History Main / BettyAndVeronica

* ''[[TheManyLovesOfDobieGillis Dobie Gillis]]'' had a revolving cast of pretty, money-hungry Veronicas, most notably Thalea Menninger. His constant and loving Betty was the somewhat tomboyish Zelda Gilroy.

* Louisa May Alcott's ''Literature/LittleWomen'' has next-door neighbor Laurie decide between the outdoorsy and bookish girl-next-door Jo (Betty) and her rich, refined, exotic European-vacationing younger sister Amy (Veronica) [[spoiler:ultimately settling with Amy, after Jo turns him down because she never liked him as more than a friend]].

* In Creator/RobertEHoward's "TheSlitheringShadow", ConanTheBarbarian tosses off TheVamp at the realization that his slave girl is watching.

* In the novel as well as the film ''Starter for 10'', Brian Jackson is faced with a similar dilemma - he is heavily attracted to his sexy University Challenge teammate Alice (the somewhat 'slutty' Veronica) but somewhat attracted to intuitive activist Rebecca (a more forceful Betty who isn't the 'girl-next-door'), whom he doesn't realize he's better off with. [[spoiler: He does realize he's better off with Rebecca and 'breaks up' with Alice (after she slept with his best friend)]].

* In Creator/RobertEHoward's "The Slithering Shadows", ConanTheBarbarian tosses off TheVamp at the realization that his slave girl is watching.

* In ''The Age Of Innocence'', Newland Archer is engaged to the blond, blue-eyed, "perfect" - and completely superficial and ordinary - May Welland (the Betty), but falls in love with her dark-haired cousin Ellen, the family reprobate (the Veronica). Interestingly, the trope is somewhat inverted, as in this case, it's The Veronica who is more suited to him in terms of personality and interests.

* In Stephanie Meyer's ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' saga, gender roles are switched--the protagonist, Bella Swan, has to choose between Edward and Jacob. Interestingly, which is the "Betty" and which is the "Veronica" depends on [[BrokenBase the reader]]: "Team Edward" readers see Edward as the RomanticVampireBoy who's a MisunderstoodLonerWithAHeartOfGold while Jacob is a ManipulativeBastard who forces himself on her, once even emotionally blackmailing her into kissing him. "Team Jacob" readers, on the other hand, see Jacob as the DoggedNiceGuy who's always been there for her as her [[ChildhoodFriends Childhood Friend]], while Edward is a StalkerWithACrush turned CrazyJealousGuy, even going so far as to ''remove part of her car's engine'' to keep her from visiting Jacob. Technically, Edward and Jacob are ''both'' Veronicas in terms of danger, since it's demonstrated many times throughout the series that both vampires and werewolves are always in danger of harming their human significant others. The only true Betty in the series is Mike Newton, and he was [[TheNotLoveInterest never really in the running anyway.]]

* ''{{Moonlight}}'' - which can be fairly described as "''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' with werewolves" - plays this straight, but with a twist. Kayla, the heroine, identifies Lucas as the [[AllGirlsWantBadBoys Bad Boy]], and Mason as the [[DoggedNiceGuy "safe" guy]]. The twist is, even before [[spoiler: Mason's FaceHeelTurn]], reading between the lines reveals that she's [[WrongGenreSavvy got it backwards]]. Lucas is gruff, aloof, and has an [[IncrediblyLamePun animal magnetism]] that terrifies her, but he also protects her, trusts her, and never forces her to do anything she's unable to cope with. Mason, while charming and intelligent, comes on to her rather insistently, acts possessive, demonstrates overt disrespect for Lucas (who more or less ignores him in return), and - most tellingly - uses beer smuggled on the trip to get Kayla buzzed before a night of stargazing.

* Subverted somewhat disturbingly in ''Literature/TheLover'' by ABYehoshua, [[spoiler: with the quiet day-in-day-out Adam intentionally fixing up his wife with young artist Gabriel as a lover]], and [[spoiler: later doing it with his daughter’s friend Tali.]]

