History Main / RomancingTheWidow

* In ''Film/MiracleOnThirtyFourthStreet'' she's a divorcee, not a widow, but it's the same principle.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

* This is the plot of ''Manga/NatsuyukiRendezvous'' in which Hazuki is in love with the widowed Rokka-chan, unfortunately for him her late husband is a very clingy ghost only he can see who promptly tries to get in the way.

* [[spoiler:Karina]] from ''Anime/TigerAndBunny'', who [[spoiler:has a crush on the widowed lead male Kotetsu, despite him being around twice her age. The trope image is from the GrandFinale]].

* ''Fanfic/TheNightUnfurls'': {{Inverted}} to "The Widow Romances the Protagonist" in the original version. Grace Campbell lost her husband hundreds of years ago due to the war between Celestine and Olga. Judging from how she's pissed towards Olga because of her loss, it is clear that the pain has yet to fade. Despite this, she develops feelings for the BlackKnight Kyril Sutherland, becoming a member of his UnwantedHarem eager to pursue for his affections, even though Kyril is neither romantically nor sexually interested in any of them.

* Alec wants to marry Julie, a young widow, in the film ''Film/{{In Name Only|1939}}''. They both fall deeply in love, but the only problem is that his current wife, Maida, won't give him a divorce.

* Sarah and Hull's relationship is like this in ''Film/PaleRider''. Sarah's husband dies before the plot begins, but it's implied that she's the "loved her husband dearly" variety of widow.

* Barbie from ''Literature/UnderTheDome'' ends up in a relationship with (and, in the [[Series/UnderTheDome TV series]], engaged to) Julia Shumway. Julia's husband Peter was killed shortly before the dome came down due to Peter's gambling debts, his inability to pay them, and then threatening the enforcer that came to collect. The enforcer? Barbie. When he finds out that Julia is Peter's widow, Barbie doesn't really hesitate with continuing their relationship. Aside from an angry outburst when she finds out, Julia isn't really perturbed that she's in a relationship with her husband's killer and makes it a point that she does want to continue their relationship.

* Lucrezia Borgia of ''Series/{{Borgia}}'' is surprisingly distraught after the death of her husband, [[spoiler:Alfonso de Calabria. Lucky, her longtime lover (the other Alfonso) is still around to marry]].

%%* Mary Crawley of ''Series/DowntonAbbey'', after Matthew dies. After a short bout of deep depression, she recovers surprisingly quickly.

** In the [[Literature/TheBible Book of Deuteronomy]]: If a married man dies without leaving behind a son, the man's brother has a responsibility to marry the widow. If this brother then has a son with the woman, the son is considered to be of the deceased's lineage, to carry on his family name. Furthermore, if the brother refuses to marry the widow, she can take him before the town elders and have him publicly humiliated. (This was to ensure that a widow was properly cared for, as women in those days didn't have much means of supporting themselves without a husband or son.)
*** Onan's refusal to do this (he married his brother's widow and slept with her, but "spilled his seed" on the ground instead of inside her to avoid getting her pregnant) got him killed by God, because in the event that the resulting child was male, the brother's possessions would go to "his" son instead of Onan's (or Onan himself). This was later conflated with any male ejaculation happening outside of sex, hence onanism being an old-fashioned term for masturbating.
** In the Literature/BookOfJudith, the title character (who herself is a widow) becomes so famous for her HeroicSeductress role in defeating Holofernes, the leader of the Assyrian army, that many tried to marry her, but she ended up turning them all down and lived the rest of her life as a widow.

* In ''The Widow of Valencia'' by Creator/LopeDeVega, a beautiful widow in ExcessiveMourning finds a SecondLove (bonus point that he is the namesake of her deceased first husband). However, even though she no longer ''wants'' to lock herself up and weep, her pride, for a long while, deters her from openly acknowledging she wishes to get married again.

