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{{trope}}
[[File:
▲[[File:rsz_witch-stake_8804.jpg|frame|A [[A Worldwide Punomenon|match]] made in heaven.]]
{{quote|''"[http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search{{=}}exodus%2022:18&version{{=}}9 Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.]"''|[[The Bible|Book]] of [[Exodus]], [[The_Bible/Source/Exodus#22|22:18]] (King James Version)}}
{{quote|''"[http://www.
When a community with a superstitious mindset suspects someone of magical or [[Stock Super Powers|otherwise unusual powers]], especially if unexplained stuff (such as kids disappearing) has been happening in the community, their response will usually be to root out the so-called witch and [[Kill It
This trope is often the climax of a classical [[Witch Hunt]] in media, with plenty of [[Torches and Pitchforks]] to go around. Such portrayals are often [[Did Not Do the Research|not historically accurate]], depicted in places and times when there were no witch-hunts, or misrepresenting ones that did occur. In particular, one of the most famous episodes of witch-hunting, the Salem witch trials, featured ''no'' burnings at all (the convicted were
▲When a community with a superstitious mindset suspects someone of magical or [[Stock Super Powers|otherwise unusual powers]], especially if unexplained stuff (such as kids disappearing) has been happening in the community, their response will usually be to root out the so-called witch and [[Kill It With Fire|burn her at the stake]] (and it's usually a her in these situations, though male witches are by no means unthinkable<ref>Though Sprenger and Kramer, the authors of the infamous ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malleus_Maleficarum Malleus Maleficarum]'', '''did''' state that "...this heresy is not of villains, but of villainesses, and thus it is noted so."</ref>), and most of the time, they will trot out some form of the above Bible quote as justification -- despite the fact that the Mosaic Law of which it was a part isn't exactly relevant to people who aren't pre-Christ Israelites. Most of the time, this gets stopped by the [[Big Damn Heroes]] arriving just in time to save her. (Or she could just use her magic and make the flames ticklish harmless fiery-looking things.)
The "swimming" of witches, one of the most famous methods of interrogating a suspected witch, had the virtue of being both pointless and redundant. Popular belief makes it out as a [[
▲This trope is often the climax of a classical [[Witch Hunt]] in media, with plenty of [[Torches and Pitchforks]] to go around. Such portrayals are often [[Did Not Do the Research|not historically accurate]], depicted in places and times when there were no witch-hunts, or misrepresenting ones that did occur. In particular, one of the most famous episodes of witch-hunting, the Salem witch trials, featured ''no'' burnings at all (the convicted were hanged -- and indeed, those who "confessed" were held to answer more questions and freed when the hunt was stopped). In reality, in England and in English colonies (including Massachusetts), burning at the stake tended to be reserved for women who killed their husbands, even in self-defense (the legal name for the crime was "petit treason") and for heretics (it was popular during the Reformation and Counter-Reformation), but there was some overlap as heretics were often accused of witchcraft. In addition, the vast majority of people accused of witchcraft in Europe were acquitted. Better to let a witch live (and later take her punishment in Hell anyway) than kill an innocent woman, especially if you did burn them, as wood was valuable. On the other hand in Continental Europe witches were often burned to death, especially in the Germanic areas, to the point of becoming a tradition and the witch swapped for a mannequin.<ref>This may be more of a holdover from ancient pagan rituals, which included live human sacrifice, than a reenactment of medieval witch burnings.</ref>
▲The "swimming" of witches, one of the most famous methods of interrogating a suspected witch, had the virtue of being both pointless and redundant. Popular belief makes it out as a [[Mortons Fork]], saying that if the 'witch' floated, they'd pull her out and kill her. If the "witch" drowned, on the other hand... well, they were still dead, they just weren't a witch. Actually she would be tied to a rope: if she did float, they would pull her out, and the fact would be regarded as incriminating; if she sank, they would pull her out all the same, but cleared of charges. The ducking stool is an unrelated, non-lethal device of punishment where a woman was ducked in cold water for being a public nuisance of some sort.
In pretty much every single usage of this trope, the person set to be burned is either innocent, or they are of course a good and/or harmless witch who actually [[No Good Deed Goes Unpunished|only wanted to help the townsfolk]] that are even now setting her ablaze, making it a [[Van Helsing Hate Crime]]. And if this isn't the case, it's probably a parody or deliberate aversion. The "actual witch who is accused by evil bigoted townsfolk" is likely the most popular variant. This tends to ignore that if witches actually did the things that they were historically reputed to do (y'know, little things like killing entire flocks and crops, inflicting horrible withering sickness on people, selling their souls to Satan), you can kind of understand why a small town full of people probably barely clinging to a sustainable life as it is might have a bit of a bad reaction. However, attempting to burn a real, powerful witch has a chance to turn out [[Bullying a Dragon|badly]].
This one's much like [[All of the Other Reindeer]] only with fiery lynch mobs, or, if parents are involved, [[
Oh, and since you probably want some hard facts: Nowadays the number of victims is estimated to be around fifty thousand (for all of medieval and early modern Europe). Bad enough, though far lower than the number of several millions which were made up by as heterogeneous groups as some enlightenment writers (who simply wanted to throw some dirt on their enemy, the church) or [[The Nazis]] (who [[Poison Oak Epileptic Trees|claimed that a Jewish/Freemason-controlled church wanted to eradicate wise Germanic women]]).