* ''Moonlight'' - which can be fairly described as "''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' with werewolves" - plays this straight, but with a twist. Kayla, the heroine, identifies Lucas as the [[AllGirlsWantBadBoys Bad Boy]], and Mason as the [[DoggedNiceGuy "safe" guy]]. The twist is, even before [[spoiler: Mason's FaceHeelTurn]], reading between the lines reveals that she's [[WrongGenreSavvy got it backwards]]. Lucas is gruff, aloof, and has an [[IncrediblyLamePun animal magnetism]] that terrifies her, but he also protects her, trusts her, and never forces her to do anything she's unable to cope with. Mason, while charming and intelligent, comes on to her rather insistently, acts possessive, demonstrates overt disrespect for Lucas (who more or less ignores him in return), and - most tellingly - uses beer smuggled on the trip to get Kayla buzzed before a night of stargazing.

* Subverted somewhat disturbingly in ''TheLover'' by ABYehoshua, [[spoiler: with the quiet day-in-day-out Adam intentionally fixing up his wife with young artist Gabriel as a lover]], and [[spoiler: later doing it with his daughter’s friend Tali.]]

* ''Literature/HonorHarrington'' gives an interesting example in which not the hero, but a supporting character, Hamish Alexander, gets torn between his beautiful, loving and brilliant, but [[GeniusCripple invalid]] wife, Emily (the Betty), and lively, athletic and no less beautiful protege and subordinate, titular Honor Harrington. Being an OfficerAndAGentleman, Hamish decided to simply suffer nobly in silence, which brought a truly ''monumental'' amount of problems for at least three books until he was whacked on the head by no other than ''his very wife''. [[spoiler:He then went on {{MarryThemAll marrying both]]]].

* ''[['BridgetJones Bridget Jones's Diary]]'' plays this fairly straight between Mark Darcy (Betty) and Daniel Cleaver (Veronica). The film version even describes them as "[[WrongGuyFirst too good to be true]]" and "[[AllGirlsWantBadBoys so wrong he might just be right]]", respectively. [[spoiler:By the end of the books, Mark has won, although when Helen Fielding continued the column, apparently Bridget was still torn between them and ends up having Daniel's baby. Sigh.]]

* Louisa May Alcott's ''Literature/{{Little Women}}'' has next-door neighbor Laurie decide between the outdoorsy and bookish girl-next-door Jo (Betty) and her rich, refined, exotic European-vacationing younger sister Amy (Veronica) [[spoiler:ultimately settling with Amy, after Jo turns him down because she never liked him as more than a friend]].

* Victor Hugo's ''Literature/LesMiserables'' and all of its kajillion adaptations do this. The rebellious student Marius (Archie), the cultured and mysterious orphan Cosette (Betty), and the spunky, determined, and quite possibly not-right-in-the-head street urchin Eponine (Veronica), the winner being [[spoiler:Cosette. However, this was inevitable due to ValuesDissonance. Eponine was intended as a living critique of 19th century France's rigid class system: she never could get in a relationship with the (broke, but still) aristocratic Marius, because they just weren't considered equals.]]

* ''[[BridgetJones Bridget Jones's Diary]]'' plays this fairly straight between Mark Darcy (Betty) and Daniel Cleaver (Veronica). The film version even describes them as "[[WrongGuyFirst too good to be true]]" and "[[AllGirlsWantBadBoys so wrong he might just be right]]", respectively. [[spoiler:By the end of the books, Mark has won, although when Helen Fielding continued the column, apparently Bridget was still torn between them and ends up having Daniel's baby. Sigh.]]
* ''Kushiel's Legacy'' has Imriel torn between his dutiful love for gentle brunette wife Dorelei, and his socially inappropriate and fairly kinky attachment to glamorous, feisty blonde heiress Sidonie, a DefrostingIceQueen. Arguably Phedre, Hyacinthe and Joscelin fall into this as well, if only because of the complicated nature of Phedre's relationship with [[ChasteHero Joscelin]].
* In the Russian version of the tale ''The Shadow'', written by E. Shwartz, the scientist Christian Theodore, after [[spoiler: defeating his shadow]], chooses to marry the faithful Annunciata, rather than the shallow (as it turns out) princess, his previous love interest.

