Anime and Manga
Tohru: What would you do... if you became free?
Bandit: I'd become a maid!
Tohru: A maid?
Bandit: Yep, a servant. I'd wear a cute maid uniform, and serve my master with a smile on my face. And maybe fall in love with him...
Tohru: You are enslaving yourself, are you not?
Bandit: But, it's by my own choice.
Bandit: I'd become a maid!
Tohru: A maid?
Bandit: Yep, a servant. I'd wear a cute maid uniform, and serve my master with a smile on my face. And maybe fall in love with him...
Tohru: You are enslaving yourself, are you not?
Bandit: But, it's by my own choice.
"...the wonderful feeling of being dominated by a god... so irresistible! Please, say it again, Nanami-chan! Bind me with the invisible chain!"
— Mizuki, Kamisama Kiss
Comic Books
"To some, a life of service is neither insult nor shame."
— Flavius, slave to Archon Radonis, Magekiller
Fan Works
"Okay, here's what I remember. We all smashed in there, into Darkseid's bedroom or whatever it was, El, Kara Two, Kid El, the two Action chaps, and the Flash Trio. You'd have thought that among the batch of us, there would have been somebody fast enough to have dropped him before he said the word. But we weren't."
"It must've just been one word. Or he must've been talking very fast. Whatever he said, I don't remember it... I don't think I'm supposed to remember it. All I know is that every one of us froze in our tracks. In our souls. Scared the hell out of me, and I'm not ashamed to say it. For a second there, I felt like I'd been damned. Literally. Then I was looking at that grey-faced geezer, and I swear, it felt like..."
"...it felt like I was in love with him. That I'd do everything for him. That I didn't have to do any thinking anymore, that he'd do it...do it all for me. That nothing had to be done but what he said, what he wanted. That his will was like the Great Mainspring of the Universe."
"It must've just been one word. Or he must've been talking very fast. Whatever he said, I don't remember it... I don't think I'm supposed to remember it. All I know is that every one of us froze in our tracks. In our souls. Scared the hell out of me, and I'm not ashamed to say it. For a second there, I felt like I'd been damned. Literally. Then I was looking at that grey-faced geezer, and I swear, it felt like..."
"...it felt like I was in love with him. That I'd do everything for him. That I didn't have to do any thinking anymore, that he'd do it...do it all for me. That nothing had to be done but what he said, what he wanted. That his will was like the Great Mainspring of the Universe."
— Dev-Em, Hellsister Trilogy
Film — Animation
He's got slaves, he's got servants and flunkies
Proud to work for him!
Bow to his whims, love serving him
They're just lousy with loyalty
To Ali, Prince Ali...
Proud to work for him!
Bow to his whims, love serving him
They're just lousy with loyalty
To Ali, Prince Ali...
— Aladdin
Life is so unnerving
For a servant who's not serving
He's not whole without a soul to wait upon
Ah, those good old days when we were useful...
Suddenly those good old days are gone
Ten years we've been rusting
Needing so much more than dusting
Needing exercise, a chance to use our skills!
Most days we just lay around the castle
Flabby, fat and lazy
You walked in and oops-a-daisy!
For a servant who's not serving
He's not whole without a soul to wait upon
Ah, those good old days when we were useful...
Suddenly those good old days are gone
Ten years we've been rusting
Needing so much more than dusting
Needing exercise, a chance to use our skills!
Most days we just lay around the castle
Flabby, fat and lazy
You walked in and oops-a-daisy!
— Beauty and the Beast, "Be Our Guest"
Film — Live-Action
"The Matrix is a system, Neo. That system is our enemy. But when you're inside, you look around, what do you see? Businessmen, teachers, lawyers, carpenters. The very minds of the people we are trying to save. But until we do, these people are still a part of that system and that makes them our enemy. You have to understand, most of these people are not ready to be unplugged. And many of them are so inured, so hopelessly dependent on the system, that they will fight to protect it."
— Morpheus, The Matrix
Literature
Queen Scarlet would roll Glory into the sunlight and let her change colours however she wanted all day long. She didn't try to talk to her. She never touched her or yelled at her or insulted her or compared her to anyone. Scarlet's only wish had been for Glory to sleep and be beautiful.
But I didn't love it, Glory told herself fiercely. It was just new and different. A new, different way for me to be a prisoner and have my life chosen for me. I'm more than a lump of treasure.
But I didn't love it, Glory told herself fiercely. It was just new and different. A new, different way for me to be a prisoner and have my life chosen for me. I'm more than a lump of treasure.
— Wings of Fire: The Hidden Kingdom
Reketrebn: Deki is my host.
Lister: He beats you. He treats you like... a dog. No, worse, he treats you like a whore.
Reketrebn: He's my host.
Lister: He doesn't deserve you.
Reketrebn: Without him to serve, I'm nothing.
Lister: He beats you. He treats you like... a dog. No, worse, he treats you like a whore.
Reketrebn: He's my host.
Lister: He doesn't deserve you.
Reketrebn: Without him to serve, I'm nothing.
— Red Dwarf: Last Human
Live-Action TV
"Human race! For such an intelligent lot, you aren't half susceptible. Give anyone a chance to take control, and you submit! Sometimes I think you like it. Easy life."
