History Main / MindGameShip

* ''Disney/{{Frozen}}'': [[spoiler:Prince Hans]] is a villain who intends to kill Elsa and Anna to usurp the throne and [[spoiler:acts [[ManipulativeBastard manipulative to Anna]] by making her fall in love with him]].

In any case, for [[FanGirl some]] people in the audience, they find all those mind games kind of sexy. Could be the StockholmSyndrome kicking in, or having a too literal interpretation of the expression "MindScrew" or could be the fact that getting to know someone well enough to play with their mind that way is kind of... intimate. And an excellent fodder for {{Dark Fic}}s.

* ‘’Film/NineAndAHalfWeeks’’: Everything about the relationship on John's part is canonically a MindGameShip — emotionally, intellectually, sexually.

* Gaston’s plan to woo and marry Belle in ‘’Disney/BeautyAndTheBeast’’ is a literary fig leaf metaphor for rape and lust and he views his pursuing her like a game with her as a prize, and he desires to break her to him.

* ‘’Literature/FiftyShadesOfGrey’’: Canon in the Christian/Ana relationship. Their relationship is BSDM gone wrong, with Christian being very controlling and gaslighting Ana. It’s gone into depth [[https://www.google.com/amp/s/50shadesabuse.wordpress.com/2015/02/06/fifty-shades-psychological-abuse/amp/ here]].

* ''Literature/WarriorCats'': Presumably the basis of pretty much any shipping with [[ManipulativeBastard S]][[CompellingVoice o]][[ForTheEvulz l]].

* The Blake/Avon and Avon/Vila ships in '' Series/BlakesSeven'' have shades of this: Avon's something of a LauncherOfAThousandShips.

* ‘’Anime/{{Gankutsuou}}’’: Albert and [[MagnificentBastard the Count]].

* Griffith is implied to have an [[HoYay infatuation with Guts]] in ‘’Manga/{{Berserk}}’’. Canonically he tries to kill Guts when he tries to leave him, thinks of him when having sex with Princess Charlotte as a sort of rebound, and feels overwhelming hatred towards Guts in addition to love afterwards because he was tortured for having sex with Charlotte and he believes it’s Guts fault. Following that he proceeds to rape Casca while having Guts pinned down and stares at him with a cold but psychotic gaze the whole time; wanting to make him feel just as much anguish as he did when Guts left him and the events following that. Guts himself is obsessed with killing Griffith following his betrayal of him and the Band of the Hawks.

* A lot of [[Literature/HarryPotter Draco/Hermione]] fanfiction ends up like this.

* The developments between [[MagnificentBastard Jim Keats]] and [[FishOutOfTemporalWater Alex Drake]] in season three of ''Series/AshesToAshes'' makes this one near-canonical. Keats wants to [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything tempt Alex away from Gene]] and [[TheCorrupter use her to bring Gene down]]. While there's no explicit sexuality in their relationship, they flirt during multiple episodes, and in the finale [[spoiler: Keats gets ''very'' touchy-feely with her under the guise of "comforting" her. Of course, it's revealed that he's quite possibly ''the Devil himself'', so the mind game elements are a lot less surprising]].

Usually a subtrope of FoeYay. Not to be confused with the MindScrew (where it's the author who screws with the mind of the audience). Not related to ''Anime/MindGame'' the movie. See also AngelDevilShipping and DrivenToMadness.

** It gets played up even more in ''KingdomHearts'' and ''VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy'', with Sephiroth exhibiting definite StalkerWithACrush tendencies toward poor Cloud.

* Maleficent and Riku in ''KingdomHearts''. Well, it's either that or a MrsRobinson deal, depending on your perspective...

* Comic/GreenLantern: Sinestro/Hal Jordan has this feel, although Sinestro can be very calculated and his actions are generally rational. It definitely has an element of mind games to it with how they move around each other, and they have a very long history with each other. Sinestro always seems to know what to say to get to Hal's head, both in canon as well as in fandom.
* That's Comic/TheFlash and Reverse-Flash to a T. Both versions really, though more so the Barry/Eobard dynamic - Eobard has been obsessed with Barry since before he even met him.

* ''Series/OrangeIsTheNewBlack'': [[LesYay Alex and Piper]] are described by reviewers as being in an epic, if psychotic, love affair. Initially, Alex manipulates Piper into joining an international drug ring after beginning a relationship with her, naming Piper in her indictment and lying about it, and ultimately cutting a separate deal with the prosecutor for release for her testimony after convincing Piper to lie under oath. The last one burns back though, as Alex's testimony is not enough to convict the ringleader, and she is forced to live in fear of retribution. Piper then betrays her back, revealing her plan to skip parole and gets Alex arrested again. There's also season 3 which includes a scene where Piper mocks Alex in a cruel KickTheDog moment for being fearful for her life and she seems insistent on making Alex mad so that they can engage in "hate sex".

* Griffith has was is implied to have an [[HoYay infatuation with Guts]] in ‘’Manga/{{Berserk}}’’. Canonically he tries to kill Guts when he tries to leave him, thinks of him when having sex with Princess Charlotte as a sort of rebound, and feels overwhelming hatred towards Guts in addition to love afterwards because he was tortured for having sex with Charlotte and he believes it’s Guts fault. Following that he proceeds to rape Casca while having Guts pinned down and stares at him with a cold but psychotic gaze the whole time; wanting to make him feel just as much anguish as he did when Guts left him and the events following that. Guts himself is obsessed with killing Griffith following his betrayal of him and the Band of the Hawks.

