History Main / ShallowLoveInterest

A love interest for the main character whose personality is rather vague and shallow. It doesn't matter what their life was like beforehand; their [[SatelliteCharacter entire personality revolves]] around the sole fact that they dig said main character, and the main character digs them. A staple of HaremSeries. When part of a movie, it's usually because the plot revolves around a second love interest that is used to show how much better the ShallowLoveInterest is for the protagonist.

Oh, and of note. Please don't use this trope as an excuse to [[ComplainingAboutCharactersYouDontLike bash characters whom you dislike for X/Y/Z motives]]. Being a love interest doesn't '''immediately''' equal to being shallow, and many accusations fit less in this trope and more in DieForOurShip and RealWomenNeverWearDresses.

Contrast with DesignatedLoveInterest, in which a character's characterization isn't involved ''enough'' with loving another character and thus making the "love interest" moniker seem tacked-on.
----
!!Examples

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder: Anime and Manga]]
* At the end of Anime/DigimonAdventure02, this trope can be applied to any one of the unseen wives that the main protagonists, Tai and Davis end up marrying, since they both lose out with their respective love interests, Sora and Kari. It is also very likely that these women are non-Digidestined, who have no involvement the series whatsoever.
* Shino from the manga ''{{Ichiroh}}'' is a comedic example, as it's a gag series and can get away with it. She's never seen away from Nanako and almost all she does is lust over her. It doesn't help that she's also a mix of ClingyJealousGirl and StalkerWithACrush with a pinch of PsychoLesbian at her worst.
* Outer Moka from ''[[RosarioToVampire Rosario + Vampire]]''. However, this is entirely justified, as she is an [[spoiler:artificial person created to protect the true Moka.]]
** Inverted, ''as Outer Moka is aware of this'', and she [[ShipperOnDeck even does her best]] to put aside her own feelings to pair up Tsukune and [[spoiler: Inner Moka]], albeit this is far more explicitly done in the manga as opposed to the anime. And, to further the inversion (again, in the manga at least), the two of them have worked together to support each other in regards to Tsukune, while [[spoiler: Inner Moka]]'s wishes and intents are kept the primary consideration.
* Chii in ''Manga/{{Chobits}}'' is literally this since she's a RobotGirl without an operating system and her entire personality starts from scratch. Later {{flashback}}s to when she wasn't yet a LoveInterest show that can be much deeper (and possibly would become like that again).
* ''Manga/{{Onidere}}'' is special because ''both protagonists'' could be defined as ShallowLoveInterest. Literally no action, thought or monologue in the entire Manga is in no way not connected, even a little, to please and/or become more intimate with their loved one. Hell, the first true show of love in the manga is Saya nearly fainting because Tadashi praised her food while Tadashi ''fainted'' [[MasochistsMeal because a single spoon of said food can cause pain equally to a full session of torture]] and [[WhenSheSmiles he ended the entire meal to make Saya smile]].
* Nyu in ''Manga/ElfenLied''; like Chii, Nyu is a blank slate, picked up by Kouta from a beach. Possibly a subversion, in that [[spoiler:Nyu's attraction to Kouta is a reflection of her true personality Lucy, a borderline psychopathic mass murderer with real, complex, and disturbingly heartbreaking reasons for loving him.]]
* Ren in ''DearS'' -- a particularly extreme example, given the series enjoys the term ''[[HappinessInSlavery slave]]''.
* Sakura in ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' starts as one in the manga, but begins to grow more well defined around The Forest of Death Arc. The same can be said of Karin, who started out as the usual blank slate love interest, but became a more thought out character shortly after her introduction. Hinata is sometimes accused of being one, despite having a detailed backstory and character, because most of her character focus is on or related to her love for Naruto.
* Subverted in ''{{GUNNM}}''. In an argument with Gally over her choice to become a Hunter-Warrior, Ido lets it slip that he revived her with the expectation that she would be one of these. Gally, like any sane person would be upon hearing this, ''is pissed''.
* Himawari of Manga/XxxHOLiC comes off like this for a good while. There's a [[{{deconstruction}} very]] good reason for this given later.
* Fatina from ''Anime/TheTowerOfDruaga''. She spends the first 3/4ths of the first season as a character whose sole character traits were being a bitchy Neeba fangirl. This changes later on, where we get an episode where she and the main character are stranded together and bond a little, removing her from Neeba and giving viewers a bit more insight into her character. She never really goes back to being a complete Neeba fangirl after that. To add to things, [[spoiler:Neeba offers Fatina and Fatina alone an invitation to join him and Kaaya after they betray their groups. She turns down his offer and stands by Jil's side.]]
* Saya from ''PeacemakerKurogane''. She pretty much exists only to be Tetsunosuke's love interest. She fits very much with the question, "What would her personality be if she never met the male lead?" Nothing. Come on, we know she's mute and all, but even mute people have personalities and quirks.
* Midori from ''VisualNovel/GreenGreen''. If she weren't allowed to squeal "Yuusuke" every ten seconds, she would lose her reason for existence.
* Hojo from ''Manga/InuYasha'' is a male example of this. Of course, we don't see him enough for him to have much of a personality. And he exists for the sake of a RunningGag rather than actual romantic tension.
* In ''HoneyCrush'' it never becomes very clear why the two other girls are so heavily in love with Madoka (one of them even continues to do so after her death, turning her into a ghostly StalkerWithACrush). Sure, Madoka [[GenericCuteness might be pretty]], but her personality remains elusive throughout the series.
* Kyoko from ''KatekyoHitmanReborn''. Her main personality trait is... she's a good GirlNextDoor. And a huge reason why Tsuna has a crush on her is because she was the only girl who bothered being nice to him in 12 months.
* For some weird reason, [[{{Berserk}} Caska]] is treated this way by many fans, just because she becomes Guts' love interest. To be specific, that weird reason would be a chronic case of RealWomenNeverWearDresses. Caska is actually a subversion, because Guts fell in love with her as a complex, fully-rounded woman, but soon afterwards the Eclipse happened and her mind broke, leaving her a shell of her former self. It's actually addressed at several points that Guts loves her for what she ''used'' to be, and also because [[MoralityChain she's the only think stopping him from completely losing his humanity]].
** Princess Charlotte, on the other hand, fits this trope to a T. And the CrapsackWorld ''punishes'' her for being such.
* ''LightNovel/{{Kampfer}}'''s Natsuru Senou is the rare case of a ShallowLoveInterest who is ''the main character''. He is primarily defined by his rather shallow crush on Kaede. When someone asks him in episode 8 why he likes Kaede so much, he first refers to her beauty and elegance. When it's brought up that most of the girls he knows are also beautiful and elegant, all he can do is shrug his shoulders and say that you "don't need a reason to love someone". Seriously, the guy has no personality outside of his crush and his frustration with his new GenderBender status. On the other hand, [[spoiler: Kaede herself has some HiddenDepths...]]
* In ''ShugoChara'', Amu's crush on Tadase started out based on looks and really nothing more because she'd never spoken to him. Later on in the series, Amu's feelings for Tadase develop into her liking him based on his personality once she gets to know him.
* Subverted in ''DeadmanWonderland''. Main character Ganta is trapped in a prison whose inhabitants are, by and large, not very nice people, when he meets a painfully shy and sensitive girl who clings to him from the word "hello." [[spoiler: Minatsuki is actually a [[AxCrazy psychopathic killer]] who puts on the nice-girl persona and then gets sexual pleasure from the look of betrayal on her victims' faces right before she kills them. She ''is'' starting to get a little better, though.]]
* A lesser-known example [[AdaptationDisplacement outside of Japan]] is Millina the treasure hunter from the second half of the ''{{Slayers}}'' novel series. While it's [[SubvertedTrope subverted]] in that she does not romantically like her pursuer, the HotBlooded Luke, she pretty much serves as his MoralityChain, [[spoiler:a given, considering that Luke has a fragment of the verse's BigBad inside of him.]] The finale of the novel series is triggered by [[spoiler:Luke going [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge crazy]] over her being assassinated]]. Like [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Zelgadiss]] before her, she's a DeadpanSnarker and a MagicKnight...with no given reason. Of course, Luke himself isn't much better.
* Mayu from ''LightNovel/GoshuushouSamaNinomiyaKun''.
* ''VisualNovel/SchoolDays'': In the anime the two main female love interests get reduced to only being known for their obsession with Makoto. [[DeconstructedTrope And that is the point, actually]]: the series shows the psychological strain ''and'' the extremes that being completely centered on a single person can bring... specially when said person is a JerkAss who uses both of them ''and'' others for his own pleasure.
