History Main / ParentsSuckAtMatchmaking

* ''Manga/SwordArtOnline'': Asuna's parents in the Fairy Dance arc, who were willing to pawn off their teenage, ''comatose'' daughter to Sugou the creep.

* ''Manga/SwordArtOnline": Asuna's parents in the Fairy Dance arc, who were willing to pawn off their teenage, ''comatose'' daughter to Sugou the creep.

* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'': [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed]] in ''[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS5E141SpurOfTheMoment Spur Of The Moment]]''. 18 years old Anne is not happy with the fiancée her parents arranged for her; an investment broker called Robert. He is a respectable man but stiff and insensitive to the scare she took at the beginning of the episode when an old, ugly woman persecuted her while she was riding her horse. She ends up eloping with David, her "true love", but he turns out to be abusive and bankrupts her family's estate through mismanagement, with Anne [[DrowningMySorrows becoming an alcoholic to drown her disappointments]]. 25 years later, she is riding her horse in the same place she saw the hag when she suddenly spots a young woman riding meters away. Anne realizes in shock that the stranger is her younger self and SHE is the hag! Screaming in despair, she rides after young Anne, trying to warn her to not marry David, but all she does is scare her former self.

* ''Series/GilmoreGirls'': A recurring point of contention between Lorelai and her mother, Emily, is Emily's repeated attempts to force her into a relationship with Christopher, her high school boyfriend and Rory's father. Lorelai is adamant that they aren't compatible, and the show would prove her right, but it doesn't stop Emily from pushing. It doesn't help that Chris is totally on board with it. Emily even goes so far as to invite Christopher to her and her husband's vow renewal, right after Lorelai gotten together with Luke, in an attempt to [[ShippingTorpedo sabotage that relationship.]]

* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/5262089/1/War-of-the-Mobians War of the Mobians]]'', Sonic and Sally are trying to set up their daughter, Princess Alyssa, with Gabriel D'Coolette, the daughter of Antoine and Bunnie. The thing is, she doesn't really like him in that way. [[spoiler:She's right not to like him, as he only wants to marry Alyssa so he can be the king.]]

* ''Film/{{Oscar}}'': "Spats" Provolone wants his daughter to marry socialite Bruce Underwood III. She thinks he's gross, and he has pimples. She's more enamored with the former chauffeur, the eponymous Oscar.

* ''Series/HouseOfTheDragon'': King Viserys loves his daughter Rhaenyra, but his preferred choices for the Princess's future consort have been rather lacking. Initially he tries to set up Rhaenyra with Jason Lannister, an arrogant UpperClassTwit whom Rhaenyra despises but one who belongs to a powerful House. He then allows her to select her own suitor, but when she takes too long he arranges a marriage with her cousin Laenor Velaryon from a different powerful House. While Rhaenyra and Laenor grew up together and are definitely friends, Laenor is a closeted homosexual who never sires any true heirs.

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* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'': [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed]] in ''Spur of the Moment''. 18 years old Anne is not happy with the fiancée her parents arranged for her; an investment broker called Robert. He is a respectable man but stiff and insensitive to the scare she took at the beginning of the episode when an old, ugly woman persecuted her while she was riding her horse. She ends up eloping with David, her "true love", but he turns out to be abusive and bankrupts her family's estate through mismanagement, with Anne [[DrowningMySorrows becoming an alcoholic to drown her disappointments]]. 25 years later, she is riding her horse in the same place she saw the hag when she suddenly spots a young woman riding meters away. Anne realizes in shock that the stranger is her younger self and SHE is the hag! Screaming in despair, she rides after young Anne, trying to warn her to not marry David, but all she does is scare her former self.

For some reason, fictional parents are inclined to believe that [[DatingWhatDaddyHates anyone their kid picks for themselves]] is [[HorribleJudgeOfCharacter the sort of person they should stay far away from]]. And anyone they approve of as spouse material tends to be someone the kid feels, if anything, revulsion for. Maybe they're some dweeby loser whos just screams social napalm. Maybe they're some smarmy douche [[ItsAllAboutMe who's more in love with themself than with their date]]. Or worse, maybe they're some manipulative sociopath who knows how to play the kid's parents like a violin, and has some kind of ulterior motive for getting together with them.

