History Main / MuggleAndMagicalLoveTriangle

Alice is an OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent. Bob is the SchoolIdol who has started to show interest in Alice. Aerithus is a WarriorPrince from another dimension who has somehow ended up in Alice's life and is turning her world and her emotions upside-down. Which will she choose?

When the character making the choices is a {{Muggle}}, such cases generally represent more than just a choice between persons, but often a RedPillBluePill kind of choice between living a normal life and living one that is exciting and exotic, but unfamiliar and often dangerous. Generally speaking, you can expect the character to go with the exotic [[LoveInterests Love Interest]], because that is what allows for a more interesting storyline. However, sometimes it will be treated much the same way as a RichSuitorPoorSuitor plot, with the {{muggle}} picking an ordinary life of simple love over all the exotic things the non-muggle can offer them.

If the character making the choice is a non-{{muggle}}, one can almost invariably expect them to marry the {{Muggle}}, often in the face of resistance, prejudice and even taboos and prohibitions from their community of fellow fantastic beings.

* ''Manga/MeruPuri''

* Rinko in ''Manga/OmamoriHimari'' is a Muggle in the protagonist's [[HaremSeries harem.]]

* In ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'', Sayaka, a MagicalGirl, and [[spoiler:Hitomi]], a {{Muggle}}, are both in love with Kyosuke. However, it's played with in that Kyosuke doesn't know that Sayaka is a MagicalGirl in the first place. [[spoiler:Ultimately, Kyosuke picks the latter, which is one of the catalysts in Sayaka's fall to despair and ultimate [[AndThenJohnWasAZombie witch-hood]]]].

* It is a not infrequent situation in superhero comics, usually with a superhero having to choose between a fellow superhero and a non-powered civilian.

** During the mid-1980s Spider-Man found himself between the Black Cat and "civilian" Mary Jane Watson. He eventually chose Mary Jane, whom he married in 1987.

* When Creator/ChrisClaremont decided in the mid-1980s to break up the X-Man Nightcrawler and his longtime lover, the sorceress Amanda Sefton aka Jimaine Szardos, he had him become attracted to a {{Ruritania}}n princess.
* Crystal of the Inhumans cheated on her husband Quicksilver with a nondescript, non-powered suburbanite.
* After Jean Grey (formerly Marvel Girl) returned from the bottom of Jamaica Bay, Cyclops found himself inexorably drawn to her despite being married. To make matters worse, his wife Madelyne looked just like Jean! (She was later revealed to be Jean's clone and killed off).
** Cyclops' teammate the Angel lived with his girlfriend Candy Southern throughout most of the 1970s and early 1980s, but that did not stop him from feeling attracted to the superheroine Dazzler or Jean Grey (after her return).
* Marlo Chandler, the wife of ''ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk'' supporting character Rick Jones, unexpectedly found herself drawn to the telepathic and telekinetic Moondragon and lived with her for a while before returning to her husband. (Before she first met Rick, Marlo had also been the Hulk's lover for a while).

* ComicBook/{{Thor}} fell in love with human Jane Foster, but his father shipped him with his fellow Asgardian Sif.

* ''WesternAnimation/CorpseBride'': Victor's LoveTriangle consists of him, [[PerfectlyArrangedMarriage the Muggle Victoria]], and the ManicPixieDreamGirl [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot zombie]] Emily. [[spoiler:When Victoria is forced to marry someone else, he plans to die and be with Emily, but she pulls an IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy]].

* The protagonist of ''Literature/BloodAndChocolate'', a werewolf named Vivian, has this when she is forced to choose between the werewolf Gabriel and the human Aiden. It doesn't really seem like a choice at first; she loves Aiden and despises Gabriel. In the film adaptation, she manages to break free of her pack and run away with Aiden! ...But in the original novel, we get the considerably less clichéd ending, wherein she realizes that a human could never understand her and goes back to Gabriel.
* ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' set up Bella/Jacob as this in ''New Moon'' before revealing Jacob as a werewolf and shifting into a VampireWerewolfLoveTriangle.
** Of course, in the first book Bella had three {{Muggle}} guys after her not ''even'' counting Edward and Jacob, both of whom were also already interested.

