History Main / DisposableFiance

* A flashback scene in ''Series/AgentCarter'' revealed that Peggy had been engaged to a British Army officer back in 1940 (a good three years before she met Steve Rogers). Her brother disapproved of the match, claiming that she would never live the life of adventure she wanted with her fiancé. After her brother is killed in action, Peggy realizes that he was right, invokes Let's Call The Whole Thing Off, and accepts a transfer into the SOE, starting her life as a secret agent. Apart from the episode where said flashbacks occurred, her fiancé never appears or even gets mentioned.

* Frasier Crane on ''Series/{{Cheers}}'' was introduced as Diane's disposable fiancé; WordOfGod is that he was directly inspired by the characters Ralph Bellamy played in old Hollywood movies. He became popular enough that after Diane inevitably [[RunawayBride left him at the altar]] the writers kept him around and gave him some CharacterDevelopment. There was even an episode on the sequel show, ''Series/{{Frasier}}'', where it's revealed that Frasier still has emotional trauma over how Diane treated him, even after several years have passed, and he gets the chance to call her out on her behaviour after seeing how she's skewed their relationship in a play that she's written.

* A flashback scene in ''Series/AgentCarter'' revealed that Peggy had been engaged back in 1940 (A good four years before she met Steve Rogers). Her brother disapproved of the match, claiming that she would never live the life of adventure she wanted with her fiance. After her brother is killed in action, Peggy realizes that he was right, invokes Let's Call The Whole Thing Off, and accepts a transfer into the SOE, starting her life as a secret agent. Apart from the episode when said flashback scenes occurred, the fiance never appears or even gets mentioned.

-->-- ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', "HOMR"

* ''Film/SpiderMan2'': Mary Jane is in love with Peter but dates and almost marries John Jameson, who is bland perfection and barely has any personality at all. At the end she [[RunawayBride leaves John at the altar with nothing but a note and runs to Peter in her wedding dress]], after learning [[ItsNotYouItsMyEnemies why he won't date her]].

* ''Film/SpiderMan2'' is not a romantic comedy, per se, but still follows the trope to a T. John Jameson is Bland Perfection and barely has any personality at all.

Enter this guy. Mr. Not-Quite-Right. He might have been there from the beginning or he might be the result of a rapid RelationshipUpgrade, but the writers don't really care about how he came into the bride's life; their job is to get him out of it. Their biggest concern is how to keep him unsympathetic, so that even if the heroine dumps him [[RunawayBride right at the altar]] to run off with the love of her life, the audience won't shed a tear. Here are some common tactics:

* '''Bland Perfection:''' He's a real-life PrinceCharming: handsome, thoughtful, romantic, [[RichSuitorPoorSuitor usually rich]]... but there are just NoSparks. He [[FlatCharacter will get nary a shred]] of CharacterDevelopment, but he's still basically the ideal man, so we can watch him walk off into the sunset without any regrets, knowing that he'll have no problem finding somebody else. He tends to pull an IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy at the end.

* '''Let's Call the Whole Thing Off:''' Sometimes while the leads have been agonizing over their feelings for each other, the fiancé has been doing some thinking of his own. Maybe he's realized that he and the bride are BetterAsFriends, or he has to [[LastRequest keep his promise to his dying mother]], or he's noticed that his beloved has spent three-quarters of the movie fawning over another guy. Maybe [[PairTheSpares the quiet bridesmaid with her eyes on him has finally dared to make a move.]] Heck, maybe the bride was his LastHetRomance before he realized [[ComingOutStory women just aren't for him]]. Whatever the reason, he doesn't want this marriage either.

Sometimes both leads will have a disposable intended and in rare cases, we end up with a PairTheSpares solution. Compare DisposableLoveInterest, contrast DisposableWoman. See also AssholeVictim, which similarly diverts audience sympathy for someone who gets hurt.

