The Not Love Interest: Difference between revisions

* In ''[[Black Cat (manga)|Black Cat]]'', [[The Lost Lenore|Saya]] is [[Celibate Hero|Train]]'s Not Love Interest. Her function in the plot is similar to that of a traditional dead lover / love interest; in fact, Train's affection for her is enough to cause [[Stalker with a Crush|Creed]] to "[[Murder the Hypotenuse|take drastic measures]]". But it's later revealed, perfectly and seriously, that Train never contemplated any romantic involvement with her.

* Before the Eclipse, Guts and Griffith of ''[[Berserk]]'' were very much like this. Griffith in particular took things to rather [[Yandere]] levels, particularly as he started falling further and further toward the [[Despair Event Horizon]]. Before Guts, Griffith was also the most important man in Casca's life as well. He tends to have that kind of effect on people.

* In ''[[Naruto]]'', Naruto is somewhat attached to Sasuke, even after {{spoiler|he leaves Konoha to join Orochimaru, then goes rogue and basically becomes an international criminal}}. Before then, the show devotes not insignificant amounts of time to the two rivaling each other at becoming better ninja; both is (partly) the other's inspiration. However, Sasuke is not as much Naruto's friend as Naruto would like him to be.

* Tenchi and Kiyone of ''[[Tenchi Muyo!]]'' often drift into this kind of relationship, notable because she's one of the few regular female characters ''not'' infatuated with him.

* An interesting case in ''[[Eyeshield 21]]'': at the beginning of the series [[Team Mom|Anezaki]] [[Mama Bear|Mamori]] initially joined the football club for the sake of Sena, her childhood friend, arguably most important person at the time, and [[Not Love Interest]]. More specifically, she joined to protect him from the bullying of the football club’s captain, [[Magnificent Bastard|Hiruma]] [[Jerk with a Heart of Gold|Yoichi]]. Initially, Sena is all Mamori cared about, getting worried over his injuries and yelling at Hiruma for picking on him and etc. However, as the series progressed, Mamori started [[Ship Tease|spending more time with]] and [[Aw, Look -- They Really Do Love Each Other|getting closer to]]...the aforementioned [[Belligerent Sexual Tension|Hiruma Yoichi]]. It got to such a point that at the end of the manga, although Sena is still a dear friend to her, Mamori completely intends for her and Hiruma to play seriously and defeat him, since he's on a rival team now. So while Sena remains the [[Not Love Interest]] and important to Mamori, it's [[Ship Tease|hinted]] that [[Official Couple|at the end of the day]], sticking by Hiruma is higher on her priority list.

* In the TV series of ''[[Record of Lodoss War]]'', Spark becomes highly commited to his mission to save Neese, as he's the leader of the group. It's even made fun of by Leaf and Raina, who put quite an effort into [[Shipper on Deck|getting them together]]. In the end it seems he only manages to rescue her with [[The Power of Love]], but once she is freed from the dark magic and awakens in his arms, she just hugs him in thank and there's never any indication that Spark wasn't just trying to protect a good friend.

* Despite several characters making jokes and comments about it, Setsuna and Marina of ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam 00|Gundam 00]]'' genuinely seem to not have any romantic interest in each other. Their connection comes more from the fact that they are from neighboring countries and are both searching (in very different ways) for answers to the same questions. When outright asked if they were dating, they both deadpanned "We are not a couple" in unison, without any of the embarrassment or blushing [[She Is Not My Girlfriend|this kind of situation]] usually entails. If anything, their relationship is more akin to that between a mother and child.

* Despite the [[Ship Tease]] that [[Yaoi Fangirl|certain fans]] are all too eager to point out, this is [[Battle Butler|Riff]] and [[Broken Bird|Cain]]'s relationship in ''[[Godchild]]''. Cain has a number of [[Love Interest]]s over the course of the series—and they all have a noticeable impact on him—but Riff is the person with whom all his trust and strongest feelings lie. And Cain is the only significant person in Riff's ''entire life.'' {{spoiler|It's played around with quite a bit towards series end, though arguably The [[Grand Finale]] managed to play the trope straight once more}}.

