History Main / ExecutionByExposure

* ''Film/RedSun''. After killing a Commanche in self defense, the rest of the tribe stake Christina out in the sun with a strip of wet rawhide around her neck which will slowly strangle her as it dries in the heat.

->''"Splendid! A moment frozen in time. It occurred to me that to leave you gentlemen here in this wretched heat, with nothing to drink, would be a cruel and merciless act. In three hours, your flesh will begin to blister. Two hours later, your tongues will swell..."''
-->-- '''The General'''; ''Film/{{Firewalker}}''

* ''Film/{{Firewalker}}'': The general leaves Max and Leo staked out in the middle of the desert with a bottle of water in hand, but unable to drink. Shortly after he leaves, Max breaks the bottle and cuts the ropes, but not before Leo experiences some CreepyCrawlyTorture.
-->"Splendid! A moment frozen in time. It occurred to me that to leave you gentlemen here in this wretched heat, with nothing to drink, would be a cruel and merciless act. In three hours, your flesh will begin to blister. Two hours later, your tongues will swell. And all that time, you will be holding the liquid of life in your very own hand."

Of course being BoundAndGagged or confined in some form is necessary for this trope. If the victim is merely abandoned, it becomes LeftForDead.It becomes SandNecktie if the victim is partially BuriedAlive.

'''As this is sometimes a {{{Death Trope|s}}, beware unmarked spoilers!'''

* ''Film/TheAppleDumplingGang'': In the sequel ''The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again'', Amos and Theadore are both left tied to wagon wheels for three days by the Union Army, after they accidentally set fire to their camp.

'''As a {{Death Trope|s}}, beware unmarked spoilers!'''

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

* ''Film/InterviewWithTheVampire'': CreepyChild vampire Claudia (despite the AgeLift to eleven, she's still very young) and her recently turned caretaker, Madeleine, are both executed by being left to be exposed to the sun. Unlike the book, where she's KilledOffscreen while Louis is trapped in a coffin, she is seen being dragged screaming to the hole she and Madeline are placed in during the night; when the sun rises, they wake to see the sunrise and the two desperately cling to each other screaming before the sunlight kills them both. Louis, when released, immediately asks about her and finds their ash bodies clinging to each other, which crumble at his touch. [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge He doesn't take it well]].

* Literature/HoratioHornblower: ''The Happy Return'' (''Beat to Quarters'' in the US), the preferred execution method of Hornblower's mad ally, El Supremo is to tie people to stakes to die of thirst. He considers it an elegantly simple method of execution. Hornblower is appropriately disgusted but can't object as he has orders to support El Supremo's rebellion against the Spanish in South America. Problems arise when his crew find and try to release one of the victims.

This is when a villain leaves a character [[BoundAndGagged tied up]], often to wooden stakes, out in the middle of a hostile climate with things like [[CreepyCrawlyTorture dangerous insects]] or a scorching sun.. This most often occurs in settings like the ThirstyDesert or HungryJungle where the heat and the wildlife is particularly dangerous.

Unlike the DeathTrap where idiotic villain refuses to kill the hero quickly resulting in their escape, this trope usually brands the villain as a clear vengeful if not {{Sadist}}, denying the hero a quick death so they can die in a slower more painful way.. The villain might set food or water nearby to psychologically torment them or even feed them the bare minimum to prolong their suffering

Expect to see a VileVulture or two flying overhead awaiting a meal, and maybe a skeleton of a previous victim bound nearby. An AntAssault is also common, but the hero will inevitably escape eventually without any problem whatsoever, but it still add suspense when the audience can temporarily buy that the hero actually needs food and water. When performed as an official punishment, it's especially prone to FailedExecutionNoSentence, since the death is left to external forces.

SubTrope of LockedUpAndLeftBehind. Compare: PunishmentBox, CreepyCrawlyTorture, Contrast; ExposedToTheElements and BottomlessBladder where the elements and bodily functions don’t matter.

* ''Franchise/TombRaider'' In the main comic series, a villain named Lady Jasmine captured Lara Croft, she tied her to metal stakes in the middle of the desert to interrogate her. After Lara refuses to give her the location of the gold mine, Lady Jasmine leaves her to dies slowly under the hot sun and at the mercy of the local coyotes.

[[folder:Film--Animation]]

[[folder:Film--Live Action]]
* ''Film/TheAppleDumplingGang'': In the sequel, The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again, Amos and Theadore are both left tied to wagon wheels for three days by the Union Army, after they accidentally set fire to their camp.

* ''Literature/TheForestOfDoom'': This {{Gamebook|s}} has you find a barbarian prisoner tied to a number of stakes, spread-eagled to the floor of a clearing without trees and directly under the sun, and you're given an option to help him or leave. Choose to help him though and the barbarian attacks you on the spot (it's unknown if he's behaving like an UngratefulBastard or is delirious from the heat).

