Incompatible Orientation/Playing With

Basic Trope: A character is attracted to someone whose sexual preferences exclude them.
 * Straight: Alice is taken with Bob, who is already in a relationship with Charlie.
 * Exaggerated: Alice is taken with Bob.
 * No potential couples in the show have compatible orientations.
 * Downplayed:
 * Justified: Bob had a traumatic experience that explains his lack of attraction to Alice.
 * Truth in Television.
 * Inverted: Everyone Is Bi.
 * If Its You Its Okay.
 * Subverted: Alice falls for Bob, but once he introduces her to his boyfriend Charlie, Alice and Charlie hook up.
 * Alice manages to make Bob and Charlie heterosexual with Applied Phlebotinum.
 * Alice gets a sex change.
 * Double Subverted: ... But it turns out Charlie was only trying to make Bob jealous, and isn't really attracted to Alice.
 * ...Except it turns out they were faking it, and get the next ride out of town to get away from an obvious Yandere.
 * Parodied: Alice is a Bob-sexual and Bob is an everyone-but-Alice-sexual.
 * Deconstructed:
 * Reconstructed:
 * Zig Zagged: Alice is rejected by Bob, who tells her Sorry I'm Gay. However, it turns out that Bob isn't actually gay and has just taken a vow of chastity. Alice is satisfied with a platonic relationship with Bob, until she finds out that Bob has been sleeping with Charlie. Bob apologizes and attempts make-up sex with Alice, who is now dating Denise.
 * Averted: No Hugging No Kissing.
 * Everyone is sexually compatible with the person they fall in love with.
 * Enforced: The author created Alice and Bob as a way to inform the audience about sexuality issues.
 * Lampshaded: "All the Good Men Are Gay."
 * Invoked: Denise sets Alice and Bob up for a blind date, regardless of the differences in their sexual orientations.
 * Exploited: Bob is in denial about his sexuality, so Denise needs to put him in a situation where he will realize he doesn't like women in order to get him to date Charlie.
 * Defied: Alice avoids men who aren't straight or bi to make sure this won't occur.
 * Discussed: "Don't feel bad that Bob doesn't like you; maybe he just doesn't like women."
 * Conversed: "Poor Amelia, doesn't even realize that Brad is gay..."
 * Played For Laughs: Alice is a Butt Monkey who never falls in love with a man who likes women.
 * Played For Drama: Alice is heartbroken that her true love isn't capable of loving her back, and is so emotionally crushed that she swears never to love again.

Back to Incompatible Orientation.