Series / Floricienta

A Cinderella that traded her glass slippers for Converse

Floricienta is an Argentine kid-oriented telenovela created by Cris Morena (creator of other popular teen-oriented telenovela mainstays like Chiquititas, Rebelde Way, and Alma Pirata). The series concerns the heroine, Flor, working as a governess for the affluent Fritzenwalden family, but is in love with the eldest son and parental figure, Federico aka Fede. Unfortunately, his conniving godmother "Malala" schemes to marry him off to one of her daughters, and the witch might have a dark secret with Flor's past.

The series title is a pun on the heroine's name, Florencia, and "Cenicienta" (the Spanish name for "Cinderella.") What does this have to do with Cinderella, you may ask? The dark secret about Flor's past is that the man she thinks is her father is actually her stepfather; her real father is Fede's godmother's dead husband... which makes her Flor's Wicked Stepmother and her daughters Flor's stepsisters... and the witches will stop at nothing to keep Flor's rightful estate (and "Fede," her prince and "his" fortune, for that matter) out of her hands. While Flor only learns the truth towards the end of the show, this is made an Open Secret to the audience in the first episode, to the point where the trailer for the Mexican remake explains this storyline before even getting into the nanny subplot, and references to this plot twist will go unmarked as spoilers.

The series has been remade in several countries: in Portugal, Chile, and Brazil as Floribella. Originally, the name was changed since the "Cenicienta" pun would have been lost on Portugese-speakers, who call "Cinderella" by her English name; the Chilean remake was originally going to be called "Floricienta" but went with the Portugese name after it turned out the original was copyrighted. In Mexico, it was remade as Lola, érase una vez (meaning "Lola, Once Upon a Time"). It also had a brief run in the United States.

Disney Channel initially considered on remaking the show for an American audience, but was scrapped altogether in-favor of producing their own "teenage-nanny" show, Jessie. Infamously, Flor's actress produced another similar show, Nini, about another Magical Nanny (except the shtick here is that she disguises herself as a man to avoid the scheming fiancee); the second show was heavily criticized, and the similarities were so many, to the point that Cris Morena successfully sued for plagiarism. Then, in 2015, Morena collaborated with Juan J. Campanella (the founder of Mundoloco CGI and director of Metegol) to launch an Animated Adaptation based on the TV series, titled Floribella, for the Discovery Kids Latin America channel, announced alongside a Recycled: The Series spin-off of Metegol — later reworked as Underdogs United — and original series Mini Beat Power Rockers. The core premise would remain the same, but would also incorporate new characters to the roster, including a fly who happens to be buddies with Flor and a quintet of fairies with different emotions who help Flor with her everyday life. As of 2024, the show is currently in Development Hell.

The series provides examples of:

• Abdicate the Throne: Max chooses the Fritzenwalden's over his role as monarch of Krikoragán. He gives up nobility altogether when royal etiquette/Krikoragán's religious laws forbids him marrying Flor so soon after separating from Delfina.
• Abusive Parents: Malala is mean to everyone but she has a special kind of hatred for Sofía, whom she regurlarly and thoroughly insults.
  • Malala's mother isn't any better with her own daughter.
• Accidental Misnaming: Because Greta's grasp of Spanish is tenuous, she calls all characters a wonkier version of their names, like calling Federico "Federica", which he's tried time and again to get her to stop doing, with no success. (When Pretovna does similarly, he also insists on correcting her.)
  • Flor cannot call Greenberg, the family therapist in season two, by his actual name. She calls him "Rosembaum" after the family's therapist in season one.
• Accidental Pervert: Nicolás a couple of times around Clara. First, he's crouching outside the bathroom door when she finishes showering (he's picking up candy from the floor after shooing off his younger brother); later, when he's chatting with Clara under his "Lone Wolf" internet persona and Clara and Nata show up, as he's trying to hide the emails, a sex advertisement shows up on the screen, and the girls think that's what he had been looking at all along.
• Adaptational Comic Relief: The Chilean version has a more Butt-Monkey-ish Malala than the original, even casting an actress (Graciela "Coca" Guazzini) who has been famous for her "Played for Laughs Rich Bitch" roles ever since The '80s.
• Adoption Angst: Franco in season 2 finds out he's not a Fritzenwalden by blood, and decides to look for his real parents.
• Adoptive Peer Parent: Flor once she adopts the remaining Fritzenwalden siblings, with possibly the exception of Tomás.
• Age-Gap Romance: Between Maia and Matías. He's ten years older than her, and her brother's best friend to boot.
• The Alcoholic: Though she's rarely seen outright drunk, it's often commented on by the other characters how much Malala drinks and she's often seen refilling her glass from the liquor cabinet.
• Alliterative Name: Florencia Fazzarino, Federico Fritzenwalden, Franco Fritzenwalden.
• All-Loving Hero: Flor. Makes friends with everyone and everything, and even though she can get angry easily and doesn't like injustice, she'll give even the Big Bad the benefit of the doubt and a second chance if they seem remorseful.
• All Psychology Is Freudian: Based on Martín's way of explaining situations, using vocabulary he presumably picked up from his own therapy sessions.
