Every trope we publish for M/M (Gay) Romance, ranked by demand-signal mentions counted over the 28 weeks to 2026-09-07. 20,241 trope mentions counted in the lane in that window. Pick one for the full readout.
Changing the genre and pressing Check demand reloads the trope list for that lane. 3,851 trope-and-lane readouts, last counted 2026-09-16.
| # | Trope | Mentions | Share of lane | Direction | Tagged titles |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Found Family | 1,486 | 7.34% | Share change under 15% | 345 |
| 2 | Slow Burn | 1,065 | 5.26% | Share up | 296 |
| 3 | Forced Proximity | 651 | 3.22% | Share up | 758 |
| 4 | Enemies to Lovers | 505 | 2.49% | Share change under 15% | 383 |
| 5 | Hurt/Comfort | 480 | 2.37% | Share down | 218 |
| 6 | Second Chance | 443 | 2.19% | Share up | 309 |
| 7 | Dark Romance (as trope) | 402 | 1.99% | Share up | 170 |
| 8 | Fated Mates | 300 | 1.48% | Share down | 215 |
| 9 | Paranormal Romance | 268 | 1.32% | Share change under 15% | 109 |
| 10 | Omegaverse | 247 | 1.22% | Share down | 1,007 |
| 11 | Friends to Lovers | 235 | 1.16% | Share down | 84 |
| 12 | M/M Romance | 195 | 0.96% | Share up | 4 |
| 13 | Opposites Attract | 194 | 0.96% | Share down | 122 |
| 14 | Ensemble Cast | 177 | 0.87% | Share up | — |
| 15 | Banter | 172 | 0.85% | Share up | 7,977 |
| 16 | Grumpy Sunshine | 167 | 0.83% | Share down | 227 |
| 17 | Trauma Recovery | 154 | 0.76% | Share change under 15% | 17 |
| 18 | Sports Romance | 147 | 0.73% | Share down | 91 |
| 19 | Redemption Arc | 134 | 0.66% | Share up | 47 |
| 20 | Protective Hero | 132 | 0.65% | Share change under 15% | 187 |
| 21 | Mafia Romance | 125 | 0.62% | Share down | 59 |
| 22 | Character Growth | 124 | 0.61% | Share change under 15% | 9 |
| 23 | Forbidden Romance | 115 | 0.57% | Share down | 338 |
| 24 | Age Gap | 113 | 0.56% | Share up | — |
| 25 | Series Continuation | 106 | 0.52% | Share change under 15% | 3 |
| 26 | Angst | 104 | 0.51% | Share change under 15% | 4,836 |
| 27 | Obsessive Love | 99 | 0.49% | Share down | 22 |
| 28 | Instalove | 96 | 0.47% | Share down | 1,945 |
| 29 | Fake Dating / Fake Relationship | 92 | 0.45% | Share down | 92 |
| 30 | Emotional Depth | 90 | 0.44% | Share up | 29 |
| 31 | Possessive Hero | 73 | 0.36% | Share change under 15% | 98 |
| 32 | Sweet Romance | 73 | 0.36% | Share up | 8 |
| 33 | Reverse Harem / Why Choose | 72 | 0.36% | Share down | 88 |
| 34 | Boss / Employee | 68 | 0.34% | Share up | 160 |
| 35 | Protective MMC | 64 | 0.32% | Share down | 298 |
| 36 | Character Driven | 64 | 0.32% | Share up | — |
| 37 | Morally Grey MMC | 61 | 0.30% | Share change under 15% | 266 |
| 38 | Romance | 61 | 0.30% | Not called | 1 |
| 39 | Small Town | 60 | 0.30% | Share up | 199 |
| 40 | Established Relationship | 59 | 0.29% | Share down | 10 |
| 41 | Coming Of Age | 58 | 0.29% | Share up | 4 |
| 42 | Fish Out of Water | 57 | 0.28% | Share change under 15% | 66 |
| 43 | Daddy Dom | 57 | 0.28% | Not called | 2 |
| 44 | Dual POV | 56 | 0.28% | Share change under 15% | 19 |
| 45 | Pining | 55 | 0.27% | Share down | 125 |
| 46 | Obsessive MMC | 54 | 0.27% | Share down | 151 |
| 47 | Humor | 53 | 0.26% | Share up | 6 |
| 48 | Pack Dynamics | 52 | 0.26% | Share down | 7 |
| 49 | Marriage of Convenience | 52 | 0.26% | Share down | 179 |
| 50 | Coming Out / Identity Discovery | 52 | 0.26% | Share up | 1 |
| 51 | Possessive MMC | 50 | 0.25% | Share down | 213 |
| 52 | Single Parent | 49 | 0.24% | Share down | 154 |
| 53 | Happy Ending | 48 | 0.24% | Share up | 3 |
| 54 | Miscommunication | 47 | 0.23% | Share down | 12,058 |
| 55 | Series Arc | 46 | 0.23% | Share change under 15% | — |
| 56 | Grumpy MMC | 45 | 0.22% | Not called | 181 |
| 57 | Mystery / Suspense Element | 44 | 0.22% | Share up | 56 |
| 58 | Spicy Romance | 43 | 0.21% | Not called | — |
| 59 | Plot Twists | 43 | 0.21% | Share up | 38 |
| 60 | Series Romance | 42 | 0.21% | Share change under 15% | 3 |
Direction is the change in each trope’s share of the lane between the last 12 weeks and the 12 before — never a raw weekly move. “Not called” means the two bands hold fewer than 30 mentions between them and we will not pretend otherwise. Tagged titles are counted across our whole registry, not just this lane.