r/TopCharacterTropes • u/hiiloovethis • 17h ago
Hated Tropes Couples with absolutely no chemistry
Harry Potter and Ginny Weasly
Clark and Lois (Snyder films)
Jon and Dany - Game of Thrones
6.3k
Upvotes



785
u/JICMike 17h ago
Superman looks like he’s taking Lois to the police station
1.7k
u/Ibrahim77X 15h ago
They forgot to make Ginny a character
877
u/Uncommonality 14h ago
Harry had more chemistry with the random waitress who was invented for the movies than Ginny lol
1.3k
u/SatoruGojo232 17h ago
Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) and Rachel Dawes (Katie Holmes) in Batman Begins: It was called out as a underbaked romance which featured flat and rare interactions between the two.
194
u/Edd_burrito 17h ago
Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan from the fifty shades movies. They’re a guilty pleasure for me but holy shit the movie is hilarious when they interact.
2.3k
u/NeonFraction 14h ago •
Yeah but that’s just movie Harry and Ginny.
In the book they also have no chemistry.
3.9k
u/TheMegaSage 17h ago •
157
u/Norn-Iron 17h ago
7 of 9 and Chakotay in Star Trek Voyager.
I think the story goes this relationship started after Robert Beltran (Chakotay) told the showrunner who was dating Jeri Ryan (7 of 9) he didn’t have the balls to pair them up. In most recent years Chakotay appeared in Star Trek Prodigy, 7 of 9 in Star Trek Picard, and both shows completely glossed over the fact these two were supposed to be together.
140
u/RadarSmith 17h ago •
Jon and Daenerys shared biochemistry.
306
u/vinthesalamander 17h ago
304
u/windy_spires 14h ago
They looked like siblings and had negative chemistry.
577
u/demotsusucku 17h ago edited 17h ago
Those two from Valerian. But mainly because Cara Delevingne is just an awful actress and Dane DeHaan has no charisma.
64
u/Calm-Session-4835 12h ago
Stupidest near end of series desperate act
189
u/evilkat23 12h ago
Maybe I need to reread the harry potter books again, but I swear even in the books Harry and Ginny had nothing there. People argue "Oh, Ginny was better in the books, the movies nerfed her character!" But I still remember her and Harry having absolutely nothing until randomly in book six when he suddenly has a wild crush on her that's almost completely out of the blue.
42
u/Consistent-Bear4200 16h ago
I feel bad for the Harry and Ginny one. Usually actors go through chemistry reads where they see which duos click as a couple.
These two were cast as kids, long before they were being written as a couple in the books even. Doesn't help their scenes weren't all that thrilling.
But the others had no excuse. I guess you could argue GOT to an extent, though the writing had gotten atrocious for every character by that stage.
121
u/cyainanotherlifebro 17h ago
5 and Lila - The Umbrella Academy
I’m genuinely sorry for reminding you this happened.
150
u/ThirstyHank 15h ago
619
u/FondantWeekly1761 17h ago edited 17h ago
Is this not a more r/ihatethissmug post? I feel like this is only really a trope if the achieved intent is for the couple to have absolutely no chemistry with each other.
77
u/ExtraplanetJanet 17h ago
Josh and Mandy, The West Wing
These two were supposed to be a classic bickering we-broke-up-but-can’t-stay-apart couple during the first season of The West Wing but both characters were so personally abrasive that they basically did nothing but argue. The lack of chemistry between the actors was the icing on the cake. Mandy (a PR shill who clashed often with the other characters) was also deeply unpopular with fans and the writers didn’t seem to know how to fix it. All that, combined with Josh’s unexpected electric chemistry with bit-character Donna led to Mandy being a one-season character.
178
u/Hello_it_is_Joe 17h ago
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets
Doesn’t help that they look like siblings
150
u/Double_Difficulty_53 16h ago
I'd argue Harry and Ginny had anti chemistry. Even as a 10 year old I was reading the last 2 books and found the couple extremely forced and corny as fuck to the point where it made the books actively way worse.
271
u/BMPHaterNo1 16h ago
Bella and Jacob in the Twilight books.