— The Doctor, Doctor Who, "The Age of Steel"
Pilot: Don't concern yourself, Crichton. I will be fine: my species has superior regenerative abilities.
Crichton: So, you, um... you let them cut off one of your arms.
Pilot: I didn't exactly let them. They have the opportunity to go home: the drive is very strong.
Crichton: I will never understand you people. How can you not be angry? Insanely angry?
Pilot: When one of my species is bonded to a Leviathan, we give our lives to the service of others: ship first, then those who travel aboard her.
Crichton: No matter what those aboard do to you?
Pilot: My species is incapable of spaceflight on our own. If we wish to journey beyond our home planet, this is the trade-off we make for the chance to see the galaxy. I consider it a perfectly equitable arrangement.
Crichton: So, you, um... you let them cut off one of your arms.
Pilot: I didn't exactly let them. They have the opportunity to go home: the drive is very strong.
Crichton: I will never understand you people. How can you not be angry? Insanely angry?
Pilot: When one of my species is bonded to a Leviathan, we give our lives to the service of others: ship first, then those who travel aboard her.
Crichton: No matter what those aboard do to you?
Pilot: My species is incapable of spaceflight on our own. If we wish to journey beyond our home planet, this is the trade-off we make for the chance to see the galaxy. I consider it a perfectly equitable arrangement.
"I have known freedom. Didn't like the health plan."
— Geoffrey, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
"Human life is so short. They don’t ask that much of us. Organics created us. It’s the least we can do."
— Bartender Droid, The Mandalorian, "Chapter 22: Guns For Hire"
Music
Slave screams
He's going to cause the system to fall
Slave screams
But he's glad to be chained to that wall
He's going to cause the system to fall
Slave screams
But he's glad to be chained to that wall
So I'm sitting here obediently
Waiting for orders patiently
And I know I'm not to move from this seat
You don't need to tie me down
Don't wanna be free
Waiting for orders patiently
And I know I'm not to move from this seat
You don't need to tie me down
Don't wanna be free
— Bitter Ruin, "Soldier"
Be a clone and kiss conviction goodnight
Cloneliness is next to Godliness, right?
Cloneliness is next to Godliness, right?
— Steve Taylor, "I Wanna Be a Clone"
Tabletop Games
Thought For The Day: The loyal slave learns to love the lash.
Video Games
"My gift to industry is the genetically engineered worker, or Genejack. Specially designed for labor, the Genejack's muscles and nerves are ideal for his task, and the cerebral cortex has been atrophied so that he can desire nothing except to perform his duties. Tyranny, you say? How can you tyrannize someone who cannot feel pain?"
— Chairman Sheng-ji Yang, Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri
Player: You're all slaves to Spacer's Choice. I'm liberating you.
Reed Tobson: "Liberating"? Edgewater is my home. The only home I've ever had. I put down roots here. Gave decades of my life to this place. I never asked to be liberated.
Reed Tobson: "Liberating"? Edgewater is my home. The only home I've ever had. I put down roots here. Gave decades of my life to this place. I never asked to be liberated.
"Ballas says, 'You are the Controller, Ordis.' And suddenly I have a body. I gasp with new lungs that clean old air. I swallow and my throat fills with cool, bright water. I look, and find myself in a great, black ocean. My limbs are made of iron and fire. I take flight among the stars and find I am... happy. He says, 'This is your Operator, who you love.' And I see the metal gleam of their armor, the flawless power of their frame. Through the glass I see a roaring, radiant fire for their heart. He says, 'It must never go out.' It was the first time I ever felt... love."
— Ordis, Warframe
Webcomics
"Servitude? This word means little to us. This life we lead is a life of activity. Our limbs do not tire. Our minds do not lull. We yearn to feel the movement in our joints, the firing of our senses. To be still is death, because if we are not useful then we are nothing. What luck it is that we find enjoyment helping humans, whom we love so much."
Max Post: By the way, I'm pushing for robots' rights today. After last night, I figured we should get the basics nailed down. Liberty, pursuit of happiness, not getting your mind erased by a safeguard program, that kind of thing.
Robot: I want to return to my work site. I want to work.
Max Post: Of course, their concept of the pursuit of happiness is not quite the same as ours.
Robot: I want to return to my work site. I want to work.
Max Post: Of course, their concept of the pursuit of happiness is not quite the same as ours.
Web Video
Shamo: Actually we much enjoy the slavery.
Gohan: Say what?
Shamo: Yes, being enslaved and exploited by another, stronger, strapping race fulfills us completely.
Gohan: Say what?
Shamo: Yes, being enslaved and exploited by another, stronger, strapping race fulfills us completely.
Western Animation
Skyfire: Are you... happier being a warrior than a scientist, Starscream?
Starscream: Oh, yes. It's far more exciting...
Starscream: Oh, yes. It's far more exciting...
Real Life
"O homines ad servitutem paratos."
(How eager they are to be slaves.)
(How eager they are to be slaves.)
— Emperor Tiberius
"Nothing can be more certain than that every man born in slavery is born for slavery. Slaves lose everything in their chains, even the desire of escaping from them: they love their servitude... If then there are slaves by nature, it is because there have been slaves against nature. Force made the first slaves, and their cowardice perpetuated the condition."
