Line #29 Main/PrinceCharmingWannabe


1	%%%
2	%%
3	%% This page has been alphabetized. Please add new examples in the correct order. Thanks!
4	%%
5	%%%
6	%%
7	%% Zero-Context Examples are not allowed on wiki pages and have been commented out.
8	%% Add context before restoring these entries.
9	%%
10	[[quoteright:348:[[WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/PrinceCharmingWannabe_1370.jpg]]]]
11	[[caption-width-right:348:[[MemeticMutation No one refuses to take hints like Gaston.]]]]
12
13	->''"You know, Belle, there's not a girl in town who wouldn't love to be in your shoes. This is the day your dreams come true!"''
14	-->-- '''Gaston''', ''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast''
15
16	%%Quote changed per [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1327331003042025100&page=235#comment-5867 quotes]] thread. If you want to change the quote, discuss it there.
17
18	A WrongGenreSavvy HopelessSuitor who fantasizes that he's the PrinceCharming or KnightInShiningArmor who will effortlessly sweep the heroine off her feet and rescue her from a life of dullness and/or misery...all the while ignoring or completely oblivious to the fact that the girl wants absolutely nothing to do with him.
19
20	Why can't he see that? Because he's either an egotistical {{hypocrite}} long overdue for a HeelRealization or he was BornInTheWrongCentury and [[OldSchoolChivalry his ideas of what it takes to woo and win the girl are outdated]] and insulting. Contrary to what he thinks, she is not PlayingHardToGet and she's not flattered by the fact that ILoveYouBecauseICantControlYou. Nevertheless, he insists he's the answer to all her dreams and hopes and desperately wants her to let him whisk her away to live HappilyEverAfter, unable to see that he's not a welcome PrinceCharming, but an ''unwelcome'' StalkerWithACrush.
21
22	Motivations: {{Lust}} and {{Pride}}.
23
24	This trope is similar to the more cynical ways to play a DoggedNiceGuy; both tropes are about well-meaning, sincere love interests with wrongheaded ideas about what constitutes romance and how their object of affection actually wants to be treated. Compare with CasanovaWannabe and SmallNameBigEgo who exaggerate their skills with the ladies and have an over-inflated ego respectively. May overlap with EntitledToHaveYou if the character thinks their "gentlemanly" behavior ''necessitates'' reciprocation.
25
26	Not to be confused with PrinceCharmless, which refers to literal princes.
27
28	----
29	!!Examples:
30
31	[[foldercontrol]]
32
33	[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
34	* The ''Manga/BoardingSchoolJuliet'' Scott (loosely based on the character Paris) [[DownplayedTrope isn't as abusive as most examples of the trope]], but his attachment to cultural traditions constantly blinds him to the real desires of his "lady". For example, he frequently starts pointless brawls so he can "protect her honor" and builds a luxurious tent for her on a camping trip supposed to let the students experience nature. [[CulturalRebel Juliet]] appreciates the spirit in which these deeds are meant, but (unsuccessfully) tries to tell him that she's not made of glass.
35	* Played for comedy, Kyonosuke Kaoru is this for Yukiji Katsura in ''Manga/HayateTheCombatButler''. She actually seems fond of him, but he seems to think he needs to sweep her off her feet which causes her to reject his advances.
36	* The unnamed classmate of Relena's from the first two episodes of ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing''. He has a crush on her, although she doesn't seem to feel the same way about him, and his asshattery earns him a fencing epee right through his mask, courtesy of Heero.
37	* Tatewaki Kuno from ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf''. Both of the girls he obsesses over can't stand him and clobber him every chance they get.
38	[[/folder]]
39
40	[[folder:Comics]]
41	* Played with in ''ComicBook/{{Fables}}'' with the character of PrinceCharming himself; he genuinely is very good at ''starting'' the relationship he wants but he's very bad at ''maintaining'' it. He has been married to Literature/SnowWhite, Literature/SleepingBeauty, and Literature/{{Cinderella}}, and in every case, the woman fell head over heels for him (and he reciprocated passionately, if unsustainably) only to divorce him when he seduced some other woman who had taken his fancy. By the time of the main story, his long-term failings are well-known (to himself as well as potential partners,) so both he and any girl he seduces treat it as short-term. Interestingly, this ability to start things but not sustain them carries over into non-romantic pursuits as well; his campaign to charm people into electing him mayor is extremely successful, but he's completely out of his depth when it comes to the actual work of running Fabletown.
