View source for Mind Game Ship

{{trope}}
There's this one person. They're not very nice, although they're probably very [[Affably Evil|polite]], and they can be very [[Casanova|charming]]... in their own way. The thing is, they like [[Manipulative Bastard|playing with your mind]] a lot. They like [[Flaw Exploitation|pushing your buttons]] for kicks, and [[The Chessmaster|playing you like a puppet]] in some kind of elaborate game.

For some reason, they've got a [[Stalker with a Crush|special interest]] in playing someone in particular. Maybe that someone is especially [[The Woobie|pure and innocent]], at the start, in which case they can expect their personality to be [[Break the Cutie|broken]] or at least [[Corrupt the Cutie|corrupted]]. Maybe that someone is seen by the [[Manipulative Bastard]] as a [[Worthy Opponent]] and even a [[Bastard Understudy|potential player]] themselves, in which case there will soon be [[Gambit Pileup]] in the future. [[The Svengali]] will tend to have this kind of relationship to their protege(s).

In any case, for [[Fan Girl|some]] people in the audience, they find all those mind games kind of [[Fetish Fuel|sexy]]. Could be the [[Stockholm Syndrome]] kicking in, or having a too literal interpretation of the expression "[[Mind Screw]]" or could be the fact that getting to know someone well enough to play with their mind that way is kind of... intimate. And an excellent fodder for [[Dark Fic]]s.

Usually a subtrope of [[Foe Yay]]. Not to be confused with the [[Mind Screw]] (where it's the author who screws with the mind of the audience). May result in [[Stockholm Shnozzing]], but not always. Not Related to [[Mind Game]] the movie. See also [[Angel-Devil Shipping]].

