History Main / SuperhumanTrafficking

** ''ComicBook/{{Starman}}'': The 1970s alien version spent years as a drugged slave being bought and sold by various "collectors".

** ''Franchise/JusticeLeagueOfAmerica'':

** In one arc of ''ComicBook/MsMarvel2014'', the Puppet Master attempted to sell a number of superheroines under his mind-control as {{Sex Slave}}s to various nasty sorts.

*** Gambit was stolen from a hospital shortly after birth and given to a slave-trafficking sorcerer as a gift because of his demonic-looking eyes.

---> '''Captain America:''' What if they send us somewhere we don't think we need to go? What if there's somewhere we need to go, and they don't let us?

In a setting where there are WitchSpecies, aliens, fairies, or superpowers that show up with sufficient regularity, these {{Differently Powered Individual}}s will have the hardship of being hunted by those who want to exploit them for [[MainliningTheMonster money, power and... other uses]]. [[MutantDraftBoard The government]], corporations, {{Mad Scientist}}s and criminal organizations may seek to enslave and co-opt them to evil ends, such as spying, {{Super Soldier}}ing, ForScience, and many other purposes.

* ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'':
** The "genomorphs" of Project Cadmus are genetically-engineered/cloned super-beings that are kept under mental control until ordered with a task. In fact, the events of the pilot episode were a carefully-crafted revolt by the genomorphs to supplant the control of The Light (the NebulousEvilOrganisation which created them), and allow the most human-looking of them ({{ComicBook/Superboy}}) to escape and act as their advocate to the outside world. Unfortunately, the Light is still in control, just more subtly, and Superboy has trouble even advocating for himself. Also, they left the same guy who was brainwashed into being head of security for the evil version of Project Cadmus as head of the reformed version, [[ThereAreNoTherapists instead of getting him some damn therapy]]. As of Season 2, both of them have been cured of this.
** In Season 2, The Light have started making deals with evil alien forces, such as [[TheEmpire The Reach]] (and later, [[ComicBook/NewGods Darkseid of Apokolips]]) after advertising humanity's potential for superpowers, which means lots of homeless people getting kidnapped and shipped off for human experimentation to have their [[DifferentlyPoweredIndividual metahuman]] abilities activated. This subplot leads to a group of teenagers escaping the Reach's captivity, using their newfound superpowers to survive.

[[quoteright:350:[[Franchise/{{Superman}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rco001_9.png]]]]

** The ancient empire of Thassilon was built on the backs of legions of enslaved giants, who were controlled through the powerful magic of the Thassilonian Runelords.

->'''Professor X''': For someone who hates mutants, you certainly keep some strange company.\\
'''Stryker''': They serve their purpose, as long as they can be controlled.

* ''Anime/DarkerThanBlack'' Contractors were treated like [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman dangerous-but-useful monsters]] and either used as expendable killers or [[TheyWouldCutYouUp experimented upon]] at will -- at least, until U.N. intervened... to demand that countries share this research and form PANDORA. Dolls who got a shorter straw were treated like corpses with still living brains -- if normal humans don't take cyborgization well, try to cut off a Doll's legs and "program" him to test the replacement. Just like that, it's equipment. Or sometimes a pretty one get "programmed" and sold as a SexBot -- illegal, but behind the {{masquerade}} there's very little difference.

* ''Manga/{{Gangsta}}'' features a split-off of humanity called [[DifferentlyPoweredIndividual Twilights]], all of whom have SuperStrength, SuperSpeed, etc. but constantly face FantasticRacism and were legal to enslave until just a few years before the main story starts. The only reason [[{{Muggles}} normals]] got away with this sort of treatment is because Twilights are a very small minority of the population and all of them are hopelessly addicted to the pricey drug ''Célèbre'', which many slave masters used to control them. For example, [[spoiler:one of the main reasons Nicolas never ran away from his highly abusive owners as a child was because they provided him with just enough ''Célèbre'' to keep him barely lucid.]]

* ''Manga/MonsterMusume'': May or may not happen frequently with the more monstrous monster girls. A shown example would be [[SpiderPeople Rachnera Arachnera]], whose host family was expecting a girl of the [[LittleBitBeastly softer variety]]. One of the more recent chapters [[spoiler:shows several monster children being rescued from a group of kidnappers]].

** Same goes for "Holy Mother" Carmel, [[spoiler:Big Mom]]'s childhood caretaker. [[spoiler:While she's working as a nun running a home for orphaned children of all races, she's [[BitchInSheepsClothing actually trying to sell them off to the World Government as soldiers or for other purposes]]]]. Like mother, like daughter...
* ''Manga/TokyoESP'': The reason the protagonists from Part 1 are missing is [[spoiler:because they've gone undercover to break up an [=ESPer=] trafficking ring.]]
* ''Anime/WitchHunterRobin'' had the inquisition out to mostly kill witches, but the Japanese branch wasn't averse to recruiting witches... in order to use them to hunt down their own kind. The ones they captured were then enslaved (or [[HumanResources processed]], it's not clear) to produce "orbo," an AntiMagic material.

