Note: I am not sure that chloroform is tropeworthy in itself, so I have rewritten this to be about fast-acting chloroform. I will also rename this to "Ridiculously Effective Chloroform" when I take it to the Trope Launch Pad.
Chloroform is a liquid anesthetic that is poured onto a cloth and held onto a person's face in order to render them unconscious. In fiction, they seem to work within five seconds. Because of this, henchmen often use this when ordered to kidnap someone.
In Real Life, chloroform takes a few minutes to work and must be breathed in deeply.
Subtrope of Instant Sedation.
Examples
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Comic Books
- Superman: Lois Lane gets chloroformed and kidnapped quite often.
Fan Works
- Subverted in the Titanic (1997) fanfic "Fix you". A doctor uses chloroform to prepare Jack for surgery, but it takes a few minutes for him to pass out.
Films — Live-Action
- Gangs of New York: Jenny uses chloroform to put Amsterdam to sleep so she can treat his wounds. He goes from screaming in agony to unconscious in 3 seconds.
- The Lost City: When Loretta refuses to help Fairfax decipher an ancient treasure map, Fairfax has her chloroformed and drags her to the island on his private jet.
Television — Live-Action
- In an episode of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Rosa knocks Boyle out with chloroform before putting him in the mail.
- Jeff from Chuck is immune to chloroform due to his excessive drug addiction. At one point, he uses this to save Casey from an enemy agent.
- In Riverdale's Season 3 episode "Jawbreaker", Betty kidnaps her mom through chloroform and handcuffs her at Dilton's Bunker until she snaps out of The Farm's delusion.
- Betty does this again in Season 6 to a possessed Cheryl so they can free her.
Western Animation
- In an episode of Family Guy, Peter chloroforms their maid, Consuela. She goes out like a light.
