History Main / DesperatelyCravesAffection

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Arcane}}'': Powder needs someone to constantly reassure her that she isn't {{the Jinx}} and to give her affection. Without it she quickly falls apart. [[spoiler: So much so that she'd even desperately get it from [[BigBad Silco]] whose more than a little surprised to [[CommonalityConnection realize their similarities]] and genuinely comes to [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes adore her as his adopted daughter]]. Silco takes over from Vi for [[MeaningfulRename the newly minted Jinx]] by providing the [[PetTheDog constant stream of affirmation]] she needs in nearly every scene they're in together.]]
* The negative end of the spectrum can be found in the titular ''WesternAnimation/BojackHorseman'', due to being raised by a StageMom and ''both'' parents acting as {{Resentful Guardian}}s -- a trait that he passed along to Sarah Lynn.

* Helga G. Pataki from ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'' is so neglected by her family that when Arnold pays attention to her and is kind to her she clings to him [[BecauseYouWereNiceToMe and develops a crush on him]]. [[{{Tsundere}} She'll deny she likes him though]].

** [[BeneathTheMask In spite of his total inconsideration for anyone and usual indifferent behavior]], Discord is this. He looks genuinely surprised when Fluttershy defends him and calls him a "friend" in spite of his pranks towards the Mane Six. And when she gives up on their friendship because he didn't fulfill his promise of fixing the damage he did to Applejack's property, his eyes brim with tears.
** A common fan interpretation of Luna (with some support in canon admittedly) is that she went slightly [[GoMadFromTheIsolation insane from isolation]] and snaps back at the end of the episode.

** Hordak's reason to conquer Etheria. Having been raised to believe that invading and pillaging other planets was the right thing, he will do anything to get the approval of his boss and father figure, Horde Prime.
** This is also the main reason why Entrapta first joins the Rebellion and then defects to the Horde. She believes that if she builds things for other people, they will like her; [[TheFriendNobodyLikes but, at best, her allies just tolerate her for her abilities]], with rare exceptions, like Wrong Hordak. So, her bonding with Hordak, who is also working hard to get the affection of someone who doesn't validate him, shouldn't be entirely a surprise.

* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': Yukio Hans Vorarlberna. His sadism might've been biological, but he would've been far less homicidal if his parents gave enough of a damn to raise him properly. Fully explained in chapter 471: he was a former CuteMute who was kept locked away by his parents due to his speech impediment and was so lonely that he first used his powers to recreate images of his parents as sort-of {{Imaginary Friend}}s.

* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'':
** Unsurprisingly, the title character has this trait. Being an orphan and the village pariah for something beyond his control, Naruto acted out in desperate attempts to be validated and not seen as a monster, with hateful eyes. He fortunately gains friends and loved ones (though even then, he does not shake off the loneliness as seen in a prequel manga to ''Road to Ninja'', which shows him playing cards with his Shadow Clones, indicating he's not that close to his friends.) However, he does become HappilyMarried.
** Gaara to a lesser extent was this but also went mad before Naruto set him on the right path. By ''Shippuden'', he has become the beloved village leader while repairing his bonds with his older siblings.
** In ''[[Anime/TheLastNarutoTheMovie The Last]]'' movie, Toneri desires to take Hinata away from the world before he destroys it so he will no longer be alone.
* ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'': Generally, [[DysfunctionJunction much of the cast]] suffer from deprivation of love, be it familial, romantic, or both. Here are some cases that particularly stand out:
** Shinji Ikari is an odd mixture of this trope and HatesBeingTouched. He desperately wants love and affection but is so terrified of being hurt by rejection that he pushes everyone away regardless. Unfortunately, just when it seems he finally found what he wanted in [[spoiler:Kaworu Nagisa]], he lost him in [[SuicideByCop one of the most horribly heart-breaking ways imaginable]].
** In spite of her narcissism, all Asuka really wants is admiration for her skills as a pilot, Kaji's respect, and Shinji's affection. Her struggle in getting them puts her in a downward spiral.

* In ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'', it's implied that [[{{Yandere}} Russia]] is this. Unfortunately, he tends to scare people away.

