History Main / ImaginaryLoveTriangle

* On ''{{WesternAnimation/Rugrats}},'' Grandpa gets a NewOldFlame named Morgana in one episode. It turns out their relationship had ended when she saw him "kissing" another girl; in reality, he had been performing [[CPRCleanPrettyReliable CPR]] on her as she suffered an asthma attack. Ironically, his eventual wife had the same name as the girl he'd performed CPR on.

* In Chapter 74 of ''Manga/KaguyaSamaLoveIsWar'', Kaguya, Shirogane, and Ishigami all imagine that they're in a love triangle due to the three of them having [[ThinksLikeARomanceNovel binge-read too much Shoujo manga]].

* ''Anime/SamuraiFlamenco'' has a very odd inversion where [[spoiler: the hypoteneuse themself is imaginary, but everyone involved treats her as real. Goto is "dating" a girl through texts. He spurns Mari's advances because of her. The girlfriend is jealous of Masayoshi at one point, implying that Goto has feelings for him, but feels guilty about straying from his girlfriend. But she isn't actually an obstacle to either of these relationships, because 1.) [[NeverFoundTheBodu she mysteriously disappeared years ago]], and 2.) by that point Goto's texts from her were really a coping mechanism he used to keep sane, up to and including ''imagining how she'd react to any of these developments''. [[MindScrew It's that kind of a show]].]]

* ''Manga/FairyTail'' has a love triangle existing only in the mind of Juvia, who misinterpreted something Gray said to think he loved Lucy, and thus believes her to be a rival in love. Ironically, Gray and Lucy are [[JustFriends just friends]] and Gray doesn't seem to [[ChasteHero have an interest in love]], let alone notice [[ObliviousToLove Juvia's affections]] for him. The imaginary rivalry settles down after a while, but that doesn't stop Juvia from sometimes flaunting her "progress with Gray-sama" in front of Lucy. Later it's taken UpToEleven and now she believes that she's in a LoveDodecahedron in which most of the female characters who know Gray are in love with Gray[[note]]That being said, apart from the pairings involving Gray, her chart is generally accurate. Most of the pairings or unrequited loves on her chart are at least hinted at in canon.[[/note]]. After Lyon falls in love with Juvia, Juvia also imagines that Gray is in love with Lyon.

* ''Anime/SamuraiFlamenco'' has a very odd inversion where [[spoiler: the hypoteneuse themself is imaginary, but everyone involved treats her as real. Goto is "dating" a girl through texts. He spurns Mari's advances because of her. The girlfriend is jealous of Masayoshi at one point, implying that Goto has feelings for him, but feels guilty about straying from his girlfriend. But she isn't actually an obstacle to either of these relationships, because 1.) she mysteriously disappeared years ago, and 2.) by that point Goto's texts from her were really a coping mechanism he used to keep sane, up to and including imagining how she'd react to any of these developments. [[MindScrew It's that kind of a show]].]]

* ''Anime/SamuraiFlamenco'' has a very odd inversion where [[spoiler: the hypoteneuse themself is imaginary, but everyone involved treats her as real. Goto is "dating" a girl through texts. He spurns Mari's advances because of her. The girlfriend is jealous of Masayoshi at one point, implying that Goto has feelings for him, but feels guilty about straying from his girlfriend. But she isn't actually an obstacle to either of these relationships, because 1.) she mysteriously disappeared years ago, and 2.) by that point Goto's texts from her were really a coping mechanism he used to keep sane, up to and including imagining how she'd react to any of these developments. [[MindScrew it's that kind of a show]].]]

* ''Anime/SamuraiFlamenco'' has a very odd example where [[spoiler: Goto is "dating" a girl who is literally imaginary. He spurn Mari's advances because of her. The girlfriend is jealous of Masayoshi at one point, implying that Goto has feelings for him, but feels guilty about straying from his girlfriend. But she isn't actually an obstacle to either of these relationships. [[MindScrew it's that kind of a show]]]]

* Franchise/WonderWoman once laughed when a fellow Justice Leaguer mentioned the idea of Diana being romantically involved with Franchise/{{Superman}}. Her heart, at the time, lay [[Franchise/{{Batman}} elsewhere]].

