Line #38 Main/DemotedToSatelliteLoveInterest


1	->'''Epic Voice Guy''': Creator/NataliePortman is back. And she's...just kinda there. Weep as this once proud queen, senator, and warrior spends the whole movie barefoot and pregnant.\
2	'''Padme''': Ani, I wanna have our baby back home on Naboo. I can go early and fix up the baby’s room.
3	-->-- '''WebVideo/HonestTrailers''' for ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith''
4
5	A character starts out significant and important on their own, playing a valuable role in the plot. Then they become another character's love interest. Suddenly, the story stops paying them as much attention as before. Narrative-wise, the character is now mainly treated as "X's wife/husband/girlfriend/boyfriend", essentially turning into a [[SatelliteLoveInterest supporting character for their partner]]. Sometimes other characters even stop mentioning the character's previous accomplishments, while their partner's deeds are still remembered and talked about.
6
7	More likely to happen to female characters than male ones due to {{Double Standard}}s, but there are plenty of male examples as well.
8
9	For this trope to be in play, the following conditions must apply:
10	* '''Only one of the partners is "demoted".''' If both partners get more-or-less equally DemotedToExtra at roughly the same time, this trope does not apply. E.g., neither Eowyn nor Faramir from ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' fit this trope because both became background characters soon after they fell in love.
11	* '''The character played a more important role before becoming a love interest.''' If the character was already not quite significant before, and simply switched their focus to a new romantic subplot, this trope does not apply. E.g., Nymphadora Tonks and Fleur Delacour from ''Literature/HarryPotter'' don't fit this trope because they weren't more significant characters before they became love interests to Remus Lupin and Bill Weasley, respectively. Conversely, Jadzia Dax from ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' didn't get noticeably less focus or characterization after becoming Worf's fiancee and, later, wife.
12
13	A subtrope of DemotedToExtra and SatelliteLoveInterest. Not to be confused with PromotedToLoveInterest, which is about a character who's turned into a LoveInterest (but not necessarily a SatelliteLoveInterest) in an adaptation of the original work. See also CareerVersusMan, FamilyVersusCareer, QuittingToGetMarried[[note]]Note: if a female character quits her career to be with her man, it doesn't necessarily mean she gets Demoted to Satellite Love Interest. She could still continue being a prominent and important character in her new status[[/note]]. Compare DemotedToComicRelief.
14
15	''Please don't use this trope as an excuse to [[Administrivia/ComplainingAboutShowsYouDontLike bash characters whom you dislike for X/Y/Z motives]]. Becoming a love interest doesn't immediately equal being demoted to SLI, and many accusations fit less in this trope and more in DieForOurShip.''
16	------------
17	!!Examples:
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19	[[foldercontrol]]
20
21	[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
22	* ''Anime/AttackerYou'': Sho Tachiki is introduced as You's potential love interest. Like You, he's also a volleyball player and initially serves as a BigBrotherMentor for her, and also has some ShipTease with You's FriendlyRival Nami. However, after the first few episodes, Sho is very soon DemotedToExtra and very rarely appears in the anime. This is a case where we don't even see a RelationshipUpgrade between the partners and the guy is only known as "the heroine's object of affection" who is completely irrelevant to the story. To make things worse, in some foreign adaptations, specifically European, the anime is known with a NameAndName title that makes it look like that You and her "boyfriend" Sho are both equally important protagonists.
23	* Syaoran Li of ''Manga/CardcaptorSakura'' started off as TheRival and for a while had almost equal footing with Sakura, his own supporting cast, and many limelight episodes (so much the English dub tried to play him as co-lead with ''Cardcaptors''). After Sakura becomes Master of the Cards, the rest of the main arc must be resolved by her with the others providing marginal assistance. As such, most of Syaoran's spotlight at this point consists of one or two short scenes concerning his growing crush on Sakura (he does still get limelight episodes but they revolve entirely around being a love interest).
