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[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/christmas_magic.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350: [[http://www.karinafarek.com/every-hallmark-movie Source]]]]

->'''Homer:''' This movie is tired and predictable! You KNOW she's going to wind up marrying Creator/RichardGere!\\
''[audience gasps in shock]''\\
'''Dr. Hibbert:''' I thought she was going to wind up with that rich snob!
-->-- ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', "[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS12E9HOMR HOMR]]"

A SubTrope of the RomanticFalseLead that is extremely popular in romantic comedy films. In order to make a BoyMeetsGirl plot last two hours, there needs to be some kind of obstacle in the way of True Love. At the same time, that obstacle shouldn't be something that will continue to be a problem after HappilyEverAfter, i.e. no significant character flaw, traumatic association, or impossible relative.

Enter this guy. Mr. Not-Quite-Right. He might have been there from the beginning or he might be the result of a rapid RelationshipUpgrade, but the writers don't really care about how he came into the bride's life; their job is to get him out of it. Their biggest concern is how to keep him unsympathetic, so that even if the heroine dumps him [[RunawayBride right at the altar]], the audience won't shed a tear. Here are some common tactics:

* '''Bland Perfection:''' He's a real-life PrinceCharming: handsome, thoughtful, romantic, [[RichSuitorPoorSuitor usually rich]]... but there are just NoSparks. He [[FlatCharacter will get nary a shred]] of CharacterDevelopment, but he's still basically the ideal man, and the audience knows he'll have no trouble finding someone else. He tends to pull an IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy at the end.
* '''[[MinorFlawMajorBreakup Minor Flaws]]:''' He's not ''terrible,'' but he has this one annoying thing about him. Maybe he chews loudly. He has obnoxious friends. He's socially clueless or a total mama's boy. Whatever his flaw is, the fact that the heroine tolerates it clearly means that she's given up on her romantic ideals and decided to settle. This guy doesn't usually kick up a fuss at the break-up, although he can't carry it off with the dignity of Bland Perfection.
** '''[[GreenEyedMonster Latent Jealousy]]:''' The more extreme version of the above. Starts out sensible and modest, but turns wildly jealous at the first sign of a LoveTriangle, to the point where this overrides his nice qualities and makes his Minor Flaws stand out more. He'll be a sore loser about the heroine rejecting him, but if it looks like he might turn dangerous or violent, he'll kick off before the end of the film in a SelfDisposingVillain sort of way.
* '''[[DerailingLoveInterests Evil All Along:]]''' This guy's such a sleazebag, you can't see why ''anyone'' would marry him. He disrespects the bride, slanders her behind her back (and sometimes even to her face), and is cheating on her with at least half of the wedding party. Sometimes we see that he [[BitchInSheepsClothing puts up a front of Bland Perfection]] but promptly [[KickTheDog shows his real face]] the minute her back is turned. This creep ''deserves'' to get dumped. Whilst a Disposable Fiancé of this type is the most straightforward in terms of getting the audience to root for the romantic lead, it raises the most questions about why the bride accepted his proposal in the first place.
* '''Let's Call the Whole Thing Off:''' Sometimes while the leads have been agonizing over their feelings, the fiancé has been doing some thinking of his own. Maybe he decided that he and the bride are BetterAsFriends, or he remembered [[LastRequest the promise he made to his dying mother]], or he noticed that his intended is spending all her time with another guy. Maybe [[PairTheSpares that one shy bridesmaid finally dared to make her move.]] Heck, maybe [[ComingOutStory women just aren't for him]]. Whatever the reason, he doesn't want this marriage either.

Assuming the fiancé isn't just a plot device, they can provide a lesson about how rushing into things is bad, getting married for the sake of being married isn't a good idea, and/or that you should ''really'' know someone before you make a lifelong commitment to them.

While this trope is not AlwaysMale, it's uncommon to see a woman in this role.

Sometimes both leads will have a disposable intended, and in rare cases we end up with a PairTheSpares solution. Compare DisposableLoveInterest, contrast DisposableWoman. See also AssholeVictim, which similarly diverts audience sympathy for someone who gets hurt.

----
!Examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
* In the anime of ''VisualNovel/PrincessLover'', Charlotte's fiancé is tossed in at the halfway point of the story, and then rather promptly shot in the back (making him a literal DisposableFiance). [[spoiler: Turns out it wasn't a killing shot, and he escapes to become the {{Derailing Love Interest|s}}]].
* Kanae from ''Anime/RevolutionaryGirlUtena''. Either a bizarre deconstruction of the trope or a hilarious parody, depending on how you watch the show. [[spoiler: She ends up reduced to a completely vegetative state by Akio, serving only to keep him officially in power in her father's academy. And it's very debatable whether Akio even ''needs'' her for that, making his actions seem creepy at best and inhumanly cruel at worst.]]
* Rupa in the 5th ''Manga/UruseiYatsura'' movie, once Lum finally gives Ataru the ultimatum to say he loves her or she's staying on the World of Darkness. In a subversion, she obviously doesn't like him as anything more than a casual friend, and that's after he stops trying to force her into marriage. In a twist, Lum is actually his Disposable Fiance as well.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Strips]]
* ''ComicStrip/ForBetterOrForWorse'':
** Therese as [[CreatorsPet Anthony's]] Disposable ''Wife''. She was meant to come off as EvilAllAlong due to her refusal to StayInTheKitchen. In practice, she came across to most of the Hatedom as insanely sympathetic...with ANTHONY as being Bland Perfection!
** Played straight with Deanna’s unseen first fiancé Perry as Bland Perfection. She’s engaged to him when she and Michael reunite after her accident, but she falls for Michael and later has an OffscreenBreakup with Perry. [[AllThereInTheManual According to her monthly letters]], Perry was wealthy and her mother Mira all but arranged for them to marry, denying that she ever loved him.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fairy Tales]]
* In ''Literature/CatherineAndHerFate'', when the king hears Catherine's story, he decides to marry her instead of the princess who was coming. To be sure, he had just given Catherine all the gold in his treasury.
* In ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Twelve_Huntsmen The Twelve Huntsmen,]]'' the prince feels obliged to follow his father's LastRequest and marry a different lady than the one he loves. At the end of the story, he basically decides "screw that" and sends the father's candidate home.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Pocahontas}}'': Pocahontas' fiancee is Kocoum, who qaulifies as both Bland Perfection (the best warrior in the tribe) and Minor Flaws ("He's so...serious."). [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] because Pocahontas had no interest in him to begin with; the marriage [[ArrangedMarriage was arranged by her father]].
* In ''WesternAnimation/MonstersVsAliens'', Susan's fiance Derek turns out to be, in her words, a selfish egotistical jerk. His wedding day attempt to convince her that his job interview in Fresno is an ''acceptable substitute'' (rather than an unfortunate delay) for the planned Parisian honeymoon pushes him into the Evil All Along category.
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Frozen|2013}}'', Anna gets engaged to Hans immediately, but then we see her relationship with Kristoff develop more fully, indicating he would be the real love interest. But that's okay because Hans is just Bland Perfection [[spoiler: or so it seems, but he is actually Evil All Along]]. This even gets lampshaded by one of the trolls, who refers to the engagement as a "flex arrangement."
