Bound and Gagged/Playing With

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Basic Trope: Someone is tied up with rope and/or gagged, to prevent them from being able to move and/or call for help.

  • Straight: Alice is tied up and gagged by Bob. Alice can't move.
  • Exaggerated: Bob winds tons and tons of rope around Alice's hands, torso, feet, knees, etc., every which way, ties many knots, then gags her with multiple scarves and cloths. Alice secretly likes it. So does Bob.
  • Downplayed:: Alice's hands are tied behind her back while Bob holds his hand over her mouth.
  • Justified:
    • Alice witnessed Bob doing something criminal, so to prevent her from being able to tell anyone, he ties and gags her in his shed.
    • Bob needs Alice as a hostage.
    • Alice is a spellcaster, but needs to be able to use gestures and/or speak to use spells.
    • Alice and Bob like to have sex like that.
  • Inverted: Bob is about to tie up Alice, but she overpowers him and knocks him out, then ties him up instead.
  • Subverted: Bob pulls out rope and is about to tie Alice, but decides it would be a waste of time and just locks her in a room instead.
  • Double Subverted: Bob is about to tie up Alice, but brings her to a room to lock her in instead. Then he decides he doesn't want her trying to find a way to escape the locked room, so he binds and gags her within the locked room.
  • Zig Zagged:
    • Bob starts to tie her up tight, but she complains about her wrists hurting, so he loosens it a bit, but then she slips out and tries to shank him in return. Bob tries other progressively absurd tie-up-apparati that are effective yet comfortable, and Alice proceeds to worm her way out of each one. Eventually, he just ties her up as tightly as he should have in the first place and tells her to deal with it. And remembers the gag this time.
    • Alice is restrained long enough for Bob to complete his master plan, at which point he comes back and unties her. ...And then fits her with an armbinder and ball gag, taking her to his evil lair because she's seen his face. He later unties her. Then ties her up again. Because he likes messing with her mind.
  • Parodied:
    • "Hmm, a woman in my house trying to prove what I did. I think I'll... tie her and gag her! Why not?" Bob then goes on to pull out 5 coils of rope and a bunch of scarves.
    • Bob pulls out actual BDSM gear that he just happened to have on him and secures Alice with that. No comment is made.
    • Alternatively, Bob frisks Alice, finds BDSM gear on her, and secures her with it. Since he's never seen BDSM gear before in his life, let alone used it, he has no idea what he's doing, so Alice has to walk him through it. She still lets him bind her.
  • Deconstruction:
    • Alice dies horribly because Bob tied the ropes too tight and cut off major circulation, or she has a medical condition, or he just forgot about her for a couple of weeks...
    • Alice is still able to escape or call for help because full-body ropes and a cloth gag aren't very effective restraints.
  • Reconstruction:
    • Wanting to keep Alice from foiling his plans, but not wanting to be found guilty of involuntary manslaughter, Bob has an accomplice keep an eye on Alice to a). make sure the ropes aren't cutting off her circulation, b). make sure she doesn't hurt herself through struggling, c). make sure she doesn't choke to death on the gag, and d). make sure she doesn't manage to undo her binding and escape.
    • Alice is restrained long enough for Bob to complete his plan, at which point he comes back and unties her.
  • Averted: The story finds other methods of suspense, such as having Bob threaten or stalk Alice instead of capturing her and tying her up.
  • Enforced:
    • The producer or director is "into that sort of thing", and wants to have Alice tied up as part of the plot.
    • "Lets show how cruel Bob is, have him tie up poor Alice.
  • Lampshaded: Alice asks Bob, "let me guess, you're gonna tie me up to keep me from telling on you, aren't you?"
  • Invoked:
    • Alice, expecting to be tied up, hides a knife in her back pocket where her soon-to-be-bound hands will be able to reach it.
    • Alice has taken lessons in Escapeology, precisely so she's prepared if this sort of thing happens.
    • Alice is into bondage, and tries to get herself into situations where she will be tied up.
  • Defied:
    • Alice, seeing that Bob is about to tie her up, tries to fight him, probably using that exact same knife.
    • Bob decides he can't keep Alice confined, so he simply kills her.
  • Discussed: "Bob wasn't about to let Alice go and tell on him, so naturally he tied her up until he had a chance to get away."
  • Conversed: "What do you expect? The woman snoops around the bad guy's hideout, and he ties and gags her. Happens all the time."
  • Played For Laughs:
    • Alice is tied up in far more rope than you need to hold a human still, and even has chains holding her to the floor. She "mmmphs" her displeasure loudly and with a tone of annoyance.
    • "What, you're expecting me to tie you up? That's, that's kind of kinky. I'm not into kind of thing. I mean, it's all right if you are, but...yeah. I have a Evil Plan to get back to." He just locks her in a room instead.
  • Played For Drama: Alice is tied so tightly that the rope cuts into her wrists, causing severe ropeburn and some bleeding. She cries while she's held hostage. When she's later freed, her face is soaked with tears, and the circulation to her hands had been cut off so long that she's in serious pain.

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