* ''[[Tiger and Bunny]]'' has a [[Ho Yay]] example. Barnaby shows up in Kotetsu's life at a critical point in the latter's career and fits into so many "love interest stereotypes" <ref>a [[Troubled but Cute]] / [[Broken Bird]] [[Defrosting</ref> Ice King|Defrosting]] [[Sugar and Ice]] [[Kuudere|Ice King]] who [[Replacement Love Interest|bears some suspicious parallels]] [[Romancing the Widow|to the widower hero's]] [[The Lost Lenore|late wife]] and was {{spoiler|[[Mad Dictators Handsome Son|mentored by]] the show's [[Big Bad]]}} that the writer/artist for the manga adaptation has even joked about him being the show's 'heroine'. The creators' fondness for [[Ship Tease|teasing]] their "wonderful relationship" doesn't help.

* In ''[[Death Note]]'', L is this for Light. [[Foe Yay|L evokes feelings in Light that he feels for no one else. L is the most important person in Light's life]] {{spoiler|even after he is dead. And in the anime L is the only person on Light's mind ''when he's dying''.}} Light has two canon love interests Misa and Takada [[Unwitting Pawn|which he cares nothing for]] [[Shallow Love Interest|and both have little in the way of personality]], and neither are as important to Light [[Tragic Bromance|or to the plot]] as Light's [[The Rival|rivalry with L.]]

 

== Comic Books ==

* The previous [[media:FraternalFidelity 3734.jpg|page picture]] is from the ''[[Doom (film)|Doom]]'' movie, which took a certain pleasure in subverting the typical hero/heroine love interest angle, as well as other tropes. Samantha and John Grimm are estranged but loving fraternal twins.

* In the 2005 remake of ''[[House of Wax]]'', the characters played by Elisha Cuthbert and Chad Michael Murray seem very much like ex-lovers {{spoiler|who will reconcile at the end, since everyone else is dead}}. But they're brother and sister, so no.

* Ariadne and Dom in ''[[Inception]]''. The latter is still a little hung up on his deceased wife and the former gets some [[Ship Tease]] with Arthur.

* Calvin and Spooner's relationship in ''[[I, Robot (film)|I Robot]]'' shows all the classic signs of them becoming love interests — even a [[Scar Survey]] — but by the end, there's nothing to suggest they're going to be more than friends.

* ''[[The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod]]'', Henry and Vlad. The two are extremely close and often act more like love interests than any of the girls (many girls, in Henry's case) that they are interested in. Vlad seems to be Henry's only serious relationship.

* In ''[[The Dresden Files]]'', Harry's relationship like Thomas is like this sometimes. Thomas Raith the [[Our Vampires Are Different|incubus]] is Harry's friend {{spoiler|and half-brother}} and they never have any doubts about the relationship, but when Harry is between girlfriends, Thomas takes on that role in the story a little bit: He's closer to earth in some ways and [[Always Save the Girl|has needed to be rescued more than once]].

 

 

* In ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' season 5, Buffy's [[Cosmic Retcon|newly-created]] little sister Dawn fulfills this role, to the point where Buffy says, given a choice between killing Dawn, and letting the apocalypse happen - [[Always Save the Girl|well, goodbye world, it's been fun]]. Joss Whedon said on the season 5 DVD "[Buffy's] love interest for the season was her sister."

** It sometimes seems like any woman Xander dates is doomed to play second fiddle to the two very important women in his life, Buffy and Willow. Cordelia senses it ("When you're not babbling about poor, defenseless Willow, you are ''raving'' about the all-powerful Buffy"), and Anya seems to as well ("When things get tough, he/ Just hides behind his Buffy"), hence her fight with Willow in "Triangle" (An imperfect example because both women ''were'' in fact love interests for him, but in Willow's case it was only briefly.)

* Elsewhere in the Buffyverse, when Spike appears in ''[[Angel]]'' season 5, he quickly takes on a role like this, as their complicated history and relationship drives a lot of drama, far more than anything to do with Angel's actual love interest for the season. Again it's noted by Joss on the DVDs. "We finally found the right girl for Angel - Spike." Hilariously, the in-universe movie adaptation of ''After the Fall'', called "Last Angel in Hell", gender-flips Spike into Angel's love interest.

** In season four Angel's son Connor filled this role.

{{quote|'''Zoe''': ''[dead monotone]'' Take me, sir. Take me hard.

