The "who is who" is not AS clear-cut as it seems at first sight, but okay.
Examples of the Betty and Veronica trope in Anime and Manga!
- Pictured above: Neon Genesis Evangelion offers perhaps the best example of how subjective this trope can be. In Japan, Rei is seen as the Betty because of her gentle disposition and general reservedness, whereas the Fiery Redheaded foreigner Asuka is the cultural Veronica because her forceful and aggressive personality is just so strange to the generally reserved Japanese public. Contrast this with more demonstrative Western audiences, who see the more outgoing, more human, more badass, and more emotional Asuka as the familiar Betty, and the bizarre, cold, and strangely unsettling Rei as the exotic Veronica.
- It's played straight, however, in the Lighter and Fluffier spinnoff series, such as Angelic Days and Shinji Ikari Raising Project.
- Rebuild of Evangelion varies it a bit. The Veronica enters the Love Triangle out of jealousy in response to the guy making advances on the clueless Betty but bails as soon as she realizes the Betty loves the guy back and therefore she doesn't have a chance. And then there are two Third Option Love Interests: Kaworu, like in the TV series, and the Rebuild-newcomer Mari (hard to classify personality-wise)
- Maya's Funeral Procession: Reina is a bi-curious Archie who has Taku as her Betty and Maya as her Veronica. It's really not helped by Reina falling off her horse at some point, Taku realizing that her saddle was tampered with, and him blaming Maya for it. (It was Maya's sister, actually, but even when Maya realizes it she doesn't dispell Taku's beliefs.) At the end Maya and Reina are revealed to be half-sisters, Maya commits a fiery suicide (and it's implied that she would've killed herself anyway) as Reina sobs in Taku's arms, and later Taku and Reina marry.
- Super Dimension Fortress Macross had Lynn Minmay as the Veronica and Misa Hayase as the Betty. Minmay herself had a similar case, with Hikaru as the Betty and Lynn Kaifunn as the Veronica.
- Macross 7 had a gender-reversed version of the trope, with Gamlin as the Betty and Basara as the Veronica.
- As does Macross Plus, where brash and rebellious Isamu is the Veronica, and serious and caring Guld seems to be a Betty. And then it puts everything on its head in The Reveal, because Guld, a mentally broken would-be rapist, is The Atoner who got a Redemption Equals Death moment in the end; while Isamu wanted Myung to be happy, and thus removed himself from the picture, becoming something of a Death Seeker, but after Guld's Redemption Equals Death he and Myung stay together..
- Macross Frontier has Ranka as the Betty and Sheryl as the Veronica. In the second movie, The Wings of Goodbye: The End of the Triangle, it's resolved. Alto apologizies to Ranka for being unable to return her feelings and declares his love to Sheryl before going Missing In Action.
- Subverted hard in Double Arts. When "Betty" (Ellie) tentatively inquires about Kiri's feelings for the obvious "Veronica" candidate (Sui), he practically goes into a Heroic BSOD. Turns out they already tried dating. And she dumped him. Three times. So much for that Love Triangle...
- In School Days, the Betty is Sekai, the Girl Next Door friend of the main lead with simple short hair and a bubbly personality, while the Veronica is Kotonoha, the Tall, Dark and Bishoujo Ojou who's shy but extremely popular among the boys because of her looks. Then both of them reveal surprising sides to their characters...
- Not really, Sekai has Betty looks but Veronica personality (being a straightforward girl who uses Fan Service with a Smile in her part-time work) while Kotonoha's Veronica looks conceal her very Betty-ish behavior (shy, sheltered, target of abuse from other girls who are jealous of her beauty and wealth). Then again, It Gets Worse really soon.
- In Shakugan no Shana, Kazumi Yoshida is the Betty and Shana the Veronica.
- Full Metal Panic inverts this: Chidori is the Veronica despite being the Ordinary High School Student, while Tessa, who is a captain in a covert paramilitary organization and has command of a submarine and several hundred troops, Sousuke included, is the Betty personality-wise.
- Also, one may count Kaname the Betty to Mizuki's Veronica, if only for one episode (the one where the latter insisted Sousuke acted as her boyfriend so her friends wouldn't know she had broken up with her real boyfriend). They later become friends and this subplot is never brought up again.
- Zero no Tsukaima does this, with noblewoman Louise facing off against peasant girl Siesta.
