Line #85 Main/WinYourFreedom


1	->''"Listen to me. Learn from me. I wasn't the best because I killed quickly, I was the best because the crowd loved me. Win the crowd, and you'll [[TropeNamers win your freedom]]."''
2	-->-- '''Proximo''', ''Film/{{Gladiator}}''
3
4	To any victim of long-term incarceration, being set free from it is the ''ultimate'' MacGuffin. Of course, it won't come cheap, but when the alternative is to rot and die in captivity, they'll gladly risk their life on whatever NoOshaCompliance DeathCourse is required of them to get it.
5
6	The favorite motivational carrot of {{Boxed Crook}}s and {{Condemned Contestant}}s, since they're already locked away, but the threat of incarceration can be used preemptively so long as the victim is already powerless to resist. Any kind of [[BloodSport Deadly Game]] or GladiatorGames is likely to have this as the prize since most people wouldn't risk their life without an appropriately large reward. Likewise, the [[HuntingTheMostDangerousGame Most Dangerous Game]] has life as the reward.
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8	One common variant would be when it's the victims friend or family member whose freedom they're trying to win. Shows great dedication when the victim could just turn and walk away and leave them to their fate.
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10	Since the kind of people who are locked up are typically not someone the captors want to let out, not to mention that doing so would mean losing their services, it's common for them to sabotage the victims attempts at fulfilling the terms of the agreement, just [[MovingTheGoalPosts changing them as needed]], or [[ILied lying]] and killing them. If anyone asks, the previous "winners" were ReleasedToElsewhere. Just about every EvilOverlord does it at some point, typically making the challenge UnwinnableByDesign. Of course the hero wins, only to realize he was [[YouSaidYouWouldLetThemGo being baited]] and breaks free instead.
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12	ForcedPrizeFight and DeathCourse often go hand in hand with this. Practically every ClosedCircle adventure game ever.
13	----
14	!!Examples:
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16	[[foldercontrol]]
17
18	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
19	* The Warden of the Zufu prison in ''Anime/LupinIIIDeadOrAlive'' tells the prisoners they have a chance to escape the jail. They have five minutes to run before the guards start HuntingTheMostDangerousGame.
20	* In ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'', when Guts decided to leave the Band of the Hawk to find his own dream so he could be a true friend and peer to Griffith, [[CrazyJealousGuy Griffith didn't take it well at all]]. He reminds Guts that he won Guts' service by beating him in a swordfight years ago and declares that Guts would have to win his freedom with his sword. As they get ready for a rematch, Griffith realizes that the strike with the best chance of defeating Guts in one blow also has a high chance of killing him. [[IfICantHaveYou Griffith decides it doesn't matter]], having gone {{Yandere}} for him over time. All for naught, since Guts is strong enough to break Griffith's sword with one strike, [[CurbStompBattle defeating him effortlessly]].
21	* In the Dressrosa arc of ''Manga/OnePiece'', this is part of the legendary gladiator Kyros's backstory. As a teen, he killed two people in cold blood as revenge for his own dead friend, and was arrested as a result. King Riku, not wanting the youth's life and fighting prowess to go to waste, offered him a deal: he'd give the boy his freedom back if he could win 100 battles at the Corrida Colosseum tournament. Kyros effortlessly won those battles, but kept going as the townspeople still hated him for his crime. He eventually did stop, at ''3000'' victories, and earned himself not just his freedom but also a place as captain of the Dressrosan army and bodyguard for King Riku and his daughters.
22	[[/folder]]
23
24	[[folder:Fan Works]]
25	* ''Fanfic/TheVioletDemon'': Whoever wins the grand championship of Areax's GladiatorGames is granted their freedom.
26	[[/folder]]
27
28	[[folder:Film — Animated]]
29	* Megara in Disney's ''WesternAnimation/{{Hercules}}'' will regain her soul from Hades if she helps him find Hercules' weakness. Naturally, she ends up falling in love with him - which [[IHaveYourWife gives Hades the leverage he needs anyway.]] Hercules gives up his SuperStrength for twenty-four hours in exchange for Meg's freedom (and, crucially) safety. Hades agrees, in an unspoken MagicallyBindingContract.
