http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Love_Hurts.jpg
[[caption-width:400:Ouch!]]

->''Basically, what Marvel is telling us is that love ultimately leads to death, destruction, and the Devil. The lesson:'' '''[[WarpedAesop Love no one. EVER.]]'''
-->--'''[[ThatGuyWithTheGlasses Linkara]]'''

Forget life-threatening superheroism, acting TooDumbToLive, and TemptingFate. The most dangerous thing any hero can do in any media is... falling in love. Dare to love someone else and you set up yourself and your beloved for a plethora of emotional griefs. Love in RealLife is responsible for vast quantities of anguished poetry and tragic literature; factor in all the crazy stuff that happens on TV, and drama and disaster are practically guaranteed.

About to commit permanently? Look for an AnyoneCanDie to put a permanent end to the WillTheyOrWontThey issue. Forget to [[NeverGotToSayGoodbye say goodbye to your beloved that one time]]? It'll haunt you for the rest of your life. And let's not forget that becoming emotionally attached to one person leaves you open to the stress caused by the [[IHaveYourWife villain abducting your beloved]] or [[StuffedIntoTheFridge them even being killed off senselessly]] just to shape you into the AntiHero, or at the very least a HeartbrokenBadAss. Your love is hurt but alive? DontYouDarePityMe -- he will shove you away. Love will make your heart go soft and pitter-pattering into the path to be crushed by the cruel forces of fate against StarCrossedLovers. Small wonder that [[ItsNotYouItsMyEnemies so many try to protect their loved ones by dumping them]].

If you've got more than one love interest, you've got a [[GreenEyedMonster headache-inducing]] LoveTriangle or even LoveDodecahedron on your hands. Tread these waters ''very'' carefully, lest you be on the receiving end of a {{Yandere}}'s poisonous affections or a {{Tsundere}}'s MegatonPunch. Pick one lover and you can look forward to either a ThunderingHerd of [[ClingyJealousGirl jilted rivals]] or the [[ObliviousToLove silent shattering]] of [[AllLoveIsUnrequited many other hearts]]. All in the name of comedy, you say? Comedy never became as twisted as it does when dealing with lovers [[LoveMakesYouCrazy crazy]] enough to beat down your door, [[TheGlomp glomp]] you, and refuse to let go. And [[ColdTurkeysAreEverywhere remembering the love interest anywhere you go]] makes it worse.

And heaven forbid if your love turns out to be one-sided. You'll become a [[StalkerWithACrush crazy psycho stalker]] if you don't choose [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy to nobly sacrifice your love]]. Sometimes you'll even go all the way [[LoveMakesYouEvil into a full-fledged villain]] with a grudge against humanity because humanity was not kind enough to let you have that one girl. Sometimes it's even [[CreatorBreakdown your own creator]] who decides that you can't get the girl because [[SourGrapesTropes he couldn't get her in real life]]!

In the right/wrong genre, [[DeathBySex even when you win, you lose.]] Little wonder why many a hero has chosen to be a GenreSavvy CelibateHero.

However, if you ''do'' [[TrueLovesKiss manage to get it right]], love can be the [[ThePowerOfLove purest and most powerful thing in the world]].

Counteracted with CleaningUpRomanticLooseEnds.
----
!!Examples

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder: Anime and Manga ]]

