Opposites Attract: Difference between revisions

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{{quote|"''Strange extremes meet in love's pathway.''"|''[[The Scarlet Pimpernel (Literature)|The Scarlet Pimpernel]]''}}

Strong relationships, in both TV and real life, thrive on how each member compensates for [[Foil|the other’s weaknesses with his/her own strengths]], and vice versa.

[['''Opposites Attract]]''' has become so widespread in [[Buddy Cop Show|buddy cop shows]], in the form of Serious White Guy meets Loud Black Guy, that it branched off into [[Salt and Pepper|its own subtrope]].

About the biggest challenge in creating a day-and-night dynamic is to keep the ''attract'' and ''repel'' cases relatively balanced. When the pendulum swings too far toward the ''repel'' side and the characters seem more interested in torturing each other than helping out, it’s no longer cute to watch; it’s just [[The Masochism Tango|masochistic]]. The key (both in fiction and in [[Real Life]]) is to watch the pair's goals. If they want the same thing but use completely different methods to achieve it, it's [['''Opposites Attract]]'''. If they want ''different'' things entirely, it's a divorce waiting to happen.

If you add a third-party mediator for balance, you get a [[Power Trio]].

Popular [['''Opposites Attract]]''' dynamics include:

* [[Savvy Guy, Energetic Girl|Genki, ditzy, ignorant Usagi is with cool, calm, intelligent Mamoru]] in ''[[Sailor Moon]]''.

* [[Will They or Won't They?|Revy and Rock]] of ''[[Black Lagoon]]''. She's an [[Axe Crazy]] [[Broken Bird]] and [[Trigger Happy]] [[Nietzsche Wannabe]], among other things. He's a [[Non-Action Guy]], a [[Wide -Eyed Idealist]] (he ''never'' gets completely disillusioned, and he has every right to), and he's the closest a series this [[Sliding Scale of Cynicism Versus Idealism|cynical]] will allow to [[The Messiah]]. The [[UST|sparks]] [[Slap Slap Kiss|flying]] could power a medium-sized country.

* [[Ship Tease]] aside, it may as well be Zelgadis the cynical, weary, brooding chimera paired with Amelia the optomistic, innocent, and plucky princess from ''[[Slayers]]'', with hints of [[Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl]] peppered in there. In the novels, there is also the hot-headed, driven Luke with the snarky, calm Millina (in this case, this is [[All Love Is Unrequited]]).

* Parodied in ''[[Sayonara, Zetsubou Sensei-sensei]]''. The first episode plays romantic music when Nozomu first meets Kafuka, and text scrawls across the screen, "[[The Eeyore|A man who is negative about everything]]; [[The Pollyanna|a girl who is positive about everything]]; a meeting that never should have happened." This gets further parody in a later episode showing Nami's first meeting with Kiri, playing the same music and displaying the message "[[Delinquents|A girl who refuses to come to school]]; [[Hikikomori|a girl who refuses to leave school]]; a meeting that never should have happened."

* Early in ''[[Ah! My Goddess (Manga)|Oh My Goddess!]]'' run, [[Unlikely Hero|Keiichi]] was a [[Chivalrous Pervert]] wondering [[What Does She See in Him?|what anyone would see in him]], and [[Magical Girlfriend|Belldandy]] was something of an [[The Ingenue|Ingenue]]. [[Characterization Marches On|Characterization Marched On]], and the two began develop some of the other's persona, so that after the "Lord of Terror" arc, and in the OVA, K1 became a [[Covert Pervert]], and Bell began pouring on the affection nice and thick, frequently expressing her love for Keiichi. About two years after [[The Movie]], sadly, the two were [[Flanderized]] to the point where [[Relationship Ceiling|he was afraid to make a move, and she rarely acknowledged their love]].

** Also Italy's [[Hot -Blooded]] [[Cool Big Sis]] Hungary and her ex-husband-but-still-love-interest, the straightlaced and even more stern than Germany Austria.

* Although the series thrives on '''not''' having an official couple, ''[[Hayate the Combat Butler (Manga)|Hayate the Combat Butler]]'''s attraction between Hinagiku and Hayate is all but blatent, every character that interacts with them at some level knows it exists. While it also fits the [[Birds of a Feather]] dynamic, both these characters went about dealing with it in very different ways, leaving them almost complete opposites with the same backstory.

