History Main / TheWomenAreSafeWithUs

Movies that involve historical generals, chiefs, or warlords will generally [[HistoricalHeroUpgrade treat it as a given]] that they didn't tolerate such things unless such leaders are the villains of the work. Sometimes the all-too-common occurrence of officers who ''did'' disapprove being limited in their ability to control their men will be shown since it still leaves the hero sympathetic.

Often a case of ValuesDissonance. Behavior that was [[PoliticallyCorrectHistory often tolerated or even approved]] strikes us as [[{{Squick}} horrifying and disgusting]] and gets [[IHaveYouNowMyPretty reserved only for the villains.]]

Too many aversions go to the opposite extreme, painting whatever era or world they're set in as a NoWomansLand CrapsackWorld, which is an oversimplification at best, sometimes outright {{Demonization}}. At the same time, this trope was played straight throughout history and in fact was more likely to happen than not. Commanders like to maintain discipline and order amongst the ranks, an Army without either is basically a mob, and there are few better ways to cause such breakdown than letting the troops run wild over womenfolk. RealLife Pirate Codices (pirates, due to being confined to very limited space, required the strictest discipline of all), tellingly, often had a clause for severely punishing the rape of female captives, execution on the spot being common enough. Throwing the captive women overboard was still fair play though.

BlackComedy may invoke [[ArentYouGoingToRavishMe Aren't You Going To Ravish Us?]]

* 1962's ''Film/The300Spartans'' has the evil King Xerxes ordering that his soldiers on the campaign be given one last night with their wives, then the women are to be killed. Yes, women from ''his'' side. "There are plenty of women in Athens and Sparta and I want my men to be eager to get at them". [[MoralEventHorizon Perhaps the audience wasn't quite sure he was the villain of the movie yet.]] How the Spartans treated the enemy women is of course not discussed.

* Both played straight and averted in 1960's ''Film/{{Spartacus}}''. The gladiator students (who are slaves) are, as a perk, given women (also slaves) to spend the night with. Varinia meekly prepares to go through with it, her sense of dignity long since subjugated by her survival instinct. But Spartacus will have none of it - especially since his owners are leering to watch the show. Whether he's reluctant to take advantage of Varinia, simply appalled by the idea of performing for an audience or both is not made 100 % clear. Averted in that the other women with the other gladiators are almost certainly being ravished. In spite of this, the other gladiators later form Spartacus' army and retain audience sympathy.
* 1995's ''Film/{{Braveheart}}'' featured the occupying English attempting to rape Murron in her town. Later in the movie, Wallace's army of Scots attack and sack the city of York. The head of the city's lord is sent back to London. The audience is left to draw their own conclusions as to how the Scots treated the other townsfolk of York.
* In the 1999 movie ''Film/TheMessengerTheStoryOfJoanOfArc'', Joan's sister is murdered and raped (in that grisly order) by the villainous English knight (There's no record, by the way, of that having happened).

* The 2004 movie ''Film/{{Troy}}'', both supports and avoids this trope, depending on how much we're supposed to identify with the character. Achilles' nameless soldiers behave the way you might expect an ancient army to towards Trojan captive Briseis (not well). Achilles' lieutenant Eudorus also sees her as a prize to be enjoyed by his boss and is not chastised for his attitude. Agamemnon, being the dastard of the film, naturally feels the same way. Audience-courting Achilles however, is shown to be respectful of Briseis. The script takes pains to show that sex between them is consensual. Achilles even rescues her from rape at the hands of his men (out of altruism, it seems, not jealousy). OTOH, in Homer's ''Literature/TheIliad'', Briseis is seized by Achilles and later Agamemnon as a prize. Her consent, or lack thereof, is not treated as a concern either way.

* ''Film/FleshAndBlood1985'' brutally avoids this trope. A slimy nobleman cheats a band of mercs led by Rutger Hauer. It looks like it's going to be an old-fashioned revenge flick until [[AntiHero Rutger]] & Co capture and gang rape the betrothed of the nobleman's son. The fact that said woman [[NotRapeIfYouEnjoyedItRationalization seems to enjoy]] the AntiHero's attention is all that saves him from being a [[CardCarryingVillain the undisputed bad guy of the flick]] (for the '''story's''' purpose, that is; this '''''does not''''' and '''''ought not''''' fly in real life). It quickly becomes an open question of who to cheer for then.
** She pretends to enjoy it in order to get the protection of Rutger's character against his fellow soldiers but eventually develops feelings for him (at one point saving his life from plague-infected drink after having allowed his comrades to be exposed).
* Clumsily handled in the ''[[Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000 [=MST3K=]]]''-fodder movie ''Film/{{Deathstalker}}'', which contains a scene where the antihero forces himself on a female character, presumably to show that he isn't all ''that'' good.
* ''Film/The Magnificent Seven|1960}}''. The villagers hide their women because they're afraid the hired guns will rape them. Creator/YulBrynner's character acknowledges that their fears are not entirely unjustified (not all gunslingers being as noble as the seven, after all) but opines that "you might have given us the benefit of the doubt." In ''Film/SevenSamurai'', a father is so terrified that his daughter will be raped by the Samurai that he cuts off her hair to disguise her as a boy.