- The anime adaptation has them switch roles for the third season. As Saito grows more used to Louise's habits, his relationship with her normalizes somewhat culminating with their marriage at the end of the second season. Shortly thereafter the writers force Siesta to crank up the sex appeal to compensate because Status Quo Is God.
- In Nana, rock star Takumi would probably count as a male version of Veronica for Hachiko while Nobu serves as a male Betty.
- In Naruto, you get this trope in spades with Naruto. There's Sakura who seems to be choosing between Naruto (Betty) and Sasuke (Veronica). Also in the above cases where Shikamaru and Sasuke are the Archies, we also have Ino. With Shikamaru as Archie, we have Ino as Betty (same team, parents are friends) and Temari as Veronica (foreigner, older). With Sasuke as Archie, you really have Sakura as Betty, Ino as Veronica and Karin as the Third Option Love Interest. And with Naruto as Archie, you get Hinata as Betty and Sakura as Veronica. The final results are: Naruto chooses Hinata (his Betty), Sakura chooses her Bad Boy/Veronica (Sasuke), Shikamaru chooses her Veronica (Temari), and Ino gets together with a male Third Option Love Interest (Sai).
- In Inuyasha, Ordinary High School Student Kagome is the Betty and Dark Magical Girl Kikyo the Veronica. (Who once was more Betty-ish)
- Almost every guy Kagome gets shipped with will be the Betty to Inuyasha the Veronica, with the sole exception being Kouga.
- Speaking of Kouga, he had Kagome as the Betty and Ayame as a mix of Betty (she was his childhood friend as well as very cute) and Veronica (she's somewhat of a Clingy Jealous Girl, and a pretty efficient Cute Bruiser.)
- In an anime episode, Sango had Kuranosuke Takeda as the Betty and Miroku as the Veronica. Since Kuranosuke didn't appear again, well...
- Almost every guy Kagome gets shipped with will be the Betty to Inuyasha the Veronica, with the sole exception being Kouga.
- Bleach: the kind and pacifist Girl Next Door Orihime Inoue looks like a good Betty and the Action Girl Rukia seems to be a nice Veronica. Ichigo and Rukia are Vitriolic Best Buds and Rukia is the one who unlocked his powers; on the other hand, Ichigo is very protective of Orihime (and so's Rukia) and already confessed her love for him but he wasn't conscious at the time to hear. Ichigo is more than willing to scale both Soul Society and Hueco Mundo in order to rescue both of them (in separate arcs) and has the 'other' help participate in the rescue: Orihime is the Barrier Warrior and healer in Soul Society who actually came up with the idea of rescuing Rukia, while Rukia recovers her Action Girl credentials by the time the Hueco Mundo arc kicks in and joins Ichigo's quest for Orihime heartily. In the end, the Betty aka Orihime "wins". The "Veronica" aka Rukia gets her own happy ending with someone else.
- Other candidates for a Veronica or Betty includes Karate champ Arisawa Tatsuki, childhood friend of Ichigo, and Riruka Dokugamine from the X-Cution arc.
- On the other hand, the Fanon that has Orihime as a female Archie switches the deal around. Ichigo is a Hot-Blooded potential Veronica who fights for his friends without hesitation while Uryuu Ishida is a booksmart potential Betty who methodically snipes the enemies with his bow and arrow... and maybe, maybe, there'd be a Cheryl Blossom in Ulquiorra's Man in White Nietzsche Wannabe. Except for the fact that, well, Ulquiorra is dead. As said above, she chooses her "Veronica" aka Ichigo.
- ...And if we go the Yuri shipping way for Orihime: Tatsuki is the Betty (childhood friend, devoted protector, Romantic Two-Girl Friendship), Chizuru is the Veronica (Lovable Sex Maniac, VERY fond of groping Orihime, is thwarted by Tatsuki whenever she tries it) and Riruka would be the Cheryl Blossom (appeared the last, has red hair, was kinda antagonistic but then defrosted)
- If we see Rukia as the Archie instead, a possible Love Triangle would have Ichigo as the Veronica with Renji Abarai as the Betty. Yes, Renji is as Hot-Blooded and passionate as Ichigo, but on the other hand he has known and cared for Rukia ever since they were children (which happens more often than not with Betties) and became a Shinigami as well as a Vice-Captain for her sake. And, on Ichigo's side, there's the fact that he resembles an orange-haired Kaien Shiba, who was Rukia's juvenile crush when she was his lieutenant. It turns out there was no Love Triangle, since Ichigo and Rukia were Platonic Life Partners and Renji was intended as her lover all along by the author.