{{examples}}
==  Anime and Manga  ==
* [[Pokémon (anime)|SommelierShipping]] (Cilan/Cabernet) comes off as this, with Cilan being the manipulator.
* Johan Liebert (the titular ''[[Monster (manga)|Monster]]'') and Dr. Kenzou Tenma.
** Also, Johan and Anna/Nina. She is probably the only person in the world that he cares about, but he's not above {{spoiler|mind raping her, allowing his henchman to kill her, and manipulating her into nearly shooting herself.}} And not to mention those certain "emails" he sent her about being "born to smother [her] with flowers." ... Whatever ''that'' means.
* [[Osamu Tezuka|Tezuka]]'s Michio Yuki from ''[[MW]]'' actually ''did'' have an explicit relationship with his Mind Game Ship target, Garai. Make of that what you will.
* Seishirou/Subaru from ''[[Tokyo Babylon]]'' and ''[[X (manga)|X 1999]]'' are a very iconic and canonical example of this trope. IN ''X'', {{spoiler|Fuuma}} also invokes this trope with Kamui.
* Akio and Touga in ''[[Revolutionary Girl Utena]]''. With each other, and with [[Even the Guys Want Him|both boys and girls alike]].
* ''[[MAR]]'': Phantom and Alviss. Made ''canon'' in the anime.
* [[Berserk|Griffith/Guts]].
** Griffith/Casca.
* Creed and Train in ''[[Black Cat (manga)|Black Cat]]''.
* ''[[Hunter X Hunter]]'': Hisoka/Gon.
** Hisoka/anyone, really. And Chrollo/Kurapika is pretty common in fanfiction.
** Also Illumi/Killua.
* While not foes in most arcs, Mion and her [[Twincest|twin]] Shion from ''[[Higurashi]]'' count, especially in Meakashi-hen and Watanagashi-hen.
** Before you [[Yuri Fan|get too excited]], you should know that {{spoiler|it ends badly for both of them in both arcs.}}
* Alucard and Integra in ''[[Hellsing]]'', especially in the manga.
** In the manga Alucard and Integra have something like a [[Bodyguard Crush]] dynamic since their meeting. The Gonzo Anime, on the other hand, they did have head games with Alucard ''testing'' her when they met (which never happened in the manga, she wished for a knight to rescue her and got it). So I'm not sure if this applies ''especially'' in the manga. Alucard's loyalty to Integra is unquestionable without setting her [[Bound and Gagged]] in an illusion.
** Despite their [[Bodyguard Crush]] dynamic and his [[Undying Loyalty]], there ''are'' still shades of this. Alucard tests her quite a few times and constantly goads her, spurring her onwards into killing humans and the undead and then expressing his, erm...''excitement'' over it when she allows him to give them hell. In the [[OVA]] official ([[FUNimation]]) subtitles, he even asks her if declaring war excited her. Alucard has [[Interplay of Sex and Violence|interesting ways]] of [[In Love with Your Carnage|declaring]] his [[Undying Loyalty]] to her. While it might not be 'mind games' per se, there are definite undertones of powerplay in their interactions in both the manga/OVA and the anime and they certainly apply.
* ''[[Peacemaker Kurogane]]'': Later on, after Suzu goes insane, his love/hate towards Tetsunosuke makes their relationship prime Mind Game Ship fuel.
* Naoe/Takaya in ''[[Mirage of Blaze]]''. They both have been known to give as good as they get.
* Allen/Tyki in ''[[D.Gray-man]]''.
** Don't forget Road/anyone, although Allen is the main target of her warped affection.
* ''[[Code Geass]]'': Lelouch with a good number of people, especially Rolo and Suzaku. And to a lesser extent, there's also Mao/Lelouch.
** Some fans like Mao/Shirley as well (make of ''that'' what you will....)
** Not to mention Lelouch/C.C., which persists for the very same reason [[Word of God]] gave when they tried to [[Ship Sinking|sink]] it: they see each other as intellectual equals.
* Melfina/Harry in ''[[Outlaw Star]]''. Thank ''God'' his [[Mind Rape]] hacking attempts failed.  {{spoiler|She still expressed pity for him when he died.}}
**  {{spoiler|He died heroically charging the [[Big Bad]] in a vain attempt to save her. Or out of righteous anger that the [[Big Bad]] would dare to treat her like a thing. [[Alternate Character Interpretation]] and all that.}}
* ''[[Naruto]]'' is practically brimming with this sort of thing. It doesn't help that most of the characters show signs of having Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Of exceptional note is Orochimaru with ''many'' people, especially Sasuke. Later on, Pain and Naruto have traces of this, to an extent. As do Itachi and Sasuke.Additionally, any Kabuto pairing is bound to have some of this- he usually presents himself as this harmless, bumbling oaf with [[Nerd Glasses]], but is in fact in league with this villain, and...well...poor Naruto's look of betrayal when he realizes this is almost too much.
** Naruto's whole innocence, gullibility and inspiring-Messiah-like outlook are a lot of reasons why a lot of fanfics either a) mind-screw him over, or b) pair [insert name here]xNaruto ... and not the other way around... It's probably why the author likes to break him so much too.
* ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!]]'': Dark Marik and Dark Bakura with just about everyone.
** To a degree, normal Marik has this kind of relationship with Yugi/Yami Yugi, as he's explicitly challenging him and playing games with his mind, presumably so that killing him would be more interesting.
*** Hell,almost any ship with Marik turns out this way.
* During the third season of ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! GX]]'', the Judai/Yubel ship was also very messed up, though rather one-sided, until the very end when Juudai returns her love and fuses their souls.
* And in ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's]]'', we get Divine with Aki playing the trope to the hilt.
* Mukuro/Tsuna in ''[[Katekyo Hitman Reborn]]''. Based on Mukuro's obsession with [[Grand Theft Me|obtaining Tsuna's body]] at any cost and screwing with his head. And Mukuro/Chrome.
** Also, Byakuran/Anyone but especially with either Tsuna or Uni.
* Several interpretations of Light/L (''[[Death Note]]'') seem to portray their love/hate/manipulate relationship as culminating in a [[Double Entendre|Two Xanatos Pileup]].
** Shoot, if you paired Light OR L with different people, it could exhibit this trope.
** Also, Beyond Birthday/Anyone.
* An example of this that's not [[Foe Yay]]: Sensui and Itsuki from ''[[Yu Yu Hakusho]]''.
** Also in ''[[Yu Yu Hakusho]]'': Kurama/Karasu canonly and any halfway ''realistic'' Kurama/Hiei, considering Hiei dislikes almost everyone, including himself, and kitsune play games practically obsessively. Considering Hiei seems to enjoy being around Kurama beyond anyone, I'd say he enjoys partaking in Kurama's teasing.
* The majority of ''[[Axis Powers Hetalia]]'' shipping-based fics featuring [[Psychopathic Manchild|Ru]][[Cute and Psycho|ss]][[Yandere|ia]] use this approach.
** Some [[Alternative Character Interpretation]]s of certain nations can also invoke this trope in shipping fics, like England being a [[Manipulative Bastard]] (especially in England/China and England/Spain fics, and some ''ostensibly'' England/America and England/Japan fics have shades of this) and Japan being [[Cute and Psycho]] or a [[Yandere]] (especially in Japan/China fics).
** At least three-quarters of all [[Foe Yay|Turkey/Greece]] fics run on this trope and [[The Masochism Tango]], with Turkey as the one pushing Greece's buttons and [[Manipulative Bastard|loving to rile him up]] or [[I Have You Now, My Pretty|make it clear to him]] just ''where'' his place is in their dysfunctional relationship.
** And then there's [[Yandere|Belarus]], about the only character who can [[Mad Love|top Russia regularly]]. Or make [[Horrible Judge of Character|poor unsuspecting]] [[Dogged Nice Guy|Lithuania]]'s life hell if she wants to. And that's not even mentioning when she's paired up with ''[[Foe Yay|America]]''.
** And let's not forget the [[The Masochism Tango|America/Vietnam]] fanworks out there.
** Any Russia/America fanfic will almost certainly either take place during the [[Cold War]] or make numerous references to it. Mutual [[Mind Rape]] ensues.
** If China is portrayed as a [[Manipulative Bastard]] during [[Imperial China|Imperial]] or [[Red China|Red]] times, this will ensue almost doubtlessly.
* In ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist]]'', the relationship between Roy and Ed can be interpreted as this. A ''lot'' of people love pairing them together, quite a bit of it having to do with how Roy knows exactly which [[Berserk Button|buttons]] to push to make Ed angry, and how much he enjoys doing so.
** Envy/Ed is another popular Mind Game Ship.
* The interactions between Gauron and Sousuke in ''[[Full Metal Panic!]]'' are this. Gauron constantly taunts Sousuke and tries to make him [[Berserk Button|go berserk]]. He loves reminding him of the past, and makes him feel uncomfortable by being [[Stalker with a Crush|creepily]] and [[Ho Yay|overly affectionate]] with him (inlcuding calling him "Kashim" and "Honey"). Especially noticeable during the the third season, where  {{spoiler|Gauron pretty much mind screws Sousuke by rubbing in how Sousuke's friends caused him to become weaker, and telling him that he had his minion kill Sousuke's love, Kaname. He takes much delight in seeing [[Heroic BSOD|Sousuke's reaction]], and continues to goad Sousuke into killing him (which apparently is his idea of consummating their relationship)}}.
**  {{spoiler|And then there's the whole conversation in the light novel where Gauron says that back when he was fighting Sousuke at the beginning, he fantasised about killing him and then raping his dead body. Sousuke did not react well...}}
* The relationship between Ulquiorra and Orihime in ''[[Bleach]]''.
