Line #31 Main/TrophyWife


1	[[quoteright:202:[[Webcomic/KevinAndKell https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/trophywife_3184.png]]]]
2	[[caption-width-right:202:Kevin & Kell take it too literally...]]
3
4	->''"A friend of mine has a trophy wife, but apparently, it wasn't first place."''
5	-->-- '''Creator/StevenWright'''
6
7	A young and attractive wife who is regarded as a status symbol for the husband, who is older and affluent. In most cases, a trophy wife is a rather callous replacement for an aging wife, trading the old model for a new model.
8
9	[[GoodAdulteryBadAdultery She is often seen as a contrast to the first wife]]. If the first wife is the sympathetic character, she sacrificed her own career prospects and youth to support her husband's advancement during the long hard early years only to be summarily dumped for the younger, prettier trophy wife. If the second wife is meant to be sympathetic, then the first wife is a nagging, emasculating harridan who only ever cared about the social status and wealth she'd eventually pushed her husband into, while the second wife truly cares about him as a person and understands his inner creative urges.
10
11	If someone got dumped prior to the trophy wife, it's often because the husband married her for shallow reasons and has a hang-up with an aging beauty that he thinks is fading, or wife number one might have turned into a curmudgeon, or both. Sometimes, however, the husband simply marries someone younger on the first go and that's that; if he shows off his wife in a self-inflating way, then she's a trophy wife.
12
13	He might have found her at college where she was going to get some education before leaving with her MRSDegree. Or, she may have started out as TheMistress, and then at some point, her husband divorced his first wife to start a new life with ''her''.
14
15	Note that trophy husbands do exist; the still-entrenched DoubleStandard regarding gender equality, however, makes them rarer than the wife version.
16
17	Compare HotConsort; contrast GoldDigger and MealTicket. Not to be confused with the series ''Series/TrophyWife''. A character who is InLoveWithLooks will often take this character as a spouse.
18
19	While obviously TruthInTelevision, identifying real-life persons as this will inevitably become a source of controversy, which we don't need on this page. Therefore, Administrivia/NoRealLifeExamplesPlease
20
21	[[noreallife]]
22	----
23	!Examples:
24
25	[[foldercontrol]]
26
27	!!Trophy wives
28
29	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
30	* ''Anime/{{Aggretsuko}}'': The protagonist, Retsuko, deeply hates her job and midway through season one, she realizes the easiest way out of it is to look for a rich man that she can marry and afterwards quit her job to become a housewife, since when talking to her co-worker Haida, he mentions he doesn't make enough to sustain both himself and her, and would like for both to keep working if they were to date. She starts working out immediately after that in order to get in shape for a rich husband.
31	** Subverted in season 2. [[spoiler:Retsuko falls in love with Tadano, a man that is secretly a rich tech mogul. He offers to be with her and letting her quit her job and look for something she is truly passionate about, while he will sustain them both, however, he explicitly states he never intends to marry her because he doesn't believe in marriage, right after Retsuko realizes that the married life is the kind of life she wants. Finally having some grasp on what she wants to do with her life, and seeing that Tadano can't offer that to her, she refuses to become this and breaks up with him, despite genuinely being in love with him at that point.]]
32	* Averted in Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureSteelBallRun: [[spoiler:While most people think Lucy Steel is one for Steven Steel, the truth is that was the one who came up with the idea of the Steel Ball Run while Steven Steel was drunk in a bar and ranting about a horse race. Steven Steel was going to thank her, but then he learned that her family had debts to the Mafia and they were going to take her to pay off the family's debt. Steven saved her by claiming that he already defiled her, and since then she has been his (technically) wife.]]
33	[[/folder]]
34
35	[[folder:Comic Books]]
36	* ''[[Franchise/AlienVsPredator Aliens/Predator]]: Deadliest of the Species'': The series follows Caryn Delacroix, a sheltered young woman who is a trophy wife to one of Earth's most powerful corporate leaders. Caryn believes herself to be a custom-built clone until she starts having nightmares and flashbacks of a life she never knew.
37	* ''ComicBook/TheAuthority'': When a group of {{Corrupt Corporate Executive}}s kidnap and brainwash the Authority, this is the fate of Swift, who is creepily "given" to one of the men behind the scheme. It turns out that keeping one of their victims nearby and alive in this way isn't such a good idea once the brainwashing is inevitably undone.