30	* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Ferdinand}}'', the bulls believe if they defeat the matador they will be set free. Only when Ferdinand enters the rancher’s house does [[AwfulTruth he learn that the bull never wins]]. [[spoiler: Ferdinand, however, does win his freedom by ''[[ActualPacifist not]]'' [[ActualPacifist fighting the matador]] and winning the crowds’ respect.]]
31	[[/folder]]
32
33	[[folder:Film — Live-Action]]
34	%%* ''Film/DeathRace''
35	%%* ''Film/EscapeFromNewYork''[=/=]''Film/EscapeFromLA''
36	%%* ''Film/{{Gamer}}''
37	* In ''Film/{{Gladiator}}'', Maximus pretends this is his motive for fighting. In reality, he wants to [[TheKingslayer get close enough to Emperor Commodus to kill him]].
38	* In ''Film/ThePhantomMenace'', Qui-Gon Jinn makes a bet with Watto that if Anakin wins the podrace, then Watto must give Anakin to Qui-Gon. When Anakin wins, Qui-Gon immediately frees him and takes him to the Jedi Academy.
39	* In ''Film/TheRock'', FBI Director Womack promises Jon Mason that if he helps them infiltrate Alcatraz, then they will set him free. Womack has no intention of actually setting Mason free, [[spoiler: but Agent Goodspeed [[DeathFakedForYou pretends Mason was killed and vaporized during the operation,]] so Mason can gain his freedom.]]
40	%%* ''Film/TheRunningMan''
41	* Subverted in ''Film/ThorRagnarok''. The Grandmaster of Sakaar ''claims'' that anyone who can best his "champion" in the GladiatorGames will win their freedom. Not only is his champion the nigh-invincible Hulk, but the moment it looks like Thor's going to win, the Grandmaster goes back on his word and activates Thor's ShockCollar.
42	* Near the end of ''Film/Warcraft2016'', Anduin Lothar is challenged to [[DuelToTheDeath Mak'Gora]] by Warchief Blackhand. [[spoiler:After Lothar wins the duel by killing Blackhand, the Orcs allow him to leave on his gryphon, carrying the body of King Llane with him.]] [[BigBad Gul'dan]] demands that the Orcs kill him instead, but is told that Lothar has won his freedom through the victory in the Mak'Gora and that he would lose the Horde's support if he did anything to keep Lothar from leaving.
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44
45	[[folder:Gamebooks]]
46	* The very premise of the ''Literature/FightingFantasy'' book, ''Literature/TrialOfChampions''. Right in the opening paragraph, you were MadeASlave and purchased by Lord Carnuss, a ruthless overlord who puts you and forty fellow slaves through a series of GladiatorGames; should you win, you'll then be drafted into the titular annual Trial. Completing it earns you a chance to fight Carnuss to a DuelToTheDeath to avenge your fellow slaves, your final victory which leads to your freedom as well as a life of wealth and luxury.
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49	[[folder:Literature]]
50	* ''Literature/TheStainlessSteelRat'': when the teenage Jim diGriz and his mentor, The Bishop, are double-crossed and sold into serfdom in a world based on the nastier aspects of medieval Italy, diGriz fights his way out of slavery and sets into motion a series of events that cause the dissolution of ''condottieri'' society. This ''begins'' with a nasty fight with a slave-bully to establish his place in the hierarchy.
51	** In later life, diGriz helps a planet with a suspiciously [[BananaRepublic Latin American]]/[[UsefulNotes/TheFrancoRegime Francoist Spain]] set-up to throw off its dictatorship: this time the battle to the death takes the form of the universe's most crookedly rigged election.
52	* Between ''The Winter Queen'' and ''The Turkish Gambit'', Literature/ErastFandorin fights in the Russo-Turkish War and is taken as POW by the local governor. However, when he accidentally discovers information crucial to the Russian army, he wins his freedom in a game of checkers (because he is BornLucky and never loses bets, even when they don't actually involve games of chance) and leaves.