* Guts and Griffith [[spoiler:(before he became Femto, anyway)]] in ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'' are both painfully starved for genuine affection and intimacy. Guts is also a combination of this and HatesBeingTouched, though [[IfItsYouItsOkay he makes an exception for Casca]]. Following the Eclipse, Guts has a full-on case of this for Casca, which Casca cannot reciprocate because of her Eclipse-induced madness, which [[HeartbrokenBadass makes him miserable in a big way]] and is one of the key motivators of his quest to FindTheCure.

* Rolo in ''Anime/CodeGeass'' seems to be this way in his relationship with his brother Lelouch. He's really clingy towards Lelouch, tries to MurderTheHypotenuse so he can remain Lelouch's brother, and [[spoiler:sacrifices himself for Lelouch]], telling him that even if Lelouch betrayed him, their relationship was real to him.
* ''Manga/NoMatterHowILookAtItItsYouGuysFaultImNotPopular'': Tomoko Kuroki, the unkempt {{Otaku}} protagonist, has it as her mission in life to become popular- a mission she repeatedly fails due to having NoSocialSkills. To the point of BrotherSisterIncest overtones in her interactions with Tomoki, with Tomoki none too pleased. Also part of why she's so attached to her only real friend Yuu, besides the HomoeroticSubtext.
* ''Manga/{{Adekan}}'':
** Kojiro appears to be a LivingEmotionalCrutch for Shiro with all the HoYay implications attached and Shiro actively allows Kojiro to get close to him most of the time stemming from his DarkAndTroubledPast and as a kid was very close to Anri who served as a LivingEmotionalCrutch for him before Kojiro came into the picture. It's even said outright that since Shiro had his humanity stripped away from him he's learning to be kind and care about people again ever since he got close to Kojiro, given how Kojiro himself is such a kindhearted guy. It's also implied to be the reason he's clingy around women too.
** Anri calls Shiro to complain when a [[ExtremeOmnisexual panda he's attracted to]] rejects him. Shiro states that Anri does so every time he's rejected. It's also implied to be the reason he's such a CrazyJealousGuy about Shiro because Shiro keeps pushing him away compared to their time as children when he was much warmer towards Anri.

* ''Literature/{{Durarara}}'': Shizuo Heiwajima doesn't see affection as a weakness or liability - he craves human contact more than anything else, romantic or otherwise - but experience has taught him that he's dangerously prone to hospitalizing people he wants to be close to.
* ''Manga/SeraphOfTheEnd'': Though he initially acts [[HatesBeingTouched the opposite]], Yuu craves to have a family and for people to love him ever since he lost his family at a young age. Guren even states in the manga that Yuu desires to be loved by others. Mika seems to be this way in regards [[HoYay to Yuu]] as well. Miharu also DesperatelyCravesAffection but [[SingleTargetSexuality only from Guren]].
* ''Manga/GirlsBravo'': Yukina [[spoiler:The BigBad]] falls for Yukinari because Yukinari is the ''only'' guy that does not trigger her allergy to men. By the end of the series, she takes every opportunity to cling to him to make up for a lifetime of being starved of physical intimacy.

* ''Manga/DescendantsOfDarkness'': Tsuzuki finally confides in Hisoka that he's not human, and then he attempts to stab out his eyes with a shard of glass because it was the color of his eyes that made the people in his life mistreat and abuse him. Hisoka is absolutely furious that they would treat him like this, and that even after that Tsuzuki still craved their acceptance because he was so starved for love.
* ''Manga/KaguyaSamaLoveIsWar'':
** Given that Miko's parents have been absent for most of her life due to their careers, she is starved for affection, and it's reflected in just about every aspect of her character from her hobbies (listening to [=CDs=] of guys whispering words of encouragement and reading web novels designed for self-inserts), her habit of promoting justice (as it makes her feel closer to her parents that do humanitarian aid and work as a judge), and even her sleeping habits ([[AnOddPlaceToSleep using a giant teddy bear as a bed]] because lying in its arms gives her the feeling of a princess carry). She is also very quick to warm up to people who give her even the most basic of compliments, even if it's clear that they don't have the best of intentions.
** Hayasaka wishes she could spend more time with her mother, wants friends, and increasingly gets more frustrated the more she hears about [[spoiler:Kaguya and Shirogane dating]], to the point that she tried to give a ForcefulKiss to Fujiwara and writes down in a notebook what her ideal date would look like. When she allows Kaguya to show Ishigami her notes to help with his upcoming date with Tsubame, he comments that whoever wrote it must really want to be kissed and has no experience in dating at all.
* An extremely tragic example in ''Anime/YugiohVRAINS''. 10 years before the events of the series, Dr. Kogami initiated Project Ignis to create the world's first fully sapient AI. It involved kidnapping 6 very young children and locking them in separate rooms each with nothing but a VR headset that has a single-player Dueling Program installed. They were only fed when they won a duel against the AI and were given agonizing electric shocks if they lost. This went on for 6 months and only ended because Kogami's son, who wasn't much older than they were, couldn't stand the screams anymore and called the police. 5 of the 6 children understandably view it as an incredibly traumatic event that ruined their lives. The 6th child, a boy known to the audience only as Specter, viewed it as the best thing that ever happened to him because he was a neglected orphan who viewed a literal tree as his only family and being brutally tortured for 6 months was the most attention he had ever received in his short life.
* ''Manga/AManAndHisCat'': Fukumaru spent a very long time in the shelter, watching younger kittens get adopted while he languished alone. As a result, he's happy for anyone to give him the time of day.

