History Main / YourCheatingHeart

* Infamous example in Franchise/SpiderMan Sins’s Past as there’s a {{Retcon}} where it’s revealed Gwen Stacy cheated on Peter with Norman Osborn the middle aged father of her old boyfriend Harry whose also Spider-Man’s nemesis ComicBook/GreenGoblin. It gets worse as Gwen gets pregnant with CreepyTwins before she gets her neck snapped falling off a bridge.
** The flimsy justification is that Gwen was attracted to Norman for same reasons she was attracted to Peter i.e the whole “mysterious man” angle. Not surprisingly most writers ignore this storyline and fans act like it never happened so Gwen can stay the figure of innocence she should be.
* Comicbook/{{Gambit}} had just been getting cozy with ComicBook/{{Rogue}} when his estranged wife Belladonna shows up and attacks them. However the trope subverted when we learn the whole truth, Gambit technically wasn’t really cheating on Belladonna since their ArrangedMarriage was called off when he killed her brother in self defence and whats more Rogue isn’t angry and gets along with Belladonna while the rest of X-Men (particularly Beast) have a laugh at Gambit’s expense.

* A lot writers do this to ComicBook/{{Cyclops}} which sadly fuels his unpopularity with a good deal of fans. First he gets very close with ComicBook/JeanGrey when she resurrects despite Cycolps Being married to Madeline Prior and getting her pregnant. Secondly when he’s back with Jean he becomes attracted to ComicBook/Psylocke and has a small MentalAffair and even kisses her causing Jean to be furious and attack Betsy. Thirdly after being married to Jean for years he has another MentalAffair with ComicBook/EmmaFrost to point of becoming MindlinkMates something Scott is only supposed to doing with Jean. We can defend Cycolps a little with the last example as Emma was his therapist at time so her exploiting his vulnerable mental state reflects worse on her than it does Scott. But making out with Emma the day after Jean dies again is enough validation for [[https://static.comicvine.com/uploads/original/11111/111111652/4095304-1828027-wolverine_vs_cyclops_one.jpg Wolverine to punch his lights out]].
** To be fair, Jean is no stranger to this as she’s gotten [[http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_3NbEuEB-o9Y/SYu23lAz6qI/AAAAAAAABjA/e4mOvZYxmZE/s1600/Wolverine+and+Jean.jpg very cozy]] with ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} and has even kissed ComicBook/SpiderMan.
*** Really it’d hypocritical for either Scott or Jean to call each other out on infidelity.

* Comicbook/{{Gambit}} who been hitting on Rogue for half-a-dozen issues before his estranged wife Belladonna suddenly turned up. More sympathetic than most examples of this trope.
* ComicBook/{{Cyclops}}: First he kisses ComicBook/JeanGrey when she is resurrected although he was married to Maddeline Prior (at the time, it should be noted, Maddie had let him think that she was dead), and then much later he cheats on Jean Grey (now his wife) with Emma Frost in a MentalAffair. In the latter case, Frost was his therapist at the time and took advantage of his crippling vulnerability in a spectacular violation of medical ethics.

!!!Tropes

Unfortunately, adultery is TruthInTelevision, as many broken hearts and broken families will testify. It is also one of the most common reasons that people murder each other.

See GoodAdulteryBadAdultery. This is generally the #7 scenario of TriangRelations.

* In ''ComicBook/BatmanNoMansLand'', Nightwing is shown to have resumed a relationship with Batgirl, but leaves a celebration early to share a New Year's kiss with Huntress.

* AccidentalAdultery: A character cheated because he was [[ButLiquorIsQuicker drunk]] or caught in a {{Moment of Weakness}}.

* AffairLetters: Love letters that document someone had an affair.
* BedroomAdulteryScene

* {{Cuckold}}: The victim of infidelity.

* PlotIncitingInfidelity: When the plot of a story is kick started by having the protagonist catch their partner cheating on them.
* RemarriedToTheMistress: A man marries the same woman whom he cheated on his ex-wife with.
* SympatheticAdulterer: Cheater portrayed sympathetically.
* TheUnfairSex: Women who cheat are often portrayed more sympathetically than men.