• Almost Kiss: The bread and butter of this show. Fede and Flor are almost always interrupted.
• Aloof Big Brother: Federico at the beginning. He has trouble relating to his siblings and comes across as cold and unsympathetic.
• Altar the Speed: Because Delfina was pretending to have a terminal illness that was getting worse rapidly, her wedding with Fede was moved from a few months away to a couple of days away.
• Amnesia Episode: Being that it's a telenovela, it's no surprise someone loses their memory at least once, in this case Flor.
• Anger Born of Worry: The main reason Federico gets mad with his wilder siblings or is constantly anxious about the family; he's worried he's not taking good care of them and that they'll do badly in life because of it.
• Armor-Piercing Question: When Federico is explaining to Flor how his parents expected him to be with Delfina, he says they initially opposed it because they didn't like each other. Cue Flor asking "So how did you fall in love?". Federico can't answer.
• Bad Liar: Most of the good guys but especially Flor, and especially when it's to Federico. She starts rambling, obviously making it up as she goes, but she's often saved by the bell when other characters interrupt her explanations.
• Bar Brawl: When an admirer is being a little too handsy with Flor, Federico punches him in her defence, and their fighting devolves into a full-blown brawl with all the men in the bar.
• Beautiful Dreamer: Affectionate Gesture to the Head included. Fede finds Flor asleep a couple of times and gazes lovingly, before he admonishes himself for liking her.
• Beautiful Singing Voice: Most characters point out how pretty Flor's singing is.
• Belligerent Sexual Tension: Between Flor and Fede.
  • In season 2, Flor and Max. If the song "Cosas que odio de vos"^note Translation: "Things I hate about you" wasn't clear enough about it...
• Best Friend: Matías for Federico. Matías, the more easy-going and level-headed of the two, helps Federico deal with his emotional turmoils.
• Big Brother Instinct: Federico wants to make sure his siblings live a good life and will go to any lengths to make sure they're fine. The twins also show shades of this.
• The Big Damn Kiss: After 64 episodes, Fede finally gets up the courage to kiss Florencia. And what a kiss.
• Big Sister Bully: Delfina is an emotional bully to Sofía, constantly humilliating her and calling her an idiot. Her relationship with Flor is even worse, to the point of being a case of Cain and Abel.
• Big "WHAT?!": Sofía announces that she is leaving home. Malala, completely oblivious, thinks that she's going somewhere and tells her to take a coat. She clarifies, she's going to live with "Bata" somewhere else. Malala and Delfina shouted "WHAT??!!" in unison.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Delfina, especially once she decides to play nice with Flor as a trap to get her kicked out.
• Bittersweet Ending: Infamously, Federico dies at the end of the first season, although Flor ends up marrying a count and regaining her father's estate. She also adopts the surviving Fritzenwalden children, suggesting she takes over their estate as well. The Chilean and Mexican remake chose a more traditional Happily Ever After.
• Bonding over Missing Parents: The early episodes focus on Fede missing his recently deceased parents and finding comfort in Flor, who feels the same about her own mother, bringing them emotionally closer.
• Book Ends: The first episode ends with Flor and Fede meeting in the foam and him asking "Who are you?", "Y la vida" playing in the background. The season ends with Flor and Max meeting in the foam, her asking "Who are you?", "Y la vida" playing in the background.
• Bookworm: Martín, and to a lesser extent Nicolás.
• Boys Like Creepy Critters: Tomás owns spiders and other insects and treats them as pets.
• Bratty Teenage Daughter: Maia, especially whenever she argues with her siblings.
• Break His Heart to Save Him: Federico realizes how much seeing him with Delfina is hurting Flor so he decides to be as authoriatian as possible to make her fall out of love with him.
• Bureaucratically Arranged Marriage: Federico mentions his parents basically expected him to marry Delfina when he came of age as one of the reasons he's going along with it.
• Cannot Spit It Out: Federico just is unable to admit he loves Flor to her face.
• Can't Hold His Liquor: Federico doesn't drink alcohol, so when he's shown drinking, it only takes one or two glasses to get him wasted.
• Can't Take Criticism: Federico. He butts heads with Maia a lot because of this, though it's not uncommon he'll retreat to think, realize his mistakes and make amends afterwards.
  • Flor, though not as obviously at first, also has problems admitting she's wrong, mostly when others accuse her of being naive. She just doubles down on her beliefs until eventually the truth comes to light.
• The Casanova: Franco.
  • In season two, Máximo takes on the mantle.
• Catchphrase: Many, many, for example, Malala's "¡ESTÚPIDA!" and Delfina's "Alguien está en problemas".
• Celebrity Paradox: Rebelde Way exists in the Floricienta universe.
• The Champion: Franco is Flor's. He always defends her against injustices and would do absolutely anything to guarantee her hapiness, and this bond only becomes deeper as the seasons progress and the bad guys get worse.
• Character Derailment: In-Universe. They take part in a School Play based on Cinderella: Delfina as Cinderella, Flor as the evil sister, Malala as the wicked stepmother, Federico as the prince, Beba as the fairy... but Flor and Delfina break character, ignore the lines and start accusing each other for their out-of-stage conflicts. Martin, the director, finally called the play a complete failure and leaves the place.
