Love Interest vs. Lust Interest

The difference between love and lust is sort of like the difference between gold and pyrite^note  A.K.A. fool's gold; on the surface, they may seem similar, but close examination shows that they have many contrasts. Where love is about what's a person's inner beauty, lust is only concerned with outer beauty. Where love is willing to put others' needs and desires above its own, lust puts its own desires before anything else. Finally, while love is loyal and consistent, lust is fickle and impulsive.

One of the ways that two people pursuing the same person can contrast each other is when one party is genuinely in love with someone, while the other is only interested in superficial qualities. This can manifest itself in many ways:

• If the target of the two parties' affections is beautiful, then one party will only be interested in a person's looks while the other cares more about their personality.
  • If the target was once unattractive, but later becomes attractive, the Lust Interest will only take interest in someone after they become attractive, while the Love Interest will have taken interest before they became attractive. Alternatively, if the beautiful person loses their looks, expect the shallow party to immediately lose interest while their rival will (probably) remain in love.
• If the target of their affections is rich, the shallow person will only care about the money, while the truly loving person won't care about the money.
  • If the rich person loses their money, expect the shallow person to lose interest, while their rival doesn't care. Similarly, a shallow person will have no problems trying to get with someone they disliked if said disliked person becomes rich, while the non-shallow person won't change their feelings based on money.
• When it comes to popularity, a shallow person will have no problems dating someone they don't (really) like for popularity, and will similarly have no qualms about dumping their partner when said partner proves to be a liability for their PR and/or status. Meanwhile, the truly loving person has no problems with their reputation taking a hit (or even being threatened) to be with the one they love.
• When it comes to loyalty, a shallow person will cheat on their partner if they can get away with it, and will dump them for someone "better" if the opportunity arises or if they get bored. Meanwhile, a true lover would never think of cheating, and wouldn't dump their partner for petty, self-serving reasons.
• When trying to woo someone, a shallow person has to rely on superficial qualities such as looks, money, or status to win people over, as they possess little, if any, genuinely likable traits; in contrast, the loving person will try to be likable as a person even if they aren't impressive on the outside. Expect the shallow person to be shocked and/or confused, when their superficial traits end up falling short in comparison to more meaningful qualities.

Typically, stories that use this dynamic end with the object of pursuit getting with the person who treated them like a person, while the shallow person ends up receiving some form of karma for their superficial attitude. If the shallow person does end up winning the target of their affections, expect the relationship to be miserable and/or short, as a relationship built on shallow qualities is incapable of properly sustaining itself. In contrast, the relationship based on genuine love will be much happier and fulfilling, as it is based on more meaningful qualities rather than superficial ones. One (technical) exception is the netorare genre, in which the shallow character is the one who ends up beating the loving character in the end; the basic premise of most works in this genre involves a good man who treats his girlfriend/wife/crush with respect and kindness having his partner stolen from him by a scumbag who treats the girl like a sex object rather than a romantic partner. In addition, the good guy is portrayed as a pathetic loser for being bad in bed due to his smaller manhood and "Beta Male" behavior, the scumbag is portrayed as a Chick Magnet and/or a Sex God due to his larger endowment and "Alpha Male" behavior, which inverts the traditional dynamic by portraying the shallow character as the more desirable partner.

Compare Childish Villain, Mature Hero. Often overlaps with the Betty and Veronica trope, where the "Betty" is often the Love Interest while the "Veronica" is typically the Lust Interest. Similarly, works that use the Madonna-Whore Complex often have the "Madonna" being the Love Interest and the "Whore" being the Lust Interest. This trope can overlap with Ugly Hero, Good-Looking Villain if the shallow person is more superficially appealing than their rival. See also I Want My Beloved to Be Happy, Not with Them for the Money, True Beauty Is on the Inside, and Act of True Love for tropes that are often expressed by the Love Interest. See Beauty Is Bad, In Love with Love, Lust Object, Lust, Shallow Cannot Comprehend True Love, and Loving a Shadow for tropes that are often expressed by the Lust Interest.

