History Main / ParentalMarriageVeto

* ''Franchise/TolkiensLegendarium'':
** In ''Literature/BerenAndLuthien'', Thingol doesn't want his daughter Lúthien to marry the mortal Beren. While he doesn't know at the time that that would eventually result in her choosing to become mortal, he had premonitions of Doom around the whole matter. So he set Beren an [[EngagementChallenge impossible task]] to get rid of him (breaking into [[{{Hell}} Angband]] and stealing a Silmaril), no doubt hoping he'd give up or die, which of course completely backfired in horrible ways for generations to come.
** In ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'', when Elrond (Beren and Lúthien's immortal great-grandson) finds out that his daughter Arwen and his mortal adopted/foster son Aragorn are in love, he sets down what seems to be a impossible set of restrictions on their marriage: Sauron must be vanquished, Aragorn must unite the ancient kingdoms of Gondor and Arnor ''and'' become High King over them. This puts a great deal of stress on Elrond and Aragorn's relationship, but when Aragorn helps fulfill every single one of these conditions, Elrond allows the marriage to happen. Those nearly {{impossible task}}s had the bonus effect of ensuring Middle-Earth would at least theoretically be habitable for them and their descendants.
* In ''Literature/TheOtherBoleynGirl'':
** Anne Boleyn furiously [[spoiler: banishes her sister Mary from court when Mary admits that she has secretly married William Stafford and is carrying his child.]] Although not technically her mother, since Anne was Queen at the time, she could be considered a de facto guardian.
** A more straightforward example comes earlier in the book, when Anne [[spoiler: secretly marries Henry Percy]]. The marriage is annulled by Cardinal Wolsey, and Anne is [[spoiler: banished from court by her family as punishment]], while Henry Percy is [[spoiler: forced into marriage to a woman closer to his social standing]]. It is implied that this early loss is what drives Anne to be as cold and ambitious as she is for the remainder of the book, and that she never is quite over it.

* In ''Literature/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms'', the Dowager Marchioness (basically "queen mother") of the Sun family subverts this trope by blessing the marriage of her daughter to Liu Bei, then upbraiding her son Sun Quan and his right-hand man Zhou Yu (son-in-law of the State Patriarch who also supports the marriage) for plotting to ''kill'' the groom, since after word got out it would make her daughter unweddable (in a "what man would want her now?" kind of way).

* ''Literature/LittleWomen'':
** Aunt March tries to do this to Meg when she wants to marry John Brooke, a poor Englishman and Laurie's tutor, mistakenly believing that he's a GoldDigger who wants to use her to get Aunt March's riches. It backfires, rousing Meg's anger and turning her reluctant 'no' into a defiant 'yes.'
** In ''Jo's Boys'', Meg won't let her daughter Daisy marry Nat because -- besides his being an ex-homeless nobody -- Meg (a widow by this point) doesn't think the sensitive, very young and inexpert musician will be able to man up and provide for Daisy. However, when he returns to the States after two years' European study [[RagsToRiches as an established violinist with a steady income and excellent future prospects]], Meg relents. (The beard he grows in the meanwhile helps.)
* ''Literature/TheGrandmother'': In the final chapter, the author mentions that the Miller's daughter Mančinka came to the Grandmother for assistance when her father wanted to prevent her from loving a poor but handsome young man. As per her custom, the Grandmother intercedes for young love; the Miller accepts Mančinka's suitor, and later, when the latter prospers, is grateful to the Grandmother for having changed his mindset on the matter.
* In ''Literature/HisOnlyWife'' Elikem's family, led by Aunty Ganyo, ''hates'' his girlfriend (also his baby mama) with a passion. When voicing their disapproval and telling him to break up with her is not enough, they arrange for him to marry Afi from their village in Ghana, hoping that she will drive him away from the woman they loathe.
* Creator/JaneAusten really loved this trope. Of course, it was the law of the land in her day, unless you escaped to Scotland.
** In ''Literature/NorthangerAbbey'', General Tilney forbids his son Henry from marrying Catherine Morland after being mislead ''again'' about her fortune (the novel's antagonist, realizing she won't marry him, changes his report of being hugely wealthy to miserably poor--neither were true). Henry asks for Catherine's hand ''before'' telling her about his father's disapproval, which Catherine appreciates because she would have felt honor-bound to refuse otherwise. Fortunately, [[LeaningOnTheFourthWall this happens near the end]] and a way out of the General's wrath is swiftly procured by the plot.
** Edward in ''Literature/SenseAndSensibility'' maintains a secret engagement with Lucy Steele, the poor niece of his private tutor from his teenage years. When his mother learns, she demands that he break the engagement and when he refuses, cuts him off without a penny. Lucy soon dumps him for his newly-enriched brother, but it's a good thing because it frees Edward from someone he long ago ceased to love and he can marry his real love, Elinor Dashwood.
** In ''Literature/PrideAndPrejudice'', Mr. Darcy's aunt, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, attempts to veto the marriage... which ends up [[NiceJobFixingItVillain helping to bring it about]], since at the time that Lady Catherine declares her veto, Elizabeth and Darcy are each separately convinced that the other no longer wants anything to do with them. Hearing that Elizabeth has refused to promise not to marry him is what gives Mr. Darcy enough hope to try proposing to her again, with rather better results than his first attempt.
** ''Literature/{{Persuasion}}'' deals with the long-term fallout of a parental marriage veto. Anne was convinced to break her engagement with naval captain Wentworth, not because of her father's threats of disinheritence but [[ParentalSubstitute Lady Russell's sober advice]]. The result was heartbreak for both her and Wentworth for the next eight years, and when they're thrown back into each other's company it takes a long time for them to sort their feelings out.
* In Creator/GeneStrattonPorter's ''Literature/{{Freckles}}'', [=McLean=] tells Angel she can't confess her love to Freckles for fear of her father's disapproval. She assures him afterwards that Freckles would not take her even with her father's consent, owing to his fear of disgracing her.
* Somewhat subverted in Anne Fine's ''Fly in the Ointment''. The parents disapprove of the match and upset/insult their daughter by not coming to the wedding. The father is a petty tyrant who the daughter is glad to ignore. However, she soon concludes that they were right to dislike her husband and if they had not upset her so much by missing the wedding she soon would have run home to them.

