History Main / HappinessInSlavery

* '''Cringing Bootlick:''' Bob is treated like dirt by Alice, but is still loyal, due to a debt of gratitude, masochism, hope for reciprocation on Alice's part (e.g. TheIgor, TheRenfield, LoveMartyr, MadLove, SycophanticServant), [[AMatchMadeInStockholm suffers from Stockholm Syndrome]], or simply [[NotUsedToFreedom doesn't know any better]].

'''Pa Grape:''' Don't you remember? [[Literature/BookOfExodus Snorkeling in the Nile, three square meals a day, plenty of exercise;]] oh, it was paradise!\\

* This is a central concept to ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' -- though the anime often has abusive trainers that the Pokémon serve because they've been caught and have no choice, for the most part in the games Trainer and Pokémon always get along well. Even among the villainous teams some of them get along fine with their Pokémon, either because they treat them well or because the Pokémon adapts to enjoy the villainy they're used to commit. ''Black and White'' explores this in depth, some members of Team Plasma who are {{Well Intentioned Extremist}}s unaware their leader is evil release their Pokémon as ordered near the end of the game, and are confused when the Pokémon don't want to leave them because they've grown attached to their trainer. This can also be subverted, however -- in many games traded Pokémon will not obey your commands without proper Gym Badges, implying you have to earn their loyalty and respect.
* In ''VideoGame/DragonsDogma'', the Pawns are definitely this trope. They have extrmely limited emotion and free will and are only fulfilled when they're serving under [[ChosenOne an Arisen]]. Pawns who have lost their Arisen will either hang around where their Arisen was last seen, like lost puppies, or worse [[AxCrazy turn homicidal out of grief]]. Notably, hanging around their Arisen will [[HumanityIsInfectious eventually lead the pawn to gain emotions and free will]], but even these "liberated" pawns still retain traces of their master/servant relationship with their Arisen.

* A beloved servant variation occurs in ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/41671470/chapters/104531163 I Thee Wed]]''. Jaune's semblance causes any woman who puts on one of the rings it creates to become his devoted wife. Pyrrha is absolutely overjoyed at the prospect and acts like an extremely affectionate newlywed. Glynda does have the mental fortitude to understand she's been brainwashed to love Jaune ([[PerceptionFilter unlike Pyrrha who can't grasp the idea even when she's outright told) but admits that she still prefers it because Jaune is a good person and she's so incredibly lonely that she'd rather have a manufactured love life than none at all.

'''Pa Grape:''' Don't you remember? Snorkeling in the Nile, three square meals a day, plenty of exercise; oh, it was paradise!\\

* ''All over the damn place'' in [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] ''Franchise/WonderWoman'' [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1942 comics]], where the Amazons had some... ''interesting'' ideas about criminal reform. Wonder Woman brought a great number of her ([[FemalesAreMoreInnocent usually female]]) villains to an islet called Transformation Island, where other Amazons would subject them to "Venus girdles" (which magically dissipated any evil/violent thoughts) and [[AuthorAppeal some thinly-veiled BDSM play]] to "cure" them of criminal tendencies. Several Amazons note that their "prisoners" often grow to like being chained and spanked for minor infractions.

* ''Series/TheOuterLimits1995'': In "The Grell", the Grell rebel leader Shak-El accuses Jesha of enjoying being a slave because he won't turn against his human owners and join the rebels. In fact, Jesha longs to be free as much as the rebels do but he genuinely loves the Kohler children, Kenny and Sara, and refuses to abandon Sara when she is in danger.

* Played for BlackComedy in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'' when the Smiths get trapped in a parody of Disneyland. Francine discovers a ride called "Simpler Times Mountain" and vaguely remembers riding it once many years ago and that it was shut down for some reason. Francine discovers the ride's an unabashed love letter to the pre-Civil War Southern United States with funny animals standing in for Black people, with at least one animatronic proclaiming "-and that's how I knew I ''liked'' being a slave!" By the end of the ride, Francine's not impressed (though Klaus, who is both German and implied to be a Neo-Nazi, is a big fan).

* In ''Film/TheMummy'', the traitorous Beni ends up as Imhotep's servant when, in an effort to protect himself, he rattles off a prayer in Hebrew, which the newly-revived high priest recognizes as "the language of the slaves." Despite not being crazy about Imhotep's plans, Beni still goes along with them, largely because he believes "it is better to be at the devil's right hand than in his path." ([[{{Greed}} being offered a ton of treasure may have also been a factor]])

* In ''Film/TheMummy'', the traitorous Beni ends up as Imhotep's servant when, in an effort to protect himself, he rattles off a prayer in Hebrew, which the newly-revived pharaoh recognizes as "the language of the slaves." Despite not being crazy about Imhotep's plans, Beni still goes along with them, largely because he believes "it is better to be at the devil's right hand than in his path." ([[{{Greed}} being offered a ton of treasure may have also been a factor]])

* The ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' AU fic ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13653421/1/Ash-s-Adventure-Girls-Hunter-Edition Ash's Adventures: Girls' Hunter Edition]]'':
** May is a particular example of this; in a world where girls can be captured in human balls to become [=PokeGirls=], where they gain a Pokemon type and must fight for their trainers, May deliberately ''wanted'' to be caught, both so that she could gain Fire powers and because she enjoys being dominated. Not only does May initially appear with her arms bound, a ball-gag in her mouth and naked apart from her shoes and bandana/hat, but she later reflects warmly on a past instance where she and Misty went swimming and May let Misty take advantage of her new weakness after exposure to water.

