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Whip of Dominance

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Whip of Dominance (trope)
A snappy prosecutor needs a prop to match.

We don't want to go to war today,
But the Lord of the Lash says, "Nay, nay, nay"!
We're gonna march all day, all day, all day!
For where there's a whip, there's a way!
The Return of the King, "Where There's a Whip, There's a Way"

Whips have historically been used as an instrument of control, dominance, oppression, and submission. Flogging or striking someone with a whip is a famous form of Corporal Punishment in many cultures. The sound of a whip cracking can strike fear in those listening and the very act of tugging or tightening a whip can look menacing or intimidating. The physical pain or discomfort inflicted by the whip reinforces the dominance of the wielder over the recipient.

As such, whips in fiction are often associated with control and domination. This can manifest in many different ways and they can often mix.

One of the most common whip-wielding archetypes is for authoritarian, oppressive, and often sadistic character archetypes who are meant to emanate fear such as a Torture Technician, The Jailer, Repulsive Ringmaster, a slaver, a Mook Lieutenant or a high ranking commander. Such a character usually Loves the Sound of Screaming and is a Sadist and Hope Crusher. An organization or group as a whole can be similarly characterized by its usage of whips, especially if it's a Signature Device, Fantastic Race Weapon Affinity, or National Weapon of the culture. If the officers or commanders of The Empire or the People's Republic of Tyranny carry a whip, it's a sign the top brass keeps their men in line via fear of punishment. If the Mooks are the ones carrying the whips, it's a sign that the top brass is oppressive of its very own citizens. In general, a whip can be a symbol of an oppressive hierarchy within an organization.

Because whips are a symbol of power and dominance, they're also often associated with BDSM, sensuality, and Dominatrix-type characters and a common attribute of Power Dynamics Kink. Female whip wielders will often be portrayed as sensual, haughty, cold, sadistic, and domineering. They're often dressed in outfits that are Stripperiffic, Hell-Bent for Leather, or resembling a dominatrix. It's not unusual for their whips to also be used to tie up or strangle their victims for the bondage factor. Due to the belief that Bondage Is Bad and Fetishes Are Weird this association tends to be more popular with villainesses, especially in archetypes like The Baroness, Dragon Lady, Hot Witch, or The Vamp. Heroic examples do exist, though you can still expect the character to fit sexualized archetypes like a Heroic Seductress, a Femme Fatale, or an Ice Queen.

Due to the whip's historical use as a tool of ranching and equestrianism, characters who exert control of animals, monsters, Beast of Battle, Mons, and other creatures also commonly wield whips, to symbolize their dominance and mastery over the creatures they control. Common archetypes are The Beastmaster, a Dragon Tamer, The Minion Master, or someone with Summon Magic. While the usage of whips on beasts often means the whip-wielder is abusive towards the creatures they command, not all whip-wielding tamers have this association and they can be portrayed sympathetically, even being a Fluffy Tamer or Animal Lover. Showing the tamer use the whip not as a punishment tool, but by using the sound of the whip cracking as a way to give the beast commands is a common way to portray this in a sympathetic light. Often this control is exaggerated with the tamer being able to give complex commands via the whip that would be impossible for any actual tamer to do, and occasionally the whip will have actual supernatural abilities to explain this level of control.

More exaggerated and comical examples are when teachers, trainers, or mentors are shown to wield whips to symbolize their harshness in their disciplinary duties, making the saying "whip something/someone into shape" quite literal. Unusually occurs with strict archetypes like a Drill Sergeant Nasty, a Sadistic Teacher, a Scary Librarian, or a Stern Teacher.

On account of its heavy symbology, the very act of carrying a whip can be used for characterization, as it is commonly used as just a tool or ceremonial item. The meaning may also change depending on the type of whip, a riding crop tends to be more symbolic or used just as a ceremonial prop while something like a Cat o' nine tails has more sinister implications. However in fiction whip-wielders are often actually extremely skilled at using them in actual combat, sometimes even being a weapon they specialize in using, often for purposes of Weapon-Based Characterization. Some popular unrealistic tricks are having the whip do Instant Knots or perform Building Swing with them. The whips may even be customized to be more effective, such as adding thorns, hooks, spikes, or even elements. For weaponized versions of whips with their own tropes see Whip Sword, Lightning Lash, Snake Whip, and Vine Tentacles.

Sometimes the whip can also have actual powers that reflect its symbology, such as being struck by a whip causing a Damage-Increasing Debuff, the weapon having a Charm Person or Supernatural Fear Inducer effect, or making the domination aspect of whips literal by having the whip be an actual Mind-Control Device.

See Improbable Weapon User for a normal whip being used in combat. See A Taste of the Lash for a character enduring a flogging. See Staff of Authority for when staffs at a symbol of office and rank. See Don't Make Me Take My Belt Off! for when a belt is used like a whip for disciplinary purposes. See Multipurpose Tongue and Prehensile Hair for when tongue or hair are used as whips. Has some crossover with Stock Wushu Weapons, thanks to whips being used in ancient China both as weapons of war and (more commonly) as badges of office for battlefield commanders that they would use to signal orders to their troops. In wuxia, a colourful horsehair whip indicates The Strategist, while a segmented metal whip indicates a particularly talented Frontline General.


Example subpages:

Examples:

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    Comic Books 

    Comic Strips 
  • Modesty Blaise: In "The Young Mistress", Bruce Lacey is a major Sadist who always carries a riding crop with him and has the habit of lashing at people who displease him. He even frequently does this to his girlfriend and partner Marion, who eventually seeks the help of Modesty to deal with him.
  • The Phantom: The second-ever story arc of the newspaper strip ("The Sky Band") featured a female Sky Pirate captain known only as "The Baroness" and she had a ruthless and domineering demeanor and often carried a whip with her, and would use to it discipline her disobedient subordinates.

    Fan Works 
  • Frozen Hearts (Sakume): When the older brothers of Prince Hans are discussing how to punish him for the attempted regicide of Queen Elsa, Prince Harken, who is known for being a major Sadist and Torture Technician, has his Establishing Character Moment when he not only proposes giving Hans A Taste of the Lash but also eagerly volunteers to do it himself with his new custom cat-of-nine-tails whip that has glass shards stuck in the leather, "guaranteed to cleave flesh with each stroke." The other princes flat-out reject this proposal, for good reason:
    Horatio: The last man Father placed you in charge of whipping died the next day.
    Harken: Exactly. That should tell you how much I need the practice.
  • For her appearance in the Diva Delight costume battle royal in the pro wrestling story Hello Again, Molly Holly came to the ring Dressed Like a Dominatrix, complete with a whip that she playfully cracked at the announcer's table.
  • An ISOT in Grimdark: Areta Bane liberally applies the whip to unruly Dark Elves under her command. She ends up having to do it more often once the Black Company's growing fame results in higher-echelon Dark Elves signing up for it, ones with more privileges than the original group which leads to mindsets she needs to (literally) beat out of them.
  • Top of the Line (Editor-Bug): Purple happily whips the construction drones building the tournament arena's challenge areas, more for fun than to encourage their work.
  • Umbra from Vow of Nudity is a cruel slaver, and correspondingly wields a whip that can sprout spikes with the press of a button.

