History Main / RomanticPlotTumor

* [[ComicBook/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy Star-Lord]]'s first solo series ended up suffering from this for most of its run. It had a good start, introducing some characters like a lost sister of Peter and some interesting plots like the mystery of a new villain who put a bounty on Peter's head. However, it also introduced ComicBook/KittyPryde, who became Peter's new girlfriend in another book. At first, it looked like the relationship would be developed as a side plot in between Peter's many adventures, however, the couple was well received between fans and soon the book turned into the Star-Lord & Kitty Pryde romantic adventures. Every other subplot was forgotten with the exception of the one with the new villain, in favor of showcasing Peter and Kitty's developing relationship to the point that a whole crossover event was planned just to keep developing the relationship.

* Robyn's romance with German Villaraigosa, in ''ComicBook/RobynHood The Curse''. It's not only that her romantic interest for him doesn't bring anything to the story, beyond an excuse to keep the plots of [[spoiler: Sam's posession and the ritual murders around the city]] connected. But it's also the fact that Robyn Hood is... well, Robyn Hood. So how do you think a character named like that, would feel about a rich asshole that thinks that he can get away with everything because he has money?

* ''Fanfic/ForgedDestiny'' suffers from this. Jaune's romance with Blake ends up forming a significant amount of Books 3 and 4, and to the detriment of the rest of the cast due to him being the point-of-view character. The author would take notice and promise to reduce this in the next book, only for Book 5 to argubly make it worse, with much of the story being focused on their relationship threatening to fall apart due to Jaune carrying the IdiotBall regarding both his love life and the main story for the entire arc.

* A common criticism of Creator/SamRaimi’s Spider-Man trilogy. With many feeling the romance, or more so the buildup to the romance taking too much of the plot. Especially in the sequels.
* ''The Shoes of the Fisherman'' (1968) has a particularly egregious case. Most of the movie focuses on Anthony Quinn as Kiril, a Ukrainian bishop who becomes Pope and tries to avert a war between China and the USSR. Yet ''Shoes'' spends at least half an hour on a superfluous love triangle between David Janssen's American journalist, his wife Barbara Jefford and mistress Rosemary Dexter. This subplot doesn't even relate to the main story (Janssen and Jefford briefly meet the Pope, without any impact on their relationship) and was widely attacked by critics.

** Ironically, the post-George Lucas Star Wars Sequel Trilogy contains a similarly divisive and story-overriding relationship beginning in Film/TheLastJedi: initial enemies Rey and Kylo Ren develop a bond after he’s tortured and [[MindRape violated]] her before murdering one friend (his own father) and maiming another (Finn)… [[StrangledByTheRedString without much time,]] [[UnfortunateImplications and without much change in behavior on his part or much explanation as to why she feels attracted to him.]] The relationship was simultaneously as hated as this trope implies but ''also'' a FanPreferredCouple… by about [[BrokenBase half the fanbase.]] It managed to help make Kylo Ren (often seen as a CreatorsPet) a BaseBreakingCharacter and kicked off a change in focus on the story that spun off to contribute to ExecutiveMeddling and behind-the-scenes drama to cut short his run as DragonAscendant so he could pull a HeelFaceTurn against a [[AssPull “somehow returned” Emperor Palpatine]] and get kissed by Rey before dying… meaning the romance and its favored member did, in fact, take over the story.
* ''Film/{{Stargate}}'': The tacked on romance subplot between Jackson and Sha'uri adds precisely nothing to the film.
* ''Film/TheTenCommandments1956'' has a love story between Moses and [[NotBloodSiblings his adopted half-sister]] Nefretiri. Not only is this romance definitely not in the [[Literature/TheBible source material]], but the huge buildup in the first two hours of the film was abruptly derailed when Moses is exiled halfway through the film and gets foisted off on a princess from the desert. The emotional tension when he eventually returns to find Nefretiri married to his adopted brother is minimal. Nefretiri serves very little purpose in the overall film, and her one or two important actions could easily have been accomplished without the romantic tension, fluff, angst, and generally useless buildup that added an hour of length onto the already-four-hour-long film.