* Sort of happens in ''[[Literature/GemmaDoyle Rebel Angels]]''. Gemma, who has magical abilities, has to choose between Simon Middleton, a rich heir, or Kartik. While Kartik isn't magical, he does know about her magic and is involved in TheMasquerade. She chooses [[spoiler: Kartik, though he dies near the end of the last book in the trilogy.]]
* In the original ''[[Creator/HansChristianAndersen The Little Mermaid]]'' (i.e., not the Disney version), the mermaid was a heroic young maiden with an intoxicating voice but forever bound to the sea. The land-princess is a little more housewifely and dutiful but has legs.
** It should be noted though that the prince didn't know he was in one of these. He had no idea the mermaid wasn't just a regular woman, so this didn't factor into his choice.
* In ''Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians'', Percy's two major love interests are [[{{Tsundere}} Annabeth]], the demigodess daughter of Athena, and [[FieryRedhead Rachel]], a mortal girl (albeit one who can see through [[WeirdnessCensor the Mist]]). [[spoiler:It's somewhat subverted by the end, however, since Rachel becomes the new Oracle of Delphi at Camp Half-Blood, but only after a ShipSinking moment with Percy]].

* In ''Discworld/{{Wintersmith}}'', the young witch Tiffany has attracted a supernatural StalkerWithACrush in the form of the titular Wintersmith, and everyone ''knows'' that she's got an arrangement with the Baron's son, who's very much a Muggle. [[spoiler: She chooses neither. She rejects the Wintersmith and he returns to his discorporate form, and she and Roland are just friends]].

* The final season of ''Series/{{Charmed|1998}}'' had the sisters [[CosmicDeadline quickly finding and securing love and marriage.]] The secondary plot of one episode had [[HalfHumanHybrids half]]-[[OurAngelsAreDifferent whitelighter]] Paige meeting a British half-whitelighter who basically demands she marries and produce superpowerful offspring with him because it was destined to be. This doesn't sit well with her {{Muggle}} fiance Henry who spends the rest of the episode explaining why he and Paige were meant to be while the British half-whitelighter tries to show Paige that her life is too dangerous to have a human husband plus he doesn't think Henry is worthy a mate for her. The episode ends with the two men actually sparring in an alleyway.
** Earlier in season 2, Piper was torn between Dan, the {{Muggle}} love interest and Leo, who is a [[OurAngelsAreDifferent whitelighter]].

** The Season 4 finale has Rose forced to choose between the Doctor (magical) and [[spoiler: a human Doctor]] (muggle). The Doctor chooses for her, by [[spoiler:stranding her with the latter.]]

* Continuing the theme in the Franchise/{{Whoniverse}}, Gwen Cooper of ''Series/{{Torchwood}}'' has an UnderstandingBoyfriend Rhys, but shares {{UST}} with her boss Jack Harkness, an immortal human from the future. Resolved when [[spoiler:she marries Rhys and has a child with him, although there are still some hints of feelings between her and Jack.]]

* The second season of ''Series/TheVampireDiaries'' has Caroline choosing between her muggle on-and-off boyfriend Matt and werewolf Tyler. However, Caroline herself [[spoiler:is a vampire, making it a sort-of VampireWerewolfLoveTriangle (until Tyler becomes a vampire as well. ItMakesSenseInContext. She eventually hooks up with Tyler, after Matt tells her he can't handle her being a vampire.]]

* [[Series/TrueBlood Sookie]] ''thinks'' she is in one, with her boss Sam seemingly a normal guy smitten with her, while she lusts/pines for vampire Bill. [[spoiler:However, Sam isn't really human, and neither is Sookie herself.]]

* This was the case in the first few episodes of ''Series/IDreamOfJeannie''; however, Tony's relationship with his {{Muggle}} fiancee didn't last long.

* ''Franchise/DragonAge''

* ''Franchise/MassEffect''
** ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'': Male Shepard's [[LoveInterest romance options]] are the normal human soldier Ashley and the powerful telepathic [[MindOverMatter biotic]] [[GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe blue skinned asari]] Liara[[labelnote:*]]Female Shepard's possible love interests don't count as Liara and Kaidan are ''both'' biotic. Garrus and Tali aren't open options until later, and Wrex has bigger issues to worry about to even ''think'' of a romantic life with Sheprd[[/labelnote]].

