Basic Trope: A character has hurt their Love Interest somehow, gotten dumped for it, and sets forth to try and "win" their lover back.
- Straight: Bob told an embarrassing story about his girlfriend, Alice. Alice dumps Bob in a fit of anger, and the next day Bob is on her doorstep, down on his knees, with a dozen roses in his hand and a Silly Love Song playing on a radio. This wins Alice over, and she takes him back.
- Exaggerated:
- Bob was such a Jerkass to her (cheating on her, being a Control Freak or Crazy Jealous Guy, posting naked pictures of her on the Internet, even hitting her), the audience wonders "Why Would Anyone Take Him Back?" (Especially so if Alice is otherwise presented as a very "strong" character.)
- Alice and Bob break up and get back together repeatedly.
- Alice was just as bad to Bob (if not worse), yet not even one mention is made of her transgressions.
- Downplayed: Bob is Exiled to the Couch, but not dumped.
- Justified: Alice feels that she overreacted, and Bob really is sorry.
- Inverted:
- Bob tries to win Alice's affections because she is Oblivious to Love.
- Bob tries to get Alice to dump him.
- Bob was the one who hurt Alice, and decides to distance himself from her after she breaks up on him... Only for Alice to beg him to come back.
- Subverted: Alice tells him she's not interested in the relationship anymore.
- Double Subverted: But then she has time to think it over, and decides that maybe she overreacted, and that she still loves Bob, and that he deserves a second chance.
- Parodied: Bob bloodily decapitates Alice's dog with a chainsaw, right in front of her, and brags about it to everyone he knows. She breaks up with Bob and is about to report him to the authorities, but then he makes up for it by buying her a pack of gum from the gas station.
- Zig Zagged: Yo Yo Plot Point
- Averted:
- Alice and Bob don't break up.
- Alice and Bob were never an Official Couple to begin with.
- Enforced: "We want a Crowning Moment Of Heartwarming!"
- Lampshaded: ???
- Invoked: Bob gets really depressed following his breakup with Alice, and his friend Charles can't stand to see him like that and convinces him to try and "win" her back.
- Exploited: Charles and his partner broke up a while ago. After he succeeds in invoking the trope for Bob and Alice, Charlie goes to his ex and gives "Alice could forgive Bob for what he did!" as a reason for them to get back together, too.
- Defied:
- Bob doesn't think he can win Alice over, or that the breakup was really for the best (or both), and decides not to do that.
- Alice may be able to forgive Bob (or not), but she just doesn't think they can be together anymore.
- Discussed: "Just go talk to her, man! Also, maybe apologize to her... I mean, that was kind of a dick move on your part."
- Conversed: "There goes Bob, thinking he can "win" Alice's heart like it was some sort of prize for being a Nice Guy... or at least pretending to be. *sigh* Alice better reject him or I'm turning off this clichéd dreck."
- Deconstructed: There's a risk of Aesop Amnesia and them going through this again and again, putting them through a lot of emotional strain before they finally put an end to it.
- Reconstructed: They do learn from their mistakes, after all, and have their relationship grow stronger as a result. Or at least know what not to do next time they start dating someone else.
Hey, I'm sorry about what I did to you... I was an ass. Will you go back to The Grovel with me again?
