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When A Jerk Loves A Tsundere
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redirected from Main.TakahashiCouple
They're meant for each other.
When A Jerk Loves A Tsundere is the pairing of a Jerk With A Heart Of Gold with a Tsundere, thereby justifying a long extended Will They Or Wont They. If they do get together they might resolve their differences for a Happy Ending, or they might become The Masochism Tango.
This couple is often the central pairing, the Official Couple, but Failure Is The Only Option for them because half the plot or more revolves around them not being able to admit their feelings.
Despite the conflict between the Tsundere and the Jerk, there is an attraction. This is obvious to everyone around except the Official Couple. Confront them with the obvious, they'll deny deny deny. When one gets clued in, they will do every thing in their power to play it off. The other soon does the same. Sometimes this denial will result in over the top insults directed against the other member of the couple. Of course the Love Interest decides that these insults represent the true feelings of the other member of the couple, resulting in even more obstacles to their eventual pairing. Other times they will progress to admitting their friendship but insisting they are Just Friends. Then, eventually, they can admit their feelings... to practically anyone except their loved one. It ends up where both characters dance around admitting their feelings as if the words "I love you" are some sort of death curse, much to the frustration of the audience and the other characters.
Might involve a Cannot Stand Them Cannot Live Without Them situation, or even Domestic Abuse (but usually Played For Laughs).
Older Than Steam, since this is used in Much Ado About Nothing, and has varying degrees of popularity at different times. Is often a component of Screwball Comedy .
If there is a Love Epiphany with one of these character, expect it to change almost nothing, at least in the short term.
Sometimes an effort to avoid a Shipping Bed Death, but might end up in the same place anyway.
Compare with Twice Shy, where the partners are hampered from admitting their feelings due to both sharing an entirely different personality type than the ones listed above. Compare It Meant Something To Me, where one side of a couple vehemently denies feeling anything for their partner.
Takahashi is a master of this trope, with her love of love of unresolved romantic tension and the ludicrous humourous lengths her stories often go to keep things unresolved. In fact, her works display this trope so well that this Trope used to be called the " Takahashi Couple." The female lead is often The Obstructive Love Interest as well.
Urusei Yatsura:
Male Lead: Ataru is a Leisure Suit Larry, Unlucky Everydude, Jerk With A Heart Of Gold
Female Lead: Whichever one you think counts doesn't matter, because both Lum and Shinobu are Tsundere.
Will They Or Wont They goes on forever, and is never resolved - although this may be due to a crossfire of Ship Sinking and Executive Meddling, since the author and the fans disagreed about who should be the Official Couple. In the end, the Reset Button was hit, rather than let Ataru and Lum progress to "official" Official Couple.
Maison Ikkoku:
Male Lead: Godai, is an Unlucky Everydude, usually a nice guy, but occasionally a Jerk. (His progression from jerk trying to get into college to responsible adult is one of the primary Character Development aspects of the work.) He's a Jerk With A Heart Of Gold, though much less so than the other male leads in Takahashi's work. Notably, his rival also fits this mold and has similar character development.
Female Lead: Kyoko is a repressed tsundere. Changed into a Yamato Nadeshiko by the death of her first husband, her developing relationship with Godai brings the tsundere back out.
Will They Or Wont They is finally resolved after 70 plus episodes. Ending on a definite note with Godai and Kyoko married. Their issues were more serious and realistic {Godai's wishy-washiness, Kyoko's inability to let go of her late husband} than Takahashi's usual stubborn Will Not Spit It Out
Ranma ½:
Probably the most famous of the Takahashi works.
Ranma: Jerk With A Heart Of Gold
Akane: Tsundere. Her type varies: the manga makes her a Type B (more deredere), the anime gives her more Type A (more tsuntsun) aspects than she had in the manga but she can still be considered a Type B.
Ranma seems to be locked in the The Masochism Tango with all his possible Love Interests.
The Trope Codifiers: Many a fan-theory exists as to why they're so unable or unwilling to admit the obvious (a combination of Ranma's ultra-macho Raised By Angry Kittens upbringing and Akane's Kuno-induced misandry being the most popular). Takahashi couldn't even bring herself to put them officially together in the manga's final issues. This may have also been due to the fact that no couple could really go anywhere without horribly dishonoring most of the rest of them. Plus, they are still in high school so perhaps a lack of progress is understandable. At least some (minor) hints of progress at the very end. (They hold hands).