* ''VideoGame/Persona3'': The protagonist has the option of dating Persona-users like [[PluckyGirl Yukari]], [[DefrostingIceQueen Mitsuru]], and [[TheCutie Fuuka]], as well as more normal high school students like [[TomboyWithAGirlyStreak Yuko]] and [[ShrinkingViolet Chihiro]]. This trope gets taken to another level with romance options for [[RidiculouslyHumanRobot Aigis]] and [[AmbiguouslyHuman Elizabeth]], who make the Persona-users look like {{muggles}} in comparison.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'': In Book 1, Mako, though being a [[ElementalPowers bender]] [[PlayingWithFire himself]], has to choose between {{Muggle}} [[UptownGirl Asami]] and [[AmazonianBeauty Korra]], who's the [[PhysicalGod Avatar]], bender of all 4 elements. He starts with Asami, breaks up with her due to [[YourCheatingHeart various]] [[LoveEpiphany reasons]] and ends up with Korra at the end of book 1.

** For the book 4 {{Grand Finale}} [[spoiler: Korra and Asami [[BiTheWay end up together]], meaning that she was the one with the choice between magic and {{muggle}} all along. ]]
* ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil'': BadassNormal Marco Diaz's LoveTriangle consists of him, the Muggle ChildhoodFriendRomance Jackie-Lynn Thomas, and the MagicalGirlWarrior Star Butterfly, though he [[JustFriends doesn't even see Star as an option]] until she begrudgingly admits to having a crush on him after [[spoiler: he had already started a relationship with Jackie-Lynn. They have a happy relationship until she realizes that he's become unhappy on Earth following Star returning to her home dimension and that he may have developed feelings for the princess as well. She proceeds to dump him so [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy he can go live in said dimension and have a chance to be with her]]. But by that point, Star has rekindled her old relationship with JerkWithAHeartOfGold Tom.]]
* {{ZigZagged}} in ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug''. Superhero Cat Noir is smitten with fellow superhero Ladybug, but when he assumes the identy of Adrien Agreste, he sees civilian Marinette as no more than a friend. Marinette, meanwhile, has a crush on Adrien, but when she dons the mask of Ladybug, she does not reciprocate her partner Cat Noir's affections.

* ''Manga/InuYasha'' - Kagome has the most desired boy in school fall in love with her, but even when she goes on dates with him she finds herself thinking about [=InuYasha=], a half-dog demon from the mythic past.

* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' somewhat subverts the trope - while the Angel (Vampire)/Buffy (MagicalSlayer)/Riley (human) triangle fits, by the point Riley shows up in Buffy's life she and Angel had already decided they should move on. Kind of.

* In ''Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians'', Percy's two major love interests are Annabeth, the demigodess daughter of Athena, and Rachel, a mortal girl (albeit one who can see through [[WeirdnessCensor the Mist]]). [[spoiler:It's somewhat subverted by the end, however, since Rachel becomes the new Oracle of Delphi at Camp Half-Blood, but only after a ShipSinking moment with Percy]].

* The final season of ''Series/{{Charmed}}'' had the sisters [[CosmicDeadline quickly finding and securing love and marriage.]] The secondary plot of one episode had [[HalfHumanHybrids half]]-[[OurAngelsAreDifferent whitelighter]] Paige meeting a British half-whitelighter who basically demands she marries and produce superpowerful offspring with him because it was destined to be. This doesn't sit well with her {{Muggle}} fiance Henry who spends the rest of the episode explaining why he and Paige were meant to be while the British half-whitelighter tries to show Paige that her life is too dangerous to have a human husband plus he doesn't think Henry is worthy a mate for her. The episode ends with the two men actually sparring in an alleyway.

* ''Manga/InuYasha'' - Kagome has the most desired boy in school fall in love with her, but even when she goes on dates with him she finds herself thinking about Inu Yasha, a half-dog demon from the mythic past.

