Trope Talk: The One-Sided Love Triangle

Not all love triangles are created equal.

Stephanie Nicole
7 min readJan 25, 2022
Original Photo by Pixabay

You either love them or hate them. Love triangles are a polarizing trope. To some, love triangles can add drama to a story. However, others find them annoying and prevent the couple they are rooting for to get together. Furthermore, it can lead the audience to develop hatred for the third person in the love triangle.

The problem with love triangles is if there is a couple the audience is supposed to root for, it can be hard with the third person lingering over the romance. The type of love triangle I am talking about implies one person in the triangle loves their two suitors equally. On the other hand, what if that one person does not return the feelings of one of those suitors? This is what we call a one-sided love triangle.

What is a Love Triangle?

Photo by Net Sama on Flickr

A love triangle is defined as a situation in which two people vie for the love of a third. In other words, two people are in love with or compete for the affection of the same person. This definition does not take into consideration the level of affection one person feels about one’s two suitors. The…

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Stephanie Nicole
Stephanie Nicole

Written by Stephanie Nicole

Elementary school teacher who writes about education, children/young adult media, childhood, and disability. College graduate who rediscovered anime!