Line #1 Main/FairyInABottle


1	%% Please do not remove link from caption.
2	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fairy_in_a_bottle_2.png]]
3	[[caption-width-right:350: [[ComicallyMissingThePoint Yes, but how did they squeeze her through that tiny opening? It's way too narrow for her wings!]]\
4	[-[[http://techpixie.net/pixie.py/showpic/art/being/Fairy%20in%20a%20Bottle.html Image]] by [[http://techpixie.net/ Kathi Day]]. Used under [[https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/us/ CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 US]] license.]]-]
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6	The Victorian image of a fairy is a tiny creature, perhaps the size of your palm, with dragonfly-like wings. Unsurprising that a creature that resembles an insect and is only slightly larger than one, then, would frequently find itself caught in a jar like an oversized firefly. It's also a visual pun on the Victorian "fairy light", a candle with a porcelain hood, since fireflies captured in a bottle can be [[LightingBug used as a light source]].
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8	Fairies in a bottle have many different purposes. They can be used to heal you, grant you wishes and combine their abilities with yours to make you stronger or to grant you powers.
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10	Although she might have been captured for legitimate reasons, far more often the fairy is innocent of wrongdoing, and will reward you for saving them. Although frequently no mention of the reasons or lack thereof will be made, as the fairy will be used more like an object or tool rather than a living being.
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12	Because of this abuse from other species -- generally humans -- the tiny fairies may despise humans and distrust them. This view can be changed by a kindly human setting them free, although they may be ostracized from the fae community for their new beliefs.
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14	Fairies in a bottle are much more likely to be female, have an {{Ambiguous Gender}}, or have NoBiologicalSex, than be male.
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16	Despite fairies being sapient beings, there's almost no {{squick}} factor to this, unlike the one you get from [[PeopleJars putting human beings in a similar container.]]
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18	In spite of the trope name, this can apply to fairies in mason jars, glass lanterns, and other small prisons, especially if they are often used for light or catching insects or small animals.
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20	Subtrope to OurFairiesAreDifferent. See also FairyCompanion, GenieInABottle, and TheFairFolk.
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22	Not to be confused with the anime ''Anime/BottleFairy''.
23	----
24	!!Examples:
25
26	[[foldercontrol]]
27
28	[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
29	* ''Anime/BottleFairy'': This anime is about [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin four fairies who live in a bottle]].
30	[[/folder]]
31
32	[[folder:Fan Works]]
33	* The ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaI Legend of Zelda]]'' example is {{discussed\|Trope}} and {{deconstructed\|Trope}} in ''Fanfic/TheLegendOfAnju''. [[OriginalCharacter Inquisitor Maximilian Forthwind]] notes that soldiers, such as his bodyguard, sometimes keep bottled fairies in hopes of being brought back to life by a fairy's magic. He dismisses the idea as being superstitious nonsense, since a captive fairy would probably loath their captors. [[spoiler: Subverted when it turns out that Opal isn't being held captive at all. She's simply too afraid of the outside world to leave her bottle, and the aforementioned bodyguard, Jade, had sworn to protect her.]]
34	[[/folder]]
35
36	[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
37	* In the opening montage of ''WesternAnimation/Shrek2'', bottled fairies are used for background lighting, to create a romantic atmosphere while newlyweds Shrek and Fiona are taking a mudbath.
38	* Captain Hook captures Tinker Bell in a lantern in the Disney adaptation of ''WesternAnimation/PeterPan''. Although the container is different, the effect is the same.
39	** [[spoiler: When Captain Hook used to be called James,]] he did the same thing to Zarina in ''The Pirate Fairy'' [[spoiler: when he and the other pirates betrayed her]] and even said she would make a "fine little nightlight". He later throws her into the water after threatening Tinker Bell and her friends that he'll do it if they don't give back the blue pixie dust.
40	** Subverted in ''Great Fairy Rescue'' when Lizzie's father was going to trap Tinker Bell in a jar, but caught Vidia instead. However, if Tink and the other fairies hadn't got there in time, she may have suffered a worse fate than Tink and Zarina almost suffered later on.
41	[[/folder]]
42
43	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
44	* In the very weird 1909 short film ''Film/PrincessNicotine'', a man smokes a cigar and then falls asleep, whereupon he has a very strange dream in which two fairies appear and cavort around the table for him. One of the fairies gets stuck in a jar temporarily.
