List of dominatrices in popular culture
Appearance
A dominatrix (plural dominatrices or dominatrixes) or mistress is a woman who takes the dominant role in bondage and discipline, dominance and submission or BDSM.
As fetish culture is increasingly becoming more prevalent in Western media, depictions of dominatrices in film and television have become more common.
In film
Year | Country | Title | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1962 | United States | The Counterfeit Traitor | Ingrid Van Bergen is a leather-clad dominatrix/resistance fighter in WWII yarn. |
1963 | United States | The Balcony | Actress Ruby Dee plays out a dominatrix scene for a judge/client. |
1964 | United States | Olga's House of Shame, White Slaves of Chinatown, Olga's Girls | Sexploitation trilogy, all from 1964, with Audrey Campbell as Olga, sadistic mistress of a white slavery ring. |
1967 | United States | Venus in Furs | Sexploitation film directed by Joseph Marzano loosely based on the novella by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch. |
1969 | Italy | Venus in Furs | Based on the Sacher-Masoch story, directed by Massimo Dallamano. (Not to be confused with the Jess Franco horror film also from 1969.) |
1976 | France | Maîtresse | Gérard Depardieu becomes involved with dominatrix Bulle Ogier. |
1982 | United States | Eating Raoul | housewife plays Doris the Dominatrix at swingers' parties and coaches Mary Woronov's character. |
1983 | Germany | A Woman in Flames | Gudrun Landgrebe portrays a woman who becomes a dominatrix. |
1983 | United States | Working Girls | Filmmaker Lizze Borden's movie shows a day in life of a small Manhattan bordello, including a vivid domination scene. |
1985 | Germany | Seduction: The Cruel Woman | Inspired by Venus in Furs, this is a study of a dominatrix who takes on both male and female slaves. |
1986 | UK | Sid and Nancy | Nancy works with a dominatrix |
1987 | UK | Personal Services | Lots of different scenes |
1992 | Japan | Tokyo Decadence | Miho Nikaido portrays a timid call girl who does a kinky session with a male client and female dominatrix. |
1992 | United States | Body of Evidence | Madonna portrays a dominatrix who seduces and sexually humiliates her lawyer. |
1992 | United States | Batman Returns | The character Catwoman who is played by Michelle Pfeiffer wears a skin-tight latex catsuit and wields a long whip. |
1994 | United States | Exit to Eden | Comedy with Dana Delany as the dominatrix owner of an S&M resort. |
1994 | United States | Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult | A dominatrix works at the fertility clinic Frank goes to. |
1995 | The Netherlands | Venus in Furs | Faithful adaptation of the Sacher-Masoch novella. |
1995 | United States | Batman Forever | The villain Two-Face has two gun molls named Sugar and Spice. Spice is a dominatrix who wears a black leather corset and represents his "bad" side, while Sugar wears a white laced corset and represents his "good" side. (But both girls are very evil.) |
1996 | United States | Fetishes | A documentary by Nick Broomfield filmed at New York City's Pandora's Box, an SM/fetish parlour. |
1996 | United States | Barb Wire (film) | Pamela Anderson plays a female bounty hunter and mercenary in post-apocalyptic America who during one scene poses as a dominatrix prostitute in order to capture a wanted criminal. She also wears many revealing skin-tight leather outfits throughout the movie. |
1997 | United Kingdom | Preaching to the Perverted | Comedy with Guinevere Turner as the dominatrix owner of a notorious English S&M club. |
1997 | United States | Booty Call | A scene towards the end of the movie where Vivica A. Fox dresses up as a dominatrix and prepares to have sex with Jamie Foxx who is tied to a bed in a gimp outfit. |
1998 | United States | Bride of Chucky | Jennifer Tilly plays the girlfriend of the serial killer Chucky who is trapped inside a doll's body. During one scene she ties a man down to a bed in handcuffs and does a sexy dance for him in a dominatrix outfit so that she can lure Chucky into murdering him. |
1999 | United States | Body Shots | Emily Procter plays a dominatrix who binds and paddles Ron Livingston. |
