History Main / DoggedNiceguy

* Pip towards Estella in ''Literature/GreatExpectations''. [[spoiler: In the first version of the ending, they don't end up together and [[IJustWantMyBelovedToBeHappy he accepts]] this. In the second version, TheyDo.]]

* Freddie in ''Series/ICarly'' towards [[GirlNextDoor Carly]]. He flits between a mild case of a PlayedForLaughs [[StalkerWithACrush puppy dog crush]] in season 1, this in season 2, and IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy in season 3. Although he doesn't especially qualify for either major type of this trope: he doesn't sabotage her relationships, but he was also pretty clear about liking her, whilst not being over the top in trying to woo her. As they grew up, Freddie and Carly went from being next-door buddies to true best friends. The final episode of the show has [[TheyDo Carly giving him a romantic kiss.]]

* Akihito is initially this to Mirai in ''LightNovel/BeyondTheBoundary'', with Mirai (who is treated as an outcast because of her cursed blood) spending the first three episodes or so trying to push him away and saying he couldn't possibly understand what her life is like. She realizes they're not that different when [[spoiler: Akihito's dormant demon side is revealed and goes berserk. Mirai gives him a CooldownHug while apologizing.]]

* Shinra from ''LightNovel/{{Durarara}}'' has been trying to romance Celty for twenty years. [[PrecociousCrush I.E., since he was four.]]

** Xander has a crush on Buffy that's usually in the background but seen best in "The Pack." It eventually died on the show, though in the season 8 comics [[spoiler:Buffy [[UnrequitedLoveSwitcheroo realizes she may have fallen for him]]]]. However, [[spoiler:by then he's dating Buffy's sister Dawn]].

* ''Anime/PhantomQuestCorp'': Detective Karino is love with [[ChristmasCake Ayaka]] and tries to prove himself to her in subtle ways. Since she knows he's [[SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan a good man]], she doesn't mind the attention and even [[WillTheyOrWontThey flirts with him]] on occasion. It's more that she's PlayingHardToGet, by feigning disinterest. Though she nearly confesses her feelings for him in the final episode.

** The above-mentioned Gideon himself can be considered an example of this trope as well because he is a cool, nice and very affably friendly guy, (and just like Sarah, he's also rather nerdy and geeky too) who starts off the series having an unrequited, and somewhat passionate crush on Phoebe as well (although his is not nearly as bad and obsessive as Sarah's crush was on Max). However, what makes Gideon different from Sarah is that he flirts with nearly every attractive woman who crosses his path, like somewhat of a CasanovaWannabe that finds AnythingThatMoves attractive.[[note]] Some of the other ladies he's flirted with throughout the series other than Phoebe and Sarah include, most of his female friends, including Cherry, Kelsey, Ashley, Madison, Maddy, Winnie Lee, Roxy, and even Max and Phoebe's own mom, Barbara Thunderman.[[/note]] Sarah kept her unrequited obsessive crush focused solely on Max until they hooked her up with Gideon towards the end of the series. And even when Gideon started dating Sarah, he still sometimes flirted with other women, but Sarah didn't seem to care or mind, as long as if he stayed loyal to her and didn't try to actively pursue any of the other women he'd sometimes try to flirt with.

** The above-mentioned Gideon himself can be considered an example of this trope as well because he is a cool, nice and very affably friendly guy, (and just like Sarah, he's also rather nerdy and geeky too) who starts off the series having an unrequited, and somewhat passionate crush on Phoebe as well (although his is not nearly as bad and obsessive as Sarah's crush was on Max). However, what makes Gideon different from Sarah is that he flirts with nearly every attractive woman who crosses his path, like somewhat of a CasanovaWannabe that finds AnythingThatMoves attractive.[[note]] Some of the other ladies he's flirted with throughout the series other than Phoebe and Sarah include, most of his female friends, including Cherry, Kelsey, Ashley, Madison, Maddy, Winnie Lee, and even Max and Phoebe's own mom, Barbara Thunderman.[[/note]] Sarah kept her unrequited obsessive crush focused solely on Max until they hooked her up with Gideon towards the end of the series. And even when Gideon started dating Sarah, he still sometimes flirted with other women, but Sarah didn't seem to care or mind, as long as if he stayed loyal to her and didn't try to actively pursue any of the other women he'd sometimes try to flirt with.