38	* ''ComicBook/{{Blacksad}}'': A subversion in that the trophy wife is a) a lot more intelligent than she lets on, and b) the husband's [[spoiler:''daughter'' from a previous marriage]] (although he doesn't know it). It ends in tragedy as [[spoiler:the husband is murdered by the wife's lover]], then [[spoiler:the lover murders the wife's sister who he thought was a witness]], and then [[spoiler:she murders the lover for the second murder]].
39	* ''ComicBook/GravityFallsLostLegends'': According to "Face It", Pacifica Northwest's mother Priscilla is a ''literal'' trophy wife; Preston won her hand in marriage in a yacht race.
40	* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'': Occasional villain [[IneffectualSympatheticVillain (the term should be used loosely)]] the White Rabbit claims she was once this to an elderly millionaire named Lewis Dogson, and the reason she can even get any Mooks to work for her is because she can pay them better than they could get anywhere else, seeing as she inherited his fortune. (She claimed that she [[BlackWidow "cleverly bumped Dogson off"]] and that [[OutWithABang "he died happy"]], but very little of what she says [[CloudCuckooLander should be taken at face value]].)
41	[[/folder]]
42
43	[[folder:Comic Strips]]
44	* From ''ComicStrip/BarneyAndClyde'' we have J. Barnard Pilsbury's second wife Lucretia.
45	* Phil Slackmeyer of Creator/GarryTrudeau's ''ComicStrip/{{Doonesbury}}'' gets the idea of acquiring a trophy wife in the Thursday 21 September 1989 strip. Phil would soon divorce his faithful wife Marilou in order to attain one. Much later, when Phil encounters his son Mark at a social event, Mark notices his father's arm candy.
46	-->'''Mark''': She's new. Your third?\
47	'''Phil''': Fifth. They keep aging out.
48	** Also, Mike Doonesbury marries (for love) the much younger programmer Kim. After their software company becomes successful, his daughter Alex from his first marriage urges him to get things associated with their new status-yacht, mansion etc. Kim: "He's already got the trophy wife." Alex: "Yeah, how lucky is that? Who would have thought you'd even need one?"[[/folder]]
49
50	[[folder:Fan Works]]
51	* In the ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama'' story, ''[[Fanfic/LegacyTotalDrama Legacy]]'', Duncan jokingly suggests that Heather's current job description is "trophy wife" because she's a beautiful woman who does not work outside the house, and because her husband is a successful businessman nearly ten years older than she. Heather allows that Duncan's assessment is not unreasonable, although her age difference to her husband is less than is typical for trophy wives.
52	* In the ''Fanfic/EmpathTheLuckiestSmurf'' story "Smurfed Behind: The Other Side Of The Mirror", the MirrorUniverse version of Papa Smurf, presumed to be a widower, is married to the Mirror Universe version of Smurfette. However, Mirror Universe Smurfette proves herself to be not entirely faithful to her husband.
53	* ''Fanfic/FakeVega62a'': Marrying Suguru would turn Sachiko into a trophy wife. She's not keen on being just his trophy wife, so she's going to university to get a higher education.
54	* ''Fanfic/EntrancingWendy'': Jeremy likes showing off his wife Wendy at events.
55	* ''Fanfic/DuranAndKiyohimesOmakeTheater'': While preparing to attend a Halloween Party, Natsuki asks Shizuru why she enjoys parading her around in skimpy Halloween costumes. Shizuru replies that while the people at the party knew Natsuki, they didn't know her as ''her'' girlfriend.
56	--> '''Natsuki:''' You're telling me that I'm your ''trophy wife''?
57	--> '''Shizuru:''' Well,um...
58	--> '''Natsuki:''' The beautiful woman who walks in on your arm and makes everyone else want to eat their livers out in envy of you.
59	--> '''Shizuru:''' I'm fairly sure that Natsuki possesses all of the qualifications to make men and women alike devolve into liver eating envy and awe at my prowess.
60	[[/folder]]
61
62	[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
63	* In ''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast'', Gaston wants Belle to be his trophy wife. He only wants her because she's the most beautiful girl in town; he cares nothing for her personality, and expects her to be nothing but a "little wife" who serves him and gives birth to six or seven sons. Belle is repulsed by this idea and turns him down flat.
64	[[/folder]]
65
66	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
67	* ''Film/TheStepfordWives'':
68	** The plot sees the women (and [[TheOneGuy a gay dude's partner]], in the remake) transformed from "Supergirls" to a more stereotypical trophy wife. At least this appears to be a large part of the husband's motivation. [[spoiler:In the original, he succeeds. In the remake, he relents.]]
