History Main / ConvenientlyPlacedSharpThing

SisterTrope to PetGetsTheKeys and HookingTheKeys. One step further, and it becomes a LifeOrLimbDecision.

* In ''[[WesternAnimation/{{Goofy}} Sports Goofy in Soccermania'', Goofy is bound and tied up in a chair after being kidnapped by the Beagle Boys. However, he was able to use his foot to grab a nearby kitchen knife.

* ''TheBoys2019''. In "Over The Hill With The Swords Of A Thousand Men", superpowered terrorist Kenji is ShippedInShackles with his hands bound in duct tape so he can't use his telekinetic powers. He rubs the tape against his chains to free a single finger, which enables him to direct enough telekinetic power to summon and crumple a drink can, creating a sharp piece of metal to cut the rest off.

* ''Film/{{Assassins}}''. ProfessionalKiller Miguel Bain dislocates his thumb to escape police handcuffs after being arrested during an assassination.

** Particularly noteworthy is in ''Feet of Clay'': "Sometimes, and against all common sense, people inconsiderately throw their bound enemies into rooms totally devoid of nails, handy bits of sharp stone, or even, in extreme cases, [[LockingMacGyverInTheStoreCupboard enough pieces of old junk and tools]] to [[Series/TheATeam make a fully functional armored car]]." [[[spoiler: In that instance, they either didn't notice the Convenient Flimsy Trapdoor Above [[{{Squick}} A Literal River Of Excrement]] or figured nobody could possibly be ''that'' desperate to escape.]]

* In ''Series/TheAdventuresOfBriscoCountyJr'' episode "Crystal Hawks", Brisco manages to get himself loose from the ropes he's tied up in by using a partially exposed screw in Crystal's cart.

** Perhaps the earliest example: in ''Discworld/TheLightFantastic'' tied Rincewind finds a sharp rock and starts cutting the rope. He gets exactly the result he expected -- cuts to his wrists till they bleed.
** Played straight in ''Discworld/{{Jingo}}'': the cabin Angua is imprisoned in a ship just happens to be the one that The Boat drills through to latch onto the ship, making a sharp pointed metal drill tip available.

** In "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS9E1DayOfTheDaleks Day of the Daleks]]", the Doctor rubs his bonds against a wine rack in the cellar to cut his wrists free.

* In the ''Series/{{Haven}}'' episode "301", Audrey uses broken glass to cut through her ropes. Her hands get very bloody in the process.
* ''Series/GameOfThrones''. In "The Sons of the Harpy", after kidnapping Tyrion Lannister, Jorah Mormont steals a fisherman's boat, then returns to where he's left Tyrion lying in the sand, his longsword stuck through Tyrion's bonds to hold him in place. He finds Tyrion frantically rubbing the ropes against the blade, but Jorah was only away for a moment, not enough time to escape.

* ''Series/TheWesterner'': After being tied up by the Ritchie brothers in "School Days", Dave is able to escape by wedging a knife into a drawer and using it to saw through his bonds.

* Lampshaded in ''The Goblin Tower'' by Creator/LSpragueDeCamp. Fugitive king Jorian, the wizard Karadur, and the woman Vanora have been tied up in Jorian's bedroom by a couple of other wizards. Jorian's sword is hanging by its baldrick on his hatrack, and though Jorian has his ankles and wrists bound, he manages to worm himself to his feet, knock the hatrack over, and (with the help of Vanora's feet) cut through his bonds. Prompting this exchange after he releases the others:

* In ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings: The Two Towers'', the Orcs and Uruk-hai carrying Merry and Pippin are attacked by the Riders of Rohan, allowing the hobbits to crawl to a nearby axe and cut the ropes binding their hands.

SisterTrope to PetGetsTheKeys. One step further, and it becomes a LifeOrLimbDecision.

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-->'''Othar:''' I escaped using naught but my wits!
-->'''Gil:''' ''And'' something my father left within your reach, right?

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* In the seventh ''LightNovel/KaraNoKyoukai'', [[spoiler:Shiki]] manages to one-up most of the examples on this page by [[spoiler:''chewing her own thumb off'']] to get out of handcuffs. Of course, [[spoiler:the thumb in question is on her [[ArtificialLimbs artificial left arm]]]], but it just shows how hardcore the character is.
** It's even more hardcore when you realize that despite being an artificial limb, she can feel through it and is nearly indistinguishable from an flesh and blood arm.

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* In ''Film/PitchBlack'', Riddick dislocates both shoulders to escape from being attached to a pole by having his hands put around the pole and handcuffed together.
** It was revealed in the extra features reel on the DVD that Vin Diesel very nearly ''can'' do that move in real life. Not quite, but close.

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* ''Film/TheDarkKnight'':
** It's subverted. Harvey Dent [[spoiler:attempts to do the chair-hop, but ends up simply falling over, knocking over a steel drum and landing in a gushing pool of gasoline. [[TwoFaced This doesn't end well.]]]]
** Likewise, ComicBook/TheJoker uses broken glass to escape, but his handcuffs were taken off during his interrogation and the glass was broken when Batman was bouncing him off the windows.

[[quoteright:250:[[VideoGame/TeamFortress2 https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/yet_another_suggestion_3.jpg]]]]

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[[quoteright:170:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bd-shirt-macguyver.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:170:Where did she get that sharp thing?]]

* Deliberately [[InvokedTrope invoked]] by the Joker in the standalone story "Slayride". Tim Drake/Robin wakes up to find himself [[BoundAndGagged tied up]] by the Joker in a car he stole from a family on Christmas Eve. Robin searches behind his back for something to cut his bonds, and finds a small toy car, snaps the hood off it and starts cutting. But shortly after that, the Joker snatches the car hood out of Robin's hands, because [[MagnificentBastard the Joker placed it there]]. Just to provide false hope. Oh, that [[ForTheEvulz Joker]]!

* ''Film/{{Deadpool}}''. The BigBad has kidnapped Deadpool's ex-girlfriend and locked her in a hyperbaric chamber which has the oxygen pumped out. During the battle Deadpool [[ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks throws a katana to pierce the chamber]], letting the oxygen back in. She uses the lodged katana to cut her zipties, then pushes the blade out (despite the injury to her hand this inflicts) so she can open the chamber and use the katana for a BigDamnHeroes to save Deadpool.

* In ''Series/{{Warehouse 13}}'', Claudia is handcuffed with no way out. Looking around, she picks up a plastic spatula and tosses it down disgustedly. After the action falls, Artie shows up and tells her he sees seven ways out of the situation. He picks up the spatula and corrects himself: "Sorry, eight."

** In "The Caves of Androzani" the Doctor is chained to the wall in a spaceship's control cabin. He's able to break free of the wall, and finds a [[CowTools vertical glowing energy beam]] he can use to cut the chain, through trying to do so while standing with his back to it is rather painful.

** In "Day of the Daleks", the Doctor rubs his bonds against a wine rack in the cellar to cut his wrists free.