History Main / PitbullDatesPuppy

* The human lead of ''Literature/TheGeneral'' series, Raj Whitehall, is a gifted officer from a frontier province that generally provides soldiers rather than taxes to the Civil Government. However in [[DecadentCourt the pit of backstabbing, manipulation, murder, and other entertainments]] that is the political scene of East Residence; the man is a puppy. His petite, beautiful wife Suzette? ''[[TheVamp She]]'' is the pitbull, made all more vicious for wanting to keep the man she loves intact.

** ''Fanfic/SOE2LoneHeirOfKrypton'': Asuka is fiery, hot-blooded, aggressive, hard-headed, impatient... and she is ''Comicbook/{{Supergirl}}''. Shinji is a NonActionGuy passive, quiet, and meek. However, Shinji fell in love with Asuka precisely because he admired her strength, willpower, courage, and determination, and Asuka fell in love with him precisely because he was gentle, caring, and dependable.
** The other ''Fanfic/SuperwomenOfEva'' stories involving Shinji are this because all of the other titular action girls are incredibly destructive in battle and Shinji is only useful in combat if he's in an Evangelion, cementing his role as TheHeart (in ''Fanfic/SuperwomenOfEvaEmeraldFury'', it's even an important plot point that he's TheKidWithTheLeash to ''the freaking ComicBook/SheHulk''). The odd story out is ''Fanfic/SOESpirit'', a Hikari/Toji pairing, and even then it's obvious that Hikari is SilkHidingSteel and Toji is highly dorky when dealing with the UST.

** The other ''Fanfic/SuperwomenOfEva'' stories involving Shinji are this because all of the other titular action girls are incredibly destructive in battle and Shinji is only useful in combat if he's in an Evangelion, cementing his role as TheHeart (in ''Fanfic/SOEEmeraldFury'', it's even an important plot point that he's TheKidWithTheLeash to ''the freaking ComicBook/SheHulk''). The odd story out is ''Fanfic/SOESpirit'', a Hikari/Toji pairing, and even then it's obvious that Hikari is SilkHidingSteel and Toji is highly dorky when dealing with the UST.

* ''WesternAnimation/WallE'' has its title character and EVE. WALL•E is TheWoobie and a very sweet, caring robot who only wants someone to love after spending hundreds of years alone, while his love interest EVE is a tough ActionGirl prone to blowing things up with her plasma cannon at the slightest provocation.

* In a medical drama ''Series/MondayMornings'', Dr. Sydney Napur dates Dr. John Lieberman. He asks her out in the first episode but she kind of made him by almost screaming and being pushy. Generally, she is way tougher than him. When Sydney discusses it with her colleagues, BaldBlackLeaderGuy Dr. Jorge Villanueva thinks he'll "go through her like crap through goose", and she gets angry. Dr. Lieberman reacts with a FlatWhat.

** Aggressive!Hawke with CloudCuckooLander Merrill in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII''. Interestingly enough, this can still occur down the [[PetTheDog Friendship]] [[MoralityPet path]] as easily as the [[BastardBoyfriend Rivalry]] [[LoveMartyr path]].

Contrast BestHerToBedHer. Also see TrueLoveIsExceptional for when a similar OppositesAttract dynamic actually works out, and AggressiveSubmissive when the relationship works like this most of the time, until the time they actually have sex when suddenly their roles get inverted. Compare BeastAndBeauty, MasculineGirlFeminineBoy, and BroodingBoyGentleGirl.

* ComicBook/TheJoker and ComicBook/HarleyQuinn's relationship. True, Harley is psychotic and destructive like Joker but is still much more innocent. Their relationship is usually Joker abusing Harley, though it's occasionally implied that [[AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther he does actually care about her.]]

* ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13010468/1/Metroid-10 Metroid 10]]'' has one between [[{{Franchise/Metroid}} Samus Aran]] and [[Franchise/Ben10 Ben Tennyson]]. While Samus is fairly [[EmotionlessGirl unemotional]] with a DarkAndTroubledPast that includes her being the SoleSurvivor of a Space Pirate raid, Ben is an AllLovingHero with a loving family back home. Both do work to help each other with their emotional issues, such as Ben being forced to break his ThouShaltNotKill policy and Samus with nightmares of [[ArchEnemy Ridley]].

