...it's like TV Tropes, but LINKED DATA!
Fallback Marriage Pact
- 141 statements
- 26 feature instances
- 16 referencing feature instances
| Fallback Marriage Pact | type |
FeatureClass | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact | label |
Fallback Marriage Pact | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact | page |
FallbackMarriagePact | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact | comment |
Two unlucky-in-love Platonic Life-Partners or Friends with Benefits, not wanting to grow old alone, agree to marry each other if they're still single after a certain age. Can be played either sincerely or for laughs, but either way it's likely to be a Friendship Moment. If the pair have been going through a Will They or Won't They? plot, it's a handy way to bring it to an amicable close without irreversibly deciding that They Don't. Sometimes this trope is seen from the other side; an Old Flame (usually one who's never been mentioned before) shows up to remind a character that they once made such a pact together, and they're here to collect on the deal. Hilarity Ensues, especially if they've aged into an Abhorrent Admirer and the other character doesn't want them any more. If one party has forgotten about it entirely or never took it seriously, the other may say "It Meant Something to Me". A Defied Trope of Old Maid. See also Honorable Marriage Proposal. Closely related to Childhood Marriage Promise, which is a similar agreement made by kids too young to really understand what marriage is. See also Arranged Marriage. |
|
| Fallback Marriage Pact | fetched |
2023-10-10T02:30:04Z | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact | parsed |
2023-10-10T02:30:04Z | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact | processingComment |
Dropped link to ChildhoodMarriagePromise: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact | processingComment |
Dropped link to HilarityEnsues: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact | processingComment |
Dropped link to hilariousinhindsight: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact | processingComment |
Dropped link to hoyay: Not an Item - FEATURE | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact | isPartOf |
DBTropes | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_1a21786a | type |
Fallback Marriage Pact | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_1a21786a | comment |
Advice and Trust has a variation in a (possibly non-canon) omake. Asuka and Shinji both make each other promise that one of them is rendered comatose/dead/otherwise incapacitated, that the other would marry Rei instead and name a child after them. | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_1a21786a | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_1a21786a | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Advice and Trust (Fanfic) | hasFeature |
Fallback Marriage Pact / int_1a21786a | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_21b21f35 | type |
Fallback Marriage Pact | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_21b21f35 | comment |
BoJack Horseman: When Todd breaks up with Yolanda, he notes how difficult it would be for them to find other asexual people to date, so he makes a pact to give the relationship another try if they're still single when they turn 100 years old. | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_21b21f35 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_21b21f35 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| BoJack Horseman | hasFeature |
Fallback Marriage Pact / int_21b21f35 | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_22e860f4 | type |
Fallback Marriage Pact | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_22e860f4 | comment |
A variant in Psych: In "A Very Juliet Episode," a flashback shows that Juliet made an agreement with a college boyfriend to meet up in 7 years, whether they are seeing other people or not, and catch up as well as see if they want to rekindle their relationship. When he doesn't show, Shawn and Gus find him, but things quickly become complicated as it's revealed that he's in the witness protection program. Eventually, they decide to part ways as friends, and meet up in one more year. | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_22e860f4 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_22e860f4 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Psych | hasFeature |
Fallback Marriage Pact / int_22e860f4 | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_2324de49 | type |
Fallback Marriage Pact | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_2324de49 | comment |
My Best Friend's Wedding subverts this trope. The main character and her best friend have one of these pacts. When he calls her as the deadline birthday is approaching, she thinks he’s calling to cash in on the deal—only to discover he’s actually calling to tell her he’s gotten engaged (to someone else) and to invite her to his wedding. | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_2324de49 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_2324de49 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| My Best Friend's Wedding | hasFeature |
Fallback Marriage Pact / int_2324de49 | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_2dec4b1c | type |
Fallback Marriage Pact | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_2dec4b1c | comment |
Romy and Michele's High School Reunion in a variation early in the movie Romy expresses that sometimes she wishes she was a lesbian, Michele her best friend suggests they try having sex to see if either of them is attracted to women - Romy turns her down saying the idea creeps her out... but to ask her again if they are both still single at 30. | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_2dec4b1c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_2dec4b1c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Romy and Michele's High School Reunion | hasFeature |
