History Main / IWillFindYou

* ''Fanfic/LightOfTheMoon'': Despite Quirin's best efforts to keep Varian's powers secret from the world, his son is still kidnapped [[AdultFear and he was helpless to stop it]] [[note]] Gothel broke into their house, drugged Quirin unconscious, and threatened to kill him unless Varian cooperated [[/note]]. Quirin spends the next six years searching relentlessly for his son, having the king's blessing (if the woman who took Varian is the same one who kidnapped Rapunzel, then finding one child will likely help him find the other).

Often, the missing person will be a lover, but sometimes this plot takes the form of [[MissingChild a parent searching for a child]], a brother for a sister, or someone searching for a lost friend. They will usually have to undergo a long journey, while facing many hardships along the way, before they can find the person they're looking for.

They may never find each other, or the other person may be long dead, but [[{{Determinator}} don't expect them to stop looking even when confronted by proof of such]]. Such plots usually have a message about the ability of love or friendship to endure through all things.

Compare SheWillComeForMe, in which the missing person believes s/he will be found. See also ReunionVow, RescueArc and SaveThePrincess, which this frequently overlaps with. The protagonist of this trope is often the {{Determinator}}. Contrast situations where the words are spoken as a threat, perhaps by an ImplacableMan or [[Film/{{Taken}} Liam Neeson]].

* A [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BHAFO5rI98 Duracell Bunny commercial]] has the toy bunny and his duck companion being left out in a picnic. They seek out to find the owner, but the duck's battery runs out halfway. Bunny drags his friend along, and one fine morning they are at the gate of their little owner's home.

* Haji in ''Anime/BloodPlus'' spends many years searching for Saya after the Vietnam War incident, only finding her many years later in modern day Japan.

* [[spoiler:Anthy]] sets out to find [[spoiler:the eponymous character]] at the end of the anime version of ''Anime/RevolutionaryGirlUtena'', since [[spoiler:Utena's genuine desire to help her (a opposed to her former white-knighting) finally gives Anthy the courage to break the cycle of abuse she was trapped into. So as soon as she can, she gets ready to leave Ohtori Academy and tell Akio that she's no longer his pawn and that even if Utena was erased from the world, she'll find her no matter what.]]

** The main plot is about a boy called Marco Rossi, who is trying to find his mother Anna. Word for word in the Spanish opening, since it says: "Never forget, mom, here is your home. If you don't come back, I will go, and I'll search for you wherever you are. Doesn't matter where you are, I will find you." [[spoiler:And he finds her... when she was very sick and waiting for her upcoming DeathByDespair. But Marco's presence gives Anna courage to get operated, and she gets better.]]

** [[spoiler: [[LoveMakesYouEvil Jack]] [[UnreliableExpositor Vessalius.]] [[PosthumousCharacter When he was alive,]] he spent eight years looking for [[LivingEmotionalCrutch Lacie]], resorting to theft, murder and prostitution to get closer to her. After she was thrown into the Abyss, Jack manipulated the Will of the Abyss so she would give him a Chain powerful enough [[PutThemAllOutOfMyMisery to send ''the entire world'' into the Abyss.]] When ''that'' failed and Jack got MerlinSickness as a result, [[{{Determinator}} he started wandering the Earth and plotting the plan that set the main story in motion.]]]]

* Discussed in ''Manga/KaguyaSamaLoveIsWar'' when Shirogane and Kaguya are talking about ''Literature/TheTaleOfTheBambooCutter''. Shirogane says that if he were in the emperor's position, he would have drunk the elixer of immortality rather than burn it and get Princess Kaguya back no matter how long it took. [[spoiler:And sure enough, when Kaguya is taken back to her family's home and going to be forced into an ArrangedMarriage at the end of the series, he moves metaphorical heaven and earth to set her free.]]

* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12349764/24/Cold-Bloodlines Cold Bloodlines]]'', Frostmask worries that her non-Clan heritage means she won't go to [=StarClan=], where all her friends will be, when she dies. [[LoveInterest Autumnleap]] tells her that she will, and if she doesn't, he'll leave and search "the skies and the earth" until her finds her. Their love confession occurs not long after.

* In ''Fanfic/ThisIsAWildGameOfSurvival'', the cast is full of people who are desperate to reunite with one another after a zombie apocalypse ravages their school, but none is more determined than Jang Ha-ri for her younger brother Woo-jin, especially given the amount of close calls she gets to finding him, including finding three of his classmates who give reports on his wellbeing, and realizing she could have reunited with him at least three times.











* In ''Fanfic/WinterWar'', this is the motivation of several members of the Hueco Mundo mission. Nanao and Sora are straight examples, looking for her MIA captain Kyorakou and his imprisoned sister Orihime respectively. Ikkaku starts out as a subversion, since he knows his best friend Yumichika has either turned traitor or been taken captive and BrainwashedAndCrazy, and his reaction to either is "battle to the death". [[spoiler: The group finds Orihime fairly easily, and Ikkaku- after finding out exactly what was wrong with Yumichika, fighting him, and Yumichika being restored to normal- settles on MyFistForgivesYou.]]

* This is basically Natasha's entire motivation in the first half of ''Film/TheAvengers2012'', after she finds out that Loki has taken Clint.
* {{Deconstructed|Trope}} in ''Film/Shazam2019''. Billy has spent the past ten years searching for his long-lost mother after he got separated from her at a local fair as a toddler. Even if it was breaking the law or ditching his foster families, he did [[{{Determinator}} whatever it takes]] to see her again. But when he finally meets up with her, [[spoiler:she reveals that she purposely abandoned him at the fair due to her constant struggles of raising him as a young single mom. Not only that, but she barely wanted to reconcile with him, and when he shows her the compass he gave her at the fair the last time he saw her, [[ButForMeItWasTuesday she's unfamiliar with it]]. After that, Billy decides to move on from her and [[FamilyOfChoice reconnect with his foster family]].]]

* ''Film/TheAdventuresOfMiloAndOtis'' is about two friends, a dog and cat, who go on a journey to find each other after becoming separated.
* The premise of the movie ''Film/HomewardBoundTheIncredibleJourney'' where the pets travel cross country to find their owners.

* The climatic plot point in ''Literature/YoungWizards: A Wizard Alone'' where Kit, ensnared in the mind-universe of autistic wizard Daryl, goes missing and Nita has to find him.

* In ''[[Literature/HisDarkMaterials Northern Lights]]'' Lyra's quest begins when her friend Roger goes missing and she determines to find him. She takes a while to fully shoulder this responsibility or, debatably, realise it's there to shoulder, but when she does it's with a vengeance; she throws rescuing her imprisoned uncle into the mix, just in case one globe-trotting rescue mission wasn't enough, and at some point her plan to save Roger turns into plans to save all the children that have been taken. This becomes a running theme of the trilogy; Lyra's quest to reunite with Roger [[spoiler:turns into a plan to reunite and reconcile with his ghost, after her initial quest fails]], Will spends a good amount of time in ''The Amber Spyglass'' hunting for the kidnapped Lyra etc etc.

* The aforementioned ''1000 Leagues...'' example is an AnimatedAdaptation of a story found in Edmondo D'Amici book ''Cuore'', where a boy from Geneva goes search for his mother in Argentina. [[spoiler:The same end happens: Mom is sick. Doctors try to convince her to get operated. Mom is close to the DespairEventHorizon and refuses. Boy shows up. Mom emotionally recovers and gets operated on. Mom gets better.]]

* In ''Literature/DarkHeart'', Arvis, Warde and Shial spend the book pursuing Myrren and Raine after they're separated in the thick of a battle.

