History Main / SatelliteLoveInterest

* ''WebVideo/LPSPopular'': Sage and Tom, the only male members of the main cast, contribute little to the plot on their own. Sage only exists to be in a LoveTriangle between [[AlphaBitch Brooke]] and [[CoolLoser Savvy]], and Tom is merely a boyfriend for Savvy to shake up the status quo.

** Kip is one for [[HateSink Stef]]. He's attractive, plays football, gets lusted after by Tiffany, is kind of a jerk (never apologizing to Tiffany for him and Stef borrowing her towel without her permission and using it [[{{Squick}} for post-sex cleanup]], making mean comments with Tiffany about Dez) and... that's it.

* ''Literature/{{Bakemonogatari}}'': Karen and Tsukihi both have boyfriends, but [[TheUnseen they're never seen once on camera]], and the only thing we are told about them is that they're both [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything very similar to Koyomi in terms of personality and appearance]]. Most fans like to make them like Koyomi and [[{{Unperson}} pretend like they don't exist]], which, considering the only romantic hints that Karen and Tsukihi have been given in series are with their {{brother|SisterIncest}} or with [[LesYay other girls]], may very well be true.

** Izumi is this to [[LoveTriangle both Kazusa and Niina]]. All we know about him that doesn't have anything to do with either of the two girls is that he's a NiceGuy and that [[RailEnthusiast he likes trains a lot]]. The extent of his development in-story is having to deal with the awkwardness of [[ChildhoodFriendRomance seeing his childhood friend in a new light]] and [[spoiler:trying to come to terms with his sexual attraction to Niina, who comes onto him after he and Kazusa start going out]]. He even has his own SatelliteLoveInterest in the form of Asada, who promptly disappears as soon as [[spoiler:he and Kazusa become an OfficialCouple]].

* Fumiya from ''Manga/WanderingSon'' is introduced as having a crush on Saori. Pretty much everything he does is related to this crush of his. [[spoiler:Surprisingly when they ''do'' begin to date he mostly phases out of the story or appears at the school he shares with Nitori]].

* [[Characters/WonderWomanAllies Steve Trevor]], ever since the [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1942 Golden Age]], has been depicted as little more than Franchise/WonderWoman's military boyfriend and the [[UselessBoyfriend designated victim]] whenever he appears, to the point that several adaptations have [[WhatDoesSheSeeInHim poked fun at the character for being Diana's love interest]].

** ComicBook/GwenStacy was actually this for most of her existence in the original run. Aside from being Peter Parker's girlfriend, she was a fairly shallow character who didn't have much in the way of drive or ambition on her own. She even spent the entire fight that's [[ILetGwenStacyDie all most readers remember her for]] unconscious.

* Deconstructed in ''Webcomic/ShipWarAU''; while canon eventually lampshaded it to a degree, the comic fully explores the fact that neither Jackie nor Marco actually knows much about each other personally, despite having been friends since kindergarten. In complete contrast to Star and Marco, who quickly grew close after only a few hours. [[spoiler:Jackie decides to break up with Marco for this reason, feeling that he doesn't truly deserve her]].

* Roxanne in ''WesternAnimation/AGoofyMovie'' has a characterization that amounts to "has some of Max's surface flaws" and "is Max's {{Love Interest|s}}." Oddly enough, PJ's girlfriend in the sequel, who suffers from both NoNameGiven and limited screentime, is probably the biggest aversion among the movies' love interests.

* Sunny Funny from ''VideoGame/ParappaTheRapper''. Her role in both games revolves around her being Parappa's crush.

* Zig-zagged with Amy from ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog''. She was initially designed almost solely as a girl with a crush on Sonic. Later games have attempted to give Amy a more nuanced personality and chemistry with other characters, but how successful they are at this varies due to the series' [[DependingOnTheWriter rather inconsistent writing]]; her other character traits [[{{Flanderization}} are sometimes downplayed to the point of being nearly subliminal]], and she's been everything from a sweet, empathetic, adventurous friend of Sonic who may or may not have a HairTriggerTemper, is readily accepted by her fellow protagonists, and happens to have a small crush on Sonic, to a [[LoveMakesYouCrazy violent, obsessive fangirl]] with [[StalkerWithACrush stalker-like tendencies]] [[TheFriendNobodyLikes who the rest of the cast - including her supposed "friends" - are scared of and would rather avoid]].

