History Main / RunawayFiance

Run away, of course.

* Jenny Doolittle does this in ''LightNovel/BodaciousSpacePirates'', shooting her way out before stealing a brand-new stealth fighter, then hires the eponymous pirates as her escort. Her answer to family pressure seems to be MoreDakka. Too bad her family [[PrivateMilitaryContractor has their own fleet]].

* Male variant from ''Anime/StandByMeDoraemon2'' - part of the film's major conflict is that Nobita found out his adult self fled from his wedding to Shizuka 15 years later in the future before escaping to the present, and must help his adult self regain confidence and return to complete the wedding.

* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11890298/1/Turning-a-New-Leaf Turning Over A New Leaf]]'', [[WesternAnimation/GravityFalls Pacifica]] runs away when [[AbusiveParents her parents]] arrange for her to marry a man she's never met, all the while acting like she is in wrong for not wanting to go through with it. She ends up joining Dipper, Stan and Ford on their journeys around the world and falls for Dipper along the way. [[spoiler: And ends up marrying him in the end.]]

* In ''Film/{{Ophelia}}'', the title character flees her forced marriage to [[AbhorrentAdmirer Edmund]] by pretending to have [[ObfuscatingInsanity gone mad]] and [[spoiler: making it seem she [[FakingTheDead drowned]], when she had actually taken a few drops of snake vemon that paralyzed her]].

* In ''Literature/TheMister'', it's eventually revealed that the reason Alessia left Albania is because her father betrothed her to an abusive gangster, not knowing his true nature, and her mother helped her escape.

** Alys Karstark flees to the Wall to escape her arranged marriage to her Cregan Karstark, who is maybe three times her age, her cousin, and has had his last two wives die. She believes that she'll suffer a similar accident once they're married, allowing Cregan to become lord of Karhold. She not opposed to arranged marriage in principle though, [[spoiler: and marries Sigorn, Magnar of Thenn, the ruler of a wildling tribe she's never met, to foil Cregan's succession plans, give herself her own little army, and give the newly created House Thenn some legitimacy.]]

* In ''Series/GameOfThrones'', Lyanna Stark is revealed to have been this in Season 7. Her father betrothed her to Robert Baratheon, but Lyanna didn't love him and instead eloped with Prince Rhaegar. It's {{deconstructed|trope}}, as everyone assumes Lyanna was kidnapped and before this could be corrected, Rhaegar's father killed Lyanna's father and eldest brother when they demanded her return, which set off a civil war that got Lyanna's husband killed at the hands of her former betrothed, and Lyanna herself died [[spoiler: giving birth to Jon Snow]].

* Princess Seraphine in ''VideoGame/PuzzleQuest'', an optional party member. Kinda understandable since her calculating father wanted to marry her with a tribe of barbarians to stop them from raiding his kingdom. Also, his poor treatment of the player character just asks you to interfere. However, since she's optional, it's also perfectly possible that she gets married if the player doesn't help her.
* Millay of ''VideoGame/SuikodenIV'' fled Middleport when Schtoltenheim Reinbach II planned to make her marry his [[UpperClassTwit son]]. Her parents approved the marriage; ''she'' didn't, so she made a break for it. [[HeroicMime Your hero]] happens to meet her just as Reinbach II's goons track her down -- ironically enough, this is also the first time [[TheFightingNarcissist Schtoltenheim Reinbach]] ''[[TheFightingNarcissist III]]'' meets her, and he's blissfully unaware of the situation until ''after'' they've [[BigDamnHeroes helped her out]]. Then he's completely ''horrified'' at his father's terrible deeds, and apologizes profusely.

* In ''Literature/TheMister'', it's eventually revealed that the reason Alessia left Albania is because [[spoiler:her father betrothed her to an abusive gangster, not knowing his true nature, and her mother helped her escape]].

** In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAkaneia'', Prince Michalis of Macedon tried to arrange a marriage between himself and the WhiteMagicianGirl Lena, a young woman whose foster father is of a ''very'' noble house. Lena greatly disliked the power-hungry EvilPrince, however; she turned Michalis' proposal down and ran the HELL away from him.