* [[AntiVillain Anemone and Dominic]] of EurekaSeven. The dangerous drugs she uses to pilot her mech take her DomesticAbuse Tsundere type behavior way beyond the usual fare. Sure, it can be funny at first to watch her beat the stuffing out of him, but as you gradually realize the depths of his devotion, her cruel indifference or abject violence becomes incredibly painful to watch. On Anemone's side, [[spoiler: when she finally realizes how much he means to her, but believes it's all too late,]] she delivers a gut-wrenching soliloquy, convinced that she doesn't deserve to live. [[spoiler: Amazingly, it all manages to end well.]]
* Dokuro-chan from ''BludgeoningAngelDokuroChan'' is an ''extremely'' brutal and literal version of this. The Opening probably puts this best:
-->''"I'll cut you, punch you, toy with you''\\
'' Kick you, be a cocktease, drip stuff on you''\\
''But that's just how I express my love."''
* [[FullMetalAlchemist Roy/Riza]].
** Which is a pittance compared to what Lan Fan goes through for her love of Ling. [[spoiler:Cutting your arm off hurts a lot more than getting a burn on your back]]
*** That's not this trope, that's HonorBeforeReason. Or something.
*** She may have acted like that, but really, at the time it was more a choice between her [[spoiler: losing the arm or both of them getting gutted by Wrath]].
*** And also, it's not like [[spoiler: burning her back]] is the only way Roy and Riza have been a massive source of pain for one another. Most of the [[DarkAndTroubledPast traumatic events]] they have gone through would most likely never have taken place if they hadn't met each other (Roy wouldn't even [[spoiler: be a [[PersonOfMassDestruction State Alchemist]]]], she wouldn't have [[spoiler: joined the army and been sent to Ishval]] and he wouldn't have [[spoiler: [[MyGreatestFailure annihilated so many people]]]]; she has made it clear she doesn't like being in the army or killing people, but she won't quit as long as he needs her). They're practically the direct (albeit non-intentional) cause of everything in the other's life that makes them suffer, and still they're the very thing that makes the other want to go on living [[spoiler: as stated outright in chapter 95]].
*** [[ItGetsWorse It got worse]] in chapter 100 when [[spoiler: Riza has her throat cut to force Roy to open the gate. Whether or not he'll actually do it and suffer the toll from opening the gate is still unknown.]]
*** Well, as of ch. 101, we see that Roy was very torn about what to do until [[spoiler: Riza signalled with a glare that not only would she beat him to death if he committed human transmutation, but help was on the way so it was pointless.]] It was nice of Arakawa to not force Roy to choose between the two options, though when you think about the fact that he was seriously considering [[spoiler: damning Amestris (and, possibly-eventually the whole world) for saving Riza, and couldn't even come to the decision to not do human transmutation till it seemed she would be saved...]] well, you get a little worried at the lengths Roy would go to to keep his Lieutenant by his side.
* Pick practically ANY hero in ANY ''{{Gundam}}'' series. If you don't believe me...
** ''MobileSuitGundam'': Amuro Ray [[spoiler: accidentally killed Lalah, his first love, when she [[TakingTheBullet took an attack meant for the man she loved]], Char Aznable]].
** ''ZetaGundam'': Kamille Vidan [[spoiler: had his star crossed soulmate Four Murasame [[HeroicSacrifice sacrificing herself for him]] ''twice'']].
** ''GundamZZ'': Judau Ashta [[spoiler: loses Chara Soon, a woman he did care about, mere seconds after making her promise that she wouldn't die. He then proceeds to have to kill [[LadyOfWar Haman Karn]], one of his principle love interests, in the final battle.]]
** ''GGundam'': Domon Kasshu [[spoiler: almost lost [[HotScientist Rain]] to the same Devil Gundam that caused the deaths of many others, including his beloved older brother]].
** ''GundamSEED'': Kira Yamato [[spoiler: was manipulated by his first girlfriend Flay and later saw her die in front of him]]. Also Marrue Ramius, whose [[HerHeartWillGoOn heart goes on]]. ''Twice''. [[spoiler: At least one of them returned in the following series.]]
** ''GundamSEEDDestiny'': Shinn Asuka [[spoiler: fell in love with [[{{Tykebomb}} Stellar]], who ''also'' died in front of him, despite his promise to protect her]].
** Not content to ruin just one couple, ''{{Gundam 00}}'' has destroyed several of them.[[spoiler:Feldt lost her first crush before she even had the chance of admitting anything to him, and ditto for Tieria; Christina and Lichty were already dying when they conceded that they had feelings for each other; Saji's relationship with Louise is to put it very nicely "on the rocks"; Allelujah and Soma's has also hit some rough ground with the death of Sergei Smirnov; Lyle just saw his lover Anew get blown to pieces by Setsuna before his very eyes; Sumeragi's lover Emilio was already dead prior to the series beginning and then what relation she may have had with Billy got torn up when Setsuna opened his mouth about her being part of CB, and Patrick Colasaur perished in an HeroicSacrifice for his beloved Kati Mannequin...]]
*** And in the end... [[spoiler: Saji and Louise got back together; Alle and Soma went WalkingTheEarth; Sumeragi talked Billy outta his funk and they kidna reconciled; Patrick actually survived and he and Kati got ''married'']]
** Among those who got of (relatively) easy are:
*** ''The08thMSTeam'': [[spoiler:Shiro Amada only loses a leg, but he keeps Aina and they live in peace.]]
*** ''{{Gundam 0080}}'': [[spoiler: Christina Mackenzie is completely unaware that she killed Bernie.]]
* Then, pick any hero in any Gundam-''inspired'' series:
** ''SpaceRunawayIdeon'': Cosmo suffers a HeroicBSOD discovering that [[spoiler:a girl he grew fond of, Kitty Kitten (cheesy name, I know), was killed almost accidentally. Later, Kasha Imhof dies in the movie... and then [[KillEmAll EVERYONE dies]].]].
*** ''NeonGenesisEvangelion'': This is Gendo's FreudianExcuse.
** ''CodeGeass'': Suzaku [[spoiler:witnesses his big love Princess Euphemia fatally shot by his arch-nemesis, after which she effectively dies in his arms (PietaPlagiarism galore)]], then some fifteen episodes later Lelouch[[spoiler:, the said "arch-nemesis", experiences a girl he always cared for (well, perhaps not romantically but it was definitely headed that way) dying on him in a very similar fashion]].
* Ayumi from ''HoneyAndClover'' has a bad case of unrequited love for Takumi, who sees her more like his sister. A lot of the first season of the anime is devoted to Ayumi's suffering because of this. Takumi in turn has a hard time with his feelings for (older) Rika.
*In ''OnePiece'', "Pirate Empress" Boa Hancock of the Shichibukai has the power to turn anyone who's so much as ''attracted'' to her to [[TakenForGranite stone]]. And then when she herself falls in love, she might die by it.