* The ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' AU fic "[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13653421/1/Ash-s-Adventure-Girls-Hunter-Edition Ash's Adventures: Girls' Hunter Edition]]" makes May a particular example of this; in a world where girls can be captured in human balls to become [=PokeGirls=], where they gain a Pokemon type and must fight for their trainers, May deliberately ''wanted'' to be caught, both so that she could gain Fire powers and because she enjoys being dominated. Not only does May initially appear with her arms bound, a ball-gag in her mouth and naked apart from her shoes and bandana/hat, but she later reflects warmly on a past instance where she and Misty went swimming and May let Misty take advantage of her new weakness after exposure to water.

-->-- ''WesternAnimation/{{VeggieTales}}'', "[[Recap/VeggieTalesEpisode9JoshAndTheBigWall Josh And the Big Wall]]"

'''Pa Grape:''' Don't you remember? Snorkeling in the Nile, three square meals a day, plenty of exercise; oh, it was paradise.\\
'''Tom:''' We were in slavery.\\

* Danced around with the Night Elf campaign in ''VideoGame/WarcraftIII''. Though Illidan is not a slave, he's also not free: he was imprisoned for life for attempting to make a second Well of Eternity (which could, any any moment, become a new gateway for the next [[HellOnEarth demonic invasion]]). Basically, Tyrande takes advantage of the fact that he's a LoveMartyr, and forces him to do a bunch of stuff. Though to be completely fair, she's not actually aware of how much the things she's doing align with his real goals because she is very cynical. Illidan is only half doing this stuff because she is telling him to. Also, he uses the opportunity to escape his imprisonment.

See also HappinessInMindControl. Often a subtrope of StockholmSyndrome, especially if there's emphasis on how the character gradually became happy in captivity. Compare FreedomFromChoice and NotUsedToFreedom. Contrast SlaveryIsASpecialKindOfEvil and IJustWantToBeFree. May lead to UnfulfilledPurposeMisery, or may be DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife.

* '''Cringing Bootlick:''' Bob is treated like dirt by Alice, but is still loyal, due to a debt of gratitude, masochism, hope for reciprocation on Alice's part (e.g. TheIgor, TheRenfield, LoveMartyr, MadLove, SycophanticServant), suffers from StockholmSyndrome, or simply [[NotUsedToFreedom doesn't know any better]].

* The ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' character Soi Fon grew up in a sort of feudal system where people were indocrinated into serving the ruling clan, and the weakest slaves did all the drudge work. The only way she could improve her lot was by being promoted into the heiress' PraetorianGuard (who were still slaves, but at least got decent lodging and weren't kicked around by their peers), so she trained relentlessly for '''years''' to be strong enough. And it worked! But then the heiress, [[TheWomanWearingTheQueenlyMask who it turns out had dreams of her own]], just up and left the clan one day. Like everything Soi Fon had done was for nothing. She kind of...collapsed after that, until she found a new purpose: growing strong enough to [[{{Revenge}} hunt down her once-mistress and stab her through the throat]]. Even ''decades'' later, when Soi Fon has a real paid job and her own subordinates, she still believes that freedom made her aimless, not happy. [[note]]Though she does choose to stay in that job once her issues are sorted out, so maybe there's hope for her sanity after all.[[/note]]

* In ''LightNovel/FullMetalPanic: The Second Raid'', the CreepyTwins Xia Yu Fan and Xia Yu Lan are this towards [[spoiler: Gauron]]. Because they feel so indebted to him for [[WifeHusbandry taking them in]], they are shown to be willing to undertake a suicide mission that he orders. Of course, it's possible that it's not just gratitude, and there are hints that they have feelings of love that contribute to them being so loyal to him.

* ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'':

* As many ''LightNovel/TheFamiliarOfZero'' stories have this played straight as they avert it, depending on how DarkerAndEdgier they are. In ''Fanfic/JusPrimaeNoctis'' we get this from Siesta, who says she's fine being property as long as she's ''Saito's'' property. Since she chose to enter his service it seems genuine, but it still squicks Saito a bit. [[spoiler: It goes FromBadToWorse when Henrietta expresses her desire to marry him, and Tabitha and Louise both express willingness to surrender their names and serve him like commoners.]]

* In the ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia''[=/=]''LightNovel/KonoSuba'' crossover ''Fanfic/BlessedWithAHerosHeart'', Izuku comes into possession of two demihuman girls, [[HarpingOnAboutHarpies a harpy]] and [[LizardFolk a gator-girl]], who he later gives the names Chika and Liza respectively. Even after he sets them free by removing their slave seals, they continue to serve him because he treats them with kindness and is always looking out for their wellbeing.

* '''Beloved Servant:''' Bob is appreciated and rewarded by Alice, who is probably a SympatheticSlaveOwner, and stays loyal because of this. However he still either cannot leave or cannot imagine leaving. Can overlap with PropertyOfLove and/or UndyingLoyalty.

This may also occur if a couple takes PropertyOfLove to its logical extreme. For some people in UsefulNotes/{{BDSM}} relationships "enslavement" can be a CasualKink, which presumably makes them happy to participate in or [[RuleThirtyFour at least fantasize about]]. Hopefully it's the SafeSaneAndConsensual kind, though; see also PowerDynamicsKink and RomanticizedAbuse.

* Discussed in ''Manga/MissKobayashisDragonMaid'' when Tohru met a bandit who dreamed of being a maid. Being a dragon, Tohru had a hard time understanding why anyone would willingly submit themselves to another, especially someone who had just gained their freedom.