* Tsunetsuki Matoi from ''SayonaraZetsubouSensei'' CrossesTheLineTwice with this. Literally, her whole personality is about stalking her love interest (hence [[PunnyName her name]]). What would she be like if she didn't meet the protagonist? Stalking other guys that catch her interest.
** Since she molds her personality to mirror that of whoever she's stalking, she might fit the darker trope of EmptyShell more than this one.
* Yoshida in ''ShakuganNoShana'' seems to exist solely to perpetuate a LoveTriangle between herself, Yuji and Shana. She doesn't have any other interests outside of him, and is [[{{foil}} markedly different]] from the {{Tsundere}} Shana. [[DieForOurShip She isn't well liked in the fandom, who see her as an obstacle to Shana and Yuji's relationship.]]
* Shizuki from ''[[LightNovel/BludgeoningAngelDokuroChan Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro Chan]]''. JustifiedTrope, sorta: ''every'' character in that show is a parody/deconstruction of some character archetype. Sakura: TheChewToy / OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent parody, with an [[EmbarrassingFirstName embarrassing]] [[GenderBlenderName feminine name]] to boot. Dokuro: MagicalGirlfriend parody, {{Tsundere}} deconstruction. Zakuro: Parody of YoungerThanTheyLook and her EyepatchOfPower, which is never even mentioned, let alone explained. Etc., etc.,
* In ''Anime/TelepathyShoujoRan'', [[RomanticTwoGirlFriendship Ran has much more chemistry with Midori]] than with her boyfriend Rui.
* Something similar happens in ''{{Kamichu}}'', where Yurie is much closer to Matsuri than her supposed love interest Kenji.
* [[MiraiNikki Yuno]] basically has no personality outside of her devotion to Yukiteru. This is played [[{{Deconstruction}} as straight as possible]] to make [[{{Yandere}} her]] '''[[AxCrazy scary]]'''. [[spoiler:It's clear that she has other issues.]]
** Yuno is supposed to be a [[DeconstructedTrope deconstruction]] of the trope. Her entire world revolves around Yukiteru, and if anyone threatens to take him away from her, she [[FreakOut flips her shit]] and equates it to her entire future being taken away. This is with good reason. Before meeting Yukiteru, [[spoiler:Yuno had just killed her parents, who were sitting dead in her house for three weeks. She had absolutely no hope for her own future, and was moved when Yukiteru's hope for the future was for his family to get along.]] So when Yukiteru jokingly accepted her offer to become his bride, she was thrilled [[spoiler:since she finally had a reason to keep living her life]]. So her life very literally depends on having Yukiteru there for emotional support. He ''is'' her future.
** It gets even more interesting in that Yuno ''recognizes'' this fact and basically gives a [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech "The Reason We Suck" Speech]] about how it was "pretend love" and she would have been fine with ''anyone'' as long as she could emotionally depend on him. Fortunately, it turns out that maybe their love isn't that meaningless after all.
* Miho Azuki of ''Manga/{{Bakuman}}'', whose only goal apart from becoming a voice actress is getting together with Moritaka Mashiro, and even then, those two goals are intertwined because of her promise to only marry Mashiro when they both achieve their dreams.
* [[MyHeroZero Zero]] from {{Kurohime}}. Hime herself even realizes it. And arguably it is at that moment when we realize that [[PuritySue Zero]] [[StepfordSmiler isn't quite what he seems]]. Also, Yashahime, who seems to have no thoughts or personality beyond being an AxCrazy EvilGod {{Yandere}}.
* Koutarou Azumamiya of ''Manga/HayateTheCombatButler'' used to be this for Hinagiku originally, and the anime even added a few episodes of this to him, but since the second year started, he's actually gotten some character of his own.
* There are two of note in the ''Manga/DragonBall'' franchise, both of them intentional examples. First is Marron, Krillin's first girlfriend in Z (and practically a [[YouGottaHaveBlueHair clone of Bulma]]) that appeared during the [[FillerArc Garlic Jr. Saga]], only for her to dump poor Krillin in the only stand-alone episode in the series. Then in GT, Goten was seen on a date with Pares, a girl that got perplexed by ice cream... on a cone.
* [[Manga/DeathNote Misa Amane]] is a deliberate example, [[MadLove devoted completely to Light to the point of psychopathy]] (as he avenged her parents' murders, filling the void in her left by their deaths), and it generally ''helps'' make up her personality rather than detract from it. Kiyomi Takada, on the other hand, doesn't have any personality even ''after'' meeting Light, never mind before, [[spoiler: and she pays ''dearly'' for it in the end.]].
* Risa Harada from ''DNAngel''.
* Sayama in ''KarakuridoujiUltimo''.
* Koharu in ''KoharuNoHibi'', so very much. Deconstructed, but with no lasting effects.
* ''Manga/TheVanishingOfNagatoYukiChan'', a spin-off manga of LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya, turns ''the protagonist of the main series'' into this. Kyon's tendency to be passive stays, while the observational narration is gone, so he has little to show other than caring for Yuki.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Comic Books]]
* Sadie in ''Comicbook/{{Starman}}'' has no character outside of her relationship with Jack and worry about her brother.
* Deconstructeud with Laurie Juspezyk from ''{{Watchmen}}'', who was essentially employed by the US military to be one of these for Dr. Manhattan after she quit her old job in the {{Superhero}} business. She isn't really one in the story itself, though.
* Carlie Cooper from {{Spider-Man}} was supposed to be "perfect" for Peter, the problem was because she was kind of quickly introduced and then forgotten about for a significant amount time while the rotating writers focused on THEIR pet characters when she reappeared it got a collective "huh?". Seemingly to make up for lost time a lot of her appearances consisted of everyone [[CharacterShilling talking about how super awesome she was -even those who had never met her before]]. If this weren't bad enough, she appeared in an issue titled The Many Loves Of Spider-Man before they were even dating. When they finally got together Peter declared it was "the rightest thing in the world" (despite the fact she was dressed up as his ex). What little personality traits could be assigned to her were seemingly all sewn together from other love interests that were much better developed characters. Combined with the fact she and Peter had a laughable lack of actual chemistry (quite a feat when you're dealing with not actors, but drawings), that she was named after Quesada's daughter, [[DependingOnTheArtist no one could decide what she looked like]] and was a ReplacementScrappy for Mary Jane to boot, she quickly became TheScrappy and when they broke up during SpiderIsland the fandom rejoiced. She's still in the books, but now they're focusing more on her job as a CSI, so hopefully this trope will be averted and more of an assignable personality will surface.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Film -- Animated]]
* Taken to its logical extreme in Creator/DonBluth's ''{{Anastasia}}''. Bartok the Bat [[HeelFaceTurn abandons Rasputin]] near the end, and is rewarded with a [[PinkGirlBlueBoy pink]] bat who flies in and kisses him. She has no name, no dialogue, and apparently only exists to demonstrate, as WebVideo/TheNostalgiaChick put it, that "[[RedemptionEqualsSex Do the right thing; karma will get you laid]]."
* Irina, the Greek princess in ''{{Asterix}} at the Olympic Games'', whose entire personality is pretty much 'I love poetry, I love Lovesix, I don't want to marry Brutus'. The person chasing after her, Lovesix, is pretty shallow as well.
* Bo Peep from ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory''. Sure, she's sweet and has a bit of a naughty side, but both those traits are used in order to demonstrate her affection for Woody (grabbing him around the neck with her shepherdess's crook, for example). She never really interacts with any other toy on-screen and she exists mainly as a sympathetic ear to Woody. [[spoiler: Bo Peep's lack of development -- and the popularity of the other female characters, Jessie the Cowgirl and the tour guide Barbie doll from the second Toy Story movie, and the logistics of having Bo Peep actually be involved in the action of the third movie (given that she wasn't actually a toy at all, but a china figurine) -- were the reason why she didn't appear in the third movie]]
* Subverted in ''{{Shrek}} Forever After''. [[ForWantOfANail We actually get to see what Fiona would have become]] [[RebelLeader if she had never been rescued]].
* DisneyAnimatedCanon-
