Basic Trope: Women will dump nice guys for the jerkasses.
- Straight: Bob is a nice guy in love with Alice, but Alice rejects him in favor for Charlie, who is aggressive, obnoxious, and trouble-making.
- Exaggerated: Bob the All-Loving Hero is rejected by every single woman who later marry their respective men who are irredeemably evil villains.
- Downplayed:
- Alice rejects Bob for a Jerk with a Heart of Gold in Charlie.
- Alice rejects Bob, who is a Jerk with a Heart of Gold, for Charlie, who is more of a jerk than Bob.
- Justified:
- Bob being nice is a sign of genetic weakness, and Alice wants strong offspring.
- In Alice's opinion, being nice and kind is translated as being boring, weak, and a pushover.
- Alice happens to be a "bad girl" who prefers a guy who has the same personality as her.
- Alice sticks with Jerkass Charlie because she feels that she can fix him. And by God, she WILL fix him or die trying!
- Alice incorrectly thinks that Bob isn't as nice as he seems, making him not much more appealing than Charlie in her eyes.
- Inverted: Alice rejects Charlie because he was too much of an asshole and goes out with Bob.
- Gender-Inverted: Bob rejects Alice for being too gentle and kind and goes out with Paulina.
- Subverted:
- Bob only thinks he's a nice guy; in fact Alice rejects him because he's actually a creepy jerkass and Charlie is assertive, funny, and interesting.
- At first, Alice prefers Charlie. However, after he abuses her, she changes her mind and breaks up with him.
- Bob is narrating the story and plays up all of Charlie's flaws because he's jealous that Alice dumped her. In reality, Charlie is just as polite as Bob was.
- Double Subverted:
- Charlie was faking being nice.
- Alice goes back to Charlie after ditching him, for reasons unknown.
- Parodied:
- Alice carries a "Niceness Detector" and uses it on every man she meets.
- Bob is a verbally abusive misogynist who feels entitled to Alice's love. Alice leaves Bob for Charlie, a much nicer man, and Bob immediately throws a fit because Charlie didn't buy her roses on their first date.
- Zig-Zagged: Alice has a sense of Orange And Blue Morality, and declares guys she dates to be "nice" or "mean" for wildly varying reasons.
- Averted: Alice never rejects Bob for being too nice.
- Enforced: "Let's teach the guys that no women will ever want them because they're too polite."
- Lampshaded: "Why would Alice reject nice guys like Bob for an asshole? Is she a masochist by any chance?"
- Invoked: Before she starts dating, Alice decides to only go for jerkasses.
- Exploited: Bob acts like a jerk in order to appeal to Alice.
- Defied: Alice dumps Charlie for Bob, because Bob is nice to her and Charlie isn't.
- Discussed: "So what if Bob isn't as aggressive as Charlie? I will never dump him."
- Conversed: "What is Alice's problem? Women don't normally go for jerkasses."
- Implied: Alice and Bob used to date, but later broke up. Now Bob sees Alice dating Charlie whom is more fond of him than she was with Bob.
- Deconstructed:
- By saying yes to Charlie, Alice has said yes to an abusive relationship.
- With the trend of girls rejecting nice guys in favor of bad boys becoming prevalent in society, Bob, as well as some other guys like him, quit dating, knowing how they would get rejected by a girl who likes bad boys. As a result, this would lead society to mercilessly mock men who are nice and that they'll stay a virgin as long as they live.
- Reconstructed:
- While she still doesn't want to go out with Bob, Alice dumps Charlie and goes with a Jerk with a Heart of Gold Harry.
- Also picking up from Deconstructed #1, Bob beats up Charlie for abusing Alice, proving that nice guys don't finish last after all because being nice doesn't mean weak. Alice is impressed (and surprised) by Bob defending her against Charlie and the two start dating.
- Bob meets Danielle who likes him for his nice personality and they are happy together.
- Played For Laughs: Alice is hilariously oblivious of Charlie's serious personality flaws and nitpicks Bob's personality to justify dumping him.
- Played For Drama:
- The abusive Charlie murders Alice.
- Bob knows that Charlie is abusive and dangerous, and wants to protect Alice. While she's enduring a brutal beatdown Bob hears it and calls the police, but Alice just lies about the beating and turn the cops away. In the end, Alice is murdered, Charlie manages to run away from town and avoid police chase, and Alice's family, friends and Bob end devastated. And in the epilogue Charlie goes to another town and meets another girl who likes jerks.
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