History Main / RoyalHarem

* In the ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' adventure D2 ''Shrine of the Kuo-Toa'', the Kuo-Toan Priest-Prince Va-Guulgh has a harem of concubines in a seraglio. They are pampered and indolent, and will not fight the {{PC}}s (unlike almost every other Kuo-Toan in the city).
* ''TabletopGame/{{Eberron}}'': [[VampireMonarch King Kaius III]] of Karnath has a harem of both male and female concubines. Their main purpose is to provide him with [[VegetarianVampire sustenance without having to kill victims]], but it's left [[AmbiguouslyBi unclear if he actually uses them in the intended way]] though he definitely has a wife whom he loves at least.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Ravenloft}}'': Diamabel, Darklord of Pharazia, is mentioned to have one in the supplementary material, which isn't surprising considering the ArabianNights theme of this land. He once caught one of his slaves Ishmael abd Rabbo who invaded his harem to seduce his wives and subjected him to a CruelAndUnusualDeath as punishment.

* ''Literature/{{Calenture}}'': The main protagonist [[GentlemanAdventurer Count Eldritch Balthazar]] accidentally gets a harem of his own with seven wives and seven concubines. He [[UnwantedHarem doesn't really have an interest in them]] and view them more [[LikeBrotherAndSister like platonic friends]]. In addition, the [[GirlsLove women prefer each other company]] more than his own...

* Royal harems existed in quite a number of places, although the reality of them doesn't necessarily look much like their fictional depiction (i.e. this trope). For one thing, a classical harem in many places was more a general women's quarters where no men were permitted than specifically a place for sex -- women of all ages and ranks might be found there, including relatives. There might also be a lot of children about. The DatedHistory page has an entry on the subject. Expanding upon this point; the Ottoman harem was almost like a finishing school in some respects. Noble families would campaign to get their daughters places - not as concubines, but as recognized positions (like LadyInWaiting) in the harem. While there exist rumors about the Ottoman harem that items like cucumbers, carrots, and long radishes could not enter the harem unless they were already sliced, or that black eunuchs were the only males allowed into the harem aside from the sultan to make any possible infidelity on the part of concubines obvious, the imperial harem was far more proper and more about politics than about anything lewd.

* Royal harems existed in quite a number of places, although the reality of them doesn't necessarily look much like their fictional depiction (i.e. this trope). For one thing, a classical harem in many places was more a general women's quarters where no men were permitted than specifically a place for sex -- women of all ages and ranks might be found there, including relatives. There might also be a lot of children about. The DatedHistory page has an entry on the subject. Expanding upon this point; the Ottoman harem was almost like a finishing school in some respects. Noble families would campaign to get their daughters places - not as concubines, but as recognized positions (like LadyInWaiting) in the harem. While there exist rumors about the Ottoman harem that items like cucumbers, carrots, and long radishes could not enter the harem unless they were already sliced, or that black eunuchs were the only males allowed into the harem aside from the sultan to make any possible infidelity on the part of concubines obvious, the imperial harem was far more about politics than about anything lewd.

* Royal harems existed in quite a number of places, although the reality of them doesn't necessarily look much like their fictional depiction (i.e. this trope). For one thing, a classical harem in many places was more a general women's quarters where no men were permitted than specifically a place for sex -- women of all ages and ranks might be found there, including relatives. There might also be a lot of children about. The DatedHistory page has an entry on the subject. Expanding upon this point; the Ottoman harem was almost like a finishing school in some respects. Noble families would campaign to get their daughters places - not as concubines, but as recognized positions (like LadyInWaiting) in the harem. While there exist rumors about the Ottoman harem that items like cucumbers, carrots, and long radishes could not enter the harem unless they were already sliced, the imperial harem was far more about politics than about anything lewd.

* Royal harems existed in quite a number of places, although the reality of them doesn't necessarily look much like their fictional depiction (i.e. this trope). For one thing, a classical harem in many places was more a general women's quarters where no men were permitted than specifically a place for sex -- women of all ages and ranks might be found there, including relatives. There might also be a lot of children about. The DatedHistory page has an entry on the subject. Expanding upon this point; the Ottoman harem was almost like a finishing school in some respects. Noble families would campaign to get their daughters places - not as concubines, but as recognized positions (like LadyInWaiting) in the harem.

