History Main / StrangledByTheRedString

** Fix-It Felix and Sgt Calhoun from ''WesternAnimation/WreckItRalph''. The film presents Felix and Calhoun's relationship as thus: they meet (and Felix comments on Calhoun's high definition), they have a {{Slapstick}} routine that ends with them gazing into each others' eyes (and are [[ShipperOnDeck shipped by the Laffy Taffy]]), Felix calls Calhoun a dynamite gal (which doesn't end well), they share TheBigDamnKiss, and they get married in the epilogue (presumably after a year or so has passed offscreen). That's it. Apparently, WordOfGod admits they paired the two together because they found it cute/funny ([[http://imgonnasketchit.tumblr.com/post/37459144132 and because it was hard to work out Felix's odd proportions without a realistic reference]]), so it could be intentional, in addition to the fact that Ralph and Vanellope's stories were the central focus of the movie. The removal of several ''Hero's Duty'' scenes from an earlier scrapped plot meant less screen time for them, which resulted in a few confirmed Felix and Calhoun interactions (and likely Calhoun's formal introduction as well) being omitted.

* ''WesternAnimation/PlaymobilTheMovie'': Rex Dasher is supposedly Marla's LoveInterest, however they don't share a lot of scenes clarifying that. And even if they did, Rex is a toy while Marla is a real person.

* There's a subgenre of PornWithPlot called "Naked in School". It combines sexual shenanigans with a side order of CharacterDevelopment by positing a world where characters have to attend high school nude for a week because [[HandWave reasons]][[note]]The founding story indicated it was signed into law by the President, though said story was also a thriller with a deliberately oppressive attitude to sex-positivity, a [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness very different tone]] from almost everything that came after[[/note]]. The ExtremelyShortTimeSpan makes this trope tempting, and some stories have fallen for it; one of the worst examples involves two people meeting each other for the first time on Monday and declaring True Love by day's end.

** The ''Franchise/{{Trolls}}'' franchise had a variant pertaining to Branch and Poppy, who are treated like a couple in the [[WesternAnimation/{{Trolls}} first movie]] after "True Colors" despite there only being one indication of any feelings between them beforehand (Branch telling Bridget to compliment Gristle's smile while looking at Poppy). There's some very mild {{Foreshadowing}} when it's shown that Branch has kept all of Poppy's party invitations over the years, but this can just as easily be taken as a desire for all the social life he cannot enjoy and not outright for Poppy's love. In general, the opinion that the movie would work better under the interpretation that they remained as platonic partners was interestingly popular at the time. The franchise after the first movie rectifies this trope, still treating Poppy and Branch as close friends and ''WesternAnimation/TrollsWorldTour'' addressing how they truly feel for each other, rendering the "love confession" in "True Colors" completely platonic... until the ending, when they finally become an official couple. By the time of ''World Tour'', however, the overall opinion has pretty much shifted to total shipping support between the two.

* Happens in the ''Literature/InheritanceCycle'' fanfic ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8631890/2/From-the-darkest-of-Shadow-a-Light-is-born From the darkest of Shadow, a Light is born]]'' between the main protagonist and [[spoiler:[[TykeBomb Elva]]]]. They go from just meeting each other for the first time in 11 years in one chapter to attending a party together in the next, before then diving full into a relationship in the same chapter as the party. [[spoiler:The relationship equally quickly took a turn for the {{wo|manScorned}}rse with a RoaringRampageOfRevenge, quickly followed by the male protagonist.]] The use of a TimeSkip means there's 9 years of InnocentCohabitation between the first reunion and the time when the relationship became romantic, [[spoiler:and 12 years between the start of the relationship and the ''lovers' spat'']].