* Proteus from ''WesternAnimation/SinbadLegendOfTheSevenSeas'' gets the Bland Perfection treatment.
* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Encanto}}'', Isabela is presumed to be engaged to Mariano, who seems like Bland Perfection. [[spoiler:She lets him down gently since she never had feelings for him and only went along with it to make her family happy. He then implies he was eager to get married because he's just ready to find true love and settle down, not because he loved ''her'' specifically. Luckily for him, she then introduces him to her cousin Dolores, who has had a crush on him for ages and actually ''knows'' him, unlike Isabela. Mariano is surprised but delighted, and proposes marriage on the spot. She chuckles and says, "Slow down!" and they walk off hand-in-hand. Overall, he gets a pretty good deal for this archetype.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* Creator/RalphBellamy practically made a career of playing the "bland nice guy" version, three examples being his turns in ''Film/HisGirlFriday'', ''Film/TheAwfulTruth'', and ''Film/HandsAcrossTheTable''. He's a slightly more sinister version of the trope in ''Film/{{Carefree}},'' where he's perfectly willing to marry Amanda (Creator/GingerRogers) when she's been hypnotized into loving him, but still played with a light touch.
%%* Thoroughly [[DeconstructedTrope deconstructed]] in ''Film/AboutElly''.
* ''Film/ThreeIdiots'': Subhas, Pia's fiancé, and absolute materialistic jerkass, willing to raise hell just because someone spilled sauce on his very expensive shoes. Hilariously, he got dumped twice, first during her college years, [[spoiler: and then years later she leaves him at the altar, after being proven that despite his claims otherwise, he hadn't ditched that aspect of his personality]].
* ''Film/AddictedToLove'': Subverted in that the fiancée has already left Sam, he just won't give her up.
%%* Vivian, in ''Film/AuPair'', is of the Evil All Along category.
* ''Film/TheBaxter'' is a {{Deconstruction}} told from the perspective of a Disposable Fiancée or the titular "Baxter" who's had countless women dump him for either people [[TheDulcineaEffect they've just met]] or [[ChildhoodFriendRomance childhood friends.]] Consequently, he's extremely hesitant with his latest marriage as the bride's high school boyfriend shows up to win her back, while he meets a temp worker. This is later [[DeconReconSwitch Reconstructed]] when the groom is dumped again, but ends up with the temp worker [[spoiler:just as the temp worker's ex-boyfriend tries to win her back, revealing HIMSELF to be a Baxter.]]
* ''Film/BellBookAndCandle'': Merle for Shep. Her past as a snobbish college bully makes her less sympathetic.
* Film/TheBlackSwan1942 has Roger Ingram, the StuffyBrit fiancé of Margaret Denby. An example of EvilAllAlong, and at the end he is ([[WhatHappenedToTheMouse presumably]]) brought to justice for his crimes.
* David's fiancée in ''Film/BringingUpBaby'' is briefly introduced in the beginning and only serves as a harsh contrast against the ManicPixieDreamGirl Susan whom he then encounters.
* ''Film/BubbleBoy'': Mark is Chloe's high school sweetheart and it's his upcoming wedding to her at Niagara Falls that [[RaceForYourLove kicks off the plot.]] He hasn't moved on from high school; he's immature, crass and obnoxious. At the end when [[TheProtagonist Jimmy]] barges into the wedding Mark [[LampshadeHanging wonders aloud]] why he's the only one who takes exception to [[SpeakNowOrForeverHoldYourPeace Jimmy interrupting the ceremony]] and [[RunawayBride running off with the woman he was seconds away from marrying.]]
* ''Film/CastAway'' is a rare aversion; many test audience members who were so used to this trope reacted negatively to the ending because it doesn't follow this pattern.
* ''Film/ChaletGirl'' John breaks off his engagement with Chloe to be with Kim at ''their engagement party.'' She gives him a GroinAttack as payback.
* The Creator/NicholasSparks movie ''The Choice'' has this in the fiancé of Gabby the heroine, who doesn't fall into any of the above-mentioned categories (possibly Bland Perfection, as he's a terrific guy, but there's no indication that she's dissatisfied with the relationship in any way.
* ''Film/ChooseLove'': Paul is the steady, compatible boyfriend Cami is dating at the beginning of the film. He is a nice guy but pointedly not as exciting of a choice as Cami's new love interests Rex or Jack, and depending on the [[{{Gamebooks}} viewer's choices]], he can be dumped in favor of them.
* ''Film/ComingToAmerica'': The prince had a fiancée back home, but he came to America specifically to find a replacement for her. You have to feel sorry for the girl. Her bland perfection stemmed from the fact that from the day she was born, she was ''raised to be his wife'' and do everything he said. She had no opinions or likes of her own, simply stating "whatever you prefer" when he asked her. However, she does wind up with the prince's best friend at the end of the movie, and he thought she was perfect.
* ''Film/{{Enchanted}}'' does this both ways, always sympathetically. In the real world, Nancy gets a proper characterization, and the Minor Flaw is more on the side of the lead - Robert's eternal cold feet cause her a certain amount of stress to begin with, and a NotWhatItLooksLike situation understandably angers her - and it's ''Giselle'' who suggests the way to make her feel better. Later, when they realize that they're just incompatible with their partners, Giselle forsakes her own (adorably ditzy) DisposableFiance, [[TheDitz Prince Edward]], and [[PairTheSpares he and Nancy hop into the sunset]] -- er, manhole -- together.
* ''Film/EverAfter'': Let's Call The Whole Thing Off; [[spoiler: Turns out Prince Henry's fiancée had a Love Interest of her own that her parents didn't approve of and was fighting for ''their'' happily ever after as well.]]
-->[[spoiler: '''Spanish Princess:''' (Sobs and blubbers in Spanish as she points toward a man in the audience who is also weeping)]]\\
[[spoiler: '''Henry:'''(laughing) My lady, I ''completely'' understand.]]
* ''Film/FallingForChristmas'': Sierra's fiance Tad. After they're separated and she falls into the care of the male lead Jake, Tad is en route to dumpville.
* ''Film/{{Fingernails}}'': Ryan is set up as this from the jump — he's the guy Anna is dating at the beginning, and they're supposed to be each other's OneTrueLove as they've already passed the test measuring this. However, the complacency he displays in their relationship as a result makes her unsatisfied, especially after she develops a romantic connection with her coworker Amir. [[spoiler:Anna and Ryan retake the test and pass — and she's so upset by this that she stays the night at Amir's and rips out her fingernails, implying that she will reject the test results to be with Amir.]]
%%* ''Film/FourWeddingsAndAFuneral''
* ''Film/TheGraduate'': Probably Bland Perfection, to the extent that the audience even gets to know him in the few minutes of screen time he has. Outside pressure was also most likely a factor in Elaine's swift engagement and marriage. Of course, in that movie, she'd already married the guy by the time she ran out in the wedding dress.
* The low-budget indie, "Have You Met My Son?" has the protagonist's closeted gay son unintentionally invoke this when he becomes engaged to a DumbBlonde Christian conservative woman. Even though he finds out his mother knew all along of his homosexuality, he's still set on marrying her (it's implied he felt disillusioned and depressed after a breakup). By the end, he re-accept his homosexuality and breaks off his engagement. Though it turns out his fiance (who was a repressed lesbian), is more than happy to settle for a platonic friendship.
