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{{trope}}
[[File:all-amazons-want-
{{quote|''52. A high-ranking matriarch, in a society that oppresses men, falls for the Hero's rugged charms.''
It's often said that [[No Guy Wants an Amazon]], and most [[Lady Land|Amazon-type female societies]] tend to shun the male sex. However, a certain manly type of hero is often capable of winning over these tribes of women, even their leaders.
It packs a double whammy: a strong woman must have a stronger man to dominate her, and no woman is happy with a man who isn't better than she is at everything. Of course, there's also the [[Unfortunate Implications|Unfortunate Implication]] that [[No Guy Wants an Amazon|real men need their women to be inferior]].
Ironically, this trope may occur out of a misplaced if well-intentioned desire to make a beloved character's intended just as good as they are rather than the [[Damsel in Distress|significant other being 'useless']]. Interestingly, a twist on this trope may be used to invert it completely, where a female character conveniently never runs into a situation where this scenario is fulfilled, thus technically pleasing anyone still using this cliché and also those who hate it.
This trope is [[Older Than Feudalism]]: in [[Greek Mythology]], Hercules is sent on a quest to the land of the Amazons in order to steal the golden girdle of Hippolyta. The ''Library'' of Apollodorus first tells the version in which the two of them battle to a stalemate and the queen is so impressed with him she gives it up freely.
Also see [[Best Her to Bed Her]]. Related to [[The Worf Effect]] or [[Faux Action Girl]] (depending on how powerful the women really are). See [[Never a Self-Made Woman]] for how a couple like this would be treated. The evil version of this is sometimes [[Villainesses Want Heroes]]. Essentially the polar opposite of [[Weakness Turns Her On]]. Related to [[Love At First Punch]], when the amazon first meets her Hercules.
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{{examples}}
▲== Anime & Manga ==
* Amazon-like Kagura from ''[[Inuyasha]]'' to Sesshomaru, one of the strongest people in the series.
* Shampoo's Chinese Amazon tribe in ''[[Ranma ½]]'' qualifies with the law that [[Best Her to Bed Her|a warrior must marry any man who manages to defeat her]]. In addition to being the law, Shampoo genuinely loves Ranma and became head over heels for him after he managed to defeat her in battle.
** Whether the Chinese Amazons gender-twist this trope to "All Herculeses Want Amazons" is unknown. Mousse, a male Chinese Amazon, is most certainly attracted to Shampoo, and being that he is [[Blind Without'Em|comedically poor of vision]], it seems to be that it's her combat expertise that drew him to her. Unfortunately for him, when he challenged her to a marriage match (they were only three years old at the time), she beat him utterly. It's not known whether or not he's tried it again since, but Cologne (who, admittedly, is also Shampoo's great-grandmother and doesn't like Mousse, particularly compared to Ranma Saotome) insists that his initial loss means he can't ever win Shampoo by that method. The fact he's stronger than she is now doesn't really mean all that much, as it's heavily implied that Mousse could never bring himself to really hurt her, and so she will always be able to beat him.
** Speaking of which, Kuno also seems to be a gender-reversal of this trope: his actions heavily imply that the reason why he is so attracted to Akane (and, later, Ranma's girl form) is because they are martial artists strong enough to handle him with ease.
* There's a pretty classic example in a recent{{when}} ''[[One Piece]]'' arc, where Luffy winds up on Amazon Lily, an island of badass women almost totally oblivious to the ''existence'' of an opposite sex ruled over by one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, the ridiculously gorgeous Boa Hancock; a [[Kick the Dog|puppy-kicking]] [[Vain Sorceress]][[Jerkass Facade|-to-be]] who despises men and has the power to [[Taken for Granite|turn people to stone using their own impure thoughts]]. This being a shounen manga, Luffy gets his Hero on in a big way and Hancock winds up falling for him. Interestingly, [[Chaste Hero|Luffy not only doesn't reciprocate such feelings, he's barely aware she has them. Even after seeing her topless]] ''[[Chaste Hero|twice]]'' [[Chaste Hero|and the second time complaining because he expected food instead.]] [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] in that former Empress Nyon implies that this happens to ''every'' Empress of Amazon Lily eventually, and subverted somewhat because it's implied that it's killed them all except for Nyon, and now Hancock (who was dying but recovered as soon as she had the chance to help Luffy and stay with him a bit longer) because they were all too stubborn to act on their lovesickness.
** Another major subversion is not only Hancock stronger than Luffy, it isn't his 'manly' traits that attracted her to him in the first place. It was his empathy, chastity (being able to resist her charms), and his general affability. In this case it was more like all Amazons end up with Hercules because they're the only ones capable of surviving long enough to show they're not complete dicks.