53	* AI Programmer Sofia Mendes has to book enough programming jobs to be released from her "intellectual prostitution" by her broker in ''Literature/TheSparrow''.
54	* In ''Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH'', the (apparent) reward which lures the captive rats through their training-maze at the National Institutes of Mental Health is an open passage to the outdoors. It always slams shut before they can escape.
55	* The story of Joseph in ''Literature/TheBible'' has this. Joseph was in jail on (false) rape charges, and Pharaoh was having some bad dreams that no one could interpret. Pharaoh eventually wound up talking to Joseph, who said that the dreams were a prophecy about an upcoming famine and suggested that Pharaoh appoint a wise man to take charge and see Egypt through it. Pharaoh was so impressed that he decided Joseph was just the guy for the job.
56	* In ''Literature/MidnightTides'', book five of the ''LIterature/MalazanBookOfTheFallen'', the Drownings are a popular public spectacle in Letheras in which condemned criminals who couldn't pay the required fine to win their freedom can do so by trying to swim across the canal with a sack full of coins strapped to their back. The amount of coins depends on the crime. Since few ever manage to make it across, wagers are usually made about things like the distance, number of strokes or the manner of drowning. [[note]]The sacks of coins have ropes attached to allow for them to be pulled back out of the canal, while the bodies get dumped right back in.[[/note]]
57	* In ''Literature/ThisImmortal'', when captured by the [[CannibalTribe Kouretes]], the group of protagonists is given the option that [[DuelToTheDeath one of them fight]] the Dead Man to win all of their freedom. Moreby is very confident that whoever fights will lose, as that's what always happens.
58	[[/folder]]
59
60	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
61	* In ''Series/The100'', when people were riding out the second nuclear apocalypse in an underground bunker, they developed a system of justice in which people convicted of a crime were sentenced to gladiator combat with one simple rule: "Be the last." The winner could earn a pardon; the losers were dead. [[spoiler: It also helped with the [[NoPartyLikeADonnerParty food supply]] situation.]]
62	* The premise of ''Series/AliasSmithAndJones''. The reformed outlaw heroes will get a pardon once they convince the governor that their HeelFaceTurn is real.
63	* On ''Series/MyNameIsEarl'' when Earl was incarcerated the warden kept giving him "time off" coupons for various good deeds, but when Earl earned enough of them to get out the warden reneged.
64	* Sawyer in ''Series/{{Lost}}'' ironically bypassed most of a six year sentence by agreeing to con an inmate into revealing the location of a large sum of money he stole.
65	* Miguel Dominguez in ''Series/DayBreak2006'' was let out temporarily so that he could [[spoiler:commit a murder.]]
66	* In the ''Series/CriminalMinds'' episode "Legacy", the barefoot victim wakes up in a house of horrors and is told that if she can escape by sunrise, she can have her freedom (and her shoes).
67	* In ''Series/TheSlammer'', the prisoners have to win their freedom by being the most popular act in the Freedom Show.
68	* Recurring in ''Series/SpartacusBloodAndSand'', related to reasons in Real Life, below:
69	** Earliest ([[AnachronicOrder chronological]]) use, Gannicus is freed at the end of the games to inaugurate Capua's new Arena, as part of a BatmanGambit by Batiatus' rival to deprive him of the best gladiator in the city (and perhaps the Republic).
70	** Spartacus agrees to channel his passion into victories in the Arena, under the condition that Batiatus will find and procure his wife, and the two of them can eventually be freed together. [[MagnificentBastard This doesn't work]] [[ExactWords precisely the way Spartacus had hoped.]]
71	** Invoked by Spartacus' friend Varro. A Roman citizen who'd sold himself into slavery to cover his gambling debts, he hopes to win enough money fighting in the Arena to cover the remainder of his debts and earn his freedom to be reunited with his (still free) wife. This also does not go according to plan.
72	** Barca earns enough money betting on Spartacus and Crixus' victory against Theokoles to buy freedom for himself and his lover, Pietros. Barca makes the mistake of pressing Ashur too hard for his winnings, so Ashur sees to it this also goes awry.