    Films — Animated 
  • Aladdin (1992, Disney): Prince Achmed is a self-centered, classist man whose Establishing Character Moment is pulling out a whip and trying to attack two poor children with it just for running in front of his horse.
  • Animal Farm (1954): Farmer Jones uses a chain whip to stop his livestock from eating, showing he has control over the animals. The livestock had quite enough of his abuse and scare him away.
  • Batman: Gotham by Gaslight: Although she isn't Catwoman here, Selina Kyle is still highly skilled with a whip and is shown to carry it with her as a weapon of self-defense. Bruce deduces that she used to be a lion tamer at a circus and is simply taking advantage of her skill with the tool to use as a weapon, and she confirms it. This is also used to explain her acrobatics and fondness for cats.
  • How the Grinch Stole Christmas!: The Grinch forces his dog Max to drive the sleigh to Whoville by hitting him with the whip, illustrating his cruelty, as a non-Jerkass dog sledder only uses the whip crack for commands, not to actually hit the dogs.
  • The Mystical Laws: Tathagata Killer is a tyrannical despot whose personal weapon is an electrified whip, which cements his status as ruler of the Godom Empire.
  • Pinocchio (1940): The Coachman always carries a whip with him, and while he obviously makes use of it in his titular job as a coachman, he makes far more use of it when his true nature as a child slaver and starts to prominently to cracking the whip in an intimidating fashion to both donkey-turned-boys and also the order his around his minions.
  • The Prince of Egypt: As expected from a movie about slavery, whip-wielding overseers are often present in the scenes featuring the Hebrew slaves, and their usage of the whip is constantly emphasized throughout the movie as symbolic of Egypt's oppression over their slaves. Notable examples include the very opening song "Deliver Us", which is sung by the Hebrew slaves as they toil in the desert sun, and the lyrics are purposedly punctuated by the crack of the overseers' whips, the camera often lingering on the welts of the whips marking on the backs of slaves and Moses breaking point as being witness to a particularly cruel taskmaster mercilessly whipping an elderly slave as punishment for not being able to work.
  • Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure: Babette seems like a Damsel in Distress in the earlier parts of the story but when she takes over the pirate ship in the climax, she also gets a whip to illustrate her Xenafication and newfound dominance over the crew as their new captain.
  • The Return of the King: As Frodo and Sam make their way across Mordor, they encounter an army of Slave Mooks Orcs singing a marching song "Where There's a Whip, There's a Way" note . The lyrics have the orcs lamenting that they don't want to march off to battle but their commander's whip, which cracks at the end of each line, compels them forward. At one point they even refer to themselves as the slaves of the Dark Lord. While the song is very goofy, it serves to illustrate the oppressive hierarchy of orc society.
    We don't want to go to war today,
    But the Lord of the Lash says, "Nay, nay, nay"!
    We're gonna march all day, all day, all day!
    For where there's a whip, there's a way!
  • Tom and Jerry: The Movie: The villainous Dr. Applecheek intimidates the kidnapped pets in his basement by cracking his horsewhip around the cages multiple times while doing a maniacal Evil Laugh.

