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{{quote|''Fracture my spine,''<br />
''And swear that you're mine,''<br />
''As we dance to The Masochism Tango!''|'''[[
In fictional relationships, there's a gray area between a [[Destructive Romance]], a [[Friendly War]] and [[Romanticized Abuse]]. Sometimes [[Ambiguous Situation|the writers make it hard for the audience to figure out if the relationship is even supposed to be a good thing or not]]. Sometimes the writers don't even know the answer themselves, and sometimes this question isn't even meant to have an answer - the characters are there for the audience to laugh at, and that's all there is to it.
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The partners dancing to this particular beat have already resolved the [[Will They or Won't They?]] issue ([[They Do|they did]], and won't [[She Is Not My Girlfriend|deny they're a couple]]) -- it's just the saneness of their hook-up that's in question. This is often the result of resolved [[Belligerent Sexual Tension]].
For the platonic version, see [[With Friends Like These...]] or [[Vitriolic Best Buds]]. For a milder version, see [[Slap Slap Kiss]], [[Belligerent Sexual Tension]], and [[No Accounting for Taste]]. If the characters ''aren't'' at each other's throats, but their relationship feels contrived and artificial nonetheless, they've been [[Strangled
This trope is named for a song by [[
Note that this is actually [[Truth in Television]] for many people. Probably including many tropers.
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* ''[[Ranma One Half|Ranma ½]]'' - Ranma and Akane were supposed to have conflicted feelings about each other and their [[Arranged Marriage]]. The longer run of the original manga did give them more of a chance to get closer, but they remain argumentative (and violent, in Akane's case) towards each other whenever there isn't some greater enemy to force them to unite. Even in the very last story, Akane can still be interpreted in a suspicious manner, due to her own behavior and the heavily implied fact that Soun Tendo is intending to blackmail at least one and perhaps both of the couple to submit to the wedding with the cask of Nanniichuan that was sent as a "Thank You" for Ranma. Canonically, the very last words the two actually speak in the manga is to blame each other for the wedding being destroyed. The anime series, which was cut off before the manga reached that far, actually has a more positive final scene between the two.
* Similarly, in the ''[[Love Hina]]'' manga, Keitaro and Naru started out as an [[Odd Couple]] and slowly grew into a real relationship, with the [[Megaton Punch|hitting]] and [[Accidental Pervert|screaming]] giving way to understanding. Unfortunately, due to the limitations of 26-episode anime and [[Character Exaggeration]], their TV equivalents never made it that far, and fall squarely into this trope. (They did progress somewhat farther, with Naru [[Anguished Declaration of Love|admitting her love]], through the course of the subsequent two movies and [[OVA]] miniseries, and they did eventually marry in the manga).
* Yubel in ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! GX]]'' sees this as the only true expression of love; it cannot distinguish between joy/pleasure and pain/sorrow, and [[Love Martyr|convinces itself]] that every single bit of suffering it causes its obsession Judai - and every bit reciprocated from him in kind - are simply their way of sharing each other's love.
* Shinji and Asuka in ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]''. The two initially fight often but seem to be friends, but as the series progresses the sheer vitriol between them (largely from Asuka's side) rises to uncomfortable levels. Despite this, there are indicators, particularly in the extended version of Episode 22 and The End of Evangelion, that they actually desire each other.
** Then again, NGE being the ultimate [[Deconstruction]] of the [[Shonen]]-[[Mecha]] genre, it [[Alternative Character Interpretation|could all be showing how destructive the entire situation is.]] However, this ''being'' NGE [[Driven to Madness|it could be]] [[Mind Rape|something else]] [[Despair Event Horizon|entirely]]. And no, those [[Pothole|potholes]] in the last sentence are not referring to the characters. [[The Fourth Wall Will Not Protect You|It's referring to the audience]].
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** On the other hand, they actually try to do nice things for each other once in a blue moon. (In recent manga issues, Kogoro actually bought Eri a birthday present{{spoiler|—except that he got the day wrong and accidentally gave her the wrong gift box}}). Eri has also been known to make Kogoro dinner (too bad she's a [[Lethal Chef]]), and both her and Kogoro have turned [[Papa Wolf]] and [[Mama Bear]] respectively when the other has been suspected of murder.
