| 1 | ->''"I'm sure most of the men in the galaxy are familiar with the sinking feeling that accompanies the words 'Do you think you could do me a little favor, darling?', but when the woman doing the asking is an Inquisitor it's even less wise than usual to say 'No'."'' |
| 2 | -->-- '''Commissar Literature/CiaphasCain''' |
| 3 | |
| 4 | When two characters are shipped together, in {{canon}} ''or'' {{fanon}}, despite the huge power issues that their relationship features. They can be a boss and their employee, a lord and their vassal, a teacher and their student, etc., but one of the characters is in a position of great influence over the other one. |
| 5 | |
| 6 | In the modern world, this sort of relationship is often frowned upon (if not outright forbidden) in a number of contexts, largely because it often creates a conflict of interest where the superior may be tempted to abuse their power and authority, either to entrap the other party in a LeonineContract or to [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections give them special, undeserved preferences and benefits]] that threaten to undermine the purpose of their formal relationship. Of course, [[ValuesDissonance this isn't and hasn't been the case universally]], and for some the ForbiddenFruit aspect of the relationship may be part of the appeal. |
| 7 | |
| 8 | There are a lot of subtropes to this (some of which are in the InterracialAndInterspeciesLoveIndex). Please only put examples on this page that don't fit into any of the subtropes. |
| 9 | |
| 10 | * AbductionIsLove (kidnapee/kidnapper) |
| 11 | * BestialityIsDepraved (animal/human) |
| 12 | * BodyguardCrush (protectee/bodyguard) |
| 13 | * CastingCouch (showbiz exec/aspiring star) |
| 14 | * ClaimedByTheSupernatural (non-muggle asserting ownership/(often) muggle) |
| 15 | * DidYouJustRomanceCthulhu (human/alien monstrosity) |
| 16 | * DivineDate (mortal human/deity) |
| 17 | * EliteManCourtesanRomance (elite man/courtesan he's paying) |
| 18 | * FlorenceNightingaleEffect (patient/professional) |
| 19 | * HotConsort (ruler/consort) |
| 20 | * HotSkittyOnWailordAction (big animal/small animal) |
| 21 | * InappropriatelyCloseComrades (soldier/their officer) |
| 22 | * LoverAndBeloved (older, experienced man/younger, inexperienced man) |
| 23 | * MarryTheNanny (parent/privately hired child carer) |
| 24 | * AMatchMadeInStockholm (kidnapee/kidnapper) |
| 25 | * MuggleMageRomance (wizard or witch/muggle) |
| 26 | * OldManMarryingAChild (old man/child) |
| 27 | * ParentalIncest (child/parent) |
| 28 | * PaedoHunt (adult/child) |
| 29 | * PowerDynamicsKink (when the inequality itself serves as an erotic "turn-on") |
| 30 | * PropertyOfLove (property/owner) |
| 31 | * RomanticVampireBoy (vampire/human) |
| 32 | * SleepingWithTheBoss (employee/boss) |
| 33 | * SextraCredit (student/instructor business deal) |
| 34 | * TeacherStudentRomance (student/teacher) |
| 35 | * UptownGirl (poor person/rich person) |
| 36 | * VampireWerewolfLoveTriangle (vampire/werewolf/human) |
| 37 | * WifeHusbandry (legal guardian/adopted child) |
| 38 | |
| 39 | Compare MinionShipping, which sometimes involves this. See also AgeGapRomance, which ''might'' fall into this category if the age difference is ''particularly'' significant, or if it overlaps with a difference in authority/status as well. MoreExperiencedChasesTheInnocent as well may overlap. NunTooHoly and/or PedophilePriest may be involved if a clergyperson gets involved with a member of their congregation. See also QuestionableConsent. |
| 40 | |
| 41 | ---- |
| 42 | !!Examples: |
| 43 | |
| 44 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 45 | |
| 46 | [[folder:Anime & Manga]] |
| 47 | * A major part of the lead couple's development in ''Manga/TheAncientMagusBride'' involves this: Chise Hatori lead such a miserable life due to her powers, she sold ''herself'' into slavery as an alternative to [[DrivenToSuicide suicide]]. She was promptly bought by mage/HumanoidAbomination Elias Ainsworth, who declares his intent to marry her - something Chise is completely fine with, [[BecauseYouWereNiceToMe because he was the first person in her entire life to show her any form of kindness]], even if it was probably a deception. If that sounds like an incredibly unhealthy relationship, [[IntendedAudienceReaction that's because it is]], and that fact is repeatedly [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] by the rest of the cast (Lindel outright compares it to taming her the way he tames a wild reindeer). In his defense, Elias is an outsider to humanity, and genuinely doesn't seem to [[BlueAndOrangeMorality grasp the moral implications]] behind his actions, much less [[WhatIsThisThingYouCallLove his burgeoning feelings for Chise]]. Their respective character arcs involve her regaining her will to live, and building friendships and connections outside of Elias, while he learns that love is by no means a one-way street, and to be more open and less possessive. |
| 48 | * ''Manga/OnePiece'': |
| 49 | ** Nami/Sanji. Nami likes to bend people to her will. Sanji won't say no to a girl. You take it from there. Most of the time it ends up fetishized. |
| 50 | ** Also in fanon, the domineering Smoker and his subordinate/protegee Tashigi. (Though in canon, it's probably more of a father/daughter or teacher/student relationship.) |
| 51 | ** And Luffy/Hancock, but not in the way you'd normally expect looking at their age differences and the fact that Luffy isn't terribly bright for the most part. She's canonically hopelessly in love with him and would do anything he'd ask (on top of believing they're already in a relationship), while he sees her as a friend who [[spoiler:helps him rescue his older brother]]. |
| 52 | * ''Manga/CardcaptorSakura'' features several {{canon}} examples of those, such as Kaho/Touya, Terada/Rika, and Clow/Yue. |
| 53 | * ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha'' |
| 54 | ** Hayate/Vita. They hit this trope more than once, and both ways. In one direction, it's a case of master/knight (within their personal sub-group) ''and'' superior/subordinate officer (within the military they joined). In the other direction, Hayate is 9 years old (25 by the fourth season), while Vita [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld has been around for centuries (but looks young enough to be a first-grader]]). |
| 55 | ** At some point during Chrono and Amy's relationship, Chrono was captain of the same ship Amy was serving on, but by the time they get married, Amy has retired from the TSAB. |
| 56 | * Kazuki in ''Manga/GetBackers'' is most frequently shipped with such characters. Just about everyone in his {{Backstory}} is slavishly devoted to him and acts like he left them at the altar when they reappear in the story proper. Juubei, Toshiki, and Saizou were all his subordinates in their gang, Fuuga--which was started mainly as a way to gather protection around him. More specifically, the family of his childhood friend Juubei has been allied to Kazuki's since time immemorial, and the male heirs of their families are traditionally a lord and his physician. Plus there's Ren, a thirteen-year-old girl who admires twenty-year-old Kazuki as he was a high-ranking member of the VOLTS gang, and just that charismatic when she actually met him face to face. Sakura, Juubei's sister, the TeamMom who turns Fuuga into a FiveManBand, is probably the only one who doesn't act madly in love with him--and it was she who noted that no matter what happens, they will always be bound to Kazuki and always be there to protect him. For his part, Kazuki cherishes them all and repeatedly refuses to accept it when the thin line between love and hate turns them against him, or each other. |
| 57 | * It is telling that pairing a 22-year-old Noblewoman with the 69-year-old BattleButler that more or less [[ParentalAbandonment raised her after her dad died a decade ago]] is among the least [[NoYay creepy]] 'ships in ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}'' fandom. |
| 58 | %%Commented out until elaboration can be provided |
| 59 | %%** A particularly egregious example is that of Alucard/Seras. |
| 60 | ** And Alucard/Integra too - although the fact that he's her servant is somewhat offset by his age, power, and willful personality (not that his master lacks in the latter department...) |
| 61 | * ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'': |
| 62 | ** While Roy Mustang and Riza Hawkeye know each other from childhood, the fact is that he's a few ranks her superior in the current story. She calls him "Sir" or "Colonel". He calls her "Lieutenant". The fact that the military has anti-fraternization laws is brought up a few times and implied to be the main reason they're not together. It's hinted that they're eventually going to get married when Mustang completes his goals and Hawkeye retires from the military. |
| 63 | ** There's also Ling and Lan Fan, who are possibly even more unequal, with Ling being the twelfth prince of Xing and Lan Fan being his bodyguard, and from a family that has served his for generations. Ling doesn't really seem to care about the differences in rank, while Lan Fan appears to be very dedicated to her duty; naturally, fans treat this approximately the same way a person dying of thirst might treat a glass of water. |
| 64 | ** Then there are Roy/Ed shippers. While the difference in their ranks is not as great as with Roy and Riza (since all State Alchemists start out as Majors, and Ed usually doesn't give a damn about rank anyway), Ed's age adds to the inequality. |
| 65 | * ''Anime/CodeGeass'': |
| 66 | ** There's [[Characters/CodeGeassSuzakuKururugi Suzaku Kururugi]]/Euphemia (canon), Schneizel/Kanon ([[NoPunIntended canon]]), and Charles and Marianne (canon - really, all of the Emperor's consorts would count as this, but Marianne is said to be the only one he truly loved). |
| 67 | ** Notably averted with Suzaku/Lelouch. While [[spoiler:when they actually do get on the same side, it is as Emperor and Knight]], they see each other as equals always. Naturally, a portion of the fandom ignores this because they think Prince/Knight is hot, but that's not what their relationship is in canon (whether you see it as romantic or platonic). |
| 68 | ** Xingke/Lihua is this both ways - an adult soldier and a child empress. |
| 69 | ** In ''Anime/CodeGeassAkitoTheExiled'': |
| 70 | *** Akito and Leila are this, doubly so because not only is she his superior officer, but because he's an Eleven, who are treated as badly in the EU as they are in the Empire. [[spoiler:Averted when they leave the military to join a Roma caravan at the end and leave ranks behind.]] |
| 71 | *** Multiple Britannian examples - Ashley/Johannes and Shin/Jean, most prominently. |
| 72 | * In ''Anime/{{K}}'', since the UndyingLoyalty of Clansmen to their Kings is a major theme of the series, it's surprising that King/Clansman pairings don't come up more often. The most notable (and most canon) example is Shiro/Kuroh. Shiro is quite uncomfortable with Kuroh kneeling to him and calling him King, but he learns to deal with it. Theirs is also a rather informal Clan, and Kuroh isn't afraid to lecture Shiro and make him be more responsible, but even so, Shiro is still the King. |
| 73 | * ''Literature/HaruhiSuzumiya'': |
| 74 | ** Haruhi seems to really want to get into a relationship with Kyon, who is actively involved in a team effort to [[LockedOutOfTheLoop keep her in the dark about her true nature as a]] RealityWarper of immense power. If Kyon were to reveal the secrets to her, however, it would ''not'' equalize them, but rather put her clearly above him. Then again, to keep her in check he goes along with all her crazy schemes, letting her believe she is in command anyway. |
| 75 | ** Kyon and Yuki is also rather unequal, given that Kyon is a normal human ([[WildMassGuessing as far as we know]]), whereas Yuki is an alien who can rewrite reality at will. This is a possible reason why [[spoiler:Yuki makes herself into a normal human in ''Disappearance''.]] |
| 76 | * ''Literature/FullMetalPanic'': |
| 77 | ** Captain Teletha "Tessa" Testarossa's UnrequitedLove for Sergeant Sousuke Sagara is doomed mostly by this trope; because she is his commanding officer, Sousuke can't bring himself to reciprocate her feelings. Fan pairings of Sousuke with basically anyone else from Mithril, such as Commander Andrei Kalinin and Lieutenant Benjamin Clouseau, are subject to the same inequality. |
| 78 | ** There's also Melissa Mao and Kurz Weber; the less dramatic inequality in their ranks is made more significant by the fact that Mao is Sousuke and Kurz's team leader - a fact which Kurz mostly ignores and which isn't really addressed [[spoiler:since Kurz is killed in action not long after the two of them begin their relationship]]. Mao tries to enforce this, but [[spoiler:once Kurtz is discovered to be alive, Mithril is all but dissolved and there is no need for rank anyway.]] |
| 79 | * In ''Manga/Reborn2004'', there's the pairing of Gokudera and Tsuna. Tsuna is the current boss of the Vongola Family, and Gokudera is his [[StalkerWithACrush incredibly loyal]] underling and [[SubordinateExcuse wannabe right-hand man]]. [[YaoiFangirl Fangirls]] ''love'' the dynamic of their position and status difference. And despite Gokudera being the one who is most self-conscious about the difference in position, he's ''always'' the [[{{Seme}} aggressive one that tops]]. |
| 80 | * ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'': This is a common issue for the [[KissingCousins Neji/Hinata]] pairing, as Hinata is heir to the Hyuga clan while Neji is a branch house member whose duty is to protect and serve the main family. In some fanfics, the common application for the trope is ''inverted'', with Neji becoming head of the clan and Hinata being demoted to the branch family. It's made even more obvious when it's revealed in episode 232 that Neji has also become Hinata's [[TeacherStudentRomance mentor and trainer]], when Hinata requested him to be, not long after his HeelFaceTurn. Of course, Hinata canonically only has feelings for Naruto, whom she eventually marries [[spoiler:after Neji dies near the climax of the series]]. |
| 81 | * A RunningGag in the ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'' fandom is that no matter who he's shipped with (with the ''possible'' exception of May), Ash Ketchum will always, ''always'' be on the bottom. |
| 82 | * ''Manga/DeathNote'' has the 'ship of [[Characters/DeathNoteLightYagami Light Yagami]]/Mikami, "God" and his servant. And, of course, the ''canon'' ships of Light/Misa and Light/Takada. [[AGodAmI God]] and his two devoted slave girls (the fact that he isn't doing it because he likes them is beside the point). Also the 'ship of L/Light, a detective in his mid-20's investigating a young man barely out of HighSchool about the latter's involvement in a series of homicides. |
