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? In &quot;Misfit Demon King Academy&quot;, Sasha Necron makes a bet with the demon king regarding one of the competitions. She says that if she wins, &quot;Then I own you.&quot; 
In &quot;Didn't I Say to Make My Abilities Average&quot;, 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, &quot;owning&quot; 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.
The words &quot;own&quot; or &quot;slave&quot; 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 &quot;contract&quot; 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.