History Main / ClingyCostume

* ''Fanfic/AngelOfTheBat: Da Pacem Domine'' presents the Suit of Sorrows in this way. It can be removed, but only when its wearer is killed or by a specially trained religious figure.

* "ComicBook/{{XMen}}": Genoshan [[SlaveRace Mutates]] are forced to wear brightly colored sealed bio-support skinsuits that are bonded to their skin

* "ComicBook/XMen": Genoshan [[SlaveRace Mutates]] are forced to wear brightly colored sealed bio-support skinsuits that are bonded to their skin

* "ComicBook/XMen" : Genoshan [[SlaveRace Mutates]] are forced to wear brightly colored sealed bio-support skinsuits that are bonded to their skin

* In ''Film/LazerTeam'', when Zach, Hagan, Herman, and Woody try on various pieces of a set of PoweredArmor found in the wreckage of a crashed spaceship, the suit pieces visibly drill into their body and they find themselves unable to remove them.

* In ''VideoGame/CityOfHeroes'', there's Positron -- when the game was first released, he was stuck in his antimatter-driven PoweredArmor suit. He got better, but at the time, if his suit even caught a leak, [[SuperPowerMeltdown he would have exploded]] with enough force to erase a metropolis from the map. In one comic, the [[CaptainErsatz Batman-Ersatz]] Manticore actually manages to bluff several supervillains into fleeing by threatening to put one of his armor-piercing arrows through Positron's suit. It's revealed in the 'Origins of Power' story arc that his superpower is [[spoiler:that his body produces antimatter, which his suit collects and uses for power.]] When he was injured in the Rikti War prior to the release of the game, he lost control of that ability [[spoiler:and was continually producing antimatter]], forcing him to remain enclosed in the suit. When he was regenerated after being defeated fighting [[spoiler:the Honoree]], the process restored his control over his ability.

This trope is found in many traditional [[RolePlayingGame RPGs]] in the form of "cursed" equipment and weapons. Typically these items will be noticeably more powerful than equivalent gear found at that point in the game, but will almost always come at the price of having a really nasty side-effect (such as being randomly stunned or damaging yourself while fighting). Trying to unequip the item under normal circumstances WILL invoke this trope, greeting you with an ominous message about you being unable to remove it. Legitimately removing clingy costumes would usually require a special spell, item, or a paid service from an [=NPC=] to do so - sometimes at the expense of that item.

* In ''Manga/DeliciousInDungeon'' the suits Team Touden made out of the giant frog skins ended up like this. They didn't have enough time to tan them properly so the blood ended up sticking to their clothing. They ended up removing them between chapters. Marcille mourns that the outfit she was wearing underneath the frog skin was unsalvageable.
* Appears in Episode 10 of ''Manga/ThoseWhoHuntElves'', with an elf knight who comes to the group and asks for help removing a cursed set of armour, complete with longswords stuck to her hands. [[spoiler:They eventually find a way to remove the armour, but she's gotten so used to wearing it that she decides to put it back on anyway]].
* ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'': Ranma gets stuck in a cursed swimsuit, which will drag "her" into the depths of the sea unless honestly complimented by a particular man.
* ''Literature/{{Kanokon}}'' Chizuru puts on a [[PlayboyBunny bunny girl costume]] to attract Kouta, but the bunny costume is cursed and is draining her life force, while transforming all the school girl uniforms into [[InstantCosplaySurprise cosplay costumes]].
* As per the original lore, the Dullahan of ''Manga/DeadlineSummoner'' cannot remove her armor.
* Meiko from ''Manga/PrisonSchool'' puts on an extremely tight catsuit to patrol the school grounds at night. Later on however she needs to use the restroom but can't since the zipper of the suit is stuck. She ends up having to tear the zipper off and uses the toilet nude.
* ''Anime/PokemonTheOriginalSeries'': In the episode "Mystery at the Lighthouse", Ash, Misty and Brock come across Bill, a Pokémon Watcher who is stuck inside a Kabuto suit (as opposed to having actually turned himself into a Pokémon like in the game this season was based on) since he can't reach the button that opens the costume. Ash helps him out.
* Hans from ''Manga/PumpkinScissors'' has to wear a protective flamethrower-wielder suit for the rest of his life because (as he found out from what happened to the rest of his unit) the anesthetic fluid inside that's meant to numb the pain of the intense heat is also a ''preservative''- you take off the suit, and your body falls apart from the damage the flamethrower's caused you without you noticing.
* In ''Anime/AICOIncarnation'', Divers wear artificial organism suits to protect themselves from the Matter. Since Aiko's body is made almost entirely of artificial organisms, the suit clings to her when she puts it on.
* ''Anime/KillLaKill'': Goku Uniforms are crafted from Life Fibers that give the wearers special powers. When Ryuko encounters Kamui Senketsu, he forces her to wear him and she can't seem to take him off until later. Satsuki wears Junketsu later and her determination allows her to control him. The "clingyness" part can be justified as tiny needles stick to their bodies, drinking their blood to activate. When Junketsu is forcefully put on Ryuko near the end of the series it is literally sewn to her. It takes a huge amount of effort, and her nearly dying, to get the Junketsu off of her.

* In ''Manga/PrecariousWomanExecutiveMissBlackGeneral'', the hero Metal Prisoner wasn't told the experimental PoweredArmor he was trying would permanently connect to his nervous system and that removing it would kill him until ''after'' he put it on. He's not very happy with the suit's creator.

* ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'': ComicBook/MrFreeze depends on his cryogenic suit to stay alive, due to a chemical accident that permanently lowered his body temperature. It isn't that he can't take the suit off, though; he's occasionally shown in a robe (or even less) in well-refrigerated rooms and other cold places.

* ''ComicBook/{{Freedom Fighters|DCComics}}'': The [[LegacyCharacter various]] Human Bombs have to wear suits at all times to keep from, well, exploding.

* ''ComicBook/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica'': In ''ComicBook/JusticeLeagueElite'', the alien "crèche" that Menagerie wears alters her body chemistry, and thus she has to wear some part of it at all times. [[spoiler:When it's revealed that she was responsible for the murder of Bhat, the crèche is forcibly removed from her, which nearly kills her]].
* ''ComicBook/{{Legacy}}'': Darth Krayt's armor was, in fact, Yuuzhan Vong symbiotes that could not be removed from his body. And they constantly threatened to take over his body. Hey, are Clingy Costumes a Sith fashion?

* ''ComicBook/RedSonja'': In ''Red Sonja: Blue'', Sonja's signature ChainmailBikini is damaged in a fight with a demon named Bhamothes requiring her to make a new outfit out of the demon's fur after she kills him. Unfortunately, the demon's essence remains even in its fur and in the follow up series ''Red Sonja: Unchained'', Sonja is not only unable to remove it but it turns her into a wolf demon when it comes into contact with blood.

** There have been a number of villains with this trope, such as the Rhino, the ComicBook/{{Scorpion}}, ComicBook/DoctorOctopus (only when it comes to his mechanical arms), ComicBook/{{Venom}}, ComicBook/{{Carnage}}, and the Molten Man.

* ''ComicBook/{{Superman}}'': In ''ComicBook/HelOnEarth'', [[WellIntentionedExtremist H'el]]'s attack on ComicBook/{{Superboy}} and Superman causes Superboy's DNA to unravel. To save him, Superman puts his battle-suit on him, stopping the process. Until he is cured, Superboy can't remove the suit or he will die.