* ''[[Ai no Kusabi (Light Novel)|Ai no Kusabi]]'' has this as a plot point of why the [[The Beautiful Elite|highest of the high]] would want to be with the [[Wrong Side of the Tracks|lowest of the low]].

* In ''[[Stellvia of the Universe (Anime)|Stellvia of the Universe]]'', the aloof and stoic Akira eventually starts dating the laid-back [[Plucky Comic Relief]] Joey.

* [[Odd Couple]] Steed and Mrs. Peel in ''[[The Avengers (1998 (Filmfilm)|The Avengers 1998]]'': he follows the rules, she doesn't. He admits that she's "just my type".

* [[Atlantis: theThe Lost Empire|Milo Thatch and Princess Kida]], she's the [[The Chief's Daughter|Native]] [[Tomboy Princess|Princess]] who is one [[Bare Your Midriff|P]][[She's Got Legs|r]][[Foot Focus|e]][[Dark-Skinned Blond|t]][[White-Haired Pretty Girl|t]][[Stripperiffic|y]] [[Freudian Slip|Gi]][[Hilarity Ensues|rl]]. Then there is [[Nerd Glasses|Mi]][[Adorkable|lo]] [[Moe Stare|Jam]][[Socially Awkward Hero|es]] [[Give Geeks a Chance|Tha]][[Michael J. Fox|tch]]....[[Geeky Turn On|'nuff said]]. It turns out they do have a surprising amount of things in common though. And they both agree that Atlantica should stay intact, though Milo technically isn’t a native.

* [[Who Framed Roger Rabbit?|Roger and Jessica Rabbit]]. "He makes me laugh."

* Brainy ambitious women regularly find [[PGP. G. Wodehouse (Creator)|PG Wodehouse]]'s [[UpperclassUpper Class Twit]] [[Jeeves and Wooster (Literaturenovel)|Bertie Wooster]] romantically irresistible.

* Kenneth Oppel's ''[[Airborn]]'' series has Matt Cruse, poor cabin boy, and Kate de Vries, rich wanna-be scientist... cue angsting about how they [[Star-Crossed Lovers|can never be together...]]

* From the ''[[The Wheel of Time]]'', Mat is a Farmboy turned [[Four -Star Badass]] raised in a [[Arcadia]], Tuon is a [[The Empire|Empress]] and Chessmaster who was raised in a [[Deadly Decadent Court]]. They're married.

** Captains Carrot Ironfounderson and Angua von Uberwald in ''[[Discworld]]'' are on opposite ends of the [[Sliding Scale of Cynicism Versus Idealism]]. He inspires her to fight injustice, she reminds him not to set his expectations too high.

** Similarly, in ''[[Discworld (Literature)/Interesting Times|Interesting Times]]'', it's strongly suggested that [[Wide -Eyed Idealist]] Twoflower's daughter Pretty Butterfly inherited her Rincewindian view of the world from her late mother.

* Enforced in the novel ''[[Youth in Sexual Ecstasy (Literature)|Youth in Sexual Ecstasy]]'', the [[Character Filibuster|sexual therapist]] actually says that for a couple to succeed in the long term, they must have opposite temperaments alongside with similar lifestyles and independent realization. The protagonist and his fiance agree on this being the case for them.

* In [[Michael Flynn]]'s ''[[Spiral Arm (Literature)|Up Jim River]]'', Greystroke says that he and Bridget have this.

{{quote| '''Leonard''': Are you even listening to me?<br />

* [[Badass]] [[Action Girl]] Aeryn Sun of ''[[Farscape (TV)|Farscape]]'', for some reason, finds herself falling for [[Plucky Comic Relief]] who alternates between [[The Kirk]] and [[The McCoy]] in the form of John Crichton. Though he's pretty well helpless in a real battle, she does end up training him up almost to [[Badass Bookworm]] levels. And while she does thaw a bit from her [[Ice Queen]] demeanor, he just gets more and more extroverted as he slowly goes crazier.

* ''Microsoap'' used and deconstructed it. As the kids describe it, "It was a case of [[Opposites Attract]]. Then it was a case of [[Opposites Drive Each Other Crazy]]".

