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What you've described is Entitled to Have You and Crazy Jealous Guy, except portrayed in a positive light. Both tropes are generally off-putting to western audiences.
Heroic versions would be:
- Declaration of Protection: It doesn't necessarily have to be stated, but the guy more or less vows to protect their love interest.
- Lady and Knight: The classic chivalrous trope of the dutiful knight in service to his "Lady Fair".
Hmmm it feels like a sub trope of those first two but reading the descriptions it’s a bit more distinct. It’s less that the guy is crazy and jealous or acting entitled and more that we’re meant to read his intense jealousy and competitiveness towards the FL as a positive sign of his genuine feelings (whether the scenes actually read this way are another matter.)
If it's just about how the writer wants the reader to see the character, that'd be an Intended Audience Reaction.
The writer wants the readers to view the character's possessiveness towards their love interest as a positive trait, even though it might not seem that way.
Edited by MiinU
I guess I’m just looking for a way that this covers multiple works since it’s not just one or two webtoons that do it but almost every one of them. To the point it’s actually rather exhausting to see it play out the same way over and over.
I put this under Anime for now but this is a trope that really seems to pop up in South Korean manwhas and webnovels which is that the male lead/live interest (ML) in the orbit of the female lead (FL) will get very possessive of her regardless of the rest of their characterization. It usually includes a scene where the clueless FL witnesses the ML and another male character clearly going out of their way to prove who she likes more. The other man doesn’t even have to be romantically a rival - it could be a male friend, a father, brother, or even a child - even THEIR child! And woe the ML who is going up against an Overprotective Dad…
It seems to be seen as a positive trope in South Korea because men competing to show affection to the FL is a romantic power fantasy and the ML being so devoted as to be possessive is a sign he’s THE ONE. But due to Values Dissonance readers in Western countries understandably get very creeped out by it and notably complain about M Ls when they start invoking this. To the point where the rare romance that DOESN’T use the trope is praised just for showing a ML who is secure enough in himself and the FL’s feelings that he doesn’t feel threatened by every man on the planet.
This isn’t a Yandere - the ML will only resort to violence if someone is actually threatening the life or safety of the FL, not to win his ego-stroking contest. I’m trying to see if there’s a trope this culture-specific incarnation could fall under because even if there’s a Korean way it’s expressed I’m certain there must be a global trope.