* Sorta used in Andersen's ''The Shepherdess and the Chimney-Sweep''. The Chinaman isn't the Shepherdess' father for obvious reasons (they're porcelain figurines), but he still wants her to "marry" the mahogany satyr instead of the chimneysweep she fancies.

* Literature/ElsieDinsmore's father vetoes ''two'' proposals. The first is from a sickly childhood friend; Horace is afraid he won't reach twenty-one (and he doesn't). The second is from a con man after her inheritance. Elsie honors her father's wishes both times and ends up marrying the man who exposed the second candidate as a drunk and gambler.
* In the Creator/AgathaChristie novel ''Literature/TheMurderOnTheLinks'', Paul Renauld forbids his son Jack from marrying Marthe Dubriel, and cuts him out of his will. [[spoiler: It transpires that Marthe is [[VillainousLineage the murderous daughter of a blackmailing murderess]], so he had a point.]]
** Another Creator/AgathaChristie example comes from the Literature/MissMarple novel ''Literature/APocketFullOfRye.'' Rex Fortescue threatens to cut off his daughter Elaine without a cent if she marries the Communist Gerald Wright. Elaine would have married him anyway, but Gerald was only interested in Elaine for her money and promptly dumped her. At least until Rex died, leaving Elaine a large amount of money... Interestingly, Miss Marple is convinced the marriage will turn out well, as she sees the gold-hunting groom as a man who will respect and be kind to the woman who made his dreams (a school) come true where he's resent a poor girl married for love for ruining his life.

* In Creator/GeorgeEliot's essay on trope, "Literature/SillyNovelsByLadyNovelists", one novel has a mother ready to {{curse}} her son because her marriage plans are not obeyed until his true love tells her that she will not, in fact, marry him without her blessing.
* In ''Literature/DavidCopperfield'', David's boss [[BoyfriendBlockingDad Mr. Spenlow]] isn't thrilled when he shows interest in his daughter [[DaddysGirl Dora.]] (It's not helped by the intervention of [[KnightTemplar Jane Murdstone]] either.) [[spoiler: And in the same chapter, Spenlow [[DroppedABridgeOnHim dies in an accident]].]]