* ''Macross'' in all its incarnations is a king of this trope, because it is actually ''built around'' it:

** Shampoo a SupremeChef, works full-time in her grandma's restaurant, and can be almost kittenish when she's happy (pun intended). Also added is that she came from a lower-class setting than Akane, is a lot smarter than she looks, and is also multi-talented. She also pines after Ranma. That's quite a dosage of Betty-ness.

** [[PlayingwithaTrope You can argue it both ways though.]] Akane is very [[NiceGirl kind-hearted and nice]] when not being upset, and often [[BullyHunter stands up for others]] even if it brings her problems. And while Shampoo can cook and can be very demure around Ranma, but most of the time she's {{Tsundere}} bordering on {{Yandere}} and can be very manipulative and cruel, like with Mousse ''and'' sometimes to Ranma himself. Shampoo also has an exotic quality, and her sexiness is sometimes played up too, especially compared to Akane who is a tomboy who desperately attempts to be more feminine. So in this sense Akane may be the Betty instead.

* ''LightNovel/ZeroNoTsukaima'' does this, with noblewoman [[TsunDere Louise]] facing off against peasant girl [[{{Meido}} Siesta]].

** The anime adaptation has them switch roles for the third season. As Saito grows more used to Louise's habits, his relationship with her normalizes somewhat culminating with their marriage at the end of the second season. Shortly thereafter [[{{Flanderization}} the writers force Siesta to crank up the sex appeal]] to compensate because StatusQuoIsGod.

One of the most common types of LoveTriangle, named after characters from ArchieComics, wherein the main character ("Archie") is caught between two love interests with drastically different personalities. "Betty" is the sweet, [[AFriendInNeed reliable]], everyday GirlNextDoor type (if done wrong, this can mean: 'kind of dull'), whilst "Veronica" is more alluring, exotic and edgy, but has more of a mischievous or icy personality (which could mean 'kind of a bitch'). This translates to their physical appearances; Betty will be pretty but conservative in dress, whilst Veronica will be MsFanservice in all her glory. As a rule, they will have different hair colors as per the BlondeBrunetteRedhead trope.

** Inversely, Erika's former fiance was a close friend from high school (Betty), while her current beau, an [[CloudCuckoolander insane]] American hacker genius / zombie slayer, is most certainly the male equivalent of the Veronica.

* The Nostalgia Chick is the Betty and Obscurus Lupa is the Veronica to Todd's Archie

* ''WesternAnimation/BarbieLifeInTheDreamhouse'' has the goodhearted, blonde Barbie and the scheming, brunette Raquelle vying for Ken's affections. Barbie always wins. A {{Gender Flip}}ped variation also occurs, in which faithful Ken competes with Ryan, Raquelle's boastful brother, for Barbie's affections. Ken always wins.

** ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'': Mirai (Archie), Bright Noah (Betty), Liutenant Sleggar (Veronica) and Cameron Bloom (ThirdOptionLoveInterest). [[spoiler: Sleggar dies few after he and Mirai share a kiss, Cameron is soon out of the picture after the ''Char's Counterattack'' movie, Mirai marries Bright.]]. Also Lalah Sune (a very... strange Archie), Amuro Ray (Betty) and Char Aznable (Veronica) [[spoiler: And then ''Lalah dies protecting Char from Amuro''.]]
** ''[[Anime/AfterWarGundamX Gundam X]]'': Garrod Ran (Archie), Tiffa Addil (Betty) and Ennil El (Veronica). [[spoiler: Tiffa already had the first round won since Garrod crushed hard from almost the start, so she wins in the end too.]]

