History Main / CryoPrison

[[folder:Films -- Animated]]

* In ''VideoGame/FZero Falcon Densetsu'', the criminal Zoda was placed in a cryo-prison for 150 years before he was broken out.

* [[AllThereInTheManual Supplementary shorts]] as well as ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'' indicate that following the events of ''Film/TheIncredibleHulk2008'', Hulk villain The Abomination was placed in a cryocell in Alaska, which makes a certain amount of sense as there's not much one can do with a guy who is strong enough to escape any prison and basically unkillable.
* In ''Film/{{Lockout}}'', the criminals being held on the orbital prison ''MS One'' are kept in cryogenic suspension.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' episode "[[Recap/SpongeBobSquarePantsS2E11MermaidManAndBarnacleBoySquirrelJokes Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy]]", Man Ray is in one of these -- except he's frozen into a block of tartar sauce. [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick accidentally free him, and try to teach him how to be good.

* The ''Series/DoctorWho'' story "Destiny of the Daleks" ends with the Daleks defeated and Davros placed in a cryogenic freezer, in which he will be taken to stand trial for his crimes. Before activating the freezer, the Doctor says even Davros "can't escape from a solid block of ice." However, though Davros is sentenced (offscreen) to remain frozen for all eternity, he is subsequently released.
* ''Series/IZombie'':Freezing is by far the most convenient way to imprison a zombie, since it won't kill them, they can't break out, and they don't need to be fed. You don't even need any special equipment, just a good old fashioned freezer.
* ''Series/LostInSpace'' episode "Condemned Of Space". The Robinsons encounter a computer-controlled PrisonShip with criminals kept in HarmlessFreezing cryogenic suspension. The clock controlling the re-animation of prisoners had frozen, so they had all been kept "on ice" long past the expiration of their sentences.
* In ''Series/MiraiSentaiTimeranger'' powerful alien criminals are imprisoned by being shrunk and frozen. However, they ''are'' conscious during it; one describes it as constantly feeling like you're ''about'' to fall asleep but never actually doing so.
** The same shrinking and freezing imprisonment is also used in the series' American counterpart ''Series/PowerRangersTimeForce'', though it's never stated here if the prisoners are conscious or not.
* Lister from ''Series/RedDwarf'' was placed in suspended animation as punishment for bringing his pet cat aboard the titular mining vessel, violating the ship's quarantine rules. The rest of the crew are later wiped out during a reactor leak and the ship's computer is forced to wait 3 million years until the residual radiation has dissipated and Lister can be safely released.
** This example was [[JustifiedTrope justified]] in the novel, where it's explained that the real punishment for Lister is a [[{{Pun}} suspension without pay]], and placing offenders in stasis is merely a means to ensure that people who aren't working aren't also using the ship's air and food. The mission is only supposed to be 5 years long, after all, and if you miss out on a chance to work, you don't get it back. Of course, Series VIII of the show introduced a non-cryo prison deck, so maybe this is only a concern in the novel's continuity.
** A later episode has the crew find a cryopod which either contains a beautiful young woman, or a murderous psychopathic android. [[spoiler: It's the android.]]
* In ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'', Khan and his fellow augments were discovered on a SleeperShip where they'd been exiled after the Eugenics Wars.

* ''Series/{{Warehouse 13}}'' has the Bronze Sector, where the Warehouse stores rogue agents, like H.G. Wells and Paracelsus, preserved in the form of bronze statues by an Artifact. More than once people have broken in to free bronzed people. And it turns out that the bronzed are [[AndIMustScream still conscious]].

* On the ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' episode "Into the Bunker," the gang finds a bunker that apparently belonged to the Author of the journals. Unfortunately, the Author had also kept a {{Shapeshifting}} monster in the bunker, and it's escaped. They defeat the monster by trapping it in a cryogenic pod.
* On ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'', this happened to Man Ray in an episode of [[ShowWithinAShow Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy]]. Except he was frozen into a block of tartar sauce. [=SpongeBob=] and Patrick accidentally free him, and try to teach him how to be good.
* In the final season of ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'', the Brotherhood of Evil cryogenically [[DefeatedAndTrophified freeze captured heroes to keep them as trophies]]--they apparently stay frozen while free-standing in room temperature air. [[spoiler:The heroes end up being freed and the villains [[HoistByHisOwnPetard are all frozen instead]].]]

