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| - Alice loves Bob, but Bob isn't exactly reciprocating in kind. They may be in a shaky marriage or unstable relationship, friends with lots of Unresolved Sexual Tension, or completely oblivious. Cue a breakup, usually due to something Bob says or does. Then Alice meets Charlie, who is sensitive, rich, smart and gives her everything she misses in her relationship with Bob, and then some. They fall madly in love and everything is perfect. Meanwhile, Bob is beginning to realize whatever mistake he made with Alice and decides to win her back. To add drama, time is usually running out for some reason, so Alice needs to dump Charlie and choose Bob fast. But why would she? She's met her perfect match, she's in love and life is bliss, not to mention that she has reason to believe that Bob isn't sinc
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| abstract
| - Alice loves Bob, but Bob isn't exactly reciprocating in kind. They may be in a shaky marriage or unstable relationship, friends with lots of Unresolved Sexual Tension, or completely oblivious. Cue a breakup, usually due to something Bob says or does. Then Alice meets Charlie, who is sensitive, rich, smart and gives her everything she misses in her relationship with Bob, and then some. They fall madly in love and everything is perfect. Meanwhile, Bob is beginning to realize whatever mistake he made with Alice and decides to win her back. To add drama, time is usually running out for some reason, so Alice needs to dump Charlie and choose Bob fast. But why would she? She's met her perfect match, she's in love and life is bliss, not to mention that she has reason to believe that Bob isn't sincere about changing. There's nothing Bob can do, he blew it. This isn't just a problem for Bob, but also for the writer. Unlike most Romantic False Leads, Charlie has no built-in Self-Destruct Mechanism that frees up Alice to date Bob. He can't very well have Alice marry Charlie and Bob spend the rest of his life pining for her, that wouldn't be formulaic! More seriously, that kind of Genre Shift from Romantic Comedy to pure Drama Tropes may not please the viewers, since it obviously leaves one repentant protagonist in the lurch. The solution? Turn Charlie into a Jerkass. Suddenly he's showing traits that were never there before. He gets ridiculously jealous, he hits her, or she finds out that he's been cheating on her for a long time. Rarely is this even foreshadowed before it breaks loose. It's a very fast Character Derailment which serves only to drive Alice into Bob's arms. If done too abruptly and without foreshadowing, viewers will feel that the writer has basically used an Ass Pull or Deus Ex Machina in order to get the Official Couple together. And if Charlie's new Informed Flaw is small by comparison to Bob's, Alice may come off as flighty and careless of Charlie's feelings. Probably good for him that they didn't hook up permanently, then. Despite the use of Alice, Bob and Charlie, the genders can be, and are often, switched. A subtrope of Cleaning Up Romantic Loose Ends; cousin to Disposable Fiance, First Father Wins and Romantic False Lead, and of Pandering to the Base when done to set up the Fan-Preferred Couple. Compare Minor Flaw, Major Breakup, Why Would Anyone Take Him Back?, and Jumping Off the Slippery Slope. See also Relationship Writing Fumble and Strangled by the Red String. Die for Our Ship is when this is done in fan works. If one of the feuding romancers is a friend, then it's Friend Versus Lover. Examples of Derailing Love Interests include:
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