'' as part of their HumanSacrifice ritual. Thankfully, Aella is nearby to intervene.

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

* Jo in ''Series/DoctorWho'' serial ''The Daemons''.
** ''The Power of Kroll'', with the Doctor and Romana I.
** Also in ''Timelash'' with Peri.
** And in ''The Sontaran Experiment'', with Sarah Jane.
* Played straight in ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', of all shows. Buffy, Cordelia and another DamselInDistress are chained to a dungeon wall and about to be fed to a giant monster, then rescued by the rest of the gang in the nick of time. Also bizarrely, this turns out to be all leading up to one of a series of "drinking kills" {{a|nAesop}}esops.
** Done again in the season six episode, "Normal Again". Xander, Willow, and Dawn are tied up in a room with a demon, and the demon is let loose to kill them. The villain who did this to them? Buffy (under the influence of her hallucinations). She snaps out of it and kills the demon herself.
** Not immediately. The demon would have killed them if Tara hadn't shown up.
* Possible Subversion. In the ''Series/StargateSG1'' DirectToDvd movie, ''Film/StargateContinuum'', the supposed final [[AffablyEvil Ba'al]] ([[SendInTheClones its a long story]]) is secured by alien chains to a sandstone-textured wall awaiting his execution. The possible subversion? The Monster is the symbiote, the removal of which will save Baal's innocent host-body from his millenia long imprisonment.

[[folder: Religion and Mythology ]]

[[folder: Tabletop Games]]

* The ''TabletopGame/{{Talisman}}'' board game's Sacrificial Stone card has artwork depicting a young woman chained to a rock. Players encountering the Sacrificial Stone must draw an adventure card, and if the card drawn is a dragon their character is outright killed, making them the sacrifice in this scenario. This card can be especially dangerous in conjunction with effects that move cards from the top of a dragon deck to the top of the adventure deck, drastically increasing the chances that the next card drawn will in fact be a dragon.

[[folder: Video Games ]]

* Played almost absolutely straight in the opening scene of ''BikiniKarateBabes'' where a young attractive female in a bikini is tied to a tree. Another young attractive female in a bikini then removes her top. To be fair though it was payback for doing it to her earlier sans ropes and trees.
* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'', Ganon pulls this trope on Princess Zelda, by tying her to a statue of the Golden Goddesses and the Triforce.
* Not surprisingly, there's one of these in ''VideoGame/{{Shadowgate}}''. Even less surprisingly, [[EverythingTryingToKillYou she kills you if freed]]. So much for VideoGameCaringPotential . . .
* In ''VideoGame/DeadRising'', if you are late to Kent's appointment he knocks you unconscious, takes your clothes, and chains you to a mall fountain to be eaten by zombies. The resulting barehanded boss fight against Kent and the zombie horde is one of the hardest in the game.
* ''VideoGame/KingsQuestIIIToHeirIsHuman'': After a maiden is eaten each year by a three-headed dragon, King Graham allows Princess Rosella to be tied to a stake to be eaten.
* In ''VideoGame/TacticsOgreTheKnightOfLodis'', after completing [[WakeUpCallBoss Formello]], Alphonse [[CutsceneIncompetence gets captured]] and interrogated by [[TheDragon Nichart]]. After realizing that Alphonse doesn't know anything beyond the party line, Nichart buggers off, leaving Alphonse chained up in the dungeon to drown when the tide comes in. [[LikeYouWouldReallyDoIt Naturally]], he gets rescued, setting the next bit of the plot in motion.
* In ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep'', [[TheDragon Braig]] chains Master Xehanort to a pole in Radiant Garden and uses him to lure [[AntiHero Terra]] into a trap. [[spoiler: It's later revealed to have all been an act to further force Terra to rely on the Darkness, though it costs Braig one of his eyes as a result.]]
* ''VideoGame/TheWitcher3WildHunt'': This is the punishment doled out to [[spoiler: Birna Bran]] for a scheme to ensure [[spoiler: her son Svandrige]] succeeded Bran as king of the [[HornyVikings viking-like]] isles of Skellige. She is left exposed to the ravages of a cold, stormy sea and the local {{Enthralling Siren}}s to tear her apart. This scene is how she is depicted on her card in ''VideoGame/GwentTheWitcherCardGame''.

[[folder: Web Comics ]]

* [[http://www.oglaf.com/princess/ Horribly subverted]] in ''Webcomic/{{Oglaf}}'' (SFW, but entire site is {{NSFW}})

[[folder: Web Original ]]

* In ''Roleplay/TheGamersAlliance'', the [[LizardFolk Sirithai]] chain the heroes they have captured into large poles, prompting the other heroes to challenge the monster in the Sirithai arena to save their friends from being eaten.
* In the ''Toys/{{Bionicle}}'' serial ''Federation of Fear'', the former Makuta leader, Miserix, is found chained to a cave wall, unable to escape despite his incredible amount of special powers. He spent centuries there absorbing the nearby creatures into his own essence to pad out his armor and make himself grow, but the chains increased in size with him. This cruel imprisonment was actually meant to keep him (and his still loyal Makuta brethren tasked with killing him) out of harm's way, by making sure the then-current leader would not learn about his existence.
* In the second Carmilla story of the Literature/WhateleyUniverse, Carmilla ends up chained to a flat rock with magical cuffs to suppress her abilities, so that Bloodworm can sacrifice her to a dark god to gain a boon. To say that things don't go too well for him would be [[FateWorseThanDeath a serious understatement.]]
** Moral of the story: Don't try to summon a demon with a sacrifice he likes more than you.