[[folder:Web Videos]]
* When WebVideo/TheNostalgiaChick did Creator/MegRyan Chick-Flick Month she points out how weird some of the Minor Flaws examples can be, like a man who sneezes too much and a girl who asks for Tic-Tacs during a stressful situation. The "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off" scenes also baffle her in how completely painless they seem to be for everyone involved; ''Film/SleeplessInSeattle'''s actually sends WebVideo/ToddInTheShadows into a rage.
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[[folder:Western Animation]]
* Hro Talek, Hawkgirl's long-lost fiance in ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague''. Initially presented as Bland Perfection, he winds up as EvilAllAlong. Interestingly, Hawkgirl had been in a relationship with the ComicBook/GreenLantern before we even hear about Hro.
* Lady Jasmine in ''WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs1981'' episode "The Prince And The Hopper", whom Prince Theodore believes is his true love that he's going to marry, who turns out to be a GoldDigger who's only marrying him for his wealth. The wedding eventually gets called off when, at the ceremony, she ends up kissing a frog who's been turned into a copy of the prince who gets turned back into a frog when Smurfette kisses the real prince who was turned into a frog and turns him back into a prince.
* In ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', Princess Yue is about to enter an ArrangedMarriage with the arrogant Hahn, much to Sokka's annoyance. However Hahn [[spoiler: drowns shortly after his introduction when he attempts to kill Admiral Zhao and is promptly thrown overboard.]]
* Eric in ''WesternAnimation/KimPossibleMovieSoTheDrama'' is presented as a Bland Perfection Flavor of the Week boyfriend, even getting along with Ron, but is really of the [[spoiler:EvilAllAlong]] category. [[spoiler:He's actually a synthodrone created by Drakken to distract Kim while he unleashes his Diablo toy scheme to terrorize the planet and take over what's left of civilization]].

* '''Let's Call the Whole Thing Off:''' Sometimes while the leads have been agonizing over their feelings for each other, the fiancé has been doing some thinking of his own. Maybe he's realized that he and the bride are BetterAsFriends, or he has to [[LastRequest keep his promise to his dying mother]], or he's noticed that his beloved has spent three-quarters of the movie fawning over another guy. Maybe [[PairTheSpares the quiet bridesmaid with her eyes on him has finally dared to make a move.]] Heck, maybe [[ComingOutStory women just aren't for him in the first place]] and [[LastHetRomance he's finally ready to accept it]]. Whatever the reason, he doesn't want this marriage either.

Sometimes both leads will have a disposable intended and in rare cases, we end up with a PairTheSpares solution. Compare DisposableLoveInterest, contrast DisposableWoman. See also AssholeVictim, which is very similar in certain aspects.

* In ''Film/{{Secretary}}'', the fiance's flaw goes beyond boring - he seems to genuinely just want to get married and start a family, and doesn't much seem to care with whom. Maggie is swept along due to an inability to say "no", plus the mixed messages she's receiving from her actual love interest. It's only when trying on the wedding dress that she realizes that she can never be satisfied with him. Her dumping of him is still quite the surprise for the oblivious guy, but at least she didn't wait until the altar.

* '''[[DerailingLoveInterests Evil All Along:]]''' This guy's such a sleazebag, you can't see why ''anyone'' would marry him. He disrespects the bride, slanders her (behind her back and sometimes even to her face), and cheats on her with the rest of the wedding party. Sometimes we see that he [[BitchInSheepsClothing puts up a front of Bland Perfection]] but promptly [[KickTheDog shows his real self]] the minute her back is turned. This creep ''deserves'' to get dumped. Whilst a Disposable Fiancé of this type is the most straightforward in terms of getting the audience to root for the romantic lead, it raises the most questions about why the bride accepted his proposal in the first place.
* '''Let's Call the Whole Thing Off:''' Sometimes while the leads have been agonizing over their feelings for each other, the fiancé has been doing some thinking of his own. Maybe he realizes that he and the bride are BetterAsFriends, or he has to [[LastRequest make a promise to his dying mother]]. Or maybe he's noticed that his beloved has spent three-quarters of the movie fawning over another guy. Maybe [[PairTheSpares the quiet bridesmaid with her eyes on him finally dares to make a move.]] Heck, maybe [[ComingOutStory women just aren't for him in the first place]] and [[LastHetRomance it took the events of the plot to make him see it]]. Whatever the reason, he doesn't want this marriage either.

While this trope is not AlwaysMale, it's far more likely to see a man in this role.

** ''Film/SleeplessInSeattle'': Bland Perfection and Let's Call The Whole Thing Off, but he does his IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy moment so well that you hold out hope he'll find a new love soon.