Fallback Marriage Pact / int_2dec4b1c | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_39f37adb | type |
Fallback Marriage Pact | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_39f37adb | comment |
A variation in When Harry Met Sally...: Harry and Sally agree that if either of them ever don't have a date on a national holiday, they will take each other to whatever party they're going to as a date. Sally eventually gets sick of this saying that she doesn't want to be Harry's "consolation prize". They get married about three months later when it becomes clear that they actually had feelings for each other. | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_39f37adb | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_39f37adb | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| When Harry Met Sally... | hasFeature |
Fallback Marriage Pact / int_39f37adb | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_4b57d678 | type |
Fallback Marriage Pact | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_4b57d678 | comment |
Murphy Brown has Murphy and Frank discuss the idea at a point when it seems like their romantic prospects are all but dead, but they let it drop and move on. | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_4b57d678 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_4b57d678 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Murphy Brown | hasFeature |
Fallback Marriage Pact / int_4b57d678 | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_5423040c | type |
Fallback Marriage Pact | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_5423040c | comment |
In Överenskommelser by Simona Ahrnstedt, Seth has one of these with his New Old Flame Lily Tremaine. They're friends rather than lovers, but still decide to get engaged. But in the end, they break it up when Seth is reunited with Beatrice (the story's female protagonist) and Lily finds true love with Alexandre (with whom Beatrice had a similar relationship). | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_5423040c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_5423040c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Överenskommelser | hasFeature |
Fallback Marriage Pact / int_5423040c | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_60f02ddb | type |
Fallback Marriage Pact | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_60f02ddb | comment |
American Dad!: A variant: Stan asks his dentist to be his "back-up wife" in case he ends up outliving Francine. Hilarity Ensues when Francine finds out and decides to get herself a "back-up husband" for the same eventuality, in the form of Stan's attractive younger colleague. Unfortunately, it turns out both would-be spouses are taking it a lot more seriously than either of the Smiths expected... An episode with a flash of the future reveals Steve and Snot made this pact with each other for if they were single by the age of 30. They both regret picking such a young age. |
|
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_60f02ddb | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_60f02ddb | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| American Dad! | hasFeature |
Fallback Marriage Pact / int_60f02ddb | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_696b75c2 | type |
Fallback Marriage Pact | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_696b75c2 | comment |
Discussed and averted in A Brother's Price: The princesses are all very fond of their cousin, Cullen Moorland, and at least one of them would like have a fallback marriage pact with him. However, her sister points out he is too close a relative. As the the male Gender Rarity Value could lead to inbreeding, they're much stricter about this than most real life societies. | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_696b75c2 | featureApplicability |
-1.0 | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_696b75c2 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| A Brother's Price | hasFeature |
Fallback Marriage Pact / int_696b75c2 | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_6d7c7f1c | type |
Fallback Marriage Pact | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_6d7c7f1c | comment |
Peejee proposes this to Davan in Something*Positive as a way to guarantee neither of them grows old alone, which she is especially worried about as even their regular group of friends has largely gone their separate ways. Davan refuses, promising he'd never abandon her anyway and shortly thereafter Davan meets Vanessa, whom he would eventually marry. It was the climax of a long bout of Ship Tease the creator had used to taunt the shippers who wanted Davan and Peejee together, since them not getting romantically involved is one of the few iron-clad rules of the comic, promised to the real woman upon whom Peejee is based. | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_6d7c7f1c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_6d7c7f1c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Something*Positive (Webcomic) | hasFeature |
Fallback Marriage Pact / int_6d7c7f1c | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_6ffc88ca | type |
Fallback Marriage Pact | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_6ffc88ca | comment |
In Not Love But Delicious Foods Make Me So Happy, Y-naga and her friend S-hara agree to get married when he turns 30 (she's 2 years older than him) if neither of them have found anyone by then (she actually asked a bunch of guys, but he was the only one who agreed). As luck would have it, they remember about this when he's 29 and both of them are single (and roommates), and after a Beat, they both agree to push it to 35. At the end of the chapter, they're both thinking "When we hit 35, I wonder if we can push it to forty?" | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_6ffc88ca | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_6ffc88ca | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Not Love But Delicious Foods Make Me So Happy (Manga) | hasFeature |
