When a character chases after their love interest in a playful manner as a form of flirting and courtship. Since Men Act, Women Are and No Guy Wants to Be Chased, the chaser usually is male and after a female love interest.
When played straight, this must be a completely consensual bit of mutual fun, with the chased only Playing Hard to Get and acting as The Tease. Expect giggling. When its not mutual, you have a case of Stalker with a Crush. And even when it is mutual, depending on how extensive and invasive the chase is, you might cross the line right on over into Stalking is Love.
May be treated as a G-rated version of Best Her to Bed Her, especially if it ends with a nice snog. May also be treated as a bit of a sport to build up the appetite or a form of G-Rated Sex in of itself. Compare Meadow Run, where the lovers run to meet each other.
For several practical reasons,note this is also a popular premise for music videos, with the main the singer following a love interest around while either explicitly seranading them and or just singing about them. See Other Common Music Video Concepts for other tropes used in a similar way.
Examples:
open/close all folders
Anime & Manga
- The Seven Deadly Sins: After regaining her 200-year-old memories of her time spent with Harlequin, Diane offers Harlequin one wish if he is able to catch her in a chase across the city. This is a callback to their shared history where he once offered her the same, and she asked that he "love her forever." He still does, and apparently, Diane reciprocates.
- Happens in a sense in Teasing Master Takagi-san. During the marathon chapter when Nishikata challenged Takagi to a race she at one point offered to make it his win if he could touch her. He started running after her but realized it looked like this and turned it back into a plain race.
Comic Books
- The well-known Batman story "Date Knight" by Darwyn Cooke and Tim Sale, originally published in Solo #1 but later collected in various places. Basically just Batman and Catwoman chasing each other around Gotham and indulging in massive Foe Romance Subtext. The ending has Batman tied up and hanging from a gutter with lipstick kisses all over his face.
Fan Works
- In Bridge to Terabithia 2: The Last Time note , Jess and Leslie, after admitting they truly have feelings for each other while becoming college roommates, frequently chases after each other in a playful manner, hugging and grabbing while trying to kiss each other, including one rather intimate bonding scene in their childhood fantasyland of Terabithia... which is witnessed by Jess' younger sisters, Maybelle and Joyce Ann. Both the little girls thought their flirting is rather disgusting, to be honest.
- The Miraculous Ladybug fic Cat & Mouse
is about Marinette and Adrien indulging in a rooftop chase. It helps that they're superheroes who can easily leap long distances and keep their balance.
- In Persephone, a healer is understandably reluctant to believe that Astrid got bruises from running into a cave wall. The reader knows that's actually what did happen; Astrid was flirtatiously running from Hiccup, and, um, had other things on her mind than where she was going.
Film — Animated
- At the beginning of Finding Nemo, Marlin and Coral are chasing each other around and teasing each other about the day they met.
Film — Live Action
- In Attack of the Clones, one of the bonding scenes in the Falling-in-Love Montage between Padme and Anakin had both of them chasing after each other in a playful way on the meadows of Naboo.
- Cool as Ice: While Ice and Kathy are developing their relationship, there are shots of them playfully chasing each-other around a construction site, interspersed with scenes of them talking.
- In The Family Man, Jack realizes Kate is eating the slice of cake he saved for himself; she responds by running with it, and Jack's irritation quickly turns into a goofy, flirty chase trying to take the cake back until he pulls her down on the stairs. It's the first time he starts bonding to his new modest life.
- In The Favourite, Abigail and Masham engage in a strangely vicious version of this (as fitting for the film's themes) in which he genuinely tries to tackle her to the ground and she sincerely kicks and punches him, all while they giggle as though this is delightful fun. And while Abigail may have simply been using him, Masham does fall in love with her.
- The Grifters. One night, Myra tells her boyfriend Roy that's she's too tired to have sex with him. A short time later, she appears naked before him and entices him into chasing her around her room. He catches her, throws her over his shoulder, drops her on a bed and joins her.
- Robin Hood - czwarta strzała: Within a single scene, Marion and Robin progress from coy looks and goofy smiles to merry frolicking on a meadow - this is so cute the narrator decides we'd better go and see what the Sheriff of Nothingham is up to.