* ''Film/{{Deadpool|2016}}'': Ajax runs a lab that activates latent superpowers in people, under the pretense of making superheroes out of them, then sells them off as super-slaves to various criminal organizations.

** In ''Film/TheIncredibleHulk'', General Thunderbolt Ross says, in no uncertain terms, that the titular character "is property of the US Government". Specifically, since Banner tested an attempt to reverse-engineer [[Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger a super-soldier serum]] on himself, the power of the resultant [[HulkingOut Hulk-out]] is seen by Ross as useful to the government as study. He's prepared to capture Banner and use him as a guinea pig/monster on a leash for the rest of his life.

---> '''Captain America''': What if they send us somewhere we don't think we need to go? What if there's somewhere we need to go, and they don't let us?

* In ''Literature/DragonBones'' there is Oreg, who was turned into some highly supernatural GeniusLoci ghost-thingy in order to create a [[PoweredByAForsakenChild castle that would take care of itself]]. [[spoiler:He is also a shapeshifting dragon, so he was supernatural to being with]]. There is also the skeleton of a dragon in chains somewhere in the caves under the castle. Dragons are sapient beings in that world, so this not better than having a human skeleton in the basement -- rather worse, actually.

* ''Series/{{Heroes}}'' had a mix of both options by the same organization, which both hunted, exterminated, recruited and blackmailed people with abilities.
* ''Series/TheImmortal'': Ben Richards was a race car driver whose blood contains every immunity and antibody possible, making him effectively immortal. A very rich and old man discovers this by receiving a transfusion from Richards and instantly feeling much younger and healthier. This prompts him to want to capture and imprison and effectively enslave Richards to ensure a constant supply of this (literally) life-giving substance. They even covered the point about paying Richards to frequently donate some blood, and the old man refusing by postulating that serious injury could kill Richards, thereby cutting off the supply of blood.

** The Qunari, for their part, treat their mages as dangerous beasts. All mages are called Saarebas, which literally means "dangerous thing" in Qunlat. They are forced to wear special collars that nullify their abilities and can be used to cause them great pain. Many also have their [[MouthStitchedShut mouths sewn shut]], so that they can't speak the words of a spell. In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'', if a certain Qunari mage hunter finds out that you or anyone in your party is a free mage, he will go berserk and attack you immediately (of course, he would still attack you anyway for attempting to free a Saarebas). They have only recently started to grudgingly use Saarebas in warfare, once their attempt to fight the Tevinter Imperium (a [[TheMagocracy magocracy]]) with only conventional means (including gunpowder) was met with devastating magic.

* ''VideoGame/InFAMOUS2'': [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Joseph Bertrand]] hires a group of [[AmoralAfrikaner South African]] [[PrivateMilitaryContractors mercenaries]], and then offers them the opportunity to become [[AnIcePerson Ice]] [[DifferentlyPoweredIndividual Conduits]] in exchange for a large sum of money (conveniently leaving out the part where the process will cause them to start [[TransformationHorror mutating uncontrollably]] and [[SanitySlippage losing their minds]] over time). But instead of just giving them the powers and letting them be on their way, Bertrand boxes them up and attempts to sell them to foreign governments and warlords as [[SuperSoldier super-soldiers]]-[[SealedArmyInACan in-a-can]] for even more money. [[spoiler:But it turns out that he doesn't even care about the money at all; it's actually part of his grand EvilPlan to spread [[FantasticRacism fear and hatred of Conduits]] on a global scale.]]

* ''VideoGame/{{XCOM}}'': The titular organization does this a lot to aliens -- both by selling their corpses, which is pretty profitable in the beginning, and capturing living ones for interrogation and conducting research.
* ''VideoGame/{{XCOM 2}}'': The Advent administration is a tyrannical regime that uses BreadAndCircuses to lure ordinary humans into their gene clinics -- at which point they're shipped off to laboratories and lethally harvested for traces of superhuman genetics, which are used to create superhero bodies for the ruling elite to possess.

* In ''Webcomic/BlueYonder'', the Davenports have been targeted. Their parents were taken in the BackStory, and Maiden Flight sacrificed herself to buy Blue Yonder time -- [[http://www.blueyondercomic.net/comics/1361050/blue-yonder-chapter-1-page-39/ and the reasons why are as yet unknown]].

* On ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'', [[OurFairiesAreDifferent fairies]] are often hunted to obtain their magical power, almost always Mr. Crocker going after Timmy's fairies. [[spoiler:In TheMovie, ''Abracatastrophe'', he succeeds.]] Later on another, far more dangerous and competent fairy hunter shows up in the form of Ms. Doombringer.
* Similar to the above example, magical creatures in general are frequently hunted or killed by the Huntsclan on ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDragonJakeLong''.

* ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'': Ghost hunting is a common occupation, although only Skulker and the Guys in White are even remotely competent. Freakshow, who uses and controls ghosts for his circus acts, is another example.

** The "genomorphs" of Project Cadmus are this: genetically-engineered/cloned super-beings that are kept under mental control until ordered with a task. In fact, the events of the pilot episode were a carefully-crafted revolt by the genomorphs to supplant the control of The Light (the NebulousEvilOrganisation which created them), and allow the most human-looking of them ({{ComicBook/Superboy}}) to escape and act as their advocate to the outside world. Unfortunately, the Light is still in control, just more subtly, and Superboy has trouble even advocating for himself. Also, they left the same guy who was brainwashed into being head of security for the evil version of Project Cadmus as head of the reformed version, [[ThereAreNoTherapists instead of getting him some damn therapy]]. As of Season 2, both of them have been cured of this.

->'''Professor X:''' For someone who hates mutants, you certainly keep some strange company.\\
'''Stryker:''' They serve their purpose, as long as they can be controlled.

* ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'': [[spoiler: After the Titan Wars, the Eldians remaining outside the Walls were rounded up by the nation of [[ANaziByAnyOtherName Marley]] and imprisoned in ghettos. While they ''claim'' this was an act of mercy, in reality Marley is merely exploiting them for their ability to transform into Titans. Extremely oppressive laws provide an excuse to arrest Eldians for whatever reason, subjecting them to experimentation or transformation into a mindless Titan. These Titans provide the backbone of the Marleyan military, unleashed on the battlefield to slaughter their enemies. With the launching of the Warrior program, Eldian families are encouraged to sell their own children to the military in exchange for better treatment. These children become fanatical {{Tykebomb}}s that believe their service to Marley will someday earn their kinsmen their freedom. The very best are given the "honor" of hosting one of the Nine Titans, giving them incredible powers in exchange for spending the last 13 years of their life as weapons for the military]].
* ''Manga/BlueRamun'': {{Downplayed}}, but the Garicalege makes their money by [[HumanResources harvesting]] a FantasticMedicinalBodilyProduct that only the Blue Ramun tribe members can produce -- their [[HealingHands magically curative]] [[ThePowerOfBlood blood]] (and in some cases, organs). The Garicalege kidnap adult Blue Doctors to steal their blood and [[spoiler: abduct illegal half-Blue blooded children to keep them in captivity and brainwashed into giving blood on command until the children become unprofitable to keep alive and are killed to harvest their organs]].
* ''Anime/BNABrandNewAnimal'': There's a black market in beastman children, Michiru is captured by traffickers in the second episode but manages to use her RubberMan powers to escape before they're loaded onto the ship.
* ''Anime/DarkerThanBlack'' Contractors were treated like [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman dangerous, though useful monsters]] and either used as expendable killers or [[TheyWouldCutYouUp experimented upon]] at will -- at least, until U.N. intervened... to demand that countries share this research and form PANDORA. Dolls who got a shorter straw were treated like corpses with still living brains -- if normal humans don't take cyborgization well, try to cut off a Doll's legs and "program" him to test the replacement. Just like that, it's equipment. Or sometimes a pretty one get "programmed" and sold as a SexBot -- illegal, but behind the {{masquerade}} there's very little difference.
* In ''Anime/{{Endride}}'', [[SpontaneousWeaponCreation special innate weapons]] called Warp Relics are common, but far from universal, which leads to a slave trade of [[{{Tykebomb}} child assassins]] [[{{Brainwashed}} groomed]] for their magical fighting capabilities.
* ''Manga/{{Gangsta}}'' features a split-off of humanity called [[DifferentlyPoweredIndividual Twilights]], all of whom have SuperStrength, SuperSpeed, etc. but constantly face FantasticRacism and were legal to enslave until just a few years before the main story starts. The only reason normals got away with this sort of treatment is because Twilights are a very small minority of the population and all of them are hopelessly addicted to the pricey drug ''Célèbre'', which many slave masters used to control them. For example, [[spoiler: one of the main reasons Nicolas never ran away from his highly abusive owners as a child was because they provided him with just enough ''Célèbre'' to keep him barely lucid.]]
* ''LightNovel/GarbageBrave'' starts with this. Tsukuru's entire Home-Ec class, including himself, were summoned to an alien world and sold to various nations, based on their transmigration granted super-powers. Tsukru was dumped in a dungeon and LeftForDead because nobody [[ATragedyOfImpulsiveness stopped to consider how dangerous]] [[LethalHarmlessPowers his subskills [Igniton] and [Dismantle] are.]]

** Fishmen inherently have ten times the strength of normal humans, but they are constantly getting captured and placed into slavery, where they are bought for extremely high prices by [[AristocratsAreEvil the fabulously wealthy]]. People confirmed to have Devil Fruit powers also fetch very high prices at the slave auctions.