* ''Film/TulipFever'' was billeted as a PeriodPiece about the Dutch Tulip Craze of the 1600s. Unfortunately, the two main romances in the movie, and the various [[KudzuPlot Kudzu Plots]] connected to those relationships, render the tulip craze to a PlotDevice, mostly used as conversation fodder and as a possible means for the various male characters to quickly raise money for various personal goals.

** Graystripe/Silverstream -- Whether their romance was tragic or over-dramatic, Graystripe will forever be associated with this relationship, and almost everything in the series involving him is somehow tied in with Silverstream and his love/obsession with her.

* In ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'' books, the author goes on and on about the Faile-Berelain-Perrin triangle, and devotes pointless chapters to Perrin's agonizing over his kidnapped wife while plodding along aimlessly in his search for her, adding tedious bulk to an already horribly bloated series. Really, most of the love stories in ''The Wheel of Time'' were tumors.

* A common criticism of ''Series/{{Arrow}}'' is how much unneeded drama is mined from romantic foibles, especially Oliver Queen's, mostly because a lot of it comes down to one party lecturing the other (often with them presented as right to do so, [[InformedWrongness while the audience often disagrees]]) or them arguing over issues that could be avoided by talking it out like adults. Oliver/Laurel was the first to get flak for this with cheating, sleeping with the sibling, love triangles, and romantic angst. Oliver/Felicity got this after becoming canon, becoming a huge part of the show and many finding it causing a negative effect on Felicity's character. In fact, Oliver/Felicity became so controversial that some jumped ship Oliver/Laurel. It's an oft-cited reason for the extremely poor quality of ''Arrow'' [[SeasonalRot Season Four]], which is ofte regarded as the worst season of not just ''Arrow'', as their romantic drama completely dominated that season.

* In the fourth series of ''Series/TheCrown'', Charles becomes [[AscendedExtra one of the main characters]], after receiving very little screentime in previous series. Unfortunately, 100% of his storyline is his troubled marriage to Diana and his ongoing affair with Camilla. This plot not only dominates Charles' storyline, but is also a frequent topic of conversation and concern among the other characters even when Charles is offscreen, to the point that it was one of the biggest plots in the series and overshadowed most of what Elizabeth (the actual sovereign) was up to at any given time.

** Various seasons are afflicted with this to different degrees, such as 2 and 5, but the granddaddy of them all must be Season 4. We're repeatedly taken away from the A-Plot of the series to concentrate on [=LaGuerta=] and Batista's relationship. It's particularly galling because there's no build-up to this romance: they're already lovey-dovey by the time we see them and Batista's previous relationship is merely handwaved away. Oh, and this plotline affects the A-Plot in precisely ''one'' instance. Even worse is that it combined [=LaGuerta=], whom many fans can't stand, and Angel, who is a fan favorite and perhaps the most likable person on the series.

* A lot of screen time in Season 4 and 5 of ''Series/DowntonAbbey'' is taken up with the recently widowed Mary's love triangle with Charles Blake and Anthony Gillingham. Mary vacillates between the two of them until finally, Gillingham's character is {{derail|ingLoveInterests}}ed in order to have Mary break up with him, and then he decides to marry another woman, leaving the path clear for Mary and Blake. Just when it looks like the two will finally get together, they agree they're [[BetterAsFriends better off as friends]], and Blake moves abroad. The entire love triangle has no real effect on any events in the show, nor on Mary, who gains yet another new love interest in the Christmas special following Season 5.

