Born Into Slavery
Many a character will get Made a Slave in the course of his or her adventures, and then get away again; sometimes this is even the driving force of some Long Lost Heir or Proud Warrior Race Guy. Other times it's just Whacky Hijinks, because who isn't going to laugh and enjoy the Fan Service of a little harmless Go-Go Enslavement?
And then there are the ones who were never made slaves, because they were born into it. Some of these people may come from a Slave Race, and some of them may even find Happiness in Slavery, but an overwhelming number of protagonists Born Into Slavery are deeply opposed to this condition. They may wish to avenge particular wrongs, or start a war to free their people, or just join a moral crusade for general emancipation. And that's if the story isn't entirely focused on them struggling to gain freedom just for themselves and/or loved ones.
It is also not guaranteed they will succeed, even in modern works, although it leaves a bad taste in our mouths when they don't. May ultimately invoke I Die Free.
Generally, a childhood spent enslaved will mess you up pretty much for all time, regardless. This is also considered interesting. And then there's this trope's potential for Fetish Fuel, although this is used a lot less than Made a Slave, since it's both more complicated and much more creepy.
Anime & Manga
- The Fullmetal Alchemist manga reveals that the protagonists' father, Hohenheim, was over four hundred years old; this impressed no one, because the anime storyline already revealed that. But it also reveals concurrently that around Ed's age he was a nameless slave designated #23, in the vanished Xerxes Empire. He climbs up from there with the help of Homunculus, who regards him as a father, but until the little blob in the jar started talking to him he had no particular ambitions beyond doing his work and being left alone.
- One of Legato Bluesummers' A Day in the Limelight bits in the Trigun manga shows us his backstory, which was either this or being Made a Slave in infancy or very early childhood. Then the little blue-haired Sex Slave who discovers his psychic powers and instead of using them to escape sets out to make sure of killing everyone in the entirety of the town. This causes them to start raping him to death as a punishment, apparently preventing him from focusing enough to stop them, since he's just starting to grow into his powers.
- And then Knives has an accidental Big Damn Heroes moment, and decides to spare the kid and let him tag along when he offers his life gladly in thanks. Reaches Tear Jerker when the boy is clearly crying for joy even as he admits that he doesn't have a name, and stumbles after the Magnificent Bastard with the shackles still trailing shattered chains.
- Rather than becoming a Morality Pet, as one might expect given the general scenario, the little boy pulls a From Nobody to Nightmare, and grows up to be both a major purveyor of Nightmare Fuel and a poster boy for Happiness in Slavery, because of his Mad Love for the aforementioned Big Bad. Also a Boomerang Bigot and Nietzsche Wannabe completely on board with his boss's plan to Kill All Humans.
Film
- Anakin Skywalker from Star Wars.
Literature
- Kullervo from the Finnish epic Kalevala.
Live Action TV
- The Jaffa in the Stargate universe, as an engineered Slave Race, are all this. Teal'c, the Jaffa we see the most of, is more or less the Trope Namer for I Die Free.