...it's like TV Tropes, but LINKED DATA!
Coupled Couples
- 191 statements
- 35 feature instances
- 29 referencing feature instances
Coupled Couples | type |
FeatureClass | |
Coupled Couples | label |
Coupled Couples | |
Coupled Couples | page |
CoupledCouples | |
Coupled Couples | comment |
A frequent setup for romantic comedies and sometimes dramas, this trope explores the romantic relationships between four principal characters. By far the most frequent version is to have a Gender-Equal Ensemble with two male and two female lovers, but other versions are possible too. If the lovers are not already paired up, they will get together during the course of the story, and the progress of each relationship may be used as a foil or yardstick for the other. There may be a clear Alpha and Beta Couple, or the two couples may be equally important in the story. Whether or how the lovers pair up may, on the other hand, only be resolved near the end of the story, although it will probably be hinted at early on by the chemistry between them. Unlike Two Guys and a Girl and Two Girls and a Guy, this arrangement offers (and most often fulfills) the potential for romantic resolution without involving any additional people. Occasionally there may be transfers of affection within the foursome before the final resolution. Each of the four lovers will be previously acquainted with at least one of the other three. The four may be staunch friends who spend a lot of time together, or there may be rivalry involved. In the case of a gender-balanced foursome with two heterosexual pairings, the same-gender characters may be Heterosexual Life-Partners, sometimes with subtle or not-so-subtle hints of Ho Yay. There may also be sibling relationships within the group. Four-Temperament Ensemble and Four-Philosophy Ensemble may be applicable to this arrangement. The pair of couples may form a Bickering Couple, Peaceful Couple contrast. Compare Double Date. |
|
Coupled Couples | fetched |
2023-06-01T15:59:38Z | |
Coupled Couples | parsed |
2023-06-01T15:59:38Z | |
Coupled Couples | processingComment |
Dropped link to ACivilCampaign: Not an Item - UNKNOWN | |
Coupled Couples | processingComment |
Dropped link to CaptainVorpatrilsAlliance: Not an Item - UNKNOWN | |
Coupled Couples | processingComment |
Dropped link to Memory: Not an Item - UNKNOWN | |
Coupled Couples | processingComment |
Dropped link to ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
Coupled Couples | processingComment |
Dropped link to Yuri: Not an Item - UNKNOWN | |
Coupled Couples | processingUnknown |
ACivilCampaign | |
Coupled Couples | processingUnknown |
CaptainVorpatrilsAlliance | |
Coupled Couples | processingUnknown |
Memory | |
Coupled Couples | processingUnknown |
Yuri | |
Coupled Couples | isPartOf |
DBTropes | |
Coupled Couples / int_107f2100 | type |
Coupled Couples | |
Coupled Couples / int_107f2100 | comment |
The opera La Bohème has Mimi, Rodolfo, Marcello and Musetta. The two couples' romantic arcs take different directions. Despite Rodolfo repulsing the terminally ill Mimi under false pretenses so that she can seek a wealthier lover to care for her, she dies peacefully surrounded by the other three. | |
Coupled Couples / int_107f2100 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Coupled Couples / int_107f2100 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
La Bohème (Theatre) | hasFeature |
Coupled Couples / int_107f2100 | |
Coupled Couples / int_1338fbdc | type |
Coupled Couples | |
Coupled Couples / int_1338fbdc | comment |
The four principal characters in Così Fan Tutte. The two men test the fidelity of their wives by disguising themselves and courting each other's wives. | |
Coupled Couples / int_1338fbdc | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Coupled Couples / int_1338fbdc | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Così Fan Tutte (Theatre) | hasFeature |
Coupled Couples / int_1338fbdc | |
Coupled Couples / int_1d01b4d6 | type |
Coupled Couples | |
Coupled Couples / int_1d01b4d6 | comment |
Another Shakespeare example is Much Ado About Nothing, which features two contrasting couples: Hero and Claudio, the traditional romantic couple, and Beatrice and Benedick, whose relationship is full of Belligerent Sexual Tension. Claudio and Benedick are best friends, while Hero and Beatrice are cousins who have essentially been raised as sisters. Each couple makes frequent jokes and comments about the relationship between the other couple. | |
Coupled Couples / int_1d01b4d6 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Coupled Couples / int_1d01b4d6 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Much Ado About Nothing (Theatre) | hasFeature |
Coupled Couples / int_1d01b4d6 | |
Coupled Couples / int_1dd1cb89 | type |
Coupled Couples | |
Coupled Couples / int_1dd1cb89 | comment |