* This is a plot point in the 2007 film ''Film/TheWarlords'', with Creator/JetLi.
* Zig-Zagged in the German film ''[[Film/Stalingrad1993 Stalingrad]]''. Near the end of the film, the platoon discovers a Russian woman tied to a bed whom Captain Haller has been keeping as a sex slave. Some of the soldiers suggest "taking turns" with her, but [[OfficerAndAGentleman Lieutenant Von Witzland]] ultimately enforces this trope.

* The ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' series, which painfully [[{{Deconstruction}} deconstructs]] everything else about medieval-style life and the stereotypical KnightInShiningArmor, hits this one as well. Soldiers from ''every'' army involved in the War of the Five Kings are shown engaging in various atrocities, including, quite frequently, rape -- regardless of whether they support the protagonists or not. A few nobles have edicts against their men raping (most notably Daenerys Targaryen, who is a woman herself and took a number of eunuchs into her army because they wouldn't rape, and Stannis Baratheon, who embodies HonorBeforeReason), but they are the exception to the rule. Rape is, however, a crime outside of times of war, and rapists without the fortune of noble blood are shown as having a choice between castration and serving with the Night Watch. Highborn rapists go scot-free, though, and [[MaritalRapeLicense marital rape]] isn't even considered a crime.
** In the real medieval world, though they had no concept of marital rape, taking your "conjugal rights" by force was seen as mistreating your wife, sometimes even as blasphemy against the sacrament of marriage. It could sometimes be grounds for a civil divorce (like other kinds of abuse), though it varied by region, being a matter of civil law rather than Church law.

* In the ''1632'' series the armies the "uptimers" come across are frequently mercenary companies without regulation regarding rape (not that the downtimers consider it in the same light as their twenty-first-century neighbors), and the characters deal with the resultant complications.
* The short story ''[[http://www.strangehorizons.com/2006/20060731/women-f.shtml The Women of our Occupation]]'', by Kameron Hurley, subverts this. The "invaders" in this story are [[InvertedTrope women]], conquering a patriarchal 1950s-style society. [[spoiler:The main character gets pulled into an alleyway by one of them, who walked with him under the guise of bringing him home safe, and gets raped by her.]]
* ''Literature/TheSwordOfTruth'' series has [[PunctuatedforEmphasis every. single. bad guy.]] be a rapist. For example, the books constantly point out that Jagang's (the villain) army is full of rapists. We couldn't even begin to guess how many times it's mentioned that some soldier or soldiers are/were raping women and children. The armies of the good guys, on the other hand, are super professional and would never rape anyone.

* One of the Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse books, ''Tales Of The Bounty Hunters'', has a short story about Leia in her metal bikini being shoved into Boba Fett's room for the night since Jabba wants to give his bounty hunter something extra. Fett gives her the bed, leans against the wall, and tells her that sex outside of marriage is immoral, the Rebellion is morally wrong, and Han Solo is worse than he is because Solo smuggles spice.
** Yes, Boba Fett, working for Jabba the Hutt, the guy who ''Han was smuggling spice for'', thinks he possesses the moral high ground, and maybe because she's got common sense Leia doesn't press it. At any rate, he didn't send her back because that would insult Jabba.
--->'''Fett''': "I won't hurt you. I won't touch you. Sleep if you will. Or not; I don't care."
** Fett pointed out that what he was doing (pursuing bounties) was technically legal, and that he sees his relationship with Jabba as strictly business. He also opines that once the Rebellion is crushed, the Empire will likely deal with Jabba, but right now he's a lesser evil to them.
** This isn't the only time Fett has acted this way. ''Usually'', he isn't a cruel man; he's just completely uncaring of whoever he's hired to apprehend. (And there was no real profit in hurting Leia, especially since she was already a prisoner.) Later ExpandedUniverse stories turn him into an already-married man (and father) who is completely loyal to his (estranged) wife (this [[CanonDiscontinuity contradicts earlier text]] which states he's never even ''held'' a woman, let alone had sex with one). [[note]] Turns into FridgeBrilliance with what is established later about Mandalorian culture. They're ''fanatically'' [[FamilyValuesVillain family-oriented]], to the point where one of their nastiest insults translates to "unfit parent." If a Mando man rapes a woman, there's a chance he could father a child that he neglects to raise, which is unforgivable by their honor code. [[/note]]

* ''Franchise/{{Dune}}'' plays with this a bit: it doesn't beat around the bush about how the armies of old raped the women of conquered lands (and still do) and trying to avoid this is why Leto II makes his armies all female. Considering the Honored Matres are descended from various Fish Speaker armies he made and the amount of (male) raping they do, it shows that line of thinking doesn't work.
** Much of what the Honored Matres do is as much control of their minions using their talents as an addictive drug ("do what we say if you want more of this") as actual rape-in-war. Many of their victims submit willingly in the first instance and then find themselves hooked. Internal reflections by several senior Bene Gesserit adepts show the Honored Matres' thinking as bound to lead to a horrific backlash for them sooner or later, and indeed they fear the possibility so much that when the Bene Gesserit finally do breed a man who can turn the tables on them in bed (to some degree-they end up addicted ''to each other''), the Honored Matres [[spoiler:blast Arrakis to a glowing cinder]] when they're made to believe he's there.

