History Main / GuessWhoImMarrying

[[folder:{{Film}}]]

* ''ThreeMenAndALittleLady'' but with useful adults (the three men) who are the ones who foil the antagonists plan.

* A variation where it is the siblings, not the parents, who hold the {{idiot ball}} with regard to an intended husband can be found in the backstory of ''Literature/ABrothersPrice''

** She also went on a date with {{Dracula}}. Which apparently went well enough for him to be invited back to her place.

* A version appeared in Disney's ''{{Disney/Aladdin}}'', except that Jasmine's father was announcing who ''she'' was marrying. And he was hypnotized.

* The main character's grandfather, Puma Loco in ''WesternAnimation/ElTigre'' announces his plans to marry the main villain in one episode. Since they're both villainous, it was for their own nefarious intentions, but they eventually fell in love. Manny took a while to accept it and by the time he did, he accidentally forced them apart.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheIronGiant'' has "Guess Who's Renting Our Spare Room", with the paranoid and crazy government agent setting up shop to spy on Hogarth while the mother is rather oblivious.
** Her obliviousness can be justified by her very demanding work schedule, which she has to keep up to care for Hogarth and herself. The agent even brings this up at one point, telling Hogarth that his mother is under a lot of strain as a single mother and that it would be not hard to make it look like she was too neglectful to keep custody of him.
* Done in the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' episode "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS2E25ACanterlotWeddingPart1 A Canterlot Wedding]]" with Twilight's reaction to her brother's engagement, though it's only after she's been around the bride for a bit that she suspects her of being evil - she remembered Cadence from her foalhood and immediately approved (though still resenting that Shining Armor hadn't told her before sending the invitations out). It then turns out that [[spoiler: Cadence has been replaced by a changeling imposter called Queen Chrysalis, as part of a plan to invade Canterlot.]]

* Vince Vaughn is the wicked stepfather in ''DomesticDisturbance'' (2001).

* The ''WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants'' episode "Enemy-In-Law" has Plankton dating Mr. Krabs' mother. Mr. Krabs of course thinks this is another plan to steal the krabby patty formula (which his mother knows) only for Plankton to reveal that he had no idea that she knew the formula. But when Plankton asks Mrs. Krabs to marry him, she refuses, [[spoiler: because she's already dating Plankton's giant robot.]]

* In ''Manga/AkumaDeSourou'' (and the Taiwanese LiveActionAdaptation ''DevilBesideYou'') the announcement that the heroine's mother is going to marry again isn't that traumatic... until some days later when the mother reveals that her fiancé is her daughter's school director, and that his son (a boy with whom the heroine has had [[SlapSlapKiss some nasty clashes]] recently) is coming to dinner right now.

** [[ComicBook/DoctorOctopus Doc Ock]] was actually marrying May because she was the heir to a private nuclear reactor. He didn't even realize that Spider-Man was her nephew until after he unmasked in ''Civil War''. [[ContinuityNod Brilliantly]], he then went into a rant about how stupid he was not to figure it out and how he should have kept up the marriage facade for far longer.
** An early continuity nod had Aunt May, shortly after learning Peter's secret identity, witness a fight between Spidey and Ock, and ''finally'' realise who Octavius was.
** It is however implied that he actually likes her.

** [[spoiler:Subverted: it turns out that rather Mr. Woodcock being the bad guy he's just kind of a JerkAss, while the son is actually an asshole who has a unforgiving grudge on his teacher. Who after realizing this he forgives his teacher for 'molding him into what he is today']]

* Happened in ''Film/{{Nanny McPhee}}'': The great-aunt was willing to cough up money only if the dad married, and as the dad was almost broke, he was desperate... but he didn't quite catch the level of hate between his children and his fiancee. All the more because the kids are ridiculously ill-behaved, and so didn't quite catch the deliberately malicious undertones to their antics.
** In a bit of a subversion, the father didn't like his fiance at all either. The only reason he was marrying her was that the alternative was the family going broke and his children being sent to work houses, or who knows where in the case of the younger ones. [[spoiler:Subverted even more at the end, when he marries Evangeline, who he and the children both love.]]
* In ''Film/{{Disturbia}}'', the protagonist's mother steps into the kitchen with the next-door neighbor... who the protagonist suspects is a serial killer. [[spoiler:He is..]].

* ''[[Film/TheAddamsFamily Addams Family Values]]''. Uncle Fester is preparing to marry a seemingly sweet woman named Debbie Jellinsky, who is actually a BlackWidow, a killer who marries rich men then kills them for their money. Only Wednesday and Pugsley are wise to her true intentions, and Debbie deals with them by sending them away to summer camp.