Another common reason for bad matches is that the parent wants an ArrangedMarriage for their child, and think money, status, FamilyHonor or [[AltarDiplomacy politics]] is the most important part of picking a spouse. If the parent is portrayed sympathetically, they may think the restrictions of their society mean the child is ultimately better off with the chosen spouse (especially if they believe in MarriageBeforeRomance), or try to comfort the princess who has to sacrifice her happiness by marrying a {{Jerkass}} prince to prevent a war.

Most people in the Western world believe that pressuring or forcing a child to date someone violates their personal freedom, so this type of story usually have the child rebelling and the parent's preferred suitor being rejected in the end (or, in less idealistic works, the child ending up stuck in an unhappy marriage). If the parent had a selfish reason for wanting the arranged marriage to go through, they've probably undergone CharacterDevelopment and learn that their child's happiness is more important than riches (or, more rarely, the child will abandon the parent). If the marriage was intended to prevent some negative event, they'll likely TakeAThirdOption to avoid it. This often goes along with a MarryForLove message, with the child ultimately marrying the person ''they'' wanted, and the parent eventually approving of their kid's choice.

You rarely see examples of GoodParents trying to find a good spouse for their child and eventually succeeding. After all, a more benevolent take on ArrangedMarriage that goes something like "Alice's parents decide to introduce her to potential suitors and allow her to [[ChildMarriageVeto turn down ones she's uncomfortable with]]" may be realistic, but it [[RuleOfDrama doesn't make for a very dramatic story]], and a lot of viewers find the idea of parent-arranged matches unromantic. With that said, on rare occasions the child will like the parent's chosen suitor, or at least come around to them. In these cases, the work may be going for a pro-tradition message, or at least say that the more mature adults really do know best.

Overlaps with ParentPreferredSuitor, though that's about the parents liking who they set their child up with. This trope is about the child not liking who their parents got for them for various reasons. Contrast DatingWhatDaddyHates, with which this trope goes hand-in-hand, as both are about choosing who to date. See also AwfulWeddedLife which is the outcome the child is trying to avoid. Contrast also PerfectlyArrangedMarriage were the parent makes a good choice in a suitor who fits their kid. See also CareerVersusMan, FourthDateMarriage, StarterMarriage, SettleForSibling and UnwantedSpouse. Contrast MarryForLove.

* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'': Played for BlackComedy and HilariouslyAbusiveChildhood. When James was a kid, his snubby parents set him up with the psychotic Jessebelle because [[RichBitch she was wealthy]] and would "educate" him to become a gentleman, not caring if she used violence. Jessebelle made of James' life a living hell, trying to control everything James did, from the Pokémon he would have to the way he ran away from her. [[EveryoneHasStandards Even Ash's gang pitied on him when they met her.]]
* ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'': Years ago, Genma Saotome and his old friend Soun Tendo agreed into marrying their children, so they would carry on Tendo?s dojo. At present, Tendo?s eldest daughters refuse to honor the commitment, especially because Ranma is cursed on occasionally turning into a girl, and the burden falls on their younger sister Akane. Neither she or Ranma are happy with their forced engagement. Subverted in the end of the manga, when they eventually discover they love each other and decide to marry. Double-subverted that their marriage is disrupted by both Akane and Ranma?s suitors that Nabiki shamelessly invited to the party. Souna decides the marriage must be delayed until the couple settles down all their personal affairs.
* ''Manga/RenaiAllergy'': Years ago, Satoko ran away from her isolated countryside to escape from the sexual harassment of Takeru, a former class colleague. Her mother kept pestering her to return and find someone to marry; one day, she calls, telling a horrified Satoko that he found her a fiancée. Even worse, said fiancée is no one else than Takeru! Out of despair, she asks her boss, Taichi, to pretend they are engaged, so her parents will leave her alone. The latters are initially disappointed, but her mother eventually warms up to Taichi, who makes clear for Takeru that he'll not let him mess with Satoko anymore.

