Basic Trope: A brooding, angsty boy is paired with a kind and gentle girl.
- Straight: Bob, a Jerk with a Heart of Gold with a Dark and Troubled Past, falls in love with Alice, a sweet and compassionate girl whose kindness and patience balance out his angst-tendencies.
- Exaggerated: Bob is an Emo Teen whose whole life is basically a Trauma Conga Line, while Alice is a straight up
Purity Sue. - Downplayed:
- Bob can get a bit angry and upset at times like anyone, but is otherwise not all that brooding.
- Alice isn't exactly gentle, but she's supportive and patient enough to help Bob through his moody moments.
- Justified:
- Alice and Bob have known each other for many years.
- Alice is kind to Bob, listens to him and helps him work through his issues because of her gentle nature, whereas most other people would just write him off.
- Inverted: (Brooding Babe, Gentle Guy) Alice is the brooding one with the troubled past, whilst Bob is kind and gentle.
- Subverted:
- It turns out Alice is just as brooding and misanthropic as Bob, she just hides it better.
- Alice turns out to be Bob's Not Love Interest. Or vice versa.
- Alice and Bob eventually break up for one reason or another.
- Double Subverted: She's just saying that to get a rise out of you, she really is as nice as she seems.
- Parodied: Alice holds Bob's hand and smooths him through his current dark mood...because they didn't have the ice cream flavor he wanted at the store.
- Zig Zagged: Bob is a Sugar-and-Ice Personality, growing to be more caring and sweet towards Alice over time. Meanwhile, Alice is subject to all sorts of traumatic experiences, making her more brooding and closed off. Eventually they meet in the middle and Bob has to sometimes try to be the ray of sunshine when Alice is feeling down, with mixed results.
- Averted:
- Bob and Alice aren't paired together.
- Bob and Alice are both brooding.
- Bob and Alice are both sweet and gentle.
- Bob and Alice are both... both.
- Enforced: The producers want a Morality Pet for the brooding Bob, so he ends up with a sweet, gentle girlfriend.
- Lampshaded: "Alice, you're dating Bob? But you're so nice, and he's so...sad!"
- Invoked: Carly sets Alice and Bob up on a date to see if the trope works.
- Exploited: ???
- Defied:
- Alice refuses to get in a relationship with Bob, since she feels she'll have to soak up all his moodiness and angst.
- Carly sabotages Alice and Bob's relationship, since he worries about Alice having to put up with him.
- Discussed: "Alice, you could totally date Bob. You know those stories of the nice girl with the brooding guy, right? They always work out!"
- Conversed: "Another movie where the brooding dude has a nice girlfriend?"
- Implied: Carly alludes to Bob's kind and gentle girlfriend, but we never meet her.
- Deconstructed:
- Bob's tendency to lash out and constant brooding take its toll on Alice, who feels she cannot cope with Bob's moods and she distances herself from him for her own well-being.
- After dealing with Bob's tendency to lash out and push people away, Alice has had enough and finally stands up for herself, calling him out on his behavior. Bob is shocked, not realizing until now how much his behavior has taken its toll, has a bit of a minor Jerkass Realization, admits Alice is right, apologizes for hurting her and vows to do a better job of taking her feelings into consideration.
- Reconstructed:
- Bob realises that Alice has only ever tried to help him and understand him, but that she needs support too. He decides to try and be more supportive of Alice and mindful of how he behaves to keep their relationship healthy.
- Alice then apologizes herself, figuring she Was Too Hard on Him and sees he didn't realize what he was doing to others, so in turn, she tries to be more understanding of his moods.
- Played For Laughs: Alice happily sings along to the music in the car, only there's no music, Bob complains about the bad weather and traffic, it's sunny and there's not a car in sight.
- Played For Drama: Bob suffers from various mental disorders causing him to be a closed off, brooding Jerkass. Alice eventually leaves him and that's the tipping point and he's Driven to Suicide. Alice has a My God, What Have I Done? moment.
Alice: Hey Troper! Here's the link to Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl!
Bob: Look punk, I don't give a damn about Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl.