** And for that matter, Ichigo with Grimmjow and Ulquiorra.
** As of recently, Mayuri/Ichigo may qualify.
** As well as Mayuri/Hinagaku.
** As does  {{spoiler|Aizen}}/Ichigo.
****  {{spoiler|Aizen}}/''anyone'', period. (Except  {{spoiler|Gin}}, maybe.) And we all know what happened to the ''one'' person who gave in...  {{spoiler|''Poor'' Momo.}}
*** Depending on what sort of...alterations were included in his healing process, Mayuri/{{spoiler|Uryu}} as well.
*** Gin/Ichigo. Gin demonstrated in recent chapters that he ''really'' loves fucking with Ichigo's head by giving him [[Hannibal Lecture]]s and picking at his fear and insecurity.
** Long, long before Ichigo, Gin was already messing with Kira's head. Gin/Kira is a perfect example of this trope, really.
** Let's not forget Gin/Rukia. It's pretty much canon that Gin scares the shit out of Rukia. When she was in Soul Society waiting her execution she stated that even if he wasn't talking to her she'd get this ominous feeling like "snakes were curling themselves around her" and she could feel "every bead of sweat" on her body whenever he was in her mere presence. And of course, there's the fact that Gin was a total asshole and told her that he would save her from being executed before squashing her hopes down flat.
** At this rate, Gin's only "good" (for a stretch) relationship would be Gin/Rangiku. And in chapter 413  {{spoiler|he actually attacks her while cheerfully ordering her to get out of his way.}}
***  {{spoiler|And ''that'' was only to keep her out of harm. He didn't tell her a lot of things, but in the end he did everything for her well-being, so this trope doesn't really apply}}
**** Not sure on the last part, considering that  {{spoiler|he still emotionally screwed her over while trying to protect her. No, Gin's not a good guy automatically because Rangiku ''was'' his [[Morality Pet]] in the end, and he caused her lots of grief.}}
** What, no [[Manipulative Bastard|Tsukishima]]/''anyone''? Specially  {{spoiler|Ichigo, Orihime, Chad, Shishigawara}}, or even  {{spoiler|Ginjou}}? The guy is the ''perfect'' bait for this!
** Then there's [[Screw Yourself|Inner Ichigo/Ichigo]].
* Kira and Flay in ''[[Gundam Seed]]'', so much.  {{spoiler|Though Kira was genuinely in love with her without knowing she initially was just using him, and this becomes a moot point due to her [[Becoming the Mask]]. Eventually, she dies before she gets to set the record straight and make it official, so Kira never finds out the relationship was originally a lie.}}
*  {{spoiler|Akito and Shigure}} in ''[[Fruits Basket]]''.  {{spoiler|Though they got their happy ending in the manga}}
** Hell, Akito/Anyone qualify, considering how [[No Sense of Personal Space|touchy-feely]]  {{spoiler|she}} gets with everyone in the Zodiac, and even  {{spoiler|her}} demeanor around Tohru  {{spoiler|until she [[Character Development|gets better]] thanks to Tohru herself}} could be interpreted thusly.
* [[Manipulative Bastard|Muraki]], of ''[[Yami no Matsuei]]'', with ''everyone'' he interacts. '''And how.'''
* [[Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro|Neuro]] to Yako. (As the image on the show's page suggests.)
* Both Sae Sasaki and Ryo Okayasu from ''[[Peach Girl]]'' play with people's minds by relying on their ability to charm people into doing what they want.  {{spoiler|Ryo's manipulation/mistreatment of Sae herself is so bad, though, that it's enough for her to [[Heel Face Turn|change her ways]]. Sort of.}}
** Sae/Momo. The major plot point of the series is how Sae pretends to be Momo's friend and secretly attempts to undermine her because of her own insecurity and jealousy of Momo.
* ''[[Deadman Wonderland]]'' has Genkaku/Nagi.
* Battler and Beatrice from ''[[Umineko no Naku Koro ni]]''. Beatrice is a witch with absolute power of life and death over Battler, to the point of casually killing and resurrecting him to prove a point, and is always gloating over new and extravagant ways to make him question his grasp on reality. Battler, in return, adamantly refuses—to her face—to believe in the existence of witches or any power these nonexistent beings might or might not have over him. By the end of the fourth chapter, though, the one thing neither can deny is the heaping amounts of [[UST]] that exist between them. {{spoiler|They get married at the end of Episode 6.}}
** In Beatrice's own words: [[Large Ham|"Let's start torturing each other, USHIROMIYA BATTORAAAAAAA!!"]]
* ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'': [[Rape Is Love|Tsukuyomi/Setsuna]] and Fate/Negi at least before Fate's [[Heel Face Turn]].
** As well as Kurt Godel/Negi.
** And Tsukuyomi/either  {{spoiler|Fate or Negi}}
* Prince Diamond and ''[[Sailor Moon]]''.
* [[Devil in Plain Sight|Xellos]]/[[Person of Mass Destruction|Lina]] from the ''[[Slayers]]'' adhere to this. It doesn't help that Xellos apparently knows all of her weaknesses either, even the stuff he shouldn't [[Stalker with a Crush|technically]] know about.
* From ''[[Loveless]]'' any ship involving Seimei ''will'' be this. Most notably the [[Brother-Sister Incest|Seimei/Ritsuka]] pairing.
* [[Pokémon Diamond and Pearl Adventure]] has two instances of this at the ''same time'', when Cyrus manipulates  {{spoiler|Mitsumi into rejoining Team Galactic and forcing her to battle Hareta, while all the while taunting her over her headset about how she's alone in the world. By the end, she's so distraught that she basically [[I Cannot Self-Terminate|asks Jupiter to kill her]].}} Later on she  {{spoiler|forgives him and helps facilitate his recovery}}. But the manipulation was intended for Hareta, and so Cyrus launches into an 11-page tirade about how hatred is the only thing humans can feel and that's why he's going to set things right by ending the universe and starting it again under his tight control, concluding it with "You must hate me even more now." Hareta looks up at him and  {{spoiler|cries his eyes out, saying "you do bad things, but I don't hate you." Cyrus asks himself if, after all he's done to Hareta, this boy still cares about everyone--and nearly stops his plan until Saturn intervenes. Basically, Cyrus managed to mind game HIMSELF}}. This, of course, doesn't stop Cyrus from trying to kill Hareta again later that volume, but given that this is the only continuity where he manages to  {{spoiler|redeem himself}}, it's obvious what impact this had.
* ''[[Ranma ½]]'': This is one of several reasons people ship Ranma/Nabiki.
* Aion and Chrono in ''[[Chrono Crusade]]'' tend to be written like this in yaoi fanfic. And some of the scenes in the anime actually border on this without the need of fanfic to back it up.
* ''[[GetBackers]]'': Takuma and Ban. It's a bit one-sided on Takuma's part though.
* [[Durarara!!]] has Izaya doing this to Shizuo. Well, Izaya seems to like to screw with everyone's heads, but messing with Shizuo in particular appears to give him great pleasure.
** Actually, not really. He explicitly states in the light novel that he despises him and would rather be as far away from him as possible. He also hates talking about him in general and seems to get pissed whenever anyone mentions him. Shizuo's the ''last'' person Izaya would try to play mindgames with face-to-face - he just wants him dead.
** Later on in the books he takes a particular liking to dicking around with {{spoiler|Kida}}'s emotions, especially once {{spoiler|Kida reluctantly starts working for him}}
*** Izaya pretty much has one of these going on with ''all of humanity''. Shizuo and {{spoiler|Kida}} just appear to be his personal pet targets. [[Sarcasm Mode|Lucky things.]] Pretty much the '''only'' person he won't dick around with (that much) is  {{spoiler|Shinra}}.
*** Later on in the novels, he even gets some [[Foe Yay]] with  {{spoiler|one of the girls he duped into joining a suicide club}}. To a lesser extent, Mikado was also one of the earlier victims of his, erm...''affection''.
** Don't forget Seiji Yagiri and  {{spoiler|Mika Harima}}, either. They look like [[Sickeningly Sweethearts]]... and are anything ''but''.
{{quote|'''Seiji''': I'm so in love with  {{spoiler|[[A Love to Dismember|the scars on your neck]]...}}}}
* [[Soul Eater|Medusa/Stein.]] Canonical seductive touching while Medusa tries to drive Stein [[Sanity Slippage|insane]]? It's all hallucinated, but that just means it's ''working''. Naturally, fanfic-writing proponents of the couple have taken this concept and run with it.
** You just know Medusa/anyone is not going to end well... Really. Just. Not.
* Unusual that [[D.N.Angel|Krad/Satoshi]] isn't here. Now it is! Whenever we see the two together alone, it's generally Krad cuddling Satoshi from behind, or declaring that "You are my everything, Satoshi-sama". Would be incredibly sweet if not for the fact that Krad is also a homicidal blonde angel, who only really wants Satoshi for his body.
** ... by which he actually means to take over Satoshi's body, as he's some kind of incorporeal spirit and Satoshi is his "host". Well. Hopefully that's all he means by it. Krad also tremendously enjoys reminding Satoshi that he (Satoshi) is not allowed to get close to anyone, and especially not his sworn enemy/best and only friend/possibly love interest.
* Albert and [[Magnificent Bastard|the Count]] in ''[[Gankutsuou]]''.
* This is the main appeal of shipping Keith and Matsuka in ''[[Toward the Terra]]'', given that Keith seems to exert every effort to give Matsuka a vicious case of [[Stockholm Syndrome]], and if anything it works a little too well - by the end of the series, Matsuka is willing to {{spoiler|sacrifice his life to save Keith's}}.
* ''[[Wolf Guy Wolfen Crest]]'': Haguro towards Inugami. To a lesser extent, Ryuuko towards Inugami.
* Somewhat benign case, but entirely canon, ''[[Hayate the Combat Butler]]'' Miki has a stated crush on Hinagiku, and she's shown that she plays a lot of mind games on her. It's even on her profile as one of the things she likes. Luckily for the [[Unwanted Harem|harem]], it seems that she's using these powers to push Hayate and Hinagiku together.
* Sebastian and Ciel in ''[[Black Butler]]'', in the sense that all the moments of [[Ho Yay]] between the two come off more as [[Nightmare Fuel]]-riffic threats considering that Sebastian is a demon and is merely killing time until he gets to eats Ciel's soul.
** Sebastian/Anyone, really. It's one of the many things he does best.
** Season two gives us [[Ax Crazy|Alois]]/Ciel, which is practically canon. On Alois's side, at least. Also, Alois/Hannah.
** And Claude/Ciel. Thanks to episode 9 which has him practically mind raping Ciel, and declaring how he wants to [[Freud Was Right|"stick my needle into his soft skin and suck out his sensual soul"]].
** Grell/Sebastian. It also shows up in canon.
* [[Twincest|Knives/Vash]] and Legato/Vash in ''[[Trigun]]''.
* ''[[Vassalord]]'': Barry and Rayflo, though Rayflo wants no part of it.
** Rayfell and Charley have a bit of this going on as well. Charley also wants no part of it.
* In ''[[Pandora Hearts]]'' Vincent has traces of this going on with Gil and everyone else, but especially with Gil and Ada.
* [[Mawaru Penguindrum|Sanetoshi Watase]] and ''anyone'' he interacts with. Specially with Himari,  {{spoiler|the Princess of the Crystal}}, and DOUBLE in the case of  {{spoiler|[[Ho Yay|Kan]][[Foe Yay|ba]].}}
* Hino and Yunoki of ''[[Kiniro no Corda]]''.
* Shiki and Akira of ''[[Togainu no Chi]]''.
* Yuno and Yukiteru in ''[[Mirai Nikki]]'' have shades of this.
* This is how ReiSaru is depicted in Project K, since Munakata is pretty manipulative and Fushimi is a yandere.
** Also Fushimi/Yata, since Fushimi is a stalker for Yata to Love Makes You Crazy levels, and he has interest in messing with Yata, whereas Fushimi get's on Yata's last nerve because of how he defected from his group.
* Ayanami and Teito in ''[[Zero Seven Ghost]]''.  For example, Ayanami calls Teito "my possession".
* Ren and Aichi in ''Cardfight Vanguard'' generated by Ren's mind rape on Aichi and his lack of personal space around him.
* Tsukiyama of ''[[Tokyo Ghoul]]'' gets this with anyone he interacts with, Kaneki[[Ho Yay|especially]].