* ''Theatre/TheSoundOfMusic'' has Captain Von Trapp bring Baroness Schraeder to his home to meet his children with every intention of asking her to marry him. The Baroness isn't actually all that bad, but the trope holds true from the kids' point of view since she very clearly is only interested in marrying the Captain and his money, not his seven children, who she'd just as soon pack off to boarding school. Her few interactions with the kids are highly awkward, and not surprisingly, they prefer Maria.

* A variation is done in ''[[Literature/ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents The Bad Beginning]]''. [[spoiler:In this case, when Olaf says "Guess who I'm marrying", it's a lot more {{squick}}-y for Violet.]]
* A variation where it is the siblings, not the parents, who hold the idiot ball with regard to an intended husband can be found in the backstory of ''Literature/ABrothersPrice''

* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''.

* ''WesternAnimation/StaticShock''
** A non-parental example that's more like, Guess Whom I'm Dating, had Virgil feel a bit like this when he found out his sister was dating a member of his RoguesGallery: [[AntiVillain Rubber Band Man]]. Subverted in that she knew very well who she was seeing and they really did care about each other. Of course, the lasting power of the relationship implies that marriage will result sooner or later. It does help that [[HeelFaceTurn Rubber Band Man is one of the few Bang Babies to give up his criminal ways.]] He and Static even team up a few times.

* A SilverAge ''Franchise/SpiderMan'' plot of yore [[http://superdickery.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1119:with-this-ring-i-thee-web&catid=29:confounding-comic-covers-index&Itemid=32#content centered on the nuptials of the widow May Parker and one Dr. Otto Octavius.]]

** [[DoctorOctopus Doc Ock]] was actually marrying May because she was the heir to a private nuclear reactor. He didn't even realize that Spider-Man was her nephew until after he unmasked in ''Civil War''. [[ContinuityNod Brilliantly]], he then went into a rant about how stupid he was not to figure it out and how he should have kept up the marriage facade for far longer.

* ''Film/BackToTheFuture Part II'' with the marriage of Lorraine Baines and Biff Tannen in 1985-A. It begins with them already married, but Marty has the typical reaction since he possesses RippleEffectProofMemory - and since he isn't the Marty from this timeline, who is apparently in Switzerland.

* Played with in ''Film/GhostWorld''. Enid is talking about her ex-stepmothers, and hates one in particular. Guess who Mr. Coleslaw's remarrying? Subverted in that the woman looks quite normal (it's been a few years) and, if I recall correctly, is actually supportive of Enid [[spoiler: and is sympathetic when Enid fails to get into art school]].

* Played with in ''GhostWorld''. Enid is talking about her ex-stepmothers, and hates one in particular. Guess who Mr. Coleslaw's remarrying? Subverted in that the woman looks quite normal (it's been a few years) and, if I recall correctly, is actually supportive of Enid [[spoiler: and is sympathetic when Enid fails to get into art school]].

Regardless, the paramour will almost certainly behave in an obnoxious I-got-your-Mommy/Daddy-wrapped-around-my-little-finger manner throughout the scene just to make it absolutely clear from the start that they are ''bad''. The parent, of course, will completely miss this. Once the parent is offscreen, expect the paramour to tell the kid(s) exactly what's what, usually consisting of the revelation that they are a ChildHater and plan to send the kid(s) OffToBoardingSchool.

* The Ingmar Bergman film ''Film/FannyAndAlexander'' uses this trope, though [[spoiler:the mom fairly quickly realizes she's married a [[SinisterMinister monster]], and the kids don't free themselves]].

* The Ingmar Bergman film ''FannyAndAlexander'' uses this trope, though [[spoiler:the mom fairly quickly realizes she's married a [[SinisterMinister monster]], and the kids don't free themselves]].

[[quoteright:330:[[Franchise/SpiderMan http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/octopus_and_may_4873.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:330:Aunt May, dating Dr. Octopus? And Spider-Man will have to call him "daddy"? [[AndIMustScream HELP!!!]]]]

->"''Uh oh! Something's amiss! Or maybe even soon,'' [[JustForPun A Mrs.!]]"
-->-- '''TheNarrator''', ''PowerpuffGirls'' episode "Mommy Fearest"

* A heroic variant happens in the ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGenerations'' episode "Parallels" when Worf realizes he's married to Counselor Troi in one alternate universe.

