History Main / TheLoveSlapOfEpiphany

!This trope is [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=16824252080.42950500 under discussion]] in the Administrivia/TropeRepairShop.

Alice knows Bob well but doesn't care for him. And at times she treats him callously, with pranks that go [[DudeNotFunny too far]] or simply not giving due consideration. Alice most likely does not realise what she's doing; Bob simply does not register on her awareness of others.

Then one day Alice goes too far, and Bob snaps at her. The result is a loud, dramatic slap and he storms out. Alice is stunned at someone defying her so and realises that she deserved it. And starts seeing Bob very differently...

The Love Slap of Epiphany sets a self-centered and manipulative character on the path to [[{{TheAtoner}} atoning]]. Expect a MyGodWhatHaveIDone from the receiver, and for the sender to become their new LoveInterest, and possibly their guide to redemption. It may also lead to a [[UnrequitedLoveSwitcheroo reversal of the romantic situation]]: the slapper most often decides he has had enough of her, exactly at the very moment she realizes he is the love of her life.

A subtrope of LoveRedeems and a more dramatic version of DidYouThinkICantFeel. For other kinds of life-changing slaps, see GetAHoldOfYourselfMan. For when this happens on the characters' first meeting, see LoveAtFirstPunch.

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!!Examples

[[AC:AnimeAndManga]]
%% * A staple of shoujo manga writer Miyuki Kitagawa.
* ''Manga/FlameOfRecca'': Slapping Kurei for being a JerkAss was how Kurenai got his attention (and eventually, his affection).
* ''Anime/FutariWaPrettyCure'': Pollun wants Hikari to get mad and slap him to show that she really cares about him.
* ''Manga/GunslingerGirl''. Cyborg girl Petrushka is in love with her handler Sandro, who just assumes her declarations of love are simply a result of her conditioning. To prove otherwise Petrushka slaps her handler and insults him, an act that makes her physically ill from the strain of fighting the conditioning that prevents her from harming him.
* ''Anime/NerimaDaikonBrothers'': Ichiro to Mako... but he doesn't love her in a romantic way. Subverted when Hideki (who is sincerely in love with Mako) tries to do the same thing.
* ''Anime/OjamajoDoremi'' has one whole episode where one girl ''wants'' to be slapped because it's proof of love, and she doesn't stop escalating her misbehaving until she gets her wish.
* [[spoiler:Shouko Inari]] of ''Manga/PrincessJellyfish'' receives one of these halfway through the series [[spoiler:after manipulating and blackmailing Shū and finally breaking his temper by staging a fake suicide]], which results in a textbook example of the trope.
* In the opening of ''Takumi-kun'' the melodramatic school "queen" Takabayashi has it out for Takumi because he wants Gii, the school idol. When he goes after Takumi with a piece of glass, his roommate, Yoshizawa, who is in love with him, slaps him and scolds him for his behaviour. Somehow this leads to Takabayashi realizing he likes Yoshizawa back.
* Hisamitsu of ''LightNovel/{{Toradora}}'' begins to have feelings towards Maya after a heated argument with her during the ski-trip which ended with her crying and claiming that he went too far.
* ''LightNovel/TrappedInADatingSimTheWorldOfOtomeGamesIsToughForMobs'' takes place [[MediaTransmigration inside a world]] based on an OtomeGame. The game's first romance event, has the game's protagonist Olivia giving such a slap to RebelPrince Julius when he's rude to her. However, TheRival Marie, in an attempt at a HijackedDestiny, pushed Olivia to the side, and did the slap herself, proceeding to make all of the game LoveInterests into her ReverseHarem, continuing to replicate further events as a BitchInSheepsClothing, doing what Olivia would have done.
* Inverted in ''Manga/VirginLove''. Daigo gets kissed by some random girl at a club and Kaoru slaps him, which Daigo reads as Kaoru having feelings for him. Kaoru freaks out when he realizes this might be true.
* In ''ZERO'', Shu beats the female boss of the school gang. She instantly falls for him (overlapping with BestHerToBedHer) and decides to stop being a fighter & delinquent and become the perfect cute girlfriend for him.

[[AC:{{Film}}]]
%% * ''Film/{{Gilda}}'': Johnny's slap to the title character.
* ''Film/AndGodCreatedWoman'' with Creator/BrigitteBardot. She marries this guy she doesn't love, then behaves like a slut with all the boys in town, taking advantage of her husband's gentleness, until he can't stand it anymore and slaps the crap outta her. Then poof! she realizes she's crazy about him: she had been gradually falling in love with him all that time since their marriage.