{{deathtrope}}
{{examples|Examples:}}▼
== Anime and Manga ==
* Going by the flashbacks, the eponymous ''[[Witch Hunter Robin]]'' (with firestarter powers) was a normal, devout girl who got burned at the stake for being a witch. Or maybe that mysterious old lady was just messing with Robin's mind. In modern times (in Japan) they just get captured and shipped off... and, as the heroes learn to their disgust, drugged, put into [[People Jars]] and [[Human Resources|used to make]] [[Powered
* ''[[Code Geass]]'' has this when a mystical trap causes Lelouch to see images of C.C.'s past, including multiple gruesome "deaths"
** It also happens to Joan of Arc and Jeanne the Witch (who later becomes C.C.) in Knightmare of Nunnally.
* This almost happens to Casca in the ''[[Berserk]]'' manga during the Conviction arc after her corrupted child summons several ghosts to protect her from Bishop Mozgus's [[Cold
** [[Troubling Unchildlike Behavior|As a child]], Lady Farnese often took [[Pyromaniac|great joy]] in assisting her town's burning of heretics.
* In ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!:
* Minoru Murao's manga ''[[Knights]]'' opens with an attempted witch burning, as a [[Corrupt Church|corrupt priest]] is accusing the 13 year-old [[Token
** And if a priest gets to burn enough people he/she becomes a saint with [[Stock Super Powers|super powers]]. So the only people in the setting who have anything to do with magic are [[Corrupt Church|the church]].
* Evangeline in ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'' says that despite being a [[Our Vampires Are Different|vampire]], she often had to escape such burnings during the middle ages, occasionally getting caught. She laughs about it as something highly amusing these days (the listeners were understandably horrified).
** There is also Asuna [https://web.archive.org/web/20161027063002/http://www.onemanga.com/Mahou_Sensei_Negima!/2/06/ threatening] to expose Negi early in the manga.
* Vincent narrowly escapes getting hung for witchcraft in ''[[Bizenghast]]''. Later, we get Maphohetka, who definitely had some kind of supernatural ability, as evidenced by her surviving being stabbed in the chest, and is an antagonist to Dinah. In her defence, Maphohetka may be innocent of whatever she was accussed of (since the exact nature of Bizenghast's misfortune is never revealed) and the townspeople do actually verge on the "evil and bigoted" side (keeping up their witch lynching traditions well into the late 19th-early 20th century).
* [[Dark Magical Girl]] Sally Schumars almost went through this in the ''[[Weiss Kreuz]]'' CD dramas.
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== Comic Books ==
* Agatha Harkness, babysitter for the [[Fantastic Four]] and the most powerful member of a [[Witch Species]], has this happen. It's only a minor inconvenience, though, and she goes around as a ghost for a while before eventually resurrecting herself.
* Almost happens in an old ''[[Mickey Mouse]]'' comic where Mickey and Gyro Gearloose are transported back to Puritan times and Gyro uses uses his lighter to start a fire, getting him and Mickey accused of using witchcraft.
* Nightcrawler of the [[X-Men (Comic Book)|X-Men]] has this (actually, he's about to be staked, but it's the same principle) happening to him in his very first appearance - though the crowd thinks he is a demon, not a witch, due to his blue fur, pointed ears, fangs, and ''barbed tail''.
** Also, a number of their children had recently been murdered.
* A bleak story from the ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer
** The [[Ungrateful Bastard|townsfolk]] pay for their stupidity when the Slayer's Watcher, out of revenge, opens the town's gate, letting the remaining vampires in for the slaughter.
* In ''[[
** Eventually he goes completely nuts and brutally kills Gretel when he finds out she was taught a little magic.
** It's also implied he finds witch burning more than a little simulating...
* Then there's the Scarlet Witch, who was mistaken for an actual witch when her mutant hex power first manifested and would have been burned at the stake by Rom villagers if not for her brother Quicksilver.
** An issue of Avengers West Coast shows an alternate reality where Scarlet Witch and Quciksilver were captured by the villagers and burned at the stake
* Parodied in an issue of the ''[[Futurama]]'' comic book when Bender gets sent back through time into a Salem-esque area where townsfolks are rounding up ''robots''. They try the 'floating in the river' test - when the woman lives, they try to burn her but fail due to the river putting out all the fires.
* In one story arc in ''[[Madame Xanadu]]'', flashbacks reveal how Madame Xanadu's lesbian lover was burned as witch by the Spanish Inquisition. The executioner takes pity on her and snaps her neck before lighting the pyre.
* In issue 72 of ''[[Superman]]/[[Batman]]'', a group of crazed religious fanatics kidnap Lois Lane and attempt to burn her at the stake. They [[God Guise|think Superman is God]], and seek to punish Lois for "rejecting" Superman for the "mere mortal" Clark Kent and thus failing in her "duty" to give birth to [[The Messiah]]. Fortunately, she is rescued by The World's Finest.
** And even before Superman and Batman show up, Lois ''pulls the stake out of the ground'', walks out of the fire, and kicks the crap out of one cultist.
* In ''[[Le Scorpion]]'', Armando's mother was burnt as a witch by the Inquisition for misdirecting a priest from the church and his Christian duties.
* In a ''[[Sabrina the Teenage Witch (Comic Book)|Sabrina the Teenage Witch]]'' comic, Sabrina thinks that her aunts had a great life in the "good old days" and as a result is given a magic mirror that can let her go back in time to colonial Salem. This trope is pretty much averted while there. Sabrina first comes across a witch stuck in the stocks and releases her. Sabrina is then put in the stocks herself for not stopping the witch's escape and is released by a perverted dude who demands a kiss for saving her. She's caught turning him into a toad and has to escape an angry mob that calls for her to be hanged.
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* Parodied in an old Disney movie, ''An Astronaut in King Arthur's Court'', wherein the eponymous astronaut is to be burned at the stake. His space suit protects him, but the heater is accidentally turned on and he must sweat it out until his bonds burn through.
* In ''[[Conan the Barbarian]]'' Conan throws the witch into a fire and she instantly bursts into flames.
