History Main / KidnappedByTheCall

* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'': Most Imperial psykers are rounded up and dragged onto the Inquisition's Black Ships (crewed solely by [[AntiMagic Blanks]]) all the way to Terra, where their psychic potential is judged. If insufficiently powerful, [[PoweredByAForsakenChild they are sacrificed in order to keep the Astronomican beacon burning]], if not, they get repeatedly {{Mind Rape}}d in order to protect their minds from the daemons of the Warp (this doesn't always work) and sent to refine their skills to serve the Imperium. Note that this is the ''best'' outcome, non-sanctioned pykers have a marked tendency to fall to Chaos and kickstart demonic invasions when the Warp starts bleeding through them.

Sometimes the hero of your adventure (or one of his allies) [[HeroicNeutral just isn't going to come willingly]]. Maybe they've got other responsibilities; you know, those pesky families would-be heroes are so often attached to. Maybe they've got little reason to believe that mysterious prophetic dream you had once while you were asleep and possibly drunk. Or perhaps they're just cowardly. At any rate [[RefusalOfTheCall they aren't coming.]]

Problem is you're the good guy. [[TheCallKnowsWhereYouLive You can't just destroy the place the hero has settled him or herself into.]] And the bad guys aren't about to make that mistake themselves, at least not until it's too late. You've either tried various means of coercing the hero into adventure or discounted them as impossible. [[AntiHero Or at least you should have.]] The answer remains no. What can be done?

* In ''Anime/NinjaScroll'', the protagonist, Jubei, is forced into the film's main story when he is faced with a PoisonAndCureGambit.
* [[TeamPet Iggy]] "TheFool" from ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders'' used to live as a king of dogs in a New York slum, but gets caught by [[TeamDad Mohammed Avdol]] and is forced into a backup unit for heroes. He complains numbers of time with himself about his losses, but [[ItsPersonal things gets personal]] after he barely survives a fight against a killer bird Pet Shop.

* Implied to be the reason why Chara [[spoiler:is compelled to leave Asgore's protection in Ruined Home]] in the Neutral and Pacifist routes in the first ''VideoGame/TSUnderswap'' demo, as it's made clear that they like [[ParentalSubstitute Asgore]] and do want to stay with him (especially since hidden narration reveals they are actually ''[[DarkAndTroubledPast afraid]]'' of returning to the human world). It's hinted by Team Switched's statements about the [[spoiler:player that this may be the result of '''us''' controlling Chara and making them leave so we can play the rest of the game. Which is for [[EarnYourHappyEnding a noble purpose]] if the player is aiming for a True Pacifist-type GoldenEnding where monsters are freed and Chara can reunite with Asgore afterward, but [[YankTheDogsChain otherwise...]]]]

* In ''Film/DieHardWithAVengeance'' after Zeus plays GoodSamaritan and saves [=McClane=], the villain forces him to team with [=McClane=] and solve together several puzzles to defuse some bombs scattered all along the city.
* In ''Film/ChildrenOfMen'', Theo is kidnapped at gunpoint by the Fishes, but it was at the behest of his ex-wife, who "only wants" his help in securing travel papers for an illegal immigrant.

* In ''Literature/TheLadiesOfMandrigyn'' the eponymous ladies force Sun Wolf to train them in combat so they can rescue their kidnapped husbands by poisoning him and [[PoisonAndCureGambit withholding the cure]] from him until their training is complete.
* ''Literature/OneNationUnderJupiter'': Youtai and Aurelius Taurus both kidnap Diagoras to convince him to join their cause.