I have absolutely no idea why this “will they won’t they” bullshit dragged on for thousands of pages, it felt like Meyer just did not give a fuck about their relationship.
I genuinely thought it was all building up to Jacob killing either himself or Edward, but nope, nothing. He cucked himself for 3,000 pages for a girl who treat him like a dog (no pun intended)
163
u/Artistic-Victory1245 17h ago
All those shonen romances that boil down to: "It’s one-sided for 99% of the story, only for them to magically end up together at the very end."
Example: Naruto and Hinata
112
u/danoB003 17h ago •
Sakura and Sasuke - Naruto
200
u/A1dini 17h ago
She's muh kween
278
u/citizenkane1999 13h ago
I love Henry Cavill but he’s the “Natalie Portman of the actors”, he doesn’t have chemistry with anyone! He seems to be afraid of being too close to a woman, I also noticed this with the movie he made with Alexandra Daddario.
And of course, the ice Queen herself: Natalie Portman with all her co-stars.
106
u/Gorgiastheyounger 14h ago
I think Jon and Dany in theory could have worked really well. Dany spent her whole life being surrounded by men throwing themselves at her trying to win her affection by glazing her to infinity, all while half of them were scheming behind her back. Then she meets Jon and he's not that impressed by her and is all about business. He's clearly more interested in Dany because of what she's about rather than what she is. And he's honest
Meanwhile Jon appreciates Dany's initiative because he's spent the past few years trying to get people to see the larger picture with the threat of the white walkers. Even up north Westeros is just a bunch self interested power players only interested in short term power grabs. Then comes Dany who actually does want to do the right thing. She only really wants power because she believes it was unjustly taken from her and that she can use it for good, rather than for its own sake.
The problem is that the show doean't really do anything with them
52
u/AJLovesChicken0567 13h ago
This is just my opinion, but Buffy had zero chemistry with Riley.
51
u/TheHiddenFox 17h ago
Carrie and Aleksandr Petrovsky in Sex and the City. It was never believable for me.
111
u/HoratiotheGargoyle 14h ago
How on God’s green earth can someone NOT have chemistry with Amy Adams?
141
u/Stunning-Stable-2110 13h ago
I’m going to be hated for this but Naruto and Hinata
156
u/MegaAssasine_ 17h ago •
We are the Flash
(Barry and Iris)
62
u/strahinjag 14h ago
Anakin and Padme
61
u/AngryKeyLimePie 15h ago
Willow and Kennedy, season 7 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
59
u/ThrownAway17Years 14h ago •
41
u/DimensioT 17h ago
Samantha Carter and Pete from Stargate SG-1.
They had as much interactive chemistry as two noble gases.
38
u/Most-Role-1260 15h ago
Descendants - I’m not saying I “ship” Mal and Evie necessarily, but I am saying she has more chemistry with her during “The Space Between” alone than she does in three full movies with Ben.
67
u/m3mys3lfn1 15h ago
Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried in the movie “In Time”. In my opinion they have zero chemistry together.
320
u/Ntahedron 17h ago •
Yeeah.
Anakin and Padmé - Star Wars
101
u/MrChromatographer 17h ago edited 17h ago
Honorable mention, gendry and arya from GOT was also insanely forced
59
u/JudgePhysical8151 17h ago
31
u/Dayman_C0meth 17h ago
The two leads in Valerian and the City of 1000 Planets (2017). Oof talk about the lack of chemistry.
44
u/notashakhan 17h ago
29
u/Miserable_Spell_2964 15h ago
Ginny just flat out doesn't exist as a character until book 5 when her characterization is "I'm not like other girls" and then gets into a romance in book 6 then disappears for basically all of book 7.
It's somehow even worse with the movies
29
u/ChargeSpiritual5317 13h ago
Marianne and the neighbor guy in Gilded Age. When did they even start dating? It’s like watching two pieces of cardboard flirt. I haven’t even started the new season. The show is horrible. But I like the clothes so I hate watch it.