* Griffith has was is implied to have an [[HoYay infatuation with Guts]] in ‘’Manga/{{Berserk}}’’. Canonically he tries to kill Guts when he tries to leave him, thinks of him when having sex with Princess Charlotte as a sort of rebound, and feels overwhelming hatred towards Guts in addition to love afterwards because he was tortured for having sex with Charlotte and he believes it’s Guts fault. Following that he proceeds to rape Casca while having Guts pinned down and stares at him with a cold but psychotic gaze the whole time; wanting to make him feel just as much anguish as he did when Guts left him and the events following that. Guts himself is obsessed with killing Griffith following his betrayal of him and the Band of the Hawks.

* Naoe/Takaya in ''LightNovel/MirageOfBlaze''. They both have been known to give as good as they get.

* ''Manga/PeacemakerKurogane'': Later on, after Suzu goes insane, his one-sided love/hate towards Tetsunosuke makes their relationship prime MindGameShip fuel.

* Albert and [[MagnificentBastard the Count]] in ''Anime/{{Gankutsuou}}''.
* This is the plot of ''Manga/KaguyaSamaLoveIsWar'' in a nutshell. Kaguya and Shirogane spend their time messing with each other in hopes of forcing a LoveConfession because they're too prideful to give one themselves.

* To a lesser degree, Joker/Harley Quinn, although given that their relationship has pretty much always been depicted as a physically and emotionally abusive one even in canon, there's a good bit less support for it than Joker/Batman. Even ''Harley'' has internalized this and moved on in the comics.

* Frollo of ''Disney/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'' has a disturbing infatuation with Esmeralda where he gets close to her, [[PervertedSniffing smells her hair]] and gives her a SadisticChoice of "choose me or the fire". (She either chooses to become his and is freed or he burns her to death)

* ''Theatre/AStreetcarNamedDesire'': Stanley/Blanche. They are somewhat attracted to each other at first, but Stanley eventually sees through [[StepfordSmiler Blanche's mask]] and his continued involvement in her life causes her to descend into permanent insanity.

* ''Manga/PeacemakerKurogane'': Later on, after Suzu goes insane, his love/hate towards Tetsunosuke makes their relationship prime MindGameShip fuel.
* Naoe/Takaya in ''LightNovel/MirageOfBlaze''. They both have been known to give as good as they get.

* The Joker and ''Franchise/{{Batman}}''. Especially in ''Film/TheDarkKnight''. There's an awful lot of Joker/Batman shippers out there that find the comic version more fitting of this trope than the version in that film. Especially since in the comics, ComicBook/TheJoker [[TermsOfEndangerment just]] ''[[TheNicknamer loves]]'' [[InLoveWithYourCarnage to play around]] with FoeYay so the fans don't have to, which the Nolanverse Joker never really does in quite the same way.

* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'': Terra/Slade is canon in the comics.

* ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'': [[IdiosyncraticShipNaming SommelierShipping]] (Cilan/Cabernet) comes off as this, with Cilan being the manipulator.

* The Joker and ''Franchise/{{Batman}}''. Especially in ''Film/TheDarkKnight''.
** There's an awful lot of Joker/Batman shippers out there that find the comic version more fitting of this trope than the version in that film. Especially since in the comics, ComicBook/TheJoker [[TermsOfEndangerment just]] ''[[TheNicknamer loves]]'' [[InLoveWithYourCarnage to play around]] with FoeYay so the fans don't have to, which the Nolanverse Joker never really does in quite the same way.
** To a lesser degree, Joker/Harley Quinn, although given that their relationship has pretty much always been depicted as a physically and emotionally abusive one even in canon, there's a good bit less support for it than Joker/Batman. Even ''Harley'' has internalized this and moved on in the comics.

* During the third season of ''Anime/YuGiOhGX'', the Judai/Yubel ship was also very messed up, though rather one-sided, until the very end when Juudai returns her love and fuses their souls.

* ''Manga/YuuYuuHakusho'': Kurama/Karasu canonically.

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* Loki and ''Franchise/{{Thor}}''. Them being brothers does nothing to detract from this.

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* The ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' {{Fanfic}} ''[[Fanfic/MLPTheGamesWePlay The Games We Play]]'' sees Mare Do Well making [[TheBet a bet]] with Rainbow Dash: that she can get the pegasus to fall in love with her before Dash can unmask her. To this end, she teases and misleads her to suspect all of her friends, and takes a lot of enjoyment in how much she screws with Rainbow's head.

* In ''FanFic/DesertedDistractions'', this happens in-universe with Yami Bakura and Tea; she knows ''exactly'' how manipulative Yami Bakura is, knows he's manipulating her, and ''still'' can't stop herself from being physically attracted to him.

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* ''WebAnimation/HappyTreeFriends'' fandom sometimes does this with [[AxCrazy Evil Flippy]] and Flaky, or [[ScrewYourself Good Flippy and Evil Flippy]].
** This is carried on in the show as well, especially in the latter episodes, where Flaky becomes terrified of Flippy and tries to get rid of him in any possible way, even though he doesn't kill her anymore and acts really nice to her. In ''Without A Hitch'' he acts nicely and tries to help her, but she constantly thinks he's following her to murder her so she ends up [[spoiler: stabbing him]].

''Roses are blue\\

When I get in your head''

* ''GrandmasterOfTheft'' has Deus canonically doing this towards Cassidy. While he generally enjoys causing trouble to anyone for sake of drama, she interests him more than anyone else because of her abilities as MagnificentBitch and drive to capture him.

* Hannibal Lecter and Clarice Starling from ''SilenceOfTheLambs'' are often portrayed like this. Including [[spoiler:in the novels]].

* Hannibal Lecter and Clarice Starling. It started out with mild hints in ''Literature/SilenceOfTheLambs'' and then went full-bore into this trope in the next book. [[spoiler: In the end, Hannibal gets the girl.]]