History ComicBook / LoisLane

* BigBraToFill: Lois got [[http://img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130801152243/supermanrebirth/images/f/fa/Lois_Lane-4.jpg way]] bustier in the modern era. In live-action, however, the actors playing her have traditionally been petite and lean. ''Smallville''[='s=] Erica Durance was neither of those things, so she counts as a subversion; there was numerous jokes involving Lois' bustline on the show.

* AndNowYouMustMarryMe: TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks had her in these a rather severe amount of times, and not just on the receiving end. Check out [[TheSixties second panel]] of [[http://westcoastavengers.tumblr.com/post/66777389174/everything-you-need-to-know-about-lois-lane-in-4 this comic]] to give you a legitimate idea [[AcceptableFeminineGoalsAndTraits of her character back then.]]

[[caption-width-right:350:Lois Lane, a lovely lady who [[HotScoop lands leads]], looks for love in lofty latitudes, and [[ActionGirl laughs]] at [[DistressedDamsel liability.]]]]

During the SilverAge of comics, Lois had her own series, titled ''Superman's Girl Friend, Lois Lane''. Which lasted for 137 issues, from March-April, 1958 to September-October, 1974. In this series, which had a more humorous tone, Lois became a shrew who constantly tried to prove that Clark was Superman on the assumption that he would *have* to marry her then. Instead of, you know, simply courting him the regular way. (Note that Superman himself was openly courting her, but Lois apparently felt that she still needed to prove herself smarter than him. No wonder she became a target of his SuperDickery so often. It should also be noted that this was how most superhero [[LoveInterest love interests]] flew anyway). To be fair, they DID truly love each other, both just had a lot of quirks to overcome.

* LovesMyAlterEgo: A RunningGag during [[TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks the Golden Age]] and - mainly - [[TheSilverAgeOfComicsBooks the Silver Age]]. In fact, her Silver Age's iteration currently provides the page image of this trope.

* WeakWilled: During [[TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks the Golden Age]] she was ''very'' [[HypnotizeThePrincess frequently (and easily) hypnotised]]. Oddly this was much more a trait of the Golden Age Lois who was assertive and had a very strong personality than the less feisty [[TheSilverAgeOfComicsBooks Silver Age]] version.

* WeakWilled: During [[TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks the Golden Age]] she was ''very'' [[HypnotizeThePrincess frequently (and easily) hypnotised]]. Oddly this was much more a trait of the Golden Age Lois who was assertive and had a very strong personality than the less feisty [[TheSilverAgeOfComicsBooksSilver Age]] version.

* LovesMyAlterEgo: A RunningGag during the Golden Age and - mainly - the Silver Age. In fact, her Silver Age's iteration currently provides the page image of this trope.

* WeakWilled: During the GoldenAge she was ''very'' [[HypnotizeThePrincess frequently (and easily) hypnotised]]. Oddly this was much more a trait of the GoldenAge Lois who was assertive and had a very strong personality than the less feisty SilverAge version.

By the 1970s, her series attempted to modernize: Lois no longer tried to rope Superman into a wedding, dressed less conservatively and the stories tackled more serious subjects. Unfortunately, one of them was racial injustice, which it tried to explore by... having Lois be transformed into a Black woman for one day. While the intention was good, the story felt very awkward, especially towards the end when she asked Superman if he would still love her if she never changed back. Eventually, the title, along with ''Superman's Pal, Jimmy Olsen'', was folded into ''Superman Family'', where Lois got to strut her stuff in her own stories as a {{Badass}} ActionGirl IntrepidReporter who managed to [[GoingForTheBigScoop get the big scoops]] while taking down bad guys without Superman's help being necessary.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Jerry Siegel intended to have Lois learn Superman's dual identity early on and get a RelationshipUpgrade back in 1939 or so; as it happened, this didn't occur until the mid-1990s.
** However, ''Film/ManOfSteel'' follows this idea. Not even 20 minutes (film-time) after she meets Clark does she find out who he is and where he's from (she visits Smallville and the Kent farm herself).

** Arguably in the NewFiftyTwo too, as Lois is now far more concerned with fame and fortune, and is considerably less important to the story then previous, while Clark goes on to date Wonder Woman.

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[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/s_Girlfriend_Lois_Lane_105.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350: At least get her a CoolCar, man!]]

* BettyAndVeronica: To Superman, except she and Lana were both The Veronica. More recently, Lana's Betty and Lois is Veronica, when there's a question of it at all (for example, ''{{Smallville}}'').

