History Main / RomanticRunnerUp

* Eleanor of ''Manga/VictorianRomanceEmma'' is a female example. There's nothing wrong with her, it's just that William had already fallen in love with someone else.
* Dr. Tomoaki Araide in ''Manga/DetectiveConan''. Dude's handsome, soft-spoken, rich,... and he ''happens'' to have a romantic interest in a young girl named Ran, who has been smitten with the GuileHero Shinichi/Conan already for years. [[spoiler: One of the OAV's shows what would likely happen if Shinichi never found a way to become normal... Araide would lose ''even then'', since [[IWillWaitForYou Ran would rather be alone than without Shinichi.]] Thank ''Gods'' it was AllJustADream...]]

* On Series/SchittsCreek'': Ted, in Season 1 and 2, is the broken-hearted runner-up when Alexis chooses Mutt. However, after Mutt and Alexis's romance burns out and Mutt is PutOnaBus, the story takes a turn and Alexis realizes she made a mistake with Ted. [[spoiler: When Mutt returns for an episode, he becomes the runner up as Alexis won't sleep with Mutt because she loves Ted.]]

* On Series/SchittsCreek: Ted, in Season 1 and 2, is the broken-hearted runner-up when Alexis chooses Mutt. However, after Mutt and Alexis's romance burns out and Mutt is PutOnaBus, the story takes a turn and Alexis realizes she made a mistake with Ted. [[spoiler: When Mutt returns for an episode, he becomes the runner up as Alexis won't sleep with Mutt because she loves Ted.]]

* Film/FiveHundredDaysOfSummer is interesting in that one of these is the main character and it is about the fact that while he was completely in love with her, she wasn't at all in love with him([[ForegoneConclusion which isn't a spoiler]]). The key theme is the difference between his expectations and the reality of the situation.

* Deconstructed in ''Manga/RosarioToVampire'' with Kurumu (a succubus). It's fairly clear [[UnrequitedTragicMaiden how heartbreaking it is for her]] to not be the girl to get Tsukune. It gets worse because [[spoiler:in this universe, UnrequitedLove [[DeathByDespair is a bad thing for a succubus]].]]

* ''Fanfic/TotalDramaComebackSeries'': Not only did [[ExtravertedNerd Cody]] lose [[PerkyGoth Gwen]] to [[ChickMagnet Trent]] in canon, but in the first story he winds up losing in another LoveTriangle, this time with [[{{Geek}} Beth]] to [[MrFanservice Justin]]. Fortunately, the writer [[ThrowTheDogABone throws him a bone]] in the sequel, where he's the ''axis'' in a love triangle between [[CharlesAtlasSuperpower Eva]] and an attractive OC.

* Yamcha may be the quintessential example. In fact, he combines this trope with RomanticFalseLead, because in the events of ''Manga/{{Dragonball}}'', he was explicitly set up with Bulma after the end of the first big story arc conclusion, when the dragon was summoned. However, fast forward to ''Anime/DragonballZ'', & Bulma dumps him, & then gradually warms up to [[BloodKnight Vegeta]] of all people, ''who had been a villain actively threatening the planet in the previous story arc''.

* ''Anime/DanganRonpa3'': [[spoiler:Juzo becomes this when Chisa ends up as the one the love of his life, Munakata, falls in love with.]]

* An odd example is Kyougo Monou from ''Manga/{{X1999}}''. He ''did'' [[VictoriousChildhoodFriend get to marry the girl he loved]], Saya, and even had two children with her (Fuma and Kotori)... but he ''remained'' as the Romantic Runner Up since he knew Saya loved him but not ''that'' way, as she was in love with [[spoiler: her best friend Tohru]] and married Kyougo mostly to fulfill her destiny.

* Reito of ''Anime/MaiHime'' for Mai. Mai strongly considered him at first but ended up with Yuuichi in the end.

* In the anime for ''{{VisualNovel/Clannad}}'', every girl not named Nagisa falls into this trope. If it wasn't already blatantly obvious to viewers from the very beginning of episode 1, a massive ShipSinking [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvemcebvJb8&feature=related scene occurs in episode 18]], which makes it very clear to all of the other girls which one of them Tomoya really cares about.

* ''Fanfic/{{Total Drama Comeback Series}}:'' Not only did [[ExtravertedNerd Cody]] lose [[PerkyGoth Gwen]] to [[ChickMagnet Trent]] in canon, but in the first story he winds up losing in another LoveTriangle, this time with [[{{Geek}} Beth]] to [[MrFanservice Justin]]. Fortunately, the writer [[ThrowTheDogABone throws him a bone]] in the sequel, where he's the ''axis'' in a love triangle between [[CharlesAtlasSuperpower Eva]] and an attractive OC.