* ''Literature/{{Beatles}}'' has Sebastian, one of the four main characters, getting lost in Paris. The three other friends hitchhike to Paris from Oslo, searching the city from end to end until they accidentally stumble upon him on a metro station (hung up on narcotics and in a miserable state).
* ''The Survivalist'' series by Jerry Ahern. John Rourke is seeking his wife and children after WorldWarIII breaks out. His wife is [[MamaBear more concerned with protecting her children]] AfterTheEnd, until she discovers he's alive and searching for her.

* ''Literature/TailchasersSong'' starts with Tailchaser trying to find what happened to his crush Hushpad, who has mysteriously disappeared along with many other cats. [[spoiler:She was gone for reasons unrelated to everything else. Her owners just moved away. Once Tailchaser finally does find her, he finds that they've grown apart and runs off]].

* In ''Literature/TheBrokenEarthTrilogy'', the protagonist Essun's initial motivation is to find her daughter Nassun, whose father Jija left with her after killing their son Uche due to [[HaveYouTriedNotBeingAMonster him being an orogene.]] Given that Nassun is also an orogene, she is in potential serious danger. And it doesn't help that TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt is going on at the same time...

* In the ''Series/DrQuinnMedicineWoman'' episode "The Abduction", the title character is kidnapped by vengeful dog soldiers. Paramour Sully tries to fight them off, but fails. As they ride off with her, he screams after them, "Michaela! ''I'll find you!''"

-->'''Spike:''' Listen to me! Maybe you get past us. Maybe by some miracle you get out of the country. You know what? Doesn't matter. I don't care what third-world jungle you hide out in, I will find you. Whatever I have to do, I will do. I will never forget you. Not after what you did my friend's sister, and not after what you did to my team!\\

* In ''Series/TheWalkingDead'', BetaCouple Glenn Rhee and Maggie Greene sometimes end up in walker-related situations that force them to split up, but vow to themselves and the other survivors to find each other. [[spoiler:And when Glenn is executed at the start of season 7, he outright says them to Maggie as a variation that lean closer to AlwaysWithYou.]]
* Subverted in Season One of ''Series/{{Westworld}}''. William falls in [[RoboSexual loves with a Westworld android]] called Dolores. [[spoiler:After they are separated he's determined to find her again, but his RoaringRampageOfRescue only makes him a hardened and sadistic killer. He eventually catches up with her only to find she's been reprogrammed to forget him, and the season finale reveals that he is in fact the Man in Black, the villain who's been raping Dolores and indulging in other sadistic activities the past thirty years.]]

-->''I'll run away with your foot steps\\

* Aida (the musical, not the opera): As they are buried alive together, Radames swears he and Aida will find each other again, even if it takes a thousand lifetimes. Also example of the power of love.

* In the Dark Side ending to ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'' Bastila gets fed up with waiting and trying to hold the decaying Sith Empire together, and sets off after Revan, never to be seen again.

* ''VideoGame/DragonQuestV'' is the game where the ''whole'' plot is about finding someone. First off, Pankraz's desperately trying to find his wife. [[PassingTheTorch He passes on the mission to his son]] when he realizes he can't go on any more. After the TimeSkip, TheHero, while trying to find his mom, marries a girl, But then [[GenerationXerox he gets separated from his lover and children]], leaving his twin offspring growing up into [[KidHero kid heroes]] trying to find their parents ''and then'' their grandma. In addition, all of the above are trying to find TheChosenOne.[[spoiler:Turns out, the reason that part took so long is that the Chosen One ''hadn't been born yet'': he's the Hero's son.]]

* ''VideoGame/Fallout4'''s SoleSurvivor PlayerCharacter spends most of the game trying to find their kidnapped baby boy Shaun. They do find him [[spoiler: sixty years too late and spend the rest of the game, either destroying him, or helping him in his evil plans]].

