History Main / AMatchMadeInStockholm

* ''Sachiiro no One Room'' follows the romance of a guy who kidnaps a high school girl. There's no bad blood in her though; she considers it a major trade up from her life with her AbusiveParents.

* In the movie ''Film/Red2010'', Frank Moses (Bruce Willis) has developed a relationship over the phone with a young insurance agent. Unfortunately he's a retired CIA agent and when he's put on a wet team's hit list, has to kidnap her in order to save her life. As she points out, it wasn't the first date she had in mind. [[ExpectingSomeoneTaller And she thought he'd have hair]]. Notably, the kidnapping doesn't improve their relationship, it nearly destroys it. It's only when she realize that Frank is right and there really are people trying to kill them that it starts to improve.

If it's more on the side of romance instead of plain friendship, expect a point where the kidnapper lets the captive go, only for the captive to often [[StockholmSyndrome decide to stay with the kidnapper]]. This can occasionally seem [[StrangledByTheRedString forced]], since people often forget the most important factor in a Stockholm relationship -- the act interpreted by the captive as kindness.

* This is how [[AnthropomorphicPersonification Italy and Germany]] meet in one of the first episodes of ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'' set during UsefulNotes/WorldWarI. Germany captures Italy, and Italy, who is shown as a [[CheeseEatingSurrenderMonkey Pasta Eating Surrender Monkey]], is perfectly fine with that. Italy gets StockholmSyndrome. Then, in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, he comes back and wants to be on Germany's side this time…

* Inverted in ''Literature/LogHorizon'': [[spoiler:Demikas]] abducted a Lander noblewoman, and not only he fell for her post-kidnapping, they even got married and now he's a HenpeckedHusband. The rest of the cast thinks that's hilarious.

* "Literature/BeautyAndTheBeast" has Beauty agree to stay with the Beast because he threatened to kill her father for stealing one of his roses if she didn't take his place and she, of course, falls in love with him -- which was the Beast's secret intention all along, as he needed a woman to love him to break his curse. Whether or not this could qualify as StockholmSyndrome varies from telling to telling, though it should be noted that almost all tellings have the Beast willingly let Beauty go back to her family at some point and she doesn't come back to him (and in some cases, even ''forgets'' her promise to return within a set time) until she learns his life is in danger. It should be noted that to the original audience of "Beauty and the Beast" and related tales would likely understand the story as an allegory about arranged marriages rather than anything we would recognize as StockholmSyndrome. The moral would likely be interpreted as a physically undesirable husband (as he was likely to be older than the bride) could still be kind and gentle.

* A serious example in ''Film/ThreeDaysOfTheCondor''. The protagonist takes a random woman hostage so he can have a place to hole up that isn't connected to him. She ends up sleeping with him. Though the movie does try to explain her psychological reasons for doing so, one can't help thinking it's more a case of StockholmSyndrome than anything else. Unlike other examples however, she leaves him before the end of the movie, implying it was more in the nature of a dangerous fling with a stranger than anything else.
* Creator/PedroAlmodovar's ''Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!'' could be described as being MADE of this trope. Antonio Banderas kidnaps a depressed and 'uptight' actress and refuses to let her go until she 'loosens up' and 'joyfully' falls in love with him. It's all for her own good, of course. The disturbing thinking behind this concept is what differentiates this trope from the psychological phenomenon of StockholmSyndrome.

* Inverted in ''VideoGame/Drakengard2'', where [[TheHero Nowe's]] first real experience with Manah is taking and holding her captive. In the brief conversation that follows, ''she'' turns ''his'' entire worldview upside down, and he defects the army to join her rebellion and eventually become her LoveInterest immediately after her escape. [[spoiler:Deconstructed in the supplemental material; they eventually broke up because they couldn't come to terms with all the traumatizing stuff that gave them (inverted) StockholmSyndrome in the first place.]]

* This is a way to see General Camus and Princess Nyna's StarCrossedLovers bond in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight''. From [[StockholmSyndrome Nyna's part]], she admits that she first hated him because he was part of the group that killed her family (although not directly responsible) and then during their small time together when she was his country's captive as a political prisoner, she develops very strong romantic feelings for him. From [[LimaSyndrome Camus' part]], he reciprocates her feelings and puts his knighthood on the line to take her to an allied kingdom before she can be executed; this causes him to lose a lot of influence in his kingdom, but he stubbornly refuses to abandon his king, even when Nyna begs him to side with the League.

--->'''Seth''': I may be a bastard, but I'm not a ''fuckin''' bastard.

-->'''Joe's inner monologue:''' Joe: Oh! See that? Living proof. I have let people out of the cage, made friends, even, from the experience.

* ''Series/You2018'': Joe kidnaps Will and steals his identity. He keeps Will in a cage for a while, not sure what to do with him. Will genuinely likes Joe as the episodes go on. When Joe lets Will go, Will does not inform the cops even though he had every opportunity to do so. He goes to Manila to live with his long-distance internet girlfriend, and sends Joe postcards. They even video-chat once, with Will giving Joe advice.
-->'''Joe's inner monologue:''' Joe: Oh! See that? Living proof. I have let people out of the cage, made friends, even, from the experience.