69	** The character Charmaine (who isn't in the remake) is well aware that Ed married her entirely for her looks. In contrast to Joanna and Bobbie -- who seem to have somewhat happy marriages at first -- Charmaine is sure that her husband doesn't love her. Pretty much all she has to live for is playing tennis with younger men.
70	* ''Film/LegallyBlonde'':
71	** Subverted -- the murder victim is a wealthy older man who is married to an attractive young woman who is young enough to be his daughter (and who naturally becomes the prime suspect). However, she is a successful businesswoman who was already super rich before she married the murder victim (so it's not like she ''needed'' his money) and genuinely loved him.
72	** The plot is kicked off by Elle being dumped because she wouldn't be the right kind of trophy wife. Her boyfriend Warner plans to become a senator and therefore needs someone "serious". In fact Elle appearing to be a DumbBlonde ([[HiddenDepths she isn't]]) would make people ''think'' she's a trophy wife.
73	* ''Franchise/BillAndTed'': In ''Film/BillAndTedsExcellentAdventure'' Bill's dad has divorced his mother and gotten married to Missy, who is only three years older than his son. In ''Film/BillAndTedsBogusJourney'' they have split up and now Ted's dad is the one married to Missy; in the epilogue she marries the BigBad.
74	* ''Film/MonaLisaSmile'' is about the art professor teaching all the girls at Wellesley to actually apply themselves and learn. In the 1950s and earlier, the whole point of a woman going to college for many women was to find a husband to whom they could become a well-conversed, good little trophy wife.
75	* ''Film/TheFirstWivesClub'' is about women who get dumped, often to be replaced by trophy wives. Phoebe, the self-absorbed starlet, and Shelly, the empty-headed gold-digger, are the two most prominent trophy second wives, who help inspire the women they've replaced to create the club.
76	* In the Film/JamesBond films, a few of the women Bond manages to maneuver into a SexFaceTurn are the villain's neglected or duped trophy wife. [[DisposableWoman Paris Carver]] in ''Film/TomorrowNeverDies'' is one of the later examples, and naturally, Elliot Carver has her killed by his hitman Dr. Kaufman shortly thereafter.
77	* In the bad altered 1985 from ''Film/BackToTheFuturePartII'', Marty's mother has been coerced into becoming Biff Tannen's trophy wife, complete with unwanted breast augmentation. Though Marty is eventually able to SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong, the viewer sees that she would have eventually shot him to death.
78	* Jennifer Coolidge's character in ''Film/BestInShow'' is a spoof example in the GoldDigger vein, and, unusually, [[spoiler: is cheating with another woman, not a man.]]
79	* ''Film/{{Rollerball}}'' (original version): Jonathan had a trophy wife bestowed on him for his success, but he really did care for her. Then she was taken away from him and given to an executive. This seems to be completely normal behavior in that verse.
80	* In ''Film/TheBigLebowski'', Bunny Lebowski, the wife of the "other" Lebowski, is a hot, blonde girl who ReallyGetsAround, married to a crippled old millionaire.
81	* In ''Film/TheJerk'', Steve Martin's boss (Jackie Mason) brings his hot wife to the garage to explain the importance of keeping the place safe. Without such a lucrative business how could he, of all people, get and keep such a woman? He explains that if anything happened to the business she'd leave him in a second. She nods in agreement.
82	* In ''Film/AFaceInTheCrowd'', Lonesome Rhodes marries Betty Lou Fleckum, a teenage baton-twirler, immediately after divorcing his first wife in Mexico. Marcia views her as representing Rhodes' audience "all wrapped up with yellow ribbons into one cute little package." At first, he proudly gushes to his fans about how her body "keeps on catching my eye," but as time passes she appears less and less on his show, until he has her unceremoniously dismissed "like any performer on my show that flops."
83	* ''Film/{{The Kiss\|1929}}'' is about a hot young TrophyWife played by Creator/GretaGarbo who is married to a much older and very rich businessman. She isn't happy about it, and wants to run away with her young lover.
84	* In ''Film/{{The Merry Widow\|1925}}'' this is the explicit deal, as creepy Baron Sadoja offers Sally the showgirl not only money and power, but status and the chance to embarrass the royal family, as Sally was engaged to marry Prince Danilo before the King and Queen vetoed the wedding.