* This trope is the catalyst of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask''. At the prologue of the game, Link is off on the Lost Woods, looking for a dear friend he lost after his previous adventure in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'', only to be sidetracked by the Skull Kid's ambush. The prologue heavily implies that the friend he's looking for are his FairyCompanion throughout his battle against Ganondorf, Navi, which is later confirmed to be the case by the ''Literature/HyruleHistoria'' book.

* ''VideoGame/VirtuaQuest'' has [[spoiler:Sei's father sacrifice himself to save Acropolis. Sei is initially devastated, but remembers that dying in Nexus simply traps your consciousness in the system, and vows to find him.]]

* Though implied at the end of the anime series, ''VideoGame/YuGiOhDuelLinks'' makes it clear that [[spoiler:after his final duel with Ai, Playmaker searches through entire network to find Ai's duplicate, but it wouldn't be until the restart of LINK VRAINS and the creation of its Duel Links World that they eventually reunited after Playmaker sensed his partner's presence that he's still around somewhere in VRAINS World]].

* ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'': In the Fate route, when [[BittersweetEnding Saber is forced to return to her own time (and impending death)]], Shirou decides keep searching for her forever anyway. He doesn't care that this is impossible; even the afterlife was not designed for people who lived and died centuries apart. He's going to make it work. [[spoiler:[[TogetherInDeath They are reunited in Avalon after he dies]], but only because Saber was also [[IWillWaitForYou willing to wait forever]], despite also knowing it was impossible. LoveTranscendsSpaceTime indeed]].
* ''VisualNovel/SlowDamage'': Fujieda turns out to have this trope [[spoiler:for his little sister, who was sold by their abusive mother when he was in middleschool. It turns out she was killed many years ago, meaning his whole quest was futile]].

** Min Mingzhe is left [[spoiler:the only one in his world who remembers her existence, and becomes obsessed with finding her to the point of abandoning his wealthy family to wander alone]].

* Parodied in ''Webcomic/{{Lookism}}'', Vasco makes Hyung Suk promise that he'll find him when he wants to become stronger. And then... [[DumbMuscle Vasco]] comes back to the convenience store (Hyung Suk's part-time job) 3 times because afterwards he forgot to by various items the first time he was there...

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Arcane}}'': Vi promises her younger sister Powder if she is in trouble, to use a flare she gives her and she'll come running. After she's thrown in jail for years and then [[RecruitingTheCriminal recruited]] by Caitlyn the first thing she does is heading to Zaun and trying to find Powder. [[spoiler: She even manages to fufill the promise when [[MeaningfulRename Powder turned Jinx]] does light the flare so many years later and reunites with her.]]

* A really touching case of this trope in ImperialChina involved a high official whose concubine mother was sold away from the family when he was only two. Fifty years later he resigns all his offices and informs his family that he will not return until he finds his mother - and then he does! The lady proves to be alive and well at seventy-plus and her now important and wealthy son proudly brings her home along with his half siblings, nephews and nieces from her later marriage in a true happy ending.

* ''ComicBook/YTheLastMan'': In light of the sudden {{Gendercide}}, [[LastOfHisKind Yorick]] has no short supply of female attention, but his primary motivation for most of the comic is finding his girlfriend, Beth, who was last seen in Australia.

* ''ComicBook/TransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye:'' Rewind's friend and lover, Dominus Ambus, went missing at the beginning of the war. Several million years later, Rewind ''still'' hasn't given up looking for him, regardless of where he might be, even if he hasn't found a single clue or hint. Indeed, it's his main motivation for signing up for the quest.

* In ''Fanfic/WinterWar'', this is the motivation of several members of the Hueco Mundo mission. Nanao and Sora are straight examples, looking for her MIA captain Kyorakou and his imprisoned sister Orihime respectively. Ikkaku starts out as a subversion, since he knows his best friend Yumichika has either turned traitor or been taken captive and BrainwashedAndCrazy, and his reaction to either is "battle to the death". [[spoiler: The group finds Orihime fairly easily, and Ikkaku- after finding out exactly what was wrong with Yumichika, fighting him, and Yumichika being restored to normal- settles on MyFistForgivesYou.]]

