History Main / ShirtlessCaptives

* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1942'': Queen Clea seems to really hate that ComicBook/SteveTrevor wears shirts, and removes them from him both times she captures him, the first time having him dressed in a loincloth and sent to die in an arena fighting monsters for her amusement.

[[caption-width-right:237: A captive Franchise/{{Batman}} relieved of his shirt by Ra's al-Ghul.]]

* In the film version of ''[[Film/TheLordOfTheRings The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King]]'', Frodo is shirtless during his capture in Cirith Ungol's tower before Sam rescues him and they both don [[DressingAsTheEnemy orc armor]] to pass the army unharmed. Justified in that the orcs needed the Mithril Vest needed to be delivered to Sauron, who then decides to send his messenger to deliver the vest to the awaiting Fellowship at the Black Gate as proof that Frodo died from the torture when in reality Frodo and Sam have been long gone to Mount Doom.

This is almost [[AlwaysMale entirely a male character trope]] for [[NippleAndDimed obvious reasons]]. Compare GoGoEnslavement, and ShamefulStrip, of which it can be a subtrope.

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]

* ''Series/TheWildWildWest'': Occurs in almost every episode. Typically James West is knocked unconscious or captured by the bad guy of the week, and finds himself in a dungeon or on an operating table, or hooked to some [[DeathTrap devious contraption designed to kill him in a new and creative way]], but always shirtless. Saved at the last minute by his trusty sidekick.

* ''Series/{{Arrow}}'': The Season 1 finale begins with Oliver having his arms held up with chains, at the mercy of the BigBad, in one of his numerous [[ShirtlessScene Shirtless Scenes]]. He escapes in a sequence reminiscent of his WorkoutFanservice scenes.

* ''Series/DoctorWho'': In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E6Dalek 'Dalek']], the Ninth Doctor lost his shirt when van Statten found out he wasn't human and decided to torture him.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* ''WesternAnimation/BikerMiceFromMars'', "The Pits": Two of the Mice are captured, stripped of their shirts, put in chains and sent to work in the titular pit mine.

Inexplicably, captors often find it necessary to [[ShirtlessScene relieve male prisoners of their shirts]] and characters whose [[WalkingShirtlessScene regular attire requires them to be shirtless]] are often imprisoned, chained, shackled or otherwise restrained. There's some question as to whether this phenomenon is due to the need to prevent them from hiding a means of escape, a [[ShamefulStrip form of humiliation or punishment]], to make them more vulnerable to [[ATasteOfTheLash the whip]] or [[ColdBloodedTorture whatever else they want to do to the guy]], or if the captors enjoy providing [[MrFanservice fanservice]] or maybe [[HomoeroticSubtext something else entirely]]. Or, alternatively, VillainessesWantHeroes.

Inexplicably, captors often find it necessary to [[ShirtlessScene relieve male prisoners of their shirts]] and characters whose [[WalkingShirtlessScene regular attire requires them to be shirtless]] are often imprisoned, chained, shackled or otherwise restrained. There's some question as to whether this phenomenon is due to the need to prevent them from hiding a means of escape, a [[ShamefulStrip form of humiliation or punishment]], or if the captors enjoy providing [[MrFanservice fanservice]] or maybe [[HomoeroticSubtext something else entirely]]. Or, alternatively, VillainessesWantHeroes.

** The first Berserk story had Guts get captured by the guards of the village of Koka for killing some of the Snake Baron's thugs, and get put to the torture, which is the first time we see him shirtless.

** When Guts gets captured by the Holy Iron Chain Knights, his top armor gets removed. And then Farnese whips him, leading to her getting [[EatingTheEyecandy distracted by his blood dripping down his chest]].

** vol. 7 #27,: When Colossus is Kidnapped from his bachelor party by Lydia Nance and the advanced Sentinel Alpha . He is taken to her base in the savage land, where he is placed in restraints and stripped of his shirt.

** "The Demon's Quest Part II": Batman is stripped of his shirt by Ra's al-Ghul's henchmen and put in chains in the dungeons after his capture attempting to sneak into the Lazarus Pit compound. The henchmen also want to remove Batman's mask, but Ra's tells them to leave it, as "it is a mark of honor."

* ''Manga/{{Berserk}}

* ''Comicbook/XMenGold''

* In the "Painted Black" arc of ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'', Elliot was [[http://www.egscomics.com/index.php?id=464 deprived of his shirt and tied to a post]] after being kidnapped by Hedge. The comic never explains why they took his shirt, and the author [[WordOfGod claims that he can't remember the reason.]]

* In the film version of ''[[Film/TheLordOfTheRings The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King]]'', Frodo is shirtless during his capture in Cirith Ungol's tower before Sam rescues him and they both don [[DressingAsTheEnemy orc armor]] to pass the army unharmed. Justified in that the orcs needed the Mythril Vest needed to be delivered to Sauron, who then decides to send his messenger to deliver the vest to the awaiting Fellowship at the Black Gate as proof that Frodo died from the torture when in reality Frodo and Sam have been long gone to Mount Doom.

* In the film version of ''[[Film/TheLordOfTheRings The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King]]'', Frodo is shirtless during his capture in Cirith Ungol's tower before Sam rescues him and they both don on [[DressingAsTheEnemy orc armor]] to pass the army unharmed. Justified in that the orcs needed the Mythril Vest needed to be delivered to Sauron, who then decides to send his messenger to deliver the vest to the awaiting Fellowship at the Black Gate as proof that Frodo died from the torture when in reality Frodo and Sam have been long gone to Mount Doom.

