History Main / LoveMakesYouDumb

Extremely common in {{shonen}}, when she's [[TwoGuysAndAGirl one of the three or so main characters]]. Likewise TheChick in the FiveManBand. A female character in particular often becomes a FauxActionGirl this way.

* In ''Series/GameOfThrones'', [[spoiler: King Robb Stark]] falls in love with Talisa Maegyr and marries her, despite having already promised to marry Lord Walder Frey's daughter, which doesn't only make him loose an important ally, [[spoiler:but also [[DisproportionateRetribution gets him, his wife, his mother and most of the Northern army killed]] when the Freys murder them [[NastyParty during the reconciliation wedding]]]].

* Esmeraude (Emerald) in ''Franchise/SailorMoon R''. She was so in love with Diamond that she hastily accepted Wiseman's tiara to become more powerful than Sailor Moon and thus, winning Diamond's heart. Unfortunately, her plan falls apart when the tiara transforms her into a dragon rather than a Queen. The senshi (with the help of Tuxedo Mask) defeat the dragon and Esmeraude is momentarily restored to her human form - only to fall into a dark abyss. She whispers Diamond's name as she vanishes. To Esmeraude's credit, the rest of her peers including Diamond also made the colossal mistake of trusting Wiseman.

* Eddie in ''film/TheColorOfMoney'' has this with his girlfriend, Carmen. He sees her as a PuritySue, blinding himself to her {{Street Smart}}s and {{delinquent}} past. She's even wearing a necklace she stole from his mother, and he thinks it's just a coincidence.

* At one point in the Anime/YuGiOhGX anime, a creature was introduced that literally made other creatures dumbstruck with love. She was (appropriately) called the "Maiden in Love" and any creature (male of course) that attacked her would then fall under the control of the player using the Maiden.

* ''ZeroEscape'''s Junpei and Akane are reasonably intelligent people, except when they're around each other. [[spoiler:Maybe that's why Akane abandoned him when she went off to save the world from Radical-6]]. (This trope is a major plot point in Akane's backstory, [[spoiler:where it nearly gets her killed and then saves her life]].)

* At one point in the YugiohGX anime, a creature was introduced that literally made other creatures dumbstruck with love. She was (appropriately) called the "Maiden in Love" and any creature (male of course) that attacked her would then fall under the control of the player using the Maiden.

* In ''Series/GameOfThrones'', King Robb Stark falls in love with Talisa Maegyr and marries her, despite having already promised to marry Lord Walder Frey's daughter, which doesn't only make him loose an important ally, [[spoiler:but also [[DisproportionateRetribution gets him, his wife, his mother and most of the Northern army killed]] when the Freys murder them [[NastyParty during the reconciliation wedding]]]].

''*{{Beat}} panel with Gil [[LuminescentBlush red as a beet]]*''
'''Tarvek''': hee. You weren't ''playing'' the idiot with ''her'', were you?\\
'''Gil''': ''Shut up!''

* In ''Series/GameOfThrones'', King Robb Stark falls in love with Talisa Maegyr and marries her, despite having already promised to marry Lord Walder Frey's daughter, which potentially could lose him a much needed ally when his rebellion needs all the help he can get.

* In the {{Dragonlance}} novels, Laurana's love for Tanis Half-Elven causes her to make the incredibly stupid decision [[spoiler: to trust her ArchEnemy Kitiara.]]
* Invoked in ''TheBelgariad'' when Ce'Nedra asks Garion what's wrong with his friend Lelldorin. Lelldorin comes from the Arendish culture, known for HonorBeforeReason, and Ce'Nedra comments that he's "so Arendish, he's practically incapacitated." Garion replies that Lelldorin is in love, and being in love makes some people's brains seem to leak out of their heads. [[{{Tsundere}} Ce'Nedra]], who just recently realized ''she's'' in love with Garion, is ''NOT'' pleased.
* Lazarus Long, in ''Literature/TimeEnoughForLove'', has [[TimeTravel traveled back in time]] over two thousand years to visit his original family in 1917. What he doesn't count on is that, in doing so, he [[ParentalIncest falls in love with his mother]]. This causes him to enlist in WorldWarOne to win her approval, despite having no personal stake in the war, knowing the outcome, ''and'' not knowing the future from his own personal point of view. [[spoiler:He nearly dies as a result.]]
* In the story "The Warlock's Hairy Heart", seen in Literature/TheTalesOfBeedleTheBard, a fairy tale book for [[Literature/HarryPotter wizards and witches]], the warlock believes that Love Makes You Dumb, so he performs dark magic to prevent this from happening to himself. It didn't end well.

