No Guy Wants an Amazon/Playing With

Basic Trope: No man wants to date a woman, no matter how attractive, who is stronger or better at fighting than he is.

• Straight: Bob doesn't pursue Alice romantically because she outclasses him in fighting ability.
• Exaggerated: Alice is a 6-foot, musclebound warrior and Bob is a skinny, weak nerd who doesn't even look in her direction.
• Justified: Bob knows that Alice is beautiful, but is intimidated by her strength and doesn't think he can pursue her.
• Inverted: Hot Amazon and/or Action Girlfriend.
  • Alice won't date any man that she can't beat in a fair fight.
• Subverted: Alice looks extremely fit, but it turns out she just lifts weights. In an actual fight, she has to get Bob to defend her and he falls for her afterward.
• Double Subverted: She was just pretending to be helpless to get Bob's attention.
• Parodied: Alice is beautiful, sweet, charming, and ladylike to a fault. However the minute Bob sees her use a Tai Chi move to fend off a mugger he treats her as if she has the plague.
• Deconstructed: While it starts out as the standard "guy ignores girl who can fight" situation that's sometimes Played for Laughs, the story focuses on Bob for a while. When Bob sees Alice in a particularly messy fight, it triggers a horrific flashback: Bob lies in a bloody heap on the ground as authorities restrain a violently angry woman. It's revealed that she was Bob's abusive ex-girlfriend Susan, who was sent to prison for nearly killing him after an argument escalated into a physical fight. Bob's attitude and previous actions towards Alice are seen in an increasingly depressing light as time goes on.
• Reconstructed: Alice works to maintain Bob's trust after finding out the truth, and he eventually moves past his issues.
• Zig Zagged: Bob's attraction to Alice waxes and wanes according to the day of the week - one day he's turned on by her ability to fight, the next he's attracted to her physically but thinks she should act more feminine, then he likes her personality but is turned off by the muscles...
• Averted: Alice has just as much chance of winning Bob's affections as anyone else.
  • Or Bob is a Celibate Hero and nobody has a chance with him.
• Enforced: "People might relate to an aggressive, athletic woman, but no-one will want to think of her as a romantic interest."
• Lampshaded: "Boys don't make passes at girls who can kick their a-"
• Invoked: Alice felt threatened by men as a teenager, and started working out as a way of scaring them off.
• Defied: Heir to the Dojo Alice has hordes of suitors lining up for the privilege of watching her take down challengers (none of them would stand a chance and they know it).
• Discussed: "So are you one of those wussy guys who's scared of a girl who can put you in a Full Nelson?"
• Conversed: "Poor Xena, you'd think more guys would be clamouring after a woman that hot"

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