%%
%%
%% Administrivia/ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them.
%%
%%
->''"Love was to her the one cordial which could drive away the eating loneliness of her days. And she seemed to long for the abstraction called passionate love more than for any particular lover."''
-->-- ''Literature/TheReturnOfTheNative''

A StockPhrase used to describe someone who pines for/stays with someone they don't love [[LoveMartyr (or who treats them poorly)]] because they don't want to be alone. The implication is that the character cares more about being in a romantic relationship with someone than the person they're having the relationship with. Since this attitude is exactly as unhealthy as it sounds, such a character invariably ends up LookingForLoveInAllTheWrongPlaces. They may be AllergicToRoutine and have a hard time sticking around because they believe TrueLoveIsBoring.

This can result in LovingAShadow or be used as a {{Retcon}} when a hyped relationship becomes an AbortedArc. See also SerialRomeo, where a character seeks out several relationships in quick succession but genuinely loves each person they pursue.

Not to be confused with a LoveFreak who is literally in love with the concept of love.

Can be a result of UsefulNotes/{{aromantic}}ism.

----
!!Examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* In ''Manga/BloomIntoYou'', Sayaka's FirstLove was Chie Yuzuki, an older girl at their middle school, who had broken off the relationship shortly after advancing to the high school division, saying that they were outgrowing the GayRomanticPhase. The spinoff novel ''Regarding Sayaka Saeki'' expands on this part of Sayaka's life and has her come to the conclusion that Chie had been "in love with love," and hadn't actually had feelings for Sayaka as a person.
-->'''Sayaka''': [[DeconstructedTrope Senpai’s love was love, and my love was Senpai. One of those could be replaced, and the other could not]].
%%Administrivia/ZeroContextExample* In ''Manga/Brave10'', the author notes in one of her {{doujinshi}} that Isanami, being a naive 16-year-old, is squarely in this stage, which is why she fixates on Saizo even though he's not interested.
%%Administrivia/ZeroContextExample* In the North American dub, Arielle of ''Anime/ElHazardTheMagnificentWorld'' actually (unknowingly) quotes Stephen Stills' "Love The One You're With", although in her case it's arguably as much a case of gleeful acceptance of her lustful urges as it is an emotional condition.
* Asahi Saiba of ''Manga/FoodWars'' concocts a very complicated plan [[AndNowYouMustMarryMe to try and marry Erina Nakiri]], which includes infiltrating her school as a substitute teacher, kidnapping and blackmailing her into competing against him in the BLUE, thinking that he could sweep her off her feet and she would fall for him. Turns out that he took the words of his mentor Joichiro of "[[HerosMuse finding a special woman to cook for]]" the wrong way, and deep down all he wanted was to experience familial bonds. Furthermore, [[spoiler:he's horrified to learn that he's the son of Erina's father from a one-night stand]].
* Yuno's obsession with Yukiteru in ''Manga/FutureDiary'' is an extremely warped version of this. She had just [[spoiler:[[SelfMadeOrphan murdered]] her AbusiveParents]] and saw no hope for her future, until a day when she and Yuki were the only ones who couldn't finish their 'write your dreams for the future' exercise. She decided then that her dream would be to marry Yukiteru since it gave her some hope for the future. She eventually admits that ''anyone'' would have done just as well for her as long as she could depend on them.
* ''Manga/KanojoNiNaritaiKimiToBoku'': Akira, a trans girl that just started transitioning, falls in love with an older boy named Hasegawa after he accidentally spills a sports drink on her and gives her a bottle as an apology gift, even joining the soccer team as a manager just to be closer to him. [[spoiler:She later confesses to him, by which point she was under no illusion she actually was in love with him, but rather, she loved the idea of falling in love and pinning for a charming upperclassman after meeting him in a quirky, unexpected way, just like a shoujo manga heroine, because that would make her feel more like a girl.]]
* WordOfGod in regard to Akane's crush on Madoka in ''Manga/KimagureOrangeRoad'': She is in love with the ''idea'' of being in love with Madoka.