* ''L'arnacoeur,'' aka ''Heartbreaker'': Jonathan is definitely Blandly Perfect.
* ''Film/HopeFloats'' torpedoes this trope right off the bat by having the would-be disposable fiancé (well, husband); ''dump her on live television''. He's EvilAllAlong, TwoTimingWithTheBestie, and abandons his daughter as well as his wife so he and his new flame can have alone time.
* Subverted in ''Film/IKnowWhereImGoing''. Avowed GoldDigger Joan Webster is en route to her wedding to millionaire Robert Bellinger when she is trapped by a storm and meets sailor Torquil [=MacNeil=]. Despite her best efforts to the contrary she falls in love with and eventually marries Torquil, but the film makes clear that Joan is the one primarily responsible for the failed engagement. We never even see Robert and Joan is irrationally fixated on the idea of having a rich husband long past the point it should be apparent that she loves someone else.
* Averted in ''Film/ImagineMeAndYou''. The fiancé (actually, husband) is a genuinely good guy and in love with the heroine. When she falls for the (female) florist who arranged their bridal bouquets, he is genuinely heartbroken with no emotional band-aid or ReplacementGoldfish. It's the most convincing scene in the movie.
* In ''Film/IncestTheMusical'' this is played in a pretty reasonable way. The female lead, Katie, has a boyfriend, Mark. He's nice, but they're poorly matched. She's smarter than he is, and they have largely different interests. A whole song is dedicated to Katie realizing that if she and Mark were still together in 10 years, it would be a mess. (In a 23-minute movie with only 4 songs, this is a lot of time to spend on establishing this.) This all happens ''before'' she has her LoveEpiphany for her real love interest, and so it seems pretty likely that Katie and Mark would've broken up pretty soon anyways, even without said love interest (who, admittedly, speeds things along). JustifiedTrope, because Mark ''isn't'' her fiancé or anything close: He's just her high-school boyfriend, and it's really no surprise that he's not the right guy for her. At the very end, Mark tries to invoke PairTheSpares, but the other spare rejects him.
* ''Film/ItHappenedOneNight'': The fiancé is actually the reason the leads meet as Peter the reporter, hoping to get a good story, follows heiress Ellie along on her trip to meet the guy her father is [[ParentalMarriageVeto trying to get her away from]]. Of course, Ellie never really ''knew'' her original fiancé. He was simply the first man she ever got ''alone'' with and married him to stick it to her overprotective father. Once she spends her time with Peter and finds out what falling in love is actually like, she realizes there's no way she ever loved the first guy.
* In ''Film/{{Lajja}}'', Maithili is about to marry her college sweetheart, who comes from a wealthy family. Maithili, meanwhile, comes from an upper-middle-class family. Her fiance's parents have set an ''extremely'' large dowry price, which they will not budge on, and which her father is struggling to scrape together. He's a few thousand rupees short, and if he can't get the money together, the wedding will be called off, and his daughter will be publicly humiliated. When Maithili finds out, she tells her fiance, but he's afraid to stand up to his parents. At the actual wedding ceremony, Maithili [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech calls her would-be in-laws out for their greed, and her fiance for his cowardice.]] She ends up breaking off the engagement at the cost of FamilyHonor, which would normally mean that no one would want to marry her (and that she'd be pressured to commit suicide in order to save her family's honor), but [[spoiler: Raju steps in and marries her offscreen.]]
* In ''Film/LastVegas'', Lisa barely shows up in the film, and is summarily dumped upon arrival due to Billy realizing that he's not in love with her, but with Diana.
* ''Film/{{Leap Year|2010}}'' has a combination of Bland Perfection and Minor Flaws (though said flaw is hardly trivial).
* ''Film/LettersToJuliet'': While it appears that Sophie's fiancée is neglecting her, a more honest description of their situation is that both sides do not see the presence of the other person as a necessity, which leads to their inevitable break-up.
* Jerry in ''Film/LiarLiar''. Bland (proving Creator/CaryElwes can play ''anything''), and pulls an IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy at the end, when he realizes the relationship isn't just about him and the girl anymore. Unlike the typical example, the relationship isn't ending because Audrey is getting back together with Fletcher; that part doesn't come until Max's birthday a year later. Rather, Audrey decides not to take Max away from his dad, and Jerry has a job waiting for him across the country.
* ''Film/LoveInTheVilla'': Julie's longterm boyfriend Brandon appears in the beginning to dump her, allowing her to develop feelings for the main love interest Charlie on the vacation she was supposed to take with Brandon. He shows up near the end and proposes, but she has decided they are not compatible.
* ''Made Of Honor'': Bland Perfection. While he takes the loss of his fiancee well enough, he at least still decks the main character for humiliating his family, who cheers him on.
* Creator/MegRyan:
** ''Film/{{IQ|1994}}'': Catherine Boyd is engaged to James Moreland. He's a pompous bore who, as part of his academic research, conducts unsettling experiments on human and animal test subjects. Her reason for marrying him is because she's only interested in men who have a scholarly background, and for whatever James lacks in charm and affability, he is a renowned psychology professor. Things start to change when she meets Ed Walters, an uneducated but amiable auto-mechanic. Once Catherine [[CharacterDevelopment learns her lesson]] she unceremoniously dumps James and hooks up with Ed.
** ''Film/SleeplessInSeattle'': Bland Perfection and Let's Call The Whole Thing Off, but he does his IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy moment so well that you hold out hope he'll find a new love soon. What really stings is that she hasn't even ''met'' the guy she's dumping him for.
** ''Film/YouveGotMail'', although in that movie they were merely Disposable Roommates Who Are In Long Term Relationships With The Leads. But that doesn't roll off the tongue nearly as easily, does it?
*** They also filled the roles of being perfectly compatible with the two mains as they perceived themselves and were perceived at the beginning of the film, as they both start to grow and are shaped by the events of the film, they realize they are only compatible with their starting partner on superficial levels but are perfect for each other on deeper levels (even if they are superficially disagreeable with each other). All in all, done better here than most other times, since the audience is perfectly aware that the disposable female is a horrible person and the disposable male leaves amicably as they both realize they aren't really in love with each other at about the same time.
** And again in ''Film/TheDeal2008'' where she's been with Glenn (Bland Perfection) for over seven years, but quickly throws him away for an affair with Charlie, although she plans on returning to Glenn once the filming is over, at least until Charlie convinces her they make a good team. Unlike most examples, it's suggested partway through the movie that she's been grooming Glenn entirely as a meal ticket.
* ''Film/TheGuernseyLiteraryAndPotatoPeelPieSociety'': Mark is Bland Perfection; he's a wealthy military man who dotes on Juliet (and [[AdaptationalHeroism isn't quite as shady as his novel counterpart]]), but she feels stifled by him and London high society.
* In ''Film/MidnightInParis'', Gil's fiancée Inez prefers to hang out with her friends rather than Gil. She doesn't think that Gil's dreams are worth exploring, and believes that he should remain a hacky but successful scriptwriter rather than try writing a novel. Whenever Gil has an argument with her (male) friend, she always takes the side of the friend, even though her friend is clearly full of it. Near the end, Gil finally figures out that Inez slept with her friend (meaning she not only betrayed Gil but also her friend's wife with whom she hangs out). When Gil confronts Inez, she treats it as no big deal and fully expects Gil to still be on for marriage. Inez and her parents are outraged when Gil simply calls the whole thing off and leaves. Definitely an Evil All Along example.