* The Buddhist harems in [[UsefulNotes/{{Thailand}} Siam]] shared some similarities with Islamic harems such as the Ottoman and Mughal harems. The king's Inner Palace is described by chroniclers as a city of women where resided all his female relatives (daughters, sisters, aunts and etc.) and other young ladies from rich families to be guarded until they were of marriageable age. No males over 11 were allowed unless under specific circumstances and they were under watch all the time. The key difference is that, unlike the Turkish seraglio, their harem was guarded by an AmazonBrigade rather than eunuchs.

* Harem practices similar to those stereotypically associated with Islam or at least Islamic culture actually precede it by several centuries. It was especially common in the Middle East, but was seen pretty much anywhere there were kings and (rich/powerful/noble) men were allowed to take multiple wives, which is, er, most settled societies through most of written history (the Greeks and Romans were weirdos in the ancient world for forbidding their high-status men from having more than one wife at a time).

[[quoteright:350:[[TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gerggge.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"[[Film/HistoryOfTheWorldPartI It's good to be the king!]]"]]

* In ''Film/AroundTheWorldInEightyDays2004'', Monique is pressed by Prince Hapi to enter his harem and become his seventh wife.

* Myth/HinduMythology: Krishna is said to have had a harem of thousands of women; some accounts describe him as using his powers of SelfDuplication to [[PowerPerversionPotential satisfy many of them at once]].

** One villain named Khan is a MultiversalConqueror that has a massive harem of concubines who also double as AmazonBrigade, being fine warriors in their own right. When he invades Earth with the intent to conquer it, [[VillainousCrush he falls in love with]] ComicBook/{{Storm}} [[AndNowYouMustMarryMe and decides to make her his queen]]. [[ClingyJealousGirl His other consorts]], however, are less than thrilled with the prospect of one being more favored as queen than all the rest and try to kill her.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/TheChipmunkAdventure'' movie, a young human prince [[InterSpeciesRomance falls in love with Brittany]] and tries to get her to join his family's royal harem, so the three Chipettes have to get out of there. It certainly explains their BellyDancer outfits.

Royal harems are often thought of in connection with "[[{{Orientalism}} exotic Oriental lands]]", so they often coincide with tropes relating to [[ArabianNightsDays Middle]] [[{{Qurac}} Eastern]], [[MysticalIndia South Asian]], and [[FarEast East Asian]] cultural imagery (or maybe [[CultureChopSuey all of them at once]], if the writers aren't fussy). The standard fictional harem girl looks a lot like a standard fictional BellyDancer, and the two might not be much distinguished. They are often {{Bedlah Babe}}s. Depending on context, the harem may be known by various other names -- ''seraglio'', ''serail'', ''hòugōng'', ''ōoku'', and more. In more modern settings, the harem may belong to a dictator or an elected leader, rather than a monarch. Harems in fiction do not necessarily bear much resemblance to forms the real thing tended to take -- see the Real Life section.

* Downplayed with ''ComicBook/BlackPanther'': According to Wakandan tradition, the Dora Milage serves this role to the monarch as wives-in-training alongside bodyguards. They aren't necessarily segregated nor is T'Challa particularly interested in any of them romantically since he views them as daughter figures. Not that it stopped a few like [[ClingyJealousGirl Nakia]] from being obsessed with him...

* ''ComicBook/{{Djinn}}'' revolves around Jade, a concubine in the Ottoman Imperial Harem and the Sultan's favorite.
* In the ''VideoGame/DragonsLair'' comic book adaptation, Singe the Dragon kidnapped Princess Daphne to add her to his harem filled with several other damsels dressed in the same way as her.

* VampireMonarch Karkossa in ''ComicBook/ALoveLikeBlood'' has a harem of vampire concubines that accompanies him most of the time.
* A lesbian example in ComicBook/{{Purgatori}}'s backstory: she was a slave girl that joined Queen Ostraca's all-female harem and lived happily for two years. However, instability in the kingdom led to Ostraca seek an ArrangedMarriage with her general Ramses so that he can quell any rebellion on one condition: that [[BuryYourGays her harem is put to the sword]]. All of Ostraca's concubines are murdered, except for Sakkara who survived, who vowed revenge for their deaths and beginning her StartOfDarkness.
* In ''ComicBook/RequiemVampireKnight'', {{Dracula}} has a harem of brides composed of any victims who haven't been fed on by a vampire yet, as [[DroitDuSeigneur his right to claim any blood virgins in his domain]]. These women are kept in a convent guarded by the [[AmazonBrigade Sisters of Blood]], an order of [[ReligiousVampire vampire nuns]] and the main protagonist has to sneak into this place in Volume 7 in order to rescue his love interest, who was taken there to become Dracula's bride.
* ComicBook/SilverSurfer once fought with one GalacticConqueror known as Mrrungo-Mu the Enslaver that kept a very large one and after conquering his homeworld, he forced the Surfer's {{love interest}} Shalla Bal into his harem.
* In ''ComicBook/WarlordOfMars'', [[TheCaligula Salensus Oll]] has an harem of at least thirteen concubines and tries to make [[ActionGirl Dejah]], Phaidor and [[FriendToAllLivingThings Thuvia]] as his newest additions. He comes to greatly regret this decision when [[DamselOutOfDistress all three stab him to death]]. Said harem plays an important role in a following arc when one of the girls warns the main protagonist about a conspiracy to destroy his allies and the other ones being involved in plot.
* ''Franchise/XMen'' :