• Cinderella Plot: The series name mixes the name of the protagonist, "Florencia", with "Cenicienta" ("Cinderella" in Spanish). She works as a nanny for the Fritzenwalden family, composed by several brothers that lost their parents. Federico (AKA the prince) is the older one and was promoted to parent by circumstances. His current girlfriend is, initially unknown to them, Florencia's sister Delfina (AKA the evil sister). Malala is Delfina's mother (AKA the evil stepmother). Florencia has some magical fairies that help her, and the ballroom dance (in this case, a dance during the carnival) was also adapted in the first months, but the story continued after it. Of course, Federico fell in love with Florencia, and eventually rejected Delfina for her.
• Clashing Cousins: Máximo and Segundo, and it gets even worse once Flor comes into the picture.
• Clingy Jealous Girl: Delfina, who can't stand Federico even looking at Flor. Justified in that he actually is falling for Flor, and Delfina's preferred lifestyle depends on being his girlfriend.
• Compulsive Liar: Flor. As the secrets and messes she's involved in grow, she has to come up with more and more lies to protect everyone. When she decides she won't lie anymore and writes down every lie she's told to apologize later, she ends up filling an entire notebook.
• Cool Aunt: Titina, who is Flor's godmother.
• Cranky Landlord: Flor's landlady at the beginning of the story, who eventually informs the police about Tomás being in Flor's room and gets her arrested.
• Crazy Jealous Guy: Federico shows shades of this when he sees Flor talking to men who seem interested in her.
• Dead Guy Junior: The case of two of Flor and Max's babies. Margarita (after Flor's mom) was on purpose; Federico (after Federico Fritzenwalden) was an accident by Max's mom but a meaningful one.
• Death Glare: A favorite of Delfina's.
• Delivery Guy: Partly inverted, since it's not just Fede that assists Mercedes with childbirth but also very much Flor.
• Denser and Wackier: As season one reaches the 100+ episode mark, some exaggerated elements start to creep in but it's still fairly grounded in reality (apart from the fairies, that is). In season two, all the comedy and fantasy elements are taken up to eleven, and the more realistic tone is discarded.
• Diegetic Soundtrack Usage: During the fashion show, Flor and the others perform the theme song in-universe.
• Disappeared Dad: The Fritzenwalden dad becomes one after his wife's death. Too full of grief, he spends less and less time around his children, travelling the world instead, which is what prompts Federico's Promotion to Parent at 17.
• Disposable Fiancée: Fede and Delfina are a loveless match and Delfina secretly being married did not help matters. Technically, Fede dies before he can marry either Delfina or Flor.
• Distracted by the Sexy: Flor accidentally stains Federico's shirt. He takes it off so she can clean it, leaving him bare-chested. Flor immediately stops listening to a thing he's saying.
• The Ditz: Amalia, the housemaid.
• Dogged Nice Guy: Franco declares his love for Flor as soon as he meets her but, as she's in love with his brother, she rejects him. He continues trying to convince her, nevertheless. She eventually gives him a chance but it doesn't work out.
• Door Slam of Rage: A specialty of this show; it's rarer when the characters don't slam the door as they walk out in anger.
• Double Standard Rape: Female on Male: The scene where Valentina throws herself at Franco and doesn't let him go despite him trying to get away from her is played for comedy.
• Driven by Envy: What motivates Delfina's hatred of Flor and all her revenge plots. For her, Flor showed up out of nowhere to steal what is Delfina's (her boyfriend, her father, her inheritance) and no matter the obstacles she puts in her way, Flor still manages to keep getting everything.
• Driven to Suicide: Played with. After Flor's released from police custody, she loses her job and her home, her clumsiness brings trouble to Titina, the only person willing to take her in, which makes her feel guilty and she leaves, she tries to sleep on a bench only for it to rain, and as she tries to find another place to stay, her stuff gets blown away by the wind. She says she has a strange fascination with bridges, and by the time Bata finds her, she's on the ledge of one. And then she jumps... only for it to be a small jump into a grassy hill. Turns out she was just looking for her shoe.
• Dude Magnet: Matías, Fede, Franco, Facundo, Lorenzo, Máximo, Segundo... Pretty much every male character at least feels attracted to Flor, and many fall in love with her.
• Duty That Transcends Death: What makes Federico be rebellious in Heaven and eventually semi-reincarnate in Máximo; he feels responsible for the well-being of Flor and his siblings.
• Easily-Overheard Conversation: The source of many a cliffhanger.
• Eating the Eye Candy: Many female characters with Franco.
• Enemy Mine: When Bata and Sofía want to move in together, Malala and Titina team up to prevent it.
• Everyone Can See It: Every single character knows Flor is in love with Fede and Fede is in love with Flor, and often encourage them to just come out with it.
• Evil Laugh: Malala and Delfina both tend to do it when planning something evil.
• Evil Matriarch: Malala is both Fede's godmother/Flor's stepmother. She also clearly favors her daughter Delfina over Sofia.