** Finn and Rachel's relationship fits in this category for quite a few viewers. A story about a group of quirky, diverse, and talented misfits trying to move beyond their small-town life and pursue their dreams via their shared love of music... and at least a third of each episode focuses on Finn and Rachel's on and off again romance. Seeing as both the characters are talented, white, straight, and able-bodied, it's easy to see why people found this to be tedious at times. The fact that the actors of Finn and Rachel eventually got into an [[RomanceOnTheSet actual relationship]] and the fact that this pairing was supported by prominent columnists in the entertainment industry and the mass media doesn't help things either. Post-graduation, their on-and-off tango had no tension since it was clear they'd be together in the end. However, the untimely death of Cory Monteith pretty much put an end to that.
** The fourth season love triangle with Marley, Ryder, and Jake takes a good chunk of time out of almost every episode and feels ''very'' uninspired due to the fact that all three characters are [[{{Expy}} copies]] of original ones: Marley was dubbed "The New Rachel," Jake is Puck's half-brother and has his attitude, and Ryder is yet another football jock who secretly loves to perform. Considering the nature of the show, and the fact that the two boys have much better chemistry with each other than either of them have with her, many fans wished they'd just come out as bi and go at it.

* The Jack/Kate/Sawyer love-triangle on ''Series/{{Lost}}''. Became especially grating when the series committed to a definite endpoint, and every second spent on this was one less second that could have been used clearing up the show's numerous mysteries and dangling plot threads. Also because the writers proved that they could write relationship arcs that are well done and popular among the fans (see: Desmond & Penny)...yet suddenly they couldn't do the same with the ''main one''. This is taken to insane levels in the Season 5 finale, where Jack wants to erase the entire timeline by blowing up a nuclear bomb... because his relationship with Kate didn't work out. He doesn't seem to realize that this would mean they'd never meet in the first place! Juliet was also added to this romantic plot tumor. Additionally, Juliet suddenly changed her mind about detonating that hydrogen bomb because she thought that her relationship with Sawyer might end because Kate came back to the island. Really, the way Kate, Juliet, Sawyer, and Jack felt about detonating that hydrogen bomb was extremely arbitrary and depended entirely on how they felt about their role in this love polygon from hell at a given moment.
* Arthur/Gwen start off this way in ''Series/Merlin2008''. In the first series the two barely interact (and Gwen outright dislikes Arthur) until the last few episodes, when they have a few shippy moments. Then in early Series 2 Arthur impulsively kisses Gwen, then suddenly Arthur is declaring he "cares for (Gwen) more than anyone" and everyone and their dog are going ShipperOnDeck talking about [[StrangledByTheRedString how deeply they obviously feel for each other]]. Series 3 and 4 don't exactly downgrade their relationship, but do allow it to develop and breathe in a more organic way with the two discussing things, working as a team, and dealing with various issues and obstacles, and they develop into a solid OfficialCouple, then RulingCouple.

* In ''Series/PeakyBlinders'', Tommy and Grace are teased in the first Season even though Grace is TheMole working for his enemy, she eventually falls for him for real but still ends up selling him out and leaves Birmingham at the end of the first season. Come season two and Tommy has a new LoveInterest, May, but ends up in a LoveTriangle with Grace when she briefly returns to Birmingham and the season finale has ''three'' women (May, Grace, and Lizzy) waiting for him. He ends up [[spoiler: marrying Grace]] in season three because she got pregnant, but this is cut short when [[spoiler: Grace dies.]] The plot tumor comes in two parts - firstly because not only did Tommy "fall for" Grace when he knew absolutely nothing about her and knew she'd lied to him several times before he discovered she was working for Campbell, but he is still hung up over Grace at the beginning of season two despite the fact she, you know, ''sold him out to his worst enemy'' and [[EasilyForgiven he forgives her for this for seemingly no apparent reason]] (Polly even lampshades this) and secondly, she continues to appear in the show ''long'' after her character has served her purpose. Tommy continues to [[spoiler: hallucinate Grace years after her death]] and seems inexplicably incapable of getting over her even after [[spoiler: he marries Lizzy and has a daughter with her]]. This is especially egregious because she's the only character Tommy does this with - he lost his first love, Greta, and his friends [[spoiler: Danny and Freddie]], his own mother and [[spoiler: ''John'']], but none of them keep showing up and interrupting the story over and over again when they're supposed to be gone like Grace does.