Examples

Anime & Manga

• The Dangers in My Heart: Kyotaro Ichikawa has a crush on Anna Yamada, looks out for her, and starts spending time getting to know her. Sho Adachi also has a crush on her, and much to Ichikawa's annoyance, he can't shut up about whatever sexual fantasies he has about her. When Ichikawa asks Adachi about anything else he likes about Yamada besides her face, he gets confused and goes on about the rest of her looks.
  Adachi: Is there anything other than that?
  Ichikawa: (thinking) There are plenty of things!
• My-HiME: Natsuki Kuga has two love interests, her best friend, Shizuru Fujino, though initially Shizuru keeps that secret due to feeling ashamed of her attraction to Natsuki, and Kendo Captain Masashi Takeda. Downplayed, in that Takeda doesn't openly express a prurient interest in Natsuki, but seems to keep falling into the role of Accidental Pervert, seeing Natsuki sans underwear during an incident where she was forced into Going Commando or falling atop her from his perch on a rock when she was trying to change clothes to go on a surveillance mission, and frequently experiences nosebleeds because of it. Shizuru, on the other hand, seems doting and caring but takes to kissing an unconscious Natsuki while treating her injuries after Nao attacked her.
• My-Otome: Shizuru Viola has two love interests, Natsuki Kruger and Tomoe Marguerite. Natsuki is genuinely in love with Shizuru, enjoying such things as a quiet afternoon with her where she simply listens to Shizuru playing the piano while sipping her tea. Tomoe, on the other hand, lusts after Shizuru, going so far as she aids Nagi and John Smith in taking over the school to claim that Natsuki was captured, but will be treated well if Shizuru cooperates. Shizuru actually knows Natsuki is safe, but plays along in order to pull the rug from under Tomoe later.
• Ranma ½:
  • Ranma has many romantic interests, some on the "Love" side, others on the "Lust" side. Shampoo, for example, wants him because he bested her in combat, and by the law of her clan, she has to marry him to add his strength to theirs (i.e., she needs him to father her children). Ukyo, on the other hand, was a childhood friend of Ranma's who came in with every intention of killing him, believing he had betrayed her (he hadn't, but Genma has certainly made it seem that way), and after the misunderstanding was cleared up, it's clear that she likes spending time with Ranma and they quickly return to their old friendly dynamic from their youth.
  • Likewise, Akane, when she's not being hostile to Ranma, genuinely loves him, admiring his more positive qualities. Kodachi Kuno, on the other hand, sees him as a conquest, hoping that he will take her Sacred First Kiss...after she paralyzes him, first, of course.
  • Lest we think that the girls are the only ones guilty of lust vs. love, Akane's many suitors play to this as well. Tatewaki Kuno is a first-rate pervert who openly seeks to two-time Akane with "The Pig-tailed Girl" (unbeknownst to him, Ranma), outright buying salacious pictures of Girl-Type Ranma from Nabiki, as well as pictures of her sister, Akane, working out in the dojo. By comparison, Ranma's other rival, Ryoga, clearly loves Akane, going so far as to say that he would gladly support Akane no matter who she chose, except of course, Ranma himself, as Ryoga still bears him a grudge for the whole being cursed to turn into a pig thing.

Comic Books

• Spider-Man: In the comics for a while, the love interest was Mary Jane and the lust interest was Black Cat. Peter prefers women who are interested in Peter, not Spider-Man. Black Cat is an adrenaline junkie and Anti-Villain who only cares about Spider-Man, she couldn't be less interested in Peter Parker. In some continuities (like the '90s cartoon), her civilian identity Felicia Hardy actually liked Peter before her transformation.