45	[[/folder]]
46
47	[[folder:Literature]]
48	* The evil wizard Dolon in Creator/LSpragueDeCamp and Creator/FletcherPratt's ''Literature/TheIncompleteEnchanter'' keeps a collection of fey in bottles, apparently [[ForTheEvulz just because he can]].
49	* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'': In ''Literature/WhiteNight'', Harry Dresden on a subsequent visit to the Raith Deeps, which he forcefully disapproves of, later:
50	--> This time, there was a lighted path, with a red carpet, no less, leading down between the trees. The lights were all of soft blues and greens, small lamps that, a closer glance, proved to be elegant little crystal cages containing tiny, humanoid forms with wings. Faeries, tiny pixies, each surrounded by its own sphere of light, trapped and miserable, crouched in the cages.
51	* In the short story "Fairy in a Bottle" from ''[[Literature/{{Weenies}} In the Land of the Lawn Weenies]]'', a boy catches a vicious fairy. He's unwilling to release it out of self-preservation, so it tries to bargain with him. [[spoiler: Said bargain ends up being a trick that allows it to escape.]]
52	[[/folder]]
53
54	[[folder:Myths and Religion]]
55	* ''Myth/BrazilianFolklore'': The Saci, mischievous fairy-like beings with the appearance of a single-legged black boy, can be trapped inside of a bottle by catching one with a sieve while they are using a dust devil to travel, putting him inside and locking the bottle with a cork with the mark of a cross. Once trapped, they will grant wishes to whoever captured them, but if they manage to escape from the bottle, they'll do everything to get their revenge.
56	[[/folder]]
57
58	[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
59	* In ''TabletopGame/{{Rifts}}'', the Splugorth capture fairies to power their Bio-Wizard creations, which is noted in most cases to be extremely painful. Some of them need to be lobotomized first.
60	[[/folder]]
61
62	[[folder:Toys]]
63	* Kitschy restaurant chain Cracker Barrel is selling My Pet Fairy with a tiny fairy that actually flutters around inside a mason jar.
64	* The Wowee toy company recently created "[=Got2Glow Fairy Finder=]" which doubles as a VirtualPet. Since the console is jar-shaped, and you can capture fairies and care for them. Thankfully, they don't seem to mind it.
65	* Bright Fairy Friends is a line of fairy dolls, and the packages they come in are jar-shaped.
66	[[/folder]]
67
68	[[folder:Video Games]]
69	* Ever since ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast Link to the Past]]'', this has been a staple of the ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' series, where a captured fairy in a bottle will restore all your {{Heart Container}}s or [[AutoRevive restore you to life if you die]], depending on the game. The fandom has a disturbing tendency to show the fairies as entirely unwilling captives.
70	** ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'' doesn't help, since it dispenses with the SparkFairy design from previous game and portrays its fairies as tiny {{Winged Humanoid}}s [[https://i.imgur.com/6aaZGvO.jpg who look distinctly unhappy when they're bottled up]].
71	** It also doesn't help that this is the most common usage of bottles, given that the healing effect triggers immediately upon losing all of your hearts. Most Zelda players have nothing but fairies in all their bottles unless a {{Sidequest}} or other event requires otherwise. It's also cost-effective, since there's always at least one fairy outside major boss doors (not to mention Fairy Fountains, where there are more fairies in one place than you have bottles to hold), making fairy-farming easy.
72	** ''VideoGame/HyruleWarriors'' provides a bit of karmic payback: equipping the Great Fairy "weapon" results in said giant fairy putting ''Link'' in a bottle while she has fun on the battlefield.
73	* In ''VideoGame/StarOceanTheLastHope'', you can create one of these for each stat using the game's crafting system. Their only use was synthesizing onto weapons and armor, which made the item much more powerful.
74	* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyI'', a desert caravan has a mysterious bottle for sale. Using the bottle releases the fairy trapped inside it. The fairy helps the party by drawing Oxyale from the spring, which enables [[ArtificialGill underwater breathing]].
75	* In ''VideoGame/ChronoCross'', you rescue the fairy Razzly from a tiny bird cage. Although the fairies don't like or trust humans, she will join your party in gratitude for saving her.
76	* ''VideoGame/TheCrystalOfKings'' have captive fairies in bottles, after they're captured by Nightspirit's minions. You release the fairies by opening the bottles, and they'll either cast spells to restore your health or grant you point bonuses in return.
77	* The introductory cutscene of ''VideoGame/SuperMario3DWorld'' sees [[BigBad Bowser]] stuffing the Sprixie Princess in a bottle. At the end credits of the game, he gets karmic payback.
