This Index Broke Up

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This is an index for tropes involving break-ups and divorces.

A sub-category of Love Tropes and Friendship Tropes. Compare The Ex Index (some tropes are common to both as well). Contrast Reconciliation Tropes.

Not to be confused with tropes involving literal breaking.

Tropes

• Accidental Declaration of Love: Because there is nothing that can break a good thing going when feelings get in the way.
• Better as Friends: Two people who have dated for a while realize that they are better as friends.
• Bond Breaker: A member of a group of True Companions leaves the group.
• Break His Heart to Save Him: A character breaks up with another for their own safety.
• Breaking the Fellowship: A posse of people is split up, usually as a way of weakening them.
• Break-Up Bonfire: After breaking up with someone, a character burns everything that reminds them of that person.
• Breakup Breakout: A performer achieves success after splitting off from a duo or entourage.
• Break Up Demand: Someone else orders a breakup between two characters.
• Break-Up/Make-Up Scenario: Two characters break up before eventually getting back together.
• Break-Up Song: A song about ending a relationship.
• Celebrity Break-Up Song: A break-up song written by a celebrity about another celebrity.
• "Dear John" Letter: A break-up in writing.
• Defenestrate and Berate: After breaking up with someone, a character throws all that person's belongings out a second-floor or higher window.
• Differing Priorities Breakup: A breakup resulting from each person wanting things that will make the other unhappy.
• Dinner and a Breakup: A breakup in a public setting, like a restaurant, in an attempt to soften the blow to the person about to be broken up with.
• Disowned Parent: A child breaks up with their parent.
• Disowned Sibling: One sibling cuts ties with another.
• Downtime Downgrade: Two characters who get together in a film have broken up in the sequel.
• Dumped via Text Message: A character gets dumped spontaneously over text.
• Dump Them All: A character decides to break up with or reject all of their romantic suitors.
• Embarrassingly Public Breakup: Breakups in front of others are extra humiliating.
• Evil Former Friend: Best friends turned deadly enemies.
• The Ex's New Jerkass: When a character's ex's new S/O is a Jerkass to them and possibly others.
• Fair-Weather Ex: A character wants to get back with their ex because it's convenient for them.
• False Soulmate: Realizing this person isn't 'the one' after all usually involves breaking up.
• The First Cut Is the Deepest: A character has emotional issues about romance following their first break-up.
• Foot-Dragging Divorcee: When one spouse refuses to break up.
• Forever Fling: A short-lived, youthful, passionate romance is the yardstick by which all the couple's subsequent romances are measured and fail.
• Grief-Induced Split: A couple breaks up after a tragedy.
• Heartbreak and Ice Cream: Characters eat ice cream following a break up.
• Heartbroken Badass: This can be due to a break-up.
• I Have No Son!: When a parent cuts ties with their child.
• Intentional Heartbreaker: Dating someone with the intent to break up with them.
• It's Not You, It's Me: Lack of self-worth causes a character to end a relationship.
• It's Not You, It's My Enemies: The Hero breaks up with their Love Interest on the grounds that they won't be safe with them.
• Kids Play Match Breaker: The children’s single parent starts dating again, and the kid(s) manipulate things to get them to break up.
• Leaving You to Find Myself: A character breaks up with another as a result of Character Development.
• Let's Just Be Friends: They break up, but they decide they'll be friends because they still care about each other.
• Lost Love Montage: A montage which plays after a break-up.
• Love Cannot Overcome: A Love Interest breaks up with The Hero because they can't deal with the thrills and dangers of their partner's lifestyle.
• Love Will Lead You Back: After being dumped, a character believes their lover will return to them.
• Magical Divorce: A marriage is terminated through supernatural means.
• Make Up or Break Up: A potential break-up situation when a character does something their partner doesn't approve of.
• The Masquerade Will Kill Your Dating Life: A character's Secret Identity causes issues with their dating life, possibly leading to a break-up.
• Matchmaker Failure: The Matchmaker tries to set two people up with each other, only for it to end in disaster.
• Mess of Woe: An intense breakup causes you to neglect cleaning for several weeks.
• Minor Flaw, Major Breakup: A character breaks up with their partner over a minor flaw.
• Mistaken for Cheating: Characters break up due to one of them being falsely accused of cheating.
• The Mourning After: Refusing to love again due to still being hung up on a former lover.
• Not Good with Rejection: A character doesn't respond well to a break-up.
• Offscreen Breakup: They broke up, but it never happened on-screen.
• On the Rebound: Entering a relationship very quickly after breaking up.
• The One That Got Away: A character has bittersweet memories of their ex.
• Operation: Jealousy: After a break up, a character may try dating other people to make their ex jealous.
• Please Dump Me: A character acts obnoxious in order to get their partner to break up with them.
• Plot-Mandated Friendship Failure: Good friends have a falling out after hitting rock bottom.
• Proxy Breakup: Alice wants to break-up with Bob, so she has Cindy do it for her. Hijinks Ensue.
• Psycho Ex-Girlfriend: A break-up caused this character to snap and turn evil.
• Rebound Best Friend: Friends break up and then find replacement best friends.
• Rejected Marriage Proposal: A couple may break up if one rejects the other's proposal.
• Relationship Revolving Door: A couple keeps breaking up and then getting back together.
• Relationship Sabotage: If successful, it will lead to a break-up.
• Reneged "Last Time" Tryst: Two characters have sex and say this must be the last time. It's not.
• Replacement Goldfish: A character is replaced with another. Can include a character who has recently broken up starts a relationship with someone who looks/acts suspiciously similar to their ex.
• Second-Act Breakup: The Official Couple temporarily breaks up in the middle of the story.
• Spurned into Suicide: Getting dumped causes a character to kill themselves.
• Staying Together for the Kids: This couple broke up...but they stay together in some capacity because of their kids.
• Stepping Stone Spouse: A partner sacrifices for their spouse only to be left behind when fortunes increase.
• Struggling Single Mother: A financially-dependent mother is left to raise her child(ren) alone after breaking up with the father of her child.
• Take Back Your Gift: A character returns a gift when their relationship ends.
• Taking the Kids: When a married couple parts way, one takes the children away with them.
• Threatening to Cut Ties: When one half of a couple threatens to divorce/break up with the other half in an attempt to intimidate them.
• Toilet Seat Divorce: When a couple breaks up for silly reasons.
• Too Much Alike: When applied to romantic relationships (or, less commonly, friendships). Two people break apart because they're too similar to each other; their shared traits clash and/or they have the same traits they don't like in themselves.
• Turned Off by the Dumbass: A character gets dumped for being an idiot.
• Turned Off by the Jerkass: A character gets dumped for being a jerk.
• We Used to Be Friends: Former friends went their separate ways.
• Why Would Anyone Take Him Back?: A couple that breaks up due to the actions of one partner and then getting back together is seen as being implausible.
• You're Not My Father: When an offspring disowns their parent.