24	* ''Anime/DragonBallZ'':
25	** Android 18 was introduced as an independent villain alongside her brother, but then receded into the role of Krillin's wife and more-or-less retired from fighting. She does participate in trying to stop Beerus during Bulma's birthday party and lampshades the fact that she's still stronger than Krillin when he goes off to face Freeza's army when the villain returns to life but agrees to stay behind to protect their daughter. This would be {{averted\|Trope}} come ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'', where she is one of the ten representatives for Universe 7, and not only lasts longer than her husband but takes down several opponents on her own and alongside her brother, 17.
26	** Videl was introduced as a powerful fighter and someone who was suspicious of Gohan and the other Saiyans' unusual power. But once the Buu arc got serious she was sidelined and after marrying Gohan and giving birth to Pan she seems to have retired from fighting. This is probably reasonable since she is a BadassNormal with low-tier {{Charles Atlas Superpower}}s at best, while the other heroes throw around military-grade energy attacks, and she can't really do much on that sort of battlefield.
27	* ''Manga/{{Genshiken}}'': Sasahara's character arc focuses exclusively on his relationship with Oguie after [[WillTheyOrWontThey they finally get together]]. After the series was UnCanceled as ''Genshiken Nidaime'', Sasahara went from the main character to DemotedToExtra as the focus shifted squarely to Oguie as the new main protagonist. This makes perfect sense, as Sasahara graduates, has little reason to interact with the other characters, and moves OutOfFocus, and Oguie takes his place as president of the titular club.
28	* In the original ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'', Mirai Yashima takes on the important role of first mate and helmsman of the [[SuperPrototype White Base]], but when she reappears in ''Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam'', we find that she married Mr. Bright and started a family with him. And even though her husband soon becomes one of the key figures of [[LaResistance AEUG]], she makes very few appearances, instead staying on Earth to take care of her children.
29	* ''Manga/Reborn2004'': There are examples of this in both the anime and manga:
30	** [[ActionGirl Poison Scorpion Bianchi]] started off as a pretty capable [[FemmeFatale hitman]] who could turn everything into poison. But she was also the titular Hitman Tutor's lover, and by the Future Arc, she is reduced to an older sister figure for the girls.
31	** [[ActionGirl Lal Mirch]] is probably the most badass character in the series, she has strength, agility, incredible weapons and she even trained one of the Strongest Seven, being chosen for his position initially. And yet everyone just recognized her as one of the Arcobaleno's [[LoveInterest Love Interests]] and as one half of the token het couple.
32	* ''Anime/SailorMoon'': Mamoru aka Tuxedo Mask suffers from this in the anime, but not in the manga. In the manga, Mamoru is one of the most important and developed characters: while somewhat weak on his own, the major villains are usually defeated by combining his powers with Sailor Moon's. His future as King Endymion is also of great importance. By the 4th season he becomes the character with the most focus (after Sailor Moon herself), because of [[spoiler:his connection to Pegasus/Helios, and his weak health that fuels that arc's drama]]. Compared to the manga, the anime starts forcing Mamoru out of the focus after the first season. In the first season, he still has an important plot role, due to his forbidden love with Usagi/Princess Serenity. However, in the second season, his importance gets considerably downplayed -- and by the third season onward he's turned into a mere extra, to the point that [[spoiler:when in the fifth season he's PutOnABus, it really lessened the impact that event had in the manga.]]
33	** While Umino was never a major character, after he got together with Naru, his only role was being her boyfriend.
34	* ''Literature/SwordArtOnline'':
35	** In the initial ''Sword Art Online'' arc, Asuna is a badass, give-no-fucks ActionGirl who carries her weight as one of the most powerful and well-known players in the [[EliteArmy lead group]]. When the game is shut down, though, she's one of the players who is "captured" and prevented from logging out. Immediately after this, during the ''[=ALFheim=] Online'' arc, she is a textbook GirlInTheTower held prisoner by the BigBad (who plans on marrying her in the real world despite the fact that [[DudeShesLikeInAComa she's comatose]], and [[IHaveYouNowMyPretty sexually harasses and/or assaults her]] on numerous occasions in the game), giving TheHero Kirito all the motivation he needs to beat the game and rescue her. Finally, in the ''Gun Gale Online'' arc, she's... Kirito's girlfriend. She has almost no plot significance whatsoever, and does not appear in GGO's game world; all of her scenes are either milling about in ALO wondering what Kirito is doing, or having conversations with him in the real world.