* ''WesternAnimation/TheHollow'': Kai thinks that there's something going on between Mira and Adam, which he fears since he also starts having feelings for Mira, [[spoiler:but it's shown that nothing will come out of Mira and Adam's relationship when she kisses him and he reacts by awkwardly saying he isn't interested]].

* In ''Fanfic/MyPainMyThrill'', Peach gets irrationally jealous upon meeting the Koopalings because of this. She becomes so angry that during one kidnapping she barged into Bowser's bedroom to find out who his wife was. This lead into TheirFirstTime. As it turns out, Bowser is actually the Koopaling's uncle, but Peach doesn't learn this until three years after she began her affair with Bowser. Bowser Jr is the odd one out as he's explicitly Bowser's son. This is solved by the revelation that Jr is Peach's son, who she hadn't know she was pregnant with and ended up having while comatose.

* ''Anime/DanganRonpa3'': During an episode of Side:Despair, It seems that there is one, with Chisa thinking that she is competing with [[TheDragon Juzo Sakakura]] for the heart of their mutual friend Munakata, but Juzo states that it's an idiotic idea. [[spoiler:Then it turns out that this is subverted, and she was RightForTheWrongReasons, Juzo is indeed in love with Munakata, but [[ArmoredClosetGay afraid of his reaction]] and seeing as Munakata [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy is in love with Chisa, he decides to back down]], so he was never competing in the first place]].
* ''LightNovel/Gamers2015'' has a setup where all the characters involved think they're in a LoveDodecahedron, but it's really just a love triangle with an OfficialCouple on the side. Aguri loves Tasuku who loves her back. Karen loves Keita who reciprocates. Chiaki and Keita are made for each other but their relationship is a little complicated. This is muddied however with people's perceptions. Keita and Aguri think that Tasuku is two-timing Aguri with Chiaki and/or Karen. Karen at points thinks that Keita is in love with Chiaki. Chiaki initially thinks Keita is being led on by Aguri until he asks Karen out and thus "escapes" her. And Tasuku is deliberately setting up Keita's love triangle, at least in part because he thinks that Aguri's two-timing him. The imaginary triangles and dodecahedrons are complicated from the start, and the constant misunderstandings mean it just goes downhill from there.

* ''Manga/AkatsukiNoYona'' had a LoveTriangle played completely straight in its beginning chapters, but it slowly morphed into this as the series went on. When they were [[ChildhoodFriend growing up together]], Yona had always loved Su-Won, while Hak had always loved Yona. After [[spoiler: Su-Won murdered Yona's father and usurped her throne while she escaped with Hak]], Yona naturally fell out of love with him. Much later, [[spoiler: she's fallen for Hak]], but he believes her still keeping [[TragicKeepsake the hairpin]] Su-Won had given her means that she still loves him.
* In Chapter 74 of ''Manga/KaguyaSamaLoveIsWar'', Kaguya, Shirogane, and Ishigami all imagine that they're in a love triangle due to the three of them having binge-read too much Shoujo manga.

** [[Disney/TheEmperorsNewGroove Kuzco]] playfully flirts with his [[VitriolicBestFriends Vitriolic Best Bud]] [[LovableLibby Jasmine]], leading Disney/{{Aladdin}} to think they're actually dating.
** Similarly, [[TroubledButCute Adam]] has to be restrained from killing [[Disney/AtlantisTheLostEmpire Milo]] when he and [[Disney/BeautyAndTheBeast Belle]] spend time together.
* ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive:'' Despite the protests of all involved, a good chunk of the peripheral cast believe in a Susan/Elliot/Sarah triangle. Elliot and Sarah are dating, Susan and Sarah are close friends, and Elliot and Susan get along well with each other (they have good on-screen chemistry on their web-video series where they review movies). However, Susan has issues with physical intimacy and Elliot knows this, so even after he and Sarah break up amicably, neither Elliot nor Susan try to become more than friends.

