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Crazy Jealous Guy

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"Well, I'd rather see you dead, little girl
Than to be with another man"
Arthur Gunter, "Baby Let's Play House"; later quoted in The Beatles' "Run For Your Life"

Meet the Spear Counterpart to the Clingy Jealous Girl. Combining the Deadly Sins of Envy and Wrath, nothing pushes his Berserk Button faster than seeing someone else look at his Love Interest (or worse, seeing his Love Interest look at someone else).

Naturally, this is often handled differently than the Clingy Jealous Girl. An irrationally jealous female partner is often used as an element of comedy, treated as "normal" or more inherently justified or sympathetic behavior for a woman, whereas the irrationally jealous male partner is more likely to be treated as if he has a serious flaw: he's portrayed less sympathetically, criticized more harshly by fans, less frequently played for comedy, and has a higher tendency to either rape the girl he's in love with or Murder the Hypotenuse, rather than drag the object of their affections away by the ear or pummel them into space with a Hyperspace Mallet. Interestingly, though, at the far end of jealous insanity, the Yandere is far more often female.

However, a guy obviously acting paranoid in a situation where there's no reason for him to be jealous, especially as a Running Gag, makes for comedic gold. As long as the comedy comes from making the guy look like a fool and not from making his partner suffer, it's okay (though the latter being funny isn't statistically impossible).

Of course, all bets are off when this trope is mixed with Boys' Love or Ho Yay, which is certainly not all that rare; in fact, the biggest Played for Laughs examples tend to come from this field.

May double as a Stalker with a Crush or Prince Charming Wannabe. Compare Friend Versus Lover for another strained triangular constellation.


Examples:

    open/close all folders 

    Audio Play 
  • The Yandere Heaven series has one or both of the love interests fly into a fit of rage if he thinks the protagonist cares about someone else other than him. More often than not, he will contemplate the idea of killing the person he thinks is a threat so that he can receive all of the protagonist's love.

    Comic Strips 
  • The Fortunes of Flossie has Flossie's boyfriend Bill. He's frequently short-tempered because he can't stand Flossie's insistence on putting her faith in fortune tellers, but he also gets violently upset with any man who tries to put the moves on his beloved. Bill's frustrations come to a head when he repeatedly finds himself fending off belligerent romantic advances made towards sweet, naĂŻve Flossie by the scads of sleazy, so-called "seers" she insists on frequenting.
  • Dirk in Luann, is introduced as the hulking, brutally jealous boyfriend of Brad's Love Interest Toni. She eventually dumps Dirk for his violent ways and ends up with Brad. Dirk later reappears as the neighborhood garbage collector.

    Films — Animation 
  • In Balto, Steele has a Villainous Crush on Jenna, who doesn't reciprocate the sentiment and shows more interest in his rival, Balto. Needless to say, he doesn't take it well.
  • Gaston of Disney's Beauty and the Beast. His Villainous Breakdown begins when he realizes Belle is in love with the Beast, sending him down into full-on murderous Yandere mode.
  • A married variant in The Book of Life, Xibalba is very annoyed at La Muerte's cheering for Manolo. Gutierrez even describes him as the "jealous type".
  • Brave: Downplayed with Fergus. He doesn't go "crazy", but he becomes extremely annoyed when the three Lords stare at a naked Elinor, who's only clothed by the tapestry.
  • Judge Claude Frollo from The Hunchback of Notre Dame. His whole deconstruction revolves around his sexual obsession with Esmeralda and his willingness to kill her along with her other two possible love interests, one of them being his adoptive son (whose mother he killed in the opening scene).
  • Hal Stewart in Megamind goes crazy after Roxanne Ritchi rejects him for "intellectual dweeb" Bernard (who is actually Megamind himself in disguise).
  • Moomin in Moomins on the Riviera is this towards Snorkmaiden whenever Clark is around.
  • Mr. Peabody & Sherman: He may not fit the "crazy" part of the trope (for obvious reasons), but it's quite clear that Sherman has some traits of this towards Penny. However, unlike most cases, it's exclusively Played for Laughs, providing some of the film's funnier moments.
  • Ralph Breaks the Internet: Ralph becomes a platonic version to Vanellope. His Insecurity Virus clones take it up a notch.
  • The Super Mario Bros. Movie: Bowser immediately becomes furious upon finding out that Peach has met and is traveling with a fellow human that she seems to like, and when Luigi, another human, is captured and brought to him soon after, he violently interrogates him about Mario and whether Peach might be interested in him, and even promises to murder Luigi as a way to hurt Mario. Bowser gradually grows more and more unhinged as the movie goes on and it becomes increasingly clear that Peach likes Mario, even though not romantically just yet, far more than she'll ever like him.
  • The Chamberlain's motive in The True Story of Puss 'N Boots is to get rid of any men who may court the Princess. He even plans to create special candy if any other guy tries to hit on her.