36	** Averted with the Mother's Rosario arc where Asuna is firmly the protagonist and the story focuses on her friendship with Yuuki and her relationship with her mother.
37	** A mixed example with the ''Alicization'' arc, where she continues to be heavily involved in the plot ([[spoiler:including the rather awesome feat of tricking a GovernmentConspiracy into bringing her into their secret base, when she was somebody they were specifically on alert for]]), while her character still pretty much revolves around loving Kirito.[[spoiler:However in the War for the Underworld arc, she steps up as a protagonist with Kirito down for the count.]]
38	** ''Anime/SwordArtOnlineTheMovieProgressiveAriaOfAStarlessNight'' gives Asuna a DayInTheLimelight by focusing on her story, showing how she got involved with ''Sword Art Online'' and her perspective on the events.
39	* Riku is introduced as ''Manga/WanderingSon'' as a classmate of Maho that she has a crush on. He has a crush on her little sibling at first but eventually, they begin dating. By high school, though, he's pretty much "Maho's boyfriend" when before he had some chemistry with Nitori at least.
40	* In ''Anime/YuGiOh5Ds'', Akiza starts out as roughly the third most important character, with an ongoing plot involving uncontrolled psychic powers, estranged parents, membership in a cult, despising her own mystic destiny, and moonlighting as a terrifying underground duelist. By the end of the Dark Signers arc, all these plots are resolved, sometimes in as little as one or two episodes, and her personality shifts from moody and violent to a very typical shounen main-girl with a crush on the protagonist. For the remaining 90 episodes of the series, [[OutOfFocus on the rare occasions where she does get focus again]], you'd struggle to describe what she has going on outside of "is in school now, has feelings for Yusei and wants to get closer to him."
41	[[/folder]]
42
43	[[folder:Comic Books]]
44	* ''ComicBook/{{Runaways}}'': Victor Mancha was first introduced as a teenage boy who was fated to become Gert's mortal nemesis when he grew up. He was shown to be highly intelligent and powerful enough to fight off the rest of the team. After the Runaways managed to change his fate, he ultimately became the love interest of the team leader Nico. Since then, Victor's importance and power diminished considerably: e.g. he got outwitted by Chase, the least intelligent member of the team (who had also temporarily turned against his former teammates.) And then, after Nico dumped him, he spent the rest of the series doing almost nothing except ineffectually pining after her.
45	** Happens ''again'' in ''ComicBook/RunawaysRainbowRowell'', where he becomes Gert's boyfriend. In theory, he does have a character arc of his own, as Chase accidentally restores his SuperpoweredEvilSide and he tries his hand at becoming an actual superhero, but in practice he spends most of the series being moral support to Gert before discovering that [[spoiler:she will eventually get bored of him and dump him to get back with Chase, which will set off his FaceHeelTurn.]]
46	* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'': Marla Madison was a scientist who built a Spider-Slayer for J. Jonah Jameson. He subsequently fell in love with her and they eventually married. Since Dr. Madison stopped building Spider-Slayers, she gradually settled down into the position of Jonah's wife as few writers seemed to be interested in developing her as a character (while JJJ continued being important). As she was killed off, there is little chance of that being ever rectified.
47	* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman'' [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1942 Vol 1]]: ComicBook/SteveTrevor started out as an integral part of Diana's team. Not only was he perfectly ok with doing things she could not as an Amazon, like kill, he also had experience in spy craft and a military position that made him very useful. Writers following Marston's death quickly turned him into the poster boy of UselessBoyfriend and he only mattered because he and Diana were in love, seemingly having nothing else to really offer.