* Kate from ''{{Lost}}'' started out as one of the main characters in the ensemble, a fairly solid example of a TroubledButCute girl. However, as the series entered its second season, she became increasingly obsessed with Jack. Her attempts to rescue/ingratiate herself with/impress or otherwise have contact with him have led to an ever-growing list of problems that are completely her making--she seems to think she's back on a junior high playground (albeit one where she gets to have sex with Sawyer, the JerkWithAHeartOfGold, before going back to see what Jack is up to), not trapped on an island with a group of psychotics and a bunch of EpilepticTrees.

* In ''{{Smallville}}'', this is a continually growing problem with Clark to the point that, in the first half of Season 8, he was finally starting to act a little bit like Superman until Lana returned at which point he lost about 7 years of character development. In fact, Lana is acting more active than Clark is, but that's a [[IDidWhatIHadToDo whole]] [[WellIntentionedExtremist other]] [[KnightTemplar set]] [[CanonSue of]] [[GodModeSue issues...]]

* ''PushingDaisies'' has this as a main element, in a subtle way... until "Water and Power", when the anvil is dropped on Emerson Cod's foot. The Narrator even points this out.

** Maid Marian? More like [[IncrediblyLamePun Maid Moron!]]

* Suzy Pepper of ''Series/{{Glee}}'' had a crush on teacher, called him at 3 a.m., gave him a tie with red peppers so when he wears it he can think of her. Teacher rejected her, she ate world's HOTTEST PEPPER, burned holes in her esophagus, and got put in a medically induced coma for 3 days. To add insult to injury, the teacher then added that girls are so fragile.

* In ''GameOfThrones'', King Robb Stark falls in love with Talisa Maegyr and marries her, despite having already promised to marry Lord Walder Frey's daughter, which potentially could lose him a much needed ally when his rebellion needs all the help he can get.
* Dawson from ''DawsonsCreek'' was an example of this from time to time, but averted it a lot early on. While watching a ''film noir'' with Pacey, Dawson couldn't figure out why the detective was so oblivious to the fact that the girl setting him up.

* While it might be a better example of Lust Makes You Dumb instead of love, people who live in more rural areas will tell you that you're most likely to hit a wild animal crossing the road during the spring. Since spring is mating season when most female mammals go into heat, it would start to appear that the idea of mating starts to override an animals basic common sense and self-preservation.

* In the ''Manga/{{Area 88}}'' manga and OVA, Ryoko has very [[WideEyedIdealist idealistic]] and [[[=Manchild=] immature]] ideas about love. To boot, she is determined to free Shin from servitude at Area 88, but never stops to ask why he might be in the Asranian air force in the first place. Finally, in manga issues that did not make it stateside, [[spoiler: Shin repeatedly breaks her heart, and yet she [[{{WhyWouldAnyoneTakeHimBack}} reunites with him]] in the end.]]
** In the manga, [[{{JerkassHasAPoint}} Kanzaki even calls her out on it.]]

