History Main / MerlinAndNimue

* 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 [[HotForStudent 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 ''[[FridgeHorror 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.
** The original plotline is aversion of this trope. Instead of a relationship they had FoeYay. The sorceress was a FortuneTeller who felt like Clow stole her business in Hong Kong, but fell in love with him anyways and never got a chance to tell him before he vanished. This was bowdlerized because the american execs thought kids wouldn't understand an economic rivals plot and instead opted for a 'good vs evil' thing.

* In ''[[WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague Justice League Unlimited]]'' Tala was instructed in the ways of magic by sorceror Felix Faust.

** One of the movies suggests that Dark Magician takes young, attractive, female apprentices on a regular basis, as Yugi's roster now includes a whole ''team'' of Magician Girls of varying ages and strengths, [[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]], all of which can support each other and other Spellcasters with powerful synergy.

* Achren and Arawn were apparently this prior to the ''Literature/PrydainChronicles'', 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.]]

* ''WebAnimation/{{Dreamscape}}'': Melinda's and Melissa's relationship was like this. Melissa was Melinda's apprentice because she wanted knowledge of TheDarkArts, but since Melinda ws still a SealedEvilInACan in her dimension, Melissa eventually left her. She continued to carry out Melinda's evil bidding, until Alice and Dylan helped her through a HeelFaceTurn.

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 different genders.

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) different genders, not to mention all the possible {{love|Tropes}} and {{sex|Tropes}}uality tropes that can potentially come into play.

Now, all you need to qualify for this trope is the pair of magic-users with the age and (sometimes) gender difference, and the other elements of their relationship or betraying each other need not be there at all. However, whether consciously or not, most writers tend to end up using at least some and often all of the elements present in the Trope Maker. This leads to the being a lot of different variations on this theme, and a lot of possible ways to play and present them.

* ''Film/FantasticBeastsTheCrimesOfGrindelwald'' proves that you do not always need the gender difference. In the book adaptation Dumbledore and Grindelwald fit this pattern: Dumbledore being the (slightly) older, more well versed in magic, and lovestruck partner and Grindelwald being the more ambitious partner who does the betrayal.

** Lucio, in particular, implies this is the case for ''almost all'' apprentices (presumably she means the ones who both fit the opposite gender requirement and are not related to their teacher), and muses aloud, "do any of them ever grow out of it?" Lucio falls under being bisexual, so it's very likely even some of her [[LesYay female]] students gained crushes on her.

* In ''Series/DoctorWho'', most of the Doctor's companions have been both female and much, much younger than he is, and usually pick up something of the arts of asskicking and space adventuring on their journey. Even his only two Time Lord companions, Romana and his granddaughter Susan, were both a good deal younger than him. While his immense experience obviously features into his exploits and interactions with his numerous co-adventurers, he only explicitly ''acts'' as a mentor toward those who are outright teenagers or from very low-tech societies and they were just as likely to be friends, co-workers, surrogate family members and/or partners-in-crime as lovers (with the latter category seldom going past UnresolvedSexualTension back in the classics, but getting overt enough from the TV movie onwards into the new series). However, the only betrayals (Adam Mitchell, Kamelion) or serious near-betrayals (Turlough) the Doctor has had have been from male companions (well, Kamelion's a genderless robot...)

* In Clamp's ''Manga/XxxHolic'' we have a witch / male apprentice version of this: Yuko and Watanuki, with the witch Yuko [[ParentalSubstitute very much being a mother figure towards orphan Watanuki.]] Later there's also a bonus of some indication that there may be feelings on Watanuki's end that [[MentorShip go further]] than that of a child towards a parent.

* In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'', a male mage Warden can be this with Wynne, dependent upon how you play him. Romance is not an option, though betrayal and murder are if you make the wrong choice. A male mage Warden can also be this with Morrigan, as although the exact ages are unclear, there's nothing stopping you from making your Warden look like Gandalf or Dumbledore.
** It's possible for a female mage to have this relationship with [[TheHermit Solas]] in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'', depending on what age you make the [[PlayerCharacter Inquisitor]]. Especially evident with an elven mage Inquisitor who pursues his romance. [[spoiler:And, as the person who gave the BigBad the ArtifactOfDoom, kickstarted the events of the game (albeit unintentionally), and lied about it the whole time, he could also qualify for the betrayal element of this trope as well.]]

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]]. There's one more important difference between the two of them: they're different genders.

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]], different genders, not to mention all the possible {{love|Tropes}} and {{sex|Tropes}}uality tropes that can potentially come into play.

Now, all you need to qualify for this trope is the pair of magic-users with the age and gender difference, and the other elements of their relationship or betraying each other need not be there at all. However, whether consciously or not, most writers tend to end up using at least some and often all of the elements present in the Trope Maker. This leads to the being a lot of different variations on this theme, and a lot of possible ways to play and present them.

* ''Literature/GwendalavirUniverse'': Portrayed as a TearJerker. Merwyn, the in-universe inspiration for the fictional Merlin, fell in love with an ArtificialHuman Vivyan (Vivian) created by the Ts'liches as a HoneyTrap. He was able to free her from their control and offer her freedom for a while, but as a creation from Imagination she ended up [[CessationOfExistence fading away]] once the Ts'liches power waned. Merwyn then locked himself under the Icy Frontiers Drawing the island of Avalon in hopes that he would eventually be able to surpass the limitations of Imagination and return Vivyan to Gwendalavir.

