History Main / AbductionIsLove

* ''Fanfic/TheCoffinOfRobouteAndHis20Sisters'': On Macragge, the traditional courting procedure consists of a highly ritualized kidnapping ritual, where the prospective groom, at least one week following a formal declaration of intent, must successfully kidnap his desired from her family compound while tying a belt or collar to her somewhere, and defend against counterkidnapping attempts from her male relatives, usually between one and three depending on how much they like or dislike him. During this time, he must also provide for the woman form his household supplies and see to her entertainment, preferably with song or a musical instrument. Should he succeed in these things, they are declared married.

In some cases, the trope is subverted, with the woman a willing participant in the abduction; the stock excuse here is that she wants to escape an ArrangedMarriage she finds unpleasant, but there may be other reasons. Her family will probably [[PapaWolf still want her back]], though -- or at least have a satisfactory explanation for what happened.

* In ''ComicBook/AdventureTimeTheFlipSide'', the plot is driven by Princess Portrait's desire to be kidnapped by Monkey Wizard, who is indifferent to her.

* In ''ComicBook/ElfQuest'', Cutter originally abducts Leetah under the influence of the [[MindlinkMates elf mating urge]] called Recognition. Fortunately, cooler heads prevail, he lets her go, apologizes, and agrees to fight the urge, trying to undo the bad first impression by courting her in a civilized fashion. [[spoiler:They get things straightened out and end up HappilyMarried, which is less creepy than usual because Cutter wasn't in his right mind at the time of the abduction.]]

* ''Fanfic/ThePalaververse'': Parodied with the mammoth tribes, where it's custom for brides to kidnap their husbands. This has over time developed into a very formalized process, where after proper approval and vetting by the respective clan chieftains, as well as consulting with the groom-to-be and his family, the mammoth cow in question beans the subject of her affections upside the head with a suitably decorated sap, throws him over her withers and rushes back home. This is usually followed by an equally scripted counter-raid and is generally treated in the same manner as more sedate wedding customs are among other societies. This all leads to some... confusion... when a mammoth character tries to give relationship advice to an ibex doe based on her own romantic experiences.
* In ''Fanfic/TheyllNameACityAfterUs'', the sun god Apollo falls in love with the GenderFlip Percy Jackson and abducts her once the events of the first five books are over.

* In ''Film/RedEye'', Jackson Ripener holds Lisa "hostage" on their flight to get her to assist him in an assassination plot. It's implied that he developed feelings for her in the eight weeks he had to watch her prior to this and even ambiguously tells her that when they get out of this, he may have to "steal" her. Of course, she's not cool with any of this at any point in the film.

* In ''Film/TwentyEightDaysLater'', the few surviving soldiers seem to at least understand that 'borrowing' the last two uninfected women in England and keeping them against their will as breeding stock and female company is quite possibly immoral. They just don't care anymore. They seem to think treating them with a thin veneer of decency will eventually make them warm to the concept, but it's just about enough to get them all [[KarmicDeath slaughtered horribly]] anyway. (As if they were vile enough, one of the "women" is actually a fourteen-year-old girl whose father they'd earlier gunned down in front of her.)

* ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wife-carrying Eukonkanto]]'': the Finnish sport of "wife-carrying", in which a man has to physically carry a female teammate (not necessarily a wife) over an obstacle course, is believed to be an echo of older times in which a man either had to abduct a bride by force from other people who would seek to pursue or else to get her out of the way of unmarried men seeking to abduct.[[note]]These days, the champion receives the coveted prize of his "wife"'s weight in beer.[[/note]]

* Some sources claim the original female population of Iceland was mostly kidnapped from Ireland and/or Scotland. While it is known from genetic research that 60-70% of the female ancestors of Icelanders were Gaelic, it is unclear whether they were mostly abducted or willing brides from the Norse-Gael settlements in Scotland and Ireland. According to contemporary -- and indignant -- clerical chroniclers, Vikings were considered seriously hot by Christian women who appreciated their habits of bathing regularly and combing their hair. According to the Sagas of the Norsemen themselves kidnapping foreign women on a raid was no different from looting a conquered enemy.