%%* ''Film/{{Moonstruck}}''
* ''Film/TheMoreTheMerrier'': Good ol' blandy, Mr. Pendergast. Poor guy, doesn't even notice his fiancée is falling in love with someone else.
* ''Film/{{Mr and Mrs Smith|1941}}'', [[SouthernGentleman Jeff Custer]] is so ''very'' bland.
* ''Film/MrsDoubtfire'':
** Subverted in ''Film/MrsDoubtfire'' which seems to feature a Bland Perfection type, but he gets to stay with the woman in the end. Instead, he just vanishes from the movie after Daniel's ruse is exposed.
** Almost played straight in that the original ending had Danny and Miranda get back together, which was opposed by Chris Columbus, Robin Williams, and Sally Field (all divorcees).
* Subverted in ''Film/MyBestFriendsWedding'' where Julianne is convinced that Michael's fiancée is one of this type and does all in her power to break them up but [[spoiler: in the end decides he belongs with the other girl after all.]]
* ''Film/OldSchool'': Evil All Along, and the type where he hides it from the love interest. It's employed to juxtapose how the lead is perceived as too immature and chauvinist to get the girl, but her fiancé is actually way worse.
* ''Film/OnlyYou'': The main character's fiancé is a jerk who doesn't really know her, much less love her, and she's settled for him instead of waiting and following her romantic dreams.
* ''Film/PaperbackHero'': Ruby's partner Hamish shows a bit of Latent Jealousy when he finds out that her book was actually written by Jack, but he ultimately breaks up with her amicably.
* ''Film/TheParentTrap1961'' and ''Film/TheParentTrap1998'': Evil All Along, as well as a rare female example.
* Discussed in ''Film/PastLives''. After his wife Nora reconnects with Hae Sung, her husband Arthur muses that in a different story, he'd be the evil American husband who would be dumped in favor of the childhood sweetheart.
* ''Film/ThePhiladelphiaStory'' and its remake [[AllMusicalsAreAdaptations High Society.]] Bland Perfection turns into latent jealousy.
* ''Film/ThePrincessBride'': Not only is Prince Humperdink is Evil All Along, he's the BigBad.
* ''Film/ThePrincessDiaries2RoyalEngagement'': Andrew, Mia's chosen husband, is the Bland Perfection type: a handsome, well-educated, and genteel duke who would make a perfect husband if only Mia were attracted to him. At the end, the two of them Call The Whole Thing Off. Mia cancels the wedding at the last minute, Andrew is perfectly understanding about it, and he's only worried about what his mother's going to think. [[spoiler:Mia ends the film with Nicholas.]]
* In ''Film/{{ROTOR}}'', Sonya's fiance is given one scene to establish that he's a dickhead, then he's shot dead by the killer robot.
* ''Film/RunawayBride'': The protagonist realises her fiancé isn't the one for her and she's forcing herself to get married simply to break her pattern of leaving guys at the altar.
* Set up but ultimately averted in the original ''Film/Sabrina1954'' and the [[Film/Sabrina1995 1995 remake]] -- David Larrabee wants to end his planned marriage to Elizabeth Tyson and hook up with Sabrina, the chauffer's daughter, despite the financial fallout that will result. His brother Linus makes him see sense -- and he, incidentally, has fallen hard for Sabrina himself.
* In ''Film/{{Secretary}}'', the fiancé's flaw goes beyond boring - he seems to genuinely just want to get married and start a family, and doesn't much seem to care with whom. Maggie is swept along due to an inability to say "no", plus the mixed messages she's receiving from her actual love interest. It's only when trying on the wedding dress that she realizes that she can never be satisfied with him. Her dumping of him is still quite the surprise for the oblivious guy, but at least she didn't wait until the altar.
* ''Film/SetItUp'': Suze is of the Bland Perfection type. She's a fairly successful model, but she and Charlie don't have any meaningful emotional connection, and Charlie doesn't seem torn up about dumping her.
* In ''Film/{{Serendipity}}'', Jonathan and Sara meet each other only briefly before they're separated for six years and become engaged to other people. Despite all this, they clearly keep holding out hope of finding each other again and ultimately break up with their spouses-to-be. For someone they had about fifteen minutes of interaction with many years ago.
%%* ''Film/SixDaysSevenNights'': Let's Call The Whole Thing Off
* In ''Film/SomethingBorrowed'', Rachel snatches her friend's groom-to-be. Not much reasoning is given as to why the fiancée needs to be disposed of.
* Baroness Schraeder in ''Film/TheSoundOfMusic'' is a combination of Minor Flaws and Let's Call The Whole Thing Off.
* ''Film/{{Spaceballs}}'': As the name would suggest, Prince Valium is a case of Minor Flaws (so boring he puts ''himself'' to sleep). Plus it's an arranged marriage she was being forced into, so she doesn't come off as particularly cruel when she ditches him, especially since he doesn't seem to mind (or even notice).
* ''Film/SpiderMan2'': Mary Jane is in love with Peter but dates and almost marries John Jameson, who is Bland Perfection and barely has any personality at all. At the end she [[RunawayBride leaves John at the altar with nothing but a note and runs to Peter in her wedding dress]], after learning [[ItsNotYouItsMyEnemies why he won't date her]].
* ''Film/TheSureThing'': Two completely different forms of Bland Perfection. Allison's boyfriend Jason treats their relationship like a potential corporate merger (to be fair, so does she before her CharacterDevelopment). And Gib thinks of "The Sure Thing" as just a beautiful girl he is guaranteed to have sex with until he meets her and realizes she has a much more boring personality than Allison.
* ''Film/SweetHomeAlabama'' of the Bland Perfection type. He's the most eligible bachelor in New York, he donates money to charity, he's hoping to become President of the United States someday, he sends his girlfriend roses for no reason...and when he gets dumped at the altar he takes it in stride and just wanders off. Given the numerous flaws her true love interest displays, it's easy to question her choice.
* ''Film/SylviesLove'': Variant on Let's Call the Whole Thing Off as Lacy makes it further than "fiance", but when he realizes at the end of the second act that he and Sylvie are incompatible and she only has eyes for Robert, he gracefully exits the story after five years of marriage.
* ''Film/{{Twister}}'' has a rare female example in Melissa. Tends towards Minor Flaws, in that she is somewhat boring and holds back the lead character from doing what he loves. However, it's also mixed with Let's Call The Whole Thing Off as she realizes that he still has lingering feelings for the woman he hadn't even legally divorced yet.
* ''Film/WeddingCrashers'': Evil All Along (curiously, the main character manages to win back the heroine without even revealing the fiancé's sleaziness). A notable example of the EvilAllAlong type, as while Sack Lodge is a {{Jerkass}} he is also charismatic and charming enough that Claire doesn't look like a complete moron for dating him in the first place. This is the hurdle that many romantic comedies using the EvilAllAlong DisposableFiance stumble over.
