History LoveHurts / LiveActionTV

* ''Series/{{Highlander}}'': According to WordOfGod, Duncan [=MacLeod=] has had "four great loves" in his life. All four are dead, and not of natural causes. In one flashback, a gypsy curses him, saying that he will "bury many women but marry none" -- but his bad luck seemed to have started even before that.

** [[TheAgeless Henry]] avoids meaningful romantic relationships because in the past they've all ended in tragedy or betrayal, and he's still mourning the loss of Abigail, his wife of forty years. He develops real feelings for Molly Dawes, then is reminded of the pain that comes with them when she's near-fatally injured. He breaks it off with her to avoid [[MayflyDecemberRomance further, future heartbreak]].

* ''Series/{{Highlander}}'': According to WordOfGod, Duncan [=MacLeod=] has had "four great loves" in his life. All four are dead, and not of natural causes. In one flashback, a gypsy curses him, saying that he will "bury many women but marry none" -- but his bad luck seemed to have started even before that..

* ''Series/{{Forever|2014}}''. Henry avoids meaningful romantic relationships because in the past they've all ended in tragedy or betrayal. He develops real feelings for Molly, then is reminded of the pain that comes with them when she's near-fatally injured. He breaks it off with her to avoid further, future heartbreak.

* ''Series/Loki2021'': As weird as it is for Loki to fall in love with [[spoiler: a female variant of himself]], he does genuinely open up and place someone else's needs above his own for the first time in his life. So of course he gets betrayed and sent away.

** Willow and Tara get back together? [[spoiler:Oops, stray bullet on a physically impossible trajectory. Sorry, Tara.]]

** Oberyn Martel and Ellaria Sand are clearly in love [[spoiler:only to end with Oberyn's brutal death in the hands of Ser Gregor Clegane during Tyrion's TrialByCombat which she just watched. Unlike in the books where she tried to move on and doesn't want to be part of the revenge plot against the Lannisters because the people responsible of Oberyn's and Elia's deaths are already gone, she's the one instigating the revenge plot by trying to kill Myrcella Baratheon because of her Lannister blood and she succeeded by poisoning her which would likely worsen the feud between the Martells and the Lannisters]].

* The titular character in ''Series/{{Merlin 1998}}'' (played by Sam Neill) goes through this several times in his relationship with Nimue. After he meets her for the first time, [[spoiler: she is taken as a hostage by King Vortigern]]. When he gets around that, [[spoiler: she is severely scarred by a dragon and withdraws to Avalon]]. When there is finally a good king on the throne and he thinks he can spend time with her, [[spoiler: he learns of Mab's plot and has to rush back to Camelot to see Arthur]]. Then, years later, he thinks that they can finally, ''finally'' be together away from the rest of the world, but [[spoiler: he leaves the place where they are staying, and it seals behind him, trapping her away forever]]. Unsurprisingly, the aged Merlin in the present says almost these exact words when telling his story. [[spoiler: However, things turn out better at the very end.]] [[Series/{{Merlin2008}} His BBC counterpart]] wasn't much luckier. The only girl he ever loved, Freya, ended up [[spoiler: being a [[BalefulPolymorph monster]] who was killed by Arthur and [[DiedInYourArmsTonight died in Merlin's arms]]. Thanks to Merlin's love for her, she was able to come back as a spirit of the lake but they rarely get to see each other]].

* ''Series/{{Forever}}''. Henry avoids meaningful romantic relationships because in the past they've all ended in tragedy or betrayal. He develops real feelings for Molly, then is reminded of the pain that comes with them when she's near-fatally injured. He breaks it off with her to avoid further, future heartbreak.

** In Season 5, Spike is tormented by his unrequited FoeYay for the Slayer.

* ''Radio/OurMissBrooks'': Miss Brooks is deeply in love with largely ObliviousToLove Mr. Boynton. Because FailureIsTheOnlyOption, Miss Brooks' schemes to get Mr. Boynton to marry her inevitable fail [[spoiler: until TheMovie GrandFinale when Mr. Boynton finally proposes and the two of them wed]].
* In ''Series/{{Smallville}}'', [[ChildhoodFriendRomance Chloe Sullivan]] puts it best, and mildly.
-->Clark, things always get messy when you start throwing around the Clark-Lana triangle, and I'm speaking from experience when I say the third point always hurts.