** Apollo saw the nymph Cyrene wrestling with a lion that had attacked her father's sheep. [[AmazonChaser Impressed by her strength, he fell in love with her]] and kidnapped her to Libia. There he founded a city in her name and made her its queen. Together they had two sons - Aristaeus and Idmon.

* Some sources claim the original female population of Iceland was mostly kidnapped from Ireland and/or Scotland. While it is known from genetic research that 60-70% of the female ancestors of Icelanders were Gaelic, it is unclear whether they were mostly abducted or willing brides from the Norse-Gael settlements in Scotland and Ireland. According to contemporary - and indignant - clerical chroniclers, Vikings were considered seriously hot by Christian women who appreciated their habits of bathing regularly and combing their hair. According to the Sagas of the Norsemen themselves kidnapping foreign women on a raid was no different from looting a conquered enemy.

* Marjorie, Countess of Carrick, was so infatuated with Robert de Brus, 6th Lord of Annandale (who had visited to inform her of the death of her first husband, Adam of Kilconquhar, in the Eighth Crusade) that she held him captive in her castle until he agreed to marry her - at least that was Robert's story and eventually, the King who had the right to choose Marjorie's next husband, accepted it. Their son became the famed Scottish King Robert the Bruce.

* This was essentially the core of ritual abduction, a practice of ancient Greece and Crete, which citizens felt was justified by the myth of Zeus abducting Ganymede. Since the myth is [[HoYay homosexual,]] this was the traditional custom among pederasts who would, with the help of their target's friends, snatch the younger male away and shower him with gifts and attention. It was never to keep him away altogether, as he was always returned safe and sound by the end of the ritual, but that always took two months and the only one who really had a choice in this situation was the older guy who attempted to buy his love.

** Theseus did it twice. He carried away one of the Amazons - Antiope or Hippolyte. Some versions of this story claim that the woman in question fell in love with him and came willingly. Either way, the other Amazons saw this as kidnapping and attacked Athens to get their sister back. Much later in his life, Theseus abducted Helen of Troy when she was just a little girl and left her with his mother, hoping to marry her when she came of age. She was rescued by her brothers while Theseus and his friend Pirithous were away, [[TooDumbToLive trying to kidnap Persephone from Hades]].

** Eos was cursed by Aphrodite with an unsatisfiable sexual desire for sleeping with Ares, Aphrodite's favourite lover. Because of this, she carried away many handsome young men to be her lovers, including Tithonus, Cephalus, and Orion. Like other gods in the Greek pantheon, she [[DoubleStandardRapeDivineOnMortal didn't particularly care that the objects of her affection may have been unwilling or already married.]]

* And in a gender-inverted version, there is one story of a clever girl tricking a [[HellishHorse kelpie]] out of the bridle that gave him his shapeshifting powers and ''putting him to work as a draft horse for ten years'', at the end of which the kelpie marries her and is baptized as a Christian, turning him human forever.

* ''Literature/TheBookOfMormon'': The wicked priests of King Noah were hiding in the wilderness, having abandoned their people as the Lamanites conquered their land, when they stumbled across a group of daughters of the Lamanites dancing in the woods. They captured these daughters and made them their wives. Presumably, love followed because the next we hear of these daughters is their (and their children) pleading with an army of Lamanites not to kill their husbands.

** When Hades fell in love with Persephone, he kidnapped her and took her to his underground kingdom. Persephone’s own feelings on the whole matter and whether or not she was later tricked into eating the pomegranate seeds vary between different versions of the myth. Partialy subverted in that Zeus told Hades to do it. However, the fact remains that these two ended up as one of the most stable marriages in Greek mythology.

Don't worry, though. They'll eventually come around and become willing mates for you all. You can speed up this process if you act sheepish and apologetic around them. Let them think you're just as sorry about the situation as ''they'' are ''angry.'' Do nice things for them. Smile when they jam their heels into your foot or dump freezing cold water down your pants or slam your fingers into windowsills. And know that one day, if you can endure this abuse long enough, they'll [[SlapSlapKiss grow tired of beating on you and start to find you strangely attractive.]]