* Done in the ''[[Silent Hill (
* ''[[
* Averted, of all places, in the movie ''[[Hocus Pocus (
** Those three same witches are also locked in a room and set on fire ([[
*** The oven is, of course, a reference to "[[
* Also averted in ''[[Practical Magic]]'', which begins with the (failed) hanging of the main characters' ancestor.
* Played straight in the [[
* Full Moon Entertainment's movie version of ''[[The Pit And The Pendulum]]'', taking place during the Spanish Inquisition, naturally invokes this trope a couple of times. Of particular note is a scene where an old woman, soon to be burned at the stake, manages to ingest some conveniently placed gunpowder before hand. This results in a very messy explosion once she catches aflame.
* All together now: ''"[[Monty Python and
** Subverted here as well as parodied, as after the scales show she weighs as much as a duck the witch actually confesses, "It's a fair cop."
* Played ridiculously straight in ''[[
** [[Recycled in Space|On a pyre]] [[Made of Explodium|made of]] [[Incendiary Exponent|burning automobiles]], no less!
* Used straight - and to hideously appropriate effect - in ''[[Mark Of The Devil]]''. Within that film, several "witches" (all clearly innocent) are slowly burnt alive. This film presents various period tortures in historically accurate ways, which makes it rather... [[Nightmare Fuel|disturbing]]...
* Subverted in ''[[
* In ''[[
** Unfortunately, her two fellow "heretics" don't get rescued. Adso was a [[Literal Genie|trifle specific]] in his prayer.
** In the book, Gui prevents this from happening by simply having the three of them transported away and executed elsewhere, where no rescue attempts can occur.
* This is basically what started the terror for the series ''[[A Nightmare
* In ''[[Ghostbusters II]]'' a judge laments that he is not able to sentence them to be burned at the stake, which he sees as an "illustrious, sterner justice".
* Averted in ''[[Season of the Witch]]'' which shows three accused women being hung off a bridge, then lowered into the water to drown just in case they survived the [[Neck Snap]]. Unfortunately for the priest carrying out the ritual, one of them is [[Not Quite Dead]].
* Subverted in ''[[Solomon Kane (
* In ''[[Black Death (
* In the '80s-'90s Icelandic film ''[[
== Literature ==
* The rather cynical and materialistic philosopher Hobbes, for one, asserted in one of his treatises that "Witches are justly punished." He didn't actually believe they had any supernatural powers to carry out any of the crimes they'd allegedly committed, but he was certain ''they'' believed they did, and therefore were guilty of attempting to use those powers on others for nefarious purposes. In other words, they were guilty of ''attempted'' murder in much the same way as someone who tries to shoot somebody dead with a gun that turns out to be unloaded.
* In [[Neil Gaiman]]'s ''[[
* [[Diana Wynne Jones]] uses this trope in her book ''[[Chrestomanci|Witch Week]]''. The main characters are all afraid of being outed as witches, and one even goes to the lengths of burning himself with a candle to remind himself to be careful not to use magic.
* Referenced in the first chapter of ''[[Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (
:On the flip side, ''[[The Tales of Beedle the Bard]]'' mentions that a wizard or witch ''could'' be killed if they lost their wand. Specifically, it was stated that the ones most at risk were young magical children who hadn't yet learned to control their abilities. In his annotation to "The Wizard and the Hopping Pot", Dumbledore notes that during the European witch hunts, witches and wizards considered using magic to help Muggle neighbors like "volunteering to fetch the firewood for one's own funeral pyre".
* Agnes Nutter was burned at the stake in ''[[
** Witchfinder Sergeant Shadwell is asked by the angel Aziraphale if he has ever read [[
▲* Agnes Nutter was burned at the stake in ''[[Good Omens (Literature)|Good Omens]]'' but, in a twist, [[Thanatos Gambit|filled her underwear with as much gunpowder and nails as she could]], [[Taking You With Me|causing an explosion which destroyed the whole village]].
** That's not quite
▲** Witchfinder Sergeant Shadwell is asked by the angel Aziraphale if he has ever read [[The Bible (Literature)|The Bible]]. The only part Shadwell has read is the above verse.
* From [[Terry Pratchett]]'s ''[[Discworld]]'' novel ''[[
▲** That's not quite true--he started to read the next verse, about laying down with beasts, but decided that wasn't in his jurisdiction.
{{quote|
▲* From [[Terry Pratchett]]'s ''[[Discworld]]'' novel ''[[Discworld (Literature)/Carpe Jugulum|Carpe Jugulum]]'':
▲{{quote| '''Oats:''' Well... your colleagues keep telling me the Omnians used to burn witches...<br />
▲'''Granny:''' They never did.<br />
▲'''Oats:''' I'm afraid I have to admit that the records show --<br />
'''Granny:''' They never burned witches. Probably they burned some old ladies who spoke up or couldn't run away. I wouldn't look for witches bein' burned. I might look for witches doin' the burning, though. We ain't all nice. }}
** ''[[
** According to other Tiffany Aching books, this also used to happen in some parts of the Chalk. The suspected witch in the barony was just kicked out of her cottage and left to starve. It may bear mentioning was that this incident inspired Tiffany to become a witch herself to make sure nobody dared try that again.
** In some other areas they follow the advice in the ''Maganevatio Obtusis'' (''Witch-hunting for Dumb People'') and drown them ... after supplying them with soup, a good night's sleep, and a cup of tea and a biscuit. The book was written by traveling witch (and strong swimmer) Miss Tick.
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* Averted just where you might expect it most in ''[[The Crucible]]'', because, in fact, the real Salem Witch Trials didn't see one suspected witch burned at the stake. Plenty got hanged, though, and one man, Giles Corey, was crushed to death with stones for refusing to confess.