* Syaoran in ''Fanfic/{{Shatterheart}}'' becomes desperate for any sort of affection after being kept isolated for years and because his friends started to shun him for his [[spoiler: clone's]] betrayal.

* In ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' fanfic ''Fanfic/ConversationsWithACryptid'', after being kept away from their family for so long and being denied human contact, [[spoiler: All For One]] is very affectionate with their son [[spoiler: Izuku]], including giving him a hug and later even cuddle the kid to sleep. This creeps out [[spoiler: Izuku]] very much since he knows [[spoiler: All For One]] is still a murderous supervillain.
* In ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'' fanfic ''Fanfic/{{Daymare}}'', Izuku due to having endured a decade of abuse, ridicule, and social ostracization due to his status as 'Quirkless' latches onto anyone who is nice to him.
* In ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13064230/16/And-Now-Yet-Again-Still-Even-More-Fragments Marked]]'', [[Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer Tara]], having never received any affection from her birth family, quickly latches on to Xander once he saves her, to the extent of ignoring food in order to cuddle with him, deciding that physical hunger was less important than emotional hunger.

* ''Fanfic/DenounceTheEvils'' portrays Jessie as this due to her abandonment issues. She finds it hard to get close to people and let her walls down, but once she does do this she attaches hard.
* Weiss in ''Fanfic/CravingTheSky'' is an interesting case where this trope overlaps with HatesBeingTouched. Thanks to a mostly loveless and emotionally abusive upbringing, the girl is absolutely starved of affection, however this same abuse combined with [[FreakinessShame various]] [[HideYourOtherness other]] [[CreepyPhysical issues]] has also left her extremely uncomfortable with physical contact. She regularly struggles with these two opposing impulses, and will often change her mind about which one she wants mid-conversation.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Frozen|2013}}'' has Anna who is so love-starved from her palace isolation that she agrees to marry Prince Hans the same day she meets him, right after LoveAtFirstSight and a duet with him. Both her sister and new acquaintance Kristoff are aghast at her supposed impulsiveness, though Anna seems rightly afraid she'll never get another chance to meet someone like that. [[spoiler:Unfortunately it turns out that her supposed true love doesn't really love her at all and when combined with Elsa's actions at the ice castle, it seemed that nobody really loved her. But then as soon as Olaf reveals that Kristoff loved her, Anna is so overjoyed at the prospect of someone loving her that she immediately runs for him to get a TrueLovesKiss not just to thaw her frozen heart but also implying that she wants to have someone that doesn't either shut her out or use her for their ends]].
* Maui from ''WesternAnimation/{{Moana}},'' whose many world-changing acts for humanity were spurned on by this. This apparently [[DarkAndTroubledPast stems from]] [[spoiler:[[OffingTheOffspring his parents trying to kill him when he was a baby]]]].

