Basic Trope: The two Love Interests in a Love Triangle are the ones that end up together.
- Straight: Alice is in a Love Triangle with Bob and Charles. Bob and Charles develop feelings for each other, stop pursuing Alice, and get together with each other.
- Exaggerated: Alice's entire Unwanted Harem finally get sick of her and marry each other.
- Downplayed: Bob and Charles develop hints of feelings towards one another; whether they ever consummate their affections remains uncertain.
- Justified: All three were mutually affectionate and were about to enter a three-way marriage... until Alice jilted both suitors at the altar. But hey, Why Waste a Wedding??
- Inverted: Bob and Charles used to be a couple but broke up, and are now both trying to get with Alice.
- Subverted: Alice dumps both men. Bob and Charles, despite the Ho Yay, remain nothing more than Platonic Life-Partners.
- Double Subverted: Until they finally realise they like each other in "that way" after all.
- Parodied: Saddened by Alice's jilting, Bob immediately asks Charles for a kiss when he comes by to cheer him up.
- Zig Zagged: Plenty of Ho Yay and Will They or Won't They? between Bob and Charles whilst they're both still vying for Alice's affections... or sometimes not. Ultimately, though, they will.
- Averted: Either Bob or Charles ends up with Alice, or not at all.
- Enforced:
- The series was originally a standard (well, probably straight) romantic comedy/drama aimed at a general audience, but attracted a huge gay Periphery Demographic due to the Ho Yay between Bob and Charles, which came to dominate the fan base. The ending aimed to please those fans.
- It was originally a Queer Romance or Yaoi Genre work to begin with: the Love Triangle was just to add drama, almost certainly involving a Coming-Out Story.
- Lampshaded: "How did we end up from wanting to date Alice to dating each other?" "I have no clue."
- Invoked: Diane is a Shipper on Deck for Bob and Charles. She asks Bob, "Why are you both trying to woo Alice if she can't even decide what she wants? You should get with someone better than that. Hell, you should get with Charles."
- Exploited:
- Bob and Charles get together for no reason other than because they're simply into each other. However, they're both a little bitter about how Alice lead them both on, and so they flaunt their relationship in front of her to prove the point, "You were wishy-washy and hurt us both. Now we're happily in love and you're alone."
- Alice already knew which person she liked (and it wasn't either of them), but Bob and Charles' Betty and Veronica bravado made her realize they were more focused on each other than any romance with her. Knowing this, she starts covertly acting as the pair's wingwoman when they're all together so they can finally work out their Belligerent Sexual Tension.
- Defied: Bob and Charles refuse to be each other's rebound.
- Discussed:(During a particularly frustrating 2-on-1 game)
Bob: I don't need to take this from you, Alice! I've got other options! (Gesturing to Charles)
Charles: (Pointing to himself, embarassed.) M-Me?! - Conversed: "Bob and Charles have technically known each other as long as they've known Alice. You don't know, there's probably some romance in there somewhere."
- Implied: When Alice visits Bob and Charles near the end of the series, they're seen hanging out together.
- Deconstructed: All three of them have been indecisive; Alice for not giving a definitive answer, and Bob and Charles for dragging it out. When Alice (or the two) decides to break off their love triangle, Bob and Charles realize that they're not going to immediately have the fulfilling relationship they never had with her just because she's out of the picture.
- Reconstructed: But hey, that's what romance arcs are for. It's a slow burn, but they manage to work out their feelings now that they don't have a triangle to complicate things.
- Played For Laughs: Despite being the one to invite Bob and Charles over, Alice is the one who feels like a Third Wheel and has all the prerequisite awkward moments.
- Played For Drama: Alice was already starting to feel like a Decoy Protagonist in her own story, and Bob and Charles increasingly othering her while they hook up isn't helping.
Back to Pair the Suitors.
