Is it mandatory to have a love story in order for your work to be interesting for the viewers?

[Darth_Biomech]

What are your opinions? It's very hard to judge for me since 90% of everything I've ever consumed had romance in it (Or at least some gratuitous shiptease), and very few didn't mash together the main characters of different genders at the end, and those were predominantly cases where either the plot or the setting made shoehorning in a love subplot almost impossible (A movie about the horrors of war, for example, or a movie that just don't have both female and male leads in it).
So for the very least, I can be certain that the presence of the love story doesn't affect the quality of the plot since both great and horrible examples are in abundance... But the audience's engagement, what about that?

It all makes me think that maybe the work is doomed to fail if it doesn't have a romance subplot in it, or else why there's so few of those around? This concerns me about the competitiveness of my own story.

[Random_Guy]

Absolutely not. If you can write interesting, compelling characters then obviously you don't need romance.

This is coming from an aromantic, so maybe take it with a grain of salt, but I personally am getting tired of stories having romance just for the sake of having romance.

If it's not a part of the plot, or a part of the world-building, then it doesn't matter.

[joannekwan]

Do Tower of God, Noblesse, God of High School, and FreakAngels have love stories it them? I dunno I haven't read any of them, but looking at their wikis it doesn't seem so. They've been so successful their own anime adaptations will air soon.

[Jenny-Toons]

Two words: Solo Leveling.

It's so popular with a lot of people, and there isn't a hint of a romantic sub-plot.

There are relationships, yeah, but just having relationships in a story doesn't make it romantic. The sole focus on Solo Leveling is its action, its story-telling and it's art. So yeah -- it's not about the romance. It's about the way you're able to convey your story to others in a cool way.

[DokiDokiTsuna]

This may be a little harsh, but...I don't think that's a rational fear. ._.

Love stories are really ubiquitous; falling in love is one of the few experiences that 90% of the human population is able to relate to and understand. And y'know, 'sex sells' and all that.

But the fact that romance is so ubiquitous means it's also pretty easy to leave out. People think of it as a given; that's why shipping is such a huge deal in fandom communities. When romance isn't explicitly there, fans don't complain or stop reading- they simply put it there themselves. ^^;

If your characters are interesting enough and have good chemistry, people will like them whether or not they kiss at the end, and if they really, really want them to get together it's socially acceptable now to just headcanon it. The burden isn't yours to bear at all.

Besides, you're forgetting about other tried-and-true audience attractors, like violence (I'm in that camp, tbh~) and of course, pure unfettered smut. Not everyone is only engaged by a love story.

[An_Alias]

Honestly I groan every time I have to read or watch romantic scenes. I find them predictable and uninteresting, but that's my lizard brain opinion. If there's a plot worth experiencing then it should be able to stand on it's own without relying on a romance to hold it together or widen it's demographic. That being said I have no problem with romance-centric things existing, I just don't like them.

[Iris-Grimoire]

Nope, however, it's a nice goal to get to a place where your characters are as interesting as people headcanon ships as. Relationships can happen, but it's far easier to bungle a good story with forced romance than naturally going 'huh, I made these characters have good chemistry just by normal plot interaction, maybe it could work' and going from there, regardless of actually putting them in a deeper relationship or just keeping it to plausible if the circumstances were different.

[Darth_Biomech]

This may be a little harsh, but...I don't think that's a rational fear. ._.

It probably isnt. But so many Hollywood films follow the formula that I've been wondering if this is a some sort of a rule of writing scripts or something.

[ben]

It’s an easy B plot that can tie in pretty well to the A plot and I’m pretty sure it’s just carryover from four quadrant marketing.

[indagold]

A lot of comics I read have became big and didn't have intense love arcs until like 4-10 years in so shrugs

[Tulmut]

you don't need to have one, but you should at some point address the topic of love for your characters even if nothing comes of it.

like say you're character is some kind of gollem and doesn't feel love, that scenario won't create romantic tension, but it has a clear track record of a comedic value.

Something like that.