* ''Film/MastersOfTheUniverse'': He-Man (Dolph Lundgren) spends most of the movie in an advanced form of leather loincloth-speedo combination, a pair of bandoliers and a cape. He-Man et al get really out numbered by the forces of evil. In order to spare the lives of his friends, He-Man agrees to return in chains with Skeletor as his slave. Once back home, Skeletor parades He-Man in front of his assembled court to make him a trophy. Dolph has been further relieved of clothing, and is completely bare-chested. His writs have shackles and he is attached by means of cable to the floor. He-Man resists all of Skeletor's demands. Skeletor wants to humiliate He-Man and to have him kneel before him with the whole planet watching. He-Man will have none of that. So, to help him make up his mind, Skeletor decides to laser-whip him.

* ''Comicbook/AstonishingXMen''
** vol. 1 # 4,: When it is discovered by Kitty Pryde that Colossus was still alive and kept captive by the alien Ord, he wasnt wearing anything other a pair of red boxer shorts

* Happens to Tamahome in ''Manga/FushigiYuugi'' when he is captured by Nakago.

** vol. 1 #22,: Most of the Titans have been captured by the Church of Blood and the confessor rids Robin of his shirt, and proceeds to restrain, torture and interrogate him. Robin never gets his shirt back on this occasion.

* ''Hercules'': (1983): Hercules (Lou Ferrigno) is wandering about a castle looking for the damsel in distress that the righteous son of Zeus is supposed to rescue when all of a sudden, the floor gives way. It's a trap. Herc falls down and must knock himself unconscious in the fall because the next time we see our steroided-up mythological hero, he's lying on the floor, with steel shackles on his wrists and ankles, chained to floor. He also wears an iron collar that is equally chained to the floor. Just as he wakes up, an entourage led by Minos' (the bad guy)evil henchwoman stomps in. She tells Herc that Minos has [[SexSlave given him to her as a gift]] and that she's really quite pleased.

** Happened twice in the first ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'', and [[JustifiedTrope justified]] in both cases. The game takes place on an island in the Arctic Ocean during a blizzard, so without his shirt, Snake wouldn't get very far. In the second time, Liquid wanted to challenge Snake to a one-on-one fistfight, and Snake's suit has built in body armor, giving him an advantage.

!!Examples

* KatekyoHitmanReborn: When Tsuna is captured by [[spoiler: Spanner]], he wakes up to find himself hand cuffed to a bed wearing nothing but his boxers.

* ComicBook/{{X-Men}}:

* ''ComicBook/{{Teen Titans}}'':

[[folder:Film]]

[[folder:Live Action TV]]
* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' Season 7 has The First kidnap Spike and chain him up shirtless. It's quasi-justified in that it needs Spike's blood to drip on the seal. But not fully, since the only thing stopping them from taking the blood from his arm rather than his chest seems to be James Marsters's physique. This is lampshaded by the First, who has taken the form of Buffy, Spike's LoveInterest at the time. "She" mentions that the original plan was to use geeky BigBadWannabe Andrew, "but you look better with your shirt off."

* ''Series/HerculesTheLegendaryJourneys'':
** "Hercules and the Amazon Women": Hercules (Kevin Sorbo) and Ioluus run into monsters and get into a fight in which Iolaus is stabbed and dies by one of the monsters, which turn out to be women dressed in animal-like armor. Herc is so distraught that he gets captured by these Amazons. They tear his shirt off, yoke him, gag him and bind him to a sled and parade him into town. Everyone gawks at the hunk of man being shown off like some trophy. They bring Herc to see the Queen who interrogates Herc and beats him up a bit. He also spends some time in a cage.
* ''Series/{{Hondo}}'':
** "Hondo and the Eagle Claw":

* The season 5 premiere of ''{{Series/Merlin}}'' has Morgana imprisoning hundreds of sweaty shirtless men in a mine. Among them include Sir Leon, Gawain and Percival. The fangirls had a collective fit.
* ''{{Series/Arrow}}'': The Season 1 finale begins with Oliver having his arms held up with chains, at the mercy of the BigBad, in one of his numerous [[ShirtlessScene Shirtless Scenes]]. He escapes in a sequence reminiscent of his WorkoutFanservice scenes.

[[folder:Newspaper Comics]]
* The Dragon Lady has Pat Ryan shackled shirtless to the wall of her junk after she captures him ''ComicStrip/TerryAndThePirates''.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]

* ''{{Webcomic/Niels}}'': Whenever Agent 300 is captured by Niels (which is alarmingly frequently), they indulge in an ongoing contest where whoever captures the other gets to keep their hostage's outfit. This routinely results in 300 being shown in his boxers and undershirt, tied to a chair. The fact that Niels is a DepravedBisexual and 300 [[ArmouredClosetGay is bisexual but refuses to admit to being so]] may have something to do with it.

* ''WesternAnimation/BikerMiceFromMars''
** "The Pits": Two of the Mice are captured, stripped of their shirts, put in chains and sent to work in the titular pit mine.
* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries''

* ''WesternAnimation/XMen''
** "Repo Man": Wolverine is captured by Alpha Flight and Vindicator on behalf of the Canadian government. He is next seen strapped to a table, stripped of his shirt, being inspected and interrogated by government scientists.