73	** Crixus and Spartacus again find themselves at cross-purposes briefly in the first season finale, as Crixus wants to remain a gladiator, earn his freedom, then seek out his lady love, fellow slave Naevia, while Spartacus wants to lead a slave revolt.
74	** And of course, the bulk of the series is about the slaves trying to win their freedom [[SlaveLiberation in a way Rome had never intended.]]
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77	[[folder:TableTopGames]]
78	* The Penal Legions in ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' are groups of condemned criminals sent on suicidal missions [[WeHaveReserves they wouldn't even send Imperial Guard to do]], with a promise of forgiveness if they die, and freedom on the very, VERY small chance they live.
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81	[[folder:Theater]]
82	* ''Theatre/AFunnyThingHappenedOnTheWayToTheForum'': Almost everything Pseudolus does is because his master, Hero, has offered Pseudolus his freedom in exchange for helping Hero win the heart of Philia, a "courtesan" in the house of Marcus Lycus.
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85	[[folder:Toys]]
86	* ''MythicLegions''' [[http://www.oafe.net/yo/myle2_clv.php Calavius]] is a gladiator who was promised his freedom after winning 100 matches. Until [[MovingTheGoalposts the goalposts get moved]].
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89	[[folder:TVTropesHowToGuides]]
90	* The EvilOverlord actually has this on his [[EvilOverlordList List]].
91	->I will not agree to let the heroes [[ChessWithDeath go free if they win a rigged contest]], even though my advisors assure me it is impossible for them to win.
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94	[[folder:VideoGames]]
95	* ''VideoGame/RadiantHistoria'': Stocke has to do this by trampling through a set of gladiators.
96	* ''VideoGame/ShinMegamiTenseiIIINocturne'' - Wanna prove your "innocence" in front of the [[KangarooCourt Mantra Army Court]]? ''[[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu Get ready to punch out Thor]]''.
97	* Discussed in the ending credits of ''VideoGame/{{Portal 2}}''
98	* ''Franchise/MortalKombat'' is this on a much larger scale. The tournament determines whether or not Earth Realm will be spared an invasion from Outworld.
99	* ''VideoGame/FreedomWars'': You ([[{{Dystopia}} and most people living in the Panopticons]]) have been sentenced to ''[[LongerThanLifeSentence one million years' imprisonment]]'', but you can work off that sentence by volunteering to take up arms against robotic monsters and other Panopticons.
100	* In old Draenor in ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'', an ogre city kept orcs as slaves and gladiators for their amusement. They promised freedom to any orc who could kill one hundred opponents in the ring. One orc, Kargath, met the challenge, but found that freedom to be a lie and was locked up in a deep prison with those other orcs who met the quota. Kargath and the orcs [[LifeOrLimbDecision cut off their hands]] to escape their bonds, grafted weapons to their stumps, murdered the ogres, and became the Shattered Hand Clan.
101	* The Garlean Empire in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'' [[{{Conscription}} conscripts]] soldiers from conquered territories to feed their war machine and prevent any uprisings. They offer an incentive for service by promising full Garlean citizenship to the soldiers and their families if they provide twenty years of service in the military.
102	** The Coliseum in Uldah is another variant on this - gladiators who gain the favor of the Sultana or certain factions are appointed to military or royal guard positions. Specifically, this is how Raubahn became the general of the Immortal Flames.
103	* ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedOrigins'': Two different quests in Libya deal with former gladiators who were promised freedom after winning a certain amount, only for their masters to renege because their fights earned so much money, at which point the gladiators made a break for it anyhow. In the first, the slave's owner doesn't even give a rat's ass about the escaped slave, just the fact he stole the man's favourite sword.
104	* ''VisualNovel/TogainuNoChi'': After being accused of murder and threatened with a life sentence, Akira agrees to join a bloodsport called Igura to challenge the game's undefeated champion, Il-Re. He is promised that if he kills Il-Re, the charge against him will be dropped. [[spoiler: He does not win.]]