** ''Disney/SleepingBeauty''. Both the Prince and Princess are shallow non-characters. Phillip ''does'' try to get out of the mold, but fails as the fairies still end up as the more interesting ones.
** Both Disney/SnowWhite and her Prince ([[NoNameGiven who doesn't even get a name]]) apparently pine for each other before they even meet. The movie was really short they didn't have much time to develop either of them, and [[WhatCouldHaveBeen there was originally a planned subplot]] where he was captured by the witch and had to escape from her dungeon, but it was one of many things that they had to cut.
** The Prince in ''Disney/{{Cinderella}}'' was also ridiculously bland and didn't even have any lines. Disney appeared to have noticed this, and well made up for it in the third movie.
*** He had a few lines...and all of them were to say that Cinderella was wonderful and where she was going when she was running away. Which just makes it worse.
** Faline in the first ''Disney/{{Bambi}}'' movie doesn't really have a personality, especially when she grows up into a Doe. The midquel fleshes her out. Likewise neither Thumper's nor Flower's love interests have any personality, though they only appear very briefly.
** Vixey from ''Disney/TheFoxAndTheHound'' has barely any personality, due to being introduced around the time Tod was put in the nature reserve, and meeting and immediately triggering Tod's affections within two minutes of her first appearance. She is implied to have known Big Mama for some time from the sound of her introduction, but that's pretty much all we know about her besides the fact she and Tod love each other.
* Roxanne in ''WesternAnimation/AGoofyMovie'' has a characterization that amounts to "has some of Max's surface flaws" and "is Max's LoveInterest."
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Film -- Live Action]]
* Moira [=McTaggert=] in ''Film/XMenFirstClass''. She has absolutely nothing in common with her namesake from the [[{{X-Men}} comic]] and her re-imagining as an American CIA agent tracking a conspiracy led by the primary villain seems to serve mainly as a reason to hook her up with Charles.
* Surprisingly, this is averted as often as played straight in the JamesBond films - [[DrNo Honey Ryder]], [[ForYourEyesOnly Melina Havelock]], [[{{Goldeneye}} Natalya Simyonova]], [[TheSpyWhoLovedMe Anya Amasova]], [[TomorrowNeverDies Wai Lin]], [[Film/CasinoRoyale Vesper Lynd]] and [[OnHerMajestysSecretService Tracy Vincenzo]] [[spoiler: later Bond]] are anything but shallow. On the other hand, there have been others, often the [[DisposableWoman ones who die early on]], who have been the practical epitome of this trope, such as [[DiamondsAreForever Tiffany Case]], [[TheManWithTheGoldenGun Mary Goodnight]], [[{{Moonraker}} Holly Goodhead]] and [[AViewToAKill Stacey Sutton]]. Notably, the worse the Bond film, ''generally'', the more shallow and useless the love interest.
* Jennifer from TheEighties kid-hacker movie ''WarGames''.
* From the same decade, Jennifer in ''Film/BackToTheFuture''. She appeared very little in the 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 second and third movies.
* In ''Film/{{Cherry 2000}}'', the title character is a RobotGirl with a ''very'' limited AI (she probably wouldn't pass a Turing Test). The whole plot of the movie is the hero's trek to find a body to replace her lost one. She only appears for a few minutes of the movie, and is unceremoniously dumped to save the female tracker who the hero fell in love with during the journey.
* ''JohnTuckerMustDie'' is an example of the male lead (John Tucker) being the guy who shouldn't end up with the main character, so that the ShallowLoveInterest can come in at the end.
* Jane from ''PumaMan''. A character so lacking in personality that she barely qualifies as a cardboard cutout.
* Marianne from ''TheBoatThatRocked'' has no consistent personality in her ten minutes total screen time except to be an object of adoration for the teenage protagonist. [[spoiler: She almost immediately breaks his heart by sleeping with another guy on their 'date', but they get back together in the last 15 minutes with practically no apology and no explanation from her.]]
* JustinTimberlake's girlfriend in ''Film/{{Edison}}'' exists only to remind everyone that he's a hip, sexy twenty-something [[spoiler:and get beaten to a bloody pulp by the corrupt cops he's investigating]].
* Jocelyn in ''AKnightsTale''. She's beautiful, rich, likes clothes, loves William...and that's it. All the poor girl gets to do is stand on the sidelines and then have either a love scene or a fighting scene with Will. Though she's lucky enough to even get moments of [[DeadpanSnarker witty lines]] and [[PluckyGirl displays of spunk.]]
* Link Larkin in the original 1988 film version of ''{{Hairspray}}'' had no personality whatsoever outside of being a love interest to Tracey. The musical adaptation gave him a lot more character.
* 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.
* Oliver in ''WhipIt'' plays this trope straight. Later we learn that [[spoiler:it's all an act; [[TheCasanova he really only wanted to get into the heroine's pants]]. She later tells her best friend that she feels stupid for falling for it.]]
* Joanna and Elizabeth, the Royal Princess Babes from ''BillAndTedsExcellentAdventure''. While this was somewhat justified in the first movie due to their brief screen time, they remain featureless in the second movie, even with their more prominent role in the heroes' lives.
* Katie Deauxma in the ''Film/KickAss'' movie, who is every bit Dave's dream girl to the core, even to the point of [[spoiler:immediately forgiving him for pretending to be gay and having sex with him right afterward, plus having sex just about anywhere--including on a dumpster.]] She is given an occupation and her interest in comics is touched upon, but her entire character ultimately centers around being Dave's perfect girlfriend. The most important role she plays aside from that is sending Dave after Razul, which leads to him meeting other important characters. Ironically, in the comics, [[spoiler: she ditches him when he tells her the truth and disappears from the comics entirely.]]
* Aaron from ''Film/MeanGirls'' is a rare male version. He pretty much solely exists to be a pretty (and gullible) face and stuck in the LoveTriangle between Cady and Regina.
* In ''Film/TronLegacy'', Olivia Wilde [[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.
* Prince Edward from ''{{Enchanted}}'' parodies it from the usual DisneyPrincess. However, [[spoiler: it was averted in one scene where after his kiss didn't wake up Giselle, he realized he wasn't the one for her and immediately asked Robert to do it, showing he is open-minded. And after Giselle woke up, [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy he was genuinely happy]] for the two of them.]]
* In-universe in ''Film/TheTrumanShow''. Truman's wife Meryl doesn't really love him and is only acting the part of his love interest. At one point, he even asks her "Why did you marry me? You can't stand me." After she leaves the show, the studio was set to have Truman start a new relationship with a hot new co-worker.
* Whatsherface, Joan, from ''Film/TheStarfighters''. The whole movie is an endless stream nothing of interest happening to incredibly uninteresting people, and she does not disappoint.
* Casey in ''{{Chronicle}}'' is notable in that being a ShallowLoveInterest was a cover for her actual role in the film; to provide another camera for the film's [[FoundFootageFilms Found Footage]] style.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* Aldous Huxley's ''Literature/BraveNewWorld'' has an intentional example in Lenina.
* Margaret Blair from the ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'' novels. She's a chubby redhead who works as [[LadyOfWar Kycillia Zabi's]] secretary and she's sleeping with Char... and that's all we ever get to know about her. {{Egregious}} as most female love interests in the novels get considerable character development, especially when you consider the level they already got in the ''anime'', which was quite generous for its time: just compare her with Lalah Sune, Sayla Mass or even Frau Bow.
* Ada from Dickens' ''Literature/BleakHouse'' falls under this trope. She is sweet and so beautiful that EvenTheGirlsWantHer and completely in love with her cousin, Richard. And that's it.
** Ditto for Lucie in ''ATaleOfTwoCities''. Dickens was at such a loss to develop her that her most memorable attribute is her ability to arrange furniture nicely.
* Daisy from ''TheGreatGatsby'' is actually pretty well developed, she's just actually genuinely shallow. Jordan Baker acts this trope, but hints at HiddenDepths frequently (not to mention some [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation believe her to be a lesbian]].)
* Ramandu's daughter in ''TheVoyageOfTheDawnTreader'' only appears in the last chapter and exists largely to be beautiful and [[MrExposition provide exposition]]. She doesn't even warrant a name of her own. She marries Caspian and we're informed that they live happily ever after.
** Until she gets [[spoiler:nommed by a snake and provides the inciting incident for ''TheSilverChair''.]]
* In Creator/AaronAllston's ''Literature/GalateaIn2D'', Kevin had divorced because Donna was not this, and [[ArtInitiatesLife painted Julia]] this way. In the end, after he killed Kevin, Roger paints Julia a new Kevin, who will treat her better -- it wasn't after all her fault.
* Lin Carter's CthulhuMythos tales have a variant of this in the form of the Great Old One Idh-Yaa, whose only purpose is to be Cthulhu's mate and the mother of his three sons. This may be one of the reasons why some fans [[FanonDiscontinuity disregard Lin Carter's Mythos]].
* Samson's infatuation with an unnamed Philistine woman in Literature/TheBible.
* Many of these in ''SweetValleyHigh'' and its spin-offs. It was almost guaranteed that [[OnceAnEpisode once a book]] Elizabeth, Jessica or both would meet a new love interest who led her into some sort of scheme or caused her to become torn between him and her loyal regular boyfriend. Steven and other supporting characters got Shallow Love Interests too.
