History ObliviousToLove / Literature

* He isn't certain how Serenio feels about him and when she [[RejectedMarriageProposal rejects his marriage proposal]], he assumes he misread her feelings. She exasperatedly informs him that she ''is'' in love with him, but turned him down because she knows he doesn't feel the same way.

* In Elizabeth Peters' ''Literature/AmeliaPeabody'' mysteries, Amelia spends a whole book completely oblivious to the fact that the 'master criminal' she is tracking down is in love with her. Her husband Emerson, however, is ''not'' so clueless and gets increasingly annoyed at both the criminal and his oblivious wife. HilarityEnsues.
** It runs in the family, too. Their son, Ramses, spends a not inconsiderable amount of time pining after their adopted daughter, Nefret, who thinks they are LikeBrotherAndSister.
* Anne of Creator/LMMontgomery's ''Literature/AnneOfGreenGables'' series initially spends quite a bit of time hating Gilbert Blythe for his extraordinarily bad first impression, but even after they finally become friends, she remains completely oblivious to the feelings he's been holding for her from day one. When he asks her to marry him, it blindsides her completely. Never mind the fact that ''the entire town'' of Avonlea knew of Gilbert's feelings and were waiting with bated breath for them to get married.
** Anne actually takes it one step further. Not only is she oblivious to ''Gilbert's'' feelings for ''her'', she's also [[UnknowinglyInLove oblivious]] to ''her'' own feelings for ''him''. Not denial. She simply has no idea that she's fallen in love with him, thanks to the highly unrealistic ideas she has about [[ThinksLikeARomanceNovel what being in love is supposed to be like.]]

* A justified example in ''LightNovel/TheIrregularAtMagicHighSchool''. Tatsuya perceives most girls' feelings, but not his sister's, [[SelectiveObliviousness for obvious]] [[{{Squick}} reasons]]. [[spoiler:When she truly confesses in Volume 16 (after multiple attempts to proposition him sexually)]], she asks if he really never knew. He replies apparently honestly that he didn't.

* The ''entire'' cast of ''Literature/GrandmasterOfDemonicCultivationMoDaoZuShi'' is painfully aware of LoveInterest Lan Wangji's obvious crush on the protagonist Wei Wuxian, except for Wei Wuxian himself. The novel's [[DoorStopper protracted]] WillTheyOrWontThey owes much of its length to this. To be fair, though, Lan Wangji was the MasterOfTheMixedMessage in Wei Wuxian's first life, and in his second life he has to deal with a lot of other pressing matters as well.

* The ''entire'' cast of ''Literature/GrandmasterOfDemonicCultivationMoDaoZuShi'' is painfully aware of LoveInterest Lan Wangji's obvious crush on the protagonist Wei Wuxian, except for Wei Wuxian himself. The novel's [[DoorStopper protracted]] WillTheyOrWontThey owes much of its length to this.

** Said love interest kissed him before he realized she was interested, even though she gave him pretty clear indicators for most of their time together in the first book.
** His partner Suzy frequently makes references to what's in his pants in ways that would get her a sexual harassment complaint in a normal working environment. In the third book, he says he doesn't like {{pretty boy}}s, and his partner says that's "rich", coming from him. Even though he's a well-muscled, athletic dude who's quite handsome on the covers, he doesn't get it. She's also a {{tsundere}}, complete with occasional semi-friendly punching, except she openly cares for him...as a friend. Honest. Bonus points for actually being Japanese.

* Literature/CiaphasCain, '''HERO OF THE IMPERIUM!!!''', plays with this trope. He isn't just oblivious to anyone showing romance and lust towards him, but also friendship and admiration. Cain never lets his guard down with anyone, and while he does spend mutually enjoyable time in others' company, he sees it as just an entertaining diversion or keeping up appearances rather than bonding. Keeping other people's spirits up is his job, and [[MarriedToTheJob Cain never seems to allow himself to break from it]]. As a result, if anyone goes out of their way to do Cain a favor or support him, he attributes their motivation to his "undeserved reputation" or his authority as a Commissar. In fact, Cain often tends to mention himself getting along well with the officers of the 597th, and taking part in their tactical and strategic decisionmaking, which is something that a lot of Guard regiments try to avoid with other commissars precisely because they're considered a nuisance. A large part of this can be contributed to Cain's [[HeroicSelfDeprecation really bad case of impostor syndrome]] -- Cain considers himself a DirtyCoward who just gets lucky or is carried to his success to the troops under his command. As a result, Cain honestly doesn't think that anyone would ever genuinely like him, and so misses very obvious signs of camraderie and affection.