* {{Deconstructed|Trope}} with [[BigBad Toneri Otsutsuki]] of ''Anime/TheLastNarutoTheMovie''. As the last member of his clan, and having lived for years all alone in the moon, he wants to marry [[RavenHairIvorySkin Hinata Hyuga]] to repopulate Earth once he has killed everyone else, ''especially'' her LoveInterest [[TheHero Naruto]]. It's patently clear that his isolation has given him a serious case of LackOfEmpathy, as made evident by his actions throughout the movie, including [[spoiler: kidnapping her sister Hanabi, [[EyeScream removing Hanabi's eyes]], and [[HypnotizeTheCaptive brainwashing Hinata to become his puppet]] when he discovers that her accepting his marriage proposal was actually a ruse]]. He doesn't care at all for Hinata's feelings and treats her more like a personal trophy than a person.
%%Administrivia/ZeroContextExample* The motivation of the main character in ''Anime/MillenniumActress'', who believes it's better than actually being in love.
* Sanji of ''Manga/OnePiece'' as part of his ChivalrousPervert personality. Nami and Robin get it the most, but only because of proximity, but that also means they put up with it because they all know each other so well (and Nami, in particular, isn't above using it to her benefit.)
** Becomes a bit HarsherInHindsight when [[spoiler:we learn of his DarkAndTroubledPast with his [[MissingMom lost mom]] and his monstrous brothers, the result of experiments by his father. At the same time, when in an ArrangedMarriage, he actually turns her down for his TrueCompanions (bringing them to happy tears) though is forced to remain out of threat. The woman in question has her own issues, but his act of kindness also began helping her.]]
* ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'':
** Brock is this type; he falls for just about every female he meets. Except, for no reason other than she's one of the bad guys, Jessie from Team Rocket. Granted, this is PlayedForLaughs as a RunningGag more than anything else. It's never explained why (though given him being a ParentalSubstitute for his siblings is implied to contribute to it.)
*** In [[Recap/PokemonS4E41TheHeartbreakOfBrock "The Heartbreak of Brock,"]] he meets a girl who's like this, and it completely throws him off his game. By the time he recovers, she's moved on to someone else.
** Ash's Oshawott is much the same, falling for every female Pokemon he comes across.
** Bonnie from the [[Anime/PokemonTheSeriesXY XY]] saga is an odd example, being in love with the idea of a woman being in love with her brother, Clemont. He is ''not'' amused.
* ''Manga/TheQuintessentialQuintuplets'': Ichika Nakano, the eldest of the titular quintuplets, seems to have a case of this for male lead Fuutarou Uesugi. Despite being [[TheGadfly the most openly flirtatious]] [[TheTease and teasing]] out of the five sisters, she suddenly finds herself attracted to him and unsure why. On two different occasions, [[ArmorPiercingQuestion she's questioned about her feelings for him and is unable to answer]], which implies she's more enticed to the idea of being in love with him rather than being attracted to him as a person (by contrast, her sister Miku, despite being [[ShrinkingViolet shy and withdrawn]], lists the qualities she likes of him without hesitation when asked).
* Martina of ''[[Literature/{{Slayers}} Slayers Next]]'' falls in LoveAtFirstSight with virtually every named male character she meets over the course of the series. The fixation on Zangulus lasts long enough for her to get married off and removed from the cast.
* Tsugumi Halberd of ''Manga/SoulEaterNot'' introduces herself with "Hello, I'm 14 years old, in love with love, Tsugumi Halberd."
* Explicitly the point behind Chihiro's arc in ''Manga/TheWorldGodOnlyKnows''. Chihiro picks out boys to confess to because it's exciting to be in a love drama. Then she starts to have a real love drama, and it scares her into running away.
[[/folder]]

%%[[folder:Fanfiction]]
%%Administrivia/ZeroContextExample* This is actually the cause of much tension between Lyra and Bonbon in the Blog/ReadingRainbowverse. Specifically, Lyra feels that Bonbon wants their relationship to be a certain way, to the point where she is willing to drug herself with love poison... ironically indicating she might care about Bonbon more than Bonbon cares about her.