    Films — Live-Action 
  • : During Guido's harem fantasy, he uses a whip against the girls to "keep them in line" when they start rebelling, although one of them is just Too Kinky to Torture.
  • Att Angöra En Brygga: Kalle and Mona imagine him using one as part of his and Berit’s supposed bedroom games. The real Lennart is far less dominant, and the only person actually seen wielding a whip in the film is Kalle himself, when accusing Walter of stealing his whiskey.
  • Austin Powers: The Baroness Frau Farbissina is a domineering female officer who's always carrying a riding crop with her, and her hobby is being a Dominatrix.
  • Baby Doll: Silva is always carrying a riding crop with him, which gives him a commanding aura. He uses to intimidate Baby Doll when he interrogates her about the arson, swatting her with it a few times, though he claims he's "swatting flies".
  • Bad Girls (1994): To highlight Kid's sadistic and cruel nature, he uses a whip at several points, such as to capture Lily after the Gatling gun heist or when he ruthlessly whips Cody after being reunited with her, as revenge for running from him. It's implied he has a habit of doing this with women, often before raping them, as a way to establish his dominance over them.
  • Batman Film Series:
    • Batman Forever: Two-Face's female henchwoman Spice fights with a whip to complement her Dominatrix theme alongside her cold and domineering behavior as well as being Dressed Like a Dominatrix with her skimpy leather corset, spiked choker, and fishnets.
    • Batman Returns: Catwoman's weapon of choice is a whip, and she is shown to be quite proficient in its use a few times, often in a kinky manner. Not only does she have a sensual and domineering attitude but her outfit in the film is a skintight bodysuit held together with white stitching that is meant to make her look like a Dominatrix.
  • Ben-Hur (1959):
    • The scene on the Roman Slave Galley has considerable whipping of the rowing slaves. When Quintus Arrius comes aboard, he notices Judah for his defiant air. After speaking with him, Arrius suddenly turns and whips him to see his reaction. Then he begins ordering the ship to faster and faster speeds, the taskmasters going about "motivating" other slaves in the background.
    • During the chariot race, Messala rides with a whip which he uses frequently on his team. This actually leads to his downfall as he rides up next to Judah and begins beating him with the whip, not noticing that their wheels have gotten interlocked so when Judah finally pulls away, he rips Messala's wheel right off, leaving him dangling from the reins as another team comes up behind him and tramples him underfoot.
  • The Bold Caballero: Sebastian Golle is a sadistic and ruthless Commandante of the local army who tyrannically oppresses the local native population, including personally whipping them for tax evasion, something that horrifies Isabella. Many of his men also wield whips, implying whipping the natives is a common method to keep them in line. Zorro seems to make a point of stealing the whips and using them on the soldiers whenever he can.
  • Brotherhood of the Wolf: Jean-François wields a Whip Sword made from an animal spine that can break apart into a scourge-like whip, which is a fitting weapon for a sadistic psychopathic Beastmaster like him.
  • Cartouche: Malichot's favorite weapon is a whip, which he uses to subdue Venus when she resists him, and on his own men to assert his authority.
  • Catwoman (2004): After Patience Phillips adopts the Catwoman identity, she starts wielding a whip as her primary weapon, which combined with her Stripperiffic black leather costume gives her heavy dominatrix vibes, supposedly to illustrate how she embraced her new bold and sexually confident personality.
  • Charlie's Angels (2000): In order to get access to a security room in the Red Star firm, the Angels infiltrate the building while Alex pretends to be an efficiency expert there to train the software engineers. But for an extra distraction (and for Fanservice) Alex plays a Dominatrix type of instructor, complete with a domineering attitude, a skintight black ensemble and a large riding crop that she constantly whips around to make a point, complete with a loud whipcrack sound effect whenever she does. Naturally, all of the horny tech nerds get completely enraptured by her and she causes enough of a commotion that Natalie and Dylan can sneak around undetected.
  • Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle: When the Angels are going undercover as strip dancers in a bar, Alex once again plays the role of a Dominatrix, this time with an actual whip that she cracks around, and even uses it to spank Dylan and Natalie.
  • Daleks' Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D.: The Robomen are the main enforcers to the Dalek invaders, and carry whips to both control the enslaved population and as weapons when dealing with the rebels during the assault on the saucer. Ironically the Robomen themselves are Slave Mooks who went through Unwilling Roboticisation.
  • In Deep in the Valley, Suzi Diablo carries a riding crop as part of her Dressed Like a Dominatrix look, and uses it to inflict multiple Groin Attacks on Lester.
  • Disco Godfather: One of the assassins sent after Tucker is a sadistic whip-toting cowboy who openly admits he has a fetish for whipping people.
  • Django Unchained: Big John Brittle, the slave overseer of the Carrucan plantation where Django and Broomhilda once were, is a major sadist and racist who seems to take special joy in wielding his whip and enjoys personally giving A Taste of the Lash to slaves that make even trivial mistakes, such as whipping a young woman for breaking eggs. When Django gets hold of his whip after gunning him down, he wastes no time in using it in retributive fashion on Little Roger Brittle before gunning him down too.
  • Double Dragon (1994): Just like the games, Linda Lash is a leather clad Dark Action Girl who fights with a whip to give her a domineering aura and a BDSM motif.
  • Drive 1997: One of the villains uses a whip to nasty effect on the hero's black sidekick Malik Brody during one of the final showdowns, even calling him "boy" as an old-style slave-driver would. When Malik turns the tables on him, he tells him off as he delivers a savage beating of his own with the butt of a gun:
    Malik Brody: You pulled a whip on me? Are you out of your fucking mind? Let me tell you something — DON'T YOU EVER PULL A WHIP ON A BLACK MAN AGAIN!
  • The Forbidden Kingdom: The White-Haired Witch Ni Chang is Dark Action Girl who wields a whip as her primary weapon and is even able to use her own Prehensile Hair as a whip if disarmed, complementing her cold, domineering, and ruthless personality that seems to take joy in beating down her opponents, often having a taunting and smug expression in her face whenever she has the upper hand.
  • Forty Guns: Jessica Drummond is an authoritative, ruthless, and domineering Cattle Baron who often has a riding crop in her hand, and is even shown hitting her brother with it when he's being a dumbass.
  • Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire: The Skar King is a tyrannical despot who rules over the other great ape Titans with an iron fist and keeps his enslaved subjects in line through fear. Fittingly, his badge of office and weapon of choice is a lengthy spinal cord which he wields like a whip.
  • Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: In the first part of the finale, Bellatrix Lestrange starts violently attacking a bunch of Snatchers with a whip conjured from her wand, just to punish them for not giving them the Golden Trio's wands as she ordered. For bonus points, Bellatrix is Dressed Like a Dominatrix with her tight black leather dress. Notably in the books, she simply punished them via a stunning spell, making it clear this adaptation gave her a whip just for the dominatrix/sadism aesthetic.
  • If Looks Could Kill: Steranko personal assistant and assassin Ilsa Grunt is a ruthless, sadistic, and cold woman whose weapon of choice is a whip that she usually wears like an unassuming necklace, but can unfurl into a razor-sharp metallic bullwhip.
  • James Bond:
    • From Russia with Love: The film adaptation gives Colonel Rosa Klebb a riding crop during the scene where she interrogates Tatiana, to make her look even more authoritarian and imposing. Klebb uses it to great effect, lashing it on the table or in the chair when she wants to make a point.
    • Licence to Kill: Franz Sanchez is a Sadistic criminal who has a personal whip made from a stingray's tail and seems to frequently use it on his mistress to "discipline" her and keep her "in line". One scene has Bond seeing her Toplessness from the Back and being horrified by the whip marks that cover her back.
  • A Kid from Tibet: The Sorcerer's Sister is a stern and domineering Dark Action Girl clad in a dark Hell-Bent for Leather outfit and uses a whip as her primary weapon. She is also prone to use it to lash or strangle anyone who disrespects her brother and seems to enjoy playing with her opponents.
  • The Man Who Came Back: Even though slavery has officially ended, Billy Duke still carries a whip as he did when he was a slave owner and is not afraid to use it on his freed workers to keep them in line.
  • Matilda: Expanded from its role in the book, Miss Trunchbull carries her riding crop almost everywhere as a symbol of authority, often smacking it on surfaces to get the children's attention or to drive home a point.
  • Miracle: In preparation for taking on the Soviet hockey team, at the time the undisputedly best team on the planet eight years running, Herb Brooks puts his players through a grueling regiment to get their skill level and their ability to work together to a point that they can actually challenge the Russians. At Christmas time the guys get him and his assistant coach, Craig Patrick, gifts to "thank" them for their efforts. For Craig, they get a toy whistle (he's the one who sends them on their "herbie" exercises with a whistle blast), and for Herb, they get a whip.
    Herb: Oh, yes. The gift that keeps on giving.
  • Pirates of the Caribbean:
  • In Prehistoric Women, both Queen Kari and her guard captain use whips as weapons to assert their dominance over the slaves.
  • A Princesa Xuxa e os Trapalhões: Ratan, the main villain of the film and the Evil Overlord of planet Antar, wields an energy whip in the final fight against Princess Xaron and the Nameless Knight.
  • The Princess (2022): The Baroness Moira is a skilled whip-wielder with a sadistic and domineering personality who has a black leather attire. She even uses the whip to strangle people.
  • Real Men: Nick Pirandello meets a meek-looking young woman at a bar and accepts an invite to her place, where he finds her in dominatrix gear and cracking a whip saying, "On your knees, worm!" The ensuing scene is a montage of her subjecting him to various other forms of S&M, but whipping is the most prominent. Later, after the session is over, he asks her when it's his turn, and she replies, "This is your turn!"
  • Revenge of the Pink Panther: After returning to his apartment following a long evening out, Inspector Clouseau finds that in his absence, his manservant Kato has turned the place into a Chinese-themed brothel. The Madam, mistaking Clouseau for a customer, summons Tanya the Lotus Eater, a Caucasian Dominatrix carrying a whip, who immediately starts beating and snaring Clouseau repeatedly, right after he foolishly tries telling her that he's opposed to women's liberation. Needless to say, Tanya is definitely a take-charge lady.
  • The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Dr. Frank is a domineering Agent Peacock villain who owns a whip, and uses it mercilessly on Riff Raff after he lets Rocky escape. He's even Dressed Like a Dominatrix when he does it.
  • The Rundown: Hatcher's three toughest goons all use whips as their weapons. Given they're effectively slavers, it's not only effective symbolism but also a practical choice.
  • The Super Inframan: Princess Dragon Mom is a domineering and supremacist monarch of a monster army who wields a whip as her favored weapon, often brandishing it for emphasis when giving out orders.
  • Tom-Yum-Goong: Big Bad Madame Rose carries a whip. fitting with her being a ruthless and domineering Dragon Lady. She uses it to intrude in Kham's fight against the Giant Mook at the Final Battle.
  • The Warrior's Way: The Colonel is a vile Soft-Spoken Sadist who uses a whip as one of his weapons. Notably, he tortures and humiliates Ron by wrapping the whip's lash around him and then dragging him through the town behind his horse.
  • Ziegfeld Follies (1945): The Here's to the Beautiful Girls musical number features model Lucille Ball cracking a whip to coordinate a chorus of girls dressed in sexy panther outfits.

