History Main / BureaucraticallyArrangedMarriage

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[[quoteright:350:[[Manga/TwinStarExorcists https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sno2.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:And they say romance is dead...]]

* ''Literature/TheAsteriskWar'': PoliticallyActivePrincess Julis's brother, King Jolbert of Lieseltania, warns her that if she doesn't find a consort fairly soon, the [[MegaCorp integrated enterprise foundations]] that [[PuppetState run the country behind the scenes]] might pick her a husband to benefit itself (they found Jolbert himself a queen and several mistresses). For his part, he openly ([[EveryoneCanSeeIt and not unreasonably]]) ships her with her dueling partner Ayato, believing [[BattleCouple they'd be as good partners off the field as they are on it]].

* ''Film/CarryOnLoving'' has a couple who match up people that either hate each other or have no chemistry whatsoever.

* ''LightNovel/TheAsteriskWar'': PoliticallyActivePrincess Julis's brother, King Jolbert of Lieseltania, warns her that if she doesn't find a consort fairly soon, the [[MegaCorp integrated enterprise foundation]] that [[PuppetState runs the country behind the scenes]] might pick her a husband to benefit itself (it found Jolbert himself a queen and several mistresses). For his part, he openly ([[EveryoneCanSeeIt and not unreasonably]]) ships her with her dueling partner Ayato, believing [[BattleCouple they'd be as good partners off the field as they are on it]].

* In the 1984 comedy ''Film/{{Protocol}}'', Goldie Hawn's character is offered as a wife to the emir of a [[{{Qurac}} small Middle Eastern nation]] of strategic importance to the United States. She's not aware of this, thinking only that she's going on a diplomatic visit, until she arrives and sees a mural of herself with the emir in wedding attire.

* In ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'', it seems that NationsAsPeople [[TheChewToy Lithuania]] and [[AgentPeacock Poland]] were married via this, as a result of being the {{Anthropomorphic Personification}}s of two countries in a close alliance. Though at least they seem to ''sorta'' get along, and at the same time, Lithuania's boss Duke Wladislaw Jagello and Poland's boss Queen Jadwiga are going through their own BSM as well.

* In ''Webcomic/MarryMe'', the "{{NEET}} Protection Law" arranges for civil servants to marry [=NEETs=] in an attempt to counter Japan's declining birthrate and ensure that the latter have someone to look after them. Mari's grandmother applied in her name, and Sinn is sent to marry her as a condition of getting a promotion. Mari accepts, but only after some pressure and Sinn helping her out with her cat.

Maybe the government needs you to marry someone in order to secure an important alliance. Maybe you're the next link in the super-soldier breeding program. Whatever the reason, the powers that be have declared that this marriage has to happen.

* ''LightNovel/TheAsteriskWar'': PoliticallyActivePrincess Julis's brother, King Jolbert of Lieseltania, warns her that if she doesn't find a consort fairly soon, the [[MegaCorp integrated enterprise foundation]] that [[PuppetState runs the country behind the scenes]] might pick her a husband to benefit itself (it found Jolbert himself a queen and several mistresses). For his part, he openly ([[EveryoneCanSeeIt and not unreasonably]]) ships her with her dueling partner Ayato, believing [[BattleCouple they'd be as good partners off the field as they are on it]].

* In ''LightNovel/DemonKingDaimao'', the government gives one of their agents the duty of arranging a marriage between Junko and Akuto.

* In ''Webcomic/AxisPowersHetalia'', it seems that NationsAsPeople [[TheChewToy Lithuania]] and [[AgentPeacock Poland]] were married via this, as a result of being the {{Anthropomorphic Personification}}s of two countries in a close alliance. Though at least they seem to ''sorta'' get along, and at the same time, Lithuania's boss Duke Wladislaw Jagello and Poland's boss Queen Jadwiga are going through their own BSM as well.

* In ''LightNovel/DemonKingDaimao'', the government gives one of their agents the duty of arranging a marriage between Junko and Akuto.

* In the ''Anime/PsychoPassTheMovie'' movie, Akane discovers her old friend Kaori is getting married to a man that the Sibyl System has decided is a good match for her because its database indicates they have a high "Romantic Compatibility" score. And it is correct: she falls for him after their first few meetings.