%%Administrivia/ZeroContextExample* In "You And I Will Fall In Love", a ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'' fanfic, this is the only reason that Russia wants to fall in love with America [[spoiler: at first.]]
%%[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Encanto}}'': This is implied to be the case with Isabela's fiancé Mariano. [[spoiler:When she breaks it off, he sadly says he just has so much love in his heart and he wants to share it, and then immediately falls in love with Dolores. The fact that he found out that she fell in love with him because of his good qualities helps.]]
%%Needs more context to differentiate from ThinksLikeARomanceNovel* ''WesternAnimation/Frozen2013'': Princess Anna, to the point where she accepts a marriage proposal from Prince Hans within hours of meeting him. [[spoiler: This nearly spells disaster for her when Hans' true motives in courting her emerge; he only wants her to gain access to the throne of Arendelle]].
* Dawn from ''WesternAnimation/StrangeMagic'' is constantly trying to find a boyfriend.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* In ''Film/Cinderella1997'', the mother appears to be warning her daughters about how bad this can be ("falling in love with love/is falling for make-believe"). However, watching it closely, it looks more like the mother was in fact ''[[SubvertedTrope very deeply]]'' in love with her late husband, and dislikes the eponymous Cinderella because she reminds her of him. The cynicism is clear a little later in the song: "learning to trust is just for children in school..." Note, unlike most of the numbers, this song was not written by Rodgers and Hammerstein but Rodgers and Hart, and was originally written for their 1938 musical ''The Boys From Syracuse''.
* Bruce Wayne/Batman has a very unhealthy case of this towards Rachel Dawes in Creator/ChristopherNolan's ''Film/TheDarkKnightTrilogy''. While he does value her as a person, he also sees her as his one chance for a normal life should Batman no longer be needed. She outright tells him not to pin all his hopes on her, and ultimately chooses Harvey Dent over him. [[spoiler: After Rachel and Harvey both die, Bruce spends years as a social recluse, only stepping back into the world when he meets Selina Kyle.]]
* The title character in ''Film/DonJuanDemarco'' exemplifies this trope as he calls himself 'the world's greatest lover'. The movie's tagline follows with 'the friends who try to cure him of it'. (This is the same case for his [[Literature/DonJuan literary role model]].)
* In ''Film/SleeplessInSeattle'' when comparing the idea of love in the real world to love as it's portrayed in Hollywood, Rosie O'Donnell says to Meg Ryan, "Your problem is that you don't want to be in love, you want to be in love in a movie."
* In ''Film/VelvetGoldmine'', the Music/DavidBowie {{Expy}} Brian Slade falls in love not with Curt Wilde but the "idea of Curt Wilde."
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* ''Felise'' by Creator/AlgernonCharlesSwinburne. The poem's narrator used to be in [[AllLoveIsUnrequited unrequited love]] with a young woman, the titular Felise, who he was drawn to because of her lyrical and romantic name. He accepted that she didn't feel the same way and moved on, only for her to realise too late that [[UnrequitedLoveSwitcheroo she did in fact love him, and had done all along]]. The poem consists of the narrator telling her that he was in love with the idea of love rather than with her. It's implied that she feels the same way.
--> I loved you for that name of yours
--> Long ere we met, and long enough.
--> Now that one thing of all endures—
--> The sweetest name that ever love
--> Waxed weary of.
* ''Literature/TheCharmOffensive'': Dev is a romantic man who loves his work on the show because he gets to make those fairy-tale romances real. [[spoiler:Deconstructed in that this is shown to make it really hard to make a real romantic connection to people in his personal life. Ryan calls out that although Dev complains about him only liking "Fun Dev", Dev himself would close himself off to letting Ryan meet any other Dev. Ryan never could help Dev during his depressive episodes because Dev would totally close himself off to him, ignore his calls and attempts to enter in contact with him. Ryan admits he loved Dev, but the kind of love Dev wants doesn't really exist.]]
-->'''Ryan:''' Of course I loved you. We were together for six years. I know I couldn't love you the way you wanted to be loved, but in my defense, the kind of love you want doesn't exist without a team of producers, a ton of editing, and a really good soundtrack. [...] You love orchestrating big romantic gestures, Dev, but you're scared shitless of anything that's real.