** Lee/Kara: [[spoiler: They meet and fall in LoveAtFirstSight - and nearly hook up]] - when she's already dating his baby brother, whose death she accidentally has a hand in. They become good friends and later survive the end of their homeworlds together, but the memory of the dead baby brother, and their guilt, keeps them apart and in JustFriends mode until [[spoiler: they get together with other people, rather than face their feelings for each other]]. When Lee ''finally'' admits his love to Kara and gets her to do the same, [[spoiler: she freaks out and marries someone else the next day, breaking his heart and leading to his own marriage to a woman he doesn't really love. After Kara survives a Cylon prison and some serious mind games, they later reconcile and have an affair, but Kara won't get a divorce because of her religious beliefs, and when she finally unbends and considers the possibility, Lee is reluctant to leave his wife]]. [[spoiler: And then Kara goes unhinged and dies, then returns and leads the Fleet to Earth. And just when it looks like it's all ok since they've found Earth, Lee doesn't care that Kara was really DeadAllAlong, and it looks like they'll finally get to be together, she tells him the fact that she was DeadAllAlong means she now has to disappear. As in, ''into thin air'']]. Suffice it to say, Ron Moore is one of the few people who knows how to inflict more pain on a couple than Creator/JossWhedon.

* Falling in love [[DatingCatwoman with the bad guy/girl]] is always a bad idea. Just ask Series/AceLightning, who had to go and fall in love [[spoiler:with the bad guy?s main hench-lady, who ended up sacrificing herself for him]] at the end of the series.
* Every relationship in ''Series/{{Supernatural}}''. The Winchesters are crazy and clingy, Bobby had to kill his wife, Ellen lost her husband because John was an idiot, Sam's girlfriends tend to die horribly and Dean blurted out everything to his one-time girlfriend only to have her think that he was a lunatic and that she should break up with him.
* In ''Series/{{House}}'', House's hopeless love for his ex Stacy causes the pain in his leg to increase. When Wilson points out that this is the reason House is having more pain, House wacks him with his cane and replies: "''Awww, you miss Stacy too''?" when Wilson keels over.
** There is also a Season 1 episode titled "Love Hurts," in which Cameron blackmails House into going on a date with her and House responds by shooting her feelings for him down. Hard.
* ''Franchise/KamenRider'', at least in the new generation, is as fond of this trope as it's fond of AnyoneCanDie. On the rare occasions where a love interest to a major character is still alive by season's end, the relationship between them will likely have ended instead.
* ''Series/{{Highlander}}'': According to WordOfGod, Duncan [=MacLeod=] has had "four great loves" in his life. All four are dead, and not of natural causes. In one flashback, a gypsy curses him, saying that he will "bury many women but marry none" - but his bad luck seemed to have started even before that..
* Series/{{Oz}}'s Tobias Beecher loses his wife (she commits suicide), and later falls for Chris Keller, who it turns out was working for Schillinger, and they both subsequently break both his arms and legs. Busmalis even {{lampshade|Hanging}}s this after the incident. Though Keller arguably feels guilty afterwards, he spends the rest of the series trying to make it up to Beecher, both failing and succeeding at various points.

* ''Series/TheVampireDiaries'': Primarily Stefan and Elena, but any couple who has been together fits.
** Damon and Elena could fit too, although not as much as Stefan and Elena.