The four lovers from A Midsummer Night's Dream. In this case, the men begin as rivals. The ultimate romantic resolution is implied early on, but only enacted near the end. Something of a Deconstruction, in that the happy ending required one of the men to be permanently affected with a love charm. | |
Coupled Couples / int_1dd1cb89 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Coupled Couples / int_1dd1cb89 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
A Midsummer Night's Dream (Theatre) | hasFeature |
Coupled Couples / int_1dd1cb89 | |
Coupled Couples / int_1e46b3e0 | type |
Coupled Couples | |
Coupled Couples / int_1e46b3e0 | comment |
Early chapters of Boyfriends. focused on Nerd with Goth and Prep with Jock, before they all coalesced. | |
Coupled Couples / int_1e46b3e0 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Coupled Couples / int_1e46b3e0 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Boyfriends. (Webcomic) | hasFeature |
Coupled Couples / int_1e46b3e0 | |
Coupled Couples / int_231b713e | type |
Coupled Couples | |
Coupled Couples / int_231b713e | comment |
The O.C. has Ryan and Marissa, and Seth and Summer. Fans have fondly nicknamed them the "fab four", or "core four," with Ryan and Marissa being the angsty ship, and Seth and Summer being the sweet one. Bonus points that Ryan and Marissa started out as the cute ship, and Seth and Summer as the one that would never work. | |
Coupled Couples / int_231b713e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Coupled Couples / int_231b713e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The O.C. | hasFeature |
Coupled Couples / int_231b713e | |
Coupled Couples / int_2b9a2c08 | type |
Coupled Couples | |
Coupled Couples / int_2b9a2c08 | comment |
In Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, bitter and frustrated married couple George and Martha invite a naive younger couple, Nick and Honey, for dinner in order to involve them in their dysfunctional relationship mind games; it is implied that Martha has a fling with Nick before the third act. In the end, all four characters come to a better understanding of their own marriages; Nick and Honey leave, and George and Martha ambiguously reconcile. | |
Coupled Couples / int_2b9a2c08 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Coupled Couples / int_2b9a2c08 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Theatre) | hasFeature |
Coupled Couples / int_2b9a2c08 | |
Coupled Couples / int_2e5d1163 | type |
Coupled Couples | |
Coupled Couples / int_2e5d1163 | comment |
The Good Life has the fun-loving adventurous Tom and Barbara Good, and their conventionally materialistic neighbors Jerry and Margo Leadbetter. Both couples are married, and the series follows how the relationships, as well as the sometimes-rocky friendships between the neighbors, develop as Tom and Barbara convert their house and garden into a self-sufficient farm. Although sexual tension is present between Barbara and Jerry, and to a lesser extent between Tom and Margo, both couples remain devoted. | |
Coupled Couples / int_2e5d1163 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Coupled Couples / int_2e5d1163 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Good Life | hasFeature |
Coupled Couples / int_2e5d1163 | |
Coupled Couples / int_2f8201f1 | type |
Coupled Couples | |
Coupled Couples / int_2f8201f1 | comment |
Toradora! begins on the basis that Ryuji and Taiga both like the other's best friend, and thus want to go out with them. | |
Coupled Couples / int_2f8201f1 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Coupled Couples / int_2f8201f1 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Toradora! | hasFeature |
Coupled Couples / int_2f8201f1 | |
Coupled Couples / int_39f37adb | type |
Coupled Couples | |
Coupled Couples / int_39f37adb | comment |
When Harry Met Sally...: Harry's best friend married Sally's best friend. | |
Coupled Couples / int_39f37adb | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Coupled Couples / int_39f37adb | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
When Harry Met Sally... | hasFeature |
Coupled Couples / int_39f37adb | |
Coupled Couples / int_3b34143f | type |
Coupled Couples | |
Coupled Couples / int_3b34143f | comment |
Harry Potter is best friends with Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. Ron and Hermione end up married, while Harry marries Ron's sister Ginny. | |
Coupled Couples / int_3b34143f | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Coupled Couples / int_3b34143f | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Harry Potter | hasFeature |
Coupled Couples / int_3b34143f | |
Coupled Couples / int_3f44e3d7 | type |
Coupled Couples | |
Coupled Couples / int_3f44e3d7 | comment |
At the beginning of Princess Tutu, Rue and Mytho are in a relationship, Fakir and Mytho are basically like brothers (interpret that as you will), and Duck has a major crush on Mytho. Add a couple of SecretIdentities to the mix and you've got one big (un)happy Love Dodecahedron. | |