* In the {{manhwa}} ''The Kidnapping of Minja Jo's Boyfriend'', Park Jun-Sook is the rival female gang leader of Minja Jo. To get even with her, Park Jun-Sook decides to kidnap Minja Jo's boyfriend. However, due to a misunderstanding, she accidentally ends up kidnapping a [[{{Bishonen}} beautiful]] delinquent from school, Junghoon Son (who has absolutely nothing to do with the entire thing). Of course, they end up [[HilarityEnsues having a bunch of hilarious interactions and misunderstandings]], but end up falling in love (even before the misunderstanding is cleared up).

* ''[[Fanfic/UmeiNoMaisUnchained Unchained]]'' revolves around a female Uchiha Izuna abducting Senju Tobirama in order to force his clan to submit to hers. She keeps him compliant and manageable by lavishing gifts and attention on him, while he goes along to prevent her from focusing on the Senju's destruction. The arrangement started as blatantly mercenary, but the more time goes by, the more they start to feel genuine respect and attraction for each other.

* In the ''Literature/ThreeHundredSixtyFiveDays'' trilogy, Laura falls in love with not one, but ''two'' men who kidnap her; first Massimo (who [[AbductionIsLove intended]] to invoke this), then Nacho (who had non-romantic reasons for kidnapping her but ended up catching feelings anyway). By the second book, she's in a love triangle with ''both'' her kidnappers.
* ''Literature/AlexisCarew: Mutineer'': Imprisoned by culturally French Hanoverese naval forces after [[spoiler:HMS ''Hermione'''s mutineers sail her to the Berry March (Alsace-Lorraine [-JustForFun/InSpace-])]], Alexis befriends Lieutenant Delaine Thiebaud while arranging better treatment for the crew (who, not being officers, cannot give parole and be housed in the town), and falls in love with him. [[spoiler:He later provides evidence exonerating her of the mutiny at CourtMartial and showing the extenuating circumstances, and in ''The Little Ships'' she seeks him out to gain the Berry March fleet's help against Hanover and loses her virginity with him.]]
%%* Anna Zaires loves this trope. It shows up in her three book series Tormenter Mine, Twist Me and Capture Me.
* Literature/ArtemisFowl meets his eventual closest friend Holly Short when he kidnaps her to ransom her for gold.
* Non-romantic example from the ''Literature/BelisariusSeries''. When Kungas met Shakuntala for the first time he was her jailor. Of course this was helped a lot by the fact that the first thing he did before taking her into custody was to carve into tidbits some fellow soldiers who were acting in a [[AttemptedRape somewhat undisciplined manner]] toward her.
* This is how Bourne and Marie meet in ''[[Literature/TheBourneSeries The Bourne Identity]]'' novel. She then attempts to escape to the custody of the men after him, which… [[AttemptedRape doesn't go as she'd planned]], and Bourne [[RescueRomance has to rescue her]].
* Part of the backstory to ''Literature/ABrothersPrice'' involves the Whistlers, a band of soldier-spy TrueCompanions calling themselves sisters, kidnapping a prince and taking him home with them, much to his dismay. Since not long after that the entire side of the prince's family was executed for treason, he decided there wasn't much point to going back. Later such 'husband raids' became illegal.
** He did grow fond of his initially involuntary wives, who did their best to treat him well and keep him as happy as they could.
* Kinda-sorta in Stephanie Laurens' ''The Capture of the Earl of Glencrae''. The titular earl ''does'' kidnap Angelica Cynster, but she had already set her sights on him as her future husband, ''and'' he only truly keeps her captive long enough to explain why he kidnapped her in the first place (long story short: trying to save his [[UsefulNotes/BonnieScotland clan]] from his insane mother's EvilPlan). She quickly agrees to help him and the rest of the novel is the two of them working together to thwart his mother's scheme, falling in love all the while.
* In ''Literature/DarkShores'' Teriana is basically kidnapped and forced to help Marcus and his legions conquer her homeland. Because Marcus worries about her safety, he also forces her to share a cabin on a ship and then a tent with him -- and they gradually fall in love. Non-romantically, Teriana also becomes friends with other legionnaires, especially her bodyguards Quintus and Miki.
* Candayce thinks this is what's going on in ''{{Literature/Dinoverse}}'', when her Leptoceratops admirers abduct her away from the company of the other kids-in-dinosaur-bodies. She soon finds it's closer to an attempt at a RescueRomance -- they admire her, and thought she was addled or being kept as food for Mike or something.
* Subverted in ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince''. Merope Gaunt spent a year hopping Tom Riddle Sr. up on love potion, but stopped giving it to him when she became pregnant with his son. Merope was banking on Tom either falling in love with her for real or [[TheBabyTrap staying for the sake of his unborn child]]; she was wrong on both counts, and Tom fled and never bothered to learn what would become of his son. The child would grow up to be [[BigBad Voldemort]], who ultimately killed him and his parents.