** PlayedWith in Season 15 with Sam and Eileen, in that Eileen turned out to be an unwitting plant for Chuck - basically a ''deliberate'' RomanticPlotTumor. On the other hand, PlayedStraight in a variety of ways, including: Eileen appearing far more romantically interested in Sam than vice versa (arguably some CharacterDerailment for the hitherto-independent Eileen, whose role in the plot became solely "love interest for Sam"); Sam himself appearing mostly confused by the whole thing and not especially romantically interested in Eileen; confusion as to why Chuck would need a spy in the first place when he could already see everything Sam and Dean were doing; and writers seemingly not sure what to do with Eileen or the fledgling relationship after Chuck's mid-season reveal, taking it entirely offscreen thereafter. In the second half of the season, Sam and Eileen appear to never even see each other save for a single date when Sam needed to be out of the way for plot reasons - but then near the end of the season we see Eileen has a picture of Sam as her cell background, again indicating a more serious relationship. The fact that Eileen apparently [[DeathIsCheap died and was resurrected]] in the final episodes, and Sam never seems to so much as text her to see if she's okay ([[spoiler:and is implied to have married someone else in the DistantFinale]]), caps off the confusion.

* The TroubledProduction of Creator/CirqueDuSoleil's ''Theatre/BananaShpeel'' involved, among other things, ''avoiding'' this trope. Originally, the GenreThrowback to {{Vaudeville}} was going to be TheMusical as well, with a protagonist who in love with the daughter of the troupe's boss, but when the creators realized that developing this plot via songs would leave little time for {{Slapstick}} and Cirque-style acrobatics, it was completely dropped, even though the fourth season finale of ''America's Got Talent'' featured their performers and one of the songs. As poorly received as subsequent versions of the show were, it might have been worse had this trope been in effect.

* One of the main complaints in ''VideoGame/DeadSpace3''. Ellie and Isaac fought through the horrors of the Necromorph outbreak on the Sprawl in ''VideoGame/DeadSpace2'', and apparently had some form of romantic relationship off-screen (though such was not implied in 2). Come 3, Ellie and Isaac have broken up (with Ellie citing Isaac's [[NoSympathy inability to just man-up and deal]] [[ShellShockedVeteran with his PTSD]] ) and Ellie quickly replaces Isaac with an Earth Gov military Officer: Robert Norton. Despite being on a mission as humanity's last hope from becoming space-zombie fodder, this love triangle becomes the primary conflict among the group that constantly interferes with the mission at hand, with Isaac and Norton constantly butting heads over Ellie's affections. By trying to protect Ellie (who was once so capable that, in the second game, she rescues Isaac) and to accommodate their CockFight, she succumbs to BadassDecay; weakening all three characters. The third game also tries to play up the drama of Norton's SanitySlippage, with Isaac and Ellie claiming they have no idea why Norton is becoming increasingly hostile to Isaac and possessive of Ellie, even though both of them know exactly what being around Markers [[AxCrazy do]] to people.

* ''Webcomic/{{Sinfest}}'' had a stretch in which there was an increasing focus on the romance between nerdy bookworm Criminy and lonely succubus Fuchsia. It didn't overrun the entire story, and the subplot is sweet, and not many fans complain about it. It still counts because while it distracts from the main story, the main stories themselves are so [[BrokenBase controversial]] and {{Anvilicious}} that the audience actually ''welcomes'' the distraction. It helps that the characters involved in the romance are among the few that haven't suffered CharacterDerailment or {{Flanderization}}. [[Administrivia/TropesAreTools Tropes Are Indeed Not Bad]].

* ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'' has a very bizarre one in the form of Steve and Snot's relationship, which has had the Ho Yay ramped up or outright confirmed them as gay or together in the future. It becomes jarring when nearly every episode with Snot in it will mention or hint at this, no matter how unfitting or unnecessary it is.

* ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'': The love square between Marinette/Ladybug and Adrien/Cat Noir has become this. It's been a factor of the show since the beginning, with it getting praise for its creativity early on; however, after several seasons and a combination of the same tired WillTheyOrWontThey and near-identity reveal cliches, the introduction of several [[RomanticFalseLead alternate pairings]], and some rather iffy actions taken on all sides of the romance, many fans have gotten sick of it and wish the show would get the obligatory identity reveals over with already (or at least reduce the amount of focus put on it). It doesn't help that, no matter how many reasons are given to keep their identities secret InUniverse, it's blatantly transparent that the only reason they're doing so is to keep the love square antics going.

** While it can be argued that Season 4 doesn't neglect the MythArc as much as Season 3, it nevertheless continues to stretch the romantic plot further and further despite also [[ForegoneConclusion blatantly telegraphing a "Starco" ending]]. In addition to showing the rocky nature of Star and Tom's relationship, primarily due to actions on Star's side of things, the show offers numerous moments for the two to break up only to perpetuate the relationship. Meanwhile, Marco and Kelly get together in a G-rated version of FriendsWithBenefits so they can move on from their former flames, but this is brought up for only one other episode before they [[AbortedArc abruptly break up]], and [[OffscreenBreakup off-screen no less]]. Fans believed that "Beach Day" would be the episode that would lead to them finally getting together, but it turned out to be a RedHerring and they remained friends. Tom would finally break up with Star shortly after that episode, however, and then directly tell Marco that he'd be fine with him dating Star. But by that point, the main plot was back in full force and ready to head towards its resolution. [[spoiler: Star and Marco would finally share a quick (non-cheating) kiss during "Here to Help" [[LastMinuteHookup with only three episodes left in the series]]. Just in time for their love to cause a MergedReality of Earth and Mewni, so they can continue their relationship after the destruction of magic. The love-based merging of world was quickly seen as just another divisive move in an already polarizing series finale, where even fans that loved it feel ''both'' the lore elements and romance elements were incredibly rushed in order to fit everything into 22 minutes.]]
* InUniverse in ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' -- in "Open Book," Connie laments that her favorite book series ended with the two main characters [[StrangledByTheRedString suddenly hooking up]] and getting married, with ''fifty pages'' dedicated to describing their wedding cake. Funnily enough, the conflict of the episode is resolved when Steven admits he felt the opposite, thinking the ending was really sweet and pointing out all the obvious romantic beats that Connie had ignored in favor of focusing on the worldbuilding and social commentary.

** A common criticism of ''World Tour'' is that the belligerent LoveTriangle between Courtney, Duncan and Gwen got far too much focus after Duncan returned to the competition midway through the season, to the point where fan-favorites Tyler and Noah were thrown out early to give more focus to it and it essentially consumed Gwen and Courtney's personalities in ''All-Stars''.

* One of the most criticized aspects of the 2022 version of ''ComicBook/{{Darna}}'' is how much time is dedicated to the Narda/Brian/Regina love triangle. It doesn't help that so much time is spent on it at the expense of the actual superhero action and how many fans feel Jane De Leon and Joshua Garcia don't have much chemistry despite how many people InUniverse declare that they are perfect for each other. The Regina and Brian part (despite many feeling that Garcia and Janella Salvador have better chemistry) is also often seen as unnecessary and only there to cause tension between Narda and Regina (who are destined to become [[ArchEnemy arch enemies]]) when their differing opinions on justice are already fulfilling that role. It doesn't help that many feel that the love triangle takes attention away from more interesting dynamics, such as Regina and Narda or Regina and Ali.

** The relationship between Thirteen and Foreman was extremely unpopular for several reasons. Their relationship had very little build-up, progressing from a mild dislike of each other to being in a relationship with only a couple of scenes of development. Furthermore, many fans were of the opinion that each of them had better chemistry with just about every other character on the show. Finally, both Foreman and Thirteen were [[TheScrappy very unpopular characters]] to begin with, so a lot of fans just didn't care what happened to them.

