Basic Trope: One character attempts to make another jealous in order to get them to realize their attraction.
- Straight: Alice is attracted to Bob, and the two have unresolved attraction, but Bob is in denial. Alice is aware of Bob's attraction to her, and tries to make him jealous by getting together with Charlie.
- Exaggerated: Alice and Bob have feelings for each other, but Bob denies his attraction. So Alice full on makes out with Charlie in front of Bob whenever possible, while staring at him expectantly.
- Downplayed: Alice likes Bob, and wants to make him jealous, so she talks about Charlie when he is around, to try and gauge his reactions.
- Justified: Bob enjoys his friendship with Alice and was anxious that taking it any further would ruin the bond they had, so the possibility that he might lose Alice entirely spurns him into action.
- Inverted:
- Alice gets together with Charlie to try and get Bob to move on.
- Charlie leers and hits on Alice hoping Bob will try to stake his claim.
- Subverted: Charlie's friend David is mad at Alice because he thinks that Alice is only with Charlie to make Bob jealous. It turns out that Alice isn't trying to make Bob jealous.
- Double Subverted: ...she's trying to make Ethan jealous.
- Parodied:
- Alice is dating Charlie to make Bob jealous, but Bob mistakes their relationship as genuine and tries to make Alice jealous by dating Dave, who goes along with it because he wants to make Ethan jealous, so Ethan goes to find Fran...
- Alice ends up getting married to Charlie and raising children together, but immediately abandons them when Bob admits he's grown jealous of them.
- Zig-Zagged: But in doing so, Alice falls for Charlie anyways.
- Averted: When they're supposed to have their first "date", Charlie gets cold feet and chickens out. When Bob learns that she was "stood up", he offers to take her out to dinner so her night isn't ruined.
- Enforced: The writers want to add a Love Triangle to the story, but it's already been established that Alice and Bob will be an Official Couple, so they need a reason to add a third person.
- Lampshaded: Alice's (fake) Grand Romantic Gesture to Charlie includes the line "And I'm DEFINITELY not just dating you to make Bob jealous!", which everyone in the room (save Bob) rolls their eyes at.
- Invoked: Bob's defining character traits are his pride and stubbornness, so Alice knows that bragging about how she's better off with someone other than him will spurn him into action.
- Exploited: Charlie wants to woo Alice, but knows that Alice has UST for Bob, so he suggests making Bob jealous as an excuse for Alice to date him.
- Defied: Alice considers the idea, but is worried that she'll break Bob's heart instead of just making him jealous, so she doesn't go through with it.
- Discussed: "She's probably just trying to make you jealous."
- Conversed: "What Does She See in Him?" "Do you mean Charlie, or the guy to whom she constantly brags about her relationship with Charlie?"
- Deconstructed:
- Alice gets together with Charlie, who genuinely falls in love with her — until he learns that she was just using him to mess with Bob, leaving him heartbroken and wondering "Was It All a Lie?"
- Bob doesn't rise to the bait, and now Alice is stuck with a guy she doesn't really like.
- Bob realizes that if Alice is that petty to try and date someone else in order to get back at him, she's probably very toxic and isn't someone he should be dating. As a result, Bob makes a point out of never getting back with Alice.
- Implied: The source of the rumors that Alice was involved with Charlie remains unknown, but a prime candidate is Alice herself.
Back to Operation: Jealousy