* ''Film/BackToTheFuture Part II'' with the marriage of Lorraine Baines and Biff Tannen in 1985-A. It begins with them already married, but Marty has the typical reaction since he possesses RippleEffectProofMemory.

* Creator/HankAzaria in ''Film/RunFatBoyRun''

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** [[spoiler:Subverted: it turns out that rather Mr. Woodcock being the bad guy, the son is actually an asshole who has a unforgiving grudge on his teacher. Who after realizing this he forgives his teacher for 'molding him into what he is today']]

* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls'', supervillainess Sedusa sidles her way into the Professor's life in the guise of "[[PunnyName Ima Goodlady]]". [[hottip:* :Who then proceeds to seduce "daddy" into imposing a curfew the girls. Guess why.]] Needless to say, once again, the day is saved thanks to...The Powerpuff Girls! The episode plays with the trope - the girls are perfectly happy with the Professor dating "Ima Goodlady" and even give him dating tips and encourage things as best they can. It's not until they notice that her groundings on them coincide with the nights that Sedusa robs the Mayor that they start to get ''really'' suspicious.

[[quoteright:330:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/octopus_and_may_4873.jpg]]

* The "comedy" ''MrWoodcock'' with the villain being a former DrillSergeantNasty gym teacher.

* In ''AkumaDeSourou'' (and the Taiwanese LiveActionAdaptation ''DevilBesideYou'') the announcement that the heroine's mother is going to marry again isn't that traumatic... until some days later when the mother reveals that her fiancé is her daughter's school director, and that his son (a boy with whom the heroine has had [[SlapSlapKiss some nasty clashes]] recently) is coming to dinner right now.
* In ''HeatGuyJ'', Monica's mother [[HardDrinkingPartyGirl Christina]] has met a man while out partying late one night, and plans to leave Judoh with him. Monica is suspicious of him, and refuses to go with them. Christina leaves with her new boyfriend anyway, thinking Monica would join them later and they'd be a family. [[spoiler: It turns out Christina's new beau has a bunch of women he tricked onto getting on the boat so he could dump them off or sell them as sex slaves and sell their I.D. s to people hoping to enter Judoh illegally. Daisuke and J save the day, of course.]]

* A SilverAge ''SpiderMan'' plot of yore [[http://superdickery.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1119:with-this-ring-i-thee-web&catid=29:confounding-comic-covers-index&Itemid=32#content centered on the nuptials of the widow May Parker and one Dr. Otto Octavius.]]

* Obviously, this is used in every version of ''TheParentTrap'', leading to the ParentTrapPlot.

* The movie ''ProblemChild 2'' had the titular kid's dad almost get married to a child-hating millionairess.
** In this case his blindness is arguably justified. Junior had spent the earlier part of the film driving away every other date he had just because he didn't want to share his dad with anyone. Naturally, his dad is skeptical when he tries to tell him "No, this one really IS evil!"
*** Somewhat qualifies as a FamilyUnfriendlyAesop: "When your kid drives away your other dates, you can't trust him anymore when the ''real'' evil woman comes along."

* Cpt. Vidal from ''PansLabyrinth'' is not the ideal stepdad, either. [[spoiler:He ''shoots'' her! She had sedated him, but he didn't know that. And her nanny had repeatedly stabbed and [[Franchise/{{Batman}} joker-fied him.]] He was about to torture her though, so... yeah.]]
* The Disney Channel movie ''{{Moms Got a Date With a Vampire}}'' is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin.
* Happened in ''{{Nanny McPhee}}'': The great-aunt was willing to cough up money only if the dad married, and as the dad was almost broke, he was desperate... but he didn't quite catch the level of hate between his children and his fiancee. All the more because the kids are ridiculously ill-behaved, and so didn't quite catch the deliberately malicious undertones to their antics.

* In ''{{Disturbia}}'', the protagonist's mother steps into the kitchen with the next-door neighbor... who the protagonist suspects is a serial killer. [[spoiler:He is..]].
* Hank Azaria in ''RunFatBoyRun''
* [[Series/TheAddamsFamily Addams Family Values]]. Uncle Fester is preparing to marry a seemingly sweet woman named Debbie Jellinsky, who is actually a BlackWidow, a killer who marries rich men then kills them for their money. Only Wednesday and Pugsley are wise to her true intentions, and Debbie deals with them by sending them away to summer camp.
* ''SlingBlade'' features this trope prominently as a mentally challenged protagonist befriends a boy and discovers that the boy's mother is about to marry a man who will definitely destroy their lives. He even says so to the boy's face, though not in so many words.