* In the [[Creator/MarvelComics Marvel comic]] ''ComicBook/{{Marvel 1602}}'', [[Comicbook/FantasticFour Susan Storm]] went aboard Captain Benjamin Grimm's ship, the Fantastick, to escape such a marriage.

* Just before the ceremony is to start in the movie ''Film/{{Arthur 1981}}'', the title character and his lover Linda go to his fiancee Susan to tell her the wedding's off. Susan's father tries to kill the lovers and is only stopped by Arthur's grandmother - but he does beat Arthur up enough that he's black and blue when he explains to the guests what's happened and then passes out on the altar.

* In ''Film/{{Titanic 1997}}'' Rose [=DeWitt=] Bukater fakes her death in the Titanic disaster and changes her name to escape her engagement. Before the ship went down she told her intended that she'd rather be Jack's whore than Cal's wife. Before that, she wanted to kill herself so she didn't have to marry him.

* When Elaena Glenmore in ''VideoGame/TelltalesGameOfThrones'' becomes engaged to Gryff Whitehill, she runs away to join his enemies, House Forrester. Ironically, before this, she was [[PerfectlyArrangedMarriage happily engaged]] to Rodrik Forrester.

This is a common plot device for the RebelliousPrincess, either as her backstory or as a threat she's facing (especially if the Hero has become her love interest. If Alice waits until the wedding ceremony has actually begun to make her escape, she's a RunawayBride. Contrast ParentalMarriageVeto.

* [[http://www.springhole.net/quizzes/marysue.htm The Universal Mary-Sue Litmus Test]] gives female original characters MarySue points for doing this.

* Just before the ceremony is to start in the movie ''Film/{{Arthur}}'', the title character and his lover Linda go to his fiancee Susan to tell her the wedding's off. Susan's father tries to kill the lovers and is only stopped by Arthur's grandmother - but he does beat Arthur up enough that he's black and blue when he explains to the guests what's happened and then passes out on the altar.

* ''ComicBook/TheLegendOfWonderWoman2016'': After Diana refuses to give Etta her backstory, Etta comes up with a fanciful dramatic one she knows is false where Diana is a princess fleeing from an arranged marriage.

* ''Film/FanfanLaTulipe'' in the original film (1952) and the remake (2003). Fanfan is an 18th-century libertine and doesn't want to be involved in a relationship of any kind. He is caught up ''teaching a lesson'' to a young woman inside a haystack and [[ShotgunWedding her father forces him]] to marry her. He escapes the wedding ceremony and engages in the French army.

* ''Film/FanfanLaTulipe'' in the 2003 French movie of the same name. He is an 18th-century libertine and doesn't want to be involved in a relationship of any kind. He is caught up ''teaching a lesson'' to a young woman inside a haystack and [[ShotgunWedding her father forces him]] to marry her. He escapes the wedding ceremony and engages in the French army.

* In {{Film/Serendipity}}, Jonathan seems to be fairly uninterested in his own wedding, enough so to be running after some other woman in the crucial days before. Even after he thought he lost Sara, he realizes that he doesn't love Halley.

* In ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'', it is eventually revealed that James of Team Rocket ran away from home to escape marriage to the insane and sadistic Jessebelle. While he ''did'' have feelings for her at one point, he loved his Growlie (his only friend, a pet Growlithe) even more, and her attempt to get the dog out of the equation was the breaking point. (Ironically, not only is Jessebelle's name similar to James' partner Jessie, the two [[IdenticalStranger look very much alike]], and have a similar bossy attitude. This is usually pointed out by fans [[ImpliedLoveInterest as "proof" of his feelings for Jessie]], but overlooked on the show.)
* In ''Anime/RuneSoldierLouie'', [[RebelliousPrincess Melissa]] ran away from an arranged marriage and even became a priestess to Mylee, the God of War, to make sure her parents couldn't force her back. Although Melissa found her calling in serving Mylee as a WhiteMagicianGirl[=/=]CombatMedic who's supposed to partner with a [[BecauseDestinySaysSo divinely chosen]] Adventurer Hero, her bad luck with men still screwed her over and she got stuck in an ArrangedMarriage-like situation with an IdiotHero she can neither stand nor walk away from. This is made worse by the fact that, while there's no rule that says a Priestess of Mylee must hook up with her Champion, it happens so often that she's afraid that people will assume she and Louie are an item just from that, a misconception that Melissa vocally denies at every turn to the point it becomes her CatchPhrase.