** This is actually subverted when Hancock falls in love, given that she has decided to help [[ChasteHero Luffy]] rather than bottle her feelings within her, as ''that'' was the cause of death for two empresses before her, and almost killed the elder/ex-ex-ex empress herself. Except [[LoveHurts that even though her feelings are sincere and intense]], it's [[NoHuggingNoKissing almost depressingly]] [[ShipSinking apparent]] that she doesn't really have a chance with Luffy.
**It's also painfully obvious Camie the mermaid has a pretty serious thing for Hatchan, but...well...same reasons as above.
**Sanji would be the king of this trope if he ever realized none of the women he's encountered [[spoiler: (aside from the man-ladies)]] ever showed any interest in him.
**Depending on how you interpret the relationship, Zoro towards [[HowDareYouDieOnMe Kuina.]] When you put the possibility in context with [[CelibateHero his present lack of interest in sex]], it makes his back story even more depressing.
* Lithuania in ''AxisPowersHetalia'' gets all his fingers broken by his crush, the eccentric {{Yandere}} Belarus. [[HorribleJudgeOfCharacter He doesn't seem to mind]]. Russia, who is both Lithuania's boss and Bela's older brother (and ''even more'' of a {{Yandere}} than her), has a ''very'' twisted, rather one-sided relationship with Lithuania himself, showing his affections through stalking and abuse.
** On the other hand, it's known that Allied Forces's TeamDad England has a one-sided crush on someone that has brought him at least 100 years of pain. Despite usually being harsh and drunk, he actually gets moments of being TheWoobie when his love interest (who is most likely America after the Valentine's Day strip) [[{{Tsundere}} shoots him down and sometimes looks like he has fun doing it]].
* Good god, Franz from ''{{Gankutsuou}}''. His unrequited love for Albert caused him a whole world of pain (and [[spoiler: his death]]). Seriously, he had a lot going for him - being rich, having good looks, and having no shortage of beautiful and kind women after him (including his fiance, who loved him initially). But instead, he ends up constantly angsting and [[LoveMartyr sacrificing everything]] for Albert (who [[{{ObliviousGuiltSlinging}} doesn't appreciate any of it]] until the very last moment).
** Albert doesn't have it any easier, though. He develops a platonic crush at first sight on the Count, who at first leads him on and then proceeds to [[spoiler:[[BreakTheCutie break his heart and ruin his life]]]]. And while we're at it, there's the Count himself: Mercedes' "betrayal" aside, [[spoiler:his unplanned for and unwanted feelings for Albert cause him a lot of angst and heartbreak, although they save him in the end.]]
* In Chobits, [[spoiler:Freya [[DrivenToSuicide essentially kills herself]] because of this trope]].
* In ''{{Gantz}}'', Kei goes through severe depression multiple times due to his loves dying on him. The first time is when Kishimoto dies (although she never did return his feelings), and subsequent times of him becoming really depressed are caused by his girlfriend Tae (who died but got revived). And since the series is still going on, there's ''still'' no guarantee that they'll be able to be together. A DownerEnding is quite possible...
* Ako Izumi of MahouSenseiNegima. She has a ton of self-esteem issues, and is described as something of a doormat. Then she meets Nagi, he reassures her of her importance, and she falls in love with him. Even after getting TrappedInAnotherWorld and sold into slavery, she's able to hang on because she knows that he's there for her. [[spoiler: Too bad that "Nagi" is her ten-year-old teacher Negi magically aged-up. Naturally, she's utterly crushed when she finds out.]]
* Sagara Sousuke from ''FullMetalPanic'' towards Kaname. His whole HeroicBSOD in TSR was pretty much caused by being torn away from her after he developed an attachment and feelings for her. As [[spoiler: Gauron]] angrily notices, ever since falling in love, he seems to have a lot more conflicting feelings and doubts.
** And speaking of [[spoiler: Gauron]], ''he'' seems to have lost some of ''his'' edge and become even more messed up since falling for Sousuke... after all, if he didn't ''care'' about Sousuke, he wouldn't have been so very angry in the first place...
*** In regards to Gauron, this is actually brought up and symbolically implied in the novels (though apparently parts of it were lost in the fan translation). Members of Amalgam actually covertly bring up to Sousuke how Gauron was overtaken by "cancer," all while mentioning that he [[StalkerWithACrush "really really liked Sousuke"]]... and according to the original wording, a parallel is implied of Kaname being Sousuke's "Gan" (cancer), and Sousuke being ''Gauron's'' "Gan". Of course, any possible double meaning was [[ObliviousToLove lost to Sousuke]]. In addition, reading about the overall attitude of Gauron's colleagues when they talk to Sousuke, it seems like it's a well known fact to them that Gauron was ''way'' too obsessed with Sousuke.
* Hello [[RahXephon Megumi Shitow]] what's that your crush already has a girlfriend who is your best friend? Ouch. Now what about that other guy? Sorry, [[spoiler: Your sister stole ''him'' away long ago.]]
* Jigen from LupinIII. His luck with women runs from bad to worse, with them either betraying him, dying, or both.
* Simon from ''TengenToppaGurrenLagann ''. His first love, CoolBigSis Yoko, was in love with [[HotBlooded Kamina]], and he had a rather painful experience seeing her kiss him. His SecondLove, Nia, [[spoiler: ends up dying ''right'' when they get married]]. And if you interpret the relationship between him and [[EvenTheGuysWantHim Kamina]] as HoYay, [[spoiler: Kamina's death hit him ''[[HeroicBSOD very]]'' hard]].
** Romantic love isn't the only one that hurts.
*** Yoko had it pretty hard too: the event that changed her from a {{Tsundere}} to a CoolBigSis was [[spoiler: [[DecoyProtagonist Kamina's]] death]]. Years later, ''her'' SecondLove, [[spoiler: [[TheAragorn Kittan]]]], performed an [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome EPIC]] HeroicSacrifice to spare her doing the same... you can guess [[TearJerker the results]].
*** And there's Viral, who is immortal and can't reproduce... [[spoiler: and whose greatest dream is to have a wife and child]]. [[TearJerker *sniff*]]
* [[RurouniKenshin Kenshin]] and Tomoe. When he was in his ExtremeDoormat phase, she was the one that made him start feeling ''anything at all'' again. Apparently it was first caring, then love, and finally awful grief. He has his fair share of LoveHurts moments with Kaoru too, but his story with Tomoe steals the show.
* Poor [[{{Basilisk}} Oboro and Gennosuke]]. They were engaged to bring peace between their two rival ninja clans and [[PerfectlyArrangedMarriage fell in love]], only for the truce to be broken and forcing them to choose between [[StarCrossedLovers their love or the honor of their clans]]. [[spoiler:In the end they are the only two left alive, and Oboro commits suicide rather than kill Gennosuke. Gennosuke declares Oboro's clan as victorious and commits suicide with her body in his arms.]]
* (Almost) everybody in Itoshiki-sensei's class loves their [[SayonaraZetsubouSensei Zetsubou-sensei]]. Too bad every single one of them is in some way severely unhinged.
* Tails and Cosmo from ''SonicX'' were the cutest and sweetest couple ever, but just at the series end, [[spoiler: Cosmo must fuse herself with Big Bad Dark Oak planet to weaken it, so Tails (from all people, to boot) could fire his ship's supercharged cannon to destroy it and save the universe, killing Cosmo and crushing his heart in the process. To make it even worse, Sonic and Shadow's attempts to revive Cosmo ends up in a total failure, leaving a completely broken Tails lying in the floor, crying his soul out. ]]
*''{{Naruto}}''. Most prominently, the titular character. Being in love with Sakura has caused him so much frustration and pain, it's amazing he's held on to those feelings for all these years. Tons of other examples too, be they romantic or platonic.
* [[CowboyBebop "It's all... a dream... Spike."]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Comic Books ]]