** In the DCAU, Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman were once captured and auctioned off to the highest bidder. Lots of villains from throughout the DCAU (including some who never appeared in any of the shows) were invited to the auction. [[spoiler: It turned out to be a trap by the Justice League to lure them out of hiding and arrest as many villains as possible.]]

*** In UsefulNotes/{{the Silver Age|of Comic Books}} and in the 1990s, the original alien version of [[NamesTheSame the Queen Bee]] has sometimes tried to [[AssimilationPlot transform the Leaguers into her "drones."]]

** In one arc of ''ComicBook/MsMarvel2014'', the Puppet Master attempted to sell a number of superheroines under his MindControl as {{Sex Slave}}s to various nasty sorts.

*** The U-Men are a band of humans whose [[IJustWantToBeSpecial desire for super-powers]] leads to their abducting and vivisecting mutants in order to experiment in gaining super-powers through blood transfusions and limb/organ/tissue grafts.

*** We once did see the Hellfire Club having an ''actual superhuman auction.'' This isn't as [[BullyingADragon suicidally dumb]] as it sounds, as the MarvelUniverse has always had a large population of lower-level superhumans, especially mutants --not always visible, but there. The club wasn't selling anyone who could kill you with their brain. Not to mention, the Hellfire Club is run by an Inner Circle of powerful superhumans in their own right. Natch, the X-Men had to break it up.
*** Gambit was stolen from a hospital shortly after birth and given to a slave trafficking sorceror as a gift because of his demonic-looking eyes.

** During WWII, HYDRA and the Nazis are implied to have done this, to an extent, experimenting on a young Magneto.
** The Weapons Plus program, particularly Weapon X, specialised in this, being more focused on the enslaving side of SuperSoldier creation. Or at least, they did until Weapon X a.k.a. Wolverine escaped, and took refuge with Charles Xavier. Who they tried to go after. [[BewareTheNiceOnes Bad idea.]]
** The Red Room were the Soviet equivalent. During the Cold War, they kidnapped an eight year old Alison Carter (valuable, given that she was the secret daughter of Peggy and Steve and a fully fledged SuperSoldier), and later do this in the ''Forever Red'' arc of the sequel, with a number of high-profile prisoners/slaves. This includes their ultimate weapon: the Red Son ([[spoiler: a reprogrammed version of Harry's BlankSlate body]]).

* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9037762/4/I-Fall-out-to-Pieces I Fall(out) to Pieces]]'', the director of [[VideoGame/{{Fallout}} Vault UK-13]] mistakenly discovered the existence of [[Literature/HarryPotter magic]] through blood tests, but since he doesn't actually know about the magical world, [[EntertaininglyWrong he assumed that the various witches and wizards were simple mutants]]. His plan for Vault UK-13 was to gather as many as these "mutants" into the Vault as possible to have them reproduce and raise the children to be loyal to the crown.

* ''Film/{{Deadpool|2016}}'': [[strike:Francis]] Ajax runs a lab that activates latent superpowers in people, under the pretense of making superheroes out of them, then sells them off as super-slaves to various criminal organizations.

** In ''Film/TheIncredibleHulk'', General Thunderbolt Ross says, in no uncertain terms, that the titular character "is property of the US Government". Specifically, since Banner tested an attempt to reverse-engineer [[Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger a super-soldier serum]] on himself, the power of the resultant HulkOut is seen by Ross as useful to the government as study. He's prepared to capture Banner and use him as a guinea pig/monster on a leash for the rest of his life.
** ''Film/IronMan3'' features a think tank that's designing new virological enhancements to create the perfect super-soldier-for-sale, while staging fake terror attacks to increase demand. It's disturbingly unclear how much free will the test subjects retain.
** ''Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar'': This is also what Captain America fears will happen if they sign the Sokovia Accords. Given Ross's all-but-apparent glee at having some heroes locked up and others under his thumb, he has no qualms about this.
---> '''Captain America:''' What if they send us somewhere we don't think we need to go? What if there's somewhere we need to go, and they don't let us?

* In ''LightNovel/CrestOfTheStars'', the Abh were originally created to be slaves. Now that they have an empire of their own, they're hated.
* In ''Literature/DragonBones'' there is Oreg, who was turned into some highly supernatural GeniusLoci ghost-thingy in order to create a [[PoweredByAForsakenChild castle that would take care of itself.]] [[spoiler: He is also a shapeshifting dragon, so he was supernatural to being with]]. There is also the skeleton of a dragon in chains somewhere in the caves under the castle. Dragons are sapient beings in that world, so this not better than having a human skeleton in the basement. Rather worse.
* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'': In the short story ''Aftermath'', Murphy has to disguise herself as a kidnapper selling a couple of werewolves in order to track down and destroy a Fomor group operating in Chicago. Formors are a group of aquatic supernaturals snatching up humans possessing varying degrees of magical talent. It's mentioned that [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent werewolf]] [[BloodMagic blood has several useful properties]], and [[PoweredByAForsakenChild presumably other kinds of magic-users would have unique traits]].

