Love Before First Sight: Difference between revisions

[[File:Caleb_5977Caleb 5977.png|link=WITCH (Comic Book)W.I.T.C.H.|frame|It wasn't [[All Just a Dream]], Baby. You'll understand when you'll meet that guy, for a start.]]

Traditionally, the beloved was seen in a [[Girl of My Dreams|dream]] or premonition, was foretold by a fortuneteller, described by a third party, or seen in a portrait, sculpture, or drawing. New technology has added photos, videos, e-mail, phone conversations, chat, or online gaming sessions, and radio, tv, or movies to the possibilities. Rarer methods involve finding an item of clothing, a book, or some other personal possession of the beloved one. May result in [[Stalker Withwith a Crush]].

{{examples|Examples:}}

* In ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist (Mangamanga)|Fullmetal Alchemist]]'', Mei Chan develops a crush (and claims she's "in love" with and wishes to marry) Edward Elric, after misinterpreting a description of the Fullmetal Alchemist and his [[Shrouded in Myth|legendary exploits]]. She sets off in search of him... and unfortunately, [[Expecting Someone Taller|the real thing doesn't]] [[The Napoleon|look at all like the one she imagined]].

* ''[[Fushigi Yuugi (Manga)|Fushigi Yuugi]]'': Hotohori as a child already wondered if the priestess of Suzaku "could love him one day". He did not change his opinion by meeting her {{spoiler|but it's subverted because it is not with him that Miaka is in love.}}

* Though of debatable merit, some characters may have predicted that Hayate would fall for Hinagiku in ''[[Hayate the Combat Butler (Manga)|Hayate the Combat Butler]]'' before she was even introduced in the manga. Given that [[Even the Girls Want Her]], and she falls for him [[Love At First Sight|when she does first meet him]], this is plausibly explainable.

* In ''[[Yami no Matsuei (Manga)|Yami no Matsuei]]'', the evil [[Depraved Bisexual|Dr. Muraki]] fell in love with Tsuzuki [[Love At First Sight|at first sight]]... from his photo. He further became [[Stalker Withwith a Crush|obsessed]] with him when he read his grandfather's (who was Tsuzuki's doctor) records of Tsuzuki's symptoms and mental health.

* In ''[[WITCH (Comic Book)W.I.T.C.H.|WITCH]]'' (unlike in the [[Animated Adaptation]]) Cornelia first sees Caleb in her dreams, and meets him for real later; the feeling became reciprocal.

* In ''[[Scott Pilgrim (Comic Book)|Scott Pilgrim]]'', Scott dreams of Ramona and becomes infatuated with her before they meet, because Ramona's using his head as a [[Warp Zone]].

* In ''[[Enchanted (Film)|Enchanted]]'', Giselle sees her true love in a dream, and builds a statue of him, being certain that he both exists and that he wouldn't find this creepy. The statue looks as much as [[Wrong Guy First|Edward]] as Robert, anyway (dark-haired guy with light eyes).

* This was Tatiana Romanova's cover story in ''[[From Russia With Love (Film)|From Russia Withwith Love]]'', which was the reason that the only agent who could extract her was [[James Bond (Filmfilm)|James Bond]].

* Parodied when Ron eats chocolates laced with a love potion in ''[[Harry Potter (Filmfilm)|Harry Potter]] and the Half-Blood Prince''.

{{quote| '''Ron:''' I'm in love with her!<br />

'''Harry:''' Okay! You're in love with her! But have you ever actually met her?<br />

* This is one of the triggers for the plot of ''[[Somewhere in Time (Film)|Somewhere in Time]]''. The main character falls in love with an actress after seeing an old picture of her, making him use [[Mental Time Travel]] to meet her after he learned that she'd already died of old age.

* In ''[[Terminator (Filmfranchise)|Terminator]]'', Reese claims to have been in love with Sarah ever since seeing her picture, which kind of comes off as being [[Stalker Withwith a Crush|creepy]].

* In some versions of ''[[Donkeyskin (Literature)|Donkeyskin]]'' the princess has never seen the prince before been asked to bake a cake for him. But she still puts her ring in the cake so he can find her later, ultimately marrying him.

* ''[[Tristan and Iseult (Literature)|Tristan and Iseult]]'' plays with this. King Mark insists on marrying the girl who left a single blonde hair on the edge of his window... except that the only reason he's thinking about marriage at all is that the barons want him to be, so he decides to choose someone impossible. But his nephew Tristan guess that girl must be the blonde Iseult, and he brings her to the king. Then, well, you can read the title.

* Alice and Jasper in ''[[Twilight (Literaturenovel)|Twilight]].'' Alice can see the future, which is how she knew where to meet him in the first place.

* In ''Belgarath the Sorcerer'' (the prequel to ''[[Belgariad]]''), King Riva has ''interesting'' dreams about a particular girl -- whogirl—who turns out to be the titular sorcerer's daughter. They get married and start the line that leads {{spoiler|to the protagonist of the main series}}.