Fallback Marriage Pact / int_6ffc88ca | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_7884ec15 | type |
Fallback Marriage Pact | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_7884ec15 | comment |
On Seinfeld, Kramer proposes to Elaine that they marry each other if they're both still single in ten years. She makes a counteroffer of fifty years (which he accepts). | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_7884ec15 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_7884ec15 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Seinfeld | hasFeature |
Fallback Marriage Pact / int_7884ec15 | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_82439e64 | type |
Fallback Marriage Pact | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_82439e64 | comment |
In The Office, Michael Scott suggests this to Pam (at least in terms of having a baby together) if they're still single in ten years. She shoots it down immediately... and, ever the salesman, he starts haggling. When he suggests that they do so if she's still single in thirty years, she thinks about it for a very long time and agrees. | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_82439e64 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_82439e64 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| The Office (US) | hasFeature |
Fallback Marriage Pact / int_82439e64 | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_84faf6a2 | type |
Fallback Marriage Pact | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_84faf6a2 | comment |
Brought up but ultimately averted in Romance and the Fate of Equestria. Twilight, still a Broken Bird from her previous relationship, isn't ready for another and wants herself and Donut Joe to be Friends with Benefits. As the hope of a relationship with her was the only thing keeping him in Equestria, he decides to go through with his plan to take a five-year journey with the travelling Bazaar, leading Twilight to propose this trope if they're both still single when the Bazaar returns to Equestria. Through further discussion, they realize that this trope would be too heartbreaking if only one of them was single, so Twilight instead suggests that they remain faithful to one another and stay in touch for the next five years, and get together at the end no matter what. | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_84faf6a2 | featureApplicability |
-1.0 | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_84faf6a2 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Romance and the Fate of Equestria (Fanfic) | hasFeature |
Fallback Marriage Pact / int_84faf6a2 | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_8aa7c509 | type |
Fallback Marriage Pact | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_8aa7c509 | comment |
Somewhat parodied in Star vs. the Forces of Evil. Rasticore says this to Miss Heinous right before being killed by her. | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_8aa7c509 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_8aa7c509 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Star vs. the Forces of Evil | hasFeature |
Fallback Marriage Pact / int_8aa7c509 | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_8d7f29ec | type |
Fallback Marriage Pact | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_8d7f29ec | comment |
Glee: Towards the end of the series, twenty year old Artie and Tina decide that if they aren't married by the time they're thirty, they'll marry each other since they're best friends. In the "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue though, we see that in five years they end up dating again anyway. | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_8d7f29ec | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_8d7f29ec | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Glee | hasFeature |
Fallback Marriage Pact / int_8d7f29ec | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_c114d94c | type |
Fallback Marriage Pact | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_c114d94c | comment |
In Jonathan Tropper's This is Where I Leave You, Judd and Penny made this pact during their college days. Sadly, this didn't carry over in the film adaptation of the book, making Penny (played by Rose Byrne) look more like a Manic Pixie Dream Girl rather than Judd's oldest and best friend, which is weird considering Tropper himself also wrote the screenplay. | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_c114d94c | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_c114d94c | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| This Is Where I Leave You | hasFeature |
Fallback Marriage Pact / int_c114d94c | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_c4282b71 | type |
Fallback Marriage Pact | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_c4282b71 | comment |
Another My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic fanfic, Mother Fluffer, invokes the trope as a somewhat common practice, particularly for gay stallions and lesbian mares. Twilight's parents married as part of such a pact (and forgot to mention it to Twilight's friends until after she is seen kissing Gilda), and Rarity was also in one: | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_c4282b71 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_c4282b71 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic | hasFeature |
Fallback Marriage Pact / int_c4282b71 | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_cac20f89 | type |
Fallback Marriage Pact | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_cac20f89 | comment |