* This must be what Cohen's relationship with Bethan in ''Literature/TheLightFantastic'' looks like from her perspective; ''he'' thinks it's a RescueRomance, and the fact it was an UnwantedRescue is entirely irrelevant.
%%* In so much as the book ''has'' a plot, ''The Mathematics of Oz'' covers this.

* In ''Literature/TheRedVixenAdventures'' it's notable that when the Red Vixen kidnaps Rolas, she's more attracted to him than vice-versa. [[spoiler:Until he starts dating her true identity.]]
* In ''Literature/TheSacredArtOfStealing'' a suave criminal mastermind kidnaps cool cop Angelique De Xavia, and when she accidentally says, "I wish you'd been there to tell me that when I got up this morning" he responds, politely, he wishes the same thing.
* Aral and Cordelia in ''Literature/ShardsOfHonor'', though it's a borderline case as the actual ''violence'' was perpetuated by a third party without Aral's knowledge or approval and the two of them were forced to [[EnemyMine team up]] and [[DieHardOnAnX die hard on an alien planet]].

* As noted in the film version, this is much of the plot of ''Literature/{{Stardust}}'': the hero sees a falling star with the girl he loves, and vows to bring it back for her. However, the star turns out to be a real person…
* Kinda weird version in the ''Franchise/StarTrek'' novel ''Final Frontier'' (not '''''The''' Final Frontier'', but rather the one by Diane Carey): Jim Kirk's father, George, meets and befriends Romulan field-primus t'Cael Zaniidor Kilyle this way. First, the Federation knows nothing about the Romulans at this time, and assumes them to be reptilian. George arranges to meet with the Romulan's commander on a little planet/moon. When he gets there, he sees a "Vulcan" sitting between two helmeted guards, and assumes a hostage situation. So he grabs t'Cael, fends the guards off with his phaser, gets them to cover, and then hands t'Cael a second phaser in case he needs it, ignoring any possible threat from t'Cael (turning his back to watch for the guards) and leaving t'Cael utterly flabbergasted.

** They become teammates and eventually friends after [[spoiler:an officer back on the ship disobeys orders and fires on the planet in an attempted assassination.]]
* Melody and Marcos in ''[[Literature/TennisShoesAdventureSeries Tennis Shoes and the Feathered Serpent]]'', by Chris Heimerdinger.
* In Jennifer Fallons' ''Literature/TideLords Quartet'' series, the heroine is kidnapped by the prisoner she's escorting. She'd decided to let him loose in order to prove that he was delusional and not the all-powerful god he thought he was. Turned out she was wrong.

%%* This is a major plot point of ''LightNovel/AiNoKusabi''.

* Inverted in ''LightNovel/LogHorizon'': [[spoiler:Demikas]] abducted a Lander noblewoman, and not only he fell for her post-kidnapping, they even got married and now he's a HenpeckedHusband. The rest of the cast thinks that's hilarious.

* ''LightNovel/TrappedInADatingSimTheWorldOfOtomeGamesIsToughForMobs'': At the start of the AlternateTimeline ''Marie Route Side Story'', Leon catches Marie in the act of trying to pull a HijackedDestiny by stealing Olivia’s LoveInterests from the game Leon and Marie [[MediaTransmigration transmigrated into.]] Leon grabs Marie, covers her mouth, runs her away from the scene, and interrogates her while giving a WallPinOfLove. Thus begins their romance.

* In the example pictured, Frank Martin (Creator/JasonStatham) and Lai Kwai (Creator/ShuQi) in ''Film/TheTransporter''. He delivers her to the bad guys in a bag (letting her out at one point, causing her to nearly escape), and goes back to dole out some revenge when they try to blow him up with his car for breaking the agreement. Frank takes Lai with him (while she's bound) after she snuck into his getaway car. She repays him with sexual favors for this. Since he's also responsible for rescuing her, it kinda blends with RescueRomance, but also {{Guile Hero}}ine, as Frank and other characters accuse her of manipulating him into dismantling her father's HumanTrafficking operation.

* Zig-zagged in ''Manga/{{Ooku}}: the Inner Chambers''. Abbot Arikoto is held prisoner, forced to violate his priestly vows via ScarpiaUltimatum, and presented to the half-mad Shogun Iemetsu as a bedtoy… only to find out that said Shogun is a teenage girl who is as much a prisoner and in many ways even more of a victim than he is.

* ''Anime/SamuraiChamploo''. It ends badly for Fuu and her captor.

* In ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'', Natsumi enters into the plot with a naked Kotarou behind her and a few inches from digging his claws into her neck ([[NotWhatItLooksLike stop thinking those dirty thoughts]]), Kotarou was just scared after passing out and waking in a strange room. Anyway, guess who Natsumi later gets a crush on, who Kotarou forms a [[FirstKiss Pactio]] with, and [[spoiler:who the only two characters to have the name of their spouse confirmed in the epilogue are]]?