[[CharacterDerailment Characters may be derailed]], and [[DerailingLoveInterests competing love interests particularly so]]; {{Narm}}y moments and RelationshipSue transformations may become a frequent sighting; chemistry and interaction are prone to be reduced to the SickeninglySweethearts sort if there was any to begin with. In more degenerate cases, the relationship may undergo a malignant mutation into a RomanticPlotTumor, taking the focus off the more important aspects of the story. Cue [[{{Shipping}} one part]] of the audience [[SugarWiki/AndTheFandomRejoiced sighing happily]], since [[FanPreferredCouple those two were obviously made for each other]], and it's about time, while [[BrokenBase the other part]] of the audience scratches their heads in bewilderment and disdain, since this "development" just asked for too much WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief and feels suspiciously like the writers just [[AssPull pulled it straight out of their hindquarters]]. [[ShipToShipCombat Arguments]] may break out regarding how well-[[{{foreshadowing}} foreshadowed]] and well-handled the whole thing was.

Possibly the two characters have had little to no interaction prior to their sudden onset of romantic involvement, or they had, and even plenty, but it was never romantic in nature, and seems to have spontaneously transformed into such without any apparent reason. In more borderline cases, this can happen even when the two characters ''have'' shown interest in each other, in some form or another; it's the placement, pacing, and timing that are off. An audience tends to know the kind of emotional process a person goes through when entering a romantic relationship, and will not be happy past a certain line of too little of this process and too much conveniently dramatic payoff.

** In the sequel, Sara promptly forgets about all of them and takes [[VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles1 Shulk's]] offer to become his queen if he wins the next election for the king of England [[CriticalResearchFailure (don't ask)]]. This offer is made when they've known each other for a minute, tops. Unlike the above examples, she sticks with him for the rest of the story.

** In the reboot, [[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Male!Corrin]] declares his love for Sara at one point, but it's only used to prove that he's not the Antifa Dragon (ItMakesSenseInContext. Maybe.) and promptly forgotten about. Sara instead hooks up with [[VideoGame/Persona5 Joker]] after he rescues her from the villain's lair, even though they've only known each other for a few hours and Sara ''[[CriticalResearchFailure knows absolutely nothing about his home series or the character himself.]]''

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Dinosaur}}'': Aladar and Neera's chemistry isn't established much despite being an OfficialCouple in the end.

* In the rather forgettable ''WesternAnimation/TheInvincibleIronMan'', the romance between Tony and Li Mei suffers from this. Tony and Li Mei are supposed to be madly in love in spite of the fact they never have an actual conversation or ever really have any time together.

