Line #93 Main/PitySex


1	[[quoteright:227:[[Webcomic/MenageA3 https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pisx_6813.png]]]]
2	[[caption-width-right:227:With side-orders of ExperimentedInCollege and IfItsYouItsOkay.]]
3	Alice is not normally attracted to Bob/Roberta, but because she feels sorry for him/her, she sleeps with him/her. May or may not be PlayedForLaughs. More likely to happen if the one who takes pity is an EthicalSlut. Could lead to a FriendsWithBenefits situation if things go better than expected. Another version of the trope plays out when a [[TheOldestProfession prostitute]] is hired for the lonely pal out of similar motives (pity sex by proxy). The [[GRatedSex G-rated version]] would be the Pity Makeout.
4
5	Usually establishes the one being taken pity on as something of a {{loser\|archetype}}, while portraying the one taking pity in a positive light (especially in the by-proxy examples). Usually tends to be a once-off event rather than an on-going relationship, so do not expect a RelationshipUpgrade to take place. Can also be used to establish the sexual mores of the characters by showing pity as enough of a reason to have sex, so one of the characters could be an EthicalSlut, GoodBadGirl or a ChivalrousPervert. If this is something that is normal in a society, or not out of place, maybe the setting is a FreeLoveFuture. Might be prefaced by someone invoking YouNeedToGetLaid, especially in the by proxy version of the trope. Compare or Contrast SexForSolace, a type of Pity Sex that [[{{Deconstruction}} deals with emotional trauma from a tragedy]].
6
7	----
8	!!Straight Examples:
9
10	[[foldercontrol]]
11
12	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
13	* G-rated pity marriage version, ''Manga/{{Doraemon}}'' has Shizuka marrying Nobita because she feels that he cannot even survive without someone taking care of him. [[spoiler:He used the time machine to go to the future, knowing that his future self is ill on bed and Shizuka trapped in a blizzard on top of a mountain, the primary school Nobita used tools of Doraemon and transformed into an adult version and took what he thinks is needed to save Shizuka. His clothing selection is of course not enough to withstand the cold, food cans without can opener, etc.]]
14	* Deconstructed in ''Manga/KaguyaSamaLoveIsWar''. [[spoiler:Tsubame offers to sleep with Ishigami after the Christmas party in order to soften the blow of her turning down his LoveConfession (due to some poor advice from one of her friends), but Ishigami storms out when he learns the truth. He then runs into Miko, who points out that Tsubame was probably hurt by him leaving. Ishigami answers that he doesn't want it with someone who doesn't love him back. While leaving down the stairs, he's so depressed that [[DrivenToSuicide he doesn't bother trying to break his fall when he trips.]] Miko fortunately breaks his fall, but breaks her arm in the process.]]
15	* Yunoshin from the first arc of ''Manga/OokuTheInnerChambers'' was known for this. The only son of a [[ImpoverishedPatrician middle-class (at best) samurai household]] in Tokugawa-era Edo generations after an [[{{Gendercide}} endemic man-killing plague]] took root in Japan; he is hopelessly in love with his longtime neighbor O-nobu, would sooner clean sewers than ''sell'' his services (despite having the looks, health, and bloodlines to [[DeliberateValuesDissonance command a decent 'stud fee']]), and frequently tries to get unattractive, dirt-poor women with child just for the asking.
16	* In the hentai manga ''Slut Girl'', Sayoko cons Satoru out of a lot of money. When he learns he's been conned he is so distraught that Sayoko takes pity on him and they have sex. But she is so impressed by his sexual stamina that they end up becoming FriendsWithBenefits.
17	[[/folder]]
18
19	[[folder:Comic Books]]
20	* In ''Comicbook/EmpireState'', Sara describes a date with a very unattractive man that ended with the two of them making out, partly because she felt sorry for him and partly because she didn't want him to think she was shallow.