1999 | United States | Payback | Lucy Liu portrays a sadistic dominatrix who is the leader of a gang of Chinese Triads |
1999 | United States | The General's Daughter | Leslie Stefanson's character is shown on a tape watched by John Travolta's character as acting the role of a dominatrix with a male partner |
2000 | United States | Dancing at the Blue Iguana | Jennifer Tilly plays a stripper in S&M outfits and part-time dominatrix seen in an extensive scene bullying a male client. |
2001 | United States | Tomcats | Heather Stephens plays an "innocent librarian" who turns out to be a lifestyle dominatrix. She then proceeds to torture Michael, played by Jerry O'Connell. |
2002 | United States | The Fashionistas | Award-winning pornographic film from Evil Angel explores the world of fetish fashion, BDSM, and kinky sex. |
2003 | United States | American Wedding | During a bachelor party there is a scene involving two strippers: one dressed like a dominatrix police woman and the other dressed like a French maid. |
2004 | United States | Bettie Page: Dark Angel | Biopic recreates many of her sub/dom fetish films for Irving Klaw. |
2004 | United Kingdom | The Dominatrix | Drama about the life of a career Dom. |
2004 | United States | EuroTrip | Comedy with Lucy Lawless as a German dominatrix in an Amsterdam S&M club. |
2004 | United States | Going Under | Drama about the relationship between a married man and a partnered dominatrix. |
2005 | United States | Reefer Madness | Kristen Bell is seen as a dominatrix while singing "Little Mary Sunshine" |
2005 | United States | Mr. & Mrs. Smith | Angelina Jolie's character poses as a dominatrix to assassinate a target |
2005 | United States | Bettie Page: Bondage Queen | Cult Epics DVD compilation of Irving Klaw's 1950s BDSM fetish films featuring Bettie Page as both dominatrix and damsel-in-distress. |
2006 | United States | Shortbus | Comedy-drama featuring the professional dominatrix Severin who wants to help Sofia to loosen up sexually so that she can have her first orgasm. |
2006 | Germany | Hounded (de:Verfolgt (2006)) | A middle-aged female probation officer enters a dominant relationship with one of the young male delinquents she works with. |
2007 | Canada | Walk All Over Me | Comedy-drama with Tricia Helfer as a professional dominatrix. |
2007 | Japan | New Tokyo Decadence - The Slave | Dominatrix turned secretary is blackmailed into being an S&M slave by her boss. |
2009 | United States | Modern Love is Automatic | A bored nurse moonlights as a dominatrix for hire. |
2009 | United States | Brüno | A homosexual Austrian fashion reporter has an experience with a dominatrix. |
2009 | United States | Frat Party | A frat party, has an extended scene in the frat house "dungeon" with a dominatrix. |
2009 | United States | My Normal | The story of Natalie, a young lesbian, who's struggling to find a balance between her dreams of becoming a film maker and her lifestyle as a dominatrix |
2012 | United States | American Reunion | Michelle dresses up as a dominatrix and makes her husband Jim dress up as a gimp so that they can have "romantic" sex. |
2014 | Australia | My Mistress | A teenage boy struck by a family tragedy sparks a relationship with a French middle aged professional dominatrix. |
In television
Year | Season | Show | Episode(s) | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1992-2005 | Several | The Powerpuff Girls | "Mommy Fearest" (first appearance) and many recurring appearances | Sedusa is a villain on the series who wears a red leotard, black leggings with red fishnets, red thigh-high high-heeled boots, and red opera gloves. She also can use her hair as a whip. | |
1993 | VI | Red Dwarf | Psirens | Samantha Robson is dressed as a dominatrix to play an alien disguised as Pete Tranter's sister, a teenager Lister lusted after during his adolescence. | |
1998–1999 | Three | Buffy the Vampire Slayer | The Wish and Doppelgangland | The alternate universes "Vampire Willow" is shown as a dominatrix like character, who tortures the character Angel in an overtly sexual way akin to BDSM. When Vampire Willow is later described to the real Willow by Buffy, she says "It was exactly you, Will, every detail. Except for your not being a dominatrix... as far as we know." | |
