Basic Trope: A character - possibly a Love Martyr - believes they can change a possibly unchangeable person.
- Straight: Bob is a rude drunk. Alice tries to fix him.
- Exaggerated: Bob is an abusive, explosive-tempered drug addict. Alice tries to fix him.
- Downplayed: Bob is a rude drunk. Alice tries to get him to cut back a little.
- Justified:
- Bob really does have a Hidden Heart of Gold deep down, and Alice wants others to see this as well.
- Alice doesn’t feel like she’s attractive enough to date anyone, so she goes after Bob in the hopes that she’ll stick around after she fixes him.
- Inverted:
- Bob is a choir boy who Alice wants to corrupt into a rulebreaker.
- Alice feels that her friends are bad influences, so she begins dating Bob in the hopes that he’ll steer her in the right direction.
- Subverted:
- Upon seeing Bob, Alice remarks that “someone should fix him”. And she means “someone”, not her.
- Alice gets involved with Bob in the hopes of fixing him. It turns out that she only interacted with Bob at his absolute lowest point and he’s normally a pleasant agreeable sort.
- Alice really is able to fix Bob after a good deal of work.
- Double Subverted:
- Bob eventually slides back into old habits, and they break up with him ultimately no better.
- Bob was at his lowest point when he met Alice, and is usually pleasant and agreeable…but then his circumstances change and he truly does need fixing.
- Parodied:
- Bob is the ideal husband, save for one minor, easily fixable flaw. Everyone still acts like Alice is fighting a losing battle for trying to change him.
- Bob is a Complete Monster, but shortly after a quick date with Alice, he’s transformed into a saint.
- Zig-Zagged: Alice tries to fix Bob, and while she succeeds for a time, Bob ultimately falls back into his old habits, resulting in a breakup. But he’s still better off than before and when Claire tries to fix him, she succeeds.
- Averted: Alice sees Bob being a jerk and decides to have nothing more to do with him.
- Alice loves Bob just as he is, and his flaws are a part of that. The two remain Happily Married as a result.
- Enforced:
- The writer is expressly trying to deliver An Aesop about abusive relationships.
- The writer - who’s writing an autobiographical story - was in a similar situation, and credits the fact that they’re still alive to their spouse.
- Lampshaded: “Ah, here comes Bob, or as I call him, Alice’s latest project.”
- Invoked: Charles starts talking at length about how his wife turned his life around, and Alice begins looking at Bob and thinking…
- Exploited:
- Bob has no plans to change for Alice, but he figures he can pretend for a while since she’s buying him clothes and sleeping with him…
- Alice’s plan to change Bob revolves around cutting him off from his friend group and moving him to a new city - she knows he’ll become dependent on her if she does this.
- Defied:
- As soon as she catches wind of Alice’s plan, Diane (who previously tried to fix Bob to no avail) sits her down and explains in no uncertain terms that Bob is beyond fixing.
- Bob realizes what Alice is doing and chases her off.
- Discussed: ???
- Conversed: ???
- Played for Laughs: Bob is an international terrorist who kicks puppies, steals from the elderly, and leaves the toilet seat up. Alice gets involved with him in the hopes of getting him only to leave the toilet seat down.
- Deconstructed: Bob is well and truly beyond changing, but Alice is either in denial or too stubborn to give up, resulting in a miserable life for the both of them.
- Played for Drama: Alice changes Bob for the better, at which point he deems himself too good for her and dumps her.
Back to I Can Change My Beloved.