21	-->'''Sara:''' But I felt so bad for him, Jimmy. He looked so sad. I guess I just didn't want to treat him the same way every other woman does.... Long story short, Brent calls the next day for a second date, but my guilt had been assuaged by that point so I broke it off.\
22	'''Jimmy:''' What a tease.\
23	'''Sara:''' Whatever, dude. That make-out session probably got him through the rest of his thirties. He should be happy overall.
24	* In the notorious ''Sins Past'' story arc, Spider-Man's late girlfriend Gwen Stacy was revealed to have gotten pregnant after pity sex with Norman Osborn aka the Green Goblin. Editor-in-chief Creator/JoeQuesada thought this more acceptable than the original plot, which would have made Peter Parker the father of Gwen's twins. [[spoiler:Later stories retconned this out, stating Gwen and Norman ''never'' had sex and the twins were the latest in a series of unstable clones of Gwen and Harry Osborn, created by Harry in a convoluted scheme to gaslight his father and Peter.]]
25	* A variation occurs between Rogue and Magneto in the aftermath of the ''Age of X'' storyline when Rogue becomes torn between her feelings for Gambit and Magneto. Gambit states that she has to be ready for him for good before he could be with her again, and that he would be waiting for her when she is ready. After Rogue confronts Magneto about his past, he has a change of heart and tells her that becoming involved with him was a bad idea and that she should return to Gambit. However, Rogue has a change of heart of her own and decides to go with her feelings for one night of passion with Magneto, nothing more, noting:
26	-->'''Rogue:''' Most people ''want'' the things they know are gonna turn out to be ''bad'' for them.
27	* In ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'', Dr. Manhattan is in the middle of foreplay with Laurie when she suddenly feels a second pair of hands. He's doubled himself to attempt ThreeWaySex with her but it just freaks her out. Then she discovers that a ''third'' Dr. Manhattan is out in the main room still working on his project, infuriating her enough at what she calls "a pity fuck" that she breaks up with him and storms out.
28	[[/folder]]
29
30	[[folder:Fan Works]]
31	* In ''Fanfic/{{Recoil}}'', Captain Gordon prefers more attractive women but justifies trying to bed Taylor as a show of pity to "help" her self-image. Realistically, he likes establishing dominance over his female subordinates and seems incapable of recognizing any of them have any positive qualities outside their appearance. Taylor refuses his advances.
32	[[/folder]]
33
34	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
35	* ZigZagged in ''Film/TheLifeOfDavidGale''. When Constance reveals [[spoiler:she's dying of leukemia]], David asks if she has any regrets. She tells him she would have had more sex. When he asks how many partners she's had, she thinks, then holds up four fingers. He asks if she wants to "complete the hand." Her response is an incredulous "A pity lay?" He then tells her it wouldn't be pity. Not quite SexForSolace, either. David seems to genuinely care for Constance, although she doesn't seem to be all that attracted to him. Perhaps the pity is on her part, as he's just been [[TheWoobie divorced and fired]].
36	* In ''Film/{{DISCO\|2017}}'', it turns out the reason why Emily even began to talk to Travis in the first place is because he looked like the kind of guy that has always been turned down and decided to give him a chance. Years later, they are married with a kid.
37	[[/folder]]
38
39	[[folder:Literature]]
40	* In the ''Literature/VorkosiganSaga'', Miles spends a year on Beta Colony at age 15. He has hopes for unlimited possibilities for sex, but finds that half of those interested (not many) are good Samaritans, and found that he "did not care to be an object of charity".
41	* Averted in ''Literature/StrangerInAStrangeLand'' by Creator/RobertAHeinlein. Jubal Harshaw believes that any of his three secretaries would probably have sex with him out of pity, but he himself is too proud to accept such charity.
42	* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'': Averted with [[spoiler: Sansa.]] She is fully aware that her total rejection on their wedding night is pretty much killing [[spoiler: Tyrion]], since it's a confirmation of one of his biggest fears, [[spoiler: that his disability means that no woman will ever be attracted to him of her own free will]]. She feels very bad for him... which just makes the prospect of sleeping with him even less attractive. Even that is subverted in that we see from his perspective that he's actually relieved to have the excuse not to sleep with her, since he finds the circumstances of their marriage and her young age distasteful.