* ''Series/{{Buffy|TheVampireSlayer}}'' and ''Series/{{Angel}}'': The Buffy/Angel elements in "[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E21EndOfDays}} End Of Days]]"/"[[{{Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS7E22Chosen}} Chosen]]" and the entire episode "[[{{Recap/AngelS05E20TheGirlInQuestion}} The Girl in Question]]" are argued as Romantic Plot Tumors for their respective series, whose leads both changed and developed drastically different lives from the one they had together. Making it worse was their proximity to the end of each series, which used precious screentime that could have been dedicated to setting up the storyline of the finale.

** In general, most of Sam Raimi’s films get this criticism. With many thinking his movies are bogged down by romance that is either underdeveloped (e.g. Film/ArmyofDarkness, Film/DoctorStrangeInTheMultiverseOfMadness) or uninteresting (eg. For Love of the Game).

* Wrestling/{{Edge}} & Wrestling/VickieGuerrero from 2008 to 2009 had no rhyme or reason and was obviously created to make Edge seem like even more of a tool (a task he could easily accomplish by being, well, himself). Romantic Plot Cancer is probably a more appropriate term considering that said romance did worm its way into virtually every pay-per-view and sometimes, even ''Raw''.

** In general, most of Sam Raimi’s films get the this criticism. With many thinking his movies are bogged down by romance that is either underdeveloped (e.g. Film/Army of Darkness, Film/DoctorStrangeInTheMultiverseOfMadness) or uninteresting (eg. For Love of the Game).

* In-universe example. An episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'' had Timmy getting annoyed that [[ShowWithinAShow the Crimson Chin]] was spending months focusing on finding a love interest instead of fighting crime. His ArchEnemy even gets annoyed that he's making things too easy for him.

* A common criticism of ''Series/{{Arrow}}'' is how much unneeded drama is mined from romantic foibles, especially Oliver Queen's, mostly because a lot of it comes down to one party lecturing the other (often with them presented as right to do so, [[InformedWrongness while the audience often disagrees]]) or them arguing over issues that could be avoided by talking it out like adults.
** Oliver/Laurel was the first to get flak for this with cheating, sleeping with the sibling, love triangles, and romantic angst -- however, Oliver/Felicity, previously a popular FanPreferredCouple, proved to be far worse, becoming a huge part of the show (with many finding it causing a negative effect on Felicity's character), while other couples like Carly/Diggle and Donna/Quinten have gotten similar complaints about being needless subplots. In fact, Oliver/Felicity became so hated that it turned ''Oliver/Laurel'' into a FanPreferredCouple after Felicity replaced Laurel as Oliver's official love interest. It's an oft-cited reason for the extremely poor quality of ''Arrow'' [[DorkAge Season]] [[SeasonalRot Four]], which is universally regarded as the worst season of not just ''Arrow'' but of the Series/{{Arrowverse}} as a whole, as their romantic drama completely dominated that season.
** The only romantic couples that seem to be universally liked are Diggle/Lyla and Roy/Thea, in large part because of their comparatively less drama (at least, Roy/Thea grew out of their drama and became probably the healthiest couple on the show, while Diggle/Lyla apparently worked out their drama before the show started), with Sara/Oliver and Tommy/Laurel being mostly well-liked (with the exception of shipping-related issues), for similarly having little drama that they didn't work through in a healthy manner and only breaking up due to plot reasons. As a result, though, the show has become ''infamous'' for its focus on complex romance, to the point that talking about shipping among fans of ''Series/TheFlash2014'', ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'', ''Series/LegendsOfTomorrow'', and/or any other comics book show, to result in arguments due to it "ruining" ''Arrow''.

* This is actually kind of {{inverted|Trope}} in a story such as ''{{Manga/Berserk}}''. Set in a world of {{dark|Fantasy}}, [[HighFantasy fantastic fantasy]], Guts is always fighting monsters and traveling to new and strange places with his new team of companions. But despite the constant action and blood and gore that is present, some tend to forget that his main motivation in the story right now ''is'' centered around his love for Casca, since he is traveling to the distant island of Elfhelm in hopes that he can find a cure for her insanity so that they can be together again. The greater MythArc does involve a lot more than just their relationship (the story revolves around the relationship between Guts and his former friend turned foe Griffith), but Guts willingly put revenge aside for Casca, which adds to his CharacterDevelopment. Due to how rarely new chapters come out, this has led to complaints that the series is spending ''too much'' time on fighting monsters, and not enough time on getting Casca cured so she and Guts can move forward. [[spoiler: Casca is finally cured, Guts approaches her, they are about to talk... cut to more monster fighting.]]