* ''ComicBook/{{Wolverine}}'': The villain Cyber wears a suit of Adamantium armor that he can't remove. He was eventually killed by Apocalypse, who wanted the Adamantium [[spoiler:to restore Wolverine's Adamantium skeleton and claws when he turned him into his latest Horseman of Death]]. Cyber drifted as a disembodied consciousness for a while, then was able to take over the body of a developmentally disabled man who had SuperStrength, at which point he got himself a new unremovable suit of Adamantium armor. Unfortunately for him, just as the armor was permanently fixed into place he discovered that his new body had a heart condition, and his armor meant that surgery to correct the issue was no longer possible. He instead had to get an external pacemaker installed, but there wasn't enough Adamantium left to protect it so the person he went to instead used Carbonadium, which is nearly as strong as Adamantium but highly toxic. Cue OhCrap as Cyber realized he was now permanently stuck to it.
* ''[[http://www.comicvine.com/worldwatch-exposing-myself/37-216704/ Worldwatch]]'': War Woman, the ComicBook/WonderWoman-esque protagonist of the comic by Chuck Austen, is permanently stuck in her large winged tiara.
* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman'' [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1942 Vol. 1]]: Issue #80 has Wonder Woman fall asleep one day (near a pond, no less), then wake up to find herself trapped in a mask that's rigged to explode.

* Littlepip, the main character of ''FanFic/FalloutEquestria'', has her Pip-Buck merge with her leg after being exposed to [[DeadlyGas Pink Cloud.]] There's also her companion, [=SteelHooves=], who can never remove his full-body armor [[spoiler: for similar reasons.]]
* In ''Fanfic/{{Cinderjuice}}'', the shoes loaned to Beetlejuice by the Fairy Godfather will not come off until the terms of the MagicallyBindingContract have been fulfilled. This creates a problem when he is unable, for reasons beyond his understanding, to do what's been asked of him.
* ''[[FanFic/AngelOfTheBat Angel of the Bat: Da Pacem Domine]]'' presents the Suit of Sorrows in this way. It can be removed, but only when its wearer is killed or by a specially trained religious figure.
* ''Fanfic/VowOfNudity'': Spectra's necklace, like all cursed items in the setting, is impossible to remove. It's also a curse of [[ReluctantFanserviceGirl forced nudity]], meaning the necklace is the ''only'' thing she ever gets to wear.

* In ''Franchise/StarWars'', Darth Vader's bodysuit is also a life support system, and he will die without it. Vader actually has ''two'' of these, since bits of his Jedi tunic were burnt into his skin during the incident that caused him to require life support in the first place.
* Although obviously not a full costume, Maid Marian's "chastity belt" in ''Film/RobinHoodMenInTights''.
* In ''Film/EdwardScissorhands'', Edward is unfinished at the time of his creator's death, leaving him with, well, scissorhands, but also seemingly permanent black leather clothing that is always somewhat visible beneath the normal clothes that are given to him to wear.

* In Film/{{Onibaba}}, this happens with the demonic mask when Kichi's mother tries to scare her.
* ''Film/{{Elysium}}'': Max's Exosuit is surgically grafted to his bones.
* The eponymous character of Creator/EliRoth's ''Film/{{Clown}}'' dons a clown outfit for his son's birthday, and then learns he can no longer remove it and it is transforming him.
* In ''Film/LazerTeam'', when Zach, Hagan, Herman, and Woody try on various pieces of a set of PoweredArmor found in the wreckage of a crashed spaceship, they find themselves unable to remove the pieces. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]], as the suit pieces visibly drill into their body.
* In ''Film/OneCrazySummer'', this happens to Egg (Creator/BobcatGoldthwait) when he gets stuck in a full rubber Franchise/{{Godzilla}} suit. Then HilarityEnsues when he ends up wrecking a model condominium setup in his rampage to get out of the costume, as if it were the real Godzilla stomping through Tokyo.

* ''Franchise/StarWars'': Darth Bane was permanently encrusted with parasites called orbalisks. The good news: They [[HealingFactor heal you]] so fast a blade won't even pass all the way through before the cut heals again. They amplify your [[BlackMagic dark-side powers]]. They [[MadeOfDiamond block blasterfire and lightsabers]]. The bad news: You have to wear special gloves and helmet or they infest your face and hands. They cause [[HairTriggerTemper flashes of]] [[PowerIncontinence destructive]] [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity rage]]. They subject you to constant agony. If any of them die, they take you with them. And they are ''[[BodyHorror hideous]]''.

** The stillsuits worn by the Fremen on Arrakis are designed to be worn constantly to keep you alive in the deep desert. They are frequently mentioned as having a permeating stink, seeing that Fremen bather very infrequently, if at all. Stillsuits recycle more than just air and sweat - they recycle ''everything''.

* In the ''Literature/{{Goosebumps}}'' book ''Literature/TheHauntedMask'', the main character's mask becomes fused to her face.
* Norman in ''Literature/RoseMadder'' has the same thing happen to him with a rubber full-head bull mask.
* In Chris Wooding's book ''Literature/StormThief'', Rail cannot take his mask off because it's actually a black metal oxygen mask; without it he cannot breathe.
* The alien Parshendi of ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive'' actually grow armor upon entering warform, and keep it until they shift to another form.
* In ''Literature/SonicTheHedgehogInTheFourthDimension'' Sonic is briefly tricked into wearing one of these. It prevents any movement on voice activation and can only be deactivated by somebody else; but seemingly anybody else, which means it's easy to get out of if somebody friendly finds you.

* A BodyHorror example the very short story [[http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v536/n7615/full/536244a.html Walls of Nigeria]] by Jeremy Szal, where a soldier can't take off his exoarmor because ''its actively growing into him''.
* In the ''Literature/DeltoraQuest'' novel ''Shadowgate'', the protagonists meet the Masked Ones, a group of travelling entertainers who all wear masks. The majority of them wear normal masks, but the inner circle wear masks that make them look half-animal, and it's later revealed that their masks are joined to their skin, making them unable to be removed.

* An episode of ''Series/{{Sanctuary}}'' had a guest star appear in a superhero suit that he couldn't take off. Will even asks him about wastes.
* ''Series/ImaginationMovers'' had an episode where Mr. Knit Knots is stuck into a colorful costume, which is something he didn't like at all. He needs to take it off before the time he had to meet with his "Boring Club".
* In ''Franchise/StarTrek'', [[BodyHorror Borg]] have bodies with armor firmly fused on.
* Season 9 of ''Series/StargateSG1'' has those "Marriage Bracelets" that supposedly belonged to Nuit, but were actually very odd shackles that would kill the wearers if away from each other for a period of time, used to... "reprimand" Jaffa who "lose" an important prisoner.
** Also, the "Atoniek armbands," which only come off after the wearer's immune system rejects the virus the armbands use as an interface. Hopefully, the wearer hasn't gone into fatal organ failure before that happens.

** The Daleks live inside their battle armor, which doubles as life support and transportation. Outside the shell, they're soft, octopus-like things with exposed brains and feebly wriggling tentacles.
** Likewise, conversion into a Cyberman is permanent; especially so for the Cybus Cybermen, as it's just a human brain in a robotic shell.
* Scorpius's coolant suit from ''Series/{{Farscape}}'': not impossible to remove, but if it ever is he suffers dangerous heatstroke very rapidly, as his screwed-up hybrid biology makes him unable to control his body temperature if he exerts himself even mildly.

* An episode of ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' had a super-powerful glove that is impossible to remove as long as the wearer is still alive.
* An episode of ''Series/Fridaythe13thTheSeries'' had a cursed cape that made its wearer irresistible to women while they were wearing it, but would age them to a shriveled husk within seconds of being removed.