* In the Literature/BookOfGenesis, the [[NephariousPharaoh Pharaoh]] presses [[CoolOldLady Sarah]] into his harem despite her [[SilverFox advanced age]]. However, she is protected by angels before he can have his way with her, and they render his concubines sterile to force him to return her to her husband Abraham.
* [[Literature/BooksOfKings 1 Kings]] reports that King Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines, if not more than that...
* David, Solomon's father and predecessor, throughout the Literature/BooksOfSamuel and [[Literature/TheBible I Chronicles]], had eight wives: Michal who had no children, Ahinoam, Abigail, Maacah, Haggith, Abital, Eglah, and Bathsheba, mother of Solomon and widow of Uriah the Hittite, who died at the battlefront.
* In the [[Literature/BookOfEsther Book of Esther]], the eponymous character is one of the many Jews living in exile in Babylon. Meanwhile, the reigning king Ahasuerus (or Xerxes) throws a lavish six-month party for the nobles in his empire and makes the drunken mistake of ordering his (primary) wife Vashti to make a (possibly naked) appearance in front of the men to show her off. She refused, and his advisors told him to depose and banish her, for fear that other women in the empire would follow her example of rebelling against the men in their lives. So, being the SlaveToPR that he was, he did but regretted it within a few days. The advisors come up with the idea of taking beautiful young women from all over the empire, beautifying each one for a year, and presenting her to Ahasuerus, and he would choose a new queen. Esther is one of the many girls taken into the harem, and ends up being [[TheChosenOne the one]] [[RagsToRoyalty Ahasuerus picks as his queen]].

* ''VideoGame/OverlordII'': The titular VillainProtagonist gets to keep one unlike his father/predecessor (who could only choose one mistress), while he can claim up to three {{Hot Consort}}s: his [[ChildhoodFriendRomance childhood friend]], an [[RichBitch haughty noblewoman]] and [[spoiler:Queen Fay, one of his own enemies who becomes a {{Fallen Hero}}ine]]. They can be see draped over him while [[SlouchOfVillainy slouching on his throne room]] and it's possible to [[spoiler:have a foursome with them later in the game]]. He also has his own seraglio in his fortress with minor concubines and slave girls, but they can't be interacted with, unlike his mistresses.

* Referenced briefly during "War and Pieces" from ''WesternAnimation/WileECoyoteAndTheRoadRunner''. Wile E. sets up a look-through attraction titled "Secrets of a Harem", with the viewing lens replaced by the barrels of a rifle gun. As fate would have it, however, nothing happens while the Road Runner looks through the "lenses", and the moment the Coyote looks through them, he ends up getting blasted once again.

* The ''TabletopGame/DiscworldRolePlayingGame'' plays with the trope in the example location of Al-Ybi, an ArabianNightsDays sort of city; the place’s palace naturally has a harem — but the hidden truth is that [[spoiler:the harem women are a smart, practical, highly pragmatic bunch who are secretly running the city via their influence over the sultan and their contacts in the bazaar]].

* The film ''Angélique et le Sultan'' (an extension of the French ''Literature/{{Angelique}}'' historical fiction novels) features the titular heroine getting sold to the harem of the ruler of Morocco, whom she stabs.

* In the ''Jonathan Cap'' mystery books, an imaginary nation from the Middle East is mentioned as having a Royal Harem. [[spoiler: More exactly, there's a whole plot to replace the nation's teenage Crown Prince with a BodyDouble, which is ruined when said BodyDouble gets tired of being used as a pawn and reaches for Jonathan and Co. for help. At the end the Prince hires his almost replacement ''as his official BodyDouble'' and gets out partying with Jonathan's {{kid sidekick}}s, telling them that he's looking for a local IdolSinger that he has a huge CelebCrush on... so he can ask her to join ''his'' Royal Harem.]]