48	[[/folder]]
49
50	[[folder:Comic Strip]]
51	* In the ''ComicStrip/FlashGordon'' comic strip, [[DaddysLittleVillain Princess Aura]] began as a fairly important character who drove several plots. After her BettyAndVeronica love triangle with Dale over Flash was resolved (in Dale's favor), she was [[PairTheSpares married off to Prince Barin]] and lost most of her agency and narrative importance, making few new appearances and (from what could be seen of those she did make) becoming a [[{{Chickification}} much more domestic and pacific]] love interest than [[DarkActionGirl her previous characterization]].
52	* In later strips of ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}'', Schroeder only appeared whenever Lucy was leaning on his piano.
53	[[/folder]]
54
55	[[folder:Film -- Animated]]
56	* ''Franchise/HowToTrainYourDragon'':
57	** In the [[WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon2010 first film]], Astrid is initially set up as a competitive student who's determined to ace Gobber's training and become a fully-fledged Viking. Hiccup's aversion to fighting irritates her and his sudden improvement makes her suspect foul play, resulting in her following him into the forest to find out what his secret is. After their first romantic encounter, she becomes much more subdued, existing solely to provide Hiccup with support and advice.
58	** ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon2'' makes a conscious effort to remedy this, giving Astrid an independent solo role while still maintaining her relationship with Hiccup.
59	* In ''WesternAnimation/{{The Lion King\|1994}}'', Nala plays a significant role in getting Simba to return to Pride Rock and face his past, not to mention being a fierce and determined character in her own right. In [[WesternAnimation/TheLionKingIISimbasPride the sequel]], however, she has a maximum of 20-ish lines and hardly does anything to contribute to the plot besides fighting in the pride-on-pride battle near the end. What makes it worse is that there were ''many'' opportunities and times that she could've said or done something of importance, but she still hardly affected a thing through the whole movie.
60	* ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaidIIReturnToTheSea'' demotes Eric to a sounding board for Ariel's worries about their daughter's future. Once Ariel turns back into a mermaid he disappears until the climax - attempting an (unsuccessful) BigDamnHeroes moment.
61	* ''WesternAnimation/FrozenII'' has Kristoff, who goes from ice-delivering loner who gradually falls for Princess Anna over the course of the first movie because he admires her pluck and determination while also giving her some important life lessons to spending the sequel attempting multiple times to propose to Anna and only managing to spit it out right at the end. It doesn't help Anna repeatedly ditches Kristoff to chase after Elsa and even after Elsa forces Anna to stay behind (since Anna has no powers and Elsa doesn't know if she'll come back from her voyage) to look after the people of Arendelle, Anna still barely interacts with Kristoff and remains obsessed over her sister "abandoning" her.
62	[[/folder]]
63
64	[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
65	* ''Franchise/StarWars'': In ''Film/ThePhantomMenace'', Padme Amidala is the ruler of Naboo who fights bravely for her people. By ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith'' she's given up the throne and married Anakin, and while she's still a Senator, it's all about Anakin becoming Darth Vader because the scene where she planted the seeds that would later become the Rebel Alliance was left on the cutting room floor.
66	* ''Franchise/TheFastAndTheFurious'': Mia is downgraded into a dutiful housewife and mother starting on ''Fast & Furious 6'', being absent for most of the film until the climax, where she serves as a DamselInDistress. In the seventh, she is taken out of the main action plot and doesn't even do anything other than giving some moral support to Brian.
67	[[/folder]]
68
69	[[folder:Literature]]
70	* TheGoodPrince Antar in ''Literature/BlackTrillium'' is a complex character torn between his loyalty to his royal father and to his country and the realization that his father and king has been corrupted by an EvilSorcerer and pushes their country into ruin and dishonor. In Creator/JulianMay's sequel novels, his role mostly boils down to being the King Consort and frequent DistressedDude to his queenly wife, [[spoiler:the ex-princess Anigel]].