* Bart and Robert in the ''BabySittersClub'' series, whose only purpose is as love interests for Kristy and Stacey respectively.
** Will Yamakawa from the book ''Babysitters Summer Vacation'' was a Shallow Love Interest for Claudia. This also counts as a TokenMinorityCouple.
* One of the most bizarre examples of this trope can be found in the concept of "imprinting" in ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'', in which males "recognize" the females that they are destined to fall in love with -- which can occur as early as child-birth (in fact, Jacob imprinted on Bella's child before she was even conceived). Many of these female imprintees are "shallow" by default considering they're infants or toddlers and thus have no fixed personalities at all. Their lives revolve entirely around their future husbands considering the teenage boys appear to become their caregivers until they're of marriageable age, and whether the girls ''want'' to be in these relationships is treated as somewhat irrelevant in the text. They are future wives, nothing more.
** One example of this was when Jacob came across his friend Quil (a teenage boy) on a date with Claire (a two year old) at the beach, which involved Quil just watching as Claire played in the sand.
* Silverstream from ''Literature/WarriorCats''. She never appeared in ''Into the Wild'' (not even as an apprentice or at least in the allegiances), and her first appearance in the second book was only to rescue Graystripe from drowning. She never had an appearance where it didn't involve another more important character, and the only notable thing she did outside of bearing Graystripe's kits was getting Firestar in touch with cats who knew something about Redtail's death.
* Played with in the ''EternalChampion'' story by MichaelMoorcock. The hero, Ekrose, wins a battle and becomes betrothed to the beautiful princess Iolinda, even though he just met her. Over the course of the story, he starts developing a much deeper connection to [[spoiler:Ermihazd]] which develops into more genuine love. This has far reaching consequences by the end of the story.
* Bryce Loski of ''{{Flipped}}'' is a subversion. Juli is only interested in him for superficial reasons, and her family sees him as a pretty shallow person. In reality he's got lots of HiddenDepths, he's just also a raging StepfordSmiler who deliberately projects his shallow image to cover up how bad things are at home. A major theme of the book is Juli learning to looks past appearances and Bryce learning to act like a decent human being.
* [[JohnCarterOfMars A Princess of Mars]] has John Carter do things beyond the impossible all for his relatively shallow love for Dejah Thoris.
* In ''ASongOfIceAndFire'', Jeyne Westerling is Robb Stark's ShallowLoveInterest. Her entire role in the plot is for Robb Stark to marry her and break his vow to Walder Frey, and all she talks about is how to be a good wife to Robb.
** Jeyne's shallowness is most likely one of the reasons why the Series/GameOfThrones writers cut her out and replaced her with a new LoveInterest for Robb who, admittedly, is a better developed character: a field nurse who maintains a strong opinion ''against'' the war and is quite intelligent in her own right.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* Dr. Peyton Driscoll in ''{{CSI NY}}'' has hints of this. She had the potential to be a great character, as an ME she was obviously smart, but the writers ruined this by making her very first scene one of her in bed with Mac. Later on, it seemed virtually every scene with her had to be connected to Mac in some way.
* Kate in the BBC's ''Series/RobinHood''. [[DistressedDamsel She does nothing but wander into trouble so that Robin Hood can rescue her]], and serves no other purpose [[ReplacementLoveInterest but to be his rebound girl]]. Or more accurately, the ''rebound'' of his rebound girl. As ''TelevisionWithoutPity'' puts it: "If she's only there to be Robin's love interest, what's the point of her now he's dead?"
* An interesting subversion with Jo in the second season of ''Series/{{Supernatural}}''. She made her first appearance as an [[RelationshipSue obvious love interest]] for Dean, complete with an "adorably" feisty demeanor, a tragic backstory that mirrored the Winchesters', and - despite her tiny frame, lack of muscle tone, and dearth of any special powers - the ability to somehow best Dean in a physical altercation. However, by the time her subsequent appearances rolled around, the writers dramatically scaled back on her [[MarySue Sue]] tenancies, having her pull an inconveniently timed "I'm coming with you" on the Winchesters, [[TooDumbToLive idiotically]] deciding to go alone into the lair of a MonsterOfTheWeek whose MO was known to be the gruesome slaughter of young, attractive blondes, and having to be rescued by Sam and Dean, both of whom found her presence a burden and were only too happy to hand her back to her mother as soon as possible. She pretty much disappeared from the season after that, making only one more appearance which existed mainly to establish that the idea of any romantic relationship between herself and Dean was ridiculous, and that he would never come close to caring for her as much as he cared for Sam. WordOfGod states that Jo was originally conceived as a love interest for Dean, and that she was phased out of the series due to negative fan reaction, which explains the rapid scrapping of her original characterization.
** Deconstructed in "Wishful Thinking". In this example a guy uses a magic coin he inherited to create a wishing well, so he can make the girl who he's been in love with since high school, but is oblivious to him, love him over anything else. At first he's happy with the new situation, but eventually gets disheartened from the fact that she literally has no personality other than pleasing and loving him, even killing others for him to maintain their "love".
* Mellie from ''{{Dollhouse}}'' starts out as this as she is just Paul's neighbor/girlfriend. Later it is revealed that [[spoiler: she is a doll and the whole Mellie personality was made just to be Paul's LoveInterest.]] Her real persona, Madeline, actually has much more going on in the story.
* Cindy Sanders was sort of an [[AllLoveIsUnrequited unrequited]] one of these for Sam Weir on ''FreaksAndGeeks''. Then they [[GiveGeeksAChance actually started dating]], and she turned out to be something of a BitchInSheepsClothing.
* Austin from ''UglyBetty'' has no last name and is more of a plot device to get Justin to realize his sexuality than an actual character.
* OnceAnEpisode on ''{{Seinfeld}}''.
* ''Series/{{Heroes}}'': West, Caitlin, Yaeko, Simone. Most of these examples are so egregious as to be almost [[JamesBond Bond]] girls (boys?) with how little we see of them if at all after the season they're introduced in. One of these lucky ladies is introduced and then [[RetGone retconned]] out of existence in show.
* ''TheSecretWorldOfAlexMack'' has Scott, Alex's first crush. He doesn't really have any personality beyond sending [[MasterOfTheMixedMessage mixed signals]] to Alex, dating the AlphaBitch, and being a BigManOnCampus. [[spoiler:In fact, when Alex gets closer to him, she realizes that his actual personality isn't a very nice one, and she gets over her crush.]]
* Kennedy from season 7 of ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' appears to be interested in Willow for two reasons: she's cute, and she's willing to have sex with girls. At one point Willow asks her flat out what Kennedy knows about her, and Kennedy is barely able to come up with anything. But by the next episode, they're in a relationship.
** Also Anya, who managed to turn "shallow" into an endearing quality.
** Scott Hope, Buffy's incredibly forgettable high school boyfriend. The writers probably made him shallow deliberately to contrast with Buffy's vampire boyfriend Angel [[spoiler:who had just been killed.]]
** For all his popularity with the fandom even Oz counts; in his entire time as one of the main cast he had no individual plotline that ''didn't'' involve being Willow's love interest.
* Blaine Anderson from {{Glee}}; his primary role being Kurt's boyfriend. He rarely gets any real plots or scenes for himself; even the few that don't directly involve Kurt nevertheless end up being more about Kurt than Blaine. In the third season, he had a few Kurt-free plotlines such as friction with Finn and Sam, and his relationship with his brother, and hopefully he'll be more independent in the fouth season what with Kurt having graduated.
** Fanfiction addresses this with a healthy dose of DeconstructionFic.
* ''SuperSentai'' has had many instances of this trope in the course of its [[LongRunner 35 series history]], most of them being one-shot interests to the resident [[TheCasanova playboy]] on the team.
* ''Series/{{Skins}}'' sets up several of its characters as this before eventually subverting the trope - for example, Michelle in the first generation, and Mini and Nick in the third.
* Subverted in one episode of MalcolmInTheMiddle. Malcolm accuses his then-girlfriend of only dating him for the thrill of sneaking around. She retaliates by explaining why she genuinely likes him, citing reasons that actually make sense (e.g. he's funny, even when he's complaining.) Malcolm then figures out that he actually likes her as well, again citing reasons that [[ShowDontTell she actually demonstrates]]. Double subverted two episodes later, when she dumps him for being self-centered.