** "Children of Earth" - The only conceivable reason [[spoiler: Ianto would've been in that room with the 4-5-6 is his absolute faith in and love for Jack, and then everyone Jack loves causes him terrible terrible pain in the end]].
* ''Series/DoctorWho''. All of the Doctor's companions "break his hearts".
** And he broke Martha's. (And Jack's. And Sarah-Jane's...) That was exactly why she decided to stop traveling with him.
** The Doctor and Rose are depicted as StarcrossedLovers. Ultimately they are [[spoiler: separated permanently, although at least they got to share a short goodbye quite a while after the fact. Subsequently a human version of the Doctor is created. Ten takes his human self to Rose's parallel universe to spend the rest of his human life with her. While for Rose this is a somewhat happy ending, the real Doctor looks heartbroken and lonely as he watches the two kiss each other, knowing she will be happy but he will go on alone without her. Rose gets to be with Ten, technically, but he will never get to be with her]].
** And later, the Doctor and River Song, on both sides. The day he meets her is the day [[spoiler: she dies]]. And while he sees her again (their timelines running roughly in opposite directions), falls for her and [[spoiler: marries her]], it's all knowing how and when he's going to lose her. And from her perspective, she starts with a man who loves her enough to [[spoiler: sacrifice his life for her]], but with each consecutive meeting he knows -- trusts, ''loves'' -- her less and less, until their final meeting [[spoiler: (or [[BackForTheFinale so they think]])]] when he has no idea of who she is. However, later on a poignant wrench is thrown into all of this. [[spoiler: Her ''second-to-last'' encounter with him/his ''last'' encounter with her, at least in the physical world, wound up lasting '''twenty-four years'''. At that point he was a man who had seen all sides of her, who desired and loved her deeply for all her flaws]]. Emerging from this, the Doctor is nursing two broken hearts, but he is a stronger man for having known her nonetheless.
** The Doctor and Clara Oswald's relationship is this trope writ large over nearly three seasons' worth of stories. Just as they're truly growing close, he regenerates into an older-looking man and draws back from her emotionally, while she finds an alternative in a gentle teacher at her workplace. A LoveTriangle ensues that has her hurting both men with deception and waffling. She comes to understand she must commit to one of them. She chooses the teacher. He [[spoiler: effectively dies three times over]] and she has a mental breakdown at the ''top'' of a draining SeasonFinale which ends with she and the Doctor parting over mutual lies because IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy. Then they're brought back together and dearly happy again...but she's mortal, and he is quasi-immortal, and he becomes increasingly desperate to protect her at all costs. And then...she is [[spoiler: killed off for real]]. Thanks to a really, ''really'' unfortunate spell of total isolation and torture after that, he becomes a WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds in order to [[spoiler: bring her back from the grave]]. In the end the lovers are parted forever, and [[spoiler: he doesn't even have his key emotional/physical memories of her anymore]], meaning that he doesn't understand how things came so far. On the other hand, this winds up having a ''positive'' effect on his relationship with [[spoiler: River Song (see above)]].
* Sadly, this was the course that ''Series/RobinHood'' decided to take. Only two couples get a happy ending: Will Scarlett/Djaq and John/Beatrice (who were only guest stars). All the other couples: Robin/Marian, Guy/Marian, Robin/Isabella, Robin/Kate, Much/Kate, Allan/Djaq, John/Alice, and any slash pairing you can think of, ended badly. VERY badly. Though Robin/Marian did get a [[spoiler: TogetherInDeath]] scene.
* Marcus over Ivanova in ''Series/BabylonFive'', going so far as to [[spoiler:sacrifice himself to save her life, transferring his life energy to her as she lay fatally injured. She is devastated that he would do such a thing, regretting she never returned his affection]].
* Naomi from ''Series/{{Skins}}'' lives in blind terror of this trope, constantly running away from her love of Emily until she can't handle it any more; and when they eventually get together, she's ''still'' so scared of getting her heart broken that [[spoiler:she tries to break Emily's first. It all ends with a HappilyEverAfter, though, after an AnguishedDeclarationOfLove in the finale in which Naomi admits - and seemingly gets over - all her fears. [[DownerEnding Then she gets cancer and dies]]]].

** Then there's Joyce. In five years she dates a [[spoiler:StepfordSmiler psycho robot]] and [[spoiler:becomes a hormonal sullen teen along with Giles, to their mutual embarrassment]] - then she starts dating and enjoying it and [[spoiler:BOOM, anyeurism.]]