• Eye Motifs: In Franco and Flor's relationship. The first thing they both get hooked on are each other's eyes (which they mention repeatedly) and even their Love Theme has references to looking into the other's eyes and seeing through the facade.
• The Fair Folk: Flor's fairies.
• Fake Pregnancy: Delfina fakes being pregnant to prevent Federico from ending their engagement.
• Falling into His Arms: How Franco and Flor meet at the Fritzenwalden household.
• Family Honor: A major theme of season one is Federico's constant struggle between his sense of family honor, and the image he believes he has to uphold in honor of his dead parents, and both his own desires towards Flor and the wants of his siblings that he believes are not honorable (like joining a band).
• Famous Ancestor: Greta van Beethoven is related to the Beethoven.
• Fantasy Sequence: More common early on but plenty are scattered throughout. It's usually a musical moment.
• Fascinating Eyebrow: Fede's eyebrows express a lot more than words ever could.
• "Fawlty Towers" Plot: What most plot threads boil down to, like "Aunt Lucrecia" and "Flor isn't the singer".
• Fictional Country: Krikoragán, where Count Máximo is from, located somewhere in Asia.
• Fire and Ice Love Triangle: Franco points it out when he's arguing with Federico about pursuing Flor:
  Franco: ¿Pero vos qué sabés lo que yo siento? Vos porque sos más frío que un témpano. Por algo te dicen Freezer, ¿o no? En cambio, yo no, yo salí a mamá, soy apasionado, tengo sangre latina, ¿entendés? No soy como vos. De prusiano no tengo ni un pelo.^note Translation: "How could you know what I feel? You're colder than ice. They call you Freezer for a reason, right? But not me, I took after Mom, I'm passionate, with latin blood, you know? I'm not like you. I haven't got a drop of Prussian in me."
• The First Cut Is the Deepest: The main issue preventing Flor and Max's relationship. Flor is still in mourning after Fede's death, and Max swore he would never fall in love again after his first love broke his heart (the why behind his The Casanova tendencies).
• First Friend: Roberta to Martín.
• First-Name Ultimatum: Florencia left the house, vowing never to return again. The family gets a new nanny, an elder Russian woman. She talks Federico to forgive Florencia, and he agrees, but then he noticed something... and removed Florencia's Paper-Thin Disguise.
  Federico: FLORENCIA!!!!
• Flowers of Romance: In a Grand Romantic Gesture, Franco fills the Fritzenwalden house with yellow flowers, a la Big Fish.
• Friendless Background: Martín, the shyest sibling, has no friends at school and so prefers to stay in the classroom and concentrate on his studies.
• Forgetful Jones: A recurring gag is Amalia goes inform a character about something but the second she finds them, she forgets why she was looking for them.
• Gagging on Your Words: Federico has a hard apologizing to others, especially if he's teased about it, and grits the words out through his teeth.
• The Gambling Addict: Anna.
• Gender-Blender Name: Dominique, the exchange student. When she first arrives, most characters state they were expecting a boy.
• Gentleman Snarker: Nilda Santillán, Malala's mother-in-law. She clearly doesn't suffer fools. She seems to enjoy bantering with Flor, though.
• Germanic Depressives: What his siblings often accuse Federico of being.
• The Girl Who Fits This Slipper: Invoked with Flor's yellow sneakers in the first few episodes, played straight later on with the white heels.
• Girl of My Dreams: Flor sees Federico holding flowers in one of her prophetic dreams; she meets him for real later in the episode.
• God Is Flawed: God is presented as an easily annoyed, sarcastic, somewhat clueless man.
• Gold Digger: How Malala came to be involved with Alberto Santillán.
• Good Cannot Comprehend Evil: Whenever Flor and Fede are confronted with the possibility Delfina and Malala are lying to them, their first instinct is to believe no one could be so heartless as to lie about such important matters like a pregnancy or a terminal illness (after all, they wouldn't), and so dismiss the idea. Flor can't even believe Delfina is cheating on Fede with Pedro at first because how could she, when she has Prince Charming already?
• Good Witch Versus Bad Witch: Malala Vs. Titina; symbolically, they are the respective Wicked Stepmother and Fairy Godmother of our Cinderella story.
• Grayscale of Evil: Malala is rarely seen wearing any colors that aren't black and white.
• Great Offscreen War: The monarchy of Krikoragan is deposed in a violent revolution, with all royals sent to the guillotine. But this only means that Max can't go back home. Other than a TV screen with news headlines, and Max's butler shouting things at the phone, we never see the revolution itself or hear any specific details.
• Green-Eyed Epiphany: Seeing Franco kissing Lucía makes Flor realize she's not immune to his charms.
• Grew a Spine: Federico's journey is about learning to put his own feelings and desires above duty and social expectations.
• Guilt Complex: As a result of having to take full responsibility of his family from a young age, Federico feels any mistakes (like his siblings failing or feeling upset) are all his own because he could have done more to prevent them. Also, any deviation from social expectations (since his family name carries weight) he tends to take as him soiling the family's reputation. It's throughout his character arc that he learns to start caring more about his own desires and not feel guilty for them.
• Heaven: Paradise is apparently a golf course.