* Some examples from ComicBook/SpiderMan:

* ''VideoGame/Persona3'': The protagonist has the option of dating persona-users like [[PluckyGirl Yukari]], [[DefrostingIceQueen Mitsuru]], and [[TheCutie Fuuka]], as well as more normal high school students like [[TomboyWithAGirlyStreak Yuko]] and [[ShrinkingViolet Chihiro]]. This trope gets taken to another level with romance options for [[RidiculouslyHumanRobot Aigis]] and [[DemiHuman Elizabeth]], who make the Persona-users look like {{muggles}} in comparison. The later games also allow the protagonist to date both persona-users and normal muggles.

* ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'': The Male Warden's two female romance options are Leliana and Morrigan, a BadassNormal [[TheBard bard]] and a HotWitch, respectively. (Or [[GayOption Zevran]], an elven assassin.)
* ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'': Since EveryoneIsBi, straight male / lesbian female Hawkes can choose between BadassNormal Isabela and CuteWitch Merrill, straight female / gay male Hawkes can choose between Mage Anders and Muggle Fenris, and bi character can enter invoke the above or a love triangle between Isabela v. Anders or Merrill v. Fenris.
* ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'': Having introduced eight romance options(!!), this trope is in play for some Inquisitors but not others. Gay (or Bi) Male Inquisitors can choose between the {{Necromancer}} [[BadPowersGoodPeople Dorian]] and BoisterousBruiser [[HornedHumanoid Iron Bull]]. Female Elven Inquisitors can choose between one of several muggle companions (or advisers!) or the [[RealityWarper Mage]] [[EnlightenmentSuperpowers Solas]]. This trope does not apply to non-elven female Inquisitors because [[SorryImGay Dorian is gay]], [[LikeGoesWithLike Solas can only be romanced by a female elf]][[note]]Due to time and budget constraints[[/note]], and all the other love interests are muggles. This trope also doesn't apply to straight male or lesbian female Inquisitors because none of the potential female love interests are mages this time around.
* ''VideoGame/MassEffect'': Male Shepard's [[LoveInterest romance options]] are the normal human soldier Ashley and the powerful telepathic [[MindOverMatter biotic]] [[GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe blue skinned asari]] Liara[[labelnote:*]]Female Shepard's possible love interests don't count as Liara and Kaidan are ''both'' biotic. Garrus and Tali aren't open options until later, and Wrex has bigger issues to worry about to even ''think'' of a romantic life with Sheprd[[/labelnote]].
* ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'': Female Shepard this time, having either just Garrus the CowboyCop with ImprobableAimingSkills, or either Jacob or Thane, both of whom are biotics[[labelnote:*]]. Male Shepard's options this time are Miranda and Jack, who are ''both'' biotics. Grunt is too young, Mordin has no sex drive (standard for all salarians), Legion is a ''geth'' and has zero experience/interest on the matter, [[NonStandardGameOver you lose]] if you even ''try'' Morinth, and Kasumi and Zaeed are DLC. While you can ''try'' to advance on Samara (only attempt-able for Male Shepard), she'll turn you down[[/labelnote]].
* ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'': For straight female Shepard, it's Garrus or [[RedMage Kaidan]][[labelnote:*]]New party member James doesn't hold any romantic interest.[[/labelnote]]. For gay male Shepard, it's the biotic Kaidan or normal human shuttle pilot Cortez. For gay female Shepard, the choice could be between the biotic Liara and the normal human Intel analyst Samantha Traynor. For straight male Shepard, it could be either Liara ([[ExtremeOmnisexual gender isn't a concern for her]]) or Ashley or Tali, both of whom are just normal members of their species.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Corpse Bride}}'': Victor's LoveTriangle consists of him, [[PerfectlyArrangedMarriage the Muggle Victoria]], and the ManicPixieDreamGirl [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot zombie]] Emily. [[spoiler:When Victoria is forced to marry someone else, he plans to die and be with Emily, but she pulls an IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy]].

* ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'': For straight female Shepard, it's Garrus or RedMage Kaidan]][[labelnote:*]]New party member James doesn't hold any romantic interest.[[/labelnote]]. For gay male Shepard, it's the biotic Kaidan or normal human shuttle pilot Cortez. For gay female Shepard, the choice could be between the biotic Liara and the normal human Intel analyst Samantha Traynor. For straight male Shepard, it could be either Liara ([[ExtremeOmnisexual gender isn't a concern for her]]) or Ashley or Tali, both of whom are just normal members of their species.

* ''TheNineLivesOfChloeKing'' had Chloe, a [[{{catgirl}} Mai]], in love with her enemy's son Brian (a muggle), while being the focus of her friend Alec's (also a Mai) affections.

* ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil'': BadassNormal Marco Diaz's LoveTriangle consists of him, the Muggle ChildhoodFriendRomance Jackie-Lynn Thomas, and the MagicalGirlWarrior Star Butterfly.
* ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug:'' Marinette has a crush on Adrien Agreste, but does not reciprocate the affections of her superhero partner Cat Noir. She does not know that Adrien is actually Cat Noir. Cat Noir, meanwhile, is deeply in love with superheroine Ladybug, but does not respond to Marinette's crush on him. He does not know that Ladybug is actually Marinette.

* In ''Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians'', Percy's two major love interests are Annabeth, the demigodess daughter of Athena, and Rachel, a mortal girl, although Rachel's not entirely normal since she can see through [[WeirdnessCensor the Mist]]. [[spoiler:It's somewhat subverted, however, since Rachel becomes the new Oracle at Camp Half-Blood, but only after a ShipSinking moment with Percy]].

* The second season of ''TheVampireDiaries'' has Caroline choosing between her muggle on-and-off boyfriend Matt and werewolf Tyler. However, Caroline herself [[spoiler:is a vampire, making it a sort-of VampireWerewolfLoveTriangle (until Tyler becomes a vampire as well. ItMakesSenseInContext. She eventually hooks up with Tyler, after Matt tells her he can't handle her being a vampire.]]

* In ''Parties and Potions'' by Sarah Mlynowski, Rachel (a witch) has to choose between her muggle boyfriend Raf and a witch boy who likes her and who she feels she can relate to better. [[spoiler: She chooses Raf.]]

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* It is a not infrequent situation in superhero comics, usually with a superhero having to choose between a fellow superhero and a non-powered civilian.

[[AC:{{Literature}}]]

* The protagonist of ''Literature/BloodAndChocolate'', a werewolf named Vivian, has this when she is forced to choose between the werewolf Gabriel and the human Aiden. It doesn't really seem like a choice at first; she loves Aiden and despises Gabriel. In the film adaptation, she manages to break free of her pack and run away with Aiden! ...But in the original novel, we get the considerably less clichéd ending, wherein she realizes that a human could never understand her and goes back to Gabriel.

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[[AC:WesternAnimation]]

* ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil'': BadassNormal Marco Diaz's LoveTriangle consists of him, the Muggle ChildhoodFriendRomance Jackie-Lynn Thomas, and the MagicalGirlWarrior BadassPrincess Star Butterfly.

* ''VideoGame/MassEffect'': Male Shepard's [[LoveInterest romance options]] are the normal human soldier Ashley and the powerful telepathic [[MindOverMatter biotic]] [[GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe blue skinned asari]].
* ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'': Female Shepard this time, having either just Garrus the CowboyCop with ImprobableAimingSkills, or either Jacob or Thane, both of whom are biotics.
* ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'': For straight female Shepard, this time it could be Garrus or [[RedMage Kaidan]]. For gay male Shepard it is the biotic Kaidan or normal human shuttle pilot Cortez. For gay female Shepard, the choice could be between the biotic Liara and the normal human Intel analyst Samantha Traynor. For straight male Shepard, it could be either Liara ([[ExtremeOmnisexual gender isn't a concern for her]]) or Ashley or Tali, both of whom are just normal members of their species.

* ''Series/Daredevil2015'' season 2 has a bit of a love triangle that involves the very normal Karen Page and the Chaste-trained Matt Murdock and Elektra Natchios.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Corpse Bride}}'': Victor's LoveTriangle consists of him, the Muggle Victoria, and the ManicPixieDreamGirl [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot zombie]] Emily.