Fan Works

• Danny Phantom: Stranded: Colette is the Lust Interest to her stepsister Star's Love Interest; Colette would often steal Star's boyfriends for the sake of one-upping her stepsister and dump them when she gets bored. When she sees that Star's new boyfriend Danny is loyal, Colette becomes obsessed with trying to steal him away, not because she's genuinely interested in him, but because she enjoys the challenge of seducing a guy who resists her. Meanwhile, Star is serious about her relationship with Danny, unlike Colette who only views relationships as a game. In addition, while Danny is unpopular, Star is okay with that, as she chose to be with Danny for his kind-hearted personality rather than his status. In contrast, Colette desires to shape Danny into someone popular after she steals him, showing that she cares more about status than love.
• In the Metamorphosis fanfic The Indescribable Moments Of Our Lives, protagonist Shin Kurata falls in love with Saki Yoshida for who she is as a person and wants the best for her, whereas her boyfriend, Hayato, is a playboy who is interested in Saki for her body and the money she can bring him, and has no problem drugging and abusing her. Eventually, Saki splits with Hayato after Shin defends her from him and becomes Shin's girlfriend for the rest of the story, and he helps her heal from her trauma while working out some of his own insecurities with her help.
• Infinity Train: Seeker of Crocus: Goh and Tony Clark play this role towards Chloe Cerise. Goh doesn't focus on Chloe's looks, let alone anything else about her, for the longest of times until he thinks back at how Chloe was always supporting him in different ways, whether it was being the only person to ever celebrate his birthday or being the only person in their school to give him his homework (not that he needs them or anything). Goh states to her that he doesn't want lots of friends, he only wanted her. Meanwhile Tony instantly latches onto Chloe's badass persona of "Chloe of the Vermillion" — thanks to her saving him from Gentleman Thief Indigo — and they have a date that involves beating up masked thugs. However, Tony isn't a jerk like most Lust Interests are, just mostly unaware of a lot of problems Chloe is going through.
• Inter Nos: General Shizuru Fujino was assigned Natsuki as a bodyguard by the king of an allied nation. Natsuki's Elective Mute status and her tendency to have Luminescent Blushes when teased make her interesting to Shizuru, who also admires her prowess and skill in combat. During a stay in a neighboring province, they run into Masashi Takeda, a renowned swordsman who tags along when Shizuru is trying to engage in official business, getting in the way, trying to be close to Natsuki. His prurient interest is revealed when he mistakes Natsuki for a slave and offers to buy her from Shizuru. Shizuru remarks on his desire to force himself on Natsuki while delivering a scathing "The Reason You Suck" Speech to him.
  Shizuru: I did not think you would actually be fool enough to try this. Did you think that, since she refused your advances, you would force them on her after bartering with me? Did you think I could not see your intentions from a mile away? Indeed, if that is so, you were wrong. Yes, you were planning to do that to her, were you not? Such base intent, really.
• In the Ghostbusters (1984) fanfic It Was Written on Their Wrists in the Stars, both Peter and Egon are interested in the nameless protagonist, but in Peter's case it's only because he finds her attractive and is very horny.
• The Many Dates of Danny Fenton:
  • Dash Baxter and Danny Fenton show this dynamic in regards to Danny's dates; while Danny is an unpopular student who becomes popular with girls because he treats them like actual human beings, Dash is nothing but a misogynistic horndog who tries, and fails, to steal Danny's dates from him via his status as a high school quarterback and "Alpha Male" bullying attitude.
  • Paulina is the Lust Interest to Danny's various girlfriends; in most of the spinoffs, she looks down on Danny until she finds out that he's Danny Phantom, her superhero crush; after that she obsessively pursues him. Meanwhile, Danny's girlfriends like him before they find out he's a superhero. In addition, Paulina's only positive quality is her physical beauty, whereas Danny's girlfriends, while only slightly less attractive than Paulina at worst, possess likable personalities alongside their good looks.
  • Bonnie in TMDDF: After Many Dates: Danny and Kim is a lot like Paulina in that she only "likes" Danny after finding out he's a superhero; before that, she thinks that Danny is just a loser and makes fun of Kim for dating him. Kim, by contrast, fell in love with Danny long before she found out his secret.
• Naru-Hina Chronicles: Hinata is deeply in love with Naruto because of his kindness among other reasons. By contrast, Nanami lusts over him because he's a strong man with whom she hopes to have powerful offspring.
• Push Comes To Shove Jiraiya and Dan were both interested in Tsunade, but in unlike canon, where both Jiraiya and Dan loved Tsunade, Jiraiya disdains the idea of love and flat out admits that he's only interested in Tsunade for her body.