** In not confessing, Corey ensured his heirs would get their inheritance. His [[Famous Last Words]] before being crushed to death? '''[[Crowning Moment of Awesome|More Weight!]]'''
* Played with in [[Robert A. Heinlein]]'s ''[[
* During his apprentice years, the wizard Raistlin Majere from the ''[[Dragonlance]] Chronicles'' was almost burned at the stake by a bunch of enraged and superstitious villagers after he had tried to expose a fake cleric as a charlatan. He was rescued just in time by his twin brother, the fighter Caramon, and the rest of the main characters. That incident didn't really help improve Raistlin's [[Deadpan Snarker|cynical nature]].
* K.A. Applegate's short-lived ''[[Everworld]]'' series gives a reason for why witches are burned or hanged in the eponymous alternate world: their blood is poison to crops, which means no one can really afford a beheading.
* In [[Patricia C. Wrede]]'s ''Daughter of Witches'', the main character's parents are burned as witches. Understandably, this gives her serious issues about her own magical powers.
* In the [[Deptford Mice]] book ''The Crystal Prison'' Audrey Brown is nearly burned for witchcraft. The village leader begs the mice not to do such a barbaric thing ... so they agree to hang her instead. She's saved at the last minute by Twit.
* In ''[[Sword of Truth|Wizard's First Rule]]'', a mob confronts Zedd, Richard, and Kahlan, attempting to burn Zedd on charges for witchcraft. After the obligatory "men are warlocks, women are witches" reference, Zedd invites the mob to mention exactly what they think a warlock is capable of doing. After several relatively innocuous suggestions, such as the ability to turn a cow's milk sour, the mob begins to embellish its examples when its earlier ideas did not seem sinister enough. After over an hour of this, Zedd puts a stop to it, [[Go, Ye Heroes, Go and Die|applauding the mob's courage for daring to confront what must surely be an unstoppable faustian demigod who kills by the hundreds and drinks blood by the liter]]. The mob meekly apologizes and attempts to flee, but not before Zedd convinces them that he's made their privates disappear. They got better.
* Partially justified in [[
* In [[Rudyard Kipling]]'s ''[[The
{{quote|
** Buldeo, the village hunter, discusses this with some charcoal-burners that he meets (while Mowgli [[Exact
{{quote|
* Sorcha from Juliet Marillier's ''[[The Sevenwaters Trilogy|Daughter of the Forest]]'' nearly falls victim to this trope ''very'' nearly; her husband only manages to get her off the stake at the last possible second).
** Note that she is in no way, shape, or form a witch, but evil [[Big Bad|Uncle Richard]] has it out for her...
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* In ''[[The Dresden Files]]'' in ''White Night'' Harry and Murphy encounter someone who is using the passage in the Book of Exodus which says "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live" to justify killing magic-users. Harry tells Murphy ([[Shown Their Work|accurately]]) that the original phrase in Hebrew meant "someone who casts harmful spells," or, in other words, only kill people who use dark magic, but that King James changed it to just witches in general when he translated the Bible because he didn't like them. It's probably worth noting that the White Council of Wizards' own approach to people who use black magic is completely in line with the older meaning - their punishment for a first offense is usually decapitation, and ignorance of the laws of magic or having good motives is no excuse. It's possible to be spared, but only if another wizard speaks up for them, agrees to train them and ensure it never happens again, potentially at the cost of their own life if they do relapse, and convinces the Senior Council to allow it. They're pretty hard to convince too.
* [[Averted]] in ''Gallows Hill'' by [[Lois Duncan]]. The protagonist is actually writing a paper about the Salem Witch Trials at her new high school. She learns through research and visions that in a former life she was Betty Parris, the delightful little child that set the trials in motion. And all her new classmates? The reincarnated souls of all the innocent women she accused, which were hanged.
* In [[Anne Rice]]'s ''[[Lives of the Mayfair Witches
* In ''Devonsville Terror'' by Ulli Lommel the only actual witch of the three women killed suffers that fate.
* Inverted in [[John Varley]]'s ''[[Gaea Trilogy]]'', where the Coven, a space colony founded by lesbian separatists, adheres to an extreme offshoot of witchcraft: one grown so intolerant, in its isolation, that suspected ''Christians'' are burned at the stake.
* In Mika Waltari's ''The Wanderer'', the protagonist's wife is accused of witchcraft. She is the first woman he's ever met who loved him (back), but being a rather naive 16th century man, he doesn't dismiss the possibility of her being a witch until he witnesses the trial, which is a turning point for his life and he becomes more cynical. The trial itself plays this trope straight, although instead of the swim test, they use more conventional torture methods. And of course, she gets burned in the end, but only after "confessing" that her accomplice was the witch catcher who caught her. (Which causes a chain reaction as the witch catcher "confesses" that pretty much everyone he's had troubles with is an accomplice and a servant of Satan.)
* In [[Robert E. Howard]]'s [[Conan the Barbarian]] story ''The Hour of the Dragon'', Orastes nearly met this in the [[Backstory]].
{{quote|
* In ''[[The Red Tent]]'', [[The Medic|a midwife]] named Inna loses a (very young) woman and her child [[Death
* In Laurell K. Hamilton's early [[Anita Blake]] books, where the supernatural is known to exist, there is occasional mention of the last time a witch was burned in the U.S. - in the 1950s. It was captured on photograph, and the photographer got a Pulitzer Prize out of it. Anita wonders if a Pulitzer makes the nightmares easier to live with. Possibly justified, as popular assumption might have been that witches were burned in that universe, much as it is in ours.
* A subversion occurs in [[A Swiftly Tilting Planet]] when a Native American woman who has married a Welsh settler in Puritan America is denounced as a witch and sentenced to be hanged. The evidence against her: that she didn't scream during childbirth.