* ''Literature/HonorHarrington'': [[EvilInc Manpower Incorporated of Mesa]]. Whatever sort of genetically engineered slave you need, from [[SexSlave pleasure units]] engineered with stunning good looks and thoroughly trained to please any man or woman's desires, through to the heavy labour lines engineered for size and strength and nothing else, Manpower Incorporated has you covered.
* ''Literature/TheInfected'': The titular Infected (think mutants) who are dangerous enough are effectively drafted into the IPB on pain of death. Also, any Infected with healing powers vanishes almost immediately, kidnapped by cartels or the incredibly wealthy.
* ''Literature/JourneyToChaos'': Tariatla has a brisk trade in the enslavement of elves, who, in this verse, are basically humans infused with chaotic energy. They're immortal and possess a HealingFactor and so they are used for perpetual labor and dangerous operations, as well as [[SexSlave "eternal virgins"]]. A large part of ''Literature/ManaMutationMenace'' is breaking this trade worldwide.

* ''Literature/SuperSalesOnSuperHeroes'': When a supervillain conquers the city, she has most superheroes sold into slavery with magically binding contracts. The plot kicks off when the protagonist accidentally buys one online and ends up running a slave empire. Subverted in the sequels, where he turns them into indentured servants with limited contracts instead, since he realizes that basing his entire financial empire on a single law that could change at any moment is ridiculous. Besides, he expands from the city to the outside country, where slavery is illegal.

* In ''Series/BabylonFive'', human telepaths are ''required'' to join the [[MutantDraftBoard Psi Corps]], or take psi-dampening drugs that include suicidal depression as side effects.
* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'':
** This is the attitude of much of the Watchers' Council to Slayers, as utterly disposable tools who can always be replace by the next one if they fail or get rebellious. The final season reveals that this was not a case of SlowlySlippingIntoEvil under the stress of protecting the world, but that the ancient magicians who created the First Slayer and set up the organisation planned it that way from the start.

** In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS18E5WarriorsGate "Warriors' Gate"]], the Tharils are enslaved for their time-sensitivity, forced to work as navigators for human vessels by being strapped into mechanisms that can damage their minds from prolonged use.
** This is the ambition of the villain [[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E6Dalek Henry van Statten]]. [[BullyingADragon Pity his first attempt involves a Dalek.]]
* In ''Series/{{Firefly}}'', a government facility known as "The Academy" exists to experiment on young people who show signs of psychic abilities and turn them into SuperSoldiers. Among other things, the process vastly amplifies their PsychicPowers, but it frequently drives the subjects insane. The Academy recruits their 'students' by [[SchoolForScheming posing as a prestigious school]]; while there's no evidence of them using force to obtain ''new'' subjects, it's very difficult to get out again once you've signed on. Any escapees are hunted by [[TheMenInBlack "Hands of Blue" agents.]]
* In ''Series/TheFlash2014'', this appears to be Amunet Black's business, and the prison warden is in on it, offering to sell her the metas in a secret wing.

* Myth/ClassicalMythology: The probable UrExample appears when Heracles/Hercules is repeatedly forced into servitude. For example, he performed his famous Twelve Labours as penance for killing his family after Hera briefly drove him insane. Later, as penance for killing ''another'' guy in ''another'' fit of divinely induced madness, he had to serve Queen Omphale for a year, performing housework in feminine clothes while the queen wore his lionskin cape and carried his club.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Aberrant}}'': Some novas (superpowered individuals) are hunted by criminal syndicates who kidnap them and harvest their organs to make superpowered drugs.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Champions}}'': The organization PSI (Parapsychological Studies Institute) hunts down and captures people with psionic abilities and brainwashes them into becoming villains and slaves of PSI. PSI plans to use them to take control of the world.
* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'': In the ''TabletopGame/DarkSun'' setting, muls ([[HalfHumanHybrid crossbreeds between humans and dwarves]]) have incredible endurance, being able to work three days straight without rest, but are rare due to their sterility. Their endurance makes them great slaves, and large numbers are made into gladiators. Slave-hunters will generally put more effort into capturing muls than slaves of other races, and will probably have to because muls sprinting for freedom tend to be badass.
* In ''TabletopGame/MummyTheCurse'', Last Dynasty, Incorporated harvests mummies for their [[PureEnergy Sekhem]], which they use for a variety of drugs, from an AIDS cure to a longevity treatment.

** On the [[{{Squick}} squickier]] side of things, Ashwood Abbey is a Compact of bored, rich dilettantes who [[HuntingTheMostDangerousGame Hunt]] supernatural beings to, ah, [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil entertain]] [[ColdBloodedTorture themselves.]]

** Drakes are creatures that appear to be human but can shapeshift into the form of small dragons, with appropriate powers. Once they started to appear, powerful entities such as Great Dragons and {{MegaCorp}}s immediately started to hunt them down and capture them. It seems that drakes were originally created to be a SlaveRace for the dragons, and the dragons themselves have something of a difficult time seeing why things should be otherwise.

* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'': The Imperium of Man counts psykers as part of their planetary tithes. The Imperium uses psykers for faster-than-light communication (astro-telepathy) and as military assets (sanctioned wyrdvane psykers) and the Navigator Houses (in)breed their own unique psychic mutants that are required for faster-than-light travel. Psykers who fail whatever tests are fed to the Golden Throne, where they fuel the Astronomican, the Emperor's massive psychic lighthouse, which allegedly burns through a thousand psykers a day. Untrained psykers are incredibly dangerous to Imperial citizens, as the powers of the Warp can use an unsuspecting psyker as a gateway into the real world and wreak havoc until they dissipate back whence they came.

* ''VideoGame/{{Bioshock}}'': The Little Sisters are little girls who have been kidnapped and augmented with a parasitic slug that makes them effectively immortal until they're ripped apart for AppliedPhlebotinum (or reach puberty, which turns them into feral teenagers with superpowers). There was a market for harvesting the stomachs of little girls until the civil war turned Rapture into a ruined nightmare, at which point the little girls are paired with giant, hulking cyborgs dedicated to killing anyone who harms their bow-wrapped drug factories. You can either save them or get in on the action.

** The main nations have a ''legalized'' example: all individuals, human or elf, with magical talent can be taken away by the [[MageKiller Templars]] and placed inside a glorified prison with others of the like (ostensibly for their own and everyone else's protection) to toil away for the Chantry and whomever the Templars deem suitable clients. The situation is made complicated by the fact that mages are so because of their connection to the Fade, which includes a significant population of malevolent demons ready to use the mage as a tunnel to wreak havoc in the mortal world. A mage who loses control and gets possessed is generally accompanied by a massive body count. The Chantry sees its practices as a reasonable compromise: Mages are taken away from the public population for the safety of all, but the mages themselves aren't killed outright, but confined amongst their kind in relative comfort where they can study their art, use them for the better, and be warned not to give into the demons. As is with most complicated matters, there is ferocious debate on this in- and out-of-universe, and lots of room for abuse on both sides.
** The Qunari, for their part, treat their mages as dangerous beasts. All mages are called Saarebas, which literally means "dangerous thing" in Qunlat. They are forced to wear special collars that nullify their abilities and can be used to cause them great pain. Many also have their [[MouthStitchedShut mouths sewn shut]], so that they can't speak the words of a spell. In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'', if a certain Qunari mage hunter finds out that you or anyone in your party is a free mage, he will go berserk and attack you immediately (of course, he would still attack you anyway for attempting to free a Saarebas). They have only recently started to grudgingly use Saarebas in warfare, once their attempt to fight the Tevinter Imperium (a magocracy) with only conventional means (including gunpowder) was met with devastating magic.
* ''VideoGame/GoldenSunDarkDawn'' specifically says that the beastmen of old were enslaved for their great strength, and were hunted again for the same purpose when they re-emerged after the return of Alchemy to Weyard.
* ''VideoGame/InFAMOUS2'': [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Joseph Bertrand]] hires a group of [[AmoralAfrikaner South African]] [[PrivateMilitaryContractors mercenaries]], and then offers them the opportunity to become [[AnIcePerson Ice]] [[DifferentlyPoweredIndividual Conduits]] in exchange for a large sum of money (conveniently leaving out the part where the process will cause them to start [[TransformationHorror mutating uncontrollably]] and [[SanitySlippage losing their minds]] over time). But instead of just giving them the powers and letting them be on their way, Bertrand boxes them up and attempts to sell them to foreign governments and warlords as [[SuperSoldiers super-soldiers]]-[[SealedArmyInACan in-a-can]] for even more money. [[spoiler:But it turns out that he doesn't even care about the money at all; it's actually part of his grand EvilPlan to spread [[FantasticRacism fear and hatred of Conduits]] on a global scale.]]
* ''Franchise/MassEffect'': Biotics (especially untrained children) are very sought after by illegal groups, particularly if they're powerful for their species. In a more benign variant, biotics are also rare enough among humans that there are monetary incentives offered for them join the armed forces; the discrimination they face is so omnipresent that a very large percentage of them do indeed sign up just to escape it.

* In ''VideoGame/StarCraft'', telepaths are deceptively (if possible) or forcibly (if not) recruited into the [[MutantDraftBoard Ghost Program]] by wranglers. They are then trained TheSpartanWay and mind-wiped. Ironically, the mind-wipe proved to be the selling point to one November Annabella "Nova" Terra, who jumped at the chance at a new life without the horrible memories of her parents being murdered and her life since then.

* ''VideoGame/{{XCOM2}}'' is an inversion; the Advent administration is a tyrannical regime that uses BreadAndCircuses to lure ordinary humans into their gene clinics - at which point they're shipped off to laboratories and lethally harvested for traces of ''superhuman'' genetics, which are used to create superhero bodies for the ruling elite to possess.

