This is discussion archived from a time before the current discussion method was installed.
Moved to How To Become A Love Interest Discussion.
Anthony Alexander: Less than 1% of the population? This troper smells bullshit.
Adam850: Females are brunette, males are brunet. Usually.
Lale: In French, I know for sure. English usually doesn't use gender endings. Technically, blond is male and blonde is female.
Seth: Common usage more or less ignores that though and uses blonde for both genders.
Would the classic Scott/Logan/Jean Grey love triangle fall under this?
Philippos [This is my first edit, so bear with me.] I suppose Joe Linsner's Dawn could fall under this.
Lale: Granted I'm no DC Otaku, but... who in the world is Hawkgirl a love interest for?
Tanto: Green Lantern.
Phartman: Well, one of the characters in the story I'm writing is a redhead, but I'm going against type by making her a rather heartless and cruel person (a serious Anti-Hero with a helluva Mama Bear complex) who's uninterested in any relationships at all. And really, she's supposed to be more of a dark auburn anyway...
...What? There's no law saying I can't use any of the tropes here. Hell, Joss Whedon has used nearly all of them, and everyone thinks he's a genius!
Lale: Script writing. Literature. Very different. My advice — you want to write, forget everything you've seen on the Internet.
Phartman: Even though I don't especially need it: I appreciate the advice.* Truth is, I'd been mulling over my ideas before I had ever heard of this site; it's not like I've just been looking through these entries and taking notes. The only thing use this site for is getting ideas of what not to do, but I picture this particular character so vividly in my mind as she is that I refuse to change her appearance even if lots of other fictitous people have an adundance of beta-carotene in their hair. It's certainly not going to be the most important thing about her.
My plot is completely original and unique in that it won't really star any particular character and won't use any overtly familiar plot devices. If there were any series I'd draw inspiration from, it'd be Francine Rivers' Mark of the Lion trilogy. And then, that's only in the sense that the story is going to follow numerous characters whose fates all intertwine without singling any one out as "the hero" i.e. there will be no Luke Skywalkers, Harry Potters, or Eragons in my tale.
If there is a point to all this, it's that using certain tropes is not always the mark of a bad author. At this point in human culture, the only way to could be completely, 100% original would be to write an entire manuscript of my pounding on a keyboard with a meat tenderizer. The Tenderizer Monologues, I'd call it...
* There'd be a smiley there, but I don't use internet shorthand. Please take it on good faith that I don't mean to be sarcastic.
Ununnilium: "there is a disproportionate number of red-haired female characters out there, and an inordinate number of them are The Hero's winning Love Interest." I disagree. This is just a listing of characters who happen to be both red-headed and Love Interests. You could make a similar list for blondes or brunettes.
Mister Six: That's what I said. The argument is that because there are many more brunetted and blondes than there are redheads in the world, the inclusion of multiple redheads as love interests is disproportionate. I'm not convinced, but I really can't be bothered arguing it.
Lale: It's a way of color coding the evolution of the popular Love Interest: Betty vs. Veronica, Shallow Female Love Interest vs. Well, Excuse Me, Princess!/ Hot Amazon. That's in the second paragraph.
"146.145.215.131" is me. I'm not on my own, cookied computer.
Maureen Mac Donald: Does popularity as a romantic partner in the fanbase count? I know Turlough for "Doctor Who" gets paired up with freakin' everybody including many characters he's never met. He has shockingly red hair and exactly nothing else going for him. And Phartman, the tenderizer thing's been done too. Everything from Dada poetry to James Joyce.
This probably applies to just the Japanese but, in anime/hentai/(can't really tell with manga) and stuff, there are more brunette heroines, girls, and just characters in general(way more girls and characters).
[[Dan]]: Scarlet Witch removed due to she is actually a brunette.
Jisu: Digimon Tamers examples removed because Juri is a brunette and Ruki is not the hero's love interest.
Unknown Troper: To add to Legend of Zelda, Midna, although not Link's overt love interest, is definitely redheaded. Anthony Alexander: Not. Link's. Love. Interest.
"Dumbledore also had red hair when younger" ??? I'd say it's an example of Villains Want Red Heads...
Am wondering if the Naruto Gaara shippers are actually on to something with this trope. Plus, Karin is by far the most rabid Sasuke fangirl ever; maybe it's a reversal (Or just a case of All Girls Want Bad Boys crossed with it)
Rinny: Pam from The Office has red hair? Do I need my eyesight checked?
Fly: Removing:
- In the sequel Rose, Raiden's love interest, also has red hair. She (or an AI simulacrum impersonating her) later claims that it is not her actual hair colour, but was changed to suit Raiden's tastes as per the orders of the Patriots for her to infiltrate his life.
◊ IIRC, Shinkawa calls her black-haired and says that it's to contrast to the white-haired Raiden.
Liv removed:
- Especially because nothing says "I am very likely attracted to you" like turning into a massive beast-Hollow-thing with a primitive possessive/protective instinct towards her.
- Well, while uberprotective of his friends, he's NEVER gone that far for anybody. It's quite telling.
- Especially because nothing says "I am very likely attracted to you" like turning into a massive beast-Hollow-thing with a primitive possessive/protective instinct towards her.
Mmhmm. Scaring the shit out of your alleged love interest,
making her bounce on her face, kicking a man while he's down, stabbing your best friend in the gut, and being absolutely horrified by what you've done enough to make comment that pretty much the entire fanbase considers to be a Wall Banger. Apparently, it doesn't matter that both the author and the fanbase (excluding fanboys with no reading comprehension and IchiOris) consider the events in these chapters to be A Very Bad Thing. I could go on, but unfortunately, I'm running out of time.
