History Main / AttractivenessIsolation

* ZigZagged in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9285638/8/Leftovers Leftovers]]''. Kurenai's beauty attracted many admirers back when she was still in the academy, but the only admirers who actively showed their affection for [[IncompatibleOrientation the very straight Kurenai]] [[EvenTheGirlsWantHer were other women]], while the guys wrote her off as unobtainable due to her IceQueen nature and didn't even bother. Asuma was able to become Kurenai's boyfriend because he was the first guy to actually try to ask her out.

* ZigZagged in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9285638/8/Leftovers Leftovers]]''. Kurenai's beauty attracted many admirers back when she was still in the academy, [[EvenTheGirlsWantHer but the ones who actively showed their affection were other women]], while the guys wrote her off as unobtainable due to her IceQueen nature and didn't even bother. Asuma was able to become her boyfriend because he was the first guy to actually try to ask her out.

* [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page465.html This]] ''Webcomic/{{Subnormality}}'' strip, especially in the first panel. The girl in the first panel is actually a recurring character whose whole persona is this. She is an extremely attractive girl who is interested in various traditionally geeky stuff, like comics and video games. This in turn causes an extreme version of this trope, to the point where one guy she talks to spontaneously aborts himself from reality because the concept of a girl that attractive liking nerdy things and showing interest in him is apparently so alien to him that he can no longer sustain his form in our universe.

** There's a related (ill-advised) pick-up line based on this trope - "I know I'm not the best looking guy here, [[ComplimentBackfire but I'm the only one talking to you]]."
* This actually affects the entire spectrum. While most people fantasize about the TheBeautifulElite, they're usually most attracted to people in their own league, and [[ICantBelieveAGuyLikeYouWouldNoticeMe usually meet attention from these people]] [[TheSchlubPubSeductionDeduction with suspicion]]. The exception is, of course, the UglyGuyHotWife[=/=]HotGuyUglyWife scenario.

* Used in ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' (where it's known as "jerk syndrome"), with both Juliet in ''Literature/UnseenAcademicals'' and Tawneee in ''Literature/{{Thud}}''.
** Juliet eventually [[spoiler: pairs up with Trevor and becomes a model]].
** Angua and Sally also delicately introduce Tawneee[[note]] Her stage name. Her real name is Betty. But it's agreed by everybody that nobody that looks like her is named 'Betty'.[[/note]] to the idea that she's "settling" for [[{{Gonk}} Nobby]], a chronic [[CorruptCop petty thief and watchman]] who smokes constantly, [[ThePigPen doesn't bathe]], is occasionally mistaken for a monkey, and carries papers from the ruler of the city stating that, after consulting with Nobby's doctor and midwife, he's concluded that the balance of probability is that he's a human being (although [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold for all that, he's actually not such a bad guy]] with significant HiddenDepths). Tawneee, however, is a highly successful stripper so stupidly attractive she causes all the men in a pub to start a fight about which one of them she smiled at. In the end, [[spoiler:Nobby breaks up with ''her'' because of her lack of kitchen skills]].
*** And how they got together? Well, as it's described any guy with half a brain would be smart enough to know they don't have a chance with her. Nobby, however, is either dumb enough (in this specific circumstance) or used enough to rejection that he figures it's worth a shot.

** And then [[spoiler:they end up together in TheMovie anyways. Or rather, they ended up together two years ''before'' the movie and nobody had noticed, since they just treated each other the same as always.]]

-->-- ''Discworld/{{Thud}}'' by Creator/TerryPratchett

* Used in ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' (where it's known as "jerk syndrome"), with both Juliet in ''Discworld/UnseenAcademicals'' and Tawneee in ''Discworld/{{Thud}}''.

* ''ComicBook/MadMagazine'': One issue featured one of their "You'll Never Win Because..." comics which revolved around this trope. At a night club, almost every man present, including the ThisLoserIsYou focus character, decide that competing for the attention of the beautiful girl will be an exercise in futility, and turn their sights on a rather dumpy-looking girl. This not only causes said girl to think she's way more attractive than she actually is and become a haughty jerk who makes the guys jump through hoops for her attention, but the beautiful girl who everyone ignored because they thought they'd have to fight tooth and nail for her, ends up with a nerd who didn't join the hussle for the uglier girl because he didn't think he had a chance.

* This serves as the premise of ''Film/ShesOutOfMyLeague''.