* ''Manga/FairyTail'' has a love triangle existing only in the mind of Juvia, who misinterpreted something Gray said to think he loved Lucy, and thus believes her to be a rival in love. Ironically, Gray and Lucy are [[JustFriends just friends]] and Gray doesn't seem to [[ChasteHero have an interest in love]], let alone notice [[ObliviousToLove Juvia's affections]] for him. The imaginary rivalry settles down after a while, but that doesn't stop Juvia from sometimes flaunting her "progress with Gray-sama" in front of Lucy. Later it's taken UpToEleven and now she believes that she's in a LoveDodecahedron.

* In ''Fanfic/HopToIt'', Marinette spends several chapters treating Jack as a rival for Adrien's affections, though Jack is completely oblivious to this. They only find out what was going on after Jack happens to mention her boyfriend Diego to Alya, who panics and scrambles to call off the cruel prank Marinette had set up.

* ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive:'' Despite the protests of all involved, a good chunk of the peripheral cast believe in a Susan/Elliot/Sarah triangle.

* On ''{{WesternAnimation/Rugrats}},'' Grandpa gets a NewOldFlame named Morgana in one episode. It turns out their relationship had ended when she saw him "kissing" another girl; in reality, he had been performing [[CPRCleanPrettyReliable CPR]] on her as she suffered an asthma attack. [[SubvertedTrope That girl eventually became his wife.]]

* In ''Fanfic/MyPainMyThrill'', Peach gets irrationally jealous upon meeting the Koopalings. She becomes so angry that during one kidnapping she barged into Bowser's bedroom to find out who his wife was. This lead into TheirFirstTime. As it turns out, Bowser is actually the Koopaling's uncle, but Peach doesn't learn this until three years after she began her affair with Bowser. Bowser Jr is the odd one out as he's explicitly Bowser's son. This is solved [[spoiler:by the revelation that Jr is Peach's son, who she hadn't know she was pregnant with and ended up having while comatose]].

* In ''Fanfic/MyPainMyThrill'', Peach gets irrationally jealous upon meeting the Koopalings. She's becomes so angry that during one kidnapping she barged into Bowser's bedroom to find out who his wife was. This lead into TheirFirstTime. As it turns out, Bowser is actually the Koopaling's uncle, but Peach doesn't learn this until three years after she began her affair with Bowser. Bowser Jr is the odd one out as he's explicitly Bowser's son. This is solved [[spoiler:by the revelation that Jr is Peach's son, who she hadn't know she was pregnant with and ended up having while comatose]].

* In ''Fanfic/MyPainMyThrill'', Peach gets irrationally jealous upon meeting the Koopalings. She's becomes so angry that during one kidnapping she barged into Bowser's bedroom to find out who his wife was. This lead into TheirFirstTime. As it turns out, Bowser is actually the Koopaling's uncle, but Peach doesn't learn this until three years after she began her affair with Bowser. Bowser Jr is the odd one out as he's explicitly Bowser's son. This is solved [[spoiler:by the revelation that Jr is Peach's son, who she hadn't know she was pregnant with and ended up having while comatose].

* ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'': Several one-off characters who develop crushes on Ash aren't happy to see Misty, May, or Dawn travelling with him.

** In ''[[Comicbook/Supergirl1972 a classic issue]]'', a guy named Jeff who previously hit on Linda -aka, the titular heroine-, thought she was cheating on him with a professor. However, Linda is not interested in either of them.

* {{Downplayed}} in ''WesternAnimation/NextAvengersHeroesOfTomorrow,'' but Francis[[note]]the son of Comicbook/Hawkeye [[WordOfGod and Mockingbird]][[/note]] apparently thought that James[[note]]son of Comicbook/CaptainAmerica and Comicbook/BlackWidow[[/note]] also had a thing for Torunn[[note]]daughter of Comicbook/{{Thor}}[[/note]]; the pair were actually raised together.