History Main / AuctionOfEvil

* Jack Vance's ''Literature/TheDemonPrinces'' series plays this trope straight, subverts it AND ''inverts'' it in the second book, ''The Killing Machine''. Interchange is a planet which specializes in kidnap victim/ransom exchanges, acting as intermediary between the villain and anyone who chooses to pay the ransom. Everyone wins, because the villain can rest assured he will get his money while the ransoming party knows that the person that they're coughing up for is guaranteed to be alive and well and in good health (in custody at Interchange, NOT in the villain's lair). In order to avoid the loathsome attentions of a master criminal (the BigBad of the episode), the heroine approaches Interchange and posts a "ransom" for ''herself'', far beyond the capacity of anyone to pay. How [[spoiler:Kirth Gersen]] goes about subverting the system is the subject of the first half of the book.
* In the ''Literature/DiogenesClub'' story "Literature/TheSerialMurders", a villain who's worked out a way of using a soap opera full of NoCelebritiesWereHarmed characters as a [[VoodooDoll voodoo ritual]] offers the representatives of various organizations (including TheMafia, [[EvilInc Leech Enterprises]], a [[GovernmentConspiracy sinister immortal force within NATO]], and an [[UnwittingPawn easily manipulated government think-tank]]) an opportunity to "sponsor" the show.
* ''Franchise/DoctorWho'':
** The ''Literature/EighthDoctorAdventures'' novel ''[[Recap/EighthDoctorAdventuresAlienBodies Alien Bodies]]''. Agents of the most formidable powers in the galaxy gather at an auction to bid for the deadliest weapon ever created, [[spoiler:the body of the Doctor]].
** Story "Fegovy" in ''[[http://www.clivebanks.co.uk/Decalog3.htm Decalog 3]]''. An energy-based creature named Fegovy is auctioning off the priceless "Face of Humanity" to several criminals and warlike species. [[spoiler:The Doctor wins the auction by tricking the entity into selling off its entire collection in exchange for what it believes are Gallifrey's coordinates. It's actually just a childish insult the Doctor scribbled.]]
* The ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' book ''Literature/ProvenGuilty'' has a member of the White Court abduct Harry Dresden and auction him off ''on [=eBay=]'' to all those he's severely pissed off. The bidding got up into the millions.[[note]]Harry does not make friends easily.[[/note]]

* Sex slave auctions are, naturally, common in the ''Literature/{{Gor}}'' series.
** [[ValuesDissonance The concept of 'evil']], however, isn't.

* In ''[[Literature/{{Nightside}} Hex and the City]]'', John Taylor works security for an auction of supernatural and super-science artifacts that attracts all sorts of disturbing, disreputable, or just plain insane "players" from the Nightside and elsewhere. [[spoiler: But even the worst of them are outclassed by the reality-warping extradimensional entities that crash the gathering to seek the prize item up for bid: a probability-controlling butterfly.]]
* ''The Ersatz Elevator'', the sixth book in ''Literature/ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents'', ends in an auction when the Baudelaires THINK that [[spoiler:Duncan and Isadora are hidden in an item called "V.F.D.", but it turns out that they're hidden in a large sculpture of a RedHerring]].

* ''Series/{{Angel}}''. In "[[Recap/AngelS01E10PartingGifts Parting Gifts]]", Cordelia is kidnapped and her "Seer's Eyes" are put up for bid. And when it appears that they are about to be sold for much too low a price (from Cordelia's viewpoint) she takes over from the auctioneer to drive the price higher, and to buy time for the BigDamnHeroes to show up and rescue her.

* In ''Series/Charmed1998'', several episodes have shown that the demons have auctions for the souls bought through a DealWithTheDevil, and their own bazaar where they go for trading, and an enterprising demon can even make money by making a RealityTelevision audience for demon participants and a demon audience.