* [[XThe X-Files|Mulder and Scully]]: Skeptical, scientifically oriented [[Fiery Redhead|redheaded]] Catholic meets agnostic UFO/supernatural enthusiast. [[True Love Is Exceptional|And it works]].

* ''[[Degrassi]]'' has done this for just about every pairing and friendship it can. It'd be faster to list the exceptions.

* The show ''[[Dharma and Greg]]'' revolves around this trope. Dharma is a free-spirited, tolerant, and ditzy flower child. While Greg is an upright, conservative, somewhat uptight lawyer. Despite the fact that they have virtually nothing in common they got married on their first date.

* ''[[I CarlyiCarly]]'': [[Subverted Trope|Subverted]] or [[Inverted Trope|Inverted]] with the [[AbuseDouble IsStandard Okay When ItsAbuse (Female Onon Male)|Sam/Fredde]] arc depending on what aspect you look at. The subversion is they are complete and total opposites that become physically attracted to each other but eventually break up when the actual relationship fails. They are unable to find any common ground in their interests and actually end up sabotaging them for each other when they try being involved in each other's activities. It ends up being one of the main causes of their break up. The inversion is Sam wants someone abnormal like her, and Freddie wants someone more normal like him, so that while they did have an [[Opposites Attract]] vibe, it's not what they need in a partner, making it clear that in their case they are attracted by similarity not opposition.

* [[Action Girl]]/ [[Hot Amazon]] Zoe in ''[[Firefly]]'' is married to [[Non-Action Guy]]/ [[Ace Pilot]] Wash.

* ''[[CSI: NY]]'' City boy Danny Messer and country girl wife Lindsay "Montana" Messer. (she's still tough in her own right, though.)

* [[Jerk Withwith a Heart of Gold]] Arthur and [[Shrinking Violet]] ([[Beware the Nice Ones|except when she's sufficiently ticked-off]]) Guinevere from ''[[Merlin (TV series)|Merlin]]''. Also noteworthy was their difference in class status, with him being a prince and she being a servant.

* ''[[Parks and Recreation (TV)|Parks and Recreation]]'': Who'd have thought a liberal feminist vegetarian community college professor {{spoiler|would be hot for the carnivorous libertarian man's-man Ron Swanson}}?

* ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' is built on this. [[Alpha Bitch|Cordelia]] and [[The Generic Guy|Xander,]] [[Cute Witch|Willow]] and [[The Stoic|Oz,]] [[Dark Action Girl|Faith]] and [[The Heart|Xander,]] [[British Stuffiness|Giles]] and [[Cool Old Lady|Jenny,]] [[Parental Substitute|Giles]] and [[Your Mom|Joyce,]] [[Ho Yay|Buffy and Faith,]] [[Did They or Didn't They?|Faith and Angel,]] [[Took a Level Inin Badass|Willow]] and [[The Woobie|Tara,]] [[Foe Yay|Buffy and Spike,]] [[Nice Guy|William]] and [[Crazy Awesome|Drusilia,]] [[Anything That Moves|Faith]] and [[Reasonable Authority Figure|Wood,]] and there's likely several others unmentioned.

{{quote| The Brownian-Motion within this love potion,<br />

* [[Bio WareBioWare]] has a tendency to create somewhat psychotic mad people (usually women) who can be most successfully romanced by a nicer player character.

** also Fiora's [[Tsundere]] and [[Hot -Blooded]] middle sister Farina and Sain's partner Kent. Yup, they can get hitched at A support level too. They even hang a huge lampshade on this:

{{quote| '''Farina:''' “This is probably someone else's doing... Like Marcus, or Oswin... You know, Merlinus might try something like this, too...”<br />

* The Forerunners Didact and Librarian from ''[[Halo]]''. The Librarian is a [[Friend to All Living Things]] whose favorite species was humanity. The Didact is a [[Four -Star Badass]] in a society of pacifists, who was responsible for destroying humanity's empire and sending us back to earth as cavemen. Everyone lampshades how odd this match is; however, they both love each other fiercely.