* This is the case for Literature/CiaphasCain, '''''HERO OF THE IMPERIUM!!!''''', albeit in a way that he is oblivious to all positive feelings toward him -- he isn't just oblivious to romance and lust, but also friendship and admiration. Cain never lets his guard down with anyone, and while he does spend mutually enjoyable time in others' company, he sees it as just an entertaining diversion or keeping up appearances rather than a moment of bonding. Keeping other people's spirits up is his job, and [[MarriedToTheJob he never seems to allow himself to break from it]]. As a result, if anyone goes out of their way to do Cain a favor or support him, he attributes their motivation to his "undeserved reputation" or his authority as a Commissar. In fact, he often tends to mention himself getting along well with the officers of the 597th, and taking part in their tactical and strategic decisionmaking, which is something that a lot of Guard regiments try to avoid with other commissars precisely because they're considered a nuisance. Part of this can be contributed to his [[HeroicSelfDeprecation really bad case of impostor syndrome]], where Cain considers himself a DirtyCoward who just gets lucky or can attribute his success to the troops under his command. As a result, Cain honestly doesn't think that anyone would ever genuinely like him.

** Molly is head-over-heels in love with Harry, and he's the only one who doesn't know, despite cutting her crush on him off at the knees when he took her on as his apprentice. In Ghost Story, [[spoiler:he realizes the absolute depths of her affection for him, but he's ''dead''.]]\\

** Anne actually takes it one step further. Not only is she oblivious to ''Gilbert's'' feelings for ''her'', she's also [[UnknowinglyInLove oblivious to ''her own'' feelings for ''him''.]] Not denial. She simply has no idea that she's fallen in love with him, thanks to the highly unrealistic ideas she has about [[ThinksLikeARomanceNovel what being in love is supposed to be like.]]

** Anne actually takes it one step further. Not only is she oblivious to ''Gilbert's'' feelings for ''her'', she's also oblivious to ''her own'' feelings for ''him''. Not denial. She simply has no idea that she's fallen in love with him, thanks to the highly unrealistic ideas she has about what being in love is supposed to be like.

* The ''entire'' cast of ''Literature/GrandmasterOfDemonicCultivationMoDaoZuShi'' is painfully aware of LoveInterest Lan Wangji's obvious crush on the protagonist Wei Wuxian, except for Wei Wuxian himself. The novel's [[DoorStopper protracted]] WillTheyOrWontThey owes much of its length to this.

* The ''entire'' cast of ''Literature/MoDaoZuShi'' is painfully aware of LoveInterest Lan Wangji's obvious crush on the protagonist Wei Wuxian, except for Wei Wuxian himself. The novel's [[DoorStopper protracted]] WillTheyOrWontThey owes much of its length to this.

* ''Literature/FoxDemonCultivationManual'': It takes Song Ci a very long time to realise Rong Bai is flirting with him.

* In ''[[Literature/{{Hurog}} Dragon Blood]]'', [[spoiler: Tisala]] is totally embarrassed when everyone makes comments on how much Ward admires her, and that he's clearly going to marry her. She's in love with him, but very reluctant to acknowledge that he might love her back, as she's not very pretty, and has all those scars from fighting and he'd probably prefer her to act like a friend, because men never ever see her in a romantic way ... while he's been wanting to ask her to marry him after he saw her fight the first time.
* Adelia is oblivious to [[spoiler:O'Donnell]]'s love in ''[[Literature/MistressOfTheArtOfDeath A Murderous Procession]]''.
* Creator/EdgarRiceBurroughs generally had oblivious heroes. Special mention must be made of Tan Hadron, the hero of ''[[Literature/JohnCarterOfMars A Fighting Man of Mars]]'', who actually managed to not realize he was in love with Tavia instead of Sonoma ''after'' 1) he had seen beautiful women and the first comparison that had popped to mind was to Tavia, 2) he had been betrayed, and when he realized it was Sonoma and not Tavia, his first words were that he was glad it was not Tavia, 3) After which he begs Tavia never to leave him as he cannot live without her, and 4) he had taunted Sonoma for her cowardice by saying he had fallen in love with someone else, a slave girl, ''and'' someone else had pointed out he had obviously been talking about Tavia. Indeed, he denies it then -- although admitting a few days later.
* In Creator/SandyMitchell's ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' novel ''[[TabletopGame/DarkHeresy Scourge the Heretic]]'', Mordecai is oblivious to the attraction that Keira, another character in the Inquisitor's retinue, feels for him. Partly because it is expressed in a rather [[{{Tsundere}} truculent manner]] (until another woman points out to him that it could be attraction), partly because Keira, who was raised in a SexIsEvil cult, does not realize it herself until she accuses Danuld of wanting to sin with her, and he tells her that he can tell that he doesn't have a chance because of Mordecai.