71	* ''Literature/TheCyberDragonsTrilogy'': G AKA Case Gordon was the protagonist of the ''Literature/AgentG'' series but becomes Keiko "Kei" Springs' boyfriend and partner in the Cyber Dragons series. Somewhat of a DownplayedTrope because he remains a SixthRanger to their party.
72	* {{Invoked}} in the ''Anime/{{Robotech}}'' ExpandedUniverse. Miriya was the greatest Zentraedi female ace, and when she got her HighHeelFaceTurn and [[BestHerToBedHer married Max Sterling]], for the rest of the original series she was his counterpart and got equal screentime with him. Then during the Malcontent Uprisings, the brass made the official decision to turn her into a propaganda piece; "homemaker, mother, ''former'' freedom fighter." Miriya abided by it but still played an important role in the finale (and returned to badass status during the Sentinels series).
73	* ''Literature/SherlockHolmes'': Mary Morstan, a central character in ''Literature/TheSignOfTheFour'', marries Dr. Watson at the end of the book. After that, she's mentioned by Watson once in a while, typically as "my wife" rather than by name. She eventually dies off-page in the interval between two books. A sample of how she typically appears in later stories:
74	--> One night -- it was in June, '89 -- there came a ring to my bell...I sat up in my chair, and my wife laid her needle-work down in her lap and made a little face of disappointment. (From "The Man with the Twisted Lip")
75	[[/folder]]
76
77	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
78	* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'':
79	** Oz was introduced as a werewolf character who had an interest in Willow, but still a role in the plot. Around mid-Season 3, he was defined more by his status as Willow's boyfriend. Seth Green ultimately left the show over this.
80	** Inverted with Willow's next love interest Tara. She was defined more by her relationship with Willow - one episode even lampshading that the rest of the gang [[TheFriendsWhoNeverHang don't know her that well]]. In late Season 5, continuing into Season 6 she developed a CoolBigSis instinct for Dawn and had a growing friendship with Buffy even after she and Willow split up.
81	** Anya first played it straight and then subverted it. She was introduced as a vengeance demon, playing the antagonist for two episodes. Then in Season 4, she became Xander's love interest there to provide comic relief and rarely got episodes of her own. When Xander left her at the altar, she became a demon again and still had a role in the plot beyond their relationship.
82	** Deconstructed with Riley. In Season 4 he had his own adventures as an Initiative soldier. By Season 5, he left the Initiative, and his cover as a grad student, and was nothing more than Buffy's love interest. Having nothing in his life except his relationship with Buffy caused him to become insecure and clingy, eventually resulting in the end of their relationship and his return to the military.
83	* ''{{Series/Charmed 1998}}'':
84	** Dan Gordon first appeared on the show as a next-door neighbor that was having trouble trying to act as a surrogate parent to his preteen niece. Then the niece was PutOnABus and he spends the rest of his time on the show in a LoveTriangle with Piper and Leo.
85	** Leo played this straight and subverted it. While always intended as Piper's love interest from his introduction, he ended up there around Season 4 to mainly act as TheHeart. Season 6 saw him becoming an Elder and having to deal with his KidFromTheFuture, while Season 7 had him driving the storylines. After he lost his powers in Season 7, he arguably slipped back into this in Season 8.
86	* ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'': In season 7 Barney's character is appropriated as Robin's love interest, and his main significance is to be a source of angst for Robin. This makes the single brief look at his perspective in "Tick, Tick, Tick" all the more heartbreaking, as the audience knows that while Robin is busy going through character development and struggling with her personal conflicts, Barney is miserably and silently OutOfFocus, waiting for her to address her relationship with him.
87	* ''Franchise/PerryMason'': {{Defied}}. Della Street turned down several proposals of marriage by Perry because she wanted to be a part of his life and she knew that meant being a part of his work -- and she expected that to [[QuittingToGetMarried end after marriage]].