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* Deconstructed in ''Manga/RosarioToVampire'' with Kurumu (a succubus). It's fairly clear [[UnrequitedTragicMaiden how heartbreaking it is for her]] to not be the girl to get Tsukune. Gets worse because [[spoiler:in this universe, UnrequitedLove [[DeathByDespair is a bad thing for a succubus]].]]

* In the ''VisualNovel/{{Shuffle}}'' anime, every girl, especially [[spoiler: [[UnluckyChildhoodFriend Kaede]]]] becomes this once Rin chooses one near the end of the anime.

Note that since this trope involves the ''resolution'' of [[LoveTriangle love triangles,]] '''SPOILERS AHEAD!'''

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* Kentarou Nara from the anime/manga ''Manga/SchoolRumble''. Oddly enough, he was originally going to be the main character of the show, but was nonetheless relegated as a side character with little screen time or role in the story.

** Of the love triangle between Sonozaki, Katsuhira and Chidori, [[spoiler:the end game is Sonozaki/Katsuhira, leaving Chidori as this]].
** Of the love triangle between [[spoiler:Nico, Tenga and Chidori]], the end is left open over who will end up with whom, but considering that [[spoiler:Tenga had fallen for Chidori and she started developing feelings for him after the events of the show, as well as Nico openly stating she will value [[BetterAsFriends their friendship over any possible romance]], it's likely that Nico ends as this]].

** ''Manga/CeresCelestialLegend'' features a similar situation where Yuuhi readily accepts his romantic loss to Aya's MysteriousProtector, Tooya. [[spoiler: In the end, however, Tooya tell him that he's dying and won't live more than two years, so he asks Yuuhi to take care of Aya and their soon-to-be-born child once he's gone]].

* In ''LightNovel/{{Corsair}}'', Aura, a [[PluckyGirl plucky]] (if naive) girl had being planning to marry Canale for a very long time. Though Canale really respects and cares for her he does not want to pursue a relationship for reasons even other than the [[{{Uke}} obvious]], and he ends up with the {{jerkass}} BastardBoyfriend instead, who is something of an adopted sibling to Aura, just to rub it in.

* Dr. Tomoaki Araide in ''Manga/DetectiveConan''. Dude's handsome, soft-spoken, rich,... and he ''happens'' to have romantic interest in a young girl named Ran, who has been smitten with the GuileHero Shinichi/Conan already for years. [[spoiler: One of the OAV's shows what would likely happen if Shinichi never found a way to become normal... Araide would lose ''even then'', since [[IWillWaitForYou Ran would rather be alone than without Shinichi.]] Thank ''Gods'' it was AllJustADream...]]

* Reito of ''Anime/MaiHime'', for Mai. Mai strongly considered him at first, but ended up with Yuuichi in the end.

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** As far as it is known, Chihiro Tanaka is not a bad girl -albeit persistent and meddlesome-, but Shinji loves Asuka despite of all her flaws.

* ''Manga/Evangelion303'': Saburo was inmature, sometimes overbearing, a borderline stalker and he did many dumb things and hurt people as he tried and failed to get Kaworu back... but he was not a bad person. He was just unable to control his emotions and let the past go. He also thought he was protecting Kaworu of a heart-break by interfering between Rei and him. When he realized that was not the case he gave up.
* ''Fanfic/{{HERZ}}'': Kurumi was not a bad girl per se (at least if you do not count [[spoiler: she got Shinji hammered in order to sleep with him),]] but she was not Asuka. Shinji loved Asuka for her beauty, brains, bravery and fierceness and being the only person could understand him, and he needed her badly.

-->'''Angel:''' "At one time, I was convinced I was in love with her. So was Scott, so, I guess, was just about everybody there. I swept her off her feet a couple of times, figured I'd have a clear field with her. Turns out she and Scott were meant for each other. So I tried hanging in there for awhile, but I eventually gave it up."
* In ''Fanfic/HellsisterTrilogy'', [[ComicBook/LegionOfSuperHeroes Brainiac 5]] is handsome, intelligent and well-meaning; however, ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} finds she can't love him back the way he wants to be loved, and ends up falling for dashing but abrasive Dev-Em instead.

** Technically Jack Sparrow too, as he also loses Elizabeth to Will in the third film. This is less tragic though, because while Norrington genuinely loved Elizabeth [[spoiler: and eventually made a HeroicSacrifice to save her from Davy Jones]], Jack's relationship with her was more PlayedForLaughs and he ended up getting a new love interest in the [[Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanOnStrangerTides fourth film]] anyway.