- Love Hina has a pretty basic version of this: Cloudcuckoolander Mutsumi versus Tsundere Naru. Keitaro, however, makes his preference the latter quite transparent halfway into the series, no matter if she's the little girl of the promise or not.
- In Hana Yori Dango, the heroine Tsukushi Makino is the object of both Rui's (the calm, supportive Betty) and Domyoji's (the violent, passionate Veronica) affections. Subverted in that Makino initially has unrequited feelings for Rui, while it is Domyoji who has (initially) one-sided feelings for her, and in that the Veronica triumphs while the Betty moves on someone else (Shizuka) - and in fact, it's implied that he's loved her all along.
- Kimagure Orange Road. Kyosuke is torn between Hikaru (the ever-doting Betty) and Madoka (the Aloof Dark-Haired Girl Veronica). This may be a Deconstruction, in that Betty!Hikaru is the spoiled and child-like one, while Veronica!Madoka is the more reserved and selfless. The only true resemblence to a real Betty And Veronica is that Hikaru is middle-class and Madoka is rich, and that their position brings up some personal flaws: Hikaru can be very immature and self-centered sometimes, whereas Madoka's selflessness can severely hurt her.
- In Psychic Academy, this is played quite obviously through the Betty-esque Orina (AKA Sara), Ai's childhood friend, and the Veronica-esque Mew.
- In Yu-Gi-Oh! (particularly the manga), Anzu Mazaki is shown being torn over her feelings between shy Covert Pervert Yugi Mutoh (Betty) and his darker alter ego Yami (Veronica).
- Melfina from Outlaw Star gets an inverted version of this with Gene and Harry. Of course, when the "safe" choice is a foul-mouthed Badass Longcoat, you just know the "bad boy" is going to have some serious issues.
- Possibly lampshaded in Cowboy Bebop. To Spike there isn't much choice between Julia, (his long lost Love Interest), and Faye, (Ms. Fanservice) as he's madly in love with Julia and things with Faye never go beyond a proto-UST stage. However it's somewhat telling that when Jet asks Broken Bird Faye what Julia was like, Faye responds with "Ordinary. A beautiful, dangerous ordinary that you can't leave alone", which perhaps defines the roles of the two.
- The Kuno/Akane/Pig-Tailed Girl triangle of Ranma ½ is an interesting case. You could say Akane is the Veronica trying to be the Betty and Ranma is the other way around, but we're talking about the warped mind of Tatewaki Kuno here.
- Akane's somewhat sheltered and naive due to being the youngest child in a middle-to-high-class and very traditional family. Well, at the same time, she's rather popular at school, shuns the boys who chase after her (specially Kuno), has a quick temper towards Ranma and despite her tries has very few traditionally feminine traits. These are all Veronica-ish qualities/flaws, so Kuno is somewhat right with this one.
- Shampoo a Supreme Chef, works full-time in her grandma's restaurant, and can be almost kittenish when she's happy (pun intended). Also added is that she came from a lower-class setting than Akane, is a lot smarter than she looks, and is also multi-talented. She also pines after Ranma. That's quite a dosage of Betty-ness.
- You can argue it both ways though. Akane is kind-hearted and nice when not being upset (though it's VERY easy to get her upset), and often stands up for others even if it brings her problems. And while Shampoo can cook and can be very demure around Ranma, but most of the time she's Tsundere bordering on Yandere and can be very manipulative and even cruel, like with Mousse and sometimes to Ranma himself. Shampoo also has an exotic quality, and her sexiness is sometimes played up too, especially compared to Akane who is a tomboy who attempts to be more feminine. So in this sense Akane may be the Betty instead.
- This becomes transparent when she's placed in contrast with Kodachi, whose upperclass lifestyle makes her a full-on Veronica, what with the Mad Love she feels towards Ranma pushing her to the point of being an active would-be hypotenuse murderer.
- Although this being an Unwanted Harem situation, it's not so much about Ranma being torn about which one to choose (though he is attracted to both girls, he feels much more attracted to Akane), but torn because he's engaged against his will to both women (Akane being an Arranged Marriage, Shampoo an Accidental Marriage) and rejecting one in favor of the other would bring lots of trouble for the THREE of them. This triangle also includes a Third Option Love Interest, in the form of Unlucky Childhood Friend and Bokukko, Ukyo Kuonji.