* ScottPilgrim plays with this trope. Granted, [[IdiotHero the titular character is already kind of dumb]] but one can also see this trope in Knives Chau.
* Monkey Khan in Archie's ComicBook/SonicTheHedgehog, he gave up the Power Ring he uses to make sure that Eggman or the Iron Queen can't control him due to his mostly cybernetic body. [[spoiler: He lets himself be controlled by Eggman just so Mecha Sally won't die, despite the fact that Mecha Sally has no remorse or inhibitions and will happily kill him despite the brief relationship Sally and Khan had.]]
* [[BodyguardBabes Chakra]] in ComicBook/LesLegendaires: [[OriginsEpisode Origines]] combines this with LoveMakesYouEvil. She has a BodyguardCrush on her hirer [[RoyalBrat Prince Halan]], but [[AllLoveIsUnrequited he only has eyes for]] [[BadassPrincess Princess Jadina]]. So what does she do? Well, she helps BigBad [[SorcerousOverlord Darkhell]] to kidnap Jadina. Also, she contacts him through his [[ReptilesAreAbhorrent Lizard-looking]] [[TheDragon Dragon]]. And even worst, when he offers her a meeting ''at night, alone, far from the castle'', [[TooDumbToLive she accepts without taking any measure to ensure her security]]. So there isn't much surprise when, after she handed over the information, said Dragon lampshades this trope before having her RewardedAsATraitorDeserves.

* Shang in ''{{Mulan}}'' is a mild form of this trope. He is a competent and professional soldier, not even letting his father's death [[TheStoic distract him from the task at hand.]] But when he tries to thank Mulan after saving him from Shan Yu and when he later visits Mulan's house, he stammers and generally has no idea how to act around Mulan now that he knows she's a girl.

* The titular character in ''Animation/RoadsideRomeo''. His love interest tells him that if he truly loves her, he'll have to sing on stage with her at a club. When he gets there, his friends desperately tell him not to because he'll make the BigBad furious [[GreenEyedMonster and bring out his jealousy]]. Romeo has to decide to walk away from the dog and find someone else, or risk his life for someone he's only met twice, and has only known for about three minutes. [[TooDumbToLive Guess what happens.]]
* ''CrazyStupidLove'': It's even there in the title.
* ''AKnightsTale:'' William fully understands ''this'' trope, as after making a faux pas to Jocelyn, she tells him that if he loves her, he'll lose. And so, at the beginning of the next tournament, after the flag for William's first joust is dropped, and his opponent spurs on, the four members of the FiveManBand cheering William on...

* This could be said for Daisy from ''TheGreatGatsby''.

* He was never a main character, but [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Gregar_Typho Captain Typho]], Padme's eyepatched guard in the second two prequels, fell in [[AllLoveIsUnrequited unrequited, unnoticed love]] with her, as revealed in the StarWarsExpandedUniverse. After her death and funeral, he observed that she had died of being strangled, but there was no evidence of this on her skin, which meant the Force. Remembering that Anakin Skywalker had been scheduled as guarding her, he decided to track him down and hear the explanation, then either kill him or not depending on the answer. Keep in mind that this is after Order 66. He knows it's a long shot, and he knows that if Padme had known he was in love she would have urged him to let go and live his life, but he feels like he has to do this. Later he decides that Skywalker must have been killed, and Padme soon after, by a Sith, and he must find and kill this Sith - [[{{Irony}} Darth Vader]], specifically. The narration lampshades this once.

-->--'''Emerson Cod''', ''PushingDaisies''

[[LoveHurts Being in love is dangerous for a character.]] Occasionally, a 'main' character who more or less pulled his weight at the start of the series starts to feel affection for another, and the writers like the idea. Suddenly, his own personal plot starts to become [[SatelliteCharacter almost]] ''[[SatelliteCharacter exclusively]]'' [[SatelliteCharacter about that]], and we have nothing to balance out the inherent goofiness and clumsiness that occurs dealing with his emotions. This has an extra layer of trouble if the [[{{Demographics}} demographic]] of the viewers isn't too heavily interested in the romance, or romance in general. On the other hand, other demographics [[TruthInTelevision can relate]].