* ''LightNovel/TheAsteriskWar'': PoliticallyActivePrincess Julis's brother, King Jolbert of Lieseltania, warns her that if she doesn't find a consort fairly soon, the [[MegaCorp integrated enterprise foundation]] that [[PuppetState runs the country behind the scenes]] might pick her a husband to benefit itself (it found Jolbert himself a queen and several mistresses). For his part, he openly ([[EveryoneCanSeeIt and not unreasonably]]) ships her with her dueling partner Ayato, believing [[BattleCouple they'd be as good partners off the field as they are on it]].

* The plot of the 1930's sci-fi musical ''Film/JustImagine'' (well, that and a Swedish comedian who's a FishOutOfTemporalWater). The hero goes on an InterplanetaryVoyage to Mars to prove himself worthy of his LoveInterest whom the courts are going to marry off to his rival, judged as being more socially valuable.
* In the 1984 comedy ''Film/{{Protocol}}'', Goldie Hawn's character is offered as a wife to the emir of a [[{{Qurac}} small Middle Eastern nation]] of strategic importance to the United States. She's not aware of this, thinking only that she's going on a diplomatic visit, until she arrives and sees a mural of herself with the emir in wedding attire.
* ''Film/CarryOnLoving'' has a couple who match up people that either hate each other or have no chemistry whatsoever.

* In Creator/DavidWeber's ''Literature/TheWarGods'' series, the King of the Sothoii has the power to force marriages in cases of nobles who don't have a male heir. It's seen as a last resort, admittedly hard on only-daughters, but worth it in order to insure that the Kingdom isn't destabilized by having important lands and titles fall into dispute.

* All marriages in the ''Literature/DeliriumSeries'' are arranged by the government, because all people over the age of 18 have been "cured" of the ability to love.
* In ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour'', all marriages have to be approved by a committee, and approval will not be given if the man and woman show any signs of being sexually attracted to each other because [[NoSexAllowed sex for pleasure is not allowed]].

* In the ''Series/DoctorWho'' [[Literature/DoctorWhoNovelisations novel]] ''Doctor Who and the Doomsday Weapon'', many people on Overindustrialised Future Earth work for faceless megacorporations that "take care" of their employees, arranging their accommodation, education, and, if the Company considers it necessary, marriages. They do try to arrange compatible matches, but probably only because unhappy employees are bad for productivity, and the matching process involves a stack of employee profiles and a computer in the personnel department, as opposed to, say, people getting to meet people (the marriage ceremony involves their files being stapled together). One character recalls agreeing to be married as a condition of his next promotion, and then hearing no more about it until he returned from a business trip to find his new wife waiting for him in the kitchen. At first he's much more interested in his new apartment, but as she cheerfully chatters away, informing him that they are likely to be in debt to the Company for the rest of their lives, he notices she's very pretty... resulting in a PerfectlyArrangedMarriage.
* In Creator/LoisMcMasterBujold's ''Literature/FallingFree'', the company is trying to breed the newly created quaddies. When a young couple, with a baby, is told whom they are assigned to have their next children, they revolt.
* ''Literature/{{Matched}}'': The government controls every aspect of your life, including who you will marry based on compatibility measures.

