History Main / DisposableFiance

* ''Film/HopeFloats'' torpedoes this trope right off the bat by having the would-be disposable fiancé ''dump her on live television''.

* ''Film/FallingForChrismas'': Sierra's fiance Tad. After they're separated and she falls into the care of the male lead Jake, Tad is en route to dumpville.

* In [[https://storygirl000.tumblr.com/post/636339164354428928/dilfosaur-i-realized-this-was-also-lost-in-the this]] parody of the rom-coms that tend to pop up around the holidays, protagonist Carol's business-minded boyfriend Burt (a parody of the Evil All Along type) ends up being forgotten by her the moment she meets the handsome, rural JerkWithAHeartOfGold Nick. When Burt shows up to pick her up later, he's incensed to discover her affair, at which point Carol affirms her love for Nick and dumps him. [[JerkassHasAPoint Both Burt and Nick agree that this doesn't really absolve the whole cheating thing,]] but she claims it doesn't count because "it's Christmas magic".

[[caption-width-right:350: [[http://www.karinafarek.com/every-hallmark-movie Source]]

A subtrope of the RomanticFalseLead that is extremely popular in romantic comedy films. In order to make a BoyMeetsGirl plot last two hours, there needs to be some kind of obstacle in the way of True Love. At the same time, that obstacle shouldn't be something that will continue to be a problem after HappilyEverAfter, i.e. no significant character flaw, traumatic association, or impossible relative.

Enter this guy. Mr. Not-Quite-Right. He might have been there from the beginning or he might be the result of a rapid RelationshipUpgrade, but however he came into the heroine's life, rest assured he's not staying. The details of how he met, courted, and proposed to the bride are not important and might not even be shown. What is important is how the writers are going to keep him unsympathetic, so that when the heroine dumps him ([[RunawayBride often right at the altar]]) to run off with the ''real'' love of her life, the audience won't miss him. Here are some common tactics:

* '''[[DerailingLoveInterests Evil All Along:]]''' This guy is such a sleazebag, it's a wonder the heroine ever agreed to marry him. He tends to disrespect her, cheat on her, insult her (behind her back and occasionally to her face). Sometimes we see that he can [[BitchInSheepsClothing maintain a façade of Bland Perfection]] but promptly [[KickTheDog shows his real self]] the minute her back is turned. This creep ''deserves'' to get dumped. Whilst a Disposable Fiancé of this type is the most straightforward in terms of getting the audience to root for the romantic lead, it can backfire if the audience can't see why the heroine got engaged to him in the first place. But in real life, many an abusive relationship involves a partner who starts off ideal, before gradually slipping into old habits and violent tendencies.
* '''Let's Call the Whole Thing Off:''' Sometimes, while the leads have been agonizing over their feelings for each other, the fiancé has been doing some thinking on his own. Something just isn't right in the relationship. Maybe he realizes that they are BetterAsFriends, or he has to [[LastRequest make a promise to his dying mother]]. Or maybe he's noticed that she's spent three-quarters of the movie fawning over another guy. Maybe he [[PairTheSpares realizes that the bridesmaid he's ignored throughout has lovely eyes.]] Or, heck, maybe he realizes [[ComingOutStory women aren't for him]] in [[LastHetRomance the first place]]. Whatever his reasons, he doesn't want this marriage either.

It can provide a lesson about how rushing into things is bad, or that you should know someone well and be comfortable with their character before making such a large commitment.

* ''Film/Threeidiots'': Subhas, Pia's fiancé, and absolute materialistic jerkass, willing to raise hell just because someone spilled sauce on his very expensive shoes. Hilariously, he got dumped twice, first during her college years, [[spoiler: and then years later she leaves him at the altar, after being proven that despite his claims otherwise, he hadn't ditched that aspect of his personality]].

* ''ComicStrip/ForBetterOrForWorse'' had Therese as [[CreatorsPet Anthony's]] Disposable ''Wife''. She was meant to come off as EvilAllAlong due to her refusal to StayInTheKitchen. In practice, she came across to most of the Hatedom as insanely sympathetic...with ANTHONY as being Bland Perfection!

* DeconstructedTrope that's PlayedForDrama in ''LightNovel/TrappedInADatingSimTheWorldOfOtomeGamesIsToughForMobs''. In the original RomanceGame that became Leon's new reality, noblewomen Angelica and Clarice were this. Leon [[DiscussedTrope points out]], how they are DesignatedVillain and how the game had ProtagonistCenteredMorality that gave them the short end of the stick despite not truly being bad people:

A subtrope of the RomanticFalseLead that is extremely popular in romantic comedies. In order for these movies to last a full two hours, there needs to be some kind of obstacle which could take the length of a movie to overcome. At the same time, the obstacle shouldn't be something that will continue to be a problem after they find their HappilyEverAfter, i.e. no significant character flaw, traumatic association, or impossible relative.

Enter this guy. Mr. Not-Quite-Right. He might have been there all along, or he might be the result of a rapid RelationshipUpgrade, but wherever he came from, rest assured he's not staying. The details of how he met, courted, and proposed to the heroine are not important and might not even be shown. What matters is that he's an obstacle to True Love, so the writers have to get rid of him. Their only concern is how to keep him unsympathetic, so that when the heroine dumps him (often [[RunawayBride right at the altar]]) and runs off with the ''real'' love of her life, the audience doesn't care about him. Here are some common tactics:

* '''Bland Perfection:''' He's PrinceCharming come to life: handsome, thoughtful, romantic, [[RichSuitorPoorSuitor usually rich]]... but there are just NoSparks. He [[FlatCharacter will get nary a shred]] of CharacterDevelopment, but he's still basically the ideal man, so we can watch him walk off into the sunset without any regrets, knowing that he'll be able to find someone else. He tends to pull an IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy at the end.