- With Akane as the center figure, the bumbling Gentle Giant Ryoga can be considered the Betty to Jerk with a Heart of Gold Ranma's Veronica.
- And with Ranma as the snarky yet ultimately well-intentioned Betty to Kuno's delirious, hammy Veronica.
- In D.Gray-man, Allen arguably has two main love interests in the story thus far: Lenalee Lee (Betty) and Road Kamelot (Veronica). Given that Lenalee is one of his closest friends and Road is a sadistic killer, not really much choice there. Allen also doesn't seem all that romantically interested in them, either.
- In the 3rd OVA of Boku no Pico, Pico finds himself in a B&V situation when he catches (the Veronica) CoCo fapping (then has sex with him). Later, he catches his boyfriend(?) Chico HAVING SEX WITH the Veronica. Think, Pico. Think REALLY hard.
- In Katekyo Hitman Reborn, Tsuna's main two canon love interests are Kyoko (Betty) and Haru (Veronica). But since he hardly interacts with them compared to all the manly (ahem) bonding he does with all his male guardians, most people don't support him witheitherof them.
- Arguably, if Mukuro is the Archie then Chrome is the Betty to MM's Veronica. Both have shown to have feelings towards him, and MM has a one-sided rivalry with Chrome. Mukuro hasn't shown to have romantic feelings towards any of them, although he has quite a few Pet the Dog moments with Chrome.
- In Angel Densetsu we have Ikuno as the Veronica and Ryoko as the
slightly less scary and Ax Crazy VeronicaBetty. - In School Rumble, Harima initially has his sights set on Tenma alone but it's clear from the start that he has no chance of winning her heart as she's already in love with Karasuma. The two girls who do express interest in him are Tenma's sister Yakumo and local Ojou Eri who fit the Betty and Veronica dynamic well.
- In Skip Beat, it's Gender Flipped with Kyoko's two competing love interests, Ren (male Betty) and Shou (male Veronica).
- Also played with in that while personality-wise they are that way with Ren as the Dogged Nice Guy and Shou as the Jerkass who breaks Kyoko's heart, appearance and background-wise, Shou is the Betty and Ren the Veronica: Shou is the childhood friend and guy next door, whereas Ren is Troubled but Cute, Tall, Dark and Handsome and has a Mysterious Past.
- Kallen and C.C. of Code Geass fill these roles towards Lelouch, although which one takes what role is subject to change over the course of the story.
- Shirley is a much more straight Betty, although then there's still the question of who between Kallen and C.C. is the Veronica.
- Euphemia would have Suzaku as Betty and Lelouch as Veronica.
- In Gokinjo Monogatari, one of the main characters, Yuusuke, is involved in a Love Triangle with wild and sexy Ms. Fanservice Mariko and his 'Girl Next Door'-ish Extreme Doormat classmate, Ayumi. Since this is a Yazawa Ai manga, things don't quite look as stereotypical as they can be described...
- Urusei Yatsura has Shinobu as Betty and Lum as Veronica (LSD version).
- Axis Powers Hetalia, with its Loads and Loads of Characters, gets lots of Love Triangle combinations set up in fanworks that deliberately invoke this dynamic. Even the most canon-supported ones have been played with by fans to extensive degrees:
- For the potential Austria-Hungary-Prussia triangle, fanworks will either depict it as Hungary having to choose between the straightlaced, gentlemanly Austria and the free-spirited, Hot-Blooded Prussia or Austria having to choose between the tough-as-nails but ultimately sweet and dependable Hungary and the much wilder and less predictable Prussia. In both cases, fanworks are about evenly split on whether the Betty or Veronica wins. And sometimes, they literally Take a Third Option.
- And now that Romania has appeared, fandom is shaping him up as a potential Third Option Love Interest du to being The Rival to Hungary.
- Canon-wise, Japan has a choice between sleepy, laidback Kindhearted Cat Lover Greece and masked, rough-talking Boisterous Bruiser Turkey. However, unlike with the Austria-Hungary-Prussia triangle, virtually all fanworks featuring this triangle agree that the Veronica has no chance against the Betty - and, in fact, actually has a better chance of ending up with the Betty than with the Archie! All of which leads to the real Betty and Veronica dynamic at work in fandom being whether Greece should be paired with cute, emotionally reserved, and romantically shy Japan who's already good friends with him or manly, openly critical, and aggressive Turkey who passionately hates him.