** Angua and Sally also delicately introduce Tawneee[[note]] Her stage name. Her real name is Betty. But it's agreed by everybody that nobody that looks like her is named 'Betty'.[[/note]] to the idea that she's "settling" for Nobby, a chronic [[CorruptCop petty thief and watchman]] who smokes constantly, [[ThePigPen doesn't bathe]], is occasionally mistaken for a monkey, and carries papers from the ruler of the city stating that, after consulting with Nobby's doctor and midwife, he's concluded that the balance of probability is that he's a human being (although [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold for all that, he's actually not such a bad guy]] with significant HiddenDepths). Tawneee, however, is a highly successful stripper so stupidly attractive she causes all the men in a pub to start a fight about which one of them she smiled at. In the end, [[spoiler:Nobby breaks up with ''her'' because of her lack of kitchen skills]].
*** And how they got together? Well, as it's described any guy with half a brain would be smart enough to know they don't have a chance with her. Nobby, however, doesn't have the half a brain [[HiddenDepths (in this]] [[ObfuscatingStupidity specific context)]] required to know he doesn't have a chance and figures "what the hell?" and just asks her out.

** And then [[spoiler:they end up together in The Movie anyways. Or rather, they ended up together two years ''before'' the movie and nobody had noticed.]]

** Angua and Sally also delicately introduce Tawneee[[note]] Her stage name. Her real name is Betty. But it's agreed by everybody that nobody that looks like her is named 'Betty'.[[/note]] to the idea that she's "settling" for Nobby, a chronic [[CorruptCop petty thief and watchman]] who smokes constantly, [[ThePigPen doesn't bathe]], is occasionally mistaken for a monkey, and carries papers from the ruler of the city stating that, after consulting with Nobby's doctor and midwife, he's concluded that the balance of probability is that he's a human being (although [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold for all that, he's not such a bad guy]]). Tawneee, however, is a highly successful stripper so stupidly attractive she causes all the men in a pub to start a fight about which one of them she smiled at. In the end, [[spoiler:Nobby breaks up with ''her'' because of her lack of kitchen skills]].
*** And how they got together? Well, as it's described any guy with half a brain would be smart enough to know they don't have a chance with her. Nobby, however, doesn't have the half a brain required to know he doesn't have a chance and figures "what the hell?" and just asks her out.

* ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9285638/8/Leftovers Leftovers]]'' [[ZigZaggingTrope Zig-Zags this trope]]. Kurenai's beauty attracted many admirers back when she was still in the academy, [[EvenTheGirlsWantHer but the ones who actively showed their affection were other women]], while the guys wrote her off as unobtainable due to her IceQueen nature and didn't even bother. Asuma was able to become her boyfriend because he was the first guy to actually try to ask her out.

This trope is not AlwaysFemale, but because an important part of the situation is that she cannot simply ask ''him'', it tends to be a female trope. Leads to ICantBelieveAGuyLikeYouWouldNoticeMe if she ''does'' simply ask him. Related to SoBeautifulItsACurse, and also to BeautyIsBad and GreenEyedMonster when other females act bitchy to the girl just because they think [[AlphaBitch she's pretty and therefore a bitch]].

* ''ComicBook/MadMagazine'': One issue featured one of their "You'll Never Win Because..." comics which revolved around this trope. At a night club, almost every man present, including the ThisLoserIsYou focus character, decide that competing for the attention of the beautiful girl will be an excersize in futility, and all turn their sights on a rather dumpy-looking girl. This not only causes said girl to think she's way more attractive than she actually is and becomes a haughty jerk who makes the guys jump through hoops for her attention (she eventually ends up marrying the main character), but the beautiful girl who everyone ignored because they thought they'd have to fight tooth and nail for her, ends up with a nerd who didnt join the hussle for the uglier girl because he didnt think he had a chance.

* Mulder and Scully in ''Series/TheXFiles'' are insanely attractive, but they rarely date anyone or pursue romantic relationships. He's an obsessive loner of [[ConspiracyTheorist conspiracy nut]] in [[MarriedToTheJob a career black hole]]. In one episode, a rather unattractive man steals Mulder's identity, and later tells him he's wasting his life, and that he's a handsome man with a great job and shouldn't be alone. Scully is occasionally shown as a DudeMagnet, but she's often oblivious or not interested, or the guy in question might end up being the supernatural monster they try to catch.

** Angua and Sally also delicately introduce Tawneee to the idea that she's "settling" for Nobby, a chronic [[CorruptCop petty thief and watchman]] who smokes constantly, [[ThePigPen doesn't bathe]], is occasionally mistaken for a monkey, and carries papers from the ruler of the city stating that, after consulting with Nobby's doctor and midwife, he's concluded that the balance of probability is that he's a human being (although [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold for all that, he's not such a bad guy]]). Tawneee, however, is a highly successful stripper. In the end, [[spoiler:Nobby breaks up with ''her'' because of her lack of kitchen skills]].
*** And how they got together? 'Has No Shame' Nobby figures "what the hell?" and just asks her out.

* ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9285638/8/Leftovers Leftovers]]'' [[ZigZaggingTrope Zig-Zags this trope]]. Kurenai's beauty attracted many admirers back when she was still in the academy, [[EvenTheGirlsWantHer but the ones who actively showed their affection were other women]], while the guys wrote her off as unobtainable due to her IceQueen nature and din't even bother. Asuma was able to become her boyfriend because he was the first guy to actually try to ask her out.

* ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9285638/8/Leftovers Leftovers]]'' [[ZigZaggingTrope Zig-Zags this trope]]. Kurenai's beauty attracted many admirers back when she was still in the academy, [[EvenTheGirlsWantHer but the ones who actively showed their affection were other women]], while the guys wrote her off as unobtainable and didn't even bother due to her IceQueen nature. Asuma was able to become her boyfriend because he was the first guy to actually try to ask her out.

* ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9285638/8/Leftovers Leftovers]]'' [[ZigZaggingTrope Zig-Zags this trope]]. Kurenai was (and still currently is) very beautiful when she was still in the academy. While she did receive plenty of gifts and love letters, [[EvenTheGirlsWantHer they were all from other women]], while the guys wrote her off as unobtainable and didn't even try to ask her out due to her IceQueen nature. Asuma was able to become her boyfriend because he was the first guy to actually try to ask her out.

* Himemiya Chikane from ''Manga/KannazukiNoMiko''. {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d by a character, who says that "simply having the courage to directly ask her out makes one a hero". [[EvenTheGirlsWantHer Even the girls feel intimidated by her charm]].

* ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9285638/8/Leftovers Leftovers]]'' [[ZigZaggingTrope Zig-Zags this trope]]. Kurenai was, and still is, very beautiful when she was still in the academy. While she did receive plenty of gifts and love letters, [[EvenTheGirlsWantHer they were all from other women]], while the guys wrote her off as unobtainable and didn't even try to ask her out due to her IceQueen nature. Asuma was able to become her boyfriend because he was the first guy to actually try to ask her out.

* One Franchise/{{Archie Comic|s}} involved Reggie lying about knowing a supermodel to screw Archie out of a date with Veronica for himself. He offered to set Archie up, but the model reveals she didn't know any Reggie. Archie soon finds out that she is dateless at the moment, and when asked, she reveals everyone always assumes she's already hooked up.

* ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/9285638/8/Leftovers Leftovers]]'' [[ZigZaggingTrope Zig-Zags this trope]]. Kurenai was, and still is, very beautiful when she was still in the academy. While she did receive plenty of gifts and love letter, [[EvenTheGirlsWantHer they were all from other women]], while the guys wrote her off as unobtainable and didn't even try to ask her out due to her IceQueen nature. Asuma was able to become her boyfriend because he was the first guy to actually try to ask her out.

* [[http://www.viruscomix.com/page465.html This]] ''Webcomic/{{Subnormality}}'' strip, especially in the first panel. The girl in the first panel is actually a recurring character whose whole character is this. She is an extremely attractive girl who is interested in various traditionally geeky stuff, like comics and video games. This in turn causes an extreme version of this trope, to the point where one guy she talks to spontaneously aborts himself from reality because the concept of a girl that attractive liking nerdy things and showing interest in him is apparently so alien to him that he can no longer sustain his form in our universe.

[[folder: Web Animation]]

* [[http://oglaf.com/unattainable/ Pretty much the whole joke ]] of this ''Webcomic/{{Oglaf}}'' strip. As part of a running gag with a wishing doll that subverts wishes, the woman in this comic finds herself unable to sleep with anyone, despite immense effort on her part.

This is when a character is seen as so attractive that she is never asked out, because anyone with half a brain would realize that a girl like her would reject a guy like him out of hand. It's obvious she's out of his league, so why bother to ask?

* In ''Manga/AzumangaDaioh'', Sakaki is [[HugeSchoolgirl an extraordinarily tall and athletic girl]] with several [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome Crowning Moments of Awesome]] under her belt. But she's also very shy and affectionate. Other students are scared to talk to her either because they think she's too awesome or because she's intimidating. She wind ups often wishing she'd get invited into club activities, since she's too timid to reach out for them herself. She got her wish when she fell in with Chiyo and her friends.