History Main / WrongGuyFirst

* Nicole Baart's trilogy beginning with ''After The Leaves Fall'' plays around with this a ''lot''. In "After The Leaves Fall", [[spoiler:Thomas]] is the wrong guy and [[spoiler:Parker]] would seem to be the right guy...[[spoiler:until she becomes pregnant with his child and he leaves her]]. In "Summer Snow", [[spoiler:a new right guy, Michael, comes in]]...and in the final book, "Beneath The Night Tree", [[spoiler:Michael becomes the wrong guy, and Parker returns, revealing that he was the right guy all along]].

* In {{Rose Of Versailles}} Oscar pines for Fersen for years...before she realizes she truly loves Andre.

This trope is often used by fanfic writers in a DieForOurShip scenario, where Suitor #1 is [[CharacterDerailment portrayed]] as abusive and cruel (regardless of him/her [[RonTheDeathEater ''really'' being like that]] or not) in order to [[DerailingLoveInterests justify having the young woman/young man run into the arms of Suitor #2]].

* Happens a lot in chick-flicky [[RomanticComedy Romantic-Comedies]]. Examples include:
** ''Sweet Home Alabama'', where the main character almost ends up marrying her initial suitor, only to fall back in love with her old flame
** I'm surprised that ''Bridget Jones's Diary'' hasn't been mentioned yet.

* ''Hedda Gabler'', by HenrikIbsen, has an inverse version in the backstory: Eilert Lovborg was a DoggedNiceGuy to Hedda before he fell in love with Thea Elvstedt. Hedda supplies a tweaked example: she got married to George Tesman, who is incredibly stupid (in an intellectual sort of way), and thus, for her, the wrong guy. She gets some severe {{UST}} with both Eilert (the right guy) and Judge Brack (the [[TheScarpiaUltimatum even wronger guy]]). [[DownerEnding In the end]], Eilert [[IJustShotMarvinInTheFace accidentally shoots himself]] and Hedda becomes [[DrivenToSuicide an hero.]]

* In ''CyranoDeBergerac'', Roxanne falls in love with handsome, well-intentioned but vapid Christian because TheCyrano (thinking he doesn't stand a chance with her) wrote Christian's love letters for him. Really, it was Cyrano she was in love with all along.

* Real life example: Richard Gere. Just... ''Richard Gere.''
** And Warren Beatty, too. He was THE womanizer before Annette Benning came along.

* In ''HarryPotter'', Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny all date at least one person before getting together with their future husband/wife. At the age of seventeen/eighteen.\
* In ''GreatExpecations'', Estella marries the abusive Bentley Drummle, Pip's rival, to spite Miss Havisham. He is later killed in a horse riding accident, and in the RevisedEnding (in the original ending she remarries with a different man), she reunites with Pip in a MaybeEverAfter scene.

* In ''HarryPotter'', Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny all date at least one person before getting together with their future husband/wife. At the age of seventeen/eighteen.

* JaneAusten [[AuthorAppeal loves this trope]]:

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* Happens a lot in chick-flicky [[RomanticComedy Romantic-Comedies]]. Examples include:
** ''Sweet Home Alabama'', where the main character almost ends up marrying her initial suitor, only to fall back in love with her old flame
* Major part of the plot of ''[[{{Bollywood}} Jab We Met]]''. The two main characters meet on a train and through a series of misadventures end up going on a road trip throughout India together. Although Aditya falls in love with her fairly quickly, Geet... already has a boyfriend. [[spoiler:She loses interest after said boyfriend unceremoniously dumps her after she traveled all that way to see him.]]

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* In ''SpiderManLovesMaryJane'', M.J initially nurses a crush on the daring SuperHero Spider-Man, but after an awkward date with him eventually comes to the realization that she's ''actually'' in love with her geeky algebra tutor Peter Parker. Anyone who is familiar with the ''Comicbook/SpiderMan'' mythos will tell you the [[SecretIdentity irony]] inherent in this little [[TwoPersonLoveTriangle set-up]].
** M.J also goes through something similar with charming-but-manipulative Harry Osborn, although mainly because Peter has started dating Gwen Stacy instead (hint: the romantic entanglements the teenagers in this 'Verse go through are complex indeed), but eventually breaks it off with him. In something of a reverse, Harry actually ''is'' in love with her, but M.J isn't in love with him and feels it would be unfair to string him along.