-->'''Clark:''' ''"Why is it you always avoid me at the office?"''
-->'''Lois:''' ''"Please Clark! I've been scribbling "sob stories" all day long. Don't ask me to dish out another."''
-->--''Action Comics #1'' (June 1938)

* BerserkButton: Don't insult, use Kryptonite on, or otherwise hurt Superman in front of LoisLane and JimmyOlsen. You're talking about an unpowered human who has SeenItAll and is not intimidated even by the likes of LexLuthor and TheJoker. You do ''not'' want to be on the wrong end of her UndyingLoyalty to the Man of Steel.

* TheBusCameBack: {{Superboy}}'s LoveInterest Lana Lang

* DistressBall: Oh so very often. She's [[GoingForTheBigScoop followed her journalistic instincts]] into danger so frequently it's a miracle she ever survived before having the personal attentions of a PhysicalGod (aka ''{{Superman}}'').

* BerserkButton: Don't insult, use Kryptonite on, or otherwise hurt Superman in front of LoisLane and JimmyOlsen. You're talking about an unpowered human who have SeenItAll and is not intimidated even by the likes of LexLuthor and TheJoker. You do ''not'' want to be on the wrong end of her UndyingLoyalty to the Man of Steel.

* BadassDamsel: She provides the page image. This is a woman who gets caught by villains all the frickin' time, but only because she's GenreSavvy enough to know that if she does so, she'll not only get the scoop on the front page story, but also somehow survive to write it. And not just by getting rescued — if Superman doesn't know/is depowered/is busy, she'll pretend to fall in love with the drug lord who captured her, then blast herself out of their wedding, veil, gown, and all, with a {{Mook}}'s stolen machine gun.
** Even in the early days, Lois had quite the nerve. In some of the earliest Fleischer cartoons (now public domain) she pulls such stunts as trying to sabotage a getaway vehicle, climbing onto the back of a mechanical monster to see where it was going, blasting away with a submachine gun at would-be train robbers, and disguised herself as a Nazi to warn the American fleet of a U-boat threat(Well, it WAS the early forties).

* DamselInDistress: To the point of some meta jokes about it, and some GenreSavvy comments.

* {{Xenafication}}: Starting at least since the late 1970s in ''Superman Family'', when Lois starting kicking bad guy ass quite well in her solo stories with Superman around.

Eventually, an adult version of the character of Lana Lang (originally created to serve the same role as Lois but in the Superboy series) also joined the cast, in order to force Superman into a LoveTriangle (though Lana had pretty much the same personality as Lois, making you feel even sorrier for him.)

Over the decades, Lois has been a symbol both [[GirlsNeedRoleModels for]] ''and'' [[StrawFeminist against]] feminism; while she is a career woman (an IntrepidReporter) who speaks her mind and goes for [[GoingForTheBigScoop the big scoop]] regardless of danger, she has also been the object of mockery for [[ClarkKenting not noticing that her fellow reporter Clark Kent]] is Superman. On this front she is normally joined by Clark Kent's other close friends, but she is closer to either of them than anyone else who does not know they are the same, and even in ''Lois and Clark'' where she does figure out the fact that Clark Kent is Superman before he tells her, she has made out with him on at least one occasion under both identities before that. She also gets marked down by some since she is [[DamselInDistress constantly getting in trouble that she needs to be rescued from]]. However at least in some incarnations this often involves her as a bold, fearless attacker who will grad whatever large object is around and go after the local evil force, at times when such a force is in the process of defeating Superman without the use of Kryptonite.

Lois Lane is ([[EverybodyKnowsThat of course]]) the main RomanticInterest of Franchise/{{Superman}}. She first appeared in ''ComicBook/ActionComics'' #1 (June, 1938), the first published Superman story. As such, she's the TropeCodifier for a type of superhero love interest- the one who doesn't realize that [[LovesMyAlterEgo the hero she loves is also someone close to her]]. The characters [[CaptainErsatz inspired by her]] are [[FountainOfExpies countless]].

* OldShame: The "I'm Curious- Black!" story was ''never'' referenced to again.
** Though it ''was'' included in at least one collection of classic Superman tales.

Lois was eventually allowed to finally marry Superman; the first time, it was the ''original'' Lois Lane (the one from the 1940s comics) since that version was declared to exist in a ParallelUniverse and was not [[AllTheMyriadWays the "current" version]]. Ironically, in this story Superman (due to a magic spell) forgets he's a superhero and marries Lois as Clark Kent. But then she discovers he's really Superman and helps him regain his memory. She expects him to declare the marriage null, but instead, he marries her again, this time as Superman (in a private ceremony.)

-->--''Series/LoisAndClark''

* DeadpanSnarker: From the 1970s onward, she's been known to make wise ass retorts when responding to things she disagrees with, even superiors.