* ''Film/SweeneyToddTheDemonBarberOfFleetStreet'' has the titular character as Betty and Judge Turpin as Veronica for Lucy Barker.
** Really? Not much evidence for that. The point of the Betty/Veronica thing is the fact that the Archie ''chooses between them'', and it's made pretty obvious that Lucy is happily married, isn't attracted to Turpin, and never considers a relationship with him. Lucy and Mrs Lovett as Betty and Veronica for Sweeney is a much straighter example.
** It's also deconstructed somewhat with the Johanna love triangle. To the audience it's very clear that Anthony (nice guy her own age) is Betty and Turpin (ruthless old pervert who raped her mother)is Veronica. However Turpin sees himself as a responsible gentleman Betty attempting to "shield Johanna from the evils of the world" by fending off a lustful young Veronica.

** The first is Hermione choosing between the famous, popular, mysterious and intense Viktor Krum (Veronica) and her good friend Ron (Betty).
** This trope is played with canonically on the [[spoiler: Lily/Snape/James]] triangle. [[spoiler: Snape's Pensieved memories show that Snape (who was in love with Lily all along) was originally Lily's best friend, while she wanted nothing to do with arrogant bully James. This changes and Lily eventually marries James, but interestingly it seems that this only happens once Snape switches to the Veronica (by insulting Lily and calling her "mudblood") and James to the Betty (by acting less arrogant and more mature once he left school). It's like a Betty and Veronica love triangle where Archie has no interest in the Veronica... whoever it may be at a given time.]] Creator/JKRowling has expressed her dismay with the fact that AllGirlsWantBadBoys in interviews, so [[spoiler:this may simply be Lily defying that trope in combination with an HourglassPlot]].

* Louisa May Alcott's ''Literature/{{Little Women}}'' has next-door neighbor Laurie decide between the outdoorsy and bookish girl-next-door Jo (Betty) and her vain, rich, exotic European-vacationing sister Amy (Veronica) [[spoiler:ultimately settling with Amy, after Jo turns him down]].

* Literature/{{Ivanhoe}} was fought over between Rowena and Rebecca.

*** From late season four to six, [[spoiler:Chloe knows Clark's secret but Lana doesn't.]] Which makes it more dangerous to hang out with Lana than with Chloe in a sense. Plus Lana being [[spoiler:attracted to and later ''marrying'' Lex]] and Chloe being available from the beginning [[spoiler:till season six]]. In season six and seven, while Chloe is [[spoiler:dating Jimmy]], it is pretty obvious that she still has great difficulty saying no to Clark, and Lana becomes a [[spoiler:cunning, vengeful, lying ManipulativeBitch thanks to the Luthor teachings.]] [[ValuesDissonance And she is still portrayed]] [[CreatorsPet as Clark's perfect girlfriend.]]

* Taylor Swift's "You Belong With Me" features a love triangle between blonde GirlNextDoor Taylor Swift and a dark-haired cheerleader rival.

* A Brazilian [[strike: country]] sertanejo song called "[[RichSuitorPoorSuitor O Grafino e o Caipira]]" that tells the story of a [[UpperClassTwit rich city guy]] (the Veronica) and a [[CountryMouse hick]] (the Betty) fighting over a [[SatelliteLoveInterest pretty girl]]. [[spoiler: In the end, she gets tired of their fighting and [[TakeAThirdOption goes for]] [[ThirdOptionLoveInterest the cowboy]]]]

** Ephraim's sister Eirika actually plays this trope a bit more straight: her main options are Seth, the calm, collected and hunky bodyguard, or Innes, prince of another country whose personality and tongue are as sharp as his arrows (In a variation, the one whom she has known since childhood is ''Innes''.) There are also two potential {{Cheryl Blossom}}s who ''in themselves'' fit here well too: Saleh (Betty) is a soft-spoken TallDarkAndHandsome magic user, whereas Forde (Veronica) is a ChivalrousPervert {{Sleepyhead}}.