In JAG, Harm and Mac agree to have a child together if neither have a significant other some time in the future. | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_cac20f89 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_cac20f89 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| JAG | hasFeature |
Fallback Marriage Pact / int_cac20f89 | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_cf34b558 | type |
Fallback Marriage Pact | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_cf34b558 | comment |
Hudson and Mrs. Bridges—the butler and cook—of Upstairs Downstairs have this arrangement. In one episode Mrs. Bridges seems to have found true love and Hudson offers to release her from their friendly agreement. Unfortunately her beloved turns out to be a jerk. | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_cf34b558 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_cf34b558 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Upstairs Downstairs | hasFeature |
Fallback Marriage Pact / int_cf34b558 | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_e036ebd3 | type |
Fallback Marriage Pact | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_e036ebd3 | comment |
In Happy Endings, Penny is mentioned as having a marriage pact with Butt-Monkey Shershow, who ends up getting married in the first season finale, prompting Penny to fake being engaged to not feel bad about her own singledom. | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_e036ebd3 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_e036ebd3 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Happy Endings | hasFeature |
Fallback Marriage Pact / int_e036ebd3 | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_f0a86c12 | type |
Fallback Marriage Pact | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_f0a86c12 | comment |
Ted and Robin make one in How I Met Your Mother, which pretty much (but not entirely) marks the end of their Will They or Won't They? arc. Apparently the term "Ted & Robin pact" has entered the vernacular. This is discarded as of season 7, when Ted decides he wants to move on from Robin forever and can't do that while the possibility is still there. However, in an ironic twist, they do end up following through, if unintentionally, when Ted and Robin get back together in 2030. |
|
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_f0a86c12 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_f0a86c12 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| How I Met Your Mother | hasFeature |
Fallback Marriage Pact / int_f0a86c12 | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_f31d7d98 | type |
Fallback Marriage Pact | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_f31d7d98 | comment |
Something of a parody in Drawn Together: Captain Hero and Unusually Flexible Girl were Friends with Benefits in college and promised that if they were still single at 30, they'd get married. She shows up to collect. Seems in actuality, she was deliberately holding out for him. | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_f31d7d98 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_f31d7d98 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Drawn Together | hasFeature |
Fallback Marriage Pact / int_f31d7d98 | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_f655ed11 | type |
Fallback Marriage Pact | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_f655ed11 | comment |
In one episode of Frasier, it sounds like Roz is about to suggest one of these, and Frasier agrees to marrying her if they are both indeed single at the time. Turns out Roz was going to suggest they kill each other instead. | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_f655ed11 | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_f655ed11 | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Frasier | hasFeature |
Fallback Marriage Pact / int_f655ed11 | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_f6c05e8e | type |
Fallback Marriage Pact | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_f6c05e8e | comment |
Friends: When Chandler and Monica get engaged, the other girls start to feel insecure about their own love lives, both still being single at this point. However, Phoebe says she made a pact with Joey years ago that they would marry each other if they were both still single when they were forty. This inspires Rachel to ask Ross to make a similar pact with her. However, Ross claims he already made that deal years ago... also with Phoebe. Both men are indignant when they find out, while Phoebe claims she needs a backup for her backup. By the end of the episode, they all settle on Ross being Rachel's backup, and Joey being Phoebe's. By the end of the series, it doesn't make much of a difference. Ross and Rachel finally decide they want to be together forever in the finale, and while Joey is still single, Phoebe has fallen in love with and married another man. Note that this is well before any of them have turned forty. A variant in another episode; Chandler suggests to Monica that if neither of them are married by the time they're forty, they could have a child together. (This was before they were dating). It doesn't go like he expected. In the third season finale, Monica is moping over her recent breakup and wonders if she'll ever find another boyfriend. Chandler offers to date her if she can't find anyone else. Monica laughs off the offer, so Chandler spends the rest of the episode trying to prove he's "boyfriend material". They eventually agree to drop the issue... and then a year later they sleep together in London and begin their romance. |
|
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_f6c05e8e | featureApplicability |
1.0 | |
| Fallback Marriage Pact / int_f6c05e8e | featureConfidence |
1.0 | |
| Friends | hasFeature |
Fallback Marriage Pact / int_f6c05e8e |
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.