85	* In ''Film/ZeroFocus'', Teiko, who is investigating the mysterious disappearance of her husband, goes to the house of her husband's business associate Mr. Murota. She notes disapprovingly that Murota's wife Sachiko is both very attractive and decades younger than her husband. This becomes plot-relevant later, when Sachiko's DarkSecret is revealed.
86	* ''Film/ThePowerAndTheGlory'': After Tom executes a hostile takeover of another railroad, the railroad's former owner basically throws his sexy daughter Eve at Tom out of desperation. It works, as Tom dumps his age-appropriate first wife Sally and marries Eve, who is young enough to be his daughter. Terrible tragedy ensues.
87	* In ''Film/BetterLivingThroughChemistry'', Elizabeth considers herself this. We later learn that her husband, while older, genuinely loves her, and tries to give her everything she wants.
88	* ''Film/{{Darling}}'': Diana's adventures in modeling and show business end up with her married to a ridiculously wealthy Italian prince who's at least 30 years older than her. She hates it, especially when she's left alone in the mansion while her husband goes to Rome to visit his mistress.
89	* The climax of ''Film/AllAboutEve'' is [[spoiler: Addison blackmailing Eve into marrying him]]. Despite knowing what a nasty piece of work she really is, having [[spoiler: such a respected actress as his wife]] would do wonders for his public image.
90	* Rosalyn in ''Film/AmericanHustle'' is implied to have been something of a trophy wife. She's much younger and more attractive than Irving, and now that he's grown sick of her, he only stays with her because of her son (who he genuinely loves).
91	* WordOfGod per ''Film/MeanGirls'' is that Regina's mother is actually a stepmother, explaining why [[AbsurdlyYouthfulMother she's as young as Amy Poehler]]. When we see Regina's father, he's much older than her.
92	* ''Film/TheWorldOfSuzieWong'': Suzie (who is a prostitute) becomes TheMistress to Ben, and anticipates that he will divorce his wife and marry her instead. This doesn't happen, what with Ben being a "respectable" English businessman.
93	* Partial subversion in ''Film/DialMForMurder''. An older man plots to murder his young, attractive wife for ''her'' money.
94	* ''Film/RoadHouse1989'': Wesley's girlfriend, Denise. He clearly keeps her around because of how hot she is, and judging by her "dance", she's likely a former stripper.
95	* In ''Film/CoronerCreek'', Abbie Miles knows that she is this: bitterly telling her husband Younger that she knows he only married her because she was beautiful and refined enough to be an ornament to his newfound wealth. For her part, she mostly married him because he could secure her father's position as sheriff.
96	* ''Film/Steam2007'': Laurie's ex-husband Tom is remarried to a much younger woman, who's very beautiful, blonde and dimwitted. It's quite clear he'd only married her for her good looks, she probably for money. Laurie meanwhile has more average looks, with it being implied he "traded her in".
97	[[/folder]]
98
99	[[folder:Literature]]
100	* In ''Literature/DragonBones'', the protagonist's father reveals on his deathbed that he thinks he should have married Stala (the illegitimate daughter of a nobleman) instead of Muellen (her legitimate half-sister), and regrets his decision to marry Muellen because he was too proud to marry a commoner. [[{{Jerkass}} He says all this while Muellen and her children are present]]. Even worse, he abused Muellen and the kids, so he's adding insult to injury.
101	* ''Literature/TheQuestForKarla'': George Smiley's wife Anne is an example of the unfaithful type.
102	* In Literature/TheBible, Esther is chosen to be King Ahasuerus' queen to replace the banished Vashti. An atypical example both because Esther was basically forced into it, and, though chosen largely for her looks, she actually turns out to be a {{Guile Hero}}ine who uses her position to save her people from genocide.
103	* In ''Literature/OfMiceAndMen'', Curly's wife is this. He tries to keep her shut up in their house, threatening anyone who shows any attention to her, and generally leaves her feeling isolated and miserable. This leads to her trying to find workers who don't run for the hills when she flirts with them, and [[spoiler:sadly leads to her letting Lennie stroke her hair, in turn causing her to die when he begins shaking her violently.]]
104	* In ''Literature/TheHorseAndHisBoy,'' Aravis Tharkeena [[RunawayBride ran away from home]] to ''avert'' the trope. Not helped by how her "fiancè" is [[OldManMarryingAChild a much older]] SmugSnake, or by how the marriage was arranged by her [[ParentWithNewParamour much loathed]] WickedStepmother. Her friend Lasaraleen is in a similar situation but does not mind it.