* Lord Byron's ''Literature/DonJuan'' is a standard-setter for Loving To Fall In Love. (The heartless-bastard lecher from Mozart's opera, not so much.)
* In ''Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar'''s ''By the Sword'', Kerowyn's first real boyfriend, Prince Daren, assumes she'll give up her planned career and marry him. Her mentor Tarma says the trope name word-for-word, explaining that Daren's not emotionally mature yet. They break it off but remain friends.
%% * Jessamine Lovelace from ''Literature/TheInfernalDevices'', wants someone to take her away from the Institute.
* In the Literature/NeroWolfe novel ''Literature/AFamilyAffair'', a slightly hysterical female client tells Archie, "I want your arms around me!" Archie rebuffs her with, "You want arms around you. Not necessarily mine."
* In the ''Literature/ProtectorOfTheSmall'' quartet, Neal gets crushes on women (that are usually already taken) and goes about sighing and writing bad poetry about unrequited love and the like. When he falls in love with and gets engaged to Kel's ChildhoodFriend Yuki, he behaves completely differently. His best friend Keladry notes that he doesn't go about sighing and lamenting not being with her when they are separated, and is instead morose and quiet, which is proof to her that he genuinely loves Yuki.
* Eustacia in ''Literature/TheReturnOfTheNative'':
-->''To be loved to madness--such was her great desire. Love was to her the one cordial which could drive away the eating loneliness of her days. And she seemed to long for the abstraction called passionate love more than for any particular lover.''
* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', being a {{Deconstruction}} of many of the tropes of medieval fantasy literature, including chivalrous courtly love, has a few characters who fit this trope.
** Robert Baratheon has turned [[PosthumousCharacter Lyanna Stark]] into his version of TheLostLenore, mourning her for years, unfavourably comparing his living wife to her, and speaking as if she would have been the woman of his dreams if she had lived. However, it is implied (especially by Ned Stark) that Robert didn't actually know her that well; in contrast to the angelic paragon of feminine virtue Robert seems to imagine, other people describe her as more of a hot-tempered, tomboyish {{Tsundere}}. In [[Series/GameOfThrones The TV adaptation]] a scene is added where Robert admits that as much as he puts Lyanna on a pedestal, [[LovingAShadow he can't even remember what she looked like.]]
** Sansa Stark is another example of this, though she at least has the excuse of being very young. She constantly thinks of her betrothed Joffrey in terms of songs and stories, and in the first book, she repeatedly and passionately declares that she loves him, despite only having a few (not particularly intimate) interactions with him. [[spoiler: She gets a rather rude awakening from this mindset when Joffrey chops her father's head off after promising to be merciful.]]
* The FauxAffablyEvil Walking [[strike:Man]] ''Dude'' from ''Literature/TheStand'' seems this at first, claiming he "loves to love Nadine". Subverted in that he's more interested in siring a child upon her than having a relationship.
%% Administrivia/ZeroContextExample* ''Literature/XWingSeries'': Tyria said this to Kell, also telling him that he was LovingAShadow.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live Action TV]]
* In ''Series/{{Being Human|UK}}'', after Mitchell realizes that [[spoiler:Herrick is still alive]], he has a breakdown and starts berating Annie (who he's recently begun dating). When she asks him if he loves her, he tells her "I was in love with the idea of being in love!" The way he acts after (holding her and crying) shows that he didn't believe that, though.
* ''Series/{{Charmed|1998}}'':
** Piper says "I love love".
** Phoebe [[spoiler: marries a Cupid, basically a physical embodiment of love.]]
* ''{{Series/Community}}'' gave us a lot of Jeff/Annie ShipTease in seasons 2 and 3, but Annie eventually admits to this in "[[Recap/CommunityS3E16VirtualSystemsAnalysis Virtual Systems Analysis]]" when Abed imitates her in the Dreamatorium.
-->'''Abed as Annie:''' We love Jeff.
-->'''Annie:''' No, we don't. We're just in love with the idea of being loved. And if we can teach a guy like Jeff to do it, we'll never be unloved.