Coupled Couples / int_3f44e3d7 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Coupled Couples / int_3f44e3d7 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Princess Tutu | hasFeature |
Coupled Couples / int_3f44e3d7 | |
Coupled Couples / int_4456bd7b | type |
Coupled Couples | |
Coupled Couples / int_4456bd7b | comment |
Riverdale has Betty and Jughead, and Archie and Veronica, commonly referred to as the "core four". Betty and Veronica are best friends, and so are Archie and Jughead. To complicate things, Betty and Archie are also best friends with a complicated and often confusing romantic history who get their own share of Ship Tease throughout the show. | |
Coupled Couples / int_4456bd7b | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Coupled Couples / int_4456bd7b | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Riverdale | hasFeature |
Coupled Couples / int_4456bd7b | |
Coupled Couples / int_4617a9f2 | type |
Coupled Couples | |
Coupled Couples / int_4617a9f2 | comment |
Married... with Children started with Al & Peg and Steve & Marcie. After a brief hiatus when Steve was Put on a Bus, Marcie married Jefferson and the dynamic was restored. | |
Coupled Couples / int_4617a9f2 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Coupled Couples / int_4617a9f2 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Married... with Children | hasFeature |
Coupled Couples / int_4617a9f2 | |
Coupled Couples / int_58713966 | type |
Coupled Couples | |
Coupled Couples / int_58713966 | comment |
As You Like It has brothers Orlando and Oliver falling for cousins Rosalind and Celia. Orlando and Rosalind are the Alpha Couple whose complicated courtship involves separation and disguise, while Oliver starts off evil and pulls a Heel–Face Turn. | |
Coupled Couples / int_58713966 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Coupled Couples / int_58713966 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
As You Like It (Theatre) | hasFeature |
Coupled Couples / int_58713966 | |
Coupled Couples / int_5d0d1463 | type |
Coupled Couples | |
Coupled Couples / int_5d0d1463 | comment |
Susanna and Figaro are happily engaged in The Marriage of Figaro, but Susanna is also being pursued by the Count, to the distress of his wife. Here it is the two women who swap clothes, in order to carry out a Bed Trick. | |
Coupled Couples / int_5d0d1463 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Coupled Couples / int_5d0d1463 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Marriage of Figaro (Theatre) | hasFeature |
Coupled Couples / int_5d0d1463 | |
Coupled Couples / int_60156176 | type |
Coupled Couples | |
Coupled Couples / int_60156176 | comment |
Used a few times in the Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold: In Memory there are two forming couples: Gregor and Laisa, and Duv and Delia. Duv and Laisa were dating (though not romantically involved yet), when Gregor (Duv's superior) looped in and had a whirlwind romance with Laisa. Duv didn't take it well, but his quiet and unassuming style was noticed and appreciated by Gregor's old friend Delia. Though neither of the couples are the main characters of the novel. You can probably add Illyan and Alys as well, who also start a romance. In Captain Vorpatril's Alliance Ivan and Tej are the alpha couple, and Byerly and Rish are the betas. Ivan and Byerly are old acquaintances (with a somewhat belligerent friendship), and Tej and Rish are sisters. A Civil Campaign has far too many couples either just formed or forming up or just having trouble, all knowing each other: Miles and Ekaterin, Gregor and Laisa, Duv and Delia, Borgos and Martya, Dono and Olivia, Mark and Kareen... Note that Delia, Martya, Olivia, and Kareen are sisters. |
|
Coupled Couples / int_60156176 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Coupled Couples / int_60156176 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Vorkosigan Saga | hasFeature |
Coupled Couples / int_60156176 | |
Coupled Couples / int_7ad62e34 | type |
Coupled Couples | |
Coupled Couples / int_7ad62e34 | comment |
The Honeymooners had Ralph & Alice and Ed & Trixie. | |
Coupled Couples / int_7ad62e34 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Coupled Couples / int_7ad62e34 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Honeymooners | hasFeature |
Coupled Couples / int_7ad62e34 | |
Coupled Couples / int_7d122312 | type |
Coupled Couples | |
Coupled Couples / int_7d122312 | comment |
The four principal characters of The Flintstones are the titular Flintstones, Fred and Wilma, and their Beta Couple best friend next door neighbors Barney and Betty Rubble. According to the prequel movie The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas, Fred originally asked Betty out, and she set her friend Wilma up with Barney for a double date. We knew how that would end up. | |