| 83 | * The pairing of twin brothers Agon and Unsui from ''Manga/{{Eyeshield 21}}'' has this subtext as one of the reasons fangirls LIKE them as a couple. To explain, Agon enjoys nothing more than exerting power and superiority over others and in general, is quite sadistic. Unsui, the kinder but weaker twin, wants his brother to live to his full potential and be the best. This is {{flanderized}} in the anime, where Agon is made even more violent and Unsui flat-out states he only exists to serve his brother. Needless to say, it doesn't take much effort to imagine their relationship as another extension of Agon's sadism. |
| 84 | * Given the amount of {{fanservice}}, many readers of ''Manga/DanceInTheVampireBund'' find it more comfortable to think of [[UndeadChild Mina Tepes]] as an unusually short and flat-chested noblewoman who is old enough for a veteran armsman such as Wolfgang Regendorf to have served his entire adult life. While this is [[OlderThanSheLooks true as far as it goes]], it makes her relationship with Regendorf's [[MrsRobinson teenage son]] Akira only ''somewhat'' less creepy. |
| 85 | * ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'': |
| 86 | ** It doesn't matter if they've actually received canonical hints or not; there WILL be shippers for it. Sometimes they'll set their fanworks in a time period where the characters' statuses are more equal, but many other times they won't. One ''canon'' example is the OfficialCouple of Finland and Sweden. Their relationship became equal at [[AnachronicOrder some point]], but it started off with Sweden running off with Finland and insisting that Finland was now his wife, while Finland was still too afraid of [[FaceOfAThug Sweden]] to stand up to him. |
| 87 | ** The OfficialCouple, Austria and Hungary, got together when Austria made her stay as his maid. Although he did treat her well, she was clearly there as his servant. Their relationship gets more equal later, as he's still in charge but she provides most of the military aid, and they eventually get married. They then divorce (interpreted by some fans as Hungary being granted freedom) and maintain a still-affectionate relationship. |
| 88 | * ''Anime/ImGonnaBeAnAngel'': Raphael and Mikael are teacher and student respectively [[spoiler:although at the end of the series Mikael kinda ended being promoted to a teacher himself - but he still uses a highly respectful "sama" when talking to Raphael]]. |
| 89 | * ''Manga/{{Inuyasha}}'' sequel series ''Anime/YashahimePrincessHalfDemon'' shows that Sesshomaru married Rin. He is a hundreds of years old demon who is the son of one of the most powerful demons that ever lived. She is an orphan who he first saw at the age of 8. To the fans of the ship the imbalance is part of the appeal, feeling that it ties into the 'fairy tale' aspect of the series, and that falling in love with a weak human girl when he previously only valued strength shows how much Sesshomaru's grown. To those who dislike it, the fact that he acted as a protector towards her during her formative years makes the idea that their relationship became romantic inherently off-putting. |
| 90 | * In ''Literature/LegendOfTheGalacticHeroes'', both [[TheEmperor Kaiser]] [[YoungConqueror Reinhard von Lohengram]] and [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure Admiral]] [[BrilliantButLazy Yang Wen-li]] marry their female assistants. |
| 91 | * Taki and Klaus from ''Manga/MaidenRose''. Taki is a Division Commander, and Klaus his knight. In military situations, Taki is clearly in command. It's a different scenario otherwise... |
| 92 | * Pairings in ''Manga/SekaiichiHatsukoi'' revolve around a worker in the manga industry and someone with more authority. |
| 93 | * Quite a few ''Anime/YuGiOh'' fans ship [[NobleDemon Kaiba]] and [[ButtMonkey Jonouchi]] together. This has a few problems. The first if that Kaiba's a teen genius who's [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney incredibly wealthy and has a lot of influence]], while Jonouchi barely makes enough to get by, so socially, Kaiba far outranks him. Kaiba's also much smarter and a better duelist than Jonouchi. Adding it all up, it basically means that Jonouchi would be Kaiba's bitch, whether he likes it or not - several fanfics actually have it that Jonouchi lives in Kaiba's mansion, which further adds to the unfairness of the ship as it makes Kaiba his landlord as well. A lot of fans fetishize this, giving them a VERY unequal Master-Servant style relationship. |
| 94 | * In ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEED'' and ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEEDDestiny'' we have Athrun and Cagalli, which was canon between the two series. He's an AcePilot and she's the [[RebelliousPrincess daughter of the ruler of an island nation]] who takes up her father's position after his HeroicSacrifice in the first series. [[WordOfGod This was actually the reason cited by the show's head writer as to why the relationship wouldn't work out.]] People who support the ship [[FridgeLogic point out one often-forgotten fact]]: Athrun is ''also'' the son of a national leader, but he didn't take his father's place because said nation isn't a monarchy. And that this trope would be ''equally'' applicable to the still-canon couple of Kira and Lacus. The Special Editions of ''SEED Destiny'' show that Lacus becomes the leader of PLANT at the end of the series (the role Athrun's father formerly held), with Kira becoming the head of the PLANT military and thus her subordinate. As such, breaking up Athrun and Cagalli is widely seen as the result of a feud between the lead writer and Cagalli's voice actress. |
| 95 | * ''Manga/MaidSama'': Usui's parents ([[UptownGirl a lady and her butler]]). |
| 96 | * ''Manga/GunslingerGirl'': Age issues aside, the cyborg girls are brainwashed to unconditionally love and obey their handler and are kept isolated from boys their own age, making any relationship morally ambiguous. It's noticeable that those canon relationships with a romantic touch (Petra/Sandro and possibly Triela/Hilshire) try to emphasize that the cyborg concerned is more free-thinking that her co-workers, in an attempt to minimize the UnfortunateImplications. |
| 97 | * ''Literature/HighSchoolDXD'': |
| 98 | ** One of the issues with Issei and Rias's relationship. On top of having self-esteem issues up the wazoo, Issei believes that he is simply out of Rias's league, her being a pure-bred demon of a respected noble house and him being a normal high school student and her servant on top of it. |
| 99 | ** Meanwhile, Issei's [[{{Polyamory}} other girlfriend]], Asia, had an extremely closeted religious upbringing. Therefore, even though they're the same age, Issei is constantly uncomfortable around her because he can't be sure how much she actually knows about sex. (Asia herself refuses to tell him because she doesn't think it's a problem.) |
| 100 | * ''Manga/HybridXHeartMagiasAcademyAtaraxia'': Reiri has to keep her relationship with Kizuna a secret for multiple reasons: 1. She's his commanding officer. 2. The age difference (he's 17, [[OldMaid she's 27]]). And 3. She's [[BrotherSisterIncest his biological sister]], though the age gap makes her old enough to technically be his aunt. If word ever got out about it, it could potentially cost Reiri her position and risk Kizuna's expulsion from the academy. |
| 101 | * ''Manga/KoiKaze'' focuses on the relationship that develops between [[BrotherSisterIncest the siblings Koshiro and Nanoka]]. On top of them being brother and sister, there is a large age difference, with Koshiro being nearly thirty while Nanoka is a fifteen-year-old schoolgirl. |
| 102 | * Arima from ''Manga/OnihimeVS'' is in love with Setsuna, even though any possible relationship between them would not change the fact that she has a much higher social status than him, is wealthier, and is his long-time [[LovingBully bully]]. |
| 103 | * ''Literature/UndefeatedBahamutChronicle'' plays with this. Most of Lux's love interests are nobles or outright royalty (Philuffy is an exception, and even she's from an extremely wealthy family). Lux himself is technically royalty, but of a fallen empire, and he's saddled with a huge debt on top of that. Initially, the only love interest to have similar status to him was [[BrotherSisterIncest his younger sister Airi]]. As the series goes on, Lux's status increases, first when he becomes Lisha's official knight (though this still makes him unequal with her) and later when he becomes one of the Seven Dragon Paladins (who have privileges arguably greater than most nobles), so the trope starts swinging in the other direction. |
| 104 | [[/folder]] |
| 105 | |
| 106 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 107 | * ''ComicBook/Robin1993'': When Darla returns as the incredibly powerful mind controller and magic user Warlock's Daughter, she causally forces Tim to go on a date with her, not seeming to realize the only reason he's doing so is because she indirectly threatened to kill several people if he didn't do so. It takes his friend ComicBook/{{Superboy}}'s help to prevent her from finishing the date by raping him after she kidnaps him. |
| 108 | ** Tim and his long-time girlfriend Stephanie Brown had this. Tim knew her secret identity, she didn't know his. He wanted to tell her but was forbidden from doing so by Batman. They only broke up when Steph died (faked it). Post-reboot they didn't have this issue and are still together. |
| 109 | * ''ComicBook/Superboy1994'': When Superboy is only hours old (though physically a teen) the adult Tana Moon takes advantage of him appreciating her beauty to con him into a "date" where she interviews him. Later they end up dating, while he's attending high school. The only person to even raise an eyebrow at a grown woman dating a "teenager" who is less than a year old is S.B.'s friend Tim over in ''ComicBook/YoungJustice''. |
| 110 | * In ''ComicBook/TheUmbrellaAcademy'', both Kraken and Vanya are DifferentlyPoweredIndividuals, but they're on completely different ends of the spectrum. She could burn him to ash easily, and is even ''emotionally'' more resilient: she can live her own life, whereas he's stuck needing his family's structure [[MarriedToTheJob and purpose]]. |
| 111 | * In ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'': |
| 112 | ** The immortal quantum-being Doctor Manhattan pairs up with the completely human Silk Spectre II. The series itself actually deconstructs their relationship, as Dr. Manhattan's worldview as a quantum being makes it difficult to relate to her, though in the end, their relationship failed because of other things. |
| 113 | ** Dr. Manhattan's previous relationship with Janey Slater ultimately failed because of this; not only did he suffer the same problems with relating to a human being, but his lack of aging eventually made her self-conscious, so that when the younger Laurie came along and an obvious attraction developed between her and Jon, Janey assumed he no longer wanted her and bitterly left him. |
| 114 | ** Laurie later starts a relationship with Nite Owl II, who is extremely wealthy, a genius inventor and nine years her senior, at a time when she had no money, no job, and was essentially homeless. |
| 115 | [[/folder]] |
| 116 | |
| 117 | [[folder:Fan Works]] |
| 118 | * ''Fanfic/BloodAndHonor'': Quinn, a low-ranking Imperial officer, is very much the social inferior of a Pureblood Sith such as Sanguis. She is also, in a sense, his superior officer. They hook up anyway. |
| 119 | * ''Fanfic/DungeonKeeperAmi'': PlayedWith. On one hand, Ami is Jadeite's employer - in the ''VideoGame/DungeonKeeper'' universe, this basically amounts to indentured servitude, sometimes outright slavery - and it is not at all uncommon for Keepers to have such relationships with their "Property." On the other hand, Ami is very uncomfortable with the associated implications. Jadeite is surprised when he finds out, as in the Dark Kingdom, a superior would not hesitate to use their power over subordinates. Their positions are reversed later when Jadeite starts teaching Ami Dark Kingdom style magic and he reciprocates her tact, deliberately averting his eyes and keeping his words supportive when an early attempt leaves behind her clothing. |
| 120 | * An interesting variation in ''Fanfic/DashsNewMom'', where the inequality is played both ways with Twilight Sparkle and Blue Streak. Streak is literally old enough to be Twilight's father, but as savior and princess of Equestria, Twilight holds more power and importance than the simple librarian Blue Streak is. |
| 121 | * Pairings of Jedi Masters with their Padawans are popular in the ''Franchise/StarWars'' fandom, especially Qui-Gon/Obi-Wan and Obi-Wan/Anakin. (As Masters are responsible for their Padawan's upbringing, at least part of the way, this also counts as WifeHusbandry.) |
| 122 | * Though less drastic as other examples here, power dynamics are possibly ''the'' reason there's as much slash fic for ''Film/EasternPromises'' as there is. |
| 123 | * There's a really great ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' [[http://archiveofourown.org/works/339401/chapters/549142 fic]] that plays with the power dynamics involved in shipping Zuko and Lt. Jee. On one hand, you have Prince/Commoner. On the other, you have middle-aged man/16-year-old boy. On still another hand, you have legitimate ship captain/his superior who holds no actual rank. Both are stubborn and [[BelligerentSexualTension neither of them really likes the other.]] Conflict ensues. |
| 124 | * ''Fanfic/HordeChampion'': Sylvanas is Anevay's Queen and commanding officer. Though the notion of being in a relationship as equals has been brought up, Anevay has refused the notion on the basis that she enjoys serving Sylvanas regardless of their relationship with each other. |
| 125 | * As the favourite ship of the ''Literature/{{Hurog}}'' fandom is Ward/Oreg, things can be really weird. While technically much older and more powerful than Ward, Oreg ''looks'' like a youth of seventeen, and is TheWoobie, having been mistreated by many former owners of castle Hurog. The magically-bound-slave problem can be removed, but then Oreg is more powerful and older than Ward. As both of them are very nice people, who would never use their strength against one another, the power difference is easily ignored. |
| 126 | * In ''Fanfic/OffTheLine'' Vincent and Cloud are attracted to each other, but their relationship is unequal both ways. Vincent is an adult far older than he looks and is far stronger in both strength and skill while Cloud is a teenage newbie player. On the other hand, Cloud is advantaged in that he technically ''owns'' Vincent due to the latter [[HappinessInSlavery becoming his pet]] to protect and hide him from the countless other players out to kill him. Also Cloud is the reason that Vincent gets any humane treatment as he was the first to realize that Vincent was a person and not a monster or glitch as believed. Although Cloud would never exploit Vincent and both are very respectful of each other's boundaries. |