* ''Film/TheWeddingPlanner'', of the "let's call the whole thing off" variety. Worked horribly, as the only person you feel sorry for is the fiancée. The man gets romantically involved with another woman (who turns out to be the wedding planner his fiancée has hired) and then berates her for "misinterpreting" his philandering. He then ignores the whole thing and lets his fiancée plan their wedding blissfully unaware that he's falling in love with the planner (who only superficially thinks of ending the whole thing and never lets her client in on what her fiancé is really doing). Meanwhile, the planner is constantly leading on a childhood friend who is desperately in love with her to either serve to make the male lead jealous, or to boost herself up emotionally as she pines for the leading man. At the last second, the ''fiancée'' decides ''she'' doesn't want to get married, giving him the opportunity to run after the female lead. With his behavior, it's kind of hard to imagine how ''either'' woman wants him in the first place. And the planner is even less sympathetic because it's revealed she's been the ''victim'' of this before when her fiancé got back with his high school girlfriend on the night of their rehearsal dinner.
* The movie ''Film/TheWeddingRinger'' has an interesting take on this trope. The premise is the male lead is going to get married in two weeks to a beautiful woman, but he has no best man or groomsmen, so he hires someone who specializes in pretending to be someone's long-time best friend to hire men to act as groomsmen. So, what's the twist? [[spoiler:Well, BOTH the male and female leads were settling -- she was never in love with him (she just wanted a good guy who was financially stable), and he didn't love or even like her (he never thought he COULD be with such an attractive woman). So, in a way they BOTH fit this trope with each other.]]
* ''Film/TheWeddingSinger'' has two: Robbie's fiance, Linda, who just leaves him at the altar at the beginning of the film, and Julia's fiancee, Glenn, a grade-A sleazeball who cheats on Julia and makes it clear he will continue to do so after they get married.
* ''Film/WhatsUpDoc'': Madeline Kahn and here her character Eunice Burns is really the innocent victim of the devious schemes of Barbra Streisand's character. At least Eunice seems to be happier with the millionaire she ends up with!
* ''Film/WhosThatGirl'': Louden's fiancee is vain, self-absorbed and shallow, not to mention absurdly promiscuous and just not as interesting to be with as Nikki.
* ''Film/WickerPark'' starts with the male lead buying a ring to propose to his Blandly Perfect girlfriend. He then thinks he might be able to find the girl he dated before her and spends the rest of the movie completely ignoring the woman he was apparently intending to marry, as well as sleeping with someone else. While she has no character, the way he immediately abandons their relationship without even bothering to inform her makes him come off as a {{Jerkass}}.
* ''Film/YoungAdult'': Main character Mavis, the [[ManChild immature]] YoungAdult book author, wishes her "rival" Beth is this. Averted in that Beth is a perfectly nice woman, and Buddy (Mavis' ex that she's trying to get back together with) has absolutely no intention of leaving Beth or the baby he just had with her.
* ''Film/YoungFrankenstein'': Madeline Kahn has Minor Flaws. She ends up marrying the Monster and seems very happy with him because...[[BiggerIsBetterInBed well]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* In Creator/EdgarRiceBurroughs's ''[[Literature/JohnCarterOfMars Thuvia, Maid of Mars]]'', Thuvia has accepted an offer at the opening, though he doesn't actually appear. Then she's abducted, Carthoris chases after her, and the fiancé only reappears at the end -- where Carthoris heroically saves his life and intends to leave Thuvia with him. Thuvia begs him to stay, though she admits it's dishonorable on her part, and her fiancé frees her.
* In the ''Literature/{{Tarzan}}'' series, also by Edgar Rice Burroughs, we have Jane's fiance, William Cecil Clayton. Will Clayton is mostly a "Minor Flaws" as he has a good heart, but is a buffoonish [[LovableCoward coward]] in contrast to the wild Tarzan. William dips a bit into "Latent Jealously" type as he figures out Tarzan is his missing cousin, John Clayton, and the real heir to the Clayton estate, but keeps the secret from everyone. William is [[DeathOfTheHypotenuse mortally wounded]] by the novel's real villain, but redeems himself by telling Jane the truth, releasing her from the engagement and giving Tarzan his blessing.
* An early example in the Literature/SherlockHolmes story ''The Adventure of the Noble Batchelor'', Holmes' client Lord St. Simon end up as this. Turns out his missing fiance had run off with her husband she previously thought dead. It somewhat justifies the SoreLoser part of this trope.
->''"But with no very good result," I remarked. "His conduct was certainly not very gracious."''

->''"Ah, Watson," said Holmes, smiling, "perhaps you would not be very gracious either, if, after all the trouble of wooing and wedding, you found yourself deprived in an instant of wife and of fortune. I think that we may judge Lord St. Simon very mercifully and thank our stars that we are never likely to find ourselves in the same position.''
* In the ''Literature/TrylleTrilogy'' by Amanda Hocking, [[spoiler: Wendy's husband Tove is gay. Wendy is in love with Loki, a prince of the rival group of trolls. He gets the marriage annulled in the final book of the trilogy.]]
* Shan Elariel in ''Literature/MistbornTheOriginalTrilogy''. She was engaged to Elend before Vin (who would later marry Elend) killed her. Considering that Shan was trying to kill ''Elend'' at the time, this is probably acceptable.
** Subverted in the sequel series ''Literature/WaxAndWayne''. Wax spends almost all of ''Literature/TheAlloyOfLaw'' trying to rescue his almost-fiancée Steris[[note]] they're all but engaged because of an arranged marriage, but hadn't announced it due to scandal[[/note]] with the help of Steris's cousin/[[spoiler:bastard half-sister]] Marasi. Steris appears to be a humorless GrandeDame only marrying him [[NobilityMarriesMoney to save their houses]], and Marasi is an eager SpiritedYoungLady with a keen interest in his exploits, which seems to set up Wax falling for Marasi. Upon rescuing Steris, Wax realizes that while Marasi is a good friend, he doesn't love her, and goes ahead with his engagement to Steris. Wax and Steris eventually fall in love and get married.
* Subverted again in ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive'', by the same author. Noblewoman Shallan is engaged to Prince Adolin to secure her house's future. Adolin is handsome and sweet, and appears to be sheer Bland Perfection, especially since Shallan keeps running into the brooding commoner Captain Kaladin. All signs point to Shallan breaking off her engagement to be with Kaladin: [[{{Tsundere}} they keep getting into fights]], they save each others lives, and Shallan admits that she has fun teasing him. Ultimately, while Kaladin is a good friend, Shallan goes ahead and marries Adolin because of his kindness, and because sees the real her behind her multiple personalities.
* Creator/PGWodehouse made frequent use of the Let's Call The Whole Thing Off category, often combining it with PairTheSpares.
* A justified EvilAllAlong example in the ''Literature/TairenSoul'' series, as the heroine didn't choose her fiancé. Den sexually assaults Ellysetta to [[DefiledForever force her to marry him]], and breaking the engagement would cost money her family doesn't have. Once Ellysetta finds a way out of the situation (namely, getting married to the SorcererKing Rain) she jumps on it. The fact that she's been fantasizing about Rain her entire life and has a particularly intense SingleTargetSexuality for him is a nice bonus.
* At the beginning of the ''Literature/EnchantedForestChronicles'', Princess Cimorene gets engaged to Bland Perfection Prince Therandil. It's a political match, and she tries to dispose of her fiance the moment she learns that she's getting engaged because she can't stand how bland he is, and ultimately ends up moving in with a dragon to escape the marriage. It takes her half the book to get rid of him (by invoking PairTheSpares by inspiring him to seek a RescueRomance with a different, and equally shallow, princess held captive by a different dragon), after which he only gets mentioned when she discusses how she got him to leave. She doesn't even ''meet'' the ReplacementGoldfish until the next book.
