Best Her to Bed Her: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

[[Defeat Means Friendship]] with an instant [[Relationship Upgrade]].

 

 

Compare [[All Amazons Want Hercules]]. See also [[Slap Slap Kiss]]. See also [[Sex Face Turn]] and [[High Heel Face Turn]]. See also [[Red Sonja]] (the character's page). Contrast [[Love At First Punch]], which lacks the explict requirement either by the character themselves or their society.

{{examples}}

== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==

** Also indirectly (and to her immense annoyance) Akane, after Kuno proclaimed that only he who could defeat her in combat was worthy of dating her. Cue the morning routine in which half the student body at Furinkan High (the male half) went out to fight her.

** Amusingly enough, Kuno applies this trope to himself, claiming that if the Pigtailed Girl (Ranma) can defeat him, he shall allow her to date with him. (And if ''he'' wins, he gets to date ''her''. Convenient, in a [[Heads I Win, Tails You Lose]] sort of way.)

*** Interestingly enough, in a ''[[What If]]?'' story where [[Wolverine]] [[Wolverine Publicity|became lost in time and wound up in Hyboria]] at the same time this story took place, Wolverine was able to beat Sonja in battle and went on to become King of Aquilonia instead of Conan, with Sonja as his queen.

**** Though Wolverine's not thrilled with the initial situation. After he beats Sonja, she basically gives up and waits to be raped. Wolverine walks away, telling her "Sorry, darlin', that ain't my style." She's both perplexed and [[Aren't You Going to Ravish Me?|slightly insulted]] so she follows him. It's only after their next meeting that he warms up to her.

** In issue 15 of the current series, she and two friends take on a god—a weakened god, but still a quasi-deity at least. He quite naturally trounces them. Whether that counts as a fair fight, which is what has to be waged for it to work, is somewhat moot: {{spoiler|he doesn't invoke the trope -- ''she'' does. Because, the writer said, she was using the loophole wherein someone who's beaten her isn't necessarily someone who ''has'' to have sex with her, or whom she even has to ''let'', but whom she can ''allow'' to do so if she wants...and the writer decided she ''did'' want, some time after the fight was over and they were allies. It's notable that in the new series, at least, the portrayal seems to be romantic love with someone who hasn't beaten her isn't forbidden--just physical affection.}}

** This was further spelled out in issue #31, where it is revealed that Sonja did share a romantic, but non-physical relationship with a king who hired her as his bodyguard and grew to want her as his queen. Sonja refused, fearful of killing the man she loved if he pressed the issue of being able to consummate their love and challenged her to single combat. Seeking guidance from her goddess, Sonja was told that she could abandon her oath but that she would lose the superior skills she had been blessed with. Deciding this was acceptable, Sonja went to the King's bed chamber to tell him her decision, just as a group of assassins with magical weapons showed up. Sonja was able to repel the assassins but knew the only reason she was able to do so was because of her blessed skills. Her sense of responsibility to hold to her oath to fight evil at the expense of a normal life held and she resigned her post the next day.

* The ''[[Quantum Leap]]'' episode "How the Tess Was Won".

* In ''[[Dark Kingdom The Dragon King]]'' (a.k.a. ''The Ring of the Nibelungs'') Kristanna Loken plays Brunhilde the Queen who will lose all her strength if she marries a man who has not defeated her in battle.

 

== [[Oral Tradition]], [[Folklore]], Myths and Legends ==

* [[Action Girl|Uthgerd the Unbroken]] in ''[[Skyrim]]'' will only marry you - or for that matter, work for you as a Follower - if you can defeat her in a brawl. If the Dragonborn is female, there are two male brawlers - [[City Guards|Benor]] and [[Proud Warrior Race Guy|Cosnach]] - who can be won the same way.

* Non-[[Romance of the Three Kingdoms|canon]] sidequests in ''[[Dynasty Warriors]]'' games often involve male characters needing to prove they are worthy of their love interests by defeating them.

 

== [[Web Comics]] ==

 

== [[Web Original]] ==

* The ''If I Am Ever The Heroine'' list (similar to the [[Evil Overlord List]]) strongly warns against agreeing to this practice.

 

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Characters As Device]]

[[Category:Usually Female]]

[[Category:Older Than Feudalism]]