History Main / ScarpiaUltimatum

This is one of the RapeTropes due to the fact "consent" under duress ''is not consent''. It makes little difference whether the duress is "[[MateOrDie ...or I kill you]]", or "...or I kill him."

* TheBible: You know how we associate Sodom with, well, [[{{Seme}} sod]][[{{Uke}} omy]]? It's because the Sodomites turned down this option.

* ''ThePrincessBride'', although the prince does order the reluctant princess to go lie in his bed and wait for him. He would have never got to be with her, though - while she waited, she was about to kill herself with a hidden knife when the hero showed up for the rescue (ironically, the prince's ultimate plan was to murder her on their wedding night so he could use her death as an excuse to start a war, so she was really just playing into his hands).

* In ''CapeFear'', Max Cady confronts Bowden's wife Peggy on the houseboat, and explains how he can legally get away with raping her, by describing it as one of these if she reports it (although he doesn't actually get to go through with it).

* In the ''[[ThreeHundred 300]]'' [[TheFilmOfTheBook film version]], a plot is added where Queen Gorgo is blackmailed into sleeping with TheMole in order to gain his support in convincing the Senate to send the army to reinforce Leonidas. TheMole brutalizes her, and accuses her of adultery in front of the Spartan Senate to turn them against Queen Gorgo. [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome She gets the last laugh]] by stabbing him, while delivering a ruthless IronicEcho of the words he said before he raped her. The knife also slits his purse, revealing the Persian gold he was paid to turn traitor, and rallying the Senate behind Leonidas. But, [[ForegoneConclusion surprisingly]], not in time to save him. There is some debate about how historically accurate this subplot is.
** [[SarcasmMode The debatable status of the historical accuracy of this subplot alone made me not watch this movie!]]

* In ''{{Casablanca}}'', there's a scene with a young Bulgarian couple trying to buy passage to Lisbon from Captain Renault. He wants either an enormous sum of money or sex with wifey. In the end, Rick helps them raise the money by letting them win at roulette.

** Notably, he always holds up his end of the "bargain" according to Rick.
** And this isn't as extreme an example as the trope description suggests: Louis offers them the choice between sex and passage to America or no sex and being forced to stay in Casablanca. It's not a life or death thing.

* ''ThePhantomOfTheOpera'': Erik threatens to [[LoveMakesYouEvil blow up the Opera House and everyone in it]] if Christine doesn't marry him. She treies to kill herself, and it's not until her fiancé Raoul is dying in Erik's DrowningPit that she vows to be Erik's "living wife" if he spares Raoul. Unusually, it's Erik himself who introduces [[TakeAThirdOption the third option]] by deciding IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy.

* In ''TheTenCommandments'', Dathan promises not to have Joshua executed if Lilia agrees to be his sex slave and act like it's of her own free will. As big a JerkAss as Dathan was, he actually upheld his end of the bargain.

* ''ThePrincessBride''
** Although the prince does order the reluctant princess to go lie in his bed and wait for him. He would have never got to be with her though - while she waited, she was about to kill herself with a hidden knife when the hero showed up for the rescue (ironically, the prince's ultimate plan was to murder her on their wedding night so he could use her death as an excuse to start a war, so she was really just playing into his hands).
* In ''{{A Series of Unfortunate Events}},'' Violet is being forced to marry Olaf (in a play so no one will object to her being so young) because he has her sister Sunny and will kill if she doesn't.
** Although in this case, the implication of sex is mostly lost, as he is specifically marrying her for the money.
** While Olaf didn't seem to have sex in mind primarily, he still utters a quite {{Squick}}y line after being foiled: "You may not be my wife, but you are still my daughter, and--"
*** He decides that he'll let her live even after he has the fortune and makes quite a few comments on how pretty she is. In the next book he has a knife to her THIGH under the table. He has more than money in mind.
*** And don't forget the line, "Violet imagined sleeping beside Count Olaf, and waking up each morning to look at this terrible man." Handler ''must'' have known what that would imply to his older readers.
*** There is still one line (said by Olaf) that proves this: "Now if you'll excuse us, me and my bride will be off to have our wedding night..." Now that's just...wrong.

* Some versions of ''{{Phantom of the Opera}}'' -- particularly [[TheMusical the Musical]], where he even has a wedding dress for the occasion. The original incarnation of the character, however, goes a step farther and threatens to [[LoveMakesYouEvil blow up the Opera House and everyone in it]] if the heroine doesn't marry him. Also unusual in that it's the Phantom himself who introduces [[TakeAThirdOption the third option]] by deciding IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy.
** "His life is now the prize that you must earn. So, do you end your days with me, or do you send him to his grave?"