** In ''Franchise/MassEffect'', this trope can be achieved with a Renegade Commander Shepard with naive archeologist Liara or girl-next-door type Tali. Can also go the opposite direction with a Paragon Shepard and [[TheLadette Ashley]] or Jack.

* ClingyJealousGirl Eska and Bolin in ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'', for the brief period they were together. Eska treats Bolin like her slave, and when he essentially leaves her at the altar she gets '''[[{{Yandere}} very]]''' [[UnstoppableRage pissed.]] (Keep also in mind that while Bolin may have been a naïve little creampuff at that point in the story, he ''is'' an [[DishingOutDirt Earthbender]] and a badass in his own right. It's simply that Eska was ''just that scary''.)

** ''Manga/Evangelion303'': Asuka is a very aggressive, hot-headed woman and Shinji is a non-confrontational, quiet, shy man. Asuka always claimed she wanted to someone confident, determined, and muscular and she was not interested in scrawny boys. Still, she fell in love with Shinji and after seducing him they are unable to live without each other.

** The Warden can be an IncorruptiblePurePureness -- innocent and selfless all-around NiceGuy and get with the [[TokenEvilTeammate quasi-Token Evil Teammates]], the SocialDarwinist snarky [[LadyOfBlackMagic witch]] Morrigan or the blithe ProfessionalKiller cassanovian Zevran.

** Aggressive!Hawke with CloudCuckooLander Merrill in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII''. Interestingly enough, this can still occur down the [[PetTheDog Friendship]] [[MoralityPet path]] as easily as the [[BastardBoyfriend Rivalry]] [[LoveMartyr path]].

*** The Warden can be an IncorruptiblePurePureness -- innocent and selfless all-around NiceGuy and get with the [[TokenEvilTeammate quasi-Token Evil Teammates]], the SocialDarwinist snarky [[LadyOfBlackMagic witch]] Morrigan or the blithe ProfessionalKiller cassanovian Zevran.
%% ** Putting the PC in the Puppy position, Diplomatic!Hawke with Fenris.

* This is the case in ''{{Franchise/Danganronpa}}'' fics if the pairing is [[AllLovingHero Makoto Naegi]] and [[ChildSoldier Mukuro Ikusaba]]. With Mukuro [[spoiler:canonically [[VillainousCrush having a crush on Makoto]]]], it's not uncommon for Makoto to [[DefrostingIceQueen to be the one to defrost her]], and for her to be a ViolentlyProtectiveGirlfriend in turn. This trope is illustrated very literally in this [[https://thedeerus.tumblr.com/post/189041561220/do-muku-and-eggy-as-animals image]], with Mukuro being a wolf ([[spoiler:reflecting her past in the PMC Fenrir]]) with a knife in her jaws, protecting a small puppy version of Makoto.

* This is the case in ''{{Franchise/Danganronpa}}'' fics if the pairing is [[AllLovingHero Makoto Naegi]] and [[ChildSoldier Mukuro Ikusaba]]. With Mukuro [[spoiler:canonically [[VillainousCrush having a crush on Makoto]]]], it's not uncommon for Makoto to [[DefrostingIceQueen to be the one to defrost her]], and for her to be a ViolentlyProtectiveGirlfriend in turn. This relationship is best shown in this [[https://thedeerus.tumblr.com/post/189041561220/do-muku-and-eggy-as-animals image]], with Mukuro being a wolf ([[spoiler:reflecting her past in the PMC Fenrir]]) with a knife in her jaws, protecting a small puppy version of Makoto.

* ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13010468/1/Metroid-10 Metroid 10]]'' has one between [[{{Franchise/Metroid}} Samus Aran]] and [[Franchise/Ben10 Ben Tennyson]]. While Samus is fairly [[EmotionlessGirl unemotional]] with a DarkAndTroubledPast that includes her being the SoleSurvivor of a Space Pirate raid, Ben is an AllLovingHero with a loving family back home . Both do work to help each other with their emotional issues, such as Ben being forced to break his ThouShaltNotKill policy and Samus with nightmares of [[ArchEnemy Ridley]].