* In Creator/GrahamMcNeill's TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} Literature/HorusHeresy novel ''Fulgrim'', Serena d'Angelus [[DreamingTheTruth realizes]] that her [[PastExperienceNightmare bad dreams]] stem from [[spoiler:murders she committed and forgot]]. She seeks out Ostian, thinking he could save her. She finds him murdered, weeps that he loved her and she hadn't seen it, and that she loved him. Then she [[DrivenToSuicide commits suicide]].
* The ''Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse'' reveals that [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Typho Typho]], Padme's eyepatched bodyguard, [[BodyguardCrush was in love with her]]. Naturally, she had no idea.
* ''Literature/WarriorCats'':
** Firestar somehow never notices Cinderpelt's obvious crush on him.
** Firestar wouldn't have noticed that Sandstorm was in love with him either if Cinderpelt hadn't pointed it out to him.
** Firestar is in fact so oblivious concerning the opposite sex that the ''Warriors'' fandom has their own name for this trope: "Firestar Syndrome". To quote the author: [[ChasteHero "Stooopid man-cat!"]]
** Bluefur in ''Bluestar's Prophecy'' also evokes Firestar Syndrome throughout the book. It takes three different cats to get her to admit that Thrushpelt has feelings for her, despite the fact that he was frequently staring at her, inviting her on patrols, and cracking jokes that only seem to irk her. Not to mention the fact that she didn't even realize her ''own'' not-so-subtle attraction to Oakheart until he confessed his love to her.
** {{Deconstructed}} with Gray Wing. He is completely oblivious to Turtle Tail's feelings for him, [[EveryoneCanSeeIt much to the amusement of others.]] Turtle Tail [[InnocentlyInsensitive gets upset]] when Gray Wing mentions his feelings for Storm, and eventually defects from the moor group to live with her friend Bumble. Storm gets together with his brother and dies soon after, hammering in that he made the wrong decision. This triggers a whole slew of events, such as Thunder's rejection, Turtle Tail's brief fling with Tom, his subsequent abuse, and her eventual return. Somewhat {{Reconstruction}} when she and Gray Wing realizes his feelings for her, and they get together. However, the aforementioned events triggered by this drama soon come back to bite them...
** Lionpaw seems oblivious not only to Heatherpaw's feelings towards him but to his own feelings towards her. He only ever refers to their bond as "friendship" despite the clear romance between them. Being StarcrossedLovers from different clans, their romance wasn't meant to be so it ended before it began.
* One story in Creator/MackReynolds' ''Section G'' SpyFiction InSpace had [[FemmeFataleSpy Li Chang Chu]] abandon subtlety, pointing out to top agent Ronny Bronston that they were alone together in a stateroom with the door locked and no other demands on their time. Particularly funny in that he'd been hot for her about as long as she'd been for him, but didn't think he had a chance--despite being well aware that women found him very attractive. He just didn't realize ''this'' woman did, too.
* Narrator Ben Ripley spends the first five ''Spy School'' books marveling over how Zoe can’t realize that her best friend Warren has a crush on her. Somewhat humorously, right after someone finally breaks this to her, it is then revealed that Zoe has spent all of that time crushing over the equally-oblivious Ben, who realized that part of the reason Warren's always been such a {{Jerkass}} to him is out of jealousy. Ben himself has a bit of this towards IceQueen Erica Hale, whose professionalism causes her to take time to realize that Ben likes her and/or that his interest in her is more than just superficial.
* Creator/RobertAHeinlein's juvenile books often had young male protagonists that were oblivious to girls. They were otherwise intelligent, so either they were just blind to people or just not interested in females. However, one of his stories (''Literature/TheMenaceFromEarth'') it's not the male who is oblivious but the girl. She is very upset when her best friend and future business partner develops a crush on a tourist she is guiding (the 'menace' of the title) but only because it will 'break up the firm' - yeah, sure. Also a case of EveryoneCanSeeIt; the girl's best friend, the 'menace' herself, etc.
** This was a case of ExecutiveMeddling -- Alice Dalgleish, children's book editor for Charles Scribners & Sons, had very firm opinions on how much "suggestive" content was "proper" for juvenile novels ('zero' being the ''highest'' permissible level), and ruthlessly quashed anything Heinlein wrote that even remotely hinted that teenage males might possibly have a sex drive. Heinlein didn't even try to write romance into his stories until after he changed publishers and stopped writing juveniles. (''The Menace From Earth'' was '''not''' first published by Scribners, note.) Also, even though Dalgliesh was an extreme case, virtually no editors in the 40s and 50s would approve anything but the most ultimately chaste romance material for young adult novels.
** It may have been ExecutiveMeddling, but the ''girls'' in the stories were practically ripping their clothes off and the guy was just utterly clueless. "Gee, why did she take my side against her own uncle and risk everything for me and spends time with me and is always ready to help me with anything I need?" "I guess she just wants to be my very good friend". HELLO?!