Inu Yasha:
Inu Yasha: Jerk With A Heart Of Gold
Kagome Higurashi: Type B Tsundere (deredere)
Inu Yasha and Kagome are a variant: They clearly have come to an understanding as to their mutual feelings, so tend to have moments of Aw Look They Really Do Love Each Other occasionally sprinkled into the denials, fighting, and plot-stretching bouts of Can Not Spit It Out. They actually do become an Official Couple towards the end of the manga (and appropriately enough, their romance then receives much less attention until the end). Not to mention, thanks to Character Development, Kagome warms up to Inuyasha quite faster than the standard Takahashi Tsundere, and Inuyasha is slightly less prone to verbal abuse than the standard Takahashi Jerk With A Heart Of Gold.
Other Examples
Anime and Manga
- Keiko Yukimura and Yusuke Urameshi of Yu Yu Hakusho in that Yusuke is definitely a Jerk with a Heart of Gold while Keiko is working to keep him on the straight and narrow. They love each other obviously (and everyone knows it) but his jerkitude tends to keep them apart until the end.
- Hiei and Mukuro may also fit this trope, with The Masochism Tango that doesn't seem to dampen Hiei's interest (even Kurama notes it). Not quite the same since she's only introduced in the last arc, and their hinted attraction is too early to be a Will They Or Wont They.
- Akito Hayama and Sana Kurata in Kodomo No Omocha.
- Kyohei and Sunako in The Wallflower. In an eerily similar case to Inu Yasha, they've had their moments, but they're not even a third of the way into the romance arc progression in the manga and the readers are already going, "Let them progress! End! End!" at all the plot-stretching.
- Kyon and Haruhi in Suzumiya Haruhi: If they do get together, they're inverted, in that Kyon is closer to a Type A male tsundere, while Haruhi is the Jerk With A Heart Of Gold.
- Louise and Saito from Zero No Tsukaima take this to the extreme. She's a Tsundere who uses a horse whip, and he is a lecherous baka and a bit of a Yuri Fanboy.
- Bleach has Ichigo, who could use some lessons in manners and Rukia, who is completely professional and has to learn to consider Ichigo's feelings in the beginning of the story. They currently aren't even close to being an Official Couple, but the manga isn't over yet and the emotional has taken a back seat to fighting.
- And what about Renji and Rukia? Would they fit in, too?
- Fullmetal Alchemist has Edward as the Jerk With A Heart Of Gold and Winry as his tsundere.
- About equally tsundere, I'd say. Winry has been at fault as well.
- Detective Conan (more specifically Magic Kaitou, set in the same universe with overlapping characters) has Kaito as the Jerk With A Heart Of Gold and Aoko as the tsundere — to the point where fanart of Kaito drawn as Ranma and Aoko drawn as Akane has become fairly popular. Heiji and Kazuha also fit the mould. Shinichi and Ran approach it, but Shinichi isn't enough of a jerk and Ran isn't enough of a tsundere, and both come to realize their feelings early in the series, even if they don't act on them (for life-threatening reasons on Shinichi's part).
- An earlier (and, given that one of them is considered anime's prototype Tsundere, possibly the earliest) example: Sayaka Yumi and Koji Kabuto from Mazinger Z. He's a tactless Idiot Hero, she's his Tsundere partner in crime.
- One Stormy Night
- Hiroshi and Kyoko from Hell Teacher Nube
- Fandom often speculates that America and England are the most suitable candidates for a Ho Yay version of the Takahashi Couple (what with all the Ship Tease) in Axis Powers Hetalia, with the rather tactless America as the Jerk With A Heart Of Gold and the more sensitive England as the Tsundere (although America arguably has some Tsundere traits too, or is at least a Master Of The Mixed Message when it comes to England).
- Sousuke Sagara and Kaname Chidori from Full Metal Panic. Although Sousuke is more of an oblivious Baka than intentional jerk- his obliviousness does tend to make him act like a Jerkass.
- Alto Saotome and Sheryl Nome in Macross Frontier, a rather interesting case in that they both alternate as to who's the Tsundere and who's the Jerk.
- A bit surprisingly, Laura's Happily Married parents in Hamtaro started their relationship as a Takahashi Couple. They got over themselves by the time they got married and Laura was born, though.
- Lovely Complex has Atsushi Otani and Risa Koizumi starting out very much like a Takahashi Couple, although it's somewhat unusual in that it's entirely viewed from the Tsundere's perspective. Also, their feelings for each other develop at a more or less realistic pace.
- Yuuji Kagura and Kazuki Arisaka in Tona Gura. Subverted somewhat in that, while Yuuji will take his beatdown when he has it coming (and he often does, even past animanga standards), he will be vociferous in telling off Kazuki when she has it wrong (and she often does). Both can be jerks, and both can be tsunderes, though it more or less settles traditionally based on gender.
- Kamille Bidan and Fa Yuiri from Zeta Gundam.
- Aoba and Ko from Cross Game.
- Ayano and Kazuma from Kaze No Stigma, full stop.
- Every series of Yu-Gi-Oh, especially since it was created by another Takahashi, Kazuki. Despite all the heavy hints, we never get so much as a kiss.