* ''Waaaay'' too many H-games to count.
* GenderFlipped in ''VideoGame/TheBannerSaga'' with [[TheHero Rook]] and [[TheLancer Oddleif]]. If the player makes the right choices up to about halfway through [[VideoGame/TheBannerSaga3 game 3]], [[RelationshipUpgrade they become a couple]].

* ''Fanfic/AlysanneLadyOfWinterfell'': A double version. The Shivers epidemic kills King Jaehaerys early in his reign, causing the collapse of the doctrine of Exceptionalism -- which claimed that the Targaryens were above the laws of other men, such as bans on incest, as evidenced by their dragons and their immunity to illness; obviously, this didn't last long when the young and healthy king died in the plague. His widow Alysanne is soon required to remarry, and to establish that Targaryen marriages will from now on occur strictly outside the family. She chooses to wed to Lord Alaric Stark, partly to secure ties with the North and partly because he has very little interest in southern court politics and thus in taking control of the throne. Alaric also happens to be a widower, as his wife Jonelle died of pneumonia some years in the past. The fact that both are on their second marriage is one of the primary sources of story tension, as neither has fully gotten over their previous spouse -- Alysanne, in particular, is still actively grieving and feels at times like she's cuckolding her dead first husband -- while Alaric has been nursing attraction for Alysanne for some years but chooses to hide it in order to avoid appearing like he's trying to take Jaehaerys' place. Alysanne only being two years older than Alaric's oldest child also makes things a trifle awkward.

* ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11111990/1/Grow-Young-with-Me Grow Young With Me]]'' is all about Harry recovering from Ginny's tragic death, with help from a quirky non-magical woman who draws him out of his shell. Abby has very mixed feelings when she visits his home and sees photos of Ginny, recognising that her death is simultaneously a terrible event for him and his adorable children, yet also the reason Abby has a chance with him.
* {{Inverted}} to "The Widow Romances The Protagonist" in the original version of ''Fanfic/TheNightUnfurls''. Grace Campbell lost her husband hundreds of years ago due to the war between Celestine and Olga. Judging from how she's pissed towards Olga because of her loss, it is clear that the pain has yet to fade. Despite this, she develops feelings for BlackKnight Kyril Sutherland, becoming a member of his UnwantedHarem eager to pursue for his affections, even though Kyril is neither romantically interested nor sexually interested in any of them.

* {{Averted|Trope}} in the ''Webcomic/DadVillainAU''. While Nathalie comes to admire Tom, she respects the fact that he's still mourning Sabine and doesn't try to press the matter. Though this doesn't stop her from EatingTheEyeCandy when she catches him throwing out the trash while shirtless one morning, and the two engage in some flirty banter in front of her employers as a way of signaling to Emelie that she's given up her [[IgnoredEnamouredUnderling hopeless crush]] on her.

!!!By Author:

* Happens in ''Series/Scrubs'', where J.D. ends up having sex with his patient's widow, and comments. It borders on ComfortingTheWidow in this case, as the man had been in a coma for several years (after a car accident two weeks into their marriage). As "Tasty Coma Wife" puts it, she had already grieved over losing her husband, his actual death really just gave her some closure.

* As they did in RealLife, the heroines of Susan Higginbotham's historical fiction often end up remarrying after their first husband comes to a historically sticky end.

!!!By Title:

* [[spoiler:Karina]] from ''Anime/TigerAndBunny'', who [[spoiler: has a crush on the widowed lead male Kotetsu, despite him being around twice her age. The trope image is from the GrandFinale]].

* ''ComicBook/SinCity'': The story ''A Dame To Kill For'' has a subplot involving one of the few honest cops in Basin City getting involved in an affair with a recently widowed FemmeFatale. It ends tragically for him [[spoiler: and his partner, whom he kills before committing suicide.]]