* Inverted in ''{{Film/Splash}}''. The film is billed as a RomanticComedy and is one but eventually, the plot turns to rescuing Madison and protecting them from the government that wishes to "research" and dissect her.

** Henry and the new Cinderella in Season 7. Many fans argue that they are nothing more than a much more boring rehash of Snowing (plus, them being a copy of Snowing [[WordOfGod was intentional]] on the writers' part), with their romance arc rushed UpToEleven (in one episode they kiss and two episodes later it skips to Henry announcing Lucy's birth and then an eight-year time skip ''in the same episode'') leaving no time to develop their relationship at all, and furthermore, fans (especially Henry/Drizella shippers) argue that Henry and Ella have no chemistry whatsoever, which is essential towards a believable love story. Yet even though their romance in the past is rushed, somehow the writers still have time to show these two onscreen together all the time.

** Ironically, the post-George Lucas Star Wars Sequel Trilogy contains a similarly divisive and story-overriding relationship beginning in Film/TheLastJedi: initial enemies Rey and Kylo Ren develop a bond after he’s tortured and [[MindRape violated]] her before murdering one friend (his own father) and maiming another (Finn)… [[StrangledByTheRedString without much time,]] [[UnfortunateImplications and without much change in behavior on his part or much explanation as to why she feels attracted to him.]] The relationship was simultaneously as hated as this trope implies but ''also'' a FanPreferredRomance… by about [[BrokenBase half the fanbase.]] It managed to help make Kylo Ren (often seen as a CreatorsPet]] a BaseBreakingCharacter and kicked off a change in focus on the story that spun off to contribute to ExecutiveMeddling and behind-the-scenes drama to cut short his run as DragonAscendant so he could pull a HeelFaceTrun against a [[GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere “somehow returned” Emperor Palpatine]] and get kissed by Rey before dying… meaning the romance and it’s favored member *did*, in fact, take over the story.

* Friends: Ross and Rachel. Dear GOD Ross and Rachel. It seemed that no matter what else was going on, the show made sure you never forgot about Ross and Rachel, often pushing their storyline front and center during the entire run of the show. It should be noted, however, that the show also made a point of having the other four main characters make no secret that they were getting sick and tired of Ross and Rachel’s drama (Phoebe in one episode refers to it as “a bunch of high school crap no one really cares about” and Monica, when making fun of Rachel impersonates her by saying this “I love Ross, I hate Ross, I love Ross, I hate Ross!”).

