http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RomanticFalseLead

Worst Analogies Ever Written in a High School Essay "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'."

This 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 jealous, take an instant dislike to him (often being blind to what attractions he does have), and do whatever they can to sabotage the budding relationship. Usually, the character is either an alpha-dog Jerkass or a bland, boring milquetoast. They may also be the character's Always Someone Better or The Ace to really inspire the Green-Eyed Monster to take hold.

Advertisement:

This is a hard character to successfully pull off, probably because they usually start out more as a plot device than a character. In many cases, they exist solely to create tension and keep the lovers apart, so there's a real risk that your Romantic False Lead, rather than proving a worthy rival to the main character's romantic interests, will simply end up being a rather flat, boring character who just seems to show up and occupy space between the two romantic leads. As a result, this can often risk the show falling into a Romantic Plot Tumor. Furthermore, except in rare cases the False Lead is unlikely to generate the same loyalty or sympathy as the main character, meaning that your audience is liable to just spend the time the False Lead's around loudly wishing for him or her to just go away (and possibly die) already so the two characters they're interested in seeing together can actually get together.

Advertisement:

Characterisation can also be tricky. If the false lead is too likable, then the jealous character will seem like a selfish jerk who cares more about winning their beloved for themselves than seeing them happy — or alternatively, since 'perfect' tends to equal 'uninteresting' in the minds of many when it comes to fictional characters, a too perfect and nice character will just lose the audience's interest in comparison to the more flawed and interesting main character. On the other hand, if he's too unlikeable, we'll wonder what the love interest could possibly see in them and lose respect for them. And in extremely rare occasions, the Romantic False Lead might be more interesting and likeable than both main characters together, making the audience wonder why we're not getting a better story about this person instead.

Advertisement:

When introduced for a short arc, often exists expressly for the purpose of contrasting their relationship with the Official Couple's, in order to show how perfect the "official couple" is for each other.

Sometimes to up the angst, the writer will go so far as to marry the love interest to the false lead. If this happens, expect the Official Couple to have a tawdry affair.

Occasionally, the writers step in themselves to engage in Cleaning Up Romantic Loose Ends. This is usually another trap in and of itself, as it is difficult to do so and not seem cheap, as happens with Derailing Love Interests.

A subtrope is Disposable Fiancé.

Compare Hopeless Suitor, Romantic Runner-Up, New Old Flame, False Soulmate, and Wrong Guy First. Also compare Temporary Love Interest where the relationship is unsuccessful because there is no Official Couple and that won't change. Often the focus of Die for Our Ship.

Examples

open/close all folders

Anime & Manga

Comic Books

In Liberty Meadows: The ultimate story arc had female lead Brandy about to marry Roger (her fiancé for the second time), who is rich, handsome, and basically everything strip protagonist Frank (who, oh-so-coincidentally, sports the same first name as series creator, Frank Cho) isn't. Despite having already told Frank he blew his chance with her due to his wishy-washiness, she leaves Roger at the altar for Frank, in the first issue of the post-strip comic book. 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 Squicky Double Standard: Rape, Female on Male storyline.

Rex Splode from Invincible briefly dated the title hero's crush Atom Eve, sparking a long-standing rivalry between the two that has gotten very violent. Rex seemed like a complete Jerkass at first but turned out to be just a somewhat arrogant Ace. Eventually the two became somewhat reluctant friends. Mark and Eve did get together, but much later. Then Rex dies rather tragically in a Heroic Sacrifice to defeat a group of lesser villains that Mark could've handled easily...if he and Eve hadn't needed to leave the planet to fight a greater threat at the exact same moment.

Spider-Man: Jill Stacy, Gwen Stacy's cousin. She was set up as a new love interest for Peter Parker after MJ's apparent death. When Mary Jane was found to be alive, Jill withdrew her advances toward Peter and her entire character is put aside. Caryn Earle (Peters neighbor while he lived in New Jersey) briefly dated Peter until MJ return officially in his life. After, she disappears and is never mentioned. The reporter Norah Winters during the Brand New Day. She was often flirtatious with Peter while they worked together, but later began dating Randy Robertson, son of Robbie Robertson, editor of the Daily Bugle.