    Literature 
  • Angels of Music: One of Kate Reed's bizarre findings in her investigation of the Montmartre neighborhood is some attractive nuns wielding riding crops while giving their sermons, while also wearing fishnets under their habits.
  • Animal Farm has the pigs start to carry whips to show their overt abandonment of animal equality, immediately before we see the Seven Commandments replaced with the single law, "All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others."
  • Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest: Played for Laughs. Minor character Taeko Sugawara was an Ordinary High-School Student but after she was Trapped in Another World and she took the job of "Whip Master", she notably began to develop Sadist and Dominatrix tendencies the better she got with the whip. It's unknown if this is a side effect or if handling a whip just awoke that hidden side of her personality.
  • A Certain Magical Index: Silvia is a whip-wielding domineering woman with a sadistic streak. She has a habit of whipping Ollerus when he annoys her.
  • The Dark Elf Trilogy: The domineering Drow priestesses of Lolth all use whips, as it is the favored weapon of their goddess. Six-thonged, living, snake-headed whips that deliver poison when they bite. As a tyrannical Matriarchy society, drow priestesses often whip young male drow to hammer in their status as second-class citizens. Drizzt was raised and mentored by his older sister Vierna Do'Urden (a priestess of Lolth) and while she was a stern and authoritative teacher, she was considered "soft" on him by their elder sister Briza (a high priestess of Lolth who was far more sadistic) who pressured Vierna into starting to using the lash when he made mistakes to "motivate" him and teach him how to have been submissive to the supremacy of female drow. Vierna reluctantly complied and started to whip him when he made grave mistakes, which wielded results, but also damaged their relationship.
  • The Death Mage Who Doesn't Want a Fourth Time: Ervine wields a whip made from an antennae of the Demon King to highlight his sadistic tendencies and superiority complex against everyone else. In contrast, Van is not above using the whip in combat but finds more utility in using the antennae to communicate better with insects.
  • The Demon Princes: Darsh males are famed for their prowess with the whip and their culture has several sadomasochist and domineering tendencies. A traditional art form on their planet, Dar Sai, is a dance where nude young men are whipped into performing acrobatic maneuvers by an older male. Very young men - the Darsh culture is essentially one of institutionalized paederasty, bordering on (if not crossing over into) pedophilia. The Fourth demon prince, Lens Larque is supposedly an "artist" with his whip but we never get to see him use it.
  • Deverry: Played for Laughs. At one point Raena attacks Rhodry with a whip, for no apparent reason other than to continue her theme of trying and failing to be a stereotypical sexy villainess. Turns out, a whip isn't a particularly practical weapon, especially when you've no particular training with one, and Raena keeps getting it tangled up.
  • An Ember in the Ashes: Keris Veturia, the Commandant of Blackcliff Academy, has a whip as her favorite weapon, fitting for her cold, authoritative, and merciless nature. She's said to be quite ruthless to her students, but is particularly cruel to her slaves, forcing them to refer to themselves only as their role and personally punishes them with her whip if they use their own names.
  • The Eminence in Shadow: Lambda is a strict, no-nonsense training instructor, and wields a whip in combat to reflect how disciplined-minded she is.
  • The Faerie Queene: What weapon could Scorn itself use to torture its captives other than a whip?
  • For Your Eyes Only: Krest keeps a stingray tail as a whip, which he personally dubbed as "The Corrector", which he uses to punish his wife for perceived slights on her place in his household.
  • The Four Gospels: In John's account of the cleansing of the temple as he starts his ministry, Jesus does it wielding a whip of cordsnote . After this, the Jews ask for a sign from him, while after the other instance, the elders ask what authority he does this by. He refuses to answer directly, but it's made clear, he is the authority here.
  • In Helliconia Winter, Uuundaamp uses a whip to direct the asokins (horned dogs) that pull his sled. He also wields it in self-defense, and to haul open the gate of a kennel to turn several other sledge-drivers' ravenous asokins loose on his pursuers.
  • The Kingdom and the Crown: The cleansing of the temple is portrayed from the point of view of some of the people there that day. They watch Jesus overturn the money tables, order the merchandise taken out of the temple, and how anyone who works up the nerve to challenge him quickly capitulates after a crack from the whip.
  • Kushiel's Legacy: The Mandrake House adepts are sadomasochists who are skilled with using whips to extract both pain and pleasure.
  • Ōkami-san: Momoko Kibitsu wields a pair of whips, is the head of the school's discipline committee (despite being in violation of at least seven rules and two of the Ten Commandments, herself) and, in reference to the story of Momotaro, has three followers who would willingly and gladly give their lives for her "dumplings".
  • Overlord (2012): Aura is a Fluffy Tamer, and quite proficient with a whip, being able to use to it train and control beasts as well as being capable of using it in combat to personally slice up enemies. Ironically her appearance and personality are the opposite of what one expects from a whip wielder, being a tomboyish Genki Girl, although she's surprisingly dominant in her dynamic with her older brother Mare.
  • In the novelization of Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, one of the ways "Robbin' Big" Jack Horner's status as a Bad Boss is cemented is the fact he carries a whip with him, which he uses to sadistically whip his men and unicorns as they're navigating through a murky swamp.
  • Rebel Planet: Some Arcadian soldiers use whips as their main weapons, mostly for torture and intimidation purposes, to keep the Earth population "docile".
  • Redwall (1986): The Big Bad of the novel is a brutal rat warlord and slaver known as Cluny the Scourge, so named for his long whip-like tail - and his tendency to use it as an actual whip against captives and combatants alike. For good measure, he also equips it with a venom-tipped barb in battle.
  • The Saint: The Dragon of The Million Pound Day is a sadistic man who uses a whip as his favorite instrument of torture. At the orders of the Big Bad, he tries to use it on a (for once) tightly and efficiently bound Saint. Unfortunately for both underling and mastermind, the first stroke of the whip sets off a rage rising to temporary insanity that allows Simon to break his bonds. Simon then goes on to beat him with the whip.
  • The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System: Ren Zha Fanpai Zijiu Xitong: Fitting with her being a temperamental Spoiled Brat the weapon of choice of the Little Palace Mistress is a whip. In the original canon, she would use it to assert her dominance over Luo Binghe's other wives if they had his attention for too long.
  • Shades of Magic: Athos Dane carries a silver whip which appears to be enchanted to burn where it strikes, and which he uses liberally on those who cross him. Or just for fun.
  • The Shadowhunter Chronicles: Isabelle Lightwood is a haughty, bossy, alluring, and somewhat snobbish Shadowhunter whose primary weapon is an enchanted whip made of electrum (an alloy of gold and silver) that is able to cut through flesh and bone. And despite her girly personality, she actually really enjoys using it while Demon Slaying, and the fact she tends to fight with utter confidence while wearing dresses and Combat Stilettos also gives her a domineering air.
  • A Song of Ice and Fire:
    • Due to The Social Darwinist culture of the Dothraki, whips play a big part in their society. Whips are wielded by khalasar in order to control and punish their slaves, as well as their horses, and whips can also serve as weapons for high-ranking bloodriders. A silver-handled whip is a traditional gift at a Khal's wedding, given to his new bride, though she is expected to refuse and offer them to her new husband, as a sign of her being submissive to his authority. In the narrative, Jhogo, one of Drogo's bloodriders, is particularly skilled with the whip, and inherits Drogo's silver-handled whip when Dany asks him to become her bloodrider after Drogo dies.
    • In A Storm of Swords, when Daenerys buys a Badass Army of slaves, it's represented by the transfer of an ornate whip. As soon as she has it in hand, she lashes the slave master across the face and orders the army to kill its former owners.
  • Star Wars Legends:
  • Strike the Blood: Gigliora Ghirardi is a vampire with domineering vibes and a Stripperiffic attire who wields a custom magic whip called "Rosa Zombiemaker", which can enslave everyone remotely close to its impact. It even works on Familiars like Vatler's Sagara.
  • Sweet Ermengarde: Morally Bankrupt Banker Squire Hardman carries a riding crop with him as a symbol of his high status and villainy. He's described to be often twisting it or swishing it around.
  • The Talisman: Osmond, Morgan of Orris's right-hand man, carries a very nasty whip similar to a cat o' nine tails, and demonstrates his sadistic side by whipping a wagon driver to death for the crime of spilling a load of ale.
  • Tolkien's Legendarium: The hierarchy of the Orc's Always Chaotic Evil society prominently features a sadistic whip-wielding superior, be it a Drill Sergeant Nasty captain who's ruthlessly disciplining his men or forcing them into combat, to a taskmaster who's overseeing the slaves and dealing out punishments and torture. This is particularly emphasized in an incident Return of the King (in the book as well as the film) where Sam and Frodo are disguised as Orcs in order to approach Mount Doom, but end up being found by an Orc patrol while they were lying down in the side of the road resting. The Orc captain stays behind and starts whipping the Hobbits until they get up and join the forced marching, giving the quote "Where there's a whip there's a will", which is apparently the orc motto about hard work and perseverance. The quote actually inspired the catchy Villain Song in the The Return of the King animated film called "Where There's a Whip, There's a Way".
  • Tortall Universe: In Beka Cooper, Achoo is famous for being the best guard scent hound in the city but is treated very cruelly by his handler Ercole Hempstead, who constantly whips her. When Pounce and Beka witnessed this one day, they were both horrified and promptly strongarmed Escole into giving Achoo to them instead.
  • Unique: Invoked by Ophelia. Her clubbing outfit resembles so much what a dominatrix would wear that she points out that all that is missing to complete the look is a whip.
  • Venus in Furs: Played with. The core of Severin and Wanda's S&M is her whipping him. But he is the one that's being dominant and pushed Wanda to do it, and she's not very comfortable with it... at first. Eventually, she does turn into a Dominatrix of the very Sadist kind, and her whipping sessions actually start really hurting Severin, and he starts having second thoughts.
  • War of the Spider Queen: As expected from a priestess of Lolth, Quenthel Baenre is a domineering, haughty, and sadistic drow who wields the famed Snake Whip that is a status symbol among the clergy. Hers is a bit more special, as it has the essence of five imps attached to each of the snake heads, making it an Empathic Weapon that she can communicate with.
  • The Wheel of Time: Liandrin Guirale carries a whip to illustrate her nature as a Sadist who is obsessed with power and dominance, taking great joy in forcing people to grovel before her.
  • The Wingfeather Saga: The Overseer of the Fork Factory uses a whip to keep his "tools" in line, and for punishment.