Films — Animated

• Beauty and the Beast: The Beast and Gaston are like this towards Belle; the Beast doesn't really care for Belle's beauty outside of acknowledging it, tries to get to know her as a person, and respects her love of books. Meanwhile, Gaston's explicit reason for going after Belle is that she's the most beautiful woman in the village and nothing else; he sees her like a prize to be won and shown off rather than a person and disapproves of her love for books.
• The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Disney): Just like the book the film is based on, Quasimodo is attracted to Esmerelda because she was the first person outside the Cathedral of Notre Dame to be nice to him and see him as a person, while Judge Claude Frollo lusts for her as a sexual object. While Quasimodo does suffer a case of Loving a Shadow, once he sees that she loves Phoebus, he is heartbroken but chooses to bless her relationship with Phoebus. Frollo blames Esmerelda for making him feel lust for her, orders a manhunt for her, burns down Paris just to find her, and attempts to execute her when she refuses to be his mistress. Phoebus was the only person to love her for who she really is and this, along with his noble qualities and decision to defy Frollo to do the right thing, is what earns him Esmerelda's love.
• Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa: A variant in which the target character is pursuing the "Lust" interest while they're pursued by the "Love" one. Gloria initially has an interest in the Chick Magnet Moto Moto, who in turn finds her attractive for her body fat, but that's all he has for her. Gloria's friend Melman, on the other hand, has a crush on Gloria for her personality and status as a person, and experiences a Heroic BSoD the moment he sees her with Moto Moto just when he decides to confess his feelings for her (although not without interrupting their date to tell Gloria anyway and also call out Moto Moto on his behavior), prompting him to volunteer himself for a sacrifice hosted by King Julien (which Julien proposed in an attempt to restore the river adjacent to the African animals' land after it was dammed by the lost tourists) shortly afterwards. In a fortunate coincidence during the sacrifice ceremony, Gloria realizes Melman's crush on her was genuine, and dumps Moto Moto to go to the event and spare Melman from his attempted death. Since then, Gloria and Melman remain an Official Couple for the rest of the Madagascar series.
  Gloria: Melman, I gotta know... Did you mean those things you said about me?
  Melman: Of course I did.
  Gloria: That's crazy.
  Melman: It is?
  Gloria: It's crazy to think I had to go halfway around the world... to find out the perfect guy for me lived right next door.
  Melman: Then it's you and me, neighbor. You and me for the next 18 hours.
  Gloria: I'll take whatever you got.
• Megamind: Megamind and Hal Stewart are this respectively to Roxanne. While Megamind's relationship with Roxanne did start out as a lie (since he was impersonating Bernard at the time), he actually does get to know her as a person, and when she rejects him upon finding out the truth, Megamind is heartbroken but chooses to respect her wishes. She does eventually get together with him, but only after he proves his better qualities by fighting Hal and saving both her and the city. Hal on the other hand believes that having superpowers will mean Roxanne will automatically fall for him once he saves her life, but when she rejects him after he recklessly endangers her life, he turns to evil, goes on a rampage around Metro City, and tries to murder Roxanne for refusing his advances.
• The Pebble and the Penguin: Hubie is the Love Interest to Marina, being a kind-hearted, selfless, if somewhat dorky penguin who treats Marina like a person and is willing to try and earn her affections. Meanwhile, Drake is a terrifying example of a Lust Interest; he only wants to marry Marina because he believes that their children will be strong, smart, and beautiful and has no problems with threatening to murder Marina if she rejects him.
• Shark Tale: Angie and Lola to Oscar, respectively. Angie is Oscar's best friend who has been in love with him even back when he was a nobody, while Lola is an opportunistic Gold Digger who only starts showing interest in him when he starts gaining fame and fortune as the Shark Slayer. Once Oscar realizes this, he dumps Lola and gets together with Angie at the end of the film.
• Shrek: Shrek and Farquaad are this to Fiona; while Shrek appreciates her good looks, he also respects her as a person, is willing to let her go, and couldn't care less about her royal status. Meanwhile, Farquaad only wants to marry her for her looks and royal status, and when he learns of her curse, loses interest in her and decides to have her locked in the dungeon while still being married to her so he can become king.
• Shrek becomes a love interest in contrast to Prince Charming's lust interest in Shrek 2 despite already being married to Fiona. Shrek loved Fiona for who she was whereas Prince charming only wanted to marry Fiona so he could be King. The real competition happens after Shrek drinks a happily ever after potion to turn himself human. During his time as a human, he was competing against Charming due to the Fairy Godmother manipulating Shrek into believing that Fiona would rather be with charming than him. Once Shrek realizes that he was being manipulated, that's when he was willing to do anything to keep Charming from Fiona.
• The Super Mario Bros. Movie: Mario and Bowser are respectively this to Peach. While he is astonished by her beauty when he first meets her, Mario never tries to (intentionally) win her heart, focused more on rescuing his brother Luigi, and ends up falling in love with her for her kindness, empathy, and supportiveness. Mario also treats her as a person and an equal and cares about what she wants: for example, when she expresses interest in Mario's world, he invites her to come visit Brooklyn so he can show her around. Finally, even after accomplishing his mission to rescue his brother, Mario still went out of his way to save her kingdom from being destroyed. Bowser, on the other hand, only likes her for her "heart-shaped bangs, the way she floats in the breeze, her immovable tiara", treats her as nothing more than a prize to be won, and even threatens to destroy the Mushroom Kingdom and even her should she refuse to marry him. He also doesn't care about what she wants: he geniunely believes that she would like innocent people being sacrificed, and when she shows that this is not the case, he doesn't hesitate to try and kill her. It's no wonder Peach would be repulsed by Bowser and ends up liking Mario far more than she'll ever like Bowser.

