History Main / GlassyPrison

* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'': In "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS2E61TheSilence The Silence]]", Jamie Tennyson lives in a glass cell in the basement of his club for a year to prove that he is fulfilling his part of the bargain and remaining silent.

* ''WesternAnimation/TitanAE'' features Cale Tucker being held in the brig of the Drej mothership. The entire cell is [[ForceFieldDoor made of translucent energy]].

* In '"Film/EscapePlan'', the Tomb has elevated cells with glass walls to minimize the ability of prisoners to hide contraband and generally make them easier to monitor.

* Snow of ''Manga/{{MAR}}'' interestingly averts this trope, as though she encases herself in ice when she first appears it's made quite clear that she can only stay in her ice prison for a couple of hours before she freezes to death.
* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'': The Water Prison Technique traps the target is unable to move due to the sheer heaviness of water.

* ''Manga/TsubasaReservoirChronicle'': R! Sakura and R! Syaoran voluntarily enter one of these, where they are separated from each other for a long period of time as their price for one of Yuuko's wishes.

** DependingOnTheWriter, [[BedlamHouse Arkham Asylum]]'s cells are sometimes portrayed as this (see the Western Animation section below). Other creators portray them with quasi-Victorian or even Medieval-style iron-doors with only a food- and eye-slot.

* ''Fanfic/{{Eleutherophobia}}'': In ''The Day the Earth Stood Still'', the military places Tom in a plexiglass cell so they can observe him for three days.

* The blue canine-like alien Stitch, of ''WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitch'' is introduced to the audience in a holding cell of this variety, trying vainly to break out.
* ''WesternAnimation/TitanAE'' features Cale Tucker being held in the brig of the Drej mothership. The entire cell is made of translucent energy.

** In ''Film/TheAvengers2012'', the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier contains one designed as a TailorMadePrison for the Hulk, that can be dropped 30,000-odd feet out of the bottom of the ship at the push of a button. They use it to contain Loki.

** ''Film/XMen1'': Magneto is imprisoned within a plastic, transparent prison at the end. Also doubles as a TailorMadePrison as Magneto would be able to use his powers to escape from a cell that used metal in its construction.

* In ''Literature/TheButterflyGarden'', the Garden consists of corridors of glass-walled cells. Heavy walls lower when the gardening staff arrives to hide the kidnapped girls. Then there are the display cases along the hallways; [[YourDaysAreNumbered when a Butterfly turns twenty-one]] the Gardener murders her and preserves her body in a glass cell filled with resin, the butterfly tattooed on her back facing out.
* ''Literature/{{Gor}}'': In ''Kur of Gor'' Tarl Cabot is imprisoned in what the narrator calls a "glassine" tube. The narrator means "glass-like" but that's not what glassine means.
* In ''Literature/HisDarkMaterials'', [[spoiler:The Authority]] is shown to have been imprisoned in a glass box by his henchman, [[spoiler:Metatron]].

* The US military lock Carl Creel in one in the ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'' episode [[Recap/AgentsOfSHIELDS2E1Shadows "Shadows"]].

* ''Series/TheBlacklist'':
** Done to Raymond Reddington after he turns himself in to the FBI.
** Interestingly subverted in one episode where a gang of killers infiltrate the FBI compound and Reddington locks himself in the bulletproof, airtight cage, effectively turning his prison into a bunker so he can wait for rescue.
* ''Series/Dracula2020'': [[spoiler:Count Dracula gets stuck in one after reaching England after his regenerative coma. He is quickly let out of it with the help of a lawyer though.]]
* ''Series/GetSmart'': In "Pheasant Under Glass", a KidnappedScientist is being held by KAOS in a cell made of "[[SpaceX nuclearized]] glass", so CONTROL gets an [[GlassShatteringSound opera singer to break the glass with her voice]]. [[spoiler:When the note fails to shatter the glass, she just smashes it with her BrawnHilde body.]]
-->'''99:''' Hey Max, look... Professor Pheasant!\\

'''Max:''' Of course...they've got [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pheasant_under_glass Pheasant under glass]]! ''[99 [[LamePunReaction rolls her eyes]]]''
* In ''Series/GoodEats'', Cocoa Carl is being kept in one of these (in a ShoutOut to ''Film/SilenceOfTheLambs''), as Alton comes to [[AloneWithThePsycho question him]] about the [[UnfortunateIngredients ingredients]] in a protein bar manufactured by his company that was [[NeverNeedsSharpening being marketed as "health food"]].
* ''Series/Jake20'' features one of these, a glass-walled holding cell (with [[NobodyPoops no facilities]]) in the middle of an empty room with constant surveillance. Its use in the series emphasized that the characters held there (various terrorists) were dangerous not because of any special Jake-style abilities but because of the threat they posed to national security. (Ironically, Jake's nemesis [=DuMont=], who ''could'' have used special looking after, ends up in a regular prison, which he easily worms his way out of.)