* In the ''TabletopGame/{{Ravenloft}}'' novel ''Vampire of the Mists'', young priest Sasha is oblivious to the huge crush the thief Liesl has on him. Partly because he was so in love with Katya [[spoiler:(who's really TheMole), but after he realized that Katya is really a werewolf]]....
* In ''Literature/ChildOfTheHive'' Drew is oblivious to Rachel's crush on him for most of the first part of the book. This is mainly due to Rachel's nerves, meaning she struggles to approach him.
* The whole point of Swedish youth novel "Det är så logiskt, alla fattar utom du." (Rough translation: "It's so logical, everyone gets it except you.") Nerdy boy and cute girl are best friends since always. The boy is in love with the girl, also since always, but the girl only dates sullen musicians and has no idea her best friend is in love with her.
* Despite the numerous things he does for her, ''Literature/GoneWithTheWind'''s Scarlett is completely oblivious to Rhett's love and devotion, and she is similarly unaware and unappreciative of Melanie's friendly affection for her.
* Creator/JaneAusten uses this trope often, and to great effect.
** One of the main points of ''Literature/PrideAndPrejudice'' is that Elizabeth thinks Mr. Darcy dislikes her (and she is angry at him, mostly due to misunderstanding) until he bluntly confesses that he is in love with her. Her obliviousness is, in fact, entirely justified. Darcy's behavior is extremely difficult to interpret; he starts their acquaintance by insulting her (unaware that she can hear him) and mostly expresses his subsequent attraction through [[LongingLook stares]] and SnarkToSnarkCombat.
** Similarly, in ''Literature/SenseAndSensibility'', Marianne Dashwood has ''no idea'' that Colonel Brandon has been quietly and deeply in love with her since almost the instant they met. Again, it's a justified example - Marianne's in love with someone else for most of the story, so it simply never dawns on her to even consider that Colonel Brandon might have feelings for her. Meanwhile, he's so subtle that only her GenreSavvy sister Elinor realizes the depth of his love for Marianne; most of the rest of the cast think he's in love with ''Elinor''.
** The eponymous protagonist of ''Literature/{{Emma}}'' thinks that she's a great [[TheMatchmaker matchmaker]] who can tell which people are each other's true loves, but she proves to be completely blind to love numerous times: she fails to realize that Mr. Elton is far more interested in her than in Harriet until he forcibly tries to kiss her, or that Harriet has fallen in love with Mr. Knightley instead of Frank Churchill like she mistakenly thought, or that she herself has been in love with Mr. Knightley all along.
** In ''Literature/MansfieldPark'', Edmund is completely unaware that his [[KissingCousins cousin]] Fanny has been in love with him for years. He has no idea how much pain he's causing when he talks to her about the woman he hopes to marry, as he innocently assumes Fanny's affection for him is due to their familial relationship and having grown up together. He gets better, though.
* In Creator/JosephaSherman's ''Literature/TheShiningFalcon'', Ljuba intends to use Finist for her ambitions. She insists on this to herself whenever unpleasant thoughts, such as it how it hurts not to be trusted by him, occur.
* ''Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians'': Percy is increasingly blind to Annabeth's feelings for him, even though they mutually crush on each other for years. His obliviousness is justified by the fact he's inexperienced with girls, insecure about her past feelings for [[AlwaysSomeoneBetter Luke]], dealing with [[TheChosenOne other world-changing problems]] and, of course, is still a normal, slightly-dense teenage boy.
** In fact, Percy seems to be [[CluelessChickMagnet incapable of noticing anyone's feelings towards him]] until they spell it out for him, as is the case with Calypso, Rachel, and (as revealed in the SequelSeries ''Literature/TheHeroesOfOlympus'') [[spoiler:Nico Di Angelo]].
* In L. Jagi Lamplighter's ''Literature/ProsperosDaughter'' trilogy, Miranda. It's worth noting, though, that the one in love with her did explicitly tell her that love between them (she's a human and he's an elf) is as impossible as love between a falcon and a dove.
* Anne of Creator/LMMontgomery's ''Literature/AnneOfGreenGables'' series initially spends quite a bit of time hating Gilbert Blythe for his extraordinarily bad first impression, but even after they finally become friends, she remains completely oblivious to the feelings he's been holding for her from day one. When he asks her to marry him, it blindsides her completely. Never mind the fact that ''the entire town'' of Avonlea knew of Gilbert's feelings and were waiting with bated breath for them to get married.
** Anne actually takes it one step further. Not only is she oblivious to ''Gilbert's'' feelings for ''her'', she's also oblivious to ''her own'' feelings for ''him''. Not denial. She simply has no idea that she's fallen in love with him, thanks to the highly unrealistic ideas she has about what being in love is supposed to be like.
* [[spoiler:Alec Lightwood]] from ''Literature/TheMortalInstruments'' is a rather... odd example. Despite the fact that he and [[spoiler:Magnus]] were dating, he is caught completely by surprise by [[spoiler:Magnus's AnguishedDeclarationOfLove in ''City of Glass'']]. In his defense, [[spoiler:he was still hung up on [[IncompatibleOrientation Jace]], and his relationship with Magnus was just supposed to be a casual thing. He gets over both Jace and his obliviousness by the end of ''City of Glass'', though.]]
* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}''
** Mutual obliviousness in ''Literature/{{Mort}}''. Mort himself spends most of the book under the impression he's in love with Princess Keli, what with the RescueRomance and everything. He's wrong. Ysabell spends most of it under the impression she wouldn't marry Mort if he was the last man on the Disc. She's wrong as well.
** Mr. Bent in ''Literature/MakingMoney'' who doesn't realize that the head clerk Miss Drapes is in love with him. [[spoiler:At least not until she comes to get him after a nervous breakdown and he's let his clown side take over. At the end, they do get married in the Fools' Guild.]]
* In Elizabeth Peters' ''Literature/AmeliaPeabody'' mysteries, Amelia spends a whole book completely oblivious to the fact that the 'master criminal' she is tracking down is in love with her. Her husband Emerson, however, is ''not'' so clueless and gets increasingly annoyed at both the criminal and his oblivious wife. HilarityEnsues.
** It runs in the family, too. Their son, Ramses, spends a not inconsiderable amount of time pining after their adopted daughter, Nefret, who thinks they are LikeBrotherAndSister.
* As a perpetual child, Literature/PeterPan is literally unable to understand the concept of romantic love, and regards all female characters either with indifference or as potential mother figures. This wouldn't be much of a problem... except that ''every'' female character, be it fairy, mermaid, girl, or mother, is attracted to him in some way.