* Frank in the ''Outlander'' series has the unfortunate distinction of first losing his wife in a magic rock, and then, just as he's getting over her, geting her back only to find that she's still in love with the guy she married in the 18th century.

* Jacob Black of ''Literature/{{Twilight}}''. Specifically in ''New Moon'' when he was still nice to Bella till she showed he would choose Edward over him, after that he started to get all Alpha Male on her trying to get her grounded, kissing her by force and later by emotional blackmail. In the end he managed to get Bella to admit she loved him, but she still loved Edward more.

* ''Worldwar'' gives us an unusual example regarding the character Barbara Larsen. She starts the series HappilyMarried to Dr. Jens Larsen, a scientist working on the Manhattan Project, but when an alien race attacks Earth Jens is sent on a top-secret mission that requires him to cross the United States by bicycle to avoid drawing attention. In the meantime Barbara meets a friendly and forward-thinking soldier named Sam Yeager, and the two become friends with no intent of going any further (Sam knows she's married and respects that). [[spoiler:Then they get caught up in an alien attack and end up having GladToBeAliveSex, but are deeply ashamed with themselves afterwards. They try to stay JustFriends, but then Barbara finds out she's pregnant and is wrongly told that Jens has died, so she and Sam get married. Naturally, this is the point where Jens turns up alive and well, having carried himself on with thoughts of returning to his loving wife. Barbara ultimately stays with Sam, which is just the latest example of Jens being a ButtMonkey and helps drive him off the deep end, ultimately getting killed by the army when he tries to betray humanity to the aliens as revenge for everything he's suffered. Decades later when Sam tells the story to his son Johnathan, he fully admits that he sees himself as this trope, recognizing that Jens was a good man before he lost it and thinking that Barbara only stayed with him because he got her pregnant.]]
* Stefan in ''Redemption Cairn'' by Stanley G. Weinbaum. In terms of heroic qualities, he is more or less equal to the protagonist Jack, and they both have IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy attitude towards Claire, since each of them is certain she loves the other one. She chooses Jack, but rejects Stefan, as the latter recalls, "as gently as possible".

** Which is hilarious, because in some ways Anders also fits. While, yes, he does actually get to marry Starbuck, it's implied a number of times that she would rather be with Apollo (and Anders knows this). At one point, she basically out-right states that the only reason she hasn't left Anders for Apollo is because she doesn't believe in divorce.

* Dean Forester from ''Series/GilmoreGirls''. He may have been Rory's first ever boyfriend, but he eventually loses her to Jess and Logan as the series progressed.
* Harvey Kinkle in the later seasons of ''Series/SabrinaTheTeenageWitch''. [[spoiler: After he himself dumped Sabrina after finding out she is a witch at the beginning of season 5, he kept returning to appear in the show throughout seasons 5 to 7 and kept dropping hints that he still was in love with Sabrina. But only in the very end he gets the girl back]].

** Xander qualifies for this trope on multiple occasions. Buffy rejects him for the more romantic Angel. Cordelia ultimately also winds up with Angel after breaking up with him. Willow, after pining after him for the first two seasons, ultimately chooses Oz over him. Even Anya sleeps with Spike after breaking up with Xander. Inverted when Buffy ''does'' begin to develop romantic feeling for Xander -- and Xander rejects her for her little sister, Dawn (who had a crush on him and he rejected ''her'').

* Subverted in ''Series/SexAndTheCity'' Steve looked like he would be this for Miranda, and they even broke up for a while. But in the end his sheer averageness was just the kind of stability she needed.

* Artemus Gordon ends up this way at the end of almost every first season episode of ''Series/TheWildWildWest''. Having helped saved the day (and usually the girl) most of the time, he turns to talk to either her or Jim West and finds that the girl is now in Jim's arms. From the second season on Artie's luck gets much better.

* Zach was this to Seth in ''Series/TheOC'' with regards to Summer. A nice guy, son of a congress man, confident, mature, and yet just not quite what Summer really wanted. The implication when he was PutOnABus was that he went into business with George Lucas, so maybe it all worked out in the wash.

* Lancelot from ''Series/{{Merlin|2008}}'' has such low self-esteem that on realizing that Arthur is in love with Guinevere, gives up on his own romantic hopes without a fight or even checking with Guinevere herself to see what man she prefered (and at that point, he would have almost certainly been her first pick).

* Part of the rivalry between Jack and Sawyer for Kate's affections in ''Series/{{Lost}}''. Jack is a very good guy, skilled, likeable and an excellent surgeon. Sawyer is dangerous, charming, and mysterious as well as almost entirely unlikeable. Ben points this out to Sawyer telling him that ,on the island, he's the dashing adventurous bad boy while Jack is the bland doctor. Off the island, Sawyer is two bit ex-con and Jack is the respected, well-educated Doctor.