2000 | Two | Family Guy | Let's Go to the Hop | Gag depicts main characters Lois and Peter suiting up for a sadomasochistic session (Lois as a dominatrix) while carrying on a conversation about how to protect their children from the new "Toad" drug craze. The scene ends with Lois telling Peter the safeword for the session and Peter telling her he loves her and the session commences (and the scene ends). | |
2000 | One | Jack of All Trades | X Marquis the Spot | Angela Dotchin pretends to be a dominatrix at the S&M island resort of the Marquis de Sade. | |
2003 | Two | Alias | Second Double | Jennifer Garner goes undercover as a German dominatrix in a Berlin leather bar. | |
2004–2005 | One | Desperate Housewives | Come Back to Me | In one scene, Sharon Lawrence plays a dominatrix who walks across Rex Van de Kamp's back in stiletto heels | |
2005 | Three | NCIS | Kill Ari (Part 1) | In the aftermath of agent Kate Todd's (Sasha Alexander) death, McGee (Sean Murray) remembers her initially as Trinity from The Matrix, then as a dominatrix. | |
2005 | One | House M.D. | Love Hurts | A 21-year-old male was diagnosed with an aneurysm. Chase reveals that the woman visiting the patient is a dominatrix after finding her choking him during a visit. | |
2001–2011 | Several | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | Slaves of Las Vegas, Lady Heather's Box, Pirates of the Third Reich, The Good, the Bad, and the Dominatrix, Leave Out All the Rest, Unleashed | Several stories with BDSM themes plus six episodes featuring Melinda Clarke as Lady Heather, a dominatrix who owns a fetish club. | |
2007 | Nine | Holby City | The Q Word | A PVC clad dominatrix brings a client to Holby City Hospital with a stiletto heel puncturing his chest. | |
2007 | One | Secret Diary of a Call Girl | 1.4 (no title) | In the 4th episode, "Belle" (Billie Piper) takes BDSM lessons from a professional dominatrix to please a submissive client. | |
2008 | Two | Private Practice | Past Tense | KaDee Strickland is seen roleplaying as a German dominatrix in a latex outfit with studded collar and whip. | |
2008-2009 | Two | Legend of the Seeker | Jessica Marais plays Mistress Denna, tasked with torturing and breaking the Seeker's spirit. | ||
2009 | One | Dollhouse | Spy in the House of Love | Echo (Eliza Dushku), is seen as a leather-clad whip-wielding dominatrix. | |
2009 | Two | 1000 Ways to Die | Domin-a-Dead (a.k.a. Rubbered Out) | Episode where dominatrix gags a guy with a severe allergy to rubber latex | |
2009 | Five | Rescue Me | Initiation | Callie Thorne's character seduces Tommy (Denis Leary) dressed as a cheerleader, Playboy bunny and latex-clad dominatrix. They are seen briefly paddling each other in a fast-motion sequence. | |
2009 | Two | Castle | The Mistress Always Spanks Twice | The body of a woman covered in caramel sauce is found hanging from playground equipment in a park, prompting the team to venture into the world of bondage and fetish clubs. | |
2012 | Two | Sherlock | A Scandal in Belgravia | Irene Adler is a professional dominatrix. | |
2013 | Survivor: Caramoan | Survivor | Phillip Sheppard assigns Corinne Kaplan with the codename "Dominatrix"[1] | ||
2016 | Several | Billions | Maggie Siff plays the role of Wendy Rhoades, a psychiatrist at the fictional firm Axe Capital and dominatrix mistress of her husband, Chuck Rhoades. | ||
2019 | Several | Ingraham Angle | Laura Ingraham bosses a bunch of men around. Alludes to Hannity wearing a collar and leash. | ||
2019 | One | Bonding |
In gaming
1991 | Japan | Streets of Rage | A whip-wielding dominatrix named Nora serves as the game's only common female enemy. She attacks the player with her whip and at later levels gets the ability to do a crouch to avoid attacks by the player. |
1991 | Great Britain | Battletoads | The primary villain of the franchise is the Dark Queen, a sexy, voluptuous woman wearing a dominatrix-style leotard and cape. |
1993 | Japan | Streets of Rage 2 | Another dominatrix named Electra replaces Nora as the common female enemy. She wields an electric whip. |
