History LoveTriangle / Literature

* In ''Literature/{{Toradora}}'', this is the case with Ryuuji (A), Minori (B) and Taiga (C). This is a very strange twist of MatchmakerCrush. Taiga is trying to set up Ryuuji (who starts to take care of her) with Minori (who is Taiga's best and initially only friend). Taiga develops an emotional dependence on Ryuuji, who develops feelings as well. It turns out that Minori already had a crush on Ryuuji, but also had strong feelings for Taiga. Taiga remains good friends, but doesn't quite reciprocate Minori's feelings. Since the OfficialCouple is actually the title of the show/novels, [[ForegoneConclusion bummer for Minori.]] Since everyone in this triangle is too nice to betray anyone, this draws out for a while.

* In ''LightNovel/HarukaNogizakasSecret'', Shiina is in love with Yuuto, who is with Haruka. At least she gets to spend one episode largely with him in episode 7 of Season 2.

** ''Literature/TheWayOfKings'': An unusually amiable example in the backstory, created by [[{{UST}} an unspoken attraction]] between [[TheWisePrince Dalinar]] and [[FounderOfTheKingdom his brother Gavilar's]] [[TheSmartGuy wife Navani]]. [[spoiler:Dalinar and Navani manage to keep it buried until a ways into the story, long after Gavilar's death]].

* ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' has Jacob and Edward both after Bella, which crosses the rivalry between Bella's love interests with FurAgainstFang, since Jacob is a skinchanger and Edward is a vampire. Bella marries Edward in book four, and eventually this is "[[EsotericHappyEnding fixed]]" when Jacob Imprinted on Bella and Edward's [[{{Squick}} infant daughter]].

** Much of the plot is driven by protagonist Tod Hackett and {{Deuteragonist}} Homer Simpson's contrasting forms of unrequited love for Faye, which form a Type 3 {{Triang Relation|s}}. After she rejects him, Tod's love for Faye becomes an obsession with possessing and destroying her, and most of his actions toward her are motivated by his own selfish desires for her than out of any concern for her. Homer is the opposite; Faye is equally uninterested in a romantic relationship with him, but he happily soaks up her abuse and caters to her every whim in a doomed bid to make her happy. Tod and Homer's own friendship starts to break down thanks to their divergent attitudes toward Faye.
** Faye is simultaneously at the corner of a Type 7 {{Triang Relation|s}}, as she is overtly romantically interested in dim-witted cowboy Earle Shoop, but flirts with, and eventually sleeps with, his friend Miguel to make him jealous. In Chapter 14, Earle attacks Miguel with a club when he dances with Faye at their campsite, and in Chapter 24, Homer tells Tod that after Earle found Miguel and Faye in bed together, the two men got into a fistfight, and the next morning, all three of them had moved out of his house.

** Red, Harley, and Stick. Stick is a BoyfriendBlockingDad who doesn't approve of Red's relationship with Harley, a member of an enemy group.

* ''Literature/TheBelgariad'' features a somewhat... complicated example between Mandorallen, Nerina (the Baroness of Vo Ebor) and the (considerably older) Baron of Vo Ebor. Mandorallen is hopelessly in love with Nerina, Nerina is in love with him, and the Baron is (accurately) aware not only of the love but also that both are too noble to do anything, given Nerina is married to him and Mandorallen sees him as a mentor and [[ParentalSubstitute father figure]] -- the Baron's [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy solution]] is to try to invoke DeathOfTheHypotenuse on himself by picking up dangerous hobbies like dragon-hunting, warfare and duelling people [[BewareTheNiceOnes who badmouth his wife and protege]]. Apparently generations of Mimbrate maidens have wept at the tragic nobility of it all. [[spoiler: The Baron dies early in ''The Malloreon'' of wounds inflicted towards the end of ''The Belgariad'', clearing the way for Mandorallen and Nerina to marry once Belgarion gets everyone involved to stop being so wrapped up in the mess. At swordpoint.]]

* Nikolai/Sonya/Marya form one in ''Literature/WarAndPeace''. Natasha/[[TheCasanova Anatoly]]/Andrei form another.