* In Creator/EdgarRiceBurroughs' ''Literature/TheMonsterMen'', though he and Virginia can marry without it, von Horn knows he must either get Professor Maxon's consent, or have him murdered to prevent his changing his will.
* In Creator/GeneStrattonPorter's ''Literature/ADaughterOfTheLand'', the Bates sons were too intimidated to marry against this, except Adam. The father's technique was to give them farms, but keep the title himself.
-->''Adam was the one son of the seven who had ignored his father's law that all of his boys were to marry strong, healthy young women, poor women, working women. Each of the others at coming of age had contracted this prescribed marriage as speedily as possible, first asking father Bates, the girl afterward. If father Bates disapproved, the girl was never asked at all.''
* In Creator/LMMontgomery's ''Literature/TheBlueCastle'', Olive's romance with the town Bad Boy was broken off because of familial disapproval. Not, whatever those outside the family say, because the Bad Boy was losing interest.
* Twisted around in ''Literature/ABrothersPrice''. Males in this world are rare, so a family lucky enough to have a son will either trade him for another family's son - men marry every sister in a family - or sell him. Jerin is approaching the age of marriage and is anxious, because he might be traded for the son of the huge, [[ParentChildIncest possibly-incestuous]] Brindle family. He reflects that if it were up to his mothers, they wouldn't want him to be unhappy, but in these cases the decision is up to the sisters who are looking to marry someone, and some of his sisters are interested in the Brindle son. His sisters ''don't'' approve of his falling in love with Princess Ren, since in their eyes she tried to [[QuestionableConsent rape]] Jerin.
** That said, while mothers have little to do with the decision-making process on Jerin's side, Ren still has to get permission from her Mother Eldest to marry Jerin, because she ''is'' a princess and the Prince Consort must have good genes and a good history for the sake of the realm.
* Gleefully invoked in ''[[Literature/AnneOfGreenGables Anne of Windy Poplars]]'': Anne helps a timid young lady elope with the young man she loves and takes on the responsibility of breaking the news to the girl's intimidating father, who sternly forbade the couple from having anything to do with each other. When Anne informs the father of the elopement, he takes the news with deep relief and satisfaction - he'd wanted the two to marry all along and issued his veto on the accurate assumption that the boy would be much more interested in ForbiddenFruit than in having a girl pushed at him, but had feared that his daughter would end up being too spineless to go through with it. With the matter finally settled, he promises to "grudgingly come around" in a suitable period of time.
* There are ''three'' plot lines in Michelle Magorian's ''Literature/ALittleLoveSong'' (which is set in [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII 1943]]), and they all deconstruct this trope in one way or another:
** The first one happens in the book's present day, where seventeen-year-old Dot has been kicked out by her parents for getting [[TeenPregnancy pregnant out of wedlock]] and is facing the stigma of becoming an unwed mother. Dot states that if her stubborn father had just let her marry her childhood sweetheart Jack when they had asked for his permission, this never would've happened.
** The second one happens about 26 years earlier and is told through a diary that the main character Rose finds. The diary belongs to a woman named Hilda, and tells the story of how she was a volunteer nurse during [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarI the First World War]] and fell in love with one of her patients, Matthew. Hilda's family refused to let them get married, partly because Matthew was six years younger than her and worked at a publishing company while Hilda herself was firmly upper-class, but mostly because her parents and brothers had decided that as the only daughter, she would remain unmarried and stay at home and take care of her parents until they died.
** The third one is just a short conversation during which Rose expresses concern that their mother might not let Rose's sister Diana marry Robert because he's from a lower class. Diana just states that if their mother won't give her permission, she will just marry him anyway, and that she's pretty happy that he's from a different class because if she married someone from their own class she would just end up being a decoration at a dinner table, while Robert actually treats her like a person.
* In Creator/StephanieBurgis' ''[[Literature/KatIncorrigible A Tangle of Magicks ]]'', Mrs. Carlyle [[SpeakNowOrForeverHoldYourPeace breaks into the opening wedding to declare her son is underage and can not marry without her permission]]. Revealing that he is not the bridegroom but the best man does not slow her down at all in her tirade.
* A more or less {{Justified|Trope}} example kicks off the climax of A.L. Phillips' Literature/TheQuestOfTheUnaligned. While King Kethel vetoes Crown Prince Alaric's desire to marry Laeshana, this is because Laeshana is a mage of fire, and the law requires that the Crown Prince marry an elementally unaligned mage.

* ''Literature/KindlingAshes'': Tilda's father was fine with Corran courting her because Corran was his favorite pupil. It was Lord Dunslade who issued the veto because he disapproved of his son marrying down.
* In Jorge Isaacs' ''María'', while Efraín's father/María's uncle and adoptive father does ''not'' hate María (in fact, [[LikeASonToMe she's pretty much]] [[HappilyAdopted another daughter]]), he'd rather have Efraín focus only on his future university studies than romancing [[KissingCousins his cousin]]. [[spoiler: It ends tragically when María dies from her illness while Efraín is studying abroad on the patriarch's instructions; the dad [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone blames himself heavily]] and even calls himself her murderer, and he ends up tearfully apologizing to Efraín for having separated them.]]
* ''Literature/HisOnlyWife'': The Ganyo family, led by matriarch Aunty Faustina Ganyo, ''hates'' middle brother Eli's girlfriend with a passion. When voicing their disapproval is not enough, they arrange for him to marry protagonist Afi, a seamstress from their village, to drive him away from the woman they loathe.
* Inverted by the Creator/ThomasHardy short story ''Literature/TheSonsVeto'' (published in the collection ''Literature/LifesLittleIronies''). The protagonist is a widow, who's first husband was a wealthy parson whom she married because she [[UnequalPairing didn't dare turn down his proposal]]; their son was raised as a member of the upper class, but she still thinks of herself as being beneath them both. As a result, her son is able to forbid her from marrying her UnluckyChildhoodFriend (it's made clear he's not against her remarrying; he just doesn't want a commoner for a stepfather).

* In the backstory to ''Literature/PanTadeusz'', mr. Horeszko did this in the [[BreakTheHaughty most cruel way]] possible - simply ''ignoring'' his daughter's beloved's feelings for her, then asking his advice on an ArrangedMarriage for her.
* In the backstory to ''Literature/DinnerAtDeviantsPalace'', Irwin Barrows exiled Greg Rivas from the Barrows lands because he felt Rivas wasn't good enough for his daughter Urania. [[spoiler:In the present, though he depends on Rivas to rescue Urania, he's prepared to have Rivas killed if there's any sign they're going to get back together.]]