105	* ''Videogame/WeWhoAreAboutToDie:'' A staple in GladiatorGames, and thus a staple here. Aspirants with the Slave origin aim to gain enough Fame, and enough sway with the Patrons hosting the gladiatorial games, to be released from servitude. This is easier said than done, as their starts are ''rough'' and they must give away half their earnings, but they do have one advantage: The longer they survive, the more the crowd enjoys their presence (they have a thing for unlikely champions), so they get more Fame than usual. Criminal Scum Aspirants often seek the same, surviving long enough to get a pardon, but while they ''do'' have a better time (and don't need to give away their money) the crowd tends to dislike them.
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108	[[folder:Web Animation]]
109	* ''WebAnimation/SuperThings'': In “The Race Of The Century”, [[BigBad Mr. King]] allows four captured heroes to participate in a car race against four of his minions, with the promise that if the heroes win they’ll be freed. [[spoiler:The heroes do, in fact, win, but Mr. King reneges on his promise under the excuse that the heroes cheated (which they did ''technically'' do, although the villain racers cheated first and ''much'' more egregiously).]]
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112	[[folder:Web Comics]]
113	* Webcomic/BeyondTemptation: Demons who abandoned Lucifer during his RageAgainstTheHeavens are imprisoned in boxes. Their only chance for freedom is to tempt enough souls.
114	* Subverted in [[http://basicinstructions.net/basic-instructions/2009/12/30/how-to-confound-your-alien-captor-rerun.html this]] very funny ''Webcomic/BasicInstructions'' comic:
115	-->'''Alien Captor:''' I plan to study you by giving you everything you desire and watching your reactions.
116	-->'''Scott:''' Fine by me.
117	-->'''Alien Captor:''' You'll have everything but freedom.
118	-->'''Scott:''' I've had freedom. I'd like to try having the things I desire for a change.
119	* So far, ''Webcomic/LastRes0rt'' looks like it's playing this straight, for the criminal contestants. They've all been offered their freedom, if they survive (and, one assumes, ''win'') the games. Cypress Vaeo, one of the people behind the show's creation and their 'face', has this to say to critics:
120	--> '''Cypress''': "I know critics will say that our new show is cruel and unusual, but we're doing everyone a favor here! Death row is far more cruel. Half our players haven't seen starlight in the past ten years! We're following every law and code on the books, and if anyone else has a problem, I have four words...''speak with my lawyer''."
121	--> '''Lawyer''': (very rapidly) "By asking me a question, you hereby acknowledge that any answer you receive will be sufficient insomuch as that if you disagree with the answer, I am not obligated to provide you with a better one..."
122	* In ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'' the Castle Heterodyne prisoners are all trying to earn enough points that the bombs strapped around their necks are disabled and they are allowed to go free. This happens very rarely as the castle usually kills prisoners before they earn enough points.
123	* In ''Webcomic/UndeadFriend'' the main characters are trapped in a {{Deadly Game}} and the only way out is to earn enough points and challenge the people in charge during a specific event in the year. If they don't play they get erased from existence. So the story centers around the main characters trying to get free of the game.
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126	[[folder:Web Original]]
127	* ''WebVideo/RosssGameDungeon'': While reviewing ''VideoGame/ArmedAndDelirious'', Ross proposes that the prison system be changed so that instead of criminals being sentenced to X number of years in prison, they should instead have to stay in prison for as long as it takes them to win their freedom by beating a brutally difficult gaming challenge. For instance, the punishment for assault would be to complete a [[NoDamageRun no-death run]] of ''VideoGame/SuperMeatBoy'', and the punishment for murder would be to beat ''Armed & Delirious'' with no hints or walkthrough of any kind (an ImpossibleTask considering the game's utterly incomprehensible {{Moon Logic\|Puzzle}}).
128	[[/folder]]
129
130	[[folder:WesternAnimation]]
131	* ''WesternAnimation/JonnyQuest'' episode "Dragons of Ashida". MadScientist Dr. Ashida refuses to let the Quest team leave his island, but he promises to let them go if Race Bannon defeats his servant Sumi in a judo match.