105	* Alluded to in the ''Literature/{{Newsflesh}}'' series, with Becks musing at one point that maybe she should have taken her mother's career advice by becoming a trophy wife, rather than pursuing journalism. She decides that she did take the path that gave her the life ''she'' wanted, rather than what her old-money family considered appropriate.
106	* ''Literature/JoePickett'': In ''Out of Range'', Stella Ennis is the latest in a string of trophy wives for ruthless entrepreneur Don Ennis. However, Stella is no brainless bimbo, and crosses into FemmeFatale territory, as Don learns to his regret.
107	* In ''Literature/PosterGirl'' this would have been the fate of protagonist Sonya Kantor, had the regime not been overthrown, as she was not considered intelligent enough to get a position in government.
108	* ''Literature/ChocoholicMysteries'': Lee was this to her husband Richard Godfrey, a wealthy real-estate developer from Texas, for five years. Finally, she got fed up with his behavior and left him, taking only her clothes and van to avoid accusations that she was only interested in him for his money.
109	* ''Literature/WhoMovedMySoap'': Conspicuosa von Mammon, the narrator's 26-year-old third wife and a former Miss Benelux.
110	[[/folder]]
111
112	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
113	* ''Series/TheCloser'' has one victim's really young fourth wife and daughter actually attend 8th grade French together.
114	* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
115	** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS29E1SmithAndJones "Smith and Jones"]]: Clive Jones' HollywoodMidlifeCrisis comes complete with a much younger girlfriend, Annelise, who was described in the script as something out of a ''Series/BigBrother'' eviction night.
116	** The Master's wife, [[spoiler:Lucy Saxon]], was chosen for her pliability and her family connections, making her a fairly straightforward example of a trophy wife. However, even finding out his true nature doesn't shake her loyalty to him. [[spoiler:After he abuses her, [[TheDogBitesBack she fatally shoots him]] and, still later, sacrifices her life to sabotage his resurrection and leave him with a bad case of CameBackWrong.]]
117	* Katherine Wellington from ''Series/HarpersIsland''. She even admits it.
118	* In the third season of ''Series/TheJoeSchmoShow'', ''The Full Bounty'', host Ralph Garman's character, Jake Montrose, has a trophy wife.
119	* In ''Series/JustShootMe,'' we learn in the first episode that Maya's estrangement from her rich father, Jack, largely comes down to him marrying somebody whom she went to high school with. Later in the series she leaves him for another man; to Maya's surprise, Jack is legitimately devastated, commented that, after all of his previous divorces, he was really trying to make this marriage work.
120	* All versions of ''Series/LawAndOrder'' have featured varying types of these. Unsurprisingly, they often turn out to be unfaithful and involved in the murder. Occasionally, viewers are thrown for a loop when the woman turns out to be innocent and genuinely upset by her husband's death. An even loopier one had the woman being completely indifferent, but innocent all the same.
121	* [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] on ''Series/LoisAndClark'', where the [[ObfuscatingStupidity seeming trophy wife]] of Intergang's boss swiftly takes over and proves to be her husband's equal in brains and ruthlessness after he is imprisoned.
122	* Jane Siegel Sterling on ''Series/MadMen''. Roger Sterling throws over his wife of many years, Mona, for his sexy secretary. He soon tires of her, although she seems sincerely devoted to him. Don Draper marries his sexy secretary at the end of Season 4, although this is a less perfect example, as Don is about 15 years older than his wife as opposed to about 30 years between Roger and Jane, and Don's wife becomes his work colleague as well.
123	* In ''Series/MarriedWithChildren'', Peggy has stated that being married to Al after getting pregnant with Kelly is what killed her dream of being a rich man's trophy wife, as she had no intention of learning a trade and working, or becoming a traditional HouseWife.
124	** Kelly has also implied that she either wants to become a trophy wife herself, and once her looks start to fade then she'll sue for alimony.