==  Comic Books  ==
* ''[[Spider-Man]]'' with the Venom symbiote, of course.
* The Joker and ''[[Batman]]''.
* Daken and Bullseye in [[Dark Avengers]]. Daken's a manipulative freak with mind-control pheromone powers, Bullseye is [[Psycho for Hire|utterly psychopathic.]]

==  Fan Works  ==
* Dean and Jimmy Novak/Castiel in ''Angelface'' and its sequels.
* A lot of Draco/Hermione ''[[Harry Potter]]'' fanfiction ends up like this.
* [http://sympathy-crime.livejournal.com/ Sympathy Crime], a ''[[Persona 4]]'' fic, features the pairing of  {{spoiler|Yosuke/Adachi, where Adachi manipulates Yosuke's emotions in hopes of breaking up the investigation team, and also for his own sick enjoyment.}}
* The ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic]]'' [[Fanfic]] ''[[MLP: The Games We Play]]'' sees Mare Do Well making [[The Bet|a bet]] with Rainbow Dash: that she can get the pegasi to fall in love with her before Dash can unmask her. To this end, she teases and misleads her to suspect all of her friends, and takes a lot of enjoyment in how much she screws with Rainbow's head.
* The Fictionist author at fanfiction.net does this sometimes with Harry Potter/Tom Riddle or Lord Voldemort.

