History Main / HostageSituation

* ''Series/AdamTwelve'' had too many of these to count. Several involved Reed, Malloy, or both.

** Attempted by Envy after being reduced to [[ClippedWingAngel slug form]]. Unfortunately, the victim Envy used was [[TheFriendNobodyLikes Yo]][[TheChewToy ki]], and most of the cast convinces Envy that [[YouCanKeepHer they don't care]].

* Happens several times in ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'', most obviously when Chigusa uses Konoka as a hostage and when Fate threatens to wipe out a crowd of people if Negi doesn't listen to him. The former backfires horribly, as hurting Konoka is [[BodyguardCrush Setsuna's]] berserk button, and in the latter, Negi ultimately decides to attack Fate anyway, relying on his partners to prevent collateral damage.

** Tim becomes scarily violent when he arrives to deal with a hostage situation at the Gotham Plaza Hotel only to find a young girl had to watch the hostage takers murder her father before Tim arrived. It's one of his berserk buttons and he'd already been thinking about his own parents' murders that evening so it didn't take much to get him worked up.

* The elemental in ''The Sanctuary Telepath'' uses Janine, John, Helen (not that she knows about it) and sometimes even James as hostages to each other to keep them in check. Luckily they figure out what's ''its'' weakest point so it plays out at least in a bearable way (and ends better or worse, depending on the timeline). Sometimes other people try it too but they realize soon that it's [[BerserkButton not the best idea]].

Also see DieHardOnAnX. Frequently involves PutDownYourGunAndStepAway. An ... ''unorthodox'' solution to this is to ShootTheHostage, while only someone with ImprobableAimingSkills could try to ShootTheHostageTaker. Contrast BabyAsPayment, which is when a baby is taken '''permanently''' to pay for something else and PoliticalHostage which is the "polite" version of this used by polities throughout history as a form of alliance, subjugation and suzerainty.

* ''Manga/ShonanJunaiGumi'': The Yokohama Cavalry knock Kamata out with a stun gun, then inject him with alcohol to keep him incapacitated. They try to use him as a hostage against Natsu, but Natsu [[spoiler:pretends he]] doesn't care. Later on, they threaten to slit his throat if the Oni-Baku don't step down, but by then Kamata has recovered enough to [[spoiler:stab one of them with a ballpoint pen]].

Also see DieHardOnAnX. Frequently involves PutDownYourGunAndStepAway. An ... ''unorthodox'' solution to this is to ShootTheHostage, while only someone with ImprobableAimingSkills could try to ShootTheHostageTaker. Contrast BabyAsPayment, which is when a baby is taken '''permanently''' to pay for something else.

* In ''Anime/GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex'', Aramaki is taken in a hostage during a botched burglary. He soon realizes the burglars have been tricked by their employer and that the police outside are actually trying to kill them. He then takes charge to get them all out of an government cover-up alive.
* The vampire Alucard subverts this the first part of the manga/anime ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}'' by not only just shooting the hostage taker, but by shooting the hostage to do it. Through the chest, leaving a big gaping hole. The hostage (Seras Victoria) is however offered the choice of just dying, or dying but getting to be a vampire too.

* ''Manga/ShonanJunaiGumi'': The Yokohama Cavalry knock Kamata out with a StunGun, then inject him with alcohol to keep him incapacitated. They try to use him as a hostage against Natsu, but Natsu [[spoiler:pretends he]] doesn't care. Later on, they threaten to slit his throat if the Oni-Baku don't step down, but by then Kamata has recovered enough to [[spoiler:stab one of them with a ballpoint pen]].

* In ''[[Fanfic/PatternsOfThePast Patterns of the Past]]'', Old Missie, Olesya's boss back when she was an Investigation agent, is kidnapped by the Patternista for ransom. If Precinct 13579 is unable to give her enough money for the ransom, then she might die by the Patternista's hands and by the Patternista's choice (read: a gun and, presumably, a bullet to the head). The ten agents who form a rescue team to get their boss back all collectively agree to not pay the ransom and decide to retrieve her regardless, and do so successfully.

** In "[[Recap/BarneyMillerS6E20 The Architect]]", two gun-wielding thugs barge in to free their buddy, only to find out that he's already been processed and taken out to the central jail, so instead they take the men of the 12th Precinct hostage. (One of the thugs is played by the same actor who played the gun-wielding hostage taker in "Ramon.)

* ''Series/BarneyMiller'': Two different episodes involved desperate criminals grabbing a gun and holding all the detectives hostage. The first one, "[[Recap/BarneyMillerS1E01 Ramon]]", was the first ever episode and served as an EstablishingCharacterMoment for Barney. He shows he's a ReasonableAuthorityFigure and the OnlySaneMan as he calmly, rationally talks the jittery drug addict with the gun into surrendering. The second, "[[Recap/BarneyMillerS4E20 Hostage]]", set up TheStateroomSketch when the two gun-toting criminals force everybody else in the squad room to cram into the tiny holding cell.