* In the tenth book of ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'', Harry fails to realize that Luccio is flirting with him when she bathes herself topless in front of him (he'd been asleep for hours, but she waited until he woke up), which leads to this immortal line:
--->'''Thomas:''' Moron. Thank God [[BigBad Nicodemus]] is a man.
** Molly is head-over-heels in love with Harry, and he's the only one who doesn't know, despite cutting her crush on him off at the knees when he took her on as his apprentice. In Ghost Story, [[spoiler:he realizes the absolute depths of her affection for him, but he's ''dead''.]]\\
\\
Part of this may be explained by the fact that his own mentor used the sexual development of both of his apprentices for his own nefarious purposes. That, combined with Harry's own issues with protecting women (especially a woman he sees more like a daughter or niece), means it would be nearly impossible for him to "take advantage of" Molly, despite the tradition to do so among wizards. Said issues may have, you guessed it, arisen from the aforementioned manipulation, plus his lack of a mother.
* In the ''Preternatural Affairs'' series, -- imagine The Dresden Files if Harry worked for the government -- the protagonist Cesar is likewise extremely dense. There's even a scene where he's on the run from a murder charge, and sleeping on his partner Suzy's couch, and she feeds him, cleans up (he tries not to stare while she bends over), asks him if he needs anything. And as she walks up the stairs, his narration says her nightie shows off her rear to good advantage. He ''is'' physically attracted to her, and they have chemistry, but can't see Suzy as more than a friend, even when his other love interest ''tells him'' Suzy wants to bang him.
** Said love interest kissed him before he realized she was interested, even though she gave him pretty clear indicators for most of their time together in the first book.
** His partner Suzy frequently makes references to what's in his pants in ways that would get her a sexual harassment complaint in a normal working environment. In the third book, he says he doesn't like {{pretty boy}}s, and his partner says that's "rich", coming from him. Even though he's a well-muscled, athletic dude who's quite handsome on the covers, he doesn't get it. She's also a {{tsundere}}, complete with occasional semi-friendly punching, except she openly cares for him...as a friend. Honest. Bonus points for actually being Japanese.
* Deconstructed in Zadie Smith's ''Literature/WhiteTeeth''. Irie (and half the women in North London, it seems) desperately want to believe Millat is this. He isn't- he's just a jerk.
* Marius from ''Literature/LesMiserables'' is oblivious to Eponine's feelings for him, being blinded by his love for Cosette.

