History Main / AllLoveIsUnRequited

* The ad campaign for the comic ''Young Heroes In Love'' explicitly plays with this trope, as does the comic itself.

* In the original ''ComicBook/{{Runaways}}'' miniseries, Gert has a crush on Chase, who has a crush on Karolina, who has a crush on Nico, who has a crush on Alex.
* ''ComicBook/UltimateXMen'', during the first arc. Mastermind can not get the Scarlet Witch to treat him like anything but dirt, the Scarlet Witch can not get Cyclops to even notice her, Cyclops is too shy to ask Jean to go on a date, and Beast is too shy to open to Storm. Wolverine managed to score with Jean, but ruined their relation forever when he confessed his mission within the X-Men. Some relations would grow in time, but in the initial times this trope was in full effect.
* In ''ComicBook/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast'', Epheremelda seems to have a crush on Link, and blows her stack whenever he ignores her to look for Zelda.

* ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}'' has this trope as the norm: Unrequited love is practically the only kind of love featured throughout the series.[[note]]In the '90s, Charlie Brown had a girlfriend named Peggy Jean, and their feelings for each other were mutual. She broke up with him just before the strip ended, though.[[/note]] [[IronWoobie Charlie Brown]] likes [[SatelliteLoveInterest the Little Red-Haired Girl]], but she's TheGhost because he can never talk to her. [[PassionateSportsGirl Peppermint Patty]] and [[TheSmartGuy Marcie]] both like Charlie Brown, who seems [[ObliviousToLove generally confused by this]]. [[TheDitz Sally]] likes [[WiseBeyondHisYears Linus]] and [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Lucy]] likes [[ThePianoPlayer Schroeder]], but in both those cases the crushee finds the girl annoying--Linus' usual target is [[HotForTeacher Miss Othmar]] while Schroeder [[MarriedToTheJob only likes music]]. [[OutOfFocus Patty and Shermy]] were a couple in the earliest strips, but these are [[FanonDiscontinuity never considered canon by fans]].

* PlayedForLaughs in Chapter 64 of ''Fanfic/YouGotHaruhiRolled'', which features a severely dysfunctional [[LoveDodecahedron Love Quadrilateral]] in which no crush is requited. To wit, [[HumanoidAbomination Kuyou]] plans to brainwash [[JerkAss Fujiwara]] into having sex with her, [[AllMenArePerverts Fujiwara]] tries to catch [[TheDitz Kyouko]] in the shower, [[SchoolgirlLesbians Kyouko]] practically {{Squee}}s over [[IncompatibleOrientation Sasaki]], and, to top it all off, [[{{Narcissist}} Sasaki]] makes the polygon open-ended by [[ScrewYourself attempting to kiss her own reflection]].
* In ''Fanfic/SophisticationAndBetrayal'' this is a major source of angst for several characters.
* In ''Merlin'' fanfic ''Fanfic/AVeryHairySituation,'' Merlin and Gwen are both in love with Arthur, who is in love with Gwaine. In the past, Gwen had a crush on Merlin, who didn't even notice. Due to his [[spoiler:MagicHair,]] Gwaine is actually a common target of unrequited love.
* In the ''Manga/Reborn2004'' Fanfic ''Fanfic/{{Sehnsucht}}'', the audience is initially led to believe that Cynthia, Noriko's past life, spared Daemon Spade after he betrayed the First Generation out of respect for her adoptive sister, Elena. [[spoiler:While that may have played a part, the actual reason why Cynthia spared Daemon was because she was in love with him]].
* ''Fanfic/TalesOfTheUndiscoveredSwords'': [[ThinksLikeARomanceNovel Hatsuzakura]] falls in LoveAtFirstSight with Ōkurikara and is his StalkerWithACrush, but the latter predictably doesn't appreciate it. To make matters worse, Tsurumaru further taunts him that maybe he's just being a {{Tsundere}} about it.
* ''Fanfic/TransformersAnimatedCybertronianGenesis'': Both Optimus and Sentinel had feelings for their classmate Elita-1, who wasn't interested in any romance (though it's implied she felt something for Optimus), only dating the latter because he asked her out. Now, as Blackarachnia, she despises both of them. As for Optimus, he is still in love with her, won't even entertain the idea of entering a relationship with anyone else, and futilely hopes that she can still be redeemed.
* ''Fanfic/TheLightInTheDark:'' Mulciber only desires Maria Zabini physically, and is implied to be attracted to the power he can reap from her being involved with him.Whatever his motivations, he clearly does not love her, while she is either infatuated with or truly loves him. Severus is in love with Lily, but whether or not his feelings will be reciprocated remains to be seen. Karen Smith of all people has a crush on him, but the feelings are not mutual. Edmund Avery meanwhile is interested in her. James fancies Lily, but she refuses to go out with him due to his bullying of Snape and other students. Evangeline is interested in Kitty, Paris Nott's girlfriend. Bertha had a crush on Alton Avery, who chose her friend Florence instead. Leslie is strongly implied to have loved Veronica romantically, but Veronica dated Regulus Black instead behind her back.