* This is a major plot point of ''LightNovel/AiNoKusabi''.
* Zig-zagged in ''Manga/{{Ooku}}: the Inner Chambers''. Abbot Arikoto is held prisoner, forced to violate his priestly vows via ScarpiaUltimatum, and presented to the half-mad Shogun Iemetsu as a bedtoy… only to find out that said Shogun is a teenage girl who is as much a prisoner and in many ways even more of a victim than he is.
* The modus operandi of ''many'' yuki-onna in the ''Manga/RosarioPlusVampire'' universe when it comes to finding a compatible mate.
* ''Sachiiro no One Room'' follows the romance of a guy who kidnaps a high school girl. There's no bad blood in her though; she considers it a major trade up from her life with her AbusiveParents.

* ''ComicBook/DisneyDucksComicUniverse'': Scrooge [=McDuck=] and Glittering Goldie in Creator/CarlBarks' ''ComicBook/BackToTheKlondike''. Barks himself couldn't believe what he'd implied after Disney's censors pointed it out to him and fully understood why they initially censored the story. Creator/DonRosa, on the other hand, went into even more details about the month Scrooge held Goldie captive working on his gold claim in "[[ComicBook/TheLifeAndTimesOfScroogeMcDuck The Prisoner of White Agony Creek]]", even adding a DestructoNookie scene. [[MemeticMutation Ya know, for kids!]]

* In ''Fanfic/TheTranslationInBlood'', Hannah Shepard (Commander Shepard's mother, assuming the [[MultipleChoicePast Spacer background]]) and Councilor Sparatus met when he captured her during the Occupation of Shanxi. The two gradually grow friendlier and fall in love.
* In ''Film/TheHobbit'' fic ''[[Fanfic/TheHeartTrilogy Heart of Fire]]'', [[VillainProtagonist Smaug]] kidnaps [[HomelessHero Kathryn]] the {{Seer|s}} when he first hears her lovely singing voice outside Erebor and wants it all to himself. They gradually become companionable during the following year and realize their feelings for each other when Smaug allows Kathryn to leave and enjoy her freedom until she inevitably returns to him.
* Nowhere is this more apparent than in Chapter 4 of the ''Film/{{Stardust}}'' fanfic "Endings". Yvaine has been forced into a marriage with Prince Septimus, who orders her around and emotionally abuses her every single day (He even takes the time to abuse her on ''the last day of his life''). He tells her she is allowed to leave if she can get down the steps of the castle, but when she finally does, he comes after her. She has literally nowhere else she can go, so she returns with him, starts falling in love with him, and eventually bears his children. [[HereWeGoAgain At the end it's even implied that his son will repeat the process with another star that has just fallen to Earth]].

* For a Comedy AU, ''Fanfic/{{White Sheep|RWBY}}'' bluntly acknowledges this is how [[BigBad Salem]] and [[NiceGuy Nicholas Arc]] met -- people are constantly reminding Jaune that his mom abducted his dad, locked him up in her dungeon and sexed him into submission. They ''are'' quite HappilyMarried, nonetheless.
* Eustass Kid ends up falling in love and being loved back by the lady marine officer he kidnaps in Fanfic/AbyssCronicaCaptive
* ''[[Fanfic/UmeiNoMaisUnchained Unchained]]'' revolves around a female Uchiha Izuna abducting Senju Tobirama in order to force his clan to submit to hers. She keeps him compliant and manageable by lavishing gifts and attention on him, while he goes along to prevent her from focusing on the Senju's destruction. The arrangement started as blatantly mercenary, but the more time goes by, the more they start to feel genuine respect and attraction for each other.

%%Someone should confirm this, then either remove it or the entire entry. Administrivia/RepairDontRespond. ** Ben (Cage) never ''actually'' kidnaps Abigail. It's his ''rival'' Ian (played by Sean Bean) who kidnaps her in an attempt to steal the Declaration of Independence in her possession, [[spoiler:which was actually a decoy Ben gave her when she confronted him after he stole the real one]]. However Ian only manages to hold her hostage for all of about five minutes of a chase scene before Ben succeeds in rescuing her and getting away. After safely escaping Ian, Ben immediately lets Abigail go. She only stays with him because he ''doesn't'' release the [[spoiler: real]] Declaration of Independence to her, and she insists on going where it goes. By the time Ben and Abigail are taken hostage ''again'' at the end of the film, they're already well on their way towards a relationship. So arguably, this situation falls more accurately under RescueRomance.
* In the ''Film/{{Hitman}}'' movie, 47 initially kidnaps Nika, stuffs her in the trunk with a dead body, drives across Russia with her in there, pulls her out of a restaurant by her hair, and threatens to torture and kill her. She seems strangely attracted to him. It blends with RescueRomance and BodyguardCrush as the body was of the man sent to kill ''her'', and the final scene shows how he killed another Agent sent to kill her. Despite her interest, 47 rejects her advances. It should be noted that he is typically believed to be UsefulNotes/{{Asexual}}.