* Creator/IsaacAsimov had the whole Solarian way of marriage (for a given definition of "[[SuperBreedingProgram marriage]]") in his Robot books -- which impacted in later Empire ones. People were assigned their spouses by a board. And, presumably, a lot of A.I. This is a major plot-point in ''Literature/TheNakedSun''.
* In the ''Literature/{{Deryni}}'' novel ''In the King's Service'', King Donal Haldane chooses his loyal human courtier Sir Kenneth Morgan for his ward Lady Alyce deCorwyn. Alyce's parents and brother are dead, and she is a royal ward as the heiress to a wealthy duchy, so she knows that politics is involved and accepts that Donal will decide who she marries. She is in fact more than fine with it as Kenneth is the father of her best friend, she's known him for years and has a bit of a crush on him. Better still he is rather embarrassedly in love with her.
* In the second book of ''Literature/TheHungerGames'', the Capitol plans to do this to [[spoiler:Peeta and Katniss]]. This is later subverted in the end of the third book, where they [[spoiler:voluntarily decide to marry]].
* Subverted in the ''Literature/HonorHarrington'' series. The Mesan Alignment practices this as part of its breeding program, but compatibility is a major factor in their decisions -- partly because the Mesan Alignment cares about its own people, and partly because spousal murder can really mess up their plans. At minimum, they try to ensure that their couples can at least tolerate each other enough to produce children.
* In the ''Literature/StarTrekNovelverse'', in order to stave off the extinction of the Andorian species the Andorian Empire resorts to arranging bondgroups based on genetic analysis to maximize fertility.[[labelnote:longer explanation]]On top of their complex [[BizarreAlienSexes quadrisexual reproduction]] which already resulted in a low birthrate, they suffered genomic damage in the ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'' timeframe. And all this was ''before'' the [[Literature/StarTrekDestiny Borg invaded and killed a huge chunk of the remaining population]]. (This plotline was apparently meant to explain why Andorians were barely ever mentioned in the 24th century shows.)[[/labelnote]] Some of the ''Literature/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineRelaunch'' books deal with an Andorian member of Deep Space 9's crew resisting calls by his bondgroup, whom he hates, to return home to help them conceive. [[spoiler:Andoria eventually secedes from the Federation for a brief period to get out from under the Federation's NoTranshumanismAllowed laws so they can use genetic engineering to permanently fix the problem.]]
* ''Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar'' series: The reasons and political maneuvering behind the various forms of ArrangedMarriage among the nobility are a theme of ''Closer to Home''. In an attempt to resolve a [[FeudingFamilies feud between two noble houses]], the Prince commands that House Raeylen marry their only son to House Chendlar's oldest daughter. This backfires badly when it turns out Chendlar's ''youngest'' daughter has fallen hard for the son, and he manipulates her in a scheme to kill off both families and inherit their lands.
* In ''Literature/TheHaremGames'' contestants are married by an 'Omiai' treated as a market where the teenage males pick 6-15 brides to help them in the upcoming battle royale fight to the death. The brides have no say in the matter. Alex is unusual because during the selection ceremony, he was bedridden as a result of a horrific, unprovoked beating, where he couldn't retaliate, and his brides were not only chosen for him, but most of them ''actively petitioned'' for the role.
* Subverted in a 1951 story ''The Cupids of Venus'' by William Morrison. A group of men and their psychologically-selected brides are training on Venus to settle on another planet. The protagonist accidentally encounters a woman on the course (they're training separately) and falls in LoveAtFirstSight with her, but is told he's been assigned another bride who is more psychologically-suited to him. So during a survival trek he goes off his route, meets up with the woman he prefers and they run off together, battling through the Venusian jungle to a colony ship where they bribe a guard and smuggle themselves on board. Turns out their 'accidental' meeting was arranged by the people running the camp. He really did join up with the woman psychologically suited to him (that's why he fell in love with her instantly). It's a SecretTestOfCharacter to ensure the colonists become FireForgedFriends and also have the incentive and resourcefulness to survive as pioneers on another planet. Those couples who can't work together under pressure, or are too rigid in their behavior to run away or bribe guards, are removed from the program or assigned to administration.
* Played with in the ''Literature/{{Samaria}}'' series. The idea of the Kiss (an arm implant that records your life for Jovah) lighting up when you meet your soulmate, and the tradition of Jovah choosing the Angelica (the Archangel's consort), has been mythologized into a RedStringOfFate. However, Jovah's [[MachineWorship actually a spaceship computer]] that uses genetic and psychological records to (with fair accuracy) arrange the best possible marriages for producing genetically superior children and complementary spouses for the Archangel. [[spoiler: Also, it's not supposed to be a forced marriage (though in Rachel's case, it is one); Jovah's just trying to be helpful.]]
* In ''Literature/TalesFromNetheredge'' the subjects of the kingdom of Bow seem to hold these in high regard, in accordance with their belief in the [[PowerOfLove power of the pairing]]. Their queen Verne was married off -- by her High Chancellor -- to a commoner from a merchant family, as that commoner's negotiation skills would be an incredibly useful asset in court (and despite his [[ReallyGetsAround complete lack of fidelity]], they appear to be [[MarriageBeforeRomance fond of each other]]). Likewise, the CourtMage and the High Chancellor were advised -- by said queen -- to get married to uplift the people's morale in the face of an impending invasion; it helped that they had already fallen in love at that point (and pretty much [[EveryoneCanSeeIt Everyone Could See It]]).

* In ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'', Heaven of all things arranges these. Angels use Cupids to make people fall in love but it comes across as more of a breeding program with the goals of [[InTheBlood preserving vessel bloodlines]] or [[TheChosenOne needing certain children to be born]].