    Live-Action TV 
  • Alias: "Phase One" opens with Sydney playing the part of a call girl to appease her target, with her being Dressed Like a Dominatrix, complete with a riding crop that she brandishes suggestively. But the target isn't into it and tells her to change into something else, as he apparently doesn't like being submissive to women. She comically gets peeved about this and brings it up later as she's garroting him.
  • Andro Melos Gina is a domineering Dark Action Girl whose custom weapon is a Bat Whip. She used it to whip her henchmen for their failures and as a weapon against the Andro Defense Force.
  • Babylon 5: "The Summoning": After being captured by the sadistic Emperor Cartagia, G'Kar is subjected to days of torture and humiliation for the amusement of the emperor and his court. Despite this, G'Kar refuses to scream or make any noise of pain, which frustrates Cartagia. Eventually he has G'Kar chained to a pole where a guard beats him with an electro-whip, which will kill him at forty strokes. Throughout the whipping, he still refuses to scream, literally to the last stroke, when he finally does, satisfying Cartagia's sadism. Notably there's a Call-Back to this scene when G'Kar returns there as a guest in "In the Kingdom of the Blind", when Vole attempts to taunt him by offering him the chance to whip the guard who whipped him, with the very same whip. G'Kar turns it down, saying the whipping was a show of Cartagia's sadism and need to establish dominance over him and not the guard's, comparing the guard to a hand that does as the heart commands it.
    G'Kar: The hand has no choice but to do as it is told. It is the heart that carries the burden, and that heart is dead in both of us, Minister. It died with Cartagia and it died in me soon after. Besides, everyone knows that the true source of pain is neither the hand nor the heart. It is the mouth, is it not, Minister?
  • Batman (1966): Fitting her domineering personality, this version of Catwoman occasionally had a Cat O' Nine Tails whip with her, though she mostly used it as a prop. One episode did show she had Knock Out Gas inside the whip which she could spray from the handle.
  • Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Downplayed with Faith. While she has obvious Dominatrix and domineering tendencies she's never actually shown with a whip, but she does tell a story about using a whip on an ex-boyfriend (and/or him on her?) and Cordelia once refers to Connor's attraction as "She cracked her whip, and you liked it".
  • CSI: Recurring character Lady Heather is a professional Dominatrix who runs an S&M club. In "Pirates of the Third Reich" she's shown to be quite skilled with the whip when she apparently captured her daughter's murderer using the whip she uses for her work and by the time Grissom finds her she has him tied to the grill of a car and is planning to whip him to death. Grissom even convinces her to stop by using to safeword, to further drive home the S&M theming.
  • Danger 5: In "Kill-Men of the Rising Sun", Jackson is forced to fight a whip-wielding mind-controlled Ilsa in a gladiator battle. Fittingly Dr. Mengele also specifically got her dressed in a dominatrix-themed gladiator attire.
  • Dollhouse: At the start of "A Spy in the House of Love", Echo wields a whip while acting the part of a Dominatrix to a client. She later uses it on Victor's handler just for the hell of it.
  • The Electric Company (1971): Otto the Director is a major Prima Donna Director who is obsessed with perfectionism, and she often has a riding crop with her to make her look even more like an over-the-top authoritarian.
  • Elementary: In "Poison Pen", the dominatrix that found Titus' body (Mistress Felicia) is holding a riding crop while speaking to the police and indicates she used it to try and get a response out of Titus before realizing he was dead. She later sends Sherlock a bullwhip as a thank-you gift, and he proves to be quite efficient at handling it, which Watson finds disturbing.
  • Gotham: Tabitha Galavan is a Dominatrix themed leather-clad criminal enforcer who fights with a bullwhip, for the extra symbology. She's the series version of a prototype Catwoman, to the point she becomes the Evil Mentor to Selina Kyle and even passes down her bullwhip to her.
  • Hogan's Heroes: Both Kommandant Klink and the recurring character Colonel Crittendon often carry a riding crop. They don't use them on their men, but it makes them look pompous and authoritarian military officers, especially when combined with their other overbearing regalia like Klink's High-Class Glass or Crittendon's Commissar Cap. (Crittenden outranks Hogan, and will therefore insist on being in charge when he's in Stalag 13, even though he messes things up).
  • Kamen Rider Double: Kyosui's main weapon is a whip, fitting with his domineering and sadomasochist personality. His taunts involve him talking about "punishing", often while brandishing or tugging his whip in a threatening manner. Even in his Luna Dopant form he gains two Combat Tentacles arms.
  • The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power: The Orcs wield whips fashioned from chains and nails, which are used to ruthlessly beat up and torture the people they enslaved.
  • Mendol Ikemen: Sakeo is a eccentric idol manager who is so strict and domineering that she uses a whip to intimidate the girls, hitting them with it whenever they're out partying, or doing something wrong. She also has a Dominatrix side and uses the whip for fetish purposes, often hitting her Cloudcuckoolander's Minder assistant with it (who groans in pleasure).
  • Preacher (2016): The Angel of Death is Satan's personal assistant, and she takes the form of a cold and domineering woman known as "Sydney" who uses a whip for combat, for subduing people, and for torture.
  • Super Sentai
  • Red Dwarf: "Demons and Angels" see a degenerate version of Rimmer called Low Rimmer wield a "holo-whip" and threaten to lash Lister to an inch of his life. Fittingly, he's a Creepy Crossdresser wearing a Dominatrix-type get-up who wants to "have" Lister.
  • Sherlock: Irene Adler is a ruthless Femme Fatale Spy that is introduced holding a riding crop, which features extensively in her website's photos, and uses it for reasons very different from Sherlock's.
  • Star Trek: The Original Series:
    • In "Patterns of Force", the SS Major is a cruel and sadistic Nazi officer who carries a cat o' nine tails and personally uses it on Kirk and Spock when interrogating them. He clearly wants to whip them more, but Chairman Eneg puts a stop to it while criticizing the Major for his sadistic inefficiency and saying that Torture Is Ineffective after a certain point.
    • In "Bread and Circuses", anyone who tries to get out of the gladiatorial combat gets whipped by the cruel overseers and forced back into the action.
  • Ultraman X: Gina Spectre's weapon of choice is a whip, fitting her status as a domineering and ruthless villainess. She also likes to use it to beat her minions when they fail her, as Aliens Shaplay and Magma found out after their first battle.
  • In Season 3 of Warehouse 13, one of the artifacts introduced is Cecil B. DeMille's riding crop. Thanks to his infamous reputation as a tyrannical director, its power is that of a Mind-Control Device that literally dominates its victim by controlling their body. Naturally it is possessed by the season's Big Bad and is used to memorable and distressing effect, particularly in the lead-up to the season finale.