== Live Action TV ==
* In the ''[[
{{quote|
** Actually, the village elder doesn't believe in witchcraft. He only tries to kill her to shut her up, as she finds out that he killed the previous elder.
* Played with in an episode of ''[[Sabrina the Teenage Witch (TV series)|Sabrina the Teenage Witch]]''. Sabrina's class visits Salem; everyone was given a little slip saying if they were a witch or not, and were supposed to find the witch. Sabrina loses hers without reading it. After all the predictable accusation hijinks goes down, the teacher announces that nobody had a slip that said "witch", as a lesson to the class about crazy witchhunts. Sabrina finds her slip on the bus home, which says "witch" on it. Salem... is not a good place for witches.
** It's also worth noting that when Jenny is "found guilty" of being a witch, Mr Pool says "you can pretend we hanged her" instead of burning. He was with the history teacher after all.
* In ''[[Highlander the Series]]'', Duncan MacLeod escaped being burned. His also-immortal buddy was not so lucky. Apparently, when you can regenerate, being burned continually for hours is enough to drive you [[Ax Crazy]].
* In one ''[[Star Trek:
* Parodied in the ''[[Star Trek
* An episode of the first season of ''[[The Dead Zone]]'' television show had Smith going through a small town where a murder with satanic vibes had been committed, since he displays knowledge of the crimes via his powers they think he did the murder, they put him on trial for witchcraft so he can't leave the town while they search for evidence to pin him with, an angry mob ends up carrying him out of the court room to burn him at the stake for the murder because a child and her mother was involved, and another girl was missing.
* There was a whole episode of ''[[Midsomer Murders]]'' about burning witches; at the end Barnaby comments that they never actually burned witches, they just hanged them. Hanged, hanged, hanged.
** Well they didn't do much of that in England in any case. In some countries witches weren't always even killed upon conviction. Some places were worse than others of course.
* In the ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]''
** In the
*** [[Air Vent Passageway|Did you see the size of the air vents?]] Of course the demon that was orchestrating the whole thing didn't care if its mob asphyxiated itself. The more dead, the better. Still, it seems it also goofed by [[Boss Arena Idiocy|having a working fire hose conveniently nearby.]]
** Anya, a former vengeance demon who was alive during the actual Salem witch trials, notes that real witches could use their powers to escape. "So, really, it was only bad for the falsely accused - and, well, they never have a good time."
** Oddly enough, the experience inspires Willow to dress as Joan of Arc in the next [[Halloween Episode]].
* An episode of ''[[Charmed (TV)|Charmed]]'', "The Witch Is Back", had the Halliwell sisters' ancestor burned at the stake in Salem. To quote Lex Luthor, "WRONG!"▼
* ''[[Charmed]]'':
▲*
** The same mistake is made in the second or third episode, in a documentary that Piper watches on TV.
** Another episode, "Morality Bites", had the Halliwells traveling forward in time to keep Phoebe from being burned at the stake after they did something that would have led to massive witch hunts in the future.
** Subverted in "All Halliwell's Eve" when the sisters are sent back in time to colonial Virginia. When they are accused of being witches, they are hanged.
* In an episode of ''[[
** ''[[
* The ''[[
** The witchhunter is the real witch, since when he is killed, the King recovers and everything goes back to normal (for the show.)
* In the ''[[
** Ironically he's saved by the local 'white' witch.
** Tegan is nearly burnt at the stake as a sacrifice in the ''Doctor Who'' serial ''The Awakening''. By Civil War recreationists.
* In ''[[Voyagers]]!'', Bogg winds up tied to a stake when he shows up during the Salem Witch Trials ([[Wayback Trip|or a variant thereof]]), but the judge explicitly states that this is "without precedent in these colonies"; the other accused are sentenced to imprisonment and hanging.
* In ''[[Merlin (TV series)|Merlin]]'', people who are suspected of being witches are either burnt at the stake or beheaded. The best example of the trope is in ''The Mark of Nimueh'', in which Gwen is falsely accused of witchcraft, and has to be saved by the other characters.
** As of Series 2, the best example is the episode ''The Witchfinder'', where Gaius is almost burnt at the stake.
* In the BBC series of ''[[Robin Hood (TV series)|Robin Hood]]'' the midwife/healing woman Matilda is accused of witchcraft and dunked in the village pond. Somewhat subverted in that her accusers don't really ''believe'' she's a witch, but in fact want her to ''use'' her healing abilities to save the life of a political enemy. She refuses, and into the water she goes...
** In a later episode, the outlaws are deemed heretics and nearly burnt at the stake.
** In the audiobook ''The Witchfinders'' Kate is nearly burnt as a witch.
* ''[[QI]]'' skewers this, with Alan expressing the opinion that witches were burnt, and [[Stephen Fry]] explaining that, regardless of what you might have read in books - "and I use the term 'books' very loosely" - like ''[[The Da Vinci Code]]'', two people may have been burnt for witchcraft, ever, and most accused witches were found not guilty.
* ''[[Smallville]]'''s fourth season features the story of Margerite Isobel Theroux, a witch burned alongside two accomplices in 17th Century France. She comes back to possess her descendant, Lana Lang, to exact vengeance against the descendants of the woman who sentenced her to death. Which involved Kryptonian artifacts, for whatever reason.
{{quote|
'''Madeleine [in Chloe]''': Time is the only thing we do have. Isn't that what you said right before the angry mob set us on fire?
'''Isabelle [in Lana]''': You're really not gonna let that go, are you? }}
* Subverted in ''[[Robin of Sherwood]]'' where a suspected witch is sentenced to be hanged rather than burnt (and it is made quite clear that this is not a normal punishment but is Guy of Gisbourne rigging the evidence against her as revenge for her refusing his advances).