- That is, until 5D's Episode 58....
- Guess the best example would be Jonouchi (Jerk) with Mai, altough Mai is less of a Tsundere and more of a Ojou really.
- Except that both Jou and Mai are equally Tsundere.
- Roger and Angel and Roger and Dorothy in Big O. Of course it's difficult to determine which is the Tsundere and which is the Jerk With A Heart Of Gold, since all three characters are a bit of both...
- Dancougar: Sara is stuck in Type A mode because her ex-boyfriend Shapiro pulled a Face Heel Turn; and Shinobu acts like a macho jerk to try and get her attention. These issues begin to resolve once Shapiro dies at the end of the TV series, and in the sequel OAV they finally start to move toward Official Couple status.
- Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann plays this for as much tragedy as it possibly can. Twice.. Poor, poor Yoko.
- Kotaro and Natsumi of Mahou Sensei Negima are well on their way to becoming one of these.
- Even more so: Nagi and Princess Arika.
- Kei and Hayato from Project ARMS. Possibly best summed up when the group is crawling through a tunnel. Hayato coments on the lovely view (of Kei's rear) and Kei gives him a good kick in the face.
- In the Clannad Visual Novel, we get a Takahashi Couple if the player picks Kyou's route.
- Only a Ship Tease instead of an actual couple, but The Slayers TRY has Filia Ul Copt and Xellos. Filia is a Holier Than Thou Type B Tsundere, Xellos is an Affably Evil Token Evil Teammate Loveable Traitor and Magnificent Bastard. For extra 'spice', Filia is a Golden Dragon, a race that is ( or, rather, believes itself to be) Always Lawful Good, while Xellos is a Mazoku, which are Always Chaotic Evil... also, during the last war between their two races, Xellos single-handedly killed thousands of Golden Dragons.
Comic Books
Films
- Princess Leia and Han Solo from Star Wars.
- Lo and Jen from Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, especially in the desert scenes. This trope has been translated for your convenience into martial arts action!
Literature
- Pretty much any Mills & Boone romance novel will feature a 'Firey female' lead, while the leading male is always a Jerk With A Heart Of Gold.
- Prior to the sixth book, many Harry Potter fanfictions with a romantic interest in Ron/Hermione had them go through this — the denial, the constantly-at-each-others'-throats, the entire school being aware of the situation, and usually betting on the outcome (oftentimes suggesting that Albus Dumbledore has nothing better to do with his time than set about hooking up two of his students). Then Ron discovered Lavender Brown... And lastly, they are married with kids in the epilogue.
- Zohra and Khardan in The Rose Of The Prophet series, slightly altered in that they have a forced marriage early in the first book. The bride is tied up and gagged to wed the falling-down-drunk groom, and the wedding night notably involves the bride stabbing her would-be husband. Will They Or Wont They is still a big plot point (they may be married, but consummation is not forthcoming), and basically will decide if their people survive or die.
- Prydain Chronicles, Eilonwy and Taran
- Simon R Green's Blue Moon Rising has Prince Rupert (Jerk With A Heart Of Gold) and Princess Julia (Type A Tsundere for most of the book, becomes type B towards the end though). They eventually get their act together at the end and by the time of the sequels are a real Battle Couple
- Claire Bell's The Book Of The Named gives us Ratha, a type B Tsundere, and Bonechewer, a Jerk With A Heart Of Gold. Due to an Enemy Mine situation, they do eventually end up together, only to fall out over the secret of the Named's sentience, and her people killing him when he raided their flocks.
- In the Night World series, Ash and Mary-Lynette are like this in the majority of Daughters of Darkness. He's a self-admitted jerk who toys with hearts, she's deredere but kicks him in the shins. A lot.
- Supposedly Howl and Sophie from the novel (but not the film) Howls Moving Castle and its sequels though this is probably due more to Word Of God than any actual outstanding examples within the books.
- Brienne and Jaime from A Song Of Ice And Fire should count.
Live Action TV
- Chuck Bass and Blair Waldorf of Gossip Girl seem poised to play Will They Or Wont They for the remainder of the series.
- Tom Paris and B'Elanna Torres, the Official Couple on Star Trek Voyager (sometimes it appeared they were the only couple on Voyager). Even after they got married.
- Daniel Jackson and Vala Mal Doran of Stargate SG 1. Okay so Daniel isn't what you'd call a Jerk With A Heart Of Gold usually, but Vala did seem to be able to annoy him in a way that no-one else quite could, leading to many arguments over the series. Also none of the other cast really expect them to get together, but Mitchell did sometimes tease Daniel about it.
- John Crichton and Aeryn Sun in Farscape's First Season. Both seem to be jerks and Type A tsunderes in varying degrees.
