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- Ai no Kusabi has The Beautiful Elite Iason Mink determined for this to happen and overlap with Property of Love to his stubborn and defiant Sex Slave Riki. He gets his wish via A Match Made in Stockholm but tragedy strikes.
- The slave girl Morgiana from Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, regarded by many to be the true hero of the story. Not so much happy as she is content with her situation, she shows Undying Loyalty both to her first master Cassim, and then to Cassim's brother Ali Baba, who inherits all of Cassim's property, including Morgiana, after Cassim is murdered by the Forty Thieves. Several times, Morgiana cleverly protects Ali Baba and his family from the bandits' attempts at murder, until the climax where she kills the disguised bandit leader. At the end, Ali Baba grants her freedom and betroths her to his son.
- Mollie the mare from Animal Farm, who deliberately leaves the farm and returns to the service of humanity in exchange for sugar and ribbons. According to the bird scouts, she seems to be happy with her life.
- This is considered unusual, but not unheard of, whenever someone in the Animorphs series finds out about the Yeerks. The Taxxons in particular deliberately joined up en masse in the hopes that being controlled would help restrain their Horror Hunger. (It didn't work—they're still compelled to eat anything edible in sight, including the intestines of their former allies. Depressing, not to mention disgusting, but you can see why they tried.) This is also the case with voluntary human hosts and, more mildly, the Yeerk Peace Movement, which advocates for cooperation with one's host. Some of the characters distrust the Peace Movement, viewing it as just a milder invasion, but Cassie is sympathetic to it and at one point even volunteers to host the friendly Yeerk Aftran.
- In the Apprentice Adept series, many Proton serfs will try to extend their tenure by entering The Great Game, despite the fact that they're basically virtual slaves (their sole right is to terminate their own serf contract and leave the planet with nothing) who live at the sufferance of their "employer" Citizens (who are only barred from killing a serf without cause or permanently injuring them and can fire them on a whim.note and a serf's contract payout would let them live out their lives comfortably elsewhere in the galaxy. The prize at the end is full Citizenship, but many just hope to get to the later rounds, which offer tenure extensions. Though it should be noted that those who truly want to stay tend to be those with a passion that couldn't be indulged as easily or freely outside of Proton (Example: Protagonist Stile would've happily remained a serf, as long as he was able to remain a jockey and be around his beloved horses.)
- In An Archdemon's Dilemma: How to Love Your Elf Bride, Nephy is very happy being Zagan's slave due to the fact that he treats her much better than her old master or her home village. It also helps that Zagan bought her because he had fall in Love at First Sight for her when he saw her in a slave auction. When he frees and fires her (due to fear that the other archdemons might try to kill her) the only goal she has is to return to his side, and after that is successful she even tells him to put her Slave Collar back on hernote .
- The androids in Argo have no rights but are (mostly) programmed without any more than a rough resemblance of emotions, so they don't mind being used as slaves at all.
- The Arts of Dark and Light:
- Discussed in the books, which show that some slaves are treated in quite horrifying ways even in the "good" state of Amorr (horrifying to POV character Marcus as well as the readers), and these obviously aren't happy. However, slaves with masters who respect their human dignity can have lives that aren't really worse than those of most free people (and potentially better than many/most, depending on their specific role), and can thus be happy and loyal to their households. It helps that not all slaves are unskilled labor on plantations or the like; individuals can be anything from military officers in household troops to learned professionals such as doctors or educators, and their terms of employment rarely include the sort of everyday brutality and abuse most present-day readers will commonly associate with slavery.
- Lodi is a bit of a subversion. He has been put through one of the worst slaveries (as a gladiator), and very obviously isn't happy about that, but serves Marcus loyally and without complaining when he buys him because he is a fair man who cares about his social lessers and keeps his word. He still jumps at the chance when Marcus eventually offers him his freedom, though, and promptly leaves Amorr to go home to his own country.
- Played straight with Marcipor, who thinks his life as a (well-treated) slave in the Valerian household is better than whatever he could do with it in freedom, where as a freedman he would be a poor man facing perpetual insecurity, hardship and condescension in an unforgiving labor market.
- The Bartimaeus Trilogy has two types of this. Bartimaeus and Ptolemy, Ptolemy being the master who proves to Bartimaeus that they're equals and later lets himself die to save him. Also Nathaniel and Bart, after constant sparing and proclaiming their hatred for each other, at the end of the trilogy...though neither of them would say it outright. The care coming from Nat, unknowingly, doing what Ptolemy did by letting him go when he was going to die.
- And then there's the darker type in the prequel The Ring of Solomom with Khaba and Ammet. It's a mystery why Ammet even likes Khaba let alone 'loves' him. He's called 'Khaba the Cruel' for a reason.
- Also mentioned in the main series are "collaborators" - spirits that enjoy their servitude and show loyalty to their magician masters, which is rarely if ever reciprocated. Simpkin, a foliot working in a jewelry shop, is the one shown in the series, and is treated with contempt by Bartimaeus when he's destroyed, his master treats it as an inconvenience.
- Beast Tamer has an example where it's hard to tell the exact variety, but immediately after Rein saves Kanade and feeds her, Kanade insists that he use his beast tamer powers to put her under magical contract and looks absolutely thrilled at the prospect. Other girls, such as Weredragon Tania and the faries Sora and Runa, willingly join Rein in similar fashion because they either have a life-debt, see him as a superior, or gain benefits that they couldn't get if they were on their own. The exact nature of the magical contract is unclear in terms of the "slavery" part. There's no indication that any of the girls couldn't leave whenever they wish and Rein doesn't compel them in any way like he might regular animals such as birds or insects. They regard themselves more as his familiars.
