History Main / MerlinAndNimue

** [[Creator/GordonLiu Pai Mei]], Bill's thousand-year-old kung fu teacher, is a [[TrainingFromHell significantly crueler]] Merlin with a couple of platonic Nimues. Despite his general unpleasantness and his disdain for white people, Americans, women, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking blondes]], the Bride actually ends up earning his respect to the point where he [[spoiler:teaches her the Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique, which he never even taught Bill!]] His relationship with [[Creator/DarylHannah Elle Driver]] (another white American woman with blond hair, like the Bride) doesn't end quite so well: [[spoiler:he gouges out her eye after she insults him, and she gets her revenge by poisoning his fish heads]].

** Pai Mei, Bill's thousand-year-old kung fu teacher, is a [[TrainingFromHell significantly crueler]] Merlin with a couple of Nimues. Despite his general unpleasantness and his disdain for white people, Americans, women, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking blondes]], the Bride actually ends up earning his respect to the point where he [[spoiler:teaches her the Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique, which he never even taught Bill!]]. His relationship with [[Creator/DarylHannah Elle Driver]] (another white American woman with blond hair, like the Bride) doesn't end quite so well: [[spoiler:he gouges out her eye after she insults him, and she gets her revenge by poisoning his fish heads]].

** Graz'zt ''himself'' [[BeatThemAtTheirOwnGame was a victim of this]], even though he was also [[StockholmSyndrome technically a prisoner of his lover.]] The ''short'' version: The archmage Iggwilv summoned him and bound him using sealing magic; eventually, they became lovers (Iggwilv bearing his child, Iuz, [[TheDreaded who would grow up to become a notorious tyrant]] taught her forbidden arts, and acted as her advisor as she forged her empire. She never released him from his bonds, however, and eventually, it sank in that she was never going to. What made this [[OnceDoneNeverForgotten even more humiliating]] - for Graz'zt - is that when they finally did come to blows, she came closer to killing him than anyone had (or has since). The fight was a knock-out draw, with his material form destroyed (leaving him unable to leave his home plane for a century) and her left half dead and powerless. Her empire crumbled, and little was seen of her for decades.

* ''Literature/TheCrystalCave'': Subverted. Merlin and Niniane truly love each other and she innocently mistakes him for being dead when she buries him in the cave. When he comes back she has moved on to a younger lover and Merlin recognizes she is in any case no longer the girl he loved and the romantic relationship ends amicably on both sides.

Oh, and there's one more thing we forgot to mention: there's a good chance that [[FaceHeelTurn one member of this team will betray the other]], usually for [[DealWithTheDevil greater power]], in order to learn the legendary DangerousForbiddenTechnique, or to TakeOverTheWorld. In the process of doing so they often either become the story's BigBad or TheDragon, or the other character's personal ArchEnemy. Which rather puts a damper on their relationship...

At the most basic level, this trope is about a partnership between two magic-users where [[StudentAndMasterTeam one is older (and thus usually the master/teacher or the more powerful member of the team), and the other member is younger and the apprentice type figure]]. And more often than not, they're of opposite sexes.

Now, if the relationship is being looked at closely, obviously there are a lot of potential tropes that could come into play for various factors, including the possibilities for communication difficulties with [[GrumpyOldMan two people of]] [[BrattyHalfPint different age groups]], (sometimes) of opposite sexes, not to mention all the possible {{love|Tropes}} and {{sex|Tropes}}uality tropes that can potentially come into play.

[[caption-width-right:319:''Merlin and Vivien,'' photograph by Julia Margaret Cameron 1874]] ]]

[[caption-width-right:319:[[-Merlin and Vivien,- photograph by Julia Margaret Cameron 1874]] ]]

[[caption-width-right:319:[-Merlin and Vivien,- photograph by Julia Margaret Cameron 1874] ]]

[[caption-width-right:319:[-Now that we're lovers, I'll teach her everything I know. WhatCouldPossiblyGoWrong-] ]]