* ''WebAnimation/SugoiQuestForKokoro:'' Exaggerated with [[Webcomic/{{Homestuck}} Karkat-kun]]. Literally ''every'' appearance he makes is based around Sakura-chan's [[{{Yandere}} obsessive crush on him.]] He only has ''two lines'' in the whole show, [[spoiler:one of which is seconds before his death!]]

** One reason that [[TallDarkAndSnarky Tom]]'s TheScrappy (aside from the LoveTriangle drama) is that he has little characterization outside of being [[TheSnarkKnight Daria and Jane]]'s SpearCounterpart; throughout the series, the number of scenes where he's not with them (or talking with them on the phone) could probably be counted on one hand. Aspects of his character that make him unique--his OldMoney background or private prep school--don't really get explored outside of some providing light class drama with Daria. We meet his family and he apparently has other friends, but these relationships are only hinted at.

* {{Deconstructed}} in ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold.'' Throughout the first season Arnold had a crush on an older girl named Ruth [=MacDougal=], but she was rarely developed outside of him pining for her and [[LovingBully Helga]] being jealous of her. The Valentine's Day episode is the first time that Arnold really talks to her, realizes that she's kind of a BrainlessBeauty, and subsequently loses interest.

* ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb''

* A number of examples from ''Franchise/SpiderMan'':
** Gwen Stacy was actually this for most of her existence in the original run. Aside from being Peter Parker's girlfriend, she was a fairly shallow character who didn't have much in the way of drive or ambition on her own. She even spent the entire fight that's [[ILetGwenStacyDie all most readers remember her for]] unconscious.

* ''Literature/{{Oreimo}}'' plays with this one. Kirino starts dating a boy she knows from one of her doujin circles named Mikagami, whose whole character seemingly exists to show [[AlwaysSomeoneBetter how much better of a match he is for Kirino than Kyousuke]]. Predictably, this pisses off Kyousuke to no extent... until Kirino finally reveals that [[TheBeard it was all an act]] to make him as jealous as possible, to get back at him for making her feel horribly jealous when he was dating Kuroneko. They drop the charade after this: Kirino goes back to WillTheyOrWontThey with Kyousuke, and as for Mikagami, it's hinted that [[AmbiguouslyGay he's actually gay and in love with Kyousuke as well]].

** [[AllLovingHeroine Lila]], who takes Ruth's place as Arnold's crush, could be considered this as well. She is [[CatchPhrase ever so much]] more developed than Ruth, and develops a few relationships beyond the LoveTriangle, but she's still treated this way by the story, getting DemotedToExtra once Arnold gets over her and the inevitable [[OfficialCouple Arnold/Helga]] RelationshipUpgrade appears on the horizon.

->''"Aww, it's love at first script convenience!"''
-->-- '''WebVideo/TheCinemaSnob''', discussing ''Film/{{Heartbeeps}}''

[[folder:Animation]]
* ''Animation/CatCity'': Chino-san shows signs of being an ActionGirl, but doesn't get much more characterization and barely any screentime. Most of her romance with Grabowski happens off-screen.
[[/folder]]

* Tina Carlyle in ''Film/TheMask''. To the point that they had to [[spoiler:reveal that the other half of the BettyAndVeronica was TheMole for the BigBad]] in order to find a good, non-sexual reason why Stanley should prefer her in the end.

* Played painfully straight in Creator/VideoBrinquedo's ''WesternAnimation/TheLittlePandaFighter'', where the female bear is a total FlatCharacter and is only there to be Pancada's {{Love Interest|s}}.

* Princess Fiona from the ''Franchise/{{Shrek}}'' series started off as a parody of this trope; she insisted in the first film that her role was to be the stereotypical DamselInDistress princess who literally just waited until a handsome prince came to rescue her. Subverted later when she [[CharacterDevelopment grew to love Shrek for who he is]]. In fact, in ''WesternAnimation/ShrekForeverAfter'', [[ForWantOfANail we actually get to see what Fiona would have become]] [[RebelLeader if she had never been rescued]].

