Romantic False Lead: Difference between revisions

{{quote|''"Her date was pleasant enough, but she knew that if her life was a movie this guy would be buried in the credits as something like 'Second Tall Man'."''|Worst Analogies Ever Written in a High School Essay}}

ThisThe '''Romantic False Lead''' is the love interest's love interest; the person brought in, either for an episode or an arc, to date the one that the main character (or just a character) is in love with. The smitten character will be [[Green-Eyed Epiphany|jealous]], take an instant dislike to him (often being [[What Does She See in Him?|blind to what attractions he does have]]), and do whatever they can to sabotage the budding relationship.

* In ''[[Virgin Love|Junai no Seinen]]'', Ian comes to Japan hoping to get together again with his ex-[[Fuck Buddies|sex friend]] Kaoru. Daigo, Kaoru's lover, thinks that Ian is the [[Romantic False Lead]], as does Ian himself, but it turns he's actually the [[Hopeless Suitor]] and never stood a chance. Kaoru is just invoking the trope to make Daigo jealous for his own reassurance.

* Subverted in ''[[Tokyo Mew Mew]]'', to the [[Internet Backlash|shock and dismay]] of the fandom. At the beginning of the manga, Ichigo has a crush on Aoyama Masaya, a kind and popular kendo player. They get along well enough, but then Ichigo is introduced to two other possible love interests - [[Stalker with a Crush]] [[Affably Evil]] Kisshu and [[Bishounen]] [[Jerk with a Heart of Gold]] Shirogane Ryou. And so Ichigo is [[Ship Tease|Ship Teased]]d with both...but ultimately does stay together with Masaya in the end.

** There's also Frank and Jen. It falls apart when it becomes apparent that Jen's just screwing with Frank (she makes out with guys she doesn't even know the names of in front of Frank), and it all finishes with a ''very'' [[Squick|Squicky]]y [[Double Standard Rape (Female on Male)]] storyline.

* In ''[[Madagascar]]: Escape 2 Africa'', [[Gullible Lemmings|Melman the giraffe ]]shouts an [[Anguished Declaration of Love]] for Gloria the hippo as their plane is crashing. Unfortunately, she was asleep and missed it. However, once they reach the wildlife preserve, Gloria finds herself attracted to the watering hole's resident hottie, Moto Moto. As it turns out, he's only after her for [[Big Beautiful Woman|her looks]], and when Gloria finds out how Melman really feels, she runs after him as he's about to [[It Makes Sense in Context|sacrifice himself to the volcano]].

* In ''[[Toy Story (franchise)|Toy Story]] 3'', Buzz briefly mistakes Woody as a rival for Jessie's affection when he gets set to "Spanish mode". Buzz ends up doing several extra-showy stunts to get Jessie's attention.

** Happened again with the adaptation of ''[[Mr PoppersPopper's Penguins]]'', in a very similar manner in fact.

* Used in ''[[The Lizzie Mc GuireMcGuire Movie]]''. As it happened, the character's name was Paolo, the former name for this trope (though not the [[Trope Namer]]).

* [[Jane Austen]]'s romantic social satires frequently include, in addition to [[Casanova|Casanovas]]s like [[Sense and Sensibility (novel)|Willoughby]] and [[Pride and Prejudice|Wickham]] who are obviously the [[Wrong Guy First|wrong guy]], an agreeable, friendly, otherwise perfectly acceptable prospective suitor for the heroine in addition to her destined official love interest:

** Colonel Brandon and Elinor Dashwood in ''[[Sense and Sensibility (novel)|Sense and Sensibility]]'' are ''both'' the false lead as, despite interacting enough to make several other characters [[Shipper on Deck|ship them together]], they are both part of the two [[Official Couple|Official Couples]] -- Elinors—Elinor with Edward Ferrars and Brandon with Elinor's sister Marianne.