* A very light example in the ''Series/StickStickly'' TV special ''Stuck'', where much of the plot revolves around Stick getting an ice skate stuck on his foot.
* An episode of ''Series/{{Victorious}}'' had Tori let Cat put zombie prosthetics on her, only for Cat to accidentally use an industrial-strength adhesive to apply them to Tori's face, requiring Cat and Trina to go out of town for a solvent while Tori had to act in a play.

** Crippled or otherwise incapacitated superhuman SpaceMarines who have a noteworthy career have a chance to end up in the confines of a cybernetic sarcophagus. This sarcophagus, besides being a life support system able to sustain a Space Marine indefinitely, is specifically designed to function as the cockpit of the [[WalkingTank Dreadnought walker]]. The Space Marine within the sarcophagus will control the robotic body of the walker and experience the outside world through cybernetic neural links implanted within his life support system and sensors built into the Dreadnought. The downside of this arrangement: they're permanently stuck inside the Dreadnought until it's destroyed, often killing the pilot, and they sometimes undergo neurological decay, sometimes hallucinating about their setting or forgetfulness not unlike Alzheimer's. The Space Marines encased within Dreadnoughts are often thousands of Terran years old.

*** If you immediately asked how they go to the bathroom, the suit canonically includes "recyclers", which can recycle body waste into a nutrient rich form that is fed back into them intravenously or as an edible, bland paste. Yes, their armour turns their poop into food. Also many Chaos Marines are also directly empowered by the Gods of the Warp. It wouldn't be unheard of for [[WarGod Khorne]] to empower a particularly dedicated murderous psychopath to feed off death, or to drink blood through their mouth grill (or have it turn into a fanged mouth) instead of eating food.
*** And while this is largely part of abandoned lore, a [[TabletopGame/BlackCrusade few pieces]] of lore have picked it up again, and it expanded to [[Literature/WordBearers more forces]] than just those of Khorne.
* In the original ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer}}'', in at least the most recent editions, it's heavily implied this is what happens to Chaos Warriors once they take up Chaos Armor.
** Only if the warrior gains the 'gift' of Chaos Armor more than once, in which case there is a chance that the armor will permanently fuse with him.
** Malekith, Witch-King of the Dark Elves, has this going on too. Unable to deceive the [[SecretTestOfCharacter Flames of Asuryan]], Malekith was burned almost to a crisp when he tried to take the throne of Ulthuan. Crippled and unable to fight, he had the renegade sorcerer Hotek forge the Armor of Midnight and strapped himself into it fresh from the forge, fusing it to his body through a combination of flesh-searing heat and magic.
* In ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'', the [[EvilOverlord First And Forsaken Lion]] has been permanently welded into his armor for [[YouHaveFailedMe failing his]] Neverborn master.
* This is the flavour of the ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' card [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=2787 Living Armor]].
** There's also [[http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=50927 Grafted Wargear]], which is impractical to remove without killing the equipped creature.
* In ''TabletopGame/{{Infernum}}'', this is one way to look at the "Chain of Living Armor", which increases the natural armor of the demon greatly. It's more an aversion of the trope, however, as one branch lets the character absorb it back into their flesh to move more easily/disguise they have it, and a player can flavor it any way from armor fused to their flesh to a demonic exo-skeleton to transmutation into living stone to a preternaturally tough, inflexible skin.
* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' (2nd Edition) has a nifty creature known as the Resplendent Cloaker. It's a land-based, parasitic ray that resembles, duh, a cloak and feeds, not on its host, but on its host's injuries. On the other hand, it leeches life energy from its host to mend its own injuries.
** Second Edition also had a suit of armor called the Black Prison. Crafted by a Demon Prince, it's incredibly powerful and makes the wearer no longer need to eat, sleep, or even breathe once they put it on. However, due to having been crafted by a Demon Prince it's also cursed- once donned it can't be removed as long as the wearer lives and and eventually it drives its wearer permanently insane, causing them to go on a murderous rampage until they're eventually killed. Oh, and just in case someone had the bright idea of removing it by letting themselves be killed then raised from the dead? When you die in it your soul is automatically sent to the Demon Prince who crafted the armor, and he's not going to give back any souls he gets.
** ''TabletopGame/{{Eberron}}'' has the prestige class Bone Knight, members of which craft armor from bone. At high level, the armor fuses with the bone knight's body and can't be removed anymore. Distressingly, while the Bone Knight gains a lot of powers that make them more and more like undead, the rules don't say the bone knight no longer needs to eat or drink, nor [[{{Squick}} excreting]].
* Rustynuts's armor from ''Roleplay/TheInsaneQuestOfUnfathomableRandomness''. He's had it on for so long that it's rusted to his body.

* The heroine of the ''Franchise/{{Metroid}}'' franchise, Samus Aran, can normally get out of her Power Suit at will. In ''VideoGame/MetroidFusion'', it is revealed that her Power Suit cannot be removed without Samus's active participation; when she is infected by the X Parasites and slips into a coma, the medics working on her are forced to surgically remove the corrupted portions of her Suit.

* In ''VideoGame/CityOfHeroes'', there's Positron -- when the game was first released, he was stuck in his anti-matter driven PoweredArmor suit. He got better, but at the time, if his suit even caught a leak, [[SuperPowerMeltdown he would have exploded]] with enough force to erase a metropolis from the map. In one comic, the [[CaptainErsatz Batman-Ersatz]] Manticore actually manages to bluff several supervillains into fleeing by threatening to put one of his armor-piercing arrows through Positron's suit. It's revealed in the 'Origins of Power' story arc that his superpower is [[spoiler:that his body produces antimatter, which his suit collects and uses for power.]] When he was injured in the Rikti War prior to the release of the game, he lost control of that ability [[spoiler:and was continually producing antimatter]], forcing him to remain enclosed in the suit. When he was regenerated after being defeated fighting [[spoiler:the Honoree]], the process restored his control over his ability.
* Similarly, Man-Bot in ''VideoGame/FreedomForce'' wears a powered exoskeleton that contains the energies he generates. He can't take the armor off lest his power starts killing people.

** The quarians have extremely weak immune systems, and their enviro-suits filter out pathogens and germs that could make them sick. Brief exposure to outside air can, at the very least, cause fever, coughing and congestion. Worse, it can cause delirium and death.
** The volus come from a Venus-like world, where both atmospheric pressure and surface gravity are higher than normal. As a result, whenever they enter the lower-pressure atmosphere that humans and other species live in, they have to wear pressure suits, otherwise they'll suffocate and their bodies will actually split open.