* In ''Fanfic/PokemonResetBloodlines'', Misty has a crush on Ash, which quickly develops into something much more serious. [[ObliviousToLove He's still not aware of this, and he only considers her a friend.]] The trope is somewhat subverted by the fact that he starts to show hints of being attracted to her as well as the story progresses, and WordOfGod is that her love [[RelationshipUpgrade won't remain unrequited forever]].
* Alas, in ''Fanfic/BlizzardOfTheRedCastle'', [[Anime/KanColle battleship Nagato]] has recently realized that [[SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan her affection for the Admiral]] is not only possible due to a legal loophole, but also not a pipedream. Poor woman doesn't realize that he only has eyes for Kongo. Ooi similarly suffers from this. Then again, it's likely for the best: her crush is [[BrotherSisterIncest her sister]], and [[PsychoLesbian this is Ooi]] we're talking about.
* ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}'' fanfiction ''Fanfic/EverybodysGottaLeaveSometime'' seems to play it straight when Schroeder rejects Lucy for the final time, and Charlie Brown acknowledges he's run out of chances to win the Little Red-Haired Girl over, but then it's subverted when Charlie decides to keep hanging out with Peppermint Patty -who has a crush on him- after his gang breaks up.
* ''Fanfic/TotalDramaBattleOfTheGenerations'': Rodney believes he and Amy are a couple, though the later is merely using him as an easily exploitable extra vote.

* ''Fanfic/FateBlackDawn'': Sometime before the start of the fic, Shirou finally realized that Rin and Sakura were in love with him. He refused their advances as he didn't think it was fair to them that he was still in love with Arturia, who was lost. Rin apparently didn't take this well, and became bitter over time.

* In the [[Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers Hetalia]] fanfic, ''[[https://fanfiction.net/s/7743358 Love is a Disease]]'', Matthew, a [[ArmouredClosetGay closeted gay teen]], accidentally confesses his feelings towards his heterosexual crush Alfred, who reveals this to his friend Gilbert, who (unbeknownst to either Alfred or Matthew) [[spoiler:has a [[LovingBully crush]] on Matthew]], and uses this information to blackmail and eventually [[ForcedOutOfTheCloset out]] Matthew to their classmates. The homophobic bullying Matthew faces forces him to change schools, where Matthew is more determined than ever to stay closeted, and gets an unknowing [[TheBeard beard]] in the form of Lilli, who (much to Matthew’s guilt) genuinely likes him. Matthew quickly starts developing feelings for his new friend Ivan [[spoiler:who returns those feelings]], which is complicated by both Matthew’s attempt to stay in the closet, as well as [[spoiler:Gilbert]] escalating [[spoiler:his]] behavior to StalkerWithACrush and AttemptedRape before finally admitting [[spoiler:his feelings]] after a confrontation with Matthew.