Films — Live-Action

• Back to the Future: Marty unwittingly becomes the lust interest to his future mother Lorraine after he inadvertently interfered in his parents' first meeting in 1955. So, he spends the movie trying to help his future father George win over Lorraine, leading to them planning a Date Rape Averted scenario so that George will "rescue" Lorraine. Things go awry after Biff Tannen interferes in their plan by actually trying to assault her, but George manages to pull through, standing his ground against Biff and punching him out.
• The Chuck E. Cheese Made-for-TV Movie Chuck E. Cheese in the Galaxy 5000 gives us Helen Henny and Astrid. The latter seems to immediately click with the friendly mouse who forms an instant attraction with her but is revealed to be a manipulative Gold Digger who was only liking him for the prize money, and he is devastated upon finding out. Helen on the other hand, is a true friend to Chuck E. who secretly crushes on him and is caring of him in any way, and despite their Unresolved Sexual Tension, he admits he never lost faith in her and makes up with her after winning the race.
• The Money Pit: Anna is engaged to Walter, who genuinely loves her, while her ex-husband Max still occasionally pursues her for his own gratification ("Let's talk about love and sex... actually, forget love, let's just talk about sex.") It's subverted when Max admits he lied about sleeping with Anna while Walter was on a business trip; he makes it clear he actually cares very deeply for her and berates Walter for throwing her away.