* Clara in {{Sanctuary}}. She is the last descendant of the original Invisible Man, so the Sanctuary team has to recruit her to complete a mission. She and Will hook up pretty quickly despite the fact that they have absolutely nothing in common and she really has no purpose in the show other than {{Fanservice}} (she has to be naked to turn invisible.) Despite the fact that their relationship lasts all of four episodes, Will later describes it as one of only two "serious" relationships he's ever had. Abby has shades of this, though she does have her own job (which conflicts with the {{Sanctuary}} sometimes) and she and Will have a history together that makes their instant relationship a bit more palatable. She's still something of a {{Scrappy}}, though.
* Deliberately invoked in ''Series/{{Merlin}}'' between Arthur and Vivian, the latter being a RoyalBrat who only exists to flounce around in pretty clothes. The two of them are put under a [[LovePotion Love Spell]] that makes them act like SickeningSweethearts, much to the bafflement of everyone else.
** But notably {{subverted}} with two more of Arthur's [[RomanticFalseLead Romantic False Leads]]: Princess Elena and Princess Mithian. Both are brought to Camelot (at different times) to join in an ArrangedMarriage to Arthur, but instead of treating them as mere impediments to his happiness with Guinevere, both are likeable and developed characters. Elena's importance to the narrative has less to do with her relationship to Arthur as it does her role as an UnwittingPawn in [[TheFairFolk The Fair Folks']] attempt to take over Camelot, and though Mithian's function ''was'' simply as a LoveInterest to Arthur, she was also a three-dimensional character who ended up being popular enough to return to the show in the next season.
** But played straight with Freya, Merlin's [[TheLostLenore Lost Lenore]]. She gets ''one'' scene in which she's permitted to share details of her past (and even that is more of a MythologyGag that establishes her affinity for lakes), the rest of the time she only exists so that Merlin can be her [[TheCaretaker Caretaker]], enjoy openly using his magic in front of her, and experience manpain when she dies. It's especially glaring when he takes her to a lakeside in order to [[LetThemDieHappy Let Her Die Happy]] and she mutters: "you remembered..." Well of course he remembered - her love of lakes is the only personal detail she ever shares with him!
* Nadeshiko Misaki in ''Series/KamenRiderFourze''. Although she fights as a Rider herself, her primary purpose is to fall in love with Gentaro and to give him the Rocket States upgrade.
* ''Series/{{Revolution}}'': Nate Walker to Charlie. However, he may end up subverting the shallow part, now that he's revealed to be Jason, Captain Tom Neville's son.
* ''{{Scrubs}}'' had Elliot's boyfriend, Jake. This was explained as his having trouble expressing emotion, so they never really got to know each other very well.
* Robin's boyfriend in season 7/8 of ''HowIMetYourMother'', who is some guy she met in a store once when she was still dating Ted. It was obvious the relationship wouldn't last and at first all the audience knew about him was that he was a WalkingShirtlessScene; most of the few character traits he was later given were {{informed attribute}}s. The last episode revealed he was extremely dumb and the main reason Robin stayed with him was that he was very skilled in the bedroom.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Newspaper Comics]]
* Aaron Hill, ''{{Luann}}'''s long time crush object. Very pretty... and that's it. Even attempts at giving him depth (the revelation of his relationship with legally-adult Dianne) only served to underline what little personality he had.
** There was an arc where Luann was spending a lot of time with Gunther, only for the end of the arc to reveal that it had been Aaron [[LatexPerfection in disguise]] the whole time, trying to teach her a lesson about judging on appearances vs. actual merits. It's telling that, aside from disguise time, the most interaction the two had was Aaron berating Luann for missing the point when she asked to try on the Gunther mask.
** Aaron ended up getting more depth with later stories, though that ended up being negated when he was PutOnABus. But he has nothing on the blandness of Quill, who is handsome and... Australian. And that's about it.
* A prime example is The Little Red Haired Girl from the {{Peanuts}} comics. We hardly know a thing about her, she didn't appear in the strip (Her first on screen appearance was in an animated TV special in 1977) or even her name (the special called her "Heather") Of course the whole point of this romance is about [[DeconstructedTrope Charlie Brown's one-sided affections and inner emotional turmoil for her]] rather than actual interaction.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Theater]]
* Romeo ''and'' Juliet in, well, ''RomeoAndJuliet''. Seriously, what would either of them be like if they hadn't met? Romeo would spend all his time whining about how his previous crush doesn't love him. Juliet would probably mope around being [[ArrangedMarriage unhappily married to Paris]]. One of the neater bits of {{Subtext}} in ''Romeo and Juliet'' is that the titular characters are shallow, stupid teenagers who screw everything up where an adult couple who presumably knew how to think would have done it differently, and that the tragedy comes in the two having no real adult supervision in their relationship because their families were too busy acting like quarreling children. Their tragic love story could in some sense be considered as a {{Deconstruction}} of this trope.
** Indeed, Shakespeare didn't believe a person could meet their true love in adolescence and wrote ''RomeoAndJuliet'' partly as a way to show why it couldn't work.
* Christian in ''CyranoDeBergerac'' is practically a cipher. He's handsome, and in love with Roxanne, and brave, and that's about it. Even the baker, Ragueneau, is a more fully developed character.
** He's supposed to be this so he can be the RomanticFalseLead.
*** [[IntendedAudienceReaction It certainly seems like that]], but Christian is '''not''' Roxanne’s SatelliteCharacter: He is a NaiveNewcomer that came to Paris to be in the best regiment, he displays SamaritanSyndrome because he wants to save a friend’s life instead of being with his love, he is willing to go with the DeadlyPrank because he really wants to be part of the cadets, he is the only one in the play who shows CharacterDevelopment when [[ShipperOnDeck he convinces Cyrano to tell Roxane the truth]] [[BeYourself instead of lying]], and [[ThePowerOfFriendship he convinces Cyrano to face his greatest fear]]. All those things he did without Roxanne being involved. So why everyone thinks of him as a ShallowLoveInterest? [[IronicEcho Because the audience expects a ShallowLoveInterest to be the RomanticFalseLead]]. Who is the true ShallowLoveInterest of the play?
** Roxanne: [[SatelliteCharacter Without Christian and Cyrano]], Roxanne literally would have done nothing in the play.
* Sophie in ''Theatre/DerRosenkavalier''.
* Practically any soprano heroine in GiuseppeVerdi's operas.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Video Games]]
* Many early video games featured a DamselInDistress as part of the backstory who didn't even manage to rank as high up as ''shallow'', since she spent the whole game imprisoned somewhere and possibly said thanks at the end.
* Beth in ShinMegamiTenseiII was intended as such for the hero, but she also proves useful in battle, thus giving her a useful purpose. [[spoiler: Is totally subverted because she also does a HeroicSacrifice and gives you her power in death, as, even though you find out she was created to serve you, her love for you was quite real.]]
* ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}'' has Aigis, whose development leads her to ''become'' a ShallowLoveInterest as part of her BecomeARealBoy plot. Her role in FES expands on this, but her relationship with the protagonist is still the core of her character.
** Justified: She is a Shadow destroying robot. The protagonist fights shadows [[spoiler:and has the worst one sealed inside him]] so naturally she joins him.
* Rika Shiraki's "path" in ''BibleBlack''. Minase is only slightly interested in her at first because she's the popular "school idol". After he puts a love spell on her, she only exists to have lots of sex with not just Minase, who she is now obsessively in love with, but anyone Minase tells her to have sex with.
* Decus in ''TalesOfSymphoniaDawnOfTheNewWorld'' is pretty much motivated only by his love for Alice. Of course, [[spoiler:she did save his life]], but it does come off as rather extreme nonetheless.
* [[VideoGame/StarFox Fox and Krystal]], complete with cheesy {{Sexophone}} music and negligible character development.
* Li in ''VideoGame/{{Aquaria}}'' due to the fact that we only ever hear Naija talk, and in the past tense.
** Naija to Li, as well. When she was on her own, her desire just to figure out what the hell happened to everyone made for a pretty compelling motivation; when she meets Li, the story ''utterly derails'' as she loses all interest in solving the mystery or exploring; she's so happy that she's not completely alone anymore that as long as she doesn't have to be alone ever again, the game could end right there for all she cares. She literally only continues along to find the answers and beat the final boss because there's a mouse cursor telling her where to go and what to shoot.
* Rosa Joanna Farrell from VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV is often criticized for her only noticeable character trait being her dedication to Cecil.
