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A cutesy way of showing romantic Ship Tease fanservice for a couple where one partner carries the other on their back. Common element of a "Falling in Love" Montage.

This is an important trope for many Korean Series as a "clean" way to show attraction between two people.

See also Meet Cute and Sleep Cute.

Examples of Piggyback Cute include:


Anime and Manga[]

  • Played for Drama in Ayashi no Ceres, where the piggyback rider (Chidori) had been fatally wounded and dies on the back of her crush/carrier (Yuuhi) once they reach their destination. Poor Yuuhi, naturally, does NOT take it well when he realizes that Chidori died on him..
  • In D.Gray-man, Allen receives one from Link, when he's alone and hurt. Yeah. And then he received one from Mana when he was young.
  • Ed gives one to Winry in Fullmetal Alchemist (and then promptly drops her on her butt when she decides to reveal she broke open his watch to learn the secret he has written on the inside).
  • Similar sequence at the beginning of Happy World, another Moe manga.
  • In the manga Living Game, there is a sequence where Izumi faints in a public bath and Fuwa sweet piggybacks her back to her place.
  • Further establishing their role as a main couple, Touma of Magical War Chronicle Lyrical Nanoha Force gives one to love interest Lily at the end of the first chapter after he rescues her.
  • Early in Ranma ½, Ranma gets one from Akane in one of their "sweet" moments. Because he claims that it's too embarrassing to receive one from a girl, Akane sprays him with cold water from a hose, telling him that that should make it all right now, since they're both girls.
    • In the live action special, a girl Ranma carries Akane on his back.
  • Kyon and Mikuru in Bamboo Leaf Rhapsody.
  • In Gun X Sword, Van carries Wendy this way when she's sick with a fever. It comes at the end of an episode that was very heavy on character development, but some of the potential cuteness is traded for comedy when he chooses this moment to admit that he doesn't like her mascot pet.
  • In Princess Nine, after Takasugi hits Ryo's lightning ball and she actually catches it on the return, knocking her back, he gives her one against her will. And he carries her all the way to her house, calling himself her new boyfriend in front of her mother upon arrival, much to her annoyance.
  • Considering that majority of the times the trope is invoked, the male character carries the female character on his back. Maji de Watashi ni Koi Shinasai! does an unusual case of gender role reversal when Momoyo carries Yamato on her back at the end of episode 5 after his "battle" with Kokoro.
  • In Elemental Gelade the character Ren needs to recharge her powers by sleeping, which happens a lot. Since the party usually wants to keep moving, she spends a lot of the series on Cou's back.
  • In the Rumic World story Sleep and Forget, Ryohei carries Haruka on his back, giving her a faint memory of the time he carried her on his back in a past life.
  • In the Rurouni Kenshin TV series, a flashback involving Anji Yukyuzan's past has him carry a girl who has a huge Precocious Crush on him like this through a snowy field, as she promises to always be with him. Sadly, Tsubaki (the poor girl) is murdered shortly afterwards.
  • In Inuyasha, the titular character tends to carry his Love Interest Kagome like this. More understandable than in other cases since Inuyasha is a half-demon and much stronger/faster than humans, so he needs to carry Kagome like this so she won't be left behind. Though there have been some times he carried her like this simply for her pleasure and not out of necessity.
    • Inuyasha also carried his daughter Moroha like this in the sequel series Yashahime, though obviously for non romantic reasons.
  • In a non-romantic example from Fruits Basket, Tohru's mother Kyoko carries an injured Arisa like this after she rescues her from her former gang.
  • In Ghost Stories, Hajime carries Satsuki home like this when she passes out after they defeat the ghost.
  • Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba: in a family example, when Tanjirou realizes that Nezuko survived the attack on their family, he tries carrying her like this to search for medical attention.
  • A platonic, Played for Drama example takes place in Psycho Pass - an illustration from the Artbook has an injured Nobuchika Ginoza carrying the lifeless body of his father Tomomi Masaoka like this, after he perishes in an Heroic Sacrifice to rescue him. It's also played more realistically than usual, as the carrier is a rather slender person who's clearly making quite the effort to pull this.
  • Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso has Tsubaki carrying Kousei like this in the past, and later he returns the favor when she injures her leg.
    • Kousei also does this for Kaori, when she wants to get out of her hospital room but her illness doesn't allow her to walk anymore

Comic Books[]

  • This Drowtales:Moonless Age issue?
  • Parodied in Ghastlys Ghastly Comic (they're definitely Just Friends and Chibi Sue is riding due to being so drunk she barely can stand).
  • Street Fighter: In Street Fighter Legends: Ibuki, Elena carries Ibuki's friend Sarai like this while Ibuki and the rest of the girls were on their way to meet Oro.
    • Jon Tailban carries Felicia like this in Street Fighter X Darkstalkers.


Television[]

  • The following Korean Drama shows all use this trope:
  • Scrubs subverts this in one episode with Elliot carrying JD to the finish line of his triathlon.


Professional Wrestling[]

  • In a non romantic family example during the first episode of Smackdown when crowds were allowed back in the building Dominik Mysterio carried his father in this fashion on the way to the ring. Worth noting Dominik is taller than his father.

Videogames[]

  • In Legend of Dragoon, Shana hurts her ankle by getting it stuck in mud and Dart carries her piggyback style through the rest of the area.
  • In Final Fantasy VIII, Squall carries Rinoa on his back to Esthar after she falls into a coma after becoming a Sorceress. In an interesting case of Gameplay and Story Integration, Squall's field model is shown carrying Rinoa on his back throughout this part of the game.
  • Non-romantic example in Tales of Vesperia: after Karol saves the party from the Baitojoh and passes out from exhaustion, Raven carries him out of the Blade Drifts.
  • Pictured above: In one of the Prince of Tennis Dating Sim games, the female Player Character can get piggybacks from some of the guys she can romance, most noticeably Sanada, Yanagi, Fuji and Oishi. (the guy in the picture)
  • In Shall We Date?: Ninja Shadow, the Player Character gets one from Ritsu during his route.
  • Carlos gives Jill Valentine a piggyback ride while she is unconscious in Resident Evil 3: Remake.
  • Rumble Roses: Sebastian carries Mistress Spencer to the ring this way though their relationship is more like slave and master and she whips him afterwards. Due to the game's swap feature and how it works he can carry any of the other Roses to the ring this way but the other guest are not allowed to be carried this way.


Webcomics[]

  • Soul Symphony: Used as a strategy in battle between Olivia and John to combine their powers. Olivia gets a little flustered with the idea.