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13[[quoteright:350:[[ComicBook/DisposableFiction https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/df_lp.png]]]]
14
15->'''King Harold:''' You can't force someone to fall in love!\
16'''Fairy Godmother:''' I beg to differ. I do it all the time!
17-->-- ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek 2}}''
18
19Ah, the Love Potion. Not since the Eskimo Freezer was patented has there ever been such a useless invention. Not that love potions are ''ineffective'', mind you; it's just that they rarely ever work ''as intended'', to the point where one wonders why a character would even bother to use them at all. When you see someone employ a Love Potion these days, you almost ''expect'' it to fail. It should be a DiscreditedTrope by this time, but for some reason, characters [[UndeadHorseTrope continue to use]] Love Potions, with said potions continuing to cause far more trouble than they're worth.
20
21If the plan for using the Love Potion is actually well thought out and ''shouldn't'' go wrong, expect some ContrivedCoincidence to ensure that it does.
22
23The Love Potion comes in three general forms:
24# [[LoveAtFirstSight Love First Person Sighted]] potion
25# [[SingleTargetSexuality Love Only Person X]] (often [[SympatheticMagic containing a hair or other piece of Person X]]) concoction
26# [[KissingUnderTheInfluence Get In Touch With Your Wild Side]] aphrodisiac
27
28Of course, no matter which type of potion is used, the chances that the right people will actually drink the potion are less than .00001% on average. Even if the potion is put into a drink that's placed ''directly'' into the hands of the people for whom it's intended, ''some'' kind of mix-up is always bound to occur. For instance, if the Love Potion is given to the princess in an attempt to get her to fall in love with the hero, you can bet your life savings that she'll slip and fall, causing the potion to splash up into the open mouth of the hero-hating {{Tsundere}}. When folks imbibe a "drink it and fall in love with the first thing that you see" type of potion, then despite how miraculously good they always seem to be at avoiding [[PaedoHunt children]] or family (on the rare occasion where this sort of FridgeHorror is even ''addressed'', that is), it is virtually ''guaranteed'' that the first face the hero will see upon sipping the mixture is that of [[BestialityIsDepraved his own horse]] or that of his PluckyComicRelief Sidekick. Even if it's only an aphrodisiac, a ''lot'' more people than expected are going to unknowingly chug it and engage in activities that put the [[WildTeenParty raunchiest teen parties]] to shame.
29
30Villains don't usually have all that much luck with Love Potions either, as they're often all-too susceptible to being rendered ineffective through that annoyingly pesky "[[ThePowerOfLove Power of True Love]]" thing. No matter how strong a Love Potion might be at first, it will almost invariably fail once the entranced heroine sees her True Love lying bleeding and battered on the floor, seconds away from doom. In most cases, this will lead to a tearful reconciliation between the heroine and their LoveInterest and to the hero [[HeroicSecondWind picking herself up and kicking a lot of ass]] (as well as to the villain wondering just where he can get a refund on that stupid wonky potion). An even more chaotic backfiring is when the villain her/himself accidentally drinks said potion. HilarityEnsues.
31
32Villains may employ other means besides potions for winning someone's love ([[HypnotizeTheCaptive spells, brainwashing, illusions, and the like]]) but these usually have a comparable success rate (i.e., ''none''). If it's particularly potent, it might cause LoveIsInTheAir and affect not just the intended drinker but ''everyone.''
33
34Even on occasions where a love potion works exactly as intended (most often in the case of Love Only Person X), with the right target falling for the right person, the whole thing has a tendency to [[GoneHorriblyRight work a little too well]] and turn the love interest into a [[ClingyJealousGirl clingy]] [[CrazyJealousGuy obsessed]] [[StalkerWithACrush stalker]] or even a full-on [[{{Yandere}} yandere]]. The user will find, to their chagrin, that being obsessed over to the point of absurdity either destroys what they found attractive about the love interest in the first place or is simply too much to handle and takes up all of their free time. Or they might come to realize that they'd rather their love remain unrequited than be ''artificially'' requited, thus learning a valuable {{Aesop}}.