* Aggra from ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'', who seems to have been invented solely for the purpose of getting Thrall laid [[spoiler:and [[BabiesEverAfter ensuring that he procreates]]]]. Or, perhaps more maliciously, [[ShipSinking sinking the Thrall x Jaina ship.]]
* Zael and Calista from ''TheLastStory'' have absolutely no reason to be in love other than "because ''shut up'' they're in love". It's a complete MindScrew as to why when you consider that the BetaCouple gets a full development arc from VolleyingInsults to FriendlyWar to BelligerentSexualTension and finally to EveryoneCanSeeIt before they make the RelationshipUpgrade. Zael and Calista, on the other hand, are an extremely shallow LoveAtFirstSight affair that consumes 60% of the plot without ever really ''going'' anywhere.
* Sunny Funny from ParappaTheRapper. Her role in both games revolves around her being Parappa's crush.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* Molly in ''{{Achewood}}'' semi-averts this at first, with her introduction giving her plenty of reasons to find interest in Roast Beef. However, this development (such as her interest in computer programming) was more or less dropped when she moved in with him. She then pretty much played this trope to a tee, getting defined only by her relationship with Roast Beef (to the point where she almost never even interacted with the other characters). As of recently, though, she's been getting more development.
* Pretty much every [[strike:female]] character in ''{{Sonichu}}''.
* Alex in ''{{Candi}}''. He seems to be getting more shallow and more dense with every appearance. Not that he was ever much more than "Candi's boyfriend" before.
* Donte in the CiemWebcomicSeries is given his own story in [[UltimateUniverse Comprehensive Gerosha]] titled ''Of Emeralds and Sapphires'' for the sole purpose of rescuing him from being [[FlatCharacter a completely one-dimensional plot device]]. He is rarely on screen or does much of anything while on screen. And if you take his "he's secretly the superhero Emeraldon" part out, his single most defining characteristic is that he's one of Candi's love interests.
** The author eventually developed several pitches for several spin-off stories, realizing just how limiting Candi's point-of-view really is.
* Ping of ''Webcomic/MegaTokyo'' was [[RobotGirl programmed]] to start like this, and then slowly become an amalgamation of the favored love interests of her end user. But since no one has been "playing" with her ([[WildMassGuessing except maybe Miho]]), she's forced to grow naturally. [[FridgeBrilliance It's actually a little beautiful, when you think about it]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Web Original]]
* ''DarwinsSoldiers'' has Aydin Marcos. His only defining personality trait is the fact that he loves Aimee.
* The YouTube series "LPS: Popular" ([[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.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Western Animation]]
* Another male example: David of ''TotallySpies'', who is [[TheAce good-looking, a book smart genius, an artist, and an athlete]] -- something that appeals to each of the three spies (and sometimes the AlphaBitch too!), making him a universal love interest who exists solely to provide [[TwoLinesNoWaiting romantic B-plots]].
* [=AndrAIa=] from ''ReBoot'' has this problem, especially after she grows up & loses the naive FishOutOfWater characteristics that made her so endearing at the beginning. To be fair, she was originally created to do nothing more than try to kill a guy in a submarine, so it's not like she would have needed much of a personality. Also, she's a bit of an ActionGirl, so it's not like she's totally useless.
* [[Film/SpaceJam Lola Bunny]], because Bugs Bunny needs to be romantically infatuated.
* MinnieMouse certainly qualifies. Daisy Duck not so much, she's as close to an iconic Tsundere as Western Animation has.
** Not that it keeps her from being made of awesome ''in VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII''.
* Ruth [=MacDougal=] (the brunette sixth grader with braces whom Arnold had a crush on during the first season) on ''HeyArnold'' is an example, though Arnold stopped pursuing her on the Valentine's Day episode when Ruth talks and Arnold [[DeconstructedTrope discovers]] that she's very shallow and boring.
* In ''AllGrownUp'', Rachel (Tommy's girlfriend) is this to a T. Not only doesn't she receive any character development, but she has no close connections with any of the Rats, nor is she seen with anyone else aside from Tommy. Compared to more popular fan pairings such as Tommy/Kimi and Tommy/Lil, Rachel generally contributes nothing to the series. In addition, their romance has had its share of complications. In the end, because of her family moving away, she generally breaks up with Tommy. But to make matters worse, when Rachel sees Tommy with another girl, she tells him that she never wants to see him again.
* On ''TheFairlyOddparents'', [[AlphaBitch Trixie Tang]] and in the opposite way, [[UglyCute Tootie]]. Neither have much personality outside of either being liked by or having a crush on Timmy, barring some [[TheWoobie depressing backstory]] for Tootie, and some HiddenDepths revealed in one episode for Trixie.
* Jeremy Johnson from ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' used to qualify. Earlier episodes gave him no purpose other than being a bright spot in Candace's life, but recent episodes develop him more. He's shown to have his own life and friends, and is savvy to Candace's freak outs. He's even got extensive interaction with other characters up to and including [[HarmlessVillain Dr. Doofenshmirtz.]]
* Julie from ''WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce'' started out this way, but got better overtime.
* One-shot girly girl Dawn from ''KaBlam'' who showed up in the episode "A Nut in Every Bite!". As soon as he saw her Henry fell in love with her. However, she was rather boring personality-wise, especially compared to the snarky tomboyish June, and other than finding him hilarious, she didn't return his affections. He forgets about his crush on her at the end once he realizes that [[LoveHurts she wasn't worth it]].
* On ''JimmyTwoShoes'', [[RichBitch Jez]] and [[CrazyAwesome Saffi]] exist only to be girlfriends of [[{{Satan}} Lucius]] and [[TheHedonist Beezy]], respectively, and are ignored when these connections aren't important. This is notable in one episode involving Beezy being put in an ArrangedMarriage, when he points out he has Saffi, she's wheeled out to say "I don't mind," then proceeds to disappear other than a cameo near the end.
* Queen Rapsheeba, Snap's love interest on ''ChalkZone''.
* Betty Quinlan of ''TheAdventuresOfJimmyNeutron''.
* Don Prima of ''MyLifeAsATeenageRobot'' for Jenny.
* Tony in ''TheIncredibles'', who shows up in 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. At the end, she's able to talk with him and get a date while ''he's'' stammering nervously.
* Amanda Sefton from ''XMenEvolution''. She's two-dimensional, has little to no personality, and exists solely to be Nightcrawler's love interest.
* Parodied in ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'', where Senor Senor Junior kidnapped a computer expert so he can find the perfect girl that matched his Shallow requirements. Turns out it's [[spoiler:Bonnie]].
* In ''TheProudFamily'': Suga Mamma is attracted to Lasienaga's Grandpa, although the latter not only has no interest in her, but also seems to insult her every time, and in at least one episode also wished for her to disappear. Literally the only reason why she continues with her crush anyways is because she doesn't understand Spanish (the grandpa always speaks in Spanish). Then again, in this case it's just a RunningGag so that the grandfather can insult her and [[EvilLaugh laugh maniacally afterwards.]]
* Angel from ''LiloAndStitchTheSeries'' has no noticeable personality traits outside of being a girl version of Stitch and being his [[BrotherSisterIncest love interest]]. Oh, there's also something to do with her singing being able to turn older Experiments evil and that's about it.
** Lilo's love interest Keoni is a better example.
* Johnny V. from ''{{Recess}}'' only existed to give Spinelli a TemporaryLoveInterest. To the point where he doesn't even appear outside the episode he first appears in.
* Dana Tan in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'' starts out with [[SpoiledSweet a character]] beyond ShallowLoveInterest, as she was the most well-rounded of Terry's high school classmates in the first season, but as her [[OutOfFocus screentime]] [[DemotedToExtra shrinks]] in later seasons, her characterization dwindles to just being TheObstructiveLoveInterest
* As adorable as their relationship is, [[MoralOrel Christina]] is pretty hard to characterize outside of being Orel's crush [[spoiler: and eventually, his wife]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Other]]
* [[LimyaaelsFantasyRants Limyaael]] refers to both male and female versions until the title [[http://limyaael.livejournal.com/377262.html "Designated Love Interest"]]
* WebVideo/TheNostalgiaChick describes this as "LINETS" (Love Interest Non-Essential To Story) in her ''Film/{{Dragonheart}}'' review (though Kara isn't used as a love interest in the movie).
** A throwaway line at the end implies she and Bowen HookedUpAfterwards, but yeah, her role as LoveInterest is pretty minor (which is arguably part of the problem). Heck, she has more development as [[BigBad Einon's]] VillainousCrush!
[[/folder]]
----

