Loving Bully - Television Tropes & Idioms

When someone bullies someone else because they like them. This is usually because they aren't sure how to convey their feelings properly. Often the bully is a Type A Tsundere. The target of the bullying will often be under the impression that the bully is simply a jerk and clueless of the bully's intentions.

This is generally Played for Laughs and will not normally get into serious violence unless the target is Made of Iron. Romanticized Abuse is the less innocent Sister Trope, and Bastard Boyfriend is the Darker and Edgier one. Domestic Abuser is when it becomes very Dude, Not Funny!

Examples

Anime & Manga

Itta towards Fuuka in Girl X Girl X Boy.
In one FAQ of Bleach Rukia says that someone was a schmuck towards her in the Shinigami school because he couldn't tell her his feelings. Unsurprisingly, chapter -17 (a bonus chapter) seems to indicate that that someone was Renji.
- A more disturbing variation later on, this is what many theorize to be the reason Nnoitra hates Neliel so much.
The unnamed couple in Natsuneko's one-shot manga Her Desire, with a twist that the bullied girl actually likes it that way.
Yuki Katsura in Oku-sama wa Mahou Shoujo, the leader of the two bullies at school, is really just acting on an immature crush, but he learns to show it a little better later on. Ultimately, he pretty much saves Wonderland by confessing to Cruje.
Deconstructed in Daily Lives of High School Boys: Habara was a feared The Bully known as "Archdemon" who terrorized every boy in her neighborhood, but especially Toshiyuki Karasawa, her next door neighbor, eventually giving him several large scars that would never go away. Fast forward eight years, and it becomes clear that she harbors a small crush on Karasawa, who, unfortunately for her, is traumatized by her bullying to the point where he can barely interact with her normally.
In Onihime VS, Arima and her girl posse relentlessly bully and molest poor Setsuna...because Arima is in love with him. It's exactly as messed up as it sounds.
Neon Genesis Evangelion: Asuka's mistreatment of Shinji is an example of this that's very definitely not Played for Laughs. Keeping with the Deconstruction theme that the series is famous for, an inability to express attraction in any other way is treated very seriously, with all the sadness and horror such a mental state implies.
In Great Teacher Onizuka, Anko takes this to the extreme with Noboru, driving him to attempt suicide twice. Things might have ended up very badly if Onizuka hadn't been around to help her uncover her true feelings.

Film

By the end of Hot Fuzz, the Andys have graduated from standard JerkAsses to this trope, where Angel's concerned.
In Welcome To The Dollhouse, Brandon likes Dawn and he treats her terribly.

Literature

Buttercup to the Farm Boy in The Princess Bride.

Live-Action TV

The Dick Van Dyke Show: There's a girl in Richie's class who bullies him because she likes him.
Karofsky of Glee towards Kurt. He even gives him a Forceful Kiss in the episode "Never Been Kissed".
On Malcolm in the Middle Reese tries this with a girl in school that he has a crush on, and then doesn't understand why she hates him as a result and cries in his room after things go badly. Malcolm then tries to help by telling him to do things to her that wouldn't make her cry.
In Good Luck Charlie, Jo Keener bullied Gabe because she liked him.
iCarly: Sam to Freddie.

Newspaper Comics

Calvin And Hobbes: Calvin does this to Susie from time to time. Hobbes calls him on it but Calvin claims he really does hate her.
Linus in Peanuts once told Charlie Brown about meeting a cute girl once. He claimed that he was so nervous around her that he couldn't think of anything to say. . . so he opted to hit her instead.

Video Games

A quest on The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim involves scarring off a girl who's beating up a boy. When you go talk to her you discover that "If he just kissed me, I wouldn't beat him up."
Kidou in the visual novel School Festival.

Webcomics

In El Goonish Shive, Grace suspects Tony is trying to hide "his obvious attraction to [Tedd]".
It's implied that Sarah is this to Fiona in YU+ME: dream .
Ruth behaves this way to Billie in Dumbing Of Age.

Web Original

In episode 55 of Yu-Gi-Oh! The Abridged Series, Kaiba claims that he is this to his little brother.

Western Animation

Helga towards Arnold in Hey Arnold.
- A flashback reveals that Arnold's grandparents were this in their youth as well. His grandmother was the bully.
Chuckie once had a suitor like this in Rugrats.
An episode of Recess had a boy who was harassing Gretchen admit he was this trope after being confronted (the other half of the episode had him acting as a Dogged Nice Guy/Stalker with a Crush).
Phineas And Ferb: in a Precocious Crush example, Buford does this to Candace when he can get away with it.
Buford: I saved your life. That means you're my servant now. It's the Bully Code.
Candace: [different episode] Buford? How did his number get [in my phone]?
The Simpsons: when Bart develops a crush on a girl Nelson gives him advice which amounts to "bully her to win her love." Nelson gives Bart a piece of gum to stick in her hair, then adds an additional piece of gum. "Who knows, you may get lucky."
Ed Edd N Eddy: The Kanker Sisters are utterly head over heels for the Eds, as well as their worst tormentors. Somewhat unique in that their amorous feelings are completely known to their victims, and the bullying usually involves the girls forcing themselves on the Eds.