Romantic interest

The romantic interest (also called love interest) is a stock character, an object of romantic admiration and attraction for the principal character(s), or heroes. It is also the plot element, the romantic subplot, thus introduced.

Overview

This person is often a female acquaintance of the protagonist, as in the case of Jane in Tarzan or a man, as in the case of Disney's Pocahontas. The primary characters and romantic interests may be the two main characters, as in the case of Brokeback Mountain. Even the submarine warfare book Run Silent, Run Deep has a romantic interest shared between the two primary protagonists.

This term is often used in movie reviews, less so in classic literature, though such characters are common. Nearly all of the Disney animated features have main characters, villains and romantic interests that even children can easily identify.

Many stories contain love interests in which the character, or the subplot, is immensely implausible.

Literary romantic interests

• Christine Daaé is Raoul's and Erik's love interest in the Phantom of the Opera.
• Cosette is Marius Pontmercy's love interest in Les Misérables.
• Mercedes is Edmond Dantés' first love interest in The Count of Monte Cristo.
• Juliet is Romeo's love interest in Romeo and Juliet.
• Lucie Manette is Charles Darnay's love interest in A Tale of Two Cities.
• Ophelia is Hamlet's love interest in Hamlet.
• Chani is the love interest of Paul Atreides in Dune.
• Violet Baudelaire is the love interest of Quigley Quagmire in A Series of Unfortunate Events.
• Sabina Pleasure is the love interest of Alex Rider in Alex Rider's series.
• Lacus Clyne is the love interest of Kira Yamato in Gundam Seed.
• Cagalli Yula Athha is the love interest of Athrun Zala in Gundam Seed.
• Garu is Pucca's and Ring-Ring's love interest in Pucca Funny Love.
• Abyo is Ching's love interest in Pucca Funny Love.

Video Game romantic interests

• In Mass Effect: Kaidan Alenko, Ashley Williams, or Liara T'Soni can be a love interest for Commander Shephard (depending on Shephard's gender)
• In the Soul Calibur series of games, Kilik is the love interest of Chai Xianghua
• In Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic: Carth Onasi or Bastila Shan can be love interests for Revan (depending on Revan's gender)
• In Kingdom Hearts, Kairi is the love interest of Sora and Riku.

See also

• protagonist
• antagonist