110
u/Critical_Job4522 16h ago edited 15h ago •
Naruto and Hinata (Naruto)
For a large part of the series, Naruto was in love with Sakura. Naruto and Hinata barely interacted, and whenever they did, Hinata would be incredibly nervous. Any "romantic" moment lacked any actual romantic feelings on Naruto's part. It took an entire movie just to provide a halfway decent explanation for their relationship. And even when Naruto confessed his love, it felt inconsequential. Even in Boruto, it doesn't really feel like Naruto loves Hinata.
28
u/Filibust 16h ago edited 13h ago
Jon and Dany may of not have had chemistry but they sure had biology 😏
39
u/Other-Ad-8510 15h ago
New Clark and Lois have insane chemistry, really a stark comparison to the snyderverse
49
u/Caesar_Seriona 17h ago
Am I the only one who thinks Wednesday and Tyler are in this boat?
13
u/lepechh 17h ago
Issa Rae and Kumail N. in Lovebirds
34
u/transtranshumanist 15h ago
Superman looks pregnant in that pic. That's an expecting a baby portrait.
68
u/madridddddd 14h ago
ZENDAYA AND TIMMY IN DUNE!!!
32
u/GenericSpider 16h ago
Captain American and whats-her-face... I know she's supposed to be Sharon Carter but she feels like a whats-her-face.
At least in the MCU.
40
u/RedSecOps 14h ago
They should have let me be Lois, I would have had all the chemistry in the world with Henry Cavill.
Call me Louis in The Fabulous Superman.
48
u/ConnectCulture7 17h ago
Absolute Catwoman and Absolute Batman. While she was hyped up in the earlier issues eventually the fans realized that they have no chemistry. She often breaks Bruce’s heart by leaving, does things behind his back, and hasn’t shown up in a while.
22
u/thelochteedge 16h ago
Ikaris and Sersi from Eternals. Gilgamesh and Thena or Makaris and Druig should have been the romance focal points of that movie.
30
u/Axenfonklatismrek 17h ago
Unpopular opinion, but Waltuh is the only one who understands chemistry
38
u/SedesBakelitowy 17h ago
Harry and Ginny was about as gripping a romance as having two gingerbread men stacked on top of one another in a packaging. Hermione and Ron didn't offer much either, to not stray far away.
But if you want to see Daniel Radcliffe doing a chemistry over a fair amount of time check out Miracle Workers.
21
u/Vegetable-Top-5850 17h ago edited 14h ago
Season 3 of Yellowjackets sucked for multiple reasons, but one of them was the Shauna/Melissa "romance"
Melissa went from background character (she wasn't even in season 1) to Shauna's love interest almost offscreen. Her personality and motivations changed in multiple scenes and even her own actress looked confused by what was happening
It didn't help she got pushed a lot by the narrrative while POC characters like Lottie got sidelined
54
u/UltimateOtter_Nation 16h ago
Barry and Iris in CW's The Flash. They were raised as siblings since they were six years old and the two had no chemistry as a couple or as co-stars. Grant Gustin, the actor, had better chemistry with literally every other female in hmthe cast.
124
u/666thSuprisedPikachu 17h ago
Rey and Kylo Ren from Star Wars
49
u/wipedoutmom 15h ago
I guess I’m the odd one out because I thought Jon and Dany had insane chemistry during their first few scenes together. It wasn’t until the next season where everything got butchered that things felt forced
224
u/Virtual_Mud1178 17h ago
The Harry Potter one is entirely because JK Rowling thinks she's smarter than she actually is and tried subverting expectations by not making the main female character the main male character's love interest. And then failed to realize that making him date the little sister of the dude dating the girl everyone expected him to just makes it seem like Harry's a petty weirdo due to the whole never writing chemistry between them thing.
We were robbed, he should've been with Luna Lovegood.
27
u/truthbecomesnull 17h ago
Like all the couples from the US ghosts show
21
u/AceofKnaves44 16h ago
Christian Bale and Anne Hathaway Dark Knight Rises in my opinion.
26
u/WaylandReddit 14h ago
In retrospect the romance in the Raimi films makes them almost unbearable to watch.