* Britomart for Artegall in ''[[The Faerie Queene (Literature)|The Faerie Queene]]'' after seeing him in a crystal ball.

* Played with in ''[[Les Misérables (Literaturenovel)|Les Misérables]]''. Marius and Cossette have only seen each other and not actually spoken, but they fall in love somehow. When Jean Valjean moves and takes Cossette away with him, Marius gets so depressed he does everything he can to find her, even though they've still exchanged nothing more than a few glances.

{{quote| We never met; yet to my soul<br />

Thy name hath been a voice of singing,<br />

And ever to thy glorious lays<br />

* Shawn of ''[[Boy Meets World (TV)|Boy Meets World]]'' finds a lost purse and, from its contents, becomes convinced that the purse's owner is the perfect woman for him. He's actually already met the owner of the purse's contents (the owner of the actual purse didn't own the contents), but didn't get to know her well enough to start a long-term relationship.

* A somewhat [[Fatal Attraction|twisted]] [[Your Cheating Heart|example]] from ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)|Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'': Oz and Veruca.

{{quote| '''[[Evil Counterpart|Veruca]]''': I've wanted you even before I ever saw you. I sensed you. Did you sense me?<br />

'''Oz''': Come in here. <br />

'''Veruca''': Did you?<br />

* Paul falls for Echo in ''[[Dollhouse (TV)|Dollhouse]]'' after seeing a picture of her - though after he's told it's pathetic, he really does ''try'' to return to real life. {{spoiler|Eventually he turns out to be right about Echo and him.}}

* Phil falls for Keely in ''[[Phil of the Future]]'' before they officially met in the first episode; his family comes to 2003 during Christmas, and Keely walks by. He becomes so infatuated that he goes back in time several times to fix a glass star Keely was responsible for as Pickford Yultide Princess that Pim broke (and keeps getting broken).

{{quote| '''Barbara''': And don't forget the star!<br />

'''Keely''': That's my favorite part. <br />

'''Phil''': I know. You were the Pickford Yultide Star Princess, after all. <br />

'''Keely''': That's right. Wait, we didn't even know each other then. How'd you know about that?<br />

'''Phil''': Well, see...I actually met ''you'' before ''you'' met ''me''. <br />

'''Pim''': Met her? You followed her around like a pathetic puppy.<br />

'''Keely''': Really? <br />

'''Phil''': Psht. ''Sputters incoherently.''<br />

* In the ''[[Star Trek: theThe Next Generation (TV)|Star Trek the Next Generation]]'' episode "Haven", it is revealed that Troi is due for an [[Arranged Marriage]]. When she meets her husband to be, she sees a bunch of drawings he made showing a woman's face from childhood to adult. The groom claims this is a woman who has been appearing in is dreams from a young age and always assumed it was Troi. Sure enough, said woman turns up later in the episode, prompting the groom to run off with her returning us to status quo.

* ''[[Terriers (TV)|Terriers]]'', of all shows, uses this one. Britt saw pictures of Katie when he robbed her apartment, tracked her down at the bar where she worked, and asked her out. ''And'' immediately gave up burglary.

* In the ''[[Wings (TV series)|Wings]]'' episode "Ms. Write", Brian falls in love with "R", the author of some very passionate, poetic love letters delivered to his house by mistake. He eventually meets "R", who turns out to be {{spoiler|a 12-year-old girl}}.

* In the song "En attendant ses pas" ("While Waiting for His Steps"), by [[Celine Dion (Music)|Celine Dion]].

* [[Bjork (Music)|Bjork]]'s song "I Miss You"

{{quote| I miss you, but I haven't met you yet<br />

So special, but it hasn't happened yet<br />

You're gorgeous, but I haven't met you yet<br />

* "The Day We Never Met" by the [[Crash Test Dummies (Music)|Crash Test Dummies]].

{{quote| The lips I never kissed, are lips I can't forget<br />

The dress you never wore, on the day we never met<br />

The name I never whispered, as it echoed in your mind<br />

The man I never was, the sweet thing that's not mine<br />

* Another case of two people affected by this trope is the [[David Bowie (Music)|David Bowie]] video "As the World Falls Down" -- a—a woman falls in love with a man (Bowie) when a photo of his face mysteriously materializes via her copy machine. The man is already in love with a painting of her. {{spoiler|She figures out where he is, but only gets as far as opening the door before turning back.}}

* In [[Oscar Wilde (Creator)|Oscar Wilde]]'s ''[[The Importance of Being Earnest (Theatre)|The Importance of Being Earnest]]'' both Gwendolyn and Cecily dream of loving someone called Earnest, and decides to love Earnest Worthing immediately after hearing of his existence.

* [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]]'s ''[[The Magic Flute (Theatre)|The Magic Flute]]'' has the hero Tamino fall in love with Pamina from her picture, and she apparently fell in love just from hearing from Papageno that he's a great hero who's in love with her.

