History Main / SlaveBrand

* Immortan Joe from ''Film/MadMaxFuryRoad'' has his symbol branded on the napes of his subjects' necks. Max himself narrowly escapes the procedure.

* {{Subverted}} by AncientRome. It was decided that letting slaves see how many they were might cause them to have [[SlaveLiberation unhealthy thoughts.]]

* ''VideoGame/SaltAndSanctuary'': They aren't seen, but slaves are branded on their necks. Which becomes a minor plot point when [[spoiler:the thief survivor learns that the nobleman she was supposedly hired to protect had a slave tattoo on his neck...]]

* Among some BDSM lifestylers in a total power exchange relationship, branding is a considered mark and ritual of dedication by both slave and master. Strike branding, using a hot iron, is still preferred by most. Tattoos are sometimes used if the master has the skill or a particular design that requires inked lines. A cold branding with liquid nitrogen is becoming more popular, as it requires a less practised hand to get clean, lasting lines, and the result is less prone to infection.

* ''Literature/{{Zeturah}}, a novelization of the Book of Exodus, includes a scene in which Moses' sister opens her shirt to show the scars Egyptian soldiers gave her. She shouts, "Behold, the mark of a slave!"

* Zeturah, a novelization of the Book of Exodus, includes a scene in which Moses' sister opens her shirt to show the scars Egyptian soldiers gave her. She shouts, "Behold, the mark of a slave!"

* One of the made-up countries in Thomas More's ''Utopia'' cuts part of a slave's ear off as a permanent mark. Which promptly turns into FridgeLogic once the narrator says that slaves can not only earn their freedom, but a certain number are freed every year -- so do they get their ear repaired? Or are they always at risk for being re-enslaved as a runaway?

Compare MarkOfShame, which this brand is to many slaves, and compare ButtBrand. See also SlaveCollar, which is another way of marking a character enslaved, and SlaveRace, where just being born a certain race is enough to mark you as property. For supernatural versions, see ClaimedByTheSupernatural.

* This is the reason the African mercenary decides to help the main characters in ''Film/TheIsland''. Their tattooed numbers identify them as clones - their lives to be thrown away for the benefit of their purchasers. He finds this uncomfortably reminiscent of the reason he was branded himself as a child, and decides to switch sides.

'''Teal'c:''' Slavery. To false gods..\\
'''Hippy:''' Right on!

->'''Hippy:''' That's a cool symbol on your head, man. What's it mean? Peace?\\
'''Teal'c:''' It symbolizes slavery. Under false gods.\\
'''Hippy:''' ...right on?

* Although it wasn't common practice in the American South during slavery, in Film/{{Harriet}}, a freed woman shows an ally where her "mistress" branded her as "punishment" - for [[MisplacedRetribution being her husband's favorite sexual victim.]]

* All slaves in ''LightNovel/DoYouThinkSomeoneLikeYouCanDefeatTheDemonKing'' are marked with an ''actual'' brand on some part of their body, and protagonist Flum is unfortunate enough to receive it on her cheek. It's also noted that each brand is treated with a certain ink that makes it impossible to wash it off or remove it with magic.

* ''Series/SpartacusBloodAndSand'': The gladiators are branded with the mark of the House they belong to. One of them is later forced to slice off his own brand as a mark of loyalty to his ''new'' master. Body slaves get a tattoo that points out their status as a body slave and who they serve, and wear SlaveCollars.

* ''Series/SpartacusBloodAndSand'': The gladiators are branded with the mark of the House they belong to. Body slaves get a tattoo that points out their status as a body slave and who they serve.

** Slaves are branded with a mark that can be used to cause them pain if they try to disobey a direct order from their master. This effect isn't absolute, as Naofumi notices that Raphtalia has been learning what she can and can't get away with. Naofumi's particular abilities allow him to give powerful bonuses in growth to anyone branded as his slave. Naofumi has those who join him after discovering them receive the brand so that they will benefit from this.
** In some, but not all, adaptations, a slave brand is placed on [[spoiler:Princess Malty]] upon finally being taken to task for past actions. The brand is specifically meant to compel truthful answers to interrogation, but the culprit is such a compulsive liar that they continue to lie even while fully aware of and having experienced the effects firsthand.

* ''Series/HorribleHistories'' has a sketch on the Tudor punishment of branding perjurers with a large 'P' in the middle of their forehead. A perjurer applying for a job firstly claims it is a birthmark, and then that he slipped a fell on to a hot branding iron.

* ''Fanfic/RWBYScars'': [[spoiler:Cinder]] has one. It's implied that she was a SexSlave in the past.

* ''Manga/BlackButler'''s Ciel Phantomhive was branded on his back (Or stomach, if you're more the anime type) when he was kidnapped and kept as a slave. He is deeply ashamed of the mark and goes to great lengths to hide it.

** A group of slaves who were freed and became pirates altered this mark into one resembling a sun, which everyone on the crew, slave or not, adopted to remove the distinction of freeman and ex-slave. This group of freed slaves took up the name the Sun Pirates. Another set freed (the Hancock sisters) at the same time took great pains to hide the mark, claiming it to be the result of a curse that caused anyone to see their backs to petrify.

* In ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', the Hyuuga clan brands all of their branch house members with a tattoo upon their forehead which destroys their unique genetic abilities upon death, preventing outsiders from stealing them. While this might sound like a reasonable precaution in a world where bloodline theft is a common tactic between warring villages, the tattoos can also be activated at will by main house members with a secret handsign to cause intense pain or death, making the branch house members slaves in all but name to the main house. All known branch house members are so shamed by their "Caged Bird Seals" that they keep the tattoos covered up.

** A group of slaves who were freed and became pirates altered this mark into one resembling a sun, which everyone on the crew, slave or not, adopted to remove the distinction of freeman and ex-slave. Another set freed at the same time took great pains to hide the mark, claiming it to be the result of a curse that caused anyone to see their backs to petrify.
** Nami's Arlong tattoo could also be viewed as this. Nami herself certainly saw it that way. After she had stabbed out the tattoo, she had a new one put in its place resembling a pinwheel with a tangerine growing from it, to honor her adopted parents.

%% Companion Turlough had a brand. [[http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/File:TurloughTheTrion.jpg]]