** Also Freya, Merlin's [[TheLostLeonore Lost Leonore]]. She gets ''one'' scene in which she's permitted to share details of her past (and even that is more of a MythologyGag that establishes her affinity for lakes), the rest of the time she only exists so that Merlin can be her [[TheCaretaker Caretaker]], enjoy openly using his magic in front of her, and experience manpain when she dies. It's especially glaring when he takes her to a lakeside in order to [[LetThemDieHappy Let Her Die Happy]] and she mutters: "you remembered..." Well of course he remembered - her love of lakes is the only personal detail she ever shares with him!

* Yoshida in ''ShakuganNoShana'' seems to only exist to perpetuate a LoveTriangle between herself, Yuji and Shana. She doesn't seem to have any other interests outside of him, and is [[YamatoNadeshiko markedly different]] from the {{Tsundere}} Shana. [[TheScrappy She isn't well liked in the fandom,]] [[DieForOurShip who see her as an annoying obstacle in Shana and Yuji's relationship.]]

->''"Remember: [[DumbBlonde Blonde]], [[BrainyBrunette brunette]], and [[FieryRedhead redhead]] are not [[BlondeBrunetteRedhead personality types]]."''
-->--'''''Literature/HowNotToWriteANovel'''''

* Roxanne in ''AGoofyMovie'' has a characterization that amounts to "has some of Max's surface flaws" and "is Max's LoveInterest."