%% [[AC:LiveActionTV]]
%%* A toned-down version of this is what caused Rumple to realize He truly loved Belle in ''Series/OnceUponATime''.

[[AC:VideoGames]]
* ''VideoGame/ValkyriaChroniclesII'': When Sophia goes on a MotiveRant about how being humiliated with a fake date led to her becoming an IntentionalHeartBreaker {{Sadist}}, Avan slaps her and talks her into giving love a chance, which makes her fall for him and gain the "Avan Lover" potential in battle.

[[AC:WesternAnimation]]
* The Bongo story in ''WesternAnimation/FunAndFancyFree'' features as a plot point that bears show affection by slapping each other in the face. There was even a song about it.

* A staple of shoujo manga writer Miyuki Kitagawa.

* ''Film/{{Gilda}}'': Johnny's slap to the title character.

[[AC:LiveActionTV]]
* A toned-down version of this is what caused Rumple to realize He truly loved Belle in ''Series/OnceUponATime''.

A subtrope of LoveRedeems and a more dramatic version of DidYouThinkICantFeel. Compare ArmorPiercingSlap, where a character allows themselves to be slapped, but with no lasting effect on the person. For other kinds of life-changing slaps, see GetAHoldOfYourselfMan. For when this happens on the characters' first meeting, see LoveAtFirstPunch.

A subtrope of LoveRedeems and a more dramatic version of DidYouThinkICantFeel. Compare ArmorPiercingSlap, where a character allows themselves to be slapped, but with no lasting effect on the person. For other kinds of life-changing slaps, see GetAHoldOfYourselfMan.

* ''VideoGame/ValkyriaChroniclesII'': When Sophia goes on a MotiveRant about how being humiliated with a fake date led to her becoming an IntentionalHeartBreaker {{Sadist}}, Alan slaps her and talks her into giving love a chance, which makes her fall for him and gain the "Alan Lover" potential in battle.

* ''Anime/OjamajoDoremi'' has one whole episode where one girl ''wants'' to be slapped because it's a proof of love, and she doesn't stop escalating her misbehaving until she gets her wish.

* A toned down version of this is what caused Rumple to realize He truly loved Belle in ''Series/OnceUponATime''.

* The Bongo story in ''Disney/FunAndFancyFree'' features as a plot point that bears show affection by slapping each other in the face. There was even a song about it.

* [[spoiler:Shouko Inari]] of ''Manga/PrincessJellyfish'' receives one of these halfway through the series [[spoiler:after manipulating and blackmailing Shū and finally breaking his temper by staging a fake suicide]], which results in a textbook example of the trope.

* Hisamitsu of ''LightNovel/{{Toradora}}'' begins to have feelings towards Maya after a heated argument with her during the ski-trip which ended with her crying and claiming that he went too far.
* In ''ZERO'' Shu beats the female boss of the school gang. She instantly falls for him (overlapping with BestHerToBedHer) and decides to stop being a fighter & delinquent and become the perfect cute girlfriend for him.
* ''Anime/OjamajoDoremi'' has one whole episode where one girl ''wants'' to be slapped because it's a proof of love, and she doesn't stop escalating her misbehaving until she gets her wish.

* Inverted in ''Manga/VirginLove''. Daigo gets kissed by some random girl at a club and Kaoru slaps him, which Daigo reads as Kaoru having feelings for him. Kaoru freaks out when he realizes this might be true.

* ''Manga/GunslingerGirl''. Cyborg girl Petrushka is in love with her handler Sandro, who just assumes her declarations of love are simply a result of her conditioning. To prove otherwise Petrushka slaps her handler and insults him, an act that makes her physically ill from the strain of fighting the conditioning that prevents her from harming him.
* ''Manga/FlameOfRecca'': Slapping Kurei for being a JerkAss was how Kurenai got his attention (and eventually, his affection).

* A toned down version of this is what caused Rumple to realize He truly loved Belle in TVSeries/OnceUponATime.

A subtrope of LoveRedeems and a more dramatic version DidYouThinkICantFeel. Compare ArmorPiercingSlap, where a character allows themselves to be slapped, but with no lasting effect on the person. For other kinds of life-changing slaps, see GetAHoldOfYourselfMan.