* In the example pictured, Frank Martin (Creator/JasonStatham) and Lai Kwai (Creator/ShuQi) in ''Film/TheTransporter''. He delivers her to the bad guys in a bag (letting her out at one point, causing her to nearly escape), and goes back to dole out some revenge when they try to blow him up with his car for breaking the agreement. Frank takes Lai with him (while she's bound) after she snuck into his getaway car. She repays him with sexual favors for this. Since he's also responsible for rescuing her, it kinda blends with RescueRomance, but also {{Guile Hero}}ine, as Frank and other characters accuse her of manipulating him into dismantling her father's HumanTrafficking operation.

* [[spoiler: Elektra and Renard]] in ''Film/TheWorldIsNotEnough'' are a villainous version of this. [[spoiler: He kidnapped her, and she seduced him when her father wouldn't pay the ransom. It is strongly implied that Elektra is ultimately just using Renard to fulfil her own evil agenda, meaning she was a PoisonousCaptive and he a JerkassWoobie; Renard may even realize this, but since he is dying anyway, he'll take what he can get. She quite openly intends to find another man (possibly just as another lovestruck pawn) once Renard has sacrificed himself to carry out her scheme, and she teases Renard (and Film/JamesBond himself) that it might even be ''Bond''.]]
* In the movie ''Film/Red2010'', Frank Moses (Bruce Willis) has developed a relationship over the phone with a young insurance agent. Unfortunately he's a retired CIA agent and when he's put on a wet team's hit list, has to kidnap her in order to save her life. As she points out, it wasn't the first date she had in mind. [[ExpectingSomeoneTaller And she thought he'd have hair]]. Notably, the kidnapping doesn't improve their relationship, it nearly destroys it. It's only when she realize that Frank is right and there really are people trying to kill them that it starts to improve.
* A serious example in ''Film/ThreeDaysOfTheCondor''. The protagonist takes a random woman hostage so he can have a place to hole up that isn't connected to him. She ends up sleeping with him. Though the movie does try to explain her psychological reasons for doing so, one can't help thinking it's more a case of StockholmSyndrome than anything else. Unlike other examples however, she leaves him before the end of the movie, implying it was more in the nature of a dangerous fling with a stranger than anything else.
%%* ''Film/ThePet'': Phillip and Mary/GG's relationship has elements of this.
* ''Film/{{Buffalo 66}}'' depicts a man kidnapping Creator/ChristinaRicci in order to fool his parents into thinking he has a girlfriend. She warms up to him quickly, which may invoke this trope. Then again, he proves to be mostly harmless almost immediately and she is more or less free to go once his parents meet her so she may just have genuinely liked him.
* ''Film/{{Stardust}}'': Tristan initially chains up Yvaine, a fallen star, against her will and forces her to come with him back to the Wall so he can present her as a gift to Victoria. But they gradually fall in love on the journey back instead.
** Although the hostage part does seem to be intended as temporary at the start -- he offers her the last of a magical candle so she can go back to the sky, after he shows her to Victoria.
* ''Film/InTime'': Will kidnaps Sylvia and they end us as lovers (and partners in crime).
* ''Film/TheBigHit'': Melvin develops protective feelings and then a romantic attraction to Keiko, the girl he helped kidnap. Keiko eventually returns the feelings, and they ride off into the sunset together by the end.

* Played with at the end of ''Film/FromDuskTillDawn'' when Kate Fuller asks if she can go with Seth Gecko to [[WretchedHive El Ray]] -- she's [[FinalGirl lost everyone else in her family]], so their kidnapper is the only person she has left. Fortunately EvenEvilHasStandards, so Seth refuses to bring her along.
* In ''Film/SixtyEightKill'', Chip falls for Violet, the girl he and Liza abduct from Ken's house. Violet starts to return his affection after he rescues her from the psycho Liza.
* A rather complex example happens in ''Film/{{Split}}'' and ''Film/{{Glass}}''. From an outsider's perspective, Casey showing concern for the health of the person who kidnapped her and [[IAmAHumanitarian ate]] her classmates would be a textbook example. However, the kidnapper Kevin has 24 personalities, with the original personality so far from the dominant personality that his last memory is two years ago. At least half the personalities at any time are innocent being dragged into the schemes of the [[SplitPersonalityTakeover Horde]]. Kevin himself was shocked by the deaths his alters had caused and [[spoiler: begged Casey to kill him in the middle of her kidnapping. It also helps that the [[SuperPoweredEvilSide Beast]] spared Casey when he saw she was clearly [[CommonalityConnection also abused]], meaning not even the most violent of Kevin's personalities wants to hurt her in ''Film/{{Glass}}''.]]