• Heel–Face Turn: Delfina in the original eventually repents of her evil and reunites with her husband. The foreign remakes usually avoid this and punish her. The Mexican remake simply has her and her mother end up as maids.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: Federico and Matías.
• He Who Must Not Be Seen: Until he's actually shown on screen, Lorenzo and any mention of him is this.
• Hiding Behind the Language Barrier: Federico and Greta, when they don't want Flor to know what they're saying, switch to speaking in German.
• Hired Help as Family: True in the case of Greta. She's been with them since Federico was a young boy and took care of all the children as they grew up, so they have a lot of love for her. She's even the only member of staff to eat with the family at the dinner table.
• Horrible Judge of Character: Fede with Delfina and Malala. Though at times he can't stand them, and despite how critical his entire family is of them, he still thinks they're being honest with him and have his best interests at heart, so every time he comes closer to the truth and they spin a lie to cover their tracks, he decides to believe them. Only at the very end does he realize how much he's been manipulated.
• I'm Crying, but I Don't Know Why: During the last episodes of season one, Flor has been having a gut feeling something terrible is going to happen but she doesn't know what. As Flor is waiting for Fede to pick her up so they can go off into the sunset together, she starts sobbing uncontrollably and she runs to the mansion, thinking the one in danger was Franco, only to arrive and find out it had been Fede.
• I Miss Mom: Frequently stated by the Fritzenwalden family, especially the younger siblings. Flor sharing her own I Miss Mom feelings is what initially brings her closer to the family.
• The Ingenue: Flor. She's the most kind-hearted person alive but her naivety causes problems for her as often as it gives her unexpected opportunities.
• Inspired by…: Aside from the Cinderella connections, the story shares many similarities to The Sound Of Music, namely the free-spirited new nanny arriving to a strict household full of children.
• Insistent Terminology: Antoine doesn't like being called a "cook" (he's a chef!).
• Instant Birth: Just Add Labor!: It takes just a few hours after Mercedes' water breaks for her delilvery to start.
• Internal Reveal: Towards the end of the first season, Fede has grown suspicious of Malala and Delfina but always gives them the benefit of the doubt... until episode 172, where he finds Lorenzo's lair with every piece of evidence of Malala and Delfina's plot. He proceeds to break down.
• In Vino Veritas: Having been in denial about his feelings for Flor for several episodes and after arguing with her, as soon as a drunk Fede sees her again, he gets lovey-dovey, telling her how beautiful she is and how he loves saying her name.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Flor, when Fede gets engaged, basically tells him this.
• I Want You to Meet an Old Friend of Mine: In episode 48, Guido Kaczka, who Florencia Bertotti was dating at the time, plays a door-to-door salesman who Flor had met off-screen and who pretends to be Antoine's nephew.
  • Later on, Miky, the rival tennis player, played by Felipe Colombo, who had acted with Benjamín Rojas in Cris Morena productions since Chiquititas, and most prominently Rebelde Way. He gets an actual "Do I know you from somewhere?"
  • The priest who marries Flor and Max is played by Miguel Ángel Rodríguez, who had played Florencia Bertotti's uncle in Son Amores.
• Keeping Secrets Sucks: Flor generally hates lying and feels guilty about keeping secrets.
• Kissing Cousins: Franco and Olivia develop romantic feelings for each other. Though as it turns out Franco was adopted...
• The Klutz: Flor, who often knocks over and breaks stuff, which lands her in trouble.
• Lady Killer In Love: Franco, The Casanova of the family, falls for Flor at first sight.
• Laser-Guided Amnesia: When Máximo proposes to Delfina, the emotional pain is so great that Flor passes out and when she wakes up, she has repressed all knowledge of who Máximo is and her relationship with him.
• Lethal Chef: Flor, though she gets better by season two.
• Let Me at Him!: One of the likely outcomes of Malala and Titina talking to each other.
• Light Feminine and Dark Feminine: Flor represents the light, more innocent, side while Delfina represents the dark, sultrier, side.
• Like Brother and Sister: Bata and Flor, who consider each other family.
• Like Father, Like Son: According to Nilda, Flor's The Ingenue tendencies are a gift from her father.
  • Fede took after his father a lot (they both have a hard time expressing their feelings, both come off as aloof and hard to reach, both love piloting, etc.), and his father's death probably exacerbated it, as he had to take over his father's role of head of the family.
  • Flor's arguing and happy disposition, and her belief in fairies, come from her mother.
• Like Parent, Like Spouse: It's pretty clear Fede sees a lot of his mother in Flor (the show even points it out when Fede looks at his mother's portrait one episode and sees Flor), and that their personalities mirror that of his parents.
• Little Black Dress: Amelie's most common outfit.
• Love at First Sight: True for Flor, who falls in love with Fede as soon as they see each other; Federico takes a couple more episodes to get there. Franco also falls for Flor as soon as he meets her.
• Love Dodecahedron: Nicolás loves Clara, who loves Franco, who loves Flor, who loves Federico, who loves her back but is engaged to Delfina.
• Love Makes You Dumb: Martín, after coming back from his exchange student trip, starts becoming interested in dating and meeting Paz turns him into a lovestruck fool.