Coupled Couples / int_7d122312 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Coupled Couples / int_7d122312 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Flintstones | hasFeature |
Coupled Couples / int_7d122312 | |
Coupled Couples / int_7de6b974 | type |
Coupled Couples | |
Coupled Couples / int_7de6b974 | comment |
Closer, the 2004 adaptation of a 1997 romantic drama play, is concerned with love triangles and infidelity between the very contrasting characters of Dan, Alice, Larry and Anna. | |
Coupled Couples / int_7de6b974 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Coupled Couples / int_7de6b974 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Closer | hasFeature |
Coupled Couples / int_7de6b974 | |
Coupled Couples / int_8c23bed9 | type |
Coupled Couples | |
Coupled Couples / int_8c23bed9 | comment |
In Pride and Prejudice, sisters Jane and Elizabeth Bennet eventually marry best friends Charles Bingley and Fitzwilliam Darcy. They even have a double wedding, just to hammer this trope home. | |
Coupled Couples / int_8c23bed9 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Coupled Couples / int_8c23bed9 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Pride and Prejudice | hasFeature |
Coupled Couples / int_8c23bed9 | |
Coupled Couples / int_9c608bbc | type |
Coupled Couples | |
Coupled Couples / int_9c608bbc | comment |
Bewitched involves Samantha & Darrin and Larry & Louise. Although both couples remain devoted, the four of them are subject to supernaturally-induced mishaps in some episodes, such as "Mixed Doubles" from Season 7. | |
Coupled Couples / int_9c608bbc | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Coupled Couples / int_9c608bbc | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Bewitched | hasFeature |
Coupled Couples / int_9c608bbc | |
Coupled Couples / int_a609791a | type |
Coupled Couples | |
Coupled Couples / int_a609791a | comment |
While it may have only been hinted at in the original series, generations of Fanon have slowly Canonized this relationship among the Scooby-Doo Gang as of Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated. | |
Coupled Couples / int_a609791a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Coupled Couples / int_a609791a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Scooby-Doo (Franchise) | hasFeature |
Coupled Couples / int_a609791a | |
Coupled Couples / int_ab7ae041 | type |
Coupled Couples | |
Coupled Couples / int_ab7ae041 | comment |
The two main pairings in All This Sh*t is Twice as Weird fall under this trope, being comprised of two pairs of friends who knew each other for some time before meeting the other duo. | |
Coupled Couples / int_ab7ae041 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Coupled Couples / int_ab7ae041 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Twice Upon an Age (Fanfic) | hasFeature |
Coupled Couples / int_ab7ae041 | |
Coupled Couples / int_ae62a4cb | type |
Coupled Couples | |
Coupled Couples / int_ae62a4cb | comment |
In The Two Gentlemen of Verona, the two men begin as friends who could be seen as Ambiguously Gay, depending on the production. One, however, pulls a Face–Heel Turn as he abandons his own love interest and courts his friend's instead, betraying all three of the other characters in the process. | |
Coupled Couples / int_ae62a4cb | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Coupled Couples / int_ae62a4cb | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
TheTwoGentlemenOfVerona | hasFeature |
Coupled Couples / int_ae62a4cb | |
Coupled Couples / int_b8fd85 | type |
Coupled Couples | |
Coupled Couples / int_b8fd85 | comment |
In Sense and Sensibility, sisters Elinor and Marianne Dashwood eventually marry Edward Ferrars and Colonel Brandon, who by that time have been introduced and become good friends due to their similar temperaments and educations. | |
Coupled Couples / int_b8fd85 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Coupled Couples / int_b8fd85 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Sense and Sensibility | hasFeature |
Coupled Couples / int_b8fd85 | |
Coupled Couples / int_d2e27ba8 | type |
Coupled Couples | |
Coupled Couples / int_d2e27ba8 | comment |
Women in Love involves sisters Ursula and Gudrun, and their love interests Rupert and Gerald. In this case, both couples are foils for each other, and their romantic arcs take drastically different directions. In addition, an intense physical and emotional attraction between the two men is explored. | |
Coupled Couples / int_d2e27ba8 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Coupled Couples / int_d2e27ba8 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Women in Love | hasFeature |
Coupled Couples / int_d2e27ba8 | |
Coupled Couples / int_d6f28828 | type |
Coupled Couples | |
Coupled Couples / int_d6f28828 | comment |
