History Main / TrueLoveIsExceptional

Another reason could be that there's a difference between what one ''desires'' in a partner and perhaps what one ''needs'' in a parter (namely, that what they could want may not necessarily be what they need in a partner so they could have a long-lasting relationship.)

See also LadykillerInLove -- where the character falling in love ''at all'' is exceptional. Subtrope of OOCIsSeriousBusiness.

* Tends to happen a lot in Piers Anthony's ''Literature/{{Xanth}}'' series. The protagonist goes on an adventure to gain something (sometime, specifically, true love), but at the end of the story CharacterDevelopment has set in and they're no longer interested in what they looked for, and has likely fallen for a companion in the meantime. In "Ogre, Ogre", Smash Ogre seeks help to rid himself of the Eye Queue Vine (which makes him un-ogrishly smart and thus an outcast among his kind, and undesired by female ogres) and in return having to escort the girl Tandy. In the end, [[spoiler: he discovers that he always was intelligent, and having spent time with Tandy, he now finds other ogres boorish and unpleasant, including the females; he'd much rather be with Tandy]]. Similarly, in "Faun & Games" Forrest wants to find another faun, but when he does so (after lengthy, character-building adventures) he finds her shallow and uninteresting, even though she acts pretty much the way he did at the story's beginning. Fortunately, [[spoiler: his companion Mare Imbri rejoins him in the end]].

* Heather Douglas, Marvel's telepathic Moondragon has one of the more convoluted stories, starting off as a manipulator who would sometimes use sex as a weapon and always was involved with males. Then to her own surprise she fell in love with Rick Jones's wife Marlo Chandler, but that did not work out. Marlo eventually returned to Rick, and to ensure her future happiness, Heather "confessed" that she thought she had subconsciously made Marlo fall in love with her in the first place. Phyla-Vell, the cosmically aware daughter of Captain Marvel, was so moved by that self-denying lie that she fell in love with Heather, who thus unexpectedly found her true love after all.

Another reason could be that there's a difference between what one ''desires'' in a partner and perhaps what one ''needs'' in a parter (namely, while what they could want may not necessarily what their parter could need so the two would be compatiable.)

* One ''Comicbook/AstroCity'' comic focuses on a man haunted by dreams about his wife, who became {{Ret Gone}} due to a villain meddling with time. One thing that confuses him about his "dream girl" is that she really isn't what he would normally think of as his type; one of his friends notes the same thing about his own wife.

* Part of ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'''s late mother Kushina Uzumaki's dying wish was for him to find a girl like herself. She actually didn't make it clear on what exactly she meant, but presumably she meant a FieryRedhead with a HotBlooded personality. Even more so, Naruto had a [[LovingAShadow one-sided shallow crush]] on Sakura ([[ShipSinking until Chapter 469]]), who is a pink-haired {{Tsundere}} with that exact personality. But the girl whom Naruto [[OneTrueLove truly fell in love]] with and got HappilyMarried to, [[spoiler:Hinata]], is the [[ShyBlueHairedGirl complete opposite]] of what Kushina wished in the end.

* Danny Zuko in ''Film/{{Grease}}'' prefers "girls who put out," only to fall for sweet and naive Sandy (at least, she is until the end of the film, making this a possible subversion where the True Love changes in order to conform to their partner's "type").

* In ''FanFic/AtGatesEdge'' Roy Mustang is a consummate {{Casanova}} whose type tends to be men and women that he can easily charm without effort and immediately sleep with him. He [[LadykillerInLove falls hard for]] [[CuteGhostGirl Edward]] who is a stubborn, hard-to-impress {{Tsundere}} who takes commitment very seriously, but is physically incapable of touching due to being a ghost.

'''Chris Traeger:''' Historically, yes, exclusively."

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* In ''Film/{{Tremors}}'' Val has a precise checklist for women he dates; "long blonde hair, big green eyes, world class breasts, ass that won't quit and legs that go ''all'' the way up!" (Unspoken is the fact they have three names and the intellects of cheese spread.) He ends up falling in love with Rhonda, a brunette with blue eyes who is rather short and HollywoodHomely. (But at least she has ''brains''!)
* Danny Zuko in ''Film/{{Grease}}'' prefers "girls who put out," only to fall for sweet and naive Sandy (at least, she is until the end of the film, making this a possible subversion where the True Love changes in order to conform to their partner's "type").
* This is the entire plot, albeit forced on the main character, of ''Film/ShallowHal.''