* ''Literature/VanishingActs'': Delia is liked by both VictoriousChildHoodFriend Eric and [[UnluckyChildhoodFriend Fitz. Delia and Eric are engaged, but Fitz and Eric also are attracted to each other. [[spoiler:Fitz eventually gets Delia.]]

* ''Literature/TheSecretGarden'': Mary, Colin, and Dickon. Make of that what you will.

* Kim Stanley Robinson's ''Literature/RedMarsTrilogy'': Marina, Ursula, and Vlad seem to fall into this category, though we never see them closely enough to be entirely certain.

* In Teresa Frohock's ''Literature/MiserereAnAutumnTale'', Catarina regards her brother's love for Raechel as making them this.

* ''[[Literature/AnneOfGreenGables Anne Of Avonlea]]'': Anne is pursued by both Charlie Sloane and Gilbert Bylthe. [[spoiler:It is hinted that she was in denial of a her attraction towards Gilbert all along, and later that she loves both Roy and Gilbert in ''Anne of the Island''.]]

* ''Literature/TheEnglishPatient'': the title character's affair with Katharine Clifton.

* ''Literature/{{Durarara}}'':
** Masaomi claims that there is a "love triangle" between Mikado, Anri, and himself. It's... more or less true, though it's mostly played for laughs than really anything serious. [[spoiler: Besides, there's Saki to consider...]]
** On a side note, there's also Namie -> Seiji <- [[spoiler:Mika]] and [[spoiler:Haruna]] -> Nasujima-sensei -> Anri.

* In Creator/SarahAHoyt's ''Literature/DrawOneInTheDark'', Kyrie/Tom/Rafiel.

** Chloe has feelings for both Simon and Derek, and both of them have feelings for her. Simon and Derek are brothers. ''Awkward.'' In a refreshing change from most female protagonists who find themselves in this situation, Chloe doesn't toy with ''either'' of them. She's also honestly confused about her own feelings, and barely realizes that she has more-than-friendly feelings for Derek. In the end, it turns out that she ''does'' like [[spoiler:Simon]], but just as a friend. She's honestly in love with [[spoiler:Derek, even if it takes both of them a bit of time to work things out and get together]]. Some completely understandable angst ensues between [[spoiler:Simon realizing that Chloe likes Derek, and Chloe and Derek finally figuring out that their feelings are ''mutual'']], but everyone involved is actually mature about it, completely free of pettiness, and no one resents anyone because they all act like rational people.

* Creator/AgathaChristie used this as a setup between three central characters in several of her mystery novels, such as ''Literature/DeathOnTheNile'' and ''Literature/FiveLittlePigs'', as well as the short story [[Literature/MurderInTheMews "Triangle at Rhodes".]] [[spoiler:In these cases, the mystery hinges on the fact that the reader has been goaded into [[ReverseRelationshipReveal seeing the triangle the wrong way round.]]]]

* Creator/ArthurCClarke:
** One story has a love triangle between some minor characters (due to the relationship-stretching difficulties of space travel) which all the participants are completely aware of. It's also "completely equilateral", if you get Sir Arthur's meaning.
** ''Literature/RendezvousWithRama'' has several triangles, including one equilateral, although only the two men of that triangle appear in the story.

* ''Literature/AnneOfAvonlea'': Anne is pursued by both Charlie Sloane and Gilbert Bylthe. [[spoiler:It is hinted that she was in denial of a her attraction towards Gilbert all along, and later that she loves both Roy and Gilbert in ''Anne of the Island''.]]

* Creator/PoulAnderson:
** "Holmgang": Bo, Lundgard, and their passenger Valeria on the flight to Earth. Lundgard is winning when Bo realizes [[spoiler:that he murdered Johnny, and reveals all.]]
** ''Literature/ThreeHeartsAndThreeLions'', Holger, Alianora, and Morgan Le Fay. It doesn't last long.
** In Anderson's ''Literature/TimePatrol'' story "Brave to be a King", Manse had lost out in one in the BackStory. When Cynthia comes to him to help save her husband, Manse wrestles with the temptation to follow the rules easily -- at Denison's expense -- because of this. [[spoiler:At the end, Denison realizes that his years in the past with Cassadane meant more to him that his brief marriage with Cynthia, even though he had chosen Cassadane because she reminded him of Cynthia.]]