* This could be the theme for ''Series/GossipGirl''. If he's a nice guy, he'll sleep with someone else. If he's a redeemed jerk, turns out he's just a jerk. If he's your true love, he'll whore you out. If he seems perfect, he's sleeping with his stepmother or conning you out of your money or about to blackmail you into being his mistress. Love is pain, rich kids.
* The titular character in ''Series/{{Merlin 1998}}'' (played by Sam Neill) goes through this several times in his relationship with Nimue. After he meets her for the first time, [[spoiler: she is taken as a hostage by King Vortigern]]. When he gets around that, [[spoiler: she is severely scarred by a dragon and withdraws to Avalon]]. When there is finally a good king on the throne and he thinks he can spend time with her, [[spoiler: he learns of Mab's plot and has to rush back to Camelot to see Arthur]]. Then, years later, he thinks that they can finally, ''finally'' be together away from the rest of the world, but [[spoiler: he leaves the place where they are staying, and it seals behind him, trapping her away forever]]. Unsurprisingly, the aged Merlin in the present says almost these exact words when telling his story. [[spoiler: However, things turn out better at the very end.]] [[Series/{{Merlin2008}} His BBC counterpart]] wasn't much luckier. The only girl he ever loved, Freya, ended up [[spoiler: being a [[BalefulPolymorph monster]] who was killed by Arthur and [[DiedInYourArmsTonight died in Merlin's arms]]. Thanks to Merlin's love for her, she was able to come back as a spirit of the lake but they rarely get to see each other]].
* [[MyLittleTown Art Kanji-Daemon]] is probably the TropeCodifier at how much love hurts him through all his life.
* Bo and Lauren Any one who watches ''Series/LostGirl'' will know this couple is a good definition of this trope. Bo and Lauren want each other from the first time they meet, but they can't even kiss because if they do Bo will lose control and drain Lauren of her life force, Bo gains control and gets together with Lauren... but only for one night because Bo learns that Lauren was with her to distract long enough to stop Bo from killing someone (even though they would have gotten together on their own as Lauren explains) and Bo refuses to talk to Lauren for the next few episodes unless it is work related. Then in the season finale just before Bo goes to fight her mother Lauren gives her a kiss which Bo responds to.
** Season 2 Bo and Lauren get closer again eventually shacking up in the 6th episode only for Lauren to return to the Ashes compound and Bo finds out that Lauren has a girlfriend in a Coma, they move past this a few eps later and kiss its all going well then Laurens girlfriend wakes up. this season is not even finished yet and there will be at least a 3rd season.
* Oh, ''Series/CallTheMidwife''! Dr Turner and Sister Bernadette spend an entire series in agony over their feelings for each other. On her part, she's a ''nun'', and torn between her vows to God and the man she loves. On his part, he openly admits he would rather die than come between her and her God. As if that's not bad enough, [[spoiler:oh guess what, she comes down with tuberculosis]]! ''Finally'', in the last episode of the second series, [[spoiler:they [[EarnYourHappyEnding earn their happy ending]] when Bernadette, cured of her TB, decides that God is calling her to a different path. He asks her to marry him in ''very'' short order, and she says yes]] -- but [[spoiler:it is still bittersweet, as it means Bernadette has to leave the Order, which is all the family she has -- most notably her beloved ParentalSubstitute Sister Julienne]].
** This applies to Sister Julienne as well in this storyline. [[spoiler:When she finally no longer has to watch Bernadette going through her own personal hell]], it's because she [[spoiler:has to watch the young woman who is essentially her daughter leave the Order behind to marry the man she loves. The pain of letting her baby girl go is written all over Sister Julienne's face]], giving a whole new meaning to the word [[spoiler:bittersweet]].
* Like the book its based on, love in ''Series/GameOfThrones'' usually spells tragedy.
** Ned Stark [[spoiler: dies far away from his wife Catelyn, and she is left grieving]].
** Daenerys Targaryen [[spoiler: loses her husband Drogo, despite her best efforts to save him]]. Her knight Ser Jorah Mormont is also in love with her, but she doesn't reciprocate his feelings for her.
** Despite the homophobia of Westerosi society, Lord Renly Baratheon and Ser Loras Tyrell are in a loving, long-term relationship. [[spoiler:Loras is heartbroken after Renly is murdered and is consumed by a thirst for vengeance against the kinslaying Stannis Baratheon. Losing the love of his life is already incredibly painful enough as it is, but what makes Loras' suffering even worse is that he cannot openly express his grief, as Renly was a man and a traitor to the crown.]] Also, since Joffrey has expressed a desire to execute all homosexuals, Loras can't afford to reveal any of his true feelings for Renly.
** King Robb Stark and Talisa Maegyr have probably the happiest relationship on the show, [[spoiler:but the political problems surrounding their marriage eventually lead to the Red Wedding, where the Freys deliberately murder Talisa (who was pregnant) in front of a [[HeartbrokenBadass devastated Robb]], who has just enough time to crawl over to her corpse before being murdered as well]].
