History Main / RichSuitorPoorSuitor

* The TV series of ''FutureGPXCyberFormula'' has Asuka Sugo involved in a love triangle between the Middle-class guy and her longtime friend Hayato Kazami and the [[BlueBlood noble]] rich guy Karl Lichter von Randoll. [[spoiler: She eventually chooses Hayato, but it was pretty obvious on who she would choose.]]

* Rare female example in ''Kasei yakyoku'': the noblewoman Akiko and the maid Sara are this to Taka.
* In HanaNoKoLunlun, a beautiful young woman chooses a French sea captain over a rich Italian count. [[spoiler: That woman was Lunlun's MissingMom. And 18 years later, Lunlun meets the man who could've been her father... who turns out to be a rather kind-hearted guy.]]

** Subverted in [[spoiler:Hotohori's character novel, ''Suzaku Hi Den''. His future wife and empress Houki is in the middle of the LoveTriangle; Hotohori is the rich suitor, while his long-lost brother Tendou Shu is the poor suitor. This time Hotohori wins.]]
* With a little bit of ShippingGoggles applied, ''AxisPowersHetalia'' can be seen as having this in the form of aristocratic [[{{Kuudere}} Austria]] and rough-and-tumble [[HotBlooded Prussia]] both being interested in [[HotAmazon Hungary]]. Atypically, Austria is [[OfficialCouple canonly]] the [[VictoriousChildhoodFriend victorious one]], but the fanworks that emphasize this trope the most are the ones that believe Hungary would be better off with the "more fun and passionate" [[UnluckyChildhoodFriend Prussia.]] And they often apply DieForOurShip to Austria.

* The LoveTriangle among police officers in ''DetectiveConan'' had "rich suitor" and local WhitePrince Shiratori against "poor suitor" and middle-class NiceGuy Takagi, both pining for the local ActionGirl Satou. [[spoiler: Satou ultimately chooses Takagi, after quite a while of CantSpitItOut. Shiratori eventually finds his first love, Sumiko, and she becomes his VictoriousChildhoodFriend.]]

* In ''ManyWaters,'' a sequel to ''AWrinkleInTime,'' by Madeleine L'Engle, Yalith is pursued both by one of the nephilim, a powerful angelic being who promises her splendor and protection from the oncoming flood, and Sandy and Dennys, the twins from another time, who can't exactly promise a way to save her. However, [[spoiler: she [[TakeAThirdOption Takes a Third Option]] when she trusts in the seraphim, [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence who takes her away to be with God.]]]]

* ''AKnightsTale'': Jocelyn must choose between Count Ademar, the nobleman, and William, the squire disguised as a knight. Not a straight example because she thought they were both noble, but she was still willing to love William after she found out his true heritage.

* Given a bit of a twist in ''{{Disney}}/{{Aladdin}}'', where Jasmine falls in love with "street rat" Aladdin and doesn't much care for this Prince Ali who comes parading down the streets with an ostentatious display of wealth and possessions. The twist being, of course, that "Ali" is actually Aladdin who's been turned into a prince by Genie, and Jasmine only begins warming up to him when she figures this out and he begins acting more like the poor and decent man she fell in love with.

* The LoveTriangle among police officers in DetectiveConan had "rich suitor" and local WhitePrince Shiratori against "poor suitor" and middle-class NiceGuy Takagi, both pining for the local ActionGirl Satou. [[spoiler: Satou ultimately chooses Takagi, after quite a while of CantSpitItOut. Shiratori eventually finds his first love, Sumiko, and she becomes his VictoriousChildhoodFriend.]]