- Mal and Inara (deredere) on Firefly, with the added wrenches of Inara being a Companion and Mal being terrible about long-term commitments.
- Further complicated by Inara telling Mal she supported Unification, which was essentially the event after which Mal's life started to suck.
- House and Dr. Cuddy.
- Dr. Cox and his ex-wife Jordan in Scrubs, particularly in the early seasons.
- Kyle and Max in Living Single. At times, they took turns as to who was the Jerk and who was the Tsundere in various episodes.
- Alex Drake and Gene Hunt in Ashes To Ashes.
- On Northern Exposure, Dr. Joel Fleischmann and Maggie O'Connell's long-simmering UST was severly impeded by a) his tendency to deal with his severe Fish Out Of Water status with fits of jerk behavior, and b) her severe resistance to relationships after the deaths of several previous boyfriends (which she believed to be her curse).
- Chad and Sonny on Sonny With A Chance. Sonny is definitely Type B, with her tsuntsun side only triggered by Chad and occasionally Tawny. Come to think of it...
- Emerson and Simone from Pushing Daisies might qualify. You can almost picture that woman holding a tight leash around Emerson's neck.
- Moonlighting, anyone? As stated above, can lead to Dave And Maddie Syndrome.
Theater
Video Games
- Croix and Prier of La Pucelle Tactics spend the last half of the game this way, with most of the rest of the party seeing it, and them denying it. They finally admit their feelings to each other at the climax of the game, and then promptly go back to denying it again in public.
- Adell and Rozalin from Disgaea 2. Lampshaded when Etna spots the trope and assures them that they aren't fooling anyone.
- Serra and Erk from Fire Emblem 7, so much. To an extent, also Lex and Ayra from the fourth game, and Innes and L'Arachel from the eighth one... And doubly so with Ephraim and L'Arachel.
- Elika and the Prince in the 2008 Prince Of Persia will spend more time snarking at each other than actually completing their quest, if the player lets them.
- Devil May Cry 3 introduced a Lady (Tsundere) as a possible love interest for Dante (Jerk With A Heart Of Gold). The relationship didn't become Official Couple, but that's how it's been in the first three games in the series. Each one introduced a possible love interest for the protagonist, yet no Official Couple was ever stated, and each fan has a different favourite.
- Jessica and Kyle of the first Lunar game fit this trope very well, with Jessica being a Hot Blooded, Cute Monster Girl dropout priestess and Kyle being a drunken, Loveable Rogue bandit running a sort of Monster Protection Racket......So Yeah....
- OK, thanks to chronic heroic mime-ism, this is really completly dependend on how the player interpretes the character, but Link from The Legend Of Zelda can really easily be portraied as this with Midna, as well as with Tetra. who also both happen to be princesses in disguise The first one keeps harrasing him, while he's under a curse which turns him into a fierce wolf (yeah, the "puppy" jokes happen), the second one talks him down for being sentimental upon leaving his home and catapults him into a wall of stone. Now, just take one one Link's two default expressions (the angry one) and fanarts and fanfictions that just scream this trope start popping up like the flowers in spring.
Web Comics
- In Misfile, Ash and Emily practically have "Takahashi Couple" stamped on their foreheads from the minute they appear. In an inversion, they admit their feelings for each other way too early, before either one is really ready. The result is so bad that they retreat into denial, and even when they're ready to try again, they Cannot Spit It Out due to fear.
- Grouchy dragon warrior Straha and haughty elven summoner Maguna from WTF Comics.
- Womanizer Sven and deconstructed Bottle Fairy Faye of Questionable Content. Yes, even after they kind-of sort-of get together.
- Brad and Page from Fur Will Fly, though Brad's more of a Dumb Ass than a Jerk Ass. (They are Happily Married in the sequel comic, Coming Up Violet.)
- Largo and Erika from Megatokyo.
- Tipper and Charles from Namir Deiter, before they got married.
- Slick and Monique from Sinfest.
- Zap and Reona from Zap!, at least until Reona defrosted some.
- In Sluggy Freelance, Riff and Gwynn dating was a bit like this, she being very Tsundere and he an insensitive jerk towards women he dates. It didn't last, though. The relationship wasn't focused on, and while it went on, it didn't seem to have any redeeming features, but afterwards it was shown clearly enough that there had been some actual positive emotions involved.
Web Original
- Simon and Jeremy from Shadow Of The Templar. They have sex often, but are extremely poor at admitting how important the other is to him, with Simon vigorously denying that Jeremy could even be his friend. Jeremy's love of treating Simon like an amusing playmate and infuriating him with his cool and unruffled demeanor doesn't help, though he does seem to be more conscious about his own feelings and makes the occasional barb about Simon's capacity for denial.
- Simon is a lot more conventionally Tsundere about their totally-not-a-relationship, though.
Western Animation
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