* ''[[Daddy Long Legs]]'' has two possible love interests for Judy, Jervis Pendleton and Jimmie McBride. It's twisted interestingly that it isn't apparent for quite some time which one is actually the false lead -- alead—a deliberate trick by the author, because {{spoiler|the eponymous Daddy, who receives the letters which make up the novel, is really Jervis, unbeknownst to Judy. The author left the letters vague on the point of which man Judy preferred until the end of the book so that the reader, once aware of Daddy's identity, would understand why he wasn't sure how she felt about him.}}

* Dr. Cherijo Grey Veil, in S.L. Viehl's ''[[Stardoc]]'' series, gets ''two'': first {{spoiler|[[Disposable Fiance|Kao]] [[Death of the Hypotenuse|Torin]]}}, then {{spoiler|[[Yandere|his brother Xonea]]}} (although it was pretty clear from the outset that the latter wasn't going anywhere). It could also be argued that {{spoiler|Jarn}} was one for {{spoiler|Duncan}}.

* The Helen/Nikki relationship in ''Bad Girls'' was beset by false leads. The first -- andfirst—and arguably most irritating -- wasirritating—was Helen's fiancé Sean, a drippy landscape gardener with a screw loose. {{spoiler|When Helen ditches him, he shows up outside the prison and sets fire to his wedding suit.}} Nikki was briefly interested in a new inmate who {{spoiler|turned out to be a paedophile}}. We mustn't forget Helen's baffling decision to date Thomas, the thoroughly dull prison doctor. When he pulled a [[I Want My Beloved to Be Happy]], there was general rejoicing. Even Nikki's ex turned up hoping for another go but was forced to do the same as Thomas!

* Mark Warner in ''[[House (TV series)|House]]'', married to Stacy, House's ex. Follows the trope exactly, right up to the tawdry affair. It especially sucks for House because Mark develops paralysis of his legs and Stacy stays with her husband, where, five years ago, House lost the use of only one leg, and Stacy left him. To be fair -- Markfair—Mark is, by all accounts, a decent, dedicated husband, and House is really, really ''not''.

* Virtually any boyfriend or girlfriend of the main cast on ''[[NCIS]]'' -- except—except Gibbs' girlfriends. All are to illustrate that the man cast are too [[Badass]] for anyone except another member of the main cast.

*** In fairness, he was a dwarf. [[The Lord of the Rings|No, not that kind.]] Also a case of [[Real Life Writes the Plot]] as the actor who played him died.

* ''[[Smallville]]'' probably deserves to be the reigning champion of false leads, having used them both [[Your Mileage May Vary|effectively and annoyingly]] across its nine seasons. [[Jerk Jock|Whitney Fordman]], Lana Lang's boyfriend in season 1, fits The false lead to a tee, and was both sent away and killed off; Adam Knight in season 3 and Jason Teague in season 4 are perfectly charming love interests (and played respectively by Ian Somerhalder and Jensen Ackles, [[Even the Guys Want Him|easy on the eyes]]) right up until they conveniently (for Clark) [[Was It All a Lie?|turn out to be baddies]]. Then Lana actually marries Lex Luthor, who could easily be seen as a false lead for the [[One True Pairing]] of Clark & Lana... while Lana herself and for a while, Oliver Queen, could be seen as playing Paulos for, respectively, Clark and Lois Lane -- theLane—the show's inevitable [[Official Couple]]. Oh, and let's not forget the [[Girl of the Week]] and the occasional, and less fortunate [[Temporary Love Interest]]...

* On ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine|Deep Space Nine]]'', despite being introduced -- inintroduced—in an episode named after him, no less -- asless—as the former Resistance leader who goes on to become the Prime Minister of Bajor, the recurring character of Shakaar Edon turned into this trope in his very next episode, when he was paired up with Kira (eliciting Odo's secret jealousy, which the episode was all about). The fact that the relationship was unsurprising in the sense that the two characters had a lot in common and a history, combined with a lack of chemistry between the actors, helped to make him a typical false lead.