* In ''[[Paradise Kiss]]'', Yukari and George get together almost immediately, but their romance is unhinged from the get-go. He is sometimes genuinely sweet and gentlemanly with her, but it's hard to notice amidst all the icy contempt and plain insults he throws at her. To make things worse, it's heavily implied {{spoiler|his conflicted emotions towards her stem for [[Oedipus Rex|her similarity to his mother]]}}. Naturally, {{spoiler|it just couldn't end well for them... yet still ended up better than other examples: they break up out of their own accord and in somewhat amiable terms, George leaves the country to pursue his goals and Yukari decides to live her own life and build her own career. In the [[Distant Finale]], she actually marries her [[Victorious Childhood Friend]] Hiro.}}
* Hiei and {{spoiler|his boss, Mukuro}} from ''[[
** His birthday present to her? {{spoiler|Her evil, sexually abusive dad, bonded to a tree that keeps him from ever moving and repairs any of his wounds instantly, so that she can torture him at her leisure.}}
* Kaori + [[Hyperspace Mallet|100 Ton Hammer]] = [[City Hunter|Poor, poor Ryo Saeba.]]
* In the ''[[Hellsing]]'' TV series, although not a couple (but [[Word of God|Studio Gonzo]] did hint they have feelings for each other), Alucard and Integra act like this until she almost dies because of his bad judgment in sneaking out to fight his [[Worthy Opponent]]. Afterwards, their dynamic softens considerably. In the manga, their relationship is completely different and more of a [[Bodyguard Crush]] dynamic.
* This is the nature of the relationship of [[Bastard Boyfriend|Iason]] and [[Sex Slave|Riki]] in ''[[
* An interpretation of [[Adult Child|Chiaki]] and [[Yandere|Hatori's]] relationship in [[Sekaiichi Hatsukoi]] given that every single episode/chapter concerning them starts with them having a nasty fight due to either Chiaki being [[Innocently Insensitive|insensitive]] or Hatori [[Crazy Jealous Guy|being possessive.]] At the end of each episode, while they do end up recoiling, it doesn't change the fact there is a lot of yelling involved before they come to a compromise...and this relationship ends up hurting the third wheel Yanase given he's pulled into their fights every single time. {{spoiler|It gets to the point where [[Unlucky Childhood Friend|Yanase]] finally [[Break the Cutie|breaks]] [[Heroic BSOD|down]] [[Cry Cute|crying]] for Chiaki pulling on his heart strings.}} And let's not mention the novel where the interpretation of their relationship crosses between this and [[Domestic Abuse]].
* Zagi and Karim of ''[[Jyu
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** Possibly lampshaded when Gambit said his actual motivation for dating Rogue was to [[The Atoner|punish himself]] for his (rather small and inconsequential and blameless) role in the Morlock Massacre.
* The relationship between the Joker and his "girlfriend" and gun moll Harley Quinn. It's an interesting study in dependent and abusive relationships, whereby Dr Harleen Quinzel, the Joker's psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum, finds herself falling for the psychopathic supervillain as he mentally manipulates her into taking his side. It's a variation of the [[Stockholm Syndrome]]; here the Joker didn't kidnap Harley, and Harley imagines that she came to love the Joker of her own accord (or if she acknowledges his manipulation playing a part, he clearly did it because he was in love with her).
* Apparently quite standard for the titular protagonist's race on ''[[
* Matt and Kayleigh from ''[[Dork Tower]]''. They remain an off-again, on-again couple, even though she belittles all of his interests and friends, and he is torn between staying with her and dropping her for Gilly the [[Perky Goth]]. Screaming matches and [[Slap Slap Kiss]] often occur.
* Goldie and Scrooge in ''[[The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck]]''. [[Carl Barks]] wrote 'em that way, [[Don Rosa]] made 'em ''awesome'' at it.
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== [[Film]] ==
* [[Elizabeth Taylor]] and Richard Burton in ''[[
** ''[[The Boys in
* In ''[[The Land Before Time]]'' saga, many fans have expressed favouritism for [[Toy Ship|a pairing]] between Littlefoot and Cera. You'd think the [[Interspecies Romance|species difference]] would be enough of a put off, but in addition, the two do argue a lot (in three films, resulting in all out fights). However, Cera has been known to be jealous when Littlefoot makes new friends.
* ''Annie Get Your Gun'' has Annie and Frank [[Kiss Kiss Slap|switching]] from [[Sickeningly Sweethearts]] to a [[The Masochism Tango|Masochism Tango-style]] song in the space of two minutes.
* ''[[The Maids]]'' is entirely devoted to a couple of [[Psycho Lesbian|psycho lesbians]] competing in making the other one feel miserable. Oh, and they both [[Downer Ending|succeed]].
