Better as Friends: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}{{Needs Image}}
There are a lot of tropes for platonic relationships between men and women.
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* [[Belligerent Sexual Tension]] - When [[Just Friends]] crosses over into willful stupidity.
* [[I Don't Want to Ruin Our Friendship]]: They're [[Just Friends]], and worried about losing that if they try to become something more.
* [[Fan-Preferred Couple]] - It won't happen even though some people are rooting for it.
* [[Just Friends]] - [[Incredibly Lame Pun|Denial's not a river in Egypt.]] They are totally [[Just Friends]]. [[Ship Tease|Until]] [[Relationship Upgrade|they aren't.]]
* [[Like Brother and Sister]] - It won't happen because it would be too squicky for them.
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'''This trope is for when it happens once and won't happen ''ever again.'''''
Two people date for a while, realize they're Better As Friends, and use that as their excuse when asked. Sometimes this leads to a [[Unresolved Sexual Tension|UST]] plotline, but not always. The phrase "[[Let's Just Be Friends]]" is usually uttered at some point.
Note that this isn't just people who stay on good terms after a break-up, but who really do remain good friends to the point where the plot uses them as an [[Odd Couple]] at times.
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== [[Comic Books]] ==
* Scott Pilgrim and Kim Pine in ''[[Scott Pilgrim]]''.
* [[Joe Quesada]] is [[One More Day|trying to set up]] [[Spider-Man|Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson]] as this, after they spent multiple decades as the [[Official Couple]] and [[Happily Married]]. Needless to say, fans aren't buying it.
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== [[Film]] ==
* The conclusion of ''[[Annie Hall]]''.
* Subverted in ''[[When Harry Met Sally...]]''.
* In ''[[Badly Drawn Roy]]'', [[Roger Rabbit Effect|Roy]] and his girlfriend Ruth eventually break up since they [[Nonhumans Lack Attributes|couldn't take the relationship to the next level]], but they remained friends.
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'''Mother Priscilla:''' Ah, she has, has she?
'''Brangienne:''' Yes, I have. I turned him down. }}
* What Dex and Emma initially decided on in ''[[One Day]]''.
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* Jerry [[Seinfeld]] and Elaine. One [[UST]] episode that [[Negative Continuity|doesn't actually seem to be canon]]. It's [[Played for Laughs]] in the last episode as they seem on the edge of a [[Dying Declaration of Love]] during a plane crash, only to quickly backpedal once they survive (Elaine claims she was about to say "I've always loved U...nited Airlines").
* Willow and Xander in ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer|Buffy]]'', whose [[Unlucky Childhood Friend]] and [[Oblivious to Love]] statuses only give way to romance when they're both in other relationships. Willow chooses her relationship with Oz (and then, after they break up, [[No Bisexuals|discovers she's a lesbian]]) and she and Xander remain best friends.
** Also Cordelia and Wesley, whose smoldering [[UST]] when they met in ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' came to a head with their first
* On ''[[Criminal Minds]]'', JJ and Reid go on one date . . . and end up close friends, and nothing more.
* Harry and Christine in ''[[Night Court]]'' (lampshaded later where, after Christine turns down an invitation from Harry, Harry responds giddily "Isn't it great? We can say 'no' again!")
* Frasier Crane and Roz Doyle in ''[[Frasier]]''.
{{quote|'''Roz:''' You've always been just like a brother to me. Which is weird, I know, because we slept together and...}}
* Ted and Robin from ''[[How I Met Your Mother]]''. {{spoiler|Although they hooked up in Slapsgiving and Benefits.}}
* Dan and Serena on ''[[Gossip Girl]]''. Might have also had to do with his father and her mother getting married.
* Margaret and Rain in ''[[Naturally, Sadie]]''.
* On ''[[Bones]]'' we have Booth and Cam. Dated before the show started, broke up, hooked up briefly after she joined the cast, broke up again, and seem determined not to mention it ever again. Since he's [[Official Couple|obviously]] [[Everyone Can See It|in love]] [[Belligerent Sexual Tension|with Brennan]], [[Fan-Preferred Couple|the fans]] are mostly willing to accept this.
* {{spoiler|George and Izzie}} from ''[[Grey's Anatomy]]''.
* ''[[Boy Meets World]]'' has Jack and Rachel becoming this after briefly dating each other.
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* ''[[The Wonder Years]]'' ends like this for {{spoiler|Kevin and Winnie}}.
{{quote|'' {{spoiler|Still we never forgot our promise. We wrote to each other once a week for the next eight years. I was there to meet her when she came home...with my wife, and my first son, eight months old.}}''}}
* On [[Smallville]], Chloe lusted after Clark Kent in the earliest seasons, and it initially looked like her status was going to be as the [[Romantic Runner-Up]] and [[Unlucky Childhood Friend]], but ultimately she got over her infatuation and moved on with her life; and she and Clark ultimately decided that they were
* ''[[The Adventures of Pete and Pete]]'' ''tried'' to pull this with Big Pete and Ellen, though the show's reluctance to bother with continuity meant it didn't stick and Big Pete was back to pining for Ellen a mere seven episodes later.
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== [[Web Original]] ==
* Bree and Daniel from ''[[Lonelygirl15]]'', after much arguing, much [[Will They or Won't They?]], and a fair amount of [[Wangst]].
* This is the theme in [[Vocaloid|Luka Megurine]]'s song ''Just be friends''. The man in the song (from whose viewpoint is
* Thalia and Hephaestus in ''[[
== [[Western Animation]] ==
* Trixie and Spud from ''[[American Dragon: Jake Long]]''.
* This is one-sided in ''[[Danny Phantom]]'' when [[Dating Catwoman|Valerie]] gives Danny the [[It's Not You, It's My Enemies]] speech and declares they should just be friends. Danny is visibly upset for a time, but gets over it by [[First Girl Wins|Season Three]].
* In ''[[El Tigre]]'', despite the romantic persistence of Manny's father Rodolfo, his ex-wife Maria keeps insisting that they should remain [[Just Friends]].
* Nelson Muntz and Lisa Simpson in ''[[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]]''.
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