Violently Protective Girlfriend/Playing With

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Basic Trope: A girl who attacks those who threaten her love interest. Often violently.

  • Straight: Charlie threatens Bob. Alice, Bob's girlfriend, beats Charlie up.
  • Exaggerated: Charlie insults Bob's cooking. Alice throws Charlie down a flight of stairs.
  • Downplayed: Charlie insults Bob. Alice insults Charlie back.
  • Justified: Alice is a superhero, and Charlie is a supervillain. Bob is a normal person.
    • Bob couldn't stand up for himself.
    • Or if he does, he'll be arrested. Alice, on the other hand, could get away with it.
    • Bob would have done worse to Charlie if Alice didn't step in. Alice saw it previous times and decided leaving Bob to deal with own problems is a really bad idea.
  • Inverted: Sally threatens Alice. Bob beats Sally up.
  • Subverted: Charlie pushes Bob. Alice walks toward Charlie menacingly, only to turn to Bob and yell at him for being a wuss.
  • Double Subverted: Then Alice beats up Charlie.
  • Parodied: Alice carries a list of people that have wronged Bob, and schedules times for their beatings. She has a secretary to keep track of them for her.
  • Zig Zagged: Alice is sometimes protective of Bob, sometimes antagonistic, and sometimes just lets Bob fend for himself.
  • Averted: Alice is nonviolent. She tends to Bob's wounds, but does nothing to fight Charlie.
  • Enforced: "We need to show that Alice is an Action Girl. Have her beat up someone that threatens Bob."
  • Lampshaded: "Watch out Charlie. Touch Bob and Alice will beat you up. Again."
  • Invoked: Alice trained in martial arts to stop people from attacking Bob.
  • Exploited: Bob goads Charlie into shoving him specifically so Alice will beat him up.
  • Defied: "Seriously, Bob, fight your own battles."
  • Discussed: "Don't mess with Bob. Alice will kick your ass."
  • Conversed: "Uh-oh, someone pushed Bob while Alice is nearby. The fight scene's about to start."
  • Deconstructed: Bob feels emasculated by Alice's constant defending of him. Their relationship suffers.
  • Reconstructed: Bob and Alice have a talk about this. Alice only steps in to help Bob when he is clearly in over his head.
    • Alternatively, Bob is a big time Woobie who's life is a living hell and Alice knows it. During their talk, she tells him that she's so protective of him because she never wants to see him suffer or hurt again
  • Plotted A Good Waste: ???
  • Played For Laughs: Bob is a shameless coward who cringes behind Alice at the slightest hint of danger.
  • Played For Drama: ???