* ''{{WesternAnimation/Antz}}'': Princess Bala is not comfortable with her engagement to General Mandible, since they have nothing in common and her attempts to be amicable are met with indifference. Her mother, however, insists that, deep down, he cares about Bala because he was "very persistent" on asking her hand. [[spoiler:It is revealed that the General cares only about Bala to spawn a new generation of ants after he drowns what he sees as "the weak elements of the colony" (read, the working class). The Queen ends up supporting her daughter against him after she learns about the genocidal monster he is.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994'': Zazu tells Simba and Nala that their parents will thrilled when they'll learn the two are getting along so well, since they are to be bethroted. Simba is disgusted and Nala comments it would be weird they get married because they are just friends. [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] when Nala reunites with Simba after his exile and the two find out they actually love each other.
* ''Animation/MySweetMonster'': Princess Barbara is bethroted [[AbirthdayNotABreak in her sixteenth birtday]] to the repulsive mail clerk Weasel. Subverted because King Elijah doesn?t want to do that, but he is blackmailed by Weasel, who stole the source of power of his inventions. Unaware of that, Barbara thinks that this is another way [[KnightTemplarParent her father has found to put a leash on her]]; having had more than enough of his restraints, she escapes from the palace.

** Griselda keeps arranging girlfriends to her son Bog, at hopes of bringing love back to the goblin kingdom. He rejects all of them, but Griselda insists she won't give up. Fortunately, she approves when he falls in love with Marianne.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSwanPrincess'': Odette and Derek were bethroted when she was still a baby in order to unit their neighbouring kingdoms. Their parents forced them to spend every summer together, deaf to their children's protests and their obvious dislike of each other. Subverted when both eventually came to like each other when they became grown-ups, but double subverted that Derek was unable to say what did he love in Odette besides her beauty. She firmly calls the marriage off and her father accepts the defeat gracefully.

* ''Film/Penelope2006'': Jessica presses Penelope on marrying Edward although her daughter clearly hates him, because she thinks that the only way to break the spell is Penelope being accepted by someone of blue blood. After Penelope withdraws the marriage, Jessica bangs on her door and begs for her to reconsider, [[ItsAllAboutMe because she can't stand having a pig-faced daughter, never taking Penelope's feelings into account]]. Penelope finally snaps and tells her SHE likes herself the way she is, breaking the spell at last.
* The French comedy ''Film/SerialBadWeddings'' is about the parents of an upper-middle-class white French Catholic family where three of their daughters are married to a Muslim lawyer, a Jewish entrepreneur and a Taoist Chinese-descended banker respectively. They're thrilled when they learn their last daughter is engaged to a Catholic, to the point of looking over the fact that he's a small-time stage actor... who of course turns out to be black. They attempt to present her with a "better" (rich and white) suitor, but he's so obviously nebbish and ugly she turns him down outright. The film does end on a happy note when it turns out the fiancé's father is just as reactionary as the fiancée's father, bonding over their shared admiration for France in the 50s under UsefulNotes/CharlesDeGaulle.
* ''Film/ShakespeareInLove'': Viola is bethroted by her parents to the unsufferable Lord Wessex, who kisses her forcefully. She has no say in that, because he gets permission from the Queen Elizabeth to marry her.

** The "Mother's Rosario" arc is kicked off by her mother Kyouko taking a crack at it. She dislikes Kirito largely for classist reasons, and hopes to match Asuna with the son of a wealthy family. Asuna meets a couple at first but only has eyes for Kirito, and finally succeeds in talking her out of the idea after getting her to log into ALO's recreation of Aincrad to show her what she finds so compelling about the virtual worlds.