* Very much on display in all adaptations of the Bengali novel ''[[Bollywood|Devdas]]''. Main characters Dev and Paro both love each other, but are not above lashing out at one another in pretty cruel ways. Subverted in the 2009 remake, ''Dev. D'', where {{spoiler|Dev realizes that he never truly loved Paro, but instead idealized and wished to control her. He then manages some [[Character Development]].}} ''Dev. D'' is big on [[Deconstruction]], in general.
* ''[[
* ''[[Revolutionary Road]]'': Frank and April Wheeler spend most of the film fighting. Yet when April {{spoiler|dies from a botched abortion}}, Frank is devastated.
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** Another example would be a story Thom Merrilin tells Mat. When Tom was young, he encountered a blacksmith's wife whose husband would control who she talked to and beat her up if she so much as looked at other men. Thom gallantly offers to rescue her - and is forced to hastily leave the village when she immediately runs and tells her husband! Thom later finds out that she would control the money, and beat her husband up if he as much as had a single beer at the inn. The moral of the story is to not judge before you have heard both sides.
* Subverted in Kafka's short story ''A Little Woman''; the narrator worries about people suspecting him and the titular character of having an affair solely due to her irrational dislike of him--obviously, this isn't the case.
* [[Ph Ã]]¨dre nó Delaunay and Joscelin Verreuil embody this trope for the first two books of the ''[[
* In the [[Narnia]] book ''The Horse And His Boy'', Shasta {{spoiler|aka Prince Cor}} and Aravis spend most of the book arguing. At the end of the story, it's mentioned that they get married so they can argue more efficiently.
** And I bet making up had some new perks afterward.
* In Megan Whalen Turner's ''Thief of [[Sounis]]'' series, Gen has a rather unbelievable but somehow endearing version of this with {{spoiler|the Queen of Attolia, who imprisoned him and cut his hand off, and whom he must blackmail into marrying him.}}
* In the original novel ''[[The Princess Bride (
* ''[[Nineteen Eighty-Four]]''.
{{quote| Under the spreading chestnut tree<br />
I sold you<br />
You sold me }}
* Valmont and Merteuil in ''[[
* Margaret Weis' [[The Star of the Guardians]] is all built around [[The Masochism Tango]] between two of the three main characters.
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* Xander and Cordelia's romance on ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]].'' Later, Xander began dating Anya, an ex-demon whose idea of a romantic evening (at first) was to brag about all the men she'd tortured and killed over the centuries, though they actually developed a nice rapport later on.
** In contrast, Buffy and Spike were straight [[Destructive Romance]], not [[Played for Laughs]] at all towards the end.
* ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine]]'' played this for laughs in a [[Story Arc]] about Klingon romances -- the Klingon concept of foreplay involves <s>wrestling</s> bitchslapping and broken bones, and the cowardly Ferengi Quark winds up having to participate (and insisting while getting patched up in sickbay that it was [[Worth It]].)
** You can see Worf's dating advice [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zweQgrLjh_s here].
{{quote| "Men do not roar. Women roar. And hurl heavy objects. And claw at you."<br />
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** Dax manages to hold her own with Worf in that episode (both come in to sickbay, supporting each other, with various bruises and fractures at the end); apparently she was used to it enough as Curzon to manage.
** Cardassians have a similar custom of snapping at each other during their courtship period. A female Cardassian engineer argued the toss extensively with O'Brien, only to reveal later that she found him attractive, bluntly declaring, "I assure you that I am quite fertile." She took the news that O'Brien was already married surprisingly well, saying at the end that Keiko was a lucky woman.
* ''[[
* [[Friends
* A list of all the times the various ''Degrassi'' series did this would be a Wiki in itself. Some of the more notable cases:
** Joey and Caitlin on ''[[Degrassi High]]'' were supposed to be [[Star-Crossed Lovers]] -- even though Joey was a classic [[Ted Baxter]] with self-esteem problems and Caitlin was a stern, moralistic social activist. They broke up and got together again too many times to count.
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* Dr. Cox and Jordan in ''[[Scrubs]]''. These two are stunning, simply because even when they are openly together and obviously planning on spending the rest of their lives together, they continue to insult, demean and torment each other, even when they're happy. Both also undergo significant [[Character Development]] and gradually show softer sides to their characters and let their defenses down, but this part of their relationship never changes. It also seems like their relationship actually ''thrives'' on the fighting, and that their shared hatred actually brings them together. This was showcased best in one episode where Jordan no longer wants to fight because of Jack. So Dr. Cox tries to initiate fights with other people, to which Carla says [[Does This Remind You of Anything?|that she won't fight with him.]] They eventually patch things up after Cox tells Jordan she's just like her mother, and they agree not to fight in front of Jack... but can do it all they want when he's not around.
