History Main / AllAmazonsWantHercules

* In one of the last ''Creator/AbbottAndCostello'' movies, ''Abbott and Costello Go To Mars'' (well, Venus, actually) Lou falls in love with the Amazonian Queen of Venus, a love she reciprocates... until his inability to keep his hands off of her subjects, and his cohorts' foolish attempt at staging a palace revolt, gets them all shipped back to Earth. Insult is added to injury when the Queen looks at a hologram of the former King, who's one good-looking hunk, and both she and her court dismiss the dumpy Lou.

* In the German ''Literature/{{Nibelungenlied}}'', Brünnhilde can only be freed from her curse (of strength) by being beaten in single combat. When defeated, she falls for Siegfried, and... the whole story goes on from there.

[[caption-width-right:350:Sometimes they want Thor, too.]]

* In ''Literature/IsItWrongToTryToPickUpGirlsInADungeon'', the Amazons are an OneGenderRace obsessed with producing the strongest warriors. Because of this, they have a tendency to instantly fall in love with any man who manages to best them in combat, and are often very ''forward'' with their affections even if the person who beat them isn't interested--for example, the [[{{Hobbits}} Prum]] leader the Loki Familia who is [[LikeGoesWithLike only interested in mating with his own race]].

* Brock Samson from ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'' gets both sides of this:

** One character notes that the only person AcePilot Jag Fel would ever have a relationship with would be one who could out-fly him. [[WillTheyOrWontThey The jury's still out]] on whether he'll ever, ''ever'' get with the girl who did, much as he might want to. Given that they're currently married and a comic book series set a century later strongly implies that he founded a new Imperial dynasty with her, it seems that the jury has delivered its verdict.

* ''Film/ConanTheBarbarian'': Zula is a tough warrior woman who has eyes for Conan, who's a very muscular and a powerful swordsman.

** Creator/WilliamMoultonMarston subverted the troupe early on in UsefulNotes/{{The Golden Age|OfComicBooks}} with Sensation Comics #36. When Steve Trevor gains super strength equal to Diana's she initially likes the idea but over the course of the story quickly realises that she could "never love a man that's stronger than [her]". Learning this, Steve immediately gives up his powers as he only took them on in order to woo Diana.

* In the German ''Nibelungenlied'', Brünnhilde can only be freed from her curse (of strength) by being beaten in single combat. When defeated, she falls for Siegfried, and... the whole story goes on from there.

** ''Literature/TheCourtshipOfPrincessLeia'' has Luke as even more of a ChickMagnet than the rest of the ExpandedUniverse, bedding not one but ''two'' women from matriarchal societies. Of course, [[FemmeFatale one is just trying to kill him]] and [[DoubleStandardRapeFemaleOnMale the other uses the Force to arouse him]].

* [[Characters/SupermanRoguesGallery Maxima]] was passionately attracted to {{Franchise/Superman}} because he is one of the only men in the universe who is as strong as she is and hence, a desirable father to her children. Pity that Supes doesn't give a crap because she [[WomanScorned didn't take it gracefully]]. At other times, she's hit on Comicbook/CaptainAtom and Amazing Man, who are also pretty tough, and even ''Comicbook/{{Supergirl}}'', which suggests that she's drawn to strong people, regardless of sex.
* Subverted in ''ComicBook/ElseworldsFinestSupergirlAndBatgirl''. ''Comicbook/TheJoker'' bulks himself up, hoping that ''Comicbook/{{Batgirl}}'' will be seduced by his muscular physique. It turns out that she still despises him.

* ''Anime/ElHazardTheMagnificentWorld'': Miz Mishtal is revered as the great water priestess of Mt. Moldune, which makes her one of the most powerful beings in El Hazard. She first becomes drawn to the [[AlmightyJanitor humble PE teacher]], Masumichi Fujisawa, where he comes to her rescue at Arlamann. But when he hammertosses the mech-sized Buggorm in episode 7, Miz was sold.