** The above-mentioned Gideon himself can be considered an example of this trope as well because he is a cool, nice and very affably friendly guy, (and just like Sarah, he's also rather nerdy and geeky too) who starts off the series having an unrequited, and somewhat passionate crush on Phoebe as well (although his is not nearly as bad and obsessive as Sarah's crush was on Max). However, what makes Gideon different from Sarah is that he flirts with nearly every attractive woman who crosses his path, like somewhat of a CasanovaWannabe that finds AnythingThatMoves attractive. Sarah kept her unrequited obsessive crush focused solely on Max until they hooked her up with Gideon towards the end of the series. And even when Gideon started dating Sarah, he still sometimes flirted with other women, but Sarah didn't seem to care or mind, as long as if he stayed loyal to her and didn't try to actively pursue any of the other women he'd sometimes try to flirt with.

* Firo in ''LightNovel/{{Baccano}}'' is this to [[OurHomunculiAreDifferent Ennis]]...he declares LoveAtFirstSight and then proceeds to wait patiently for more than ''fifty years'' for her to agree to marry him. [[spoiler: Good thing both of them are immortal. Eventually she does return his feelings.]]

* ''LightNovel/RebuildWorld'': PlayedWith, both genders are explored.

* Keisaku Satou from ''LightNovel/ShakuganNoShana'' is this for [[BrokenBird Margery Daw.]] She commandeers his home, drinks his home dry of alcoholic beverages daily, and generally tends to be really high maintenance. However, he keeps his mouth shut and helps her (as a MissionControl) with her job as a Flame Haze (even after his buddy Eita does an OptOut) due to having had a crush on her that turns into full-blown romantic attraction. She tries to keep him at arm's length with her DarkAndTroubledPast, but this epically backfires, and by the end of Season 2 of the anime, she's rather aware he hasn't given up. In the final season, [[spoiler:she finally breaks down and reciprocates his feelings.]]

* This is basically Shi Ryuuki's approach to his relationship with Kou Shuurei in ''LightNovel/TheStoryOfSaiunkoku''. To Ryuuki's credit, it's less that Shuurei isn't interested in him personally and more that she has goals which preclude the thought of romance entirely; even more to his credit, he really does genuinely [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy want her to be happy]], which is why he doesn't, as TheEmperor, simply command her to be his consort and remain at the palace. But all things being equal, he'd prefer that she be happy ''with him,'' and he's prepared to wait forever, constantly giving her gifts and trying to think up ways to win her over.

* Éponine of ''Literature/LesMiserables'' fame is a OlderThanRadio DoggedNiceGirl for Marius whom only sees her as a pitiable wretch of a girl (in the musical he treats her more like a dear surrogate sister from the streets). In cruel irony for Éponine the girl who did win Marius’s heart is Cosette who was abused and neglected by Éponine‘s family the Thénardiers. In the book Éponine takes this trope a step further, making sure Marius missed the letter Cosette left him and getting Marius to join her at the barricades disguised so they can be as far she knew TogetherInDeath. It’s entirely possible had Éponine been from a wealthier and well-groomed status Marius might’ve returned her feelings which goes along with Victor Hugo’s social commentary of the class system of the 1800s.

* In ''Literature/ThePhantomOfTheOpera'' both Raoul (who is the protagonist for much of the book) and titular antagonist are this for Christine to varying extents, the latter falling to the extreme end almost destroying a portion of Paris if his feelings aren’t fully returned.
** For Raoul he was [[PuppyLove extremely close]] to Christine when they were young and is heartbroken to see Christine seemingly laughing off his affections when they’re older and becomes increasingly more upset and aggravated at Christine seemingly messing him around — this is due to Raoul only having OneSideOfTheStory with Christine being unable to return his feeling at first due to the promise she made to her Angel of Music (actually the Phantom) and afterwards upon learning the truth out of the justified fear that Erik would kill Raoul. [[spoiler: When Erik lets Christine go in the ending, she elopes with Raoul to Scandinavia.]]
** In the Phantom aka Erik’s case it’s even more tragic as he was already working with a disadvantage being TheGrotesque (as well as a PsychopathicManchild) but he was content merely gaslighting Christine as her beloved Angel of Music it’s only when Raoul came into the picture again that he is stricken with jealousy and becomes desperate eventually abducting Christine. Interestingly, Erik actually becomes a greater example of this after Christine sees his NightmareFace and accepts it as now he refuses to let her go having got such encouragement. It takes a prolonged ScarpiaUltimatum in the finale before he pulls a IJustWantMyBelovedToBeHappy.

* In ''Literature/{{Dracula}}'' Dr John Seward and Quincy Morris are Dogged Nice Guys for Lucy Westerna who shows great affection for them but ultimately turns them down and chooses the third suitor Arthur Holmwood. John is particularly sympathetic given he’s the one who stayed with Lucy all throughout her illness and is even upset that Dr. Van Helsing only lets gives a portion of his blood to her while he let Arthur give practically a litre away. [[spoiler: Subverted as Arthur doesn’t get the girl either with poor Lucy succumbing to her blood loss, dying, and coming back as a vampire before being staked and beheaded.]] PlayedWith in HotterAndSexier adaptations, like ''Film/BramStokersDracula'' where Lucy urges John into making out with her even while she’s engaged to Arthur.