* ''Film/XMenFilmSeries'': Xavier, who is by nature a very sensitive individual who wears his heart on his sleeve, had developed severe abandonment issues through a combination of growing up as a LonelyRichKid and being left behind by his best friend Erik and his foster sister Raven at the end of the [[Film/XMenFirstClass Cuban Missile Crisis]]. This culminates in him becoming a clinically depressed, AddledAddict for a [[Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast whole decade]]. Hank takes care of Charles 24/7, and they are frightfully codependent because [=McCoy=] enables his friend's substance abuse after he produces a serum that dulls Xavier's mutant ability. They're excessively clingy on an emotional level, being each other's OnlyFriend and LivingEmotionalCrutch. Professor X's mental state vastly improves after 1973, yet he still craves affection, and it's expressed through his [[Film/XMenApocalypse doting parenting style]] with his students. It's not adequate for him to merely be an educator; he also wants to be their adored and revered father figure, which is why he devotes so much of his time and energy assisting with their psychological well-being.
* Seemingly the case in ''Film/TheSureThing'' for [[NoNameGiven the eponymous Sure Thing]]. Gib is thrown at the end of his 3000-mile QuestForSex when the Sure Thing asks him to say that he loves her before they have sex.
* Sarah Packard from ''Film/TheHustler1961'', whose desperation is only held in check by [[TheAlcoholic her constant drinking]]. It becomes more obvious when she starts falling in love with Eddie.
* Lillie in ''Film/WildOrchids'' can't get her MarriedToTheJob husband to give her affection or even attention. She winds up succumbing to the handsome prince that's been chasing her, mostly because he's the only one showing interest.
* ''Film/{{Thor}}'': Loki. On the one hand, he's a conniving, power-hungry liar, willing to betray his brother and doom him to permanent banishment while he took over the throne. On the other hand, he's a deeply damaged young man who's convinced he's TheUnfavourite, especially after finding out he was not only adopted, but from an enemy race, and is desperate for his father's approval and affection. It's made even sadder because he already had his father's acceptance and fondness, but convinced himself otherwise.

* ''Film/{{Babel}}'': This is the basis for Chieko's storyline. After her mother's death, her father became distant, and she craves affection so badly that even sexual attention from strangers seems like an acceptable substitute for the parental love she's no longer getting.
* ''Film/FishTank'': Mia has a very prickly nature, but her bravado and belligerence mask a deep need for meaningful human connection. Her mother is an abusive alcoholic, she doesn’t get along with her little sister, and she’s fallen out with her only female friend.

* ''Literature/{{Psycho}}'': Norman Bates in all adaptions has MommyIssues which make him afraid of getting close to women for fear of his mother's disapproval, though he desperately longs to be intimate with a woman. So he settles for [[ThePeepingTom watching them while they're in a state of undress]].

* Ryan O'Reily of ''Series/{{Oz}}''. Evident in his relationship with Dr. Nathan.
** Numerous inmates in Oz are this way. Keller in particular mentions how it's not just sex. He just genuinely longs to touch/feel another person, like Beecher, but the sad thing is his manipulative and destructive tendencies end up pushing Beecher away.

* PlayedForLaughs in an episode of ''{{Series/Scrubs}}'': because he'd been single for too long, JD became so touch-starved that when he accidentally bumped into a random coworker in the hallway, he leaned in with a blissful look on his face and just sort of stopped to savor the moment for a bit.
* Over the seasons of ''Series/BreakingBad'', it becomes clear that this is one of Jesse's weaknesses - Jane, Gus, and most of all Walt are all able to manipulate him by giving him the mild signs of affection or praise that he lacks from anyone else in his life. It's particularly obvious with Walt - mid-season 3, he goes into a long rant about how he's lost absolutely everything he ever valued in his life because of Walt and wants to quit and never go back... but ends up returning to cook with him just because Walt tells him that his meth was actually really good.
* Logan Echolls on ''Series/VeronicaMars'' has such a sucky home life that he tends to look to friends and {{love interest}}s for comfort and affection. Which means that his girlfriend's murder and the subsequent unravelling of his close-knit clique really [[DrowningHisSorrows did]] [[TheBully a number]] [[DeathSeeker on him]].
* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'': It is clear that Dean is very co-dependent with Sam and needs constant human contact, approval, and love from others. Sam ends up dealing with the brunt of this.
** It gets even sadder when you consider he's repeatedly told Cas he needs him and yet, from Dean's point of view, Cas keeps leaving him. In season 9, it's actually Dean who pushes Cas away in a (misguided) attempt to save Sam, which ends up worsening his already fragile emotional state even further.