* ''WebVideo/CriticalRole'': In Campaign 2, Caleb and Essek end up with this sort of character dynamic, though it is subverted in several ways. First off, they're both male - however, they're still attracted to each other and WordOfGod says they'll [[spoiler: end up as a romantic couple after the end of the campaign storyline, at least for a while, followed by a close friendship in Caleb's old age.]] They aren't exactly a team during the campaign storyline, but that's because Essek is an NPC[[note]] (a supporting character played by the GameMaster, who also has his hands full playing every other supporting character and enemy; besides, "GM-PCs" are frowned upon in the TabletopRPG community)[[/note]] and as such can only rarely accompany the player characters on their adventures - and it's heavily implied that these two will work much closer together after the end of the campaign. Despite the mutual attraction, it's not the student who seduces the mentor - which wouldn't have worked anyway, because [[WordofGay Essek]] is [[UsefulNotes/{{Asexuality}} demisexual]] - instead, it's more a case of the mentor tempting the student with arcane knowledge [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2vjpufe0V0 in a quasi-seductive fashion]], in order to be able to keep an eye on the student. When these two first meet, Essek is the far more experienced wizard and he teaches Caleb a special type of magic that only Essek's people know how to do, and he actually is the older at [[Really700YearsOld 140+ years of age]] - but he's an Elf, so he still looks so much like [[TheTwink a twink]] that the players nicknamed him "hot boi".[[note]] (In D&D 5th edition, Elves reach physical maturity at about 20 years, just like every other race. But they only start considering themselves emotionally mature enough to declare themselves adults and settle down at around a century old. So there's a very long 'college kid' phase. While Essek does behave like an experienced adult and he has quite a lot of responsibility to deal with in his job as the Bright Queen's spymaster, he's not even considered middle-aged yet by elven standards and he eventually turns out to be somewhat emotionally stunted due to long periods of loneliness and bad parenting.)[[/note]] In contrast, Caleb is a human in his mid-30s who looks middle-aged due to dealing with harsh living conditions for the last few years, and while he technically only has about 25 years worth of life experience, he always was a serious and reponsible boy and then had to grow up very quickly as a young adult, so he actually does come across like a middle-aged (and clinically depressed) man.[[note]] (Caleb spent the last few years before the start of the campaign living as a vagrant and sleeping rough, and for most of his 20s, [[spoiler: he was imprisoned in a mental asylum, basically catatonic and not exactly treated well. And before that, he was recruited straight out of wizard university and subjected to a 'training program' of severe physical and emotional abuse in order to brainwash him into becoming a magic assassin for his own country's spymaster. And that's not even the worst of his trauma...]])[[/note]] Eventually, their mentor/student power dynamic [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QC3UcWGGHAw flips around]] - not in the magic teaching sense, but in a moral and therapeutic sense: Because here, [[spoiler: Essek is the one who turns out to be a traitor - not directly betraying Caleb and the other player characters, but betraying his own country and government (with whom the players had sort of allied themselves as the [[GrayAndGrayMorality better option]]) by working with the enemy spy organization who had harmed Caleb. And Essek did it purely to satisfy his scientific/magic-related curiosity. The two countries went to war, largely as the result of Essek's treason, and thousands of people died. As someone who had let himself be convinced to do similar harm to innocent people when he was young, if on a far more personal scale, Caleb is the one who talks Essek into stepping back from the abyss of his path towards evil, and then later advises him on how to live with the guilt and self-loathing.]]

* Music/HeatherDale's song "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hn8JVmPA6qc Hawthorn Tree]]" is about Merlin and Nimue, (here called "Vivienne," either an alternate name for Nimue or a different LadyOfTheLake, depending on the telling). Her motives and the legitimacy of their romance is kept mostly ambiguous.