* The protagonist of ''Literature/TypewriterInTheSky'' (by Creator/LRonHubbard) tries to enforce this trope on the pirates he commands but finds that they refuse to obey any orders on the subject. The author gives a fair bit of attention to [[RapePillageAndBurn what would actually happen]] during a pirate attack, as well as how the main character's modern morality estranges him from his crewmen. In-story, the resolution to the problem is through a CosmicRetcon--the protagonist's the antagonist of the story-within-a-story, and the writer decides he's not evil enough and rewrites him straight into IHaveYouNowMyPretty ([[MediumAwareness much to his displeasure]].)
* Creator/RobertEHoward's Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian mentions in the story "Literature/TheValeOfLostWomen" that he has never taken a woman by force. This may be due to Conan's inherent decency, but it may also be due to a formative incident in his teenage years in which he tried to rape a woman who [[MuggingTheMonster turned out to be the daughter of Ymir the Frost Giant]] ("Literature/TheFrostGiantsDaughter"). That would probably put anyone off rape for the rest of their lives.

* Completely averted in the ''Literature/{{Horseclans}}'' series, where the protagonist (notably, someone originally from modern America) of the first book is quite willing to have his men rape prisoners of war because they're "just Dirtmen."
** On the other hand, the victims had to be past puberty. Raping children would get a Clansman impaled on a short stake. This apparently made the Horseclans morally superior to the Ehlenes, who would rape just anybody.

* ''Literature/BirthOfANation'' ''is'' this trope. The entire thing is about the Ku Klux Klan killing black men and carpetbaggers who raped white women.
* In the ''Literature/BelisariusSeries'' it is an awful crime that only the most barbaric minions of the bad guys do. Worthy Opponents like the Rajputs and the Kushans do not engage in this, and though some Romans do, when Belisarius hears about it he simply hangs the perp. Or he calls for [[OffWithHisHead Valentinian]].
* In ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' the Silver Horde of barbarian warriors do not rape. However, this may be because they're all over 80 and is possibly subverted somewhat when the Ankh-Morpork Guild of Historians distinguishes between rape and ravishment. "It's a question of style. There were never any actual ''[[NotIfTheyEnjoyedItRationalization complaints]]''." While this is specifically referring to Cohen, and is probably true given that he's both improbably charismatic and pretty decent to non-combatants, it's implied that he's the exception rather than the rule. There is an exchange between Rincewind and Cohen in ''Literature/InterestingTimes'' which suggests that the Silver Horde do not rape for more... [[TheLoinsSleepTonight practical reasons]]. Speaking about an 85-year-old Barbarian...

* Subverted in the otherwise rather lighthearted ''[[Literature/TheElenium Sparhawk]]'' series. The fierce Peloi Tribesmen of the Great Plains (FantasyCounterpartCulture to the Mongols/Huns) are loudly and clearly in favor of the full RapePillageAndBurn trinity, and are staunch allies to the heroes, the [[ThePaladin Knights of the Church]]... who are not only unsurprised but somewhat tolerant of the Peloi's predilections. During one memorable scene in the first trilogy, Sparhawk has to politely but firmly explain to their Peloi allies that there will be no rape, plundering, or burnination during the invasion of a particular city because it was one of their ''own'' cities that they were ''liberating'' from an occupying force. The implication being that if it was a ''foreign'' city, they'd mostly just stand aside and let the Tribesmen take what they wanted. The leader of the tribesmen is obviously depressed about this but agrees -- with a sigh -- since they're old friends. The same Peloi chieftain winds up being a fairly major character in the second trilogy... and, somewhat amusingly, [[spoiler: winds up marrying one of the [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Atan people]]--who had previously murdered any number of would-be rapists during her stay in foreign lands.]] What ''she'' thought of his past hobbies remains unsaid.
* In the Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar series, the Eastern Empire, despite being an antagonist, is like this. They have very strict laws about rape that get imposed whenever they conquer a new land. Basically, any woman that gets raped is granted the status of a divorced spouse, which means that half the perpetrator's possessions and wages go to the victim for five years if there is no child and sixteen if there is one. If the child is a daughter, the guy has to provide a dowry, and if it's a son, he has to pay for the outfitting when the son is conscripted into the military. If the perpetrator doesn't have the means to pay, then he gets sent to a government labor camp with his wages paying for it. If a guy is stupid enough to rape again, then he undergoes physical and magical punishment that leaves him outwardly intact but unable to repeat the act.