125	* ''Series/ModernFamily'''s Gloria Delgado-Pritchett is a surprisingly sympathetic example of a trophy wife. More than likely because the show goes to great lengths to prove she isn't just a trophy wife and that she and Jay have an honestly healthy relationship. (As well as Jay's ex-wife, [=DeeDee=], being a genuinely awful person.) The trope is even {{reconstructed}} in one episode where they're headed to Jay's class reunion, which Gloria didn't want to go to... until Jay sheepishly admits he was hoping to bring her there and "show her off" to his old buddies so they could see how well he ended up doing for himself. Gloria, a noted ProudBeauty, isn't offended and is in fact ''flattered'' by her husband wanting to show her off, and gets them there, come hell or highwater, so Jay can impress his friends.
126	* ''Series/MyRosyLife'': Mi-ha becomes this, dumping her boyfriend Sung-moon, who just got divorced for her, in favor of a richer man old enough to be her father. As she tells Sung-moon directly when he confronts her, her older lover Mr. Kim has enough money to take care of her and her son, which Sung-moon can't seeing as how he's not nearly as wealthy and has two other children. As far as the loan that she scammed Sung-moon out of immediately before breaking up with him, she spitefully tells him that it's back pay for all the sex they had.
127	* ''Series/MythQuest'': Cleo spends some time as Blodeuwedd, a trophy wife in a Welsh myth.
128	* The ABC sitcom ''Series/TrophyWife'' zig-zags this with Kate. Her husband's two ex-wives and his two older kids seem to think she's one, but she genuinely loves her husband and tries to get along with the family. It's implied from the pilot that after their MeetCute, his sense of humor is what attracted her in the first place.
129	* In ''Series/TwoAndAHalfMen'', Charlie sleeps with an old man's trophy wife without knowing she was married. He wasn't too happy about it.
130	-->'''Evelyn:''' Did my son polish your trophy wife?
131	* ''Series/VeronicaMars'': Kendall Casablancas is a pretty obvious one for real estate mogul Dick Casablancas. His first wife (and mother of his two sons) is his own age but currently lives in Europe, Kendall is a younger swimsuit model. However, this backfires on him when she hooks up with Dick Jr.'s friend Logan while he's away, although Dick Sr. never finds out. [[spoiler:Also, it's later revealed that she's ObfuscatingStupidity to a degree, as she's working with the Fitzpatrick crime family and "Kendall" is a fake identity she took from a dead woman.]]
132
133	[[/folder]]
134
135	[[folder:Music]]
136	* "I Won", a song by rapper Future (featuring Music/KanyeWest) from the former's album ''Honest'' which ''outright describes their partners'' - R'n'B singer Music/{{Ciara}} and Creator/KimKardashian respectively - as trophy wives. Indeed, "Trophy Wife" was the song's working title. However, shortly after the song came out, Ciara broke up with Future amid allegations of his infidelity.
137	* The ''Music/EvilliousChronicles'': In the song "Gift from the Princess Who Brought Sleep" (representing Sloth in a series about the SevenDeadlySins), Margarita Blankenheim (played by [[Music/{{Vocaloid}} Hatsune Miku]]) was this for Kaspar Blankenheim (played by KAITO), a rare case where both characters are roughly the same age. She's a much, much more complex example though--Margarita, being exploited, emotionally abused and ''cheated on'' by [[GoldDigger Kaspar]], eventually goes into [[StepfordSmiler complete and utter denial]] and then eventually snaps and kills Kaspar by giving him a poison she claims is a powerful sleeping medicine. Given the fact that Kaspar is a HateSink, you'll end up feeling far more sympathy for [[TragicVillain Margarita]]...at least until she [[SerialKiller proceeds to do the same thing]] to ''everyone else'' in her town...
138	* Implied to be the case with the "Jenners bride" (Jenners was an upmarket department store in Edinburgh) in "The Auld Toon Shuffle", who married a rich husband, but "never knew she had a choice, never knew she had a voice".
139	[[/folder]]
140
141	[[folder:Theatre]]
142	* In the form of an UnbuiltTrope, this is premise of Creator/HenrikIbsen's play ''Theatre/ADollsHouse''.
143	[[/folder]]
144
145	[[folder:Video Games]]
146	* ''VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia'': [[MsFanservice Judith]] can earn the title "Trophy Wife" without having to marry anyone.
147	--> Capable, beautiful, charismatic. You are much sought after marriage material.
148	** Of course it should be noted that this really falls under {{Woolseyism}} as the original Japanese title is instead the more fitting ''Kinokikujo'', which roughly translates to "Witty Woman".