* The Ming-dynasty play ''[[The Peony Pavilion (Theatre)|The Peony Pavilion]]'' (''Mǔdāntíng'') is about ''two'' people who fall in love without ever meeting one another: The girl Du-Liniang falls deeply in love the boy Liu-Mengmei in a dream and, knowing that there is no way the love can be requited, dies of a broken heart. She, however, leaves her portrait near the titular Pavilion. Years later, the actual Liu-Mengmei comes upon the portrait and gets romantically smitten. Du-Liniang is brought back to life by [[The Power of Love]], and everyone is happy.

* A quest in ''[[Fable II (Video Game)|Fable II]]'' involves a man who has fallen in love with the long-dead Lady Elvira Grey. The player helps him by collecting her scattered body parts so she can be revived, Frankenstein-style.

* This seems to be the case for [[Stalker Withwith a Crush|Camus O. Laphroaig]], the leader of the [[Quirky Miniboss Squad|Hell Hounds]], in the first ''[[Galaxy Angel (Videovideo Gamegame)|Galaxy Angel]]'' game. He proclaims his love for [[Rose -Haired Girl|Milfeulle Sakuraba]], despite the two never having met before, and demonstrates it by revealing several facts from her past at [[Old Shame|Elementary School]] and [[Embarrassing Old Photo|Pilot Academy]]. Befitting his nature as a [[Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain]], this scene is as [[Funny Moments (Sugar Wiki)|silly]] as you can imagine. In the [[Darker and Edgier|manga]], however, [[Alternative Character Interpretation|Camus]] personality is [[Psycho for Hire|completely different]], which results in his advances being downright terrifying.

* In ''[[King's Quest II Romancing the Throne (Video Game)|King's Quest II Romancing the Throne]]'', Graham sees Valanice in the [[Magic Mirror]], and sets off to find and marry her without having met her. (The [[Fan Remake]] adds an element of [[Mindlink Mates]] to this). Being as [[King's Quest (Video Game)|King's Quest]] is as bad as [[Shrek]] when it comes to [[Zig -Zagging Trope|screwing with Fairy Tale Tropes]], this is pretty easy to shrug off.

* This occurs in "Palla", a two-set book you can find and read in ''[[The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind (Video Game)|Morrowind]]''. The story's narrator falls in love with Pal La after seeing a statue of her fighting the monster that ultimately killed her; being a necromancer, he sets about the monumental task of bringing Pal La back to life, so they can live happily and in love ever after. He finally succeeds, but before he can join his beloved, he finds out that {{spoiler|Pal La was the ''monster''. Who is happy to meet him}}.

* In ''[[Quest for Glory: IVShadows (Videoof Game)Darkness|Quest for Glory IV]]'' it's possible for the hero to fall in love with a woman that he's only met in dream sequences. {{spoiler|Also, for the first four games in the series, she's dead - but it's possible to bring her back to life and eventually marry her in the fifth.}}

* ''[[Space Quest (Video Game)|Space Quest]]'' plays this. After a big mess involving [[Time Travel]], Roger's [[Kid From the Future]] shows him a holographic projection of Beatrice Wankmeister. Roger is instantly smitten, and (contrary to what his kid states) doesn't forget his trip to the future. At the opening of ''Space Quest V'', Roger still can't quite get Beatrice out of his mind. In the course of the game he meets her, and the pair start up a romance.

* In [[Fate/hollow Hollow Ataraxiaataraxia]], Bazett has had a crush on Lancer (aka [[Celtic Mythology|Cu Chulainn]]) long before she summoned him - She fell in love with him when she read the Ulster Cycle as a child, and joined the Holy Grail War in hopes that she could rescue him from his early, unpleasant death.

* Kanaya of ''[[Homestuck (Webcomic)|Homestuck]]'' initially hero-worships Rose Lalonde based on a [[Game FAQsGameFAQs]] walkthrough written by the latter. Whether this is romantic is not canonically addressed, but [[Shipping Goggles|shippers find it excellent fuel]].

* Professor Madblood of ''[[Narbonic (Webcomic)|Narbonic]]'' fell in love with Helen when he read about her development as a clone as a project. [http://www.webcomicsnation.com/shaenongarrity/narbonic/series.php?view=archive&chapter=10217 He went mad as a teenager.]

* In ''[[The Little Mermaid (Disney)|The Little Mermaid]]'', Eric does see Ariel (and hears her as well), but only for a couple of seconds, with the sun shining behind her. That's enough for him to decide that he'll marry her. [http://aitnetroma.deviantart.com/art/Prince-Motivational-6-161853402 No matter if he doesn't know she's not human, her name, or if she wasn't an hallucination.]

* [[Mark Twain (Creator)|Mark Twain]] fell in love with his future wife on seeing a portrait of her. Their courtship was largely through the mail.