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* Averted in, of all places, ''RomeoAndJuliet''. Juliet never gives the obviously richer and parentally-endorsed Paris a thought. [[YouShouldKnowThisAlready This ends badly,]] and, to least according to the standards of the time, she probably should have married Paris. But then the families would still be feuding, so yeah...

This trope is often used by fanfic writers in a DieForOurShip scenario, where Suitor #1 is [[CharacterDerailment portrayed]] as abusive and cruel ([[RonTheDeathEater regardless of him/her ''really'' being like that or not]]) [[DerailingLoveInterests to justify having the young woman/young man run into the arms of Suitor #2]].

This trope is often used by fanfic writers in a DieForOurShip scenario, where Suitor #1 is [[CharacterDerailment portrayed]] as abusive and cruel (regardless of him/her ''really'' being like that or not) [[DerailingLoveInterests to justify having the young woman/young man run into the arms of Suitor #2]].

In many cases, Suitor #1 may be the local bad boy, because... [[AllGirlsWantBadBoys well, you know]]. If a character can never choose between two suitors, then this is a case of BettyAndVeronica instead. Compare FirstGirlWins.

In many cases, Suitor #1 may be the local bad boy, because... [[AllGirlsWantBadBoys well, you know]].

If a character can never choose between two suitors, then this is a case of BettyAndVeronica instead.

Also, often used by fanfic writers in a DieForOurShip scenario, where Suitor #1 is [[CharacterDerailment portrayed]] as abusive and cruel (regardless of him/her ''really'' being like that or not) [[DerailingLoveInterests to justify having the young woman/young man run into the arms of Suitor #2]].

* ''GossipGirl'' has that in a way: Blair chooses Nate (the good guy) over Chuck (the bad guy) even though the former cheated on her with her best friend (whom he was actually in love with) and the latter was always there for her and showed a hitherto-unknown human side when he started to like her.
* ''{{Friends}}'', in the Backstory, features Rachel choosing Chip instead of Ross (she reveals in the Pilot that she knew about his feelings so it's not an oblivious choice). The former cheats on her, the latter eventually (as in many years later) becomes the love of her life.
* ''90210'' features a variation of this trope: after years of being a troubled promiscuous drug-addict, Adrianna realizes Navid loved her all along and only cared for her happiness, and becomes his girlfriend even though she's pregnant with another guy's baby. Later on, she leaves Navid for a rich handsome jock, only to be left empty-handed as Teddy didn't want a relationship anyway.

* In ''LoisAndClark'', Lois marries, of all people, Lex Luthor.
** Technically, Lois does everything ''but'' marry Lex -- she says no at the altar.
** ...[[SickAndWrong That]]...is ''so'' wrong on ''so'' [[ThisIsWrongOnSoManyLevels many levels...]]
*** How? I don't see anything sick and wrong unless you're a fundie.
* In ''CyranoDeBergerac'', Roxanne falls in love with handsome, well-intentioned but vapid Christian because TheCyrano (thinking he doesn't stand a chance with her) wrote Christian's love letters for him. Really, it was Cyrano she was in love with all along.