* ''TheSoundOfMusic'' has Captain Von Trapp bring Baroness Schraeder to his home to meet his children with every intention of asking her to marry him. The Baroness isn't actually all that bad, but the trope holds true from the kids' point of view since she very clearly is only interested in marrying the Captain and his money, not his seven children, who she'd just as soon pack off to boarding school. Her few interactions with the kids are highly awkward, and not surprisingly, they prefer Maria.
* The mother in ''AllIWantForChristmas'' does this, making her daughter think her wish to Santa backfired.

* A variation is done in ''[[ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents The Bad Beginning]]''. [[spoiler:In this case, when Olaf says "Guess who I'm marrying", it's a lot more {{squick}}-y for Violet.]]

* A version with "adult" children occurred in ''UglyBetty'' when Bradford announced he was marrying Wilhelmina.
* Joyce Summers nearly married an evil robot in "Ted" on ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''.
** However, Ted was actually pretty good at seeming nice, so it makes sense that he had everyone fooled. Except for Buffy, because of her tendency to take an automatic dislike to villains before she even gets evidence, combined with him threatening her when her mother wasn't around.
** Of course, the fact that he was surreptitiously drugging everybody else didn't hurt...

* Uther Pendragon married a troll in [[Series/{{Merlin}} Merlin]]. Disguised as an old sweetheart and enchanting him [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment with magic]], but still a ''troll''.

* This is a big part of the setup for the plot of ''{{Hamlet}}''. Though Hamlet did not know his uncle was evil until after the marriage; he just thought Uncle Claudius was an incestuous jerk for marrying his mother so soon after his father died.

* A version appeared in Disney's ''{{Disney/Aladdin}}'', except that Jasmine's father was announcing who ''she'' was marrying.
** And he was hypnotized.
* Selma's marriage to Sideshow Bob in ''TheSimpsons''.

* In an episode of ''ThePowerpuffGirls'', supervillainess Sedusa sidles her way into the Professor's life in the guise of "[[PunnyName Ima Goodlady]]". [[hottip:* :Who then proceeds to seduce "daddy" into imposing a curfew the girls. Guess why.]] Needless to say, once again, the day is saved thanks to...ThePowerpuffGirls!
** The episode plays with the trope - the girls are perfectly happy with the Professor dating "Ima Goodlady" and even give him dating tips and encourage things as best they can. It's not until they notice that her groundings on them coincide with the nights that Sedusa robs the Mayor that they start to get ''really'' suspicious.

** At least the Loch Ness monster doesn't get tree-fitty.
-->'''Chef's Mom:''' I gave him a dollar.
-->'''Chef's Dad:''' She gave him a dollar.
-->'''Chef's Mom:''' I thought he'd go away if I gave him a dollar.
-->'''Chef's Dad:''' Well of course he's not gonna go away, Nellie! You gave him a dollar, he's gonna assume you got more!

* A non-parental example that's more like, Guess Whom I'm Dating, ''StaticShock'' had Virgil feel a bit like this when he found out his sister was dating a member of his RoguesGallery: [[AntiVillain Rubber Band Man]]. Subverted in that she knew very well who she was seeing and they really did care about each other. Of course, the lasting power of the relationship implies that marriage will result sooner or later.
** It does help that Rubber Band Man is one of the few Bang Babies to give up his criminal ways. He and Static even team up a few times.

* The main character's grandfather, Puma Loco in ''ElTigre'' announces his plans to marry the main villain in one episode. Since they're both villainous, it was for their own nefarious intentions, but they eventually fell in love. Manny took a while to accept it and by the time he did, he accidentally forced them apart.
* ''TheIronGiant'' has "Guess Who's Renting Our Spare Room", with the paranoid and crazy government agent setting up shop to spy on Hogarth while the mother is rather oblivious.

* In KingOfTheHill, this plot is run with Boomhauer, his brother Patch, and his ex-girlfriend, now Patch's fiancee. Boomhauer knows his brother is a philanderer, catching him making eyes at Luanne and hiring strippers for his own bachelor party, but everyone else thinks Patch has reformed, and that Boomhauer is just jealous that his brother has his ex-girlfriend. Eventually the truth is revealed.

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* Cpt. Vidal from ''PansLabyrinth'' is not the ideal stepdad, either. [[spoiler:He ''shoots'' her! Of course, she had sedated him, but he didn't know that. And her nanny had repeatedly stabbed and [[{{Batman}} joker-fied him.]] He was about to torture her though, so... yeah.]]