88	* ''Series/OnceUponATime'':
89	** Will Scarlet was a main character in ''Series/OnceUponATimeInWonderland''. When he shows up in season four, he's credited as part of the main cast but is quickly demoted to the rebound guy for Belle. Sometimes his only appearances are holding her hand in the background, and he only has a quick, blink-and-you'll-miss-it, unspoken cameo in the finale. To make things worse for him, Belle herself has rarely been more than the love interest of Rumplestiltskin in the series, making Will Scarlet demoted to the satellite love interest of a satellite love interest.
90	** Robin Hood also gets this treatment big time. In his initial appearance, he was a fully independent character, but upon his return (and recasting) he became not a lot more than Regina's true love. This progressively gets worse and worse, until Season Five (ironically the season he got a {{Promotion to Opening Titles}}) where he is basically a shadow/occasional {{Dude in Distress}} until [[spoiler:he is killed off towards the end of the season, probably at the actor's request]].
91	** Hook as well in Season 4. He gets defined almost entirely by his status as Emma's boyfriend, and all his storylines revolve around his relationship with Emma. Season 5, however, reversed this by giving Hook a character arc that, while Emma heavily factored into it, spanned other elements and relationships with other characters as well. As of Season 6 however, he was right back into it.
92	** Inverted with Belle, who began entirely as a love interest for Rumplestiltskin. When she was made a series regular, she started having more agency in the plots, though it is Played Straight in later seasons.
93	* ''Series/NYPDBlue'': Once Andy and Sylvia get married and have a baby, Sylvia is relegated to one scene every few episodes at home with Andy and their son Theo. She decides to quit her job in order to stay at home with their son so Andy gets a second job working airport security, meaning we see her even less. Eventually, she goes back to work as an Assistant District Attorney just in time to get killed off.
94	* ''Series/TheFlash2014'': This happened to Julian Albert after he started dating Caitlin about halfway through the show's third season. As she [[spoiler:became Killer Frost]], his role was reduced to [[spoiler:trying to find her a cure and acting excessively overprotective of her to the point of risking his own life.]]
95	* Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse: This happened to Claire Temple over the course of the Marvel Netflix shows. At the start of ''Series/{{Daredevil\|2015}}'' season 1, she was initially emphasized as an outsider, the audience stand-in, the mortal in a world of gods and monsters. By the time ''Series/{{Iron Fist\|2017}}'' and ''Series/{{The Defenders\|2017}}'' come around, Claire has become a part of the strangeness now. And while that is a major development, it also means she loses the key elements that made her such a compelling character in the first place. This change is particularly obvious in ''The Defenders'', in which Claire is actually one of the most informed, well-connected, least fazed characters in the show, and thus one of the least interesting. She is no longer the funny, baffled, exasperated, badass civilian. She's now just one of a large crowd of side characters, and the narrative actually regards her more like a ''Series/{{Luke Cage\|2016}}'' side character than a crossover character, with the show barely even acknowledging her past connection with Matt. The second season of ''Luke Cage'' reduces her even further to being merely Luke's girlfriend, thus placing her firmly in a secondary role. And then she breaks up with Luke and leaves in the third episode.
96	* Once her storyline as TheMole in ''Series/PeakyBlinders'' was concluded, this happened to [[BitchInSheepsClothing Grace]], who reappeared in the second season just to make up a LoveTriangle between herself, Tommy, and May and then has no purpose in the story at all after that besides being [[spoiler:Tommy's wife and mother of Charles, which is likely why she was killed off in Season Three]], since there wasn't much more they could do with her.
97	* ''Series/SpartacusBloodAndSand'':
98	** While Naevia was always Crixus's love interest from the beginning, she is introduced as Lucretia's personal attendant and has other roles outside of her romance with Crixus - such as having to help cover up a murder - and the ''Gods of the Arena'' prequel developing her further by showing her past from before she met Crixus. By the ''Vengeance'' season, her role in the story is to be rescued by Crixus and act as his lover. While she trains to become a DarkActionGirl, her role in the story is usually tied to Crixus in some way.