* Spencer from ''Literature/PrettyLittleLiars'' takes a little while to realize that her academic rival Andrew Campbell has developed feelings for her.
* Kaala is this in Dorothy Hearst's ''Literature/TheWolfChronicles''. The reader initially thinks that it's because she's a wolf (and the trilogy depicts wolves very realistically) but then we see other romantic relationships form and it becomes clear she's just clueless.
** To clarify: Azzuen starts following her around after she saves him from starvation, and this continues even after they grow up. He becomes extremely loyal to her, even breaking pack laws to support her. He violently drives off another male wolf who expresses interest in Kaala, and later follows her into exile away from, oh, ''the only family he's ever known.'' When Kaala starts TookALevelInJerkass, he snaps her out of it with a [[WhatTheHellHero spe]][[GetAHoldOfYourselfMan ech]] that basically goes 'I'd like you to be my alpha, but not if you're going to be a [[StealthPun bitch]] about it.' All of the above is narrated through Kaala's perspective, and yet she [[spoiler: must literally ''read his thoughts'']] to realize that he's been in love with her since puphood.
*** It is justified, though, in that a female wolf, Marra, is similarly loyal to Kaala and does many of the same things. (An elder comments that Kaala is strong, a potential alpha, and it's natural for wolves to follow the strongest among them.)
* Corie in ''Literature/SummersAtCastleAuburn'', painfully so. She doesn't see when someone is in love with her, and she's very bad at figuring out who is in love with who.

* The short story ''Behind the Mask'' shows how Acatl, the protagonist of Aliette de Bodard's ''Literature/ObsidianAndBlood'' trilogy, used to be completely oblivious to his childhood friend Huchimitl's advances. Instead, he went off to become a priest, who are expected to stay unmarried and celibate. Huchimitl, disappointed, ended up marrying a wealthy warrior in an attempt to spite and mock the oblivious Acatl, but the marriage was not a happy one.
* In ''Literature/WolfHall'', Cromwell hires probable widow Helen Barre into his household so that she can provide for her two children without being separated from them, and they're on pretty friendly terms. At one point, she asks him if he is absolutely sure that her husband is dead and he replies oh yes, go ahead and remarry. It's not until months later that Cromwell realizes she had a specific man in mind for remarriage--and then only because Rafe Sadler married her instead.[[note]]As a historical note, Helen's husband turned up a decade later in ''Ireland'', which explains why nobody could find him, and made a big stink about her remarrying. Rafe had to get a special Act of Parliament to make his marriage to Helen (and their children together) legitimate.[[/note]]
* ''Series/ElChavoDelOcho'': Patty is oblivious of the crush that Chavo, Kiko and Ñoño have over her, or so it seems. Gloria, [[{{Nephewism}} her aunt]], on the other hand seems to be more aware of the attraction she causes to Don Ramón and uses on her advantage.

* In Creator/JohnCWright's ''[[Literature/MothAndCobweb Green Knight's Squire]]'', Ruff laughs at Gil and points out that Nerea had come to watch him at his drills, and he should realize what that means.
* Creator/PSPowers is fond of this trope.
** In ''Literature/TheYoungAncients'' one of Tor's major character arcs (played out over six books) is overcoming the idea that he's unlovable, hideous, and should be grateful for any crumb of affection he gets. After getting engaged twice, and having virtually every woman in his life who isn't a direct relation (and in one case, someone who ''[[SurpriseIncest is]]'') falling over him.
** Brian Yi, of ''Literature/TheInfected'', take months and a truly convoluted set of circumstances to start dating one of his admirers, and ''eight'' books to learn that all his female friends want him.
* ''Literature/WingsOfFire'': Clay has no idea that Peril likes him until Tsunami mentions it. It is [[EveryoneCanSeeIt very obvious]] by how close she is towards him and by how [[ClingyJealousGirl easily jealous she gets]].
* ''Literature/{{Worm}}'' has Taylor crushing heavily on Brian, to the point where Alec, an emotionally stunted sociopath and Rachel, whose brain has literally been rewired towards canine psychology, can see it. Brian is so focused on providing for his younger sister that he never noticed until Taylor confessed.