* ''Series/{{Rectify}}'': Daniel, being isolated and raped while in prison, craves positive human contact which explains his attachment to his mother and his feelings for Tawney which jump-started when she was shown to be genuinely nice and interested in him. He even inappropriately asks to kiss her in one scene despite knowing she's already married before he apologizes.
* ''Series/BatesMotel'': Several characters try to battle their twisted psyches and loneliness by reaching out for physical contact with their loved ones.
* ''Series/{{Succession}}'': The Roy siblings want to become the CEO of Waystar not because of the money or the power it brings, but rather because they equate it with finally getting their father's love and approval, the lack of which has made all of them extremely dysfunctional and emotionally stunted well into adulthood.

* Blanche in ''Theatre/AStreetcarNamedDesire'' struggles with becoming a relic of a bygone era, and is LookingForLoveInAllTheWrongPlaces, hoping to prove she is still as desirable as she was in her youth, but she also fears this will make her DefiledForever.

* Implied to be the case with Herbert von Krolock in ''Theatre/TanzDerVampire'', an extroverted vampire living in a castle with only his brooding father and their servant [[TheIgor Koukol]] as company. He immediately falls for Alfred and [[NotGoodWithRejection doesn't take it kindly]] when Alfred declines his advances.

* Mileena of ''Franchise/MortalKombat'' heartbreakingly has this as a central character trait and it’s no wonder why. She was created as an EvilKnockOff of Kitana using Tarkatan DNA giving her ScaryTeeth and pretty much everyone who knows her, with only a handful of exceptions treats her like an ugly freak of nature with her clone sister Kitana in particular constantly [[ThatThingIsNotMyChild rejecting her]] much to Mileena‘s upset. Literally anyone who shows her any affection like Shao Kahn, Sindel, Tanya, or in the MKX comic Reiko (though it was feigned), Mileena lovingly dotes on in response. Her ''[[VideoGame/MortalKombat MK11]]'' ending shows she’s [[GoodParents a loving mother to her baby daughter]] simply [[TearJerker because her child looks at her with love rather than fear or hatred]].
* Eddie Gluskin from the Whistleblower DLC of ''VideoGame/{{Outlast}}'' is a LoveHungry SerialKiller who hunts down any man in the asylum who catches his eye and mutilates them to make them biologically female, since he views them as misshapen women who can become a loving, doting wife once they look the way he wants. He scrawls saccharine witticisms about marriage on the walls, sews wedding dresses in his workshop, and sings love songs as he chases you through all the viscera he's left behind. It all makes much more sense when you come across a patient report document that reveals that when he was growing up [[RapeAsBackstory he was regularly sexually abused by his father and uncle,]] which the report describes as "traumatically violent". Eddie denies this and dissociates from it so hard that he unironically claims to have grown up in ''Series/LeaveItToBeaver''. When shown the photos his abusers took of him, he responds "with a mixture of laughter and rage" and he had to be physically restrained.
* Oswald in ''VideoGame/OdinSphere'' is driven by a desperate need for someone - ''anyone'' - to love him, after learning that the adoptive father he thought cared for him really only saw him as a tool. This need is what leads him to agree to slay the dragon Wagner for Odin once Odin promises him the hand of his daughter Gwendolyn in marriage. However, he's not so desperate that he would ''force'' someone to love him, as he balks when he learns that Gwendolyn is [[spoiler:apparently]] under a spell that will make her fall in love with the one who awakens her and expresses a desire to find a way to break the enchantment first [[spoiler:until he learns the truth]].
* Cloud Strife is a heartbreaking case of this deep down in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake''. Thanks to his horrific past (hometown burned down, mother killed and best friend gunned down) he tends to keep his allies at arm’s length as a StoicWoobie, brushing off the cuddly affections which love interests Aerith and Jessie give him, as if he’s above such things. However, following the destruction of Sector 7, when his childhood crush Tifa [[BreakTheCutie breaks down]] and [[CryIntoChest cries into his chest]] after losing their livelihoods for a second time, Cloud finally gives in and hugs Tifa tightly in response--so tightly in fact that Tifa says ''he’s hurting her''.
* One of the bosses in ''VideoGame/NierAutomata'' fits this - namely, as revealed in [[NewGamePlus Route B]], [[spoiler: Beauvoir/Simone, who journeyed far and wide and committed atrocities so she could be more attractive for Sartre/Jean-Paul, a philosophical robot with no interest in romance. Realizing that she'll never get his affection, she's MaddenedIntoMisanthropy at how meaningless her existence had become]].

* ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'': One of Manuela's defining characteristics; she's been something of an OldMaid for some time, and despite her constant flirting and even dating, she has yet to catch a man all her own, something that she can get quite depressed about.
* Zagreus of ''VideoGame/{{Hades}}'' has what his father derisively refers to as "a constant need of affirmation" to keep his self-worth afloat and is thus prone to unrelenting, unsolicited (and sometimes unwelcome) generosity towards anyone willing to give it.

* Haruka from ''VisualNovel/LittleBusters'', due to her BigScrewedUpFamily being pretty horrible to her and making her feel worthless, is absolutely desperate for any kind of reassurance. It gets to the point where, late in her route after she and Riki have been going out for some time, she admits that she feels terrible because she's not even totally sure that she actually loves him and isn't just with him because he's the only one who's ever properly shown affection to her. Riki assures her that he doesn't care and loves her anyway.

* In ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'', Elliot, after [[spoiler:breaking with Sarah]], starts to have a lot of {{Erotic Dream}}s. His subconscious [[http://www.egscomics.com/index.php?id=1770 (in the form of Tedd)]] makes him realize that he just wants a girlfriend [[spoiler:who's not like a sister to him]].

* Similarly, Donnie [=DuPre=] of ''WebVideo/DemoReel'' is notoriously insecure and will do almost anything for a scrap of positive attention.
* ''WebVideo/{{Dad}}'' angsted over not getting a kiss on the cheek from Mom, especially when he thought his family didn't actually love him. He is desperate for Mom and Daughter's open affection, even daydreaming about it.

* Elmyra of ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures'': Elmyra has a cute crush on Max and one short called "Can't Buy Me Love" has Elmyra meet an evil little girl called Rhoda. Elmyra sees hearts and positively MELTS when Rhoda says she'll let her be her best friend and spends the rest of the picture bending over backwards to make Rhoda like her. It plays VERY much like any episode where Elmyra chases Max, only way more seriously, and heck, Elmyra even lets Rhoda HAVE Max (who doesn't want him after mere moments). And after she learns her lesson about not needing to give someone something so they'll like you, Rhoda comes by her window and says she'll be her friend again if Elmyra steals her mom's car keys and drives her to Utah. Instantly Elmyra says "okay" and rushes off eagerly to Rhoda's side. So not only is Elmyra completely infatuated with Rhoda but apparently, Rhoda can't leave Elmyra alone for five minutes, even after Elmyra dumped her. Elmyra also had a thing for chasing Fifi around, a voluptuous female skunk that persisted even after Fifi skunked her and had Elmyra go as far as to pose as Fifi's crush Pepe le Pew. It's notable that during all these times she shows affection towards the above respective characters and they rebuff her, she falls to pieces.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'': Nergal Jr desperately wants friends but if someone refuses to be his friend, he freezes them and takes their form.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheSpectacularSpiderMan'', Harry seems to be so starved for affection from his parents that he'll try to fill it with any kind of outside attention, from trying to get popular to getting a girlfriend (specifically, Gwen).
* The negative end of the spectrum can be found in the titular ''WesternAnimation/BojackHorseman'', due to being raised by a StageMom and ''both'' parents acting as {{Resentful Guardian}}s -- a trait that he passed along to Sarah Lynn.

* ''WesternAnimation/TimeSquad'' manages to do this to the robot, the Larry 3000. Larry is an incredibly emotional robot and suffers depression and anger issues that come from a lack of human appreciation and love from the one person he wants it to come from, his partner Buck Tuddrussel. And it's even been stated outright by Otto that even Larry's nightmares scream "I just want to be loved". Tuddrussel is incredibly uncomfortable with Larry's neediness, stating several times that he's JustAMachine and is just supposed to be an advanced tool, not a person. However, this is less genuine belief and more Tuddrussel's own emotional immaturity, as the show goes out of its way to point out that the two have become VitriolicBestBuds in spite of themselves, and in later episodes, possibly even a quasi-romantic relationship if some of the more suggestive moments are taken at face value.