* The Website/YouTube series ''WebVideo/LPSPopular'' ([[Toys/LittlestPetShop and yes, the LPS stands for exactly what you think it means]]) has Sage and Tom. The former only exists to be in a LoveTriangle between [[AlphaBitch Brooke]] and [[CoolLoser Savvy]], and the latter is merely a boyfriend for Savvy to shake up the status quo. This is particularly blatant because Sage and Tom are the only males in the main cast.

* Jennifer in the ''Franchise/BackToTheFuture'' trilogy. She appeared very little in the [[Film/BackToTheFuture first movie]] and apparently existed only so that Marty would have someone to spill exposition on in the opening scenes. Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale tried to write her out of the sequels, but the way they ended the first movie made that difficult; she did get some development in the [[Film/BackToTheFuturePartII second]] and [[Film/BackToTheFuturePartIII third]] movies.

* Link Larkin in the original 1988 film version of ''Film/{{Hairspray}}'' had no personality whatsoever outside of being a love interest to Tracey. The musical adaptation gave him a lot more character.

* Tony in ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles'', who shows up at the beginning and the end of the film and mainly exists as Violet's crush. In fact, he only really exists to demonstrate ''Violet's'' character development. At the beginning of the film, she's too shy to even remain visible in his presence. In the end, she's able to talk with him and get a date while ''he's'' stammering nervously. He only gets slightly better in ''WesternAnimation/Incredibles2''; we learn he plays sports and music and works part-time at his parents' diner, but he still exists solely as Violet's love interest.

* ''Film/TheLittleMermaid2023'' has a take on Prince Eric that comes off as even flatter than the one from the 1989 movie. While Eric was hardly the most developed character originally, he at least is the one to deliver the finishing blow to Ursula during the final battle; in the remake, this moment is given to Ariel instead, meaning Eric ends up with very little to do other than make doe-eyes at Ariel and marry her at the end. He even has a MovieBonusSong where all he does is sing about Ariel and [[LoveAtFirstSight how he fell in fell in love with her at first sight]].

* ''Manga/TheKawaiComplexGuideToManorsAndHostelBehavior'' introduces two {{Third Option Love Interest}}s near the end of its run: [[SenpaiKohai Usa's kohai and Ritsu's senpai]]. They hardly have anything else to them except for providing yet another roadblock to the obvious Usa/Ritsu endgame.

* Samson's infatuation with an unnamed Philistine woman in Literature/TheBible.

* In ''Film/TronLegacy'', Creator/OliviaWilde [[DoingItForTheArt went out of her way]] to ensure that her character [[ActionGirl Quorra]] didn't get saddled with this. We see the beginnings of an attraction between the Sam and Quorra once they get to know each other a bit better on the Solar Sailer, which is probably a more natural true-to-life progression than this trope: they only recently met.

Contrast with DesignatedLoveInterest, in which a character's characterization isn't involved ''enough'' with loving another character, thus making the "love interest" moniker seem tacked-on. Not to be confused with [[Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000 the Satellite of Love]]. If someone's love interest is an actual satellite, see CompanionCube.

** Maid Marian from ''WesternAnimation/RobinHood1973''. She has an interesting backstory due to being the niece of the villainous Prince John and the good King Richard; and also having an interest in higher education and badminton, but her actual role in the film is little else but "be happy and lovey-dovey around Robin". It's frustrating considering other notable Marians in adaptations.

* Lady Sif from ''ComicBook/TheMightyThor'' is supposed to be a badass LadyOfWar and the second greatest female warrior in Asgard. Sadly, despite nearly every other supporting character being well-developed over the decades, Sif's stories have focused almost exclusively on Thor with only a few making an attempt to give her any personality beyond that. A notable exception being ''ComicBook/JourneyIntoMysteryImmonen'' which had Sif as its main character. The writer, Kathryn Immonen, explored Sif's personality and embarked her on various badass (and mostly Thor-unrelated) adventures. Sadly, the series was then cancelled due to low sales.

* It took until the ''ComicBook/New52'' for [[Characters/WonderWomanAllies Steve Trevor]] to significantly evolve into someone other than Franchise/WonderWoman's boyfriend (the fact that they break up helps). He had managed to be a compelling character in his own right while being her boyfriend in the [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1942 Golden Age]] but subsequent writers didn't know what to do with him other than use him as the [[UselessBoyfriend designated victim]].

* Jane from ''Film/ThePumaman''. A character so lacking in personality that she barely qualifies as a cardboard cutout.