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' Aquaman is chained to the bottom of an erupting undersea volcano along with his infant son by his usurping brother. Somewhat subverted when he [[spoiler: [[BreakingTheBonds breaks one chain]], then pulls a sharp implement off of his belt and ''hacks his own hand off at the wrist'']] to save the both of them.
* {{Lampshade h|anging}}ung in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'', where it happens to Leela. For good measure, the leader rips her top to expose more cleavage.
* In ''[[WesternAnimation/MickeyDonaldGoofyTheThreeMusketeers Disney's The Three Musketeers]]'', Mickey is chained in a underground dungeon on an island to drown when the tide comes in. [[spoiler: Just as he's about to drown, Donald and Goofy break him out.]]

[[quoteright:267:[[Myth/ClassicalMythology https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Gustave_Moreau_Prometheus_7331.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:267:"Prometheus was punished by the gods for giving the gift of knowledge to man. [[DisproportionateRetribution He was cast into the bowels of the earth]] [[VideoGame/{{Portal 2}} and pecked by birds...]]"]]

* This happened in ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'' to [[spoiler: Shiori disguised as Asuna]] in [[http://www.mangafox.com/manga/mahou_sensei_negima/v31/c283/10.html chapter 283 during her interrogation]].

* The ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' set Theros (based on Myth/GreekMythology) features a card named [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=373521 Chained to the Rocks]] that, flavor-wise, removes one of your opponent's creatures from play by chaining it to a mountain.

* Ganondorf got this treatment in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess'', when the Sages were attempting to execute him. He [[BreakingTheBonds broke out]] of course, but given how the Sages usually aren't the most useful bunch, it's a credit that they could chain him up like that to begin with.
** He later pulls this trope on Princess Zelda, by tying her to a statue of the Golden Goddesses and the Triforce.

* ''Webcomic/{{Juathuur}}'': Merlu is bound to a tree (magically). More literally, Lok is chained to... whatever walls in his world are made of.

** Prometheus, who stole fire from the Olympian gods and gave it to mankind, was chained to a rock, with an eagle eating his liver every day for centuries until Hercules came to get him. At night, his liver would regenerate so the eagle could eat it again.

* Myth/NorseMythology: Loki, the trickster god from the Literature/{{Edda}} and father of Miðgarðsormur, Fenrir the wolf and the death goddess Hel, was chained to a rock with the entrails of his murdered sons, and a snake hanging over him dripping poisonous acid into his face. Whenever his wife went outside to empty out the bowl she was holding up to catch the drops, Loki's pain made him writhe in his bonds, which created earthquakes. The prophecy says his chains would fail when Ragnarök starts. He will be killed in the FinalBattle between the gods of Ásgarðr and their enemies.

Sometimes [[EverythingsBetterWithPrincesses the princess]] is the first woman put up for slaughter; other times she is only the latest of a long line of sacrificial maidens. Why a hero never stepped up to save ''them'' is a question rarely asked.

* In the finale of ''Franchise/StarWars: Episode 2 Film/AttackOfTheClones'', Padme, Obi-Wan, and Anakin are all chained to rocks to be killed by large monsters.

** Prometheus, who stole fire from the Olympian gods and gave it to mankind. Was chained to a rock, with an eagle eating his liver every day for all eternity. At night, his liver would regenerate so the eagle could eat it again. Until Hercules came to get him. Still, centuries of having your liver eaten isn't something to laugh at.

** This was also poor Princess Andromeda's plight when her mother's [[{{Pride}} arrogance]], and claims that [[WorldsMostBeautifulWoman she was more beautiful than the Nereids]], angered Poseidon. She was saved by her future husband, Perseus, who stepped in with [[TakenForGranite Medusa's head]]...
* Loki, the Myth/{{Norse|Mythology}} trickster god from the Literature/{{Edda}} and father of Miðgarðsormur, Fenrir the wolf and the death goddess Hel, was chained to a rock with the entrails of his murdered sons, and a snake hanging over him dripping poisonous acid into his face. Whenever his wife went outside to empty out the bowl she was holding up to catch the drops, Loki's pain made him writhe in his bonds, which created earthquakes. The prophecy says his chains would fail when Ragnarök starts. He will be killed in the FinalBattle between the gods of Ásgarðr and their enemies.