42	[[/folder]]
43
44	[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
45	* Gaston from Disney's ''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast'' thinks he's the hero, and that Beast (JerkWithAHeartOfGold) is a monster who wants to [[IHaveYouNowMyPretty get his claws on Belle]]. But in the end, it is clear that the opposite was true.
46	-->'''Gaston:''' You know, Belle, there's not a girl in town who wouldn't love to be in your shoes. This is the day your dreams come true!
47	** In the stage version, he even has a song called [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VoHg0RYX63s "Me"]], extolling his greatness and how lucky she is to be the object of his affections. (This is ''in addition'' to "Gaston" from the film, where ''the rest of the town'' extols his virtues, although his plans to marry Belle only come up in the reprise.)
48	** And as egotistical as he is at the start of it, he gets worse later on in the movie when he goes into full-on {{Yandere}} mode threatening to throw her father into the asylum if Belle won't marry him and trying to [[MurderTheHypotenuse kill the Beast]] who he feels is an obstacle to what he sees as his. [[{{Jerkass}} Asshole]] indeed.
49	* ''WesternAnimation/Frozen2013'': Anna thinks Prince Hans is the knight in shining armor she thinks he supposedly is [[BirdsOfAFeather as]] they're the SpareToTheThrone in their respective kingdoms and were shunned by their older siblings. [[spoiler:Hans is actually a two-timing, power-hungry man who ends up being Anna's EvilCounterpart, showing what she could have been had she sought attention while selfishly forsaking all relationships. Having realized the jerk Hans turned out to be, Anna moves on with Kristoff, an ice harvester with a HiddenHeartOfGold despite his gruff exterior]].
50	* Hal from ''WesternAnimation/{{Megamind}}'' thinks that Roxanne will automatically swoon into his arms after he gains superhero powers and shows them off to her. When she doesn't and displays an interest in another man instead, he snaps and becomes a full-blown villain.
51	* ''Franchise/{{Shrek}}'':
52	** The BigBad of the [[WesternAnimation/Shrek1 first film]], Lord Farquaad, hopes to marry and swoon Princess Fiona but is ultimately a power-hungry egomaniac who simply seeks to become king. Princess Fiona, for her part, is already in love with Shrek.
53	** Monsieur Hood attempts to "save" Princess Fiona from Shrek, despite their relationship developing into a romantic one. Fiona attacks Hood and his men in revenge.
54	** Ironically enough, Prince Charming himself in ''WesternAnimation/Shrek2''. While he does have the looks of a Prince Charming, his [[PrinceCharmless personality]] is anything but, although [[TheEvilPrince his motives behind his mask]] were completely different.
55	* Roland from ''WesternAnimation/StrangeMagic'' who'd might be able to pull off an Elvis-flavored version of {{Prince Charming}} except for the girl he's trying to woo was the girl he cheated on right before their wedding, meaning she's not having any of it.
56	* Jean-Bob from ''WesternAnimation/TheSwanPrincess'', albeit because he thinks he's a Frog Prince who needs a kiss to turn back to his non-existent human state.
57	[[/folder]]
58
59	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
60	* ''Film/NineteenFortyOne1979'': Sitarski clearly thinks he's a dashing romantic lead, in reality though he's an inelegant meathead. This is best demonstrated when he and Betty Douglas get on the dance floor, and he throws her about like a ragdoll.