** Most every {{roguelike}} has cursed armor which behaves like that. As well as jewelry, weapons and other equipment. Throwables and ammo can also be cursed, and while that keeps you from unequipping them, you can always shoot/throw them anyway, so it's not quite as noticeable as with most other items.
** ''VideoGame/DungeonCrawl'' has a [[OddJobGods god of curses]], Ashenzari. His followers deliberately wear cursed equipment -- the more, the better -- to gain useful abilities like identifying items, sensing their surroundings, and getting free skill boosts.
* ''Franchise/FiveNightsAtFreddys'':
** The animatronic suits in the games are full of sharp metal so if you were to get in one, voluntarily or not, you would be crushed and mutilated before you could escape.
** ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys3'' revealed the Springlock animatronics that could also be worn like a costume. Phone Guy's instructions make it very clear that doing this is incredibly risky as the spring locks can come loose very easily (even by ''breathing'' on them), which would cause all the animatronic goodies to spring back into place and impale the wearer like an iron maiden. [[spoiler:In fact, SerialKiller William Afton was trapped and seemingly killed this way inside the Spring Bonnie suit. But he always comes back, his soul reanimating his corpse within the suit as the murderous "Springtrap".]]
* The ''VideoGame/StarCraftII'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucfALLwaVgQ&feature=related trailer]] shows how a Space Marine is made, including getting permanently sealed into his armor. In this particular instance it's because Tychus Findlay is indeed sealed in it [[spoiler:thanks to Arcturus Mengsk.]]. This isn't always the case, since they've shown characters who put it on and take it off (Raynor, for one). Moreover, while they have cybernetics there's no way to use the bathroom in one of those things.
** Many human infantry are criminals working off their sentence in a sort of a mobile prison. Presumably the suit is unsealed at the end of their "tour of duty". The career of a typical unsealed Terran Marine will typically mean getting ripped apart/severed by claws/fangs/energy blasts/psi blades/plasma blasts/explosions or just plain lead poisoning, so it's actually doing them a favor.
*** Though that's [[CannonFodder a frequent fate for]] [[ArmorIsUseless the sealed ones]] anyway.
* The artwork for Cecil's Dark Knight armor in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'' implies it to be this: the individual pieces are apparently tied directly onto his skin, much like a more disturbing version of shoelaces.
** In the DS remake, due to the graphical limitations, there's a scene early on in the game where Dark Knight Cecil goes to bed. But he keeps his armor on - mask and all! That couldn't be comfortable. Kain does the same when you visit Inns.
** The same was also true in previous iterations of the same game; not having sprites for characters with and without armor the characters merely climb into bed in full plate mail.
* The entry for Famfrit, one of the Espers in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII'' states that he was sealed inside of his armour by the gods as punishment for joining Ultima's rebellion.
* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask'', one of Link's important tools is the Deku Mask, which turns him into a tiny plant-like monster. Link is cursed with it by the Skull Kid at the start of game, but he is able to cure himself and others when he recovers the Ocarina of Time. Afterwards, Link can play a song that turns curses and restless spirits into masks that grant Link some new power. [[CursedWithAwesome Ironically, Link is faster as a Deku, and needs the form's abilities to finish the game.]]
** Also, [[SealedEvilInACan Majora's Mask]] is alive and sentient (and nearly omnipotent), and though the Skull Kid ''seems'' to be wearing it of his own free ([[EvilMask or corrupted]]) will, when you [[spoiler: play the Oath to Order]], he seems to be trying to remove it, though he might just be [[GottaGetYourHeadTogether clutching his head]] and struggling. [[spoiler: The Mask can remove ''itself'', though, when [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness it no longer needs the Skull Kid]].]]
** Removing Princess Styla's cursed onesie in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTriForceHeroes'' is [[ExcusePlot literally the plot of the entire game]]. It was a "gift" from The Lady, who despised Styla's fashion sense, and the Links must track her down to get her to remove the jumpsuit.
* Expanded in ''VideoGame/ZoneOfTheEnders The 2nd Runner'', where Dingo is wearing a suit that's supplementing his internal organs (or lack thereof) which is powered by [[HumongousMecha Jehuty's]] life support systems, making him unable to exit [[RobotGirl her]] lest it kills him.
* The character Python from ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolidPortableOps'' wears a liquid-nitrogen suit to prevent his heightened body heat from destroying his internal organs.
* In ''Franchise/DragonAge'', dwarves who are made into golems can't remove the armour they're given, at least not after the [[spoiler:molten lyrium is poured in with them.]].
* Fighter Roar suffers from this problem in ''VideoGame/EndlessFrontier EXCEED''. Wouldn't be that bad if the main crew didn't decide to go [[HotSpringsEpisode relax in an onsen]].
* ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'':
** Cursed equipment cannot be removed until a priest performs the skill Benediction on the character.
** ''VideoGame/DragonQuestI'': As soon as you equip the Cursed Belt, the game informs you that "The Cursed Belt is squeezing thee tightly."

* Ratchet's armor in ''VideoGame/RatchetDeadlocked'' is implied to be this, with only his helmet being able to easily be removed.
* The Ghost People in ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' add-on ''[[DownloadableContent Dead Money]]'' are trapped in their hazmat suits, since the buckles rusted due to the toxic cloud.
** There's also the Y-17 Trauma Override Harness in ''[[DownloadableContent Old World Blues]]''. Their occupants have long since died though.
*** The Stealth Suit Mk. II is the other kind of clingy. It has a pathological need for your approval.
** Frank Horrigan in ''VideoGame/Fallout2'' is permanently grafted into his PoweredArmor.
* Alcatraz in ''VideoGame/{{Crysis}} 2'', although it's more because he was a corpse when Prophet found him and stuck him in the Nanosuit, it's the only thing keeping him alive. It's not even up to him now, as the Nanosuit is semi-sentient and was ''so badly traumatized by its previous user's death that it refuses to be separated from Alcatraz because doing so would kill him too''.
** By the time ''Crysis 3'' rolls around, Alcatraz has finally expired and the Nanosuit is now essentially AnimatedArmor being operated by a digital backup of Prophet's mind. In this case, Prophet cannot take off the suit because he literally ''is'' the suit now - but he ''can'' command the suit's nanites to [[spoiler:reconstruct the suit into a visually near-identical copy of his original human body without affecting any of its internal functionality]].
* At least in the first ''VideoGame/DigimonWorld'', it is implied that Monzaemon are but Numemon that slide in a yellow bear costume and get stuck in there. The player per se can only make a Numemon evolve into a Monzaemon if the costume is in Toy Town, though. Actually, most puppet Digimon like \Ex\Tyrannomon and Pumpkinmon look like there's something living within the costume. Armor Digimon also seem to be unable to take out pieces of their armor without de-evolving, but certain fanfics disagree. Averted with Nohemon, who is actually controlled from the outside by a ''crow'' of all things. It's also played with Betsumon, whose existence depends on him cosplaying as other Digimon; Betsumon's costume qualifies as clingy in that he cannot take it off, but he can change its overall appearance.
* Dollface in ''[[VideoGame/TwistedMetal Twisted Metal: Black]]'' wears a mask that her former boss locked on to her head and nailed to her face. Her counterpart from the 2012 game put on her mask voluntarily and it's also stuck to her face, though here it's magic.
* The various forms of the Sith Stalker skins from ''VideoGame/TheForceUnleashed'' are, in flavour text, stated to be permanently attached to Starkiller's body, although you can swap it out in gameplay. [[spoiler:He gets them fused on in the non-canon Dark Side ending, but extra missions played after said ending - such as Tatooine and Hoth - have no more restriction to swapping skins than any other part of gameplay.]]
* Barik in ''Videogame/{{Tyranny}}'' had the bad luck of being caught up in a magical storm that fused his armor along with bits and pieces of the weapons and armor of the battlefield fallen to his body. While this gives him impressive defenses in-game, it's also an utter pain to live with. In the Bastard's Wound DLC, his personal quest gives you the chance to finally help him remove it [[spoiler:at the cost of his commander Graven Ashe's life]].
* In ''VideoGame/SonicLabyrinth'', Eggman puts on Sonic a special pair of sneakers that prevent him from using his SuperSpeed. He has to collect the Chaos Emeralds to get them off.
* Before the events of ''[[VideoGame/SoulSeries Soulcalibur IV]]'', Siegfried is left mortally wounded after he and Nightmare clashed with the newly restored Soul Calibur and Soul Edge, respectively, a clash that created so much energy that it created a myriad of effects across the world. Soul Calibur is able to save Siegfried's life by transforming his armor into a crystalline suit, but because it's the main thing keeping him alive he can't take it off. By ''Soulcalibur V'', he no longer needs the crystalline armor to sustain himself, since Soul Calibur left a fragment of itself inside his body to sustain him.
* The Dvar of ''VideoGame/AgeOfWondersPlanetfall'' are descendants of people trapped on an inhospitable mining world when the collapse of the Star Union destroyed all FTL travel and communication. Since leaving their hazard suits would be suicide outside their habitats the entire Dvar race has evolved to wear them constantly (they were trapped a ''long'' time), and cannot handle direct atmospheric exposure any more, even on non-hostile worlds. The Dvar campaign follows Inessa Zhelezo's attempt to use [[TheAssimilator the Xenoplague]] as a means to kick-start Dvar evolution to the point that they can leave their hazard suits behind, while her father Korvin believes the Dvar are better off keeping to the old ways.
* Minecraft has the Curse of Binding enchantment, which makes the players unable to remove their armor.