* ''Series/TheSandman2022'': After the occultist Roderick Burgess captures Dream of the Endless, The Corinthian warns him that his binding circle won't be enough in the long term and advises him to construct a sphere of thick glass to keep Dream in, under 24/7 observation by guards who are given pep pills so that they won't fall asleep in his presence.

* ''Series/SheHulkAttorneyAtLaw'' reveals that Emil Blonsky a.k.a. Abomination is being held in a glass-walled cell inside a larger prison facility to contain him if he transforms into his monstrous alter-ego. The cell resembles the Hulk containment cell from ''Film/TheAvengers2012'' and fills a similar function. Amusingly, when Blonsky willingly transforms to make a point he [[ForgotToMindTheirHead bangs his head on the cell's ceiling]].
* The ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'' episode "[[Recap/SherlockS04E03TheFinalProblem The Final Problem]]" reveals that [[spoiler:Sherlock]] has a sister and she is housed in a maximum-security psychiatric facility, inside a glass chamber. Cue a WindowLove scene between the two siblings. [[spoiler:She actually uses this trope to her advantage, setting the scene to ''look'' like it's in play, when actually the glass pane isn't there at all, giving her the chance to surprise Sherlock when he thinks he's physically safe from her.]]

* ''VideoGame/InjusticeGodsAmongUs'': At the end of the game [[spoiler:Regime Superman]] is imprisoned in one of these, [[spoiler: with red sun lamps bathing the entire cell in red light, hence the clear walls]]. One of the stages in ''VideoGame/Injustice2'' takes place in front of it, with [[spoiler:Regime Superman]] pacing back and forth and watching the fight.

* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Superfriends}}'' has a MadScientist called The Raven imprisoned in a glass cube. Nonetheless, The Raven is able to construct a lifelike robot duplicate of himself and escape.

* ''Manga/{{Baki The Grappler}}'': Ryukou Yanagi is first shown imprisoned in a tempered glass box, the walls of which are perfectly transparent and able to withstand a missile strike. He breaks out of it with minimal effort.

* Snow of ''Manga/{{MAR}}'' interestingly averts this trope, as though she encases herself in ice when she first appears it's made quite clear that she can only stay in her ice prison for a couple of hours before she freezes to death.
* ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'':
** Team Rocket’s boss, Giovanni, puts Meloetta, Ash, and Pikachu in two of these as part of his plan in the Best Wishes episode “Meloetta and the Undersea Temple”.
** Team Rocket puts Pikachu in one of these in the Best Wishes episode "The Name's N".
* ''Manga/TsubasaReservoirChronicle'': R! Sakura and R! Syaoran voluntarily enter one of these, where they are separated from each other for a long period of time as their :price for one of Yuuko's wishes.

* In ''ComicBook/BatmanEternal'', after capturing Hush, Batman keeps him imprisoned in a transparent cell in the Batcave.
* DependingOnTheWriter, [[BedlamHouse Arkham Asylum's]] cells are sometimes portrayed as this (see Western Animation section below). Other creators portray them with quasi-Victorian or even Medieval-style iron-doors with only a food- and eye-slot.
* Mega-city one's incarceration cubes, in ''Comic/TwoThousandAD'', have sometimes been portrayed this way.

* In the ''Animorphs'' fanfic ''[[Fanfic/{{Eleutherophobia}} The Day the Earth Stood Still]]'', the military places Tom in a plexiglass cell so they can observe him for three days.

* Raoul Silva in ''Film/{{Skyfall}}'' is captured by Bond and incarcerated in a glass cell in [=MI6=] headquarters before being interrogated by M.
* ''Film/{{Species}}'': The young Sil is held inside a confinement area with glass walls. When the project director decides to kill her with poison gas, she [[SoftGlass breaks through the glass]] and [[EscapedFromTheLab escapes the laboratory]].
* ''Film/TheSilenceOfTheLambs'': Hannibal Lecter's cell at the Baltimore State Hospital for the Criminally Insane has a glass wall facing the hallway, as he's by far the most dangerous inmate there.

** ''Film/{{The Avengers|2012}}'': The SHIELD Helicarrier contains one designed as a TailorMadePrison for the Hulk, that can be dropped 30,000-odd feet out of the bottom of the ship at the push of a button. They use it to contain Loki.
** In ''Film/ThorTheDarkWorld'', Loki also ends up in a cell with a transparent ForceFieldDoor.

* In ''Film/{{Clockstoppers}}'', the corporation responsible for creating the hypertime watch keeps an accomplice who attempted to escape earlier in a prison cell made of glass in the center of the lab floor. He was in hyper-time, meaning that the onlookers couldn't see him, but he wrote disdainful messages on the walls of his cell that could be seen after spending a week in hypertime and aging prematurely.
* In ''Film/AustinPowers'' ''Goldmember'', Dr. Evil was imprisoned in transparent prison where every one can see his every move, including the unsanitary ones.