* In the Japanese DVD ''Film/SeaOfDreams'', one short centers around a group of five friends spending a day together at Tokyo Disney Sea park. The story is narrated by a boy who has unrequited feelings for a girl dating another guy in the group. Throughout the short, it is revealed that all five teens have unrequited love for another in the group, but no one really acts on these feelings and life goes on.

* Happens to Tessa in the film ''Film/TheConstantNymph''.
* Happened to all the characters in ''Film/TheLoveOfSiam''.
** Played straight for Ying. She is in love with Mew, but Mew tells her he will always only see her as a good friend.
** Played straight for Donut and her love for Tong. Granted she actually did date him but Tong wasn't actually in love with her.
** Played around a bit with Tong and Mew. The two boys loved each other, but they ultimately couldn't get together due to reasons.
* ''Film/DanceOfTheDead'': Steven likes Gwen and tries asking her to go to prom with him. Gwen wants to go with Nash Ramble instead, as her first choice bailed on her due to sickness. Nash, however, shoots her down. Steven still likes Gwen, but she takes a while to realize it.
* Played straight in ''Film/LoveAndDeath'', where Boris has been in love with his cousin Sonja since they were kids, but she pines futilely for his idiot brother Ivan, who in turn only has eyes for Anna. Later parodied when Sonja's mopey cousin Natasha lists a long string of her acquaintances who are all pining after each other.
* Tara towards Jake in ''Film/{{Shrooms}}''. [[spoiler:It's implied (and mentioned in the Director's Commentary) that this, combined with the deathcap-induced craziness, unleashes Tara's repressed rage and causes her to kill everyone.]]
* ''Film'FarewellMyQueen'': The Queen is implied to be in love with Gabrielle de Polignac, who is ungrateful to her. Sidonie Laborde is implied to be in love with the Queen, who sends her on a suicide mission to protect Gabrielle de Polignac.

* ''Theatre/TheSeaGull'': Medvedenko for Masha, Masha for Treplev, Treplev for Nina, Nina and Arkadina for [[TheCasanova Trigorin]].
** Quite a few in ''Theatre/UncleVanya'', too. Chekhov sure loved his {{Love Dodecahedron}}s.
** And ''Theatre/TheCherryOrchard'' as well, mixed with CannotSpitItOut.
* Music/StephenSondheim's ''Theatre/{{Follies}}'' loves this trope. Buddy is having an affair with Margie, but it leaves him unfulfilled. All he really wants is for his wife Sally to reciprocate his feelings. But Sally has never gotten over having her heart broken by Buddy's best friend Ben, who married her best friend Phyllis. Phyllis still loves Ben, but has become increasingly bitter and jaded as she's grown to realize that Ben only loves himself.
* ''Theatre/{{Patience}}'' by Creator/GilbertAndSullivan: the soldiers love the maids, who love Bunthorne, who loves Patience, who [[WhatIsThisThingYouCallLove loves nobody]].
* ''Theatre/TwelfthNight'', up until Sebastian says "madam, I will".

* {{Creator/Peter Fenton}}'s {{spiritual successor}} to ''No Exit'', ''{{Theatre/Abandon All Hope}}'' also has a love triangle like its predecessor. {{The fundamentalist}} Evan likes Melissa. {{Jerk with a heart of jerk}} Melissa likes Sean. {{Armored closet gay}} Sean likes Evan.
* In ''Theatre/TheHistoryBoys'': Posner loves Dakin, but Dakin is (if not in love with, then at least attracted to) [[spoiler:Irwin]]. More amusingly, Scripps has a theory that this is the defining characteristic of Christianity.

* ''Theatre/AMidsummerNightsDream'' has several human characters falling in love with one another, then out of love and into love with someone else, all at the wrong time, thanks to the fairies using love potions to mess with their already confused relationships for the lols.