* In ''Webcomic/OurLittleAdventure'', Rocky wore a mithril chain shirt that had a minor curse on it (an apparently embarrassing message that was invisible to him). Rocky couldn't remove his armor until he next levelled up and got [[RPGMechanicsVerse another ]][[TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons will save]] to shake the curse off.
* Punchline, in ''Webcomic/SuperStupor'', gained his powers (such as they are) when he fell into an industrial vat of toxic adhesive chemicals. One effect is that the mask he was wearing became permanently bonded to his face.

[[folder:Web Original]]
* [[http://viktoriax.tripod.com/ Forever Costumed]], a gallery of women trapped in animal costumes. Worst off is Jessica Peel and Gena Kelly, who are trapped in a two-person horse costume with no arms.

* Franchise/DCAnimatedUniverse:
** From ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'', Mr. Freeze suffered a FreakLabAccident that requires him to always keep his body at sub-zero temperatures. When outside of his special prison cell, he has to wear a costume that constantly keeps him cold.
** ComicBook/LexLuthor from ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' needed one of these after the kryptonite he carried around gave him cancer. He could take it off for short periods of time though.
** The DCAU version of Captain Atom is living energy. His suit is the only thing that allows him to keep a coherent form, and if it is breached he explodes.
* Spoofed on ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'' with Chickenfoot, an ordinary man on a chicken costume whose zipper is stuck, and thus thinks [[WasOnceAMan he's been mutated into a chicken foot, neither fully man nor chicken]].
* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/SimonInTheLandOfChalkDrawings2002'', Simon draws a mlion mask on his chalkboard. Said mask appears on Lily's face, which scares away everyone who sees her. When she tries to take it off, it refuses to budge. Simon rectifies this by drawing strings on the mask.
* Terra's final costume on ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'' (unless you count the schoolgirl outfit) was an armored suit that Slade had fused with her nervous system, which allowed him to [[PeoplePuppets control her movements]] and made the suit impossible to remove.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSpectacularSpiderMan'': The Rhino, Dr. Octopus (only when it came to his mechanical arms), ComicBook/{{Venom}}, Molten Man, and even Spidey himself (when he had the symbiote) in. Most of the villains embrace the powers their costumes give them and don't care about their predicaments, but Molten Man is just a normal kid who is tortured by his unremovable armor, which can only be activated or deactivated by someone else.

* In ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'', the [[SpyCatsuit Spy Catsuits]] worn by the [[EvilCounterpart Daughters of Aku]] are actually [[spoiler: composed of a tar-like magical substance fused to their skin, which the daughters were thrown into as children. It takes Ashi several hours of vigorous abrasion using rocks to remove hers as part of her GoodCostumeSwitch.]]

** In the episode "Hats Off to Smurfs", Vanity's new yellow hat becomes this after his face starts becoming disfigured from soaking it in water. Since the hat was made from magic fabric created by Gargamel, the Smurfs make a similar hat for the evil wizard to wear while soaked in water in order to force him to come up with the antidote.
** Smurfette's dancing shoes in the titular episode cannot come off her feet, requiring Papa Smurf to use a magic spell to transfer them to the evil imp's feet.
* Gems in ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' are {{Technically Naked Shapeshifter}}s, however Peridot cannot shapeshift, and describes her clothes as being "melded" to her body, implying she can't change them without damaging it or regenerating her form entirely. When Peridot is wearing something else, it seems she's actually wearing them ''[[DressedInLayers over]]'' her regular clothes.
* The Creator/ChuckJones ''Franchise/TomAndJerry'' cartoon "The Brothers Carry-Mouse-Off" combines this with GoneHorriblyRight, in which Tom [[FullBodyDisguise disguises himself full-body]] as a [[AttractiveBentGender white female mouse]] to try and attract Jerry to his doom, but ends up attracting the unwanted attention of many other male mice. Then Tom tries to get out of the female mouse suit, only to find the zipper is stuck, and then [[FromBadToWorse a bunch of other hungry cats show up]], thinking Tom really is a mouse...
* On ''WesternAnimation/TheNewAdventuresOfWinnieThePooh'' episode "Pooh Oughta Be in Pictures", Tigger makes a giant carrot costume for Christopher Robin's monster movie. When the others think he's a real monster, he tries to take the costume off, but the zipper is stuck, and his pleas to "Get me outta here!" are misinterpreted as him having been SwallowedWhole by the carrot.
* In ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'', when Lady Wi-fi attempts to unmask Ladybug on live television, she finds out the hard way that her mask is magically bonded to her face and can only be removed by taking off her [[TransformationTrinket Miraculous]].

* ''WesternAnimation/OverTheGardenWall:'' In "Schooltown Follies", [[spoiler:the [[KillerGorilla wild gorilla]] rampaging around the schoolhouse is actually Miss Langtree's fiancee Jimmy Brown stuck in a costume]].
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'', Vicky puts on a costume to scare Timmy in the woods and gets stuck in it. She ends up being mistaken for [[BigfootSasquatchAndYeti Bigfoot]] and ends up in a zoo.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'': Billy asked Grim for a cool costume for a Renaissance Fair, so Grim conjured him up a cursed suit of armor that wouldn't come off until Billy attained a victory in contest. Any contest. Billy probably wouldn't have minded too much except for the PottyEmergency.
* ''WesternAnimation/TotallySpies'': An episode has returning villainess Helga Von Guggen take her revenge upon the fashion industry by making clothes that cannot be removed. As an extra disturbing layer to this trope, the clothes will eventually ''crush'' whoever is inside, squeezing them until they burst.

* Emp from ''ComicBook/{{Empowered}}'' has an inversion of this. It does fit much like a second skin. She even has to shave her pubic region or she gets what's often referred to as steel wool. However, the costume tears really easily. The more insecure the more easily it tears. Given her powers come from how intact the costume is, she's made more insecure the weaker she gets, leading to her being practically naked quite often.
* ''ComicBook/{{Spawn}}'' eventually discovered that he didn't use magic to turn his elaborate cape and chains into weapons and other tools, but that his suit did so of its own will, because K7-Leetha is actually a demon noblewoman that had been bonded to him as part of the process of making him into a Hellspawn. And Leetha is ''very'' clingy indeed, complete with Spawn having to physically rip the semi-liquid and fighting-to-stay-attached suit/demon off. Leetha taunted him when he finally came back that she knew he would, calling their "relationship" deeper than any human idea of love.
* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'':
** There have been a number of villains with this trope, such as the Rhino, the Scorpion, Dr. Octopus (only when it comes to his mechanical arms), ComicBook/{{Venom}}, ComicBook/{{Carnage}}, and the Molten Man.
** The Symbiotes/Klyntar (which Venom and Carnage belong to) are a ''species'' of this. They're aliens that bond to a host and use them to feed in exchange for [[ClothesMakeTheSuperman granting superpowers]]. They tend to be clingy and ''really'' hate being removed from said hosts -- Venom is the current page image. The Venom symbiote became a villain because Peter rejected it when he found out it was alive -- and, to be fair, after he nearly killed it and Eddie's hatred [[TheCorruptible corrupted]] it.
** The ''Spider-Man'' movie video game hangs a lampshade on this. "Man, going to the bathroom must be a ''nightmare'' for you!"
** Scorpion eventually escapes this... just to receive the Venom symbiote. Rhino, too, eventually manages to get rid of the costume and [[HeelFaceTurn goes straight]]... [[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor for a time]].
** ComicBook/SpiderGwen, after bonding with her universe's symbiote.
* ''ComicBook/IronMan'': For a while, Tony Stark needed to wear his breastplate all the time (even under his civilian clothing) because [[LivingOnBorrowedTime it was the only thing stopping the shrapnel from reaching his heart]].
** In [[Film/IronMan1 the movie]], it's just the arc reactor and electromagnet which form the glowing blue part in the center.
** The ''ComicBook/UltimateIronMan'' version of Tony Stark has a genetic problem that requires him to constantly wear biotech armor all over his body.