* One of the many reasons Charlie Brown is TheWoobie in the ''{{Peanuts}}'' strip is his inability to get the Little Red Haired Girl to notice him. A minor case of CreatorBreakdown, Schultz admitted that he had his own "Little Red Haired Girl," whom he lost.
** If this wasn't so funny, it would be depressing: Charlie Brown is to Peppermint Patty as the Little Red Haired Girl is to Charlie Brown, making it an unrequited LoveTriangle. ''Good Grief!''
** Love Rectangle. Marcie also loves Charlie Brown, and would logically be the perfect choice. Too bad her loyalty to Peppermint Patty requires her to aid and abet her "Sir"'s plans.
** Indeed, unrequited love is a running theme throughout the comic's run: Linus towards Miss Othmar, Sally towards Linus ("[[SheIsNotMyGirlfriend I'm not your sweet babboo!]]"), Lucy towards Schroder... the list goes on.
* Dr Allison Mann in ''[[YTheLastMan Y: The Last Man]]'' angrily denies that love is anything other than a label stuck on a biological process. We later find this apparently cynical attitude comes from Allison being dumped by her first girlfriend (not to mention her parents miserable marriage). Despite this it is clear she still craves love herself.
* Just about any romance in any Marvel, DC, or other company you care to name wherein the relationship lasted more than 3 years real-time/10 months in-universe and the characters, to this day, are not together. And let's not even go into the ones that -are- together... Examples are just too numerous to list.
* Notably averted with Ralph (Elongated Man) & Sue Dibny, who were happily married in his second appearnce back in the 1960s and even in death were still together.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Fairy Tales ]]