78	* Aire meets the fairy Lilibelle this way in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyThe4HeroesOfLight'' when she opens an artistic glass vase. Lilibelle follows her [[spoiler:and eventually performs a HeroicSacrifice]] in gratitude. Her imprisonment was quite accidental, however--she had ''agreed'' to pose in the jar for an art festival, but it was stolen by pirates while she was stuck inside.
79	* A [[http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/62340/ mod]] adds several of these into ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'', saying that sailors keep them on their ships for good luck (so naturally, you find all of them on ships or docks around Skyrim). Since they're items, the fairies don't move, but they're still implied to be living beings since you can find a couple of dead fairies.
80	[[/folder]]
81
82	[[folder:Webcomics]]
83	* ''Webcomic/TheDreadful'' initially uses this as a parody of the Zelda example, where Liz remembers that she's got one when she pulls out a long-dead bottled fairy and throws it at Erin. [[spoiler:It's made more plot relevant when it turns out that the fairy, Ith, was a necromancer, and proceeds to possess/resurrect (apparently something goes wrong and they end up SharingABody) Erin after Kit and Liz have left.]]
84	* In ''Webcomic/ElfLife'', fairies can be magically trapped in a bottle, which completely disables them. However, one character is also able to disable one by closing a big book on her.
85	* In ''Webcomic/TheDragonDoctors'', a fairy accomplice to a murderer is told that her prison will effectively be this, a shoebox-sized maximum security cell. She opts to be turned into a human so she can be sent to regular prison instead.
86	* ''Webcomic/RustyAndCo'' got one [[http://rustyandco.com/comic/level-6-33/ here.]] On the next page she's out of the bottle, but still quite saturated with its other contents and seems to also be [[HardDrinkingPartyGirl the other kind of Bottle Fairy]].
87	* ''Webcomic/NerfNow'' used this for "YouBastard" effect: [[http://www.nerfnow.com/comic/195 hunt cute little fairies to grab and cram them in bottles?]] You're one creepy fairy kidnapper, [[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Link]].
88	* ''[[Webcomic/GeistPanik Hookie Dookie Panic]]'' has the [[http://www.hookiedookiepanic.com/comic.php?ID=87 "shake the shit outta the fairy"]] game.
89	-->'''Fairy''': Heeeellllp meeeeeeeeee!!
90	* In ''WebComic/DragonMango'', [[http://dragon-mango.com/comic/chapter04/dm04-18.htm Crumpet.]] She's actually a sprite, but she can help out.
91	* This is brought up twice in ''Webcomic/TheGaMERCaT'' with ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda''. Gamercat is horrified to learn that bottled fairies die when they're used as healing items, so he switches to potions instead. The Annoying Fairy then shows him how the potions are made: [[spoiler:fairies are literally blended into juice and poured into potion bottles]].
92	* ''Webcomic/SlightlyDamned'': Well, Fairy in a Jar, but close enough. It's someone containing fairies, in a small container, meaning that that's something worth doing, and that they fit in such a container. As shown in comic [[http://www.sdamned.com/comic/252 252]], a Jakkai is trapping and selling them like that. He later gets brutally murdered by the fairy queen, who reduces him to nothing but a glitter-covered skull.
93	[[/folder]]
94
95	[[folder:Web Original]]
96	* In ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' parody ''WebVideo/TheLegendOfNeil'', the moblins keep bottled fairies so they can [[FantasticDrug snort fairy dust for kicks]].
97	* In ''Website/{{Neopets}}'' there are six types of bottled faeries that, once freed, will bless a pet with an element of their respective type. According to the back story, they are put in the bottles by a faerie hating Lupe named Balthazar.
98	[[/folder]]
99
100	[[folder:Western Animation]]
101	* In one episode of ''WesternAnimation/SamuraiJack'', we hear a legend of a fairy who can grant any wish, but only ''one'' in her entire life. When Jack tries to acquire her so he can go back to the past, his hand ends up trapped in the magic sphere where she was captured and the key to open it was useless because it also required a password only known to the fairy's captor, who Jack killed. [[spoiler:Jack uses the wish to set them both free.]]
102	* A rare male example of this trope: Funjl the [[FesteringFungus Mold Pixie]] from ''WesternAnimation/{{Chowder}}'' is imprisoned in a bottle. And while he doesn't register as a fairy at first glance, he does somewhat act like a mild version of TheFairFolk, given that he tricks [=Chowder=], specifically he lies to him about being a spice.
103	[[/folder]]
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Context Main / FairyInABottle