* In ''ComicBook/GIJoeIDW'', an accident with an experimental teleportation device requires Destro to wear a full-body metal suit (with face mask) to stay alive.
* ''ComicBook/SonicTheComic'' specifically mentions that the character Shortfuse is connected to the circuitry of his Cybernik armor. [[spoiler:He finally escapes it in the penultimate storyline.]] His EvilCounterpart Vermin is also connected to the circuitry of his Cybernik armor.
* This happened with ''ComicBook/BlueDevil'', who was formerly an SFX-guy/stuntman. His costume is (magically) fused to him.
* Beatrix Farmer in the short-lived ComicBook ''[[http://en.wikifur.com/wiki/Tales_of_Beatrix_Farmer Tales of Beatrix]]'' is a (rabbit-)girl who is given a "suit of invulnerability" by [[Creator/DouglasAdams hyper-intelligent pan-dimensional beings]]. It's actually a kind of force field that can't be removed, and while it keeps her safe from all harm it also prevents her from tasting or feeling things. [[SenseLossSadness Bummer]].
* The [[LegacyCharacter various]] Human Bombs from ''ComicBook/{{Freedom Fighters|DCComics}}'' have to wear suits at all times to keep from, well, exploding.
* One alternate-universe version of ''ComicBook/CaptainBritain'' named [[http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix2/captaingranbretan.htm Captain Granbretan]] got his powers from a magical costume that allowed him to serve as a superhero for a while. The problem is, Captain Granbretan eventually wants to ''stop'' being a superhero... and the costume, which turns out to be sentient organism, decides that it [[AndIMustScream isn't going to let him]].
* ''ComicBook/TheTransformersMarvel'': Josie Beller was almost completely paralyzed in a Decepticon attack. She built herself a full-body exosuit that restored her mobility and gave her super powers, then called herself [[http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Circuit_Breaker Circuit Breaker]] and started a vendetta against all Transformers. Which didn't keep it from being [[http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Image:Circuitbreaker.jpg tin-foil covered TnA]].
* Happens twice in the original ''ComicBook/SquadronSupreme'' limited series:
** As Nuke's power continues to grow, he has to wear a lead-lined suit to avoid irradiating everyone around him.
** Thermite has temperature-based powers; he has to always wear his costume and regulator pack to keep them in check.
* The Witchblade in the ''ComicBook/{{Witchblade}}'' comics/series/film/anime is either a ClingyMacGuffin or a Clingy Costume, depending on the situation.
* In ''[[http://johnnysaturn.com/2006/01/18/book-one-page-01/ Johnny Saturn]]'', the arch-villain Tactical, who wears power armor, is forced to wear his armor all the time for life support and mobility support after he has a stroke.
* The ComicBook/PostCrisis ''ComicBook/CaptainAtom'' has (alien) metal permanently bonded to his flesh by a nuclear explosion. However, he's able to assume human form. Bombshell and Major Force are also bonded with samples of the metal.
* One of the older comics variants is Vance Astro of the ''ComicBook/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy''. As an astronaut, in order to survive a thousand-year experimental sublight journey to Alpha Centauri, he was put inside a copper-lined uniform for the loooooong journey. If it is ever pierced in any way, he will [[RapidAging suddenly age a thousand years]].
* The [[AdaptiveArmor Beta Suit]] from ''ComicBook/{{Echo}}'', though capable of [[AppliedPhlebotinum amazing wonders]] and made of [[{{Unobtainium}} a wondrous new alloy]], simply will ''not'' come off. This leads to some problems, as the suit seems to be slowly rewriting Julie Martin's DNA with the recently-deceased Annie, and in a little while, there might not be any of Julie ''left''.
* Hazmat of ''ComicBook/AvengersAcademy'' emits all sorts of lethal chemicals and radiation and must wear a HazmatSuit at all times to avoid killing everyone around her.
* ''ComicBook/AmbushBug'' cannot get his suit off, since the zipper is stuck. (He is that kind of superhero.)
* ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}'' villain Mr. Freeze depends on his cryogenic suit to stay alive, due to a chemical accident that permanently lowered his body temperature. It isn't that he can't take the suit off, though; he's occasionally shown in a robe (or even less) in well-refrigerated rooms and other cold places.
* ''ComicBook/{{Invincible}}'' hero Zack Thompson aka Tech Jacket. His suit of AdaptiveArmor, from which he gets his name, is ImportedAlienPhlebotinum from a frail-bodied race where everyone is equipped with a tech jacket at birth. As tech jackets are made with that race in mind, they're programmed to not let the wearer remove them. Zack only received his because its previous wearer was already dying, and so was able to make an emergency transfer to protect Zack from the explosion of its space ship. Fortunately, the tech jacket can retract into the form of a vest that fits under Zack's clothes, and it removes dirt and germs from his body for him, making it unnecessary to bathe. Also, he's been shown to be able to have sex while wearing it.
* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1942'' #80 has Wonder Woman fall asleep one day (near a pond, no less), then wake up to find herself trapped in a mask that's rigged to explode.

* In ''ComicBook/{{Legacy}}'', Darth Krayt's armor was, in fact, Yuuzhan Vong symbiotes that could not be removed from his body. And they constantly threatened to take over his body. Hey, are Clingy Costumes a Sith fashion?
* War Woman, the ComicBook/WonderWoman-esque protagonist of Chuck Austen's ''[[http://www.comicvine.com/worldwatch-exposing-myself/37-216704/ Worldwatch]]'', is permanently stuck in her large winged tiara.

* In ''ComicBook/HelOnEarth'', [[WellIntentionedExtremist H'el]]'s attack on ComicBook/{{Superboy}} and ComicBook/{{Superman}} causes Superboy's DNA to unravel. To save him, Superman puts his battle-suit on him, stopping the process. Until he is cured, Superboy can't remove the suit or he will die.
* In ''ComicBook/JusticeLeagueElite'', the alien "crèche" that Menagerie wears alters her body chemistry, and thus she has to wear some part of it at all times. [[spoiler:When it's revealed that she was responsible for the murder of Bhat, the crèche is forcibly removed from her, which nearly kills her]].
* Jaeger from ''ComicBook/Robin1993'' has had his mask surgically attached to his face and it cannot be removed.
* Subverted in the 1940s-set ''ComicBook/TopTen'' {{Prequel}} ''The Forty-Niners''. The comic's ''ComicBook/IronMan'' CaptainErsatz is supposedly a scientist who was seriously injured in a lab accident and depends on a suit that is combined PoweredArmor and life-support. It is eventually [[RoboticReveal revealed]] that he is actually a fully sentient robot created by the scientist, who was killed in the lab accident, and is passing as human to evade anti-AI bigotry.
* In ''ComicBook/RedSonja: Blue'', Sonja's signature ChainmailBikini is damaged in a fight with a demon named Bhamothes requiring her to make a new outfit out of the demon's fur after she kills him. Unfortunately, the demon's essence remains even in its fur and in the follow up series ''Red Sonja: Unchained'', Sonja is not only unable to remove it but it turns her into a wolf demon when it comes into contact with blood.
* In ''ComicBook/{{Ant}}'', Hannah's ant costume is actually a gathering of nano-bots that form to her body, and will simply grow back even when she rips them apart.