* The "main" LoveTriangle of sorts in [[FireEmblemJugdral Fire Emblem Seisen no Keifu]] had [[spoiler: Diadora]] as the Archie, with the kind and knightly [[spoiler: Sigurd]] as Betty and the deeply troubled [[spoiler: Alvis]] as Veronica. [[spoiler: It ended '''horribly''', when Alvis '''killed''' Sigurd before decimating his army.]] At thre same time, Prince Levin had his own Betty And Veronica in Fury (serious LadyOfWar whom he knows since childhood) and Sylvia (sexy dancer who's been travelling with him lately) - you can choose whom he picks as his girlfriend/wife, alongside BadassPrincess Tiltyu as a CherylBlossom. [[spoiler: Though Thracia 776 has a clear slant towards Fury]].
** And 17 years later, the second lead Celice has the ProperLady Lana and the ActionGirl Lakche as this. In a subversion, ''both'' of them are his childhood friends.
** ''Lakche'' has a similar predicament, too. Two Isaacsian noblemen, the brothers Johan and Johalva, have the hots for her: Johan is the Betty due to his PurpleProse-laden speech patterns and ultra-chivalrous view of their bond, while the hotheaded JerkWithAHeartOfGold Johanlva is the Veronica.
** And ''then'', there's Princess Lachesis. Out of all her potential suitors (not counting [[BigBrotherAttraction Eltoshan]], that is), Beowulf is a cynical PunchClockHero Veronica and Fin is a KnightInShiningArmor Betty. [[spoiler: ''Both'' of them might have won and then lost in ''Thracia'': it's all but stated that Lachesis's eldest son Delmud is Beo's kid, while her youngest daughter Nanna is Fin's, though Lachesis herself is missing in action.]]
** It's hinted in the Seisen game that [[spoiler: Sigurd's sister Ethlin]] ''might'' have been the Archie at some moment, with [[spoiler: Duke Cuan]] as the Betty (and the canon winner) and [[spoiler: King Trabant]] as the Veronica. [[spoiler: It didn't matter in the end: Trabant, despite whatever he thought of Ethlin, ''killed them both''.]]

* ''VideoGame/BlazBlue'' has an unresolved ShipTease triangle with [[TallDarkAndSnarky Jin]] [[SociopathicHero Kisaragi]] (the Archie) and his two [[MoralityPet Morality Pets]], Tsubaki (the Betty) and Makoto (the Veronica). They're [[RedOniBlueOni complete opposites]] in every respect: Tsubaki is the daughter of nobility, Makoto is from a large working-class family; Tsubaki [[TokenWholesome dresses modestly]], Makoto [[{{Stripperiffic}} doesn't]]; Tsubaki was an honour-student, Makoto is [[BookDumb somewhat]] [[IdiotHero dim]]; Tsubaki is [[TheStoic quiet and reserved]], Makoto is [[HotBlooded loud and impulsive]]; Tsubaki is a human with [[HeroesPreferRedheads red hair]] and blue eyes, Makoto is a [[CuteMonsterGirl Squirrel]] [[LittleBitBeastly Beastkin]] with chestnut brown hair and eyes to match; Tsubaki fights with a short sword and [[LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe shield]] combo and fights with [[LadyOfWar grace and elegance]], Makoto fights with DualTonfas and relies on [[LightningBruiser brute strength, speed]] and [[CombatPragmatist trickery]].
** In a subversion of the usual formula, [[spoiler:the Veronica is actually ''nicer'' than the Betty; Tsubaki is a ClingyJealousGirl who ends up falling into LoveMakesYouEvil territory, while Makoto is one of the few genuinely good people in the otherwise mostly BlackAndGrayMorality ''VideoGame/BlazBlue'']]. This extends into their present-day story interactions with Jin, as well - Tsubaki [[spoiler:takes on an order to "bring him in" (read: ''kill Jin'', but she doesn't know that), and fights him in his story and hers]], while Makoto [[spoiler:watches over him in Ronin-gai after he sustains injuries guarding her from Hazama (his story) or overextends himself getting her to safety after she fights Hazama (her story).]]
** Another typically-unseen take on this trope is that Makoto {{ship|perOnDeck}}s Jin with Tsubaki.