43	[[/folder]]
44
45	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
46	* ''Series/GameOfThrones'': Inverted when Tyrion takes pity on Sansa by ''not'' having sex that would require exercising his MaritalRapeLicense. This is as much out of his own revulsion at the situation as anything; he sees her as a child and has no more sexual interest in her than she does in him.[[note]]Though this isn't the case in the books, where he is sexually attracted to her but unwilling to do anything about it without her consent.[[/note]]
47	** Contempteously referenced by Ygritte, who claims that she's had boys try to convince her that men's balls literally burst if they don't get to have sex on a regular basis, in the hopes that she'd feel sorry for them and give them some of this trope. She finds the notion that she'd ever feel sorry for them more ludicrous than the other part.
48	* In ''Series/{{Smallville}}'', done rather ambiguously from [[spoiler:Chloe to Davis]] in "Eternal". A lot of it is non-verbal and is pretty much open for interpretation.
49	* In ''Series/{{Community}}'', Jeff is at loss at how to impress Professor Slater, and is eventually desperate enough to seek advice from Chang on how to court her. Chang ponders the question and says that since Jeff is a pretty good-looking guy, he might have a move he could try out. We then cut to Jeff determinately walking over to Slater, looking her in the eyes, and then getting down on his knees before her and begging her to sleep with him, saying he is extremely lonely and hasn't had been with anyone for months.
50	* Subverted in ''Series/AllMyChildren.'' This was Krystal's excuse for sleeping with Tad- emphasis on excuse, since she did have feelings for him.
51	* On ''Series/Reno911'', Dangle threw Trudy a "pity fuck". Jonesy did the same for Dangle once, too.
52	* Happens on the first episode of ''Series/FriendsWithBenefits'' after Aaron gets dumped and Riley feels sorry for him.
53	* In ''Series/{{Soap}}'' Jody has turned Carol down multiple times due to his homosexuality. When they're on holiday together, as friends, she starts crying and as he comforts her, they end up having sex.
54	* ''Series/BetterOffTed'': When Veronica was promoted to management, there was another employee with the same last name up for the same promotion, and a typo in the memo made it unclear which of them had been promoted. A few years later she meets the other employee again and finds out that his life since then had gone completely down the toilet, so she starts dating him out of guilt. [[spoiler: She finally brings herself to dump him when Ted finds another memo proving that the promotion really was meant for her.]]
55	* Cabbage Head from ''Series/TheKidsInTheHall'' "Hey – I'm the KING of the mercy fuck!"
56	* Happens in an episode of season 3 of Skins, where JJ gets a pity fuck from the school lesbian no less.
57	* In ''Series/BattlestarGalactica2003'', Felix Gaeta, who is days away from starting a mutiny aboard the Galactica, has a very hostile conversation with Starbuck in the mess hall. He notes that the illegal tribunal which nearly executed him for alleged treason earlier in the series was largely comprised of covert Cylons, one of them being Starbuck's own husband. As she walks out of the room, he uses this trope as a way to taunt her.
58	-->'''Starbuck:''' And if you were wondering... I will definately hit a cripple. That goes for anyone else. [walks off]\
59	'''Gaeta:''' So I guess a pity frak is out of the question then?
60	* ''Series/{{Glee}}'' has [[spoiler: Rachel lose her virginity to Finn ]] after he fails to get a football scholarship.
61	* Subverted in one episode of ''Series/{{MASH}}'', where a nurse who is about to be discharged is depressed because she's "never had anyone to care for her"; even her fiancé has only written once during the war. After the other nurses give [[LysistrataGambit an ultimatum]] to the men at the camp, saying they won't go near them unless someone spends the night with her, they draw lots; as fate would have it, Hawkeye draws the short straw. Unfortunately for ''both'' of them, this turns into a disaster, as she's so clumsy that she only manages to hurt him, badly. In the end, neither can go through with it, and Hawkeye simply gives her a kiss before she leaves.