* In ''ComicBook/RomIDW'', Rom and the other Space Knights' armor is made of a shapeshifting alien metal that provides all sorts of benefits but also fuses to their skin and can never be removed once donned, which is the source of some angst for Rom. At the end of ''ComicBook/RomVsTransformersShiningArmor'', Stardrive's feat of tearing the armor off her body when she abandons the Space Knights is a therefore an unprecedented act, later attributed to her being a {{Mechanical Lifeform|s}} for whom the metal behaves differently -- the same species as the metal's creator, in fact, though nobody knows this at the time.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSpectacularSpiderMan'': The Rhino, Dr. Octopus (only when it came to his mechanical arms), Comicbook/{{Venom}}, Molten Man, and even Spidey himself (when he had the symbiote) in. Most of the villains embrace the powers their costumes give them and don't care about their predicaments, but Molten Man is just a normal kid who is tortured by his unremovable armor, which can only be activated or deactivated by someone else.

* Minecraft has the Curse of Binding enchantment, which makes the player unable to remove their armor.

* The Creator/ChuckJones ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry'' cartoon "The Brothers Carry-Mouse-Off" combines this with GoneHorriblyRight, in which Tom [[FullBodyDisguise disguises himself full-body]] as a [[AttractiveBentGender white female mouse]] to try and attract Jerry to his doom, but ends up attracting the unwanted attention of many other male mice. Then Tom tries to get out of the female mouse suit, only to find the zipper is stuck, and then [[FromBadToWorse a bunch of other hungry cats show up]], thinking Tom really is a mouse...

* Subverted in the 1940s-set ''ComicBook/TopTen'' {{Prequel}} ''The Forty-Niners''. The comic's ''ComicBook/IronMan'' CaptainErsatz is supposedly a scientist who was seriously injured in a lab accident and depends on a suit that is combined PowerArmour and life-support. It is eventually [[RoboticReveal revealed]] that he is actually a fully sentient robot created by the scientist, who was killed in the lab accident, and is passing as human to evade anti-AI bigotry.

** Frank Horrigan in ''VideoGame/Fallout2'' is permanently grafted into his PowerArmor.

** Leto II has a variant in ''Literature/ChildrenOfDune'' when he bonds to a suit of sandtrout (larval form of the mighty sandworms). By the next book, ''Literature/GodEmperorOfDune'', he's been bonded to the suit for some 3,500 years and is more of a sandworm with a human face and what USED TO BE a human mind.
* In the ''Literature/{{Goosebumps}}'' book "The Haunted Mask", the main character's mask becomes fused to her face.
* Norman in ''Literature/RoseMadder'', by Creator/StephenKing, has the same thing happen to him with a rubber full-head bull mask.

* In the ''Literature/GreatShip'' series, the Remoras - a [[HumanSubspecies subspecies of humanity]] who [[SpacePeople lives on the exterior hull]] of the [[PlanetSpaceship Greatship]] - are permanently sealed in their spacesuits; it is a UterineReplicator when they are conceived, and is grown and added onto as they age. To ask a Remora to take off their suit is both a fundamental offense and outright impossible without a fusion torch.
* A {{Body Horror}} example the very short story [[http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v536/n7615/full/536244a.html Walls of Nigeria]] by Jeremy Szal, where a soldier can't take off his exoarmor because ''its actively growing into him''.

* ''Literature/PerryRhodan'': Alaska Saedelare got afflicted with a fragment of an alien life form stuck in his face as a result of a transporter accident. Looking at it caused people to go mad - usually fatally so. So, Alska had to wear a mask over the fragment to not kill everyone he meets. When he centuries later gets rid of it, after a long while - he had gotten used to living as normally as an undying man can - a representative of the Higher Powers "gifts" him a new one as he is more the mask than the man beneath.

* In the original TabletopGame/WarhammerFantasy, in at least the most recent editions, it's heavily implied this is what happens to Chaos Warriors once they take up Chaos Armor.

* ''VideoGame/FiveNightsAtFreddys'':

* In ''Film/OneCrazySummer'', this happens to Bobcat when he gets stuck in a full rubber Godzilla suit. Then HilarityEnsues when he ends up wrecking a model condominium setup as if it were the real Godzilla wrecking Tokyo, in his rampage to get out of the costume.

* The [[LegacyCharacter various]] Human Bombs from ''ComicBook/FreedomFightersDC'' have to wear suits at all times to keep from, well, exploding.

*** Scorpion eventually averts this... just to receive the Venom symbiote. Rhino, too, recently managed to get rid of the costume and [[HeelFaceTurn went straight]]... [[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor for a time]].

* ComicBook/SpiderMan has a number of villains with this trope, such as the Rhino, the Scorpion, Dr. Octopus (only when it came to his mechanical arms), ComicBook/{{Venom}}, ComicBook/{{Carnage}}, and the Molten Man.
** The Symbiotes/Klyntar (Which Venom and Carnage belong to) are a ''species'' of this. They're aliens that bond to a host and use them to feed in exchange for [[ClothesMakeTheSuperman granting superpowers]]. They tend to be clingy and ''really'' hate being removed from said hosts- Venom is the current page image. The Venom symbiote became a villain because Peter rejected it when he found out it was alive- and, to be fair, after he nearly killed it and Eddie's hatred [[TheCorruptible corrupted]] it.

*** Scorpion eventually averts this... just to receive the Venom symbiote. Rhino, too, recently managed to get rid of the costume and [[HeelFaceTurn went straight]]. [[HeelFaceRevolvingDoor Well...]]

* For a while, [[ComicBook/IronMan Tony Stark]] needed to wear his breastplate all the time (even under his civilian clothing) because it was the only thing stopping the shrapnel from reaching his heart.

* In ''Creator/KurtBusiek's ComicBook/AstroCity'', the super-villain Steeljack was coated with a liquid steel that permanently covers his entire body. He's completely human underneath it, however.
** Debatably "human" - he's astoundingly tough even ignoring his armor-plating, and he's really strong.
** It is suggested that the N-Forcer is part of this trope; he is always shown as an EnergyBeing wearing various technological appliances.
* In IDW Comics' reboot of ''[[ComicBook/GIJoeIDW G.I. Joe]]'', an accident with an experimental teleportation device requires Destro to wear a full-body metal suit (with face mask) to stay alive.
* ''ComicBook/SonicTheComic'' specifically mentioned that the character Shortfuse was connected to the circuitry of his Cybernik armor. [[spoiler:He finally escapes it in the penultimate storyline,]] his EvilCounterpart Vermin was also connected to the circuitry of his Cybernik armor.
* This happened with DC's ComicBook/BlueDevil, who was formerly a SFX-guy/stuntman. His costume was (magically) fused to him.