** Adrien/Chat Noir yearns after his partner Ladybug. However, she doesn't reciprocate his feelings... and unlike [[WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug the original series]], she ''doesn't'' have a crush on his civilian identity, either, as [[AlternateUniverse Marinette was transferred into Ms. Mendeleiev's class]] at the start of the school year, and he didn't [[ForWantOfANail show her the kindness that kickstarted that crush]] in the first place.
** Marinette's classmate Aurore, meanwhile, has a crush on Adrien... but he's [[ObliviousToLove completely oblivious]]. When he ''does'' start paying attention to her, it's purely because he thinks she might hold the key to Ladybug's SecretIdentity; once he decides that she likely doesn't know anything, he goes right back to ignoring her and drifting away. [[spoiler:She gets over her crush after he tries to stop her from interfering with Chloe's bullying.]]

* ''Fanfic/WhiteSheepRWBY'': Subverted; in canon, Illia's affections for her friend Blake were unrequited. Here, they were apparently in a relationship when Blake was in the White Fang, in addition to Blake's relationship with Adam. While Illia and Adam weren't together, it seems like all three were aware of everything and fine with it. When Adam and Illia show up, Yang calls them Blake's "psycho ex-boyfriend" and "psycho ex-girlfriend," and no one disagrees. [[spoiler:After Adam is killed, Illia sticks around and does her best to help, and in the epilogue she's living with Blake and Sun in what everyone assumes is some complicated sexual relationship]].
* In the [[Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers Hetalia]] fanfic, [[https://fanfiction.net/s/7743358 “Love is a Disease”]], Matthew, a [[ArmouredClosetGay closeted gay teen]], accidentally confesses his feelings towards his heterosexual crush Alfred, who reveals this to his friend Gilbert, who (unbeknownst to either Alfred or Matthew) [[spoiler:has a [[LovingBully crush]] on Matthew]], and uses this information to blackmail and eventually [[ForcedOutOfTheCloset out]] Matthew to their classmates. The homophobic bullying Matthew faces forces him to change schools, where Matthew is more determined than ever to stay closeted, and gets an unknowing [[TheBeard beard]] in the form of Lilli, who (much to Matthew’s guilt) genuinely likes him. Matthew quickly starts developing feelings for his new friend Ivan [[spoiler:who returns those feelings]], which is complicated by both Matthew’s attempt to stay in the closet, as well as [[spoiler:Gilbert]] escalating [[spoiler:his]] behavior to StalkerWithACrush and AttemptedRape before finally admitting [[spoiler:his feelings]] after a confrontation with Matthew.

* In ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaTriggerHappyHavoc'':
** Toko is obsessively in love with Byakuya who wants nothing to do with her. [[spoiler: There is also her split personality "Genocide Jill" who is equally head over heels for Byakuya, who again is repulsed by her.]]
** There is [[spoiler: the sixteenth student, Mukuro Ikusaba]] who is revealed in other works aside from the main game to have liked Makoto but was never brave enough to confess. WordOfGod said that in any photo taken, their line of sight would be in Makoto's direction. The only time they would look straight at the camera if Makoto was the one behind the camera.

* In ''VisualNovel/MajiDeWatashiNiKoishinasai'',[[spoiler:Azumi's route, where Miyako is in love with Yamato who is in love with Azumi who is in love with Hideo who is in love with Kazuko who doesn't love him back.]]

* Alas, in ''Fanfic/BlizzardOfTheRedCastle'', [[Anime/KantaiCollection battleship Nagato]] has recently realized that [[SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan her affection for the Admiral]] is not only possible due to a legal loophole, but also not a pipedream. Poor woman doesn't realize that he only has eyes for Kongo. Ooi similarly suffers from this. Then again, it's likely for the best: her crush is [[BrotherSisterIncest her sister]], and [[PsychoLesbian this is Ooi]] we're talking about.