* Clarisse in ''Anime/TheCastleOfCagliostro'' bailed when the guards left her room to allow her to change into her wedding dress (presumably to rehearse the ceremony). But in spite of Lupin's efforts, she was recaptured, and this time imprisoned in a tall tower. One that could only be entered via a retracting bridge or a hatch on the roof. Other features included grenade-proof glass.

* Jenny Doolittle does this in ''LightNovel/BodaciousSpacePirates'', shooting her way out before stealing a brand-new stealth fighter, then hires the eponymous pirates as her escort. Her answer to family pressure seems to be MoreDakka. Too bad her family [[PrivateMilitaryContractor has their own fleet]].
* Freya Wion of ''Anime/MacrossDelta'' ran away from her arranged marriage so she could join the auditions for [[GirlGroup Walkure]]. To complicate things, she happens to be a Windermerian whose people end up declaring war against N.U.N.S. (which Walkure is technically part of).
* In ''Manga/OnePiece'', it turns out that [[spoiler: Lola]] is actually this. [[spoiler: She's one of Big Mom's daughters and she ran away from an ArrangedMarriage to a Giant Prince, causing her to be estranged from her family save for her twin sister Chiffon.]]

* ''ComicBook/TheLegendOfWonderWoman2016'': After Diana refuses to give Etta her backstory, Etta comes up with a fanciful dramatic one she knows is false where Diana is a princess fleeing from an arranged marriage.

* Just before the ceremony is to start in the movie ''Film/{{Arthur}}'', the title character and his lover Linda go to his fiancee Susan to tell her the wedding's off. Susan's father tries to kill the lovers and is only stopped by Arthur's grandmother - but he does beat Arthur up enough that he's black and blue when he explains to the guests what's happened and then passes out on the altar.

* In ''Film/{{Titanic 1997}}'' Rose [=DeWitt=] Bukater fakes her death in the Titanic disaster and changes her name to escape her engagement. Before the ship went down she told her intended that she's=d rather be Jack's whore than Cal's wife. Before that, she wanted to kill herself so she didn't have to marry him.

* ''Fanfan la Tulipe'' in the 2003 French movie of the same name. He is an 18th-century libertine and doesn't want to be involved in a relationship of any kind. He is caught up ''teaching a lesson'' to a young woman inside a haystack and [[ShotgunWedding her father forces him]] to marry her. He escapes the wedding ceremony and engages in the French army.
* Inverted in the classic comedy ''Film/ItHappenedOneNight'', where the fiancée escapes her [[ParentalMarriageVeto father's custody]] in order to get to her soon-to-be husband.
* In ''Film/{{Ophelia}}'', the title character flees her forced marriage to [[AbhorrentAdmirer Edmund]] by pretending to have [[ObfuscatingInsanity gone mad]] and [[spoiler: making it seem she [[FakingTheDead drowned]], when she had actually taken a few drops of snake vemon that paralyzed her]].
* In {{Film/Serendipity}}, Jonathan seems to be fairly uninterested in his own wedding, enough so to be running after some other woman in the crucial days before. Even after he thought he lost Sara, he realizes that he doesn't love Halley.
* ''Film/ShanghaiNoon'': Princess Pei Pei is taken to America by a man named Calvin Andrews in order to escape her arranged marriage to a fat slob. In reality, Andrew is working for Imperial defector Lo Fong, who ransoms the princess for 100,000 pieces of gold and forces her to work on his railroad.