35
36Every once in a blue moon, you get a ShipperOnDeck type who wants to use a love potion not for their own benefit, but on behalf of two people who would be "so perfect together", if only they just had a ''little'' nudge towards each other. But even the purest of intentions can lead to disaster, and it's a safe bet the would-be matchmaker will be desperately scrambling to undo their handiwork in short order.
37
38The [[DoubleStandardRapeSciFi morality]] of magically forcing someone to fall in love or have sex with another is often overlooked, but occasionally explored. Use of these things has the potential to make consent rather dubious if the story goes beyond PG-rated shows of love. Indeed, with the [[UnfortunateImplications clear parallel to date-rape drugs]], it's becoming more common for a MagicalSociety to have declared love potions illegal.
39
40Frequently comes as a [[SmellsSexy perfume]] rather than a drinkable. In these cases simply replace "drinks" with "gets sprayed with", as all the same mishaps tend to happen.
41
42See also LivingAphrodisiac when this trope is someone's superpower (often a villain unconcerned with that "consent" nonsense). Compare SlippingAMickey, HypnoRay and HypnoTrinket. Contrast HatePlague. Subtrope of MagicPotion.
43
44[[noreallife]]
45----
46!!Example subpages:
47[[index]]
48* LovePotion/{{Advertising}}
49* LovePotion/AnimeAndManga
50* LovePotion/ComicBooks
51* LovePotion/FanWorks
52* [[LovePotion/LiveActionFilms Films — Live-Action]]
53* LovePotion/{{Literature}}
54* LovePotion/LiveActionTV
55* LovePotion/TabletopGames
56* LovePotion/{{Theatre}}
57* LovePotion/VideoGames
58* LovePotion/{{Webcomics}}
59* LovePotion/WesternAnimation
60[[/index]]
61
62!!Other examples:
63
64[[foldercontrol]]
65
66[[folder:Comic Strips]]
67* Helga tries to rekindle the love of ''ComicStrip/HagarTheHorrible'' twice. (They've been married for years, so this is less creepy than many examples.) Once, she puts a love potion in his soup, and he immediately shouts how he '''loves'''... the soup. Another time, she puts an amulet of love under his pillow. He falls in love with the pillow.
68[[/folder]]
69
70[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
71* Defied in ''WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}}'': [[GreatGazoo Genie]] states that one of his rules is that he can't make people fall in love. Young children watching might think this is just a lame cop-out to keep from [[StoryBreakerPower resolving the plot too easily]], but older viewers will understand that this would be ''rape,'' plain and simple. Later, when [[EvilChancellor Jafar]] has the lamp, he wishes for [[RebelliousPrincess Jasmine]] to fall in love with him. Just as Genie tries to explain that he can't do that, [[TheHero Aladdin]] sneaks in to steal the lamp back; Jasmine sees him and [[GuileHero suddenly begins to flirt with Jafar]] as a distraction, to Genie's complete confusion.
72* ''Animation/PleasantGoatAndBigBigWolfAmazingPleasantGoat'': Mr. Slowy uses something called the "Cordial Spray" at the beginning of the movie to fight Wolffy, the Cordial Spray being heart-shaped and having aesthetic lips where it sprays the substance. It hits Master Paopao instead, causing him to fall in love with Brother Tai and chase him around passionately.
73* ''WesternAnimation/SecretMagicControlAgency'': Ilvira force-feeds the king cookies laced with a potion, so that he falls in love with her and makes her his queen.
74* ''WesternAnimation/Shrek2'' has one of these. (If you look carefully, you'll see that the bottle has "IX" written on it, a ShoutOut to the song, "Love Potion #9") [[DeconstructedTrope However, the love potion is treated very seriously as a creepy breach of the target's free will]], and becomes what ultimately leads to Harold's HeelFaceTurn as well as the motivation for the climax. Fiona's fairy godmother orders the king to pour it into Fiona's drink so that she will fall in love with Prince Charming instead of Shrek; the potion causes the drinker to fall in love with the first person who kisses them. It doesn't work, because the [[WhatYouAreInTheDark king decides not to give Fiona the potion-laced drink after seeing how much she loves Shrek and how truly unhappy Fiona is with Charming]].