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* ''MaisonIkkoku'': Yusaku Godai is the poor college student, Shun Mitaka is the rich guy who only coaches tennis as a hobby. Kyoko Otonashi spent six years choosing between them, thanks to a rash of StatusQuoIsGod. [[spoiler: She chooses the Poor Suitor. The Rich one finds [[TheOjou a girlfriend of his own]] and they're happy together, tho.]]
* ''FushigiYuugi'': Miaka Yuuki is the Suzaku no Miko and main girl of the series. The rich suitor is Hotohori, the ''Emperor'' of Konan. The poor suitor is CountryMouse Tamahome. [[ForegoneConclusion Miaka chooses]] [[FirstGirlWins Tamahome]].
** Subverted in [[spoiler:Hotohori's character novel, ''Suzaku Hi Den''. His future wife and empress Houki is in the middle of the LoveTriangle; Hotohori is the rich suitor, while his long-lost brother Tendou Shu is the poor suitor. This time Hotohori wins.]]
* With a little bit of ShippingGoggles applied, ''AxisPowersHetalia'' can be seen as having this in the form of aristocratic [[{{Kuudere}} Austria]] and rough-and-tumble [[HotBlooded Prussia]] both being interested in [[HotAmazon Hungary]]. Atypically, Austria is [[OfficialCouple canonly]] the [[VictoriousChildhoodFriend victorious one]], but the fanworks that emphasize this trope the most are the ones that believe Hungary would be better off with the "more fun and passionate" [[UnluckyChildhoodFriend Prussia.]] And they often apply DieForOurShip to Austria.
** For some fics, you can switch Prussia with Hungary's teenage-hood friend [[WholesomeCrossdresser Poland]] and it's similar. Including the DFOS, sadly.
** The Greece/Japan/Turkey LoveTriangle can also be viewed as this, considering Greece's PerpetualPoverty and Turkey's BlingOfWar and Greece/Japan being heavily favored in both canon and fandom.
* The LoveTriangle among police officers in DetectiveConan had "rich suitor" and local WhitePrince Shiratori against "poor suitor" and middle-class NiceGuy Takagi, both pining for the local ActionGirl Satou. [[spoiler: Satou ultimately chooses Takagi, after quite a while of CantSpitItOut. Shiratori eventually finds his first love, Sumiko, and she becomes his VictoriousChildhoodFriend.]]

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* ''MoulinRouge'': Satine must choose between the rich Duke ([[OnlyOneName that's his only name]]) and the young bohemian playwright Christian.

* With a little bit of ShippingGoggles applied, ''AxisPowersHetalia'' can be seen as having this in the form of aristocratic Austria and rough-and-tumble Prussia both being interested in Hungary. Atypically, Austria is [[OfficialCouple canonly]] the [[VictoriousChildhoodFriend victorious one]], but the fanworks that emphasize this trope the most are the ones that believe Hungary would be better off with the "more fun and passionate" [[UnluckyChildhoodFriend Prussia.]] And they often apply DieForOurShip to Austria.
** For some fics, you can switch Prussia with Hungary's teenage-hood friend Poland and it's similar. Including the DFOS, sadly.

* Played with in ''Film/JustFriends'' in which Jamie must choose between her former high school best friend who is now a {{Jerkass}}, successful {{Casanova}} with a glamorous job in the music intustry and another former friend who has grown up into a nice, down to earth small town paramedic. [[spoiler: Except in turns out the {{Jerkass}} Rich Suitor is really a JerkWithAHeartOfGold while the supposedly nice Poor Suitor is a BitchInSheepsClothing deliberately looking to break her heart for not noticing his crush on her in high school.]]

* ''MaisonIkkoku'': Yusaku Godai is the poor college student, Shun Mitaka is the rich guy who only coaches tennis as a hobby. Kyoko Otonashi spent six years choosing between them, thanks to a rash of StatusQuoIsGod. [[spoiler: She chooses the Poor Suitor. Thr Rich one finds a girlfriend of his own, tho.]]

* With a little bit of ShippingGoggles applied, ''AxisPowersHetalia'' can be seen as having this in the form of aristocratic Austria and rough-and-tumble Prussia both being interested in Hungary. Atypically, Austria is [[OfficialCouple canonly]] the [[VictoriousChildhoodFriend victorious one]], but the fanworks that emphasize this trope the most are the ones that believe Hungary would be better off with the "more fun and passionate" Prussia. The Greece/Japan/Turkey LoveTriangle can also be viewed as this, considering Greece's PerpetualPoverty and Turkey's BlingOfWar and Greece/Japan being heavily favored in both canon and fandom.

* This is the plot of Verdi's ''Il Trovatore''. The Rich Suitor is Count di Luna, the local WhitePrince; the Poor Suitor is an officer and trovator with Gypsy blood named Manrico, and both are in love with [[TheOjou the Spanish Queen's lady in waiting, Leonora]]. [[TearJerker It ends in tragedy]], [[spoiler: not just because Manrico is executed and Leonora is DrivenToSuicide... but because the Count later finds out that ''Manrico was his long-lost little brother'', whose kidnapping by gypsies drove him to hate the Roma.]] Holy IronicHell.

* In ''TheGreatGatsby'', the backstory had Daisy being torn between common soldier Jay who's away at war and wealthy JerkJock Tom. She chose Tom, but it's implied that she regretted not waiting for Jay and loved him more than she loved Tom. And then this trope is deconstructed every which way when Jay returns even richer than Tom and begins successfully courting Daisy, only for Daisy be ultimately too weak-willed and shallow to choose him over Tom and [[spoiler:Jay to get shot for trying to cover up a death Daisy accidentally caused]].