* In ''Literature/HisDarkMaterials'' [[spoiler:The Authority]] is shown to have been imprisoned in a glass box by his henchman, [[spoiler:Metatron]].
* In ''[[{{Literature/Gor}} Kur of Gor]]'' Tarl Cabot is imprisoned in what the narrator calls a "glassine" tube. The narrator means "glass-like" but that's not what glassine means.

* ''Series/TheSandman''. After the occultist Roderick Burgess captures Dream of The Endless, The Corinthian warns him that his binding circle won't be enough in the long term and advises him to construct a sphere of thick glass to keep Dream in, under 24/7 observation by guards who are given pep pills so they won't fall asleep in his presence.
* ''Series/TheSecretWorldOfAlexMack'' has Alex and her family trapped in one of these.

* ''Series/GetSmart''. In "Pheasant Under Glass", a KidnappedScientist is being held by KAOS in a cell made of "[[SpaceX nuclearized]] glass", so CONTROL gets an [[GlassShatteringSound opera singer to break the glass with her voice]]. [[spoiler:When the note fails to shatter the glass, she just smashes it with her BrawnHilde body.]]
-->'''99:''' Hey Max, look...Professor Pheasant!
-->'''Max:''' Well what's he doing in a telephone booth, reading a book?
-->'''99:''' That's not a telephone booth, Max--that's a glass cell.
-->'''Max:''' Of course...they've got [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pheasant_under_glass Pheasant under glass]]! ''(99 [[LamePunReaction rolls her eyes]])''
* ''Series/{{Nikita}}'': After being overthrown by his DragonAscendant Amanda at the end of season 1, [[BigBad Percy]] ends up in one of these. Naturally, he eventually escapes.
* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'': In "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS2E61TheSilence The Silence]]", Jamie Tennyson lives in a glass cell in the basement of his club for a year to prove that he is fulfilling his part of the bargain and remaining silent.

* On ''Series/GoodEats'' Cocoa Carl is being kept in one of these (in a ShoutOut to ''Film/SilenceOfTheLambs''), as Alton comes to [[AloneWithThePsycho question him]] about the [[UnfortunateIngredients ingredients]] in a protein bar manufactured by his company that was [[NeverNeedsSharpening being marketed as "health food."]]
* The US military lock Carl Creel in one in the ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'' episode [[Recap/AgentsOfSHIELDS2E1Shadows "Shadows"]].
* ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'' episode "The Final Problem" reveals that [[spoiler: Sherlock]] has a sister and she is housed in a maximum-security psychiatric facility, inside a glass chamber. Cue a WindowLove scene between the two siblings. [[spoiler:She actually uses this trope to her advantage, setting the scene to ''look'' like it's in play, when actually the glass pane isn't there at all, giving her the chance to surprise Sherlock when he thinks he's physically safe from her.]]
* ''Series/Dracula2020'': [[spoiler: Count Dracula gets stuck in one after reaching England after his regenerative coma. He is quickly let out of it with the help of a lawyer though.]]
* ''Series/Jake20'' featured one of these, a glass-walled holding cell (with [[NobodyPoops no facilities]]) in the middle of an empty room with constant surveillance. Its use in the series emphasized that the characters held there (various terrorists) were dangerous not because of any special Jake-style abilities but because of the threat they posed to national security. (Ironically, Jake's nemesis [=DuMont=], who ''could'' have used special looking after, ended up in a regular prison, which he easily wormed his way out of.)
* An improvised version occurs in ''Series/Titans2018'' when Dr. Adamson is kept handcuffed to a rail in a glass-walled shower room in one of Bruce Wayne's (many) luxury apartments.

* In ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamAsylum'' Clayface is in one and in ''VideoGame/BatmanArkhamCity'' Calendar Man is in another.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Portal 2}}'', when the protagonist Chell is [[spoiler:tricked into [=GLaDOS=]'s trap]], she is contained in a glass cell, similar to the cell at the start of ''VideoGame/{{Portal}}''.

* ''VideoGame/Splatoon1'' and ''VideoGame/Splatoon2'' feature a variation on this, as DJ Octavio is repeatedly captured and imprisoned in an oversized snow globe after being defeated. And we do mean repeatedly: redoing the FinalBoss stage is a case of him [[CardboardPrison simply breaking out of the snow globe]], either by himself when no one was looking or one of the characters letting him go themselves.

* One episode of Creator/HannaBarbera's ''WesternAnimation/{{Superfriends}}'' has a MadScientist called The Raven imprisoned in a glass cube. Nonetheless, The Raven is able to construct a lifelike robot duplicate of himself and escape.
* The Archons of "The Sleeping Planet" believe that ''WesternAnimation/JosieAndThePussycats In Outer Space'' have stolen their Robotron, and imprison them in a huge transparent bubble.
* The most secure cells in the below-ground Acmetropolis Prison are an isolated circular platform with a transparent dome. The Sagittarius Stomper was put in one, alongside his mother. Likewise for Mallory Mastermind. And for four of the six ''WesternAnimation/LoonaticsUnleashed''.

* [[spoiler: Professor Pericles]] in ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooMysteryIncorporated'' is imprisoned in a see-through cage.