History Main / PlotIncitingInfidelity

* ''Film/TheRoom'': Johnny has everything at the start of the film: wealth, a large group of friends, and his engagement to Lisa. If not for her infidelity with Johnny's friend Mark, there wouldn't be a plot to speak of.

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* The ''[[ComicBook/SilentHill Silent Hill comic book series "Sinner's Reward"]]'' gets kick-started this way, as the mob boss, Jack's employer and Jill's husband, was unaware of the love affair between Jack and Jill until they left together. Once he found out, he decided to have them brought back to him, leading to everyone eventually ending up in Silent Hill. This is still part of the Silent Hill franchise, however, so they're not portrayed as sympathetically as some other examples of this trope are -- for starters, Jack was employed as a ProfessionalKiller, and at least one other character isn't as willing to let bygones be bygones for them so easily.

* ''Fanfic/CabinFeverPartingShot'' recreates the affair that takes between Paul and Marcy in Film/CabinFever. The difficulty with this being that Paul is hopelessly infatuated with his friendzone crush, Karen, at the start of the story. [[SexIsLiberation His journey of decadent, meaningless sex]] with [[ShamelessFanserviceGirl Karen's hot friend]], and [[IntimatePsychotherapy self-discovery]] begins when he inadvertently catches Karen having [[ButLiquorIsQuicker a drunken, impulsive fling]] with their friend, Bert.

* ''Dying Young'' starts with Hilary O'Neil (Creator/JuliaRoberts) catching her boyfriend cheating, moves out their apartment and becomes a live-in nurse to a rich, 28-year-old man with leukemia.

* In ''Film/BadMoms'', Amy walks in on her husband having videochat sex with a woman from halfway across the country. She kicks him out of the house. This is just one in the long line of straws that finally cause her to snap. They do try counseling at one point, but even the therapist admits that they're probably better off on their own. This frees her up for a very attractive widowed dad at her kids' school.

* ''Film/AlongCamePolly'' starts with Reuben's wife cheating on their ''honeymoon'' to make room for the titular Polly.

* ''Dying Young'' starts with Hilary O'Neil (Creator/JuliaRoberts) finding her boyfriend cheating, moves out and becomes a live-in nurse to a rich, 28-year-old man with leukemia.

* ''Dying Young'' starts with Hilary O'Neil finding her boyfriend cheating, moves out and becomes a home nurse to a rich man with leukemia.

* ''Film/SlidingDoors'': While the two timelines split with Helen missing the titular doors, the more important catalyst for divergence is when the Helen who caught the train walks in on her boyfriend cheating on her.
* ''Film/MrRight'': Martha begins the film by breaking up with her boyfriend after catching him cheating on her. This conveniently leaves her free to start dating [[RetiredBadass ex-]][[HitmanWithAHeart hitman]] Francis.

* ''Film/SomethingToTalkAbout'': Grace finds out her husband is cheating on her, which causes her to move into her parent's ranch.

* ''Film/OldSchool'' opens with Luke Wilson's character coming home early from a business trip to find his girlfriend watching pornography. He initially thinks this is actually a turn-on and gets excited... until several [[NakedPeopleAreFunny naked people enter the room]] and her cheating becomes apparent. And then he goes and moves out and begins a frat for old people.
* ''Film/LuckyNumberSlevin'': Slevin is staying at Nick's place because he walked in on his wife cheating on him. This leads him to being mistaken for Nick and asked to WorkOffTheDebt that Nick had with a mob boss. [[spoiler:[[PlayingWithATrope Subverted]] by the fact that it turns out Slevin was lying about this story, but still an in-universe example since it's part of the story Slevin tells to endear himself to Lindsey]]
* ''Film/ThisIsWhereILeaveYou'': Judd's (Creator/JasonBateman) misfortunes begin with him finding out his wife is cheating on him... with his boss, leading him to lose his job.

* In ''Film/BadMoms'', Amy walks in on her husband having videochat sex with a woman from halfway across the country. She kicks him out of the house. This is just one in the long line of straws that finally cause her to snap. They do try counseling at one point, but even the therapist admits that they're probably better off on their own. This frees her up for a very attractive widowed dad at her kids' school.
* In ''Film/BodyDouble'', Jake Scully [[HomeEarlySurprise comes home early]] to the apartment he lives in with his girlfriend. He walks in to see his girlfriend in bed with another man. Since she owns the apartment, Jake is now left without a place to stay, leading to his acceptance of a house-sitting offer at a luxury home in the Hollywood hills.
* ''Film/LasVegasBloodbath'' is kicked off by a man coming home to find his wife in bed with another man, causing him to snap and proceed to go on a mass-murdering rampage, targeting mainly women in particular.

* ''Film/MarryMe2022'': Kat impulsively marries a complete stranger because she learned her fiance was cheating on her minutes before they were supposed to get married.
* ''Film/Pitch2009'': The story opens with a man discovering that his wife was cheating on him, and everything else follows from that.