* Saint from ''[[Sugar Rush (TV)]]'' qualifies as the more sympathetic version of the false lead. Although Sugar insists she isn't interested in Kim, her instant dislike of Saint and near continuous efforts to sabotage the relationship -- onerelationship—one time she claims Saint came on to her, another she robs her shop -- suggestshop—suggest otherwise. If it had continued for another series these issues might have been resolved, but alas...

* Kevin, for [[Unlucky Childhood Friend|Adam and Toby]] on ''[[Dantes Cove|Dante's Cove]]''. Furthermore, Ambrosius became the false lead for Kevin and Toby.

* [[Glee]]: It sort of seems like we're supposed to think Emma's dentist boyfriend/husband Carl is this, since Will/Emma appears to be endgame...except he's actually really nice and likable and cute with Emma, whereas Will is really condescending and often disliked by fans. [[Fetish Fuel|And let's not forget about "Hot Patootie - Bless My Soul]] in the [[Rocky Horror Picture Show|Rocky Horror]] episode. In a refreshing twist, ''he'' ends up dumping ''Emma'' -- she—she's clearly in love with Will and he quite rightly refuses to be treated like that. Holly, Shelby, and Ken could also count as Romantic False Leads for the Will/Emma romance.

* ''[[Saved by the Bell]]'': There were several for [[High School Sweethearts]] Zack and Kelly. While Zack wasn't pleased with Kelly's relationship with Jeff, Kelly didn't seem to comment on [[Chick Magnet|Zack's]] numerous love interests such as each [[Girl of the Week]] and Stacey Carosi. The [[Girl of the Week]] wouldn't appear in the next episode and Stacy had to leave at the end of summer. One episode even had a [[Romantic False Lead]] for Stacey when her old boyfriend showed up.

* ''[[Veronica Mars]]'' had [[Cop Boyfriend]] Leo in season 1, who was nice, well-liked by her father and a useful contact for Veronica... although it sure looked like she wasn't very invested in the relationship. Not to mention they hooked up just when her relationship with [[Jerkass Woobie|Logan]] heated up (after which she chose Logan over Leo without much hesitation). Logan himself, however, could be viewed as a [[Romantic False Lead]] for Veronica/Duncan, which was clearly a destined pairing from the start of the show (although he didn't fit any of the common criteria and [[Real Life Writes the Plot]] broke up Veronica and Duncan). Finally, season 3 has [[Shallow Love Interest|Piz]], who may have been intended to become this trope (again, a nice normal guy who treated her nicely, was liked by her dad, etc.), but as the show was cancelled, we'll probably never know for sure. The final moments of the final episode certainly made it seem likely, however.

* Irene Adler is a [[Romantic False Lead]] for [[Sherlock]]. For an odd twist, there is no actual [[Romantic Interest]] because Sherlock is a [[Celibate Hero]]. [[Shipper on Deck|Nearly every character who ''isn't'' Sherlock or John]] often assumes that John is [[Promoted to Love Interest|the actual romantic lead]], much to his chagrin. It gets [[Played for Laughs]], until "The Reichenbach Fall" when {{spoiler|it's just tragic}}. Even Irene seems to think the two are a couple, albeit a celibate one.

** If the [[Mythology Gag]] keeps up, Sarah and Jeanette will both have been [[Romantic False Lead|Paolos]]Leads for Mary Morstan.

** [[Gilbert and Sullivan]] use this fairly often. For example, in ''Iolanthe'', Phyllis casts off her fiancé, Strephon, when she catches him speaking to his mother (who being, unbeknownst to her, an unaging fairy, still looks like a young, attractive woman). She then agrees to become engaged to no less than ''two'' [[Romantic False Lead|wealthy peers]] ("one of you two, and I don't care which"), but goes back to Strephon when she finds out about his mother's fairyhood. The more general trope is used as well, though usually with either more subtlety (''Yeomen of the Guard'', where [[Reality Ensues]]), or with it being [[Played for Laughs]]. In Gilbert's writing, where he doesn't feel the need to wrap things up so neatly, things can turn out very differently, though: For example, the story "An Elixir of Love" is basically ''The Sorcerer'', except without the love potion being reversed at the end, which is arguably far more interesting.