** {{Deconstructed|Trope}} with a PerspectiveFlip. Ted--the ''main character''--ends up as a Disposable Fiancé to Stella. She [[RunawayBride left Ted at the altar]] in favor of Tony, her ex and her daughter's father. This is framed as a ''deeply'' selfish, cruel way to treat Ted--but Stella and Tony relationship is also framed as true and important. From Stella's point of view, Ted probably fell into the "Bland Perfection" category, as in Robin's words, he was "disappearing into someone else's life". Stella later apologizes for her actions, telling him she was always in love with Tony, but she loved and cared for Ted because he made her believe in romance again (ironically priming her to be swept off her feet by Tony when he realizes he's about to lose her forever to Ted). This whole scenario becomes an ExaggeratedTrope when Tony writes a hit romantic comedy movie about the whole thing, with himself as an OP self-insert and Ted as pathetic, evil, goofy, jealous monster (to the point where the fact that Stella would even date him is described as the movie's only flaw). The Ted-expy even drops his PaperThinDisguise altered name ("Jed Mosley") and shouts "I'm TED MOSBY!" at one point during the movie.

** Inverted when the ''main character'' Ted ends up as a Disposable Fiancé to Stella. He even {{lampshade|Hanging}}s this, claiming it was "their" love story. From Stella's point of view, Ted probably fell into the "Bland Perfection" category, as in Robin's words, he was "disappearing into someone else's life". Stella later apologizes for her actions, telling him she was always in love with Tony, but she loved and cared for Ted because he made her believe in romance again (ironically priming her to be swept off her feet by Tony when he realizes he's about to lose her forever to Ted). This whole scenario becomes an ExaggeratedTrope when the guy she dumped to go back to writes a hit romantic comedy movie about the whole thing, with himself as an OP self-insert and Ted as pathetic, evil, goofy, jealous monster (to the point where the fact that Stella would even date him is described as the movie's only flaw). The Ted-expy even drops his PaperThinDisguise altered name ("Jed Mosley") and shouts "I'm TED MOSBY!" at one point during the movie.

* ''Film/ThePrincessDiaries 2'': Bland Perfection leaning towards Let's Call The Whole Thing Off. When Mia calls off the wedding at the very last minute, Andrew is perfectly understanding about it, and he's only worried about what his mother's going to think.

* ''Film/BubbleBoy'': Mark is Chloe's HighSchoolSweetheart and it's his upcoming wedding to her at Niagara Falls that [[RaceForYourLove kicks off the plot.]] He hasn't moved on from high school; he's immature, crass and obnoxious. At the end when [[TheProtagonist Jimmy]] barges into the wedding Mark [[LampshadeHanging wonders aloud]] why he's the only one who takes exception to [[SpeakNowOrForeverHoldYourPeace Jimmy interrupting the ceremony]] and [[RunawayBride running off with the woman he was seconds away from marrying.]]

* ''Film/Bubbleboy'': Mark is Chloe's HighSchoolSweetheart and it's his upcoming wedding to her at Niagara Falls that [[RaceForYourLove kicks off the plot.]] He hasn't moved on from high school; he's immature, crass and obnoxious. At the end when [[TheProtagonist Jimmy]] barges into the wedding Mark [[LampshadeHanging wonders aloud]] why he's the only one who takes exception to [[SpeakNowOrForeverHoldYourPeace Jimmy interrupting the ceremony]] and [[RunawayBride running off with the woman he was seconds away from marrying.]]

* ''Film/CastAway'' is a rare aversion; many test audience members who were [[NecessaryWeasel so used to this trope]] reacted negatively to the ending because it doesn't follow this pattern.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Pocahontas}}'': Pocahontas' fiancee is Kocoum, who qaulifies as both Bland Perfection (the best warrior in the tribe) and Minor Flaws ("He's so...serious.").

* ''Film/{{Enchanted}}'' does this both ways, always sympathetically. In the real world, Nancy gets a proper characterization, and the Minor Flaw is more on the side of the lead - Robert's eternal cold feet cause her a certain amount of stress to begin with, and a NotWhatItLooksLike situation understandably angers her - and it's ''Giselle'' who suggests the way to make her feel better. Later, when they realize that they're just incompatible with their partners, Giselle forsakes her own (adorably ditzy) DisposableFiance, [[TheDitz Prince Edward,]] [[PairTheSpares he and Nancy hop into the sunset]] - er, manhole - together.

* '''Bland Perfection:''' He's PrinceCharming come to life: handsome, thoughtful, romantic, [[RichSuitorPoorSuitor usually rich]]... but there are just NoSparks. He [[FlatCharacter will get nary a shred]] of CharacterDevelopment, but he's still basically the ideal man, so we can watch him walk off into the sunset without any regrets. (I mean, you know he'll have another fiancee before the year is out). He tends to pull an IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy at the end.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Pocahontas}}'': Bland Perfection (the best warrior in the tribe) and Minor Flaws ("He's so...serious.").