- And then there's the Comedic Sociopathy-filled Baltic-Slav Unrequited Love Triangle, where Russia plays a rather psychotic Archie who has the kind and gentle Lithuania as his Betty, whereas his sister Belarus is a Yandere Veronica, with China and Ukraine as potential Third Option Love Interests (Russia has stalked him a couple of times, and Ukraine is the one Russia shows his dere side more often to...).
- And just in case your head isn't spinning enough yet, there are numerous Fanon combinations of other characters with many of them bouncing back and forth between the Betty and Veronica roles depending on who their designated romantic rival is. To list all of them would take up half of this page, especially since this fandom is way more prone to OT3s than most other fandoms.
- For the potential Austria-Hungary-Prussia triangle, fanworks will either depict it as Hungary having to choose between the straightlaced, gentlemanly Austria and the free-spirited, Hot-Blooded Prussia or Austria having to choose between the tough-as-nails but ultimately sweet and dependable Hungary and the much wilder and less predictable Prussia. In both cases, fanworks are about evenly split on whether the Betty or Veronica wins. And sometimes, they literally Take a Third Option.
- Strawberry Panic has two of these Schoolgirl Lesbians triangles: Nagisa with Tamao as the Betty and Shizuma as the Veronica, and Hikari with Yaya as the Betty and Amane as the Veronica.
- Death Note has Misa as Betty and Takada as Veronica when it comes to Light.
- A genderswapped version in the Death Note spin off novel Another Note: The Los Angeles BB Murder Cases is Beyond Birthday as the Veronica and Raye Penber as the Betty to Naomi Misora's Archie. Admittedly, the case for any feelings between Beyond and Naomi is debatable, but there is some fanfiction that would maintain otherwise.
- If Setsuna of Angel Sanctuary is Archie, then Demon Princess Kurai is Veronica and sweet, kind-hearted Sara is Betty.
- Elfen Lied gives Kouta (Archie) the conflicting and very different love interests Lucy (Veronica) and Yuka (Betty).
- In Mekakushi no Kuni, Arou (Betty) and Namiki (Veronica) are rivals for Kanade's affections, even though Arou basically wins from Volume 2 onwards.
- Takemoto (Betty) and Morita (Veronica) both fall in love with Hagu in Honey&Clover. Even though Morita wins Hagu's affections, neither of the guys end up with her.
- Higashi no Eden: Saki has Oshugi (Betty) and Akira (Veronica).
- Gakuen Alice: Mikan has Ruka (The Prince) and Natsume (The Bad Boy).
- Shugo Chara: Amu has Tadase (the Prince) and Ikuto (the Bad Boy).
- Fruits Basket: Tohru has Yuki (the Prince) and Kyo (the Bad Boy, who gets some Prince traits as time passes). She chooses Kyo.
- Yuki himself has Tohru as the Betty and Motoko as the Veronica. Since Tohru chooses Kyo, he falls for... his Cheryl Blossom, Machi
- As for Kyo, Tohru is the Betty (again) and Kagura is the Veronica. Again, he loves Tohru.
- In a genderflipped example, Akito has Kureno as her Betty/Prince and Shigure as her Veronica/Bad Boy. She chooses Shigure, and in fact she always loved him, while Kureno falls for Tohru's friend Arisa.
- Cardcaptor Sakura: Sakura has Yukito (the Prince) and Syaoran (the Bad Boy. Who, by the time he actually falls for her, adquires many Prince traits).
- Kitchen Princess: Najika has Sora (the prince) and Daichi (the bad boy).
- Vampire Knight: Yuuki has Kaname (The Prince) and Zero (The Bad Boy). However, the roles could potentially be switched. Zero is her "safe, comfortable friend", while Kaname is the exotic one that she believes she literally can't have.
- Rosario to Vampire: Tsukune has Outer Moka (Betty) and Kurumu (Veronica). Complicating matters are other potential Veronicas or Cheryls: Mizore, Yukari and inner Moka. In the end, Outer Moka seemingly dies but ultimately manages to merge back with the real Moka, and Tsukune and Moka get together.
- In Peach Girl, Momo spent years with a crush on the chivalrous and polite Toji, until she finally gets him. They guy helping her out on the way is Kairi, a lecherous, school-skipping bad boy she discovers she now has feelings for. Throughout the series she bounces back and forth between them, until finally she ends up with Kairi.