99	** Inverted for Aurelia, who entered the story as Varro's wife, and only shared scenes to serve his story. [[spoiler: After his death]], she becomes a main character in her own right, even avenging [[spoiler: his death by murdering the man who ordered it. She dies too but leaves more of an impact on the story besides her marriage to Varro]].
100	[[/folder]]
101
102	[[folder:Music]]
103	* ''Music/ConfessionExecutiveCommittee'':
104	** Koyuki Ayase becomes this in the "Right Now, I'm in Love." arc and ''The Moment You Fall in Love'', its animated counterpart. Just before, he played a huge role in "Confession Rehearsal"/''I've Always Liked You'' as the active rival in a LoveTriangle and showed how he came to the decision to pursue Natsuki, the previous heroine. Now just contrast that here; he's practically defined by Hina (''Moment's'' heroine)'s crush on him, having little else to do in the story than call out to her or say hi while she pursues him unaware of his crush on another girl, and all the drama stems from her insecurities and her childhood friend Kotaro's feelings for her. He gets out of this when his own love interest, Ryo Ogino, is introduced later into the franchise.
105	** The more time progresses, the more Midori Hamanaka from the same series falls under this bracket. His debut song, "Friday's Good Mornings", had him in the starring role and his love interest Sena Narumi created to be his ideal love interest. As time went on, it was ''Sena'' who received further characterization away from their romance and has plenty of stories and songs about her relationships with her family and inner feelings. Midori, however, only gets content related to Sena, and his non-singing cameos only have him interacting with her despite small hints at a social life beyond his love.
106	[[/folder]]
107
108	[[folder:Professional Wrestling]]
109	* Wrestling/DebraMarshall was originally a manager to multiple wrestlers, had a stint as Co-Commissioner with Mick Foley, and occasionally wrestled. Her last two years in the company saw her only appearing as Stone Cold's wife. Lampshaded when she was on ''Series/TheWeakestLink''.
110	-->'''Debra:''' I'm famous for being Steve's wife.\
111	'''Anne:''' So you're a real feminist then.
112	* Inverted with Wrestling/VickieGuerrero. Originally only appearing in segments as Eddie Guerrero's wife, after his death, she became an onscreen character and eventually evolved into her own entity.
113	* Wrestling/{{Lita}} in the last two years of her career. Thanks to her ACL injury, she wasn't able to wrestle and instead appeared as Edge's on-screen girlfriend. While she did win the Women's Championship twice more, she was still heavily associated with Edge until the weeks leading up to her retirement storyline. As of the 2010s and 2020s, she returned to WWE evoking her old persona, being remembered more as a WWE legend.
114	* Wrestling/MariaKanellis was an independent presence for the first few years of her career. But showing that Administrivia/TropesAreNotBad, she became a manager to her husband Mike Bennett - and that was seen as a real GrowingTheBeard moment for her (as beforehand she'd just been a FauxActionGirl who provided {{Fanservice}} in the ring).
115	* Inverted for Wrestling/TorrieWilson, who spent the first couple of years in the business as the love interest and valet of various males. Then around 2002, she received a push to become the top {{Face}} of the Smackdown brand.
116	* Wrestling/{{Maryse}} went from being a Divas' Champion (the longest reigning one until Wrestling/AJLee surpassed her) to the valet of Wrestling/TedDiBiase and later Wrestling/TheMiz. Again, this was playing to her strengths, which were more as a character than [[FauxActionGirl a wrestler]].
117	* [[Wrestling/BellaTwins Brie Bella]] around 2014 came to be defined more as Daniel Bryan's wife when she wasn't managing her sister Nikki. People sometimes forget she was a Divas' Champion at one point too.
118	[[/folder]]
119
120	[[folder:Theater]]
121	* ''Theatre/HarryPotterAndTheCursedChild''--Many fans feel this way about Ginny. Though she was not one of the "big three" characters in the books, she ''was'' one of the few people who could stand up to Harry's temper when he was making a stupid decision. Given that the play's father-son drama is largely based on Harry making stupid decisions, one wonders why Ginny comes off so passive, especially in the face of her son's obvious unhappiness.