* In ''Series/TheHandmaidsTale'', [[spoiler: Nick]] has an arranged marriage with 15-year-old Eden as a "reward" for good behavior. In reality, it seems to be a power play by the Commander and a way for Serena to mess with Offred. He mostly ignores her, and [[spoiler: she eventually runs off with the Guardian Isaac. They eventually are found and sentenced to death for adultery.]]
* In ''Series/TheGoodPlace'', everyone who ends up in the titular happy afterlife is paired with their perfect "soulmate", who can be platonic, but is often a romantic match. However, when people who don't belong there end up taking places they didn't deserve, the system of soulmates becomes challenging. Protagonist Eleanor, for example, is a bad person who ends up taking a spot in the Good Place by accident, and is paired with a soulmate, Chidi, but later, the real Eleanor shows up and seems to be his real soulmate, which gives him trouble due to his indecisiveness. Another flawed pairing also occurs with [[spoiler: Tahani and the silent monk Jianyu, who is actually a Florida DJ named Jason who took the role he was assumed to have out of fear of being caught, which makes both unhappy.]] However, [[spoiler: these problems were all planned, as they've all been in the Bad Place all along, living in a simulated Good Place designed to be their torture. It's left unclear if the real Good Place has soulmates, but the situation they went through was entirely deliberate, with Eleanor being tortured by her growing love for Chidi, Chidi being tortured by the choice of two soulmates, Tahani being tortured by her inability to connect with the person she thinks is Jianyu, and Jason being miserable because he has to hide and can't relate to Tahani.]]

* In ''TabletopGame/ArsMagica'', heiresses whose fathers die become wards of their father's lord, and they (and more importantly their lands) will be married off to the lord's benefit. It's technically illegal to simply sell her for money, but in practice, this is often laughed at.

* In ''Marry Me!'', the "{{NEET}} Protection Law" arranges for civil servants to marry [=NEETs=] in an attempt to counter Japan's declining birthrate and ensure that the latter have someone to look after them. Mari's grandmother applied in her name, and Sinn is sent to marry her as a condition of getting a promotion. Mari accepts, but only after some pressure and Sinn helping her out with her cat.

->'''Victoria Everglot''': What if Victor and I don't like each other?\\
'''Lady Everglot''': Ha! As if that has anything to do with marriage.

[[folder: Anime & Manga ]]

* Most of the plot of ''Manga/TwinStarExorcists'' revolves around the ArrangedMarriage between Rokuro and Benio. The reason is that an oracle predicted their child would be The Miko, [[SecondComing the reincarnation of Abe No Seimei that would wipe out the impurities once and for all]]. [[spoiler: The fact that all attempts during the previous thousand years ended up killed by said Impurities before they could have children shows pretty well that whoever decided it, they didn't really care for their safety.]]

[[folder: Comic Book ]]

[[folder: Fan Works]]

* ''Webcomic/TheArrangement'': Zelda and Ganondorf's marriage is arranged, however it's not an AltarDiplomacy. The marriage is to try and keep Ganondorf from being tainted by Demise's spirit and becoming an evil warlord.

[[folder: Film ]]

[[folder: Folklore ]]

[[folder: Literature ]]

* The Bene Gesserit from ''Franchise/{{Dune}}'' arrange marriages for the members of their sisterhood, either to gain influence, cement political alliances, or aid in the breeding of the [[{{Ubermensch}} Kwisatz Haderach]]. Some of these marriages do turn out well. This is partly due to design: Bene Gesserit bred for this role are trained in the arts of seduction, so that the male partner is guaranteed to fall in love. It's just that sometimes, the Bene Gesserit falls in love, too. [[spoiler: This is what causes Jessica to defy the Bene Gesserit, give Leto a son instead of a daughter, and produce the Kwisatz Haderach a generation early, setting the entire plot in motion.]]
** The most potent example would be the arranging of Paul and Irulan at the end of ''Literature/{{Dune}}'', which drives a lot of the conflict of ''Literature/DuneMessiah'' since Irulan is somewhat in love, while Paul is in love with Chani. Irulan is also under a lot of pressure to produce an heir and prevent one being born through Chani.