* Both [[RidiculouslyHumanRobots Bender]] and [[TheFriendNobodyLikes Zoidberg]] in ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}''. The former [[LoveHungry can take it a little far]].
* ''WesternAnimation/MoralOrel'' reveals that Clay Puppington is this in "Passing", as after inadvertently causing his mother's death, his father is ''close'' to hitting him... but decides that [[NotWorthKilling he's not worth the effort]]. After that, Clay acts out deliberately to get his father to pay attention to him, even if just to give him a DopeSlap. This carried over to adulthood, as "Sacrifice" has him delivering TheReasonYouSuckSpeech to other bar patrons in the hopes that they'll beat him up.
* Bill Dauterive from ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'' is often desperate for affection be it romantic or for friendship, he became this way after his wife Lenore divorced him and he became clinically depressed, if he gets the slightest bit of attention, he will sometimes take it to the extreme and keep on doing the thing that got him attention even if it takes on negative consequences.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'': Hooty, much like [[WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy Meg]] and [[WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}} Zoidberg]] is a ButtMonkey who really just wants to be apart of the main gang. The problem, is that he does this ''too'' much, and it encourages the house’s residents to want to do nothing with him.
-->'''Hooty:''' You’ve always got Uncle Hooty’s shoulder to lean on.
-->'''King:''' You don’t have any shoulders!
-->'''Hooty:''' Lean on me!
-->'''King:''' Stay away from me!
-->'''Hooty:''' Let me be your emotional support!

* ''LightNovel/{{Durarara}}'': Shizuo Heiwajima doesn't see affection as a weakness or liability - he craves human contact more than anything else, romantic or otherwise - but experience has taught him that he's dangerously prone to hospitalizing people he wants to be close to.

** After Hinami loses her parents she states she's very sad and turns to Kaneki and Touka for affection and comfort as a way to keep from succumbing to loneliness. She needs constant contact from the people she loves and when they pull away (Kaneki) she gets very sad indeed.

* ''Manga/WolfGuyWolfenCrest'': A strange example can be found in [[CryForTheDevil Konuma]] in chapter 85 that has a lot of FridgeBrilliance and FridgeHorror attached: [[spoiler:after trying to get Inugami to sleep with her and eventually trying to blackmail him with Aoshika's whereabouts, she finally gets Inugami to push her down on to Aoshika's bed(!) and kiss her.]] In a startling moment of clarity, Konuma muses that no matter what she did, she couldn't get a reaction from Inugami but if it's for Aoshika, he would do anything to Konuma. [[DidYouThinkICantFeel She even points out that he couldn't give a rat's ass about how that feels to]] ''[[DidYouThinkICantFeel her]]'' and he agrees. It's one of the few times that Konuma shows any true humanity. What makes it worse is that for all the disturbing characters in this manga, Konuma is the only one that '''''[[LonersAreFreaks NO ONE CARES ABOUT.]]''''' Inugami has Aoshika's love, Chiba's mutual respect and is the focus of Haguro's obsession, Haguro has the respect and fear of most of his subordinates and the Kurodas had each other. She is, at best, a biological means to an end for Haguro and [[TheFriendNobodyLikes an annoyance at all other times.]] Granted much of [[LaserGuidedKarma this is the result of her personality]] (which includes her masturbating after a massacre just to feel something) and [[TheSociopath the company she keeps]] but it's still quite tragic. Don't worry, though; the sympathetic feels will completely disappear in [[IgnoredEpiphany the next chapter]] where [[spoiler:[[VillainousBreakdown she tries and fails to kill Inugami]]]].

* An extremely tragic example in ''Anime/YugiohVRAINS''. 10 years before the events of the series, Dr. Kogami initiated Project Ignis to create the world's first fully sapient AI. It involved kidnapping 6 very young children and locking them in separate rooms each with nothing but a VR headset that has a single-player Dueling Program installed. They were only fed when they won a duel against the AI and were given agonizing electric shocks if they lost. This went on for 6 months and only ended because Kogami's son, who wasn't much older than they were, couldn't stand the screams anymore and called the police. 5 of the 6 children understandably view it as an incredibly traumatic event that ruined their lives. The 6th child, a boy known to the audience only as Specter, viewed it as the best thing that ever happened to him, because he was a neglected orphan who viewed a literal tree as his only family and being brutally tortured for 6 months was the most attention he had ever received in his short life.

