Romantic interest
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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.
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.
Examples
- 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.
- Cho Chang, and more recently Ginny Weasley is Harry Potter (character)'s love interest in the Harry Potter novels.
- Mercedes is Edmond Dantés's 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.
- Mary Jane Watson (and formerly, Gwen Stacy) is the love interest of Peter Parker in the Spider-Man comic books.
- Hermione Granger is Ron Weasley's love interest in the Harry Potter novels.
- Sonic is Amy Rose's love interest in the Sonic the Hedgehog video game series.
- Jasmine is Aladdin's love interest in Aladdin TV series.
- Princess Peach is Mario's love interest, just like Princess Daisy is Luigi's in the Mario video game series.
- Princess Zelda is Link's love interest in the Legend of Zelda video game series.
The term "love interest" is also sometimes used in real life to designate someone's potential sweetheart or target of infatuation