* One of the Literature/NintendoAdventureBooks, ''Koopa Capers'', opens with Luigi being captured by a magic rug and delivered to Bowser's doorstep so he can help find Wendy.
* This is how several ''Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar'' end up starting thier careers:
** A thief named Skif spotted a white mare with apparently impressive resale value and tried to abscond with it. Once he got a halfway decent grip Companion Cymry bolted off at a gallop, presumably dropping whatever {{Glamour}} she had been using to let any Haven-reared miscreant [[OnlyTheChosenMayRide think such a move was a good idea]] and definitely not slowing down until past the city walls.
** Captain Alberich of the Karsite Sunsguard [[DownplayedTrope was likely grateful enough]] for the strange stallion rescuing him from [[BurnTheWitch summary immolation]], but if he was in any condition to think about it at the time he would have requested to be spirited across ''any'' other border than the one with Karse's longtime enemies.
** For that matter, Companion Rolan did not exactly make a good faith effort to secure informed consent from either thirteen year old Talia of Sensholding or her family before walking her halfway across the kingdom with her thinking she was trying to find his owner.

* Luke fon Fabre's CallToAdventure in ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss'' happens when Tear accidentally teleports the two of them halfway across the world during a botched assassination attempts on Luke's swordmaster.

* ''LetsPlay/EmpiresSMP Season 1'': Shrub is only on this adventure to defeat [[BigBad Xornoth]] because she has to be. She was [[spoiler:chased out of her home dimension]] with [[YouCantGoHomeAgain no way to get home]] because [[spoiler:the people of Rivendell banished Xornoth there]], and [[spoiler:she [[UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom accidentally let Xornoth back into the wider server]] during her escape]]. She later also gets ''literally'' kidnapped by Xornoth and Joey, prompting her allies (Scott, Gem, Katherine and Pearl) to mount a rescue operation that ends with Xornoth's imprisonment.

* Invoked, but ultimately averted, in ''Fanfic/{{Spider-Ninja}}''. When Petra officially meets Black Widow in an alley, Raph (who's hiding on a nearby roof) almost blows his cover because he thinks that Widow is about to kidnap her...only for Widow to simply give Petra an offer to meet with SHIELD. In Raph's defense, Fury ''had'' considered this as an option for bringing in the vigilantes; Widow just managed to find a more diplomatic solution.

* Anselm of Aosta, a Catholic cleric, became a favorite of Duke William II of Normandy (the eventual [[UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfNormandy William the Conqueror]]), using his position to build a major seminary school at Bec Abbey. After the Norman conquest of England, Anselm was seen as a potential successor to the first post-Conquest Archbishop of Canterbury, Lanfranc. But as time went on, and Anselm grew older, he decided he no longer wished to rise to that level. After Lanfranc's death in 1089, the archbishopric sat vacant for four years, primarily because the next King of England, William Rufus, was in conflict with it. But in 1092, after Anselm advised William Rufus during a serious illness, William Rufus insisted that Anselm become the next Archbishop of Canterbury. On 6 March 1093, Anselm was ''literally dragged kicking and screaming'' into a church, and finally agreed to become Archbishop on 25 September 1093. He would hold position for the last 16 years of his life (though that included exile by William Rufus from 1097-1100, returning after his youngest brother, King Henry I, took the throne).

* Anselm of Aosta, a Catholic cleric, became a favorite of Duke William II of Normandy (the eventual [[UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfNormandy William the Conqueror]]), using his position to build a major seminary school at Bec Abbey. After the Norman conquest of England, Anselm was seen as a potential successor to the first post-Conquest Archbishop of Canterbury, Lanfranc. But as time went on, and Anselm grew older, he decided he no longer wished to rise to that level. After Lanfranc's death in 1089, the archbishopric sat vacant for four years, primarily because the next King of England, William Rufus, was in conflict with it. But in 1092, after Anselm advised William Rufus during a serious illness, William Rufus insisted that Anselm become the next Archbishop of Canterbury. On 6 March 1093, Anselm was ''literally dragged kicking and screaming'' into a church, and finally agreed to become Archbishop on 25 September 1093. He would hold position for the last 16 years of his life (though that included exile by William Rufus from 1097-1100, returning after his brother, King Henry I, took the throne).

* Invoked, but ultimately averted, in ''Fanfic/{{Spider-Ninja}}''. When Petra officially meets Black Widow in an alley, Raph (who's hiding on a nearby roof) almost blows his cover because he thinks that Widow is about to kidnap her...only for Widow to simply give Petra an offer to join SHIELD, along with her family.