** Despite this confession, this seems to be avoided in other episodes, where Annie's feelings seem to be more genuine.
* ''Series/CrazyExGirlfriend'':
** Rebecca is an overtly romantic woman who genuinely believes that all her problems will be solved once her crush on ex-boyfriend Josh is reciprocated. This is completely deconstructed as the entire show dedicates itself to showcasing how damaging this is for her already fragile mental state. An episode late in season one even expands on the fact that this chase has made her blind to other kinds of love that aren't romantic, including the fact that she is dearly loved by the friends she has made in West Covina.
** Josh's character arc concludes in him realizing that he didn't want Rebecca in particular, just a loving romantic relationship. [[spoiler: Since Rebecca doesn't feel ready for a romance, she lets him go, and he ends the series having found love with another woman.]]
* In the third season of ''Series/DowntonAbbey,'' Mrs. Patmore's [[GirlOfTheWeek boyfriend]] subverts this. He claims, "Anytime, anyplace, I love to be in love!" but he's really a misogynistic hound who hits on every woman he sees.
* The ''Series/{{Frasier}}'' two-parter, "Don Juan in Hell," examines this trope as part of Frasier's self-analysis. [[ItMakesSenseInContext The Diane in his head]] even quotes the song that provides the page quote.
* Ross from ''Series/{{Friends}}'' has shades of this. He married the woman he lost his virginity to, and they stayed married for over a decade until she came out as a lesbian and left him. Since then, he's basically been trying to recapture the happiness he felt while he was married, mostly by pursuing his high school crush well into his thirties and rushing into two further marriages, one of them while drunk. When he tried to annul the third (a month after his wife thought he already had), his divorce lawyer recommended therapy, which Ross says he will consider.
* ''Series/FullHouse'' used that exact phrase. Jesse and Joey were fighting over a girl who showed interest in both of them. Danny stepped in and started asking them basic questions like what is her last name, what is her eye color, and what are her hobbies? Both of them were treating her like she was "the one" when in reality both just liked the idea of being in love.
* ''Series/GossipGirl''
** Nate Archibald has fallen head over heels for every single girl in the show, only to completely forget her two weeks later, not to mention all the {{Satellite Love Interest}}s the boy has had. At one point, Gossip Girl herself labels him the Class Whore.
** From season two and onward Serena fits this trope too. Especially in season three, where she has three "great loves" in the first twelve episodes.
* Ted from ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'' has his love for love is his entire reason for living. His quest for the eponymous mother was the original driving force behind the show, though at this point nobody cares. In any case, he is rarely happy when out of a relationship and constantly complains/hopes to find "The One".
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Music]]
* The Richard Rodgers song "Falling In Love With Love."
* In The Format song "Inches And Falling":
--> ''I love love\\
I love being in love\\
I don't care what it does to me\\
(...)\\
If fingertips are relationships\\
Then I could barely carry your weight\\
If fingers are mistakes\\
Don't use this one to point the blame''
%%Needs more context to differentiate from HatesBeingAlone* The Music/RebaMcEntire song "The Fear of Being Alone."
%%-->''So don't say that word\\
Not the one we both heard too much\\
You may think you do but you don't\\
It's just the fear of being alone''
* Music/PinkFloyd, "One Slip", from ''Music/AMomentaryLapseOfReason''.
-->''Was it love, or was it the idea of being in love\\
Or was it the hand of fate that seemed to fit just like a glove?\\
The moments slipped by and soon the seeds were sown\\
The year grew late, and neither one wanted to remain alone''
* [[Music/{{Blondie|Band}} Deborah Harry]] actually has a song called "In Love with Love".
* Mentioned in Music/DavidBowie's "Soul Love" from ''Music/TheRiseAndFallOfZiggyStardustAndTheSpidersFromMars'':
-->''Inspirations have I none''\\
''Just to touch the flaming dove,''\\
''All I have is my love of love''\\
''And love is not loving.''
* The Mowgli's song "San Francisco":
-->''I've been in love with love and the idea of something binding us together. \\
You know that love is strong enough.''
