History Main / DidNotGetTheGirl

* ''Film/WildWildWest'': The female lead reveals that Dr. Escobar is not her father, but her husband. Which she should have mentioned before.

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[[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hunchback_didnotgetthegirl.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"Dammit... I had a [[{{Pun}} hunch]] this would happen."]]

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* In the ''[[Creator/CarlBarks Uncle Scrooge]]'' comics, one of the most attractive things for shippers about Scrooge and Goldie is that they only spent that one month together and then, driven apart by their {{pride}}, went their separate ways, never to see each other again for fifty-some years. Creator/DonRosa was strongly tempted to write more meetings between them when he took over the Scrooge [=McDuck=] Universe but resisted the temptation to ruin the tragic romanticism of this trope.
* ''ComicBook/EmpireState'': Jimmy screws up the courage to confess his feelings for Sara, only to discover that she's found a boyfriend since she moved away. She does let Jimmy kiss her, which is implied to be more out of pity than romantic attraction ("Listen, kiddo, that's just to get you through the next year or two."); if you tilt your head and squint, you could interpret it as a MaybeEverAfter ending.
* ''ComicBook/TheSmurfs'': In ''The Olympic Smurfs'', for all the troubles Weakling Smurf went through, he winds up not getting Smurfette (or at least, not getting a kiss from Smurfette) by the story's end.
* Played with in a very gruesome way in ''ComicBook/LesLegendaires'' during the Anathos Cycle. As the protagonists prepare to fight the GodOfEvil Anathos, [[TheHero Danael]], feeling tired with everything that happened so far, eventually fully confess his feeling to [[MagicalGirl Jadina]] once and for all, and proposes her to marry after the fight. She agrees and they share a kiss... [[spoiler:then after the fight, Anathos ends up [[DemonicPossession taking over Danael's body]]. When the heroes finally defeat Anathos at the end of the Cycle, Jadina is forced to stab Danael in order to succeed. Though he's then resurrected, he has left the group and is convinced to leave the past behind him, while Jadina replaces him as TheHero.]]
* As a young man, Franchise/{{Superman}} never married his college love [[OurMermaidsAreDifferent Lori Lemaris]], who turned down his proposal and finally married someone else. Of course, Supes eventually fell in love with [[Characters/SupermanLoisLane Lois Lane]] and even managed to stay friends with Lori, so it all worked out okay.
* ''ComicBook/KingCity'': Joe and Anna broke up a couple years before the comic starts, and Anna has a new boyfriend. Joe, back in the city after being gone for those couple years, spends a fair amount of time moping over her, leading the reader to believe he'll try to win her back. But in the end, [[spoiler:after helping Anna rescue Max, Joe accepts that she's not his girl anymore. It looks like they'll remain friends]].
* ''ComicBook/{{Crimson}}'': Alex Elder. First, his girlfriend is murdered by the vampire gang that turned him and her death continues to haunt him for many issues. Then, he meets [[BettyAndVeronica two other girls that fall in love with him separately, and, to some extent, he returns their feelings]]. When it appears he's finally made up his mind, the girl he chooses performs a [[HeroicSacrifice heroic sacrifice]] to save him, and the other one joins a convent, leaving him alone at the end (although it's implied he plans on reuniting with the other girl in the epilogue).
* ''ComicBook/{{Family}}'': Kurt begins a relationship with Talia, but he refuses to save her criminal father Gio when he suffers a heart attack. It's implied they break up over this.
* ''ComicBook/LesAiglesDeRome'': Marcus survives the Battle of Teutoburg Forest and his romantic rival Lepidus is taken out, but Priscilla is raped and decapitated while his son Titus is enslaved by the Germans.
* ''ComicBook/{{Raptors}}'': Benito Spiaggi is really in love with his partner Vicky Lenore to the point he is willing to do really crazy things like striking a deal with the villains to spare her life, and he is ready to die if it means she will be safe. Both of them survive by the end of the comic, but they don't get together since Vicky wanders the night hunting vampires as a new Raptor. [[SupportingProtagonist Aznar]] is also hit with this trope, since not only he kills his girlfriend by accident during sex when his vampire side awakens and he drains her dry, but he has a brief fling with Vicky yet doesn't end the story with her too since they part ways.
* In ''ComicBook/{{Drama}}'', Callie is attracted to twin brothers Justin and Jesse but ends up with neither of them because Justin [[SorryImGay turns out to be gay]] and Jesse [[spoiler:''also'' turns out to be gay]]. There's a third boy who expresses interest in Callie, but she turns him down and is still single at book's end.

* In the ''Manga/DeathNote'' fanfic ''Fanfic/StoryOfTheCentury'', [[spoiler: Light ends up dying on Misa after they're caught; before then she gives him an AnguishedDeclarationOfLove that [[UngratefulBastard he doesn't even acknowledge.]] On the other hand L, [[HeroicSacrifice having given up his own life to expose the two Kiras]], [[ShooTheDog forces Erin to leave so that he can be alone when he dies.]] Her last words to him are a long and vicious TheReasonYouSuckSpeech that [[BreakTheHaughty he takes rather gracefully]] and while neither of them outright say how they feel, his final gesture communicates his real feelings. Only after she goes home does Erin [[ObliviousToLove figure out his feelings and hers]], and [[PartingWordsRegret she is seen struggling with this for a long time, among other things, in the epilogue]]]].
* In ''Fanfic/{{The Masks We Wear|AvatarTheLastAirbender}}'', Zuko loses his affection for Mai as a result of his increasing similarity to his sister.
* In ''Fanfic/{{Shatterheart}}'' Fai had been struggling [[spoiler: with his eventual betrayal of the group and the exhausting effects of lying to everyone]]. By the time he comes to terms with his love for Kurogane, he can't do anything about it as Kurogane has already gotten together with Syaoran and he has to watch them became lovers.
* L in ''Fanfic/ACharmedLife''. Though he has captured Misa at the end of the story and confined her to his bondage dungeon he would have much rather have had [[HoYay Light.]]

* In ''Fanfic/TheRWBYLoops'', Sun Wukong joins the looping crew only to find that Blake Belladonna, the girl he was crushing on, has been dating Yang Xiao Long for quite some time and the two are, in fact, recently engaged. Unusually for this trope, everyone is aware of the situation and somewhat sympathetic, attempting to help him move on.

* In ''Fanfic/NewHopeUniversityMajorInMurder'', Saya Wild, the Ultimate Chess Grandmaster and the protagonist, appears to have feelings for Lucina Sorenson, the Ultimate Conductor. After the third trial, Saya rejects a kiss from Lucina, and shortly thereafter, finds out that Lucina has hooked up with Katy Thorson, the Ultimate Lesbian Romance Author. [[spoiler:In the fifth trial, in which Lucina and Katy are the primary suspects, Saya deduces that Lucina is the culprit, resulting in Lucina's execution.]] [[WhatCouldHaveBeen In an alternative outcome]] [[spoiler:to the fifth trial, Saya would have led the others to convict Katy instead. According to the author, Lucina would have become angry with the other survivors, only keeping in touch with Rocky after the killing games, but might have reconciled with the others later]]. Either way, Saya never had a chance of getting together with Lucina.