* Most of the protagonists' love interests in the ''Literature/TortallUniverse'' by Creator/TamoraPierce are either dogged or outright ''pushy''. The writing supports this attitude as okay except in a few cases where it becomes EntitledToHaveYou (as with Jon and Alanna).
* Sam Haine the pumpkinhead from ''Literature/CityOfDevils'' and ''Literature/WolfmanConfidential'', really thinks Nick would be a good pumpkinhead. He's mostly nice, but some of his behavior is a little questionable, and he seems not to be clear on "no."
* In the short story ''[[Literature/TheDresdenFiles Bombshells]]'', Molly Carpenter reveals herself to be this. When Harry rejected her in ''Proven Guilty'' (for several reasons, including her young age) her response was essentially 'Okay, I can wait.' Unlike most examples of the trope, she is shown to date other people.
* A rare all-female example of the low-key yearning kind can be found in the ''Literature/JacobsLadderTrilogy''. Rien loves Perceval, and she wants to go all-out with her, but Perceval is basically asexual and unwilling to, even though she comes to reciprocate Rien's feelings to some degree. Rien keeps trying, anyway, and it's not making either of them very happy.
* Ishmael from ''Literature/DontCallMeIshmael'' is the second kind. He's yearned for Kelly since the first time he saw her, even when she was in a relationship with someone else or out of the country.
* Ryan in ''Literature/BlazeOrLoveInTheTimeOfSupervillains'' has been obsessed with Blaze for some time and tries to find new ways to get her to hang out with him for at least a few minutes. She humors him but knows it will never go anywhere. [[spoiler:When Blaze undergoes SlutShaming, he joins in with the people making fun of her, implying that his affection was shallow]].
* In ''Literature/RogueStar'', Andy Quamodian has always been in love with Molly Zaldiver, but she fell for the [[AllGirlsWantBadBoys roguish Cliff Hawk]] instead. When she sends him a message asking for help, though, he's still willing to drop everything and rush to her aid, dreaming the whole time that maybe this time she'll reciprocate his feelings.

** One episode proposes the "Dobler/Dahmer Theory," after Lloyd Dobler from ''Film/SayAnything'' and Jeffrey Dahmer the SerialKiller. It is that the GrandRomanticGesture only works when the recipient is [[WillTheyOrWontThey already smitten with the person]], otherwise it comes across as a StalkerWithACrush. In this scenario Ted is trying to convince his friends that a pretty girl tracking him down is not crazy for the lengths she went to find him... but [[{{Yandere}} proves to be exactly that]].

* ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'', This kind of quest is the main story arc for Ted Mosby. The series starts with him being convinced he'll marry a girl he's just met, before even talking to her. Even though his borderline stalker attempts to win her affection (such as staging multiple romantic gestures like getting a romantic band into her apartment when she's not there) don't really work, Ted patiently waits for Robin to come around. After all, he tells his kids they have to learn "how to turn a no into a yes". More than once the audience is compelled to blame Robin for either "leading him on" or not succumbing to his attempts. When Robin gets engaged to his best friend, who treats her much better, Ted is bitter because according to him he is a better person than Barney. What follows is a disastrous series finale that shows him getting the initial target girl ''25 years later'' and had been written prior to the second season.

** Sarah is a very smart, nerdy, kind, but also attractive and cute girl who goes to high school with The Thundermans' main twin characters, Max and Phoebe, and she develops a huge, almost obsessive crush on Max, and goes out of her way to try and impress him and flirt with him, but no matter how much she tries to flirt with him and go out of her way with grand gestures of her love for him, Max being that he wants to be a supervillain unlike his family of superheroes, sometimes tends to be rather rude and harsh towards her when he rejects her romantic advances. However because of her obsessive crush on him, she never quite gets the hint and it isn't until Max and Phoebe convince her to date Gideon, their other friend who has a small crush on her, that she finally relaxes her crush on Max and tries to move on from him so she can devote her full romantic attention to Gideon instead.

** Sarah is a very smart, nerdy, kind, but also attractive and cute girl who goes to high school with The Thundermans' main twin characters, Max and Phoebe, and she develops a huge, almost obsessive crush on Max, and goes out of her way to try and impress him and flirt with him, but no matter how much she tries to flirt with him and go out of her way with grand gestures of her love for him, Max being that he wants to be a supervillain unlike his family of superheroes, sometimes tends to be rather rude and harsh towards her when he rejects her romantic advances. However because of her obsessive crush on him, she never quite gets the hint and it isn't until Max and Phoebe convince her to date Gideon, their other friend who has a small crush on her, that she finally relaxes her crush on Max and tries to move on from him so she can devote her full romantic attention to Gideon.