Fan Works

Films — Animation

Films — Live Action

Literature

Live-Action TV

Music

The singer in The Jets' "You Got It All" views her former lover as such compared to her new one. And you're all that he's not Just look what I've got 'Cause you've got it all Over him Marillion has a curious but heartbreaking variation on the trope in "Cinderella Search", where the narrator is revealed to be the false lead: Exposing bedside manners on a work extension Awaiting development with paranoid Polaroid eyes Oh-oh, oh-oh, Polaroid eyes... The footman memorised the number, but the prince still holds both the slippers, and would you leave a palace for a bedsit and Canterbury Tales? Canterbury Tales... Maybe it was infatuation or the thrill of the chase? Maybe you were always beyond my reach and my heart was playing safe? But was that love in your eye I saw or the reflection of mine? I'll never really know for sure, you never really gave me time!

The Honeyworks song "Gimme Gimme Call" stars a girl who's Just Friends with two boys, realizes one or both of them may like her, and sets out working through which one turns out to be the false lead. Turns out: 1) she really is just a good pal, and 2) she's the false lead, because 3) the boys were gunning for each other throughout the song and succeeded

Professional Wrestling

Jimmy Jacobs had been trying to court the self-proclaimed "First Lady Of ROH" "The Lovely" Lacey, for sometime, only for her to suddenly start courting Colt Cabana, a Jerk Jock who was only interested in sex. Given this was ROH and Lacey was the object of his affection, crowd reaction quickly made Cabana into the baby face over the genuine love seeking Jacobs and angle's pivotal turn came with Colt dumping Lacey and telling Jimmy he would be better off without her as well. Against better judgment, Jacobs attacked Cabana and resumed his courtship of Lacey.

Theatre

A near-Trope Namer, false lead Albiani in Verdi's Simon Boccanegra. Not quite this trope. He is promised the hand of Amelia Grimaldi. But when she turns out to really be Maria Boccanegra, the daughter of the Doge, she is allowed to refuse him and ultimately marry her true love. The false lead doesn't go gracefully. He unsuccessfully tries to recruit an assassin and winds up poisoning Simon.

Gilbert and Sullivan's Ruddigore: Rose chooses Richard when Robin makes an (enforced) FaceHeel Turn in the first act finale, and then goes back to Robin when he reasons his way out of having to be a Bad Baronet.

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 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 (The 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 Desert Song inverts the usual scenario: Margot is about to marry the false lead Paul at the beginning of the first act finale, but the Red Shadow arrives with the Riffs and captures her.

The New Moon plays this mostly straight; the first act ending with Robert in chains and Margot declaring her love for Captain Duval with a reprise of "One Kiss," though it's really a ploy to let her depart on the same boat as Robert. In an earlier scene, Duval tries to compose a love song for Marianne in an effort that Robert repeatedly sabotages.

Count Paris in Romeo and Juliet; Juliet's mother asks her if she thinks she can learn to love him, and Juliet doesn't deny it, and what we see of him indicates that he would have made a most suitable husband for Juliet had she not been besotted with Romeo. Stacee Jaxx in Rock of Ages shows up just in time to come between the male and female leads. Having sex with him sends Sherry Christian into a downward spiral, leaving her lonely and working as a stripper. But it all works out in the end.

Gloria Rasputin in Bye Bye Birdie, whose main purpose seems to be to raise Rose's jealousy to murderous levels. She's actually being paid to do this by Albert's mother, who wants Albert and Rose to be over.

In The Sound of Music, the Captain almost goes through with marrying Elsa Schraeder after Maria flees into 10-Minute Retirement expecting exactly that to happen, even though the children obviously would rather have Maria as their mother and, as Brigitta can tell, the Captain is fonder of her too.

Video Games

Visual Novels

Web Animation

Parodied by Homestar Runner in a short where Marzipan goes on a date with The Cheat, and both Homestar and Strong Bad team up to ruin the date. Their attempts fail miserably, actually enhancing the date, but in the end Marzipan decides she doesn't care for The Cheat anyway.

Web Comics

Western Animation