[[folder:FanWorks]]

* ''Fanfic/SecondChancesTheNovelArtist'': Technically, both Marinette and Adrien are widows, but Adrien has recovered much better. He and Chloé married more because they were comfortable with each other than anything else, and were already separated when she died in childbirth; he does miss her and is saddened by the past, but he knows that the life he would have liked to have with her wasn't ever going to happen. And he has their daughter filling his attention. Whereas Marinette and Nathanael were passionately devoted to each other, and his untimely death tore her apart. It takes quite a while before she's able to face the idea of moving on and dating again. [[spoiler:Ultimately, Emma forces their hand, latching onto Marinette as a mother figure and making her choose between being Emma's mother fully or walking out of her life entirely.]]

* An unusual variant occurs in ''Film/TheLastSamurai'' with Algren romancing Taka, the widow of a man ''he had killed.'' Katsumoto has captured Algren as a prisoner of war, and orders Taka to quarter him in her home. She can't stand him at first and begs Katsumoto to kill him, but gradually she warms up to him and they share a kiss before the final battle.

* In ''Film/TooManyHusbands'' (1940), when Bill was declared LegallyDead after a boating accident, his business partner Henry helped the widow "in a million little ways," leading her to marry him six months later. This causes awkwardness when Bill returns from being shipwrecked on a DesertedIsland.

* ''Film/TheMagnificentAmbersons'' is about a ([[ManChild grown-up]]) SpoiledBrat with MommyIssues who is [[ParentWithNewParamour horrified]] that his widowed mother is falling for her ChildhoodSweetheart. Everyone else thinks he's making a fuss about nothing.

* Alec wants to marry Julie, a young widow, in the film ''Film/{{In Name Only|1939}}''. They both fall deeply in love, but the only problem is that his current wife, Maida, won't give him a divorce.

* In the Creator/MarxBrothers films, Margaret Dumont played the [[GrandeDame rich widow]], and Groucho played [[GoldDigger the one wooing her]]. In ''Film/DuckSoup'':
--> '''Firefly (Groucho):''' Not that I care, but where is your husband?\\
'''Teasdale (Dumont):''' Why he's dead.\\
'''Firefly:''' I'll bet he's just using that as an excuse.\\
'''Teasdale:''' I stayed with him till the very end.\\
'''Firefly:''' Hmm, no wonder he passed away.\\
'''Teasdale:''' I held him in my arms and kissed him.\\
'''Firefly:''' Oh I see, then it was murder. Will you marry me? Did he leave you any money? Answer the second question first.\\
'''Teasdale:''' He left me his entire fortune.\\
'''Firefly:''' Is that so? Can't you see what I'm trying to tell you, I love you!
* ''Film/WhenTheLastSwordIsDrawn'': A close variant. Chiaki Ono married Yoshimura Shizu after her father Yoshimura Kanichiro came home mortally wounded, and her older brother (and Chiaki's best friend) Kaichirou left to take his father's place fighting in the UsefulNotes/BoshinWar and didn't come back.
* In ''Film/ABlueprintForMurder'', Cam starts to fall for his brother's widow Lynne. He is initially romancing her because he is attracted to her, but continues to do so because he becomes convinced that she is a BlackWidow and wants to prove it.
* ''Film/TheSecret2007'': Hannah is jealous of Ben's patient (Sam's guidance counselor) flirting with him while having their appointment (he works as an opthamologist), though Ben insists he wouldn't act on it. The woman is also unaware that Hannah's (kind of) still around, in Sam's body.

* In ''Literature/EnochArden,'' Philip [[LoveConfession declares his love to Annie]] after Enoch has been [[LegallyDead missing for several years.]] He has to be [[DoggedNiceGuy very patient,]] as she is reluctant to give up on Enoch, and even when she finally marries him, it is mostly RemarryingForYourKids at first. (She does finally come to return his feelings, however.)

* Clive Cussler's ''[[Literature/DirkPittAdventures The Mediterranean Caper]]''. Dirk Pitt does this with Teri von Till, who is still in mourning for her car-racer husband. It later turns out that [[spoiler:she's actually an undercover Federal Bureau of Narcotics agent named Amy, so her story may have been fake]].