Also see DieHardOnAnX. Frequently involves PutDownYourGunAndStepAway. An ... ''unorthodox'' solution to this is to ShootTheHostage, while only someone with ImprobableAimingSkills could try to ShootTheHostageTaker.

* ''Series/TheProfessionals''. In "Old Dog with New Tricks", a crime boss tries to free his brother from prison [[spoiler:by holding the Home Secretary hostage. Unfortunately he captures Cowley instead. While Doyle holds a SawnOffShotgun at his brother's head out on the street, Cowley informs the crime boss that if there's one shot from inside the building, they're going to blow off his brother's head, storm the building and [[LeaveNoWitnesses kill all the criminals]], then blame it on them.]]

* In the first issue of the ''New 52'' ''ComicBook/AnimalMan'' series, a group of kids with cancer are taken hostage at a hospital by a grieving dad who refuses to accept that his little girl is dead and thinks the hospital is hiding her somewhere. Animal Man intervenes.

* In ''Webcomic/BobAndGeorge'', [[http://www.bobandgeorge.com/archives/000909c Dr. Wily really breaks the rules: he takes the Author hostage.]]

* ''Webcomic/TheDreamlandChronicles'': [[http://www.thedreamlandchronicles.com/the-dreamland-chronicles/todays-dreamland-chronicles-520/ Joey mentions he's related to Alex and things turn bad.]]

* ''Webcomic/{{Pibgorn}}'' [[http://www.gocomics.com/pibgorn/2009/06/18/ Trying it with Nat Bustart]]
* In ''Webcomic/{{Sinfest}}'', when Percy took Bally, and Pooch got Yarny, [[http://www.sinfest.net/archive_page.php?comicID=3598 Percy threatens Bally.]]

* ''VideoGame/DetroitBecomeHuman'' starts with one, as Connor is sent in to negotiate with a deviant android who's killed his owner and taken his owner's daughter hostage. There are multiple ways to get Connor killed, and it's possible for the hostage to die, [[spoiler:but no matter what, the deviant can't be saved].

* ''TabletopGame/SentinelsOfTheMultiverse'' has this vibe when the heroes battle The Dreamer. The twist is that the Dreamer is both the hostage and captor, as her psychic powers went into overdrive during a nightmare of hers. Gameplay wise, if the Dreamer hits 0 HP, the heroes kill her and lose. In order to win, the heroes must [[ShootTheHostageTaker destroy enough projections to get her to flip from her "The Dreamer Dreams" side to her "Roused From Slumber" side, then destroy more projections to calm her down and wake her up]]. Since attacks that hit all villain targets will also hit the Dreamer, who only has 6 HP, the team must decide if [[ShootTheHostage shooting the hostage]] is worth it.

* In ''Manga/AirGear'', [[spoiler: MagnificentBastard Sora brainwashes his RetiredBadass girlfriend, Rika Noyamano, into fighting Kilik and the Sleeping Forest team, which Rika used to be a member of.]] The kicker, and what makes this specially mean? [[spoiler: ''[[MoralEventHorizon Rika is pregnant, and HE is the baby's father]]''.]] The subversion comes when [[spoiler: Kilik manages to deploy a BatmanGambit to get Rika restrained without actually landing a hit on her, then unleashing his and the Sleeping Forest's Air Regalia.]] And then it's further suverted when [[spoiler: Sora actually ''counterattacks'' with his own gambit and shoots back at ''them''.]]

* In the first issue of the New 52 ''ComicBook/AnimalMan'' series, a group of kids with cancer are taken hostage at a hospital by a grieving dad who refuses to accept that his little girl is dead and thinks the hospital is hiding her somewhere. Animal Man intervenes.

* ''ComicBook/RobinSeries'':

* In a ''ComicBook/{{Supergirl}}'' ''[[ComicBook/Supergirl2005 Annual]]'', a bank full of people are taken hostage, and Supergirl has to slip into the building and take the bank robbers down without letting anybody spot her.
* Franchise/{{Superman}} story ''ComicBook/KryptoniteNevermore'', gives two examples:
** As Comicbook/LoisLane is getting a story in South America, a group of bandits capture her and her pilot to force a group of Government troops chasing them to back off.
** A band of pirates take over a Government sea facility. The leader demands money in exchange for hostages.
--->'''Quig:''' I want ten million dollars in gold delivered here — fifty hostages to insure you'll try no tricks — plus a hydrogen bomb! Should you refuse — my men will blast the drill hole! And you know what that would mean!

* "Interiors" of ''ComicBook/TransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye'' features Fortress Maximus pulling one of these demanding that the ship be returned to Cybertron so that he can confront Prowl. He is ultimately stopped when shown footage of his own torture and comforted by his one of his captives. Then an incompetent sniper shoots said captive in the head.