- Behind Blue Eyes by Anna Mocikat: What the Olympias Corporation has (mostly) achieved with a society that provides for all material wants, provides all the sex you could ever desire, and constantly bombards you with propaganda. They only have to prune a small number of citizens every year.
- In Being Able to Edit Skills in Another World, I Gained OP Waifus slaves actively like being enslaved by the male protagonist, openly refuse freedom when offered, and want to have sex with their respective masters because they're treated as brides, not slaves, and clearly fall in the "beloved servant" category, with Freedom from Choice clearly in play.
- An interesting variation shows up with the Nadraks in The Belgariad. Nadrak women are defined as property—but they take great pride in the prices they are able to command (especially since they get to keep a portion of it), take a large part in haggling for them (for the same reason), and effectively choose their purchaser. They also retain the right to choose when, if, and with whom they have sex (a right they usually back up with a pair of very sharp knives). Considering the way women are treated in other parts of the world, the arrangement isn't all that bad - indeed, as Polgara explicitly notes (with some bemusement) when she's disguised as a Nadrak woman, despite technically being property, in practise she's got far more freedom and rights than most nominally free women elsewhere.
- Originally this was going to be closer to the trope, according to the Rivan Codex, but then Eddings actually started writing. The instant he created a female Nadrak character, the entire dynamic changed - and as he admitted, it was better for it.
- Polgara, disguised as a Nadrak woman, has a certain amount of trouble comprehending her exact status. Though technically 'property' she is in fact perfectly free to go wherever and do whatever she likes as long as she has a good dinner ready for her master at every evening.
- Belisarius Series:
- Holker is this to Belisarius. Justified in that Belisarius was from a civilization where slaves had at least some rights and Holker expected to be sold in a place where slaves had none. Also justified in that Belisarius wanted him as an honored scribe instead of the beast-of-burden he had been intended as, gave him a cause to serve, and promised him freedom.
- Ousanas is a slave to the Axumite prince Eon, but he's very happy with his circumstances. As a dawazz, his specific job is to mentor and cultivate Eon into becoming a good, moral king, and his preferred techniques are snark, Mirth to Power, and the Dope Slap, and the prince just has to take it. Not to mention, once Eon ascends to the throne, if his comrades decide Ousanas did a good job raising him then he gets to retire with boatloads of treasure. It's also a voluntary position: you have to apply to be a dawazz, and Ousanas reportedly had to fend off many other candidates to get chosen.
- Similarly the Kushans captured at the Battle of Anatha are rather amenable to Belisarius' service partly because they were treated as slaves before anyway and partly because they sort of consider it fair play now that they have surrendered - a significant number of slaves in the ancient world, especially Rome and the Byzantine Empire, were prisoners of war, especially soldiers.
- Rana Sanga has a Pathan Scarily Competent Tracker who when captured by Sanga in a duel requested that he be Sanga's slave instead of being sold, because he considered that if he had to be a slave he wanted to be a slave to a badass. Pathan are like that you know.
- Subverted in Herman Melville's Benito Cereno. Captain Delano thinks that the slaves are content, but in fact they have revolted and taken over the ship. If not for his own prejudices this would be obvious to him.
- Beware of Chicken:
- Even though several of Jin's farm animals have awakened as intelligent spirit beasts, they are still happy to serve the farm just like before (although the pigs are never going to become bacon). Jin does try to avoid treating them as slaves, such as by paying them, but they don't care at all about that; they all feel honoured to serve the "Great Fa Ram". (And since the quality of food, shelter, security, and medicine on the farm is head and shoulders above anything else nearby, and Jin works alongside them, they do have a point.)
- Babe the ox, in particular, doesn't seem to want anything except to plow the fields. It took Jin months to realise that he could actually talk, because he had nothing he wanted to ask for.
- Captive Prince: Slavery is an honored institution in the nation of Akielos, so slaves are chosen for their submissiveness and bring obedience to a form of high art, but can expect perfect treatment and care in return. Erasmus is described as the quintessential Akielon slave, having no interest in freedom and falling wholeheartedly in love with his owner. They're somewhat closer to sugar babies than slaves, as they can even change masters on occasion.
- In Cave King, the various disparate groups Heal rules over beg Heal to [Tame] them, due to Deliberate Values Dissonance. They believe being his thralls is the proper way to repay him for saving their lives, keeping them from fighting each other over centuries-old ancient grudges, and gaining the benefits of his [Cave King] crest that greatly enhances their lives. The fact that Heal acts like a benevolent king and not a cruel overseer helps immensely.
- Played straight in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with the Oompa-Loompas, who gladly do all of the physical labor (which is at least intended to be safe) in Willy Wonka's famous chocolate factory and get his products tested on them before they have any idea what the products do, in exchange for housing and all of the cacao beans and chocolate they can eat. On the other hand, not only are cacao beans their absolute most favorite food, their homeland is explicitly described as a terrible place where they tried and failed to avoid being eaten by the dozens by a variety of giant predators by living in the trees, and living off a diet that primarily consisted of mashed caterpillars, bark and beetles.
- Chrysalis (RinoZ): When a monster core is "reconstituted" into a pet, it is permanently bound to its owner, and even the Sophos, masters of core manipulation, have not found any way to break that bond. Nonetheless, Anthony's second pet, Crinis, would certainly not want to be freed, as she is deeply and violently devoted to him. Anthony sometimes has to use his ability to give orders to stop her from taking hits for him or clinging to him like a suit of armour. (His other two pets are more ambivalent; Invidia, in particular, would probably have no loyalty without the pet bond.)
- Codex Alera contains a device called a "discipline collar," which binds someone to the will of a specific master. Obeying orders provides sexual pleasure, and disobeying them provides horrendous pain. Nobody in the series can resist the control for longer than a few minutes unless they've got two collars from different masters, and one character who spent several years collared remarks that after a while you start to only scream on the inside, even begging for orders to obey. This is portrayed as significantly less sexy than many writers would portray it.