    Manhua 
  • My Wife Is a Demon Queen: Played with with Tols Penny. She's an arrogant and cold woman who is an expert with a whip, which also complements her hidden sadomasochist and Ax-Crazy side, but the time she reveals that aspect of her character is when her whip has been destroyed and she has to morph it into a rapier instead.

    Music 
  • Judas Priest: "Love You to Death", from Ram It Down is a song about BDSM that kicks off with a whipcrack. The outro has Halford screaming in ecstasy as he's supposedly being whipped.
  • Bonnie Tyler: In the song "Holding Out For a Hero", the demonic outlaw cowboys use glowing neon whips to frighten and intimidate Bonnie during the music video.
  • NS Yoon-G: In the music video of "The Reason I Became a Witch", the ending has her taking her revenge on the man who has mistreated her, which involves her chaining him up and getting Dressed Like a Dominatrix as she whips him note , as symbolic of her newly gained dominance over him.
  • Orville Peck: "Take You Back (The Iron Hoof Cattle Call)" makes prominent use of a whip, and given it is a Break Up Song about never getting back together with the narrator's ex mixed with Orville's usual themes of Gay Cowboy and BDSM, it's likely it's just as much an affirmation that they reject their ex forcefully as much as it is a cowboy cliche.
  • Rihanna: "S&M", being an Obligatory Bondage Song, naturally has her singing about whips, with the lyrics talking about how they "excite her". The music video also has Rihanna wielding riding crops while acting domineering.

    Mythology 
  • Classical Mythology: The three Erinyes/Furies are ancient goddesses born from the spilled blood of Ouranus who serve as the strict and merciless wardens and jailers of the Underworld, being in charge of keeping the sinner's souls subjugated, as well as overseeing their eternal punishments. They're frequently described as carrying whips with which to beat their victims (though, uniquely, the whips are for torturing their minds, instead of their bodies) and their whips are coated with brass studs to make the whipping hurt more. As Anthropomorphic Personification of vengeance, they take sadistic joy in performing these whippings.
  • Mande Mythology: Maghan the Handsome used a magic whip to make Sogolon Konde submit to him.
  • The White Witch of Rose Hall: Annie, the eponymous witch, was a sadistic slave-owner aristocrat who is widely portrayed as using a bullwhip to intimidate and punish her slaves.

    Pinball 

    Podcast 
  • Wooden Overcoats: Marlene Magdelana is a domineering ringmaster who carries a whip with her everywhere and uses it to intimidate her subordinates (i.e., everyone). Georgie finds this impossibly sexy and turns into a babbling, smitten mess every time they're in the same room together, yet Marlene hardly takes notice.

    Professional Wrestling 
  • During the time Kimona Wanalaya was the Jung Dragons manager, she had a Dominatrix gimmick and always carried a riding crop with her which she occasionally used as a weapon.
  • Sgt. Slaughter frequently carries a riding crop (when not a swagger stick) with him as a prop to denote his gimmick as an authoritative and strict Drill Sergeant Nasty and he'd often talk about his "whipping people into shape" training method involved quite literal whipping.
  • WWE Tough Enough: When Linda Miles resurfaced as 'Shaniqua', she gained a Dominatrix gimmick and started wielding a riding crop whip (she later traded it with cat o' nine tails) and started wearing a black leather corset. She also now had a domineering attitude toward the Basham brother (to whom she was the manager), putting them in dog collars, having them Bound and Gagged, and often whipping them in the rear.

