Basic Trope: A person has a lover or spouse who can shapeshift.
- Straight: Princess Alice is betrothed to a white wolf who is really a handsome prince in disguise.
- Exaggerated:
- Princess Alice's fiancé is a Eldritch Abomination who is really a handsome prince in disguise.
- Princess Alice's fiancé is a wolf-eagle-alligator-shark-spider Hybrid who is really a handsome prince in disguise.
- Downplayed: Princess Alice's fiancé is a Winged Humanoid who can make his wings disappear.
- Justified:
- The marriage is a political move to ensure peace between humans and wolves.
- Princess Alice doesn't care about the fact that the object of her love is a white wolf - she cares more about his good character.
- They've been in their relationship since before the curse and Alice isn't so shallow as to abandon her lover just because he looks different now.
- Inverted:
- Princess Luna is a Wolf who is engaged to a human who is really a handsome wolf in disguise!
- In a world where almost everyone can transform (voluntarily, or not) into something else, Princess Luna's fiancé breaks the mold, as he's a man who is completely impervious to shape-shifting magic.
- Subverted: At first Princess Alice thinks she is betrothed to an animal, but it turns out her suitor is just a hairy man.
- Double Subverted: Alice accused her betrothed of being an animal shapeshifter so no one would realize that she is one herself.
- Parodied: Turns out Alice really enjoys living the wolfish life! Running around naked in the woods, howling to the moon, beats being stuck in a castle all day! She is disappointed when her husband turns back into a man.
- Zig Zagged: ???
- Averted: The hero(ine) does not shapeshift, no marriage to an animal takes place.
- Enforced: ???
- Lampshaded: Oh great! I guess I'm stuck in one of those fairy tales where I have to marry a hedgehog or something!"
- Invoked: A shapeshifter transforms into a majestic creature to impress girls.
- Exploited: Princess Alice's scheming cousins realize her lover's nature, and swap him out for an actual wolf.
- Defied: Princess Alice performs background checks on all potential lovers, so that she doesn't end up with a shapeshifter.
- Discussed: ???
- Conversed: ???
- Deconstructed:
- The prince has spent much of his life living as a wolf and is unable to deal with humans, leaving Princess Alice in a relationship with a slobbish, illiterate, rude, and frequently naked barbarian.
- White wolves are common in Princess Alice's country, causing the prince to end up being hunted down and killed in his wolf form.
- Reconstructed:
- Princess Alice educates the prince on the finer points of human society, and their relationship grows as a result.
- Princess Alice gives the prince a piece of cloth to wear around his neck, so that he's easier to identify.
Back to Shapeshifting Lover.