• Love Redeems: What prompts Delfina's Heel–Face Turn is having to take care of Margarita, Flor's baby girl, and getting her to fall asleep in her arms.
• Love Theme: In season one, Fede and Flor have "Mi vestido azul" and "Por qué" for sad moments and "Y así será" and "Y la vida" for happy moments. Flor and Franco have "Ven a mí".
• Magical Realism: Did we mention the fairies?
• Malaproper: Common feature of Greta's speech. Used a lot for comedy.
  Greta: ¡Tener que fornicar urgente!
  Federico: ¡Fumigar, fumigar, Greta, por dios, fumigar!
• Marry the Nanny: It's definitely Fede's intention. Too bad he doesn't get to.
• Massive Numbered Siblings: There are six Fritzenwalden siblings.
• Merger of Souls: When Federico's time runs out and he has to go back to heaven, part of his soul (the "soplo divino") stays with Máximo.
• Metaphorical Marriage: As soon as they confess their love, Flor and Fede are as good as married their commitment to each other is that strong, but Fede's baby with Delfina prevents an actual wedding. They have a symbolic engagement when a drunk Fede proposes to Flor with toy rings. Then, late in the season and before Fede's actual wedding with Delfina, he and Flor "get married" by the beach, exchanging vows and keychains.
• Modesty Bedsheet: Federico is in his underwear, making up the couch to sleep in his office, when Flor bursts in and Federico grabs the sheet to cover himself. It proceeds to fall in front of her a few times.
• Morality Pet: Flor acts as one for Lorenzo, who regrets hurting Flor with his and Delfina's evil schemes and ends up helping her out, though it's for selfish reasons, as he wants Flor to fall in love with him like he fell for her.
• Morning Sickness: This, the Pregnancy Fainting, and Flor overeating and having mood swings are taken as signs she's pregnant. Which she is.
• Motor Mouth: Flor finds starting conversations easy, not so much stopping them. This tends to drive Fede crazy.
• Musical Squares: The intro for the second season ends with those, before the logo.
• Must Make Amends: When Delfina "loses" her baby, as it was because she saw them kissing, Fede and Flor feel a tremendous amount of guilt, and to try to "pay the price" for her part in it, Flor pledges to become Delfina's servant (borderline slave) forever.
• My Beloved Smother: Anna with Máximo.
• My Sister Is Off-Limits: The older brothers towards Maia. They never accept her love interests on first impression.
• Necktie Leash: Flor does it to Fede in the opening.
• New Friend Envy: Why Tomás initially dislikes Roberta.
• New Old Flame: Ariel.
• Notary Nonsense: After Sofía leaves for Brazil and Floricienta refuses to take the money of her biological father, Santillán, because she does not need it to be happy, the widow Malala and his Spoiled Brat daughter Delfina are set to be declared the only heirs to Santillán's fortune. Floricienta, however, has a change of heart when she realizes she could use the money to become the foster mother of the Fritzenwalden kids and save them from Delfina, their Wicked Stepmother. According to Santillán's will, Malala and Delfina must wait until an 8:00pm deadline before they are declared the heirs. Floricienta must race to the last notary office open that evening to claim her inheritence... which is an odd situation for a notary to be in. A notary could have validated the will back when Santillán was alive, but it would be up to something more like an estate lawyer to oversee and settle the actual terms of the will.
• Not Now, Kiddo: The children have figured out pretty much every lie in the show and almost every time they try to tell the adults (namely, Flor and Fede), they get dismissed or are outright thought to be lying.
• Not Under the Parents' Roof: ía and Bata have been together for some time, and want to take their relation to the next step and live in the same house. Titi, Bata's mom, refuses: not unless they get married. So they move to the Fritzenwalden house, where Sofía lives. Malala does not like it either (in her case, because she despises all poor people), but they later got this reaction from Sofía's grandmother.
• Obnoxious In-Laws: The Fritzenwalden's are this for Delfina; later, Anna for Flor.
• Of Corpse He's Alive: In the first episode, when Greta faints from stress, the Fritzenwalden children move Greta's arms to convince Pedro she gave him the day off.
• Once Upon a Time: As it is a fairy tale, the very first thing we see is a title card saying this.
• One Dialogue, Two Conversations: After Martín catches Nicolás in a dress, he thinks Nicolás is gay and asks Matías for help. When they talk about it, Matías thinks Nicolás is coming out of the closet but Nicolás thinks they're talking about the plan to help Maia against her bullies.
• One Head Taller: Fede is almost a head taller than Flor. Max, however, is the same height.
• One-Steve Limit: Inverted; there are multiple characters named/nicknamed "Max" (one of Fede's business partners, cousin Max a.k.a. Pipa, Flor's pretend boyfriend Maximiliano), though most are minor characters, the one exception being Count Máximo.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Whenever Flor is quiet for more than five minutes, other characters start to worry. The clearest example is when Margarita is kidnapped, and Flor becomes so depressed she barely reacts to Máximo talking to her.
• Operation: Jealousy: Facha pretends to date Nata so Maia will become jealous and admit she likes him.