62	* Discussed on ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'': After Penny gives Howard a pretty harsh TheReasonYouSuckSpeech, he disappears into his bedroom for days. Finally, she regrets it and goes to talk to him. After he tries to put the moves on her, she punches him. When the others express concern, Howard gleefully says "The way I see it, I'm halfway to Pity Sex."
63	** In another episode, Leonard and Raj hire a hooker for Howard, asking her, as part of the deal, not to let on she's a hooker and that she simply wants no-strings sex with an attractive guy.
64	* This occurs between Steve and Miranda on ''Series/SexAndTheCity'' when he's concerned about losing his potency after testicular cancer surgery. It results in their son's conception.
65	* In the ''Series/{{Angel}}'' episode Happy Anniversary, a girl (Denise) is planning on breaking up with her science savy boyfriend Gene. She tells a friend she's going to have pity sex with him first. Gene hears this and is taking steps to freeze them in time in the act, so they will be "together" always.
66	[[/folder]]
67
68	[[folder:Web Animation]]
69	* ''WebAnimation/HelluvaBoss'': As shown in "The Circus", Blitzo originally acquired Stolas' grimoire by setting things up so that it looked like they were going to have sex. After seeing just how starved for love an affection Stolas is, though, Blitzo decided to go through with the sex act because [[EveryoneHasStandards even he knew how damaging it would be to leave Stolas hanging]]. Blitzo planned for things to be [[SpeedSex real quick]], but a GilliganCut reveals they were up ''the whole night''.
70	[[/folder]]
71
72	[[folder:Web Comics]]
73	* ''Webcomic/DorkTower'' tries to put a positive spin on this, in [[http://www.dorktower.com/2011/08/30/dork-tower-tuesday-august-30-2011/ this strip]] drawn immediately after the [[http://www.geekmom.com/2011/08/mamas-dont-let-your-babies-grow-up-to-date-alyssa-bereznak/ Alyssa Bereznak debacle]].
74	-->'''Matt:''' Dude is gonna get more sympathy nookie from cute geek girls than '''any''' human has the right to have.\
75	'''Ken:''' He's been dealt the [[TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering Beta Black Lotus]] of canoodling, yes...
76	* ''Webcomic/ExploitationNow'': Attempted, but ultimately defied. At one point in Act 3, Bush gets sick of Jordan's obvious attraction to her and offers to have sex just to sate Jordan's desires. Jordan panics and turns her down, leaving the two to finally talk and work out their issues. Once they finished with that, Jordan is irked to discover Bush is no longer up for having sex.
77	* ''Webcomic/MenageA3'':
78	** At one point, [=DiDi=] seeks to deflower Gary, who is a hopeless virgin. Various mishaps prevent her from doing so until Zii explains to her that she shouldn't, because Gary would associate sex with being pathetic. (Some readers assume that, consciously or not, Zii also does this because she wants Didi for herself -- but of course, she doesn't say that.)
79	** Much later, new character Peggy offers [=DiDi=] sex out of pity for that fact that the latter has never had an orgasm. [[spoiler:(They go ahead, but even Peggy can't solve [=DiDi=]'s problem.)]] Pedants who know the comic may comment that ''nobody'' could ever have sex with [=DiDi=] ''just'' out of pity, though, and Peggy acknowledges [[EvenTheGirlsWantHer her superhuman appeal]].
80	** When Matt eventually succumbs to Yuki's rather unnerving requests for sex, there's definitely an element of pity involved -- though he subsequently falls for her.
81	* In [[http://www.collectedcurios.com/sequentialart.php?s=782 this]] ''Webcomic/SequentialArt'' strip, Pip [[OneThingLedToAnother somehow]] ends up having pity sex with Kat's [[BreakTheHaughty disgraced]] schoolyard rival Hilary.