{{quote| Bornstellar: Your relationship with the Lifeshaper does not seem ideal<br />

* [[Averted Trope|Averted]] in ''[[Slightly Damned]]''. The main pairing is {{spoiler|Kieri, a [[Making a Splash|water-elemental]] [[Our Angels Are Different|angel]], and Buwaro, a [[Playing Withwith Fire|fire]] [[Our Demons Are Different|demon]]. Seems like a perfect setup for this trope...but in terms of personality, they're really very similar.}}

* In ''[[Dubious Company]]'', Walter is an [[Gadgeteer Genius|Educated]], [[Straight Man and Wise Guy|Goofy]], [[Sky Pirate]] [[Winged Humanoid|Bird Man]]. Tiren is a [[Blood Knight|Hardened]], [[Straight Man|Straight-laced]], [[Ninja]] [[Catgirl]]. [[Cool vs. Awesome|Clearly]], the crew [[Everyone Can See It|knows]] they were made for each other. Except [[Failed a Spot Check|Mary]], who insists that Tiren has eyes for Elator.

* ''[[Homestuck]]'': [[Manipulative Bastard|Vriska Serket]] and [[Wheelchair Woobie|Tavros Nitram]], as well as Vriska and [[The Hero|John]].

* ''[[Ls Empire (Webcomic)|LsL's Empire]]'' has Carnation and Pix who are pure evil and pure good respectively.

* Robin and Starfire on ''[[Teen Titans (Animationanimation)|Teen Titans]]''. Robin is the [[Badass Normal|serious]], [[The Determinator|determined]] [[The Captain|leader]], and Starfire is the [[The Chick|sensitive, sunny one]]. However, both are highly intelligent…Starfire happens to enjoy learning about Earth from Robin. And both are deeply compassionate. And while Robin has rescued Starfire in the past, she is far from ungrateful and has done the same.

* Rogue's attraction to Scott in ''[[X -Men: Evolution]]'', at least [[Power Incontinence|until you think about it for a while]]. But on the surface, he is [[The Stoic]] and she is [[The Snark Knight]].

* Silverbolt and Blackarachnia of ''[[Transformers]] [[Beast Wars (Animation)|Beast Wars]]'' fit this trope without Question: [[Femme Fatale]] and [[Knight in Shining Armor]].

* Miss Information and Mr. Smartypants on ''[[Histeria (Animation)|Histeria!]]'': The [[Dumb Blonde]] and [[The Smart Guy]].

* [[Exaggerated Trope|Exaggerated]] in ''[[Kids Next Door]]'' with Kuki Sanban (Numbuh 3) and Wallabee Beatles (Numbuh 4);. heHe's an abrasive hard[[Hair-boiledTrigger Temper|abrasive]] proto-[[BadassBlood Knight]] with an extreme aversion to everything cutesy and sugary, while she's an [[The Pollyanna|upbeat]] Japaneseand girl[[The withCutie|extremely asweet]] kindJapanese heartgirl andwith an obsession for stuffed animals. In the series' [[Distant Finale]] {{spoiler|they get married}}.

* [http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=busting-the-myth-that-opposites-att-10-08-31 Actual science] tends to show that the best predictor of compatibility is in fact similar background, interests, and attitudes. A likely reason is that we tend to only ''notice'' the ways a couple are different (since it's not that surprising when two partners are alike), at which point we feel the need to form a theory to explain why all the couples we see are so different (when they are, in fact, [[Not So Different]]). The grain of truth in it is that a partner who's exactly like you ''in every way'' would probably cause all sorts of problems, so we do seek our opposites, after a fashion--justfashion—just not our ''total'' opposites.

* Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel. For example, Roger Ebert ''hated'' [[Mars Attacks (Film)!]] because Tim Burton "seemed to like the aliens more than the humans" (paraphrasing); Gene Siskel loved it for the exact same reason. Even in watching old At the Movies episodes, you can tell that Siskel is more carefree and cheery, while Roger Ebert is ever-sarcastic and snarky.

** The biggest case of this is perhaps their disparate views on ''[[Blue Velvet]]''. Ebert notoriously hated it and found the scene with Isabella Rosselini standing naked on [[Kyle Mac LachlanMacLachlan]]'s lawn to be misogynsticmisogynistic, while Gene Siskel loved it and compared it to ''[[Psycho]]''.