122	* Historically, productions of ''Theatre/{{Othello}}'' downgraded Desdemona into this. This is due to ValuesDissonance; audiences weren't sympathetic to a heroine who would disobey her father's wishes to marry a man of a different race. Thus her role was downplayed to better serve the back-and-forth between Othello and Iago. In the middle of the 20th Century, productions have been adding more fire and sexuality into their Desdemonas to avert this.
123	[[/folder]]
124
125	[[folder:Video Games]]
126	* Kairi in ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI'' had limited screentime, but still managed to have her own personality and character arc concerning her anxiety and fear of change based around her DarkAndTroubledPast. In ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII'', almost all her scenes and actions revolve around Sora and her love for him and little else (though to be fair, she does have a few short friendship moments with Riku as well.) This issue persists in ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII'', although she does have some portions of the game that also focus on her [[FireForgedFriends fire-forged friendship]] with Axel/Lea.
127	** While the romantic part of the attachment is underplayed, Naminé in the same game is DemotedToExtra and, beyond [[MrExposition plot exposition]], her role is to care about Roxas and want to help him / reunite with him.
128	* Anna from ''VideoGame/MetroLastLight''. Despite her hostility from the beginning towards Artyom, and insignificance later in the game, she suddenly falls in love with him with absolutely no build-up whatsoever, and solely exists as his love interest alone from this point and a bit of an [[FauxActionGirl incapable solo combatant]] into the next game, ''VideoGame/MetroExodus''.
129	* ''VideoGame/SaGaFrontier2'': The Knights family gets a bad case of this. Cordelia (assuming she marries Wil Knights) and Diana are both exceptional fighters (in Diana's case, [[MasterSwordsman more than exceptional]]), but once they get pregnant, both retire from the battlefield, settle down and raise their children. Even when Wil Knights returns to the battlefield (with his granddaughter as the party leader!), neither his wife nor Diana are there with him.
130	* In a few ''VideoGame/StoryOfSeasons'' games such as [[VideoGame/HarvestMoon1 the original game]], ''[[VideoGame/HarvestMoonTheTaleOfTwoTowns Tale of Two Towns]]'', and ''[[VideoGame/HarvestMoonGrandBazaar Grand Bazaar]]'' all the love interests have hopes and ambitions of their own...until they marry you. It's especially true of some of the women in ''Tale of Two Towns''. For a female main character, the guys will continue to run their businesses and go travelling after they marry. When a male main character marries, the female love interest will not leave your farmhouse. So, Laney gives up on moving to the city and Georgia stops working at her father's stable.
131	* Jude in ''VideoGame/TalesOfXillia2'' gets this treatment, with most of his sidequests being focused on his relationship with Mila. Unusually for this trope, this may have been an attempt at an AuthorsSavingThrow, as Jude and Mila's relationship was considered StrangledByTheRedString in the first game due to their interactions not being all that romantic.
132	[[/folder]]
133
134	[[folder:Western Animation]]
135	* In ''WesternAnimation/VoltronLegendaryDefender'', this happens to Lance in Season 8, once he and [[spoiler:Allura]] become an OfficialCouple. The team sniper, moral support, and PluckyComicRelief with HiddenDepths in previous seasons, Lance spends Season 8 as "[[spoiler:Allura]]'s concerned boyfriend." If he's not in a fight, he's with her, talking about her, or worrying about her. Even when the current Paladins meet their predecessors, while all the other Paladins are told what worthy and talented warriors they are, all Alfor tells Lance is basically that he's a good boyfriend. Even when [[spoiler:Allura dies]], Lance's entire epilogue is about how he dedicates himself to her [[spoiler:memory -- basically becoming an evangelist for Allura's "message"]].
136	[[/folder]]

Context Main / DemotedToSatelliteLoveInterest