** Sarah is a very smart, nerdy, kind, but also attractive and cute girl who goes to high school with The Thundermans' main twin characters, Max and Phoebe, and she develops a huge, almost obsessive crush on Max, and goes out of her way to try and impress him and flirt with him, but no matter how much she tries to flirt with him and go out of her way with grand gestures of her love for him, Max being that he wants to be a supervillain unlike his family of superheroes, sometimes tends to be rather rude and harsh towards her when he rejects her romantic advances. However because of her obsessive crush on him, she never quite gets the hint and it isn't until Max and Phoebe convince her to date Gideon, their other friend, that she finally relaxes her crush on Max and tries to move on from him so she can devote her full romantic attention to Gideon.

* [[{{Creator/Nickelodeon}} Nickelodeon's]] ''Series/TheThundermans'' has Sarah as a [[GenderInverted gender-flipped, female version]] of this trope with her crush on Max.

* [[{{Creator/Nickelodeon}} Nickelodeon's]] ''Series/TheThundermans'' has Sarah as a gender-flipped version of this trope with her crush on Max.

** Sarah is a very smart, nerdy, kind, but also attractive and cute girl who goes to high school with the The Thundermans' main twin characters, Max and Phoebe, and she develops a huge, almost obsessive crush on Max, and goes out of her way to try and impress him and flirt with him, but no matter how much she tries to flirt with him and go out of her way with grand gestures of her love for him, Max being that he wants to be a supervillain unlike his family of superheroes, sometimes tends to be rather rude and harsh towards her when he rejects her romantic advances. However because of her obsessive crush on him, she never quite gets the hint and it isn't until Max and Phoebe convince her to date Gideon, their other friend, that she finally relaxes her crush on Max and tries to move on from him so she can devote her full romantic attention to Gideon.

* [[{{Creator/Nickelodeon}} Nickelodeon's]] ''Series/TheThundermans'' has Sarah as a gender-flipped version of this trope towards her crush Max.

* [[Creator/DisneyChannel Disney Channel's]] ''Series/ANTFarm'' has Fletcher with his almost obsessive unrequited crush on Chyna throughout most of the show's run, although it's very downplayed because she tries her best not to be too harsh, or mean or rude with her rejections towards him. However, as time goes on, he eventually relaxes and tries to move on from his crush on Chyna and dates other girls in the series.

* And now Freddie has a SpiritualSuccessor in ''Series/ANTFarm'''s Fletcher Quimby who serves ''just the same functions as Freddie did but minus the nerd tendency.'' And thankfully, no version of Sam to annoy him.

* [[{{Creator/Nickelodeon}} Nickelodeon's]] ''Series/TheThundermans'' and ''{{Series/iCarly}}'' has Sarah (from The Thundermans) and Freddie (from iCarly) when it comes to their unrequited crushes on Max and Carly respectively.

* [[{{Creator/Nickelodeon}} Nickelodeon's]] ''Series/TheThundermans'' and ''{{Series/iCarly}}'' has Sarah (from The Thundermans) and Freddy (from iCarly) when it comes to their unrequited crushes on Max and Carly respectively.

** Female example with Boa Hancock, who similar to how Sanji with Nami and Robin is this for Luffy: a ChasteHero who for the record only gets annoyed at the beautiful women of [[LadyLand Amazon Lily]] pawing at him [[BigEater when he’s trying to eat]]. Hancock has multiple daydreams of Luffy reciprocating her love and often states she’ll marry Luffy or outright proposes to him which he bluntly turns down only seeing her a dear friend at most.

* ''Film/{{DEBS}}'': Bobby Matthews is an antagonistic example. He spends a lot of his screen time trying to win Amy over after she dumped him, though he quickly shows how pushy he is about it. He apparently buys her gifts to woo her, and when she’s forced back into a relationship with him, love bombs her when he “forgives” her for her fling with Lucy Diamond Diamond. Throughout, Bobby displays an entitled and controlling attitude towards Amy.

* Sanji from ''Manga/OnePiece'' has shades of this mixed in with CasanovaWannabe, funnily enough. Though he thinks of himself as a charming and capable ladies' man, he also happily does anything and everything to please Nami and Robin in the hopes they'll fall in love with him.

* ''WesternAnimation/ABugsLife'': Flik's crush on Atta is quite clear from the very beginning, but to start off with, she rebuffs any of his attempts to be sweet towards her. As the movie progresses, however, she starts to warm up to him after getting to understand him better and professes her newfound admiration for him near the end.