- Prétear seems to set this up between Himeno, Sasame and Hayate, especially in the manga. The anime is more... complicated.
- Princess Tutu plays with this trope in a way that approaches Cyclical Trope levels. First, we have Fakir (the Tsundere Bad Boy) and Mytho (the Prince) for Ahiru. However , their roles are subverted in the second season with Fakir as the the Betty to the Raven Prince Mytho's Veronica. On the other hand, while Ahiru seems The Betty to Rue's Veronica... Rue's certainly The Betty to Princess Tutu's Veronica for Mytho. And if we bring Princess Kraehe in this, this starts all over again. Plus, Autor could be the Betty for Rue while Mytho is The Veronica.
- An odd instance of this happens in Sakende Yaruze, where the Betty is a disillusioned, embittered 35 year old man and the Veronica is a younger male Vamp.
- The Hellsing anime has a twisted, 'sort of' affection triangle between Alucard, Integra Hellsing, and Seras Victoria that creates an animosity between the women. While Seras looks as the Veronica (being the one with sultry clothes and the newest addition to the Hellsing group) to Integra's Betty (long-standing bond with Alucard and with more tomboyish traits), personality and role wise could be switched: Integra's the Rich Veronica that has Alucard's affection while Reliable Betty Seras longs for it. Studio Gonzo claims that in the Anime, Alucard actually turned Seras because her eyes reminded him to Integra during her youth, but he was mistaken. The manga averts this situation with an emphasis on a platonic bond between Alucard and Seras, but curiously adding Les Yay subtext between Seras and Integra, and having Pip Bernadotte as Seras' Love Interest. However, Walter can be debatably considered an unlucky Betty to Alucard's Veronica to Integra's Archie. It was implied that was one of the many things that made Walter hate the vampire... and then pull a Face Heel Turn..
- In Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, there are two different triangles that could be seen as this. The easier one is between Rena and Mion, with Rena as Betty and Mion as Veronica. Earlier, the twins Mion and Shion are set up as another one of these, but it's a little harder there to say who'd be Betty and who'd be Veronica. The best assumption would be Mion as Betty and Shion, who is introduced as a bit of an outsider and certainly has a bit more danger to her, as Veronica.
- Gender-flipped in Kimi wa Petto. Sumire, the tall, smart and successful businesswoman, made a rule that she would only date her equal. One day, she finds a down-on-his-luck dancer sleeping in a box and... takes him on as a pet. She names him Momo and they form a relaxed, if unusual relationship. Soon after this, Hasumi (Betty), her tall, dark and intelligent sempai from university appears. He's everything she's been hoping for, but when they start going out, she feels that she has to present her best side at all times, instead of the unconditional, doglike affection offered by Momo (Veronica). The dramatic tension between "I can be myself around him" and "He's everything I ever wanted" drives the plot.
- In Tenshi ni Narumon Noelle is Betty and Natsumi is Veronica for Yuusuke. Also, Muse is Betty and Silky is Veronica for Eros
- Maison Ikkoku has a male version where Kyoko has to choose between the awkward, indecisive, but fundamentally kind-hearted Godai (Betty) and the suave, flashy Mitaka (Veronica). Godai himself encounters an interesting variation on this trope: although he has romantic options that play the Betty and Veronica options straight (his good-natured fellow student Kozue and his outspoken, sexually aggressive pupil Ibuki respectively), his true romantic interest, Kyoko, is a blend of the two types, as she is both a responsible, supportive, somewhat traditional young lady AND an independently minded woman with a temper who is unafraid to criticize Godai or defy her parents when necessary.
- Kimi ni Todoke has two that overlaps, Sawako is Betty and Kurumi is Veronica for Kazehaya, who is the Betty and Kento is Veronica for Sawako. Color inverted since Sawako and Kazehaya are dark-haired.
- Voltron genderflips and downplays this. Evil Prince Lotor (Veronica) is in love with Princess Allura, whereas Boy Scout Keith (Betty) is her Implied Love Interest... but Allura is all but stated to love only Keith AND both men's disagreements are rarely if ever over Allura. Some fans prefer to pair up Allura with the rebellious Lance (prospect Cheryl Blossom), but at most he is her Hopeless Suitor.
- Male example in Rose of Versailles: Andre is Betty and Fersen is Veronica. But Oscar realizes that her feelings for Fersen were just infatuation and that she truly loves Andre. And every woman in the kingdom has a crush on Fersen. And Fersen does not return Oscar's love... he's in love with Marie Antoinette.