* ''Literature/DeadEndJobMysteries'': Attempted by Helen Hawthorne's mother Dolores. After Helen divorces her deadbeat husband Robbie pre-series and goes on the run, Dolores keeps trying to get her to go back to him - due to her religious views, she believes divorce isn't recognized by the church and that Helen will burn in Hell if she ever remarries. When Helen is finally getting remarried in book 8, Dolores finds out and is so opposed to it that she's arranged for Helen to get threatening letters warning what will happen if she goes through with it, and finally takes a bus all the way from St. Louis to southern Florida, where she barges in to stop the wedding, declaring that she'd rather see Helen dead than with a man other than Robbie. She then suffers a heart attack and brain bleed during her rant and is essentially comatose afterward, so she has to be put in a home for the rest of her life, dying in book 9. Her death and Helen getting a new divorce settlement allow the wedding to finally go off by the end of the book.
* ''Literature/DragonridersOfPern'': Sibling variant - Toric tries this on his sister Sharra when it is revealed that she and Jaxom plan to be married. Luckily, Jaxom makes it clear in a very satisfying and dramatic fashion that he and Sharra will not be parted, and that as a dragonrider he will come for her anywhere on Pern.
* ''[[Literature/FelseInvestigates The Knocker on Death's Door]]'' by Creator/EllisPeters, a woman who is dating the younger son of an ImpoverishedPatrician family is invited to afternoon tea by his elder brother, who attempts to warn her off. She's affronted, and amused, that people still behave like that. [[spoiler:It turns out that he was actually trying to get her clear of the family because he'd found out his younger brother was the murderer.]]
* In ''Literature/TheBabySittersClub'', Mary Anne learns that her father used to date her new friend Dawn's mother Sharon while they were in high school, but Sharon's parents didn't approve so they ended up breaking it off. They initially drifted apart and married other people, but ultimately reconnected through their daughters' friendship (by which point he was a widower and she was divorced) and ended up getting back together and later marrying.

** ''Sosedov Sin'' ("The Neighbor's Son"), an 1868 novella by Slovene author Josip Juričič, Franica, the daughter of wealthy farmer Anton Smrekar, falls in love with the honest, hard-working and handsome Štefan, the son of a neighboring farmer. They wish to marry, but assume that Franica's proud and despotic father would not allow them to, as he despises Štefan's father, who unlike his son is a wastrel. Once, Anton hires Štefan to help him with a job, and treats him unusually kindly, prompting Štefan to ask Anton for Franica's hand. This, however, infuriates Anton, who roughly rebukes Štefan, and then makes short work of his daughter, [[HonorThyParent accusing her of disrespecting him]] for making promises to the son of a man she knows her father cannot stand, and coercing a promise from her not to speak to Štefan again. The resolution to this situation comes when, after a period of keeping Franica practically under house arrest, [[spoiler: Anton [[ArrangedMarriage attempts to marry her off]] to his good friend's son Petar, but Franica [[RunawayBride does not show up at the service]] and runs away to the house of a woman with whom she had stayed in the past while at school. When Anton finds his daughter in bed with a fever, and Štefan praying in a church for her recovery, he realizes that he has made a mistake. Franica does recover and Anton lets her marry Štefan and also becomes a somewhat gentler man.]]
** ''Pop Ćira i Pop Spira'' (Priests Ćira and Spira), an 1898 novel by Serbian author Stevan Sremac set in a village in the Vojvodina [[note]]now the Northern part of Serbia, but then a Serbian enclave in Hungary[[/note]] region, tells the story of the two priests who served the village, who each have an only daughter. When the village receives a new young schoolteacher, Pera, who intends to study for the priesthood, the priests' wives both wish to marry their daughters off to him. Priest Spira's daughter Melanija takes a liking to Pera, while Priest Ćira's daughter Jula loves Šaca, the local barber. However, they meet secretly in the garden, knowing that Jula's parents wouldn't approve of the match. They are discovered and Jula's parents initial reaction is to attempt to put a stop to it. [[spoiler: However, after some time passes, Jula complains to her mother about it; her mother goes to her father and pleads the couple's case, taking into account that Šaca is planning to better himself. Priest Ćira relents, requesting only that they wait until he has settled a conflict that he currently has with Priest Spira. The novel ends with Jula marrying Šaca and Melanija marrying Pera. The former couple ends up having four children with Šaca becoming a dentist, while the latter couple remains childless and ends up leading a dull bourgeois life.]]

* An episode of ''Anime/{{Planetes}}'' inverts this when it turns out that Edel had to stay away from her husband for five years to prevent her parents from vetoing their divorce.
* Happens more than once on ''Manga/MaisonIkkoku''. One is in the {{backstory}}, where Kyoko's parents objected to her marriage to [[HotForTeacher her former teacher Soichiro]]; another is at the end, where Kyoko's father again objects [[spoiler: to Godai's impending proposal. He gets over it in the end]]. A minor one is Godai's cousin, who ends up deciding to elope. [[spoiler:Her father catches on and decides that if she and her boyfriend are willing to elope, then he'll give his blessing.]]
* ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'': In the original ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'', Garma Zabi believes that his father will try and pull this trope on him and becomes desperate to find a way to force him to accept. Possibly subverted, as Garma was Degwin's favored son and it's doubtful the old man could have refused him anything. It's then played straight in the case of Iserina Eschenbach, Garma's sweetheart. ''Her'' father was a rabid Zeon hater, after all.

* ''Manga/AiShiteNight'': [[spoiler:Shige forbids his daughter Yakko from marrying her rock-star boyfriend Go when they ponder getting married as soon as he returns from the USA. When they persevere, Shige finally gives in.]]

* ''Manga/ABridesStory'': Shows up a few places due to the highly arranged nature of marriages in the area that discourages trying to MarryForLove.
** Smith's infatuation with a local woman called Talas gets shut down when her uncle-in-law forbids them to see each other (in accordance with local law and custom, Talas having married into his family makes her his to give away even if her blood family was still alive. And also despite both the son she married and the son's father being dead). [[spoiler:Talas ends up leaving the household after her mother-in-law dies and eventually meets up with Smith again, who promptly offers to marry her. The couple then has to deal with Smith's mother back in Britain, who refuses to acknowledge his betrothal to a foreigner.]]