* In ''Literature/TheCinderSpires'' Played with. When Albion Guardsman Bridget is trying to negotiate the end of a Mexican standoff between the Auroran marine Ciriaco, his soldiers, and her friends by allowing herself to be taken hostage, she believes she'll probably be 'raped and murdered'. Ciriaco sincerely tells her that if such a situation had played out, he would have gutted any man who tried to lay a hand on her. He assures her "[i]f it had to be death, I'd have given it to you quick and clean." Bridget is not comforted by this knowledge.

* ''Literature/TheFirstLaw'': when The Dogman takes the city of Uffrith with his men, he promises the population they will leave the women unbothered. A far cry from Bethod, who let his men rape the entire city for three days when he took it years before.

Movies that involve historical generals, chiefs, or warlords will generally [[HistoricalHeroUpgrade treat it as a given]] that they didn't tolerate such things unless such leaders are the villains of the work. Sometimes the all-too-common occurrence of officers who ''did'' disapprove being limited in their ability to control their men will be shown, since it still leaves the hero sympathetic.

Too many aversions go to the opposite extreme, painting whatever era or world they're set in as a NoWomansLand CrapsackWorld, which is an oversimplification at best, sometimes outright {{Demonization}}. At the same time, this trope was played straight throughout history and in fact was more likely to happen than not. Commanders like to maintain discipline and order amongst the ranks, an Army without either is basically a mob, and there are few better ways to cause such breakdown then letting the troops run wild over womenfolk. RealLife Pirate Codices (pirates, due to being confined to very limited space, required the strictest discipline of all), tellingly, often had a clause for severely punishing the rape of female captives, execution on the spot being common enough. Throwing the captive women overboard was still fair play though.

* ''Manga/BladeOfTheImmortal'': Played straight when the villains from the Itto-ryu are explicitly allowed by [[AffablyEvil Anotsu]], their leader, to rape Rin's mother (but not Rin herself, as "raping children shows no class"). Subverted when Magatsu, a member of the Itto-ryu, [[EvenEvilHasStandards tries to stop the other men from doing so]]. Averted when, much later on, Manji and Rin temporarily join forces with Shira, from the Mugai-ryu. Raping and torturing innocent prostitutes was one of the things that made Rin, Manji and the ''reader'' realise that Shira won't be on the heroes' side for long.

* ''Literature/HarryPotter'' fanfic ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/2565609/135/Odd-Ideas Dungeons & Drow]]'': Played with Harry's new pet, the titular Drow. Harry doesn't intend to torture or rape her because it's [[PragmaticVillainy a waste of a potentially useful tool]], but admits that should she attempt to flee or kill him then flee, she will be captured and raped by his men.

* 1962's ''Film/The300Spartans'' has the evil King Xerxes ordered that his soldiers on the campaign be given one last night with their wives, then the women are to be killed. Yes, women from ''his'' side. "There are plenty of women in Athens and Sparta and I want my men to be eager to get at them". [[MoralEventHorizon Perhaps the audience wasn't quite sure he was the villain of the movie yet.]] How the Spartans treated the enemy women is of course not discussed.

** Achilles constantly refers to Briseis as his wife and bride, indicating it's of ''some'' concern to him (though they had weird attitudes about rape, Greeks generally thought taking a love-interest purely by force [[CantActPervertedTowardALoveInterest was unkind]] -- Plato thought it was one of the things that made Zeus a {{Jerkass}}[[note]]Or rather, that made the myths written by poets a blasphemy for portraying Zeus as a Jerkass, since Plato, an initiate of the Eleusinian Mysteries, [[FanonDiscontinuity didn't consider the poets' myths canon]][[/note]]). That her feelings might not be a concern to Agamemnon seems to be a part of why he's angry Agamemnon took her, and why it's very important Agamemnon swears he never touched her when he gives her back. They were fighting a war over that kind of thing, after all.
** In the myth, Achilles isn't all that interested in raping Briseis either, or really doing anything with her until she is taken away by Agamemnon. She was Achilles' honor gift, taking her back was a major insult, and Achilles was very upset about the insult, but not so much about the presence of the actual person. Furthermore, high ranking female captives were mainly used as a display of power in Homer's epics, and their duties involved such things as serving wine to guests.
* ''Film/FleshAndBlood1985'' brutally avoids this trope. A slimy nobleman cheats a band of mercs led by Rutger Hauer. It looks like it's going to be old-fashioned revenge flick until [[AntiHero Rutger]] & Co capture and gang rape the betrothed of the nobleman's son. The fact that said woman [[NotRapeIfYouEnjoyedItRationalization seems to enjoy]] the AntiHero's attention is all that saves him from being a [[CardCarryingVillain the undisputed bad guy of the flick]] (for the '''story's''' purpose, that is. This '''''does not''''' and '''''ought not''''' fly in real life). It quickly becomes an open question of who to cheer for then.

** Largely averted with the Ironborn, who have a general philosophy that MightMakesRight leading to a lot of DeliberateValuesDissonance (but then, none of them are particularly "heroic"). They consider murder and theft more honourable than trade, and the forcible kidnap of "salt wives" as the prerogative of any conqueror.