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** Make them tough and confident too and you have a winner. Also don't forget some of Angelus/Angel's MALE lovers e.g. Spike, who is also small and blond.

* In ''FanFic/{{Shatterheart}}'' [[spoiler: R!]]Syaoran believed that he would always love the SpoiledSweet Sakura, only to fall in love [[spoiler: and eventually get engaged with]] with JerkWithAHeartOfGold Kurogane..

* In Creator/LMMontgomery's ''TheBlueCastle'', Valancy's cousin Olive, having had her first fiance died, proceeded to have a romance with a town bad boy, until her family's disapproval led to her dutifully giving him up (with non-family gossips saying he was starting to cool on her), and getting a more suitable fiance.

* Mulder's minor love interests in ''Series/TheXFiles'' tended to be tall, leggy, and blonde or brunette. In the end, he wound up with Scully, a petite 5' 3" redhead.

** Monica previously stated she preferred 'mature' and sophisticated guys, but appreciated how Chandler's humour relaxed her. Especially noticeable when her ex-boyfriend [[AlwaysSomeoneBetter Richard]] appeared and despite being her previous ideal man she still picked Chandler. The pair established the [[HappilyMarried happiest relationship]] on the whole show.

* On ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'' Penny always dated the dimwitted JerkJock type. Her on again off again relationship with [[HollywoodNerd Leonard]] made her realize what she really wanted was a NiceGuy that challenged her intellectually (in other words, Leonard).

* Part of ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'''s late mother Kushina Uzumaki's dying wish was for him to find a girl like herself. She actually didn't make it clear on what exactly she meant, but presumably she meant a FieryRedhead with a HotBlooded personality. Even more so, Naruto had a [[LovingAShadow one-sided shallow crush]] on Sakura [[ShipSinking until Chapter 469]], who is a pink-haired {{Tsundere}} with that exact personality. But the girl whom Naruto [[OneTrueLove truly fell in love]] with and got HappilyMarried to, [[spoiler:Hinata]], is the [[ShyBlueHairedGirl complete opposite]] of what Kushina wished in the end.

* Part of ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'''s late mother Kushina Uzumaki's dying wish was for him to find a girl like herself. She actually didn't make it clear on what exactly she meant, but presumably she meant a FieryRedhead with a HotBlooded personality. Even more so, Naruto had a [[LovingAShadow one-sided shallow crush]] on Sakura [[ShipSinking up until Chapter 469]], who is a pink-haired {{Tsundere}} with that exact personality. But the girl whom Naruto [[OneTrueLove truly fell in love]] with and got HappilyMarried to, [[spoiler:Hinata]], is the [[ShyBlueHairedGirl complete opposite]] of what Kushina wished in the end.

* Part of ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'''s late mother Kushina Uzumaki's dying wish was for him to find a girl like herself. She actually didn't make it clear on what exactly she meant, but presumably she meant a FieryRedhead with a HotBlooded personality. Even more so, Naruto had a [[LovingAShadow one-sided shallow crush]] on Sakura (up until [[ShipSinking Chapter 469]]), who is a pink-haired {{Tsundere}} with that exact personality. But the girl whom Naruto [[OneTrueLove truly fell in love]] with and got HappilyMarried to, [[spoiler:Hinata]], is the [[ShyBlueHairedGirl complete opposite]] of what Kushina wished in the end.

* Sumire from ''Manga/KimiWaPetto'' has it in mind to date a man with her "Three Highs" - [[AllAmazonsWantHercules taller than her, more educated than her, and earns more than her]] because she's learned from experience that NoGuyWantsAnAmazon. Naturally, she falls in love with Takeshi, a short and out-of-work modern dance student.

* Part of ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'''s late mother Kushina Uzumaki's dying wish was for him to find a girl like herself. It's actually not clear on what exactly she meant, but presumably she meant a FieryRedhead with a HotBlooded personality. Even more so, Naruto had a [[LovingAShadow one-sided shallow crush]] on Sakura (up until [[ShipSinking Chapter 469]]), who is a pink-haired {{Tsundere}} with that exact personality. But the girl whom Naruto [[OneTrueLove truly fell in love]] with and got HappilyMarried to, [[spoiler:Hinata]], is the [[ShyBlueHairedGirl complete opposite]] of what Kushina wished in the end.