'''Jayne''': Now somethin' about that is just downright unsettlin'. }}

** It's worth noting that they inspired the first [[Slash Fic]].

** Roddenberry himself declared about a romantic relationship: "...we certainly believe that the affection was sufficient for that, if that were the particular style of the 23rd century." Draw your own conclusions.

* ''[[Wire in The Blood]]'' had [[The Profiler|Dr. Tony Hill]] and his Most Important Person [[Fair Cop|DCI Carol Jordan]]. Seeing as Tony has difficulty being a real boy on the best of days, Carol kept him grounded and reminded him there was life outside work and serial killers.

* Dr. Cal Lightman and Dr. Gillian Foster on ''[[Lie to Me (TV series)|Lie to Me]]'', partners who own the Lightman Group and have serious [[Will They or Won't They?]] going on. Made explicit in "The Whole Truth", when Cal talks to the fiance of a man who engineered his own assisted suicide with the help of his best friend (named Leo):

'''[[Living Lie Detector|Cal]]''': She's my Leo. }}

* ''[[Psych]]'': Girlfriends may come and go, but Shawn and Gus will always be the most important people in each others lives. Though the hit slash pairing is Lassiter and Shawn.

* Jack and Liz Lemon are this on ''[[30 Rock|Thirty Rock]]''. {{spoiler|[[Accidental Marriage|They even get married, accidentally]] [[Status Quo Is God|for one episode]]}} and still don't see each other as anything but best friends.

* On ''[[Dexter]]'' the titular [[Serial Killer Killer|vigilante]] has his [[Not Blood Siblings|sister]] Debra. He even notes in one episode that if he could have feelings for anyone, they would be for her.

* ''[[Eureka]]'' has Sheriff Carter and his Deputy Jo Lupo, but instead of a romance developing with those two, Carter ends up being involved with Doctor Blake.

* Kurt Hummel from ''[[Glee]]'' has a perfectly good boyfriend to whom he is devoted, in the form of Blaine, but [[Good Parents|his father Burt]] will always, ''always'' be more important than anybody else in his life, especially after {{spoiler|Burt's heart attack}}.

** Kurt also has another one in his "[[Sassy Black Woman|Brassy]] [[Fag Hag|Hag]]" Mercedes. They're always there for each other, they do basically everything together, they're incredibly close...but Kurt just happens to be gay and not interested. Early in the first season, though, Mercedes was none the wiser and actually thought they were going out, until Kurt turned her down and later came out to her.

* [[Doctor Who|The Doctor]] has this kind of dynamic with the majority of his companions. Especially notable are Sarah Jane Smith from the classic show, Donna Noble and the Tenth Doctor in New Series 4, and ([[Ship Sinking|once the ship was sunk]]) the Eleventh Doctor with [[Official Couple|Amy Pond & Rory Williams]]. He even went so far as to call them "the people '''I LOVE!!!'''" in one episode.

** In ''[[The Sarah Jane Adventures]]'', the above-mentioned Sarah Jane Smith finds ''her'' [[Not Love Interest]]: her adopted son, Luke. Their relationship is the heart and foundation of the show.

 

== Web Comics ==

{{quote|'''Davan:''' Am I going to have carve "Davan loves you very much" backwards into your forehead?

'''PeeJee:''' No, I think I got it this time. }}

* Terry and his [[Girl Friday]] Max in ''[[Batman Beyond]]'', mostly because other than Bruce she's the only person he can trust with his [[Secret Identity]].

* Despite having a history together (As well as being the primary ''[[Transformers Animated]]'' turn-on) [[Femme Fatale|Blackarachnia]] always came second to [[The Hero|Optimus]] in terms of importance when compared to Sentinel. He leaves the fembot behind behind to save Sentinel and himself which results in her transformation to technorganic, gets more episodes devoted to their rivalry, and in BA's last appearance he seemed more concerned about Sentinel than her. The ironic thing about this? The she-spider was the reason for their antagonist rivalry in the first place!

* This is mostly what ''[[Ren and Stimpy]]'''s relationship in the original series is about. In the adult spinoff called ''Adult Party Cartoon'', however, they are quite explictly portrayed as a homosexual couple.

* On ''[[Daria]],'' Daria and Jane have this sort of relationship. The final episode (not counting the finale [[The Movie|movie]]) has Daria note this while Jane helps her through an emotional crisis:

[[Category:This Index Is Not My Girlfriend]]

[[Category:Love Interests]]