Opposites Attract: Difference between revisions

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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.

 

{{examples}}

'''IMPORTANT''': Please, no [[Shipping|ships]], just [[Canon]] portrayal of attraction. If you see an example that hasn't been portrayed in canon as this type of attraction (or hasn't been portrayed in canon ''at all''), please delete it. This also means examples will tend to be spoilery, so read on at your own risk.

 

* ''[[Axis Powers Hetalia]]'' fanfic ''[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11886910/1/Gankona-Unnachgiebig-Unità Gankona, Unnachgiebig, Unità]'': Like in canon, Italy is the opposite of Japan. However, despite their opposite personalities, they have a lot in common too.

{{quote|"You're so kind and warm inside that cold and calculating exterior of yours. Although it may not seem like it, we have quite a bit in common. It's nice how we can bond over literature, anime, manga, fencing, food, cats, art...and so much more. Despite not seeming like it, my heart beats fast around you." He gave a fond smile. "I can't help but love that about you Kiku."}}

 

== Film ==

* ''[[Tangled]]'' gives us the jaded, worldly-wise thief and the spirited, innocent princess.

* ''[[WALL-E]]'' has [[The Woobie]] Wall-E and [[Action Girl]] EVE.

 

== Literature ==

* Enforced in the novel ''[[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|Up Jim River]]'', Greystroke says that he and Bridget have this.

 

== Live Action TV ==

* Penny and Leonard on [[The Big Bang Theory]] are such an extreme example as to nearly defy belief. Leonard is chubby, bespectacled, hopeless nerd with a Ph.D in Physics and alarmingly subpar social skills (which suddenly appear impressive when compared with those of the people he hangs out with); Penny is an attractive aspiring actress who works as a waitress in the nearby Cheesecake Factory and never finished college. Lots of [[Lampshade Hanging]] on this one.

{{quote|'''Leonard''': Are you even listening to me?

* [[Badass]] [[Action Girl]] Aeryn Sun of ''[[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]]".

* Ultra-conservative [[Family Ties|Alex P. Keaton]] finds himself attracted to women who are the ideological opposite of him - while his best friend, Skippy, is the intellectual opposite of him.

* ''[[Moonlighting]]'', starring Cybill Shepherd and Bruce Willis. Maddie (Shepherd) is a chic, smart, former supermodel who's dead serious about running the business; David (Willis) is a glib, lighthearted, and pragmatic Private Investigator.

* ''[[iCarly]]'': [[Subverted Trope|Subverted]] or [[Inverted Trope|Inverted]] with the [[Abuse Is Okay When Its Female On 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.

* ''[[Bones]]'' has the coldly intelligent, scientific, atheist, hyper-rational titular character and her partner the FBI agent- religious, more emotional, more of a people person. Clearly they complement each other, but each also finds the other fascinating and attractive.

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

 

== Music ==

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

'''Kent:''' “I don't think it is a conspiracy... I mean, what would anyone have to gain from making us fight together?” }}

{{quote|Bornstellar: Your relationship with the Lifeshaper does not seem ideal

Didact: You don't know the half of it. }}

 

== Web Comics ==

* ''[[Questionable Content]]'': Hannelore's parents - her father is a goofy [[Mad Scientist]], and her mother is a calculating, dispassionate supervillain.

 

== Web Original ==

* Mille and Iriana of ''[[Ilivais X]]''. Iriana is a [[Broken Bird]] [[Creepy Child]] who acts like an [[Emotionless Girl]] to avoid her Drive Core pushing her towards being a hyper [[Love Freak]], and is highly logical and cynical, yet becomes surprisingly impassioned and devoted when those she cares about are in danger. Mille is {{spoiler|essentially a blank slate Phonos Weapon in the form of}} a cheerful, lively, and outgoing [[Ethical Slut]] who's a little on the ditzy side and erratically emotional, but [[Berserk Button|take Iriana from her]] and she becomes dark and sullen. They couldn't be more opposite, and they couldn't be crazier about each other.

 

== Western Animation ==

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

* ''[[Kim Possible]]'' and Ron Stoppable {{spoiler|Who do eventually hook up}}. The first one is a popular overachiever, the second one is a unpopular underachiever.

** The finale confirms another pairing with {{spoiler|Hoagie Gilligan (Numbuh 2) and Abigail Lincoln (Numbuh 5). He's a [[Gadgeteer Genius]] [[Non Action Guy]] who likes to make [[Incredibly Lame Pun|awful jokes]], she's a [[Deadpan Snarker|snarky]] [[Action Girl]] who serves as the voice of reason; making them an inverted [[Salt and Pepper]] couple. They got married too.}}

 

* SPC Kate Norley, an activist representing Vets For Freedom, a group whose "mission is to educate the American public about the importance of achieving success in [Iraq and Afghanistan]," and ''still'' an occasional guest commentator on [[Fox News]], while attending the 2008 RNC convention to ''show her support for John McCain'', as part of a campaign that earned her praise from right-wing bloggers up to and including [[Michelle Malkin]], apparently fell in love with one of the correspondents there. They're now engaged, and they expect to marry sometime 2011. His name? ''[[The Daily Show|John Oliver]]''.

* Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel. For example, Roger Ebert ''hated'' [[Mars Attacks!]] 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.

 

{{reflist}}