* In Franchise/TheDCU, the [[LegacyCharacter various]] [[ComicBook/FreedomFightersDC Human Bombs]] have to wear a suit at all times to keep from, well, exploding.
* One alternate-universe version of ComicBook/CaptainBritain named [[http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix2/captaingranbretan.htm Captain Granbretan]] got his powers from a magical costume that allowed him to serve as a superhero for a while. The problem is, Captain Granbretan eventually wants to ''stop'' being a superhero... and the costume, which turns out to be sentient organism, decides it [[AndIMustScream isn't going to let him]].

* In ''[[http://johnnysaturn.com/2006/01/18/book-one-page-01/ Johnny Saturn]]'' the arch-villain Tactical, who wears power armor, is forced to wear his armor all the time for life support and mobility support after he has a stroke.
* Like Steeljack, above, the ComicBook/PostCrisis ComicBook/CaptainAtom has (alien) metal permanently bonded to his flesh -- in his case, by a nuclear explosion. Unlike Steeljack, he's able to assume human form. Bombshell and Major Force are also bonded with samples of the metal.

* The [[AdaptiveArmor Beta Suit]] from ''ComicBook/{{Echo}}'', though capable of [[AppliedPhlebotinum amazing wonders]] and made of [[{{Unobtainium}} a wondrous new alloy]], simply will ''not'' come off. This leads to some problems as the suit seems to be slowly rewriting Julie Martin's DNA with the recently-deceased Annie, and in a little while there might not be any of Julie ''left''.
* Hazmat of ''Comicbook/AvengersAcademy'' emits all sorts of lethal chemicals and radiation and must wear a Hazmat suit at all times to avoid killing everyone around her.
* ComicBook/AmbushBug cannot get his suit off, since the zipper is stuck. (He is that kind of superhero.)
* Franchise/TheDCU villain [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Mr. Freeze]] depends on his cryogenic suit to stay alive, due to a chemical accident that permanently lowered his body temperature. It isn't that he can't take the suit off, though; he's occasionally shown in a robe (or even less) in well-refrigerated rooms and other cold places.
* ''ComicBook/{{Invincible}}verse'' hero Zack Thompson aka Tech Jacket. His suit of AdaptiveArmor, from which he gets his name, is ImportedAlienPhlebotinum from a frail-bodied race where everyone is equipped with a tech jacket at birth. As tech jackets are made with that race in mind, they're programmed to not let the wearer remove them. Zack only received his because its previous wearer was already dying, and so was able to make an emergency transfer to protect Zack from the explosion of its space ship. Fortunately, the tech jacket can retract into the form of a vest that fits under Zack's clothes, and it removes dirt and germs from his body for him, making it unnecessary to bathe. Also, he's been shown to be able to have sex while wearing it.
* ''Franchise/WonderWoman'' #80 has the protagonist fall asleep one day (near a pond, no less) then wake up to find herself trapped in a mask that's rigged to explode.
* Nazi scum ComicBook/BaronZemo (the original) tried to attack the Allies with his dreaded Adhesive X, but Captain America foiled his plan and caused his pink mask to be permanently glued to his face. Zemo could talk and breathe but needed to feed through an IV. He survived for decades in South America with the mask on his face (imagine the smell!)

* War Woman, the Franchise/WonderWoman-esque protagonist of Chuck Austen's ''[[http://www.comicvine.com/worldwatch-exposing-myself/37-216704/ Worldwatch]], is permanently stuck in her large winged tiara.
* Without his ERG-suit, [[ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes Wildfire]] is just a mass of anti-energy, shapeless and largely unable to interact with the rest of the world.

** On one alternate universe ("What if the Runaways had become the ComicBook/YoungAvengers?"), Chase gets stabbed in the chest by Victorious (Victor Mancha's evil future self) and has to wear Iron Lad's chest plate for the rest of his life to keep the wound from re-opening.
* In ''ComicBook/HelOnEarth'', [[WellIntentionedExtremist H'el]]'s attack on ComicBook/{{Superboy}} and Franchise/{{Superman}} causes Superboy's DNA to unravel. To save him, Superman puts his battle-suit on him, stopping the process. Until he is cured, Superboy can't remove the suit or he will die.

* Jaeger from ''[[ComicBook/RobinSeries Robin]]'' has had his mask surgically attached to his face and it cannot be removed.
* Subverted in the 1940s-set ''ComicBook/TopTen'' {{Prequel}} ''The 49'ers''. The comic's ''ComicBook/IronMan'' CaptainErsatz is supposedly a scientist who was seriously injured in a lab accident and depends on a suit that is combined PowerArmour and life-support. It is eventually [[RoboticReveal revealed]] that he is actually a fully-sentient robot created by the scientist, who was killed in the lab accident, and is passing as human to evade anti-AI bigotry.

* ''ComicBook/XMen'': The villain Cyber wears a suit of Adamantium armor that he can't remove. He was eventually killed by Apocalypse, who wanted the Adamantium [[spoiler: to restore Wolverine's Adamantium skeleton and claws when he turned him into his latest Horseman of Death]]. Cyber drifted as a disembodied consciousness for a while, then was able to take over the body of a developmentally disabled man who had SuperStrength, at which point he got himself a new unremovable suit of Adamantium armor. Unfortunately for him, just as the armor was permanently fixed into place he discovered that his new body had a heart condition, and his armor meant that surgery to correct the issue was no longer possible. He instead had to get an external pacemaker installed, but there wasn't enough Adamantium left to protect it so the person he went to instead used Carbonadium, which is nearly as strong as Adamantium but highly toxic. Cue OhCrap as Cyber realized he was now permanently stuck to it.
* In ''ComicBook/RomIDW'', Rom and the other Space Knights' armor is made of a shapeshifting alien metal that provides all sorts of benefits but also fuses to their skin and can never be removed once donned, which is the source of some angst for Rom. At the end of ''ComicBook/RomVsTransformersShiningArmor'', Stardrive's feat of tearing the armor off her body when she abandons the Space Knights is a therefore an unprecedented act, later attributed to her being a MechanicalLifeform for whom the metal behaves differently -- the same species as the metal's creator, in fact, though nobody knows this at the time.

* ''LightNovel/{{Kanokon}}'' Chizuru puts on a [[PlayboyBunny bunny girl costume]] to attract Kouta, but the bunny costume is cursed and is draining her life force, while transforming all the school girl uniforms into [[InstantCosplaySurprise cosplay costumes]].

* The Rhino, Dr. Octopus (only when it came to his mechanical arms), Comicbook/{{Venom}}, Molten Man, and even Spidey himself (when he had the symbiote) in ''WesternAnimation/TheSpectacularSpiderMan''.

* ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'', in the season 1 episode ''Mystery at the Lighthouse'', Ash, Misty and Brock come across Bill, a Pokémon Watcher who is stuck inside a Kabuto suit (as opposed to having actually turned himself into a Pokémon like in the game this season was based on) since he can't reach the button that opens the costume. Ash helps him out.

* An episode of ''Series/Friday the 13th: The Series'' had a cursed cape that made its wearer irresistible to women while they were wearing it, but would age them to a shriveled husk within seconds of being removed.

[[folder:Real Life]]
* In some cases where someone's been caught in a fire, a particularly gruesome scenario can occur where instead of catching alight, clothing made of synthetic fibres ''melts'' and fuses to the unfortunate victim's skin, inflicting truly horrendous burns.
* Better hope your diving suit, spacesuit, or hazmat suit is comfortable before you start using it in earnest. Sure, you technically ''can'' take it off, [[TooDumbToLive but...]]
* Your zipped jacket when the zipper gets stuck. Or worse, when the zipper gets stuck on your sleeping bag: ''nothing'' is clingier than a sleeping bag when you're trying to shake it off in the middle of the night because you have to [[PottyEmergency hit the loo]].
[[/folder]]