* ''Literature/GwendalavirUniverse'': Merwyn, the in-universe inspiration for the fictional Merlin, fell in love with an ArtificalHuman Vivyan (Vivian) created by the Ts'liches as a HoneyTrap. He was able to free her from their control and offer her freedom for a while, but as a creation from Imagination she ended up [[CessationOfExistence fading away]] once the Ts'liches power waned. Merwyn then locked himself under the Icy Frontiers Drawing the island of Avalon in hopes that he would eventually be able to surpass the limitations of Imagination and return Vivyan to Gwendalavir.

** Lucio, in particular, implies this is the case for ''almost all'' apprentices (presumably she means the ones who both fit the opposite gender requirement and are not related to their teacher), and muses aloud, "do any of them ever grow out of it?" Lucio falls under BiTheWay, so it's very likely even some of her [[LesYay female]] students gained crushes on her.

* [[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 [[FirstEpisodeSpoiler Fidelias' betrayal happens in the first couple chapters of the book]].

** 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 [[NeverLiveItDown 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.

The TropeNamer and probable TropeMaker is [[Myth/KingArthur the Arthurian Mythos]], where Myth/{{Merlin}} had a habit of teaching magic to younger women. In the oldest stories his pupil/lover's name was Nynave, (but this is often changed to Nimue and sometimes changed again to other names, with Vivien/Vivianne being the most common) and she eventually betrayed him and [[SealedGoodInACan bound Merlin in a tree, a rock or a cave]], depending on the version of the story you're reading or watching. (As a small note, if you're not an expert on Arthurian legend and are wondering why you don't hear about this character all that often, these days she is [[CompositeCharacter often combined]] or interchangeable with either Characters/TheLadyOfTheLake, Morgan le Fay, or Morgan's sister Morgause, the mother of Mordred.)

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* Comicbook/DoctorStrange has a lover/disciple named Clea, who appears physically younger than him and is [[FishOutOfWater naive about life on Earth]]. (She's ReallySevenHundredYearsOld.) In mainline continuity they genuinely love each other (in fact, they're actually married, by Dark Dimension law), but in ''ComicBook/EarthX'' she decided he was just using her for sex and killed him.

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* Both the Sith and the Jedi have some examples of this from the Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse. Of course, a Sith apprentice, male ''or'' female, is ''supposed'' to do this, as per the order's tradition.
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[[folder:Tabletop RPG]]

%%* ''WebAnimation/{{Dreamscape}}'': Melinda's and Melissa's relationship was like this. Melissa was Melinda's apprentice because she wanted knowledge of TheDarkArts, but since Melinda ws still a SealedEvilInACan in her dimension, Melissa eventually left her. She continued to carry out Melinda's evil bidding, until Alice and Dylan helped her through a HeelFaceTurn.

** This also comes up in regards to Wardens Lucio 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.]]

* 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 Gold Digger 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.]]

** Strange actually returns to the land of the living, only to have the spirit of Merlin himself conscript Strange as the mentor to Elisabeth Braddock, the former X-Man Psylocke. Merlin [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] the trope by telling Stephen "No playing doctor with ''this'' one, Strange."

* ''WebAnimation/{{Dreamscape}}'': Melinda's and Melissa's relationship was like this. Melissa was Melinda's apprentice because she wanted knowledge of TheDarkArts, but since Melinda ws still a SealedEvilInACan in her dimension, Melissa eventually left her. She continued to carry out Melinda's evil bidding, until Alice and Dylan helped her through a HeelFaceTurn.

* In ''Literature/TheMistsOfAvalon'', Nimue is a sympathetic character, a young priestess sent by Avolon to win Merlin's heart and lure him back for their revenge. The magic she uses to help make Merlin fall in love with her works in such a way that she too falls for him, but she is bound by duty to seduce and lure him to his death. [[DrivenToSuicide She kills herself afterward]].

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]]. There's one more important difference between the two of them: [[BattleCouple they're different genders]].

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]], different genders, not to mention all the possible [[LoveTropes love]] and [[SexTropes sexuality tropes]] that can potentially come into play.

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* ''Literature/FantasticBeastsTheCrimesOfGrindelwald'' proves that actually, you do not need the gender difference. In the book Dumbledore and Grindelwald fit this pattern: Dumbledore being the (slightly) older, more well versed in magic, and lovestruck partner and Grindelwald being the more ambitious partner who does the betrayal.

* 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 [[HotForStudent 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 [[SealedRoomInTheMiddleOfNowhere sealed her up in an alternate dimension he created and left her there]]. [[FridgeHorror (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.

* ''Literature/TheCrimesofGrindelwald''proves that actually, you do not need the gender difference. In the book Dumbledore and Grindelwald fit this pattern: Dumbledore being the (slightly) older, more well versed in magic, and lovestruck partner and Grindelwald being the more ambitious partner who does the betrayal.

* ''Literature/The CrimesofGrindelwald''proves that actually, you do not need the gender difference. In the book Dumbledore and Grindelwald fit this pattern: Dumbledore being the (slightly) older, more well versed in magic, and lovestruck partner and Grindelwald being the more ambitious partner who does the betrayal.