* Surprisingly, this is averted as often as played straight in the JamesBond films - [[DrNo Honey Ryder]], [[ForYourEyesOnly Melina Havelock]], [[{{Goldeneye}} Natalya Simyonova]], [[TheSpyWhoLovedMe Anya Amasova]], [[TomorrowNeverDies Wai Lin]], [[CasinoRoyale Vesper Lynd]] and [[OnHerMajestysSecretService Tracy Vincenzo]] [[spoiler: later Bond]] are anything but shallow. On the other hand, there have been others, often the [[DisposableWoman ones who die early on]], who have been the practical epitome of this trope, such as [[DiamondsAreForever Tiffany Case]], [[TheManWithTheGoldenGun Mary Goodnight]], [[{{Moonraker}} Holly Goodhead]] and [[AViewToAKill Stacey Sutton]]. Notably, the worse the Bond film, ''generally'', the more shallow and useless the love interest.

* Kennedy from season 7 of ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' appears to be interested in Willow for two reasons: she's cute, and she's willing to have sex with girls. At one point Willow asks her flat out what Kennedy knows about her, and Kennedy is barely able to come up with anything. But by the next episode, they're in a relationship.

* Tony in ''TheIncredibles'', who shows up in 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. At the end, she's able to talk with him and get a date while ''he's'' stammering nervously.

* Oliver in ''WhipIt'' plays this trope straight. Later we learn that [[spoiler:it's all an act; [[{{Casanova}} he really only wanted to get into the heroine's pants]]. She later tells her best friend that she feels stupid for falling for it.]]

* ''SuperSentai'' has had many instances of this trope in the course of its [[LongRunner 35 series history]], most of them being one-shot interests to the resident [[{{Casanova}} playboy]] on the team.

* Zael and Calista from ''TheLastStory'' have absolutely no reason to be in love other than "because ''shut up'' they're in love". It's a complete MindScrew as to why when you consider that the BetaCouple gets a full development arc from VolleyingInsults to FriendlyWar to BelligerentSexualTension and finally to EveryoneCanSeeIt before they make the RelationshipUpgrade. Zael and Calista, on the other hand, are an extremely shallow LoveAtFirst sight affair that consumes 60% of the plot without ever really ''going'' anywhere.

* The YouTube series "LPS: Popular" ([[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 another potential 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.

** Vixie from ''Disney/TheFoxAndTheHound'' has barely any personality, due to being introduced around the time Tod was put in the nature reserve, and meeting and immediately triggering Tod's affections within two minutes of her first appearance. She is implied to have known Big Mama for some time from the sound of her introduction, but that's pretty much all we know about her besides the fact she and Tod love each other.