* ''Franchise/StarWars'': One of Anakin Skywalker's greatest flaws is his inability to let go of the people he loves. He can't bear to see them hurt or parted from him, constantly tries to gain others' [[DoggedNiceGuy affection]] or [[WellDoneSonGuy approval]], and is eventually [[LoveMakesYouEvil driven to extreme lengths to protect his wife]]. It's not helping that as a boy, he was separated from his mother and then found out that his father-figure Qui-Gon Jinn died, leaving him as a ward to the Jedi. By the time he returns for his mother, he's unable to prevent her from dying, which he [[ILetGwenStacyDie blames himself for]]. Upon marrying Padmé Amidala, who becomes the only family he has left, he grows paranoid about losing her, which Palpatine heavily [[FlawExploitation exploits]].
** This is extended the Clone Wars series, in which he had a padawan, Ahsoka Tano. After some unfortunate and completely avoidable events, she abandoned the Jedi Order and his side, which likely contributed to the frustration and rage against the Jedi Council we see in ''Film/RevengeOfTheSith''.

* Mileena of ''Franchise/MortalKombat'' heartbreakingly has this as a central character trait and it’s no wonder why. She was created as a EvilKnockOff of Kitana using Tarkatan DNA giving her ScaryTeeth and pretty much everyone who knows her, with only a handful of exceptions treats her like a ugly freak of nature with her clone sister Kitana in particular constantly [[ThatThingIsNotMyChild rejecting her]] much to Mileena‘s upset. Literally anyone who shows her any affection like Shao Kahn, Sindel, Tanya or in the MKX comic Reiko (though it was feigned), Mileena lovingly dotes on in response. Her ''[[VideoGame/MortalKombat MK11]]'' ending shows she’s [[GoodParents a loving mother to her baby daughter]] simply [[TearJerker because her child looks at her with love rather than fear or hatred]].

* In ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'', Elliot, after [[spoiler:breaking with Sarah]], starts to have a lot of {{Erotic Dream}}s. His subconscious [[http://www.egscomics.com/index.php?id=1770 (in the form of Tedd)]] make him realize that he just wants a girlfriend [[spoiler:who's not like a sister to him]].
* Sette Frummagem from ''Webcomic/{{Unsounded}}'' is a [[SirSwearsAlot foul-mouthed]] [[TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior little hellion]] and daughter of [[TheDon crime lord]] Nary-a-Care Frummagem... He is [[AbusiveParents not a very good father]]: After recounting having seen the deaths of [[OurLichesAreDifferent Duane]] and his daughter Mikaila [[BackgroundMagicField in the Khert]], Duane furiously yells at her not to use Mikaila's name as "it is not for you." Sette tearfully shoots back that it ''is'', because that's what Duane himself sometimes calls Sette [[TalkingInYourSleep at night]], and she don't mind it because "ain't no one ever calls me Sette the way ya call me Mikaila."

** Scorpia, the self-proclaimed "great hugger", fits the trope like a glove. She clings to Catra from the first moment they meet each other, does everything that is in her power to help her, and is delighted at the slightest bit of attention the cat reluctantly pays her. It is only after having met Entrapta -- and watched as Catra exiled her -- that Scorpia starts to realize what true friendship is. She eventually defects the Horde to join the Rebellion, bonding with Frosta and Perfuma in a healthier way.

* ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'': One of Manuela's defining characteristics; she's been something of a ChristmasCake for some time, and despite her constant flirting and even dating, she has yet to catch a man all her own, something that she can get quite depressed about.

* Cloud Strife is a heartbreaking case of this deep down in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake''. Thanks to his horrific past (hometown burned down, mother killed and best friend gunned down) he tends keep his allies at arm’s length as a StoicWoobie, brushing off the cuddly affection of love interests Aerith and Jessie give him acting like he’s above such things. However in Chapter 14 after the destruction of Sector 7 when Tifa his childhood crush [[BreakTheCutie breaks down]] and [[CryIntoChest cries into his chest]] at losing their livelihoods for the second time, Cloud finally gives in and hugs Tifa tightly in response — so tightly in fact that Tifa claims ''he’s hurting her''.