* In ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueCrisisOnTwoEarths'', new character Rose Wilson has a crush on ComicBook/MartianManhunter. The Martian inadvertently discovers they're "attuned" when he accidentally reads her thoughts (something he'd never do by accident with a non-attuned person). He then Mind Melds with her so that they can get to know each other instantly and fall completely in love. Martians apparently have no need to date.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Thumbelina|1994}}'' has a definite example of this trope with respect to the main character and her love interest Prince Cornelius. They only spent one night together flying around in the starlit sky and singing about how much they loved each other. This is made even more poignant when you take into account that the night they did all that was the night they met for the very first time. To be fair, Thumbelina can be excused because she was literally born as a teenager and complains to her mother about how there's nobody else her size and daydreams about meeting someone like the prince in her fairy tales, so it's not unbelievable that Thumbelina would be instantly attracted to the first ever person she's met who is compatible with her. Given some throwaway dialogue from Cornelius's parents and how hard he tries to find her over the course of the movie, it seems like fast, intense courtship is common for fairies. Also, she and Cornelius at least spent some time together, whereas in the original story, Thumbelina didn't meet the fairy prince until the end.
* Alva and Jesper's relationship in ''WesternAnimation/Klaus2019'' has been cited as one of the film's few flaws. In only their ''second'' interaction together, Mogens claims that they're in love despite their argument being nothing but vitriol, as if their being a man and a woman who interact instantly means they're a couple. While they spend more time and build chemistry later, the film's insistence makes it feel rather clumsy.
* ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueWar'': Wonder Woman and Superman falling in love can basically be summed up by Wonder Woman seeing him in action, saying he is strong, flirting for one second with him, and then the two acting more or less as if they are in a relationship for the rest of the movie.
* ''WesternAnimation/AMonsterInParis'': Lucille and Raoul. Raoul's feelings for her are easily seen throughout the movie, but the final scene where Lucille says she's always loved him seems to come out of nowhere. Many fans feel that it was only added in to shoot down the potential for Francœur×Lucille to be canon due to the {{Squick}} their relationship would imply.
* ''WesternAnimation/IsleOfDogs'': Tracy suddenly develops a crush on Atari partway into the film despite not actually having met him, and it barely results in anything other than a brief moment of just-as-abrupt reciprocation in the film's climax.
* ''WesternAnimation/PlaymobilTheMovie'': Rex Dasher is supposedly Marla's LoveInterest, however they don't share a lot of scenes clarifying that. And even if they did, Rex is a toy while Marla is a real person.
* ''WesternAnimation/RaggedyAnnAndAndyAMusicalAdventure'': Babette and the Captain. The Captain falls in love with Babette at first sight and kidnaps her while Babette never shows any sign of returning his feelings and even rebukes him for his actions when she takes over his ship. When the toys are all brought back to the nursery, the Captain once again proclaims his love for Babette and she suddenly reciprocates.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSecretOfMulan'': While Mulan has known the Prince for a while, he's only been aware that she's a woman for a few minutes before calling her beautiful and wanting to marry her.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheIronGiant'': Some feel this way about Dean and Annie hooking up at the end, because other than the connection through Hogarth, there's never really anything romantic between the two throughout the movie. This in particular plays a huge part as to why an unfinished coffee house scene with Dean and Annie was worked into the 2015 Signature Edition as it better establishes why the two would eventually become a couple.
%%* ''WesternAnimation/Epic2013'': MK and Nod fall in love very quickly.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDameGoldenFilms'': Quasimodo and Melody barely known each other and then they're singing a song about love, and even more, they get married a few days after having met.
* ''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeastGolden1999'': The romance in this film, while already pretty shady, is portrayed horribly. The Beast just yells at Beauty and barely shows any signs of changing his monstrous behavior, especially considering that he selfishly let a whole village ''die'' when they came to him for help.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Dinosaur}}'': Aladar and Neera's chemistry isn't established much despite being an OfficialCouple in the end.

* ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'' has a pretty clear example in Ashley and Elliot. It takes ''11'' strips ([[http://www.egscomics.com/index.php?id=1776 here]] to [[http://www.egscomics.com/index.php?id=1787 here]]) to go from introducing each other to asking each other out. The next time we see them together, they're on a date that has an entire storyline dedicated to it, and after the ''third'' date, Elliot claims to love her. In the commentary of [[http://www.egscomics.com/index.php?id=1594 this strip]], Dan explains that Tedd and Grace also fall into this category and that he wishes he had made the start of their romance more gradual. He explains that he had always hated "Will they or won't they?" plots and that he was going to be different, but that he may have ended up going too far in the other direction.

* ''Film/{{Dinosaur}}'': Aladar and Neera's chemistry isn't established much despite being an OfficialCouple in the end.

Not every RomanceArc gets the luxury of being played out fully to the [[TheLawOfConservationOfDetail last detail]]. Sometimes the writers decide that the important part is getting those two characters in a relationship, and [[HandWave the rest will somehow sort itself out]]. The result is that the two characters go through a leap of characterization all the way to a RelationshipUpgrade without any of the usual in-betweens; apparently Cupid forgot to tie the RedStringOfFate on the lovers' pinkies at birth, and in a desperate attempt to save face he ended up garroting them with it in a back alley while he thought the audience wasn't paying attention.