1994 | Japan | Streets of Rage 3 | Electra returns once again as one of the common female enemies. |
1995 | Japan | Battle Arena Toshinden | The character Sofia wears skin-tight black latex clothing, and uses a whip as her weapon. Pre-launch advertising for the Sony PlayStation played up Sofia's dominatrix aspect. |
1997 | Japan | Castlevania: Symphony of the Night | One of the boss enemies, known as The Succubus, dresses in dominatrix attire. She is also a very cruel and sadistic demon who tortures the main character Alucard psychologically by disguising herself as his dead mother. |
1998 | Japan | Soul series of video games | Playable character Ivy Valentine is based on the concept, given her sexy, skimpy outfits, whip like weapon, and her dialogue that strongly suggests she "punishes" her opponents while fighting them. |
2001 | Japan | Ace Attorney series | Prosecutor Franziska von Karma, daughter of Manifred von Karma, the main antagonist in the original game. Her outfit consists of a tight blouse with leather gloves, fishnet stockings, and stiletto heels, and carries a whip or riding crop that she uses as both a tool of intimidation and affection. |
2001 | United States | Cel Damage | One of the playable characters is named Dominique Trix, a play-on-words of "dominatrix". She wears a skimpy black top, a short black skirt that accents her buttocks, and long black gloves and boots. On the box art and menus, she is depicted as wielding a whip, and choosing her from the character select screen plays the sound of a whip crack. Her dialogue includes lines such as, "I am the queen of pain," "That's why I'm on top," and, "You'd look good in handcuffs." |
2003 | Japan | Castlevania: Lament of Innocence | A different Succubus (who is also dressed in dominatrix attire) appears as one of the boss enemies in this game. She attempts to trick the main character Leon Belmont by disguising as his fiancé, but when he doesn't fall for her trick she reveals her true form and fights him. She too is a sadistic demon who believes that Leon will look even more handsome with his "face warped in pain". |
2003 | United States | True Crime: Streets of L.A. | A Russian mob boss named Rocky owns a private S&M club where dominatrixes perform services for male clientele. While infiltrating the club you will have to fight the women who work there and their clients, who are all dressed in black S&M attire. |
2004 | Japan | Silent Hill 4: The Room | Though maybe not intentionally a dominatrix, the character Eileen Galvin can be given a riding crop found later in the game as a weapon to defend herself from monsters. She also has a very revealing nurse costume that can be unlocked. |
2004 | Japan | Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly (known as Zero: Akai Chou in Japan) | Twin sisters Mio and Mayu Amakura both have an unlockable "Bondage" costume. Mio's outfit is black leather while Mayu's outfit is red leather. |
2004 | United States | Rumble Roses | Mistress Spencer is a playable character as a Dominatrix. |
2004 | United States | World of Warcraft | Succubi are demons who dress in dominatrix attire and use whips to attack the player. |
2005 | Japan | Haunting Ground (known as Demento in Japan) | The game's heroine Fiona Belli gets a variety of unlockable outfits, one of them being a very revealing dominatrix costume that comes with a whip that can be used as a weapon. |
2007 | Japan | Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles | The fiancé of the main character Richter Belmont becomes a dominatrix-clad vampire if you fail to rescue her. She also bears a strong resemblance to the succubi from other Castlevania video games. |
2007 | UK | Heavenly Sword | One of King Bohan's generals is a dominatrix named Whiptail who is also his mistress. She attacks using a long whip. |
2008 | United States | Fallout 3 | Some of the Raiders wear outfits that are called "Raider Sadist Armor", which basically looks like a dominatrix outfit. While you may think that this outfit would be sexy for your female character to wear, a disturbing feature of the outfit is the fact that it has two severed hands hanging from the belt. |