* The short story ''[[http://www.strangehorizons.com/2006/20060731/women-f.shtml The Women of our Occupation]]'', by Kameron Hurley, subverts this. The "invaders" in this story are [[InvertedTrope women]], conquering a patriarchal 1950's-style society. [[spoiler:The main character gets pulled into an alleyway by one of them, who walked with him under the guise of bringing him home safe, and gets raped by her.]]

* One of the Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse books, ''Tales Of The Bounty Hunters'', has a short story about Leia in her metal bikini being shoved into Boba Fett's room for the night, since Jabba wants to give his bounty hunter something extra. Fett gives her the bed, leans against the wall, and tells her that sex outside of marriage is immoral, the Rebellion is morally wrong, and Han Solo is worse than he is because Solo smuggles spice.

--> '''Fett''': "I won't hurt you. I won't touch you. Sleep if you will. Or not; I don't care."

* Used in Juliet Marillier's ''Literature/BrideiChronicles'' to highlight the virtues of the title character. He goes ballistic when he catches men from his own army about to rape captive women -- despite the fact that a Pict in the 6th century probably wouldn't have such respect for women's rights. This actually makes perfect sense given that Bridei was raised by a druid to have great respect for the goddess; his childhood was extremely sheltered; he lives in a matrilineal society; and he has a younger foster-sister whom he adores and who is about the same age as the girl about to be raped. Oh, and his best friend is involved.

* In one of ''Franchise/TheWitcher'' novels, an officer of an invading Nilfgardian army instructs his sergeants to restrain the soldiers from pillage, arsons, wanton slaughter of civilians and rape, since they want to give the invasion a look of a liberation operation. One of the sergeants is then shown relating the order to his platoon: "No pillage, except for forage, no arsons, no murders, no fucking... well, no fucking unless you do it hush-hush and so nobody sees you."
* Subverted in the firth book of ''Literature/TheBlackCompany''; after invading a new city, members of the company start raping Amazons. Croaker says they deserved it because they fought. Of course, the mercenaries are not exactly portrayed [[GreyAndGrayMorality as pure of heart]].

* In ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' the Silver Horde of barbarian warriors do not rape. However, this may be because they're all over 80 and is possibly subverted somewhat when the Ankh-Morpork Guild of Historians distinguishes between rape and ravishment. "It's a question of style. There were never any actual ''[[NotIfTheyEnjoyedItRationalization complaints]]''." While this is specifically referring to Cohen, and is probably true given that he's both improbably charismatic and pretty decent to non-combatants, it's implied that he's the exception rather than the rule. There is an exchange between Rincewind and Cohen in ''Literature/InterestingTimes'' which suggests that the Silver Horde do not rape for more.... [[TheLoinsSleepTonight practical reasons]]. Speaking about an 85-year-old Barbarian...

* Subverted in the otherwise rather lighthearted ''[[Literature/TheElenium Sparhawk]]'' series. The fierce Peloi Tribesmen of the Great Plains (FantasyCounterpartCulture to the Mongols/Huns) are loudly and clearly in favor of the full RapePillageAndBurn trinity, and are staunch allies to the heroes, the [[ThePaladin Knights of the Church]]... who are not only unsurprised but somewhat tolerant of the Peloi's predilections. During one memorable scene in the first trilogy, Sparhawk has to politely but firmly explain to their Peloi allies that there will be no rape, plundering or burnination during the invasion of a particular city, because it was one of their ''own'' cities that they were ''liberating'' from an occupying force. The implication being that if it was a ''foreign'' city, they'd mostly just stand aside and let the Tribesmen take what they wanted. The leader of the tribesmen is obviously depressed about this but agrees -- with a sigh -- since they're old friends. The same Peloi chieftain winds up being a fairly major character in the second trilogy... and, somewhat amusingly, [[spoiler: winds up marrying one of the [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Atan people]]--who had previously murdered any number of would-be rapists during her stay in foreign lands.]] What ''she'' thought of his past hobbies remains unsaid.
* In the Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar series, the Eastern Empire, despite being an antagonist, is like this. They have very strict laws about rape that get imposed whenever they conquer a new land. Basically, any woman that gets raped is granted the status of a divorced spouse, which means that half the perpetrator's possessions and wages go to the victim for five years if there is no child and sixteen if there is one. If the child is a daughter, the guy has to provide a dowry, and if it's a son, he has to pay for the outfitting when the son is conscripted into the military. If the perpetrator doesn't have the means to pay, then he gets sent to a government labor camp with his wages paying for it. If a guy is stupid enough to rape again, then he undergoes physical and magical punishment that leave him outwardly intact but unable to repeat the act.
* In ''Literature/{{Sharpe}}'', [[AntiHero Sharpe]] is ''proud'' of being a "thief, pirate and murderer" but is '''very''' clear that he never commits rape. Nonetheless, the books quite frequently mention or show the soldiers from ''all'' armies committing rape. A besieged city that refuses to surrender is considered fair game for RapePillageAndBurn once it's taken (this is all TruthInTelevision-it's only very recently these became punishable as crimes).
* In ''Literature/TheCinderSpires'' Played with. When Albion Guardsman Bridget is trying to negotiate the end of a Mexican standoff between the Auroran marine Ciriaco, his soldiers, and her friends by allowing herself to be taken as hostage, she believes she'll probably be 'raped and murdered'. Ciriaco sincerely tells her that if such a situation had played out, he would have gutted any man who tried to lay a hand on her. He assures her "[i]f it had to be death, I'd have given it to you quick and clean." Bridget is not comforted by this knowledge.