* '''[[DerailingLoveInterests Evil All Along:]]''' This guy's such a sleazebag, you can't see why ''anyone'' would marry him. He tends to disrespect the bride, cheat on her, insult her (behind her back and occasionally to her face). Sometimes we see that he [[BitchInSheepsClothing puts up a front of Bland Perfection]] but promptly [[KickTheDog shows his real self]] the minute her back is turned. This creep ''deserves'' to get dumped. Whilst a Disposable Fiancé of this type is the most straightforward in terms of getting the audience to root for the romantic lead, it raises the most questions about why the bride thought he was husband material in the first place.
* '''Let's Call the Whole Thing Off:''' Sometimes while the leads have been agonizing over their feelings for each other, the fiancé has been doing some thinking of his own. Maybe he realizes that he and the bride are BetterAsFriends, or he has to [[LastRequest make a promise to his dying mother]]. Or maybe he's noticed that his beloved has spent three-quarters of the movie fawning over another guy. Maybe [[PairTheSpares the bridesmaid he's ignored throughout dares to make her move.]] Heck, maybe [[ComingOutStory women just aren't for him in the first place]] and [[LastHetRomance it took the events of the plot to make him see it]]. Whatever his reason, he doesn't want this marriage either.

* '''[[DerailingLoveInterests Evil All Along:]]''' This guy's such a sleazebag, you can't see why ''anyone'' would marry him. He tends to disrespect her, cheat on her, insult her (behind her back and occasionally to her face). Sometimes we see that he [[BitchInSheepsClothing puts up a front of Bland Perfection]] but promptly [[KickTheDog shows his real self]] the minute her back is turned. This creep ''deserves'' to get dumped. Whilst a Disposable Fiancé of this type is the most straightforward in terms of getting the audience to root for the romantic lead, it raises the most questions about why the bride thought he was husband material in the first place.
* '''Let's Call the Whole Thing Off:''' Sometimes while the leads have been agonizing over their feelings for each other, the fiancé has been doing some thinking of his own. Something just isn't right in the relationship. Maybe he realizes that they are BetterAsFriends, or he has to [[LastRequest make a promise to his dying mother]]. Or maybe he's noticed that she's spent three-quarters of the movie fawning over another guy. Maybe he [[PairTheSpares realizes that the bridesmaid he's ignored throughout has lovely eyes.]] Heck, maybe [[ComingOutStory women just aren't for him]] and [[LastHetRomance the events of the past few days made him realize it]]. Whatever his reason, he doesn't want this marriage either.

* '''[[DerailingLoveInterests Evil All Along:]]''' This guy's such a sleazebag, you wonder the heroine ever agreed to marry him. He tends to disrespect her, cheat on her, insult her (behind her back and occasionally to her face). Sometimes we see that he [[BitchInSheepsClothing puts up a front of Bland Perfection]], but he promptly [[KickTheDog shows his real self]] the minute her back is turned. This creep ''deserves'' to get dumped. Whilst a Disposable Fiancé of this type is the most straightforward in terms of getting the audience to root for the romantic lead, it raises the most questions about why the bride agreed to marry him in the first place.
* '''Let's Call the Whole Thing Off:''' Sometimes while the leads have been agonizing over their feelings for each other, the fiancé has been doing some thinking of his own. Something just isn't right in the relationship. Maybe he realizes that they are BetterAsFriends, or he has to [[LastRequest make a promise to his dying mother]]. Or maybe he's noticed that she's spent three-quarters of the movie fawning over another guy. Maybe he [[PairTheSpares realizes that the bridesmaid he's ignored throughout has lovely eyes.]] Heck, maybe he realizes [[ComingOutStory women aren't for him]] in [[LastHetRomance the first place]]. Whatever his reasons, he doesn't want this marriage either.

Assuming the fiance isn't just a plot device, s/he can provide a lesson about how rushing into things is bad, getting married for the sake of being married isn't wise, or that you should know who someone ''really'' is before committing to them for life.

It's not AlwaysMale but due to a weird DoubleStandard, female examples are rarer.

* ''Film/HopeFloats'' torpedoes this trope right off the bat by having the would-be disposable fianc&eacute (well, husband); ''dump her on live television''. He's EvilAllAlong, TwoTimingWithTheBestie, and abandons his daughter as well as his wife so he and his new flame can have alone time.