- Haydee from The Count of Monte Cristo is completely in love with her master the Count. Apart from the obvious problems modern readers have with slavery, some of the Count's comments about her before her love is revealed make him seem like a monster.
- Near the end it's made clear that the Count apparently never took advantage of her, being still too tied with his feelings to his lost love, and only made the comments to appear like an eccentric foreigner and to avoid inconvenient questions of why a man of his status doesn't get involved with women; yes, keeping a sex slave was a more acceptable explanation than the assumption of homosexuality or impotence. Unless a man was a priest (though, they did sometimes have mistresses), a widower within a certain time frame, or medically incapable, it was expected during that time period that they were involved with some woman or women. If not, people wondered why and wouldn't buy 'yeah, I'm just not interested in anyone at this point in time'.
- Ali is also an example, although he isn't in love with the Count like Haydee is.
- Both are pretty clear examples of the first type of this trope, because while Monte Cristo makes demeaning comments about them in front of other characters in order to keep up his reputation as a ruthless genius, the scenes where no outsiders are around make it quite clear that he actually cares for and respects Ali and Haydee a great deal, and treats them exceedingly well, even offering them their unconditional freedom basically whenever they want it.
- Note that Haydee, unlike most slaves, has no real life to return to. Her father was deposed and murdered, her mother died of grief, and her service to the Count enables her to take revenge on the man who betrayed her family and provides her with incredible luxury.
- A Dearth of Choice: A normal and healthy person probably wouldn't choose to become a dungeon's property, but Katrina is neither. She considers it a much better prospect than her previous slavery, at least. The fact that the Dungeon can teleport her to it at will means that there's no way her abusive family can kidnap her back, and the fact that her growth is entirely dependent on its goodwill means that she's a useful investment, which is a big step up from being regularly beaten and nearly raped. In a way, she's trapped, but she's a good deal happier.
- Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody: Liza, Pochi and Tama, as demihumans, know that, no matter what happens, someone will look to enslave them, so belonging to Satou (who treats them like family) is quite the fine deal. Lulu (who is under a curse to be a slave forever) thinks the same, and Arisa used her psychic powers to get Satou to buy her because of her sexual proclivities. There is mention of people who actually sell themselves into slavery because they have lost their livelihoods and homes and fear starvation.
- Discworld:
- Golems have a mixed attitude to this. They continue to bring buckets of water from a well until everything is flooded if no one tells them to stop (arguably they do this as an act of rebellion: they aren't expected to think, and so they don't). Feet of Clay revolved around a group of golems creating a golem king to lead them to freedom - then selling him, because a golem must have a master. Those that are freed continue to work all the time, except for periodic holy days were they rest, because they're not tools. One golem upon death elected to remain in the eternal desert rather than travel it to another destination as most people do, considering an empty plain with nothing to do and no orders to follow freedom.
- Also deconstructed by the slaves of Discworld's Ancient-Greece-like nation of Ephebe, where a slave has much better living and working conditions than a poor free man. In fact, the only reason Ephebean slaves want to buy their freedom is so they can have to option of owning slaves of their own. Ephebian law protects the slave's living conditions as property law. No man is allowed to harm his property. So even if a free man is reduced to eating his own leather shoes, he is still required by law to ensure that his slave is well fed and kept in good living conditions. (According to the Discworld Almanack, Ephebe was the location of the world's only Slaves' Volt - a "volt" being the opposite of a revolt).
- Used again in Discworld (but rather more seriously) in Interesting Times, with the worryingly obedient people of the Agatean Empire (the China/Japan analogue). The masters don't need whips; they have something worse.
- Discworld Igors are an odd... something... of this trope. They are at their happiest when they have a properly insane "Marthter" to serve (and occasionally shower with spittle when attempting to pronounce words with lots of sibilants), yet have absolutely no compunction about legging it out the back door with the glassware to seek alternative employment a minute or two before the pitchfork-and-torch-bearing mob breaks down the front door. An Igor must serve, but who they serve seems to be largely irrelevant.
- The Igor in Carpe Jugulum is unhappy because his new masters don't want spider nets all over their place and are, all in all, much too modern to be proper vampires. He is very attached to his old master, a more traditional vampire, whose shoes he used to lick clean, despite not feeling worthy to do so, as he explains to Nanny Ogg.
- Gaspode the Wonder Dog is torn between his street-mutt independence and a nagging doggy compulsion to serve a master. He is well aware of this inborn streak of servility in canines, to the point of using it (and his gift of human speech) as a weapon against hostile dogs: "SIT!"
- Sergeant Angua (a werewolf) compares her relationship with her commanding officer and boyfriend Captain Carrot to that between a dog and her master, and not in a negative sense. Make of that what you will - but remember that Carrot doesn't share this view.
- Vimes is an odd example of this, too. Everyone seems to consider Vimes to be a servant/slave to someone or something, but nobody can agree on what. Vimes considers himself to be a servant of the law, and wouldn't have it any other way. Many others consider him to be a slave to Vetinari; in several books he's called "Vetinari's terrier" and parallels are outright drawn between Angua's situation and Vimes's; Angua even says, "It's all right. Sooner or later, we're all someone's dog." He wavers back and forth on whether the description is accurate, but regardless of whether it is or not, his own stubborn bloody-mindedness won't let him change his actual behavior.
- Leonard da Quirm has been kept prisoner by Vetinari for years and has only been allowed out on three occasions since that was revealed, with the third arguably being a delay of locking him up until he finished another project. As far as he's concerned, his prison is a comfortable, well-equipped, rent-free workshop where he can dabble in whatever matter comes to mind without being disturbed by anyone other than the Patrician.