* Melody and Marcos in ''Tennis Shoes and the Feathered Serpent'', by Chris Heimerdinger.

* As noted in the film version, this is much of the plot of ''Literature/{{Stardust}}'': the hero sees a falling star with the girl he loves, and vows to bring it back for her. However, the star turns out to be a real person…
* In so much as the book ''has'' a plot, ''The Mathematics of Oz'' covers this.
* Non-romantic example from the ''Literature/BelisariusSeries''. When Kungas met Shakuntala for the first time he was her jailor. Of course this was helped a lot by the fact that the first thing he did before taking her into custody was to carve into tidbits some fellow soldiers who were acting in a [[AttemptedRape somewhat undisciplined manner]] toward her.
* Aral and Cordelia in ''Literature/ShardsOfHonor'', though it's a borderline case as the actual ''violence'' was perpetuated by a third party without Aral's knowledge or approval and the two of them were forced to [[EnemyMine team up]] and [[DieHardOnAnX die hard on an alien planet]].
* In Jennifer Fallons' ''Literature/TideLords Quartet'' series, the heroine is kidnapped by the prisoner she's escorting. She'd decided to let him loose in order to prove that he was delusional and not the all-powerful god he thought he was. Turned out she was wrong.
* Opal and Devlen in ''Literature/IxiaAndSitia''. The guy possessed the body of her boyfriend and slept with her, kidnapped her, and tortured her. But it's okay, he was an addict at the time!
* Kinda weird version in the ''Franchise/StarTrek'' novel ''Final Frontier'' (not '''''The''' Final Frontier'', but rather the one by Diane Carey): Jim Kirk's father, George, meets and befriends Romulan field-primus t'Cael Zaniidor Kilyle this way. First, the Federation knows nothing about the Romulans at this time, and assumes them to be reptilian. George arranges to meet with the Romulan's commander on a little planet/moon. When he gets there, he sees a "Vulcan" sitting between two helmeted guards, and assumes a hostage situation. So he grabs t'Cael, fends the guards off with his phaser, gets them to cover, and then hands t'Cael a second phaser in case he needs it, ignoring any possible threat from t'Cael (turning his back to watch for the guards) and leaving t'Cael utterly flabbergasted.
-->''Kidnapped, protected, and now given a weapon?''
** They become teammates and eventually friends after [[spoiler:an officer back on the ship disobeys orders and fires on the planet in an attempted assassination.]]
* In ''Literature/TheSacredArtOfStealing'' a suave criminal mastermind kidnaps cool cop Angelique De Xavia, and when she accidentally says, "I wish you'd been there to tell me that when I got up this morning" he responds, politely, he wishes the same thing.

* In ''Literature/TheRedVixenAdventures'' it's notable that when the Red Vixen kidnaps Rolas, she's more attracted to him than vice-versa. [[spoiler:Until he starts dating her true identity.]]

* Pretty much the premise of ''Stolen'' (along with the Australian outback).
* ''Literature/AlexisCarew: Mutineer'': Imprisoned by culturally French Hanoverese naval forces after [[spoiler:HMS ''Hermione'''s mutineers sail her to the Berry March (Alsace-Lorraine [-JustForFun/InSpace-])]], Alexis befriends Lieutenant Delaine Thiebaud while arranging better treatment for the crew (who, not being officers, cannot give parole and be housed in the town), and falls in love with him. [[spoiler:He later provides evidence exonerating her of the mutiny at CourtMartial and showing the extenuating circumstances, and in ''The Little Ships'' she seeks him out to gain the Berry March fleet's help against Hanover and loses her virginity with him.]]
* This must be what Cohen's relationship with Bethan in ''Literature/TheLightFantastic'' looks like from her perspective; ''he'' thinks it's a RescueRomance, and the fact it was an UnwantedRescue is entirely irrelevant.
* Kinda-sorta in Stephanie Laurens' ''The Capture of the Earl of Glencrae''. The titular earl ''does'' kidnap Angelica Cynster, but she had already set her sights on him as her future husband, ''and'' he only truly keeps her captive long enough to explain why he kidnapped her in the first place (long story short: trying to save his [[UsefulNotes/BonnieScotland clan]] from his insane mother's EvilPlan). She quickly agrees to help him and the rest of the novel is the two of them working together to thwart his mother's scheme, falling in love all the while.

* In ''Literature/DarkShores'' Teriana is basically kidnapped and forced to help Marcus and his legions conquer her homeland. Because Marcus worries about her safety, he also forces her to share a cabin on a ship and then a tent with him -- and they gradually fall in love. Non-romantically, Teriana also becomes friends with other legionnaires, especially her bodyguards Quintus and Miki.
* Subverted in ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince''. Merope Gaunt spent a year hopping Tom Riddle Sr. up on love potion, but stopped giving it to him when she became pregnant with his son. Merope was banking on Tom either falling in love with her for real or [[TheBabyTrap staying for the sake of his unborn child]]; she was wrong on both counts, and Tom fled and never bothered to learn what would become of his son. The child would grow up to be [[BigBad Voldemort]], who ultimately killed him and his parents.