149	* In ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'', Chief Burguk of Dushnikh Yal's latest wife, Shel, is dressed in tavern wench clothing and does nothing but walk around. His other two wives, Arob and Gharol, are respectively manning the stronghold's walls and working the forge. Being [[OurOrcsAreDifferent Orcs]], you'd think that being able to either forge steel or use it would be the ultimate trophy wife trait, but apparently Burguk thinks differently.
150	* ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'': Dorothea makes no secret of her intent to become a trophy wife on the back of her beauty and charm. Crosses over with GoldDigger since she aims to marrying up in order to do this. She doesn't have a lot of luck at first, as it quickly becomes obvious that she thinks being beautiful is the only thing she has to contribute to the marriage, and the nobles she's angling for have obligations to their houses; merely being pretty isn't enough to make a lowborn like Dorothea an attractive match.
151	* ''VideoGame/MaxPayne3'': Fabiana Branco, a young attractive socialite that is married to wealthy real estate developer Rodrigo Branco. Rodrigo even says that Fabiana 'does not love him for his body'. The two seem to have a mutual agreement where Rodrigo gets to show off Fabiana during social gatherings of Sao Paulo's elite while Fabiana gets to live it up off the Branco's wealth on trips to nightclubs. This doesn't stop Rodrigo from becoming distraught after Fabiana gets kidnapped and held for ransom.
152	[[/folder]]
153
154	[[folder:Web Comics]]
155	* ''Webcomic/KevinAndKell'' [[http://kevinandkell.com/1996/kk0130.html example]] is a VisualPun. In a world of CarnivoreConfusion it's common to put stuffed deer heads on a wall of trophies. Cue rich boar and a doe with unusual neckwear.
156	* Kharisma in ''Webcomic/SomethingPositive'' tries this, immediately getting together with Ollie (as in, instant engagement) upon learning that he's set to inherit his uncle Avagadro's fortune. This all culminates in a situation where she's convicted of Avagadro's murder, though ''technically'' she's only guilty of many ''attempted'' murders. Oh, and Avagadro didn't even leave Ollie his money, anyway.
157	** One of her equally shallow friends does end up becoming this to Kharisma's father.
158	[[/folder]]
159
160	[[folder:Websites]]
161	* Website/TheOnion headline: "[[https://twitter.com/TheOnion/status/139784127418335232 Trophy Wife Mounted]]"
162	[[/folder]]
163
164	[[folder:Western Animation]]
165	* Ashley-Amber from ''WesternAnimation/{{Daria}},'' [[DumbBlonde Brittany]]'s stepmother. A former beer spokeswoman, she met her husband at a photo shoot and is only about ten years older than her stepdaughter, with whom she has a sisterly relationship. Ashley-Amber seems to be a typical DumbBlonde, but interestingly, [[AllThereInTheManual a tie-in book notes]] that she's been learning about joint property law behind her husband's back.
166	* Due to how she acts around [[UnclePennybags Fancypants]] (read: vaguely clingy) Fleur-de-Lis from ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' is often seen as one of these.
167	* Nanette Manoir's mother from ''WesternAnimation/AngelaAnaconda'' is implied to be this.
168	* Kelly from ''WesternAnimation/TotalDramaPresentsTheRidonculousRace''. WordOfGod even describes her as one.
169	* ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' gives us Priscilla, wife of Preston Northwest and mother of Pacifica. As detailed in the Comic Books folder above, her trophy wife status is also quite literal.
170	* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'': At a high school reunion, Cosmo lies to his former classmates by claiming he's a rich guy with a trophy wife. To advance the lie, he hypnotizes pop star Britney Britney into playing the role and makes her wear a name tag that reads "Trophy Wife." His actual wife Wanda, meanwhile, is playing the dowdy secretary.
171	** It's also parodied and exaggerated with a somewhat ''literal'' example when Timmy is scouted by {{Creator/Adam West}} and ends up in his trailer, while Cosmo and Wanda disguise themselves as trophies, with Cosmo being a Hero Sandwich award and Wanda being a Sphinx with a film reel on her collar.
172	--->'''Cosmo:''' Alright, I finally have a trophy wife! (Wanda looks at Cosmo) Shouldn't you be younger? (Wanda zaps Cosmo with her heat vision, melting him) And not have heat vision?
173	* Lo Ridgemount's mother in ''WesternAnimation/{{Stoked}}'' was initially assumed to be this until a flashback in the first season finale reveals that Lo's parents met sometime when they were in high school or college (they either met at rock concert or they used to go to rock concerts when they were dating), ''before'' Lo's dad [[SelfMadeMan started his successful chain of luxury hotels]], [[NotWithThemForTheMoney implying that she genuinely loves him for more than just his money]].