82	* ''Webcomic/SomethingPositive'': When [=PeeJee=] is dating [[{{Jerkass}} Kyle]], she admits to Aubrey that a good chunk of their relationship is Pity Sex.
83	[[/folder]]
84
85	[[folder:Western Animation]]
86	* On ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad,'' Hayley needs a favor from her brother Steve. The price is admitting that Steve ''might'' one day get a long-time female friend to have "awkward pity sex" with him once.
87	* Lana has sex with Pam after taking pity on her in the first season finale of ''WesternAnimation/{{Archer}}''.
88	* In ''WesternAnimation/DrawnTogether'' Xandir, who is CampGay, "tosses a mercy-fuck" to HollywoodPudgy Toot. He clearly didn't enjoy it.
89	* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' Zapp, [[CasanovaWannabe who fancies himself quite the ladies' man]], first tries to charm Leela into sleeping with him, but since Zapp can't tell the difference between charm and sleaze, Leela just flat out rejects him almost immediately. This causes Zapp to break down crying about how pathetic and lonely he really is, causing Leela to ultimately sleep with him because she feels sorry for him. The same episode suggests that Zapp frequently does this [[WoundedGazelleGambit intentionally]] to make women sleep with him, though the episode seems to suggest this is the first time it actually worked (with a woman).
90	* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', Barney's high school sweetheart returns to Springfield, and she is a successful journalist. Barney ends up saving her from peril by picking her up in his helicopter, after which he asks her if she might be willing to give him another chance. She answers that while she doesn't see any chance that the two of them can get together again, she is willing to give him a half hour of pity sex ''while he flies the helicopter.''
91	[[/folder]]
92
93	!!By Proxy Examples:
94
95	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
96	* Many of the gags in ''Film/TheFortyYearOldVirgin'' revolve around Andy's friends misguided attempts to get him laid, including taking him speed-dating and hiring a prostitute who turns out to be a transvestite.
97	[[/folder]]
98
99	[[folder:Literature]]
100	* Subverted (or maybe ZigZagged) in ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire''. [[spoiler:Tyrion's first sexual experience is with a woman who seems to just love him for who he is. Then it turns out that his brother Jaime hired a prostitute to play the part of Tyrion's loving girlfriend. Then it turns out that that was a lie Tywin forced Jaime to tell Tyrion -- the woman wasn't a prostitute and really did just love Tyrion for himself.]]
101	* In ''Film/{{Devdas}}'' after learning that he cannot be with Paro anymore, the titular character's friend introduces him to a HighClassCallGirl named Chandramukhi, in an attempt to cheer him up.
102	[[/folder]]
103
104	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
105	* In ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'', Leonard and Raj hire a prostitute for Howard on a trip to UsefulNotes/LasVegas that happens right after Leslie Winkle breaks up with him, though any sex that might ensue is glossed over.
106	* The pity sex by proxy happens in ''Series/BostonPublic''; a romantically starved character discovers that his hot new girlfriend who actually seems to get him is in fact a prostitute hired by his wealthy brother. He didn't react well. (The 'girlfriend' was under the impression that the man already knew that he was getting "the girlfriend experience" and broke character at the wrong time.)
107	* ''Series/{{ER}}'': Abby gently but firmly turns down a coworker who propositions her for this, as he's due to have prostate cancer surgery that could leave him impotent. However, after treating a professional sex worker, she refers him to her, though it's never clear if he went through with it.
108	* The other cops hire a hooker for Renko's birthday in ''Series/HillStreetBlues'', and he was ''pissed'' when he caught on.
109	[[/folder]]
110
111	[[folder:Western Animation]]
112	* In ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' episode, "Peter-Assment", Peter is forced to have sex with his boss Angela when she says she will commit suicide if he doesn't. When his friends confront him on cheating on Lois, he reveals [[spoiler:he had Mort Goldman hiding in his pants.]]
113	[[/folder]]

Context Main / PitySex