History Main / PlayingHardToGet

** Especially funny considering the last time this pair of actors worked together, on ''{{Farscape}}'', her character played this trope ''hard'' throughout their season-spanning romantic arc.

* ''Film/NoManOfHerOwn'': Connie (played by Creator/CaroleLombard) plays hard to get with Babe (Creator/ClarkGable).

* In one strip of ''ComicStrip/BeetleBailey'', Sgt. Louis Lugg despairs at catching Sgt. Snorkel's romantic attention. Somebody advises her to "play hard-to-get". Lugg decides the best way to do this is to call enticingly to Snorkel ''from the top of a barracks roof''.

** Especially funny considering the last time this pair of actors worked together, on {{Farscape}}, her character played this trope ''hard'' throughout their season-spanning romantic arc.

* A pretty disturbing one from 1932's ''Film/WhatPriceHollywood''. Finding out that Lonnie doesn't like blondes actresses and is a general snob, Mary ignores his earnest pursuit of her. Having stood him up, he gets so angry that he ''breaks down her window'', gets ''into'' her house, ''takes'' her to his house while she’s still in her negligée, and ''forces'' her to eat the meal he prepared. We’re supposed to take this as romantic.

->"You didn't have to give up so easily, Kurosaki-kun."

* This can easily backfire, depending on who it's tried against. An intended pursuer with any degree of social anxiety or autism is likely to take such a strategy at face value as a flat rejection, while those with [[TheSpock an INTP or INTJ personality]] may quickly recognize the technique for what it is, but simply not wish to waste their time on what they see as pointless mind games.

* This can easily backfire, depending on who it's tried against. An intended pursuer with any degree of social anxiety or autism is likely to take such a strategy at face value as a flat rejection, while those with an INTJ personality may quickly recognize what's going on, but simply don't wish to waste their time on what they see as pointless mind games.

* This can easily backfire, depending on who it's tried against. An intended pursuer with any degree of social anxiety or autism is likely to take such a strategy at face value as a flat rejection, while those with an INTJ personality may quickly recognize what's going on, but simply don't wish to waste their time on mind games.

* Cornerstone of the "Seduction Community" tips and tactics they give to men that want to be more successful with women. The argument most commonly used is "Women want guys who pose a challenge", and they claim that this is specially true for very attractive women, as opposed to a guy who is open and forward about his feelings, in which case he will be taken for granted and any interest in him will quickly vanish. How effective, let alone coldly manipulative, these tactics are is open to debate, [[RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment and that's all that is going to be said about it here]].

* Cornerstone of the "Seduction Community" tips and tactics they give to men that want to be more successful with women, the argument most commonly used is "Women want guys who pose a challenge", and they claim that this is specially true for very attractive women, as opposed to a guy who is open and forward about his feelings which in case will be taken for granted and any interest in him will quickly vanish. How effective, let alone coldly manipulative, these tactics are is open to debate, [[RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment and that's all what is going to be said about it here]].

* ''WebComic/EerieCuties'': Layla [[http://www.eeriecuties.com/strips-ec/cozy_spot invokes the trope by name]], when her [[spoiler: ex-]]boyfriend, Kade, tries coaxing her into a make-out session in the janitor's closet.

* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'', a Carmen Electra {{Expy}} ends up pursuing Steve because he's actually making her work for it (insisting on seeing her medical records, making her remove her breast implants). [[spoiler:She gets killed in a freak accident immediately after she and Steve are about to get together.]]

* Major Motoko "likes to jump off buildings" Kusanagi does this to Batou, partly because she is TheStoic and highly professional in her work. What? You're not following the subtle romantic subplot in ''Franchise/GhostInTheShell''? Didn't you catch it when it came up, uh, twice over 26 episodes?

Sometimes this results in an inversion of the previous situation, leading the former StalkerWithACrush to realize how annoying their romantic pursuit was (don't expect them to get much sympathy from the other characters). Other times this will lead to a HappilyEverAfter (or TheMasochismTango) relationship. More often the former StalkerWithACrush will excitedly return the romantic feelings at which point the target will suddenly lose all interest resulting in a SnapBack and thus UnfortunateImplications. Occasionally it will turn out that the StalkerWithACrush was attempting to invoke this trope, in this case a SnapBack is almost certain once the target learns of it.