==  Film  ==
* ''[[The Watcher (film)|The Watcher]]'': David/Joel. Full fucking stop.
* Hannibal Lecter and Clarice Starling from ''[[Silence of the Lambs]]'' are often portrayed like this.
** Including {{spoiler|in the novels}}.
* O.W. Grant from ''Interstate 60'' does this with EVERYBODY. Other characters in this movie also prove to be able to do that.
* [[Red Eye (film)|Red Eye]] anybody? The Jackson/Lisa relationship is ''built'' on this.
* [[Heath Ledger]]'s portrayal of the Joker from ''[[The Dark Knight Saga]]'' has shades of this with just about everyone he comes into contact with, especially with Batman, Harvey, and Rachel.
* The Green Goblin and [[Spider-Man (film)|Spider-Man]] in the first movie.
* Lili and <s>Tim Curry</s> Satan from ''[[Legend]]''.
* ''[[Inception]]'': At times, Cobb and Mal can become this. ''Especially'' on Mal's part.
** ''Especially'' when you realize the "normal" Mal is never shown, only the Mal after Cobb's first inception and the Mal Cobb created in his mind. [[Mind Screw|Mind games]] indeed.
** Since everyone Robert Fischer interacts with in the movie is messing with his head in one way or another, [[Shipping]] featuring him tends to end up this way.
* ''[[The Chronicles of Narnia]]'': The White Witch and Edmund.
* ''[[Nine And A Half Weeks]]'': ''Everything'' about the relationship on John's part is a Mind Game Ship—emotionally, intellectually, sexually.
* ''[[Peter Pan]]'': Wendy and Captain Hook, as well as Peter Pan and Captain Hook.
** Tinkerbell to Wendy as well.
* ''[[The Wizard of Oz (film)|The Wizard of Oz]]'': The Wicked Witch and Dorothy.
* Marissa's obsession with ''[[Hanna]]''.
* Watanabe (The Bird) is determined to break Louie's spirit in "Unbroken" and has a habit of getting close to him to assert his authority.

==  Literature  ==
* Rhett/Scarlett from ''[[Gone with the Wind]]'' comes across as this at times; Rhett is definitely manipulating her and toys with her emotions. Subverted in that she causes him significantly more angst than he does her, despite hardly manipulating him consciously at all.
* The titular ''[[Harry Potter]]'' with Voldemort and Snape, to a lesser extent.
** Ginny and Tom Riddle in the second book.
** Dumbledore, in a benign sort of way, to Voldemort.
* ''[[Kushiel's Legacy]]'': Melisande Shahrizai is like this canonically with Phedre. There appears to be some genuine love buried amidst the casual backstabbing.
* Lara Raith seems to enjoy manipulating [[The Dresden Files|Harry Dresden]] a bit more than can be considered strictly professional.
* In the ''[[Discworld]]'' Watch books, the relationship between Vetinari and Vimes.
** Also Vetinari and Moist, although they get less screen time together.
*** Hell, Vetinari and ''anyone.''
** This is usually how Susan/Teatime is played in [[Fanfic]].
* The relation between Valmont and Merteuil in ''[[Dangerous Liaisons|Les Liaisons Dangereuses]]'' can be interpreted as this.
* ''[[Warrior Cats]]'': Presumably the basis of pretty much any shipping with [[Manipulative Bastard|S]][[Compelling Voice|o]][[For the Evulz|l]].
* ''[[Star Wars Expanded Universe]]'': When people ship Mitth'raw'nuruodo without making him into a [[Draco in Leather Pants]], this tends to be his characterization. It's not uncommon to see him shipped with [[Outbound Flight|Maris Ferasi]], a [[Wide-Eyed Idealist]] who sees him as completely honorable and good.
* Hannibal Lecter and Clarice Starling. It started out with mild hints in ''[[Silence of the Lambs]]'' and then went full-bore into this trope in the next book.  {{spoiler|In the end, Hannibal gets the girl.}}
* ''[[Forgotten Realms]]'': Jarlaxle and Entreri are this, though the platonic version. Unless it's [[Slash Fic]], in which case there's a 50/50 chance or better of Jarlaxle seriously screwing with Artemis' head for... other purposes. Though in all fairness, he ''is'' a [[Magnificent Bastard|drow]]. Hey, [[Mind Rape]] is [[Rape Is Love|Love]].
* ''[[A Series of Unfortunate Events]]'': Count Olaf and Violet.
* Enid Blyton (Malory Towers). Gwen and Mary-Lou and later Gwen and Clarissa (until she develops a spine). To what extent this applies depends very much on your personal take on the canon, but the 'pushy, dominant partner in a near-exclusive friendship' theme is very much there, even if you're not prone to [[Schoolgirl Lesbians|subtextual interpretations.]]
* ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire]]'': Fits perfectly for those who ship Littlefinger and Sansa, although it's not a very common pairing, as most prefer [[Bodyguard Crush|Sansa and The Hound.]]
** One can't [[Take a Third Option|have both?]] At any rate, Littlefinger/Sansa entirely canon in one direction, and given what [[Magnificent Bastard|Littlefinger is]] (bearing in mind that he is prominent in this status in a series chock full of them by normal standards) and [[Corrupt the Cutie|what he seems to be trying to do]] to Sansa, this trope is in full effect.


==  Live Action TV  ==
* T-Bag/Michael from ''[[Prison Break]]''. T-Bag/anyone really,
* In ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'', Angelus was apparently fond of it, doing it to Buffy during season 2 and Drusilla sometime in the 19th century.
** And when they bring him back in ''[[Angel]]'', he seems to take a special pleasure in playing with Fred and with Faith. Angelus just loves breaking hotties.
* ''[[Lost]]'': Ben Linus. With just about everyone. [[Magnificent Bastard|And it is awesome]].
* ''[[Oz]]'': Ryan and Dr. Nathan. Then there's the chaotic Chris/Beecher relationship and the [[Foe Yay]]-tastic rivalry between Schillinger/Beecher.
* In a much milder way this is how all of ''[[House (TV series)|House]]'''s relationships need to work, from the love of his life to the one-off characters he flirts with. Shipping him with Cuddy depends on this.
* Before their [[Foe Yay]] became so unsubtle it could be carved with a [[Chainsaw Good|chainsaw]], the Doctor and the Master of ''[[Doctor Who]]'' fit this trope. Their Jon Pertwee and Roger Delgado incarnations in particular took a certain amount of delight from their mutual manipulations and betrayals.
** At what point did Doctor / Master ever qualify as "subtle"?
* The ''[[Firefly]]'' fandom's tendency to ship River and Jayne often uses this as an aspect of it, as River ''does'' like to screw around with people's heads, when her own head isn't screwy itself.
** Ditto for Simon/Jayne, and even for Mal/Jayne.
* Lots of (good) [[Portmanteau Couple Name|Mylar]] ([[Heroes (TV series)|Sylar/Mohinder]]) will fall into this category. It's that screwed up a pairing.
** Sylar/Claire and Sylar/Peter are also rather heavy in this, with the ship element of the first being practically canon, at least from Sylar's side. That's just what Sylar's like...
** Now that there's Elle, she's sometimes the aggressor with Claire, sometimes the subject with Mr. Bennet, and at least once even with [[Crack Pairing|Monica Dawson]].
* Patty and Ellen from ''[[Damages]]'' are the definition of this, except now Ellen is also showing her ''[[Manipulative Bastard]]'' skills too.
* The entire second season of ''[[Gossip Girl]]'' saw [[Belligerent Sexual Tension|Chuck and Blair]] competing over who could envoke this trope the most.
* ''[[Justified (TV series)|Justified]]'' Raylan and Boyd. Boyd is one of the few people who can really push Raylan's buttons due to their shared past.
* ''[[The Mentalist]]'' has Patrick Jane, the man who flirts with everyone while screwing with their heads. He reserves his most magical bits of mind-screw for Lisbon.
* [[Sherlock]] gives us Sherlock/Irene.
* Justin and Alex fit this trope to a tee in [[Wizards of Waverly Place|Wizards]]
* The developments between [[Magnificent Bastard|Jim Keats]] and [[Fish Out of Temporal Water|Alex Drake]] in season three of ''[[Ashes to Ashes]]'' makes this one near-canonical. Keats wants to [[Does This Remind You of Anything?|tempt Alex away from Gene]] and [[The Corrupter|use her to bring Gene down]]. While there's no explicit sexuality in their relationship, they flirt during multiple episodes, and in the finale  {{spoiler|Keats gets ''very'' touchy-feely with her under the guise of "comforting" her. Of course, it's revealed that he's quite possibly ''the Devil himself'', so the mind game elements are a lot less surprising}}.
* Head Six to Dr. Gaius Baltar and Head Baltar to Caprica-Six in ''[[Battlestar Galactica (2004 TV series)|Battlestar Galactica]]''.
* ''[[Rizzoli and Isles]]'': In canon Hoyt has this kind of relationship with Jane. Jane wants no part of it.
* Will and Hannibal Lecter on Hannibal.
* Raymond Reddington and Elizabeth Keen's relationship on Blacklist have been thought to be similar to Hannibal Lecter and Clarice Starling's relationship.
* In [[Supernatural]] Crowley gets this with everyone partially due to the nicknames and double entendres he flings at people.
** Abaddon towards Dean.  She talks to him very flirtatiously before attacking him and wants to possess his body.
** Lucifer and Sam.  For example, Lucifer calls Sam his "little bitch in every sense of the term."

==  Theatre  ==
* ''[[A Streetcar Named Desire]]'': Stanley/Blanche. They are somewhat attracted to each other at first, but Stanley eventually sees through [[Stepford Smiler|Blanche's mask]] and his continued involvement in her life causes her to descend into permanent insanity.
* There are interpretations of [[Othello|Iago and Othello]] like this.


==  Video Games  ==
* This role can be played by [[GLaDOS|G La DOS]] from ''[[Portal (series)|Portal]]''.
* Sephiroth from ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]'' did this to Cloud quite a bit in the original, but by the Compilation his sole ''raison d'etre'' seemed to be to touch Cloud's brain in intimate places, and it's marvelous fuel for the [[Foe Yay|Cloud/Sephiroth]] shippers.
** It gets played up even more in ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]'' and ''[[Dissidia Final Fantasy]]'', with Sephiroth exhibiting definite [[Stalker with a Crush]] tendencies toward poor Cloud.
* This is also how [[Bully (video game)|Gary/Petey]] is usually played. It probably helps that one of the earliest times we see Gary and Petey interact it's Gary getting up in his face to taunt him about liking to watch the swim team and alternately calling him a sick sad pervert and sick, sad and closeted gay. And he expresses a desire to make him into a real man. (Or a woman. Or ''something''.) ''Un''fortunately, some people don't seem to quite grasp the subtle delights of a good old-fashioned mind game, and [[Draco in Leather Pants|turn Gary into just a misunderstood, gentle, good-hearted woobie]].
* Any pairings involving [[Implacable Man|Pyramid]] [[Memetic Molester|Head]] of ''[[Silent Hill]]'' will inevitably be this trope, due mostly to his role of penetrating (ahem) a character's mind and doing all sorts of nasty things with it.
* Maleficent and Riku in ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]''. Well, it's either that or a [[Mrs. Robinson]] deal, depending on your perspective...
** [[The Starscream|Marluxia]] and Namine have ''definite'' [[Squick|undertones of this.]]
* Alma and Becket in ''[[First Encounter Assault Recon]]'' 2: Project Origin to a [[Nightmare Fuel|very disturbing degree]].
* This is generally accepted by the ''[[The World Ends With You]]'' fandom to be Joshua and Neku's relationship.
** Primarily because Joshua mixes [[Mind Screw]] with [[Ho Yay]] like Reese's mixes peanut butter with chocolate:
{{quote|'''Joshua:''' I could never live with myself if I let you go alone. Let's spend some quality time.
'''Beat:''' Whoa ho ho! You guys are... Like, you ain't...
'''Shiki:''' Blue and Pink!? Sure, they go.. but I didn't know they went LIKE THAT!
'''Neku:''' Now look what you've done! }}
*** Though it should really be noted that the above quote comes from [[Alternate Universe|Another Day]], which uses alternate universe versions of the main characters. [[Yaoi Fangirl]]s have picked it up and run off with it anyway.
** Joshua also lays it on thick right from their very first meeting, after he forces them in to a pact:
{{quote|'''Joshua:''' The name's Yoshiya Kiryu. But Mother and Father call me Joshua.
'''Neku:''' Please don't tell me...
'''Joshua:''' I guess you can call me Joshua, too - seeing as how you're my dear, dear partner. Hee hee... }}
** He openly admits in the same conversation that he was watching over/stalking Neku, and was impressed with him. The [[Ho Yay]] continues with Josh's teasing and Neku's attempts to fight it dwindling as he starts to finally get used to his eccentric 'partner'. When  {{spoiler|[[Tear Jerker|he 'dies' saving him from Sho]]}}, we all end up liking him, and it makes the [[Mind Screw]] elements that much harder to deal with. It's revealed that {{spoiler|he escaped to a parallel world (one obsessed with Tin Pin, according to the Reports) during his [[Heroic Sacrifice]]}}, and he glibly tells Neku that {{spoiler|he ''had'' tried to kill him before the Game}}, after Neku had been guilt-ridden for the whole week thinking that {{spoiler|Josh was innocent and that his mistrust got him killed.}} Despite this, {{spoiler|Neku risks his own life and the existence of Shibuya to avoid shooting Josh}}, even after he's revealed himself to be {{spoiler|the [[Big Bad|Composer]] who wants to destroy Shibuya (to save the rest of the world from its corruption) and challenged him to a duel with pistols. [[Kick the Dog|Josh ''does'' shoot]], but he also [[Pet the Dog|resurrects them all and leaves Shibuya alone]], [[Heel Face Turn|changing his mind]], and in the ending, while Neku says that while he can't forgive him, he still trusts him.}}
* When its plot isn't being decried as [[Squick]]ish, [[Interspecies Romance]] biased [[Canon Discontinuity]], [[Big Bad|Mephiles]] from [[Sonic the Hedgehog (2006 video game)||Sonic the Hedgehog 2006]] is portrayed this way. Yes, there are people who liked the game enough to write fanfic on it.
* ''[[Ace Attorney]]'' [[Fanfic]] likes to do this with Kristoph Gavin/anyone (especially Phoenix).
* In ''[[Team Fortress 2]]'', [[Magnificent Bastard|The]] [[Memetic Molester|Spy]] in pretty much any pairing, and the Medic when [[Wimpification|wimpified]].
* In ''[[Tales of Symphonia]]'' fic, this is involved in pretty much any pairing that includes [[Big Bad|Yggdrasill]].
* Link and Ghirahim of ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword]]''. In a strange case, Ghirahim isn't really that manipulative, but he gets really close with Link when they meet.
* No subtext needed, this is pretty much the ''actual'' relationship between the PC and  {{spoiler|Damien}} in [[Magical Diary: Horse Hall]]. It starts as a romantic pairing, and gets [[False Friend|progressively]] [[Moral Event Horizon|more]] [[Becoming the Mask|messed]] [[Bastard Boyfriend|up]].
* Vamp and Raiden in ''[[Metal Gear Solid]]''. Shows up in canon too.


