Relationship Sabotage/Playing With

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Basic Trope: Trying to ruin someone else's relationship.

  • Straight: Natalie tries to manipulate Oswald into dumping his girlfriend.
  • Exaggerated: Natalie tries to manipulate Oswald into killing his girlfriend.
  • Justified: Natalie is trying to protect Oswald from his girlfriend, who is really a serial killer.
  • Inverted: Natalie tries to surreptitiously encourage Oswald's affection for his girlfriend, acting as a Shipper on Deck.
  • Subverted: Natalie tries to manipulate Oswald into dumping his girlfriend, but is really doing it because she wants to jolt Oswald out of his complacency and make him realise how lucky he is.
  • Double Subverted: ...because that will make it all the more painful for Oswald when, as a result of Natalie's other manipulations, the girlfriend dumps him.
  • Parodied: Natalie's lies about Oswald's girlfriend are painfully bad, and Natalie's self-interest is incredibly obvious, but Oswald believes her anyway.
  • Deconstructed: A friend of Natalie's sees that she is falling for Oswald, and decides to help sabotaging Oswald's relationship, (without telling Natalie) she finds out and is upset, yet Oswald ends up realizing she's best for him on his own. (Mostly bc his girlfriend is a serial cheater.)
  • Reconstructed: ???
  • Zig Zagged: ???
  • Averted: Natalie doesn't try to derail Oswald's relationship with his girlfriend, either because she rises above the temptation or because she doesn't actually have a problem with it.
  • Enforced: The writers think Oswald's romance plot would be "too easy" (or just over too quickly) if it didn't have a few problems like Natalie along the way.
  • Lampshaded: "I'm really lucky you're my friend, Natalie. I mean, every one of my girlfriends has turned out to have the same problem, but you're the only one who notices! What would I do without you?"
  • Invoked: Natalie herself was manipulated into her sabotage attempt by one of Oswald's enemies, who wants Oswald to be unhappy.
  • Exploited: Oswald's girlfriend is counting on Natalie trying something like this, because she secretly wants out of the relationship but doesn't want to be the one who ends it.
  • Defied: Oswald and his girlfriend decide at the very beginning of their relationship not to let people like Natalie undermine what they have, and to discuss any problems openly rather than act based on gossip and whispering.
  • Discussed: "I hope you're not unhappy about my dating her, Natalie. I mean, you're not going to try to undermine our relationship or anything, are you?"
  • Conversed: "Oh, great. Now that the Oswald Love Triangle plot has been resolved, we're going to have to watch Natalie's character go all evil out of jealousy."

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