* In ''Manga/KemonoJihen'', the female kappa of Kyoto are incredibly passionate about their love for sumo and respect anyone who can beat them in a sumo contest. When Inugami gets in the ring with a teenaged wrestler named Kiyo to earn the Purity Calculus, he's nearly thrown out at the outset due to her powerful lower body. But he beats her by transforming into an enormous bear-like tanuki large and strong enough to pick her up in a BridalCarry and gently place her outside of the ring. This one gesture gets the entire crowd of female wrestlers head over heels for him and he has to flee in tanuki form to avoid the crowd of fangirls.
* ''Manga/InuYasha'': Kagura is the one of the strongest female characters in the story. She's not only stronger than several male protagonists but she's also so strong-willed even the BigBad can't control her without magical means. Sesshoumaru is pretty much the most powerful character in the story. He's the only character that she was never able to manipulate which led her to start freely helping him in the fight against the BigBad and ultimately led to her falling in love with him. The manga {{implied|LoveInterest}} that her feelings were not one-sided.
* Shampoo's Chinese Amazon tribe in ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'' qualifies with the law that [[BestHerToBedHer a warrior must marry any man who manages to defeat her]]. In addition to being ordered to wed him by the law, [[AccidentalMarriage despite the fact that he didn't intend to betroth her]], Shampoo genuinely loves Ranma and in no small part does so because of his superior fighting abilities. Ironically, Shampoo also has rather "un-Amazonian" [[ThinksLikeARomanceNovel views on romance]], and is quite happy with the idea of being Ranma's "damsel" if he'll let her.

* In ''Manga/RankingOfKings'', Sheena lived the life a warrior giantess in days of battle against demons and monsters, when fellow giant Bosse crossed her path he bluntly asked of her to marry him and bear a child, first taken aback Sheena simply rebutted she would settle for the strongest man in the world, and so they fought for a while, resulting in Bosse earning Sheena's respect with them becoming a couple shortly after.

* ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'': The hot-blooded, aggressive Evangelion pilot Asuka Langley Soryu actively scorns admirers her age, but has a major crush on the suave, dashing (and much older) secret agent Ryoji Kaji. She even {{lampshade|Hanging}}s this at one point by saying something along the lines of, "none of these pathetic boys are a real man like Kaji." This being Eva the trope is played with by her [[WeaknessTurnsHerOn secret attraction to the much more passive Shinji Ikari]], although she is unwilling to admit this to herself.

* Saeko Nogami from ''Manga/CityHunter'' [[BestHerToBedHer has vowed to only marry a man stronger than herself]]. Or at least that's what she says: there's a good chance it's actually an excuse to get out of her father's attempts at [[ArrangedMarriage combining her marriage]]... Anyway, the first six aspirants failed the "test" and ended hospitalized, and when the seventh (who was there only because he was a cop and Saeko's father was his boss) actually beat her she wasn't interested in him in the slightest (he fell for Kaori and then left town anyway). We have no news on what happened to the following aspirants, except there was at least a number 8.

* An odd example in ''Literature/AccelWorld'' comes with the school idol Kuroyukihime, known as Black Lotus and the Black King, one of the most powerful players in the "Brain Burst" program. She became enamored with Haruyuki (a short, fat boy with severe self-esteem issues due to his appearance and bullying) after seeing his [[{{Determinator}} speed and drive in his squash games]], and the only reason she got higher scores than him, for the purpose of getting his attention, [[spoiler:is she had to cheat to even surpass him]]. He himself [[ICantBelieveAGuyLikeYouWouldNoticeMe still can't believe she honestly likes him in that way]]. The way it's presented, this in turn makes Haruyuki an unusual kind of "Hercules", but replace physical prowess with video game skill, though within a virtual game world, it still translates to physical prowess in a sense.