• Orphan's Plot Trinket: Flor's silver nut. A gift from her mother, she tells Flor to plant it somewhere she wants to stay, and out of that nut grows the huge magical tree that enters her window. It's also relevant to her story with Fede and Max later on.
• Papa Wolf: Eduardo, Flor's stepfather. He will punch the teeth out of anyone who makes his daughter cry.
• Parental Abandonment: Flor's stepfather (who she believes to be her real father) took to sailing after the death of Flor's mother. The Fritzenwalden family is recently orphaned, explaining the need of a governess.
• Parental Bonus: Many a Double Entendre are included.
• Parental Neglect: Dominique's parents don't pay any attention to their daughter.
• Parental Substitute: Flor for Roberta and the Fritzenwalden children.
  • Greta, too, especially for Federico.
• Passed-Over Inheritance: Alberto Santillán leaves his fortune to his bastard daughter (i.e. Flor) and nothing to Malala, Delfina and Sofía but if after a year she doesn't show up, the fortune goes to the Torres-Oviedo branch.
• Perpetual Frowner: Federico.
• Plot Allergy: Delfina is allergic to a number of things, like feathers and dust and cat fur, and this is often used by the younger siblings in their revenge plots against her.
• Plucky Girl: Flor.
• Poirot Speak: Greta tends to use the wrong gender and tense suffixes, butchers people's names (sometimes on purpose) and peppers her speech with German words.
• The Power of Love: The main message of the show. With love and hope, anything is possible.
• Practically Different Generations: The age difference between Federico and the youngest Fritzenwalden siblings is quite big: he's 24 while Martín is 12 and Tomás is 9.
• Prenup Blowup: To protect his siblings' share, Federico asks Delfina to sign a prenup, which she refuses to do (as her plan depends on being able to have full access to the Fritzenwalden fortune). At the end of the season, Federico forgoing a prenup ultimately proves a huge mistake.
• Precocious Crush: Dominique with Franco.
• Product Placement: Extremely common; there's always a line or two of unrelated dialogue to plug the show's sponsors. Titina's shop exists almost solely for this purpose.
• Promotion to Parent: Federico gets one in his mid-20's.
• Put on a Bus: A number of characters get put on a bus (even literally), such as Titina, Sofía and Amelie.
• Raven Hair, Ivory Skin: Flor is pretty pale and has dark hair during the first season. By the second, she's more tanned and her hair is lighter.
• Redemption in the Rain: Federico apologizes to Flor for wrongly accussing her of kidnapping in the pouring rain. Becomes Romantic Rain when they stay gazing longingly into each other's eyes.
• Reincarnation: Some souls, if they've done a particularly noble deed in life, get to be born again in a new body. Federico takes advantage of this to try to go back to Earth to help his family.
• Relationship Revolving Door: Most relationships on the show but especially Flor and Fede.
• Replacement Goldfish: Count Maximo considers himself to be a substitute of sorts for Federico, which causes trouble with his budding relationship with Flor. Half of Season 2 is Flor starting to love Maximo for his own person and come to terms with Fede's death.
• Reptiles Are Abhorrent: Whenever Delfina is being particularly villain-y, a rattlesnake sound effect can be heard.
• Romantic Runner-Up: Franco, though he and Flor remain really good friends anyway.
• Secret Relationship: Delfina already has a husband.
• Second Love: Count Maximo becomes this to Flor after Fede's death.
• Set Right What Once Went Wrong: In episode 64 of season two, Flor has commited a series of mistakes that make her feel unfit to take care of the kids. She laments to her fairies that she wishes she could start over, and the fairies agree. They turn back the clock to the beggining of the day, and Flor undoes what she did, to just-as-bad (even worse) results. But it turns out it was All Just a Dream.
• Sexy Discretion Shot: When Fede and Flor are in the "deserted" island, as they start kissing, the camera decides to change focus to the bonfire in front of them. Cut to morning time, they're sleeping close together.
• Shaking Her Hair Loose: How Amelie is introduced.
• Sharing a Body: God lets Federico go back to Earth but only if he takes over Máximo's body. Once he accepts, for two hours, Fede has as much control of Máximo's body as Máximo himself.
• Shirtless Scene: Both Franco and Federico have their fair share of shirtless scenes.
• "Shut Up" Kiss: When Franco's at the police station and Flor barges in demanding he be set free in her characteristically loud manner, Franco kisses her to stop her shouting. While Franco is delighted she kissed him back, Flor is left in shock.
• Sibling Triangle: Technically, Flor and Delfina are stepsisters, so their rivalry for Fede/Max, can play off as this.
  • Franco and Fede for Flor.
• Slapstick: All characters engage in slapstick at some point but the most frequent victims are Delfina and Malala, and even Greta.
• So Happy Together: After all the suffering Flor and Fede have been through, Fede has finally dumped Delfina at the altar and left with Flor. They kiss and plan to run away together... but Fede has some unfinished business first. And then he sees Count Máximo about to get run over by a car, and then...
• Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Peace: Fede at his own wedding. He's just found out he's been lied to the entire time, so when the priest asks "Do you want to take Delfina as your wife?" he clearly states he doesn't.