* In ''Fanfic/AngelOfTheBat'', protagonist Cassandra Cain is only shown to be with her girlfriend Sadie (who had only had a few scenes beforehand) in the epilogue. WordOfGod is it's still early in their relationship and it's just puppy love, which works... Until the story's second epilogue that shows them getting engaged two years [[OffscreenRomance offscreen]] later. The writer admitted its canon status was sketchy and he mostly just wanted to celebrate the ban on same-sex marriage being unconstitutional. Despite all that, a later fic in the same universe does depict them happily married without much said about how they got there.

* ''Fanfic/MyImmortal'' is not seen as a bastion of compelling romantic writing, and as a result, ends up very prone to this. The largest is the TriangRelations at the story's center: Ebony gets involved with Draco and Vampire Potter almost immediately after about two conversations with either, and spends the rest of it pining for them, going on dates with them, having sex with them, and struggling to choose between them for no apparent reason other than them being hot goffick boys that she loves having sex with. Not much better is when she time-travels back to meet Tom Riddle, whom she immediately hooks up with for very little reason (and while skating over the above TriangRelations).

** Fix It Felix and Sgt Calhoun from ''WesternAnimation/WreckItRalph''. The film presents Felix and Calhoun's relationship as thus: they meet (and Felix comments on Calhoun's high definition), they have a {{Slapstick}} routine that ends with them gazing into each others' eyes (and are [[ShipperOnDeck shipped by the Laffy Taffy]]), Felix calls Calhoun a dynamite gal (which doesn't end well), they share TheBigDamnKiss, and they get married in the epilogue (presumably after a year or so has passed offscreen). That's it. Apparently, WordOfGod admits they paired the two together because they found it cute/funny ([[http://imgonnasketchit.tumblr.com/post/37459144132 and because it was hard to work out Felix's odd proportions without a realistic reference]]), so it could be intentional, in addition to the fact that Ralph and Vanellope's stories were the central focus of the movie. The removal of several ''Hero's Duty'' scenes from an earlier scrapped plot meant less screen time for them, which resulted in a few confirmed Felix and Calhoun interactions (and likely Calhoun's formal introduction as well) being omitted.

** The ''Franchise/{{Trolls}}'' franchise had a variant pertaining Branch and Poppy, who are treated like a couple in the [[WesternAnimation/{{Trolls}} first movie]] after "True Colors" despite there only being one indication of any feelings between them beforehand (Branch telling Bridget to compliment Gristle's smile while looking at Poppy). There's some very mild {{Foreshadowing}} when it's shown that Branch has kept all of Poppy's party invitations over the years, but this can just as easily be taken as a desire for all the social life he cannot enjoy and not outright for Poppy's love. In general, the opinion that the movie would work better under the interpretation that they remained as platonic partners was interestingly popular at the time. The franchise after the first movie rectifies this trope, still treating Poppy and Branch as close friends and ''WesternAnimation/TrollsWorldTour'' addressing how they truly feel for each other, rendering the "love confession" in "True Colors" completely platonic... until the ending, when they finally become an official couple. By the time of ''World Tour'', however, the overall opinion has pretty much shifted to total shipping support between the two.

* ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueWar'': Wonder Woman and Superman falling in love can basically be summed up by Wonder Woman seeing him in action, saying he is strong, flirting for one second with him, and then the two acting more or less like if they are in a relationship for the rest of the movie.

* While Wrestling/SethRollins and Wrestling/BeckyLynch was a FanPreferredCouple way before [[RomanceOnTheSet they actually started dating each other]], the implementation of their relationship in {{kayfabe}} didn't come without problems. For starters the two were shoehorned together just because of the real life relationship with no attempt to build to it and push their characters together through storyline, [[BadassDecay it pushed even further the decayness of The Man's badassery]], it created an awkward mess of stilted-looking interactions with the two while it also made Seth look like a chump (Seth even picked up the [[EmbarrassingNickname godawful nickname]] "the Man's man"). And then then there was the build-up to ''Extreme Rules 2019'', where the couple was finally acknowledged on the shows and they were set to feud with... Wrestling/BaronCorbin and Wrestling/LaceyEvans, a feud very few people cared about. It didn't help that their interactions during said build-up had them appear very stilted.