* In "Literature/TheOneHandedGirl", the king's son begs his parents to let him marry the heroine, and they are unable to bring themselves to do this.
* In "[[http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/lfb/li/lifb04.htm The False Prince and the True]]" (included by Creator/AndrewLang in ''The Lilac Fairy Book'', the true prince saves his life by learning that he really is the prince, and the purported one is not, which requires him to promise to marry a very old woman. When he recounts this to his father, he tries to get his father to invoke this: he would rather marry a bride of his father's choosing, he says. His father has none of it -- he will keep his promise.

* ''Fanfic/AleaIactaEst'': [[spoiler:When Kaiser told Allfather that he wanted to marry Andrea, he flipped, and after sending Andrea away, set him up with Theo's mother]].
* ''Fanfic/BattleFantasiaProject'': Parodied in the remake, where [[Anime/BakutenShootBeyblade Mariam]]'s father initially opposes her relationship with Kai because he's terrified by the possible results of the love between his daughter (whose personality is often compared unfavourably to a ''[[ThreateningShark shark]]'') and Kai (who has more than one similarity with her). [[JerkassHasAPoint He kinda had a point]]...
* ''Fanfic/BeyondTheDawn'': Per book canon, Thingol to Beren and Lúthien.
* ''Fanfic/CrimsonAndClover'': Lulu's parents don't seem to like Wakka one bit. [[spoiler:Cid likes Paine and gives her his approval to marry his daughter.]]
* ''Fanfic/CrimsonAndEmerald'': Kiyome's parents and Kei's parents refused to allow them to marry each other.
* ''Fanfic/{{Enslaved|Sharkflip}}'': More like a ''tribal'' marriage veto, in that the Tribe's shaman is very against Katara and Zuko's union. The fact that they're already technically married doesn't sway him in the slightest.

* ''Fanfic/{{Strings|Lantur}}'': Korra and Tarrlok's cover story is that Korra's BoyfriendBlockingDad refused to let them get married and they ran away together.
* ''Fanfic/TheLastSon'':
** Namor judges Leviathan's worthiness to be with his cousin Namorita. He approves Leviathan, BUT he must also needs the permission of Namorita's mother Namora...
** [[spoiler: Superman's godfather, General Zod, doesn't approve of his godson's relationship with Alison Blaire, who is part Kryptonian, and sees her as something less than an animal. He explains this to Alison while choking her.]]
* ''Fanfic/TheLieIveLived'': Fleur's parents are ''not'' happy that their daughter is dating the one guy (Harry Potter) who's guaranteed to get her involved in the upcoming war.
* ''Fanfic/TheManyDatesOfDannyFenton'': [[spoiler: In the alternate ending where Danny marries [[WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooAndTheGhoulSchool Phantasma]], The Phantom was against their relationship and Danny and Phanty married against his wishes.]]
* ''Fanfic/TheMLPLoops'': Brought up in Loop 48.3, where Big Macintosh is replacing [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk Bruce Banner]]. Shortly before the Gamma Bomb incident, Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross, who didn't approve of Banner in comics canon even ''before'' he became the Hulk (and isn't Looping, making him unable to distinguish between Banner and anyone Replacing him in the Loop), warns Mac with "Don't even think for a moment that I'll let you marry my daughter." This being Mac (who is notoriously not interested in romance when Awake at this point) and not Banner, Ross's warning doesn't bother him in the slightest.
* ''Fanfic/ThePadmeAus'': Dictated Palpatine's family history, as described in ''A Distant Cousin''.
* ''Fanfic/ThePiecesLieWhereTheyFell'': [[spoiler: Chantico, the dowager empress of the Cuanmiztl Kingdom and mother of its prince-king Tizoc, had no legal right to veto her son's marriage... so she instead just convinced his intended bride - Xvital - to run away just hours before the wedding, threatening to expose the truth about Xvital's background as a thief and con artist to Tizoc (to top it off, the penultimate chapter reveals that Balance, in order to get Xvital into place to become one of the new Bearers, had possessed Chantico to make her drive Xvital away). The couple eventually reunite and, after Tizoc reveals he already knew about her background but still loved her anyway, he proposes again, with Xvital happily accepting.]]
* ''Fanfic/ThePrinceOfDeath'': 100% subverted [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments "Do you know what we're discussing? That you've just given me permission to fuck your Prince?"]]
* ''Fanfic/TheRejuvenationverse'': Herod Sanguine disapproves of Bayard and Rowena. [[spoiler:But ultimately does leave them an appropriate inheritance in the will read at dinner. Unfortunately, the will that ends up being used is far less pleasant for them]].
* ''Fanfic/TheYoungStag'': Cersei has voiced her disapproval of Steffon and Arya's marriage since the beginning and does everything she can to split them apart. Unfortunately for her, Robert and Ned approve of the arrangement and actively encourage it. Following Robert's death and Joffrey's rise to the Iron Throne, Cersei once again attempts to break Steffon's betrothal to Arya and join his family at King's Landing. Steffon, however, [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere refuses]], remaining with Arya and making his own claim to the Iron Throne.