* Flipped around all over the place with ''LightNovel/{{Toradora}}''. Ryuuji has the FaceOfAThug, so much so that on the way to class one morning, two guys gave him their wallets, pleading for their lives. He's actually a very nice guy, as well as a major NeatFreak. Contrast with Taiga, who's a short, very cute girl... and known around school as the "Palmtop Tiger" for her angry demeanor and occasional violent outbursts (she punches out Ryuuji when he accidentally bumps into her).

* ''Manga/FutureDiary'' has the psychotic, violent and possessive {{Yandere}} Yuno who is completely obsessed with the cowardly ExtremeDoormat Yukiteru. Taken to an extreme when she kidnaps him, ties him to a chair and keeps him drugged for an entire week, to ensure that he'd stay "safe".

* ComicBook/TheJoker and ComicBook/HarleyQuinn's relationship. True, Harley is psychotic and destructive like Joker, but is still much more innocent. Their relationship is usually Joker abusing Harley, though it's occasionally implied that [[AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther he does actually care about her.]]

** ''Fanfic/{{HERZ}}'': Kurumi often wondered why Shinji -a quiet, unassuming guy- married a fiery woman as Asuka. In reality Shinji and Asuka need each other desperately and they think no one else will ever be able to understand their pain.

** ''Fanfic/OnceMoreWithFeeling'': Since Asuka is abrasive, loud and temperamental and Shinji is quiet, calm, and non-confrontational, most of their acquaintances consider that they have this kind of relationship. Touji and Kensuke think their "poor" friend Shinji needs to be saved from the "Demon Red", and Misato doesn't get how Shinji appears to be utterly, impossibly immune to everything Asuka throws at him in her standard attempts to push him away.

* In noir film ''Film/RiderOnTheStorm'', heroine Mellie has probably never stood up to anyone, let alone her somewhat domineering and chauvinistic husband. The [[BreakTheCutie events of the movie]] manage to show that she's legitimately MoreDeadlyThanTheMale without changing any of this.

* ''Literature/ABrothersPrice'': In the backstory, we have quiet-spoken, dignified Alannon, who was married to a band of rough soldiers in an ExoticExtendedMarriage. In the present, there is Cullen Moorland, a sweet, innocent and thoroughly harmless boy, who gets married to [[spoiler:Alannon's granddaughters, the Whistler sisters, who are anything ''but'' harmless.]]

* In ''Literature/NightWorld'', Galen Drache is compassionate, diplomatic, rarely violent and idealistic to a fault. Raksha Keller is brusque, unfriendly, tough-as-nails and tends to use aggression to deal with threats. They're revealed to be [[OneTrueLove soulmates]].

* In a medical drama ''Series/MondayMornings'', Dr. Sydney Napur dates Dr. John Lieberman. He asks her out in the first episode but she kind of made him by almost-screaming and being pushy. Generally, she is way tougher than him. When Sydney discusses it with her colleagues, BaldBlackLeaderGuy Dr. Jorge Villanueva thinks he'll "go through her like crap through goose", and she gets angry. Dr. Lieberman reacts with a FlatWhat.

** The Warden can be an IncorruptiblePurePureness -- innocent and selfless all-around NiceGuy and get with the [[TokenEvilTeammate quasi-Token Evil Teammates]], the SocialDarwinist snarky[[LadyOfBlackMagic witch]] Morrigan or the blithe ProfessionalKiller cassanovian Zevran.

* Implied with Rita and Estelle in ''VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia'', though it gets no further than subtext. Rita's aggressive and pragmatic, whilst Estelle is noble, naive and sweet. She's also the only one who brings out Rita's softer side.

* In ''Webcomic/BadMachinery'' Mildred and Jack have a mutual interest in each other, but he's an extremely nervous good boy while she recently stole a car. At the end of "The Case of the Severed Alliance" he turns her down because of this.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}:''Fry and Leela. Leela is easily among the toughest characters in the show and can beat the tar out of most anyone. Fry, on the other hand, is mostly a softer NiceGuy who is friendly to just about anyone and shown to be an AmazonChaser. They don't become an OfficialCouple until the post-revival series on Comedy Central though. Their relationship is unstable for about a season before they settle into a more committed relationship in the last season.