* Ryunosuke Fujinami in ''Manga/UruseiYatsura'' is tough and spunky young lady who talks like a thug, [[OreOnna uses only masculine pronouns]], spends much of her time hving knock-down, drag-out, property-destroying brawls with her [[AbusiveParents psychotic father]], and [[{{Bifauxnen}} looks so much like a pretty boy]] in her usual attire that [[ChickMagnet all the girls around have crushes on her]]. When the Tomobiki High school nurse asks her what she'd want in a boyfriend, she declares she'd like a guy who is tough, wild, and stronger than her, and even gets the idea to hold an open challenge to her fellow students where [[BestHerToBedHer she'll go out with whoever can beat her in a fight]]. Unfortunately for Ryunosuke, the only guys she consistently attracts over the course of the series are LoveableSexManiac Ataru Moroboshi and her [[ArrangedMarriage parentally approved spouse]] Nagisa Shiowatari; a WholesomeCrossdresser who [[MasculineGirlFeminineBoy is as girlish as Ryunosuke is boyish]]. The closest she's gotten to being approved of by the rest of the guys at Tomobiki High has been when they've leered at her nearly ending up topless during the Miss Tomobiki High contest (which she only got into via a spite-vote by the girls) and when her class-mates tried to cop a feel during a rugby game after she briefly decided to abandon using her {{sarashi}}.

* [[Characters/SupermanRoguesGallery Maxima]] was passionately attracted to {{Franchise/Superman}} because he is one of the only men in the universe who is as strong as she is and hence, a desirable father to her children. Pity that Supes doesn't give a crap because she [[WomanScorned didn't take it gracefully]]. At other times, she's hit on Comicbook/CaptainAtom and Amazing Man, who are also pretty tough, and even ''Comicbook/{{Supergirl}}'', which suggests that she's drawn to strong people, regardless sex.

* One of the stories in Creator/PhilFoglio's ''ComicBook/XXXenophile'' series involves an amazon who ''can't'' bed anyone but a warrior who bests her in battle, and who is constantly driven to challenge men. The story culminates (ahem) when a man bests her at a chess-like game whose name ''[[ProphecyTwist translates as battle]]''. (The gods backing the man and the woman are, respectively, inordinately pleased and incredibly annoyed).

* ''Fanfic/WithThisRing'': Maxima (mentioned above) switches targets from Superman to the Renegade after he killed Klarion, a Lord of Chaos, something only an extremely capable warrior could do. the Renegade, who is in a relationship already, and not anymore interested in Maxima than Superman was, ends up convincing Maxima how stupid this trope is since she's specifically seeking a co-ruler and a father for her children. A co-ruler needs to ''compliment'' her own talents as a leader, not just be another version of her, and an alien is extremely unlikely to be able to procreate with her naturally, so even if the Renegade or Superman were interested, they'd have to create offspring through cloning. She ends up deciding to marry her current advisor instead, who happens to be a woman.
* ''Fanfic/FateKill'': The super strong Selka becomes more and more attracted to Shirou whenever he does something powerful like wielding [[{{BFS}} Ig-Alima, the Mountain Felling Sword]] or hurling a mook across a field.

* {{Defied|Trope}} in ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger'' and the spin-off ''Film/AgentCarter''. Peggy Carter is a British Army Major, co-founder of S.H.I.E.L.D, and a bonafide ActionGirl. So ''why'' does she keep a photo of ''pre''-serum-boosted Steve in her desk? The implication, of course, is that Peggy didn't fall in love with Captain America, the pinnacle of human perfection and the infallible personification of the American way, but [[SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan she instead fell in love with]] Steve Rogers, the scrawny runt from Brooklyn who [[NiceGuy wouldn't even hesitate to]] pick a fight with a bully who could {{Curb Stomp|Battle}} him to uphold a grieving widow's honour, or dive on a grenade to save people who were nothing but jerks to him.

* In the German ''Nibelungenlied'', Brünnhilde can only be freed from her curse (of strength) by being beaten in single combat. When defeated, she falls for Siegfried and... the whole story goes on from there.
** In the Völsung Saga, [[DependingOnTheWriter which is the Scandinavian version of the same tale]], Brynhildr is punished by Odin by being put into a magical sleep until a man woke her, that man she would have to marry. Brynhildr asked Odin that at least the man would be a worthy hero, which Odin agreed too and put up a magic fire around the mountain where she sleeps so only the best man could pass through. When Brynhildr is eventually married she finds out that the worthy hero, Sigurd, has under the influence of a spell, had her marry a less worthy man. The tale goes to tragedy.