75-->'''Fairy Godmother''': (''furious'') HAROLD! You were supposed to give her the potion!\
76'''King Harold''': (''smugly'') [[NotAfraidOfYouAnymore Well, I guess I gave her the wrong tea.]]
77* The main conflict of ''WesternAnimation/StrangeMagic'' is formed around a love potion. Making one is incredibly difficult since you need a petal from the primrose flower, which only grows on the border of the Dark Forest and is constantly being cut down by the {{mooks}} of [[EvilOverLord the Bog King]]. Also, the only one who can turn the petal into the potion is the Sugar Plum fairy, who is imprisoned by the Bog King. He really, ''really'' doesn't want there to be love potions. [[spoiler:He's got practical concerns, since it can and does lead to chaos, ''but'' his real reason is that the love potion failed to work for him since [[ThePowerofLove true love]] overpowers the potions]].
78[[/folder]]
79
80[[folder:Manhwa]]
81* The love potions in ''Manhwa/TheRemarriedEmpress'' are rare but highly effective. Grand Duke Kaplan brings one to Navier for her to use to get Sovieshu to fall back in love with her. Kaplan, however, ends up using it on himself and falls for Navier, hard. When he tries it again with Heinry [[spoiler:after his wedding with Navier]], the potion only works for them for a day. An acquaintance of the Grand Duke theorizes this is because Kaplan already had feelings for Navier before he took the first potion, and the effects may be life-long.
82[[/folder]]
83
84[[folder:Music]]
85* The song "Love Potion #9" (recorded first by The Clovers and then The Searchers, among others) plays with this trope, illustrating why, if you ever get your hands on a love potion, you should ''not'' test it on yourself.
86-->''I didn't know if it was day or night\
87I started kissing everything in sight\
88But when I kissed a cop down on 34th and Vine\
89He broke my little bottle of Love Potion #9''
90* In the song "Funky Cold Medina" by Tone Loc, the singer attempts to test the eponymous substance on his dog. If he'd paid proper attention to the results, he would have realized that it doesn't work exclusively on the opposite sex rather than having to figure that out [[{{Pun}} the hard way]]. He continues using it anyway until he finds out that some of the people he's using a Love Potion on [[IdiotBall will react by wanting to marry him]] in addition to having sex with him.
91* In the music video for Jennifer Lopez's song "Papi," J-Lo plays a woman who eats a magic cookie that she is told will bring her absent lover back. The next day, every man in town who sees her falls madly in love with her, causing a lot of chaos throughout.
92[[/folder]]
93
94[[folder:Pro Wrestling]]
95* [[Wrestling/KatarinaWaters Winter]] used one on Wrestling/AngelinaLove that resembled a [[VoodooZombie bokor's hoodoo zombie drug]] better than most actual depictions of HollywoodVoodoo (including TNA's early stint with Roxxi Laveaux). Love eventually snapped out of it, [[TheBadGuyWins but decided she still loved Winter anyway.]]
96[[/folder]]
97
98[[folder:Web Animation]]
99* The first episode of ''WebAnimation/AstroLOLogy'', "Scent-o-logy", is about Aquarius creating a love potion with the intention of spraying it on Sagittarius so that she'll fall in love with him. He ends up spraying Taurus, Capricorn, and Leo instead by accident.
100* ''WebAnimation/HelluvaBoss'': {{Asmodeus}} the [[SevenDeadlySins Sin]] of {{Lust}} actually takes a moment to {{discuss|edTrope}} love potions with Stolas... [[EvenEvilHasStandards and why he is against their use]]. Stolas quickly clarifies that he came to Asmodeus for something else.
101-->"Well I can tell ya', if you're looking for a love potion, [[NoJustNoReaction you came to the wrong fucking guy]]. I don't fuck with that artificial bullshit! [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil Lust shouldn't be about force]]... It's an ''art''! To be ''[[NoChallengeEqualsNoSatisfaction earned and enjoyed]]''. [[DoWrongRight It's all about that journey to Pleasure Town]]. You feel me?"