- Properly speaking, that's precisely what it is, and not a prison at all. Leonard even walks right out of it without any difficulty on one occasion when he needed to (with considerably greater ease than the Patrician, who has to think precisely what the traps are going to be on the particular day and time he's passing through). It would seem the security measures (meant to keep the potentially very dangerous things Leonard invents from falling into just anyone's hands) were one of the very few specific tasks he's carried out in the job.
- And confirmed when at the end of one of the books, he returns to his room, locks the door, and slips the keys outside under it. Without Vetinari looking over his shoulder (directly) or even saying anything.
- While The Draka is full of first-generation, newly-caught serfs who deeply resent their slavery (having been born free), many serfs born into and raised in serfdom actually enjoy the security of their lives. Some "new-caughts" like Solange in Under the Yoke also completely break down mentally, becoming co-dependent wrecks. Of course, given that the Draka ruthlessly exterminate any serf who shows signs of open rebellion, the ability to resign oneself to slavery is an evolutionary survival characteristic in the serf gene pool. Later on, the Draka perfect human genetic engineering and simply rewire their serfs' brains so that they all love slavery and can't psychologically function as free individuals.
- Virtually all victims of the White Court vampires in The Dresden Files end up this way. Thomas and his girlfriend/primary food source Justine are the most prominent example, with the tragic twist that their love becomes physically harmful to Thomas.
- And Butcher never lets it become very sexy, or when it starts to, he usually yanks aside the curtain and makes sure everybody gets to see the nasty underlying reality at a key moment (except for the above mention of Thomas and Justine, who fell in love as a result of Justine's addiction to being fed on).
- Victims of the Red Court also tend to stick around vampires by choice. In the case of the Reds, it is because their saliva is a narcotic that is effective within moments of contact and also highly addictive.
- Jim Butcher writes that way, even when magic is flying and vampires are loose and furies are being bound, reality is never very far away. See his treatment of the lovely Lara Raith at the end of Turn Coat, which is almost a slap in the face at the whole 'sexy vampire' trope. Jim Butcher often writes fantasy-come-true as a nightmare in disguise.
- However, Bob the skull seems to be pretty happy being enslaved to Dresden. (Considering his previous masters have not only treated him worse, but that his master's personality automatically will warp Bob's own personality, so serving an evil master turns him into someone he really doesn't want to be.) And the Little Folk basically declare themselves Dresden's personal army and houskeepers after he frees them, refering to him as "Lord". (And even though he does pay them in pizza, he never bothers to make them aware how simple it would be for them to acquire the stuff themselves.) This is largely explained as fairies and abstract spirits being unable to think outside a system of feudal obedience, and having little to no concept of morality in the human sense in general. Still, it is interesting that Dresden also isn't squicked by this subservience, and will bribe Bob with temporary freedom or threaten him with the loss of entertainment privileges without any twinge of conscience.
- Although in fairness to Dresden Bob's idea of a good time is to go out into the world, possess some people and manipulate them into a shameless orgy. So perhaps he's justified with keeping him on a tight leash. He also seems on friendly terms with Dresden and receives - or often demands - payment in return for helping out. Generally in the form of romance novels or mischief. Keeping in mind that his personality changes depending on the wizard who possesses him - and he has expressed dislike for the evil creature he can become under evil wizards - it's difficult to argue he's a slave in anything but the most technical sense.
- In Duumvirate, good (as in competence, not as in morality) masters have their servants get to this state quickly.
- In The Egyptian, Sinuhe's slave Kaptah says he can't leave his master because he considers Sinuhe to be too naive and idealistic to survive on his own. It helps that Sinuhe treats him fairly well by the standards of the time the book is set in.
- Seons from Elantris are magical beings derived from the Shard Devotion, and serve their masters out of love. As a child, Raodan tried to free his Seon, but it refused.
- The Elenium: In The Tamuli, an entire race (the Atans) is enslaved. It's described as standardized and really mostly inconsequential slavery — the Atans are the Tamul infantry, and they're pretty damn good at it. The explanation for the slavery: the Atans kept trying to kill each other, and about the only time the Tamuls ever exercise their "mastery" of the Atans is to order them to stop fighting amongst themselves. And the Atans? They like it that way, seeing as how they're a Proud Warrior Race. Seeing as the Atans consider themselves honour-bound to kill anyone who insults them by, among other things, letting his shadow touch them, their self-imposed slavery might just be the only thing keeping the Atans from exterminating either themselves or every other race, whichever happened first.
- Saito in The Familiar of Zero. Despite all the treatment he gets, he still loves Louise, and she loves him too. Not that she'll admit it. There are also moments where Saito has some control over her in the later seasons. It helps that his familiar runes make him forget the bonds he has with his family and old world and, over time, replace them with a desire to serve and protect his master. When the mind control gets erased he has a major Heroic BSoD but eventually gets over it. The books end with the two married and going to Japan to introduce Louise to his parents.
- In The Final Reflection, accusing a Klingon of this trope ("tohke straav" = "willing slave") is the ultimate insult and a foolproof way to get viciously murdered in a hurry.
- In Genome, the planet Heraldica is home to the descendants of old Earth aristocracies. It's populated by the nobles and their servants, the latter of which have undergone the "Servant" specialization, which conditions them to serve their masters unquestioningly and love their role in life. Because of this last part, they also willingly have the same specialization performed on their children, convinced that their children will also love it (which is true, in a twisted way). When visiting the planet, the protagonist observes a hunting party on horseback chase down a servant girl, shoot her with a stun gun, and then gang-rape her. After that, she calmly gets up, and walks back to the village, apparently unperturbed by what just happened. Pretty much all specializations also include the "love your job" part of the mental conditioning, making this trope partly true for them as well.