* "Face to Face" by Music/DeadSara:
-->"It's nice to know you love me, I'm in love with someone else,\\
That's who I am, in love with love..."
%%Needs more context to differentiate from LovingAShadow* {{Music/Nightwish|Band}} muses on this trope in "Slow, Love, Slow"
%%-->"I wonder do I love you? [[LovingAShadow Or the thought of you]]?"
* "Love of Mine" by Music/NickelCreek describes this trope as a cycle of the feeling's life and death:
-->''For all these pretty words it wasn't her but love that I adored \\
It's my love I adore\\
Love of Mine, when you're born I tell myself\\
That you'll never die''
[[/folder]]

%%[[folder:Stand-Up Comedy]]
%%Needs more context to differentiate from HatesBeingAlone* Creator/ChristopherTitus goes into this quite a bit, especially after he got divorced from an abusive ex. In his stand-up special ''Love is Evol'', Titus talks about how people will put up with a terrible relationship for years simply because it's better than being alone. However, Titus argues against the mindset, saying that you don't get "martyr points" for staying in a relationship that's awful.
%%[[/folder]]

%%[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
%%Needs more context to differentiate from SerialRomeo* A complicated example from the ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' supplement ''Races of the Dragon'' is the spellscales, a race of dragon-descended humanoids named for the fine, iridescent scales on their flesh. A vivacious people, spellscales throw themselves wholeheartedly into romantic relationships of any kind - falling helplessly in love with a total stranger, enjoying an illicit tryst, pining for someone unattainable, or suffering through a MayflyDecemberRomance or an unfaithful spouse - before growing bored and finding love again. Other races describe spellscales as eternal adolescents, but it should be noted that they ''do'' care for their partners and their relationships, though melodramatic and often short-lived, are genuine.
%%[[/folder]]

[[folder:Theater]]
%% Administrivia/ZeroContextExample* The lovers in the CommediaDellArte genre are often like this. As {{Stock Character}}s, this is usually their defining characteristic besides being the AlphaCouple.
* In ''Theatre/{{Eurydice}}'', stage directions state that Eurydice and Orpheus should be played like they're ''too'' in love, and they're in love with the feeling of being in love as much as they are with each other and their personal interests.
%% Administrivia/ZeroContextExample* ''Theatre/FiniansRainbow'' has the song "When I'm Not Near The Girl I Love (I Love The Girl I'm Near)."
%% Administrivia/ZeroContextExample* Stephen Stills' "Love the One You're With", although it could be more favourably interpreted as advice to find happiness with the relationship you've got instead of pining for someone unattainable.
* In ''Theatre/LovesLaboursLost'', Ferdinand and his gentlemen make such a big production of how they are "forsworn" for falling in love against their oath of celibacy, writing bad love poems, and dressing up in silly disguises to woo and serenade that the French princess and her ladies take their behavior for a ''game'' and respond to the advances with lighthearted mischief. They are stunned when Ferdinand says that he was absolutely not in jest in offering the Princess his hand.
%% Administrivia/ZeroContextExample* Cherubino from ''Theatre/TheMarriageOfFigaro'' describes himself as one of these.
* Marian in ''Theatre/TheMusicMan'' has overtones of this, as shown by "Being in Love."
-->Being in love used to be my fav'rite dream.\\
Oh, yes.\\
I've been in love more than anybody else has.\\
I guess.
%% Needs more context to differentiate from SerialRomeo* ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet'': Romeo is often described this way (before he meets Juliet, he's infatuated with another woman entirely). Sometimes Juliet is, too.
* The Austrian version of ''Theatre/RomeoEtJulietteDeLaHaineALamour'' has Benvolio even say "He is in love with the idea of being in love" about Romeo.
%%Needs more context to differentiate from LovingAShadow* Orsino from ''Theatre/TwelfthNight''. He's attracted to Countess Olivia because she has sworn off love and marriage proposals for seven years due to mourning her father and brother. This act of devotion gives Orsino the idea that she is very worthy of ''his'' love, so he sends his new best friend [[SweetPollyOliver Cesario]] to her place day after day, and practically rolls around in the tortured agonies of his unrequited love each time Cesario reports that Olivia still isn't interested.