* The LemonyNarrator of [[FanFic/EquestriaAHistoryRevealed Equestria: A History Revealed]] often goes on a tangent on how she's been trying to get her [[PlayedForLaughs homeless friend, Crazy Larry, to fall in love with her.]] He doesn't seem to show any interest in her advances though.
* PlayedForLaughs in Chapter 64 of ''FanFic/YouGotHaruhiRolled'', which features a severely dysfunctional [[LoveDodecahedron Love Quadrilateral]] in which no crush is requited. To wit, [[HumanoidAbomination Kuyou]] plans to brainwash [[JerkAss Fujiwara]] into having sex with her, [[AllMenArePerverts Fujiwara]] tries to catch [[TheDitz Kyouko]] in the shower, [[SchoolgirlLesbians Kyouko]] practically {{Squee}}s over [[IncompatibleOrientation Sasaki]], and, to top it all off, [[{{Narcissist}} Sasaki]] makes the polygon open-ended by [[ScrewYourself attempting to kiss her own reflection]].
* In ''FanFic/SophisticationAndBetrayal'' this is a major source of angst for several characters.
* In Merlin fanfic ''FanFic/AVeryHairySituation,'' Merlin and Gwen are both in love with Arthur, who is in love with Gwaine. In the past, Gwen had a crush on Merlin, who didn't even notice. Due to his [[spoiler:MagicHair,]] Gwaine is actually a common target of unrequited love.
* In the ''Manga/KatekyoHitmanReborn'' FanFic ''FanFic/{{Sehnsucht}}'', the audience is initially led to believe that Cynthia, Noriko's past life, spared Daemon Spade after he betrayed the First Generation out of respect for her adoptive sister, Elena. [[spoiler:While that may have played a part, the actual reason why Cynthia spared Daemon was because she was in love with him]].

* ''FanFic/TransformersAnimatedCybertronianGenesis'': Both Optimus and Sentinel had feelings for their classmate Elita-1, who wasn't interested in any romance (though it's implied she felt something for Optimus), only dating the latter because he asked her out. Now, as Blackarachnia, she despises both of them. As for Optimus, he is still in love with her, won't even entertain the idea of entering a relationship with anyone else, and futilely hopes that she can still be redeemed.

* Alas, in ''FanFic/BlizzardOfTheRedCastle'', [[Anime/KantaiCollection battleship Nagato]] has recently realized that [[SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan her affection for the Admiral]] is not only possible due to a legal loophole, but also not a pipedream. Poor woman doesn't realize that he only has eyes for Kongo. Ooi similarly suffers from this. Then again, it's likely for the best: her crush is [[BrotherSisterIncest her sister]], and [[PsychoLesbian this is Ooi]] we're talking about.

* ''FanFic/TotalDramaBattleOfTheGenerations'': Rodney believes he and Amy are a couple, though the later is merely using him as an easily exploitable extra vote.
* In ''FanFic/LeaveForMendeleiev''...

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* In the [[Webcomic/AxisPowersHetalia Hetalia]] fanfic, [[https://fanfiction.net/s/7743358 “Love is a Disease”]], Matthew, a [[ArmouredClosetGay closeted gay teen]], accidentally confesses his feelings towards his heterosexual crush Alfred, who reveals this to his friend Gilbert, who (unbeknownst to either Alfred or Matthew) [[spoiler:has a [[LovingBully crush]] on Matthew]], and uses this information to blackmail and eventually [[ForcedOutOfTheCloset out]] Matthew to their classmates. The homophobic bullying Matthew faces forces him to change schools, where Matthew is more determined than ever to stay closeted, and gets an unknowing [[TheBeard beard]] in the form of Lilli, who (much to Matthew’s guilt) genuinely likes him. Matthew quickly starts developing feelings for his new friend Ivan [[spoiler:who returns those feelings]], which is complicated by both Matthew’s attempt to stay in the closet, as well as [[spoiler:Gilbert]] escalating [[spoiler:his]] behavior to StalkerWithACrush and AttemptedRape before finally admitting [[spoiler:his feelings]] after a confrontation with Matthew.