** PlayedForLaughs with the hulking Ublala Pung. All the amazonian women want him for his... physical assets, but poor Ublala just can't deal with being used and not getting any emotional support out of it.

* {{Subverted|Trope}} in ''Reality Check'' by Charlie Brooks. Anne Westfeld is essentially an amazon who begins the novel dating the equivalent of Hercules in Jesse Gondolin, aka the Jungle Cat. However, [[spoiler:it turns out she really wants Greg Crispin, a physical weakling]].

* ''Literature/WhoNeedsMen'' has a post-{{Gendercide}} all-female society who go game-hunting for the last enclave of men, in Scotland. The protagonist, a hunter of escaped men, ends up in their settlement and falls for the leader.

* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'': Zig-zagged. Buffy is stronger than all the men she dates, not one of them ever beat her in a fight, and are all heavily implied to be weaker fighters than her. However, any man who she's involved with for more than a few episodes is a substantially stronger and better fighter than normal—unnaturally so, whether due to [[FriendlyNeighborhoodVampire vampirism]] or to the [[BioAugmentation meddling of evil government scientists]]. Normal, human men like [[ForgettableCharacter Owen, Scott]], [[TheCasanova Parker]], and [[OccultDetective Dowling]] were out of the picture extremely quickly, and [[BadassNormal Xander]] [[JustFriends never got a chance in the first place]]. Buffy may be the strongest around, but she also tends to gravitate more towards men who can at least ''keep up'' with her in a fight.

* ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' devotes an entire episode to subverting this, and establishing that Zoe is firmly devoted to her geeky husband and does not, nor has ever, felt any attraction to Mal. Although Wash is brilliant as a pilot, he never beats Zoe at "her own game" so to speak. In one of the novels, Zoe specifically says Wash has things that are more important than big muscles, chest hair and large certain mail anatomy.
* ''Series/TheFreshPrinceOfBelAir'' did this in a Season 6 episode. Will tries to flirt with an attractive female boxing trainer at the gym, but gets beaten up by her instead. The next day, he comes back and beats her, countering every single punch of hers. She immediately throws herself at him.

* Janne from ''VideoGame/WorldHeroes'' swears by this. She seems to quite... admire J. Carn if his ending is to be believed, and later considers asking Hanzou out in one of her own endings (even when Ryouko is following him around), but when Fuuma asks her out she openly turns him down. Either this or HeroWorshipper (or maybe a mix of both) is the basis of Ryouko's ''massive'' PrecociousCrush on Hanzou.

** Season 6, meanwhile, has a side arc involving series regular Brock Samson falling for a heroine named Warriana, who is an obvious parody of Franchise/WonderWoman. Although they start by [[LoveAtFirstPunch antagonizing one another]], and Warriana then has to get over some [[NotStayingForBreakfast weirdness]] after they do hook up, in the end, she is completely protective of "her man"—out of the entire series, probably the character ''least'' in need of protection. For bonus points, Warriana is a literal Amazon (to the point of having only one breast), and she tends to calls Brock "Hercules".

* Defied like in the [[Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger original film]] in the [[Recap/WhatIfS1E1WhatIfCaptainCarterWereTheFirstAvenger first episode]] of ''[[WesternAnimation/WhatIf2021 What If...?]]''. Even after becoming a SuperSoldier instead of Steve Rogers, Peggy Carter loves Steve [[SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan because he's humble, supportive, kind, and good to her]], and doesn't care if he's short, scrawny, sickly and asthmatic. That being said, it is played straight when she learns alternate versions of Steve are a SuperSoldier and wants to see what he looks like.