* In ''Webcomic/BlueYonder'', the Davenports have been targeted. Their parents were taken in the BackStory, and Maiden Flight sacrificed herself to buy Blue Yonder time -- [[http://www.blueyondercomic.net/comics/1361050/blue-yonder-chapter-1-page-39/ and the reasons why are as yet unknown.]]

* ''Webcomic/TheGamer'': A constant worry and BerserkButton for Han Jee-Han, both because he's an especially tempting target, which drives his need to LevelGrind by putting him in near-constant danger of being abducted and used as a battery, and because "mana farms" tend to be run by the worst of the worst.

* ''Literature/{{Brennus}}'': Not uncommon. People with the Adonis trait (especially if it comes with little or nothing else in the way of superpowers) are targets for sex slavery. Other powers tend to vary depending upon the risk-versus-reward scenario, but the Califate pays top-dollar for Contrivers, and everyone wants a Gadgeteer.

* In the ''Literature/WhateleyUniverse'', kidnapping and exploitation of superhumans (especially mutants and dynahosts) crops up from time to time in various forms. In particular, a major StoryArc set in late 2007 begins when a group of heroes (and one retired villain) rescue a kidnapped Whateley student, and in the process uncover a group called The Triangle; they are a splinter off of Humanity First! who claim to be seeking peaceful co-existence with mutants, but are covertly enslaving mutants with useful powers 'for the common good'. Other instances include [[spoiler: the Loose Cannons]] getting sold to the operator of an illegal BloodSport ring, from which they then try to escape. It also seems to be ''de rigeur'' for some {{Mad Scientist}}s to kidnap superhumans for test subjects.

* On ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'' fairies are often hunted to obtain their magical power, almost always Mr. Crocker going after Timmy's fairies. [[spoiler:In TheMovie, ''Abracatastrophe'', he succeeds.]] Later on another, far more dangerous and competent fairy hunter shows up in the form of Ms. Doombringer.

* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels'': In addition to killing fugitive Jedi, the Inquisitors are tasked with taking in Force-sensitive children, often by kidnapping, so they can be raised as future Inquisitors. As Ahsoka points out, this is exactly what the Sith tried to do in the TCW episode above, except this time, the kidnappings are [[MutantDraftBoard state-sanctioned]] by TheEmpire, and there's no Republic or Jedi Order to stop it.

** The "genomorphs" of Project Cadmus are this: genetically-engineered/cloned superbeings that are kept under [[MindControl mental control]] until ordered with a task. In fact, the events of the pilot episode were a carefully-crafted revolt by the genomorphs to supplant the control of The Light (the NebulousEvilOrganisation which created them), and allow the most human-looking of them ({{ComicBook/Superboy}}) to escape and act as their advocate to the outside world. Unfortunately, the Light is still in control, just more subtly, and Superboy has trouble even advocating for himself. Also, they left the same guy who was brainwashed into being head of security for the evil version of Project Cadmus as head of the reformed version, [[ThereAreNoTherapists instead of getting him some damn therapy]]. As of Season 2, both of them have been cured of this.
** In Season 2, The Light have started making deals with evil alien forces, such as [[TheEmpire The Reach]] (and later, {{ComicBook/Darkseid}} of [[ComicBook/NewGods Apokolips]]) after advertising humanity's potential for superpowers, which means lots of homeless people getting kidnapped and shipped off for human experimentation to have their [[DifferentlyPoweredIndividuals metahuman]] abilities activated. This subplot leads to a group of teenagers escaping the Reach's captivity, using their newfound superpowers to survive.

* ''Series/{{Misfits}}'': In an AlternateHistory episode, a Holocaust survivor travels back in time to [[HitlersTimeTravelExemptionAct kill Hitler]], but inadvertently causes the Nazis to have a technological advantage and take over Europe. In the alternate present, the Nazis are rounding up superpowered individuals and using Seth, who has a combination of PowerParasite and SuperEmpowering, to give them to high ranking Nazi officials. The superpowered individuals are then killed. Seth pays thugs to find someone who can resurrect his dead girlfriend, although he does let the man go after he brings her back.

** ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'': At one point, the Puppet Master attempted to sell a number of Creator/MarvelComics superheroines under his MindControl as {{Sex Slave}}s to various nasty sorts.

* On ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'' fairies are often hunted, almost always Mr. Crocker going after Timmy's fairies. [[spoiler:In TheMovie, ''Abracatastrophe'', he succeeds]] Later on another, far more dangerous and competent fairy hunter shows up in the form of Ms. Doombringer.

*** We once did see the Hellfire Club having an ''actual superhuman auction.'' This isn't as [[BullyingADragon suicidally dumb]] as it sounds, as the MarvelUniverse has always had a population of lower-level superhumans--not always visible, but there. The club wasn't selling anyone who could kill you with their brain. Not to mention, the Hellfire Club is run by an Inner Circle of powerful superhumans in their own right. Natch, the X-Men had to break it up.