[SleepingPoppy]

But so many Hollywood films follow the formula that I've been wondering if this is a some sort of a rule of writing scripts or something.

It's a rule in the sense that Hollywood is, in fact, super formulaic. Doesn't mean something has to be in that formula to work, just that they're not good at trying different stuff, so we'll rarely find out. XD

[MK_Wizard]

No and I love romance. Not every story needs to have a romantic theme or romantic undertones to be interesting though when a story goes on long enough, the appearance of a romantic couple may happen sooner or later. However, it isn't mandatory.

[dawgofdawgness]

My initial thought was “no, of course not”, but actually after giving it some thought, I can see how having romantic relationships can boost your story into the mainstream, especially the teen-young adult audience. I’m not saying your story can’t be popular if it doesn’t have a romance subplot, but that a great majority of really popular narratives have some kind of mini (or prominent) love story in them.

[rajillustration]

Nothing is mandatory for a story to have. In fact, there's a lot of stories that really should not have had romance, in my opinion, (like the hunger games, for instance, was originally written without romance in it, and it kind of shows)

It does help bring in some people that would not have come to your work otherwise. But personally, I think engaging romance is really hard to write, and I would even say it's the hardest genre to write well. I'm very picky about my romances, mind you, but if you're just shoving it in there to satisfy a quota, it's gonna fall flat.

[Lillumae]

Personally, I shy away from anything in the romance genre. A lot of times, romance tries to take center stage and the world around the two main characters seems to either fall apart or be nothing more than a backdrop.

It can be done well, though, but I think for that to happen, you need to put yourself in the mind of the character and listen to their voices, their thoughts, and let them guide you, rather than trying to force an end point.

The same holds true, whether romance is a secondary or main element; simply, let the story write itself.

[Random_Guy]

Small note here:

A good number of those popular stories are also criticized, sometimes heavily, for their useless, pointless romantic subplots.

[arydthefoxeus]

Well, it can help, but then that also depends on whether it's even good. There are plenty of stories with irrelevant romance sub-plots serving to annoy rather than give any sort of bonus. Sometimes ppl demand for some romance, sometimes they wish it never even existed once the romance has been added; it depends on the story, and just how well two or more characters fit together. Some will also turn away from a story upon instant when they realise it must lack romance, though they can't be generalised as the majority.

And also, there are plenty of stories out there which are popular and lack any sort of romantic plot, like the ones the users above have stated. So no, it's most certainly not mandatory.

Think of it as the fries to a burger; whether the fries are there or not, people will still eat the burger as long as the burger seems or is tasty to them. Of course, some want the fries, but there are those who won't even bother eating them, and consider it more of a waste. Some will just eat them regardless, not because they want it, but just because. Now, take your story as the burger, if it's interesting (tasty), then it's interesting, regardless of the lack of fries (romance), and people will still read it (eat it).

That might not be a good comparison, but oh well, this is what I think.

[AVXP]

It all makes me think that maybe the work is doomed to fail if it doesn't have a romance subplot in it, or else why there's so few of those around?

I think you can do whatever you want as long as it's done well.

That seems simple enough.

But I also ask
What percentage of random people, around you are NOT into or affected by romantic relationships?
Also, it's wrong to say it's so prevalent in movies and TV. Actually, it's not by percentage.
Sure, the MAIN characters have an angle, but notice how many of the extras don't.
Or, how often if extras (basically NPCs) are in a relationship, it's NEVER shown and has no bearing on their lives, where the main character(s) get to be all-but-consumed and sometimes purely driven by their romantic desires.

And even when relationships are shown, they're perfect. Just couples holding hands and well, perfect for each other. Perfect pairs. Nerd and the nerd, Geek and the geek, jock and the cheerleader, etc...
Boy, look, matching tattoos and greasy haircuts.

That's when two become one as a symbol.
I'd also add, it's just as weird to have situations where romance should blossom and it doesn't for any reason that's listed as author's reasons.

[carloswebcomic]

This is something you should be asking readers, not creators.

Creators will rationalise all sorts of opinions, but at the end if the day, it whether readers want it or not that matters.