* ''Fanfic/ADiplomaticVisit'': As seen in chapter 11 of the third story, ''Diplomacy Through Schooling''. [[spoiler: After all that ship tease between Moondancer and Twilight, and just as Twilight has decided to talk to Moondancer about taking a step forward in their relationship, Moondancer admits to Twilight that she's fallen for Trixie. The next story subverts it though when the trio talk things over, and decide to be a romantic trio.]]

* The Disney version of ''WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'', which is featured as the image of this page. Unlike most of the lead males of the Disney Renaissance, Quasimodo doesn't end up with the woman he falls in love with. Namely, Esmeralda never learns of his feelings and falls for Phoebus, [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy though Quasimodo chooses to accept that she loves him without issue]]. He eventually gets together with another woman in the [[WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDameII sequel]], though.
* At the end of Disney's ''WesternAnimation/{{Pocahontas}}'', John Smith, severely injured, returns to Europe and leaves Pocahontas behind. As well as Smith being saved by Pocahontas, this is one of the only historically based moments in the entire movie and one of Disney's few {{Bittersweet Ending}}s. Exacerbated in the [[WesternAnimation/PocahontasIIJourneyToANewWorld sequel]], where Pocahontas actually ends up with a different guy, the one she married in real life.
* ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory3'': Although Buzz Lightyear and Jessie, and to a much lesser extent, Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head and {{Franchise/Barbie}} and Ken, are now finally united with each other, Woody and Bo Peep aren't... at least until ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory4.'' (At the very beginning of the film, Bo Peep was seen only in a flashback, and when Woody lists Wheezy, RC, and the other toys that were sold before the film, Rex sheepishly adds Bo-Peep to the list; Woody is notably sad because of this.)
* That [[TearJerker/TheSwordInTheStone poor squirrel lady]] from Disney's ''WesternAnimation/TheSwordInTheStone''. She falls in love with Wart while he's a squirrel, but once he turns human, she's heartbroken.

* In ''WesternAnimation/CorpseBride,'' Emily gives up her chance to marry Victor [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy so that he can marry Victoria instead]].

* ''Film/FiveHundredDaysOfSummer''. It's right there in the title.

* ''Literature/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame''. Probably the TropeCodifier.
-->'''Quasimodo:''' ''(To a statue, sobbing)'' Why was I not made of stone like thee?
* Despite all of the eponymous character's attempts to win the girl in ''Literature/TheGreatGatsby'', she stays with her husband. Gatsby takes a lie for her that gets him killed.
* Kelson falls deeply in love with Rothana Nur Hallaj, a Literature/{{Deryni}} princess who is a novice at a convent called St. Brigid's (which is sacked by Ithel of Meara's forces in ''The King's Justice''). They make tentative plans to wed (she writes to Archbishop Cardiel to have her temporary vows set aside) before he leaves on his quest for Camber relics, but when he and Dhugal are thought to be dead, she is persuaded to marry Kelson's cousin Conall instead. Not only does Kelson return to find her married to Conall [[spoiler: and carrying his son]], Conall's actions leave Rothana somewhat tainted by association. Though Kelson is quite willing to marry her after Conall's execution, she refuses him and plays matchmaker for Kelson and his distant cousin Araxie Haldane.
* Severus Snape [[spoiler: did not get the girl, the girl being Lily Potter nee Evans,]] before the events of the ''Literature/HarryPotter'' series, as revealed in ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows''.

* Truman Capote's novel, ''Literature/BreakfastAtTiffanys''. [[Film/BreakfastAtTiffanys The film adaptation]], of course, changed this.
* [[Literature/ClockpunkAndTheVitalizer Clockpunk]] doesn't get with the Vitalizer. It's probably for the best since she's a superhero and he a supervillain. [[spoiler:He [[WorthyOpponent shows her some respect]] before fleeing, however.]]
* ''Creator/HansChristianAndersen'''s "Literature/TheLittleMermaid" does not get her Prince, though in every way she deserves it. Here, too, [[WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1989 the film adaptation]] changed this (and even added [[WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaidIIReturnToTheSea a sequel]] about the daughter born to the marriage which did not happen in the original...) The princess in another one of his fairy tales, "[[http://hca.gilead.org.il/swineher.html The Swineherd]]", does not get the prince because she cares more about the musical toy that he created than she does about him. Unlike the little mermaid, this princess does not deserve the prince at all - she's too materialistic to love him for who he is.
* Creator/CharlesDickens gives this fate to Scrooge in ''Literature/AChristmasCarol''; although he was deeply in love with Belle, his pursuit of fortune eventually drove her to break off their engagement. The Ghost of Christmas Present shows him what she's doing now - she married someone else and is the matriarch of a loving family, and Scrooge is devastated to think that he could have had this with her if he'd been less materialistic.
* The original ending of ''Literature/GreatExpectations''.
* Anthony Hope's ''Literature/ThePrisonerOfZenda''. The girl is expected to marry the actual king instead of his decoy double (with whom she's fallen in love).
* The ending of the classic Robert Munsch children's tale ''Literature/ThePaperBagPrincess'' has the eponymous heroine not getting the prince because she looks too unkempt. She therefore decides that the prince isn't good for her if he won't accept the way she looks, and calls him a bum. The last line of it is "They didn't get married after all." In the short animated adaption of this story, she hooks up with the dragon instead. Dead serious.
* Creator/TerryPratchett's ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'':
** In ''Literature/{{Sourcery}}''; Rincewind meets Conina, daughter of Conan the Barbarian, and while in Al Khali searching for the Arch-Chancellor's hat, begins to develop a crush on her. Later, he meets wannabe barbarian Nijel who ends up falling for Conina and vice versa.
** ''Literature/{{Pyramids}}'' ([[spoiler:see also: Franchise/StarWars]].)
** ''Literature/InterestingTimes''
** ''Not'' ''Literature/GuardsGuards'', despite Vimes' tendency to quote ''Casablanca'' (see).
** In his non-Discworld novel ''Literature/{{Nation}}'', Mau and Daphne do not end up together due to their duties and obligations to their respective cultures, though it's implied they are reincarnated as paired dolphins after their deaths.
* ''Literature/HisDarkMaterials'': Will and Lyra. While they do share a mutual attraction to each other and eventually spend some romantic time together, it can't last since the laws of the multiverse decree that they live in their separate universes and try to make the world a better place individually. Whether this is a lame ending or a TearJerker depends on the reader.
* ''Literature/LittleWomen'': TheOneGuy Laurie does not get the member of the starring FourGirlEnsemble he originally wanted, who is ''also'' the one both the original and the modern fanbase [[FanPreferredCouple wanted him to get]]. It's not like there isn't a Fritz/Jo fandom or their UmbrellaOfTogetherness scene isn't the very essence of sweet and romantic. Laurie/Amy, [[DieForOurShip on the other hand]]...
* ''Literature/DaisyMiller'' is not a sad book because [[spoiler:the girl dies]], but because the guy doesn't realize her worth [[spoiler:while she's alive]].

