Basic Trope: The parents don't approve of the Love Interest.
- Straight: Alice brings Bob over to meet her parents, who act very cold towards him.
- Exaggerated:
- Alice's father chases Bob away with a gun.
- Alice and Bob are killed by Alice's parents.
- Alice is sent by her parents to live with a relative in a foreign country, because they don't want her to see Bob again.
- Alice's parents hate Bob despite never having met him even once.
- Alice's parents kidnap Bob and send him to a foreign country to prevent him from ever meeting Alice again.
- Alice's parents reject Bob for having a pulse.
- Downplayed: Alice's parents would have preferred that she marry Charles instead, but know of other men who are worse than Bob.
- Justified:
- Alice's parents are xenophobic.
- Alice's parents are homophobic and her partner is a woman.
- Alice's parents already know Bob, and they know he's a terrible person.
- Bob is well into his 20s or 30s, while Alice is still in High School.
- Bob has no manners or social skills.
- Alice is still living with her parents, and therefore still subject to their rules and expectations.
- Alice's parents want her to remain single.
- Alice and Bob are of different social classes.
- Bob is sterile, and Alice's parents want to have grandchildren someday.
- Charles knows (or at least suspects) that Bob is his son by his mistress
- Inverted:
- Bob does not like Alice's parents.
- Alice's parents really like Bob, and encourage her to keep seeing him.
- Alice and Bob are married. Alice wants to divorce Bob, but her parents don't want to let her.
- Alice's daughter, Carol, doesn't want her single mother to marry, perhaps because she's used to their one-on-one relationship.
- Subverted:
- When Alice takes Bob to meet her parents, she warns him that they don't like him. However, Alice's parents are very polite to Bob during the visit.
- Alice respects her parents' wishes and breaks up with Bob.
- Double Subverted:
- But once he leaves, they have nothing but bad things to say about him.
- Alice's new boyfriend David dies, and Alice gets back with Bob against her parents' wishes.
- Parodied: Alice's parents suspect Bob wants to marry their daughter and tell him she's off-limits every time they meet him. Never mind that Bob is ninety years old, happily married for seventy of them, and doesn't know who Alice even is.
- Zig Zagged: Alice's parents are selective. They like some of her boyfriends, hate others, and want Alice's sister Claire to remain single no matter what.
- Averted:
- Alice's parents get along with Bob.
- Alice's parents have never met Bob.
- Alice and Bob are not a couple.
- Enforced:
- Values Dissonance.
- The author remembers this happening to them.
- Lampshaded: "Look, I know you hate Bob, but we're getting married anyway. And there's nothing you can do about it."
- Invoked: Bob shows up at Alice's house looking like a punk-rocker or other such "undesirable person", specifically so Alice's parents will hate him.
- Exploited: Romantic Runner-Up Charles kills Bob and frames Alice's parents.
- Defied:
- Alice's parents make an effort to accept Alice's Love Interests just the way they are, without judging or critiquing them.
- Alice murders her parents. With them out of the picture, she can marry Bob without hassle.
- Alice never lets her parents meet Bob.
- Alice and Bob get married anyways, even if they have to elope in order to do so.
- Discussed: "Now, I have to warn you, baby, my parents are tough to impress. Maybe we shouldn't visit them until after the wedding."
- Conversed: "What the hell does it matter what Mr. and Mrs. Troper think of Bob, as long as he loves Alice? It's Alice's choice, after all."
- Implied: Alice and Bob never visit Alice's parents, though they live in the same city.
- Deconstructed:
- They may be making a rush to judgment, based on Bob's appearance or social class or simply out of concern for Alice.
- Alice starts hating her parents for it.
- Alice's parents attempt to thwart Alice and Bob's wedding, and are arrested.
- Reconstructed:
- But Bob proves what a good person he is, and proves his love for Alice. Her parents eventually come to accept him, though they still wish that Alice had gone with Charles.
- Alice's parents are arrested for attempting to thwart Alice and Bob's wedding, but have a friend who is still plotting to break them up.
- Played For Laughs: Alice's father slams the door in Bob's face... Don't worry! He'll be fine!
- Played For Drama: Alice suffers Honor-Related Abuse for getting together with Bob.
Back to Parental Marriage Veto.