* ''WebVideo/CriticalRole'' Campaign 2: Caleb and Essek end up with this sort of character dynamic, though probably accidentally and it is subverted in several ways. First off, they're both male - however, they're still attracted to each other and WordOfGod says they'll [[spoiler: end up as a romantic couple after the end of the campaign storyline, at least for a while, followed by a close friendship in Caleb's old age.]] They aren't exactly a team during the campaign storyline, but that's because Essek is an NPC[[note]] (a supporting character played by the GameMaster, who also has his hands full playing every other supporting character and enemy; besides, "GM-PCs" are frowned upon in the TabletopRPG community)[[/note]] and as such can only rarely accompany the player characters on their adventures - but it's heavily implied that these two will work closer together after the end of the campaign. Despite the mutual attraction, it's not the student who seduces the mentor - which wouldn't have worked anyway, because [[WordofGay Essek]] is [[UsefulNotes/{{Asexuality}} demisexual]] - instead, it's more a case of the mentor tempting the student with arcane knowledge [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2vjpufe0V0 in a quasi-seductive fashion]], in order to be able to keep an eye on the student. When these two first meet, Essek is the far more experienced wizard and he teaches Caleb a special type of magic that only Essek's people know how to do, and he actually is the older at [[Really700YearsOld 140+ years of age]] - but he's an Elf, so still looks so much like [[TheTwink a twink]] that the players nicknamed him "hot boi".[[note]] (In D&D 5th edition, Elves reach physical maturity at about 20 years, just like every other race. But they only start considering themselves emotionally mature enough to declare themselves adults and settle down at around a century old. So there's a very long 'college kid' phase. While Essek does behave like an experienced adult and he has quite a lot of responsibility to deal with in his job as the Bright Queen's spymaster, he's not even considered middle-aged yet by elven standards and he eventually turns out to be somewhat emotionally stunted due to long periods of loneliness and bad parenting.)[[/note]] In contrast, Caleb is a human in his mid-30s who looks middle-aged due to dealing with harsh living conditions for the last few years, and while he technically only has about 25 years worth of life experience, he always was a serious and reponsible boy and then had to grow up very quickly as a young adult.[[note]] (Caleb basically spent the last 5 years before the start of the campaign living as a vagrant and sleeping rough, and for most of his 20s, [[spoiler: he was locked up in a mental asylumn, basically catatonic and not exactly treated well. And before that, he was recruited straight out of wizard university and subjected to a 'training program' of severe physical and emotional abuse in order to brainwash him into becoming a magic assassin for his own country's spymaster. And that's not even the worst of his trauma...]])[[/note]] Eventually, their mentor/student power dynamic [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QC3UcWGGHAw flips around]] - not in the magic teaching sense, but in a moral and therapeutic sense: Because here, [[spoiler: Essek is the one who turns out to be a traitor - not directly betraying Caleb and the other player characters, but betraying his own country and government (with whom the players had sort of allied themselves as the [[GrayAndGrayMorality better option]]) by working with the enemy spy organization who had harmed Caleb. And Essek did it purely to satisfy his scientific/magic-related curiosity. The two countries went to war, largely as the result of Essek's treason, and thousands of people died. As someone who had let himself get talked into causing similar harm to innocent people, if on a far more personal scale, Caleb is the one who talks Essek into stepping back from the abyss of his path towards evil, and then later advises him on how to live with the guilt and self-loathing.]]

* ''WebVideo/CriticalRole'' Campaign 2: Caleb and Essek end up with this sort of character dynamic, though probably accidentally and it is subverted in several ways. First off, they're both male - however, they're still attracted to each other and WordofGod says they'll [[spoiler: end up as a romantic couple after the end of the campaign storyline, at least for a while, followed by a close friendship in Caleb's old age.]] They aren't exactly a team during the campaign storyline, but that's because Essek is an NPC and as such can only rarely accompany the player characters on their adventures - but it's heavily implied that these two will work closer together after the end of the campaign. Despite the mutual attraction, it's not the student who seduces the mentor - which wouldn't have worked anyway, because [[WordofGay Essek]] is [[UsefulNotes/{{Asexuality}} demisexual]] - instead, it's more a case of the mentor tempting the student with arcane knowledge [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2vjpufe0V0 in a quasi-seductive fashion]], in order to keep an eye on him. When these two first meet, Essek is the far more experienced wizard and he teaches Caleb a special type of magic that only Essek's people know how to do, and he actually is the older at [[Really700YearsOld 140+ years of age]] - but he's an Elf, so still looks so much like [[TheTwink a twink]] that the players nicknamed him "hot boi".[[note]] (In D&D 5th edition, Elves reach physical maturity at about 20 years, just like every other race. But they only start considering themselves emotionally mature enough to declare themselves adults and settle down at around a century old. So there's a very long 'college kid' phase. While Essek does behave like an experienced adult and he has quite a lot of responsibility to deal with in his job as the Bright Queen's spymaster, he's technically not even considered middle-aged yet and he eventually turns out to be somewhat emotionally stunted due to long periods of loneliness.)[[/note]] In contrast, Caleb is a human in his mid-30s who looks middle-aged due to dealing with harsh living conditions for the last few years, and while he technically doesn't have 35 years worth of life experience, he always was a serious and reponsible boy and then had to grow up very quickly as a young adult.[[note]] (Caleb basically spent the last 5 years before the start of the campaign living as a vagrant and sleeping rough, and for most of his 20s, [[spoiler: he was locked up in a mental asylumn, basically catatonic and not exactly treated well. And before that, he was recruited straight out of wizard university and subjected to s 'training programme' of severe physical and mental abuse in order to brainwash him into becoming a magic assassin for his own country's spymaster. And that's not even the worst of his trauma...]])[[/note]] Eventually, their mentor/student power dynamic [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QC3UcWGGHAw flips around]] - not in the magic teaching sense, but in a moral and therapeutic sense: Because here, [[spoiler: Essek is the one who turns out to be a traitor - not directly betraying Caleb and the other player characters, but betraying his own country and government (with whom the players had sort of allied themselves as the [[GrayAndGrayMorality better option]]) by working with the people who had harmed Caleb. And Essek did it purely to satisfy his scientific/magic-related curiosity. The two countries went to war, largely as the result of Essek's treason, and thousands of people died. As someone who had let himself get talked into causing similar harm, if on a far more personal scale, Caleb is the one who starts to teach Essek how step back from the abyss of his path towards evil, and then later how to deal with the guilt.]]
--> '''[[spoiler: Caleb]]''' These people changed me. These people can change you. You were not born with venom in your veins. You learnt it. You ''learnt'' it. You have a rare opportunity here. ''One'' chance to save yourself. And we are offering it. And I am ''pleading'' with you to find your better self. He is still there.
--> '''[[spoiler: Essek]]''' There is no path to redemption for me. I am a dead man.
--> '''[[spoiler: Caleb]]''' [leans in to give him a kiss on the forehead] Maybe you and I are both damned. But we can choose to do something and leave it better than it was before.