Literature

• Discussed in The Four Loves by C. S. Lewis. Eros is Romantic Love, and it, like Storge and Filia, has a negative side to it, whereas Agape was pure unconditional love. Eros, as Lewis points out, can be the most appreciative and pleasurable of all the loves, aside from Agape, but at the same time, can turn into lust, full of false idols, the worship of beauty over substance, and a needy or possessive desire derived from unwholesome and selfish feelings.
• In Gone with the Wind, Scarlett believes that Ashley loves her and Rhett only lusts after her. She realizes only near the end that it was the other way around.
• The Hunchback of Notre Dame: Esméralda is loved by Quasimodo and lusted after by Quasimodo's benefactor Frollo, creating a deadly conflict between the two men. What's worse, she is oblivious to both of their feelings and instead falls for Captain Phoebus, only wants her for sex, then abandons her to be hanged for a crime she did not commit (Phoebus is thus an Opportunistic Lust Interest).
• I, Jedi: At the start of the novel, protagonist Corran Horn is Happily Married to Mirax Terrik, though they're in the middle of an argument about starting a family when she suddenly goes missing on a mission for New Republic Intelligence. Much later, while infiltrating the pirates he suspects are holding her, he's targeted by pirate queen Leonia Tavira, an ex-Imperial moff who decides she wants him for her latest boy toy, and makes a good stab at appealing to his lust. He briefly tries to rationalize it away as a means to an end but realizes he'd really just be sleeping with Tavira to satisfy his male pride. This comes with the admission that Luke Skywalker's warnings about the dark side might actually have had a point: Corran's not nearly as incorruptible as he thought he was.
• Gets a mention alongside Madonna-Whore Complex in The Screwtape Letters, where Screwtape advises that human men imagine two types of women: the "terrestrial Venus" and the "infernal Venus." The first is a potential love object and the other a lust object. Screwtape knows ways to get a man's desire for either of them to turn sinful, but the "infernal Venus" is easier because the lust a man feels for her is 'brutal' and already carries a sense of 'wrongness.'
  The felt evil is what he wants; it is that "tang" in the flavour which he is after.
• The novelisation of X-Men: The Last Stand has a description from the point of view of Jean Grey that implies that Cyclops (her fiance) only lusts for her while Wolverine truly loves her. The novel's writer dislikes Cyclops and likes Wolverine, so whether this is also true of the actual film is unclear.

Live-Action TV

• Night Court: Both Harry and Dan have expressed romantic interest in Christine, but Harry seems more interested in her from an intellectual standpoint, whereas Dan is a lecherous pervert and proud of it. On one occasion Dan saved Christine when she was choking. Somehow, he also managed to steal all her clothes under her coat at the same time.
  Christine: Dan, you saved my life!
  Harry: Miss Sullivan, he felt you up!
• Star Trek: The Next Generation: The two main characters who have expressed romantic interest in Captain Picard are Dr. Beverly Crusher and Ambassador Lwaxana Troi. While Crusher does admit to finding Picard "handsome", the feelings she has for him are more personal, since he's her friend as well as her crush, and her late husband Jack had served with him on the USS Stargazer. Troi, on the other hand, is mainly more into him because she's a very horny woman.

Theatre

• Avenue Q: Princeton is in a Love Triangle with Kate Monster, a sweet kindergarten teacher who is falling in love with him, and Lucy the Slut (her actual name) who only wants him for sex.