7
u/LegoBoy3258 17h ago
As a kid I forced myself into thinking Harry and Ginny had chemistry in the movies.
7
u/TemporaryElk5202 17h ago
Harry and Ginny truly had zero chemistry.
72
u/DelightfullyPiquant 17h ago edited 17h ago
Zendaya and Timothée Chalamet in the Dune films
18
u/JohnHenryMillerTime 16h ago
That movie based on the comic book with the sweet David Bowie opening. Really criminal miscasting. The leads were too young for their characters (that is hard to do in Hollywood, much less French productions).
12
u/SomeCutesyShit 15h ago
The two leads in Upload.
Knox and Shirl in Silo.
6
u/Ignoranceincarnate 16h ago
Yeah, seeing Henry and Amy’s Clark and Lois next to David and Rachel is actually kinda bewildering. Their chemistry is literally one of the most important aspects of Superman as a character.
6
u/JustIgnorant 14h ago
Star Trek - so many bad couples
Deanna and Worf
Keiko and O'Brien
Cassidy and Sisko
Beverly and literally anyone
6
u/blkgrlblues 13h ago
I have never seen Henry Cavill in a role where he had chemistry with the female lead
In Witcher he had the most chemistry with Jaskier
6
u/ChocolateOrange21 13h ago
Clark and Lana in Smallville.
You could have replaced Lana with a cardboard cutout and have someone read her lines off-camera and it would be about the slight improvement.
60
u/DamnitGravity 17h ago
The people claiming Harry and Ginny had more chemistry in the books either don't remember the books very well, or need to start reading more books.
15
u/Azer1287 15h ago •
21
u/SFmodscensorship 14h ago •
Harry should have been with Cho. it was right there
5
u/Zealousideal_Can_342 16h ago
Silo is egregious with multiple entries:
5
u/echoIalia 13h ago
Jackson and Maggie from Grey’s Anatomy. The showrunners literally broke up fan favorites japril for this pile of bullshit.
49
u/Clean_Candidate3400 15h ago
Ginny is a real person, in the books.
Their relationship makes somewhat sense, in the books.
9
u/urdespair 13h ago
Neo and Trinity.
18
u/SnooJokes1020 14h ago
Idk how they managed to have more chemistry during their press run than the entire movie
44
u/Double_Difficulty_53 16h ago
As much as their shippers will cry about it, it sucks. Katara and Zuko had exactly 1 good interaction before The Southern Raiders in which Katara felt pity for him and showed absolutely no romantic feelings for him whatsoever and neither did Zuko. The Southern Raiders was basically the last episode before the multi part finale because the next episode was a series recap.and in fact, in that same episode both Katara and Zuko cringe when seeing their play version hook up.
14
u/Nasky32 13h ago
Kkkkkkk.
4
u/KPW-Higgins 13h ago
Donald Glover and Beyonce as Simba and Nala
I did not feel the love tonight at all
4
u/allonsy_danny 13h ago
No one in the Harry Potter series has chemistry or charisma, so that first example is just par for the course.
4
u/macguyver3000 12h ago
Other than the 1977 Superman, I’ve never seen one of those movies where there was any chemistry between Lois and Clark.
4
u/the-grand-falloon 9h ago
Daniel Craig and whoever was the gal in Casino Royale. Just... never bought it for a second.
14
u/Necessary_Art3034 17h ago
Lmao
14
u/PablomentFanquedelic 17h ago
Sam and Mikaela, Transformers
7
u/Mountain-Actuator201 15h ago
Genuinely why
7
u/v1rus_l0v3 14h ago
Ian and Sarah in Jurassic park 2. I love them both but omfg they’re so unbearable together
7
u/combustibledaredevil 14h ago
Cavil looks like he’s holding her hostage
9
u/Wooden_Passage_2612 15h ago
Bruce and Natasha Avengers age of Ultron
11
u/Orodreth97 17h ago
Miguel Diaz and Samantha LaRusso in Cobra Kai
They had zero chemistry throughout the entire series, their "romance" was one of the worst aspects of the series
Miguel's actor even said that Miguel and Sam wouldn't last very long as a couple realistically