==  Web Comics  ==
* [[Megatokyo|Miho/Anyone.]]
* Rojo of ''[[Cuanta Vida]]'' keeps talking about how he likes Bleu. The first time he said this was immediately before putting out a cigarette on Bleu's face.
* Wanda of ''[[Erfworld]]'' has a definite thing for Jillian Zamussels, her "favorite prisoner" and frequent torture subject. There are explicit instances (such as their first interaction in the strip) and constant overtones of [[Foe Yay]] and [[Les Yay]], not to mention [[More Than Mind Control]] when Jillian is later released with the intent of becoming [[The Mole]]. Even after all this, Jillian still feels strongly for Wanda and continually tries to persuade her to defect.
* In ''[[The Adventures of Dr. McNinja]]'', King Radical towards Dr. McNinja (in a totally awesome way).
* ''[[Homestuck]]'' features a veritable queen of this trope, [[Homestuck/Characters/Trolls Three|Vriska Serket]], who has mind control powers and throws them around in a frankly cavalier manner. When she's not forcing people to cripple themselves for her amusement, she's systematically undermining their self-esteem and basically just making them cry. Naturally she gets shipped with everyone. We also have [[Blind Seer|Terezi Pyrope]], who doesn't even need mind control powers to manipulate you, and gets under Vriska's skin more than anyone else in the universe. Naturally she gets shipped with Vriska and also everyone else. In fact, a good quarter of ''Homestuck'''s main cast is populated by [[Our Trolls Are Different|members of an alien species]] [[Bizarre Alien Reproduction|whose romantic lives revolve entirely around this]].


== Web Original ==
* Any pairings with [[Ask That Guy With The Glasses|Ask That Guy]] ''will'' be this trope, especially when the fandom ships him with [[The Nostalgia Critic]] or [[The Spoony Experiment|Dr. Insano]].
** ... please add [[Squick]] at [[Crack Pairing|your]] [[Dark Fic|own]] [[You Have Been Warned|discretion]]
** And do we even need to go into the "That Guy violates Ma-Ti"? - (there were ''far'' too many people who managed to derive [[Fetish Fuel]] from that video...)
* ''[[Happy Tree Friends]]'' fandom sometimes does this with [[Ax Crazy|Evil Flippy]] and Flaky, or [[Screw Yourself|Good Flippy and Evil Flippy]].
** This is carried on in the show as well, especially in the latter episodes, where Flaky becomes terrified of Flippy and tries to get rid of him in any possible way, even though he doesn't kill her anymore and acts really nice to her. In ''Without A Hitch'' he acts nicely and tries to help her, but she constantly thinks he's following her to murder her so she ends up  {{spoiler|stabbing him}}.
* [[Grandmaster of Theft]] has Deus canonically doing this towards Cassidy. While he generally enjoys causing trouble to anyone for sake of drama, she interests him more than anyone else because of her abilities as [[Magnificent Bitch]] and drive to capture him.


== Western Animation ==
* ''[[South Park]]'': Eric Cartman/Kyle. And Cartman/Butters.
** That last one is sliding so close to canon it's not funny. Well, a little.
* Mr. Incredible/Syndrome from ''[[The Incredibles]]''.
** And Syndrome/Violet.
* The titular [[Invader Zim]]'s rivalry with his archenemy Dib has shades of this.
* ''[[Coraline (animation)|Coraline]]''/The Other Mother. ''Very'' [[Nightmare Fuel|disturbingly]] [[Squick]]-inducing that is.
* Scar and Simba in ''[[The Lion King]]''.
* Slade/Robin, Slade/Raven, and Slade/Terra from ''[[Teen Titans (animation)|Teen Titans]]''. There's also Red X/Robin, Red X/Starfire, Malchior/Raven, Jinx/Raven, Trigon/Raven, and Cyborg/Brother Blood. The show has definite [[Foe Yay|undertones]] to support each shipping.
** Red X/Raven is getting to be a popular Mind Game Ship on [[Fanfiction.net]].
** And Blackfire/Starfire.
** Terra/Slade is actually ''canon'' in the comics.
* Similar to [[Teen Titans (animation)|Slade/Robin]], ''[[Danny Phantom]]'' gave us Vlad/Danny.
* ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'': Azula/Zuko, which is made weirder by the [[Brother-Sister Incest|other implications]]. She also has traces of this going on with <s> Suki, Sokka, Aang...</s> '''everyone'''.
* ''[[The Powerpuff Girls]]'': It looks like some might see this in Him and Bubbles, since Him tends to target Bubbles before the group as a whole.
* ''[[Codename: Kids Next Door]]'': Numbuh 1 has a bit of this going on with the [[Creepy Child|Delightful Children From Down The Lane]].
* ''[[Generator Rex]]'': Van Kleiss and Rex.
** Later, Breach starts canonically trying this on Rex after she decides that messing with his head is far more fun than [[Collector of the Strange|adding him to her 'collection']]. Naturally, he's not pleased.
* ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]'': Discord and... [[Launcher of a Thousand Ships|pretty much any of the Mane Six]].
* The Joker and Batman often get this in numerous animated series.
* ''Frozen'' has plenty of Hans/Anna with Hans being the manipulator to the naïve Anna.
* Avatar: The Legend Of Korra: Amon to Korra, starting in the episode where she challenges him to a duel.
* The titular Tom and Jerry of ''The Tom And Jerry Show''.  Jerry sometimes kisses Tom just to mess with him.

== Real Life ==
* [[Peter Mandelson]] towards then-Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer "Boy" George Osborne. They've since apparently made it up. No, [[Reality Is Unrealistic|probably]] not like that, slash-goggle-wearers.

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[[Category:Shipping Tropes]]
[[Category:YMMV Trope]]
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