* Twofold in Maia Chance's whodunit ''Beauty, Beast and Belladonna'': After accepting Comte de Griffe's proposal in the previous book to spite her love interest Professor Penrose, Ophelia tries to weasel out of the engagement as painlessly as possible because she wants to live independently and she finds the Comte boorish. Then who should show up but the Professor with his new fiancée Miss Banks. [[spoiler: Comte de Griffe releases Ophelia amicably when he admits he was [[LovingAShadow in love with his idea of her]], and Ophelia nudges him toward a maid who is in love with him. Miss Banks, on the other hand, falls to her death shortly after revealing herself an accomplice to the murderer, and an elitist shrew besides.]]
* ''Literature/{{Weaveworld}}'' has a low-key "let's call the whole thing off" example: at the beginning of the story, Cal is drifting toward marriage to his girlfriend Geraldine. Geraldine is a thoroughly good woman who keeps supointing Cal even as he withdraws from mundane life, including her. All the interactions between the pair are described from Cal's perspective, but it is clear that after all her effort Geraldine deserves better - and though she does give him an ultimatum the book does not reveal if she gets it. ''Weaveworld'' is not a story about people like her.
* DeconstructedTrope that's PlayedForDrama in ''Literature/TrappedInADatingSimTheWorldOfOtomeGamesIsToughForMobs''. In the original RomanceGame that became Leon's new reality, noblewomen Angelica and Clarice were this. Leon [[DiscussedTrope points out]], how they are DesignatedVillain and how the game had ProtagonistCenteredMorality that gave them the short end of the stick despite not truly being bad people:
** Angelica is [[MiscarriageOfJustice incorrectly blamed]] as having ordered other students to bully Marie, and is trying to keep the heir of the Kingdom Julius, from tarnishing his reputation, and encouraging him to make as many friends and allies as possible to ease his future rule. As well, Marie is intentionally stoking her jealousy, [[ManipulativeBitch holding the hands of men other than Julius in front of her]], to trigger her HairTriggerTemper and cause her undoing.
** Clarice had her reputation tarnished and became victim of gossip, due to Jilk's behavior around Marie. And then Jilk broke off his engagement via DearJohnLetter, and ignored her completely, driving her into a mental breakdown and to [[WomanScorned lash out in revenge]].
* ''Literature/OfFireAndStars'': Thandililom, Dennaleia's fiancé, is nice enough but also unappealing to her. It soon becomes clear this is because [[IncompatibleOrientation she's a lesbian]], falling instead for his sister. She leaves him and runs away with Mare after their relationship is discovered.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* ''Series/TheOfficeUK'': Lee play this to Dawn. Mostly of the "minor flaws" variation, but with hints of Latent Jealousy.
* ''Series/TheOfficeUS'':
** Roy falls directly into Latent Jealousy when he and Pam consider getting back together and Pam tells him she kissed Jim. The next day he goes to the office and almost assaults Jim.
** In the final season of the US version, the characters attend Roy's wedding to a woman we've never seen before. He seems to have changed into a boring nice guy, but a bit of the EvilAllAlong variant surfaces when he hints to Jim that he dodged a bullet by not marrying Pam.
* ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'':
** {{Deconstructed|Trope}} with a PerspectiveFlip. Ted--the ''main character''--ends up as a Disposable Fiancé to Stella. She [[RunawayBride left Ted at the altar]] in favor of Tony, her ex and her daughter's father. This is framed as a ''deeply'' selfish, cruel way to treat Ted--but Stella and Tony's relationship is also framed as true and important. From Stella's point of view, Ted probably fell into the "Bland Perfection" category, as in Robin's words, he was "disappearing into someone else's life". Stella later apologizes for her actions, telling him she was always in love with Tony, but she loved and cared for Ted because he made her believe in romance again (ironically priming her to be swept off her feet by Tony when he realizes he's about to lose her forever to Ted). This whole scenario becomes an ExaggeratedTrope when Tony writes a hit romantic comedy movie about the whole thing, with himself as an OP self-insert and Ted as pathetic, evil, goofy, jealous monster (to the point where the fact that Stella would even date him is described as the movie's only flaw). The Ted-expy even drops his PaperThinDisguise altered name ("Jed Mosley") and shouts "I'm TED MOSBY!" at one point during the movie.
** Happens once again, with [[spoiler:Victoria, Klaus, and Ted]]. She is convinced to write a note to her fiancé, but when [[spoiler:Ted]] goes to drop it off he bumps into said fiancé... who was also running away from the marriage. Turns out that ''he'' realised that she is almost what he wants, but not quite. As ''both'' partners were simultaneously treating each other as Disposable Fiancés, this is an ExaggeratedTrope.
* ''Series/{{Glee}}'': With Will/Emma being the primary romance between the show's adults, that pairing alone has a few of these. Ken Tanaka, Emma's fiance at the beginning of the show, is this trope played entirely straight (complete with the [[PutOnABusToHell "slipping away at the end"]] business). Terri is Will's disposable ''wife''. In Season 2, when it seems like [[WillTheyOrWontThey Will and Emma can finally get together]], along comes her sexy new dentist boyfriend Carl Howell, who later seems set up to be a disposable ''husband''.
* ''Series/DowntonAbbey'':
** Lavinia Swire may as well have had this written on her forehead from her first appearance. [[spoiler:She dies during the influenza epidemic, but not before seeing her fiancé kissing another woman and insisting that [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy she wants him to be happy]] anyway.]] [[spoiler:There's a brief acknowledgment of Let's Call the Whole Thing Off when she tells Matthew that she doesn't want to deal with being the Countess of Grantham, even if she loves him.]]
** There was an even more blatant example with Richard Carlisle, Mary's DisposableFiance. Unlike the sweet and selfless Lavinia, Carlisle was a jerk whom Mary only considered marrying to [[spoiler:keep the Pamuk scandal out of the press]]. Once Lord Grantham made it clear that she wouldn't have to worry about that, [[spoiler:she dumped his sorry ass]].
** In series four, Mary's suitor Lord Gillingham happens to be inconveniently engaged to someone else; but ultimately decides to break off the engagement (risking a potential scandal as well as the displeasure of the woman's family and all their circle) in order to pursue Mary.
* In ''Series/ADifferentWorld'', Whitley becomes engaged to the handsome senator Byron Douglas III. He's pretty perfect (quite the political crusader) but not bland. Whitley leaves him at the altar and marries Dwayne. Since Whitley and Dwayne tend to be the OneTruePairing, fans didn't think about Byron too much.
* ''Series/PrettyGuardianSailorMoon'' has this with Hina Kusaka, Mamoru's UnluckyChildhoodFriend. Most fans had seen the original anime, so they knew there was no way that Mamoru and Usagi were not going to end up together.
* In ''Series/OnceUponATime'', Abigail/Kathryn to James/David, both in fairy tale land and in Storybrooke, of the Let's Call The Whole Thing Off variety in both:
** In fairy tale land, it's an arranged marriage. As it turns out, she's no happier with the arrangement than he is, being in love with one of her father's knights.
