People who fall for somebody they can't control in Live-Action TV series.
- Boys Before Flowers: Gu Jun Pyo ends up falling in love with Geum Jan Di, because she's the only girl who doesn't try to be in his good graces and certainly doesn't vow for his hand.
- Bridgerton: In season 2, Anthony Bridgerton falls in love with Kate Sharma, because she's the only woman (he's ever met) who constantly disagrees with him, is aggravatingly defiant and certainly no fool to his charm.
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Buffy treats Spike's sexual advances with contempt until he reveals that his chip doesn't read her as human, and so he can hurt or even kill her without consequence. This results in an immediate mutual No-Holds-Barred Beatdown which leads to passionate sex in a collapsing building. There were other factors leading up to this moment, but the timing is interesting.
- There's a bit of this in Castle; Richard Castle can charm any lady he likes around his little finger except for Detective Kate Beckett, who isn't suckered in by any of his usual methods... which makes Castle, who was getting bored with the fawning ladies themselves trying to snare or drape themselves over him, a lot more interested in her as a result. It's also suggested (including by the actors) that it's not so much about Castle trying to find some way to control Beckett as he is kind of thrilled to find someone who can control him, as Castle has no real authority figure in his life except for her.
- In Dark Angel, there is an episode focused on one of the X series fugitives who has Mind Control powers. She's dating this mob guy called Dougie, despite him being below average in every respect, because her powers don't work on him. She helped him rip off his organisation, manipulating him in more traditional ways.
- Lucifer: Chloe is immune to Lucifer's abilities and charms, sexual or otherwise. Lucifer is fascinated by the implications, but Linda the therapist also notes that he's more than a little disturbed. Her immunity means that Lucifer has to rely on being himself to get her attention, which leads to a genuine friendship developing between them and Lucifer falling in love with her.
- Doctor Who: In "Fugitive of the Judoon" Captain Jack is excited by...well, let's face it, everything. But especially by the way the Tardis Team doesn't seem overly impressed by him:Jack: Oh, she likes them mouthy, then, huh?
Ryan: Yeah, one up from cheesy.
Jack: Okay, he's my favourite! - Gossip Girl: Blair loves Chuck because he's the only person who is a Worthy Opponent, Chuck loves Blair because she's the only one who ever seriously challenges him.
- Hannah Montana: Jake falls for Miley because she is the only girl at school who isn't gaga over him.
- In Haven, Chris Brody is attracted to Audrey only because she doesn't fall for him like all the town's people do due to his Charm Person Trouble.
- In Hotel del Luna, part of Man-wol's attraction to Chan-sung is that he is a normal human, yet he isn't afraid of talking back to her and standing his ground if he feels she is wrong about something.
- Jessica Jones (2015):
- This is the driving plot of the first season. Jessica's Arch-Enemy Kilgrave has a Compelling Voice which he uses to horrifying effect, and Jessica was his love slave for over a year. But one day, his powers just stopped working on hernote , and he became obsessed with having her at his side again. However, while Kilgrave thinks this feeling is love, it's obvious that his powers have made him a sociopathic Control Freak who can't understand what it's like to be denied something for the first time in his adult life.
- In the second season, Dr. Karl Malus admits that his falling in love with Jessica's mentally unstable mom was much this way.
- My Roommate is a Gumiho: Gye Sun-woo is a total ladies' man who becomes intrigued and attracted to Dam because she resists his advances. On her part, it's because she can't have contact with any guy born in the Year of the Tiger due to the fox bead inside her.
- Noah's Arc: This is one of the things that draws Ricky towards Junito early on (as Ricky's sexual advances don't seem to take).
- In the Northern Exposure episode "Only You", Chris goes through one of his recurring hormone/pheromone surges, which make him almost irresistible to women. When he discovers that the visiting optometrist is completely immune to his pheromones, and doesn't even find him attractive at his baseline level, he becomes fixated on her. As a result, he finds himself impotent while in bed with other women, and his body actually ends the surge earlier than usual.
- Scrubs: Dr. Cox loves Jordan because she's one of the only people who can stand up to him. Jordan loves Dr. Cox because he's one of the only people who can stand up to her.
- The Secret Life of the American Teenager has this in the pilo. The main love interest, after talking to the main character, talks to his councilor."I asked her out, and she turned me down. Of course, I must have her."
- In Sherlock, Irene's first meeting with the protagonist starts with her trying — and failing — to manipulate him the way she would most men (and a statistically significant portion of women). Given that this version of her is all about control, the trope is in play — though she does eventually find a way to dupe him: don't appeal to his sexual desires; appeal to his intellect.
- Averted in the Smallville episode, "Heat". When Desiree finds that her seduction powers have no effect on Clark Kent, she gets pissed and immediately starts trying to ruin his life. For example, she frames him for arson.
- Star Trek: The Next Generation
- There's an episode where Lwaxana Troi is fascinated by someone she cannot read. He turns out to be a hologram, which she is quite embarrassed by.
- Lwaxana has this problem a lot. One of the running gags of the series is that she's perpetually infatuated with Captain Picard, who can't stand to have her around. And in one of her later appearances in Deep Space Nine, she becomes similarly attracted to Odo, who (at the time, anyway) can't really comprehend how "solids" fall in love.
- Similarly, the telepath from the episode "Tin Man" spends a lot of time with Data, whose mind he cannot read. The difference here is that, unlike Lwaxana, he can't not read minds, while Lwaxana just has almost no sense of personal space in that regard. He loves having to discover who Data is as a person rather than being thrust with all that information at once.
- Q's attraction to Picard is probably the result of this trope. He seems rather pleased with humanity's unpredictability, after all. Taken further for Q's appearances in Voyager with Janeway, where he explicitly asks her to mate with him (he omits the fact that Q mating is touching two fingers together and a flash of light happens).
- There's an episode where Lwaxana Troi is fascinated by someone she cannot read. He turns out to be a hologram, which she is quite embarrassed by.
- True Blood
- Sookie was initially attracted to Bill the vampire mainly because she couldn't read his mind, though this was mostly since she wasn't Squicked out by what he thought about her sexually. The fact that he saved her from the Rattrays and fed her his blood, causing her to have sexy dreams about him didn't hurt any. It turned out he'd orchestrated the whole thing specifically to get this response, which makes it an Invoked Trope.
- There's also Eric, who is mostly into Sookie because he's a bit intimidated by her powers, as shown in a fantasy of his where she tops the hell out of him. Both vampires also feel this way towards Sookie because she can't be glamoured.
- The Vampire Diaries
- Probably part of the reason why Big Bad Klaus harbors a strong attraction for Caroline. It's part of the reason why he admires her so much at least, which is saying a lot as the guy is very easy to disappoint and can be quick to disown people.
- Unlike in the novel, played straight between Damon and Elena literally because her vervain necklace prevents her from being compelled. At least, while she is actually wearing it.
- Victorious: This is outright stated to be the reason why Beck stays with Jade, despite how terribly she treats him at times. In one episode, Beck admits that he's bored of the girls who constantly throw themselves at him and will do anything to make him happy. He'd rather be with someone like Jade, who at least challenges him.