* TruthInTelevision. Many women lauded for their combat prowess throughout history would reportedly refuse to take a husband unless the husband could beat her at her preferred combat style/weapon proficiency, invoking [[BestHerToBedHer a variation of this trope]]. (Example: the Mongol princess [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khutulun Khutulun]], daughter of UsefulNotes/GenghisKhan's great-grandson Kaidu Khan of the Chagatai Khanate, who would not marry any man who could not best her in traditional Mongol wrestling.) In the current age, many female bodybuilders express preference for men who can at least match them physically.
* Former Characters/{{WWE Diva|s}} Wrestling/{{Sable}} is married to '''[[Wrestling/BrockLesnar BROCK LESNAR]]''', a 286 lbs. powerhouse {{Professional Wrestl|ing}}er who once [=superplexed=] the 7' 500 lbs. '''[[Wrestling/BigShow THE BIG SHOW]]'''!

* Gender-inverted in ''Series/GameOfThrones'', where the huge and hairy Tormund falls head-over-heels for LadyOfWar Brienne of Tarth. Unfortunately, he's completely unable to express his feelings in a way that doesn't creep her out (and her heart is set on Jaime anyway). Not that this stopped shippers in any way, shape, or form.

* In ''Manga/OnePiece'', Luffy winds up on Amazon Lily, an island of badass women almost totally oblivious to the ''existence'' of an opposite sex ruled over by one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, the ridiculously gorgeous Boa Hancock; a [[KickTheDog puppy-kicking]] VainSorceress-to-be who [[DoesNotLikeMen despises men]] and has the power to [[TakenForGranite turn people to stone using their own impure thoughts]]. This being a shounen manga, Luffy gets his Hero on in a big way and Hancock winds up falling for him. Interestingly, [[ChasteHero Luffy not only doesn't reciprocate such feelings]], he's barely aware she has them. Even after seeing her topless twice and the second time complaining because he expected food instead. {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d in that former Empress Nyon implies that this happens to ''every'' Empress of Amazon Lily eventually, and subverted because it's implied that it's killed them all except for Nyon, and now Hancock (who was dying but recovered as soon as she had the chance to help Luffy and stay with him a bit longer) because they were all too stubborn to act on their lovesickness.

* * In ''Literature/IsItWrongToTryToPickUpGirlsInADungeon'', the Amazons are an OneGenderRace obsessed with producing the strongest warriors. Because of this, they have a tendency to instantly fall in love with any man who manages to best them in combat, and are often very ''forward'' with their affections even if the person who beat them isn't interested--for example, the [[{{Hobbits}} Prum]] leader the Loki Familia who is [[LikeGoesWithLike only interested in mating with his own race]].

* Ryunosuke Fujinami in ''Manga/UruseiYatsura'' is tough and spunky young lady who TalksLikeAThug and spends much of her time brawling with her [[AbusiveParents psychotic father]], and [[{{Bifauxnen}} looks so much like a pretty boy]] in her usual attire that [[ChickMagnet all the girls around have crushes on her]]. When the Tomobiki High school nurse asks her what she'd want in a boyfriend, she declares she'd like a guy who is tough, wild, and stronger than her, and even gets the idea to hold an open challenge to her fellow students where [[BestHerToBedHer she'll go out with whoever can beat her in a fight]]. Unfortunately for Ryunosuke, the only guys she attracts over the course of the series are LoveableSexManiac Ataru Moroboshi and her [[ArrangedMarriage parentally approve spouse]] Nagisa Shiowatari; a WholesomeCrossdresser who [[MasculineGirlFeminineBoy is as girlish as Ryunosuke is boyish]].

* As mentioned in Comic Books above, Maxima also pursued Superman in [[WesternAnimation/SupermanTheAnimatedSeries the Dini-verse]]. At the end of that episode, she got over Superman and set her sights on Lobo! Whether that went anywhere is unknown, since the episode was Maxima's only appearance in the Franchise/{{DCAU}}.

%%* ''LightNovel/MayoChiki'': Kureha Sakamachi wants a man who's stronger than her.