* ''Literature/TwentySixSixtySix'': Between Norton, Pelletier, and Espinoza. [[spoiler: Norton eventually leaves them for Morini.]]

* ''Literature/EnochArden'' by Creator/AlfredLordTennyson is the story of a love triangle between childhood friends [[TwoGuysAndAGirl Enoch, Annie, and Philip.]]

* ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' has Jacob and Edward both after Bella. Eventually this is "[[EsotericHappyEnding fixed]]" when Jacob Imprinted on Bella's [[{{Squick}} infant daughter]].

* The infamous love triangle between Bella, Edward, and Jacob from the ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' saga crosses the rivalry between Bella's love interests with FurAgainstFang, since Jacob is a skinchanger and Edward is a vampire.
* ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'' has all of Elayne, Min, Aviendha, and Rand's angsting before they settled on a polyamorous relationship. There was also Berelain's determined pursuit of Perrin, which utterly trashed his relationship with Faile, and the whole complicated set of customs and rules that put Bain, Chiad, and Gaul in their position.

* ''Literature/TheBelgariad'' features a somewhat... complicated example between Mandorallen, Nerina (the Baroness of Vo Ebor) and the (considerably older) Baron of Vo Ebor. Mandorallen is hopelessly in love with Nerina, Nerina is in love with him, and the Baron is (accurately) aware not only of the love but also that both are too noble to do anything, given Nerina is married to him and Mandorallen sees him as a mentor and [[ParentalSubstitute father figure]] -- the Baron's [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy solution]] is to try to invoke DeathOfTheHypotenuse on himself by picking up dangerous hobbies like dragon-hunting, warfare and duelling people [[BewareTheNiceOnes who badmouth his wife and protege]]. Apparently generations of Mimbrate maidens have wept at the tragic nobility of it all. [[spoiler: The Baron dies early in ''The Malloreon'' of wounds inflicted towards the end of ''The Belgariad'', clearing the way for Mandorallen and Nerina to marry once Belgarion gets everyone involved to stop being so wrapped up in the mess. At swordpoint.]]

* In ''Literature/LesMiserables'', Eponine loves Marius, who loves Cosette, who (eventually) loves him back after a bit of trepidation.

* Nikolai/Sonya/Marya form one in ''Literature/WarAndPeace''. Natasha/[[TheCasanova Anatoly]]/Andrei form another.

** Before the series's start (this is recounted in flashbacks), Catelyn Tully was in love with Brandon Stark, while her father's foster son [[{{Yandere}} Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish]] loved Catelyn (additionally, Catelyn's younger sister Lysa was in love with Petyr but he never reciprocated her feelings). So when Brandon came to claim Catelyn's hand, Petyr dared the much older, vastly stronger and vastly more skilled Brandon to a sword fight over Catelyn. Petyr was nearly slain and developed a seriously unhealthy obsession with Catelyn (who, by the way, [[SettleForSibling had to marry Brandon's brother Eddard]] after Brandon died). In ''Literature/AGameOfThrones'', Petyr manipulates events to contrive ways for him and Catelyn together. When he fails, he goes after Catelyn's young teenage daughter Sansa.

** ''Literature/TheChildrenOfHurin'': Brandir, Niënor, and Túrin are a tragic example. Brandir falls in love with an amnesiac Niënor under the name Niniel, but she marries Túrin, [[SurpriseIncest who is actually her brother]]. [[EverybodyDiesEnding It doesn't end well.]]

* In Tom Clancy's ''Literature/TheCardinalOfTheKremlin'', a woman (A) is desperately in love with another woman (B), who is in a committed relationship and engaged to a geeky young male major (C) responsible for an American secret weapons program. When circumstances separate B from C, in no small part due to A's treasonous efforts, B is devastated and A tries to show B how much she loves her. The love remains unrequited, which shatters A so badly that she gives up everything she knows under interrogation.

* ''Literature/MidnightsChildren'' has a [[TriangRelations Type 5]]. During Saleem's childhood he develops a crush on [[MeaningfulName Evelyn Lilith Burns]] (an American girl who moves into his gated community), but ''she'' develops a crush on his friend Sonny, who in turn is enamored with Saleem's sister the Brass Monkey. The Brass Monkey doesn't love anyone, and reacts violently to shows of affection.