What Exactly Qualifies as the Not-Love Interest and What Doesn't?

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selkies Professional Wick Checker Since: Jan, 2021 Relationship Status: Star-crossed

Professional Wick Checker

#1: Jan 16th 2023 at 3:56:25 PM

So, how can one tell if a character is The Not-Love Interest or if they're just a dear friend?

The description states:

The Not-Love Interest is the phenomenon in which the character fulfills a typical "Love Interest" role, but isn't intended by the writers to have that kind of relationship with The Hero. This trope often represents a Subversion of one or more Love Interest tropes, or tropes that normally lead to a character becoming a Love Interest, such as Rescue Romance.

So just because two characters had a rescue scene/arc, or rode a motorbike together (in a Romantic Ride Sharing-like scene but without the romance), does that make them a not-Love Interest?

For instance, this example I saw on My Hero Academia - Katsuki Bakugo:

The example is here bc it's long

The Not-Love Interest: For Midoriya. Bakugo is one of Midoriya's primary motivators and sources of inspiration, and saving or helping him has been Midoriya's primary motivation in four arcs,^note as well as the reason behind their second fight. Midoriya even reacts with goofy smiles when Bakugo praises him after their second fight and worries about him during the Joint Training Arc and both refer to each other by childish nicknames. Insulting Bakugo to Midoriya's face is a good way to make Midoriya fly off the handle, and due to Midoriya's Psychoactive Powers is extremely dangerous. Finally, it comes to the moment in the Final Arc where OFA in Shigaraki's body taunts him and explains his reasoning going after Bakugou: not because he is strong or because he sees him as a treat. But because he considers Bakugou the closest person to Deku. After seeing Deku's reaction to Bakugou's lifeless body, he mockingly questions if Deku *loves* the present he made for him.

Does simply being someone's source of inspiration and rescuing them make one an almost love interest but isn't one? How can one tell if the trope is being misused (disregarding cases where it's used for actual love interests ofc)? I hope my questions are clear.

selkies Professional Wick Checker Since: Jan, 2021 Relationship Status: Star-crossed

Professional Wick Checker

#2: Jan 18th 2023 at 11:35:18 AM

Bump for feedback.

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