* The original version of ''[[HansChristianAndersen The Little Mermaid]]:'' The mermaid loves the prince and gives up her voice and family to be with him, but he ends up marrying someone else and she turns into sea foam. But a tacked-on {{Aesop}}-fuelled ending gives her an immortal (ie. human) [[OurSoulsAreDifferent soul]] anyway. Reputedly fueled by CreatorBreakdown.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Film ]]

* Davey Jones and Calypso's relationship in the ''PiratesOfTheCaribbean'' movies. Yeah, that ended well.
* From the ''{{Hellboy}}'' movie art book: "When, in 1988, Liz Sherman joined the B.P.R.D., Hellboy fell in love. From then on, he knew the meaning of pain."
* The only woman [[JamesBond James]] [[{{Casanova}} Bond]] ever married (ActionGirl Teresa "Tracy" Di Vincezo) was killed moments afterwards in a botched attempt to assassinate him. In later movies, it shows that even with all his flirting and skirt-chasing that he ''still'' mourns her.
* ''MenInBlack'':
--> J: "You know what they say, it's better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all."
--> K: (looking horribly cold and restrained) "Try it some time."

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Literature ]]

* Medieval ChivalricRomance, anyone?
* EdgarAllanPoe was a ''very'' firm believer in this. He thought the best theme to write about was the death of a beautiful young woman, often leading to the protagonist's descent into madness.
** Given the things that happened to women in his life, this isn't really surprising.
* TheHouseofNight has this in spades: vampyre protagonist Zoey ends up falling for three guys simultaneously (ish). It ends badly when [[spoiler:she thinks her own-age vampyre boyfriend Erik is dead, flees to the hot-but-older Loren for comfort, and ends up losing her virginity to him. Proving that Joss Whedon is not the only one who can be incredibly cruel to his characters, the following things happen in quick succession: It breaks her bond with her human boyfriend Heath, Erik walks in on her and Loren Kissing, and it turns out Loren was in cahoots with the villainess and only using Zoey. And then Loren is brutally murdered.]] Ouch. Poor Zoey.
**And it gets worse for her: The guy she displays a brief romantic interest in in the fourth book promptly [[spoiler: dies, only to be resurrected as a bizarre zomibe-vamp hybird controlled by her archnemisis.]] Zoey has a bit of a CartwrightCurse, it seems...
* ''Literature/AndThenThereWereNone'' features two victims who [[LoveMakesYouEvil committed their crimes to keep their loved ones]] when it was those exact deeds that drove them away. [[spoiler: General [=McArthur=] manipulated his wife's lover/his right hand into going [[MurderTheHypotenuse in a suicide mission]]; Vera Claythorne caused the death of her pupil Cyril so his uncle/her lover could inherit the family fortune and drove said lover into alcoholism]]
* In the ''WarriorCats'' series, falling in love is likely to get you broken-hearted, insane, and/or killed. (Example? Bluestar wound up with all three because of her relationship with Oakheart.)
** Not entirely. Some lucky couples end up just getting most of their kits killed. Yes, these are the lucky ones.
*Though ''The Engineer Trilogy'' as a whole plays this trope catastrophically straight, there is a scene lampshading it in the second. Miel Ducas, a powerful noble wounded in battle, hallucinates that he is having a conversation with Death. When Death points out that Ducas is not very grateful for having everything a man could ever want, Ducas replies that he is the poorest man in the world because no woman he ever loved returned his affection. Death explains that love is nothing more than a trick meant to override humans' free will in order to reproduce, and that Ducas might as well be upset that he never contracted diphtheria.
* In EdgarRiceBurroughs's ''[[JohnCarterOfMars A Princess of Mars]]'', John Carter [[ObliviousToLove realizes]] he fell in LoveAtFirstSight with Dejah Thoris, but then [[CultureClash manages to offend her]].
-->''Yes, I was a fool, but I was in love, and though I was suffering the greatest misery I had ever known I would not have had it otherwise for all the riches of Barsoom. Such is love, and such are lovers wherever love is known.''