* The ''Series/DoctorWho'' story "Destiny of the Daleks" ends with the Daleks defeated and Davros placed in a cryogenic freezer, in which he will be taken to stand trial for his crimes. Before activating the freezer, the Doctor says even Davros "can't escape from a solid block of ice." However, though Davros is sentenced )offscreen) to remain frozen for all eternity, he is subsequently released.

* In ''Series/TekWar'', convicted criminals are sentenced to suspended animation for varying numbers of years.

* On the ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' episode "Into the Bunker," the gang finds a bunker that apparently belonged to the Author of the journals. Unfortunatey, the Author had also kept a {{Shapeshifting}} monster in the bunker, and it's escaped. They defeat the monster by trapping it in a cryogenic pod.

* [[DownplayedTrope A slighter variant]] of this is shown in ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' as "coolers" within [[TheAlcatraz The Boiling Rock]]. The cells are insulated, closet-sized isolation chambers for prisoners who step out of line or attempt to use [[PlayingWithFire firebending]], and while they won't outright freeze prisoners, the cells are ''really freaking cold'' -- one prisoner who was forced to spend a day in it couldn't bend for a week.

* In the final season of ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'', the Brotherhood of Evil cryogenically freeze captured heroes to keep them as {{Living Troph|y}}ies. [[spoiler:The heroes end up being freed and the villains [[HoistByHisOwnPetard are all frozen instead]].]]

* Happened to [[spoiler:most of the villains]] in the penultimate episode of ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans''.

* [[AllThereInTheManual Supplementary shorts]] as well as ''Series/AgentsOfShield'' indicate that following the events of ''Film/TheIncredibleHulk'', Hulk villain The Abomination was placed in a cryocell in Alaska, which makes a certain amount of sense as there's not much one can do with a guy who is strong enough to escape any prison and basically unkillable.

[[quoteright:350:[[Film/BatmanAndRobin https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/batman_and_robin_cryo_prison_1.png]]]]

[[quoteright:350:[[Film/DemolitionMan https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cryo_prison.jpg]]]]

* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'', Esthar's government is afraid of [[WitchSpecies Sorceresses]] and puts them in cold sleep. The reason for that is if a Sorceress dies, she passes her powers to someone else, and if she is frozen, she's removed from the succession cycle.

There is some FridgeLogic involved in the premise. It's not really a punishment, discounting [[FishOutOfTemporalWater future shock]] after long periods of incarceration. Most of the time there's no opportunity for rehabilitation. Also, there is no aging while in suspension so the prisoner is not losing a significant part of his life while doing time. Really all it can do is remove a dangerous felon from society, like life imprisonment or execution. And unlike execution, cryonics could potentially be reversed if the inmate turns out to have been framed or otherwise innocent, or [[RecruitingTheCriminal someone has need of their particular skills]]. Unless [[AndIMustScream they're consious and have to experience a lifetime of hypothermia without dying of cold, unable to move or scream...]]

* Corin Nander in ''Anime/TurnAGundam'' was imprisoned in a cryogenic facility on the moon for over two millennia for unspecified war crimes committed while serving as a member of the [[spoiler:[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing OZ Organization]].]]
* In ''VideoGame/FZero Falcon Densetsu'', The criminal Zoda was placed in a cryo-prison for 150 years before he was broken out.

* In ''ComicBook/PaperinikNewAdventures'', the TimePolice incarcerates this way some criminals, and keep them in a jail ''out of time''. {{Justified}} because the Time Police apply this only to those criminals that are so dangerous they're not concerned with punishment or rehabilitation but ''protect the world from them'', and that's the only way to do it besides death penalty (that in the future they apparently don't have anymore)... And ''even that'' could fail: the Raider has the nasty habit to break out before they can place him in the cryo cell (he did it at least twice, and in one occasion even stole a prototype device to move between dimensions), and the one time they ''did'' get him in the Time Police found out they only placed his ''frozen image'' in the cryo cell.

There is some FridgeLogic involved in the premise. It's not really a punishment, discounting [[FishOutOfTemporalWater future shock]] after long periods of incarceration. Most of the time there's no opportunity for rehabilitation. Also, there is no aging while in suspension so the prisoner is not losing a significant part of his life while doing time. Really all it can do is remove a dangerous felon from society, like life imprisonment or execution. And unlike execution, cryonics could potentially be reversed if the inmate turns out to have been framed or otherwise innocent, or [[RecruitingTheCriminal someone has need of their particular skills]].

** A later episode has the crew find a cryopod which either contains a beautiful young woman, or a murderous physcopathic android. [[spoiler: It's the android.]]