* In ''Fanfic/BlizzardStorm'', Sakido promises this to Buwaro prior to going off to fight the BigBad of the fic.

* ''Fanfic/LokiAgentOfDoomgard'' is about Loki taking the agent job for several reasons, one being to be able to look for his brother Thor, who was lost when the world ended, [[spoiler:their own two previous incarnations (Kid!Loki, Teen!Loki), and the ''ComicBook/YoungAvengers'', whom Teen!Loki considers as friends]].
* In the ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' fanfic ''Fanfic/MaybeSproutWings'' Sam has been searching for Dean since Dean was enslaved at age sixteen. Sam is obsessed with finding him and sets out for Washington State as soon as he gets a lead on his brother's whereabouts.

* In ''Fanfic/InfinityTrainBlossomingTrail'': Chloe runs away from home after an argument with Goh and gets sucked into the Infinity Train. Goh, who heavily regrets telling Chloe she has no dreams or ambitions on her own, only arrives just to see her hair scrunchie in the trash and becomes determined to find her...even though the reader knows that she ''doesn't'' want to see him again. By the Intermission, Chloe texts him to tell her that she doesn't want to be found, especially by him, and bids him farewell.
* In ''Fanfic/LostBeneathTheTurningWheel'', Ehsun Nedot travels the galaxy for five years in order to rescue the father of her twin children from slavery.
* ''Fanfic/ThePiecesLieWhereTheyFell'': In chapter 29 of the sequel ''Picking Up the Pieces'', Wind Breaker learns that he was kidnapped from his mother as an egg, and that she's always wished she could come back to Equestria to find him, but it's been too dangerous until now.
* ''Fanfic/YourTrueName'': When [[Anime/YourName Taki is in Mitsuha's body]] during the climax of ''VideoGame/Persona4'', he leaves her a calling card, signed "Scarlet of the [[VideoGame/Persona5 Phantom Thieves]]":
-->''Dear Lady Mitsuha Miyamizu, the bizarre spit-sake girl of Inaba. You are a shrill, easily impressed and naive person who is amazed by the world and the people in it. You are emotional and forthright, always speaking your mind even when it's not wanted. Yet despite this, your intentions and heart are both pure and constantly seeking for the truth. Your reality may seem distorted, your memories may fade, but you must know this:\\
No matter where you are. No matter how far apart we may be. No matter if years, or continents, or gods or demons of heaven and hell stand between us, I solemnly swear to you and only you... that I will find you. And I will steal your heart.''
* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12349764/24/Cold-Bloodlines Cold Bloodlines]]'', Frostmask worries that her non-Clan heritage means she won't go to [=StarClan=], where all her friends will be, when she dies. [[LoveInterest Autumnleap]] tells her that she will, and if she doesn't, he'll leave and search "the skies and the earth" until her finds her. Their love confession occurs not long after.
* In ''Fanfic/TheBeastOfGusu'', after Wei Wuxian receives a double dose of the drug the Wens use on shifters, he forgets his identity and wanders as a wolf, though he unknowingly spends those three months looking for Lan Wangji, promising himself that whatever it is that he’s missing he will find it. Similarly, Lan Wangji spends every day looking for Wei Wuxian himself and playing their song in the hopes that Wei Wuxian might hear it and return.

* In ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'', Airrazor and Tigatron promise this to each other when they are [[spoiler:abducted by aliens]].

* WesternAnimation/DangerMouse busts a gut searching for Baron Greenback in "The Wild, Wild Goose Chase." using a device in a hollowed-out book that tells where your next hideout is based on the parameters of the present location. He technically fails as Greenback has departed the last hideout but left DM something as a token of what he went through: the pages from the book.