* In the Literature/{{Cinderella}} reimagining, ''The Ghost in Gold'', Chiara falls for Prince Lorenzo after he gives her a job at the palace so she can leave her stepmother's house, and she tells herself he will never be interested after he saw [[HeroicSelfDeprecation she's a pauper and not the princess she attended the ball as]]. When he proves to be ''very'' interested by seeking her out to spend time with, and giving her gifts, like a bouquet of her favourite flowers, an evening off to have dinner with her non-evil stepsisters, and new clothes for Christmas after she admitted to only having her maid uniform, Chiara thinks it's all coming from a place of pity. [[spoiler:In the end, Lorenzo has to outright tell and ''assure'' her that, yes, he's in love with her for Chiara to finally understand.]]
* ''Literature/GriffinsDaughter'': Jelena and Ashinji are crazy about each other, to EveryoneCanSeeIt levels. Each is too wrapped up in their own reasons for denying their own feelings to notice the other feels the same way: Jelena because she didn't want to get her hopes up that an elven prince could love a [[FantasticRacism "hikui"]], ([[HalfHumanHybrid a half-elf]]) like her - even if she's technically a princess herself. Ashinji because he [[ItsNotYouItsMyEnemies fears his sadistic brother, Sadaiyo]] will try to hurt her just to spite him).
* ''Literature/FrostDancers'': Skelter offends his friend Rushie by telling her that he views her [[JustFriends respects her and sees her as good company]], but he's never thought of making her his mate. Rushie gets upset at this. Skelter doesn't understand why.
* A justified example in ''LightNovel/TheIrregularAtMagicHighSchool''. Tatsuya perceives most girls' feelings, but not his sister's, [[SelectiveObliviousness for obvious]] [[{{Squick}} reasons]]. [[spoiler:When she truly confesses in volume 16 (after multiple attempts to proposition him sexually)]], she asks if he really never knew. He replies apparently honestly that he didn't.
* ''Literature/TheDiabolic'': Sidonia is blatantly in love with Nemesis. Nemesis can barely conceive of Sidonia seeing her as a person. When Nemesis suggests that she (Nemesis) could have sex with Gladdic to secure an alliance, Sidonia shoots that idea down, saying "I don't want anyone to touch you." Nemesis figures that Sidonia likes Gladdic more than she was letting on.
* In ''Literature/TheValkyrie'' by Maria Semyonova, Zima never realises that [[spoiler:Mstivoy]] is madly in love with her; in fact, she is sure he can barely stand her. That’s in spite of her ExactEavesdropping on a conversation where he recalls the first day they met and says he would have asked for her hand [[LoveAtFirstSight then and there]], had it not been for an evil omen (she thinks he is talking about another girl), and in spite of his younger brother, also interested in Zima, spelling it out that they have a SiblingTriangle (she thinks the former is just being ridiculous). It only dawns on her what’s really going on when [[spoiler:Mstivoy]] is badly wounded and feverishly says he shouldn’t have allowed his beloved to go to battle at all – since Zima is the only ActionGirl around, it’s impossible to misunderstand this time.

* In ''The Valkyrie'' by Maria Semyonova, Zima never realises that [[spoiler:Mstivoy]] is madly in love with her; in fact, she is sure he can barely stand her. That’s in spite of her ExactEavesdropping on a conversation where he recalls the first day they met and says he would have asked for her hand [[LoveAtFirstSight then and there]], had it not been for an evil omen (she thinks he is talking about another girl), and in spite of his younger brother, also interested in Zima, spelling it out that they have a SiblingTriangle (she thinks the former is just being ridiculous). It only dawns on her what’s really going on when [[spoiler:Mstivoy]] is badly wounded and feverishly says he shouldn’t have allowed his beloved to go to battle at all – since Zima is the only ActionGirl around, it’s impossible to misunderstand this time.

* In ''The Valkyrie'' by Maria Semyonova, Zima never realises that [[spoiler:Mstivoy]] is madly in love with her; in fact, she is sure he can barely stand her. That’s in spite of her ExactEavesdropping on a conversation where he recalls the first day they met and says he would have asked for her hand [[LoveAtFirstSight then and there]], had it not been for an evil omen (she thinks he is talking about another girl), and in spite of his younger brother, also interested in Zima, spelling it out that they have a SiblingLoveTriangle (she thinks the former is just being ridiculous). It only dawns on her what’s really going on when [[spoiler:Mstivoy]] is badly wounded and feverishly says he shouldn’t have allowed his beloved to go to battle at all – since Zima is the only ActionGirl around, it’s impossible to misunderstand this time.

