Why Love Triangles Are Popular in Media
I don’t know about you, but I’ve noticed for many years the trend that is love triangles. Back in 2010 when I was writing my first novel Dance with the Devil (published in 2011), I finally understood why people—both writers and readers—enjoy these romantic triangles. Of course, these romantic triangles are also adored in all types of media, including TV shows, movies, comic books, and graphic novels, to name a few, and they can be found anywhere, even outside of romance novels. Yep, you could be reading a fantasy or a mystery and still get a romantic triangle. But why do they make us so excited? What is it about them that makes us keep reading or watching? I think I’ve figured it out, and here’s my opinion on the matter:
They Keep Us in Suspense
This is obvious. We enjoy watching or reading about love triangles because they keep us in suspense. We are constantly 
wondering who the main character will choose. Think back to Twilight by Stephenie Meyer; people went crazy over those books because there was a romantic triangle involved and they wanted to know who Bella, the main character, would eventually choose. Some people sided with Edward, the vampire, and others with Jacob, the werewolf. At the end of the day, it wasn’t that the male characters were not completely human that drove readers crazy (although forbidden love does play a small role here), it was the fact that Bella was conflicted, and reaching that final decision gave readers a thrill.
Other examples of romantic triangles are:
Stephen, Elena, and Damon—The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Edmund, Fanny, and Henry—Mansfield Park by Jane Austen (Book)
Angel, Buffy, and Spike—Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)
Jace, Clary, and Simon—The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare (Books)
Sawyer, Kate, and Jack—Lost (TV)
Dimitri, Rose, and Adrian—Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead (Books)
Dominic, April, and Leo—Chasing Life (TV)
Mark, Bridget, and Daniel—Bridget Jones’s Diary (Movie)
Zero, Yuki, and Kaname—Vampire Knight (Magna and Anime)
Lucifer, Chloe, and Dan—Lucifer (TV)
Gabriel, Kaylie, and Michael—Dance with the Devil by yours truly (Book)
Captain Rafe, Evelyn, and Captain Danny—Pearl Harbor (Movie)
Francis, Mary, and Louis—Reign (TV)
They Prevent Us from Getting Bored of a Love Interest
Romantic triangles are a way to add spice into a romantic story that is more than just romance. Like I said above, romantic triangles are about the thrill, making them both romantic and suspenseful. This prevents a two-sided love story from getting stale really fast. As an author, I’ve had this realization while writing Dance with the Devil; when you have two characters in love without big obstacles in their way, readers lose interest. I mean, wouldn’t you be bored if you were reading a story and found out that the main character won his or her love interest right from the start? I would.
On the other hand, with love triangles, when the main character falls in love with another character, rather than losing interest in their story, we get a third character to step in, becoming a sort of obstacle. One of the two love interests prevents the main character from getting his or her way, and that struggle for happiness, for discovery, is what stops readers and viewers from getting sick of the story.
There’s Nothing Wrong with A Simple Two-Sided Love Story, Though
Still, just because love triangles are popular doesn’t mean that two-sided love stories don’t make great entertainment. In fact, a major way two-sided love stories are also just as popular is the fact that these characters always have obstacles stopping them from being together, and sometimes they just don’t know whether the other person feels the same about them too, making for a great thrill ride for us readers and viewers.
Haven’t read Dance with the Devil yet? Here’s a free preview for you! You can read the first few chapters right here:
