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In "Misfit Demon King Academy", Sasha Necron makes a bet with the demon king
regarding one of the competitions. She says that if she wins, "Then I own
you."

In "Didn't I Say to Make My Abilities Average", Mile agrees that if her team
loses to all of Arledy's minions, the noble Arledy would own miles.

I've seen this trope in a number of other anime as well, "owning" someone as a
result of a bet. Does anything like that every happen in real life? Is there
historical precedent that it stems from? In the US, that concept would be an
absolute taboo as it would connotate slavery which is still a recent blight in
our nation's history.


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tropes
The concept of owning someone comes up in anime, usually as part of a bet. Is it based in reality or is it just a tv trope?


Despite not having watched either of those series, what I can say without risk
of overreaching is that this does have _some_ connotations to slavery or the
ownership of persons.

Let's first frame it from the two series you're describing, and the people
that are engaged in the conversations. Both series are set with some kind of
monarchy establishment, and it is well within the realm of reality for
monarchs and nobles to trade property, of which, slaves would be considered
property.

_These days_...it doesn't happen all that often because slavery is [recognized
internationally as against the
law](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_international_law) depending on
the circumstance. Again, not knowing what each series is talking about, it's
tough to pinpoint which **modern** real-world law would be violated/flaunted.

Note that I said "all that often". It is my understanding that this still does
occur in places where monitoring and enforcement aren't as strict as other
parts of the world. You can watch as many documentaries on this subject as you
like - PBS and the BBC have fantastic and rich coverage of the subject if
you're interested in learning more about it.


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The words "own" or "slave" may not be used, but the practice is very much
alive in high schools, colleges, fraternity houses, etc. all over the world.

When people make this sort of bet, they are not literally selling themselves
into slavery - the "contract" is not legally enforcable anyway. The only thing
making them stick to the penalty is potential social stuff (being kicked out
of the group, club, frat , etc. for welching or chickening out).

Usually the loser is agreeing to do whatever the winner wants (within reason)
for a certain period - usually a semester or academic year, sometimes for the
rest of their student life - this would be things like making/bringing them
lunches, carrying their bags, putting up with verbal abuse without complaint,
taking the crappy jobs during fund raisers (e.g. the kissing booth or dunking
chair), doing their grocery shopping, washing their car, help with or outright
doing their homework assignments, etc.

Yup. College and high school students really are stupid enough to do this to
themselves. No I'm not joking.


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