* Blair and Chuck on ''[[Gossip Girl]]''. Blair actually explicitly says "Only a masochist could love such a narcissist." Frequently leans more towards [[Love Martyr]] with Blair, because although she's manipulated and insulted him too, Chuck's actions are generally more damaging.
* Kyle and Maxine from ''[[
* Hyde and Jackie on ''[[That 70s Show]]''. Before they got together, their interactions consisted entirely of slinging barbs and insults at each other. And after, their relationship was... pretty much the same, only now they had sex.
** Jackie refused to notice this. Hyde knew it but tried not to care.
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** [[Reality Subtext]]: Actors William Frawley and Vivian Vance openly despised each other, and flatly turned down a spin-off series starring the two of them.
* Steve and Karen McDonald from ''[[Coronation Street]]'' fit this trope. Despite marrying for a bet, the two quickly realized that they really did love one another after all. However, much to the amusement of fans of the show, their subsequent storylines focused on how Karen completely browbeat her husband. Eventually the couple split after both had affairs (including one scene where Karen had sex with her lover despite knowing that Steve could hear everything), but got back together and then divorced (Karen forced Steve to do this so she could have a proper wedding). Unfortunately their second wedding was ruined by Tracy Barlow, who had slept with Steve (when he was separated from Karen) and had his baby. Despite the fact that Karen chose to re-marry Steve many more arguments followed, but the final straw came when Karen suffered a nervous breakdown following a miscarriage and abducted Steve's daughter by Tracy. Steve decided to put an end to [[The Masochism Tango]] for good.
* While [[Word of God]] says that ''[[House (TV series)|House]]'' and Stacy were meant to be deeply in love, onscreen it was more like this. She's deeply self-righteous about the whole "cutting up his leg without his consent" thing and hasn't seemed to learn her lesson when it comes to her ill husband either, doesn't believe that he has any human feelings whatsoever (even when he shows her and us his adorable, romantic/cheesy side by giving her a prescription for her "heart problem") and seems to act like she wants to kill him in his sleep. For his part, he can't decide whether he wants her to be with him or if he wants her to suffer and at one point, breaks into her therapy file so he can act like the nice guy. He ended it in ''Need To Know'' but it really, really doesn't make him any happier.
* The entire "[[Five-Man Band|crew]]" of ''[[
* A literal version in ''[[Burn Notice]]'', with Michael and [[Action Girl|Fiona]], as at one point they come to blows about it. They eventually resolve things and are back to a semi-dysfunctional couple, with the occasional outburst by Fiona, such as her slapping him when he was planning a trip to Cuba, "to remind [him] to be careful," just after giving him a kiss for luck.
* John and Aeryn in ''[[
** Which made the following [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sal4xRAmonI musical tribute] inevitable.
* You would think this trope would be named ''[[Married...
* How is [[Smallville|Lana and Clark]] not mentioned here? All the time they were together he was more emo than Batman. They even [[Lampshaded]] this in a season 8 episode, when Lana returns to the show.
** And literally when she has kryptonite inside her, causing him ACTUAL pain.
* Sam and Casey of ''[[Life
* One wonders if ''[[Hannah Montana]]'''s Lilly and Oliver's (previously [[Platonic Life Partners]]) [[Relationship Upgrade]] was, in fact, an upgrade. They seem to alternate between being [[Sickeningly Sweethearts]] and being at each other's throats.
* ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' had a pair of recurring characters circa 2005 called ''The Needlers: The Couple That Should Be Divorced'' that basically epitomized this trope:
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** [[Never Live It Down|"WE WERE ON A BREEEEEEEAAAAK!"]]
* There is a sketch on ''[[The Kids in The Hall]]'' where a couple is being very loud in a restaurant with their arguing. Mark's character complains to them and he gets punched in the face by the guy, only to get up and see that the couple has forgotten about him and begun making-out passionately.
* A contestant on [[
* Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy have been the [[Official Couple]] of [[The Muppets]] for a quarter century, however in that time there have been a fair bit more instances of them bickering than getting along. Piggy's affections towards Kermit usually go unreturned, and they can both be quite abusive towards each other (Kermit verbally, Piggy physically).