* Aravis in Creator/CSLewis's ''Literature/TheHorseAndHisBoy'' does this to avoid becoming a child bride to a cruel, repulsive old man.
* Princess Cimorene in Creator/PatriciaCWrede's ''[[Literature/EnchantedForestChronicles Dealing With Dragons]]''. Her parents try to con her into marrying the empty-headed prince of a neighbouring kingdom, so, on the advice of a talking frog (it happens in a fairy-tale universe, after all), she decides to run away.

* In ''Literature/TheFrogPrincess'' by Creator/EDBaker, Emma runs to the swamp when she finds out she's to be engaged to an empty-headed and vain prince. She didn't intend to stay for long, but she ended up turning into a frog. Yeah, another fairy-tale universe.
* Subverted in ''Literature/{{Shabanu}}'', where the title character tries to run away from an arranged marriage to someone old enough to be her ''[[{{Squick}} grandfather]]''. [[spoiler: She gets ([[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown severely]]?) beaten up by her parents, and marries the guy anyway.]]
* Averted in ''Literature/SoulMusic'', where the troll princess Jade says she'll refuse to wed the prince her parents have chosen for her, and that she'll run away if she has to. Susan persuades her to at least meet the potential groom first: he might turn out to be nice.

* A major part of ''[[Literature/SixteenthirtyTwo 1634:The Bavarian Crisis]]'' involves Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria trying to avoid marriage to the elderly Maximilian of Bavaria (also her uncle), which ends with her fleeing to the Netherlands, and a self-Arranged Marriage to King Ferdinand (her cousin on her father's side and her brother's wife's brother) Well, they are Habsburgs
* Deconstructed together with ArrangedMarriage in Creator/StevenErikson's ''Literature/MalazanBookOfTheFallen'' prequel ''Literature/TheKharkanasTrilogy''. Upon receiving the news that she is to marry a considerably older war hero in order to enable him to rise to nobility as thanks for his deeds in the past war, Faror Hend, daughter of a decimated noble house, bolts to a military posting as far away from the capital as possible, where she proceeds to ogle over her younger cousin. When she hears that her betrothed is [[OhCRap on his way to her]], she jumps to conclusions and bolts ''again'', never stopping to consider why he'd bother to travel that far. Turns out [[ShellShockedVeteran Kagamandra Tulas]] is about as happy to ruin a young woman's life over political matters as she is to be saddled with an unwanted marriage, but since neither can get out of the arrangement gracefully, he was just trying to tell her that he does not care what she does as long as she's happy and safe. [[TheSnarkKnight Sharenas Ankhadu]] points out that neither behaviour is going to help matters.
* Debera in ''[[Literature/DragonridersOfPern Dragonseye]]'' flees a prospective marriage arranged by her father when she discovers she was supposed to be a candidate for dragonrider, and her father hid the letter from her. She does Impress and find a romance of her own into the bargain.
* In ''Literature/MyAntonia'', shortly after moving to Denver, the eponymous Antonia is abandoned by her fiance, Larry Donovan, while pregnant, forcing her to move back in with her abusive brother Ambrosch in Black Hawk and be subject to shaming by the community.
* {{Downplayed|trope}} in ''Literature/EarthsChildren''. At the start of ''The Valley of Horses'', it's mentioned that many people were expecting Jondalar to mate Marona at the Summer Meeting...but he changed his mind and decided to go travelling with Thonolan instead. Though they weren't formally Promised, Marona was still under the impression he was going to marry her and [[WomanScorned isn't best pleased]] when Jondalar is a no-show.

* Used in ''The Holy Pearl'', a loose adaptation of ''Manga/{{Inuyasha}}''. RebelliousPrincess Yu Die runs away from her ArrangedMarriage...much to the relief of the intended groom.

* The song "Sister Golden Hair" by America has a groom who doesn't show up for a wedding that day because he isn't "ready for the altar"

* Nanki-Poo in Creator/GilbertAndSullivan's ''Theatre/TheMikado'' takes on the guise of a travelling minstrel to escape an unwanted marriage.

* In ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet'', Juliet tries this. It doesn't work so well.

* In the backstory of ''First Date'', Allison ran away from Aaron just before their scheduled wedding ceremony.