* The original-series ''[[Survivors (TV series)|Survivors]]'' has the community start down this road in the episode "The Witch", but, mercifully, saner heads rein in the hysteria before the (innocent if slightly strange) victim gets tied to a stake.
* The [[Cruel Twist Ending]] of the ''[[Outer Limits]]'' [[Revival]] episode "A New Life".
* In the first few episodes of ''[[Stargate SG-1]]'' season 9, this happens to Vala twice and Daniel once. Luckily it was just their minds inhabiting host bodies, so they came out of it ok for various reasons. The first time, to Vala alone, wasn't even for any good reason, either. She forgot a prayer and was accused of being possessed. Things sort of went downhill for the duo (and the galaxy) after that.
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* On ''[[True Blood]]'', the villainess Antonia is the ghost of a witch burned at the stake during the [[Spanish Inquisition]] thanks to vampires within the Catholic Church.
* When someone starts murdering members of a coven in the ''[[Rizzoli and Isles]]'' episode "Bloodlines", the first victim is burnt at the stake.
* ''[[Wednesday]]'': Much of the anti-heroine's problems in the first season involve {{spoiler|Goody Addams, an ancestor and lookalike of Wednesday who in colonial times, was falsely accused of witchcraft. She actually escaped this fate; sadly, her friends and family did not. She is the girl Wednesday constantly sees in her visions, and thus the [[Big Good]] of season 1.}}
== Music ==
* Witchfinder General, "Burning a Sinner". Also, "Witchfinder General".
* "Am I Evil?" by Diamond Head (and covered by [[
* "The Curse", intro track to [[Running Wild (
* "Burn" from King Diamond's solo album ''The Eye''.
* "The Curse of Jacques" from [[
* [[Venom (
* "Deathaura" by [[Sonata Arctica]]. The [[Bittersweet Ending]] helps to soften the [[Tear Jerker|emotional blow]], however.
* "Burn the Witch" by [[Queens of the Stone Age]].
* "The Dead Can't Testify" by [[Billy Talent]] is about being burnt as a witch for being different, possibly for being an athiest.
* "Burning The Witches", the title track from the debut album by Warlock, released in 1984.
* "[[Exactly What It Says
* The [[Vocaloid]] song "Witch", sung by Megurine Luka and a few other Vocaloids, has this happening to Luka's character.
* [[Creature Feature]] feature has a song called ''Here There Be Witches'' that goes over how to deal with witches. Unsurprisingly, burning is mentioned.
== Tabletop Games ==
* The majority of ''[[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]]'' magic
** Though there's probably still a lot of wastage. Even in the ''comparatively'' [[Lighter and Softer]] ''[[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]]'' one inquisitor's position is: "The question is not how to separate the innocent from the guilty. The question is how many I can burn."
** Another inquisitor offered a nice quick death from his sword (practically considered a wonderful gift in this [[Crapsack World]]) to a host of accused already bound on their pyres if any one of them would
** One witch hunter burns a 6 year old girl at the stake because her parents went to a mad scientist to heal her broken leg and ended up mutated as a result. The witch hunter got her drunk because he knew that she was an innocent who just had the misfortune to have the traveling doctor be an insane lunatic, but she couldn't be allowed to live because of the mutations.
** Hell, in ''40K'', if the witch is deemed dangerous enough, they'll [[Earthshattering Kaboom|burn the whole]] ''[[Earthshattering Kaboom|planet]]'' [[Earthshattering Kaboom|just to be safe]].
** All this being said, it ought be noted that in 40k at least, human psykers are in all cases a total liability. Most groups that use psykers, and most psykers, accept they'll eventually get caught out by something on the other side of the reality rip their minds create and have to be put down. The only ones with a chance in the long run, really, are the Space Marine Librarians - and all the worse for it, since they can do incalculable damage on the rare occasions they do fall, become possessed, or get corrupted.
* The ''[[Ravenloft]]'' module ''Servants of Darkness'' gives PCs the opportunity to derail this [[Trope]], proving an accused woman's innocence by exposing the evil fey creature which is truly to blame for the misfortunes plaguing a Tepestani village.
* The generic ''[[Dungeons
* This is the core concept of the party game ''Werewolf''. There are monsters hiding in the village and killing people at night, but you can't tell them from the innocent villagers by looking at them. What's the solution? Grab a pitchfork or a torch, form a lynch mob, and tie a rope to the old hanging tree.
== Theater ==
* ''[[Wicked (
* In ''[[Finian's Rainbow]]'', Sharon is charged with using witchcraft to turn a white man black, and her lover Woody of aiding and abetting her, in accordance with a 17th-century state law against witchcraft ("Don't you think it's a little obsolete by now?"). The pair are saved from the flames by the [[Just in Time]] reversal of her wish.
* ''[[The Crucible]]'', a play which has as its running theme the Salem witch trials, and was written, very tellingly, during the communist witch-hunts in America, is actually an aversion - they don't burn the witches, instead hanging them, as was actually done in the trials. Impossible to say much without giving huge chunks of plot away, but... yeah. Never have the words of [[He Who Fights Monsters|Friedrich Nietzsche]] been spoken in a more justifiable circumstance.
* ''[[Il Trovatore]]'' by Verdi, anyone? Everything began with a witch burning...
* ''The Lady's Not for Burning'' by Christopher Fry. The evidence against her is laughable, but the town's officials can see she's well-to-do, and if they convict her, they can confiscate her property. But there's that pesky ex-soldier who insists he ''murdered'' the man she supposedly bewitched....