* ''Series/HouseOfTheDragon'': King Viserys loves his daughter Rhaenyra, but his preferred choices for the Princess's future consort have been rather lacking. Initially he tries to set up Rhaenyra with Jason Lannister, an arrogant UpperClassTwit that Rhaenyra despises but one who belongs to a powerful House. He then allows her to select her own suitor, but when she takes too long he arranges a marriage with her cousin Laenor Velaryon from a different powerful House. While Rhaenyra and Laenor grew up together and are definitely friends, Laenor is a closeted homosexual who never sires any true heirs.
* ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'': One episode of the series had Jerry dating a woman who was downright near-perfect in Jerry's view [[InvertedTrope but]] [[SomebodyDoesntLoveRaymond for reasons that are unexplained, everybody else Jerry meets (the woman's parents, friends and Jerry's friends) saw her as such a pathetic human being that Jerry was doing her a favor by dating her]]. Jerry spends the entire episode trying to find someone, ''anyone'', who doesn't thinks she sucks and finally finds it in his parents, who gush over her and see her as a perfect match for him. The romance ends for Jerry right then and there.
* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'': [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed]] in ''Spur of the Moment''. 18 years old Anne is not happy with the fiancée her parents arranged for her; an investment broker called Robert. He is a respectable man but stiff and insensitive to the scare she took in the beginning of the episode, when an old, ugly woman persecuted her while she was riding her horse. She ends up eloping with David, her "true love", but he turns out to be abusive and bankrupts her family's estate through mismanagement, with Anne [[DrowningMySorrows becoming an alcoholic to drown her disappointments]]. 25 years later, she is riding her horse on the same place she saw the hag when she suddenly spots a young woman riding meters away. Anne realizes in shock that the stranger is her younger self and SHE is the hag! Screaming in despair, she rides after young Anne, trying to warn her to not marry David, but all she does is to scare her former self.

* ''Manhwa/{{Ebony}}'': When Ebony was 18, the Count Voineck bethroted her to Victor Sedell (a man he knew superficially, from his club) in order to produce [[HeirClubForMen a male heir]] for his properties. Victor revealed himself as a drunk brute, who tried to rape Ebony in front of his friends when they doubted about her virginity. In a desperate attempt to escape from him, she ran to the cellar; he came after her, but Ebony was able to push him from the stairs, causing his death. When the count learned about that, he tried to make Ebony commit suicide to clean their family's honor, but she accidentaly hurt his hands when she pushed his knife back on them. Horrified to what SHE had done, Ebony left him to get a doctor but, when they returned, he was dead. She was imprisoned for five years, accused of having murdered both.

* In ''VideoGame/SaintsRowGatOutOfHell'', Jezebel allies herself with Johnny to keep her father Satan from forcing her to marry the President. However, her resistance is more because she wants to be free to find true love and not for specifically hating the President, who is stuck inside a crystal and unable to interact to anyone. Played more straight when Satan is impressed by Johnny's badassery and blackmails him to marry Jezebel instead. Neither of the two is happy with that (besides, Johnny still loves [[TheLostLenore Aisha]]).

* ''WebAnimation/HelluvaBoss'': In "[[Recap/HelluvaBossS2E1TheCircus The Circus]]", Paimon had arranged for his son Stolas to marry a princess named Stella in a ArrangedMarriage. Stolas didn't like Stella at all and begins to cry when he saw a photo of her struggling animals.

** After defeating Katara, Pakku recognizes her necklace as the one he carved to Kanna - Katara and Sokka's grandmother - the girl he was in love with when they were young. Katara realizes that it was an arranged marriage and that her grandma didn't love Pakku, so she ran away to not submit to the North Tribe patriarchal traditions. Subverted in the last season, when Pakku reveals he met Kanna again and this time she accepted his proposal.
** Princess Yue was bound in an arranged marriage by her father to an egotistical warrior called Hahn. Since she doesn't love him, she runs away in tears when she hears Katara's constatation about her grandmother. Worse yet, Hahn obviously cares only about Yue's position, going as far as boasting to Sokka that "she came with more perks". Strangely enough, Chief Arnook notices how unhappy his daughter was and that she and Sokka love each other, but does nothing to cancel the marriage, maybe because if would be a great rupture of their customs.

* ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'': Mermando writes to Mabel telling that he had to marry the Queen of the Manatees to prevent a civil war. His expression in the photo he sends to her makes clear how miserable he feels with his forced marriage.
* ''WesternAnimation/HarleyQuinn2019'': When King Shark returns home, he finds out his father has arranged for him to marry Tabitha of the hammerheads. He doesn?t actually want to marry her, and he makes this clear once he finds out Tabitha feels the same way. In the end though, [[SubvertedTrope they get married anyway]], but agree to an open relationship.

* ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil'': Queen Solaria tried to set up her daughter Eclipsa with prince Shastacan for diplomatic reasons, although the girl hated his repellent personality. Unfortunately, the queen believed that she knew better and imposed the marriage in her will. Eclipsa complied, but couldn't stand Shastacan for much long, leaving him to form a family with her true love Globgor.

* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'': [[DeconstructedTrope Deconstructed]] in ''Spur of the Moment''. 18 years old Anne is not happy with the fiancée her parents arranged for her; an investment broker called Robert. He is a respectable man but stiff and insensitive to the scare she took in the beginning of the episode, when an old, ugly woman persecuted her while she was riding her horse. She ends up eloping with David, her "true love", but he turns out to be abusive and bankrupts her family?s state through mismanagement, with Anne [[DrowningMySorrows becoming an alcoholic to drown her disappointments]]. 25 years later, she is riding her horse on the same place she saw the hag when she suddenly spots a young woman riding meters away. Anne realizes in shock that the stranger is her younger self and SHE is the hag! Screaming in despair, she rides after young Anne, trying to warn her to not marry David, but all she does is to scare her former self.

* ''WebAnimation/HelluvaBoss'': In "[[Recap/HelluvaBossS2E1TheCircus The Circus]]", Piamon had arranged for his son Stolas to marry a princess named Stella in a ArrangedMarriage. Stolas didn't like Stella at all and begins to cry when he saw a photo of her struggling animals.

* ''WesternAnimation/CorpseBride'': Victor and Victoria are set up by their respective parents (Victor's want to become aristocrats through his marriage and Victoria's need money), but [[LoveAtFirstSight fall for each other at first sight]]. Played straight after Victor is abducted by Emily and Victoria's uncaring parents force her to marry Lord Barkis because he lied he was rich. When she learns he is a GoldDigger, she has at least the satisfaction of rubbing her parents' poverty on his face:

Most people in the Western world believe that pressuring or forcing a child to date someone violates their personal freedom, so this type of story usually the child rebelling and the parent's preferred suitor being rejected in the end (or, in less idealistic works, the child ending up stuck in an unhappy marriage). If the parent had a selfish reason for wanting the arranged marriage to go through, they've probably undergone CharacterDevelopment and learn that their child's happiness is more important than riches (or, more rarely, the child will abandon the parent). If the marriage was intended to prevent some negative event, they'll likely TakeAThirdOption to avoid it. This often goes along with a MarryForLove message, with the child ultimately marrying the person ''they'' wanted, and the parent eventually approving of their kid's choice.

* ''Manga/FairyTail'': When Lucy returns home to confront Jude over his involvement with the guild war between Phantom Lord and the Fairy Tail guild, Jude reveals that he hired Phantom Lord to retrieve Lucy for an [[ArrangedMarriage arranged marriage]] with Duke Sawarr Junnelle. Lucy, putting it mildly, is not interested in the slightest in marrying Sawarr, in fact she is understandably furious with Jude for setting her up in an arranged marriage in the first place without her consent. [[AbhorrentAdmirer It certainly doesn't help that the one time Lucy does think about Sawarr in a flashback she is shown to feel uncomfortable in regard to his interest in her to say the least.]]

* In the backstory of ''VideoGame/NightmareOfTheSnow'', Yukiko is forced into an ArrangedMarriage by her father Shouichi with local swordsman Haruto in order to keep the family going for another generation, and when she refuses, he [[HonorRelatedAbuse locks her in the mansion dungeon]] until she agrees. Luckily, Haruto himself is such a NiceGuy that he refuses to let this happen and breaks her out, letting them run away to a farm together [[spoiler:where they, [[SubvertedTrope ironically]], [[PerfectlyArrangedMarriage actually fall in love]]]].