Misused: Everything But The Girl

The description for Everything but the Girl says it's about a specific romantic-comedy plot where someone gets superpowers, uses them to get all sorts of things, but is unable to get the girl until he learns An Aesop about using them for good, after which he loses the powers but gets the girl:

The vast majority of the examples don't fit most of this, and are just people who end up winning everything except the girl they love. No superpowers (beyond the inherent power that comes with 'getting everything'), no losing them at the end, no aesop, etc. Most importantly, the vast majority of examples don't have the protagonist get the girl at the end. Presumably this is because the trope name is very catchy and describes a common ending (rather than a plot arc leading to an Aesop.)

Given that that ending is so common (and is a real trope, though closely related to Did Not Get the Girl), I would suggest just rewriting the description to match the way its used, broadening it into any situation where someone has everything but the girl, omitting the reference to romantic comedies and superpowers and mentioning that sometimes they will learn an Aesop and end up with the girl, rather than making it a core part of the trope. This would still cover everything it's currently used for (including everything covered by the current description), but would also match the way people are actually using it. That description will also avoid overlapping directly with Did Not Get the Girl, since sometimes this ends with the protagonist learning the error of their ways, and sometimes it doesn't (or they learn it too late, which I think is the most common.)

It's easier to list the few examples that do fit the current description than ones that don't. Specifically, in terms of misuse counts, only a few examples in the Film section actually fit the entire description it has now: Bedazzled, Bruce Almighty, Groundhog Day, and What Women Want. (Plus maybe Jack Frost; it doesn't give enough information for it to be clear.) Almost every other example ends on Did Not Get the Girl, has no superpowers (and no losing them at the end), etc.

edited 25th Sep '14 5:19:35 AM by Aquillion

Opening this and bumping. Yeah, this trope is in need of a fix.

Sounds like the misuse is due to a) an overbroad name, and b) Missing Supertrope Syndrome. Thankfully, both of those are simple fixes — Trope Transplant the "gets everything but the girl with superpowers" trope to a new name and change the definition of Everything but the Girl to match current usage.

I think this is a clear place for a Trope Transplant.

That said, the current description reminds me of things like Tangled where the main character ends up giving up or losing their powers to get the love interest. I think it's a trope, but the name is terrible, and I think it's a little narrow as written.

I think the description should be broadened. The focus on superpowers seems a bit odd.

yea, i agree this should be about when a hero wins everything but the girl, as the name implies. thats how ive always seen it used: i came ot it from a wick on The Book Of Life which uses it in that way, to describe the heros love rival, who wins the towns admiration and becomes famous but isnt the one who marries the girl

Huh. I thought the phrase "Everything but the Girl" was about sharing between True Companions, i.e. that they share everything they have with one other, except for their love interest.

Guess not.

I thought this was about the British pop/electronica group until I read the first post.

YKTTW (archived discussion got wiped out).

Clock is set.

Definitely fine with redefining, mostly because I'm not even sure there's enough examples of the current description to warrant a trope all on its own. I suggest just redefining for now and letting the chips fall where they may WRT the current.

Clock is up since long and the thread is stale; closing.