61	* Biff Tannen from the ''Franchise/BackToTheFuture'' trilogy seriously has the hots for Lorraine, Marty's mom, seen especially when they're still teenagers in 1955. While it's clear that the feelings themselves are genuine -- Biff even insists that he's going to marry her someday -- he primarily expresses them in the form of sexual harassment (such as lifting Lorraine's skirt up and trying to grope her) and isn't willing to take no for answer, making him very much an AbhorrentAdmirer to her. In some timelines, he takes it to horrific extremes, such as [[AttemptedRape trying to rape her while drunk]] or [[spoiler:murdering her husband and marrying her, then becoming an [[DomesticAbuse abusive spouse and stepfather to her]] [[AbusiveParents and her kids]]]].
62	* Avenant from ''Film/BeautyAndTheBeast1946'', who was the inspiration for Disney's Gaston in their own ''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast'' adaptation.
63	[[/folder]]
64
65	[[folder:Literature]]
66	%%* Geis in ''Literature/AgainstADarkBackground''.
67	* ''Literature/AtlasShrugged'': The wealthy Jim Taggart loves promoting how he heroically raised Cherryl from the slums by marrying her... while psychologically abusing her until [[spoiler:he [[DrivenToSuicide drives her to suicide]].]] He likes the fantasy, but he likes the power he gets from harming others just as much.
68	* ''Literature/ABrothersPrice'': Genderswapped, because gender roles in general are given a thorough StereotypeFlip. Kij Porter thinks she can have Jerin eating out of her hand, but... he can't stand her. It doesn't help that she insults his family and condescends to him. [[spoiler: She kidnaps him later.]]
69	* ''Literature/EnchantedForestChronicles'': Book 1 (''Dealing With Dragons'') features Therandil, who is an odd example. He knows Cimorene doesn't want to marry him, and he doesn't want to marry her either. But they're still supposed to be in an ArrangedMarriage, so he continues pursuing her out of a sense of honor and duty even after she runs away from home to be a dragon's captive princess. [[spoiler:Cimorene gets rid of him in the end by having him rescue a different dragon's captive princess.]]
70	* ''The Inheritance'' by Louisa May Alcott has Lord Arlington, who finally experiences a HeelRealization long after causing the heroine plenty of grief with his unwelcome advances and repeated marriage proposals.
71	* ''Literature/{{Ivanhoe}}'': Brian de Bois-Guilbert just can't seem to wrap his head around the fact that "[[ScarpiaUltimatum Marry me, and I'll save your life; refuse, and I'll let you die]]" is something ''villains'', not ''heroes'', do.
72	* ''Literature/MansfieldPark'': Henry Crawford, self-affirmed LadykillerInLove...[[spoiler:who runs away with the already-married cousin of the girl he considers himself engaged to (regardless of said girl's thoughts on the matter).]]
73	-->'''Henry:''' I will make her very happy, Mary; happier than she has ever yet been herself, or ever seen anybody else. ...Yes, Mary, my Fanny will feel a difference indeed: a daily, hourly difference, in the behavior of every being who approaches her; and it will be the completion of my happiness to know that [[RescueRomance I am the doer of it, that I am the person to give the consequence so justly her due]]. Now she is dependent, helpless, friendless, neglected, forgotten.
74	* ''Literature/PrideAndPrejudice'': Mr. Collins, though his motivation is less knight-errant than greatest village parson ever, to [[RunningGag the great Lady Catherine de Bourgh]].
75	* ''Literature/TheTenantOfWildfellHall'': Walter Hargrave.
76	-->"By all means, leave him! cried he earnestly; But not alone! Helen! Let me protect you!"\
77	"Never! While heaven spares my reason," replied I, snatching away the hand he had presumed to seize and press between his own. But he was in for it now; he had fairly broken the barrier: he was completely roused, and determined to hazard all for victory."\
78	"I must not be denied!" exclaimed he, vehemently; and seizing both my hands, he held them very tight, but dropped upon his knee, and looked up in my face with a half-imploring, half-imperious gaze. "You have no reason now: you are flying in the face of heaven's decrees. God has designed me to be your comfort and protector - I feel it, I know it as certainly as if a voice from heaven declared, 'Ye twain shall be one flesh' - and you spurn me from you -"\
79	"Let me go, Mr. Hargrave!, said I, sternly. But he only tightened his grasp."