*** She also love him because he punched a World Noble in the face. {{spoiler|She was captured, enslaved, and tortured by them when she was young.}}
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** In a more straight up example, there is a certain degree of [[UST]] between [[The Baroness]] and the local [[Heroic Bloodshed]] Chow Yan Fatt character [[Expy]]. It has been implied that they were one of the few people to have fought the other to a stalemate. At the very least Chang is one of the few people besides Rock that Balalaika seems to flirt with.
*** of course, the idea of anyone dominating Balalaika is too ridicolous to contemplate.
* In ''[[Galaxy Angel (anime)|Galaxy Angel]]'', Forte Stollen's secret fantasy is to be a damsel-in-distress who has her life saved from certain death by "A Strong Man, A Really Strong Man", who will then carry her around in his arms like a bride. When she encounter just such a
*
* The h-manga ''[[Isshoukenmei na Kimi ga Suk]]'' features a subversion: The head of the martial arts club (a girl) tells the boy who confessed to her that he's too weak to date. He immediately joins her club and starts training. While he does get stronger, after a year he's still nowhere near her
* Deconstructed (or something) in the ''[[Bamboo Blade]]'' manga: Ura's father was going to confess his love to Tsubaki (Tamaki's mother) once he beat her at kendo, but he [[Can't Catch Up|Couldn't Catch Up]], never managed to win, and therefore never confessed his love.
* Possibly {{spoiler|Grell Sutcliff}} from ''[[Black Butler]]''. The men she falls the hardest for are the men who have beaten her in a fight. Incidentally, guess what her favorite color is?
== [[Comic Books]] ==
* It doesn't play out like the typical scenario, but - [[She Hulk|Jennifer Walters]], as [[Hot Amazon]] as they come, had a long-standing crush on the [[Marvel Universe]] take on [[Incredible Hercules|Hercules]]. Hercules' relationship with the actual amazons is not that great, Hippolyta is still infatuated with him; however, she's an evil violent [[Stalker with a Crush]] who will do whatever she can to sleep with him including [[Double Standard Rape (Female on Male)|turning him into her sex slave]]. This trope is later Subverted with her [[Psychopathic Manchild]] daughter who hates him because of her mother's obsession with him.
* [[Wonder Woman]]:
** In [[The DCU]], she certainly had no respect for Heracles for doing the above to her mother, but Herc and the Amazons eventually made peace in modern times.
** Wonder Woman also averted the trope with her most recent boyfriend when she kisses him from a position of dominance (dipping him over her arm) they both agree they prefer it that way. The relationship doesn't last.
** It's played straight in [[Frank Miller|Frank Miller's]] Dark Knight universe. Her attraction towards Superman is a result of this.. She even implied in ''The Dark Knight Strikes Again'' that Superman [[Best Her to Bed Her|threw her on the ground and made her his own.]]
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* Dwight from ''[[Sin City]]'' is already [[Mr. Fanservice]] but his relationship with Gail is a good illustration of this trope. Case in point: ''The Big Fat Kill''. When he returned to Old Town after the events of ''A Dame To Kill For'' (and because he had gotten them into some trouble in this very story), Gail had a gun pointed at his head. He didn't flinch and instead, formulated a plan to get them out of the current mess they were in. He then demanded that she take the gun away. She didn't listen so he slapped her. She responded with [[What the Hell, Hero?|"You bastard!"]] which was followed by, [[Lightning Bruiser|"I forgot how quick you were"]] which was then followed by her [[Slap Slap Kiss|pulling him in for a quick makeout session.]]
▲== Fan Works ==
* Played straight and subverted within the same breath in ''[[With Strings Attached]]''. The queen of the Warrior Women pants all over the large, handsome, muscular Hunter... but after the small, feeble, exhausted Ringo defeats the village's best male warrior in literally three seconds, she throws herself on him, as do many of the other women of the village.
== [[Film]] ==▼
▲== Film ==
* In the '50s film ''[[Queen of Outer Space]]'', one of the leaders of the all-female (and man-hating) society on Venus falls in love with a visiting male astronaut.
* Also happens to ''Jason and the Argonauts'' in the first of Steeve Reeve's [[Hercules (film)|Hercules]] movies. One wouldn't exactly call those Amazons "man-hating", but they did have a law on the books that required the men's deaths.
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* Gender inversion in the 2009 ''[[Sherlock Holmes (film)|Sherlock Holmes]]'' movie with Holmes and Irene Adler. Apparently she's the only woman who's ever been able to outsmart him. Twice.