• Spirit Advisor: Flor's wedding preparations make her miss her mom so much (to the point of getting sick) that her mother's spirit comes back from Heaven to help her out.
• Strict Parents Make Sneaky Kids: Or Strict Oldest Sibling in this case. When Federico comes back from Germany and decides to impose rules on his siblings, Maia and Nicolás lie and find ways to get out of the house undetected. In general, the siblings prefer getting themselves into crazy plans to solve their problems than telling Federico.
• Successful Sibling Syndrome: Nicolás with his more romantically-sucessful twin Franco.
• Sugar-and-Ice Personality: Depending on how his relationship with Flor is going, Fede is either harsh and angry or sweet and more easy-going. His siblings sometimes point this out:
  Tomás: Mati, ¿tendrá doble personalidad?^note Translation: "Mati, what if he has a split personality?"
• Sure, Let's Go with That: When Flor admits to Fede he causes her heartache (and then backtracks), he assumes it's because she's afraid of being kicked out of the house. She rolls with it.
• Talking to the Dead: Fede regurlarly asks his parents for advice and tells them he misses them. Flor too with her mom, and more frequently, but she kind of gets an answer through the fairies and the magical tree.
• Tantrum Throwing: Maia, when she's especially angry, goes to her room and starts throwing things around.
• Tell Him I'm Not Speaking to Him: Commonly what happens when Flor is mad at Fede and doesn't want to acknowledge him but they need to talk.
• Ten Minutes in the Closet: Tomás and Roberta lock Federico and Florencia in a room so they'll admit their feelings for each other.
• There Are No Therapists: Averted. Martín is mentioned several times to be going to a therapist to deal with his parents' death.
• Time Skip: Used a few times. When Federico's ghost wakes up in Heaven, three months since his death have passed, and in season two, there's a time jump of five months.
• Token Good Teammate: Sofia is much more pleasant than her wicked mother and sister. This is partially subverted, since Malala's sister is also a good person, though their mother is also an Evil Matriarch.
• Tranquil Fury: Federico, when especially angry, tends to manifest it like this. The clearest example is his wedding with Delfina: after finding out he's been lied to about everything, he walks into the church with a calm, polite smile, but the fury in his eyes is unmistakeable. He goes on to denounce Delfina and Malala for every hurt they've caused him.
• The Un-Favourite: Malala was this, and it's where most of her resentment comes from.
• Uptight Loves Wild: Uptight, "I have to do my duty" Federico falls for clumsy, impulsive Florencia.
• Uptown Girl: Technically, Flor and Fede/Max are a gender-flip, except for Flor secretly being an heiress.
• Violently Protective Girlfriend: Flor can be very protective of Fede, especially if he's threatened. Rosembaum, Martin's therapist, even remarks on it, saying her justifying Fede is often her way of guarding him from (emotional) attacks.
• Wedding Finale: The story ends with Flor and Max's grand wedding, which was shot live at a stadium with an audience of a couple thousand people.
• Weight Woe: Telling Delfina she's fat is a powerful blow; during her fake pregnancy, she gains a little weight and for her, it's like a nightmare come true.
  • Flor during her pregnancy is very sensitive towards the topic of her weight.
• "Well Done, Son" Guy: Federico's motivation behind every decision (and his indecision when it comes to Flor) boils down to upholding the family name and making his dead parents, in particular his father, proud.
• Wicked Stepmother: Malala is the widow of Flor's real father, who left half his fortune to her, and so schemes to avoid Flor from finding out the truth. She also schemes to have Fede marry her daughter, Delfina, instead of Flor. Flor's stepfather (who to be clear, it not Malala's husband; he was married to Flor's mother, and Malala was married to Flor's real father) also borders on this trope, since he virtually abandoned Flor after the trauma of losing her mother.
• Wig, Dress, Accent: Flor in her Petrovna costume. Turns into a Paper-Thin Disguise because Flor's mannerisms are just too strong to keep hidden for long.
• Wild Teen Party: How the story starts. The Fritzenwalden siblings throw a party before Federico arrives, everyone's dancing, the snow machine starts spewing foam uncontrollably, everyone (except Flor) leaves, Fede arrives sooner than expected, Flor and Fede meet, and the rest is history.
• Why Waste a Wedding?: After Fede rejects Delfina at the altar and leaves with Flor, Bonilla takes the opportunity to marry Malala then and there.
• With a Foot on the Bus: Max is rejected by everybody at the house, even Flor (despite their newfound love), so he resigns to the parenthood and collects all his possessions to return to Krikoragan. But he can't. There is a violent revolution in Krikoragan against the monarchy, and going back there would be a death sentence.
• Wounded Gazelle Gambit: Delfina's (and Malala's) preferred method for manipulating Federico.
• Written-In Absence: Franco at the beginning of the story is off playing tennis tournaments and only shows up briefly until he comes back to stay for real. This was so Benjamín Rojas could finish filming the Rebelde Way movie in the meantime.
• You're Not My Father: Franco can't stand Fede judging his life choices, and he argues Fede's just his big brother, not his father, and has no right to judge him. Once Max shows up in the picture and they argue, Franco throws in Max's face that Max is neither his dad nor his big brother to tell him what to do.

---