Basic Trope: A character who is written as a potential love interest for the protagonist, but eventually loses to the protagonist's true love interest.
- Straight: Alice is Bob's childhood friend and is in love with him, but she's Always Second Best to her friend Celine, and Bob eventually chooses the latter over the former.
- Exaggerated: Bob has plenty of nice female friends whom he has a lot of affection for (some of whom may have a crush on him), but Celine is the only one he likes romantically.
- Downplayed: Bob is a Chaste Hero and doesn't notice Alice's and Celine's crushes on him, but he shares more Ship Tease moments with the latter, and it's clear that the author is pushing for Bob and Celine, even if they never hook up on-screen.
- Justified:
- There's nothing inherently wrong with Alice, but Bob just clicks better with Celine, either because of their similarities or differences.
- Because they've grown up together for so long, Bob couldn't see Alice as more than a little sister to him.
- Inverted: Bob is torn between Celine and Alice until he gets together with Celine. However, thanks to Celine being Put on a Bus, Bob realizes that Alice is the one for him. This can happen on a Soap Opera with high cast turn over or come about as a result of writers giving in to the Fan-Preferred Couple.
- Subverted: When Bob is seen chatting up Celine, Alice assumes they're dating. As it turns out, Bob was planning to buy a birthday present for Alice and only went to Celine for her advice.
- Double Subverted: Bob is just trying to be a good friend, and there's no romantic intention behind his gift. The one he actually likes is Diane.
- Parodied: Alice is a perfect girl who everyone thinks is too good for Bob, the lazy weirdo. Bob himself chooses his imaginary girlfriend over the hot girl who actually wants him.
- Zig Zagged: After dating her, Bob realizes that Diane is a terrible person, and goes to Alice to angst about this when their relationship doesn't work out. He still doesn't reciprocate (or even notice) Alice's feelings for him, and goes after Celine instead.
- Averted: Alice is not in love with Bob, and she's never meant to be seen as a contender for his romantic pursuits.
- Enforced: The show's creator is not at all fond of the Childhood Friend Romance trope, and refuses to have Alice and Bob get together, no matter what.
- Lampshaded: "Alice, don't you know the basic rule of Love Triangles? If you're not the one who has to choose, the best course of action is to get out of it. Keep on pining for Bob and you will end up a spinster before you know it."
- Invoked: Bob and Alice have been living in a close-knit community their whole lives. Bob doesn't want to be confined to his small world and decides to pursue his love and happiness elsewhere.
- Exploited: ???
- Defied: Alice decides to date another man, despite having some feelings for Bob, because she knows him well enough to know that he'd never fall for her.
- Discussed: When Bob tells his friend Dave about his new girlfriend Celine, Dave wonders what happened to Alice. Bob is surprised that Dave thinks that there was ever anything between him and Alice, and assures him that they're Just Friends.
- Conversed: "Well, I guess this goes to show that no matter how close she is to her crush, the childhood friend never wins."
- Deconstructed: Because the guys she likes never even considers her as a potential love interest, Alice begins to think that there's something wrong with her. Her many failed attempts to "change" herself to get someone to like her only drives her further into depression and despair.
- Reconstructed: Alice realizes that the men she's been after may not been the most suitable choice for her happiness, and moves on to find someone whom she can love and be loved by in return.
Back to Romantic Runner-Up