2009 | Japan | Resident Evil 5 (known as Biohazard 5 in Japan) | One of the villains in the game named Excella Gionne, who is also a playable character in the mini game The Mercenaries Reunion, behaves very much like a dominatrix. Although She doesn't wear typical dominatrix attire her melee attacks consist of many slaps and heel stomps and she speaks in a very sexually demeaning way while using voice commands or taunts. Plus it's pretty obvious from her behavior that she gets sadistic pleasure out of killing enemies. |
2009 | Japan | Bayonetta | The black-suited heroine is based on the concept, using "Punish attacks" that include spanking. The weapon Kulshedra (and Jeanne's equivalent, Vritra) is a whip that resembles a python. The "Umbran Elegance" (costume) that can be worn when using said weapon gives Bayonetta or Jeanne a dominatrix mask, and long gloves and boots. |
2010 | United States | Fallout: New Vegas | This game features many prostitutes, some of which appear to be dominatrixes. |
2011 | UK | Batman: Arkham City | The character Catwoman is a dominatrix supervillain who wields a long whip. |
2012 | Japan | Hyperdimension Neptunia series | One of the main characters, Plutia, is a sadistic, scantily-clad dominatrix wielding a whip sword when in her goddess form Iris Heart. |
2013 | Japan | The Wonderful 101 | Wonder-Pink uses a whip as her weapon, and some of her dialogue is rather suggestive, such as, "Bad boy!" and, "Time for a little punishment!" |
2014 | Japan | Ultra Street Fighter IV | Originally from the Final Fight franchise, the character Poison is a dominatrix fighter who uses a short whip and handcuffs to fight her opponent. |
In advertisement
theTVBoss.org | One of the TV Commercials advertising for the V chip to protect children from inappropriate programs features a dominatrix named Mistress Mandy who is standing in a living room with a married couple. The couple explain to her that while they do enjoy her show, they are going to block her so that their children won't see it. |
Wonderful Pistachios | One of the television commercials in the ″Wonderful Pistachios - Get Crackin″ series features a dominatrix who cracks open a pistachio using a whip; the commercial generated some complaints and controversy.[2] The dominatrix was portrayed by real-life professional dominatrix, Mistress Isabella Sinclaire. |
In comic books and manga
Year | Country | Series | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1980 | United States | X-Men | Emma Frost was a dominatrix while a villain, and continues to dress as one after reforming. |
1986 | United States | Batman: Year One | In a retelling of Batman's origins, Selina Kyle (alias Catwoman) appears as a dominatrix in a slum neighborhood of Gotham City. As some fans and authors took objection to this depiction, conflating it with prostitution, future Batman writers explained the situation as an undercover operation to further her "true" career of cat-burglar by targeting rich patrons. |
2008 | United States | Secret Six | Jeannette, once the "favorite" servant of sadistic serial killer Countess Elizabeth Báthory, and intended to be her final victim, she is now a banshee and assassin with similar methods. She tortures victims to death using dominatrix methods. |
2008 | United States | X-Men Legacy | Miss Sinister (a clone of the villainous Mr. Sinister) dresses like one. |
2009 | Japan | One Piece | Sadi-Chan, the sadistic leader of the demon guardians in the World Government's horrid prison Impel Down is based on the concept, having a sexy devil-themed outfit and using typical dominatrix methods on inmates -- often lethally. |
2011 | Japan | Prison School | Meiko Shiraki, the antagonist's main enforcer, is based on the concept, a sadist and exhibitionist who uses such methods to punish students. |
2017 | Japan | My Hero Academia | Nemuri Kayama, aka Midnight, a pro-heroine and emcee of the U.A. Sports Festival; her skintight, suggestive outfit includes a dominatrix mask, handcuffs on her wrists, thigh-high stockings, black knee boots, and a whip. Her previous costume was even more risque, resulting in the authorities passing the "Hero Costume Skin Exposure Limitation Act", which outlawed such outfits. |