* ''Series/NewGirl'': The series begins with Jessica Day coming home early to surprise her boyfriend while wearing nothing but a trench-coat (and a ribbon). Unfortunately for her, he's cheating on her with another girl and she winds up moving out, leading to the RoommateCom premise of the show.
* She isn't the protagonist, but ''Series/JaneTheVirgin'''s convoluted plot is kickstarted when Luisa walks in on her wife cheating on her. The fragile state of mind this puts her in leads to Luisa making the crucial mistake of accidentally artificially inseminating Jane instead of Petra. Luisa herself takes the split badly - she returns to her former alcoholism, goes soul-searching in some temples abroad, and hooks up with her ex-girlfriend/stepmom.
* ''Series/{{Crashing|US}}'': Semi-autobiographical, this series stars Creator/PeteHolmes AsHimself. After walking in on his wife (played by Creator/LaurenLapkus) cheating on him, Pete decides to try his hand at Stand Up comedy and must ''[[PunBasedTitle crash]]'' on the couch of his comedian friends as he no longer has anywhere to live.
* ''Series/NecessaryRoughness'': Dani finds out that her husband has been having affairs right under her nose. She promptly kicks him out of the house, files for divorce, and gets a job as a therapist for a professional football team.
* ''Series/{{Nevertheless}}'': Na-bi is reluctant to fall in love after she caught her shitty ex-boyfriend cheating on her in the opening scene of the show; the plot is about her getting over this reluctance.
* Already disillusioned with her [[HospitalParadiso glitzy plastic surgery practice]] in Los Angeles, Dr. Sydney Hansen decides to return to her family in ''Series/{{Providence}}'' after walking in on her boyfriend in the shower with another man.

* ''Series/{{Friends}}'': Joey's plotline in "The One With The Boobies" begins when he discovers the woman his father is speaking affectionately to on the phone isn't Joey's mother but [[TheMistress a mistress]]. After Joey pushes his father into ending the affair his mother shows up and reveals she knew the whole time and was ignoring it as the guilt made Mr. Tribbiani more attentive to her.
* The entire plot of ''Series/TheMarvelousMrsMaisel'' is kicked off by Joel announcing to Midge that he's leaving her for his secretary. Midge gets drunk and stumbles into the Gaslight Club, where she gives a comedic rant onstage that launches her comedy career. Over the next couple seasons, they reconcile, though they eventually decide to formally divorce [[spoiler:again]].
* ''Series/{{Shtisel}}'': Giti's storyline starts with her husband Lippe vanishing after he went overseas for work, and her having to raise five children on her own. He eventually regrets his actions and comes back, but we never see the other woman.

* Subverted in ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoV''; one of Michael's first missions starts with him finding his wife with their tennis coach. However, it's mentioned multiple times that Michael cheated on her first and that they have an open relationship - he's okay with her sleeping around, but [[EverybodyHasStandards using their bed for it was too much]]. The mission then instead showcases Michael's HairTriggerTemper, [[ATragedyOfImpulsiveness impulsiveness]] and fondness for DisproportionateRetribution, and implies that his shitty life is caused by his barely-contained instability, narcissism and selfishness instead of his family.

* She isn't the protagonist, but ''Series/JaneTheVirgin'''s convoluted plot is kickstarted when Luisa walks in on her wife cheating on her. The fragile state of mind this puts her in leads to Luisa making the crucial mistake of accidentally artificially inseminating Jane instead of Petra. Luisa herself takes the split badly - she returns to her former alcoholism, goes soul-searching in some temples abroad, and hooks up with her ex-slash-stepmom.

The protagonist might find out through a BedroomAdulteryScene. Doomed relationships that survive further than the film's beginning might be DisposableFiance instead. A similar trope is OutOfJobIntoThePlot.

So, you're writing a story and you need your character to be both immediately sympathetic to the audience and motivated to suddenly change their life in a dramatic way. How about you have them learn their significant other is cheating on them? Witnessing this infidelity shows the protagonist as down on their luck and implies that their personal life was unhappy and/or unfulfilling, paving the way for the drastic change that comprises the work's gimmick. It also establishes them as single, just in time for the introduction of the work's LoveInterest.

The protagonist might find out through a BedroomAdulteryScene. A similar trope is OutOfJobIntoThePlot.

* ''Film/HeadOverHeels'': Amanda walking in on her boyfriend cheating on her is what leads her to moving in with her friends, and eventually, start [[StalkerWithACrush spying on her neighbour.]]

So, you're writing a story and you need your character to be both immediately sympathetic to the audience and motivated to suddenly change their life in a dramatic way. How about you have them [[BedroomAdulteryScene walk in on their partner in the middle of having sex with someone else]]? Witnessing this infidelity shows the protagonist as down on their luck and implies that their personal life was unhappy and/or unfulfilling, paving the way for the drastic change that comprises the work's gimmick. It also establishes them as single, just in time for the introduction of the work's LoveInterest.

* ''Fanfic/LoveAtFirstSightOnceUponATime'' starts with Regina catching her boyfriend Robin Hood cheating on her, this causes her to break up with him and she meets Emma the next day, which leads to the whole main plot kicking off.

* In ''Film/BodyDouble'', Jake Scully comes home early to the apartment he lives in with his girlfriend. He walks in to see his girlfriend in bed with another man. Since she owns the apartment, Jake is now left without a place to stay, leading to his acceptance of a house-sitting offer at a luxury home in the Hollywood hills.