    Tabletop Games 
  • Cardfight!! Vanguard: Befitting their profession, most of the beast tamers and Dragon Tamer of the circus-themed clan Pale Moon wield whips to command their beasts. Of note is their leader "Mystic Luquier" who wields a variety of whips and has various powers about hypnosis and control. To really hammer in her "dominance" theme, she's also Dressed Like a Dominatrix and has a domineering personality.
  • Deadlands:
    • Mina Devlin is the ruthless and sadistic rail baron of Black River who subjugates her region with a mixture of seduction, violence, and intimidation. As such, while she's proficient with many weapons, her Iconic Item is her trademark bullwhip, which she's noted to be carrying at all times, and not only for its symbology, as she's also a Lady of Black Magic which means her whip is actually magical and a deadly weapon on par with a firearm.
    • The most elite of Mina Devlin's rail gangs are the Witchita Witches, an all-female gang of whip-wielding Hot Witches who are often Dressed Like a Dominatrix, with their black leather gear and Domino Masks. In particular, their leader Violet Esperanza always carries a bullwhip as her primary weapon and is often accompanied by her two Hellhounds which she keeps in check with the whip. She's infamous for her sadistic streak and domineering personality, to the point that her bullwhip eventually became a Relic that is capable of doing more damage than most rifles... but only when Violet wants it to.
  • Dungeons & Dragons:
    • Balors, the greatest demons of the Abyss aside from outright Demon Lords, Dual Wield a sword and flaming whip in combat. It's a nod to both their command over lesser demons and the balrogs that inspired them.
    • The favored weapon of the drow goddess Lolth is a Snake Whip and most of her priestesses wield them, fitting with the image of Lolth being a diabolical Control Freak who constantly seeks total domination of the dark elf society. The priestesses themselves often wear Stripperiffic outfits and have haughty and domineering attitudes.
    • Khurgorbaeyag is the goblin god of slavery and oppression and his symbol is a yellow-and-red striped leather whip. He himself specializes in fighting with his whip. A blow from his whip acts as a symbol of hopelessness, compelling those struck to promptly surrender to the wielder. If the victim can't resist, they can stay in a depressed state anywhere between a week and several months, depending on their willpower.
    • Starting from 5e, the Amnizu devils wield whips in combat, to symbolize their status as sadistic taskmasters who enjoy humiliating their lessers.
    • In the Forgotten Realms, Loviatar is the wife and consort of Bane, god of tyranny, oppression, and hatred, and is a goddess of pain, torture, and sadism in her own right. Whips are the favored weapon of her clergy, and a cat-o'-nine-tails with a bone handle, barbed strands, and bladed ends is both her holy symbol and signature weapon.
    • In Ravenloft the sacred weapon of the Lawgiver, a strict and inflexible deity of law, order, and obedience, is the whip.
  • Inquisitor: The Electro' Nine Tails, introduced at the same time as the Bosun Aberic Brawden model, is an electrified, multi-tailed whip intended to represent the harsh discipline common in Imperial Navy.
  • Iron Kingdoms:
    • Whips play a big part in Skorne Empire, with its warmogenring and enslaving culture.
      • The Paingiver Beast Handlers wield whips to symbolize the cruelty in how they subjugate, enslave, and tame their warbeasts. They also wield them in actual battle not only to command and direct the warbeasts but also as their own personal weapon, as the barbed whips can actually pierce heavy armor. One of the Skorne Empire's named characters who fit this archetype is Beast Master Xekaar, who is notable for Dual Wielding the barded whips.
      • The Paingiver Bloodrunner Master Tormentor is the highest ranking of the Paingiver units as well as their most sadist and cruel. Their signature weapon is a whip made of serrated blades, which are said to deal extreme agony to those struck by it.
    • Satyxis Raiders of Cryx wield enchanted bladed whips and are a fierce and sadistic Amazon Brigade unit. They often serve as officers in the Cryx navy, as their whips are an efficient tool to intimidate and discipline the crew.
  • Legend of the Five Rings: Whips in general are an exotic weapon and are mostly seen as a tool to exert control over beasts or other people (often enslaved), through pain compliance or fear of pain. Some notable whip users in the lore are:
    • The Taskmasters of the Yasuki family are cruel and ruthless whip-wielding sub-commanders who keep the rank-and-file in check with their whips. They also can control and "discipline" Mujina laborers. All of their techniques involve intimidation.
    • Matsu Beastmasters are a unit that specializes in taming and training Rokugan's natural predators for combat. Many of the best masters also used them in battle, not only as a weapon but also to direct their orders to their beasts.
    • Utaku Stablemasters are whip-wielding horse trainers who use their whips in their taming duties but can also use them effectively in combat, even being able to wield the whip while on horseback.
  • Magic: The Gathering:
    • Erebos is the ruthless ruler and strict warden of the Underworld and he fittingly has a custom whip as his weapon of choice, symbolic of his tyrannical authority. While his whip can be used as a weapon or a tool of punishment, its more frequent function is as a snare to pull the reluctant dead into his realm.
    • Tasigur is a sadistic Royal Brat ruler whose weapon is a long, sharp-tipped whip with multiple tails. He enjoys asserting his authority over those who can't fight back, which often manifests in him whipping people simply to sate his sadism and boredom. He's also known to lash his own subjects if they displease him, which is easy to do.
    • The "Demonic Taskmaster'' card features a demon taskmaster using a whip to command and discipline lesser demons.
  • In the Old World of Darkness game Midnight Circus, Devyn Cavendish naturally wields a whip as part of his stereotypical ringmaster getup. However, unlike most ringmasters, his whip isn't ceremonial: on top of being a Nephandi Barrabus, Cavendish is essentially a slavemaster and has been populating the ranks of the Circus with unwilling recruits gathered through brainwashing, ruinous debt, or flat-out kidnapping... and he's more than prepared to use his whip in recapturing runaways, as he does in the game book's introduction.
  • Pathfinder:
    • Calistria is the goddess of lust and revenge, and although she's more of a hedonist she also has Dominatrix overtones thanks to her representing the "kinkier" parts of love and her association with pain and domination. Unsurprisingly, her favorite weapon is the whip, and she herself is often seen wielding one in the artwork. Her clergy is also known to wield it, and it's implied that, given the standard occupation of much of her clergy, it sees lots of out of combat use.
    • Extinction Curse has Big Bad Mistress Dusklight, who is the Repulsive Ringmaster of the Celestial Menagerie who not only is a major Bad Boss who mistreats all of her performers but also has a domineering personality that delights in having living beings submit to her. Appropriately, her main weapon is the Whip of Compliance, a magical whip that allows her to exert some control over any beast that is struck by it.
  • Rocketmen: The Legion of Terra commander, Ivana wields an energy whip as her main weapon. It's capable of long-reaching melee strikes, firing ranged attacks, and allows her to swing across a battlefield, which she demonstrates as the final boss of the video game.
  • Warhammer:
    • The Forces of Chaos present in Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40,000, Warhammer: Age of Sigmar have a variety of whip users:
      • Whips are particularly associated with Slaanesh due to their theme of hedonism, sadism, and pleasure. Many Slaaneshi units, both mortal and demonic are armed with them in combat.
      • The Lash of Submission is a Slaaneshi spell that temporarily brings an enemy squad under the caster's domination.
      • The Steeds of Slaanesh are designed to resemble whips, with one of their names actually being Whips of Slaanesh. Their tails and tongue are also whip-like.
      • Many Daemonettes wield whips in their non-mutated arms.
      • The Alluresses who ride atop Seeker Chariots are armed with a pair of lashes of torment rather than the crab-like claws that most Daemonettes sport. They use these long, multi-tailed barbed whips to drive the Steeds of Slaanesh pulling the Chariot to extra speed or as actual weapons.
      • As the greatest creations of the deity of sadists, some Keepers of Secrets go into battle with living demonic whip. They are able to unleash flurries of powerful blows with these weapons with pinpoint accuracy, both at range and in the close confines of melee combat.
      • Slaaneshi Daemon Princes are known to wield demonic whips, both as weapons and to command and "punish" their own troops.
      • Chaos Lords, Heralds, and Chosen of Slaanesh wield demonic empowered wields and are actually able to fight with them effectively in battle despite being mortals.
      • Some of Khorne's Bloodthirster generals are known to wield giant barded whips in their off-hand, which they mainly use to drive lesser daemons into a frenzy or to hit enemies trying to stay out of their melee range (in close combat they rather use enormous demonic-axes). Many of those whips are made out of the cured hides of Slaaneshi worshippers, and each snap makes the sound of moans and screams. One of their hosts, the Bloodthirsters of Unfettered Fury, is said to specialize in wielding these.
    • Warhammer 40,000:
      • The Mistresses of Repentance of the Sisters Repentia wield a pair of neural whips that deliver a psycho-shock to the target, damaging their nervous system. How these weapons work in the game varies depending on the edition with most versions making neural whip more powerful the lower the target's Leadership characteristic. They have a heavy BDSM theme, being called "Mistresses" and having outfits that resemble that of a dominatrix, though in personality they act more like flagellant fanatics. Notably, before the battle each Mistress gives a Sister of Repentia a lash to "motivate" them.
      • The Dark Eldar/Drukhari faction of Aeldari have several different whip-like weapons, fitting with the vicious slaver and S&M themes of the faction. The most common one is the Agoniser, which causes the victim's nervous system to go haywire, burning out their nerves and inflicting horrible pain. Then there's the Electrocorrosive Whip, an electrified whip designed to cause debilitating pain and sap the victim's strength. Drukhari Wytches sometimes use Razorflails which are Whip Swords that can switch between sword- and whip-forms at the user's will. Besides these exotic weapons, Drukhari Beastmasters often use regular bullwhips to goad their Beast of Battle into combat.
    • Warhammer Fantasy
      • The Dark Elves, or the Druchii as a whole are commonly associated with whips, due to their sadistic and hedonist culture that is obsessed with domination in all its forms:
      • Dark Elf slave overseers and taskmasters carry whips in order to control and punish slaves. They're so sadistic with their whips that they often go overboard, which is partly why dark elf slaves are known to meet a premature end.
      • Dark Elf beastmasters are known to be extremely cruel in handling and taming their animals, from horses to War Hydras and other Beast of Battle. This is symbolized by their weapon of choice being long barbed whips, which they don't only use to just tame and goad their beasts, since these whips are designed to inflict pain on large thick-skinned monsters, making them quite deadly against conventional enemies.
      • Sisters of Slaughter are a female unit of gladiatrixes armed with barded whips designed to mutilate their enemies. They are infamous for their fanatical devotion to Khaine (The elven god of murder) and they fight with sadistic glee.
      • In life, The Tomb King's Necrotects were ruthless and stern taskmasters who oversaw thousands of Nehekharans slaves as they toiled under the blazing sun, and if the workers even so much as faltered, it was the Necrotect's duty to whip them to motivate and force them to keep working. As Tomb Kings, the Necrotect now work as army overseers and wield those whips as their personal weapon. They still whip some of their troops to discipline them, and despite the fact these soldiers are now skeletons, it still seems to work.
      • Khazrak One-Eye is one of the most ruthless Beastlords among the Beastman and one who has complete dominance of his tribe, and appropriately his personal weapon is a scourge whip. It is said that the mere sight of his whip has stayed the hands of Beastmen and prevented infighting amongst his horde.
      • Throt the Unclean is a Skaven Master Mutator whose unique weapon is the Whip of Domination, a special whip made from Minotaur-hide and cured in Troll digestive juices. He uses it both as a weapon and to control his mutated beasts.
      • In Mordheim, the Sisters of Sigmar have steel whips as a unique weapon available to members of the warband. Made from lengths of barbed chain, these whips are impossible to parry and tie into the Warband's fanatically religious visual theme with images of chastisement and flagellation.
  • The Yellow King The hard resin whip known as the cambuk was used by riot police to command obedience. Police no longer use them, and anyone openly carrying one risks being spat on in the street, or worse.