** [[HeroicBastard Jon Snow]] and the wildling Ygritte are also [[StarCrossedLovers quite happy together]], but the fact that Jon is a FakeDefector in the wildling ranks, and they both know it, grates on their relationship, until [[spoiler: Jon is forced to show his true loyalty to the Night's Watch when he refuses to kill an old man after [[IfYoureSoEvilEatThisKitten being ordered to do so to prove he is no longer loyal to the Watch]] but Jon can't bring himself to murder an innocent in cold blood. A battle between Jon and the wildlings ensues, he gets Ygritte out of the way so the wildlings don't turn on her and when the battle is done, he escapes back to the Watch, leaving Ygritte, despite her being willing to run with him. She then shoots him three times with a bow to try and stop him. They meet again during the Wilding siege on Castle Black, but Ygritte is shot by Olly and dies in Jon's arms, [[HeartbrokenBadass devastating Jon]]]].
** Tyrion Lannister and Shae both love each other but Tyrion can never let his father Tywin Lannister know their relationship since Tywin would kill her, and he's too scared of his father to run away with her at her suggestion.[[spoiler: His marriage to Sansa does not help matters.]] It gets worse later on when Tyrion tried to send Shae away, except it made her furious and she bites back [[spoiler:implicating Tyrion in Joffrey Baratheon's murder by lying to the court during Tyrion's trial that she overheard him and Sansa plotting to kill Joffrey and twisted one of the sweetest moment between her and Tyrion ("my lion") into a sickening abusive moment, causing Tyrion to snap and declare a TrialByCombat. When Tyrion escapes from his cell, he goes to his father's room and finds Shae naked on his bed, causing him to strangle her while apologizing to her with tears]].
** Oberyn Martel and Ellaria Sand are clearly in love [[spoiler:only to end with Oberyn's brutal death in the hands of Ser Gregor Clegane during Tyrion's TrialByCombat which she just watched. Unlike in the books where she tried to move on and doesn't want to be part of the revenge plot against the Lannisters because the people responsible of Oberyn's and Elia's deaths are already gone, she's the one instigating the revenge plot by trying to kill Myrcella Baratheon because of her Lannister blood and she succeeded by poisoning her which would likely worsen the feud between the Martells and the Lannisters]].
** Although Renly did not return Brienne of Tarth's feelings, she is still mourning for him in Season 4.
** Brienne and Jaime have a deep respect and maybe a little yearning for each other, but are technically on different sides of the war, and there is the matter of Jaime's relationship Cersei, who is herself very dangerous. [[spoiler:In the end, despite having fallen in love and even sleeping together, Jaime loves Cersei more, and leaves Brienne to be with her. This act culminates in his death]].
** [[spoiler:Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen becomes each other's {{Second Love}}s, but, just like with their respective {{First Love}}s, it seems everything is conspiring against them. First, Jon's own family heavily disapproves of Daenerys, then it turns out they're aunt and nephew, which hamstrings the intimacy in their relationship due to the North's taboo against incest, and then people learn that Jon is the true heir to the Iron Throne and start scheming to place him on it. All of that, combined with the losses of Jorah Mormont, Rhaegal, and Missandei in quick succession slowly drives Daenerys insane, culminating in her burning King's Landing down with Drogon and plotting to TakeOverTheWorld. A desperate Jon begs Daenerys to stop, and when she refuses, [[WeCanRuleTogether even asking him to help her]], he's forced to stab her after one last kiss in order to save not just his family, but the world, from her would-be tyranny. Their last moment together sees Jon crying as she dies in his arms]].
* ''Series/WhiteCollar'': Neal goes through a ''lot'' because of his love for Kate - to start with, the four years he spent in prison were because he was desperate to find her and tell her that he loved her.
* ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'' isn't immune to this where the five main characters experience heart break at some point in the show:
** Ted loves Robin but certain issues show that they're probably not meant to be together and he tries it again for the second time only to be rejected. He also gets dumped at the altar by Stella and breaks up with Zoey when she tries to sabotage his career. [[spoiler:In the series finale, the titular Mother dies of the SoapOperaDisease.]]
** Marshall and Lily are still going strong with their relationship and later, marriage. But they still experiences some problems like when Marshall is very depressed after Lily leaves him to go to San Francisco due to cold feet, though they manage to work it out for a while. This issue is revisited again in the last season.
** The reason why Barney's such a suit-wearing womanizer is that [[StartOfDarkness his girlfriend cheated on him with a suit-wearing womanizer]].
* ''Series/{{Forever}}''. Henry avoids meaningful romantic relationships because in the past they've all ended in tragedy or betrayal. He develops real feelings for Molly, then is reminded of the pain that comes with them when she's near-fatally injured. He breaks it off with her to avoid further, future heartbreak.
* ''Series/Loki2021'': As weird as it is for Loki to fall in love with [[spoiler: a female variant of himself]], he does genuinely open up and place someone else's needs above his own for the first time in his life. So of course he gets betrayed and sent away.