{{quote|
== Video Games ==
* In the [[Interactive Fiction]] [[
* The backstory of Partinias, the [[The Power of Love|Arcana of Love]] in ''[[
* Maybe not a witch per se, but ''[[
** It was originally part of an initial decision for Viconia to be infected with Lycanthropy, but they still went with it after they scrapped the werewolf idea. Since she's still a [[Evil Counterpart|drow]] elf and a priestess of very nasty goddess Shar, they have a pretty natural reason to try to burn her.
* An achievement in ''[[Banjo
* Very present in the ''[[Castlevania]]'' series, especially in the 1470s stories.
** As detailed by ''Symphony of the Night'', Lisa's burning at the stake inspired Dracula to destroy humanity.
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* In ''[[Drakengard|Drakengard 2]]'' Manah, is accused of being a witch, and she did break one of the seals, so she's captured by the hero, and who he's working for burns her. She does have magic, however, and escapes, and later joins you.
* Not completely true to the trope, but when ''[[Final Fantasy VIII]]'''s Rinoa is discovered to be a Sorceress, she is sentenced to put into stasis. Of course, just to be saved by the hero at the last moment.
* ''[[Jeanne D
** Rather ironically Liane's stat growth would have made her your primary magic user(and still quite a good one even after a true [[Squishy Wizard|"Mage"]] type character shows up) for quite some time.
* Referenced in ''[[
* The [[Big Bad]] of ''[[Legend of Legaia
* ''[[The Suffering]]'' reveals that while it was still settled by the Puritans, Carnate Island suffered a spate of witch-burnings that began when [[Creepy Child|three little girls]] accused several of their fellow villagers- [[Kids Are Cruel|as a joke]]. Centuries later, these three children live on as the [[Undead Child|Infernas]], the personification of all those on the island that were burnt at the stake. Lampshaded by Consuela, who notes that burning was non-existant among Puritans in other parts of America.
* In ''[[
* In ''[[Quest for Glory IV]]'', the suspicious townsfolk go on a [[Witch Hunt]] after the gravedigger goes missing, capturing a gypsy and accusing him of being a werewolf. If you don't set him free in time, he gets burned at the stake, but not before he [[Gypsy Curse|curses you and the entire town]], causing game over. If you free him, you find out that he really was a werewolf, although innocent of what he was charged with.
* Interestingly enough, fire (usually from a Molotov Cocktail) works rather well on Witches in ''[[
* Used almost exactly by angry mob in the outskirts area of ''[[The Witcher]]'' (the first real area in the game). The witch in question is most likely harmless, although her exact morals are certainly questionable (''especially'' if you have the uncensored version, in which she appears nude and smeared with blood on her card), and the player has the choice of sleeping with her and allowing the villagers to kill her, or sleeping with her (a redundant theme in the game which actually becomes something of a side-quest) and saving her. In the latter case, the player later has to fight off most of the important villagers (while fighting a hell hound variant).
* The MMORPG ''[[Shadowbane]]'' had the [[Pyromaniac|Temple of the Cleansing Flame]], whose sole purpose was to save humanity by burning up large portions of it [[It Makes Sense in Context|and every elf they could find]].
* In ''[[Eternal Champions]]'', this was the cause for Xavier's death.
* Just one of the many things the Inquisitors of the Citadel in ''[[
* In the backstory of the ''[[Dragon Age]]'' [[Dragon Age II|games]], Andraste was burned at the stake after her husband betrayed her to the Tevinter Imperium. The leader of the Imperium, Archon Hessarian, felt pity for Andraste in her final moments and drove his sword into her heart so she wouldn't suffer any longer. He became the first convert to the Chant of Light and helped spread it over Thedas. The Blades of Mercy are enchanted replicas of Hessarian's sword and are considered badges of honor in the Imperium.
* ''[[Conquests of the Longbow:
== Web Comics ==
* In ''[[No Rest for The Wicked (
** On the other hand, Perrault [http://www.forthewicked.net/archive/03-63.html reminds] November of this after they found [[Losing Your Head|cutting the witch's head off didn't work]].
* In ''[[Something
** And yet he fails to mention that no witches were actually burned in Salem...
*** This particular omission is likely because that would have required an entire extra panel, especially since most places burned
*** Second panel. "Not about witchcraft at all!" That says it quite plainly.
* In ''[[Girl Genius]]'', it is stated that minor Sparks in rural areas were often treated as witches and burned. Then again, considering the fact that a Sparky "witch" could probably make those herbal concoctions work, and that Sparkyness equals insanity, they were probably on the money as often as not.
**
* A variation occurs in [https://web.archive.org/web/20131103073752/http://humon.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d2avbmz this] comic from ''[[Scandinavia and The World]]'', in which Denmark and Norway sit Sister Finland ("the witch") on a burning maypole as part of midsummer celebration.
* In ''[[Our Little Adventure]]'', [http://danielscreations.com/ola/comics/ep0097.html Angelo's Kids do this to their opponents.]
* ''[[Magick Chicks]]'' is about Artemis Academy - quoth Melissa, "Did you know they teach a class in burning witches there? I ''never'' wanted to know my own burning point!" Later she had a vivid [[Imagine Spot]] about consequences of her new schoolmates learning her origin.
* Lighthearted example in ''Escapades'': when the [[Casual Kink]]-loving [[Author Avatar]] goes to a Halloween party dressed as a witch, she plays a joke on her girlfriend Aeria, who is dressed as a vampire, [https://www.deviantart.com/wossarem/art/Getting-Into-Character-1-269025642 locking her in a coffin]. Later, Aeria [https://www.deviantart.com/wossarem/art/Getting-Into-Character-2-269025639 gets revenge and applies this trope] using space heaters.