- Magic Knight Rayearth has a few possible instances of this trope, both male and female. Hikaru likes both Eagle Vision (Betty) and Lantis (Veronica). Umi is loved by Ascot (Betty), but she likes Clef as well (Veronica). And both Emeraude (Betty) and Alcyone (Veronica) are in love with Zagato- but he only loves Emeraude and dislikes Alcyone very much.
- Ayashi no Ceres includes a male example: Yuuhi, the Badass Normal, is Betty, while Touya is Veronica, what with his dark and Mysterious Past.
- Wandering Son had this early on, between siblings. It was between a Bratty Teenage Daughter, her gentle younger sister (a trans girl), and the boy who the former was attracted to who had accidentally fallen for her sister, whose feelings for the boy weren't too clear. Ultimately the boy and the Bratty Teenage Daughter get and stay together, while the sister gets in a Secret Relationship with a well-known model.
- Ai Yori Aoshi could have had this, with Kaoru between the sweet, innocent Yamato Nadeshiko Aoi (Betty), and the wilder, worldly Blithe Spirit Tina (Veronica). This would have also reversed the usual color coding, as the former is brunette (sorta), while the latter is blond. However, the Veronica never really had a chance, in this case.[1]
- Kashimashi: Girl Meets Girl has a Les Yay variation. Tomari is a tomboyish Tsundere, while Yasuna is a Yamato Nadeshiko.
- In Romeo X Juliet, Hermione is Betty while Juliet is Veronica.
- Winry Rockbell and Rose Thomas in the 2003 anime version of Fullmetal Alchemist play this to Edward Elric. Though both of them fail in the end.
- Mawaru Penguindrum's Kanba Takakura is kind of an an Archie, with his little sister Himari as the Betty and Masako Natsume as the Veronica.
- Alternatively, Kanba can be seen as the Betty to Himari's Archie and Sanetoshi Watase's Veronica.
- Aaaaand later Shouma kinda becomes the Betty to the Face Heel Turned Kanba's Veronica. But then it's shown that Shouma only loves Ringo, and Kanba still loves Himari. And both are Ret Goned for their girls' sakes.
- Alternatively, Kanba can be seen as the Betty to Himari's Archie and Sanetoshi Watase's Veronica.
- GE - Good Ending has Shou and Yuki for Seiji, the protagonist. One is bubbly, the other one is more serious. One comes from a mid-class family background, the other one from a high class family. Heck, one is blond, one is black-haired.
- In Ratman, Shuto's female admirers are both a mix of Betty and Veronica traits while still in stark contrast to one another. On one hand is Mirea Mizushima, his exotically gorgeous Yamato Nadeshiko classmate whom he's known for some time, however her family are the ones who turned him into the Anti-Villain Protagonist, Ratman. On the other hand is Rio Kizaki, who better fits the "cute and spunky" type, but is also the wealthy and tomboyish daughter of the Hero Association's president, and the two of them bond over their shared dream of being heroes.
- Nana to Kaoru tries its best to steer clear of this. Kaoru is the Archie, but A) Tachi, the supposed Betty, is the Secret Keeper of Nana & Kaoru's 'breathers' and acts more like a little sister, continually trying to push them together; B) Kaoru has ZERO interest in Tachi; C) the titular couple are afflicted with oblivious to each other's love on a Charlton-Heston-epic scale and D) the whole thing is skewed by the fact both get tied up by him.
- In Tenchi Muyo!, Ayeka is clearly the Betty (traditional, reserved) to Ryoko's Veronica (sultry, unreserved).
- Gantz has calm, reserved normal Tae as Betty to Reika's Veronica, which it averts by Reika's cloning of Kei.
- Beelzebub has Aoi and Hilda, but their places on the scale are debatable and Oga simply seems to not care for them that way.
- Highschool of the Dead has childhood friend Rei (Betty) vs. Saeko (Veronica)
- Taishou Yakyuu Musume: Saburou (Betty) and Takahara (Veronica), for Koume. Not only Saburou and Koume are arranged to marry but she actually likes him, while she's not that fond of Takahara.
- Also, one can easily see Tomoe (Veronica) and Akiko (Betty) as this for Koume.
References[]
- ↑ Note that Tina is still "innocent" in one way (ie, still a virgin).