Web Animation

• ATTACK on MIKA: The male lead is often pursued by two women who possess this dynamic; one woman often plays the role of a Gold Digger, only showing interest in men based on their money, being willing to dump her boyfriend/husband for wealthier men, and tries to get back with her the male lead whenever she discovers he was actually wealthy/became wealthy. Meanwhile, the female lead loves the protagonist before he becomes wealthy, would never cheat on him, and is willing to struggle with the protagonist rather than dumping him when the going gets tough.
• Etra chan saw it!:
  • Akane often plays the role of the Lust Interest in stories where she acts as an antagonist; Akane typically desires men for shallow reasons like money, looks, or the thrill of stealing away another woman's man, while her rivals choose men for deeper reasons. Akane, while typically portrayed as very attractive, usually has a very unlikable personality, relying on sex appeal and feminine charm to woo men, while her less attractive rivals are able to win men with their more likable personalities. In stories where Akane ends up stealing away her rival's man, the relationship tends to go sour quickly due to their superficial personalities, with either Akane and/or her man discovering the hard way that a person who'll cheat with them would also cheat on them; by contrast, Akane's rivals tend to enjoy much more fulfilling relationship due to their willingness to be loyal to one another.
  • Yuzuriha and Tsutsuji are the Lust and Love Interest for Tokusa respectively; back in middle school, Yuziriha rejected and made fun of Tokusa for being short and having a babyface, while Tsutsuji, who received similar treatment for being tall was interested in him because of his kind-hearted personality. During the class reunion, Yuziriha tries flirting with Tokusa when she sees that he's handsome and rich. When Tokusa rejects her and reveals that he's engaged to Tsutsuji, Yuzuriha is confused that he'd choose a less attractive girl over her, showing that she's the same shallow girl she was in middle school.

Web Videos

• Apple Texts and its various sister channels use this trope a lot, and in different forms:
  • In stories that feature an an ugly protagonist and a good-looking antagonist, the antagonist will often attempt to steal the protagonist's lover via their looks and sex appeal, with their attraction being based on a desire to hurt the protagonist, the lover's looks and/or money, or offense that an ugly person could get married before them rather than actual feelings for the lover. In stories where the antagonist succeeds in stealing away the lover, they are quick to abandon or cheat on their new partner when something better comes along, especially if the protagonist has found a new, better lover for them to steal. If the antagonist fails, they will often express confusion and disbelief that a person would rather stay faithful to an ugly person rather than cheat with a more attractive person. Meanwhile, the protagonist is always indifferent to their lover's status, money, and looks, and chooses them based on their personalities, only leaving them due to serious reasons such as infidelity, abuse, laziness, etc rather than fickle desire.
  • In stories that feature a protagonist married to someone perceived as a loser, the shallow antagonist will make fun of the protagonist for being married to someone of such low status, assuming that the protagonist married them because they're not good enough to do better, when in fact the protagonist genuinely loves them. When the "loser" lover later becomes successful/is revealed to be successful, the shallow antagonist will immediately show interest and demand that the protagonist give them their lover, as if they were an object to be possessed, unlike the protagonist, who treats their lover like a person and loved them before they became successful.
  • Stories that involve a protagonist's cheating ex will have said ex play the Lust Interest, while the protagonist's Second Love lays the role of a Love Interest; typically, the story begins with the ex leaving them for someone prettier, richer, younger, etc, usually with the justification that their new spouse is their "true love." Later on, the ex will try to get back with the protagonist either because their new relationship didn't work out, their new lover lost their income, or they found out the protagonist made more money. Meanwhile, the Second Love will love the protagonist for who they are rather than for what they have or what they look like.

Western Animation

• Allen Gregory has a very dark example. Once upon a time, Jeremy was Happily Married to a woman who loved him for who he was. However, one day, Richard entered Jeremy's life, and things took a turn for the worse. Richard lusted over Jeremy, stalking him day in and day out, even with several restraining orders. Sadly, this is an example where the lust actually wins, since Richard bothered Jeremy so much that he had no choice but to leave the love of his life and accept him as his husband.
• Danny Phantom: Jack Fenton and Vlad Masters both love Maddie, but the difference between the two of them is that Jack genuinely loves Maddie for who she is, while Vlad only loves the idea of being with Maddie. In an Alternate Timeline where Vlad is the one who gets the girl, he treats her as a possession rather than a person, and Maddie is unhappy being with him and still loves Jack.
• Futurama: Both Fry and Zapp are shown to be attracted to Leela throughout the series. However, Fry has proven to genuinely care about her, willing to risk his life for her and even letting her be with another man she cares about that turns out to be his future self. Zapp, on the other hand, is selfish and wants her purely because she is attractive, with him constantly bragging about the time the two slept together (which was actually just Pity Sex).