    Theatre 
  • Legally Blonde: Brooke's solo song "Whipped into Shape" has her wielding an actual whip (called Cardio Whip 5000) to illustrate how comically strict she is as a fitness instructor. In the lyrics, she also mentions how the whip can serve as a self-defense weapon against guys.
    You'll have him whipped into shape
    When you get grief from a guy
    Just work him over with this
    Til he starts to cry

    Visual Novels 

    Web Animation 

    Webcomics 
  • Black Label: Meg, a dominatrix, discusses this trope in one strip. While she keeps a whip on her, it is only for the sake of atmosphere. And being the good domme that she is, she refuses to actually use it as she finds it too dangerous outside of it just being a prop.
  • Chitra: Played with. In Chapter 12, Chitra pulls the 3-star item "Holy Priestess Leather Whip", a magical item that once belonged to the Goddess of Domination. It grants her the ability to buff an ally's stats or decrease an enemy's stats whenever she lands a hit. Despite her initial reluctance to use the item (not wanting to look like a Dominatrix and all), Radelk insisted that she learn how to use it if only for self-defense. Several dozen chapters later, her training leads to Chitra becoming proficient at using the whip in limited combat. She also uses its stat-boosting effects in training/ socializing the feral elvish twins Green and Gray — gently tapping them with the lash at the end of the whip is enough to impart the ally-buffing effects.
  • Collar 6:
    • Mistress Sixx wields a riding cop as her primary weapon and is the Dominatrix protagonist of the story, as one of the heads of the "Global Dominance Association". She even refers to her employers as her "slaves".
    • Mistress Sardonyx is also armed with a riding crop and is a Dominatrix with an equestrian motif, being able to use her whip to tame other doms, literally turning them into ponies.
  • Dan and Mab's Furry Adventures: Head combat instructor Quill has a domineering persona and is skilled with a whip, and she's shown to like using on her lover Jacob for kinky reasons while Dressed Like a Dominatrix.
  • Erfworld: At first, the reader is led to believe Wanda's "hobbies" is simply playing the role of a Torture Technician when she visits the captured Jillian in the dungeon, and Stanley seems to believe the same. But it's soon made clear that Wanda and Jillian just have an odd BDSM-fueled relationship, which just happens to involve Wanda dressing in a bondage-themed outfit and whipping the submissive and captive Jillian with a cat-o-nine-tails while faux interrogating her and their dialogue implies these whipping sessions are a regular thing. The mook guarding the door outside even notes that the screams he heard were not pleas for mercy. It's later revealed that Wanda is using these whipping sessions to secretly manipulate and control Jillian via More than Mind Control methods.
  • Girl Genius: Tarvek's grandma Terebithia is a stern Evil Matriarch who has quite the reputation for using a whip. When she talks to Tarvek about whipping her servants into shape, she makes it clear it's not just an expression when she says she can't do it as well anymore because "her shoulders aren't what they used to be". She also implies she used her whip on her husband for kinky reasons, much to Tarvek's distress.
  • Homestuck: The signature weapon of Snowman, one of the leaders of the Felt criminal gang and the deposed Black Queen of Derse, is a long bullwhip. She's a cold and domineering figure, and in her confrontations with the rival gang leader Spades Slick, she typically seeks to maim or humiliate him, such as by casually putting out his eye or by tearing off his arm with her whip, instead of trying to kill him for good, as she's ultimately more interested in keeping up her dominance games.
  • Metacarpolis: Cecily Crane is the haughty and domineering CEO of Doomcorps and she's often seen carrying a riding crop or an actual whip, as a visual illustration of her personality. Her ex-boyfriend Max also heavily implies she was a Dominatrix to him when they were together.
  • Noblesse:
    • Dr. Aris is a Cute and Psycho scientist with a very demanding and overbearing personality who doesn't admit anyone disobeying or criticizing her orders. Apropprietly, she's skilled at fighting with whips, with her nano-suit even coming equipped with two Lightning Lash and she becomes even more sadistic and domineering when she wields them in battle.
    • Ignes Kravei's soul weapon is a whip, fitting her haughty, egocentric, and domineering personality and her supremacist goals.
  • Pastamonsters: Zalgo's forces wield whips which they use to control and order around slaves, and they take sadistic joy in doing it.
  • Spinnerette: Evil Spinnerette is a whip-totting domineering supervillainess, as fitting since In-Universe she's based on a Lolth priestess from Dungeons & Dragons.

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Deliver Us

The enslaved Hebrews begin "Prince of Egypt" by praying to God for deliverance from slavery, and the song plays again twice at the end once the Hebrews are freed.

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