* ''ComicBook/{{Starman}}'': The 1970s alien version spent years as a drugged slave being bought and sold by various "collectors".

* ''Manga/DailyLifeWithMonsterGirl'': May or may not happen frequently with the more monstrous monster girls. A shown example would be [[SpiderPeople Rachnera Arachnera]], whose host family was expecting a girl of the [[LittleBitBeastly softer variety]]. One of the more recent chapters [[spoiler:shows several monster children being rescued from a group of kidnappers]].

* ''Comicbook/{{Starman}}'': The 1970s alien version spent years as a drugged slave being bought and sold by various "collectors".

** ''Comicbook/FantasticFour'': At one point, the Puppet Master attempted to sell a number of Creator/MarvelComics superheroines under his MindControl as {{Sex Slave}}s to various nasty sorts.

* In ''FanFic/WishCarefully'', magically-strong girls were kidnapped by Death Eaters to be concubines for stave off their slow extinction.

** In the DCAU, Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman were once captured and auctioned off to the highest bidder. All the major villains of the DCAU were invited to the auction. [[spoiler: It turned out to be a trap by the Justice League to lure out of hiding and arrest as many villains as possible.]]

* In the ''Literature/WhateleyUniverse'', kidnapping and exploitation of superhumans, (especially mutants and dynahosts) crops up from time to time in various forms. In particular, a major StoryArc set in late 2007 begins when a group of heroes (and one retired villain) rescue a kidnapped Whateley student, and in the process uncover a group called The Triangle; they are a splinter off of Humanity First! who claim to be seeking peaceful co-existence with mutants, but are covertly enslaving mutants with useful powers 'for the common good'. Other instances include [[spoiler: the Loose Cannons]] getting sold to the operator of an illegal BloodSport ring, from which they then try to escape. It also seems to be ''de rigeur'' for some {{Mad Scientist}}s to kidnap superhumans for test subjects.

* ''VideoGame/inFAMOUS2'': [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Joseph Bertrand]] hires a group of [[AmoralAfrikaner South African]] [[PrivateMilitaryContractors mercenaries]], and then offers them the opportunity to become [[AnIcePerson Ice]] [[DifferentlyPoweredIndividual Conduits]] in exchange for a large sum of money (conveniently leaving out the part where the process will cause them to start [[TransformationHorror mutating uncontrollably]] and [[SanitySlippage losing their minds]] over time). But instead of just giving them the powers and letting them be on their way, Bertrand boxes them up and attempts to sell them to foreign governments and warlords as [[SuperSoldiers super-soldiers]]-[[SealedArmyInACan in-a-can]] for even more money. [[spoiler:But it turns out that he doesn't even care about the money at all; it's actually part of his grand EvilPlan to spread [[FantasticRacism fear and hatred of Conduits]] on a global scale.]]

** Same goes for "Holy Mother" Carmel, [[spoiler:Big Mom]]'s childhood caretaker. [[spoiler:While she's working as a [[HollywoodNun nun]] running a home for orphaned children of all races, she's [[BitchInSheepsClothing actually trying to sell them off to the World Government as soldiers or for other purposes]]]]. Like mother, like daughter, am I right?

* ''Film/EscapeToWitchMountain'': In the original movie, Tony and Tia are chased by a CorruptCorporateExecutive who wants to use their powers for his personal gain and a mob of people on a literal WitchHunt. Not that they know what they'll ''do'' with them once they catch them. In the sequel, ''Return from Witch Mountain'', the villain is a MadScientist who kidnaps Tony and fixes him with a MindControlDevice in order to harness his powers.

* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9037762/4/I-Fall-out-to-Pieces I Fall(out) to Pieces]]'', the director of [[VideoGame/{{Fallout}} Vault UK-13]] mistakenly discovers the existence of [[Literature/HarryPotter magic]] through blood tests, but since he doesn't actually know about the magical world, [[EntertaininglyWrong he assumes that the various witches and wizards are simple mutants]]. His plan for Vault UK-13 is to gather as many as these "mutants" into the Vault as possible to have them reproduce and raise the children to be loyal to the crown.

* in''VideoGame/{{Bioshock}}'': The Little Sisters are little girls who have been kidnapped and augmented with a parasitic slug that makes them effectively immortal until they're ripped apart for AppliedPhlebotinum (or reach puberty, which turns them into feral teenagers with superpowers). There was a market for harvesting the stomachs of little girls until the civil war turned Rapture into a ruined nightmare, at which point the little girls are paired with giant, hulking cyborgs dedicated to killing anyone who harms their bow-wrapped drug factories. You can either save them or get in on the action.

[[quoteright:350:[[Franchise/{{Superman}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rco001_4.jpg]]]]

** ComicBook/GreenLantern'':