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* Deconstructed in the fairy-tale parody short story "[[http://www.nexuslearning.net/books/Holt_ElementsofLit-3/Collection%203/princess%20and%20the%20tin%20box.htm The Princess and the Tin Box]]", where a princess raised in luxury comes of age and is given a choice between many suitors. All but one are the "rich suitor", who present her with jewels in the hopes that she'll marry them only for them, the other having all the trappings of the "poor suitor", giving her only a tin box full of pebbles out of lack of anything else. The princess, after carefully considering everything...chooses one of the rich suitors. (The reader is admonished in the end that "Any of you who think that the Princess should have chosen the last of the suitors should go up to the board and write "I would rather have a box of worthless stones than fine jewels.")

* Deconstructed in the fairy-tale parody short story "The Princess and the Tin Box", where a princess raised in luxury comes of age and is given a choice between many suitors. All but one are the "rich suitor", who present her with jewels in the hopes that she'll marry them only for them, the other having all the trappings of the "poor suitor", giving her only a tin box full of pebbles out of lack of anything else. The princess, after carefully considering everything...chooses one of the rich suitors. (The reader is admonished in the end that "Any of you who think that the Princess should have chosen the last of the suitors should go up to the board and write "I would rather have a box of worthless stones than fine jewels.")

* In ''ManyWaters,'' a sequel to ''AWrinkleInTime,'' by Madeleine L'Engle, Yalith is pursued both by one of the nephilim, a powerful angelic being who promises her splendor and protection from the oncoming flood, and Sandy and Dennys, the twins from another time, who can't exactly promise a way to save her. However, [[spoiler: she [[TakeAThirdOption Takes a Third Option]] when she trusts in the seraphim, [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence who takes her away to be with God.]] ]]

* ''AKnightsTale'': Jocelyn must choose between Count Ademar, the nobleman, and William, the squire disguised as a noble.

* Subverted in ''TheNotbook'' as the rich guy is decent and very lovely.

* "[[www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-choice/ The Choice]]" by Dorothy Parker is a poem about a woman who has a choice between a man who offers her lands and fine things and a man who charms her with his singing alone. She chooses the latter without a second thought--and then wonders afterward if there's something wrong with her head.

If the suitors are also a BettyAndVeronica pair, the dynamic will typically be either "[[SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan poor but nice]] suitor vs. [[RichBitch rich but haughty]] suitor" or "[[RomanticRunnerUp rich but dull]] suitor vs. [[AllGirlsWantBadBoys poor but fun]] suitor", being obviously slanted toward the poor suitor in both cases. So much, in fact, that having the rich suitor win instead is considered by many as a ''subversion'' of this trope - perhaps the trope name should have been "Poor Suitor Wins" instead?.

* In {{The Building}} bu {{Will Eisner}}, Helen had a college sweetheart poet who loves her, but instead chose to marry the more stable, richer dentist - but ends up having an affair with the Poet because the marriage was ultimately loveless.

* ''PiratesOfTheCaribbean'': Elizabeth must choose between her true love, penniless blacksmith Will or the older, wealthier Commodore Norrington. In a nice subversion both guys are portrayed as good men and both genuinely love her. [[spoiler: She chooses Will. Norrington accepts it and later performs an HeroicSacrifice]]

* Subverted in ''{{TheNotbook}}'' as the rich guy is decent and very lovely.

* "The Choice" by Dorothy Parker is a poem about a woman who has a choice between a man who offers her lands and fine things and a man who charms her with his singing alone. She chooses the latter without a second thought--and then wonders afterward if there's something wrong with her head.

* In ''Many Waters,'' a sequel to ''AWrinkleInTime,'' by Madeleine L'Engle, Yalith is pursued both by one of the nephilim, a powerful angelic being who promises her splendor and protection from the oncoming flood, and Sandy and Dennys, the twins from another time, who can't exactly promise a way to save her. However, [[spoiler: she [[TakeAThirdOption Takes a Third Option]] when she trusts in the seraphim, [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence who takes her away to be with God.]] ]]

** A notable exception in ''DaysOfOurLives'' was the creation of the quite unconventional supercouple Jack and Jennifer. Jennifer (the classic girl-next-door type) had to choose between rich, arrogant, manipulative, snarky, corrupt, ex-rapist Jack Deveraux and sweet, caring, poor, leather jacket-wearing Emilio. Even though Jack was doing the typical Rich Suitor stuff like throwing his money around, demeaning the poor suitor and manipulating the situation to seem superior, he ''still'' got the girl and became one of the show's most popular characters for years to come while Emilio got cheated on and eventually fell off a roof and died.