* Though implied at the end of the anime series, ''VideoGame/YuGiOhDuelLinks'' makes it clear that [[spoiler:after his final duel with Ai, Playmaker searches through entire network to find Ai, but it wouldn't be until the restart of LINK VRAINS and the creation of Duel Links World that they eventually reunited after Playmaker sensed his partner's presence that he's still around somewhere in VRAINS World]].

* Though implied at the end of the anime series, ''VideoGame/YuGiOhDuelLinks'' makes it clear that [[spoiler:after his final duel with Ai, Playmaker searches through entire network to find Ai, but it wasn't until the restart of LINK VRAINS and the creation of Duel Links World that they eventually reunited after Playmaker sensed his partner's presence that he's still around somewhere in VRAINS World]].

* Though implied at the end of the anime series, ''VideoGame/YuGiOhDuelLinks'' makes it clear that [[spoiler:after his final duel with Ai, Playmaker searches through entire network to find Ai, but it wasn't until the restart of LINK VRAINS and its Duel Links World that they eventually reunited after Playmaker sensed that his partner is still around somewhere in VRAINS World]].

* Though implied at the end of the anime series, ''VideoGame/YuGiOhDuelLinks'' makes it clear that [[spoiler:after his final duel with Ai]], Playmaker searches through entire network to find Ai, but it wasn't until the restart of LINK VRAINS and its Duel Links World that they eventually reunited after Playmaker sensed his partner is still around.

* Claire and Chane to each other in ''LightNovel/{{Baccano}}'' after the Flying Pussyfoot incident. [[spoiler:They do reunite, and rather quickly compared to most examples.]]

* ''Series/Seinfeld'' parodies '''Film/TheLastOfTheMohicans''': when Kramer gets lost downtown, Jerry tells him "Stay alive! No matter what occurs, I will find you!"

** [[BadassFamily The Baskervilles]], whose main motivation throughout the series is to find their missing master [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking Glen]] [[spoiler:who has been missing ''for a century.'']]

* Manga/HunterXHunter: The story started because he wanted to find his father Ging and ask why he would choose the life of a hunter instead of him. [[spoiler:Unlike the other instances of this trope, Gon spends a large part of the series looking for him, and while they do get along, even Gon acknowledges that he doesn't really see him as a father, but as an awesome relative he's heard great things about, and realizes that he [[ItsTheJourneyThatCounts didn't necessarily want to meet Ging so much as find him]]. After he finally accomplishes this goal he's left [[DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife wondering where to go from there.]]]]

* Seiya and his sister Seika in ''Manga/SaintSeiya'' ''were'' at first a very fine example of this, with Seiya becoming a Bronze Saint to search for the older sister he was separated from when he was a tiny little boy and she was a pre-teenager. Bad thing, Kurumada seemingly forgot about it and had to make a huge AssPull to tie this loose plot in the last manga arc. Though, [[spoiler: cheers go to Seika for going in a forbidden ground in Greece all the way from Japan to try finding Seiya. Too bad [[TheWoobie poor girl]] was so traumatised by what she ''did'' see and ultimately [[TraumaInducedAmnesia lost her memories]], becoming a WaifProphet.]]

* ''Fanfic/YourTrueName'': When [[Anime/YourName Taki is in Mitsuha's body]] during the climax of ''VideoGame/Persona4'', he leaves her a calling card, signed "Scarlet of the [[VideoGame/Persona5 Phantom Thieves]]:

->''[[Film/{{Taken}} "...and I will kill you!"]]''\\

->''[[Film/{{Taken}} "...and I will kill you!"]]''

* One of the Kesh stories in Creator/UrsulaKLeGuin's novel ''Always Coming Home'' is about a young woman who goes missing. Her boyfriend is desperate to find her again, but it's only a fragment, so we never learn if he does.

* When Rachel leaves Bam in ''Webcomic/TowerOfGod'' to climb the Tower, Bam swears to find her and follow her until death. He comes dangerously close to both her and the Grim Reaper at times.