* Miyagi, Sakuragi, Aouta and Haruko in ''{{Slam Dunk}}''. The mention and/or sight of their crushes can make them reach varying stages of ditziness, no matter where they are. Of course, according to fangirls, [[DoubleStandard in the boy's cases it's sweet and funny, and in Haruko's case is an horrible sin]].
* Ohgi of ''CodeGeass'' was the voice of reason of the Black Knights, until he encountered and fell for Villetta. Needless to say, he became one-track minded soon after and made some incredibly rash decisions.
* Sakura in ''{{Naruto}}'' cemented her reputation among fandom as a [[TheLoad mostly-useless]] character when she missed [[spoiler:two easy attempts to kill Sasuke]] because of her perpetually [[AllLoveIsUnrequited one-sided]] feelings for him, and then afterwards admits that she can't do anything to save or stop him after all.
* Dr. Tofu from ''[[RanmaOneHalf Ranma ½]]'' is arguable, since one of his traits from the start was the inability to function properly around Kasumi. Swiftly becomes a moot point, once he's [[PutOnABus replaced]] as the show's source of arcane knowledge by Cologne.

* Aono Tsukune from ''RosarioToVampire'' [[spoiler:before his power up]]. He doesn't come off as dumb at first, but common sense and obvious logic are trumped whenever Outer Moka is in trouble. We’re talking to the extent he would take on the equivalent of a M1 Abrams Tank with a slingshot. He [[{{Determinator}} never gives up]] despite how bad the last time was.
* This is pretty much the entire plot of ''SchoolRumble''. And neither Kenji nor Tenma was particularly bright to start with, leading the series down some truly bizarre roads.
* Esmeraude (Emerald) in ''SailorMoon R''. She was so in love with Diamond that she hastily accepted Wiseman's tiara to become more powerful than Sailor Moon and thus, winning Diamond's heart. Unfortunately, her plan falls apart when the tiara transforms her into a dragon rather than a Queen. The senshi (with the help of Tuxedo Mask) defeat the dragon and Esmeraude is momentarily restored to her human form - only to fall into a dark abyss. She whispers Diamond's name as she vanishes. To Esmeraude's credit, the rest of her peers including Diamond also made the colossal mistake of trusting Wiseman.

* In the ''{{Area 88}}'' manga and OVA, Ryoko has very [[{{WideEyedIdealist}} idealistic]] and [[{{ManChild}} immature]] ideas about love. To boot, she is determined to free Shin from servitude at Area 88, but never stops to ask why he might be in the Asranian air force in the first place. Finally, in manga issues that did not make it stateside, [[spoiler: Shin repeatedly breaks her heart, and yet she [[{{WhyWouldAnyoneTakeHimBack}} reunites with him]] in the end.]]

* ''BaldursGate'' features Viconia, a NeutralEvil Drow Cleric on the run from her [[AlwaysChaoticEvil equally evil race]]. Then the Player Character saves her a few times, [[LoveRedeems worms his way into her dark heart]], and if he plays his cards right, he can change her alignment to TrueNeutral... which disqualifies her from using a powerful, [[LostForever one-of-a-kind]] holy symbol dedicated to her (still evil) goddess.

* In ''{{Pokemon}},'' this is what happens if a Pokemon is hit with the move Attract from a Pokemon of the opposite gender, or if the attacking Pokemon uses a move that require physical contact (e.g. Tackle) onto a Pokemon of the opposite gender with the Cute Charm ability (though it works only 30% of the time in this case).
* Luisa Fortuna of ''RedDeadRedemption'' is shown to be deeply in love with RebelLeader Abraham Reyes, a man who can barely remember her name and is clearly a power-hungry egomaniac. She even goes so far as to [[TooDumbToLive try and attack armed soldiers with a knife in an attempt to rescue him]].

* Selvaria in VideoGame/ValkyriaChronicles. She's utterly devoted to Maximillian, but she doesn't realize he doesn't return her feelings until [[spoiler: he sends her to use a SuicideAttack, showing once and for all that he doesn't give half a damn about her personally]]. You'd think that'd be a bad move on Max's part, considering that Selvaria could turn him into a McNugget combo with less effort than it takes for her to get dressed in the morning, plus she's developed a tenuous rapport with her counterpart on the good guys' side and could probably defect to their side. [[spoiler: But no. She goes ahead and blows herself up, tearfully praising Max's name, but makes a point of betraying him at the last second by sparing the only people in the Gallian military capable of stopping him.]]