* In ''LightNovel/LordElMelloiIICaseFiles'', the relationship between El-Melloi II and his apprentice Grey is a platonic version of this (apart from a brief moment where she [[BeautifulDreamer admires him as he sleeps]]).

* ''Literature/TheLostYearsOfMerlin'' switches it around: in the second book, ''Nimue'' is a bit older than thirteen-year-old Merlin and teaches him some magic stuff, but mostly she's just flirting so that she can steal his MagicStaff while he's distracted. In the fourth book, a {{Time Travel}}ing adult Nimue is the BigBad; she still looks young, despite coming from a time period when Merlin looks old, but there doesn't seem to have been any more mentorship or romance between them.

* In the American dub of the first movie to ''Manga/CardcaptorSakura'', it is revealed that Clow Reed had a student known only as "Madoushi" ("Sorceress"), who was also [[TeacherStudentRomance his girlfriend]]. They had a good relationship, until she decided she wanted more power and [[FaceHeelTurn began practicing dark magic]]. He couldn't allow her to continue to do this, so he [[WhatTheHellHero called her out on this]] and told her that she was no longer his student (and no longer his girlfriend), despite her protests and promises that they could rule the world together. She continued to practice her dark magic, so he sealed her up in [[SealedRoomInTheMiddleOfNowhere an alternate dimension he created]] and left her there. (It is not known when or even if he ever intended to let her out.) She died in there, [[GhostlyGoals still waiting to be set free]], and causes problems for Sakura and her friends.

** Averted with the "Magician Girl" archetype, introduced in one of the movies as Yugi's monsters, whose monsters ([[http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Choco_Magician_Girl Choco]], [[http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Apple_Magician_Girl Apple,]] [[http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Lemon_Magician_Girl Lemon,]] [[http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Berry_Magician_Girl Berry]] and [[http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Kiwi_Magician_Girl Kiwi,]]) are all [[{{Expy}} Expies]] of the DMG capable of supporting other "Magician Girls", but have no direct connection to the Dark Magician himself.

* In ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureBattleTendency'', both Joseph Joestar and Caesar Zeppelin are trained in [[KiManipulation Hamon]] by the mysterious Hamon Master Lisa Lisa. While Caesar sees Lisa Lisa as a ParentalSubstitute, it's clear that Joseph finds her attractive, namely when he peeks on her taking a bath as revenge for the TrainingFromHell. [[spoiler:It's later revealed that Lisa Lisa is actually Elizabeth Joestar, Joseph's MissingMom. She tells him after the defeat of [[BigBad the Pillar Men]]]].