* In ''Series/{{Community}}'' [[Recap/CommunityS4E03ConventionsOfSpaceAndTime episode S4E03 Conventions Of Space And Time]] the guest star Toby tries this on Abed. He doesn't really get it right.
-->'''Abed''': You have to let me out!\\
'''Toby''': No, not until Stockholm syndrome sets in.
* ''Series/{{Flashpoint}}'' has this in "The Planets Aligned", where a young girl was kidnapped for eight years and suffers Stockholm Syndrome, and behaves in an affectionate manner to her capturer. It's also played seriously, in that the relationship has warped her terribly.
* On ''Series/GeneralHospital'', Emily and Zander's relationship began with him kidnapping her--he was desperate to escape capture for a murder he'd been falsely accused of. They began to bond during the ordeal when she learned why he had taken her and she ended up losing her virginity to him.
* ''Series/NewTricks'': In "Trust Me", UCOS investigates a missing person case originally believed to be a kidnapping that probably ended in murder. However, when they discover the missing woman, she turns out to be married to her 'kidnapper' and the two have a child together. It turns out that the kidnapper had originally snatched the woman as part of an ill-thought-out plan of revenge against the woman's mother. However, the woman hated her mother and had been thinking about running away, so just went along with him. The two of them fell in love and got married.
* The backstory of the Creator/JimHenson sitcom ''Series/AliensInTheFamily'' is that Doug Brody and his alien scientist wife Cookie met when she [[AlienAbduction abducted him to experiment on]].

* ''Theatre/TheTamingOfTheShrew'' is pretty much this trope personified; he makes her his prisoner and torments her until she falls in love with him. Though some would say that he makes her his prisoner and uses several techniques that are still used today for ''"interrogation" (read: torture) and brainwashing'' until he breaks her spirit.

* ''VideoGame/PrinceOfPersiaTheSandsOfTime'' (and the [[Film/PrinceOfPersiaTheSandsOfTime movie]]) starts out with the Prince's army taking Farah prisoner, but with their ending up in love.

* Subverted by Zidane and Garnet in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX''. While Zidane and his fellow thieves [[TheKindnapper planned to abduct Garnet to get her away from]] [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen her increasingly unhinged mother Queen Brahne]], Garnet stowed away on the thieves' airship and ''wants'' them to abduct her. Their journey to Lindblum takes a lot longer due to Brahne wrecking the thieves' airship, but it starts out with them bonding as friends. They bond romantically near the end of the game, when Zidane tells Garnet, now frequently calling herself Dagger, that "the abduction is over"

* In the ''Webcomic/BugMartini'' strip [[https://www.bugmartini.com/?s=hostage+taker/ "Hostage-taker/Heartbreaker,"]] the narrator muses about this trope.

* In the movie ''Film/{{Red}}'', Frank Moses (Bruce Willis) has developed a relationship over the phone with a young insurance agent. Unfortunately he's a retired CIA agent and when he's put on a wet team's hit list, has to kidnap her in order to save her life. As she points out, it wasn't the first date she had in mind. [[ExpectingSomeoneTaller And she thought he'd have hair]]. Notably, the kidnapping doesn't improve their relationship, it nearly destroys it. It's only when she realize that Frank is right and there really are people trying to kill them that it starts to improve.

* It's not a romantic example, but this kind of situation going ''horribly wrong'' is the basic plot of the Korean movie ''Film/SympathyForMrVengeance''. [[spoiler:Deaf guy and his communist girlfriend tries to kidnap boss' daughter to get money to buy his sister a new kidney. The kid is extremely cute and everything seems to go fine… until the kid drowns accidentally, which sets the boss off on a RoaringRampageOfRevenge. In the end, it's a KillEmAll ending]].

* ''Literature/AlexisCarew: Mutineer'': Imprisoned by culturally French Hanoverese naval forces after [[spoiler:HMS ''Hermione'''s mutineers sail her to the Berry March (Alsace-Lorraine [-InSpace-])]], Alexis befriends Lieutenant Delaine Thiebaud while arranging better treatment for the crew (who, not being officers, cannot give parole and be housed in the town), and falls in love with him. [[spoiler:He later provides evidence exonerating her of the mutiny at CourtMartial and showing the extenuating circumstances, and in ''The Little Ships'' she seeks him out to gain the Berry March fleet's help against Hanover and loses her virginity with him.]]

* ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'': Guts and Farnese first meet in this sort of fashion, and their interactions are ''highly'' amusing. When they first meet, Farnese was a section leader of the [[CorruptChurch Holy Iron Chain Knights]], and she was assigned to capture and kill the Black Swordsman (Guts). Guts ends up temporarily taking her hostage (only to get shot and then captured by Farnese's group). Later, in order to escape, he ends up kidnapping and holding her hostage ''again'', this time with more funny and amusing interactions between the two of them than the previous time (including a moment where he threatens to "burn her ass" if the soldiers don't make way). During this time period, her future [[PrecociousCrush infatuation]] and admiration of him is foreshadowed and hinted at. Of course, it wouldn't be ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'' if that foreshadowing didn't take the form of Farnese being possessed by an evil spirit, straddling Guts {{BFS}} naked, and urging him in a very {{Squick}}ily sexual manner to slice her in half with it… ''slowly''.

%%Someone should confirm this, then either remove it or the entire entry. RepairDontRespond. ** Ben (Cage) never ''actually'' kidnaps Abigail. It's his ''rival'' Ian (played by Sean Bean) who kidnaps her in an attempt to steal the Declaration of Independence in her possession, [[spoiler:which was actually a decoy Ben gave her when she confronted him after he stole the real one]]. However Ian only manages to hold her hostage for all of about five minutes of a chase scene before Ben succeeds in rescuing her and getting away. After safely escaping Ian, Ben immediately lets Abigail go. She only stays with him because he ''doesn't'' release the [[spoiler: real]] Declaration of Independence to her, and she insists on going where it goes. By the time Ben and Abigail are taken hostage ''again'' at the end of the film, they're already well on their way towards a relationship. So arguably, this situation falls more accurately under RescueRomance.

** The male Sith Warrior can invoke this with both romantic options. Vette is similar to Eleena, down to being a Twi'lek slave assigned to the Warrior. The Warrior, like Malgus, can treat her nicely, win her affection, and make her his common-law wife - though she's still his ''slave'' as far as Imperial law is concerned. (Considering the position of Twi'leks in the Empire, it's dubiously better to be a high-ranking Sith's property than a citizen. A Sith could kill either one for any reason with no consequence) The other method is to CorruptTheCutie and turn Jaesa into an AxCrazy lunatic who worships you after you break her sanity and take her as an apprentice.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* [[https://www.fimfiction.net/story/512821/a-mauderating-influence A Mauderating Influence]] features a "heroic" variant of this trope: Princess Cadence made Maud Pie [[EvilOverlord Sombra's]] jailor and they quickly fell in love. Pinkie Pie suspects Cadence was trying invoke this trope, believing Maud could temper Sombra's wicked ways.

* The main romance in ''Manga/HaouAiren'' is this, except it's played for Fanservice and {{melodrama}} instead of humor, with naive high-schooler Kurumi getting kidnapped ([[RomanticizedAbuse among other things]]) by Triad boss BastardBoyfriend Hakuron after [[RescueRomance she saved him from bleeding to death in the streets of Tokyo]].

* Part of the backstory to ''Literature/ABrothersPrice'' involves the Whistlers, a band of soldier-spy TrueCompanions calling themselves sisters, kidnapping a prince and taking him home with them, much to his dismay. Since not long after that that entire side of the prince's family was executed for treason, he decided there wasn't much point to going back. Later such 'husband raids' became illegal.

* ''Series/NewTricks'': In "Trust Me", UCOS investigates a missing person case originally believed to be a kidnapping that probably ended in murder. However, when they discover the missing woman, she turns out to be married to her 'kidnapper' and the two have a child together. It turns out that the kidnapper had originally snatched the woman as part of an ill-thought out plan of revenge against the woman's mother. However, the woman hated her mother and been thinking about running away, so just went along with him. The two of them fell in love and got married.

* In ''Franchise/{{Noob}}'', this happen between two characters whose mere acquaintance is a spoiler for the webseries and novel versions of the story: [[spoiler:Master Zen and Nazetrîme. The player behind Master Zen is an escaped prisoner and ends up hiding in a house that belonged to Nazetrîme's player. When the player behind Nazetrîme comes home, Master Zen's tied her up to keep from being discovered. Stockholm syndrome hit Nazetrîme's player at some point and she turns out to be a regular player of the MMORPG in which the story is set. Meanwhile, Master Zen is trying to start a new guild with his ex-cellmate and a woman he befriended while in jail, and is a player short for this to be possible. The two become the franchise's first OfficialCouple (or at least one-way crush) barring a TheNotLoveInterest situation involving one of the protagonists and one of the top players.]]

* [[AntiHero L]] and OriginalCharacter [[IntrepidReporter Erin's]] relationship is based on this trope in ''Fanfic/StoryOfTheCentury''. Although there is [[UnresolvedSexualTension some tension]] between them, they don't progress any further than [[VitriolicBestBuds friendship]], [[CannotSpitItOut if that.]] [[spoiler:Being as smart as he is he was probably aware of this [[UnequalPairing and all]] [[MoreThanMindControl it implied]], because he ends up [[ShooTheDog chasing]] [[BreakHerHeartToSaveHer her]] [[KickTheMoralityPet away]] [[HeroicSacrifice after the case closes]] so that he can [[DyingAlone die alone]], [[BreakTheCutie despite her insisting that she stay with him.]]]]