== Web Original ==
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbYlvTyc28I&feature=relmfu This] from [[
* Being burned as a witch is [[Mary Poppins]]'s nightmare according to a ''[[Cracked
* The hunting and burning of witches is the one of the main themes of the online roleplaying game ''[[The Inquisition Legacy]]''.
== Western Animation ==
* In the Disney movie, ''[[The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Disney film)|The Hunchback of Notre Dame]]'', Esmerelda almost suffers this fate at the hands of Frollo after she refuses to submit to him. (She is not accused of being a witch in [[The Hunchback of Notre Dame (
* Sam is captured and almost burnt on the stake in ''[[Danny Phantom]]'' for no reason other than the possibility that her Gothic appearance looks much like the witch type. Vlad, disguised as a pilgrim eggs on the crowd which doesn't help her cause at all.
* The ''[[Scooby Doo]]'' episode "To Switch a Witch" features the gang going to Salem, MA, on Halloween, and ending up having to save a friend who is accused of being a witch. A mob of townspeople forms and wants to burn the accused witch at the stake, and this was what, in the 1970s? Not at all creepy to have that in a kids' show, no.
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** In ''The Witch's Ghost'' movie they believe the title character was a mistaken Wicca practitioner. She was actually a witch.
* Played for laughs in ''[[The Simpsons]]''. During a [[Kent Brockman News|news report]], we learn that Springfield has the lowest science scores in the country. Cut to [[Torches and Pitchforks|angry mob]] surrounding Principal Skinner who is tied to a stake:
{{quote|
'''Grampa Simpson''': Burn him!
* a photographer snaps a picture of Grampa Simpson*
'''Grampa Simpson''': You've stolen my soul! }}
** This is a common occurrence on ''[[The Simpsons]]''. After the town was nearly destroyed by a comet:
{{quote|
*** Unfortunately, Moe sort of has a point. The town was never in danger, because the comet was too small to not burn up in the atmosphere. But because of the general hysteria the town community went downhill (err... further downhill). Still... observatory's main utility is not "comet watch."
** There was also a Halloween special that took place in the time the [[Witch Hunt]] happened and Marge and other women were accused of witchcraft and were tied to the stake. Lisa pointed out that if they were witches, they could use their powers to escape. She quickly shuts up when Homer threatens to add her to the pyre. Of course, they ''really were'' witches. It's that kind of episode.
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* [[Family Guy|You hear that? A girl solved a math problem. You know what that means? A WITCH!]]
* ''[[Home Movies]]'' - at the Medieval Faire, McGuirk is talking on his cell phone - faire organizer Lynch swipes it away from him. McGuirk starts yelling "He has a PHONE! BURN him!!!" Several faire goers advance on Lynch with torches.
* In the ''[[Jonny Quest: The Real Adventures
* Lampshaded in ''[[Rango]]'' when the [[Cargo Cult]] water pipe fails to produce
== Real Life ==
* An utterly bizarre example
* [[Older Than Print]]: Saint [[Joan of Arc]] was burned at the stake. Though the charge was
* In [[Real Life]] the methods for dealing with suspected witches varied greatly between areas and eras. During [[The High Middle Ages|the Middle Ages proper]] witchcraft wasn't a major
* Sadly, the practice continues today in various African countries.
* In Iceland, from 1625-1683, 21 people were executed by burning after being accused of witchcraft (which could include just keeping magical talismans in their homes). All but two of these people were male, as men were believed to be the only people capable of being witches in Icelandic society. There's an interesting, albeit somewhat cheesy, museum dedicated to Icelandic witchcraft in the 17th century in the town of Holmavik, in the West Fjords.
* A common misconception, even in Massachusetts, is that the victims of the Salem Witch Trials Hysteria of 1692 were burned, when in fact, most were hanged, with the exception of Giles Corey, who was pressed to death (ie. had a large board the size of a door laid on top of him and then rocks were piled onto the board, till he suffocated. He got special treatment because he refused to enter a plea and was found in contempt of court. He just told them to add more weight).
* [
* In Sweden, about 300 "witches" were burned between 1668 and 1676. Most of them admitted to having commited witchcraft, and were rewarded by being decapitated before the burning. Only a couple of them were burned alive, and the only one I can recall now was Malin Matsdotter, to whom this was punishment for refusing to admit anything.
* In Germany, the trial of the [
* The Würzburg witch-trials were this trope taken [[Up to Eleven]]. Over the course of six years, ''nine hundred people'' were burnt as witches in Germany, including many children, some as young as ''four''. Today, the incidents at Wurzburg would be classified as a [[Thirty Years' War|war crime]] rather than a case of superstition run amok. Of course, the Protestants did the same thing...
* Interestingly, the passage quoted at the top of this page is actually a rather iffy translation. The term "witch" is a more recent invention of the English language, and of course no particular method of execution was prescribed. The word used in the original language roughly translates to "sorceress" with "[[Mind Rape|one who twists the minds of others]] for personal gain" connotations. Therefore, only people who specifically mess with other people's heads via possibly supernatural means should die; [[Manipulative Bastard
* While in the Continental Europe majority of the witches burned/otherwise executed were women, in Scandinavia, and especially Iceland, accusing men of witchcraft was much more common.
* Before the witch-burnings proper there were still several ways to end on a stake: heretics were sometimes burned as example for others, and during the Black Plague Jews were burned under the belief that they had poisoned the wells. The legal punishment for an unfaithful woman was also death by burning for example in England, and many other parts of Europe. Also worth clarifying is that the vast majority of the burnings were post-mortem; even when someone was specifically being burned at the stake, the method of execution usually employed was first to burn greenwood and leaves so that the victim would die of smoke inhalation. Then the executioners would allow the fire to finish its job as the victim's funeral pyre.
* One of the first recorded convictions of witchcraft in Europe occurred in Ireland in 1324 and involved [
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