** In Storybrooke, the curse has placed them in a loveless marriage and actively prevents them from being with their beloveds (with a little help from Regina), even when Kathryn realizes David loves Mary Margaret (Snow White) more than her and [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy tries to gracefully remove herself from the picture]].
* ''Series/{{Merlin 2008}}''
** Princess Mithian, who Arthur becomes engaged to after Guinevere is MistakenForCheating. Yet somehow Mithian averts ''every single one'' of the types common to this trope, coming across as an interesting, charming, kind-hearted woman who genuinely falls for Arthur over the course of the episode. The only type she could arguably fit into is [[MinorFlawMajorBreakup Minor Flaw]] (with her flaw being that she's simply not the woman he's in love with), as were it not for Arthur's latent feelings for Guinevere, she would have been the perfect match for him. She even takes her ''rejection'' amazingly well, and on returning in the next season, has no hard feelings toward the HappilyMarried pair.
** Also Princess Elena of the series before, who falls into the Let's Call The Whole Thing Off category after she and Arthur agree that their ArrangedMarriage isn't to their liking (Arthur because he loves Gwen; Elena because she doesn't really ''know'' Arthur).
* Combining Bland Perfection and Let's Call the Whole Thing Off is Dr. John Taglieri, from the first season of ''Series/{{ER}}''. He's Carol Hathaway's rebound guy after her breakup with Doug Ross and subsequent suicide attempt. They're quickly engaged, but he leaves her at the altar at the end of the season because he knows she'll never be as thrilled to be with him as he is with her.
* A flashback in ''Series/AgentCarter'' revealed that Peggy had been engaged to a British Army officer named Fred Wells back in 1940 (a good three years before she met Steve Rogers). Her brother disapproved of the match, claiming that she would never live the life of adventure she wanted with her fiancé. After her brother is killed in action, Peggy realizes that he was right, invokes Let's Call The Whole Thing Off, and accepts a transfer into the SOE, starting her life as a secret agent. Apart from the episode where said flashbacks occurred, her fiancé never appears or even gets mentioned.
* [[Characters/CheersFrasierCrane Frasier Crane]] on ''Series/{{Cheers}}'' was introduced as Diane's disposable fiancé; WordOfGod is that he was directly inspired by the characters Ralph Bellamy played in old Hollywood movies. He became popular enough that after Diane inevitably [[RunawayBride left him at the altar]] the writers kept him around and gave him some CharacterDevelopment. There was even an episode on the sequel show, ''Series/{{Frasier}}'', where it's revealed that Frasier still has emotional trauma over how Diane treated him, even after several years have passed, and he gets the chance to call her out on her behaviour after seeing how she's skewed their relationship in a play that she's written.
* On ''Series/{{Lovesick}}'', Evie's fiancé Mal falls into Bland Perfection.
* ''Series/IDreamOfJeannie'': Major Nelson is engaged to Melissa Stone, the daughter of General Stone, for the first half of the first season. The writers quickly realised they had no idea what to do with her beyond using her as an excuse to keep Major Nelson and Jeannie from getting together. Melissa is eventually PutOnABus by having her get back with an ex-boyfriend, which technically made Major Nelson the "disposable" one in their relationship.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Music]]
* Music/DierksBentley's ''Drunk on a Plane'': We get to hear from the dumped guy "I feel like a plastic groom alone there on the top of the cake" Actually a very upbeat sounding song and in the music video he meets a lovely woman on the flight as well as getting "a little Mile-High flight attention" from the sexy Stewardess
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Myths & Religion]]
* In the [[Myth/NartSagas Circassian tale]] about the abduction of Psatina, the latter is abducted at ''her wedding feast''... yet there is no further mention of the groom after the fact, and she is freely able to marry the hero Warzameg after he rescues her.
* In ''Myth/ClassicalMythology,'' Perseus agress to save Andromeda from the sea monster [[RescueRomance if he can marry her]]. At the wedding feast, Andromeda's former betrothed ([[CreepyUncle and uncle]]) Phineus attacks him. Andromeda's dad sides with Perseus on the grounds that hey, ''Phineus'' didn't try to save Andromeda. Phineus and his allies won't relent, and Perseus [[TakenForGranite uses Medusa's head on them]] in the ensuing battle.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* Hilarious subversion in a ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' Adventure, from Free Adventure day. A Lawful Good type is forced into an ArrangedMarriage with a succubus, due to a treaty with the local LawfulEvil nation. However, the probable plot is subverted. The marriage is too important to break up. Instead, the goal is to get him a ring that protects against life drain! Furthermore, she is not portrayed as EvilAllAlong and can be genuinely... well, if not GOOD, at least you can see it won't lead to slaying.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Theatre]]
* Gloria Kramer in the musical ''Theatre/OneTouchOfVenus'' exemplifies Latent Jealousy.
* Tiffany in ''Theatre/MaryMary'', though not a RichBitch, is just too wealthy for Bob to keep, and she makes this one of several reasons to call off their engagement. As she leaves, she notes that he was never strongly attracted to her in the first place.
* Jane in ''Theatre/{{Brigadoon}}'' is far too bland to compete with Tommy's memories of Scotland.
* In the 1993 [[TheMusical musical]] of ''Music/{{Tommy}}'', the boyfriend talks about getting married to Tommy's mother. However, when her husband comes back home from the war, the mother feels surprised and relieved that he's alive after all, and the boyfriend soon becomes a {{jerkass}} by acting hostile toward Tommy's parents and attempting to kill the father. Fortunately, the father disposes of him by [[AssholeVictim shooting him dead in the struggle]].
* Pretty well averted in ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet''. By all appearances, Paris is a genuinely decent, honorable guy, and in his dying moments, asks to be buried alongside the supposedly dead Juliet.
* In ''Theatre/TheDesertSong'', Margot is still about to marry Captain Paul Fontaine as the first act finale begins.
* In ''Theatre/KinkyBoots'', Charlie and Nicola break up partway through the second act, leaving him free to ask out Lauren in the finale.
* In ''Theatre/LeadingLadies'', Meg breaks her engagement to Duncan very suddenly in the final scene. It's a combination of her realizing she can marry for love instead of convenience, and that Duncan is a rather dull personality.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}'': In Mitsuru's social link storyline after [[spoiler: inheriting ownership of the Kirijo Group due to her father's death she is thrown into an arranged marriage with an EvilAllAlong type, whom she immediately dumps after he insults the main character.]]
* Haru in ''VideoGame/Persona5'' goes through something similar, although this one goes ''much'' further with the [[spoiler: Evil All Along type. While Mitsuru's fiance was just a snobbish jerk, Haru's is violently abusive and possibly a rapist, and a boss fight against the Cognitive version of him in the Metaverse is what awakens Haru's Persona in the first place.]]
* A {{justified|Trope}} EvilAllAlong example from ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn]]''; [[RebelliousPrincess Astrid]] was supposed to marry [[ForTheEvulz Lekain]], but it [[ArrangedMarriage wasn't by any choice of hers in the first place]]. Instead, she ends up marrying [[TheGamblingAddict Makalov]] which is... [[NoAccountingForTaste well, it's better, at least.]]