| 127 | * Suzaku and Lelouch grow to love each other in ''Fanfic/MyMirrorSwordAndShield'' but not only is Suzaku is not only supposed to protect Lelouch, but Lelouch is his boss and the Emperor of Britannia. Suzaku needs Lelouch’s favor because he's completely dependent on Lelouch providing him shelter and protection while Suzaku’s time machine is fixed. This is lampshaded by Lloyd who points out that Lelouch could Suzaku executed for refusing him. |
| 128 | * The ''WesternAnimation/Frozen2013'' fanfic ''Fanfic/BecomingFree'' has Elsa falling for the new horse farrier, Freya. They treat each other as equals but Elsa is still the queen of the country while Freya works for her. Freya keeps her distance from Elsa in order to keep their relationship secret (though that is more because Freya is a woman rather than because of her social status). Later Freya gets upgraded to [[spoiler:Elsa's bodyguard]] after [[spoiler:an injury leaves her unable to lift her arm]] but that [[BodyguardCrush isn't much better]]. |
| 129 | * Many fan fiction regarding [[Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda Link and Zelda]] such as ''[[http://archiveofourown.org/works/7480266 The Golden Princess]]'' contend with the idea that Zelda is a princess/queen and Link is a commoner. Some stories even has Link as Zelda's personal [[BodyguardCrush bodyguard/protector]]. |
| 130 | * There's a mild, [[FridgeHorror fridge-y]] case with the ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' FanPreferredCouple. For much of their association, Kirk is Spock's superior officer, but at the end of the day, Kirk's a [[PunyEarthlings squishy human]] ([[BadassNormal albeit a badass one]]), and Spock is three times stronger and his telepathic abilities have been shown to extend to MindControl and memory-wiping, which leads to a bit of PowerPerversionPotential being noted by fans. Granted, both parties are too morally upstanding to ever actually exploit their respective advantages ([[MirrorUniverse in the regular universe, anyway]]) and it's not the greatest skew in a Star Trek ship (canonical or otherwise), but it's still present. |
| 131 | * ''Franchise/{{Tron}}'' fanfic tends to have a lot of these, since humans are deities to the Programs in this setting, making ''any'' human/Program pairing this by default. ''[[http://archiveofourown.org/series/46436 Endgame Scenario]]'' [[ZigZagged takes it for a drunken lightcycle ride]] with Jet and Mercury. Yes, Jet is technically a (reluctant at best) [[DivineDate deity over Mercury]]. But he's a FishOutOfWater and depends on Mercury for help surviving, [[InappropriatelyCloseComrades and later agrees to be her lieutenant]], making it a MentorShip in ''her'' favor. |
| 132 | * In ''Fanfic/CodeGeassThePreparedRebellion'', the power dynamics between [[RebelLeader Lelouch]] and [[NinjaMaid Sayoko]] are complex, to say the least. One the one hand, she's [[AgeGapRomance seven years his senior]] and romantically interested in him since he was as young as ''fourteen'', his and especially his paraplegic sister Nunnally's primary caregiver for at least the last four years, his [[TeacherStudentRomance martial arts teacher]] and so above his superior physically that his chances in a straight fight against her [[CurbStompBattle don't even need to be considered]]. On the other hand, he's a Noble and she's a Number, placing him two or three social classes above her (if not more, given that he's secretly a Prince), she's nominally hired help working for the Ashford family (and by extension him) who doubles as [[BodyguardCrush his bodyguard]], and things get exponentially more one-sided after Sayoko swears fealty to Lelouch. The latter not only made her his liege-woman and he her lord, but the specific oath she willingly swore also serves as an unequal wedding vow of sorts not too different from that of a concubine. Finally, much of the development of their relationship after getting together revolves around Lelouch coming to accept that Sayoko [[PropertyOfLove considers herself truly his]] and on how they build a healthy romantic relationship and a working professional one from that fact. |
| 133 | * In ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' fanfic ''Fanfic/ConversationsWithACryptid'', this is deconstructed. Inko was a secretary for the HR department. Hisashi was the CEO of the company she worked for and was the one to hire her. When he disappears without telling her why, Inko had no means to protect herself or their young son since she had quit her job to raise Midoriya. She is basically trapped in a marriage with a distant, uncontactable husband who still pays for all the living expenses and she can't divorce him because she can't financially support herself due to being out of the workforce for quite some time. |
| 134 | * In ''Fanfic/EightCount'', Dr. Pamela Isley is a drug testing technician for a boxing league and has a sexual relationship with two of the league's boxers. This obviously creates a conflict of interest, especially since one of the fighters is a rookie. |
| 135 | * A number of fics in the ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' fandom ship Roy/Ed while basically ignoring the ''[[{{Squick}} incredibly creepy]]'' implications of an [[InappropriatelyCloseComrades adult military officer]] dating his [[PaedoHunt fifteen year old]] [[SleepingWithTheBoss subordinate]]. Even if one considers Ed an adult in terms of consent (fifteen is at least ''possible'', and Ed operates with the freedom of an adult even if other characters consider him a child), he's been working for Mustang since age ''[[WifeHusbandry twelve]]''. AU stories that ship them tend to put their relationship on much more equal footing. Royai fics (Mustang/Hawkeye) also tend to ignore the power dynamics (he's Hawkeye's superior officer, too) while simply focusing on the obstacle of fraternization laws. This is more forgivable however, as they're both mature adults who have known each other for years and deeply respect and rely on each other, so power abuse and/or emotional manipulation is less likely. |
| 136 | * ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/6843669/1/Suddenly-I-See Suddenly I See]]'': When Mr Darcy sees Elizabeth arrive for a job interview, and receives a premonition that they'll marry, he ''attempts'' to defy this trope by instructing the interviewer not to have Elizabeth working directly as his secretary -- intending to offer her a different position in his firm. Unfortunately for him, she overhears him and takes it as evidence that he's sexist and/or judging by appearances, and walks out in disgust. It takes a lot of time and machinations before he can even speak to her again, and a lot more before she's okay with him being around. |
| 137 | --> '''Darcy''': Elizabeth can't work for me, Mrs. Reynolds. Please find her some other place for her in my company -- anything she is interested in and qualified to do -- and then interview again for a secretary for me. Oh, and please hire a man this time. |
| 138 | * Power imbalance is a concern on many occasions for the protagonist of ''Fanfic/WithThisRing''. |
| 139 | ** He lets Zatanna down gently, due to a combination of their age gap and the fact that she's emotionally leaning on him a lot after the loss of her father. |
| 140 | ** When Holly propositions him, he considers the offer, but ultimately turns it down because he's basically acting as her unofficial parole officer and thus there's too much scope for things to go pear-shaped. |
| 141 | ** He's interested in Jade, but wouldn't feel right starting a relationship when he's hired her [[spoiler:to help him kill Nabu]]. After the job ends, [[spoiler:they do get together, but it's frequently a long-distance relationship, because she can't be happy living in his shadow and needs to independently prove herself, so she joins the Darkstars]]. |
| 142 | ---> '''Paul''': I'm really powerful. And the few enemies I have are either really powerful or really good at hiding. I didn't predict a horde of Demons, but fighting a horde of Demons is something I'm prepared to have happen to me.\ |
| 143 | '''Jade''': And you don't think I'm powerful enough.\ |
| 144 | '''Paul''': It's not that you're not powerful enough. Superman's girlfriend is a baseline Human woman. But… She's got basic self-defence training and can use a handgun. She isn't directly involved in superheroing and has no.. pretensions in that direction. So Superman can get into whatever fights he wants and she… She knows she's not part of that. And it only bothers her when someone throws her off a building or throws a car at her. On the other hand, your.. self-concept is tied up in your abilities as a fighter. |
| 145 | [[/folder]] |
| 146 | |
| 147 | [[folder:Films -- Live-Action]] |
| 148 | * ''Film/{{Maleficent}}'' is the most powerful fairy, so there is no one who is really her equal, even among the other fairies. Most of the fandom (and it is heavily implied in the movie) ships her with Diaval who is actually only a raven, whom she turned into a human. He's also her servant, as he owes her his life. |
| 149 | * ''Film/TheAmericanPresident'' makes one of these its main plot, exploring it from several different angles. As you might guess, one participant is the President, and the other is an ordinary woman of no special fame or fortune. |
| 150 | * A sizable chunk of the fandom for Creator/TimBurton's ''Film/AliceInWonderland2010'' ships the Mad Hatter with the White Queen, rather than Alice. Bear in mind that these two characters ''never actually speak to each other onscreen'' in the movie. They point out that the two have known each other for a long time (he had been her court hatter), they're the only ones who survived the Horunvendush Day attack, and they are staunch allies even if they're not shown talking. They're also the same species, which helps. |
| 151 | * For ''Film/{{Labyrinth}}'', Jareth/Sarah is massively popular. Leaving aside the age difference (she's a teenager while he's physically an adult and, as the Goblin King, almost certainly MUCH older than he looks), he's a king and can use his power to change the land. The ending of the movie does have [[spoiler:Sarah proving his equal by declaring that her will is as strong as his and "[her] kingdom as great", finishing by stating that he has no power over her and making her return her and her brother home.]] |
| 152 | * ''Film/BirdsOfPrey2020'' has this between Dinah Lance / Black Canary and Roman Sionis, the latter being an AxCrazy mobster who's also her boss and who directs her into working more closely with him. |
| 153 | * King Ghidorah from ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters2019'' is a malevolent OmnicidalManiac Alpha Titan who can use some sort of mind control to compell other Titans to do his bidding. For some reason, he is frequently shipped with Rodan, the Titan whom he beats into submission during their first encounter, and made to serve as his [[TheDragon sidekick]] during his battle against Godzilla and Mothra. Furthermore, {{fanon}} have suggested that Rodan is quite young (by Titan standards)--estimating his age at less than a hundred thousand years old (as opposed to Ghidorah's [[TimeAbyss hundreds of millions]])--which further steepens the power imbalance between the two. |
| 154 | * ''Film/FishTank'': Mia is fifteen. Her mother’s boyfriend Conor appears to be in his thirties and [[spoiler:eventually seduces Mia]]. |
| 155 | * ''Film/TheDevilWearsPrada'': The most popular pairing in the fandom is Andy Sachs and her boss Miranda Priestly. Many Miranda/Andy fics explore the forbidden nature of their relationship, with a lot of them having them dating in secret due to being afraid of how others would react to the power difference. There are also ones where Miranda is worried that she might accidentally hurt Andy due to this power difference or that Andy is only using her to get ahead in the field before having these fears put to rest. |
| 156 | |
| 157 | [[/folder]] |
| 158 | |
| 159 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 160 | * ''Literature/HarryPotter'' has many popular ships of the teacher/student kinds, with Snape/Hermione and Snape/Harry as their most popular. In the fandom, these are referred to as "cross-generational pairings." Many of them make fans quite {{squick}}ed. There's also Voldemort and Bellatrix, his "most faithful" servant who's also nearly thirty years younger than him, though Voldemort doesn't see her as anything other than a pawn. [[spoiler:[[Theatre/HarryPotterAndTheCursedChild They do have a daughter together]], giving this one some canonicity.]] |
| 161 | * ''Literature/TheBelgariad'': Discussed and then averted in Garion and Ce'Nedra's relationship. He is the king of Riva and Overlord of the West, an immortal sorcerer and custodian of a cosmically powerful artifact that can smite gods. Ce'Nedra is an Imperial princess descended from Dryads; she has an unnaturally long lifespan, but is otherwise mortal, and is marrying into Alorn culture, which means queens are limited to producing heirs. Upon realising that the imbalance between them will doom their marriage before it even begins, Garion follows the Prophecy's advice and quickly codifies into law that his queen will be his co-ruler and equal. |
| 162 | * ''Literature/TheElenium'': Queen Ehlana is barely twenty when she marries her middle-aged former [[BodyguardCrush bodyguard]], Sparhawk, whom she hasn't seen since she was eight. Sparhawk worries about the unequal pairing a lot, but eventually settles into the relationship when he realises that it's working out surprisingly well: despite the authority she wields over him, he is older, world-wise and therefore brings an enormous amount of beneficial experience to the table. |
| 163 | * [[Literature/TheWheelOfTime Aes Sedai from the Green Ajah]] are notorious for having relationships with their Warders. Even weirder, Aes Sedai can actually mind control their Warders, though it is considered a bit unethical. |
| 164 | ** The real taboo seems to be bonding someone against their will in the first place. The assumption seems to be that once you've agreed to be bonded, you have only yourself to blame. |