* ''Literature/TheDiabolic'': Sidonia is blatantly in love with Nemesis. Nemesis can barely conceive of Sidonia seeing her as a person. When Nemesis suggests that she (Nemesis) could have sex with Gladdic to secure an alliance, Sidonia shoots that idea down, saying "I don't want anyone to touch you." Nemesis figures that Sidonia likes Gladdic more than she was letting on.

* A justified example in ''LightNovel/TheIrregularAtMagicHighSchool''. Tatsuya perceives most girls' feelings, but not his sister's, [[SelectiveObliviousness for obvious]] [[{{Squick}} reasons]]. [[spoiler:When she truly confesses in volume 16 (after multiple attempts to proposition him sexually)]], she asks if he really never knew. He replies apparently honestly that he didn't.

* Narrator Ben Ripley spends the first five ‘’Spy School’’ books marveling over how Zoe can’t realize that her best friend Warren has a crush on her. Somewhat humorously, right after someone finally breaks this to her, it is then revealed that Zoe has spent all of that time crushing over the equally-oblivious Ben, who realized that part of the reason Warrens always been such a {{Jerkass}} to him is out of jealousy. Ben himself has a bit of this towards IceQueen Erica Hale, whose professionalism causes her to take time to realize that Ben likes her and/or that his interest in her is more than just superficial.

* In Creator/JohnCWright's ''[[Literature/MothAndCobweb Green Knight's Squire]]'', Ruff laughs at Gil and points out that Nerea had come to watch him at his drills, and he should realize what it means.
* ''LightNovel/TheUnexploredSummonBloodSign'': Kyousuke doesn't pay attention to any of the girls who are after him. This is justified by the fact that the first girl to express feelings for him, [[spoiler:the White Queen, murdered countless people (including his adoptive family) and is the current BigBad. The White Queen is currently doing her best to make his life a living hell, all in the name of her love. Additionally, she's an extreme {{Yandere}} who feels murderous if Kyousuke so much as speaks another girl's name in front of her, so he may well be repressing any feelings that he does have to avoid provoking her]].

** Slightly better in the case of Brian Yi of ''Literature/TheInfected'' though in many ways similar to Tor, he's a lot less pathological about it. Still takes him months and a truly convoluted set of circumstances to start dating one of his admirers, and ''eight'' books to learn that all his female friends want him.

* ''Literature/{{Worm}}'' has Taylor crushing heavily on Brian, to the point where Alec, an emotionally stunted sociopath and Rachel, whose brain has literally been rewired to canine psychology, can see it. Brian is so focused on providing for his younger sister that he never noticed until Taylor confessed.

* ''Literature/GriffinsDaughter'': Jelena and Ashinji are crazy about each other, to EveryoneCanSeeIt levels. Each is too wrapped up in their own reasons for denying their own feelings to notice the other feels the same way: Jelena because she didn't want to get her hopes up that an elven prince could love a [[FantasticRacism "hikui"]], ([[HalfHumanHybrid a half-elf]]) like her - even if she's technically a princess herself. Ashinji because he [[ItsNotYouItsMyEnemies fears his sadistic brother, Sadaiyo]] will try hurt her just to spite him).
* ''Literature/FrostDancers'': Skelter offends his friend Rushie by telling her that he views her [[JustFriends respects her and sees her as good company]], but he's never thought of making her his mate. Rushie gets upset at this. Skelter doesn't understand why.

** {{Deconstructed}} with Gray Wing. He is completely oblivious to Turtle Tail's feelings for him, [[EveryoneCanSeeIt much to the amusement of others.]] Turtle Tail [[InnocentlyInsensitive gets upset]] when Gray Wing mentions his feelings for Storm, and eventually defects from the moor group to live with her friend Bumble. Storm gets together with his brother and dies soon after, hammering in that he made the wrong decision. This triggers a whole slew of events, such as Thunder's rejection, Turtle Tail's brief fling with Tom, his subsequent abuse, and her eventual return. Somewhat {{Reconstructed}} when she and Gray Wing realizes his feelings for her, and they get together. However, the aforementioned events triggered by this drama soon come back to bite them...

* In Creator/GrahamMcNeill's TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} Literature/HorusHeresy novel ''Fulgrim'', Serena d'Angelus [[DreamingTheTruth realizes]] that her BadDreams stem from [[spoiler:murders she committed and forgot]]. She seeks out Ostian, thinking he could save her. She finds him murdered, weeps that he loved her and she hadn't seen it, and that she loved him. Then she [[DrivenToSuicide commits suicide]].