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

* The new ''BattlestarGalactica'' series ''loves'' this:
** Sharon/Helo -- [[spoiler: they got a happy ending, though.]]
** Lee/Kara
** Adama/Roslin -- Oh, jesus. And how. Let's see, they [[spoiler: start out strongly disliking each other, move into a tenuous kind of peace with attraction, which gets shattered by the mutiny. Just as they fix that and get back to the tenuous attraction, she almost dies. Then, just as they fix ''that'', SURPRISE CYLONS. Then once they kick the Cylons out, Adama gets hit with an attack of conscience, and then she's dying again, and then Earth, and then she ''dies.'' RDM, we the shippers hate you a lot.]]
* John/Aeryn in ''FarScape''. They make out. They fight alongside each other. They're tortured. They try to kill each other. They have sex. [[spoiler:They die. (They get better.)]] They murder people to get back to each other. They fight. They make out. They blow up a bunch of bad guys. [[spoiler:They have a kid]]. [[ItWasHisSled I just saved you four seasons of awesome TV]].
** D'Argo and Chiana are just as much fun!
*Falling in love [[DatingCatwoman with the bad guy/girl]], of course, is always a bad idea. Just ask AceLightning, who had to go and fall in love [[spoiler:with the bad guy’s main hench-lady, who ended up sacrificing herself for him]] at the end of the series.
* Pretty much every relationship in ''{{Supernatural}}''. The Winchesters are crazy and clingy, Bobby had to kill his wife, Ellen lost her husband because John was an idiot, Sam's girlfriends tend to die horribly and Dean blurted out everything to his one-time girlfriend only to have her think that he was a lunatic and that she should break up with him.
* Quite literally in ''{{House}}'', when House's hopeless love for his ex Stacy causes the pain in his leg to increase. Of course, when Wilson points out that this is the reason House is having more pain, House wacks him with his cane and replies: "''Awww, you miss Stacy too''?" when Wilson keels over.
* ''KamenRider'', at least in the new generation, is as fond of this trope as it's fond of AnyoneCanDie. On the rare occasions where a love interest to a major character is still alive by season's end, the relationship between them will likely have ended instead.
*''HighlanderTheSeries'': According to WordOfGod, Duncan MacLeod has had "four great loves" in his life. All four are dead, and not of natural causes. In one flashback, a gypsy curses him, saying that he will "bury many women but marry none" - but his bad luck seemed to have started even before that.
* Pick anything written by JossWhedon.
* {{Oz}}'s Tobias Beecher looses his wife (she commits suicide), and later falls for Chris Keller, who it turns out was working for Schillinger, and they both subsequently break both his arms and legs. Another character even {{Lampshades}} this after the incident. Though Keller arguably feels guilty afterwards, he spends the rest of the series trying to make it up to Beecher, both failing and succeeding at various points.
* ''{{Torchwood}}'': [[spoiler:Jack and Ianto, anyone? The only conceivable reason Ianto would've been in that room with the 4-5-6 is his absolute faith in and love for Jack, and then everyone Jack loves causes him terrible terrible pain in the end.]]
* ''DoctorWho''. All of the Doctor's companions "break his heart".

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Music ]]

* The probable TropeNamer is an old country standard the Everly Brothers played. Famously, Nazareth gave it an epic metal treatment. From the sound of the singer's voice, love ''really'' hurts.
* Incubus' aptly titled song "Love Hurts", although it could be considered a subversion; the chorus is, "Love hurts, but sometimes it's a good hurt and it feels like I'm alive".
* Sing with me...[[JoyDivision Love, love will tear us apart again]]...
* "Please Don't Leave Me" by Pink. WAY more so in the video of the song, where - when the guy tries to leave - she goes totally Stephen King on him.
* "... that's the pain that cuts a straight line down through the heart, we call it love ..." - HedwigAndTheAngryInch
* {{Aerosmith}}, "Falling in Love (Is Hard On The Knees)".

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Opera ]]

* Pick an {{Opera}}, ''any'' opera.
** ''Aida'' by Giuseppe Verdi is a good example. Aida, an Ethiopian [[RagsToRiches princess in hiding]], falls in love with and is loved by Radames, the general of the Egyptian army. Her mistress, the Pharaoh's daughter is her canny rival. After Radames saves her father, the king of Ethiopia, from certain death after being captured in battle, he brow beats her into fullfiling her "duty" as an Ethiopian to get Radames to reveal the Egyptian's troops' positions, sentencing him to death and dooming them to live apart. It's a "HappilyEverAfter" ending though; Aida sneaks into the tomb where Radames has been buried alive so they can slowly die together. So yes, the DeusAngstMachina is as integral a part of Opera as humor is to Comedy.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Theater ]]

* ''[[{{Shakespeare}} Romeo and Juliet]]'' and every imitator. Entire dissertations could be written on how both would have lived longer, happier lives if Romeo had decided to stay in and mope, Juliet had told him she wanted at least [[FourthDateMarriage three dates before considering marriage]], or the friar's advice to Juliet had been to take up her father's offer of being kicked out of the house rather than telling her to fake her death.
* ''PhantomoftheOpera'' is based around this trope with a StalkerWithACrush and MadArtist with a CompellingVoice and a TortureCellar (who often becomes the DracoInLeatherPants) proving that LoveMakesYouEvil and StalkingIsLove in a LoveTriangle with a DamselInDistress and her [[SheIsAllGrownUp childhood sweetheart]]. He chooses in the end [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy to let his beloved be happy]], giving us a BittersweetEnding.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]