- In The Scarlet Flower, the Prince and Alyona happily chase each other through the palace gardens on the morning of their wedding day.
Literature
- The Adventures of Tom Sawyer: After Tom gets Becky Thatcher to say "I love you" to him, she springs away from him and runs around and around the desks in the schoolroom with Tom chasing her. When he catches up to her, he puts his arms around her neck and asks for a kiss.
- In But Gentlemen Marry Brunettes, Lorelei describes this as the highlight of her brief career as a movie actress.
I did not care what it was full of, so long as it was full of plenty of cute scenes where the leading man would chase me around the trunk of a tree and I would peek out at him, like Lillian Gish.
- In the Junie B. Jones book Dumb Bunny, Sheldon and Lucille have a schoolkid romance. At one point, Sheldon chases her around the school grounds, calling her a "springy little lamb." Junie B. thinks the nickname is hilarious, while May claims Sheldon is clearly trying to flatter Lucille into letting him win the grand prize of her egg hunt.
- In The Black Gryphon, we learn that gryphons engage in "courtship chases" when Skandranon and Zhaneel resolve their UST with one.
- In Lords and Ladies, we learn Esme Weatherwax and Mustrum Ridcully used to engage in this in their youth. So did Gytha Ogg (presumably with many blokes), but while Esme could outrun any man, Gytha had a tendency to trip on the first root she managed to find.
- In The Martian Philtre, Savich, right after his rejuvenation, has a dream involving himself and a lovely nymph engaged in a chase like this.
- Małgorzata Musierowicz:
- When Natalia hails a cab in Nutria i Nerwus, the driver assumes it's this trope, but upon learning it isn't, he eagerly steps on it and helps Natalia escape her stalker, cause it's just like in the movies.
- Opium w rosole has a complicated example: Lelujka and Kreska are playing chase while Maciek watches and seethes. But while Lelujka is in love, Kreska just thinks of him as a friend, and neither of them knew they were being watched.
- A variation occurs in Sannikov Land at the Onkilons' wife-choosing festival. Men (in heavy clothes and armed) must choose their wives from a lined-up row of naked women and then chase them: if a man catches the woman he has picked, they're considered married. Since usually women, with nothing to slow them down, can only be caught if they want it, the trope is played straight more often than not. However, some quick-thinking men think up all sorts of tricks to startle their chosen bride and catch her even if she is unwilling.
- Technomagia i smoki has a less happy example with a bit character who hires prostitutes for a bit of a sport (both running and their regular fare, probably), because his job is terribly stressful and that's how he relaxes.
- Briefly mentioned in The Time Machine as a form of flirting among the Eloi: the protagonist witnesses a man chasing a woman and throwing flowers at her.
- Tolkien's Legendarium: Luthien pulls Beren into one of these in an early version of their tale after she's seen him watch her in the woods with a dreamy expression on his face a couple of times. She just wants him to meet her parents and inadvertantly sets the plot in motion.
Live-Action TV
- In Cruel Summer, flashbacks show Martin chasing Kate around during the flirtation portion of their relationship.
- In the opening of the Firefly episode "War Stories", Kaylee chases River after the latter steals an apple from her. Considering that they had a whole shipment of apples to choose from, and yet River chooses to steal Kaylee's apple specifically, and Kaylee decides to try and get that specific apple back rather than simply getting another one, one might infer that there was some flirtation in their chase, especially when contrasted with a later scene where River violently kills Niska's men to protect Kaylee.
- In the Friends episode "The One At The Beach" everyone is bored (and a bit drunk) because they're stuck in a beach house while it's raining outside. Rachel has just finished painting Monica's toenails, and turns to Ross as her next paintee. Ross refuses, so she chases him around the room until they collapse onto a sofa. After wrestling for a bit Ross grabs her hand to make Rachel brush her own forehead. Next is the pause where they hold their Held Gaze as they haven't been in such close proximity since their breakup. Unfortunately Phoebe comes in, filling the role of Moment Killer.
