Manic Pixie Dream Girl/Playing With

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Basic Trope: A zany girl makes The Everyman's life more interesting.

  • Straight: Bob's life is pretty typical until he meets Alice, a happy-go-lucky artist with a wacky sense of humor.
  • Exaggerated: Alice is an outright Magical Girlfriend.
  • Justified: Bob actually has Hidden Depths that Alice manages to detect and bring out.
  • Inverted: Bob used to be a Badass whose life was filled with adventure, until he fell in love with Alice and happily settled down into a more mundane life.
    • Alice's life is pretty typical until she meets Bob, a Crazy Awesome professional Free Runner with a quirky sense of humor.
  • Subverted: It turns out Bob doesn't want chaos and fun in his life; he's a content Creature of Habit, and wants Alice to just leave him alone.
    • Alice is a con woman who's just stringing Bob along for all she can get.
    • Alice seems happy and cheerful, but she's actually dead inside.
    • Alice points out that if Bob wants to find meaning in his life, he should find it himself instead of using her.
  • Double Subverted: Except all that was a Jerkass Facade, and he eventually caves in.
  • Parodied: Alice is a Chaotic Stupid literal pixie, and Bob is a Schedule Fanatic. They've been married for years.
  • Deconstructed: Alice brings a lot of excitement into Bob's life. Unfortunately, this is because she is seriously mentally disturbed: a Yandere, a Stepford Smiler, or otherwise in need of serious psychological help. Bob is portrayed as either the poor bastard whose life goes to hell because of her, or a Complete Monster who is taking advantage of her.
    • Alice tries to make Bob's life more interesting, but instead, he gradually wears her down until she becomes just as ordinary as he is.
    • Alice and Bob start dating, but her wild personality proves too much for his Straight Man personality to handle and they break up.
    • Bob becomes quite emotionally dependant on Alice, to the point he can't do anything without her. And when/if she leaves...
    • Alice feels that she has to make Bob's life better, but Bob is just fine with his life and considers Alice an annoyance.
    • Alice purposefully seeks out guys who have problems, brings them out of their slumps, and makes them totally dependent on her in a sick All Give And No Take relationship.
      • Alice sees Bob as her latest "project" and dates him to "make him better" and gratify her hero complex.
    • Alice tries to liven Bob's life up, but only ends up ruining it, causing him to hate her.
    • Alice and Bob are just not compatible, and each tires of the others' crazy/reclusive behavior.
  • Reconstructed: Alice and Bob eventually develop as people, and reach an agreeable compromise; Bob breaks out of his shell and becomes more willing to try new things out, while Alice settles down and becomes a mature (but still fun-loving) woman.
  • Zig Zagged: Alice shows perky, optimistic Bob that life isn't really all it's cracked up to be, but through this Bob re-defines his values and finds true hapiness and has a stronger sense of self.
  • Averted: Alice ends up dating the equally wacky Charlie, and/or Bob settles down with the demure, down-to-earth Girl Next Door.
  • Enforced: The author considers Alice pure Fetish Fuel, and isn't afraid of showing it.
  • Lampshaded: "What did an ordinary guy like me do to deserve you?"
  • Invoked: Charlie, hoping to make Bob's life more interesting, hooks him up with Alice.
  • Defied: Soon after meeting, Bob and Alice end up despising each other; Bob considers Alice a loud, unpredictable pest, and Alice considers Bob unbearably dull. When somebody suggests they should date, it's hard to tell who is more disgusted.
  • Discussed: ???
  • Conversed: ???

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