* Double subverted in an episode of ''TheTwilightZone''. A young woman has two suitors, a rich one she doesn't care for and a poor one she does. The poor one asks her to run off with him. Her future self later chases her younger self on horseback, begging her not to marry the wrong man... the poor one, who turned out to be a money-hungry bastard and ruined her life.
* Averted in, of all places, RomeoAndJuliet. Juliet never gives the obviously richer and parentally-endorsed Paris a thought. [[YouShouldKnowThisAlready This ends badly,]] and, to least according to the standards of the time, she probably should have married Paris. But then the families would still be feuding, SoYeah...
* Three events in ''PeachGirl'' are within lumping range of this trope, but in the first two, the demonstration of wrongness is false, and the third [[spoiler:isn't so much Wrong Guy First as it is ''Less Right'' Guy First]].
* [[RebaMcEntire Reba [=McEntire=]]]'s ''One Promise Too Late'' has a milder version, where the guy the heroine married isn't so much wrong or bad as less fulfilling than the one the singer meets later. To the woman's credit, she says, basically, "I can see you're my soul mate and I'd be happier with you - but my husband's been good to me all these years, and I won't betray him now." So, DownerEnding with [[PillarsOfMoralCharacter character]].
* In ''SpiderManLovesMaryJane'', M.J initially nurses a crush on the daring SuperHero Spider-Man, but after an awkward date with him eventually comes to the realization that she's ''actually'' in love with her geeky algebra tutor Peter Parker. Anyone who is familiar with the ''Comicbook/SpiderMan'' mythos will tell you the [[SecretIdentity irony]] inherent in this little [[TwoPersonLoveTriangle set-up]].
** M.J also goes through something similar with charming-but-manipulative Harry Osborn, although mainly because Peter has started dating Gwen Stacy instead (hint: the romantic entanglements the teenagers in this 'Verse go through are complex indeed), but eventually breaks it off with him. In something of a reverse, Harry actually ''is'' in love with her, but M.J isn't in love with him and feels it would be unfair to string him along.
* Real life example: Richard Gere. Just... ''Richard Gere.''
** And Warren Beatty, too. He was THE womanizer before Annette Benning came along.

* {{Hedda Gabler}}, by HenrikIbsen, has an inverse version in the backstory: Eilert Lovborg was a DoggedNiceGuy to Hedda before he fell in love with Thea Elvstedt. Hedda supplies a tweaked example: she got married to George Tesman, who is incredibly stupid (in an intellectual sort of way), and thus, for her, the wrong guy. She gets some severe {{UST}} with both Eilert (the right guy) and Judge Brack (the [[TheScarpiaUltimatum even wronger guy]]). [[DownerEnding In the end]], Eilert [[IJustShotMarvinInTheFace accidentally shoots himself]] and Hedda becomes [[DrivenToSuicide an hero.]]
*Sam in ''DannyPhantom'' already harbored a crush on Danny throughout the entire series, but the first boy she dated and kissed ([[FakeOutMakeOut legitimately]]) was the {{Fauxreigner}} Gregor , an Ultra-Recyclo Vegetarian Goth like her. Naturally, it was love at first sight (although part of the reason is that at this point, Danny was unreachable romantically for her--his heart was still set on Valerie). She finds out though that he's really just a con artist who wanted to get in her pants. She goes back to crushing on Danny and as bonus points, Danny starts realizing he likes her.
*Major part of the plot of ''[[{{Bollywood}} Jab We Met]]''. The two main characters meet on a train and through a series of misadventures end up going on a road trip throughout India together. Although Aditya falls in love with her fairly quickly, Geet... already has a boyfriend. [[spoiler:She loses interest after said boyfriend unceremoniously dumps her after she traveled all that way to see him.]
*Inverted by Haruna of ''High School Debut''. She initially falls for Fumi, a perfect example of Suitor #2, but instead ends up with Yoh, textbook example of Suitor #1.
* In ''Anime/TheTowerOfDruaga'', Fatina falls for TheStoic [[AllGirlsWantBadBoys bad boy]] [[AloofOlderBrother Neeba]] in ''The Aegis of Uruk'', but after [[spoiler:Neeba and Kaaya's betrayal]], develops feelings for Neeba's younger half-brother [[TheHero Jil]]. But this trope is subverted in the end in that Jil never gets over Kaaya and the two eventually make up, leaving Fatina as a romantic loose end once more.
* In ''FinalFantasyVIII'', [[AntiHero Squall's]] love interest [[TheChick Rinoa]] has had a previous relationship with [[TheRival Seifer]], Squall's rival.