| 165 | ** Most relationships in the setting, really, due to the various odd ways the various societies deal with the unusual relevance of gender. In the case of the Sea Folk, who live pretty much entirely on ships with a rigid and extensive hierarchy, it's practically impossible to have relationships not fitting this trope - and they actually make a rule of marriage that the lower-ranked person is in charge in all private matters. A main character discovers this after marrying in one of their ceremonies (she was in a hurry to get married and they were there). Unsurprisingly for the series, she decides she's fine with it. |
| 166 | * ''Literature/CiaphasCain'': |
| 167 | ** An interesting canonical example between Literature/CiaphasCain and Amberley Vail: he's a renowned [[ThePoliticalOfficer Political Officer]] who exists outside the normal military structure, while she's part of StateSec with the authority to requisition just about anything, or even kill planets. While Cain seems to genuinely love Amberley, he's ''well'' aware that he can't say no to her, which ends with him getting dragged into all sorts of nastiness time and again. But he admits that "looking back, I have to say she made it well worth the effort." |
| 168 | *** Cain is also aware that, love him as Vail might, the biggest asset to her is ''Jurgen'', his filthy, repulsive but psychically-immune aide. Vail confirms this in her footnotes. |
| 169 | ** Another example from the same series would be [[SergeantRock Sgt. Grifen]] and [[PsychoLesbian Trooper Magot]], who are in the same squad but still a couple. |
| 170 | * Literature/HonorHarrington / [[TheBrigadier Hamish Alexander]]. Forty years her senior and consistently outranking her, Ham always was a [[TeacherStudentRomance mentor and authority figure]] for Honor, even before they hit it off. Somewhat subverted by the fact that they were acutely aware of the consequences (Hamish was, [[MarryThemAll and still is]], HappilyMarried, after all!), and [[{{Wangst}} almost worked themselves into nervous breakdowns]] (and Honor was taken prisoner and [[NotQuiteDead presumed dead]] for several years) trying to pretend that nothing happened at all, and overall [[EarnYourHappyEnding Earned Their Happy Ending]]. |
| 171 | ** Also, Hamish and Honor did not actually start dating until after Honor's promotion to fleet admiral, which put the final nail in their former mentor/protege relationship and made them professional equals. At present, Hamish is again her nominal superior as First Lord of the Admiralty, but if the Judge Advocate General of the RMN (who was ''actually consulted'') says that their current relationship doesn't violate regs, then it doesn't. Lastly, being 40 years older than someone is less of a gap in a society where the average life expectancy is 250-300 years. |
| 172 | ** Manticoran regulations say that relationships between different members of the armed services are permissible so long as the people involved aren't in the same chain of command (Thus Honor's relationship with Paul Tankersley, who was one rank junior to her, was acceptable because he was not a member of her crew. If he had been posted to ''Nike'' rather than Hancock Station, it would have been a different matter). While being First Lord of the Admiralty (Civilian head of the Navy) made Hamish technically the head of the chain of command to ''everyone'' in the Navy, he had to resign his commission to accept the job. The JAG ruling basically stated that since Hamish was no longer a serving Naval Officer, the fraternization reg did not apply. |
| 173 | * Creator/CJCherryh's works: |
| 174 | ** In ''Literature/ThePaladin'', MasterSwordsman Shoka and his peasant-girl student Taizu end up in a relationship, despite the teacher/student power imbalance, their social class imbalance, and the fact that Shoka is just under 40 and Taizu is about sixteen when they meet (although more like 18 when the relationship begins). Things are, in the end, more equal than they sound because she's far from the passively obedient type. |
| 175 | ** In the ''Literature/MorgaineCycle'' Vanye feared it was literally a sin for him to fall in love with Morgaine, partly because he thought she was ''[[TheFairFolk qhal]]'' and therefore soulless, but also because he was pledged to her service and found that confusing (since normally a warrior could only be pledged to the service of a ''male'' noble). |
| 176 | * ''Literature/JeevesAndWooster'': Jeeves/Wooster shippers have to deal with this both ways. On the one hand, Jeeves is employed as Bertie Wooster's valet; on the other hand, though, Bertie is a docile UpperClassTwit while Jeeves is an intelligent, manipulative master of the BatmanGambit. |
| 177 | * ''Literature/TheMaskedEmpire'': Celene is a [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen ruthless Empress]] in an [[TheEmpire Empire]] steeped in FantasticRacism against [[EnslavedElves elves]]. Briala is her elven handmaiden. It works out about as well as you'd expect. |
| 178 | * ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'': |
| 179 | ** Daenerys Targaryen was married off to Khal Drogo for political reasons when she was a destitute, powerless, friendless 13-year-old princess and he was an extremely powerful, feared, 30-something warlord with 50,000 men at his back. Once Dany gained power in her own right, her [[LesYay relationship]] with her handmaidens became this, as they are her slaves. The shippers love these ships, especially the former. |
| 180 | ** The shippers also like Sansa/almost every male character, which is basically a guaranteed Unequal pairing; Sansa has almost no power behind her, aside from being the first daughter of a prestigious family, and [[spoiler:she loses that in the first book when her father is executed for being a traitor.]] Awareness of the inequality in their relationship leads [[spoiler:Tyrion]] to leave it unconsummated, and though [[spoiler:Littlefinger]] is similarly aware, this may not stop him, as he appears to view Sansa as [[spoiler:a surrogate for her mother. Which only raises the {{Squick}} factor, as he's effectively adopted her as a daughter.]] |
| 181 | ** There's also the popular Jaime/Brienne pairing, which can be cut both ways--Jaime is older, more experienced, the better fighter in ideal circumstances, and a scion of the wealthiest and most powerful family in Westeros and finds it easy to fluster Brienne, but Brienne is larger, stronger (a fight between them would be [[CurbStompBattle no contest]] [[spoiler:after Jaime loses his sword hand]]) and likes to call Jaime out on his crap. |
| 182 | ** Asha Grejoy is in a relationship with her ship's second in command, Qarl. However, he's the grandson of a thrall while she's the daughter of the Iron Island's Lord Paramount, preventing them from marrying. |
| 183 | * Charlotte Bronte features a TeacherStudentRomance OfficialCouple in ''The Professor'' and an employee/employer couple in ''Literature/JaneEyre''. |
| 184 | * ''Literature/SeptimusHeap'' displays much Septimus/Jenna-{{Shipping}} despite the fact that canonically a Wizard/Princess relationship is a taboo in the Castle due to the political consequences and rivalry between them. |
| 185 | * The Princess Rennsaeler and Jerin Whistler in ''Literature/ABrothersPrice''. She's several years older than him, while he starts off at just shy of sixteen. This is a world where men are so rare they are almost inevitably sheltered and not socialized to say no, so there's a QuestionableConsent situation when they meet. One of Jerin's sisters outlines it. |
| 186 | --> "She's a princess. All her life people have obeyed her commands. You're a boy. All your life you have listened to others." |
| 187 | * This is the plot of perhaps 70 percent of Regency romances, including the [[TropeCodifier genre codifier]] ''Literature/PrideAndPrejudice'': the courtship between a wealthy aristocrat (usually male) and someone much lower on the social scale (usually female). For good measure, it's not uncommon to add employer/employee dynamics or major differences in age and/or sexual experience. The heroine then proves to the hero by virtue of her smarts and personality that she is actually more his equal than the women of his social class. |
| 188 | * [[Literature/{{Temeraire}} William Laurence/Jane Roland]] did not ''quite'' start out thus; as while Captain Roland was noticeably the older of the two and had been [[TheSquadette part of the Aerial Corps]] since childhood, Captain Lawrence was not part of her formation and if his service in the Royal Navy were counted he at least approached her seniority. However, when Roland was promoted to Admiral, placed in command of the English Channel's airborne defenses, and effectively made his direct superior, neither party showed the slightest interest in breaking things off[[note]](although she did cite the inherent awkwardness of vowing to obey someone she would have to issue orders when she rejected his belated marriage proposal)[[/note]]. |
| 189 | * Downplayed example in ''Literature/WordsOfRadiance'', book 2 of ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive''. Adolin and Shallan have entered into an arranged marriage. He's one of the most powerful men on the planet and is third in line for the throne of the most powerful country. She, on the other hand, is a CountryMouse who was barely noble ''before'' her house started having horrific money problems. Not too much attention is given to it, but it is noted that he could make her do anything (even something as simple as staying with the guards where she's safe) due to their relative positions. Luckily, he's far too nice a guy to take advantage. At the end of the book, [[spoiler:his position is the same, but she's now one of the founding members of the new [[TheOrder Knights Radiant]], making her in charge of leading the whole world against demons, and giving her magic strong enough that she could theoretically beat him in a fight. She doesn't seem to notice the reversal, but he's a little disturbed to find that he is disturbed]]. |
| 190 | * In the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' novels Captain Carrot and Lance-Constable Angua (later Sergeant Angua) qualify, although Carrot is too nice to hold his rank over ''anyone'' if he can avoid doing so, and the cynical and sarcastic Angua is generally taking the lead in the relationship. And as of ''Literature/IShallWearMidnight'', Angua has been promoted to captain as well, so it's no longer an issue at all. Far more uncomfortable than the actual rank, however, is Angua's observation that "I'm a [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent wolf]] who lives among humans, and there's a word for that. If he whistled, I'd come running." |
| 191 | ** This is further exacerbated by the fact that Carrot is the rightful king of Ankh-Morpork (though he goes out of his way to hide this fact, since he doesn't believe a king would be good for Ankh-Morpork at present), and as such possesses a supernatural charisma that borders on CharmPerson, and which is active whether or not he wants to use it. |
| 192 | * The title character of ''Literature/ThePhantomOfTheOpera'' is a genius MagnificentBastard who's been manipulating the opera house owners into giving him money for years. Christine is considerably outmatched by Erik's intellect. The fact that most [[AdaptationDisplacement adaptations]] turn her into TheIngenue doesn't help. |
| 193 | * This is a big part of the romance of ''Literature/JaneEyre''. Jane is a poor governess who falls in love with her employer. The two eventually are set to marry, but it's called off because [[spoiler:he's already married]]. Still, it's hinted that their marriage wouldn't have been happy because of the power imbalance [[spoiler:and they're able to make things work after she inherits a respectable amount of money and he is injured in a house fire]]. |
| 194 | * In ''Literature/TheTwilightSaga'', Bella is a clumsy middle-class teenager who's prone to bouts of [[TooDumbToLive life-threatening stupidity]]. Her boyfriend [[spoiler:and eventual husband]] is a 108-year-old vampire who is physically, mentally, and financially superior to her. |
| 195 | * In ''Literature/HushHush'', Nora's relationship with Patch is considerably unequal since he can use his powers to make her hallucinate anything he wants. In the first book, he uses this power to make her hear voice, not notice him stalking her, and prevent at least one authority figure from taking her request to separate her from him seriously. While he seems to not use those powers after they hook up, he still has them and it's really only his word that he isn't. He also can't feel pain and doesn't seem to be killable in any normal way, so fighting him off is nearly impossible. |
| 196 | * The relationship between Anastasia Steel and Christian Grey in ''Literature/FiftyShadesOfGrey''. Christian is obscenely wealthy and has an army of bodyguards, hackers, and investigators on his payroll, all of which he has no problem using to dig up all of Ana's information and keep tabs on her. He also uses his money for the technology to track her via her cellphone and to buy the company she works at so he can give her promotions she hasn't earned. Ana herself is incredibly naive, an ExtremeDoormat, a recent college graduate, and ''very'' sexually inexperienced. |
| 197 | * This is quite common among the Sea Folk in ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'' and as such is incorporated into their marriage vows. According to their vows, whichever member of the couple commands in public must obey in private. The assumption is that all marriages are an unequal pairing, but by switching which way around the inequality is in public and private a balance is maintained. |
| 198 | * In ''Literature/TheMortalInstruments'' this is the main source of tension in Alec Lightwood and Magnus Bane's relationship. Alec is a [[DemonSlaying Shadowhunter]] in his late-teens who is rather reserved, insecure about his homosexuality and has never been in a relationship. Magnus is a 400+-year-old warlock with immense magical powers, is not getting any older physically-speaking, has had innumerable relationships over the centuries, and is very secretive about himself even though he knows virtually everything about Alec. Initially, Magnus pretty much dictates all of the terms of their relationship and it causes a lot of problems. They get over it, and the relationship starts to become better balanced as it progresses in later books in the series. |
| 199 | * In ''[[Literature/AmaranthineSaga Tsumiko and the Enslaved Fox]]'', despite falling in love with Argent, who is magically bound to her, Tsumiko refuses to accept a relationship with him until she has secured his freedom, as any relationship between them with the bond intact could never truly be equal. On a series-wide level, the powerful nature of the Amaranthine makes it hard to avoid this trope in InterspeciesRomance, but the series typically handles it by giving the human characters powerful Reaver abilities, or, in Kimiko's case, deliberately framing the relationship so that she has the majority of the agency. |