* In ''Theatre/LesMiserables'', Marius and Cosette fall in love having only seen each other once, for a few seconds, in the street. The next time they meet they're declaring undying love for each other (A Heart Full Of Love), much to the despair of poor Eponine who's fancied Marius for ages. This is made worse by the AdaptationDistillation: in the book, they know each other for much longer before either show any romantic inclination.

** [=SoulKat=] apparently decided that Miles and Rachael needed to be shoved together as soon as possible, with little other than ID holding him back from doing it within a few pages. The part with Miles showing Rachael his junked plane, with Rachael reacting inexplicably well to Miles calling her pet-names and sharing his responsibility-dodging dreams with her, was the ''toned down'' version--the original, according to [=ID=], was filled with juvenile flirting and completely unsubtle double-entendres from both characters. As Rachael has previously given every indication of absolutely ''despising'' guys like Miles, and as Miles has not shown a single sign of miraculously becoming the type of man she'd want to spend her life with, this trope is in full effect as she's steadily {{Flanderiz|ation}}ed into a stereotypical {{Tsundere}} to facilitate their pairing. On the forum, [[WordOfGod despite Chalo himself saying all that's changed is Rachael just hates Miles a tiny bit less]], she's begun adopting [[ItsAllAboutMe his arrogant, myopic worldview]] that she's previously explicitly stated she hates, while he goes on about how close they are and how much time they spend together and refers to her as "[his] girl".

* Almost immediately after Gabby from ''Webcomic/NamirDeiter'' realizes she's over her longtime crush on the main character (a straight girl), she's seduced by her never-before-seen academic partner, Jacinda, and they're joined at the hip from then on. The relationship later falls apart and Gabby hooks up with [[CloudCuckooLander Joan]], a NewOldFlame.
** In the SpinOffspring sequel, ''Webcomic/NicoleAndDerek'', in her first storyline focus, we find out Cerise (cousin to title character, Derek) is deeply in love with someone. She runs out to meet them clandestinely, and we find out it's [[spoiler:Daisy, another now-grown-up character from ND.]] We also find out that Twix, Cerise's father, Does Not Approve of the relationship, though we're not told why at the time.

* Kyle and the Annihilator of ''The Young Protectors''. Before the comic even progressed past the ''prologue'' the two are all but professing their undying love for each other with Kyle insisting that he wants to have his first-ever sexual experience with the world's most notorious supervillain and has absolutely no doubts about it (in spite of being terrified for years of even having ADateWithRosiePalms due to [[spoiler:his fire-based powers being fueled by emotion, which includes orgasm]]), and said notorious supervillain declaring that he wants to reform himself for Kyle even though he's never had any second thoughts about his supervillain career before. Before this, they had a single kiss in a back alley and a single dinner date. Add to that Kyle being only seventeen years old and the Annihilator being ''fifty-eight'' years old, something that doesn't give either of them more than the slightest hesitation... [[spoiler:which was [[IntendedAudienceReaction entirely the point]]. The comic, up through half of the second chapter, was busy {{invok|edTrope}}ing, {{subvert|edTrope}}ing and {{exploit|edTrope}}ing all things LoveAtFirstSight, ''particularly'' of the standard [[YaoiGenre Boys' Love]] variety. Kyle, being a lonely, closeted seventeen-year-old with [[CelibateHero self-enforced celibacy]], lacks much experience with adult life and ''any'' with romance, leaving him extremely susceptible to seduction from the resident ManipulativeBastard, [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything who abandons him the moment he gets what he wants.]]]]

* ''WesternAnimation/Epic2013'': MK and Nod fall in love very quickly.

* ''WesternANimation/AMonsterInParis'': Lucille and Raoul. Raoul's feelings for her are easily seen throughout the movie, but the final scene where Lucille says she's always loved him seems to come out of nowhere. Many fans feel that it was only added in to shoot down the potential for Francœur×Lucille to be canon due to the {{Squick}} their relationship would imply.