* Creator/DeanKoontz's novel ''Your Heart Belongs to Me'' ends like this, which is something of a break in formula for him.
* In the ''Literature/DeptfordMice'' trilogy by Creator/RobinJarvis, Piccadilly is in love with Audrey, despite wrongly believing that she hates him. In reality, she loves him just as much as he loves her. After she unintentionally insults Piccadilly and he returns to his home in the city, Audrey visits her friend Twit's field, Fennywolde. While there, she ends up falsely accused of being a witch and sentenced to hang. According to the Gallows Law, if a willing spouse can be found, then the accused will be reprieved. Twit offers to marry Audrey, and she accepts because it's the only way she can be saved. However, she regrets her decision because she cannot pursue a romantic relationship with Piccadilly. He is killed without knowing of her love for him, but she does confess her feelings to his ghost and they kiss before he crosses over to the other side.
* ''Literature/HollowPlaces'' features a variation of this trope. Austin does end up with Isabella, but by then she's so different from the woman he fell in love with she could hardly be called the same person.
* Thomas Hardy's ''Literature/JudeTheObscure''. Subverted in that he does get a girl, but she's not the main romantic lead and she's a complete harpy. Played straight in that Sue decides to go back to Philloston after the big tragedy.
* In ''Literature/WutheringHeights'' Heathcliff does ''not'' get Catherine. In fact, he marries her sister-in-law Isabella.
* Creator/KimStanleyRobinson's ''Pacific Edge''. Kevin Claiborne does not get Ramona; instead, she goes back to her {{Jerkass}} boyfriend, Alfredo.

* ''Literature/BookOfTheNewSun'': Severian's first love, Thecla ends up [[spoiler:killing herself to avoid the torture]] and his amnesiac second love, Dorcas leaves him when she finds out that [[spoiler:she is his grandmother]]. It should be noted that although [[spoiler:Thecla dies, Severian's persona is merged with hers through a sort of cannibalistic Eucharist]].
* ''Literature/WarriorCats'': Ashfur did not get Squirrelflight, Thrushpelt did not get Bluestar, and several notable genderbent examples include Cinderpelt and Firestar, Spottedleaf and Firestar, Mapleshade and Appledusk, Feathertail and Crowfeather, and Leopardstar did not get Tigerstar.

* ''Literature/TheReynardCycle'': ''Reynard the Fox'' ends heavily on this note, and it gets worse with every new installment.
* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'': If one goes with the theory that Petyr 'Littlefinger' Baelish is what would happen if a stereotypical fantasy hero was plonked into a CrapsackWorld, then this is the reason why he's so screwed up and [[spoiler: why Westeros is now even more of a CrapsackWorld]].

* Eragon from the ''Literature/InheritanceCycle''. Never mind that [[spoiler: Arya got a dragon, and her dragon and Saphira ''immediately'' shacked up, so both she and Eragon had a mental link to sex... except Eragon has spent a long time learning to control the link, and she hasn't. The girl he's been drooling over for the better part of four books and a year or two, they're both horny beyond their control, alone, and... they sit and chat. If [[MemeticMutation Forever Alone]] has a patron saint, it's this guy]].
* This is what kickstarts the philosophizing in ''Franchise/{{Repetition}}''.
* Robin Hobb’s ''[[Literature/RealmOfTheElderlings Farseer Trilogy]]'' is possibly one of the most depressing examples. [[spoiler:Remedied at the end of the ''Tawny Man'' trilogy, in which FitzChivalry ''finally does'' get the girl he had wanted to be with the entire time after her husband dies, something like thirty or forty years later. A clear case of EarnYourHappyEnding]].
* Occasionally happens in the Literature/JackReacher novels. [[spoiler:''Die Trying'' is an example; while Reacher and the female lead have a mutual attraction and once engage in GladToBeAliveSex, she is in love with someone else and moves in with (and possibly marries) him at the end of the novel]].
* In the children's book ''Literature/TheWainscottWeasel'', the title weasel does not get his love interest ([[InterspeciesRomance a striped bass named Bridget]]) due to the humans cutting out the pond.
* In Creator/PoulAnderson's "Starfog", Laure does not get Graydal. The ''Jaccavrie'' AI explains it's impossible: they aren't interfertile, and her kind have developed [[MandatoryMotherhood a compulsive need to reproduce]].

* Actually lampshaded at the end of the Forgotten Realms novel Escape From Undermountain as the protagonist Artek expresses his disbelief over not getting the girl and her declaring 'not in this story'.
* Creator/ETAHoffmann:
** In ''Literature/TheSandman'' Nathaniel doesn't end up with his childhood sweetheart Clara nor the other girl who he fell for that happened to be a robot. Oops.
** In ''Literature/TheEntail'' Theodore devotes all his time in Castle R into trying to get with Baroness Seraphine but when he ends up having to leave when he returns, he hears she died in a sleigh crash.
** In ''Literature/TheArtushof'' Traugott makes this a habit. He does not get Christina (the girl he was engaged to) because he wants Felizitas. He quests for her after her father kicks him out of the house, and manages to attract Dorina, the daughter of another painter he stays with, but when he won't marry her, he gets kicked out. When he gets home after not getting two girls he finds out Felizitas got married to another man. Three strikes and you're out.
* In the ''Literature/AlbertCampion'' story ''Mystery Mile'', Campion admires Biddy Paget and is upset when [[spoiler:she chooses Marlowe Lobbett instead]].
* Freida in ''Literature/OnlyEverYours'' doesn't get her love interest Darwin, when she tries too hard to convince him to choose her as his companion (strictly forbidden under the dystopian society in which they live) and is [[spoiler:disqualified from the Ceremony, forced to become a chastity]]. He instead chooses and marries her enemy Megan.
* In ''Literature/RogueStar'', Andy Quamodian spends most of the book trying to rescue [[DamselInDistress Molly Zaldiver]] who he's [[DoggedNiceGuy always been in love with]], but in the end, the only way she can survive is to [[spoiler: [[HiveMind merge with]] the living star Almalik]].
* Both of the books in Marti Steussy's "First-In" duology have {{bittersweet|Ending}} gender-flipped examples. In ''Forest of the Night'', [[spoiler:Gaylord Hess]] spurs the conflict between humanity and the [[IntelligentGerbil Lodgeless Ones]]; by the time he gets a clue, his agitation has caused several deaths on each side and it's clear that he's never going to fully appreciate or understand Hashti's position. In ''Dreams of Dawn'', [[spoiler:Aage]] is simply too reluctant to compromise on the dilemma regarding the world's MirrorChemistry, leading Disa to ultimately distance herself from him. [[spoiler:Both eventually find {{Second Love}}s — another young First-In member for Disa, and the [[GirlNextDoor sweet local girl Gretchen]] for Aaage.]]
* Most of Jeremy's actions in ''Literature/BeMoreChill'', up to and including getting a SQUIP in the first place, are intended to help him get with Christine. After the incident at the school play, they end the story on a negative note, and it's left ambiguous if Jeremy's explanation will help them reconcile.
* ''Literature/TailchasersSong'': Tailchaser starts the book looking for Hushpad but gets sidetracked with more dire issues along the way. He finally finds her, but they've grown apart. Hushpad is fine being an inside cat, living amongst Big Ones, and sleeping all day, while Tailchaser desires adventure and can't handle being smothered by humans. Tailchaser wants kittens but Hushpad doesn't (plus, [[spoiler:it's heavily implied she's spayed]]). Eventually this gets to be too much and Tailchaser leaves Hushpad and her owners.