** Season 3 took the growing romance issues from the previous season and doubled down on them, almost as though the writers were actively trying to make shipping fans of the show as upset and confused as possible. Starting off, Star likes Marco but has to go back to Mewni due to the events of the MythArc. Marco is dating Jackie, but she dumps him knowing that Marco has stronger feelings for Star (though he doesn't realize this yet), allowing Marco to move to Mewni to be near Star. Unfortunately, Star has gotten over Marco and is now back together with her ex-boyfriend Tom, meaning that Marco is left pining for Star when he realizes he's in love with her. Meanwhile, the side characters of Kelly and Tad break up for the umpteenth time but say this time is the final time, leading to Kelly and Marco sharing strong ShipTease in spite of them having very little interaction beforehand. But that's derailed when Star and Marco share a kiss towards the end of the season, albeit [[MistakenForCheating not for romantic intentions]] but still resulting in them rethinking what their relationship actually is. The heavy and confusing teasing of several pairings simultaneously takes the focus off more lore-related plot lines, mainly the Queen Eclipsa [[spoiler: and Heinous]] plot.
** While Season 4 doesn't neglect the MythArc as much as Season 3, it continues the trend Season 3 began by stretching the romantic plot further and further despite also [[ForegoneConclusion blatantly telegraphing a "Starco" ending]]. In addition to showing the rocky nature of Star and Tom's relationship, primarily due to actions on Star's side of things, the show offers numerous moments for the two to break up only to perpetuate the relationship. Meanwhile, Marco and Kelly get together in a G-rated version of FriendsWithBenefits so they can move on from their former flames, but this is brought up for only one other episode before they [[AbortedArc abruptly break up]], and [[OffscreenBreakup off-screen no less]]. Fans believed that "Beach Day" would be the episode that would lead to them finally getting together, but it turned out to be a RedHerring and they remain friends. Tom would finally break up with Star shortly after that episode, however, and then directly tell Marco that he'd be fine with him dating Star. But by that point, the Myth Arc was back in full force and ready to head towards its resolution. [[spoiler: Star and Marco would finally share a quick (non-cheating) kiss during "Here to Help" [[LastMinuteHookup with only three episodes left in the series]]. Just in time for their love to cause a MergedReality of Earth and Mewni, so they can continue their relationship after the destruction of magic. The love-based merging of world was quickly seen as just another divisive move in an already polarizing series finale, where even fans that loved it feel ''both'' the lore elements and romance elements were incredibly rushed in order to fit everything into 22 minutes.]]
* InUniverse in ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' -- in "Open Book," Connie laments that her favorite book series ended with the two main characters [[StrangledByTheRedString suddenly hooking up]] and getting married, with ''fifty pages'' dedicated to describing their wedding cake. Funnily enough, the conflict of the episode is resolved when Steven admits he felt the opposite, thinking the ending was really sweet and pointing out all the romantic beats that Connie had ignored in favor of focusing on the worldbuilding or social commentary.
* One of the more heavily disliked aspects of ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2012'' is Donatello's constant crush on April. It wasn't so bad during the first season where it just popped up every now and then, but in season two the new writers decided to take it and make it the primary aspect of Don's character, making every single one of his appearances devoted to him lamenting on his crush on April and getting jealous over Casey, which has also wound up limiting April's character development as well. Even worse is by the end of the season it seemed that the whole love-triangle aspect was finally resolved, only for the whole thing to come back with a vengeance early on in the third season. By this point, fans have become sick of it.

* ''Film/TheTenCommandments'' has a love story between Moses and [[NotBloodSiblings his adopted half-sister]] Nefretiri. Not only is this romance definitely not in the [[Literature/TheBible source material]], but the huge buildup in the first two hours of the film was abruptly derailed when Moses is exiled halfway through the film and gets foisted off on a princess from the desert. The emotional tension when he eventually returns to find Nefretiri married to his adopted brother is minimal. Nefretiri serves very little purpose in the overall film, and her one or two important actions could easily have been accomplished without the romantic tension, fluff, angst, and generally useless buildup that added an hour of length onto the already-four-hour-long film.

* ''Film/PearlHarbor'' is a serious offender. As Creator/RogerEbert said, it's about how, on December 7, 1941, the Japanese staged a surprise attack on an American love triangle.

* The tendency for this kind of behavior in radio soap operas was famously skewered by Creator/StanFreberg in a skit called [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajPbgklMNxA ''John And Marsha'']]. An entire intelligible narrative made solely out of the two actors [[SayMyName saying each others' names in different tones]]. It actually works pretty well.

** Stacey from ''Film/AViewToAKill''. On paper, she's a geologist with her own grudge against the BigBad and she helps Bond thwart his plan to destroy Silicon Valley. But in practice, there isn't much she does or discovers that Bond couldn't have figured out on his own, and she spends more time needing to be rescued than doing anything useful. Also, their interactions read more as father-daughter than sexual (not helped by the actors' vast difference in age), making their ShowerOfLove at the end feel completely out-of-nowhere and a bit inappropriate. It's widely accepted that the film's true female lead is May Day, but she's TheDragon who kills multiple supporting characters in service of the villain. To keep things StrictlyFormula, Bond needed a good girl to be with in the end, even if she was TheLoad.