Captors

Captor is a noun referring to a person or group who captures another person. The term is used across legal, journalistic, and fictional contexts to designate the aggressor in episodes of detention, kidnapping, or hostage-taking. The counterpart of a captor is the captive, the person who has been seized. The word derives from the Latin capere 'to seize', with the agent-noun suffix -or, and was in use in English by the early modern period.

In military contexts, captors secure enemy personnel or objects during combat and may detain prisoners of war; in civilian or criminal contexts, the term is used for kidnapper or abductor. The legal status and rights of captives depend on the context: prisoners of war are protected under international humanitarian law, while civilians seized in conflict may be treated as detainees or hostages; kidnapping and unlawful detention are criminal offenses in most jurisdictions.

In media and culture, captors are often depicted as antagonists in stories about captivity, escape, or negotiation. The term is synonymous with abductor or kidnapper in everyday usage, though nuance varies by legal framing and severity of the act. See also prisoner of war, hostage, kidnapping, abduction, detention, captivity.