* ''Series/RobinHood'', Robin and the Merry Men are all captured and chained to posts in the middle of the wilderness to die this way. Leads to an especially cruel HopeSpot when they see Maid Marian riding towards them and believe she's come to rescue them, only to see Guy of Gisborne following along behind her and realise she's been captured too.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{DuckTales 1987}}'': In an episode where Donald Duck is possessed by an ancient spirit of Ancient Egypt called the Garbled One, he has Scrooge, Huey, Dewey and Louie tied to stakes out under the hot Egyptian sun.

* ''Literature/{{Dune}}'' Liet-Kynes is executed this way by the Harkonnens because of his loyalty to the Atreides; they leave him to die in the desert with no water or stillsuit. However, what ultimately kills him is not heat exposure or thirst, but the somewhat more merciful explosion of a "spice blow" right underneath him.

[[folder:Live Action TV]]
* ''Series/DoctorWho'': The episode The Caretaker opens this way with The Doctor and Clara Oswald chained to stone pillars in the middle of an alien ThirstyDesert, as part of a montage showing how Clara balances her life with The Doctor and her social life. Apparently she got a great tan out of it.

* Literature/HoratioHornblower: ''The Happy Return'' (''Beat to Quarters'' in the US), the preferred execution method of Hornblower's mad ally, El Supremo is to tie people to stakes to die of thirst. He considers it an elegantly simple method of execution. Hornblower is appropriately disgusted but can't object as he ha orders to support El Supremo's rebellion against the Spanish in South America. Problems arise when his crew find and try to release one of the victims.

!Warning: Being a method of torture and execution, most spoilers are unmarked.

-> “Splendid! A moment frozen in time. It occurred to me that to leave you gentlemen here in this wretched heat, with nothing to drink, would be a cruel and merciless act. In three hours, your flesh will begin to blister. Two hours later, your tongues will swell…”
-->'''The General'''; ''Film/{{Firewalker}}''

--> '''Mava:''' The sun is hot Rulah, but I give you plenty of food and water within easy reach.
--> '''Rulah:''' But I won’t be able to reach it, eh?
--> '''Mava:''' Exactly! Yet every day my people will bring fresh food and water here...until you starve or die of thirst!

--> “Splendid! A moment frozen in time. It occurred to me that to leave you gentlemen here in this wretched heat, with nothing to drink, would be a cruel and merciless act. In three hours, your flesh will begin to blister. Two hours later, your tongues will swell. And all that time, you will be holding the liquid of life in your very own hand.”

''Literature/TheForestOfDoom'' This Choose your own adventure book has you coming across a barbarian prisoner tied to a number of stakes, spread-eagled to the floor of a clearing without trees and directly under the sun, and you're given an option to help him or leave. Choose to help him though and the barbarian attacks you on the spot (it's unknown if he's behaving like an UngratefulBastard or is delirious from the heat).

* ''Literature/TheSunlitMan'': The Cinder King's regime executes dissidents by sun exposure, as the world's [[ThePowerOfTheSun magical sunlight]] is hot enough to melt stone. This has the side benefit of [[BodyToJewel turning their remains]] into precious {{Power Crystal}}s.

-->'''Clara:''' Are we going to starve to death out here?
-->'''The Doctor:''' Of course we won’t starve. The sand piranhas will get us long before then.

[[quoteright:1000:[[WesternAnimation/DuckTales1987 https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/img_9200.png]]
[[caption-width-right:1000:”Tie them down in the desert heat and let the vultures pick their bones”]]]]

[[quoteright:1000:[[WesternAnimation/DuckTales1987 https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/img_9200.png]]]]

[[WesternAnimation/{{DuckTales1987}}}[[quoteright:1000:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/img_9200.png]]

[[WesternAnimation/{{DuckTales1987}}}quoteright:1000:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/img_9200.png]]
[[caption-width-right:1000:”Tie them down in the desert heat and let the vultures pick their bones”]]

-> “Splendid! A moment frozen in time. It occurred to me that to leave you gentlemen here in this wretched heat, with nothing to drink, would be a cruel and merciless act. In three hours, your flesh will begin to blister. Two hours later, your tongues will swell…” -The General; Film/Firewalker

!Warning: While this primarily used for torture or escaped from, it’s also used for execution, so most spoilers are unmarked.

SubTrope of LockedUpAndLeftBehind. Compare: PunishmentBox, CreepyCrawlyTorture, Contrast; ExposedToTheElements and BottomlessBladder where the elements and bodily functions don’t matter. If this involves being partially BuriedAlive, it becomes SandNecktie, If someone is simply abandoned, it becomes LeftForDead.