* Averted in ''Literature/APracticalGuideToEvil'': the legions of terror, official army of the Dread Empire of Praes and very much on the side of evil have very strict regulations against rape and perpetrators will be severely punished. This is in part due to the pragmatic villainy of the Dread Empress and the Black Knight, (they don't want the people of the country they just conquered to turn against them) but also due to their personal experiences. The trope still gets invoked when the Black Knight leads some of his troops into a rival country to wreck havock: one of the local princes accuses the legions of plunder, arson, murder and rape to get support for his bid to drive them out of his principality.

* In HBO's ''Series/{{Rome}}'', one of Titus Pullo's (one of the two main protagonists) first lines something to the effect of how he lives to kill his enemies, take their gold, and enjoy their women. He's never shown actually enjoying an enemy's woman. He has bordellos for that.

* In an episode of the French comedy show ''Series/{{Kaamelott}}'', the daughter of a Celt chieftain tells Myth/KingArthur -- who just conquered her village -- that according to Celtic law he must now rape her to confirm his victory. [[ArentYouGoingToRavishMe She seems utterly disappointed when he refuses]] (as she traded place with her sister for it) and threaten Arthur at knifepoint for it until she settles for being one of his mistresses.

* In the ''Literature/BookOfExodus'', there is a provision for a soldier who finds himself attracted to a (non-Canaanite) woman whose village he's just destroyed. He is to leave her alone until the war is over, after which time, if he ''is'' still attracted to her, he can shave her head and trim her nails (signs of mourning in that time and place), take away her clothing (replacing it with something else), and give her a month to mourn her parents and culture. After ''that'', he is permitted to take her as a wife or a concubine. And should he then decide he doesn't want her anymore, he is to let her go free, and is not allowed to sell her into slavery. The wait period appears to have been put into place to discourage [[RapePillageAndBurn war rape]] (although it ''did'' still happen), and to make the soldier cool down and consider if this woman was ''really'' worth all that trouble, if he ''really'' wanted to marry her or if he was just horny.

* ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar'': Played with. While being the most iconic villains of the show, Shin and Raoh are also chivalrous to a fault and try to win Yuria's affection without touching her (and any of Raoh's soldiers that try to be anything else ''will'' be executed). Another villain, Yuda, keeps a harem of slave girls but does not rape any, although [[TransparentCloset his case is special]]. On the good guys' side, Yuuda is a handsome, lecherous MagnificentBastard who frequently raids slave caravans to take the girls to his pleasure palace... except if they ask to go home, in which case he will even give them food for the trip.

* Played straight, subverted and averted in ''Manga/BladeOfTheImmortal''. Played straight when the villains from the Itto-ryu are explicitly allowed by [[AffablyEvil Anotsu]], their leader, to rape Rin's mother (but not Rin herself, as "raping children shows no class"). Subverted when Magatsu, a member of the Itto-ryu, [[EvenEvilHasStandards tries to stop the other men from doing so]]. Averted when, much later on, Manji and Rin temporarily join forces with Shira, from the Mugai-ryu. [[MoralEventHorizon Raping and torturing innocent prostitutes]] was one of the things that made Rin, Manji and the ''reader'' realise that Shira won't be on the heroes' side for long.

* Played with several times in ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar'': while being the most iconic villains of the show, Shin and Raoh are also chivalrous to a fault and try to win Yuria's affection without touching her (and any of Raoh's soldiers that try to be anything else ''will'' be executed. Beheaded by a slap from Raoh himself if they're lucky, killed by Ryuuga if they're not). Another villain, Yuda, keeps a harem of slave girls but does not rape any, although [[TransparentCloset his case is special]]. On the good guys' side, Yuuda is a handsome, lecherous MagnificentBastard who frequently raids slave caravans to take the girls to his pleasure palace... except if they ask to go home, in which case he will even give them food for the trip.

* Subverted in ''Manga/VinlandSaga'' (since, well, it's the Viking Age): While the protagonist Thorfinn doesn't partake in any rape, he does nothing to prevent it either, and not even out of pragmatism or fear of alienating the other Vikings: he simply doesn't care.

* During his days in Vietnam, [[Comicbook/ThePunisher Frank Castle]] took a very dim view of any of his men raping enemy women. In one major instance during ''[[ComicBook/ThePunisherBorn Born]]'' miniseries from [[Comicbook/ThePunisherMAX the MAX imprint]], he put a bullet into the head of the VC sniper that one of his men was raping, telling him, "No ''rape''. We're here to ''kill'' the enemy." Said rapist would ultimately get drowned under Castle's boot as punishment.