* ''Franchise/TolkiensLEgendarium'':

* This was quite literally a case with Jax in ''Series/LegendsOfTomorrow'' - Martin Stein, the other half of ComicBook/{{Firestorm|DCComics}} wanted to [[JumpedAtTheCall jump at the call]] but Jax initially refused. So Martin simply drugged him.

[[caption-width-right:335:It's not everyday Santa has you stuffed in his sack.]]

* Hiccup finds himself here in ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon2'' after his father tries to stop him from going on his mission to find Drago Bludvist. Hiccup flies away and ends up getting kidnapped by a mysterious, masked dragon rider who [[spoiler:turns out to be his mother]] and takes him to the dragons' hidden sanctuary.

* Mild version in ''Literature/TheHobbit''. The morning after Bilbo Baggins has been visited by Dwarves looking to hire him as a burglar, Gandalf reveals that a note accepting Bilbo's services (which he never offered!) and laying out the terms of his contract has been left under the mantelpiece clock. This is followed by Gandalf hurrying Bilbo out the door and off to join the others before the hobbit has any time to gather his thoughts or protest.

[[folder:Film]]
* In ''Film/TheLastStarfighter'', Centauri kidnaps Alex for his skills playing the ''Starfighter'' arcade game. In this case the kidnapping is more out of overexuberance though: Centauri is utterly convinced that Alex would ''love'' to fly a SpaceFighter in defense of a [[TheFederation Federation]] he's never even heard of.
* In ''Film/DieHardWithAVengeance'' after Zeus plays GoodSamaritan and saves [=McClane=], the villain forces him to team with [=McClane=] and solve together several puzzles to defuse some bombs scattered all along the city.
* In ''WesternAnimation/RiseOfTheGuardians'', the main character, Jack Frost, is in his own words "shoved in a sack and tossed through a magic portal" by Bunny and two Yetis in order to get him to the North Pole. Unlike most in this trope, this happens before Jack finds out he's a Guardian. North even proudly proclaims that it was his idea.

* In ''Film/ChildrenOfMen'', Theo is kidnapped at gunpoint by the Fishes, but it was at the behest of his ex-wife, who "only wants" his help in securing travel papers for an illegal immigrant.
* In ''Film/SpaceJam'' Michael Jordan is kidnapped by Bugs Bunny and the Looney Tunes because they need his help to defeat the Nerdlucks now the huge Monstars in a game of Basketball so that the Looney Tunes don't end up as slave star attractions on the amusement park on the planet Moron Mountain.

* Sanada Shirou in ''LightNovel/LetsStartAnInnOnTheDungeonIsland'' may have wished for creation magic from a magical flounder, after having various other wishes outright rejected, but he never, ever agreed to be yanked off his company's deep-sea fishing vessel and dumped in the middle of a war-zone on a world in the Victorian Era, with the gender roles reversed.
* ''LightNovel/TheRisingOfTheShieldHero'': Happens to all four Cardinal Heroes comprised of Naofumi Iwatani, Motoyasu Kitamura, Ren Amaki and Itsuki Kawasumi. Though for some characters it might be considered [[spoiler: "rescued by the call"]] depending on the variation of the series you choose to start with.

* Conan of ''Webcomic/{{Galebound}}'' by way of {{Tranquillizer Dart}}. He wakes up much later, miles from home, draped over a horse like so much luggage.

* Sanada Shirou may have wished for creation magic from a magical flounder, after having various other wishes outright rejected, but he never, ever agreed to be yanked off his company's deep-sea fishing vessel and dumped in the middle of a war-zone on a world in the Victorian Era, with the gender roles reversed.

* [[spoiler: Magnus the Red]] first appears on ''WebAnimation/IfTheEmperorHadATextToSpeechDevice'' after being stuffed into a box by the Ultrasmurfs and brought to Terra to join the main cast.