    Manhua 
  • Exploited in Goddess Creation System. Xiaxi knows that Mingyi is a narcissist who can't stand being disrespected or being denied what he wants, so she talks about how great his brother is to him constantly and how much she scorns Mingyi in comparison. He absolutely can't stand it and nearly rapes her at one point.

    Manhwa 
  • Let Dai: Dai. Ladies, Jaehee is off-limits. Seriously.

    Music 
  • "Run For Your Life" from The Beatles album Rubber Soul.
    "You know that I'm a wicked guy, and I was born with a jealous mind..."
  • Eminem has several songs about this trope. Most infamously, his controversial Murder Ballad "Kim", but also "Crazy In Love", "Love You More" and "Love the Way You Lie".
    • In "Lady", he warns women not to toy with his emotions, because if he falls for them he'll become controlling and never let the woman have any independence - threatening to tattoo her with his name, force her to bury her body in layers of clothing in the height of summer, chain her to the bed, and kill her for staying out too late.
    • In his guest verse in P!nk's "Revenge", his belief his girl is cheating on him with every guy she meets leads him to start cheating on her to make a point.
  • "Next Contestant" by Nickelback is about a guy who's always getting pissed off at other guys hitting on his girlfriend, and how if this continues, "somebody's getting hurt."
  • Insane Clown Posse discuss the consequences of this trope in their recent song: "Over A Bitch".
  • The Shania Twain song Don't Be Stupid is about the plight of a woman very much in love with her crazy jealous boyfriend, who interrogates her for making phone calls, talking to other men, or even painting her nails.
  • "Got Jealous" by Hurt. The jealous guy in question decides to Murder the Hypotenuse.
  • "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" was the baddest man in the whole damn town, until he hit on a girl named Doris, and her jealous husband proved to be a bit badder than him.
  • "Welcome Home" by Coheed and Cambria, especially exemplified in the music video:
    You could've been all I wanted
    But you weren't honest
    Now get in the ground!
  • Nick Jonas's "Jealous" is about the singer talking about how he feels jealous of other guys looking at his girlfriend. He says that even though he knows that she loves him, he wonders if she wants the guy who's eyeing her. He even says that it's his right to be hellish and jealous towards anyone who wants her.
  • "Genghis Khan" by Miike Snow is about a man who is possessive of his lover despite not being in a committed relationship with her.
  • "Come A Little Bit Closer" by Jay and The Americans is about an American tourist in Mexico who gets on the bad side of one of these when said jealous guy's girlfriend starts flirting with him:
    Then the music stopped, when I looked, the café was empty
    Then I heard José say "Man, you know you're in trouble plenty..."
  • Probably a different JosĂ© appears in "Run For the Border" by Johnny Rodriguez. During a wild weekend in Mexico, a man suddenly kicks down the door. The narrator finds out a bit too late that the woman he's with left out a vital piece of information.
    "José, he's tall dark and handsome," she said as she reached for her clothes.
    "But he's mean as a snake when his woman you take, out from under his nose."
    I said, "This is a great time to tell me." She said, "I thought he was in jail.
    Yes, I'm José's wife, José's got a knife, and José is hot on your trail."
  • And then there's "Smokey Joe's Cafe". Everyone warns the patron that the "chick" flirting with him is Smokey Joe's girl. Smokey Joe's reaction is relatively moderate; he pulls his chef's knife and tells the guy to finish his beans and get out.
  • Eve 6's "Think Twice" is about a man who is jealous of another guy for being close to his lover.
  • In Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory by Dream Theater, Victoria and Julian are murdered by Edward, who Victoria was cheating on Julian with, after they get back together. Edward then frames Julian by making it appear like a murder-suicide and using his political clout to get the media to go with it.
  • The traditional ballad "Matty Groves" (made famous by Fairport Convention among others) has a jealous husband confront his naked wife's lover, giving him the advantage of first blow. It didn't work out very well for poor Matty, nor for the wife for that matter.
  • The boyfriend in "i don't really like your boyfriend" by Avenue Beat is controlling and won't let the singer's friend go out to party without asking for permission first. The lyrics also say he treats her like his property. The singer cites these as the main reasons her friend should break up with him, believing she deserves better than "this piece of human trash".