* ''Series/{{Farscape}}'', Crichton sets up one of these for the wormhole knowledge inside his brain. He doesn't intend to actually let the auction conclude, but merely uses the competition between the {{Big Bad}}s this stirs up as a cover for his real plans. Needless to say, [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome it's awesome]].

* In both the [[Series/Roots1977 original]] and the [[Series/Roots2016 remake]] of ''Roots'', Mandinka warrior in training, Kunta Kinte is taken from his homeland in Western Africa and [[MadeASlave auctioned off to a Virgina plantation owner]].
* During the episode "[[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS01E07QLess Q-Less]]" on ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine,'' Quark auctioned off a bunch of stuff brought through the newly discovered wormhole to the Gamma Quadrant. One of the items up for auction turned out to be a [[NegativeSpaceWedgie dangerous crystal]] which had been causing power outages and other problems all episode, and -- of course -- nearly destroyed the station.
* In the ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' episode "What's Up, Tiger Mommy?", Plutus, God of Greed, steals and auctions off [[MacGuffin the Word of God]] [[spoiler:as well as [[LivingMacGuffin Kevin]]. Kevin's mother bids her soul to save him. Crowley possesses her in order to steal the Word anyway]].
* In ''Series/Warehouse13'', [[spoiler:this is the premise of the first SeasonFinale.]] %%If you're more familiar with the show/episode, please replace this with more specific information.

* The ''Franchise/MyHeroAcademia'' fic ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/31685906 Awakening]]'' has several Class 1-A kids abducted and put up for auction. But giving Midoriya Trigger is a seriously bad idea as the vestiges awaken and cause chaos. Midoriya hangs in midair surrounded by lightning and Blackwhip, which frees everyone while the vestiges speak through Midoriya's mouth yelling at the auctioneer. After backup heroes arrive, All Might is able to calm Midoriya but the vestiges keep lashing out in the hospital afterward and even when Midoriya returns to school, they "patrol" every couple days to check on the other students,

* ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/44341639 Taken]]'' is a ''Franchise/MyHeroAcademia'' fic where Bakugo, Midoriya and Todoroki end up in one of these. Luckily they're rescued, though there is an alternate ending fic where they are sold off that's in progress as of March 2024.

* ''Fanfic/JWITCHSeries'': In the chapter "J-WITCH Meets The J-Team!", [[WesternAnimation/JackieChanAdventures Valmont]] hosts an auction for all of his recently stolen artifacts (including the [[WesternAnimation/{{WITCH}} Heart of Kandrakar]]), which is attended by all of the Chan Clan's other prominent human criminal enemies, as well as [[CoDragons Daolon Wong and Cedric]] (who are there for the Heart). When the J-Team and Guardians crash the party, everyone starts fighting over the Heart, and it turns into a [[MeleeATrois massive brawl]].

* ''ComicBook/IronMan'': In ''ComicBook/IronMan2012'' #1 (2012), Iron Man crashes an auction where kits of the Extremis enhancer are sold.

* In ''Manga/OnePiece'' the Human Auctioning House (or the [[UnusualEuphemism Public Employment Security Office]] as [[BlatantLies the Marines call it]]) is the center of the slave trade; ironically, while it deals in human slaves, more exotic species are worth far more. In one arc the crew's friend Camie the Mermaid gets kidnapped and sold there (live mermaids being especially valuable). The Straw Hat Pirates attend the local slave auction and try to buy her freedom, even if it costs them every beri they have (which at the end of the Skypeia arc, is quite a bunch). But a [[AristocratsAreEvil World Noble]] crashes the auction and throws a WhammyBid which is way more than Luffy and crew can match. Guess it's time to switch to plan B: [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome punch the guy who bought her in the face, rescue the girl, and tear the whole place apart, even though it meant they'd bring the entire World Government upon them.]]

* In ''Film/JurassicWorldFallenKingdom'', the dinosaurs rescued from Isla Nublar get auctioned off at Lockwood's manor -- at least, until Owen and Stiggy the ''Stygimoloch'' screw things up.