** Makoto shows hints of having a crush on Sayaka. Sayaka's feelings towards Makoto, whether merely platonic or romantic, on the other hand is left ambiguous [[spoiler: especially since she was the first to be killed after her attempt to frame Makoto.]]

* In the [[Webcomic/AxisPowersHetalia Hetalia]] fanfic, [[https://fanfiction.net/s/7743358 “Love is a Disease”]], Matthew, a [[ArmoredClosetGay closeted gay teen]], accidentally confesses his feelings towards his heterosexual crush Alfred, who reveals this to his friend Gilbert, who (unbeknownst to either Alfred or Matthew) [[spoiler:harbors [[LovingBully feelings]] towards Matthew]], and uses this information to blackmail and eventually [[ForcedOutOfTheCloset out]] Matthew to their classmates. The homophobic bullying Matthew faces forces him to change schools, where Matthew is more determined than ever to stay closeted, and gets an unknowing [[TheBeard beard]] in the form of Lilli, who (much to Matthew’s guilt) genuinely likes him. Matthew quickly starts developing feelings for his new friend Ivan [[spoiler:who returns those feelings]], which is complicated by [[spoiler:Gilbert]] escalating [[spoiler:his]] behavior toward StalkerWithACrush and AttemptedRape before finally admitting [[spoiler:his feelings]] after a confrontation with Matthew.

** Happens everywhere in Paris. Colette has a crush on Agatha (though she might have been joking, and wasn't too worried about it anyway), while Agatha is still pining for [[LoveTriangle Gil and Tarvek]]. Hoffman has a giant crush on Colette, and while she admits he's not as bad as the blatant gold-diggers, she still dislikes how he [[{{Adorkable}} can't form coherent sentences around her]]. Larana has a crush on Hoffman, and is similarly incoherent around him, but he doesn't even notice. This gets worse when Larana finds out that Hoffman accidentally entered them into an ArrangedMarriage to keep her kingdom and his adopted kingdom from fighting.

* ''WebAnimation/DSBTInsaniT'': Killdra ''yearns'' for her brother Killer to show her some compassion and give her time time of day, but he doesn't seem to want much to do with her. Whether her love for him goes beyond platonic is intnetionally left up in the air, though...

* The ComicBook/SuperYoungTeam of Franchise/TheDCU has a love triangle (that's really more of a love line segment) along these lines; Big Atomic Lantern Boy loves Shiny Happy Aquazon who only has eyes for Well Spoken Sonic Lightning Flash who isn't interested in relationships.

-->- '''deathpod,''' of ''Website/{{Cracked}},'' from [[https://www.cracked.com/photoplasty_2342_everything-wrong-with-our-teenage-years-in-140-characters/ entry #18 of this article.]]

* ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}'' has this trope as the norm: Unrequited love is practically the only kind of love featured throughout the series.[[note]]In the '90s, Charlie Brown had a girlfriend named Peggy Jean, and their feelings for each other were mutual. She broke up with him just before the strip ended, though.[[/note]] Charlie Brown likes the Little Red-Haired Girl, but she's TheGhost because he can never talk to her. Peppermint Patty and Marcie both like Charlie Brown, who seems generally confused by this. Sally likes Linus and Lucy likes Schroeder, but in both those cases the crushee finds the girl annoying. Patty and Shermy were a couple in the earliest strips, but these are [[FanonDiscontinuity never considered canon by fans]].

* In ''WesternAnimation/ParaNorman'', [[TheBully Alvin]] has a crush on [[TheCheerleader Courtney]], and [[TheCheerleader Courtney]] has a crush on [[DumbJock Mitch]] [[spoiler:who is gay]].

* While (thankfully) not always the case, this trope is often true of RealLife. As a rule of thumb, people tend to be most attracted to people who are [[BigManOnCampus "out of their league"]]: more attractive or talented or popular than themselves. As a result, almost everyone has had a lot more experience with unrequited crushes, both as the crusher and the crushee, than with actual successful relationships.