Music
- Michael Jackson's video for "The Way You Make Me Feel" features Jackson following a woman walking home alone in the city. Later he is joined by a group of guys who join him in his pursuit as backup dancers.
- Alternative R&B singer Masego's music video for his song "Mystery Woman" sees him following after the eponymous mystery woman in a white dress through a romantic Roman garden, through city streets, all the way to the beach, where she is suddenly joined by two other women as they sit in the ocean, lightly insinuating that she may or may not be a mermaid.
- Mario's first single "Just a Friend 2002", a loose cover of Biz Markie's song "Just a Friend", has a video in which Mario sings to and dances for (along with a crew) a local girl in his neighborhood. Though the trope does get played with; Mario follows her briefly, choosing to rather show up where she'll be, like a crowded movie theater, and publicly singing for her there.
- The video for Shinee's debut single "Replay (Noona Is So Pretty)" shows the group singing at and following an older woman who works at a coffee shop that they are all seemingly infatuated with. Different members follow her at different points (on the street, at a basketball court) culminating with the group dancing for her together at the end.
- This trope forms about two-thirds of Between Twilight video by Lindsey Stirling, culminating in a Dance of Romance.
Tabletop Games
- Call of Cthulhu supplement Curse of the Chthonians, adventure "Dark Carnival". Lucy Pringle and her boyfriend Kent Howard are strolling along a riverbank. Kent tries to kiss Lucy and she runs away laughing, calling out "If you can catch me, you can kiss me!" Kent races after her, trying to catch her and earn the kiss.
Theatre
- In Amadeus, Salieri first sees Mozart chasing his girlfriend (later wife) Constanze around the room, playfully grabbing at her dress and dragging her towards him. She makes a token effort to escape, but is laughing the entire time, and eventually lets him catch her.
- Played for Drama in The Tsars Bride. Marfa teasingly reminds her Victorious Childhood Friend fiance how they used to chase each other as kids and invites him to try and catch her again. Unfortunately, she does so in a delirium, as she has gone insane after learning of said fiance's murder.
Video Games
- Death Stranding has a... pretty bizarre one where Sam Porter Bridges happily chases after his sister Amelie on her Beach after he had seemingly defeated the game's Big Bad.
- Lesbian Spider-Queens of Mars: In this arcade-style game, your Player Character is a Seductive Spider Dominatrix whose Harem has rebelled against her. In each level you must chase down and tie up your unruly slaves. Implicitly, the slaves are all into BDSM and staging Mischief for Punishment. This pursuit and capture is kinky fun for everyone involved.
- The Path: After wandering off the path and into the forest, Ginger finds herself in a field of flowers, where another girl about her age playfully sneaks up on her. Once she gets over being startled, Ginger and the girl start laughing and chasing each other, before the other girl falls into the flowers and pulls Ginger down to lay next to her. The interaction can be read as friendly or flirtatious, and many fans interpret the scene as an LGBT Awakening for Ginger. (The devs have remained deliberately vague about what everything in the game "means," saying they have their own idea but want the players to come to their own conclusions, so it's unclear whether Ginger is meant to be gay or not.)
Webcomics
- Oglaf features its own take on this trope in the comic "Quivering Flanks" (borderline NSFW).
Western Animation
- Classic Disney Shorts:
- In the Silly Symphony short "Music Land", the Prince of the Isle of Jazz chases after the Princess of Symphony Land to give her a kiss. He tries to hide and surprise her, but ends up kissing the queen instead, which lands him in jail.
- In Boat Builders, Goofy falls in love with a mermaid mannequin for the ship and finds that it vanished while he wasn't looking. He then sees her calling "Yoo-hoo!" (actually Mickey trying to carry it away and getting it stuck in ship's whistle cord), and Goofy believes "she" wants to play.
- Looney Tunes
- Pepe Le Pew assumes that whenever Penelope runs away from him, she's playing hard to get, when in reality she is running away for completely different reasons.
- In "What's Opera, Doc?", Elmer Fudd as Siegfried chases after Brunhilde as she dances in a flirty fashion, not realizing that she's really Bugs Bunny in disguise.