* Somehow subverted in Jorge Amado's novel ''Dona Flor and Her Two Husbands'', where the titular Flor is the widow who is eventually romanced, and who has to learn how to open to love again. Of course, things become more complicated, what with the ghost of her first husband coming back...
* In the ''Literature/IncarnationsOfImmortality'' novel "Being a Green Mother," after the stunning Niobe loses her husband, she [[spoiler:becomes the immortal Clotho]]. Some 40 years later, she meets and falls in love again with a different man, many years after his wife also died. He even comments (paraphrased) "It's almost like Fate has been saving you until the time was right."
* ''Literature/TheMarkOfTheLion'': Atretes, the hero of ''As Sure As the Dawn'', is an ex-gladiator embittered by a failed DestructiveRomance who strikes up a partnership with a widow named Rizpah who had previously adopted the child whom he had thought his previous lover had aborted. Despite [[BelligerentSexualTension hating one another's guts at first]], they eventually fall for each other; she [[LoveRedeems pulls him out of his nihilistic cynicism]] and he is able to help her experience true love for the first time (she was a prostitute as a child and her first husband was a kindly older man for whom she never had romantic feelings).
* ''Literature/TheSilmarillion'': Indis loved Finwë from afar even before he married. After he visits her when his first wife dies, she openly declares her love for him.
* ''Literature/ThisSideOfParadise'': Amory Blaine falls helplessly in love with the widowed Clara Page and tries confessing his love to her. However, while she likes him, Clara turns him down as she has sworn off men for the rest of her life, which saddens him.
* ''Literature/TheSwordOfSaintFerdinand'': At the end of the story, Diego Vargas starts a relationship with Blanca, whose husband Álvar Pérez was killed in a skirmish some months earlier.
* ''Literature/{{Messenger}}'' has a sinister version. Mentor [[DealWithTheDevil trades away his true self]] to become young and handsome in order to romance Stocktender's recently-widowed wife.
* In Creator/DavidWeber's ''Literature/{{Empire From the Ashes}}'', Star Marshal Tsien Tao-ling does this for Amanda Givens, who lost her first husband in the battle of [[spoiler:Zeta Trianguli Australis]] and subsequently completely shut down emotionally. Happens in the time gap between ''The Armageddon Inheritance'' and ''Heirs of Empire'', meaning the romance is recounted in the narrative of the latter:
-->'''Narration''': Amanda Tsien feared nothing that lived, but she was also an orphan. She'd been only nine years old when she learned a harsh universe's cruelest weapon could be love... and she'd relearned that lesson when Tamman, her first husband, died at Zeta Trianguli Australis. Colin and Jiltanith had watched helplessly as she hid herself in her duties, sealing herself into an armored shell and investing all the emotion she dared risk in Tamman's son. She'd become an automaton, and there'd been nothing even an emperor could do about it, but Tsien Tao-ling had changed that.\\
Many of the marshal's personnel feared him. That was wise of them, yet something in Amanda had called out to him, despite her defenses, and the man the newsies called "the Juggernaut" had approached her so gently she hadn't even realized he was doing it until it was too late. Until he'd been inside her armor, holding out his hand to offer her the heart few people believed he had... and she'd taken it.
* ''Literature/ABrothersPrice'' has Jerin with [[spoiler:the princesses]]. Since the former husband was a jerk, the widow status is not much dwelled on, though--it is only important insofar as [[spoiler:Trini]] does not really want to remarry, for fear she could get such a jerk again.
* As they did in RealLife, the heroines of Susan Higginbotham's historical fiction often end up remarrying after their first husband comes to a historically sticky end.
* In some of the later ''Literature/{{Dune}}'' books, the long-widowed Lady Jessica Atreides is said to have found love with Gurney Halleck, although given that they have by that time become the rulers of Caledan and Giedi Prime, respectively, their relationship is kept very low-key to avoid scandal.
* ''Literature/TheVirginWidow'': Richard and Anne had been betrothed, happily, but her father's falling out with his brother ends that. Eventually, they are reunited when she is a widow and he sets about courting her.
* Barbie from ''Literature/UnderTheDome'' ends up in a relationship with (and, in the [[Series/UnderTheDome TV series]], engaged to) Julia Shumway. Julia's husband Peter was killed shortly before the dome came down due to Peter's gambling debts, his inability to pay them, and then threatening the enforcer that came to collect. The enforcer? Barbie. When he finds out that Julia is Peter's widow, Barbie doesn't really hesitate with continuing their relationship. Aside from an angry outburst when she finds out, Julia isn't really perturbed that she's in a relationship with her husband's killer and makes it a point that she does want to continue their relationship.