* In noir film ''Rider on the Storm'', heroine Mellie has probably never stood up to anyone, let alone her somewhat domineering and chauvinistic husband. The [[BreakTheCutie events of the movie]] manage to show that she's legitimately MoreDeadlyThanTheMale without changing any of this.

* The human lead of ''Literature/TheGeneral'' series, Raj Whitehall, is a gifted officer from a frontier province that generally provides soldiers rather than taxes to the Civil Government. However in [[DeadlyDecadentCourt the pit of backstabbing, manipulation, murder, and other entertainments]] that is the political scene of East Residence; the man is a puppy. His petite, beautiful wife Suzette? ''[[TheVamp She]]'' is the pitbull, made all more vicious for wanting to keep the man she loves intact.

* ''LightNovel/KaraNoKyoukai'' has a variation of this with NiceGuy Kokuto and SociopathicHero Shiki. In one case taken to its logical extreme when Shiki once puts a knife to his throat and threatens to kill him. Eventually, it works out when she lets him be her MoralityPet.

** ''Manga/{{Evangelion 303}}'': Asuka is a very aggressive, hot-headed woman and Shinji is a non-confrontational, quiet, shy man. Asuka always claimed she wanted to someone confident, determined, and muscular and she was not interested in scrawny boys. Still, she fell in love with Shinji and after seducing him they are unable to live without each other.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

%% * ''WesternAnimation/JimmyTwoShoes'': Jimmy and Heloise, though here it's more "Pitbull Courts Puppy", since Jimmy [[ObliviousToLove hasn't figured it out]].

* ClingyJealousGirl Eska and Bolin in ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'', for the brief period they were together. Eska treats Bolin like her slave, and when he essentially leaves her at the altar she gets '''[[{{Yandere}} very]]''' [[UnstoppableRage pissed]]. (Keep also in mind that while Bolin may have been a naïve little creampuff at that point in the story, he ''is'' an [[DishingOutDirt earthbender]] and a badass in his own right; it's simply that Eska was ''just that scary''.)
* In ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'', Arnold is an all-around nice guy who always likes to help with people's problems; and while Helga Pataki fell [[StalkerWithACrush obsessively in love with him]] for that reason, her usual demeanor is that of a violent and hard-nosed school bully. [[spoiler: By the end of The Jungle Movie, they become an OfficialCouple]].

[[caption-width-right:350:"You are one [[TraumaButton dynamite gal]]... please don't kill me!"]]

* ''Anime/KillLaKill'': Played with. Ira Gamagoori, a hulking giant man and stickler for the rules that puts fera in everyone's hearts, by the end of the story, is implied to have fallen in love with Mako, the tiny ComicRelief and NonActionGuy. However, Mako is only weak [[CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass until she isn't]], by which point her power can likely rival his. It's also left unclear whether Mako returns his feelings.

** The other ''Fanfic/SuperwomenOfEva'' stories involving Shinji are this because all of the other titular action girls are incredibly destructive in battle and Shinji is only useful in combat if he's in an Evangelion, cementing his role as TheHeart (in ''Fanfic/SOEEmeraldFury'', it's even an important plot point that he's TheKidWithTheLeash to ''the freaking ComicBook/SheHulk''). The odd story out is ''Fanfic/SOESpirit'', a Hikari/Toji pairing, and even then it's obvious that Hikari is SilkHidingSteel and Toji is highly {{Adorkable}} when dealing with the UST.

** Meryl and Johnny in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4''. He is a complete loser and dork, while she's one of the toughest [[ActionGirl Action Girls]] in video game land, and has a rather mean temper as well. She shows no interest in him at all and constantly berates him for most of the game, until he saves her life not once but twice, after which she admits her affection for him, but is still quite mean most of the time. When he finally asks her to marry him, she refuses on the ground that in this relationship SHE has to propose to him, which he then gladly accepts.

[[JustForFun/IThoughtThatMeant Has nothing to do]] with the rapper Music/{{Pitbull}}.