== [[Literature]] ==▼
* In the legends of Alexander the Great, it's often said that the Amazon Queen Thalestris invited him on a 'state visit' solely to get it on with him. It doesn't mention exactly who or where the Amazons are, unfortunately...▼
* In the German folklore tale ''The Ring of the Nibelungs'', the Valkyrie Brunilda can only be freed from her curse by being beat in single combat. When defeated, she falls for Sigfried and... the whole story goes on from there.▼
▲== Literature ==
* An old novel called ''Who Needs Men?'' had a post-[[Gendercide]] all-female society who go game-hunting for the last enclave of men, in Scotland. The protagonist, a hunter of escaped men, ends up in their settlement and falls for the leader.
* ''[[Star Wars Expanded Universe|The Courtship of Princess Leia]]'' has Luke as even more of a [[Chick Magnet]] than the rest of the [[Expanded Universe]], bedding not one but ''two'' women from matriarchal societies. Of course, [[Femme Fatale|one is just trying to kill him]] and [[Double Standard Rape (Female on Male)|the other uses the Force to arouse him]].
* Inverted in ''Bethany's Sin'', where the Amazon-possessed women of the town not only browbeat their cringing husbands, but {{spoiler|amputate a limb from each, as they think that being amputees will concentrate the men's fertility and increase their own chances for daughters}}. They don't just spurn Hercules, they deliberately turn their men into his hapless, weakling opposites.
* Subverted in ''Reality Check'' by Charlie Brooks. Anne Westfeld is essentially an amazon who begins the novel dating the equivalent of Hercules in Jesse Gondolin, aka the Jungle Cat. However, {{spoiler|it turns out she really wants Greg Crispin, a physical weakling}}.
* ''[[Discworld]]'' by [[Terry Prachett]]
** Liessa Wyrmbidder and Hrun the barbarian in ''[[
** Obviously set up as this but played with a [[Subverted Trope|subversion]] in ''[[
* Desra of the ''[[Malazan Book of the Fallen]]'' believes that those with weak wills being subjugated to those with stronger wills. That is why {{spoiler|the only person she can imagine submitting to as a lover is Nimander, whose will has never faltered}}.
* Chris Hargenson experiences something like this in ''[[Carrie]]'' while, as your standard [[Alpha Bitch]] she is used to wrapping boys around her little finger but is drawn to Billy Nolan because he is the first boy she hasn't been "able to dance dandle at her whim" and he controls '''her''' in the relationship.
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** She ends up with a rather hen-pecked [[Momma's Boy]], and with Sarah wearing the pants in the relationship, the two are [[Happily Married|perfectly happy together]].
* ''[[Gor]]'' infamously applies this idea to ''all'' women. In the first book Tarl doesn't rape the woman he kidnaps; at first she is [[Aren't You Going to Ravish Me?|offended]], then she decides he isn't a real man and nearly manages to kill him. Once she does get enslaved she's totally into him after some token complaints.
* Played with in [[Roger Zelazny]]'s ''Creatures of Light and Darkness'': Megra insists on fighting the
* Another male version of this is Peaceable Drummond Sherwood from ''[[The Sherwood Ring]].'' His response to a woman who manages to outsmart him (something he's never seen before) is to propose to her. Before passing out from the drug she just convinced him to drink.
== [[Live
* The title part of the trope happens literally in an episode of ''[[Hercules: The Legendary Journeys]]''. A group of Amazons show up and want to get it on with our hero. He explains that he's still in mourning for his dead wife.
** This in turn comes from the myth of the Labors of Hercules, one of which was for him to take the belt of the Amazon Queen. The king who assigned the task assumed that the Queen would never hand it over (as it was a gift from Ares). When Hercules arrives though, the Queen respects his strength and conquests and thinks he's worthy of it. Depending on the legend, they then either swap stories or she wishes to marry him. {{spoiler|Neither case turns out well, since Hera is displeased at Hercules' fortune and manipulates the Amazons into attacking him, killing the Queen by mistake in the process.}}
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* The [[Fresh Prince of Bel Air]] did this in a Season 6 episode. Will gets beaten up by a girl at the gym. The next day, he comes back and beats her. She immediately throws herself at him.
== [[Music]] ==▼
== [[Multiple Media]] ==▼
* In ''[[Bionicle]]'', [[The Ladette|Kiina]] begins to develop feelings for {{spoiler|Mata Nui. His true form is a 40 million foot-tall Humungous Mecha, he's the ruler of a "universe", and he's voiced by Michael Dorn.}} Can't get much manlier than that. It's also the ''only'' kinda-romantic relationship in the entire story canon.▼
▲== Music ==
▲* The title character in Marian Call's [[Firefly]]-inspired ballad "Vera Flew The Coop."
{{quote|"The man who shot her through was the only man she could admire...and as she died she said 'I love you,' and Vera always told the truth."}}
* Implied to be a major factor in Dragon Lady's desire for Pat Ryan in ''[[Terry and the Pirates]]''. Highlighted in the following exchange:
{{quote|'''Pat Ryan''': "Funny how women can be realistic about everything but themselves! They know they can rule an empire - but in the final pay-off they aren't satisfied unless '''someone''' rules '''them'''!"