* ''Literature/TheRedemptionOfAlthalus'' featured this relationship between the female god usually called Em and her pupil, former thief turned immortal mage Althalus. The two become lovers and there is no betrayal.
** Later there's a quasi-example when a witch is added to the team and regards Althalus as her teacher and something of a father figure but still flirts with him quite often, much to Althalus' chagrin.
** Also from Creator/DavidEddings, [[Literature/TheBelgariad Belgarath and Polgara]] might be a UST-less father-daughter example. And Sparhawk and his goddess? That just gets weird, man.
*** Although Aphrael is not his goddess, but whom the Pandions turn to when they need to perform magic. And she had a few legitimate reasons for her actions. Even managed to work it into the plot.

* In ''Literature/TheSwordOfTruth'' series of books, Richard Rahl has this relationship with Sister Verna, as well as the other Sisters of Light. In the later books, the trope is even more prevalent in his relationship with [[spoiler: Nicci]], who has become something of [[TheLancer his]] [[BlackMagicianGirl right]] [[NumberTwo hand]], mentor, and unlike Verna, definitely has feelings for him.
* In ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'', Moiraine has this relationship early in the series with Rand, although with a distinct lack of romantic overtones. In the later books, Cadsuane takes up the older mentor role in Moiraine's place. This gets awkward when Rand integrates the memories from his last incarnation, Lews Therin (whose voice in his head, though not memories, had been a symptom of his insanity), as he points out to Cadsuane he was four hundred years old when he died in the Age of Legends, and hardly a 'boy' any longer.
** The original story itself gets used, in a very WEIRD way. Instead of Nimue imprisoning Merlin in a cave, we have Merlin (Thom Merillin) ''rescuing'' Morgana (Moiraine) from a cave, and Nimue (using the older name Nynaeve) doesn't even take part. All this is a couple thousand years after the time of King Arthur (Artur Hawkwing).
* In ''Blood and Iron'' by Creator/ElizabethBear, "Merlin" is not an individual, but a title for a quasi-messianic avatar of magic that is born every few centuries to advise an equally quasi-messianic "Dragon Prince", and the Nimue gambit is the method by which TheFairFolk attempt to gain control of this individual and ensure that the momentous events set in motion by the Merlin's coming are resolved to their benefit.