* The entire cast of ''[[El Goonish Shive]]''. For example, Nanase is Elliot's girlfriend when Sarah admits her feelings for him. Elliot is conflicted, Nanase isn't. She acknowledges that she's been [[Loving a Shadow]] and dumps him so he can pursue Sarah, [[I Want My Beloved to Be Happy|who genuinely loves him]]. Both traps are avoided... Nanase's a likable character, but Sarah is also likable and better suited to being Elliot's girlfriend. In a slight twist, Nanase stays friends with both of them, and this isn't the end of her role... {{spoiler|In fact, she later comes to terms with the realization that she's a lesbian, and she winds up in a relationship with Elliot's [[Opposite SexGender Clone|bisexual female duplicate]] [[Cloning Blues|(long story)]], Ellen...}}

* [[Your Mileage May Vary|Arguably,]] Tarvek Sturmvoraus from ''[[Girl Genius]]''. He's a plausible enough rival to really put the wind up Gil, but the authors are [[AuthorWriter Onon Board|pretty clear on which way the ship sails]]. The only way Agatha would end up with Tarvek would be if something irreparably split up Agatha and Gil.

** Or, given the authors, they may well end up as an [[One True Threesome|OT3]], especially if the antagonism between Gil and Tarvek continues to trend towards [[Foe Yay]].

* Miko Miyazaki to Roy in ''[[The Order of the Stick]]''. She's tough, an excellent fighter, [[Lawful Good]] like he is, and very attractive. Unfortunately, she's also unkind to all the other members of the team, self-righteous, [[Knight Templar|overzealous]] and [[Black and White Morality|not too good with nuance]], and over time Roy realizes this and stops being interested.

* [[Girl of the Week|Sakura]] is this for Walter in ''[[Dubious Company]]''. Surprisingly, she is neither a [[Jerkass]] or a boring milquetoast, but a [[The Beautiful Elite|pretty]] [[Through His Stomach|sweet]] [[Nice Guy|gal]]. It's Mary and Sue that act as the [[Alpha Bitch]] and manipulate Walter's [[Unresolved Sexual Tension|best]] [[Just Friends|friend]], Tiren, into a [[Cat Fight]] with Sakura. Which leads to {{spoiler|Walter realizing that something is [[Is It Something You Eat?|wrong with Tiren]] and tries to stop the fight. Shortly after, the cast blinks back to [[Hub Level|Nowhere Island]]}} and get a strict lecture from [[Team Dad|Izor]].

* In ''[[Blue Yonder]]'', Kevin thinks he's in a [[Love Triangle]], and that Jared is this. [https://web.archive.org/web/20130721011033/http://www.blueyondercomic.net/comics/1316065/blue-yonder-chapter-1-page-31/ Lena disabuses him of the notion.]

* Pulled off quite nicely in ''[[Futurama]]''. Leela dates a wealthy and handsome man -- theman—the Mayor's aide, Chaz. He seems charming and kind, if a little overbearing, and Fry seethes with jealousy. However, Chaz's self-obsession begins to tire on Leela, and reaches a peak when it turns out he has used his money and connections to buy the whole of the ice rink for their date, ruining the plans of a coachload of orphans from the same orphanage Leela grew up in. She asks him to let the orphans on. He refuses. She realizes what kind of man he is and leaves him.

* ''[[Kim Possible]]'': Drakken [[Not -So-Harmless HarmlessVillain|at the top of his game]] ''weaponizes'' this trope in {{spoiler|''[[The Movie|So The Drama]]''}} with {{spoiler|"Eric" a.k.a. Synthodrone 901: a "made-to-order syntho-hottie"}}.