    Pro Wrestling 

    Roleplay 
  • Double Subverted in Dawn of a New Age: Oldport Blues. Daigo, despite his creepy and villainous personality, seems to have no problem with his beloved girlfriend flirting with other men... but that's only because he thinks she's playing around. If she ever seriously acted on her flirtations, then he'd be pissed.

    Theatre 
  • By Act III of Carmen, Don JosĂ© has become this to the title character. Turns out, Carmen herself does not like men of this type, and she soon falls in love with a flashy, but very nice bullfighter named Escamillo.
  • King George III appears as one to the American colonies in Hamilton, best exemplified in his song "You'll Be Back":
    When you're gone, I'll go mad
    So don't throw away this thing we've had
    'Cause when push comes to shove
    I will kill your friends and family... to remind you of my love!
  • Demetrius and Lysander suffer a spell-induced version in A Midsummer Night's Dream.
  • This turns out to be the Fatal Flaw of Othello, which is used by Iago to ruin him and ends up costing Desdemona her life.
  • In The Saint of Bleecker Street by Gian-Carlo Menotti, Michel behaves in a jealous overprotective manner, not so much to his actual girlfriend, but to his sister Annina, scoffing at her religious piety and vowing to prevent her from Taking the Veil.
  • Westeros: An American Musical: Littlefinger towards Sansa. When Sansa gets married for Altar Diplomacy purposes, Littlefinger doesn't attend the wedding, and the letter he leaves for her soon-to-be husband to explain his absence consists entirely of the words "Fuck you, she's mine".
  • Leontes in The Winter's Tale, played for dark comedy — dark because of the tragic consequences, comedy because everyone lampshades how absurd his accusations are against his wife and best friend.