* Lucrezia Borgia of ''Series/{{Borgia}}'' is surprisingly distraught after the death of her husband, [[spoiler:Alfonso de Calabria. Lucky, her longtime lover (the other Alfonso) is still around to marry.]]

* ''Series/{{The Count of Monte Cristo|1998}}'' (1998): Edmond Dantès/Monte Cristo seduces the young, {{impoverished|Patrician}} and beautiful widow Camille de la Richardais (who [[CanonForeigner doesn't exist in the novel]]) for several reasons: to become the talk of the town in the French high society in order to get closer to his [[BestServedCold revenge]]'s targets, to enjoy a relationship with a woman once more (even though it's all platonic), and because her beauty is more "Northerner" and doesn't remind him one bit of the Mediterranean beauty of Mercedes.Then, Edmond does it again with Mercedes, after Fernand Mondego's death.

* Patrick Jane of ''Series/TheMentalist'' lost both his wife and his daughter when they were brutally murdered by a serial killer, which was [[NiceJobBreakingItHero kind of his fault]]. He feels incredibly guilty about it and continues to wear his wedding ring years later, all while bent on revenge. Consequently, any woman attempting to date him in the series falls into this, as he has a lot of issues and is extremely cagey about starting up with anyone new. Eventually [[spoiler:he gets past this and starts a relationship with Teresa Lisbon. It ends very, very well.]]

* In ''Series/SingleFather'' Dave and Sarah's burgeoning romance is taut with the presence of Rita's memory and how quickly they seem to have gotten together after her death. Rita was also Sarah's best friend and further complicates things by having a boyfriend at the time when she and Dave first get together.
* In the second season of ''Series/Tyrant2014'', Molly, having been led to believe that her husband Bassam Al-Fayeed has been executed, pursues a short-lived affair with Sammy's lawyer.

* GenderFlipped in VideoGame/TheBannerSaga with [[TheHero Rook]] and [[TheLancer Oddleif]]. If the player makes the right choices up to about halfway through [[VideoGame/TheBannerSaga3 game 3]], [[RelationshipUpgrade they become a couple]].
* ''VisualNovel/DreamDaddy'':
** The Main Character that can date any of the dads has lost his previous partner a while before the events of the series.
** [[spoiler:Robert]] had a wife, but she died in a car accident. He is a romantic option for you to date.
** Another romantic option, [[spoiler:Mat]], also had a wife who passed away before she even [[spoiler:saw the coffee shop they opened]].
%%* Jaheira in ''VideoGame/BaldursGateII''%% ZCE

** PlayedStraight in VideoGame/BaldursGateII, where Jaheira loses Khalid inbetween the first game and this one, and she becomes a romancable option.
* ''Waaaay'' too many H-games to count.
* Ramon wanted to do this to Vanessa in ''VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters''. Never got further than being her DoggedNiceGuy.
* In ''VideoGame/MitsumeteKnight'', this is the scenario of one of the winnable girls, [[spoiler: Claire Majoram]].