* In the ''Series/DoctorWho'' [[Literature/DoctorWhoNovelisations novel]] ''Doctor Who and the Doomsday Weapon'', many people on Overindustrialised Future Earth work for faceless megacorporations that "take care" of their employees, arranging their accommodation, education, and, if the Company considers it necessary, marriages. They do try to arrange compatible matches, but probably only because unhappy employees are bad for productivity, and the matching process involves a stack of employee profiles and a computer in the personnel department, as opposed to, say, people getting to meet people (the marriage ceremony involves their files being stapled together). One character recalls agreeing to be married as a condition of his next promotion, and then hearing no more about it until he returned from a business trip to find his new wife waiting for him in the kitchen. At first he's much more interested in his new apartment, but as she cheerfully chatters away, informing him that they are likely to be in debt to the Company for the rest of their lives, he notices she's very pretty....Resulting in a PerfectlyArrangedMarriage.

* Creator/IsaacAsimov had the whole Solarian way of marriage (for a given definition of "[[SuperBreedingProgram marriage]]") in his Robot books - which impacted in later Empire ones. People were assigned their spouses by a board. And, presumably, a lot of AI. This is a major plot-point in ''Literature/TheNakedSun''.
* In the Literature/{{Deryni}} novel ''In The King's Service'', King Donal Haldane chooses his loyal human courtier Sir Kenneth Morgan for his ward Lady Alyce deCorwyn. Alyce's parents and brother are dead, and she is a royal ward as the heiress to a wealthy duchy, so she knows that politics is involved and accepts that Donal will decide who she marries. She is in fact more than fine with it as Kenneth is the father of her best friend, she's known him for years and has a bit of a crush on him. Better still he is rather embarrassedly in love with her.
* In the second book of ''Literature/TheHungerGames'', the Capitol plans to do this to [[spoiler:Peeta and Katniss]]. This is later subverted in the end of the third book, where they [[spoiler: voluntarily decide to marry]].
* Subverted in the ''Literature/HonorHarrington'' series. The Mesan Alignment practices this as part of its breeding program, but compatibility is a major factor in their decisions - partly because the Mesan Alignment cares about its own people, and partly because spousal murder can really mess up their plans. At minimum, they try to ensure that their couples can at least tolerate each other enough to produce children.

[[folder: Live Action TV]]

[[folder: Tabletop Games ]]

[[folder: Theatre ]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]

--> '''[[spoiler: Chirico]] ''': Are you even human?
--> '''Diethard ''': [[spoiler: C-Chirico Cuvie!]]

[[folder: Webcomics ]]

* PlayedForLaughs in ''[[WebComic/PhD Piled Higher and Deeper]]'', Professor Smith tells [[NoNameGiven The Nameless Hero]] that studies show married [=PhD=] students graduate faster, then immediately segues into asking him how his love life is going.

[[folder: Web Video ]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': In the episode where the family joins the Movementarians, there's a group wedding.
-->'''Marge:''' This is ridiculous, we're already married!
-->'''Homer:''' But Marge, we're not '''mass''' married!
-->''Barney and Otto appear''
-->'''Barney:''' At least you got to choose your mate, we got matched up on the printout!
-->'''Otto:''' Remember our agreement. I'm the man!
** And Comic Book Guy is seen awkwardly asking a beautiful redhead (who seems creeped out by him) "So...do you like comic books?"

-->'''Seymore:''' Well, we could've done worse mother.
-->'''Agnes:''' Speak for yourself!

[[folder: Real Life ]]

* Alexander the Great attempted to do this, in order to get a unified empire, ordering his men to marry local women. The marriages, for the most part, did not last his reign. His successors instead simply gave Greek settlers land to build new cities, from Turkey to Pakistan, and let nature take it's course.
* The Romans were more successful, although they did not attempt to do this on such a large scale. Rome's wars often resulted in prisoners being obtained from amongst the upper class and elites of the recently conquered. Those that Rome did not simply kill were often married off to client rulers (Cleopatra's children were married off to Libyan royalty), given to influential men as concubines (which wasn't that different from marriage) or were married amongst similar captives from other nations- essentially making them someone else's problem.

* In the ''Series/DoctorWho'' [[Literature/DoctorWhoNovelisations novel]] ''Doctor Who and the Doomsday Weapon'', many people on Overindustrialised Future Earth work for faceless megacorporations that "take care" of their employees, arranging their accommodation, education, and, if the Company considers it necessary, marriages. They do try to arrange compatible matches, but probably only because unhappy employees are bad for productivity, and the matching process involves a stack of employee profiles and a computer in the personnel department, as opposed to, say, people getting to meet people (the marriage ceremony involves their files being stapled together). One character recalls agreeing to be married as a condition of his next promotion, and then hearing no more about it until he returned from a business trip to find his new wife waiting for him in the kitchen. At first he's much more interested in his new apartment ect. but as she cheerfully chatters away, informing him that they are likely to be in debt to the Company for the rest of their lives, he notices she's very pretty....Resulting in a PerfectlyArrangedMarriage.