* Harry Dresden and his apprentice [[spoiler:Molly Carpenter]] in ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' by Creator/JimButcher. Harry is older, in his thirties (although WizardsLiveLonger so he is just coming into his own power and not generally thought of as venerable by any means) when he takes on an apprentice who's still a teen. He makes it very clear from the start that there is not going to be any romantic connection between the two, with a bucket of icy water. This is for a number of reasons. Two big ones: he's too good to abuse the power relationship like that, and he has been a friend of her father since she was a child so it would be {{Squick}}y, but there are many hints that she has feelings for him nonetheless. He's intellectually aware that she's gorgeous, and academically appreciative, but not remotely interested (as he puts it, he can admire the scenery without wanting to go camping there). We know there are lots of magic lessons going on behind the scenes and in {{Noodle Incident}}s, but on stage we see more life lessons being learned than actual magic.
** In ''Literature/ColdDays'', when [[spoiler:Molly]] is in her mid-twenties and only his apprentice in the sense that she hasn't technically graduated, it's pointed out to him that the power relationship is very different, the relative age-gap is smaller and shrinking, and she's not a kid anymore - physically or mentally. Plus, WizardsLiveLonger. While he's holding a torch for Murphy and has problems with being [[spoiler: the Winter Knight]], he finally tacitly admits that it's a possibility - if not a very likely one. [[spoiler:The end of that book seems to end it beyond all doubt, with Molly becoming the Winter Lady, which means she CantHaveSexEver, due to the nature of the mantle.]]
** This also comes up in regards to Wardens Luccio and Morgan, whose relationship was very similar, [[UnresolvedSexualTension one-sided UST and all.]] Also of note is Ebenezer [=McCoy=] and [[spoiler: Margaret Dresden, Harry's mother. Though they did ''not'' have any sort of romantic or sexual relationship, as it's eventually revealed that she was his daughter.]]
** Luccio, in particular, implies this is the case for ''almost all'' apprentices (presumably she means the ones who both fit the opposite sex requirement and are not related to their teacher), and muses aloud, "do any of them ever grow out of it?" Luccio falls under being bisexual, so it's very likely even some of her [[LesYay female]] students gained crushes on her.
** It's also indicated in passing by Harry that apparently this kind of relationship is not uncommon or one-sided (though not necessarily lasting), and that a lot of teaching includes the teaching of intimacy alongside magic, given how deeply both are tied up with life (Dresdenverse magic relates a lot to personal philosophy - if you believe it and you have magic, it's as good as real). Given that this is a setting where a lot of monsters use sex appeal as a direct or indirect weapon to gain power over people or outright kill them, there is a certain degree of logic to it.
** In ''Literature/PeaceTalks'', it's implied that [[spoiler:Queen Mab, back when she was a mortal,]] was ''the'' Nimue. No details are revealed, but [[spoiler:Corb]] definitely [[BerserkButton strikes a nerve]] when he starts mocking [[spoiler: Mab]] over her relationship with [[spoiler:Merlin]].
* [[NonIndicativeName Fidelias]] and Amara in the ''Literature/CodexAlera'' series, also by Jim Butcher. It's not a perfect example because all humans in this setting have magical powers so their StudentAndMasterTeam is nothing unusual. Other than that, though, it fits perfectly, with their relationship being integral parts of their characters throughout the series even though [[FirstEpisodeTwist Fidelias' betrayal happens in the first couple chapters of the book]].
* In ''Literature/TheExiles'' Gorynel Desse and [[spoiler: Cailet]], although he doesn't act on his feelings.
* Achren and Arawn were apparently this prior to ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfPrydain'', according to what Gwydion tells Taran. Achren was the evil sorceress and queen ruling all of Prydain, and Arawn was her pupil and consort. Once he learned enough magic from her, he turned on her and became the ruler of Annuvin, the land of the dead. [[spoiler:She gets her revenge near the end of the series, having performed a HeelFaceTurn and joined the good guys.]]
* In ''Literature/IronDruidChronicles'', 2000-year-old Atticus takes twenty-something [[spoiler: Granuaile]] as his apprentice. They have a slow-burn relationship during the apprenticeship, which Atticus only allows himself to act on once [[spoiler: Granuaile]] becomes a [[spoiler: full Druid]]. They remain a couple until [[spoiler: Granuaile]] discovers what Atticus allowed to happen to Freyja.
* In Literature/TheMerlinTrilogy Mary Stewart writes the traditional Merlin/Nimue relationship as a genuine romance that comes to a natural and amicable end after Merlin's faux death.
* ''Literature/JourneyToChaos'': Eric Watley, who is a mage apprentice himself, unofficially takes on a younger girl, Zettai, as his own apprentice. She has a PrecociousCrush on him. He once had a daydream where he was an old man and Zettai was an adult and then he dismissed it for being squicky.
* ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfAmber'': the protagonist, named Merlin, is attacked and imprisoned in an anti-magical crystal cave. Turns out, the culprit is [[spoiler:Julia, his ex-girlfriend]], whom he ''refused'' to teach magic earlier.
* ''Literature/IAmMordred'': Nyneve (Nimue's original name) trapped Merlin in the form of a hawk to get rid of him. Unlike most examples though, Merlin is portrayed as cruel and richly deserving it. He wanted to force Nyneve into having a relationship with him, and so doing this felt like her only way to escape.
* In the first two books of the ''{{Literature/Nightrunner}}'' series we have Nysander, who is a kindly elderly wizard (mentor to the main characters and close advisor to the Queen), and Ylinestra, who is a young-ish female mage come from foreign lands to study with him. They aren't exactly a team (Nysander also has an official male apprentice, who has far more scenes with him and supports him in major rituals) and they're not in love, but they ''are'' having sex. In fact, their relationship is introduced as basically the wizard version of a Sugar Daddy arrangement - Nysander knows perfectly well that this beautiful young woman only has sex with him in return for his magic teachings, as apparently several other young women have before her. He's okay with that, and isn't even upset when he finds out that she's having an affair with his apprentice on the side, as well as having a hobby of "seducing" virginal teenage boys. And then [[spoiler: she betrays them both and it turns out that she really was a FemmeFataleSpy for an enemy country.]]