* JR and Sue Ellen Ewing of [[Dallas]], to the nth. He cheats, she drinks and cheats, he cheats and has her committed... and on the dance goes. Most of the horrible things Sue Ellen does are fairly reasonable reactions to JR's misdeeds, but many argue that he was only slightly overreacting to her being a right old bitch in the first place. The more heinous infractions include: JR using Sue Ellen's alcoholism as his go-to blackmail or attempting to push her off the wagon for the same reason, Sue Ellen's use of their son as a pawn knowing it's JR's only weak spot, JR cheating on and conspiring against Sue Ellen with her own sister, believing Sue Ellen shot him and allowing her to rot in jail {{spoiler|when her crazy sister was the actual culprit}}, and Sue Ellen actually shooting him a few years later. Somewhere in there they get a divorce, RE-MARRY (because of all the love), then re-divorce. The two are so massively screwed up they make a certain sense together, but even at the best of times he makes it clear that she will always be second to Ewing Oil. Bummer.
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== [[Music]] ==
* Recurring [[The Mountain Goats|Mountain Goats]] characters the 'Alpha couple' are locked in a mutually self-destructive spiral of alcoholism and substance abuse, veering between declarations of love, expressions of total hopelessness and outright [[Kung Shui]].
* ''I Love the Way You Lie'' by [[
* Florence + The Machine's ''Kiss With A Fist'' seems to have subtext of this.
* The Bill Withers song "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVy5yOs0NSA Use Me]" is about a man in this sort of relationship, and how people keep trying to warn him about how he's being used, not realizing that he likes it.
* [[Voltaire]] feat [[Amanda Palmer]]'s [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShMajikZ8wM Stuck With You]. It reach heights of body harm and murder.
* [[The Offspring]]'s "Self Esteem" ([[Don't Explain the Joke|it's about not having any]]).
* ''The Ballad Of Tom Jones'', [[
== [[Theater]] ==
* The entire point of ''[[
* In ''[[Rent]]'', there is a song called 'Tango: Maureen', all about how Maureen torments her boyfriends/girlfriends with compulsive flirting: "When you're dancing her dance, you don't stand a chance, her grip on romance makes you fall. So you think 'might as well dance a tango to hell'...at least I'll have tangoed at all."
* ''[[Much Ado About Nothing]]'' is the play that pretty much ''[[Ur Example|created]]'' this trope.
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== [[Video Games]] ==
* Parodied in ''[[Super Smash Bros]] Brawl'': playing as Wolf in a certain ''[[Star Fox (
* [[Huge Schoolgirl]] Natsu and [[The Napoleon]] Shouma from ''[[
* [[Kuudere|Erk]] and [[Stepford Smiler|Serra]] from ''[[Fire Emblem]] 7'', if you get their A support.
* This might not actually count, but for the Echani in Star Wars ''[[Knights of the Old Republic]] 2'' repeated duels constitute both a courtship and foreplay ([[Unfortunate Implications|if the male wins, at least]]).
** That actually isn't gender specific for Echani. It's more like 'whoever wins can take the initiative if they want' (still rather unfortunate if you think about it). But the Handmaiden actually tries to tell the Jedi Exile that what they are doing for combat practise means something else in her culture.
* ''[[Touhou]]'' Fanon and Kaguya/Mokou Shippers often display Kaguya and Mokou in [[The Masochism Tango]] since Kaguya and Mokou have been trying to constantly kill each other for years and years. It doesn't work because of their Immortality. This Fan comic displays this interpretation [http://danbooru.donmai.us/post/show/486273/absurdres-comic-fujiwara_no_mokou-highres-houraisa rather well] (Warning: Ads are NSFW)
* [[Umineko no Naku Koro
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* [[Dominic Deegan]] and Luna have turned bitter fighting over each other's habits into ''foreplay''.
** [[Justified Trope|Partially justified]], in that they like [http://www.dominic-deegan.com/view.php?date=2008-07-13 each other's ability to stand up for themselves].
* ''[[
* One of the perks of the ''[[Exterminatus Now]]'' forum is watching Lothar, one of the comic writers, and his girlfriend Raye get into their regular multi-post arguments and insult exhanges.
* ''[[Something Positive]]'': Jason and Aubrey are proof that this trope is what happens when [[Vitriolic Best Buds]] get married.
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* Riley and Zaboo's relationship in ''[[The Guild]]'' is more a sadomasochism tango with Riley as the top and Zaboo as the bottom.
** Also subverted {{spoiler|Zaboo breaks up with the bitch.}}
* Like Dr. Cox and Jordan, [[
== [[Western Animation]] ==
* ''[[The Spectacular Spider
* ''Terkel in Trouble'' contains the sappy love song [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szcZudjfzCg&feature=related "Piss off and die!"]
* Taken [[Lampshade Hanging|very literally]] in ''[[Ice Age|Ice Age 3: Age of Dinosaurs]]'', where the squirrel couple fight over [[MacGuffin|the acorn]] while tango plays in the background.
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