* ''WesternANimation/TheIronGiant'': Some feel this way about Dean and Annie hooking up at the end, because other than the connection through Hogarth, there's never really anything romantic between the two throughout the movie. This in particular plays a huge part as to why an unfinished coffee house scene with Dean and Annie was worked into the 2015 Signature Edition as it better establishes why the two would eventually become a couple.

* "[=Sk8er=] Boi" by Music/AvrilLavigne. The song opens with the lines, "He was a boy. She was a girl. Can I make it any more obvious?" However, the girl actually rejected the boy because they had nothing in common; still, for not seeing the "obvious," she is treated like an idiot by the narrator.

* ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet'' is the TropeCodifier and possibly the {{Trope Maker|s}}. While it's considered one of Shakespeare's best plays as well as one of the greatest written works ever, let's face it; the title characters are the textbook definition of this. They fall in LoveAtFirstSight and are immediately making out at the Capulet's party. Okay, not so bad. However, Romeo goes from {{wangst}}ing over breaking up with Rosaline earlier ''that afternoon'' to being engaged to marry Juliet ''later that night'', and Juliet is so in love with him that she's willing to fake her own death to keep from marrying Paris. Lampshaded by Friar Lawrence when he says "Young men's love lies not in their hearts but in their eyes." A popular interpretation is that part of the tragedy is these two kids mistaking their shallow youthful lust for true love and that the adults who ''should'' be helping them realize that are too preoccupied with their own petty, immature squabbling, ultimately leading to the two's deaths. The poem on which ''Romeo and Juliet'' is based, Arthur Brooke's "The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet," had its action occurring over the course of nine months--Shakespeare cut it down to five days. Brooke's poem isn't very good, but at least it has a believable timeline for falling in love.

** ''WesternAnimation/{{Encanto}}'': Mariano and Dolores. He spends 90% percent of his screentime mooning over her cousin Isabela, and through the first half of the film, they are basically engaged-to-be-engaged. We have no idea Dolores is even attracted to him until he shows up at the house to propose to Isabela, where Dolores sings that her psychic uncle told her the man she loved would be engaged to another. Even after that, and after it’s revealed Isabela doesn’t really love him, they have no direct interaction with each other throughout the whole movie until literally five minutes before the credits role, where she confesses she loves him, and he returns her love immediately. Justified as in the main focus of the film was Mirabel saving the miracle and uncovering family secrets. Plus, Mariano did have some time to get over Isabela not loving him during the rebuilding of Casita, which must have taken a few months at the longest, given how they were halfway done when Dolores confessed.
** In Dolores' defense, when Mariano asks her to marry him, she tells him to slow down.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Thumbelina|1994}}'' has a definite example of this trope with respect to the main character and her love interest Prince Cornelius. They only spent one night together flying around in the starlit sky and singing about how much they loved each other. This is made even more poignant when you take into account that the night they did all that was the night they met for the very first time. To be fair, Thumbelina can be excused because she was literally born as a teenager and complains to her mother about how there's nobody else her size and daydreams about meeting someone like the prince in her fairy tales, so it's not unbelievable that Thumbelina would be instantly attracted to the first ever person she's met who is compatible with her. Given some throwaway dialogue from Cornelius's parents and how hard he tries to find her over the course of the movie, it seems like fast, intense courtship is common for fairies.

May be caused by TheDulcineaEffect. For when the build-up takes place before the series, see NewOldFlame. When this happens to minor characters and is less noticeable, it's a case of PairTheSpares. Can crop up when the writers want to quickly counteract HoYay, IncestSubtext, or a RelationshipWritingFumble. Often results in an {{Audience Reaction|s}} version of ICantBelieveAGuyLikeYouWouldNoticeMe or WhatDoesSheSeeInHim. Compare ShipsThatPassInTheNight for {{fanon}} couples like this. Compare and contrast DesignatedLoveInterest.

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