* ''MaxPayne 2''
-->''This is love. When someone drags you from the wreckage when you have given in, ready to just lie there and die. This is love. When someone, no matter what the cost, shows you there is hope, a choice, that you can put down your gun. This is love. Love hurts.'' - Max's narration in a cutscene in ''MaxPayne 2'', just before [[spoiler: his love interest is gunned down by the BigBad because she refused to kill him. Depending on the difficulty you play on she gets better.]]
**Hell, Max's first line in the game says it all: "They were all dead: Love Kills"
* ''OdinSphere'': The entire plot is full of this. Only a few characters actually get happy endings, assuming you didn't muck it up and get the bad ending, in which case it turns into a KillEmAll.
** The plot isn't just full of it. The plot exists ''because'' of it. The only things that don't seem to be linked to love is a war over control of a MacGuffin, and even ''that'' was originally caused by this.
*''{{Persona 3}}'''s Yukari and Aigis. [[spoiler: After the Protagonist dies,]] Yukari tries to move on, but is inevitably brought back to the dormitory where fond memories of our hero visit her. She's also jealous of Aigis, who [[spoiler:inherited the Protagonist's power]]. Aigis is so saddened by the [[spoiler: Protagonist's death]], she wished she could return to being a mere machine, which [[spoiler: gave birth to Metis, causing the events of The Answer.]]
** ''{{Persona 4}}'' could also be considered as having an example of this. Even if you have a love interest ([[YourCheatingHeart or several]]) you will still [[spoiler: leave any and all of your love interests behind as you go back to your actual home via train.]]
* MetalGearSolid. There is maybe one successful romance in this series that does not put the characters and gamer through hell first. Meryl and Snake [[spoiler: don't make it. Meryl winds up in a successful romance with Johnny, the series ButtMonkey]]. Raiden and Rose [[spoiler: have so many issues that they deserve their own trope. They make it, which is more than most can claim, but they go through hell first]]. The Boss and The Sorrow [[spoiler: were damned before the series started, with The Boss being forced to shoot her own lover. And he let her]]. Naked Snake and EVA [[spoiler: failed. Fanon aside, EVA doesn't get Snake, even though she loves him and bore his sons (against his will, I might add). Big Boss ends up with Ocelot]]. And Otacon? [[spoiler: He might as well put a bullet in the head of every woman he shows affection for and save time]]. Yes, this game is [[SlidingScaleOfIdealismVsCynicism very cynical]], whatever gave you that idea?
** Is it any wonder Kojima averted this hard in ''ZoneOfTheEnders?'' There, only one "pair" ends badly (in this world, at least).
* ''PlanescapeTorment'' It's not the only thing that hurts. But boy does it ''hurt''.
* Good god, {{Utawarerumono}} with Hakuoro and... well, everyone pretty much. Eruruw is apparently physically unable to confess [[spoiler:until her contract with him is dissolved.]] He doesn't pick up on Karura's rather [[TheTease blatant]] overtures. Touka just weirds him out. [[GeniusDitz Which is understandable.]] Urtoriy can't be in a relationship with anyone apparently [[spoiler:and most certainly not the divinity of her religion.]] Oh, and the ill girl kind of gets what she wanted [[spoiler:except it was mostly out of pity/platonic love, and she died after giving birth anyway.]] For the hurting part on ''his'' side, [[spoiler:losing Mutsumi]] hurt so much that [[spoiler:his identity split into two godlike beings that cause chaos, wars and destruction every couple years.]] On a possibly positive note, there's an implication at the end [[spoiler:that Hakuoro comes back, and he did essentially admit he loves Eruruw.]] Oh, and Kamua probably didn't love him so she's okay.
* Saber's ending in FateStayNight is arguably the most depressing - Heavens feel normal end sucks too, for similar reasons - because [[spoiler:they can't be together, Saber dies, and Shirou is on the verge of suicidal for a time. He gets over that, and then he turns into Archer.]] However, due to the {{stable time loop}} and {{multiple endings}} this appears to lead directly into the UBW path, which gets the best endings.
* ''FinalFantasyVI'' has this with Locke and Rachel, where [[spoiler: Rachel accidentaly loses her memory and her parents blame Locke for the whole mess, he blames himself becauses Rachel in her memory stricken form tells Locke to leave because her parents are yelling at Locke, afterwards, he learned that at the time of the villages demise, she regained her memory, and called for him... Than, he asked a doctor to preserve her body, while he searches for a way to save her, while still blaming himself for everything...]] Damn....
* ''FinalFantasyVII's'' Cloud ends up blaming himself over [[spoiler: Aeris's death, and it isn't just a regret, he spends a huge chunk of the game sitting around doing nothing but staring at a wall, all because he didn't stop Sephiroth from killing her!]]
** Not actually. Cloud had [[spoiler: his massive breakdown due to [[TomatoInTheMirror being tricked into believing that he didn't exist at all]], and his guilt over Aeris's (and Zack's) death wasn't a major plot point until Advent Children. In the game Cloud's main focus was almost exclusively on getting even with Sephiroth]].
* In SuperRobotWars Alpha Gaiden, resident {{Badass}} {{Samurai}} Sanger Zonvolt gets this. The woman he deeply cared for (not to the point of open romance, but deep, deep loyalty and affection) was turned into a monster he and the Preventers had to kill, and the poor bastard not only gets to watch her die, but his only comfort in the end of the game is cry over her grave. Alpha 2 gives him a RoaringRampageofRevenge when Kukuru tries to off Sophia Nate (woman he cares for).
** He's a little better off in the OG Timeline, only now it's Wodan Ymir who gets screwed, which (long story) is pretty much the same thing.
* ''MegaManX 4'' has finally included the option of playing as AscendedExtra and [[EnsembleDarkhorse major fan-favorite]] Zero, along with his own story. The bad part? In Zero's story, he has to fight ''and'' kill Iris, ''his own girlfriend'', who wants to seek revenge on Zero for killing her brother. The {{narm}} that came with the game's horrible voice acting ruined one of the truly [[TearJerker heartwrenching]] moments in the series.
* Oichi in ''SengokuBasara'' is this ''in spades''. Thanks to her love with Nagamasa and her care about her brother, who happens to be an ObviouslyEvil CompleteMonster, she's in for tons and tons of tragedy, starting from seeing her lover die in front of her, then delusionally thinking that Nagamasa wants everyone dead, then she kills off all her family and then gets herself killed.