* ''VisualNovel/PhantomThiefSilverCat'': Mineko plans to sell the Emerald Queen at one after using it as bait to lure Silver Cat. In one Bad End, Silver Cat herself is sold as a slave at the same event.
* ''VideoGame/TalesOfRebirth'': Wan Gin's auction in [[{{Wutai}} Kyogen]], where he attempts to barter both Agarte and Claire after promising to help Veigue and co. May double as a SlaveAuction as he does sell people in secret. Passing it up is a pretty bad idea, since it offers a lot of rare items and is needed in a rather big sidequest, but Wan Gin eventually gets his comeuppance.

* Literature/LostUniverse opens at one of these. This develops into the female lead being put on auction. Played for laughs, as there are no bids, [[ArentYouGoingToRavishMe much to her distress.

* Anime/LostUniverse opens at one of these. This develops into the female lead being put on auction (played for laughs, [[ArentYouGoingToRavishMe as there are no bids]]).

* In ''WesternAnimation/YoungJusticeOutsiders'', a demonstration and auction for Metahuman teenagers is held in Biyala. Nightwing's team infiltrates the auction and rescues all the teenagers there.

* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'': In ''ComicBook/MarvelKnights Spider-Man'', the ComicBook/{{Venom}} symbiote was auctioned to the highest bidder by Eddie Brock himself. (Eddie was determined to give up being Venom and was actually planning to donate the money to charity, most likely not telling them where the money came from.) All the top villains were in attendance, as were scrubs like the Looter. Mobster Don Fortunado won and gave it to his wimpy son Angelo in hopes that it'll toughen him up. Angelo got himself killed pretty quickly and the symbiote found its way to Macdonald "Mac" Gargan, formerly the Scorpion, who had it until ''ComicBook/{{Siege}}'' (after which it ended up on, of all people, Flash Thompson).

* In the ''ComicBook/CaptainAmerica'' book ''Steve Rogers: Super-Soldier'' #4, Myron Smith sells vials of the super-soldier serum to generals and world leaders at an auction.
* The Network, originally debuting in ''ComicBook/TheFlash'', is a mobile black market for supervillains, complete with auctions for big-ticket weapons and famous stolen items.
* In ''ComicBook/GenerationX'' #6 (2017), some of the mutant students attend a villain auction where nano-sentinels are being sold to the bidder who offers the highest amounts of kills.
* In ''ComicBook/{{Hawkeye}}'' #4 (2012), at another villain auction in Madripoor, a tape that shows [[spoiler:Hawkeye killing a dictator]] is being sold off.

* In ''ComicBook/HuntForWolverine: Adamantium Agenda'', several [[ComicBook/TheAvengers Avengers]] go undercover on a [[SubStory submarine]] where genetic material of super-powered beings is auctioned off.
* In ''ComicBook/IronMan'' #1 (2012), Iron Man crashes an auction where kits of the Extremis enhancer are sold.

* The ComicBook/{{Venom}} symbiote was auctioned to the highest bidder eventually in ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'' comics by Eddie Brock himself. (Eddie was determined to give up being Venom and was actually planning to donate the money to charity, most likely not telling them where the money came from.) All the top villains were in attendance, as were scrubs like the Looter. Mobster Don Fortunado won and gave it to his wimpy son Angelo in hopes that it'll toughen him up. Angelo got himself killed pretty quickly and the symbiote found its way to Macdonald "Mac" Gargan, formerly the Scorpion, who had it until ''ComicBook/{{Siege}}'' (after which it ended up on, of all people, Flash Thompson).
* [[Characters/SupermanJimmyOlsen Jimmy Olsen]] is sold to the gentleman wearing the Superman cape in ''ComicBook/SupermansPalJimmyOlsen'' [[http://www.coverbrowser.com/image/jimmy-olsen/117-2.jpg #117]].
* In ''ComicBook/{{Wolverine}}'' #9 (2011), after Mystique was killed by Wolverine, her body was auctioned off to the Hand.