| 200 | * ''Literature/WarriorCats'' has an example in Pinestar and Leopardfoot: Pinestar is the leader of [=ThunderClan=] [[CatsHaveNineLives on his second-to-last life]], while Leopardfoot is a young, newly made warrior. While in the books the only real thing that characters comment on is that Pinestar doesn't seem to have any interest in their kits, the fandom tends to dislike the pairing due to the age gap and notable power imbalance. |
| 201 | * ''Literature/Reaper2016'': Jex and Michael/ Hawk. He's the most-visible and universally loved Founder Player, who's lived in Game for four hundred years and done pretty much ''everything''. Jex, opposed on principle to relationships where she can't be an equal partner, is reluctant to begin a relationship with him for this reason; for one thing, she's hero-worshipped him for years and has his poster on her wall. Hawk defrosting himself so she can meet the ''real'' him and see that, on a personal level, they're really not so unequal helps. As does Jex being made an honorary Founder Member for her part in preventing the bombing of the Celestius server. |
| 202 | * Clayton Wilcox's affair with Gina Fielding in ''Literature/OnTheStreetWhereYouLive'' is an example of how this can [[DeconstructedTrope backfire]] even if one person isn't actively trying to take advantage of the other. Clayton had an affair with Gina, a 20-year-old student at the college he was president of. He soon realised it was a mistake and ended the affair, but Gina then blackmailed him into paying her thousands of dollars not to tell the faculty he'd used his position to coerce her into an intimate relationship. Twelve years later, Gina tries to blackmail Clayton for more money, threatening to tell the media that he sexually harassed her and took advantage of her youth. Although the police agree that Clayton acted inappropriately, they also think it's clear Gina knew what she was doing and wasn't really an innocent victim, now or then. |
| 203 | [[/folder]] |
| 204 | |
| 205 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 206 | * ''Series/YediYuz'': A shift in a relationship's balance after a stressful event is the theme of the episode "EÅŸitlik" ("Equality"). Despite his unwavering support, Dilek feels her relationship with Kaan has been thrown out of equilibrium by the scandal, bringing humiliating baggage into a formerly equal partnership. |
| 207 | * In ''Series/{{Smallville}}'', Clark, being Superman, has this towards more or less any LoveInterest. |
| 208 | ** The scene in which [[spoiler:he finds Chloe after Brainiac has wiped her knowledge of Clark's powers and Clark doesn't bother trying to restore the memories, feeling Chloe would be safer that way]] in ''Abyss'' has been under fire for this, especially when it is portrayed as the right thing to do. That being said [[StatusQuoIsGod it lasted a grand total of one episode]]. |
| 209 | ** Jason Teague (Smallville High School Football Coach) and ComicBook/LanaLang (Smallville High School Student). It didn't last long (Teague's status as a teacher, that is) but a VillainOfTheWeek whose motive was enforcing moral values tried to kill him for this. (Jason Teague had long lost the coaching job over this but the villain didn't deem this enough punishment). |
| 210 | ** That was followed by an even less equal pairing, Lana (barely twenty, according to the show's canon), and Lex Luthor himself (over thirty). It was always a bit weird how Lex had no friends his own age and chose to hang around high-schoolers all the time--he even made 16-year-old Clark his best man--but this relationship seemed especially awkward given his lengthy sexual history, which included a couple of rich heiresses. |
| 211 | --->'''[[http://www.supermanhomepage.com/tv/tv.php?topic=reviews/smallville5-ep20 Neal Bailey]]:''' What does a BILLIONAIRE who's bedded [[http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0891275/ Helen Bryce]], [[http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0020739/ the teacher from "Heat"]], and [[http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0111639/ Kelly Brook]] want to do with an egocentric, petulant, immature girl-woman who's 7 years his junior, always calling him out for things he hasn't done, and blames him for her kissing him? ...Great girlfriend. I'll take two. |
| 212 | * ''Franchise/SuperSentai'': |
| 213 | ** In ''Series/SamuraiSentaiShinkenger'', pretty much ''anyone'' on the team shipped with Takeru would have overtones of this, since they're all his vassals. The only possibility that could get around it is Takeru/[[spoiler:Kaoru]], which has [[ParentalIncest its own problems]] after the results of episode 48. |
| 214 | ** In ''Series/EngineSentaiGoOnger'', the fairly popular pairings of Hanto with either [[HoYay Gunpei]] or [[DatingCatwoman Kegalesia]] would count as this. |
| 215 | * ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'': |
| 216 | ** Fanfic had Giles/Buffy. This is never even suggested in the series, with the exception of a few jokes about how Giles spends all of his time around adolescent girls ([[AndZoidberg and Xander]]). One character assumed they were together and Season 6 had a ThatCameOutWrong moment when Buffy claimed she was thinking about Giles when she kissed Spike. |
| 217 | ** There's also (a lot of) canon Angel/Buffy. Although they both act like clueless fifteen-year-olds during the time they're in a relationship, Angel is actually over two hundred years old and rarely shares information if he can avoid it. And, more importantly, while Angel is an adult man, Buffy is a sixteen-year-old teenager throughout most of their relationship (in the State of California, the age of consent is eighteen, not only making her underage but also making her first time with Angel at seventeen a case of Statutory Rape). Several episodes (e.g. "I Only Have Eyes For You", and "Becoming, Part One") do try to deconstruct the UnequalPairing of their relationship, but even then the show never goes out of its way to tell the viewers that it's wrong and the whole thing is still [[RomanticVampireBoy ultimately portrayed as romantic]]. In this case, a proper deconstruction was probably necessary. |
| 218 | ** Another canon example is Buffy and Riley. Not technically a TeacherStudentRomance, since Riley was a teaching assistant, he was still essentially grading her papers and there are rules which prohibit these kinds of relationships. |
| 219 | ** Season 8 had Xander start a relationship with slayer [[spoiler:TemporaryLoveInterest]] Renee and Dawn. Giles is assumed to have been Faith's [[MealTicket Sugar Daddy]] at least once. |
| 220 | ** Spike/Dawn is a very popular Fan pairing, in spite of how much it squicks out many other fans. |
| 221 | ** ''Series/{{Angel}}'' had the short-lived Connor/[[spoiler:GrandTheftMe!Cordy]] in Season 4. |
| 222 | * ''Series/{{House}}'' had House/Cameron. And later, Cuddy/House. |
| 223 | * ''Series/TheVampireDiaries'' has Stefan/Elena and Damon/Elena, but both are much older than Elena. This also goes for Klaus/Caroline. Klaus is ''1000'' years older than her. |
| 224 | * ''Series/{{Torchwood}}'' has both Jack/Ianto (all the way) and Jack/Gwen (UST) in canon -- the fact that the former is the boss to both of them is the least of their worries. |
| 225 | * ''Series/DoctorWho'': Any pairing of The Doctor and a human (particularly his companions). This is mainly due to the fact that he's a centuries-old SufficientlyAdvancedAlien, and the companions are (for the most part) TheWatson. Additionally, Jenny and Vastra. Vastra is a lizard-alien-person.[[note]]Technically not an alien, since the Silurians are native to Earth.[[/note]] Jenny is her human wife. Even though they're married, Jenny still acts as Vastra's servant and calls her "Ma'am." |
| 226 | * ''{{Series/Firefly}}'': |
| 227 | ** The rather odd Mal/River pairing that pops up often in the fandom. Not even considering the age difference (Mal is roughly twice as old as River) but he's also the ship's captain, and she's become its [[spoiler:pilot, following Wash's death]]. |
| 228 | ** There's also the slash pairings, with Mal/Simon and Mal/Jayne. |
| 229 | ** Mal/Inara also counts. He's a former revolutionary who is now a criminal who does odd (and sometimes illegal) jobs to scrape by. She's a Companion, which means that she's very well-educated, well-bred, and well-versed in reading people and using this to help them feel better. Her job also means that she's considered very high-status as well, to the point where she notes, upon signing up as a passenger on ''Serenity'', that simply hanging around Mal will make him appear credible. |
| 230 | * In ''Series/TerminatorTheSarahConnorChronicles'', Cameron is programmed to obey John Connor's orders. It hasn't taken the fandom long to extrapolate what John could, would, or ''has'' done with an ''extremely'' RidiculouslyHumanRobot. There's also implications of future John Connor/Allison Young, which gets ''really'' disturbing when one considers Cameron looks exactly like Allison and can apparently ''become'' Allison in personality. |
| 231 | * ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'': |
| 232 | ** Other than Sam/Dean, the second most popular incestuous ship is John and Dean. Seeing how Dean [[SycophanticServant follows even the most criminally stupid of orders]], you can guess how this one turns out. |
| 233 | ** There's also Castiel/Dean. They've been paired together because they act like an astonishingly pretty married couple but, if he wants to stay out of hell and keep his eyes, Dean should probably behave like a good boy from now on. |
| 234 | ** The thing about Dean and Cas is that the way it plays out is actually the complete reverse. Technically, Castiel is much more powerful; hell, he's one of the most powerful characters on the show, and could ([[CurbStompBattle and has]]) beat Dean to a pulp. Much of the time, however, it's Dean calling the shots and ordering Castiel around. Indeed, it's a point of contention both in-show and in the fandom that Dean tends to take advantage of Castiel's devotion to him, particularly in Season 6; |
| 235 | ---> '''Rachel:''' I'm his friend. |
| 236 | ---> '''Sam:''' And you think we're not? |
| 237 | ---> '''Rachel:''' I think you call him when you need something. |
| 238 | * ''Series/BattlestarGalactica2003'': |
| 239 | ** Kara Thrace and her Commanding Officer[=/=]ParentalSubstitute Bill Adama. Like that time he risked the entire Fleet to go looking for her after she'd been shot down and presumed dead. And then there's Laura Roslin/Lee Adama. Again, it's not just the age difference -- when they met, he was a hotshot pilot and she was the president. As he put it: "The lady's in charge." |
| 240 | ** A canon (albeit on-and-off) unequal pairing: Kara and Lee Adama. No age difference, really (okay, Kara's a ''bit'' older than Lee), but Kara could take Lee's ass to school any day. And Lee is tough. Also because he has a higher position. Kara was also romantic involved with Lee's brother Zak and, as his basic flight instructor, she let him pass the course despite him not being skilled enough to. As a result, he was unprepared, which caused his death. |
| 241 | ** The "bible" document for Season One had it that Lee would develop romantic feelings for Roslin. |
| 242 | * The main slash pairing of ''Series/{{Tour of Duty}}'' is Lieutenant Goldman and Sergeant Anderson who are assigned to the same platoon during the Vietnam War. |
| 243 | * Creator/{{ITV}}'s ''Series/ThePalace'' had the King of England and his secretary falling in love, for maximum drama. |
| 244 | * ''Series/ThirtyRock'' has Jack and Liz. WordOfGod says [[NoHuggingNoKissing they'll never get together]], but that doesn't deter shippers. |
| 245 | * ''Series/StargateAtlantis'': |
| 246 | ** There's some (not a whole lot, but it ''exists)'' fanfic pairing Todd with John Sheppard or Evan Lorne. Question: Which way does the inequality go? Answer: It varies. |
| 247 | ** In "Sunday", Elizabeth says she doesn't date anyone on Atlantis because they're ''all'' [[SleepingWithTheBoss her subordinates]]. This trope therefore applies to most of the ships involving her, including Elizabeth/Sheppard and Elizabeth/Zelenka. The only notable exception is Elizabeth/Caldwell... where ''he's'' her boss. |
| 248 | * ''Series/StargateUniverse'', when it is revealed that Young and TJ [[spoiler:not only slept together]], but [[spoiler:conceived a child in the process.]] The Stargates shows run on this trope for UST fuel (SG-1 provides the trope quote for InappropriatelyCloseComrades, as befitting a military series). |
| 249 | * ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'': Picard and Dr. Crusher invoke their differing ranks as a reason why they can't get together. Though, given that Beverly (as the ship's head doctor) could (and occasionally did) pull rank on Picard, that rationale feels more like ShipSinking than characterization. Not that that stopped the fic writers. There's also the not unpopular Q/Picard ship. Yes, Picard is captain of the Federation flagship, but Q is an omnipotent, omniscient, immortal alien who can wipe out civilizations with a camp finger snap, so there's not really much of a contest. |
| 250 | * This would apply to any hypothetical relationship involving Gibbs/Anyone on Team Gibbs in ''Series/{{NCIS}}''. Especially Abby, where the surrogate father/daughter relationship is particularly blatant. There are, however, two exceptions: The first, Gibbs/Jenny, is somewhat balanced out by his having been her superior in the past [[spoiler:and her now being dead]]. The second, Gibbs/[[GenderBlenderName Jack]], is more or less fine because, as the in-house forensic psychologist, she reports directly to Vance and isn't ''on'' Gibbs' team despite working with them on a regular basis. [[spoiler:That one gets a DidTheyOrDidntThey ending... for now.]] |
| 251 | * Among ''Series/{{Heroes}}'' fans who shipped Mohinder and Sylar, this was a VERY popular theme in fanfic before [[spoiler:Mohinder gave himself superpowers in Season 3]]. Usually, Sylar's near-godlike advantage in raw physical power was tenuously balanced by Mohinder's relative grip on sanity and his being [[PrettyBoy just too pretty to kill]]. |
| 252 | * ''Series/TheInspectorLynleyMysteries''' FanPreferredCouple of Lynley/Havers has this in ''spades'', in both class disparity (he's a Lord, she is very much ''[[WorkingClassHero not]]'') and in rank (he's a [[UsefulNotes/ScotlandYard Detective Inspector]], she's a Detective Sergeant). This is mitigated in that by the end of the series their interactions are much more those of police ''partners'' as opposed to superior/subordinate, but there are still massive issues to overcome. [[FanPreferredCouple The entire fandom ships them anyway.]] |