- All of Scarlett's house slaves come back to work for her after the war in Gone with the Wind (OK, so that's only four of more than a hundred - the cotton pickers chose a better life, poverty and hiding for the most part, instead). In fact, this is shown with many of the slaves owned by the white characters—one of whom is explicitly stated to have scorned the notion of his freedom. This attitude is no doubt helped by the fact that these people are all portrayed as "good" slave owners who would never dream of mistreating their slaves—no beatings, rapes, breaking up of families, hence the slaves preference to remain with them in comfort rather than the uncertainty of the outside world.
- John Norman's Gor series. Gorean custom is that women are only truly happy when mastered by a man, and any woman who isn't is simply broken and needs to be fixed by being enslaved and raped into compliance. Thus, most Gorean women are either happy to be enslaved or are beaten into being happy. Gorean men, on the other hand, are just worked to death.
- Played horribly straight with Gottfried in Gravity's Rainbow, who is so happy as a Nazi commander's sex slave that he volunteers to pilot the suicide rocket 00000 and crashes it into a full cinema, killing hundreds and, by extent, the reader as well.
- Tedla, of Carolyn Ives Gilman's Halfway Human, recognizes itsnote enslavement as cruel and unjust, but is unsure that it wants to be free — the prospect of being responsible for its own self and decisions (something Tedla has never known) is very scary.
- The Han Solo Trilogy: Many of the Ylesian "pilgrims" don't want to be liberated, as they're addicted by Exultation and don't realize that it'll end once they're sold as slaves in much worse conditions. They're also initially unaware that it's even slavery, as they've been scammed into believing the religion.
- Harem in the Labyrinth of Another World, slaves are openly happy to serve their masters. It helps that in the case of Michio and his slaves, the slaves are not only pampered like crazy, but live in the lap of luxury.
- Joel Chandler Harris, the original author of the "Uncle Remus" stories, romanticized plantation life in the stories, with Remus portrayed as a stereotypical (for the time) "happy slave." But then, these were Harris' subjective memories of his own childhood, so Uncle Remus' characterization is forgivable. Besides, it's Brer Rabbit and the other animal characters that everyone remembers.
- House-elves in the Harry Potter books are a Slave Race or Servant Race (it's not clear whether they started out in servitude) that are like this. They are magically obligated to always obey their masters regardless of their own well-being, and even to commit physical Self-Punishment Over Failure. Some are treated well by their masters, while others are horribly abused. Still, it appears that the vast majority of elves view the idea of being freed as a moral failing (Winky is driven to alcoholism after Barty Crouch Sr. fires her for failing to control his son during the Quidditch World Cup). Even Dobby, who loves his freedom after Harry liberates him from the Malfoys, still wants to work and will only accept enough pay to prove that he's free. Nonetheless, even being magically bound to their master, they may still become resentful if treated poorly. Because Sirius Black constantly insults Kreacher, he creatively interprets his "OUT!" command to get out of the house and eventually betrays him.
- In Goblet of Fire, Hermione does not take well at finding out Hogwarts employs unpaid house-elves, and so starts the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare in the hopes of freeing them. It fails to get anywhere—partly because of the unfortunate acronym of the group (SPEW), but mostly because the elves don't want to be involved. Her opinion is that they like slavery because they're uneducated and brainwashed, when the real answer appears to be because of their Blue-and-Orange Morality: they like working but hate being mistreated. She later has a talk with Dumbledore offscreen that establishes the straight facts, but she still advocates for house-elves to be treated well in slavery, which is proven right when Kreacher betrays Sirius.
- In the first Heralds of Valdemar trilogy, Talia flees her native Holderkin, which have strict gender roles, men with multiple wives, and considerable restrictions on female behavior. Her sister was sent to an Arranged Marriage in tears, but when Talia returns later to try to get her out, she's adapted to the privileges of a wife and doesn't want the 'rescue'. Talia has to content herself with the knowledge that the Queen knows about Holderkin culture now, and there is an escape option for those who are truly unhappy.
- Hurog:
- Subverted with Oreg. He comes to like and respect his new master Ward, and in once instance clings to Ward's leg when he is summoned after they'd been separated for a long time. However, this seeming display of affection is because the magic that binds him to Ward makes him suffer terribly when they're apart. When he eventually behaves in a happy and content way, this is because he has come to trust Ward to do the right thing - and the right thing is to kill Oreg, something which only his master can do.
- Also subverted with Garranon, who has to pretend his relationship with King Jakoven is happy and equal (and consensual) but in reality is desperate and utterly miserable
- A straight example is Bastilla who seems to enjoy being a slave. Oreg mentions that he could break the magical bond, but only if she actually wanted it. He comments that this is not the case. Of course, with the magical Mind Rape that is possible in the setting, it is hard to tell whether someone is genuinely happy or just manipulated into believing it.
- In I Survived the Destruction of Pompeii, Marcus and his father had both grown up under the care of sympathetic slave owner Linus Selius.
- But Linus had died before the story even began. Marcus's new master, Festus, is decidedly not a sympathetic slave owner and this trope is no longer in effect.
- While Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell's Stephen Black is not a slave per se, he is a servant. When the gentleman with the thistle-down hair begins his plan to free him, Stephen isn't very happy at all.
- You'd probably be very hard pressed to find a butler who's happy to have his life stolen away from him and replaced by a world populated by cruel and capricious Fae.
- And yet by the end of the book he refers to his time in England as captivity and goes off to rule a nation of Faeries (they get better), of course the gentleman did have 10 years to influence him, and all the enchantments didn't help.
- In summary, Stephen did not like being a servant, but did like his master and understandably considered the 'freedom' offered by the Gentleman worse.
- You'd probably be very hard pressed to find a butler who's happy to have his life stolen away from him and replaced by a world populated by cruel and capricious Fae.