* In ''Fanfic/DannyPhantomStranded'', Star worries Danny's parents will forbid them from seeing each other because of her parents' yelling at each other.
* In ''ComicBook/{{Shazam}}'' fanfiction ''Fanfic/HereThereBeMonsters'', Edith does not mind that her daughter [[ComicBook/MaryMarvel Mary]] dates Freddy Freeman -a. k. a., ComicBook/CaptainMarvel, Jr.-, but Mary has noticed her mother is reluctant to let them get married. Mary doesn't want to think badly of her mother, so she wonders if Edith's balking out because her snobby business associates would not think highly of someone who lets her daughter marry a newsboy. Compounding the issue, Freddy is perfectly willing to elope, but Mary wants it to be a proper ceremony... which her mother would have to pay for, since they cannot afford it.
* In ''Fanfic/TheMoonsFlashPrincess'', Lux' parents are opposed to their daughter's intention to marry Minako. [[ParentsAsPeople This is out of a large misunderstanding]], as Minako is an unconventional young adult with no job and their daughter is sixteen, from a wealthy family and traumatized from being caught up in the SAO incident, and mistakenly concluded Minako is a GoldDigger, when the truth is that [[ObliviousToLove Minako has no idea of Lux' feelings for her]] (or pretends so due their age difference) and, while without a steady job, still makes more than enough money to live comfortably.

[[folder:Films -- Animated]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* In ''Film/TheLordOfTheRings'' movies, Elrond tries to keep his daughter Arwen from marrying Aragorn, since this would require her to give up her elven {{immortality}}. Unlike most examples of this trope, he makes a very sound and very logical argument against it, and has no quarrel with Aragorn himself. (Quite the contrary! He thinks "He's LikeASonToMe.") Emotionally, Elrond wants his daughter to be happy, but he understands the the ''very'' serious consequences (his twin brother - Aragorn's ancestor - gave up immortality), and he wakes her up to reality. Arwen marries Aragorn anyway, and accepts the consequences.

* ''Film/MeetTheParents'' centers around this. Although technically they are not yet engaged and Creator/BenStiller is just trying to preemptively win their approval so this trope won't come up when he proposes/asks for permission to propose.
** In both sequels, her father keeps trying to tear them apart, believing Greg to be an inadequate husband. Both times, his conclusions turn out to be totally wrong (Greg is [[spoiler:not the father of his parents' maid's son]], and Greg [[spoiler:is not cheating on his wife]]). In the second sequel, Greg and Pam already have kids, yet Pam's father suggests that she seriously consider leaving Greg for her OldFlame.

%%* This is essentially what ''Film/GuessWhosComingToDinner'' is all about.

* In ''Film/{{Scarface 1983}}'', Manny and Gina are married behind her brother Tony's back. When he finds that out ''right after he kills Manny'', he regrets it.
* Reverse example: ''Film/PsychoIVTheBeginning'' shows that Norman Bates disapproved of his mother of being engaged to Chet Rudolph. This results him murdering the both of them.
* ''Film/TheGodfatherPartIII'': Although Vincent/Vinnie and Mary [[KissingCousins are cousins]] and don't get married, Michael shows disapproval of their relationship because it would endanger his daughter. When Vincent becomes the new head of the family, Michael tells him the price: give up his relationship with Mary. [[spoiler: It doesn't matter later, since Mary gets shot to death.]]
* In ''Film/{{Dodsworth}}'', Kurt's mother is an IceQueen who flat out disapproves of the marriage between her son and Fran for concerns about Fran's reproductive capabilities.
* In ''Film/CrimsonPeak'', Edith's father puts a halt to Thomas's plans to propose to her, on the grounds that he suspects Thomas of [[GoldDigger only wanting her for her money]]. He pays off Thomas to not only call off the proposal, but also to disabuse Edith of any notion that he loves her. [[spoiler:Lucille gets around the issue by killing Edith's father.]] As it turns out, [[spoiler:not only was her father right about Thomas and Lucille's motives, but he had another reason to oppose the marriage - he'd learned that Thomas was already legally married to at least three other women.]]
* In ''Film/EquinoxFlower'' Hirayama tries hard to exercise this, not even for any specific reason, but just because he wasn't asked ahead of time. He eventually finds out that the veto is no longer in effect in Japan.
* The plot of ''Film/MonsterInLaw'' is Viola disapproving of her son Kevin wanting to marry Charlie and doing everything in her power to drive Charlie away.
* ''Film/PeachBlossomWeepsTearsOfBlood'' has an UptownGirl plot in which a poor tenant farmer's daughter falls in love with the rich son of the rich woman that owns the land. When the rich lady categorically refuses to let her son marry a lowborn peasant girl, tragedy ensues.

* One episode of ''Series/EverybodyLovesRaymond'' dealt with this. Robert tried to propose to his girlfriend, but asked for her parents permission first just out of respect. Given he's just doing this as a formality, he's shocked when they say "No." ("But thanks for asking!") When he goes ahead with the proposal anyway, which is very romantic and gets an enthusiastic "yes" from the bride-to-be, he's slightly distraught when she asks, "I know it's just a formality, but could you go to my father and ask for his blessing?"