* Creator/IsaacAsimov's "Literature/TrueLove": The surprising PlotTwist at the end has Milton end up [[spoiler:going to jail while Joe gets the girl]].

* ''Franchise/{{Persona}}'':
** While the ending of ''VideoGame/{{Persona 2}}: Innocent Sin'' is an example of [[BittersweetEnding that other trope]], ''Eternal Punishment'' plays this straight as [[spoiler: Tatsuya ends up returning to the Other Side, and if Maya ever gets involved with This Side's Tatsuya there'd be a risk of screwing over the world again, so seeing him or his brother isn't really an option either. The ending movie has Maya accepting this and walking by Tatsuya without saying anything]]. In fact, this is built into the title of the games; this is Tatsuya's "Eternal Punishment" for the "Innocent Sin" that he committed during the first game.
** The Protagonists do not get the girls/guys in ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}''. [[spoiler: A HeroicSacrifice to become the BarrierMaiden for the world can do that.]]

* One of two endings to ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' shows Snake and Meryl riding off together into the sunset. In the sequel, she's nowhere to be found. The book written by Nastasha makes it canon that she survived, but the only reference to her in the game proper is some optional dialogue where Snake says he's had enough of tomboys. Cue the fourth game where [[spoiler:Snake's an old man and Meryl gets married to the very guard she knocked out at the beginning of the first game. (See CartwrightCurse.) In addition, it ''seems'' like this in Raiden's case but it's later subverted when it's revealed it was a cover story he wasn't in on]]. [[spoiler: This is justified for Snake's case, however. Being a clone, Solid Snake is [[CelibateHero sterile]], and he [[LaserGuidedTykebomb carries a modified virus created by Naomi]], which randomly kills people injected with {{nanomachines}}. In short, he is essentially a '''[[WeaponOfMassDestruction walking]] [[TheVirus FOXDIE]]''' and is too dangerous to have a relationship with anyone.]] See also Ellen Madnar and Holly White from the first two games.
* ''VideoGame/FullThrottle'' has the woman-not-getting-man version when Mo takes over Corley Motors, thus losing access to the free-roaming lifestyle that would have kept her together with Ben.
* In ''VideoGame/BahamutLagoon'', Byuu does ''not'' end up with [[spoiler: [[UnluckyChildhoodFriend Princess Yoyo]]. She ends up [[StockholmSyndrome falling for Palpaleos]], the enemy general who keeps her kidnapped]].
* VideoGame/{{Alundra}}'s DistaffCounterpart, who is subtly teased as being a potential love interest from the moment she appears at the game's midpoint, [[WalkingTheEarth walks the earth]] with him for a while in the ending, and then leaves him to his own devices. Cock tease. At least she gave him a kiss before parting ways, maybe to soften the blow that regardless if they separate, they're still going to be friends and maybe their paths will cross again. [[AndTheAdventureContinues Who knows.]] [[HeroicMime Alundra's face showed no disappointment anyway.]]

* ''Franchise/DragonAge'':
** ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'':
*** Most of the origin stories include an extra one-sided-or-not {{love interest|s}}, and in fact, every female Warden can run into one in hers. Needless to say, she won't get to keep him even if she wants to, a fact which is sometimes presented [[TearJerker rather painfully]].
*** Any male Warden who romanced Morrigan has this occur prior to end-game. The entire plot of "Witch Hunt" has the Warden attempting to track down Morrigan [[spoiler: and their child]].
** ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'' reveals this to be the fate of a Warden who romanced Leliana or Zevran, as the Warden seems to have vanished. [[spoiler:It's revealed the Warden embarked on a quest to save their order from their premature destruction and that happens in literally every other romance option... Except for Zevran who is accompanying the Warden]].
** ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'' has this occur repeatedly. Notable examples are if Hawke slept with Isabela but later romanced another character, several lines of dialogue hint that Isabela still has lingering feelings and regret over the relationship ending. It's also implied that Anders falls in love with Hawke even if Hawke doesn't romance him (dialogue he has in a playthrough where he ''is'' romanced basically confirms this). If a female Hawke romances Sebastian, but sides with the Mages and refuses to kill [[spoiler: Anders]], he breaks up with Hawke and leaves to raise an army to wage war on Kirkwall.
** ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition'': This can happen to certain love interests under specific circumstances: if they romance Cassandra, their relationship can potentially end if [[spoiler:she is chosen as the Divine]]; with Cullen if he is [[spoiler:encouraged to take lyrium, ending with him becoming an AddledAddict]]; with Iron Bull if [[spoiler:he upholds the Qun which will result in him betraying the team in the ''Trespasser'' DLC]]; with Blackwall if [[spoiler:he is not rescued from prison after TheReveal of his true identity]]; or with Sera if [[spoiler:your character is an elf and refuses to abandon her religious beliefs]]. The one instance that will happen regardless of what you choose is [[spoiler:Solas]] who breaks up with the Inquisitor, and she is unable to romance anyone else since they can't move on from it.

* ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'' and the sequel has both [[spoiler:Revan]] and [[spoiler:the Jedi Exile]] vanish into the Unknown Regions to seek out the old Sith Empire to finish the fight, leaving behind a love interest (and all their allies, for that matter) in both cases. It's later revealed in ''Literature/{{Revan}}'' that [[spoiler:Revan ''did'' get the girl; he and Bastila were married between the two games, and she was pregnant with his son when he vanished (on a trip that was supposed to only be temporary)]].

* Played with in the BittersweetEnding of ''VideoGame/DeadlyPremonition''. [[spoiler: York does, but Zach (the player character) does not.]]