- Diana Wynne Jones uses this a lot in her books, so often it's notable when a main character isn't ignorantly letting him or herself be exploited by someone they care for deeply, whether it be by family, lovers or friends. However, these characters are generally not ecstatically happy before they notice they're being exploited and when they do they tend to break free.
- Played with in The Homeward Bounders: Joris, one of the main characters, is a slave, an obsessed fan boy who cannot shut up about how awesome and God-like his master is, and is really concerned about behaving like a proper slave. He could model for this trope until he has a meltdown and reveals that he absolutely hates being a slave, not because anyone is mean to him but just because it sucks. And then he finds out his owners are just waiting 'til he's old enough to legally be freed. So it works out okay.
- Near the end of Ivanhoe, Wamba is offered freedom but asks his lord to free Gurth instead. Gurth the swineherd can thus become a free farmer, while Wamba is not fit to be anything but a jester and belonging to a kind lord is already the best he can hope to be.
- Deconstructed in Kindred by Octavia Butler: the plantation slaves find what happiness they can and even show some affection for their owner in his Pet the Dog moments, but are always crushingly aware of the horror of their circumstances and do what they must to survive from day to day. Even Sarah, the Mammy-esque cook, is carefully concealing bone-deep rage and pain at having had almost all of her children sold away from her.
- Crops up in The Legacy Trilogy written by William H. Keith (under the pen name Ian Douglas). Humanity discovers a Lost Colony of the Ahn/Ah'nu who were once Ancient Astronauts and who still have a population of human slaves. The humans are all rather docile and react badly when test groups are brought back to Earth and given independence. Turns out there have been several thousand years of selective breeding going on since all the slaves with the intelligence and independence to escape have done so and live on their own colonies away from the very centralized Ahn.
- The Lord of the Rings: Wormtongue becames Type II to Saruman in Return of the King, after Gandalf removes Saruman from the Order. That is, until he snaps.
- Udinaas in the Malazan Book of the Fallen is an example of the fourth kind. Being a slave among the Tiste Edur means he has food, shelter, mostly fair treatment and also the company of other people from his home country among the other slaves. Being free would mean having none of these things, as due to his home country's system of hereditary debt he's in so far he'd have to sell himself into slavery with far worse conditions just to pay off a sliver of his father's or grandfather's debt, probably on a trader galley, too, again, and he hates the sea with a passion.
- According to Victor Hugo in his novel The Man Who Laughs, the British fit this trope for accepting to be ruled by a king again after the death of Cromwell. (Hugo's real targets are the French, for refusing to fight to preserve the Second Republic and accepting the rule of Napoleon III. He really hated Napoleon III.)
- In My New Dungeon Life, which is inspired by Harem in the Labyrinth of Another World above, Deek is in the process of Slave Liberation, coming from modern Earth and clearly not liking slavery. His slave harem, seeing that their lives are far better under his protection, he dotes on them like crazy, and he's more than happy to feed their sexual urges, not to mention that he will literally go to war to protect them from any and all threats, and they don't want to be free.
- Jules Verne's The Mysterious Island has Neb, a former southern slave who is totally devoted to the man who freed him, although Verne explicitly states that he is more like a loyal butler than a slave.
- Nightfall (Series): Prince Vladimir claims the Farm humans are happy to be slaves and to be bred as blood supply for the vampires. Myra refuses to believe it.
- Arguably justified with the alien Tasch-Ter-Man in the German SF series Perry Rhodan. They're naturally eager to take orders from others because having to make their own decisions uses up some of their limited lifetime supply of a particular hormone and running out of it kills them.
- In Alastair Reynolds' The Prefect, some of the Demarchist space colonies in the Glitter Belt are "Voluntary Tyrannies," where the citizens freely give up many rights and freedoms for protection and guidance. The inhabitants feel freer when they don't have to think for themselves. Perhaps justified, in that these arrangements are indeed voluntary; they were founded by a small minority of people who think this way, and people who disagree are supposed to be free to leave. Subverted, in that the only one we actually see much of has Gone Horribly Wrong, which is a persistent problem with the Tyrannies. The people in this particular habitat aren't so happy any more, but can't escape.
- In The Queen's Thief book, Kamet—who belongs to previous antagonist Nahuseresh—is covertly informed by the Attolian embassy that they plan to free him by taking him back to their country, if he chooses. Kamet has to restrain his laughter, because he's the personal secretary to the brother of the Medean Emperor's heir, wields authority in the household (even over free men), and is looking forward to being a man of influence as right hand when the heir takes the throne. When he's forced to flee with them, however, he re-evaluates the issue while traveling with the Attolian soldier Costis.
- Record of Wortenia War: Definitely of the "Slavery is the lesser evil" category. Kidnap victims and other captives desperately want to be enslaved because the alternative is infinitely worse. While slave merchants routinely treat their merchandise like a very unethical "kill shelter" would treat prospective pets, slaves, especially female slaves, can rest assured that they won't be raped into broken dolls and outright tortured to death, especially after being purchased, and there's always the slim hope of freedom someday... People who get summoned from Earth have it even worse!
- The Rising of the Shield Hero:
- Raphtalia was temporarily freed from her slave seal but insisted Naofumi replace it. She wants to remain by his side and knows that he can only trust a slave due to his emotional trauma. The Crapsack World is such that as a Demi-human Raphtalia is safer as a slave under a nice master instead of being free, as then she at least have some legal protections, as opposed to none if she were to be free. In the situation where Raphtalia was temporarily freed, she could have been killed on the spot by the Evil Princess without legal repercussions, because demi-humans have no legal standing in the country of Melromarc. As Naofumi's slave, if she's killed he can (and everyone knows he will) go on an equally legal Roaring Rampage of Revenge and do anything and everything up to personally ensuing an eye for an eye.