| 253 | * ''Series/RobinHood'' had Guy/Marian (he was physically stronger, politically more powerful, and eventually stabs her to death) and Robin/Kate (he was the aristocratic lord of Locksley, she was an illiterate peasant girl). Both pairings were rife with UnfortunateImplications. |
| 254 | * Pretty much every relationship ever on ''Series/GreysAnatomy''. Interns and residents regularly date their superiors and get preferential despite the fact that it's supposed to be against the rules. |
| 255 | * ''Franchise/KamenRider'': |
| 256 | ** ''Series/KamenRiderOOO'' has quite a bit of HoYay for Date/Gotou: Date being around 10-15 years older, Gotou's mentor, holding the position of Kamen Rider Birth (which Gotou desperately wants to become) and physically much stronger, to the point where he can easily handle the Birth Driver whereas Gotou has to train very hard to use it. |
| 257 | ** Saeko/Kirihiko in ''Series/KamenRiderDouble'' is a pretty tragic example, leading to Kirihiko's [[spoiler:acceptance of his wife abusing him, and finally murdering him.]] |
| 258 | * ''Series/{{CSI}}'' was this way with Grissom and Sara and the whole boss/employee thing until it became canon. |
| 259 | * Both the main ships involving Harvey Specter in ''Series/{{Suits}}'' count as this - for Harvey/Donna, she's his assistant, and for Harvey/Mike, he's his associate. Less prominent with Harvey/Donna because she pretty much runs his life, so it's kind of a "who's really the boss?" question. |
| 260 | * Unsurprisingly, as a soap opera about class differences in early-twentieth-century Britain, ''Series/DowntonAbbey'' has more than its fair share of this. |
| 261 | ** Lady Mary originally scorns Matthew as a suitor, even though he's now the heir to her family's [[BigFancyHouse fabulous estate]], because of his middle-class background. Her sister Lady Sybil, on the other hand, falls in love with [[spoiler:and marries the family's chauffeur, Branson. Mary eventually falls for Matthew, and both marriages are happy ones...for a while.]] |
| 262 | ** Also, after [[spoiler:Sybil dies]], a maid hits on [[spoiler:Tom]]. She is summarily dismissed. |
| 263 | ** Even the earl himself gets in on the action when he smooches on a maid. Plus, he's married. |
| 264 | * As a drama full of philandering account men in the era before sexual-harassment laws, ''Series/MadMen'' is obviously full of this. Plenty of the men in the office have affairs with their secretaries or other employees. Some notable examples include Don and Roger each marrying secretaries the second time around, Roger's affairs with Joan (though they're not quite as "unequal" as some of the others) and Peggy's affairs over the seasons with Pete, then Duck Phillips, then Ted Chaough. |
| 265 | * In ''Series/OrangeIsTheNewBlack'', Officer Bennett falls in love with Daya...and gets her pregnant. Daya tries to abort with help from an herbal concoction, but her hereto estranged mother (who is also in prison) persuades her to keep the baby. [[spoiler:And tells her that the herbal concoction was not a real abortifacient.]] They have to try and figure out how to go through with the pregnancy without getting Officer Bennett in trouble. (If it was found out that he had sex with an inmate, he could not only lose his job but also be charged with rape because of the unequal status of CO and inmate.) [[spoiler:The women devise a plan to have Daya sleep with Officer Mendez and then say that he raped her. That way, the child would be assumed to be his, not Bennett's...and they'd also get rid of Mendez.]] |
| 266 | * On ''Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit'', Detective Rollins [[TheGamblingAddict is attending Gamblers Anonymous meetings]] and ends up in a relationship with her sponsor. The inequality of their relationship leads to a pretty brutal HumiliationConga for Rollins as it comes out piece by piece just how much he's abused his position and manipulated her. |
| 267 | ** Amands finds herself in this position again; the father of her oldest child is Declan Murphy, an NYPD captain who works in the Hate Crimes Unit and who was, at the time, her captain at SVU. This trope is discussed in season 23, when Declan teams with SVU on a case and he meets up with Amanda. He tries to apologize, explaining that it had been inappropriate and he should have known better, but Amands shuts him down and tells him it was consensual. This may be because she can't deal with those implications, as it hits too close to her RapeAsBackstory of being coerced and then forced by her captain in Atlanta in exchange for her sister's amnesty. |
| 268 | * ''Series/OnceUponATime'': |
| 269 | ** No couple does better than Rumple and Zelena. Rumple is an all-powerful, immortal master of dark magic and on top of that, he's a total {{Chessmaster}}. However, when Zelena has his dagger, she has complete control of him and demonstrates this in several...[[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything uncomfortable ways.]] |
| 270 | ** Graham and Regina. Regina took away Graham's free will and forced him to be her SexSlave ''and'' [[IfICantHaveYou she killed him when he tried to leave her]] |
| 271 | * Spoofed in ''Series/{{Blackadder}} the Third'', where Prince George falls for a commoner girl; when her father hears the news, he wonders aloud if love has ever crossed social boundaries like this before... |
| 272 | -->'''Amy:''' But what about you and Mum?\ |
| 273 | '''Mr. Hardwood:''' Well yes, yes, I grant thee when I first met her I was the farmer's son and she was just the lass who ate the dung, but that was an exception.\ |
| 274 | '''Amy:''' And Aunty Dot and Uncle Ted.\ |
| 275 | '''Mr. Hardwood:''' Yes, yes alright, he was a pig poker and she was the Duchess of Argyle, but-\ |
| 276 | '''Amy:''' And Aunty Ruth and Uncle Isiah, she was a milkmaid and he was-\ |
| 277 | '''Mr. Hardwood:''' UsefulNotes/ThePope! Yes, yes, all right. |
| 278 | * ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'' has the main couple, Leonard and Penny. Unlike most examples of UglyGuyHotWife, the unequal nature of the average looking, shy, introverted Leonard and the pretty, perky, social Penny was put directly on display. While Leonard has numerous good qualities there is no question who would be more successful romantically when separated. For her part, Penny has her own insecurities precisely because Leonard is so much more intelligent and she takes the attractiveness gap for granted, worried Leonard might get stolen from her by an undergrad more on his level intellectually ([[CluelessChickMagnet which has almost happened a couple of times]]). It wasn't until the last couple seasons of the show, even after getting married, that they seemed comfortable communicating with each other. |
| 279 | [[/folder]] |
| 280 | |
| 281 | [[folder:Theatre]] |
| 282 | * Averted in the play version of ''Theatre/MyFairLady'' with Eliza being fond of the professor, but unable to have a serious relationship with him because of the power imbalance. |
| 283 | [[/folder]] |
| 284 | |
| 285 | [[folder:Video Games]] |
| 286 | * ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' has one or two of these - including the (fairly popular and canon) background pairing in the third game of Colonel Volgin and Major Raikov. Volgin is around seven feet tall, musclebound, sadistic, and ELECTRIC, not to mention years Ivan's senior. Raikov appears to be a {{Bishounen}} with occasional violent tendencies and a penchant for scanty underwear. Snake and Otacon seem like this at first glance, but it's [[SubvertedTrope subverted--]] Snake is the more personally powerful and probably more stable, but [[MissionControl Otacon is his commanding officer.]] |
| 287 | ** This series also seems to have a thing with large age gaps. Infamously, there's Snake and Meryl Silverburgh; while there is a difference in age, it doesn't quite fulfill the specific standards of the MayDecemberRomance trope, Snake is 33 years old and Meryl is 18 when they begin their relationship. (It doesn't help that he keeps calling her a "rookie" and otherwise highlighting that he has a lot more age and life experience than she does.) A slightly skeevier example also comes in the form of Big Boss and Paz, in which he is roughly 38 and believes Paz to be a ''sixteen-year-old schoolgirl'' - despite this, the player can still complete the "Date with Paz" mission and (it is implied) have sex with her. |
| 288 | * ''VideoGame/SengokuBasara'' has this with any ship that doesn't involve rival daimyo, especially any lord/vassal pairing you'd care to name. Probably the biggest one is Date Masamune with his second-in-command Katakura Kojuro. Given Kojuro's insane loyalty and the retainer-lord obligations of the time, the power imbalance would be mind-boggling, except Kojuro is ten years older than Masamune, personally responsible for most of the army's strategy that isn't limited to "charge into battle screaming in Engrish and do crazy shit" and has, in both anime and video game canon, kicked his lord's ass, ''hard'', when Masamune was being [[ICanStillFight suicidally stupid]] (although both times afterward he tried to kill himself for having raised his blade to Masamune. [[GetAholdOfYourselfMan That didn't go over well]]). Close runner-up is Sanada Yukimura/Sarutobi Sasuke; see the entry on Jeeves and Wooster (although Yukimura is less dense than Bertie and more hot-blooded). |
| 289 | * ''Franchise/TouhouProject'' fandom has people shipping everyone with everyone else, which leads to many cases of this. One of the most popular is Yuyuko Saigyouji/Youmu Konpaku. Yuyuko is the Queen of Hakugyokurou, absolute ruler of the Netherworld and holding mastery over death. Youmu is... well, her official title is Hakugyokurou's ''gardener''. The fact Yuyuko [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld looks]] thirty-something while you'd be hard-pressed to think of Youmu as older than sixteen also factors for this trope (for the record, they are over a thousand years and most likely just below sixty, respectively). |
| 290 | ** The same for the [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Remilia Scarlet]] / [[NinjaMaid Sakuya Izayoi]] pairing, the former an over five centuries-old terror of the night while the latter is a human probably no older than her early twenties. [[spoiler:Probably. There are vague hints that Sakuya might actually be a Lunarian and thus could be much older than she looks]]. This mostly revolves around the persistent mystery of why a powerful, [[HypercompetentSidekick capable]] individual has dedicated herself to a capricious, over-bearing, literally childish being, most common theories involving some variation of SubordinateExcuse. |
| 291 | ** [[MadDoctor Eirin Yagokoro]] / Princess Kaguya Houraisan also falls into this, but not the way most expect. While Kaguya does have authority over Eirin, Eirin is actually ''far'' more powerful than Kaguya and the arrangement is entirely at Eirin's discretion (she could leave whenever she wants, she just doesn't want to). |
| 292 | ** Somewhat PlayedForLaughs with the ''highly'' popular [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Flandre Scarlet]] / [[EmptyShell Koishi Komeiji]] pairing - their similarities are being the Younger StrongerSibling toward their respective sisters, being Extra Stage Bosses and their respective sisters owning mansions. Their ''differences'' are like day and night - beginning with the fact that Flandre is a [[PersonOfMassDestruction little vampire girl who can destroy literally anything]] while Koishi is a mind-reading {{youkai}} who can no longer mind-read, but also employs a PerceptionFilter that grants her {{Invisibility}}. |
| 293 | * ''VideoGame/GearsOfWar 2'' rather ''strongly'' implies that Sergeant Marcus Fenix and Lieutenant Anya Stroud have a relationship that goes past the professional. |
| 294 | * [[BigBad Nowel]] and her loyal servant [[TheDragon Ruru]] in ''VideoGame/MagicalBattleArena''. The prologue of Ruru's scenario outright states that the only wish in Ruru's heart is to be with Nowel. As a fan-translator put it, Ruru almost out-gays the ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha'' cast. |
| 295 | * Gumshoe/Edgeworth has a small but loyal following in ''Franchise/AceAttorney'' fandom, even though Edgeworth has reduced Gumshoe's pay so much that he's forced to subsist on a diet of instant noodles. |
| 296 | * Implied in ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'' if your character is male, has a relationship with Bastila and [[spoiler:chooses to fall to TheDarkSide at her prompting. She becomes both "your lover and apprentice", in her words.]] |
| 297 | * In ''VideoGame/StarWarsTheOldRepublic'', at least one LoveInterest each for the Jedi Consular, Jedi Knight, Sith Warrior, and Sith Inquisitor is the player's [[TeacherStudentRomance apprentice]], while the female Sith Warrior can romance a Force-blind subordinate who is terrified of her. The Trooper and the Imperial Agent also have at least one love interest who is a lower-ranked member of their squad. {{Defied}} with the female Sith Inquisitor's LoveInterest, Andronikos Revel, however: he's fully aware of the power imbalance between them, and takes care to establish firm ground rules with her regarding his personal rights and that he'll walk if she treats him as anything other than an equal who is with her voluntarily. |
| 298 | * Just about any pairing involving Shepard in the ''Franchise/MassEffect'' series, because of the fact that (s)he's the captain of the ''Normandy'' and all of the squad members are his/her subordinates, but especially Shepard/Ashley and Shepard/Kaidan; all three of them are in the Alliance navy and Shepard outranks both Ash and Kaidan. As Shepard points out, though, what with the Saren and the Reapers and all, being caught fraternizing is the ''least'' of their problems. |
| 299 | ** Ashley touches on this trope in an e-mail to one of her sisters, says that she would never get together with one of her subordinates because if she has to decide who lives and who dies, she doesn't want love to factor into her decision. This becomes HarsherInHindsight when you consider that [[spoiler:on Virmire, Shepard has to choose between her and Kaidan, both of whom can be romanced. Ashley can, depending on the player's choices, be sacrificed for a romanced Kaidan or saved because Shepard is in a romance with her]]. |
| 300 | ** Even the romance options who are not ''technically'' subordinates (having volunteered to help out and being outside the military chain of command,) have this to some extent; even those with strong and independent personalities who could easily be the HeroOfAnotherStory tend to be [[OvershadowedByAwesome very much in Shepard's shadow]], never question Shepard's leadership for a moment, and (even if they disapprove,) inevitably go along with any decision Shepard makes. |