* Part of ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'''s late mother Kushina Uzumaki's dying wish was for him to find a girl like herself. She's actually not clear on what exactly she meant, but presumably she meant a FieryRedhead with a HotBlooded personality. Even more so, Naruto had a [[LovingAShadow one-sided shallow crush]] on Sakura (up until [[ShipSinking Chapter 469]]), who is a pink-haired {{Tsundere}} with that exact personality. But the girl whom Naruto [[OneTrueLove truly fell in love]] with and got HappilyMarried to, [[spoiler:Hinata]], is the [[ShyBlueHairedGirl complete opposite]] of what Kushina wished in the end.

* Part of ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'''s late mother Kushina Uzumaki's dying wish was for him to find a girl like herself. She's actually not clear on what exactly she meant, but presumably she meant a FieryRedhead with a HotBlooded personality. Even more so, Naruto had a [[LovingAShadow one-sided shallow crush]] on Sakura (up until [[ShipSinking Chapter 469]]), who is a pink-haired {{Tsundere}}. But the girl whom he [[OneTrueLove truly fell in love]] with and got HappilyMarried to, [[spoiler:Hinata]], is the [[ShyBlueHairedGirl complete opposite]] of what Kushina wished in the end.

* Part of ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'''s late mother Kushina Uzumaki's dying wish was for him to find a girl like herself. She's actually not clear on what exactly she meant, but presumably she meant a FieryRedhead with a HotBlooded personality. Even more so, Naruto had a [[LovingAShadow one-sided shallow crush]] on Sakura (up until [[ShipSinking Chapter 469]]), who is a pink-haired {{Tsundere}}. But the girl whom he found genuine and real [[OneTrueLove true love]] in, and got HappilyMarried to, [[spoiler:Hinata]], is the [[ShyBlueHairedGirl complete opposite]] of what Kushina wished in the end.

* Part of ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'''s late mother Kushina Uzumaki's dying wish was for him to find a girl like herself. She's not actually clear on what exactly she meant, but presumably she meant a FieryRedhead with a HotBlooded personality. Even more so, Naruto had a [[LovingAShadow one-sided shallow crush]] on Sakura (up until [[ShipSinking Chapter 469]]), who is a pink-haired {{Tsundere}}. But the girl whom he found genuine and real [[OneTrueLove true love]] in, and got HappilyMarried to, [[spoiler:Hinata]], is the [[ShyBlueHairedGirl complete opposite]] of what Kushina wished in the end.

* Part of ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'''s late mother Kushina Uzumaki's dying wish was for him to find a girl like herself. She's not actually clear on what exactly she meant, but presumably she meant a FieryRedhead with a HotBlooded personality. Even more so, Naruto had a [[LovingAShadow one-sided shallow crush]] on Sakura (up until [[ShipSinking Chapter 469]]), who is a pink-haired {{Tsundere}}. But the girl with whom he found genuine and real [[OneTrueLove true love]] and got HappilyMarried to, [[spoiler:Hinata]], is the [[ShyBlueHairedGirl complete opposite]] of what Kushina wished in the end.

* Part of ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'''s late mother Kushina Uzumaki's dying wish was for him to find a girl like herself. She's not actually clear on what exactly she meant, but presumably she meant a FieryRedhead with a HotBlooded personality. Even more so, Naruto had a [[LovingAShadow one-sided shallow crush]] on Sakura (up until [[ShipSinking Chapter 469]]), who is a pink-haired {{Tsundere}}. But the girl he truly fell in love with and got HappilyMarried to, [[spoiler:Hinata]], is the [[ShyBlueHairedGirl complete opposite]] of what Kushina wished in the end.

* Part of ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'''s late mother Kushina Uzumaki's dying wish was for him to find [[FieryRedhead a girl]] [[HotBlooded like herself]]. Even more so, Naruto had a [[LovingAShadow one-sided shallow crush]] on Sakura (up until [[ShipSinking Chapter 469]]), who fell under this type. But the girl he truly fell in love with and got HappilyMarried to, [[spoiler: Hinata]], is the [[ShyBlueHairedGirl complete opposite]] of what Kushina wished in the end.