* Naomi from ''Series/{{Skins}}'' lives in blind terror of this trope, constantly running away from her love of Emily until she can't handle it any more; and when they eventually get together, she's ''still'' so scared of getting her heart broken that [[spoiler:[[YourCheatingHeart she tries to break Emily's first.]] It all ends with a HappilyEverAfter, though, after an AnguishedDeclarationOfLove in the finale in which Naomi admits - and seemingly gets over - all her fears. [[DownerEnding Then she gets cancer and dies]]]].

* ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'' isn't immune to this where the five main characters experienced heart break at some point in the show:
** Ted loved Robin but certain issues showed that they're probably not meant to be together and he tried it again for the second time only to be rejected. He also got dumped in the altar by Stella and broke up with Zoey when she tried to sabotage his career. [[spoiler:And in the series finale, the titular Mother died of the SoapOperaDisease.]]
** Marshall and Lily are still going strong with their relationship and later, marriage. But they still experienced some problems like when Marshall was very depressed after Lily left him to go to San Francisco due to cold feet though they managed to work it out for a while. This issue is revisited again in the last season.
** The reason why Barney's such a suit-wearing womanizer? [[StartOfDarkness His girlfriend cheated on him with a suit-wearing womanizer]] which he became in the present.

** ''Series/AgentsOfShield'' is yet another example, this time with [[=FitzSimmons=]] and everyone Daisy is in a relationship with.

** ''Series/AgentsOfShield'' is yet another example, this time with {{FitzSimmons}} and everyone Daisy is in a relationship with.

** Brienne and Jaime have a deep respect and maybe a little yearning for each other, but are technically on different sides of the war, and there is the matter of Jaime's relationship Cersei, who is herself very dangerous.

** The only happy marriage in the ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' 'verse? [[spoiler:"I am a leaf on the wind..."]]

* Like the book its based on, love in ''Series/GameOfThrones'' usually spells tragedy. By the end of season 3...

* Naomi from ''Series/{{Skins}}'' lives in blind terror of this trope, constantly running away from her love of Emily until she can't handle it any more; and when they eventually get together, she's ''still'' so scared of getting her heart broken that [[spoiler:[[YourCheatingHeart she tries to break Emily's first.]] It all ends with a HappilyEverAfter, though, after an AnguishedDeclarationOfLove in the finale in which Naomi admits - and seemingly gets over - all her fears]].