Follow TV Tropes

Following

Love Hurts / Western Animation

Go To


  • Avatar: The Last Airbender:
    • True for both The Hero and the Worthy Opponent in the first series: 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 New Old Flame Mai. See, they're Mirror Characters. They get them in the end, though.
    • And then there's Sokka who had his first love perform a Heroic Sacrifice and become the new moon spirit.
    • The Love Dodecahedron in Book 1 of The Legend of Korra is suitably messy for a teenage love triangle. Korra goes on a date with Bolin after being rejected by Mako who's dating Asami. Korra then kisses Mako the next day who kisses her back, only for Bolin to see, breaking his heart. Mako regrets the kiss, but Korra getting kidnapped causes a love epiphany which makes Asami suspicious. After she finds out Mako has been hiding the kiss, she breaks up with him. Korra and Mako become an Official Couple.
    • In Book 2, Korra and Mako break up over their jobs. Asami and Mako kiss in the heat of the moment so it seems like they might get back together. Korra lost her memories and therefore doesn't remember that they broke up. So Mako doesn't tell her and tries to act like it didn't happen, something that everyone and Asami disapprove. Eventually, Korra regains her memories and they break up again. Bolin, meanwhile, gets into a relationship with a Yandere Eska and has to run away from it.
  • 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 states that "Love hurts".
  • The main character's rejection drama in the first episode of City Hunters is symbolized multiple times, and causes the listless attitude that inspires Dr. Lynch to help him out.
  • In Green Lantern: The Animated Series Aya discovers this when Razer claims he can never love her because she is Just a Machine. Most of her considerable processing power is spent replaying the moment over and over again. It gets so bad that she shuts down her emotions. Things get worse from there.
  • Taken to its logical extreme in an episode of The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy. When Pud'n wishes on a Jackass Genie skull for a pet bunny that will love him, he gets a literal interpretation of this trope.
    "Sometimes love hurts, Pud'n, and I love you a lot."
    "I forgive you, Pud'n. I forgive you because I love you! And I love you... to death."
  • Harley Quinn (2019): Harley eventually realizes she loves Ivy romantically, but Ivy is already engaged to Kite Man and refuses to acknowledge the mutual feelings between her and Harley. This leaves Harley frustrated and sad, almost driving her to try and take over Earth with Parademons to distract herself from the pain. It's only reinforced after she finally confesses to Ivy, only for Ivy to turn her down and say that a long-lasting relationship wouldn't work out between the two of them. She tries to put on a strong front as Ivy leaves with Kite Man, only to break down into tears as soon as they're gone. After another failed confession, she's reduced to voluntarily going back to Arkham Asylum to wait out the wedding.
  • The KaBlam! episode "A Nut in Every Bite" had Henry falling for Mr. Stockdale's visiting granddaughter, Dawn, but he only seemed to be able to charm her by hurting himself. (It's probably also worth noting that June wasn't exactly happy with this.) After Dawn leaves:
    June: I'm sorry she had to leave, Henbud.
    Henry: I'm not. She was killing me!
  • Miraculous Ladybug:
    • Marinette is hopelessly in love with her classmate Adrien Agreste, so much so that she turns into a nervous wreck whenever he’s within three feet of her. Sadly, he friend-zoned her several times throughout the series before finally confiding in her that he’s in love with another girl.
    • Ironically, that “other girl” is Ladybug, Marinette’s hero alter ego, whom Adrien fights alongside as Chat Noir. He’s declared his love for her on more than one occasion, and even set up a romantic spot on the rooftops to make a serious love confession, only to be friend-zoned by ''her'' and told that she loves another boy, not knowing that it’s him. Yeah, this series is full of Dramatic Irony.
  • While more a Puppy Love example, on The Simpsons there's the infamous crush Ralph Wiggum developed on Lisa when she was the only one to give him a Valentine.
    Krusty: Is this your girlfriend, Ralph?
    Ralph: Yes, she is. I love Lisa Simpson, and when I grow up I'm going to marry her.
    Lisa: Noooooooooooooooooooooooo! Now you listen to me! I don't like you, I never liked you, and the only reason I gave you that stupid Valentine is because nobody else would!
    (Back at home)
    Bart: Watch this, Lis. You can actually pinpoint the second when his heart rips in half. (Slo-Mos the video) Aaaand... now!
  • Star vs. the Forces of Evil: Star had kept pushing Marco to be more confident about asking his crush Jackie out but when they finally go on a date, she has a Green-Eyed Epiphany about Marco. She decides to ignore her crush and not tell Marco. It's spelled out to her entire kingdom and Marco by an overeager bard during a concert. Star and Marco eventually agree to pretend it never happened but moments later she's forced to leave Earth. Before she goes, she confesses to a stunned Marco in front of a shocked crowd that include Jackie and then she runs away crying before Marco can stop her.
  • Superjail!: The Warden's one-sided love for Alice is this.
  • Teen Titans:
    • Just when things were looking up for Beast Boy in the last season, culminating in him successfully leading a team of C-list teen heroes against the arc's Big Bad, the series gave him a Downer Ending/No Ending with the return of either a look-alike or an amnesiac Terra, his morally conflicted Season 2 flame. According to the spin-off comic, Terra is faking amnesia.
    • That whole thing with Malchior betraying Raven in "Spellbound" after she fell in love with him.
  • Total Drama:
    • Trent develops a relationship with Gwen, only for Heather to screw it over through a Gambit Roulette and send him packing after he and Gwen manage to patch things up. Come Total Drama Action, he gets jealous over her getting closer to Duncan, which leads to his obsession with the number nine and throwing challenges so that Gwen's team would win, which leads to her dumping him so the competition would be fairer. Ouch.
      • It doesn't help that the nine obsession has nothing to do with their relationship, instead having to do with an incident involving one of the wheels of a ten-wheel toy train given to him by his late grandfather falling off.
    • Tyler and Lindsay fall in love, only for Lindsay to forget who Tyler is until Season 3. And two episodes after that, she's eliminated.
    • Alejandro confesses his love for Heather in the final episode of Season 3, only for her to knee him in the kiwis, throw him down the volcano, and grab the million-dollar briefcase instead.
    • Courtney becomes an Official Couple with Duncan in Season 1. They dance a very painful Masochism Tango throughout all of Season 2, Duncan is the cause of her downfall close to the end, and the relationship dissolves for good in Season 3 after Duncan cheats on her with Gwen and remains in a relationship with her. She then falls for Alejandro, who is just using her.
    • Cody really likes Gwen, but she doesn't like him back. And meanwhile, Sierra really, really likes him, but he doesn't like her back. Ow.
    • Harold harbors yet more one-sided love for LeShawna.
    • Owen broke up with Izzy, but later regrets it deeply. "Oh, my Izzy, why'd I ever let you go?"
    • Finally, Gwen. Poor, poor Gwen. In Season 1, she sees Heather kissing Trent as part of the aforementioned Gambit Roulette, with expected results. After she dumps Trent in Season 2, she loses all of her popularity in-universe due to some behind-the-scenes manipulation by Justin. It doesn't get any better in Season 3: Duncan finally kisses her... while he's still with Courtney. Cue everyone being mad at them, but Gwen getting the worse load of blame and finally being eliminated just two episodes after the incident. Jesus Christ.


Top