    Webcomics 
  • Jung from Cheese in the Trap is this towards Sul. After each time he's angry at her for going on a blind date or spending time with a male friend, he apologizes and says he was just being childish, but his behaviour to the fake grandson and to Yoon Seop proves just how scary he can be if anyone puts Sul or his relationship with her in danger.
  • Ace from Commander Kitty spends a long period in a slump after being ousted by Mittens. But a bit of Innocent Innuendo is all it takes to snap him out of it and turn him into something else.
  • The Evolutions of Homosexuality and Suicide: In a pair of scenarios, one Stone Age man confronts another, thinking him to be hitting on his girlfriend (he is not). In the first scenario, the first man is unconvinced of the truth and strikes the second man on the head, killing him.
  • Diego from Gunnerkrigg Court towards Jeanne. It's heavily implied that he sent Jeanne on a mission he knew would result in her death when he realized that she would never love him like she loved her forest-bound boyfriend.
  • My Deepest Secret: Despite his yandere tendencies, Elios is surprisingly a downplayed example. While he is concerned that Emma may be seeing Brian behind his back, he’s not overly suspicious and believes her when she denies it, and the only reason he attacks Brian is because he tried to rape her.
  • In Sinfest, Uncle Sam is frequently characterized like this, being paranoid about Lady Liberty cheating on him and/or sending the FBI to spy on her.
  • Deimos to Cain, and evidently Cain to Abel, in Starfighter.
  • Dillon of Sticky Dilly Buns demonstrates crazy comedy (and, this being Dillon, very gay) jealousy towards Jerzy, shadowing him in disguise to try and discover if he has any flaws — and whether he might be susceptible to a certain rival's charms. This doesn't go well; Dillon gets to discover more about his own flaws, and Ruby, who he roped in to assist, gets to practice her snarking.
  • Sergio from This Is the Worst Idea You've Ever Had! is this turned up to 11. While Nicole finds him charming and mysterious, her friends are immediately wary of him due to how rude and dismissive he is of them, and they have good reason to be worried: it's revealed that he's a vampire who had a habit of becoming obsessed with a girl, turning her into a vampire so they can be "together forever", then eventually losing interest in her and moving on to another victim — and he intends to do this to Nicole, whether she wants it or not.
  • Jack: The American Ghost: How Jack appeared when he was alive whenever it came to Misha. He even fired the lead singer of his band because he suspected he had a thing for her. Although one wonders whether some of his behavior around Aidan in the present was part of this. He did say it bugged him how Go-Eun would leave with a million dollars and a man.

    Web Original 
  • This comes up a lot in Death Note: The Abridged Series (kpts4tv): 1) Ryuk towards Light-new rule of the Death Note: "Don't hug your girlfriend in front of your Shinigami-they get jealous" 2) Light towards L-Light happily resumes his plan to kill L after hearing that L "took Matsuda's innocence" after repeatedly rebuffing Light's advances. 3) Light (during his Memory Gambit) towards Misa after Misa returns from her job interview and informs them all that she met a God in the bathroom.
    L: Well, Light, you're taking this rather well.
    Light: I'm gonna kill that son of *bleeeeeeeep*
  • Yamcha is a downplayed example of this over Bulma in Dragonball Z Abridged, but it's still there.
    Oolong: So Bulma, how's the single life treating you?
    Bulma: It's been really nice, thanks. I had a dream about Vegeta the other night.
    Yamcha: You slut!
    Bulma: We were walking in a park!
    Yamcha: You slut!
  • The Nostalgia Critic in "The Review Must Go On". He refuses to leave Doug alone, demands to be brought back even though he'd always hated his job, wants Demo Reel dead, and just basically acts terrifying.
  • 'RWBY: Blake's abusive ex-boyfriend Adam is absolutely furious that she broke up with him, to the point that he spends the series determined to destroy everything and everyone she loves. It doesn't take him particularly long to realize the unacknowledged feelings between Blake and her battle partner Yang, which enrages him so much that he cuts off Yang's arm and then tries to kill her in front of Blake.
  • Frank Doyle of The Thrilling Adventure Hour can get very jealous when he believes another man is genuinely interested in his wife Sadie. Sadie finds this trait of his cute up to a point. Episodes where his jealousy has reached a non-adorable tenor include "She Blinded Me with Seance", where he locks himself in their (walk-in) liquor cabinet rather than deal with Sadie's college friend constantly flirting with her, and "Basil's Day", where Frank meets Basil Valentine immediately after learning he was the man Sadie was with when a different ex-suitor of hers tried to Ret-Gone Frank. In that case, Frank was a fan of the man and could see how she might like him so was able to get over it quickly.
  • Played for Laughs on the Tucker Budzyn video of Tucker getting jealous of Linda hugging and cuddling another dog. Subverted Trope at the end of the video.
  • In Where the Bears Are, Nelson is incredibly jealous of Todd and imagines him in bed with every man who even talks to him.


 
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