* Princess Seraphine in ''VideoGame/PuzzleQuest'', an optional party member. Kinda understandable since her calculating father wanted to marry her with a tribe of barbarians to stop them from raiding his kingdom. Also, his poor treatment of the player character just asks you to interfere. However, since she's optional, it's also perfectly possible that she gets married if the player doesn't help her.
* Millay of ''VideoGame/SuikodenIV'' fled Middleport when Schtoltenheim Reinbach II planned to make her marry his [[UpperClassTwit son]]. Her parents approved the marriage; ''she'' didn't, so she made a break for it. [[HeroicMime Your hero]] happens to meet her just as Reinbach II's goons track her down -- ironically enough, this is also the first time [[TheFightingNarcissist Schtoltenheim Reinbach]] ''[[TheFightingNarcissist III]]'' meets her, and he's blissfully unaware of the situation until ''after'' they've [[BigDamnHeroes helped her out]]. Then he's completely ''horrified'' at his father's terrible deeds, and apologizes profusely.

* When Elaena Glenmore in ''VideoGame/TelltalesGameOfThrones'' becomes engaged to Gryff Whitehill, she runs away to join his enemies, House Forrester. Ironically, before this, she was [[PerfectlyArrangedMarriage happily engaged]] to Rodrik Forrester.

* ''Webcomic/RedString'' starts off this way. Though Miharu isn't planning to permanently run away, she just needs to get out of her house.

* In ''Webcomic/TheInexplicableAdventuresOfBob,'' the very first story arc involves the [[StarfishAliens jellyfish alien Ahem]] fleeing his arranged marriage to [[GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe Princess Voluptua.]] Fortunately, she doesn't want him, either.
* ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'': When Agatha is first acquainted with Sleipnir O'Hara, Sleipnir mentions that she has an arranged marriage waiting for her at home. In the next arc she shows up in, she's with Theo [=DuMedd=], but at first it's impossible to tell if they're in a relationship or just close friends. [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20100906 She's definitely run away with him.]]

* Jasmine in ''Disney/{{Aladdin}}'', although she's not threatened with a specific groom, just an obligation to get married... until Jafar "finds" some tiny letters in the local laws.

* In ''Series/GameOfThrones'', Lyanna Stark is revealed to have been this in Season 7. Her father betrothed her to Robert Baratheon, but Lyanna didn't love him and instead eloped with Prince Rhaegar. It's {{deconstructed|trope}}, [[spoiler: as everyone assumes Lyanna was kidnapped and before this could be corrected, Rhaegar's father killed Lyanna's father and eldest brother when they demanded her return, which set off a civil war that got Lyanna's husband killed at the hands of her former betrothed, and Lyanna herself died [[spoiler: giving birth to Jon Snow]].

* In ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'', it is eventually revealed that James of Team Rocket ran away from home to escape marriage to the insane and sadistic Jessiebelle. While he ''did'' have feelings for her at one point, he loved his Growlie (his only friend, a pet Growlithe) even more, and her attempt to get the dog out of the equation was the breaking point. (Ironically, not only is Jessiebelle's name similar to James' partner Jesse, the two [[IdenticalStranger look very much alike]], and have a similar bossy attitude. This is usually pointed out by fans [[ImpliedLoveInterest as "proof" of his feelings for Jesse]], but overlooked on the show.)

* Clarice in ''Anime/TheCastleOfCagliostro'' bailed when the guards left her room to allow her to change into her wedding dress (presumably to rehearse the ceremony). But in spite of Lupin's efforts, she was recaptured, and this time imprisoned in a tall tower. One that could only be entered via a retracting bridge or a hatch on the roof. Other features included grenade-proof glass.

* ''ComicBook/TheLegendOfWonderWoman2016'': After Diana refuses to give Etta her backstory Etta comes up with a fanciful dramatic one she knows is false where Diana is a princess fleeing from an arranged marriage.

* In ''Film/{{Titanic 1997}}'' Rose [=DeWitt=] Bukater fakes her death in the Titanic disaster and changes her name to escape her engagement. Before the ship went down she told her intended that she's rather be Jack's whore than Cal's wife. Before that she wanted to kill herself so she didn't have to marry him.

