In reality, in England and in English colonies like Massachusetts, burning at the stake was reserved for women commoner traitors note Noble traitors of both sexes were beheaded commoner male traitors were hanged, drawn, and quartered, women who killed their husbands (even in self-defense this was seen as a form of treason, hence the use of the same punishment) and for heretics. The convicted were hanged - and indeed, those who 'confessed' were held to answer more questions and freed when the hunt was stopped. In particular, one of the most famous episodes of witch-hunting, the Salem Witch Trials, featured no burnings at all. These are not historically accurate, for the most part, being depicted in places and times when there were no witch-hunts, or misrepresenting ones that did occur. This trope is often the climax of a classical Witch Hunt in media, with plenty of Torches and Pitchforks to go around. It's usually a woman or girl in these situations: Sprenger and Kramer, the authors of the infamous Malleus Maleficarum, explicitly stated that '.this heresy is not of villains, but of villainesses, and thus it is noted so.' When a community with a superstitious mindset suspects someone in their midst of magical or otherwise unusual powers, especially if unexplained stuff such as kids disappearing has been happening, their response will usually be to root the person out to take the blame and some burning at the stake.

Tvtropes burn the rope