[[folder:Fan Fiction]]

* PlayedStraight in ''Fanfic/TheNightUnfurls'', considering the main antagonist of this fanfic is an ArmyOfThievesAndWhores. Any time the [[HiredGuns mercs]] or [[OurOrcsAreDifferent orcs]] overrun a village, there will always be imagery of naked, defiled women being either dead a while ago, or are currently raped by them. On the contrary, this never happens for the military of Eostia.
* Played with in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/2565609/135/Odd-Ideas Dungeons & Drow]]'' with regards to [[Literature/HarryPotter Harry's]] new pet, the titular Drow. Harry doesn't intend to torture or rape her because it's [[PragmaticVillainy a waste of a potentially useful tool]], but admits that should she attempt to flee or kill him then flee, she will be captured and raped by his men.
* ''FanFic/PaganVengeance'':
** Subverted, Juvage has no qualms about letting his men RapePillageAndBurn the cities he conquers, although he's not seen engaging in it himself. Then it turns out one of those victims was his long-lost sister. The men responsible didn't know, he didn't know... so while he doesn't have them executed, he orders that they are to fight on the front lines until they die.
** During one scene, Juvage's MoralityPet Konstantin is wandering through a Christian city being ravaged by Juvage's troops, pulling soldiers off women wherever he sees them. He's no fighter, but the soldiers know he's protected, so they just get right back to it.

[[folder:Films]]
* 1962's ''Film/The300Spartans'' has the evil (from the POV of the movie) King Xerxes ordered that his soldiers on the campaign be given one last night with their wives, then the women are to be killed. Yes, women from ''his'' side. "There are plenty of women in Athens and Sparta and I want my men to be eager to get at them". [[MoralEventHorizon Perhaps the audience wasn't quite sure he was the villain of the movie yet.]] How the Spartans treated the enemy women is of course not discussed.

* Both played straight and averted in 1960's ''Film/{{Spartacus}}''. The gladiator students (who are slaves) are, as a perk, given women (also slaves) to spend the night with. Varinia meekly prepares to go through with it, her sense of dignity long since subjugated by her survival instinct. But Sparty, being the hero, will have none of it - especially since his owners are leering to watch the show. Whether he's reluctant to take advantage of Varinia, simply appalled by the idea of performing for an audience or both is not made 100 % clear. Averted slightly, in that the other women with the other gladiators are almost certainly being ravished. In spite of this, the other gladiators later form Spartacus' army and retain audience sympathy.

* In the 1999 movie ''Film/TheMessengerTheStoryOfJoanOfArc'', Joan's sister is murdered and raped (in that grisly order) by the (from the POV of the story) villainous English knight. Presumably when the French knights invaded a town they were under better discipline (although they could have hardly been under worse!)
** There's no record, by the bye, of that having happened -- and when you're giving the English in the Hundred Years War a HistoricalVillainUpgrade, you're ''really'' laying it on thick.
** One of Joan's bodyguards, Gilles de Rais (played by Vince Cassell in this film) was later executed as a serial killer and rapist of children, though apparently none of these crimes were perpetrated until years after the events of the movie (there are also those who've argued he was innocent, though historians disagree).

* ''[[Film/TheMagnificentSeven1960 The Magnificent Seven]]''. The villagers hide their women because they're afraid the hired guns will rape them. Creator/YulBrynner's character acknowledges that their fears are not entirely unjustified (not all gunslingers being as noble as the seven, after all) but opines that "you might have given us the benefit of the doubt." In ''Film/SevenSamurai'', a father is so terrified that his daughter will be raped by the Samurai that he cuts off her hair to disguise her as a boy.

* In ''King of the Middle-March'' by Kevin Crossley-Holland, the Christian armies in the Crusades are depicted as raping women in addition to other crimes, including both Muslims and the residents of a Byzantine city that the crusaders are used by their Venetian financial backer to besiege and ransack (that episode at least is TruthInTelevision). The protagonist, a crusader (and a ChildByRape) is always horrified and intervenes when he can, and a tendency to treat women well is also used as a PetTheDog trait for his {{Jerkass}} BigBrotherBully.

* Surprisingly subverted in the otherwise rather lighthearted ''[[Literature/TheElenium Sparhawk]]'' series. The fierce Peloi Tribesmen of the Great Plains (FantasyCounterpartCulture to the Mongols/Huns) are loudly and clearly in favor of the full RapePillageAndBurn trinity, and are staunch allies to the heroes, the [[ThePaladin Knights of the Church]]... who are not only unsurprised but somewhat tolerant of the Peloi's predilections. During one memorable scene in the first trilogy, Sparhawk has to politely but firmly explain to their Peloi allies that there will be no rape, plundering or burnination during the invasion of a particular city, because it was one of their ''own'' cities that they were ''liberating'' from an occupying force. The implication being that if it was a ''foreign'' city, they'd mostly just stand aside and let the Tribesmen take what they wanted. The leader of the tribesmen is obviously depressed about this but agrees -- with a sigh -- since they're old friends. The same Peloi chieftain winds up being a fairly major character in the second trilogy... and, somewhat amusingly, [[spoiler: winds up marrying one of the [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Atan people]]--who had previously murdered any number of would-be rapists during her stay in foreign lands.]] What ''she'' thought of his past hobbies remains unsaid.