* ''Fanfan la Tulipe'' in the 2003 French movie of the same name. He is a 18th century libertine and doesn't want to be involved in a relationship of any kind. He is caught up ''teaching a lesson'' to a young woman inside a haystack and [[ShotgunWedding her father forces him]] to marry her. He escapes the wedding ceremony and engages in the French army.

* Deconstructed together with ArrangedMarriage in Creator/StevenErikson's ''Literature/MalazanBookOfTheFallen'' prequel ''Literature/TheKharkanasTrilogy''. Upon receiving the news that she is to marry a considerably older war hero in order to enable him to rise to nobility as thanks for his deeds in the past war, Faror Hend, daughter of a decimated noble house, bolts to a military posting as far away from the capital as possible, where she proceeds to oggle over her younger cousin. When she hears that her betrothed is [[OhCRap on his way to her]], she jumps to conclusions and bolts ''again'', never stopping to consider why he'd bother to travel that far. Turns out [[ShellShockedVeteran Kagamandra Tulas]] is about as happy to ruin a young woman's life over political matters as she is to be saddled with an unwanted marriage, but since neither can get out of the arrangement gracefully, he was just trying to tell her that he does not care what she does as long as she's happy and safe. [[TheSnarkKnight Sharenas Ankhadu]] points out that neither behaviour is going to help matters.

[[folder: Live-Action TV ]]

* This is part of Kyrie's back story in ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry''. She ran away from the ArrangedMarriage to marry the protagonist Battler's father, Rudolf. It should be noted that she'd been in a relationship with Rudolf for awhile, even when he was married to Battler's mother, Asumu ([[spoiler:Or not]]). Unfortunately, [[spoiler:this resulted in her younger sister Kasumi being forced to marry the fiance. Having already promised herself to someone else, she's pretty miffed about that. And considering how Kyrie dies on Rokkenjima, the grudge is transferred to Kyrie's daughter, Ange.]]

* Film/ShanghaiNoon: Princess Pei Pei is taken to America by a man named Calvin Andrews in order to escape her arranged marriage to a fat slob. In reality, Andrew is working for Imperial defector Lo Fong, who ransoms the princess for 100,000 pieces of gold.

Alice is facing an ArrangedMarriage with someone she doesn't love at all. Her parents are dead set on her marrying this person, so she can't talk her way out of it, but she certainly can't stand to go through with it. So what's left? Run away, of course.

This is a common backstory for the RebelliousPrincess. If Alice waits until the wedding ceremony has actually begun to make her escape, she's a RunawayBride. Contrast ParentalMarriageVeto.

A character is trapped in an ArrangedMarriage with someone they don't love at all. Their parents are dead set on them marrying this person, so they can't talk their way out of it, and they certainly can't stand to go through with it, so what's left for them to do? Running away, of course.

This is a common pastime for the RebelliousPrincess. If a character waits until after the wedding ceremony has begun to do this, she's a RunawayBride. Contrast ParentalMarriageVeto.

* Averted in ''Discworld/SoulMusic'', where the troll princess Jade says she'll refuse to wed the prince her parents have chosen for her, and that she'll run away if she has to. Susan persuades her to at least meet the potential groom first: he might turn out to be nice.

!! Examples:

[[folder: Anime and Manga ]]

[[folder: Comic Books ]]

* ''ComicBook/TheLegendOfWonderWoman2016'': After Diana refuses to give Etta her backstory Etta comes up with a fanciful dramatic one she knows is false where Diana is a princess fleeing an arranged marriage.

[[folder: Fairy Tales ]]

[[folder: Film - Animation ]]

[[folder: Film - Live Action ]]

[[folder: Literature ]]

[[folder: Music ]]

[[folder: Mythology ]]

[[folder: New Media ]]

[[folder: Theatre ]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]

** In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTellius'', Astrid ran away from home rather than be forced into a marriage. Since the man her parents wanted her to marry is Senator Lekain, who is eventually revealed as a genocidal monster, this is entirely understandable on her part.

[[folder: Visual Novels ]]

[[folder: Webcomics ]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]