** Smith's infatuation with a local woman called Talas gets shut down when her uncle-in-law forbids them to see each other (in accordance with local law and custom, Talas having married into his family makes her his to give away, even if her blood family was still alive. This despite both the son she married and the son's father are both dead). [[spoiler:Talas ends up leaving the household after her mother-in-law dies and eventually meets up with Smith again, who promptly offers to marry. The couple then has to deal with Smith's mother back in Britain, who refuses to acknowledge his betrothal to a foreigner.]]

* In ''Literature/LittleWomen'', Aunt March tries to do this to Meg when she wants to marry John Brooke, a poor Englishman and Laurie's tutor, mistakenly believing that he's a GoldDigger who wants to use her to get Aunt March's riches. It backfires, rousing Meg's anger and turning her reluctant 'no' into a defiant 'yes.'

** Prince Albert Victor, a grandson of UsefulNotes/QueenVictoria and second in line to the British throne after his father Albert Edward, Prince of Wales (later Edward VII), fell in love with the Princess Hélène of Orléans and sought permission to marry her. The marriage was vetoed by both sets of parents, mainly because Hélène was Catholic and Albert Victor was Anglican. Even if Albert Victor's parents decided to approve the marriage, Hélène would have to convert to Anglicanism because marrying a Catholic would cost Albert Victor his succession rights. Hélène's father would not allow her to convert, and she even unsuccessfully lobbied the pope to intercede. The courtship ended soon after that, Hélène later married the Duke of Aosta, while Albert Victor became engaged to Princess Mary of Teck but died before they could marry.

** Prince Albert Victor, a grandson of UsefulNotes/QueenVictoria and second in line to the British throne after his father Albert Edward, Prince of Wales (later Edward VII), fell in love with the Princess Hélène of Orléans, a Catholic, and sought permission to marry her. The marriage was vetoed by both sets of parents and marrying a Catholic would have cost Albert Victor his succession rights. Hélène offered to convert to Anglicanism but her father would not allow it, and she even unsucessfully lobbied the pope to intercede. The courtship ended soon after that, Hélène later married the Duke of Aosta, and Albert Victor became engaged to Princess Mary of Teck but died before the wedding.

** Prince Albert Victor, a grandson of UsefulNotes/QueenVictoria and second in line to the British throne after his father Albert Edward, Prince of Wales (later Edward VII), fell in love with the Princess Hélène of Orléans, a Catholic, and sought permission to marry her. The marriage was vetoed by both sets of parents and marrying a Catholic would have cost Albert Victor his succession rights. Hélène offered to convert to Anglicanism but her father would not allow it, and she even unsucessfully lobbied the pope to intercede. The courtship ended soon after that, Hélène married the Duke of Aosta, and Albert Victor was engaged to Princess Mary of Teck but died before the wedding.

** Prince Albert Victor, a grandson of UsefulNotes/QueenVictoria and second in line to the British throne after his father Albert Edward, Prince of Wales (later Edward VII), fell in love with the Princess Hélène of Orléans, a Catholic, and sought permission to marry her. The marriage was vetoed by both sets of parents and marrying a Catholic would have cost Albert Victor his succession rights. Hélène offered to convert to Anglicanism but her father would not allow it, and she even unsucessfully lobbied the pope to intercede. The courtship ended soon after that.

** King George VI initially vetoed [[UsefulNotes/ElizabethII then-Princess Elizabeth's]] marriage to Philip Mountbatten, mostly because she was underage and he was still largely seen by the public as a Greek and Danish prince, even though he had given up the titles of the recently-defunct Greek monarchy. After World War II, when Philip was a British war hero and Elizabeth had turned 21, her father finally consented to the marriage.

** King George VI initially vetoed [[UsefulNotes/ElizabethII then-Princess Elizabeth's]] marriage to Philip Mountbatten, mostly because she was underage and he was still largely seen by the public as a Greek and Danish prince, even though he had given up those titles. After World War II, when Philip was a British war hero and Elizabeth had turned 21, her father finally consented to the marriage.

** For the longest time, the sovereign of Great Britain had veto rights over the marriages of ''anyone'' in the succession who could claim descent from George II. If they married without permission anyway, they'd lose their place in the succession. This was eventually repealed (but not until ''2013''!), and the current law only limits the sovereign's veto rights to the first six people in the line of succession.[[note]]Current list: Prince William (married with the late Queen's approval), Prince George (born in 2013), Princess Charlotte (born in 2015), Prince Louis (born in 2018), Prince Harry (also [[Creator/MeghanMarkle married]] with the late Queen's approval), and Prince Andrew (married with the late Queen's approval as well).[[/note]]

* This happens ''a lot'' in royal families, where the monarch has the constitutional authority to veto marriage prospects of their children, which if defied could result in the loss of royal titles and/or being booted from the line of succession:

* Then there are of course the royal families:

** In ''Doctor Thorne'', Frank Gresham's parents don't want him to wed Mary Thorne, who is illegitimate and poor. However, [[spoiler:illegitimate and rich is fine]].
** In ''Framley Parsonage'', Lady Lufton doesn't want her son to marry Lucy Robarts, whose brother has become involved in someone else's financial scandal. But mainly because she doesn't think Lucy's is 'significant' enough (character-wise) to be the wife of such an important man.
** In ''The Last Chronicle of Barset'', Major Grantly wants to marry Grace Crawley. The Major's father is appalled at this, because Grace's father has been accused of forgery and theft.
** In ''The Duke's Children'', the last of the ''Literature/{{Palliser}}'' novels, the Duke of Omnium is trying to stop two marriages. His daughter wants to marry a poor man. His eldest son wants to marry an American.