* Snap from ''ChalkZone'' goes stupid every time Queen Rabsheeba shows up. Usually stuff like eating his magazine, turning into dust, etc.

* Referenced in ''{{Futurama}}'', although the circumstances and Fry's general level of intelligence stop it being an example.

* In the story "The Warlock's Hairy Heart", seen in Literature/TheTalesOfBeedleTheBard, a fairy tale book for [[Literature/HarryPotter wizards and witches]], the warlock believes that LoveMakesYouDumb, so he performs dark magic to prevent this from happening to himself. It didn't end well.

* Suzy Pepper of ''{{Glee}}'' had a crush on teacher, called him at 3 a.m., gave him a tie with red peppers so when he wears it he can think of her. Teacher rejected her, she ate world's HOTTEST PEPPER, burned holes in her esophagus, and got put in a medically induced coma for 3 days. To add insult to injury, the teacher then added that girls are so fragile.

* Played with in ''{{Frasier}}'', where Frasier is constantly doing face-palmingly stupid things whenever he gets into a relationship with a woman and directly ignoring his very own psychiatric advice...and ''he knows it'', and can't help it, and constantly hopes his romantic plans won't blow up in his face this time, no matter how many times his GenreSavvy little brother reminds him how badly he suffers from this trope, with his stupidity probably reaching a zenith in "Don Juan in Hell". This is just one aspect of pretty much the very core of Frasier's character — being brilliant at giving other people advice, and terrible at following it himself.
* On ''GilmoreGirls,'' Lane is so smitten with a boy that she pets his hair when he's turned around, then runs away, embarrassed. She winds up turning to Lorelai for advice, who advises her that when it comes to love, "it pretty much all comes out in stupid."
* ''{{Sherlock}}'' states this outright in ''A Scandal In Belgravia''. It is directed at [[spoiler: Irene Adler]] who has just finished [[BullyingADragon tearing into him about his apparent asexuality]], something repeated throughout the episode.

* ''{{Friends}}'': Monica and Chandler when they first develop feelings for each other.

* One common interpretation of Shakespeare's ''RomeoAndJuliet'' has this trope as its lifeblood.

* In ''StargateContinuum'', Baal uses TimeTravel to maneuver himself into dominance of the Goa'uld System Lords and is in position to conquer Earth with ease. He even brilliantly gains the loyalty of the Free Jaffa movement by dealing with them in complete honesty. His only failing was to let his feelings for Qetesh override his common sense, resulting her betraying and murdering him.

* Selvaria in ValkyriaChronicles. She's utterly devoted to Maximillian, but she doesn't realize he doesn't return her feelings until [[spoiler: he sends her to use a SuicideAttack, showing once and for all that he doesn't give half a dman about her personally]]. You'd think that'd be a bad move on Max's part, considering that Selvaria could turn him into a McNugget combo with less effort than it takes for her to get dressed in the morning, plus she's developed a tenuous rapport with her counterpart on the good guys' side and could probably defect to their side. [[spoiler: But no. She goes ahead and blows herself up, tearfully praising Max's name, but makes a point of betraying him at the last second by sparing the only people in the Gallian military capable of stopping him.]]

* In the story "The Warlock's Hairy Heart", seen in TheTalesOfBeedleTheBard, a fairy tale book for [[HarryPotter wizards and witches]], the warlock believes that LoveMakesYouDumb, so he performs dark magic to prevent this from happening to himself. It didn't end well.

[[folder:Film]]

* Shang in ''{{Mulan}}'' is a mild form of this trope. He is a competent and professional soldier, not even letting his father's death [[TheStoic distract him from the task at hand.]] But when he tries to thank Mulan after saving him from Shan Yu and when he later visits Mulan's house, he stammers and generally has no idea how to act around Mulan now that he knows she's a girl.