* Oddly enough, used in a very non G rated Visual Novel: ''FateStayNight''. Gilgamesh offers to let Shirou live if Saber will agree to marry him... which is actually ''worse'' than being raped. She wouldn't care about being raped, but considers herself at least equal in position to Gilgamesh while he would view her as only slightly above property. Shirou lives anyway because Saber will disappear if he dies [[spoiler:unless Saber is bathed in the Holy Grail's ichor, which Gilgamesh notes absentmindedly may destroy her mind]]. Oh, and then later he does try to rape her. So yeah.
** ...For some reason, I don't think the original offer quite qualifies as G-rated in-context...

* A version appears, and is then averted, in the third season of ''GossipGirl''. Chuck's [[EvilUncle uncle Jack]] has taken Chuck's hotel and offers Blair that he will return it in exchange for a night with her. After she initially refuses he sends her a dress and a note saying: "''One more chance to save your man.''" The whole thing turns into an aversion of the trope, since [[spoiler:Blair does indeed go to Jack to have sex with him in return for Chuck getting his beloved hotel back... only to find out that Chuck was in on it the whole time and even bought the dress Jack sent her. Need I say that Chuck was single when the episode ended?]]

* A version appears, and is then adverted, in the third season of ''GossipGirl''. Chuck's [[EvilUncle uncle Jack]] has taken Chuck's hotel and offers Blair that he will return it in exchange for a night with her. After she initially refuses he sends her a dress and a note saying: "''One more chance to save your man.''" The whole thing turns into an aversion of the trope, since [[spoiler:Blair does indeed go to Jack to have sex with him in return for Chuck getting his beloved hotel back... only to find out that Chuck was in on it the whole time and even bought the dress Jack sent her. Need I say that Chuck was single when the episode ended?]]

* The TropeNamer is Scarpia, the chief of police in Puccini's opera ''Tosca''. Scarpia offers to pretend-execute Cavaradossi (Tosca's lover, who has been jailed for treason), and allow Cavaradossi and Tosca to safely flee the country, if Tosca will have sex with Scarpia. [[BreakTheCutie Tosca agrees]], but murders Scarpia before he can rape her. Unknown to Tosca, [[YouSaidYouWouldLetThemGo Scarpia had secretly gone back on his word]], and Cavaradossi is actually executed. In despair and cornered by guards who had just discovered Scarpia's body, [[DrivenToSuicide Tosca throws herself from the tower]].

A villain has the hero in his clutches. The only person pleading for the hero is his wife/girlfriend. So the villain says, "I'll only release him if you have sex with me." And now the heroine has to choose whether her love for her husband's [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy well-being]] overrides her sexual loyalty. Typically, she (or sometimes even he) will agree to the ultimatum, but before the two of them do the deed, a [[TakeAThirdOption Third Option]] will present itself, and the sacrifice won't be needed after all. This is one of the RapeTropes due to the fact "consent" under duress ''is not consent''. It makes little difference whether the duress is "[[MateOrDie ...or I kill you]]", or "...or I kill him." It's a SadisticChoice imposed by the villain, which has no guarantee that [[YouSaidYouWouldLetThemGo the villain will actually fulfill his end of the bargain]] if the woman in question actually goes through with it.

* In "L'Ingénu" by Voltaire, the title character is sent in prison without reason and his lover,Miss Saint Yves,decide to free him.She ask it to a bishop who aggree in exange of...IfYouSeeWhatIMean.She do it, and get her man back,but die soon after whitout have tell the truth.]]

* In the novel ''Blindness'' by José Saramago, a gang of blind inmates led by the only man with a gun takes over the quarantined abandoned asylum, threatening the other residents, and stealing and hoarding all the food supplies. Eventually they demand payment in valuables, and then in women. [[spoiler:The women volunteer to go, as a group, in order to save the lives of all the other people living there. They are subjected to some truly awful stuff, and one woman dies; the women bathe her body and console one another. Later, to spare the other groups of women the same humiliation, they kill all the thugs and burn the place down.]]

** [[SarcasmMode The debatable status of the historical accuracy of this subplot alone made me not watch this moive!]]

* TheBible: You know how we associate Sodom with, well, [[{{Seme}} sod]][[{{Uke}}omy]]? It's because the Sodomites turned down this option.

* In ''HarryPotter'', James Potter promises to stop bullying [[spoiler: Lily's friend]] Snape if Lily goes on a date with him. She doesn't take the deal. [[spoiler: They ''do'' get hitched, but only when James stops being a JerkJock.]]

* Inverted in ''PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' in that Elizabeth ''offers'' to marry Commodore Norrington in return for saving her LoveInterest Will. The inversion is then averted by Norrington being AnOfficerAndAGentleman and releasing her from this promise with an IfYouEverDoAnythingToHurtHer moment.

** Particularly {{Squick}}y since Numbuh 3 is about ten.
** Well Sandy is like 8. I highly doubt he understood the mechanics of it all.
** Well in the first episode he appeared (Operation BEACH) he tries to marry Numbuh 3 for real and says its okay if she's 10 years old because he's "always liked older woman" before ''purring''. SoYeah.

* Pretty much every episode of ''SuperFriends'' that Darkseid appeared in.