* ''[[VideoGame/TronTwoPointOh Tron 2.0]]'': While it's clear Jet and Mercury were attracted to one another, he has to return to analog, and she has to stay in the digital world. Poor guy got his HonoraryUncle's luck.
* ''VideoGame/ShadowHearts'' does this a few times. The Canonical ending of the first ends with [[spoiler: Alice dying, meaning Yuri did not get the girl after all]]. However, Yuri's next apparent love interest, Karin, [[spoiler: Was sent into the past, meaning she did not get the guy....instead becoming his mother]]. But, the StableTimeLoop allows Yuri to [[spoiler: earn his happy ending]] after all.

* ''VideoGame/DiscworldNoir'': [[spoiler: Lewton doesn't get either of his love interests. Ilsa leaves Ankh-Morpork with her husband, and Lewton has [[FemmeFatale Carlotta]] arrested by the City Watch for her involvement in the murders]].

* At the end of ''VideoGame/SuperMarioOdyssey'', [[spoiler:Mario tries to propose to Princess Peach, but Bowser butts in and they get caught up in a squabble over her and end up just shoving flowers in her face. Annoyed by their immaturity, Peach shoots them down and preserves the {{status quo|IsGod}}]].
* ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption2'': [[UptownGirl Mary Linton]] loves Arthur Morgan dearly but doesn't want to be with him while he's still riding with a gang. He promises once he gets enough money he will run away with her. [[spoiler:Though she still loves him, she breaks things off with him for good via a "Dear John" letter once word reaches her of the gang's botched robbery at Saint Denis. Tragically, Arthur is in the final stages of tuberculosis by the time he receives the letter, and before he can patch things up with her, he either gets killed by [[BigBad Micah Bell]] (low honor) or succumbs to the disease (high honor). She is seen in the credits crying at his grave.]]
* ''VideoGame/{{Yakuza 0}}''; Goro Majima is sent to assassinate someone named Makoto Makimura, which turns out to be more complicated than it seems when Makoto turns out to be an innocent blind girl whom everyone wants dead or in their possession for reasons neither of them knows. Majima decides to protect Makoto and starts to become attracted to her, but when she's injured near the climax he realizes life around a gangster like him would not end well for her, so he leaves quietly and instructs the doctor who saved Makoto's life to look after her. When they reunite eighteen years later in ''Kiwami 2'', Makoto is HappilyMarried with a son, and Majima stays quiet during their massage session so she won't recognize who he is (though he slips her a personal gift to tip her off so she could get some closure with the man who saved her life).
* ''VideoGame/{{Lyrica}}'': Du Mu really has a bad luck in his romance. First, he falls in love with a beautiful dancer named Zhang Haohao, but her employer took her as a concubine before he could make any moves on her. Then he meets Shiue and falls for her, but of course he can't be with her since she doesn't exist in his timeline. He manages to encounter a girl [[IdenticalStranger who looks almost exactly like Shiue]] and wants to marry her, but she's too young for that. After forming an agreement with the girl's family to marry her within ten years, he fails to return at the allotted time (thus voiding the agreement), and the girl marries someone else.

* In ''VisualNovel/NineHoursNinePersonsNineDoors'', [[spoiler:Akane and Aoi]] flee Building Q before [[spoiler:Junpei]] can catch up to them. He spends the rest of his days trying to [[spoiler:find Akane]]. The sequel, ''VisualNovel/VirtuesLastReward'', really hammers it in by showing [[spoiler:Junpei as an old man, now going by Tenmyoji]], ''still'' trying. [[spoiler:Though he does succeed in this game, Akane is so far removed from what he remembers that he gives up on her.]] As for the third game, ''VisualNovel/ZeroTimeDilemma'', which takes place between the first two... [[spoiler:Thanks to time travel, the trope is finally averted and Junpei and Akane get together in the GoldenEnding.]]

* In ''Webcomic/{{Katamari}}'' (a comic based on ''VideoGame/KatamariDamacy'') had a story arc revolving around the Prince of Cosmos helping a man try to regain his girlfriend by rolling up a katamari of all the things she likes as a show of affection. However, when presented with it, she shows she's flattered by the gesture but lets him down gently that she isn't interested in pursuing the relationship.

* Creator/FreddieWong in the action short "Gun Size Matters," leading to a hilarious live-action version of OcularGushers.
* ''Literature/TheKindnessOfDevils'': This is one of Hardestadt Delac's personal problems throughout the series. He's immortal, and all the women he's dated have either been killed during his various conquests or simply died of old age. ''Literature/LovesLostAndFound'' shows more than half a dozen of Delac's wives or lovers that he's had over the course of ''centuries'', and all of them (except Erin and Eliza) all died off-screen at some point.
* Gender-inverted in ''WebAnimation/NekoSugarGirls''. Raku's LoveConfession to Hitoshi-san fails because [[spoiler:he is dating Kidnapper-kun. Raku then dies due to her heart breaking]].

* Adol in the ''VideoGame/{{Ys}}'' series, almost every time. Of course, apart from Feena in I/II, it was more like the various girls Did Not Get The Guy.

** ''Film/{{Thor}}'' did not manage to end up with his love interest [[Characters/TheMightyThorAllies Jane Foster]] since he destroyed the bridge that connects Earth to Asgard by the end of the film. They do reunite in ''Film/ThorTheDarkWorld'', but a scene in ''Film/ThorRagnarok'' has Thor pose for a selfie with a couple groupies and one of them mentions that Jane dumped him. He then tries to spin it as a "mutual dumping" to save face with Loki.

** ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger''. In a great adaptation of a famous plotline from the comics, [[ComicBook/CaptainAmerica Steve Rogers]] [[spoiler: forces the Red Skull's flying wing down in the Arctic to save New York and other major U.S. cities]]. [[Characters/CaptainAmericaAllies Peggy Carter]], Steve's comrade and love interest, has him promise to take her dancing the next week, with both knowing [[spoiler: he's all but guaranteed to die in the crash]]. Once [[spoiler: Steve awakens seventy years in the future,]] the realization must set in that [[spoiler:even if Peggy is still alive, and he somehow managed to find her again, she'd be an old woman of at least ninety, almost certainly with a family]].

* Meowth in the ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'' episode "Go West, Young Meowth", who tries to help his love interest who spurned him in the past. He defeats his long hated rival Persian but the girl Meowth chooses the Persian over him anyway.

* As a young man, Franchise/{{Superman}} never married his college love [[OurMermaidsAreDifferent Lori Lemaris]], who turned down his proposal and finally married someone else. Of course, Supes eventually fell in love with Comicbook/LoisLane and even managed to stay friends with Lori, so it all worked out okay.

* ''Film/ChasingAmy'': Twice, even.