* In ''VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}}'', Akiha had previously been engaged to FatBastard Tonami Kugamine, presumably at the behest of her father, but as soon as he dies Akiha takes over the family, breaks off the engagement and throws Kugamine out of the house. In this case, he's significantly older than her, perverted, and Akiha is [[BrotherSisterIncest actually in love with her brother Shiki]].
* A subplot in ''VideoGame/AlwaysSometimesMonsters'' revolves around the protagonist trying to win back the "love of their life", who is marrying someone else. Conveniently, this person turns out to be a lying scumbag who never really loved her at all, so the protagonist doesn't have to feel guilty about hijacking his wedding. (The LoveInterest's right to make their own romantic choices is rarely touched upon.)
* Deconstructed in ''VideoGame/NancyDrew: The Haunting of Castle Malloy''. Kit believes that Matt disappeared because he doesn't want to commit to Kyler, and constantly pushes this idea at both Kyler and the player. Kyler -- outraged that Kit is trying to manipulate her love life -- makes it clear that she is not interested in him. In the end, [[spoiler:Matt is saved from his kidnapper]] and marries Kyler as planned, Kit admitting that he may have let jealousy colour his interpretation of events.
* A rare female example is Penelope in ''VideoGame/SlyCooperThievesInTime'', who [[spoiler:is both of the Latent Jealousy and Evil All Along categories. She betrays Bentley for the sake of greed and believes his TrueCompanions to being holding back his full potential]].
* Alex Valse of the ''Rance'' series fits this to a T. He's a handsome, talented and morally-upright prodigy with a bright future who is dating the princess of his country, putting him in line to be the next king. Unfortunately, he is also rather bland and passive, which causes him to eventually lose his girlfriend (and his chances of becoming king) after Rance outshines him by being more proactive and effective during a crisis. Rather surprisingly for an example of this trope, however, Alex actually takes his loss to heart and, instead of dropping out of the story, devotes himself to developing a stronger inner resolve. [[EarnYourHappyEnding By his later appearances in the series, he is happily engaged, much less indecisive, and able to fully bury the hatchet with his ex.]]
* ''VisualNovel/{{Demonheart}}'': Mark is the main character's fiancé who quickly becomes unlikable due to being a [[DirtyCoward dirty coward]]. He gets replaced by two [[AllGirlsWantBadBoys bad boy]] love interests. The player can even choose to [[spoiler:murder him]].
* Jayden in ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoV'' was the fiance of Franklin's LoveInterest Tanisha who's shown to be a Type C. He's a [[GoldDigger rich doctor]] who's mentioned by Lamar to [[BitchInSheepsClothing run a charity for sick kids]], but Tanisha's social media indicates that he's condescending and borderline emotionally abusive towards her. The two eventually marry, but by the time of ''Online'' it's shown that Franklin [[RetiredOutlaw left crime behind and became a successful businessman]], and Tanisha [[FirstGirlWins went back to him with the two starting a family together]].
* ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles1'' has a rather tragic variant of this trope. Sharla had a fiancé named Gadolt. Unlike most examples here, Gadolt wasn't a bad person. However, he was captured by mechon during the attack on Colony 6 and was assumed dead. [[spoiler: He wasn't killed, but he was placed in a Faced Mechon to control, and unfortunately for him, Mumkhar's actions made it to where he and other faced mechon got their memories wiped. His memory came back just long enough to save the party, but he didn't live long enough afterwards.]]
* ''VideoGame/{{Miitopia}}'': The princess is being forced to marry a prince of the Evil All Along type -- he's arrogant, useless in a fight, and puts down pretty much everyone he meets except for her (including her childhood friend, who she's ''actually'' in love with). The king finally agrees to call off the engagement after her face is stolen by the Dark Lord and he sees the two men's true personalities through how they react to it (the prince runs and cries for his mother; the friend, while being utterly useless, at least tries to save her).
* ''VideoGame/LoveOfMagic'': In backstory; Emily's first fiancé got himself killed by being found in bed with a Council Battlemage's wife.
-->'''Emily''': And the head of the Army, Lord Morris, resigned in disgrace after scattering my late and unmourned ex-fiancé across the duelling grounds.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* ''Webcomic/{{Erstwhile}},'' which adapts lesser-known fairy tales by Creator/TheBrothersGrimm, has a few examples where the fiancée's only flaw is "ArrangedMarriage when the male lead is already in love with somebody else." The creators at least try to treat them sympathetically -- the girl from "The Twelve Huntsman" is strongly implied to not want to marry Prince Aster anyway, while the one from "Sweetheart Roland" gets a MaybeEverAfter [[PairTheSpares with the shepherd]] at the main couple's wedding.
* In [[http://www.karinafarek.com/every-hallmark-movie this]] parody of the rom-coms that tend to pop up around the holidays, protagonist Carol's business-minded boyfriend Burt (a parody of the Evil All Along type) ends up being forgotten by her the moment she meets the handsome, rural JerkWithAHeartOfGold Nick. When Burt shows up to pick her up later, he's incensed to discover her affair, at which point Carol affirms her love for Nick and dumps him. [[JerkassHasAPoint Both Burt and Nick agree that this doesn't really absolve the whole cheating thing,]] but she claims it doesn't count because "it's Christmas magic".
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
* A [[https://www.tumblr.com/ghostcasket/703463733787328512/teashoesandhair-your-wish-is-my-command short story]] floating around Website/{{Tumblr}} revolves around a ''pair'' of Hallmark Disposable Boyfriends who meet, bitter and miserable, on the plane back from "Tinyville, Bumfuck Middle-Of-Nowhere, Utah", and hit it off [[HoYay surprisingly well]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Videos]]
* When WebVideo/TheNostalgiaChick did Creator/MegRyan Chick-Flick Month she points out how weird some of the Minor Flaws examples can be, like a man who sneezes too much and a girl who asks for Tic-Tacs during a stressful situation. The "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off" scenes also baffle her in how completely painless they seem to be for everyone involved; ''Film/SleeplessInSeattle'''s actually sends WebVideo/ToddInTheShadows into a rage.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* Hro Talek, Hawkgirl's long-lost fiance in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague''. Initially presented as Bland Perfection, he winds up as EvilAllAlong. Interestingly, Hawkgirl had been in a relationship with the ComicBook/GreenLantern before we even hear about Hro.
* Lady Jasmine in ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs1981'' episode "The Prince And The Hopper", whom Prince Theodore believes is his true love that he's going to marry, who turns out to be a GoldDigger who's only marrying him for his wealth. The wedding eventually gets called off when, at the ceremony, she ends up kissing a frog who's been turned into a copy of the prince who gets turned back into a frog when Smurfette kisses the real prince who was turned into a frog and turns him back into a prince.
* In ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', Princess Yue is about to enter an ArrangedMarriage with the arrogant Hahn, much to Sokka's annoyance. However Hahn [[spoiler: drowns shortly after his introduction when he attempts to kill Admiral Zhao and is promptly thrown overboard.]]
* Eric in ''WesternAnimation/KimPossibleMovieSoTheDrama'' is presented as a Bland Perfection Flavor of the Week boyfriend, even getting along with Ron, but is really of the [[spoiler:EvilAllAlong]] category. [[spoiler:He's actually a synthodrone created by Drakken to distract Kim while he unleashes his Diablo toy scheme to terrorize the planet and take over what's left of civilization]].
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