| 301 | *** Though there are ''some'' exceptions; Tali, for example, will break off her relationship with Shepard if he chooses to side with Legion over her in their argument. Even though her loyalty can be regained with a Charm check later, the romance cannot be restarted. It can only be continued if Shepard either uses the Charm/Intimidate option or sides with her during the argument. Additionally, the romance cannot even be started to begin with if Shepard makes a choice she disapproves of to resolve her loyalty mission; it must be resolved in a way she agrees with, preferably by getting her exonerated ''without'' showing the evidence she tells you to bury. Also, during the trial, the quarian fleet specifically designate Tali to be a crewman on the Normandy, and thereby, Shepard is officially recognized as her Captain. |
| 302 | ** Technically speaking, several of the relationships would be an Unequal pairing in the other direction ''if'' Shepard and their romantic partner were part of the same chain of command (which they're not; Shepard doesn't even fall under the Alliance's chain per se, being a Spectre and all). Shepard is a [[CommandingCoolness Commander]]. Kaidan in the third game is a Major (considered in the fictional ranking system to be higher than Commander), Garrus seems to be a general (or at least high enough that a low-ranking general salutes ''him''), and Tali can potentially be an ''admiral.'' Their ranks aren't just for show either. Shepard spends most of the third game shooting people on ground missions, while occasionally ending up in scenarios where s/he can alter world-changing events with the push of a button, by sheer chance. While they go on ground missions and shoot enemies as well, Tali and Garrus also spend their spare time helping to direct the grand war strategies of their respective species; Garrus is a personal adviser to the Primarch, while Tali can be seen on the Citadel organizing the evacuation of allied colonies and bolstering of allied defense lines. |
| 303 | * In ''VideoGame/TheOrionConspiracy'', Devlin finds out early on that Captain [=LaPaz=] and Lowe (who is on a lower rank than [=LaPaz=]) are married. This becomes a plot point later on when [[spoiler:Devlin finds out that [=LaPaz=] is eight weeks pregnant and has to use this information to blackmail her into giving him the keys to his son Danny's cupboard]]. |
| 304 | * In ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'', Mario is a plumber and Princess Peach Toadstool is, well, a princess. |
| 305 | * ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'': Pretty much averted, which is a first for Creator/BioWare. Regardless of the [[PlayerCharacter Warden]]'s background (from an impoverished city elf or casteless dwarf to a human noble from the second most powerful family in Ferelden), they've been [[YouCantGoHomeAgain cut off from their home and resources]], scapegoated for the murder of the king, forced to go on the run and are hounded at every turn by the usurping regent's assassins and bounty hunters. All four potential love interests, similarly, have given up their old lives to travel with you to help you stop [[WorldWreckingWave the Blight]], though they're all there voluntarily and can leave at any time ([[ScrewThisImOuttaHere and will]], if their RelationshipValues drop far enough). |
| 306 | * ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'' has the interesting variation of the pairing becoming more uneven over the three acts of the game. At the start, Hawke is a penniless refugee doing quests to get enough money to give their family a chance to start a new life. From there Hawke reclaims the family estate inherited from their noble grandparents, becomes wealthy, becomes the Champion of the city for saving from Qunari invasion, and eventually has so much political influence that their actions will go down in history during the final conflict. Meanwhile, Hawke's love interests are a runaway slave who joins you in case his master comes after him, an apostate mage lying low in the slums, a Dalish elf shunned from her clan, and a pirate in debt to slavers. Sebastian breaks the mold by being an exiled prince but even by the end of the game, he's somewhat above Hawke, especially if he goes back to retake the throne. |
| 307 | ** Fenris, the runaway slave, is the love interest who acknowledges this the most by pointing out that Hawke surely has better suitors than an elven slave. This makes sense as his backstory is being the bodyguard and sex slave of an extremely powerful Tevinter magister who wiped his memory, making it the biggest unbalanced pairing possible (and even more so if Hawke is a mage). |
| 308 | * In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'', all of the Inquisitor's potential romances are with subordinates. That said, it's possible to start flirting with them before officially becoming the Inquisition's leader. |
| 309 | ** Solas is an interesting variant given that [[spoiler:he is secretly Fen'Harel, the trickster god of elven legend. While his ''vastly'' superior age, immortality, life experience gives him undue power over a female elf Inquisitor, she ''is'' the head of a vast religious military organization that could lock him up at her behest. However, throughout the game, she doesn't know his true identity, and he is very weakened from his millennia-long slumber and posing as one of her subordinates. However, after the end credits Solas absorbs the power of another elven god, and gains not only the magical strength to turn whole armies to stone with a ''thought'', but a vast elven and eluvian spy network to cripple nations. However, Lavellan still has a lot of clout as the Herald of Andraste, and a big enough team of followers to stand up to him.]] |
| 310 | ** Discussed if a Human Noble Inquisitor decides to romance Sera. The latter mentions other humans will object because a human noble dating an elf (who're largely [[EnslavedElves enslaved]] or [[FantasticRacism oppressed]] in this setting) could be seen as "taking advantage of" her, but since Sera is a SatisfiedStreetRat and [[FriendlyNeighborhoodGangster Red Jenny]] who spends all her time getting back at abusive nobles without consequence, she doesn't mind it. |
| 311 | --->'''Inquisitor Trevelyan:''' Is there something wrong with me being human?\ |
| 312 | '''Sera:''' You tell me, ''Lady Trevelyan.'' It's your people who always get a hair up their arse about it. "Oh, the Inquisitor took an elf. Of course she did. She's taking advantage of... some rubbish, I don't even know." |
| 313 | ** Also strangely averted regarding Empress Celene's past relationship with her [[EnslavedElves elven]] [[SleepingWithTheBoss handmaiden]], Briala. Despite the [[Literature/TheMaskedEmpire tie-in novel]] driving home that they had a ''very'' imbalanced relationship (where, among other things, Celene had Briala's [[spoiler:family and people slaughtered]] then kept her in the dark about it and [[AllTakeAndNoGive used her as her personal lover and spymaster]] for years), [[SubvertedTrope you'd be hard-pressed to find any characters who acknowledge this]] in ''[=DAI=]''. Every character ([[WeAreStrugglingTogether even fellow city elves]]) take it for granted that ''of course'' their relationship was fully consensual and Briala on board with every part of it, despite many human nobles in the setting taking EnslavedElves to bed against their will (like [[VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins Vaughan Kendells]] to Shianni, [[Literature/TheCalling Compte Dorian]] to Fiona, [[VideoGame/DragonAgeII Danarius]] to Fenris, etc). What's more, Celene's [[spoiler:purge]] of the Halamshiral Alienage is only ever held against ''Briala'' since [[GuiltByAssociation they were together at the time]], despite the obvious rebuttal that an ''elven servant'' might not have had full say against the wishes of a ''human empress''. |
| 314 | ** This can be inverted in the ''Trespasser'' where Cassandra, a member of royalty who left that life in favour of joining an order of warriors, could have come the leader of the setting's main religion in the two years between the main game and the DLC depending on your choices. The DLC will then end with the Inquisition either being disbanded or restructured to be part of the Chantry, which would make the Inquisitor Cassandra's subordinate. |
| 315 | * ''VideoGame/ValkyriaChronicles'' has this between 2nd Lieutenant Welkin Gunther and Sergeant Alicia Melchiott. [[spoiler:They're both retired from military service by the time they get married, though.]] |
| 316 | * In ''VideoGame/ValkyriaChroniclesIII'', both of 2nd Lieutenant Kurt Irving's love interests, Private Riela Marcellis and Lance Corporal Imca, are his direct subordinates. [[spoiler:Like in the first game, both Kurt and whichever girl he chooses will have already left the military by the time they tie the knot.]] |
| 317 | * In ''VideoGame/SakuraWars'': |
| 318 | ** Every pairing the protagonists can get into is this, due to all the romanceable girls being technically their subordinates. That said, the commander-subordinate aspect only really comes into play during battle; otherwise, the girls treat their captains more like they would any other friend. |
| 319 | ** Ratchet's route in ''VideoGame/SakuraWarsSoLongMyLove'' puts the player on the other side of the equation, as Ratchet remains Shinjiro's superior until near the end of the game. |
| 320 | * Being as the main story turns you into a genuine, domain-ruling noble, ''VideoGame/PathfinderKingmaker'' features some of this with ''every'' romance during the course of the game (with only the possible exception of [[spoiler:Nyrissa]], a ''spirit of the land'', and very tricky to romance) -- although, of course, marriage can change things to be more officially even in the ending slides. The Varnhold's Lot DLC flips it around if you qualify for the only romance in the DLC -- this time, ''you'' are the advisor and the romantic interest, Maegar Varn, is your baron and former commander of your mercenary host[[note]]Although it can be downplayed in practice; Maegar isn't the best of barons, and with high enough Diplomacy you can convince him of almost any course of action, essentially taking charge.[[/note]]. |
| 321 | * In ''Videogame/PathfinderWrathOfTheRighteous'', this also applies to most romance options, as the player is the Commander of the Crusade and most romance options are followers who have joined your Crusade and thus are nominally under your command. Lann and Wendaug are both followers (with Wendaug seemingly enjoying being your subordinate), Sosiel is a cleric serving the Crusade, Arueshalae is also a subordinate who joins willingly, and Daeran is somewhat unwillingly strong-armed into joining the Crusade as a liaison. The other two romance options are on the opposite end of the spectrum, being vastly more powerful, either politically or just overall: Queen Galfrey, the ruler of Mendev and your superior, and [[spoiler:Nocticula, a Demon lord and the Queen of Succubi]], although this is only available if you take the Demon Mythic Path. |
| 322 | [[/folder]] |
| 323 | |
| 324 | [[folder:Visual Novel]] |
| 325 | * ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney Trials and Tribulations'' has the romantic relationship between Terry Fawles (20) and Dahlia Hawthorne (14), which is alarming even if one takes the ValuesDissonance of the game taking place in Japan into account. However, the pairing becomes unbalanced in a different way if one accepts the common interpretation that Terry is mentally disabled (mainly due to his SimpletonVoice and gullible personality), which would explain how easily Dahlia was able to seduce, frame and [[spoiler:ultimately guilt Terry into committing suicide for her.]] |
| 326 | * This occurs with Lili and any love interest who is a mafia boss in ''VisualNovel/PiofioreFatedMemories'', as they are powerful, influential men in Burlone while Lili is only an ordinary citizen. |
| 327 | [[/folder]] |
| 328 | |
| 329 | [[folder:Web Animation]] |
| 330 | * ''WebAnimation/HelluvaBoss'': |
| 331 | ** Stolas and Blitzo's FriendsWithBenefits relationship (with ''extremely'' heavy romantic subtext). Stolas is a member of the Ars Goetia, making him an extremely powerful, high-ranking royalty, while Blitzo is an imp: one of the lowest-ranking and least respected species in all of Hell, who is mostly a BadassNormal (excluding the fact his skills are superhuman and a few demonic quirks, such as an immunity to human fire). As a result, both try to keep their relationship secret, and when Stolas' wife Stella finds out, she's more angry at the fact he cheated on her with what is basically a peasant. |
| 332 | ** Asmodeus and Fizzarolli. Fizzarolli is an imp just like Blitzo while Asmodeus is the Embodiment of Lust, meaning that, as a [[SevenDeadlySins Deadly Sin]], he is second only to ''Lucifer himself'' (and his family) in Hell's hierarchy. Just like Stolas and Blitzo, they try to keep their relationship secret to avoid being shamed and humiliated. |
| 333 | ** Beelzebub and Vortex; the latter is a Hellhound, meaning he's at the very bottom of Hell's food chain, while the former is a Deadly Sin just like Asmodeus, making her roughly equal if not superior to him. They're both in love with each other and seem to lack the problems Stolas/Blitzo and Asmodeus/Fizzarolli have. |
| 334 | [[/folder]] |
| 335 | |
| 336 | [[folder:Webcomics]] |
| 337 | * In ''Webcomic/{{Angels 2200}}'', this is an issue for Kid and her friend and squad leader Hammer. As time goes on and the Icebreakers start heading into battle, forcing Hammer to take on the responsibilities of a leader (including [[WhatTheHellHero reprimanding Kid]] for not taking a shot against an enemy and almost getting Bubblegum killed), Hammer tries to distance herself from Kid in spite of her feelings but is told that it may not be the best way to go about it. [[spoiler:Hammer ends up [[AbortedDeclarationOfLove falling short of telling Kid how she feels]] during the mission on the Ellie Arroway, and seemingly dies, only to be captured by the colonials, unbeknownst to Kid]]. |
| 338 | * ''Webcomic/{{Freefall}}'' is [[http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff1200/fv01196.htm very blunt at times]] about the implications of an artificial being dating a member of the species that created her (particularly since she's still legally considered property.) Granted, [[http://freefall.purrsia.com/ff2000/fc01979.htm later strips mitigate this somewhat...]] |
| 339 | * Pairing any of the Trolls in ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'' is bound to lead to this, because they're all at different levels on their FantasticCasteSystem. Equius/Aradia is the only example canon explores--he's very proud of his noble status and she's about as common as it's possible to be. The fact that Aradia is [[ItMakesSenseInContext haunting a blue-blooded robot body built by Equius himself]] during their relationship only complicates things further. |