* ''Film/{{Daredevil}}'': Due to Bullseye [[spoiler:killing the woman he loves]], Matt and Elektra don't end the film together. A deleted scene in [[Film/{{Elektra}} her spin-off]] shows she still loves him and wants to reunite, but by the end, she still doesn't go back to him.

** ''Film/{{Thor}}'' did not manage to end up with his love interest ComicBook/{{Jane|Foster}} since he destroyed the bridge that connects Earth to Asgard by the end of the film. They do reunite in ''Film/ThorTheDarkWorld'', but a scene in ''Film/ThorRagnarok'' has Thor pose for a selfie with a couple groupies and one of them mentions that Jane dumped him. He then tries to spin it as a "mutual dumping" to save face with Loki.
** ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger''. In a great adaptation of a famous plotline from the comics, [[ComicBook/CaptainAmerica Steve Rogers]] [[spoiler: forces the Red Skull's flying wing down in the Arctic to save New York and other major U.S. cities.]] ComicBook/PeggyCarter, Steve's comrade and love interest, has him promise to take her dancing the next week, with both knowing [[spoiler: he's all but guaranteed to die in the crash]]. Once [[spoiler: Steve awakens seventy years in the future,]] the realization must set in that [[spoiler:even if Peggy is still alive, and he somehow managed to find her again, she'd be an old woman of at least ninety, almost certainly with a family]].

** ''Film/TheIncredibleHulk'': Bruce Banner doesn't get to stay with ComicBook/{{Betty|Ross}}, the woman he loves, because he's still a target of the military. To twist the knife further for poor Bruce, his second love interest (Black Widow/Natasha Romanov) dies collecting the Soul Stone from Vormir, and despite his best efforts, Bruce can't bring her back with the Infinity Gauntlet.

* ''Film/TheRainmaker'': "So long, beautiful!" Averted in the book.

* ''Film/RomanHoliday'' in a particularly classy version of this trope.

* ''Film/{{Vikingdom}}'': The hero Eirick is in a relationship with LoveGoddess Freyja before the start of the movie. When he is killed in combat, she manages to resurrect him on the condition that they can never be together again and he ends up living as a depressed hermit for the next decade. [[spoiler:When she convinces her old love to move on and hook up with his companion Brynna, she dies at the end of the movie, performing a HeroicSacrifice to save him. This means the dude lost his two separate love interests during the movie]].

* The ''Series/{{Blackadder}} II'' episode "Bells".

* Lancelot from ''Series/{{Merlin 2008}}''. In this version, Arthur/Guinevere is not a political marriage, but a real love connection. Also Merlin and Freya. [[spoiler:Guinevere doesn't get the guy, with Arthur dying at the end]].

* Music/AmonAmarth's ConceptAlbum ''Jomsviking'' has the male protagonist kill an earl's servant to protect his love from DroitDuSeigneur and have to flee town. He ends up a warrior with the Jomsvikings and, in the song [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXqXKrSubcs "A Dream that Cannot Be"]], returns to get his OldFlame (whose part is sung by Music/{{Doro}}) and bring her into his new life. She tells him to piss off and then pulls a knife on him when he tries to force the issue.

* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'': Throughout the Franchise/DCAnimatedUniverse, Bruce Wayne has had many love interests: ComicBook/{{Catwoman}}/Selina Kyle, ComicBook/{{Zatanna}} (one-sided only, Bruce always considered them JustFriends), ComicBook/TaliaAlGhul, [[WesternAnimation/BatmanMaskOfThePhantasm Andrea Beaumont]], Franchise/WonderWoman, Barbara Gordon/ComicBook/{{Batgirl}}... He doesn't end up with any of them and remains a single, old man.

* Peter in ''WesternAnimation/TheSpectacularSpiderman,'' due to premature cancellation. The season two finale ends with [[spoiler:Gwen remaining with Harry out of pity]].

* Beast Boy and Cyborg in ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans''. [[spoiler: With Beast Boy: first Terra had a FaceHeelTurn; then a HeelFaceTurn that resulted in her being [[TakenForGranite turned to stone]]; then she may or may not have been brought back to life, but either way Beast Boy lets her go. With Cyborg: he and Sarasim do kiss, but he's transported back into the future soon after since they do come from different times. He knows that she survived the battle, though]]. In the ''ComicBook/TeenTitansGo'' tie-in comics, however, [[spoiler: Cyborg ''does'' gain a girlfriend in Sarah, a caretaker for a group of handicapped kids, both of which are first seen in the episode "The Sum of His Parts."]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Lyrica}}'': Du Mu really has a bad luck in his romance. First, he falls in love with a beautiful dancer named Zhang Haohao, but her employer took her as a concubine before he could make any moves on her. Then he meets Shiue and falls for her, but of course he can't be with her since she doesn't exist in his timeline. He manages to encounter a girl [[IdenticalStrangers who looks almost exactly like Shiue]] and wants to marry her, but she's too young for that. After forming an agreement with the girl's family to marry her within ten years, he fails to return at the allotted time (thus voiding the agreement), and the girl marries someone else.

* Literature/AdrianMole never manages to get his most constant love interest, Pandora Braithwaite, back after the final end of their on-off (and unconsummated) relationship in their early teens. Every time he falls in love with another woman, the relationship ends disastrously, leaving him with two failed marriages behind him. However the most recent book ends on a cliffhanger with Pandora unexpectedly arriving at his home suggesting a possibility of them finally averting this result, but the [[AuthorExistenceFailure death of the author]] means we'll never know.

'''Spoileriffic''', obviously.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

* The Disney version of ''WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'', which is featured as the image of this page. Unlike most of the lead males of the Disney Renaissance, he doesn't end up with the woman he falls in love with. Namely, Esmeralda never learns of his feelings and falls for Phoebus, [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy though Quasimodo chooses to accept that she loves him without issue]]. He eventually gets together with another woman in the [[WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDameII sequel]], though.

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
* The Disney version of ''WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'', which is featured as the image of this page. Unlike most of the lead males of the Disney Renaissance, he doesn't end up with the woman he falls in love with. Namely, Esmeralda never learns of his feelings and falls for Phoebus, [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy though Quasimodo chooses to accept that she loves him without issue]].

* ''Creator/HansChristianAndersen'''s "Literature/TheLittleMermaid" did not get her Prince, though in every way she deserved it. Here, too, [[WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1989 the film adaptation]] changed this (and even added [[WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaidIIReturnToTheSea a sequel]] about the daughter born to the marriage which did not happen in the original...) The princess in another one of his fairy tales, "[[http://hca.gilead.org.il/swineher.html The Swineherd]]", does not get the prince because she cares more about the musical toy that he created than she did about him. Unlike the little mermaid, this princess does not deserve the prince at all - she's too materialistic to love him for who he is.