* Used in ''The Saboteur'' with Skylar as the Veronica and the ironically named Veronique as the Betty.

** Lucy is also Betty and Mrs. Lovett is Veronica for Todd.

* ''Series/TrueBlood'' has a male version, with Sookie (as an Archie) having to choose between her brunette boyfriend Bill (as Betty) and the BigBad blonde Eric (as Veronica).

One of the most common types of LoveTriangle, named after characters from ArchieComics, wherein the main character ("Archie") is caught between two love interests with drastically different personalities. "Betty" is the sweet, [[AFriendInNeed reliable]], everyday GirlNextDoor type (if done wrong, this can mean: 'kind of dull'), whilst "Veronica" is more alluring, exotic and edgy, but has more of a mischievous or icy personality (which could mean 'kind of a bitch'). This translates to their physical appearances; "Betty" will be pretty but conservative in dress, whilst "Veronica" will be MsFanservice in all her glory. As a rule, they will have different hair colors as per the BlondeBrunetteRedhead trope.

The usual dynamic is that "Betty", often the hero's best friend, is herself deeply in love with "Archie" (who might see them as JustFriends or being LikeBrotherAndSister, [[ObliviousToLove hence his obliviousness to her feelings]]), whilst "Veronica" is the sultry Ms. Unattainable who, despite attracting the hero's attention, barely notices his existence. "Betty" will [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy want the hero to be happy]] and thus suppress her own desire to help the hero in his quest to win over "Veronica". Another possibility is that "Archie" and "Betty" are already in a relationship, but then "Veronica" starts batting her eyelashes, causing friction between the couple. In cases of ArrangedMarriage, "Betty" is the girl the parents prefer and [[ParentalMarriageVeto "Veronica" is the one they reject]].

Don't let the pronouns fool you. By no means is this trope limited to women or hetero relationships. If the two love interests are male, they are often characterized as the [[SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan kind-hearted, polite]] NiceGuy and the [[AllGirlsWantBadBoys edgy Bad Boy]]. There might also be some overlap with RichSuitorPoorSuitor, with a rich but douchey "Veronica" and a poor but kindhearted "Betty", or a rich and kind but boring "Betty" and a blue collar roughneck "Veronica".

Who the hero will end up with varies according to medium, story, and the [[ValuesDissonance values of the time period and culture]] where the story was made. Traditionally, "Betty" stood a better chance, at least if the story had a HappyEnding, because she conformed to more social standards, whilst choosing "Veronica" would only lead the poor sap into [[DownerEnding ruin]]. Usually, the hero would [[WrongGuyFirst spend the story chasing "Veronica" only to realize that "Betty" was The One]] -- complete with a convenient 'appreciate what you've got' or TrueBeautyIsOnTheInside Aesop. However, as attitudes to what is 'appropriate' sexual conduct have liberalized, it's more accepted for "Veronica" to have a chance at winning a happy ending too. Movies have traditionally favoured "Betty", but video games, comics and TV shows (especially long runners) have played this trope for all it's worth.

* In ''TenchiMuyo'', [[TheOjou Ayeka]] is clearly the Betty (traditional, reserved) to [[TheVamp Ryoko's]] Veronica (sultry, unreserved).

* In ''WesternAnimation/AvengersEarthsMightiestHeroes'', both quiet, reliable [[HospitalHottie Jane Foster]] and sexy, dangerous [[DarkMagicalGirl Enchantress]] seem to love {{Thor}}. However, he just doesn't like the Enchantress.

* Subverted in ''Literature/TheHost''. Ian and Jared fit the bill all right, the subversion being that the Archie is actually two people in the same body with Ian only interested in Wanda and Jared interested in Melanie. Honestly, it could be viewed as a metaphor for a guy loving you for you for your mind/personality vs. a guy loving you for your body.