* In ''Franchise/MassEffect'', Dr. Michel has feelings for Garrus, but will lose to a female Shepard who romanced Garrus in the second game, [[spoiler:and even if the player does not romance him, he'll end up with Tali if Shepard didn't romance her]].

* Cooper from ''WesternAnimation/{{Ben 10}}''. In ''[[WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce Alien Force]]'' he shows himself as a caring, humble and really intelligent kid who has a deep crush on Gwen. However, she never showed any interest in him (she even tried to avoid him many times) and always chose Kevin over him everytime he appeared. This trope was taken to the extreme in ''[[WesternAnimation/Ben10UltimateAlien Ultimate Alien]]'' during the first season finale. Cooper had a fast growth and became a big teenager who was pretty much a palette swap of Kevin (only blonde). He worked hard to make sure Gwen's plan of stopping Kevin was a success and even defended her when Kevin almost killed her, yet all he got in the end was a thank you and a kiss on the cheek from Gwen, followed by seeing her giving Kevin a big kiss on the lips.

** ''Manga/AyashiNoCeres'' features a similar situation where Yuuhi readily accepts his romantic loss to Aya's MysteriousProtector, Tooya. [[spoiler: In the end, however, Tooya tell him that he's dying and won't live more than two years, so he asks Yuuhi to take care of Aya and their soon-to-be-born child once he's gone]].

You know, there isn't really anything ''wrong'' with this guy. He just doesn't measure up for some reason. Somebody else can make the jokes he tells a little funnier. He could use a little help in the wardrobe department. He loses a lot of women to the [[PrinceCharming taller, more handsome, more suave guys]] (and/or the [[AllGirlsWantBadBoys bad-boy types]]). Or maybe he's all of those qualities, yet somehow isn't quite Mister Right Enough for the leading lady, who prefers the Protagonist's flaws.

Note that while this trope largely applies to male characters, it can occasionally affect female characters as well, particularly in LoveTriangle relationships where there's two women and one guy. In these cases, the exemplar of this trope is usually the "Betty" of a BettyAndVeronica matchup.

* ''Manga/{{Evangelion 303}}'': Saburo was inmature, sometimes overbearing, a borderline stalker and he did many dumb things and hurt people as he tried and failed to get Kaworu back... but he was not a bad person. He was just unable to control his emotions and let the past go. He also thought he was protecting Kaworu of a heart-break by interfering between Rei and him. When he realized that was not the case he gave up.

** [[spoiler:[[SubvertedTrope Subverted]]: Sam wins.

* Richard Mayhew, the Everyman in Creator/NeilGaiman's ''Literature/{{Neverwhere}}'' who [[RefusalOfTheCall refused The Call]].

* Lancelot from ''Series/{{Merlin}}'' has such low self-esteem that on realizing that Arthur is in love with Guinevere, gives up on his own romantic hopes without a fight or even checking with Guinevere herself to see what man she prefered (and at that point, he would have almost certainly been her first pick).

* Similarly, in ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'', Akane Tendo openly considers Ryoga Hibiki to be much nicer and sweeter than her CompassionateCritic and NoSocialSkills fiance Ranma Saotome, but she's more or less ObliviousToLove when it [[AllLoveIsUnrequited comes to him]]. That said, Ryoga does find somebody else...

* ''Webcomics/{{Erfworld}}'' has Jillian, who has three people in love with her. After she leaves two behind to go after the third, one of them asks the other why he didn't go with her.

** Further Zigzagged between the Twelfth Doctor and Danny Pink with regards to Clara Oswald. The Doctor is still in love with Clara (a carryover from his previous incarnation who, per dialogue in the episode "Deep Breath", considered himself to be Clara's boyfriend), but initially steps back and intentionally distances himself from her emotionally, leaving her open to establishing a relationship with Danny. From the get-go, however, Danny and the Doctor are contrasted, with Clara maintaining feelings for both and trying to keep both men in her life. This does not end well, and when Danny is [[spoiler: KilledOffForReal but briefly revived as a Cyberman]], he finally finds out where he stands with Clara when she says to him (not realizing she's speaking to Danny): "I would never, ever, give up the Doctor, because he is my best friend, too. He is the closest person to me in this whole world. He is the man I will always forgive, always trust. The one man I would never, ever lie to." This after spending most of Series 8 lying to Danny. Actress Creator/JennaColeman all but recited the criteria for this trope in a 2014 interview when she was asked who Clara loved more, the Doctor or Danny, and her reply was that Danny was the best boyfriend a girl could hope for ... "but he's not the Doctor."