Basic Trope: The hero chooses to save his love interest rather than the world.
- Straight: Bob stops fighting Emperor Evulz to rescue Alice from being killed by Violet Darkheart and General Drake.
- Exaggerated: Every time Bob tries to do anything, Alice suddenly finds herself in mortal danger and Bob has to save her every time.
- Downplayed: ???
- Justified:
- Without Alice's powers, the barren world cannot be made inhabitable again, even if it is saved from destruction.
- As far as Bob is concerned, if Alice dies, the rest of the world just doesn't matter anymore.
- Inverted: Bob saves the world instead of Alice.
- Subverted:
- Bob apparently attempts to save Alice as a ruse to let Evulz leave himself open, letting Alice die in the process.
- Or alternatively, Bob seems to be leaning towards saving Alice until he realizes that if Evulz wins, Alice is just as doomed as everyone else.
- Double Subverted:
- His ruse included a signal to his friends, who save Alice in his place.
- (To the alternate scenario), after Bob says this, Evulz promises he won't kill Alice along with the rest of the world and so Bob saves Alice anyway.
- Parodied: Alice breaks a nail during the final battle between Bob and Evulz. Bob sees this, drops everything, and rushes to help her.
- Zig Zagged: Alice is apparently in danger, but it turns out that she was manipulating Bob to 'rescue her' from Evulz, who is actually in league with her... but then Evulz discovers that Alice and Bob had planned to have Alice betray him and puts her in real danger.
- Averted: Alice is in no danger, Bob lets Alice die, or Bob is fast enough to save them both.
- Enforced: "We need to emphasize how much Bob loves Alice."
- Lampshaded: "I can't believe I'm doing this... I'll save you, Alice!"
- Invoked: Evulz orders his minions to attack Alice, knowing that Bob will stop collecting Plot Coupons to save her.
- Exploited: ???
- Defied: Alice tells Bob to save the world and worry about her afterward.
- Discussed: "Bob, would refuse to save the world in order to save my life, if that sort of thing ever happened to us?"
- Conversed: "If Alice stubbed her toe while a village was being slaughtered, Bob would probably massage Alice's foot before he saved anyone else..."
- Deconstructed: Bob drops everything to save Alice, allowing Evulz to win; Alice kills herself in despair or comes to hate Bob as a result.
- Reconstructed: Bob seems to be letting Evulz win, but it turns out Good Hurts Evil and The Power of Love itself turns the tide.
Now hand over the
MacGuffin and go back to
Always Save the Girl or your
Love Interest gets it!