%% Administrivia/ZeroContextExample* Linda accuses Robbie of this in the Broadway production of ''Theatre/TheWeddingSinger'' in the song "A Note From Linda".
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* According to the Rumor Guy, Princess Zelda from ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkBetweenWorlds'' seems to have this. According to his story, she would wake up every night to stare longingly at a portrait of a princess and hero (presumably those of [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast a previous incarnation]]) cuddling up, indicating she wants to find love in her own life.
* Eddie Gluskin in the Whistleblower DLC for ''VideoGame/{{Outlast}}'' is a dark example; Gluskin believes he's a true romantic, wanting nothing more than to find a beautiful woman to spend the rest of his life with and raise a family. The truth is that he's an angry, violent man who really just wants someone to comply with his vision for what "love" should be, and he isn't willing to take no for an answer.
* ''VideoGame/Persona4'' has Ai Ebihara. A big point in her Social Link as it is revealed that she just wanted to be in a relationship. In fact, if you accept her when she first asks, the Link will just be a meaningless love relationship that will break up at Rank 9. However, keep yourself a friend and if you gain the right flags, she will fall in genuine love with you and can be a Love Interest. Trips up many a Casanova Wannabe player.
* In ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'', you can talk to a {{Tsundere}}plane during the PlayableEpilogue of the GoldenEnding who claims that she wasn't in love with ''you'', but with the concept of love. At least, [[UnreliableExpositor that's what she tells you]].
* In ''VideoGame/YandereSimulator'', [[VillainProtagonist Yandere-chan]] says that she's addicted to the way Senpai makes her feel. She never says that she actually loves his personality or truly cares about him.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* In ''Webcomic/OneOverZero'', Ghanny claims to be in love with Terra, but Petitus tells him that he's only projecting his vision of the ideal woman on her: "You latched onto the first female you saw, and applied all your ideas about love to her. She wasn't the one, though."
* ''Webcomic/{{xkcd}}'' has dealt with this a few times. [[http://xkcd.com/464/ This strip]] has the girl leaving the boy because she thinks he's just in the relationship to have one and doesn't care who it's with.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'': Braco from "The Suitor" claims he was literally born to date Princess Bubblegum, having inherited his place from his late father. But Bubblegum isn't interested in the slightest, and straight-up tells Braco what he feels is infatuation. [[DoggedNiceGuy Braco still stubbornly tries to court Bubblegum]], despite suffering all sorts of injuries in his attempts to impress her. Braco goes so far as "paying the price for love" and being turned into an inexplicably attractive mutant by dark magic, but instead ends up hooking up with [[DoppelgangerReplacementLoveInterest a robot duplicate of Bubblegum]] she made for him.
* [[{{Deconstruction}} Deconstructed]] with Vlad Plasmius, the BigBad of ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom''. He is more obsessed with having Maddie as a normal wife rather than [[ParanormalInvestigation Maddie]] [[WartsAndAll herself]], to the point that he doesn't care that she rather loves her husband Jack or that actively killing him would only make her despise him more.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Daria}}'' episode "One J at a Time," [[TheSnarkKnight Daria]] starts a relationship with [[TallDarkAndSnarky Tom]]. Her sister [[LovableLibby Quinn]], who has dated half the boys in school just for the popularity and gifts they can give her, becomes convinced that she needs a real boyfriend too, and becomes distressed when her attempts all fail (in part because Daria purposefully gave her unrealistic expectations of how it would work). Their mom eventually convinces Quinn that she doesn't need a serious relationship if she's not really ready for one.
* On ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'', [[GenkiGirl Mabel]] decides to have an "epic summer romance" in the pilot and spends some time flirting with every unrelated male of approximately compatible age she can find. She also fancies herself a matchmaker. However, she has a pretty childish view of how love works and often tries to force it when it's not there.
%% Administrivia/PartialContextExample* ''WesternAnimation/TinyToonAdventures'': Pepe's female student, Fifi Le Fume. Two of her ideal boyfriends are boys who accidentally looked like skunks at the time.
[[/folder]]

----