* In ''Film/TheTerminal'', Viktor, despite his huge effort and all the sweet things he tried, did not [[spoiler: end up with Amelia, who ended up resuming her affair with the married official]]. Definitely was [[BittersweetEnding a bit of a downer]], though quite a few reviewers later admitted that if she's like that, he's better off without her.

* Creator/WoodyHarrelson's protagonist from ''Film/WhiteMenCantJump''. He actually does start out with her as his girlfriend, and when she manages to become a champion on Jeopardy it seems they've [[EarnYourHappyEnding earned their happy ending]]. But she breaks it off with him when he (yet again) goes back to basketball hustling (to save his friend who had been robbed). They win the big game, but when he goes to win her back afterwards she's already ''gone'', having given up on him ever be done hustling ''for good''.
* ''Film/WildWildWest'' - the female lead reveals that Dr. Escobar is not her father, but her husband. Which she should have mentioned before.

* Invoked straight in an early work of Creator/FrancisFordCoppola titled ''You're a Big Boy Now''. In this movie from [[TheSixties 1966]] Bernard, the protagonist, suffer this fate at the end, after spending all the movie chasing Barbara Darling. Actually, he doesn't get ''that'' girl...

* Franchise/IndianaJones gets the girl in each movie except ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade''; though he would've liked if his love interest, Elsa Schneider, hadn't lost her life. She found herself in a LiteralCliffhanger, holding onto Indiana with one hand and reaching for the holy grail with the other. Indy couldn't persuade her to give up the prize and she fell to her death when her hand slipped from its glove.

--->'''Nick Fury''': (after just breaking the time issue to Steve) Are you going to be okay?\\

* A rare female example in ''Film/ThePelicanBrief''. Creator/JuliaRoberts' character, who is the main character, and Creator/DenzelWashington's character was supposed to get together and was even scripted to have a lovemaking scene. However, UnfortunateImplications from the fan base of both actors caused the script to get rewritten where they part as close friends by the end of the film.

* In ''VisualNovel/NineHoursNinePersonsNineDoors'', [[spoiler:Akane and Aoi]] flee Building Q before [[spoiler:Junpei]] can catch up to them. He spends the rest of his days trying to [[spoiler:find Akane]]. The sequel, ''VisualNovel/VirtuesLastReward'', really hammers it in by showing [[spoiler:Junpei as an old man]], ''still'' trying. [[spoiler:He fails in this game too.]] As for the third game, ''VisualNovel/ZeroTimeDilemma'', which takes place between the first two... [[spoiler:Thanks to time travel, the trope is finally averted and Junpei and Akane get together in the GoldenEnding.]]

* Despite having three potential {{Love Interest}}s, the main character of ''Anime/{{FLCL}}'' ends up with no one. It implies that he will end up with [[spoiler:Ninamori]] but only after they're [[spoiler:not kids anymore and are more mature]]. This is averted in the manga, where he ends up with [[spoiler:Haruko]] but he [[spoiler:has to chase after her]].

* ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'': Throughout the Franchise/DCAnimatedUniverse, Bruce Wayne has had many love interests: ComicBook/{{Catwoman}}/Selina Kyle, ComicBook/{{Zatanna}} (one-sided only, Bruce always considered them JustFriends), Talia Al'Ghul, [[WesternAnimation/BatmanMaskOfThePhantasm Andrea Beaumont]], Franchise/WonderWoman, Barbara Gordon/ComicBook/{{Batgirl}}... He doesn't end up with any of them and remains a single, old man.

* Peter in ''WesternAnimation/TheSpectacularSpiderMan,'' due to premature cancellation. The season two finale ends with [[spoiler:Gwen remaining with Harry out of pity]].

* PlayedForDrama in ''WesternAnimation/ThunderCats2011'' for RebelPrince and royal heir Lion-O.

* ''Manga/AoNoFlag'': [[spoiler:The penultimate chapter reveals that the main couple of the manga, Kuze and Taichi, broke up two years after they got together and finished high school, in a mutual agreement. They have grown distant due to the awkwardness, though they still share a circle of friends, and Taichi is invited to Kuze's wedding to another man. Taichi himself eventually figures out he's attracted to both men and women, and starts a relationship with his male friend Touma, to whom he has since married]].

* Zig-Zagged in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyAdventure'' - the player would ''think'' that once they beat the FinalBoss and restore peace to the land, the boy and the girl would get together... except [[spoiler: the mana tree vanishes, so the girl has to become the BarrierMaiden to the world]]. ''VideoGame/SecretOfMana'' however, implies that [[spoiler: somehow he did, as the mana tree is the main character's mother, and his DisappearedDad was the last Gemma knight: the PC in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyAdventure'']].

* While the ending of ''VideoGame/{{Persona 2}}: Innocent Sin'' is an example of [[BittersweetEnding that other trope]], ''Eternal Punishment'' plays this straight as [[spoiler: Tatsuya ends up returning to the Other Side, and if Maya ever gets involved with This Side's Tatsuya there'd be a risk of screwing over the world again, so seeing him or his brother isn't really an option either. The ending movie has Maya accepting this and walking by Tatsuya without saying anything]]. In fact, this is built into the title of the games; this is Tatsuya's "Eternal Punishment" for the "Innocent Sin" that he committed during the first game.
* The Protagonists do not get the girls/guys in ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}''. [[spoiler: A HeroicSacrifice to become the BarrierMaiden for the world can do that.]]

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'': At the very end, [[spoiler:Yuna doesn't get the guy; he never existed in the first place, technically]]. Can be averted in the best ending of ''X-2'', [[spoiler:where the Fayth use the last of their power to incarnate Tidus for real]].

[[caption-width-right:350:"Dammit...I had a [[{{Pun}} hunch]] this would happen."]]

** Finally, Lelouch ''also'' didn't end up with C.C. because of his own death. Suzaku also did not get Euphemia; although they were in a relationship briefly, Euphie gets shot by Zero/Lelouch after the SAZ Japan massacre. And, given the [[IncestSubtext subtext]], Lelouch did not get Euphie either.

* Played with in a very gruesome way in ''ComicBook/LesLegendaires'' during the Anathos Cycle. As the protagonists prepare to fight the GodOfEvil Anathos, [[TheHero Danael]], feeling tired with everything that happened so far, eventually fully confess his feeling to [[MagicalGirl Jadina]] once and for all, and proposes her to marry after the fight. She agrees and they share a kiss... [[spoiler:then after the fight, Anathos ends up [[DemonicPossession taking over Danael's body]]. And when the heroes finally defeat Anathos at the end of the Cycle, Jadina is forced to stab Danael in order to succeed. Though he's then resurrected, he has left the group and is convinced to leave the past behind him, while Jadina replaces him as TheHero.]]