* Happens in ''Series/BabylonFive'' between the extremely powerful human telepath Lyta Alexander and the two successive Vorlon ambassadors (SufficientlyAdvancedAliens) that she serves, Kosh and Ulkesh. She and Kosh have a generally positive relationship until Kosh's death, but Ulkesh treats her outright abusively, to the point that she participates in a successful plot to assassinate him, which is thoroughly approved of by the story. And there was strong innuendo that both relationships [[InterspeciesRomance had a pseudo-sexual element]], given that Lyta carried the Vorlons around inside of her mind and body at times.

* Antonidas and Jaina from ''VideoGame/{{Warcraft}}''. He was the archmage of Dalaran and she was a student of his. There was no sexual chemistry here, ([[FanFic though the internet may disagree]]) and no betrayal among themselves.
* Somewhat surprisingly averted in ''VideoGame/QuestForGloryII'', where the player character, (a young hero [[FighterMageThief who can be a magic user if you choose that class]]) and the experienced enchantress Aziza do not form this relationship. Although Aziza will gladly give you lots of advice and bring up a subquest or two, she will not sponsor your entrance into [[WizardingSchool the Wizard's Academy]] (she takes that sort of thing very seriously and hasn't known you long enough or well enough yet) and she doesn't tutor you in magic or help your growth in it otherwise.
** ''VideoGame/QuestForGloryIV'', on the other hand, has an evil version in the relationship between [[spoiler:Ad Avis and Katrina. She defeated him many years ago when he challenged her in magic, made him her apprentice, and bit him so that he would rise again as a vampire under her control upon his death (i.e. when you defeated him at the end of the second game). This upset PoliticallyIncorrectVillain Ad Avis, so he soon began scheming her downfall, first by trying to use TheHero to kill her, and later by exploiting her feelings for The Hero so that she wound up TakingTheBullet for him. Oh, and if you're a wizard Katrina will teach you a spell or two in 4 and again if you save her from Hades in 5.]]
*** [[spoiler: Erana also teaches you a spell if you save her in 5 instead. In the rest of the games, she simply leaves scrolls behind for clever wizards to find.]]
* This was [[VideoGame/CliveBarkersUndying Bethany Covenant's]] modus operandi, learning everything she can from other magic users before betraying or abandoning them. She finally met her end when her final teacher offed ''her'' first.
* This is the stated relationship between {{Big Bad}}s Mondain and Minax in the first two ''VideoGame/{{Ultima}}'' games, although without betrayal; Minax is so distraught over her mentor and lover's death that she screws up all time and space.

* ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsOriginalGeneration: Dark Prison'': Yong has a "master" whose instructions or advice she usually references when in self thought; or whose existence she uses as an encouragement. She usually praises his keen farsight. Said master is [[spoiler:Mekibos.]]
* Isendra, implied to be the Sorceress from ''VideoGame/DiabloII'', had this sort of relationship with her apprentice who would eventually become the Wizard of ''VideoGame/DiabloIII''.
* In the backstory to ''VideoGame/BanjoKazooie'', the WickedWitch Gruntilda is said to have been an apprentice to the lovable shaman Mumbo Jumbo, but she got into dark magic, [[PupilTurnedEvil ultimately betraying him]] and cursing him with a SkullForAHead.

* ''VideoGame/FateGrandOrder'': ''Cosmos in the Lostbelt'' plays with expectations on this trope by initially presenting Artoria Caster, an AlternateTimeline counterpart to Saber from ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'', as a country bumpkin mage girl who claims to know magecraft after being taught by Merlin in her childhood via magic communication. This plays into expectations that she is the same character as Saber where she became the Nimue to Merlin, but [[spoiler:she's actually a faerie [[TheChosenOne sent from Avalon to forge the Holy Sword Excalibur]]. Her teacher, "Merlin", isn't actually the real Merlin, it's the AlternateTimeline Oberon who taught her how to use magic when he caught wind of her wish to make fire to keep herself warm [[AllTheOtherReindeer after being given the cold shoulder by all other faeries]] during her childhood. He taught her for a year, going out of his way to teach himself magecraft and new techniques every few days just to to fulfill her increasingly specific wishes.]] She set out on her journey part of a desire to see if she can meet Merlin in person. [[spoiler:Artoria eventually does when she meets Oberon, but doesn't realize it until much later. They do fall out and become enemies at the very end, but it's unrelated to their teacher-student relationship as Oberon is actually an OmnicidialManiac who longs to see all of human history brought down with the planet.]] Lastly, the age gap is much smaller than most examples as Artoria is 16 and [[spoiler:Oberon is only 18.]]