| 340 | ** Vriska's canonical [[StalkerWithACrush abuse]] of Tavros is arguably a deconstruction. She has all the power in their 'relationship' and absolutely no scruples about using it to hurt him should he disobey her. |
| 341 | * In ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'', Violetta points out to Tarvek that he may have his chance with Agatha because Agatha/Gil is an unequal pairing which can burst into flames (which is true, but it means there is no possible equal pairing for Gil), while Agatha/Tarvek is an equal pairing. |
| 342 | ** Of course, with Tarvek being a potential heir of the Storm King, Agatha/Tarvek could potentially become this as well. |
| 343 | ** And with the series of rebellions causing Gil to lose much of his power, Gil/Agatha is rapidly moving towards a much more equal ship. |
| 344 | * Defied by Detective Morris in ''Webcomic/SamAndFuzzy'', who never dared ask her partner out because Morris was her superior. [[spoiler:After said partner gets a case of LaserGuidedAmnesia and can no longer be in the police, the two eventually end up dating.]] |
| 345 | * Billie and Ruth in ''Webcomic/DumbingOfAge''; granted, Ruth is only a Resident Assistant, but she's still in a position of authority over Billie. |
| 346 | * This is invoked in ''Webcomic/{{Roommates}}'', for [[Film/{{Labyrinth}} Sarah and Jareth]]. There are plenty of hints that they like each other, but Sarah is well aware that Jareth's magic powers give him a huge edge over her and she can't let down her guard for that. [[spoiler:When Jareth temporarily passes his title and powers to James Norrington, Sarah falls asleep against Jareth and admits that this is the only time she feels safe doing so.]] |
| 347 | * The primary ship of ''Webcomic/EvilPlan'' is Alice and her boss Stanley/Dr. Kinesis. The power vacuum between them has caused both highs and lows on the ship, from Stanley admitting he [[http://evilplan.thewebcomic.com/comics/2329128/chapter-16-page-13-worth/ cannot be happy without her assistance]] to Alice losing all composure and yelling at Stanley for [[http://evilplan.thewebcomic.com/comics/833785/chapter-4-page-23/ treating her like a minion.]] None of this matters, of course; Stanley is completely asexual. |
| 348 | * ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary'': Discussed with Captain Tagon and Lieutenant "Elf" Foxworthy. Elf's friend Bunny, the company doctor, warns her that it's a really bad idea for different ranks to date each other because of the power difference. Elf counters that Bunny is an officer, while her fiance the reverend is a sergeant. |
| 349 | -->'''Bunny:''' No, No... see, our relationship is different.\ |
| 350 | '''Elf:''' Because the ranking officer is ''female'', or because the ranking officer is ''you?''\ |
| 351 | '''Bunny:''' A little bit of both? |
| 352 | * ''Webcomic/ForestHill'': [[spoiler:Flora]] reveals to Benni that when she was a child she had a romantic and sexual relationship with an adult. She didn't think anything was wrong with this, thinking it was a normal relationship until she discovered that he had been deceiving her in order to make child pornography, and that he had also been similarly abusing other children, including her own brothers. She tells Benni about this to help him understand why children should not have sexual relations with adults. |
| 353 | * ''Webcomic/StandStillStaySilent'': Several pairings can run into this, between the existence of mages in the setting and the fact that the main characters are a small MildlyMilitary group with a civilian LittleStowaway in tow. The superior/subordinate ones can be fixed by having the romance start after the first expedition, but otherwise: |
| 354 | ** Sigrun is the captain, which means everyone else is her subordinate. One of her most frequent partners, Tuuri, is also eleven years younger than her. |
| 355 | ** Mikkel is explicitly the superior of all the younger members of the group, but still subordinate to Sigrun, the only character with whom he's paired with any kind of regularity. He is, however, much closer in age to her than Tuuri. |
| 356 | ** Reynir has an opposite problem to Sigrun in that his status somewhere between LittleStowaway and {{Protectorate}} makes everyone else a bodyguard of sorts to him. One of his frequent pairings is with Tuuri, the group's other non-combatant, who has a {{Protectorate}} status to the combatants of the crew as well. Another frequent pairing for Reynir is Onni, technically in MissionControl, much more proficient in magic than him, seven years his senior and Tuuri's older brother on top of everything else. |
| 357 | ** The MuggleMageRomance that would result from pairing Emil and Lalli is in a complicated situation. The fact that Lalli is a mage spends most of the time cancelled out by the fact that he's not the type to use his powers to assert authority over other people. He also sometimes requires a CloudcuckoolandersMinder, and Emil is increasingly taking the job in place of Lalli's older cousins in canon. Emil also grew up [[FlatEarthAtheist not believing magic even exists]], resulting in it not being a factor for him during the early weeks of their canon friendship and little more than a big step towards knowing Lalli better once he finds out it's real. A scene in which Lalli had to mildly, but quite aggressively mind-control Emil to get him out of the influence of the HypnoticEyes of a monster that wanted to eat him may be the only time the readers fully realized that a romantic relationship between the two could potentially end up dominated by Lalli. |
| 358 | * ''Webcomic/QuestionableContent'': {{Defied|Trope}} when [[spoiler:May and Sven]] [[https://www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=4399 stop]] sleeping together after she buys a new robotic body, because he contributed money towards it and they don't want to "make it weird". |
| 359 | [[/folder]] |
| 360 | |
| 361 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 362 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' has Burns/Smithers. Even though Mr. Burns is [[MayDecemberRomance old enough to be Smithers' grandfather]] and also his boss, many fans still ship them out of a desire to see [[IgnoredEnamoredUnderling Smithers]] get what he wants most. |
| 363 | * ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'' fans who 'ship Drakken/Shego tend to ignore the fact that Drakken is Shego's boss. But to be fair, [[DragonInChief so does Shego most of the time]]. On the other side of the equation, Shego is physically much more powerful than Drakken, being one of the only characters in the series with actual superpowers. And then they did a LastMinuteHookup in the GrandFinale that WordOfGod confirmed. |
| 364 | * Canonically occurs twice in ''[[WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2003 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'' (2003), first between Karai, second-in-command (and later, head) of the Foot Clan, and Dr. Chaplin, the company's head scientist; and, to a lesser extent, between Starlee Hambrath--a TeenGenius interning for O'Neil Tech -- and Cody Jones, O'Neil Tech's owner. |
| 365 | * Most pairings involving Megatron and his subordinates in ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'' involve this. A bit less so with Optimus Prime, but the power difference is still there. |
| 366 | * ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' (technically, ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'') gave us Batman/Batgirl. It's long over by the time we and Terry learn of it. His reaction can be summed up as "Wait, what? Whoa". Nightwing's was worse, as he appeared to cut off all ties with '''both''' of them. |
| 367 | * ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'': |
| 368 | ** The common Zhao/Azula CrackPairing takes this from two angles. On one hand, we have a [[{{Ephebophile}} middle-aged man and a fourteen-year-old girl]]; on the other, we have a naval officer with more ego than sense and the EvilOverlord's [[DaddysLittleVillain favorite]] (as well as freakishly skilled and terrifyingly cunning) daughter. |
| 369 | ** There's also Azula/Ty-Lee and [[PrisonRape Azula/Suki]]. |
| 370 | ** Aang and Katara can count but the level to which this applies as well as who has the more power can vary. As the Avatar and the last Airbender, by definition, no one is Aang's equal, but on the other hand, Katara was the last waterbender of the South Pole and becomes one of the greatest in the world, even becoming Aang's mentor. This actually factors into the power imbalance on her side because she not only becomes Aang's sifu but also acts as a ParentalSubstitute, or she at least tries to. How much Aang takes to her attempts is uncertain but when it comes to disagreements, Katara is the one who tends to have the final word. |
| 371 | * A common pairing in ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'' is Vlad/Danny. Vlad is literally old enough to be Danny's dad (Vlad and Jack went to college together). In canon, he actually wants to make Danny his son, which is kinda creepy. And then you have Vlad's general MagnificentBastard-ness. This one is fetishized to the point that rapefic is practically the norm. |
| 372 | * ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': |
| 373 | ** The fandom has the relatively common shipping of Princess Celestia, a thousand plus year old immortal who controls the rising and setting of the Sun and is the unquestioned diarch of Equestria, with Twilight Sparkle, who is (aside from magical prowess) a relatively normal unicorn mare who is her student--and somewhat socially naive, to boot. Other fanfics ship Celestia's sister Luna (also immortal, though due to a thousand years of imprisonment in magical stasis in the moon, her "real" age is difficult to determine) with Twilight Sparkle, Trixie, or Fluttershy. [[spoiler:Thanks to Twilight ascending to alicorn-hood]], the first pairing is now more equal, but Twilight would still be the far less powerful of the pair, at least socially. [[spoiler:At least until the finale, when Celestia retires and Twilight takes her place as ruler of Equestria.]] In several fanfics, Celestia [[spoiler:outright ascended Twilight]] because she loved her and wanted her to be with her without social issues (plus she didn't want Twilight to die). |
| 374 | ** The ''Friendship is Magic'' [[ComicBook/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicIDW comicsverse]] has issue #9, where Princess Luna gets quite a bit of ShipTease with Big Macintosh, Applejack's older brother. |
| 375 | ** There's even a canon example of this in Princess Cadance and Shining Armor. She's a princess and effectively LoveGoddess, and he's the Captain of the Royal Guard. |
| 376 | * A common pairing in ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'' is Numbuh 1 and Numbuh 362. While Numbuh 1 is a sector leader and holds a good chunk of power in his own right, Numbuh 362 is the leader of the entire Kids Next Door, meaning everyone anwsers to her. |
| 377 | * ''WesternAnimation/HazbinHotel'': Charlie and her girlfriend Vaggie; the former is the Princess of Hell, while the latter is just a normal Sinner. [[spoiler:Even after it's revealed Vaggie is a FallenAngel, making her far more powerful than previously thought, there is still a massive gap between a normal Angel and the daughter of Lucifer Morningstar himself]]. That said, there are no issues in the relationship [[spoiler:other than Charlie's justified anger that Vaggie kept her angelic-ness a secret]]. |
| 378 | [[/folder]] |
| 379 | |
| 380 | [[folder:Real Life]] |
| 381 | * The US Armed Forces actually have regulations in place to [[AvertedTrope prevent]] this sort of thing (particularly between enlisted personnel and officers) which even extends to spouses and children. |
| 382 | * Similarly, the Canadian Armed Forces prohibits any member from having a relationship with another member within their chain of command. Junior/Senior relationships and even Officer/NCM relationships are acceptable, so long as they aren't within the same chain of command. |
| 383 | * Any relationship between a slave and their slaveowner will qualify as this. There have been times where the slaveowner in question actually set their slave free after falling in love with them, but sometimes not. |
| 384 | * The morganatic marriage system came into being because of such pairings being royal men and lesser-ranking women. This system primarily existed in German-speaking regions of Europe but was sometimes implemented elsewhere when deemed necessary by the royal families and/or parliaments when a royal insisted on marrying someone of lower rank. In such a marriage, the children will be considered legitimate but not eligible to inherit the throne, and the lower ranking partner and their children are given lesser titles than they would receive if the marriage was equal. It specifically did ''not'' exist in Britain, where the only legal issue of a royal marrying a commoner was whether the current monarch would approve of the pairing. Meaning that if it's the current monarch him/herself getting married, they can marry anybody they bloody well please. |
| 385 | * Famously, Bill Clinton, who was POTUS, and Monica Lewinisky, his secretary. |
| 386 | * A massive problem in prisons, with both inmate-inmate and guard-inmate relationships being strictly forbidden due to the potential for abuse. A guard caught engaging in sexual conduct with an inmate can face life in prison. |
| 387 | * Professionals are often forbidden by the ethics of their profession from pursuing a romantic or physical relationship with their clients and patients. |
| 388 | ** In medical ethics, it is considered unethical to ever engage in any romantic affair with a patient. It is even unethical to say, "Sorry, not while you are my patient," because this may make a patient decide not to seek medical care in order to pursue a romance. The only allowed answer is "No." |
| 389 | * Many universities prohibit teacher-student relationships because of this, even if most university students are legal adults. This is mostly because even if there's significantly lessened {{Squick}} about statutory rape, the ethical issues of giving your student higher grades for "favors" are still ''very much'' true.[[note]]There is occasionally ''some'' leeway if, for example, a postgrad student in mathematics is dating an English professor, as the latter would almost certainly have nothing to do with the former's coursework at all, let alone be teaching them directly -- but it's still very much frowned upon.[[/note]] |
| 390 | [[/folder]] |
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