* Elsie Dinsmore's father vetoes ''two'' proposals. The first is from a sickly childhood friend; Horace is afraid he won't reach twenty-one (and he doesn't). The second is from a con man after her inheritance. Elsie honors her father's wishes both times and ends up marrying the man who exposed the second candidate as a drunk and gambler.

* There are ''three'' plot lines in Michelle Magorian's ''A Little Love Song'' (which is set in [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII 1943]]), and they all deconstruct this trope in one way or another:

* This was one of the early plots in ''ComicStrip/{{Blondie}}''. Before they were married, Dagwood's wealthy parents disapproved of Blondie, feeling she was a GoldDigger (and initially, she was), and tried to get him to marry a woman of their social class. They finally gave in and allowed Dagwood to marry Blondie after he went on a 30-day hunger strike, but warned him that if he married her, they would [[PassedOverInheritance disown him.]] They went ahead with the wedding, and the rest is comic strip history.

* ''Fanfic/{{Enslaved}}'': More like a ''tribal'' marriage veto, in that the Tribe's shaman is very against Katara and Zuko's union. The fact that they're already technically married doesn't sway him in the slightest.

* UsefulNotes/NapoleonBonaparte, who had a thing for arranging marriages around him, pulled this on his youngest brother Jérôme when he married an American heiress in 1803 ; when he became Emperor, Napoleon annulled the marriage with a decree in 1805 on the grounds that Jérôme was a minor when he married. Napoleon also objected to the second marriage his brother Lucien made out of love, but could not convince him to divorce and Lucien preferred to go into exile rather than renouncing his beloved wife.

* ''Literature/TheSunneInSplendour'': Richard and Anne are moving toward a HappilyArrangedMarriage when her father switches political sides and breaks off her betrothal. Anne and Richard are heartbroken, especially as her father marries her off to his political enemy, Edward of Westminster. Similarly, their siblings Isabel and George wish to marry and the king vetoes it, but with the help of Anne and Isabel's father, they marry anyway, infuriating the king. It's only after Anne's father dies and she's widowed that Anne and Richard can reunite. These same historical events are portrayed in a LighterAndSofter novel, ''Literature/TheVirginWidow''.

* ''Fanfic/{{Strings}}'': Korra and Tarrlok's cover story is that Korra's BoyfriendBlockingDad refused to let them get married and they ran away together.

* In ''Manga/AiShiteNight'', [[spoiler: OverprotectiveDad Shige forbids his daughter Yakko from marrying her rock-star boyfriend Go when they ponder getting married as soon as he returns from the USA. When they persevere, Shige finally gives in.]]

* ''Fanfic/{{Strings}}'': Korra and Tarrlok's cover story is that Korra's OverprotectiveDad refused to let them get married and they ran away together.

* In ''Literature/DavidCopperfield'', David's boss [[OverprotectiveDad Mr. Spenlow]] isn't thrilled when he shows interest in his daughter [[DaddysGirl Dora.]] (It's not helped by the intervention of [[KnightTemplar Jane Murdstone]] either.) [[spoiler: And in the same chapter, Spenlow [[DroppedABridgeOnHim dies in an accident]].]]

** the God of Storms Susano-o [[OverprotectiveDad wasn't thrilled]] when the minor god Okukinushi fell in love with his daughter Suseri-hime and she came to like him back. He tried at least ''thrice'' to kill the guy (by sending him to sleep in a room full of snakes, then having him clean his hair of which is full of either [[ScaryStingingSwarm wasps and bees]] or CreepyCentipedes, and later setting a fatal archery challenge involving [[KillItWithFire a field in fire]]), but Okunikinushi lived through each attempt on his life. Then he [[OutGambitted outsmarted]] Susano-oh by tying his long hair to his rafter when he was asleep so he and Suseri-hime could elope, also taking Susano-oh's treasures (his bow and arrow and his beloved ''koto'') with him. When Susano-oh woke up and caught up with them, he relented and gave the lovers his blessings.

-->-- "Rude", '''MAGIC!'''

** The legend of [[https://justanimeforum.net/threads/japanese-culture-princess-hachikatsugi.5389/ Hachikatsugi-hime]] has the youngest son of a nobleman falling for [[UptownGirl a young maid]] named Hachikazuki, who always hides herself behind a huge wooden bowl doubling as a hat. The guy's parents, logically, oppose to this romance. [[spoiler: They talks to Hachikatsugi and stage a "wife contest" to make her "give up"; the girl has an HeroicBSOD right befoe it, but when her boyfriend reassures her... the hat, which until then was stuck to her head, suddenly falls off and reveals a small wooden box, containing a mix of BagOfHolding and MementoMacGuffin that reveals [[FallenPrincess the girl's noble heritage]] ''and'' has the riches and clothing she needs for the contest. Her confidence restored, Hachikatsugi passes the "contest" with flying colors, so the parents revoke the veto and let her marry her son.]]