- The various slaves in Naofumi's village eventually came to be happy with their new Master. Some of the younger slaves even think of him as a mother, much to his annoyance.
- There's also the part where Naofumi doesn't actually like the whole slavery thing, but one of the aspects of his Shield means that everyone technically enslaved to him can Level Grind at once via the actions of one, which is essential to all of them staying alive. Not to mention the trauma over being framed up by the Evil Princess, which has shown to actually affect his perceptions. He's completely forthright with everyone joining his party about these conditions. Also Naofumi states outright that as soon as the slave sigil is applied, he removes every possible condition except a) the ability to lie to him and b) the ability to betray him, stating that 'It's almost impossible to build a good working relationship otherwise'.
- This is also emphatically inverted, when Naofumi's inner circle is transported to yet another world, and Filo is enslaved in a conventional manner by a tavern owner. She's 'only' commanded to sing on cue and unable to escape the place, but she's utterly miserable and scared the whole time.
- In Steven Saylor's Roma Sub Rosa series, main character Gordianus has an Egyptian slave named Bethesda who is more than happy to serve as his mistress until he decides to free her and marry her.
- In Dave Duncan's The Seventh Sword series, the main character is a present-day American who finds himself inhabiting the body of an expert swordsman in a fantasy world with a basically Iron Age culture. He buys a woman trained to be a Sex Slave intending to free her, only to be informed that the local laws don't include any method of doing so, and he concludes that the best he can do is give her as much freedom as possible while still technically owning her. After adjusting to her new situation, she ends up very happy to have an "owner" that treats her like a lover instead of property.
- An interesting case in Sergey Lukyanenko's Rough Draft duology. The world of Antik (AKA Earth 4) has been artificially stalled in developed at the Classical Age. The institution of slavery is still present there, but with a twist. A slave is allowed to own property, but that property is his own, not his masters. This means that it's not uncommon for a slave to be wealthier than his master. In fact, the only thing a slave is not allowed to own is slaves of his own, but he can have wives, concubines, and servants (and no, they're not necessarily slaves to his master). Additionally, twice a year, all slaves are given out weapons and are allowed to rebel. Should they win, they swap places with their masters.
- "Shoggoths in Bloom", a Lovecraft Lite novelette by Elizabeth Bear. In 1938 an African-American college professor investigates the shoggoth populating reefs off the coasts of Maine. Rather than suffering a horrible death, the shoggoth contact the professor telepathically — after the decline of the Old Ones they find themselves without a master, and so offer their service to him. This puts the professor in a quandary — the shoggoth would make the perfect weapon against the rising tide of fascism in Europe, but is he morally right to enslave them again? In the end he tells the shoggoth they must learn to be free, and leaves to France to enlist in the army.
- Somewhither: Many (though by no means all) of the slaves of the Dark Tower have this sort of mentality. Pally, a slave that the protagonist talks to at length, is shocked that someone might object to having their world conquered by the Dark Tower, since it's obviously so much better to live under its rule.
- A Song of Ice and Fire:
- Daenerys abolishes slavery in the cities she'd conquered, and is shocked to find many of the ex-slaves trying to sell themselves back to the trader ships for sale elsewhere. It's explained that most of them are skilled or educated and would be treated well, while the city is now full of starving people and at risk of becoming a Wretched Hive. The Unsullied also have difficulty with the idea of not serving anyone and keep working for her — basically, they’re grateful Daenerys freed them, and in return serve her loyally — although they do appreciate the benefits of semi-freedom. Like being allowed to have their own names. Many of the pit-fighters also point out that now they're free their living standards are much worse then when they were slaves.
- Penny, a dwarf girl who fears 'big people' - and not without reason, seems more content when she and Tyrion are (well-treated) slaves than when she had to fend for herself. She is very reluctant to escape when Tyrion orchestrates an opportunity while their master is dying, and eventually he resorts to simply ordering her about, promising that if they both survive he'll sell her again to a kind master if she wants. Tyrion, for his part, reflects that the life of a slave is little different to that of one of his former servants.
- Wildling "marriage" has shades of this. Wildling men "steal" their blushing brides from wherever they were living before (typically their parents' household or home village), but at least one wildling woman puts this forward as a good thing, because only a man bold and clever enough to do so would be worthy of her. When a southland "kneeler" points out that such a man might turn out to be abusive, she says that if that turned out to be the case, she'd simply stab him in his sleep. Beyond the Wall, she says, mothers teach their daughters that a man can have an unhappy wife, or a knife, but not both.
- In Michael Flynn's Spiral Arm novel On The Razor's Edge, Podiin is told by Gidula that he will free him, and Podiin begs and grovels to stay. He is mentally retarded and can cope with orders or with a very structured environment.
- In the Star Trek: Mirror Universe novellas, Mirror!Janeway and Mirror!Christine Vale are both loyal to the Klingon-Cardassian Alliance. Vale even gets a speech about how the savagery of the Terran Empire is evidence her people shouldn't be allowed freedom, apparently not noticing that the Alliance is hardly an improvement.
- In The Stormlight Archive, the parshmen are a subservient race of humanoids who serve humans as docile slaves. They literally cannot survive unless they are given orders, as in the absence of orders they will stand around and starve to death. They also become upset and confused if someone asks them how they feel about their status as servants. It turns out that they are not happy about their slavery at all, but their minds are severely damaged due to the humans they fought in the past severing their entire race's mental connection to the Cognitive Realm, rendering them docile. Once their connections are restored, they are angry and revolt.
- "Happiness in Slavery" is the title of the editor's preface to The Story of O. The protagonist welcomes her unexpected enslavement, partly as an opportunity to demonstrate her devotion to her lover, partly because she gets to be a slut without guilt. After she is freed from physical bondage, her lover asks her to agree to be a slave to both him and his stepbrother; she is shaken by this, because consent would make her an active participant in it – but she does consent.