102* Averted in ''WebAnimation/TheSpiderCliffMysteries'': [[spoiler:Katherine Sprawling]]'s use of a love potion on [[spoiler:Thomas Elkwood]] hit the correct person and resulted in a 30 year marriage. [[spoiler:Annabelle]]'s attempt at using a potion appears to have failed due to [[spoiler:the intended target being forewarned about the exact mode of delivery.]]
103* ''WebAnimation/Supermarioglitchy4sSuperMario64Bloopers'':
104** In "Peachosal Love", after Mario's final attempt to get Peach to love him fails thanks to "gay Bob-ombs", he attempts this with help from [[VideoGame/PaperMario Merlon]]. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, it turns Peach into a raging monster]].
105** In "Awkward Weddings", Mario and Luigi get a love potion from the Rock Wizard so that Peach and Daisy would fall in love with them. Unfortunately, they fail to hear the warning about the first person in the drinker's sight being their love (because an old man in a bathtub ran over the wizard); as a result, it backfires horribly, with instead [=SMG4=] and X being the first people Peach and Daisy see, which almost results in them getting married. Thankfully, [=Ruffman8890=] (the Rock Wizard's crazed assistant), who was demanding to know who used all of his toilet paper at the time, farted, breaking the spell.
106[[/folder]]
107
108[[folder:Web Original]]
109* [[http://addventure.bast-enterprises.de/26281.html The story thread "Lust Dust"]] on the ''[[http://addventure.bast-enterprises.de/ Anime Addventure]]'' features a powerful aphrodisiac that makes a mess of many, many relationships.
110* The eponymous Cupids in ''Website/TheCrewOfTheCopperColoredCupids'' dip their arrows in Love Potion to make people fall in love whether they like it or not. The original formula of Love Potion was created by the Cupids' own MadScientist creator, but they then lost the formula and get their supplies directly from the goddess Aphrodite instead as "the next best thing".
111* In ''Literature/ReceiverOfMany'', golden arrows shot by Eros are very potent in igniting love and desire. Even being close to one can make someone aroused against their will. Being simply scratched by the arrow causes Hades to obsess over Persephone. If it has actually reached its target -- his heart -- he would probably be driven mad with need and snatched her away and had sex with her the moment he found her.
112[[/folder]]
113
114[[folder:Web Videos]]
115* Discussed in ''WebVideo/CafaeLatte''. Love potions exist and do seem to work, but as they create false emotions they are basically magical date rape drugs and are illegal. A much more ethical form of magical romance assistance is a love charm, a good luck charm specific to romantic situations.
116* ''WebVideo/CriticalRole'' has one pop up in its 109th episode. [[spoiler:Taryon had intended for Vax to slip it to Grog, but Vax thought better and let Scanlan have it (giving it to the player who gave it to him, even). Scanlan proceeded to fall in lust with Percy, which greatly vexed Vex, and [[HilarityEnsues shenanigans ensued for about 40 minutes of playing]].]] Making it even better, it was an episode with a live audience, so there was instant feedback on how great it all went.
117* In the ''WebVideo/SuperMarioLogan'' episode "The Love Potion!", Cody invents a love serum for Bowser Junior to inject into Britknee, the newest student, to get her to fall in love with him. However, there are two catches; once injected, she falls in love with the first person she sees (who happens to be Jeffy), and after a few hours, the serum turns her into a dragon.
118* [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed]] in the Youtube short horror called [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-lW-IILa0M "Love Potion"]]. Chris wants to get back with Kylie, but Kylie will have none of it. He spikes her soda with a very generous portion of his Love Potion #9 while she briefly leaves the car. She ends up so smitten with him that she cannot stand another minute being unmarried to him, and drives so fast that it leads to a car crash. But even before that, Chris was learning that it was becoming a case of BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor. Her instantly wanting to rush to the altar and grand plans for a family of 12 children was really freaking him out.
119[[/folder]]
120
121[[folder:Real Life]]
122* Spanish Fly is often marketed as a love drug/aphrodisiac. While there is no indication the product works, plenty of ads market it as instantly making a woman fall head over heels in lust. Comedian Bill Cosby even used to joke about using it during some of his more adult shows in the 80s, which is even more unfortunate given the allegations of sexual assault against him.
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124[[/folder]]
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