The main characters of Follow the Fleet are sisters Connie and Sherry, and Navy buddies Bake and Bilge. They pair off as Bake/Sherry and Bilge/Connie (with a side order of Love Triangle in the latter case thanks to supporting character Iris). | |
Coupled Couples / int_d6f28828 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Coupled Couples / int_d6f28828 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Follow the Fleet | hasFeature |
Coupled Couples / int_d6f28828 | |
Coupled Couples / int_d8ce1c33 | type |
Coupled Couples | |
Coupled Couples / int_d8ce1c33 | comment |
The first season of As Time Goes By involves this: Jean and Lionel were lovers separated 38 years ago by a misunderstanding. Now, Jean's daughter Judy is in love with Lionel, while Jean herself has an admirer in Lionel's young publisher Alistair. In the last episode of the season, the four of them go on a picnic, during which the two youngsters' attempts to be alone with their crush are thwarted. Lionel and Jean ultimately marry, as do Alistair and Judy. | |
Coupled Couples / int_d8ce1c33 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Coupled Couples / int_d8ce1c33 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
As Time Goes By | hasFeature |
Coupled Couples / int_d8ce1c33 | |
Coupled Couples / int_da0a70e2 | type |
Coupled Couples | |
Coupled Couples / int_da0a70e2 | comment |
Jack, Algernon, Gwendolyn and Cecily from The Importance of Being Earnest. Although there are two pairings with mutual love, this play is a satire of, among other things, romantic comedies involving this trope, as break-ups and make-ups happen frequently and for absurd reasons. There is also a long-term friendship and considerable Ho Yay between the men. | |
Coupled Couples / int_da0a70e2 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Coupled Couples / int_da0a70e2 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Importance of Being Earnest (Theatre) | hasFeature |
Coupled Couples / int_da0a70e2 | |
Coupled Couples / int_dbb68ab6 | type |
Coupled Couples | |
Coupled Couples / int_dbb68ab6 | comment |
Certain fan works based on The Chronicles of Narnia create an alternative scenario in which Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy are not all blood siblings, opening up the potential for non-incestuous romantic pairings. The chemistry between the actors in the films, and particularly the Not Love Interest relationship between Edmund and Lucy in the third film, may have been shipping fuel for this treatment. | |
Coupled Couples / int_dbb68ab6 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Coupled Couples / int_dbb68ab6 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Chronicles of Narnia | hasFeature |
Coupled Couples / int_dbb68ab6 | |
Coupled Couples / int_de231053 | type |
Coupled Couples | |
Coupled Couples / int_de231053 | comment |
The Fisher King has Jack Lucas and Anne, who help Parry and Lydia to get together. The former two act as matchmakers for the others. | |
Coupled Couples / int_de231053 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Coupled Couples / int_de231053 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Fisher King | hasFeature |
Coupled Couples / int_de231053 | |
Coupled Couples / int_e0fcfdea | type |
Coupled Couples | |
Coupled Couples / int_e0fcfdea | comment |
The episode "Who's Who?" of The Avengers (1960s) involves a pair of enemy agent lovers who swap bodies with Steed and Emma via a Grand Theft Me. The contrast between the heroes' UST-laden platonic relationship and the villains' overtly sexual one is played for laughs. | |
Coupled Couples / int_e0fcfdea | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Coupled Couples / int_e0fcfdea | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
The Avengers (1960s) | hasFeature |
Coupled Couples / int_e0fcfdea | |
Coupled Couples / int_effa14c7 | type |
Coupled Couples | |
Coupled Couples / int_effa14c7 | comment |
Freedom and Necessity forms couples of the old friends Richard and Kitty, and James and Susan. | |
Coupled Couples / int_effa14c7 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Coupled Couples / int_effa14c7 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
Freedom and Necessity | hasFeature |
Coupled Couples / int_effa14c7 | |
Coupled Couples / int_f361b493 | type |
Coupled Couples | |
Coupled Couples / int_f361b493 | comment |
I Love Lucy had Lucy & Ricky and Fred & Ethel. | |
Coupled Couples / int_f361b493 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
Coupled Couples / int_f361b493 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
I Love Lucy | hasFeature |
Coupled Couples / int_f361b493 |
The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.
Copyright of DBTropes.org wrapper 2009-2013 DFKI Knowledge Management. Imprint. - Thanks to Bakken&Baeck for hosting. Contact.
Copyright of data TVTropes.org contributors under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.
Copyright of data TVTropes.org contributors under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.