* In ''Literature/TalesFromNetheredge'' the subjects of the kingdom of Bow seem to hold these in high regard, in accordance with their belief in the [[PowerOfLove power of the pairing]]. Their queen Verne was married off to a commoner from a merchant family, as that commoner's negotiation skills would be an incredibly useful asset in court (and despite his [[ReallyGetsAround complete lack of fidelity]], they appear to be [[MarriageBeforeRomance fond of each other]]). Likewise, the CourtMage and the High Chancellor were advised -- by said queen -- to get married to uplift the people's morale in the face of an impending invasion; it helped that they had already fallen in love at that point (and pretty much [[EveryoneCanSeeIt Everyone Could See It]]).

* The Bene Gesserit from ''Franchise/{{Dune}}'' arrange marriages for the members of their sisterhood, either to gain influence, cement political alliances, or aid in the breeding of the [[{{Ubermensch}} Kwisatz Haderach]]. Some of these marriages do turn out well. This is partly due to design: Bene Gesserit bred for this role are trained in the arts of seduction, so that the male partner is guaranteed to fall in love. It's just that sometimes, the Bene Gesserit falls in love, too.

[[folder: Fanfiction ]]

* Played with in the ''Literature/{{Samaria}}'' series. The idea of the Kiss (an arm implant that records your life for Jovah) lighting up when you meet your soulmate, and the tradition of Jovah choosing the Angelica (the Archangel's consort), has been mythologized into a RedStringOfFate. However, Jovah's [[MachineWorship actually a spaceship computer]] that uses genetic and psychological records to (with fair accuracy) arrange the best possible marriages for producing genetically superior children and [[PerfectlyArrangedMarriage true love]]. [[spoiler: Also, it's not supposed to be a forced marriage (though in Rachel's case, it is one); Jovah's just trying to be helpful.]]

* Subverted in a 1951 story ''The Cupids of Venus'' by William Morrison. A group of men and their psychologically-selected brides are training on Venus to settle on another planet. The protagonist accidentally encounters a woman on the course (they're training separately) and falls in LoveAtFirstSight with her, but is told he's been assigned another bride who is more psychologically-suited to him. So during a survival trek he goes off his route, meets up with the woman he prefers and they run off together, battling through the Venusian jungle to a colony ship where they bribe a guard and smuggle themselves on board. Turns out their 'accidental' meeting was arranged by the people running the camp. He really did join up with the woman psychologically suited to him (that's why he fell in love with her instantly). It's a SecretTestOfCharacter to ensure the colonists become FireForgedFriends and also have the incentive and resourcefulness to survive as pioneers on another planet. Those couples who can't work together under pressure, or are too rigid in their behavior to run away or bribe guards, are removed from the program or assigned to office jobs.

* In the ''Franchise/StarTrekNovelverse'', in order to stave off the extinction of the Andorian species the Andorian Empire resorts to arranging bondgroups based on genetic analysis to maximize fertility.[[labelnote:longer explanation]]On top of their complex [[BizarreAlienSexes quadrisexual reproduction]] which already resulted in a low birthrate, they suffered genomic damage in the ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'' timeframe. And all this was ''before'' the [[Literature/StarTrekDestiny Borg invaded and killed a huge chunk of the remaining population]]. (This plotline was apparently meant to explain why Andorians were barely ever mentioned in the 24th century shows.)[[/labelnote]] Some of the ''Literature/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineRelaunch'' books deal with an Andorian member of Deep Space 9's crew resisting calls by his bondgroup, whom he hates, to return home to help them conceive. [[spoiler:Andoria eventually secedes from the Federation for a brief period to get out from under the Federation's NoTranshumanismAllowed laws so they can use genetic engineering to permanently fix the problem.]]

* ''Manga/{{}Naruto}'' once a had a FandomSpecificPlot where, after the Sound-Sand Invasion in order to repair their alliances with Konoha, The Sand Village's council would commit to one of these with Temari, being the now deceased Kazekage's daughter, being the most politically advantageous one. Naruto, being the one who defeated Gaara, would be considered to be the groom because of [[WrongForTheRightReasons well-thought but ultimately wrong conclusions]].