* AffairHair: The discovery of a strand of unfamiliar hair leads to accusations of infidelity
* AffairLetters: Love letters that document someone had an affair

* CheatingWithTheMilkman: A housewife has an affair with service personnel that visit the house
* {{Cuckold}}: Victim of infidelity

* LipstickMark: Lipstick on your collarbone or cheek reveals an affair
* MistakenForCheating: Someone mistakenly believes their partner is cheating on them
* TheMistress: A relatively long-term lover who is not married to her partner, especially when her partner already married

* SympatheticAdulterer: Cheater portrayed sympathetically

* WeddingRingRemoval: Someone removes their wedding ring before cheating on their spouse

** God's people Israel is portrayed in the book of Ezekiel as an unwanted baby girl whom God raised up to be a lovely woman, whom He married and took good care of and made her even more beautiful, who ended up becoming unfaithful to her husband by having sex with other people, as a picture of how God's people had become unfaithful to Him and had given themselves over to idolatry.

* Offenbach's operetta ''Theater/LaBelleHelene'' is a comedic retelling of the first stages of TheTrojanWar, in which Menelaus is just about the only one who cares that the gods have more or less sent his wife to commit adultery (the other kings are more concerned with keeping the gods on their side). One of the songs explains why a husband returning home early has only himself to blame for finding his wife in bed with another man.

* In ''Theatre/{{Hamilton}}, the titular character cheats on his wife... with the wife of another man, who promptly tries to blackmail him. To save face and deny allegations of embezzlement and illegal speculation with said other man, Hamilton publishes a pamphlet that boils down to "No, I did not pay this guy from the state treasury, I did it of my own pocket. What I was doing is cheat on my wife." This wrecks his career, strains his relationship with his wife Eliza, and leads to his son Phillip defending his honor in a duel.

** Adultery in general is considered as a sin. The Book of Corinthian provides a detailed definition about this subject: In order to prevent sexual immorality, Paul insisted that marriage and a long-lasting relationship is a preferable solution. If the spouse is a non-believer and still follows a believer, the believer is not allowed to propose a divorce. The only two occasions where one can legitimately seek a SecondLove is if the spouse was deceased (which ends the bond of marriage), or if a non-believer left the believer.

* TheUnfairSex: Women who cheat are many times portrayed much more sympathetically than men

Most of us recognize this type of plot: Bob is married to Alice. One day, Bob sees Carol at a club and is attracted to her. Perhaps things haven't been going so well with Alice for some time. Maybe they just had a major fight and Bob stormed off. Or maybe his marriage is perfectly healthy, and Bob has no excuse. Whatever the reason, Bob flirts with Carol, which eventually leads to a sexual or romantic relationship and the various things that entails. But here's the thing: Bob doesn't tell Alice about it. He doesn't dump her, he doesn't tell her that he thinks the marriage is on the rocks, he doesn't talk to her about Polyamory or swinging, he doesn't even ask for "more space". He continues to play the part of her husband, and expects her to continue being his wife, hoping that Alice won't notice when he starts coming in late for dinner, or ask him about the mysterious expenditures on their joint account. Sometimes, just to really play Alice for a sucker, their marriage will seemingly ''improve''-- he buys Alice gifts, pays attention to her and seems much happier, but all the while he's running off to see Carol. For extra scumbag points, he may be keeping Carol similarly in the dark about Alice. Chances are he'll eventually get caught; if he didn't, the story wouldn't have the same dramatic impact. A lot of angst and tension will ensue.

[[GoodAdulteryBadAdultery A few rules]] usually hold true in fiction: If a woman cheats, her paramour just scored a ''massive'' victory over her {{cuckold}}ed husband, who is now permanently dishonored. The (male) big boss of any given workplace is likely to be two-timing his wife. TheProtagonist [[ProtagonistCenteredMorality remains sympathetic if they cheat]], and becomes an innocent, wronged victim if they are the one being cheated on. [[DepravedBisexual Bisexuals are portrayed as incapable of faithfulness]] or have [[UrbanLegendLoveLife merely informed sexuality]], and men are more prone to having affairs than women (and often portrayed as TheUnfairSex too when it comes to cheating).

* ADeadlyAffair: When the affair leads to homicide.