* Played with in ''Film/JustFriends'' in which Jamie must choose between her former high school best friend who is now a {{Jerkass}}, successful {{Casanova}} with a glamorous job in the music intustry and a nice, down to earth small town paramedic. [[spoiler: Except in turns out the {{Jerkass}} Rich Suitor is really a JerkWithAHeartOfGold while the supposedly nice Poor Suitor is a BitchInSheepsClothing deliberately looking to break her heart for not noticing his crush on her in hihchool.]]

If the suitors are also a BettyAndVeronica pair, the "Betty" will usually be the "poor but nice" suitor and the "Veronica" the "rich but haughty" suitor.

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* ''MaisonIkkoku.'' Yusaku Godai is the poor college student, Shun Mitaka is the rich guy who only coaches tennis as a hobby. Kyoko Otonashi spent six years choosing between them, thanks to a rash of StatusQuoIsGod. [[spoiler: She chooses the Poor Suitor. Thr Rich one finds a girlfriend of his own, tho.]]
* ''FushigiYuugi''. Miaka Yuuki is the Suzaku no Miko and main girl of the series. The rich suitor is Hotohori, the ''Emperor'' of Konan. The poor suitor is CountryMouse Tamahome. [[ForegoneConclusion Miaka chooses]] [[FirstGirlWins Tamahome]].
** Subverted in [[spoiler:Hotohori's character novel, ''Suzaku Hi Den''. His future wife and empress Houki is in the middle of the LoveTriangle; Hotohori is the rich suitor, while his long-lost brother Tendou Shu is the poor suitor. This time Hotohori wins.]]

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* ''FullHouse'': Donna Jo aka D.J. must choose between the abnormally rich Nelson and the flaky but sensitive guitarist Viper. She eventually chooses [[TakeAThirdOption neither]].
* Happens all the damn time in soap operas, usually with a blue collar leather-jacket wearing bad boy with a heart of gold vs. a smug, arrogant, suit-wearing bastard. The Poor Suitor almost exclusively wins.
** A notable exception in ''DaysOfOurLives'' was the creation of the quite unconventional supercouple Jack and Jennifer. Jennifer (the classic girl-next-door type) had to choose between rich, arrogant, manipulative, snarky, corrupt, ex-rapist Jack Deveraux and sweet, caring, poor, leather jacket-wearing Emilio. Even though Jack was doing the typical Rich Suitor stuff like throwing his money around, demeaning the poor suitor and manipulating the situation to seem superior, he ''still'' got the girl and became one of the show's most popular characters for years to come while Emilio got cheated on and eventually fell off a roof and died.
* One episode of ''TheTwilightZone'' was about a woman who had to choose between a rich man she didn't love and a poor man she did love, and her future self pursued her on a horse to warn her not to choose the wrong man. The woman ultimately chooses to run off with the poor man. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, ''he'' turned out to be the wrong choice her future self had tried to warn her against.]]
* The poor country vet James Harriot vs. rich Richard Edmundson for the hand of Helen Alderson in ''AllCreaturesGreatAndSmall''.
* Early episodes of ''TheOC'' had this in the form of Ryan (poor) vs Luke (rich) competing for Marissa's love.

* In the book Holes, during Stanley Yelnats' great-great-grandfather's story, Elya (the grandpa) is the poor one and he's up against a fat slob rich guy. In a subversion, Elya loses and leaves the country for America.

* Deconstructed in the fairy-tale parody short story "The Princess and the Tin Box", where a princess raised in luxury comes of age and is given a choice between many suitors. All but one are the "rich suitor", who present her with jewels in the hopes that she'll marry them only for them, the other having all the trappings of the "poor suitor", giving her only a tin box full of pebbles out of lack of anything else to give. The princess, after carefully considering everything...chooses one of the rich suitors. (The reader is admonished in the end that "Any of you who think that the Princess should have chosen the last of the suitors should go up to the board and write "I would rather have a box of worthless stones than fine jewels.")

* In the crossover between {{Superman the Animated Series}} and {{Batman}}, Lois fell in love with Bruce and Bruce somewhat fell for her. Clark felt jealous especially after he found out that Bruce is Batman. But that ended when Lois dumped Bruce when she found out that he's Batman.

** An issue of ''WhatIf'' showed what would have happened if she did choose Warren over Scott. Basically, Scott's edges would have been even harder had she not been there to soften them, and he was an even bigger antisocial JerkAss than he is in the normal continuity. So much, that Professor X named Beast as the leader of the X-Men since he had compassion and actually cared to endear himself to his teammates. This caused Cyclops to storm off and [[FaceHeelTurn join the Brotherhood]]. SoYeah.

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