* Prevalent throughout the works of ''Creator/JRRTolkien''. Heroes can steal, lie, and even murder their relatives: but RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil. Though the books never outright state that the villains commit rape during their pillaging, WordOfGod says they do. This is most clearly demonstrated in ''Literature/TheChildrenOfHurin'', where Túrin is perfectly willing to steal from a dwarf whose child he just murdered but kills one of his own men to save a totally random girl from being raped. Though incestuous, Túrin's marriage to Nienor is entirely consensual and very happy: despite the fact that Glaurung was clearly trying to manipulate Túrin into raping her (by making her take her clothes off while she was under the influence of his MindControl).
** played with in the ''Literature/LayOfLeithian'' with the character of Celegorm: who contemplates raping Lúthien, but never gets the chance. Whether he would actually have had the courage to try is dubious, and the reader is also aware that Lúthien is absolutely capable of stopping him.

** Averted in ''Literature/BestServedCold'': Monza promises the city of Caprile that they will be spared of the usual Rape, Pillage, and Burn. But her mistake was to entrust the city's safety to her brother, Benna, who was supposed to keep the mercenaries in check and got blackout drunk instead. You can guess what the mercenaries did.

* Wolfgang Mittenmeyer in ''Anime/LegendOfGalacticHeroes'' has made it one of his main principles to maintain this trope whenever possible. He caught the eye of his future superior Reinhart von Lohengramm when he executed a noble-born soldier under his command for the crime of war rape. We later get to see him repeat this during [[spoiler:the Phezzan occupation]], where he instates -- and enforces -- a strict policy of death by firing squad to any occupation forces caught doing this.

* The Clive Owen ''Film/KingArthur'' movie uses a twist on this trope: the good Roman knights don't rape. The villainous Saxons are shown attempting to rape a woman but the BigBad stops them, arguing they shouldn't dilute their bloodline. One of the soldiers claims it's his right and is stabbed for his trouble. The BigBad then kills the woman. Whether this is meant as a [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation hate crime]] or because he knew [[EvenEvilHasStandards he couldn't protect the woman for long]] is left ambiguous.

* 1985's ''Film/FleshAndBlood'' brutally avoids this trope. A slimy nobleman cheats a band of mercs led by Rutger Hauer. It looks like it's going to be old-fashioned revenge flick until [[AntiHero Rutger]] & Co capture and gang rape the betrothed of the nobleman's son. The fact that said woman [[NotRapeIfYouEnjoyedItRationalization seems to enjoy]] the AntiHero's attention is all that saves him from being a [[CardCarryingVillain the undisputed bad guy of the flick]] (for the '''story's''' purpose, that is. This '''''does not''''' and '''''ought not''''' fly in real life). It quickly becomes an open question of who to cheer for then.

Movies that involve historical generals, chiefs, or warlords will generally [[HistoricalHeroUpgrade treat it as a given]] that they didn't tolerate such things unless such leaders are the villains of the work. Sometimes the all-too-common occurrence of officers who ''did'' disapprove being limited in their ability to control their men [[ObligatoryWarCrimeScene will be shown]], since it still leaves the hero sympathetic.

** During one ObligatoryWarCrimeScene, Juvage's MoralityPet Konstantin is wandering through a Christian city being ravaged by Juvage's troops, pulling soldiers off women wherever he sees them. He's no fighter, but the soldiers know he's protected, so they just get right back to it.

Modern audiences like to be told that they're [[SocietyMarchesOn much more civilized than their ancestors]], even if their ancestors have to get varying degrees of HistoricalVillainUpgrade in the process. History itself is often taught this way, as well, because it's useful to whatever ideology dominates an educational system to try and show how much better the ideology has made things since the Bad Old Days.

[[Administrivia/TropesAreTools This trope is not going anywhere.]] There's no shame in audiences demanding minimal standards of conduct from characters courting their support, and writers are wise to remember this. Having pirates that act like pirates, or Vikings that act like Vikings would [[AudienceAlienatingPremise alienate the audience]], which is something to be avoided with far more care than historical inaccuracy. Even history buffs that sneer at inaccurate diet or clothing styles may cringe.

* In an episode of the French comedy show ''Series/{{Kaamelott}}'', the daughter of a Celt chieftain tells KingArthur -- who just conquered her village -- that according to Celtic law he must now rape her to confirm his victory. [[ArentYouGoingToRavishMe She seems utterly disappointed when he refuses]] (as she traded place with her sister for it) and threaten Arthur at knifepoint for it until she settles for being one of his mistresses.

* In the 1999 movie ''Film/TheMessenger'', Joan's sister is murdered and raped (in that grisly order) by the (from the POV of the story) villainous English knight. Presumably when the French knights invaded a town they were under better discipline (although they could have hardly been under worse!)

[[folder:Videogames]]