132	* In the ''WesternAnimation/Thundercats2011'' episode "The Pit", prisoners of the Dogs are set free if they can win one hundred gladitorial fights in a row.
133	[[/folder]]
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135	[[folder:Real Life]]
136	* Historically TruthInTelevision. Unusually skillful and loyal slaves (outside of chattel systems such as the trans-Atlantic one in the US, where this form of mobility never existed) have often been rewarded with freedom.
137	** Also [[AncientRome Roman]] [[GladiatorGames gladiators]] to an extent, though not all of them were forced to become gladiators in the first place. In the later years of the Roman Empire, professional gladiators became increasingly common, though slave gladiators never completely went away.
138	** In a bizarrely literal example, those slaves who were allowed a ''peculium''[[note]]money or other private property ''technically'' belonging to the master but reserved for the slave's personal use[[/note]] could usually ''buy'' their freedom, by actually purchasing themselves from their masters.
139	* One of the primary arguments for chattel slavery being uniquely evil, even further beyond the MoralEventHorizon than any other form of slavery is the ''absence'' of this in ''any possible form at all,'' alongside generational slavery (e.g. people born to chattel slaves become slaves, also with zero chance of freedom, as opposed to the children/family of an indentured servant being free), alongside race or caste defining who is enslaved and absolute dehumanization of the group (as opposed to being prisoners of a war with both sides as willing combatants or indentured servants paying off willingly incurred debts).
140	* At the UsefulNotes/BattleOfLepanto the [[SlaveGalley galley slaves]] in both the Turkish and Venetian fleets were offered their freedom if they behaved. The Venetians were actually given weapons and told to fight whereas the Turkish galley slaves were just told to row - perhaps because while the Venetians were convicts, the Turkish rowers were kidnapped Christians and could hope to be welcomed back as war-heroes if they mutinied against their captors and thus could not be given arms.
141	* The story goes that the early 20th Century folk musician Huddie Ledbetter, aka Leadbelly, secured his release after serving 7 years of a maximum 35 year bid for murder by writing and performing a song for the Governor, then again after serving four years for attempted murder, having recorded songs for folklorists John and Alan Lomax. Although his musicianship probably helped, he was also a model prisoner and in both cases had served close to the minimum of each sentence.
142	* The idea behind the Wehrmacht's ''Strafbataillon'' (Punishment Battalion) concept, wherein soldiers who would otherwise have been jailed could volunteer for these units to redeem themselves - the catch being that the ''Strafbataillon'' did a lot of hard fighting and survival was not guaranteed. The ''Strafbataillon'' was very much a product of the Interwar period's ''zeitgeist'' of optimism and self-improvement. During World War One Imperial Germany only executed 15 soldiers and Kaiser Wilhelm pardoned a further hundred from execution. The Wehrmacht saw this as indicative of the country's past moral failings given that Britain had executed 500 and the French 5000, and hoped that could make its soldiers man up by 1) better training and propaganda and 2) taking a tougher stance against those who Lacked Moral Fibre (to use the British term). This entailed denying the existence of what the Anglo-Americans called 'shell shock' or 'battle fatigue' (and what we would call PTSD) and the creation of ''Strafbataillon''. The ''Strafbataillon'' continued to expand throughout the war even though the length of service was always sufficiently short for there to be a realistic possibility of survival. Later in the war, after news of retreats and surrenders, execution was reinstated and the Wehrmacht ultimately shot more than 15,000 men for 'cowardice'.
143	** In 1942 the Soviet Red Workers' and Peasants' Army created ''Strafbaty'' on the German model. However, the generally high turnover of Soviet combat troops may have translated into lesser chances of surviving service in a ''Strafbaty'' than a ''Strafbataillon''.
144	* In late 1941 the Soviet Union decided to allow political prisoners and ordinary criminals to volunteer in the Red Army and, if they survived, win their freedom. This contributed to and partially justified the opinion that many officers and combat soldiers had of the logistics troops, which was that they were a gang of food-hoarding thieves, rapists, and murderers. To no-one's surprise, after the war's end the demobilization of the army resulted in a massive crime wave.
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Context Main / WinYourFreedom