'''William:''' Well you see that? *points up*\\

* ''Film/SupermanReturns'' plays with this; Superman isn't ever going to wind up with Lois because she's engaged to Richard, but Richard will never see her fully commit to him either because she still loves Superman. The real 'fun' comes in when you realize that the only way that the situation will ever be resolved is by [[MurderTheHypotenuse eliminating a corner of the triangle]]. And then there's the little revelation that Superman is the biological father of Lois's son, Jason, yet the guy who Jason has seen as his father for his entire life has been Richard.

* Lee "Apollo" Adama on the new ''Series/{{Battlestar Galactica|2003}}'' is practically the patron saint of this trope. He blows it with ''at least'' four women over the course of the show: [[spoiler:Kara "Starbuck" Thrace, his [[StarCrossedLovers Star-Crossed Lover]], who marries another man, dies suddenly, comes back, then disappears again leaving him standing all alone in the middle of a field and that's literally the last that's seen of him in the series. Anastasia Dualla, who he sniped away from the show's DoggedNiceGuy Billy Keikeya. She married him, divorced him, then killed herself. Gianne, his ex-fiance, who he ran out on when she was pregnant with his child no less. And Shevon, a prostitute he frequents for [[BizarroEpisode all of one episode]] and ReplacementGoldfish for Gianne, who pushes him away because, well, she's a prostitute]].

* Lancelot from ''Series/{{Merlin 2008}}''. In this version, Arthur/Guinevere is not a political marriage, but a real love connection. Also Merlin and Freya. And [[spoiler:Guinevere doesn't get the guy, with Arthur dying at the end]].

* A Did Not Get The Guy example: Kathy in ''Vanities''. And she apparently [[TheMourningAfter never finds another.]]

* ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights: Hordes of the Underdark'' reveals that the Hero of Neverwinter was good, male, and completed the romance subquest with Aribeth. And then [[spoiler:Aribeth was executed for treason with the Hero protesting every step of the process and the Hero leaves the city, estranged from its lords and his friends]]. The fan-made module ''VideoGame/TheBastardOfKosigan'' has the hero's former {{love interest|s}} die an unavoidable death at the hands of French assassins, even if you attempt to renew your relationship with her.

** Despite their history together, Alvin did not get to be with [[spoiler: Presa]]. Same with Rowen and [[spoiler: Nachtigal's sister, whom he was engaged to. She was presumed dead during an accident, but can be found later alive and healthy, but suffering from Amnesia, with no memories of Rowen. And she is HappilyMarried]].

* Steve from ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'' is a poster boy for this trope as the episodes where he tries to get the girl always ends like this because StatusQuoIsGod. His longest relationship is with Debbie who dumped him in "Bar Mitzvah Hustle" (''twice''). And when he dates Akiko (Toshi's sister), she disappears without mention in the next episodes and Steve has gone back to being single.

* At the end of ''WesternAnimation/RegularShow'', Mordecai doesn't end with either Margaret or Cloudy Jay, partly due to the former focusing on her career and the latter breaking things off when she ''thinks'' Mordecai might still have a feeling for Margaret (ironically when he was trying to confess his feelings for her during Muscle Man's wedding). And partly due to the whole being unwillingly blasted off into space for several years to save the universe. Once they return to Earth, he decides to focus on his own career as an artist and meets a bat woman during one of his art exhibits. The finale seeing that he ultimately married her and had many children.

* In ''Webcomic/{{Katamari}}'' (a comic based on ''VideoGame/KatamariDamacy'') had a story arc revolving around the Prince of Cosmos helping a man try to regain his girlfriend by rolling up a katamari of all the thing she likes as a show of affection. However, when presented it to, she shows she's flattered by the gesture but lets him down gently that she isn't interested in pursuing the relationship.

** Played straight with Logen/Ferro and Jezal/Ardee, making ''two'' heroes who did not get the girl...but, at Jezal's expense, deliciously subverts it with Glokta, Hero #3... depending, of course, on how you define "hero." He and Ardee marry, in no small part to save her from the consequences of Jezal's bad judgement, and end up in a stable, affectionate relationship.

* If one goes with the theory in ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' that Petyr 'Littlefinger' Baelish is what would happen if a stereotypical fantasy hero was plonked into a CrapsackWorld, then this is the reason why he's so screwed up and [[spoiler: why Westeros is now even more of a CrapsackWorld]].

** In ''Literature/TheEntail'' Theodore dotes all his time in Castle R to trying to get with Baroness Seraphine but when he ends up having to leave when he returns he hears she died in a sleigh crash.

* Both of the books in Marti Steussy's "First-In" duology have {{bittersweet|Ending}} gender-flipped examples. In ''Forest of the Night'', [[spoiler:Gaylord Hess]] spurs the conflict between humanity and the [[IntelligentGerbil Lodgeless Ones]]; by the time he gets a clue, his agitation has caused several deaths on each side and it's clear that he's never going to fully appreciate or understand Hashti's position. In ''Dreams of Dawn'', [[spoiler:Aage]] is simply too reluctant to compromise on the dilemma regarding the world's MirrorChemistry, leading Disa to ultimately distance herself from him. [[spoiler:Both eventually find {{Second Love}}s—another young First-In member for Disa, the [[GirlNextDoor sweet local girl Gretchen]] for Aaage.]]

* ''Literature/TailchasersSong'': Tailchaser starts the book looking for Hushpad but gets sidetracked with more dire issues along the way. He finally finds her, but they've grown apart. Hushpad is fine being an inside cat, living amongst Big Ones, and sleeping all day, while Tailchaser desires adventure and can't handle being smothered by humans. Tailchaser wants kittens but Hushpad doesn't (plus, [[spoiler:it's heavily implied she's spayed]]). Eventually this gets too much and Tailchaser leaves Hushpad and her owners.

* Zig-Zagged in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyAdventure'' - the player would ''think'' that once they beat the FinalBoss and restore peace to the land, the boy and the girl would get together... except [[spoiler: the mana tree vanishes, so the girl has to become the BarrierMaiden to the world]]. ''VideoGame/SecretOfMana'', however, implies that [[spoiler: somehow he did, as the mana tree is the main character's mother, and his DisappearedDad was the last Gemma knight: the PC in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyAdventure'']].

** ''Literature/{{Pyramids}}'' ([[spoiler:see also: Franchise/StarWars]])

** In his non-Discworld novel ''Literature/{{Nation}}'' Mau and Daphne do not end up together due to duties and obligations to their respective cultures, though it's implied they are reincarnated as paired dolphins after their deaths.

** Harry *does* [[spoiler: agree with her that they both need more time to get their heads together, but that once they do, "we set sail for the fucking iceberg, full speed ahead" Karren agrees. At the end of ''Skin Game'', they eventually decide to just go for it after realizing that the "right time" will never come and they might as well take the opportunity while they have it, possibly averting this trope]].

-->'''Quasimodo:''' ''(to a statue, sobbing)'' Why was I not made of stone like thee?