- In Super Sales on Super Heroes, Felix accidentally ends up the owner of three mutilated female supers in a city run by a supervillain (which is why slavery is legal). He quickly learns that his incredibly versatile but low-power ability to alter any object or person he owns is boosted by drawing on the powers of supers he owns. One of the first things he does is fix their physical damage, while explaining their new status, but also stating that one thing they will never have to fear from him is sexual assault (which includes ordering them to sleep with him). He then proceeds to buy three more supers at a slave auction. They quickly learn to accept their new lot and even enjoy the perks of having a caring boss/owner, who rewards their efforts with upgrades.
- Mord-Sith to any Lord Rahl, from the Sword of Truth series, due to brutal brainwashing from a young age, which includes being forced to kill their fathers. They still stick around even after Richard freed them (deciding that someone who would do that is worth following), and some were happier than most after he gave them more... freedom. Also, those touched by a Confessor-they literally have no desire except to serve them, for the rest of their lives.
- In "Dominic Flandry" sub-series of Technic History, Flandry rescues an alien who becomes his slave. When a new tax (or some such) makes it inconvenient for Flandry to own a slave, Chives reluctantly accepts manumission but remains Flandry's valet.
- Most of the dragons in the Temeraire series, especially in Europe. Even after Temeraire visits China, realizes there's another way to live besides being under the control of humans, and becomes intent upon crusading for dragon-lib he still adores his position and his captain. Laurence, the captain in question, reflects that due to the nature of dragons as Bond Creatures and their natural possessiveness, it’s just as valid to say that captains belong to their dragons as the other way around.
- A more extreme example could be found in Levitas. Rather than being cared for like many of his comrade dragons, he's neglected and abused by Captain Rankin but still remains lovingly loyal. His death is the biggest Tear Jerker of the first book and Temeraire later brings it up in support of his ideas.
- The Testament of Sister New Devil: In the LN, Chisato's innermost desire is to become her 17 year old nephew's Sex Slave. Her teasing grows increasingly bolder until he finally goes all the way with her and takes her virginity during volume 7. By the final volume, Basara has successfully subjugated Chisato and she happily engages in orgies with the rest of his harem.
- In Poul Anderson's "Time Lag", Elva convinces Bors that she's this — he's willing to take her back to her native planet, where her husband died in an attack he ordered.
- In Mario Vargas Llosa's The Time of the Hero one of the main characters, appropriately called the Slave, displays this behavior.
- The Tough Guide to Fantasyland: Slaves, Female who are held in Fanatic Caliphates or the palaces of bad Kings are described as quite happy with their lot (despite being used for sex), as they live in ease overall, although they will come willingly enough if a male Hero rescues them.
- The capped in The Tripods series because they are under mind control. When that breaks down they are less happy...
- Harry Turtledove wrote a short story about a primitive alien society that oppressed one tribe for some ancient crime committed by one member, binding them with many arbitrary rules. But when humans arrive and attempt to free them, the tribe's members refuse. It turns out having to keep all those complicated rules selects for greater intelligence; the tribe is smarter than humans and content with its lot, given the consequences. They also estimate they'll be able to take over from within in time as a result too, since all their oppressors' higher ups have advisors from their kind.
- Sam in Uncle Tom's Cabin. Note that, despite the modern use of his name, Uncle Tom does not fit this tropenote — he's a faithful servant and can find happiness in the worst of places, but his dearest hope is to be free one day.
- Deconstructed by the narration and Mrs. Shelby's musings. Sure, the current master may be kind, but the whims of fate can see a slave given to a complete scumbag, and what good did being well treated do them? The character George, for example, accdentally upstages his (up until then bearable) master by inventing a cotton gin and is then after mistreated until he legs it to Canada.
- Uncle Tom's Cabin also led to the rise of a slew of "anti-Tom" novels written in response to it, mainly by writers from the Southern US and others who sympathized with slavery. The point of these books was to portray this trope as Truth in Television, with plantations presented as models of a benevolent, paternalistic master/slave relationship, black people as better off under slavery (and knowing it) due to being man-children incapable of ruling themselves, and abolitionists as either misguided fools or villains packing ulterior motives. Most of these books were swiftly forgotten after The American Civil War, for obvious Values Dissonance reasons.
- In Vampire Academy, the dhampirs sacrifice their lives and livelihood for the sake of protecting Moroi, and few give any of it a second thought. Non-angsty dhampirs are refreshing, but this one's a bit on the other extreme.
- The Wheel of Time plays with this:
- The Aiel might not enjoy it, but their honour system demands that they serve for a year and a day as "gai'shain" to their captors. Refusing to accept their role would be a dishonor that would require further service — just as it would be for an Aiel to keep a gai'shain past their allotted time.
- Damane, channelers who are leashed by the a'dam, are also often like this. The Seanchan treat them like dogs, and believe that it's a just and necessary thing for the good of the world. The vast majority of damane believe it, too... thanks to a lifetime of ruthless conditioning to break down their sense of self. Even damane from non-Seanchan lands come to feel that way, although one who escaped is absolutely horrified by how close she came to internalizing what they were telling her.
- The Seanchan also keep many non-damane slaves. Some are chattel, but there are also slaves who serve in honored positions (somewhat like the real-life Roman examples below). It is possible for a slave belonging to the royal family to give a free nobleman orders. Naturally, this type of highly-privileged slavery produces some fairly contented slaves, although there are also some who prefer freedom.
- In the Indian novel The White Tiger: The whole 'Rooster Coop' analogy explains the phenomenon of how 80% of Indians are in a way servants who simply cannot not obey their masters (the other 20%).