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'''Pat Ryan''': "Sure... That's what Cleopatra and Queen Elizabeth thought - but they both realized, finally, there was no use kidding themselves - that a woman can't be '''really''' satisfied with absolute power! It's her destiny to be conquered!" }}
== [[Oral Tradition]], [[Folklore]], Myths and Legends ==
▲* In the legends of Alexander the Great, it's often said that the Amazon Queen Thalestris invited him on a 'state visit' solely to get it on with him. It doesn't mention exactly who or where the Amazons are, unfortunately...
▲* In the German folklore tale ''The Ring of the Nibelungs'', the Valkyrie Brunilda can only be freed from her curse by being beat in single combat. When defeated, she falls for Sigfried and... the whole story goes on from there.
== [[Tabletop Games]] ==
* In the city-state of Danuvia from the ''[[Talislanta]]'' role-playing game, foreign male warriors are invited to parade themselves and compete in athletic events once a year. The highest-grade beefcake is claimed for her harem by Danuvia's queen, while her Amazon warriors bid for the companionship of the runner-ups.
== [[Toys]] ==
▲* In ''[[Bionicle]]'', [[The Ladette|Kiina]] begins to develop feelings for {{spoiler|Mata Nui. His true form is a 40 million foot-tall Humungous Mecha, he's the ruler of a "universe", and he's voiced by Michael Dorn.}} Can't get much manlier than that. It's also the ''only'' kinda-romantic relationship in the entire story canon.
== [[Video Games]] ==
* The first ''[[Discworld]]'' game has a scantily clad Amazon warrior who can only marry a man who defeats her in armed combat. To the death.
* It stretches both the definition of "Amazon" and the definition of "Hercules", but [[Dragon Age]] resident [[Dark Magical Girl]] Morrigan, while not physically imposing by any means, is a strong willed, domineering, [[Social Darwinist]] who absolutely hates the concept of people submitting their wills to others. However, there are two people in the game she expresses sexual attraction to. [[The Stoic|Sten]], the [[Our Giants Are Bigger|qunari]] warrior who could break her in half like a tooth pick, and a male Gray Warden. While the specifics of the Warden's physical characteristics are for the player to decide, as is his personality, in general he is portrayed as a strong willed, take-charge person with a commanding presence. A figurative Hercules if not a literal one.
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* In ''[[Policenauts]]'', if you're able to beat Meryl's high score on the shooting range, she'll let you [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVMtdboa3bs grope her boobs]. Kind of subverted in that the person she eventually reveals real interest in is her friend Dave, who could never outshoot her. Plus, her breasts make an [[Fan Disservice|elephant trumpet sound effect]] when grabbed.
== [[Western Animation]] ==▼
▲== Western Animation ==
* Inverted in ''[[Futurama]]'' in "Amazon Women In the Mood." The women of Amazonia attempt to execute the Hercules-like egomaniac through vigorous sex, but they find the wimpy and tiny green-skinned alien to be most attractive.
* In the animated film ''[[Heavy Metal (animation)|Heavy Metal]]'', Den is a 98 pound weakling voiced by John Candy. Sent to an alternate dimension, he transforms into a bald, muscle-bound, loin-cloth-wearing [[Action Hero]], "with his dork hanging out." Den joins a small raid against an evil queen's palace only to blunder into the queen in the dark. When the lights come on, he is clearly grabbing her (very much uncovered) breasts. The queen doesn't mind; a few seconds of animated sex later, she proclaims Den her messiah. About par for female characters in that movie.
* In ''[[How to Train Your Dragon (animation)|How to Train Your Dragon]]'', Hiccup is certain that this trope is only way to get a girlfriend, especially the smokin' Astrid. However, when Hiccup forgets
* As mentioned in Comic Books above, Maxima also pursued Superman in [[Superman: The Animated Series|the Dini-verse]]. At the end of that episode, she got over Superman and set her sights on [[Lobo]]! Whether that went anywhere is unknown, since the
* Male example: Brock Samson from ''[[The Venture Brothers]]'' fell in love with Molotov Cocktease when, the first time they met, she tied him to the bed and set the building on fire.
* Queen Hippsodeth in the ''[[Aladdin (1992 Disney film)|Aladdin]]'' series, with the unexpected result that she falls in love with ''[[Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass|the Sultan of Agrabah]]'' after he defeats her for kidnapping Jasmine.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Amazonian Tropes]]
[[Category:Love Tropes]]
[[Category:Older Than Feudalism]]
[[Category:Stereotype]]
▲[[Category:Double Standard]]
▲[[Category:Older Than Feudalism]]
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