- If you entered the Max Payne series at 2, you'd be forgiven for thinking you had missed out on an epic love story between Max and Mona. In 2, the game immediately makes a big deal out of revealing that she's still alive after taking a bullet meant for Max. Max reflects on how he thought she was yet another lost love, but he now has a second chance with her. She's a main (even briefly playable) character throughout the rest of the game, with lots of characterisation and legitimate chemistry between she and Max, and with the two taking considerable risks to help one another. But if you go back and play the original, you'll find that she's a fugitive that Max meets exactly once, and then remains fixated on until she inexplicably shows up at the end for the aforementioned Heroic Sacrifice, which comes completely out of nowhere.
Taken at face value it sounds more like Strangled by the Red String. Designated love interest is what happens when love interest is not really shown to be one, which is not the case here, as they are very clearly shown to care for each other, something that the example straight up tells us.
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Hypothetically, if a main character in a work is in a relationship and the other person is a minor character who doesn't get much characterisation, would that be:
a) Designated Love Interest
b) Satellite Love Interest
c) Both, or
d) Neither, because in a narrative sense they aren't a "love interest" (the relationship itself isn't a plot point)
I'd be leaning towards Satellite Love Interest but it all depends on how it's presented. Designated Love Interest and Satellite Love Interest are basically opposites, i can't imagine any character to be both. If all we know about the minor character is that he/she/it is in love with the main character then it's Satellite Love Interest, if we don't really se the fact that they're in relationship it's Designated Love Interest. Although if the love part has nothing to do with a plot it may simply be Token Romance
Edited by NNinja
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Personally, I don't support taking The Legend Of Korra example off this page, as it's clearly official, lasting for just a few seconds of the final or not.
Can we all agree that once second book confirms Korra's relationship with Mako as official and on-going the example goes back on this page? The vast majority of fandom agrees that with the way the couple was handled, they fit the trope to a T.
No idea if further development in the series will change it, but Designated Love Interest certainly applies to Mako in the first book and he should be noted here as such.
Edited by OzzieScribbler Conversely, Polish autumn is either absolutely ugly (if it's wet), or one of the most gorgeous sights on this Lord's good red-golden earth Hide / Show Replies
Let's see here...
- A character in a story who, despite being presented as the One True Love of a central character, doesn't seem to have much of a relationship with said character at all.
Well, Mako does have a relationship with her—their feelings start to show as early as Spirit of Competition.
- The catalyst for the relationship appeared off-screen before the series began, and save for maybe an occasional over-the-top gesture, never really appears to manifest.
Also untrue—the catalyst is right on screen, and specifically noted as such—Mako outright says that he realized he loved her when she was captured, and it's manifested in overt and subtle ways since then.
- Ultimately, this is a romance of necessity, not in the literal sense, but because of the assumption that the story needs a romantic plot or sub-plot to move forward.
Arguable, maybe. Not helped by the fact the series was originally written as only 12 episodes, so there was some rushing there.
- Other characters will usually acknowledge these relationships, but not say much else about them.
Again, flatly not true.
- There's usually some sort of plot or setting-related reason why a character needs a significant other at this point in time, and it would be bad form for a character to openly question what they even have in common.
Not a factor at all in this series.
So...how exactly does Mako qualify again?
Now YMMV per this thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1540509611073106200&page=4#comment-93
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