174	* In ''WesternAnimation/MoralOrel'' it's strongly implied that Dottie was one of these to her husband before they divorced...after all, her last name is ''literally'' Trophywife. (It can be spotted on the buzzers at the apartment building she lives at, under the name of her roommate Florence, aka the ex-Mrs. Papermouth, one sees "the ex-Mrs. Trophywife".)
175	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}:'' When Bender undergoes a sex change to cheat in the Robot Olympics, he winds up dating Calculon and becomes a trophy girlfriend. Bender being Bender, he's totally okay with this. It's when it turns out Calculon is ''genuinely'' in love with "Coilette" the problem starts.
176	[[/folder]]
177
178	!!Trophy husbands
179
180	[[folder:Fan Works]]
181	* ''Fanfic/ForgingABetterFuture'': Oliver comes to the gradual realization through therapy that he was essentially this to Felicity, who was more interested in him as a status symbol of her success. That is one of the many reasons he decides not pursue her as a love interest again. [[spoiler:It only becomes more obvious when it's revealed Felicity had been controlling him throughout their entire relationship with her brainwashing powers -- she wasn't interested in having a romantic partner so much as a high-profile slave she could show off to people for the sake of her ego]].
182	[[/folder]]
183
184	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
185	* Played with on ''Series/{{Dollhouse}}''. Echo is implanted with the mind of a rich woman who has been murdered, and now wants to [[WhodunnitToMe discover her own killer]]. The woman had a young, attractive husband whom she truly loved, but who is now one of the suspects, along with her two adult children. [[spoiler:[[RedHerring Though most of the clues point to him]], it was actually her son, in part because he was jealous of how much she lavished on the husband instead of him]].
186	* ''Series/{{Frasier}}:'' Played for laughs when Frasier starts dating a highly successful attorney, and becomes a trophy boyfriend. He only realizes this when at a party he winds up with a gang of trophy wives who sympathize with him and start reciting the usual excuses from memory.
187	* Jefferson D'Arcy on ''Series/MarriedWithChildren'' is called this to his face by his wife Marcy. They got married after a drunken one-night stand, but they stay together because Marcy is well-off and Jefferson is handome and indulges her sexual kinks. She occasionally complains about Jefferson not getting a job, but whenever he actually gets one she makes him quit because of the attention he gets from other women.
188	* ''Series/YoungSheldon'': Discussed in "A God-Fearin' Baptist and a Hot Trophy Husband". When Mandy refuses to marry Georgie for being too young, Georgie counters that when she's older, he'll be her "hot trophy husband."
189	[[/folder]]
190
191	[[folder:Music]]
192	* ''Music/ThatWasTheYearThatWas'' by Music/TomLehrer includes a ballad dedicated to Alma Mahler-Werfel, a socialite, who he praises for managing to marry three of the greatest minds of the day and having the raciest obituary he had ever had the pleasure of reading.
193	* Music/TraceAdkins' song [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8pcEl5ItXM "Marry for Money."]] Told by a Trophy Husband who doesn't care about love or looks, as long as she's rich.
194	[[/folder]]
195
196	[[folder:Theatre]]
197	* ''Theatre/TheVisit'': Exaggerated by the [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney amoral business magnate]] Claire Zachanassian. Over the short time of the play, she goes through her seventh, eighth, and ninth husbands -- a businessman, a film star, and a Nobel Prize winner, often [[SignificantDoubleCasting played by the same man]] -- and says they're only "for display purposes".
198	[[/folder]]
199
200	[[folder:Western Animation]]
201	* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', when Marge became a successful businesswoman, Homer discovers that most of her peers have divorced their Homer-esque first husbands for younger, attractive men, and he begins to fear that Marge will do the same. One of the "trophy husbands" was actually a first husband who had completely made himself over; Homer tries to follow his footsteps.
202	* ''WesternAnimation/AllenGregory'' features pretentious jerk Richard being married to a handsome heterosexual trophy husband, Jeremy, whom he stalked and harassed into hooking up with him. Jeremy is forced to stay at home and take care of the house (and accept Richard's sexual advances against his will) in exchange for being taken care of, as well as have Richard finally leave Jeremy's real wife and family alone.
203	[[/folder]]

Context Main / TrophyWife