80	[[/folder]]
81
82	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
83	* ''Series/GroundFloor'': Harvard is convinced that Jenny will eventually realize that she is truly in love with him, ignoring the fact that she only sees him as a friend and that ''everyone'' is genuinely put off by his attempts at wooing her.
84	* ''Series/NoahsArc'': Millionaire rapper Baby Gat is this to Noah, trying to rescue him from his "mundane" life.
85	[[/folder]]
86
87	[[folder:Music]]
88	* Music/JonathanCoulton's "The Princess Who Saved Herself":
89	-->'''Princess:''' Hello?\
90	'''Philip:''' Hey, beautiful. Prince Philip.\
91	'''Princess:''' Oh, hi... Philip.\
92	'''Philip:''' Yeah, we met at the ball. I was the handsome one. I was wearing a...\
93	'''Princess:''' Hey, Philip. Tell me if this sounds like a phone hanging up. ''(hangs up)''\
94	'''Philip:''' Yeah, it totally does! Hello?
95	* Music/ShaniaTwain's "That Don't Impress Me Much," in which a guy tries to woo her with his good looks, his intelligence, and his flashy car, but not only is that not what she's looking for in a relationship (she's looking for an emotional connection), it's implied he's a [[InsufferableGenius mansplaining]], [[ProudBeauty vain]], [[ThePreciousPreciousCar car-obsessed control freak.]]
96	[[/folder]]
97
98	[[folder:Western Animation]]
99	%%* Pierce Thorndyke III, in ''WesternAnimation/BeverlyHillsTeens''.
100	* In the ''WesternAnimation/FostersHomeForImaginaryFriends'' episode "Frankie My Dear", an imaginary PrinceCharming is left at the home to be adopted, but falls in love with Frankie and tries to woo her. Unfortunately, he has to compete with Mac, Bloo, and a pizza boy, all of whom have a crush on her as well. They all crash Frankie's dinner date with her actual boyfriend [[spoiler:who turns out to be a jerk]].
101	* Zap Brannigan in ''{{WesternAnimation/Futurama}}'' fancies himself a brave heroic ladies man, but anyone who's ever spent time with him knows he's a flabby, wimpy, whiny, repulsive, misogynistic, sexual predator who treats women as objects at best. Unfortunately, the universe is a very ''very'' big place so the vast majority of people genuinely do believe he's as heroic a PrinceCharming as he fancies himself, most notably Leela who's suckered in enough to sleep with him [[OnceDoneNeverForgotten which haunts her for the remainder of the series]]. Pretty much the only woman he actually seemed to genuinely care about and treat with respect was Leela's mother, and even ''then'' he's driven her away with his disgusting lack of ethics within one episode.
102	* Parodied in ''The Best Night Ever'' of ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' when Rarity, after an entire season of telling herself Prince Blueblood was her OneTrueLove PrinceCharming, meets him and finds he's a [[PrinceCharmless boorish rich jerk]]. However ''she's'' the one who sticks to ''him'' like glue while he basically has no interest in her whatsoever outside of feeling entitled to admiration, and it's ''her'' vapid interest in him that puts her on the receiving end of slapstick and his dickish behavior while he basically just goes about his business at the gala. He was certainly no prince charming, but it's Rarity rather than he who wanted him to be one, and the second she's learned her lesson and storms off, they never see each other again.
103	* Sir Brad Starlight in ''WesternAnimation/WanderOverYonder''. He gets Wander and Sylvia to back him on a quest to rescue "his" princess from a dragon he claims is pulling the AndNowYouMustMarryMe gambit on her, but when they get to the wedding [[spoiler:it quickly becomes clear that [[InterspeciesRomance it's wholly consensual]], and Brad invented the story because he's NotGoodWithRejection. The princess urges him to accept the situation and become her friend, but he tries to kidnap her instead]]. He subsequently blames Wander for the whole thing and never really learns his lesson, although "The Hot Shot" implies an eventual redemption for him beyond the series as [[spoiler:he finds a less conventional princess and TheStinger depicts them HappilyMarried with several children]].
104	[[/folder]]
105

Context Main / PrinceCharmingWannabe