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[[folder: Web Comics ]]

* In ''SluggyFreelance'', Torg's crush on Zoe earns him quite a bit of this as the series goes on, best summed up in the MindScrew arc [[http://www.sluggy.com/daily.php?date=060404 "Wayang Kulit"]].
** He gets off easy compared to Oasis, who has literally ''died'' multiple times because of her [[AllLoveIsUnrequited unrequited love]] for Torg.
* While Lia and Fiona, from ''YuMeDream'', don't have any easy time at first, this is nothing compared to when the major DramaBomb hits. This seems to be intentional, as the author/artist explains [[http://rosalarian.com/yume/?p=941 here]].
* [[http://djbogtrotter.co.uk/2009/02/06/love-is-the-answer/ "What can hurt more than a concrete enema?"]]

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Web Original ]]

*Comes up a lot in ''SurvivalOfTheFittest'' because AnyoneCanDie ([[KillEmAll and usually will]]), the most prominent examples include:
**Bryan Calvert goes through the death of [[spoiler:Tori Johnson]], whom he'd been protecting for almost the entire game.
**Adam Dodd's girlfriend Amanda Jones is killed in his absence, setting him off on a path of revenge going after her murderer.
**Ricky Callahan similarly safeguards his girlfriend Whitney Acosta for most of v2. [[spoiler: When Calvert accidentally kills her, Ricky commits suicide.]]
**Sean O'Cann, after recently coming out of the closet and engaging in a thoroughly romantic relationship, gets this treatment, with his boyfriend Andy Walker biting the dust not long after the game began. Cruelly, they'd ''met'' each other prior to this and become separated, leading to Andy's death.

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[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* ''TeenTitans'': Just when things were looking up for Beast Boy in the last season, culminating in him [[spoiler:successfully leading a team of C-list teen heroes against the arc's ''BigBad'', the series gave him a DownerEnding / NoEnding with the return of either a look-alike or amnesiac Terra, his morally conflicted season 2 flame.]]
* True for both TheHero and WorthyOpponent on ''AvatarTheLastAirbender'': Aang is told he will have to let go of his love for Katara to ever master the Avatar State, and after becoming disillusioned with his life in the Fire Nation, the one thing Zuko has to leave behind that he still cares about is his NewOldFlame Mai. See, they're NotSoDifferent. [[spoiler:They get them in the end, though.]]
* At ''{{Chowder}}'' episode ''At Your Service'', Panini threw some tacks to the running Tall Legged Chowder, and when he is trapped in the middle of the tacks, he stated that ''Love Hurts''.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Real Life ]]

* Linguistic example, in Swedish, Norwegian and Danish the word "gift" (pronounced "yift") means both "married" and "poison", one wonders if this was made so on purpose...
** In Japanese, "Ai" means love but it can also mean "grief/sorrow" when written differently.
** In Russian, "брак" ("brak") means, among other things, both "marriage" and "spoilage/defect."
** In English, apparently, "To Wed" (Or some form of marriage word) comes from the same roots as "gamble".
* As if we need to say it: TruthInTelevision.
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