* The trope is genderflipped in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'' if a Female Avatar successfully romances [[spoiler: Gunther]], a man whose wife and child perished [[spoiler: alongside his DoomedHometown.]]
* ''VisualNovel/LongLiveTheQueen'' begins with player character Elodie's mother, Queen Fidelia, suddenly dying. Her father, Joslyn, is subsequently approached by multiple suitors throughout the game; as the King Dowager and the Duke of Caloris, he makes an attractive partner to anyone looking. By default he remains uninterested in remarrying despite having no heir to his title (since Elodie is the crown princess, she can't also inherit Joslyn's title), but if Elodie's choices have gotten the nobles talking about the importance of heirs, he may be pushed into marrying in order to ensure the succession remains safe.

* ''Webcomic/{{Monsterkind}}'': A same-sex example. Wallace starts to develop a crush on Ben, his landlord who is still grieving his past love interest. [[spoiler:Chapter 4 implies this to not be really one sided anymore, as they AlmostKiss]].

** A slight variation in "Little Boy Boo". Foghorn Leghorn realizes his rundown little shack won't suffice for the harsh winter ahead, so he decides to woo the local widow (Miss Prissy) deciding her house is warm enough. However, she won't commit unless he can prove to be a good enough father for her son, [[ChildProdigy Egghead Jr.]]

* ''Fanfic/SecondChancesTheNovelArtist'': Technically, both Marinette and Adrien are widows, but Adrien has recovered much better. He and Chloe married more because they were comfortable with each other than anything else, and were already separated when she died in childbirth; he does miss her and is saddened by the past, but he knows that the life he would have liked to have with her wasn't ever going to happen. And he has their daughter filling his attention. Whereas Marinette and Nathanael were passionately devoted to each other, and his untimely death tore her apart. It takes quite a while before she's able to face the idea of moving on and dating again. [[spoiler:Ultimately, Emma forces their hand, latching onto Marinette as a mother figure and making her choose between being Emma's mother fully or walking out of her life entirely.]]

* This happens to Rentarou twice in ''Manga/The100GirlfriendsWhoReallyReallyReallyReallyReallyLoveYou''. His sixth girlfriend is [[spoiler:Hahari]], the mother of one of his other girlfriends. While [[spoiler:Hahari]] [[DownplayedTrope isn't an actual widow]] (due to both her and her lover having been too young to get married), she plays it pretty straight. The second example, Yaku, WAS married with a child (and is currently a grandmother). He sometimes has visions of Yaku as a young adult, suggesting that he may be the reincarnation of her late husband.

* The main plot of ''Manga/MaisonIkkoku'' is centered on the trope, since the LoveTriangle involves a beautiful widow who works as a landlady and is courted [[RichSuitorPoorSuitor by a penniless would-be college student and a rich tennis coach.]] There's even a huge lampshade when she gets together with [[spoiler: the first]]:

* Although his former marriage is not revealed for quite a while, this is gender-flipped with Kaoru falling for the older hesitant widower Kenshin in ''Manga/RurouniKenshin''.

* The ''ComicBook/SinCity'' story ''A Dame To Kill For'' has a subplot involving one of the few honest cops in Basin City getting involved in an affair with a recently widowed FemmeFatale. It ends tragically for him [[spoiler: and his partner, whom he kills before committing suicide.]]
* Gender inverted and without actual marriage (even if they were seriously considering it) in the ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'' comics. Gwen... [[ILetGwenStacyDie named a certain trope]] and left Peter heartbroken. Enter Mary Jane whom helps him by being a supportive friend and the two become closer. A few years after her death, they share a kiss and begin to contemplate a relationship. Then this being comics, a Gwen clone shows up (and of course he spend a good deal of the arc believing it was genuinely her). The clone eventually helps him realize that his relationship with Gwen was NOT as perfect as he thought, her hatred of his alter ego ran too deep, and it was MJ he really in love with. However, he never really stopped angsting about Gwen, leading MJ to sometimes question if she really was his second choice (it's mostly entirely baseless, and they have never shown to have anything but unconditional love for each other, but the "what if I managed to save her thing" gets dragged out A LOT).

* Atretes, the hero of ''[[Literature/TheMarkOfTheLion As Sure As the Dawn]]'', is an ex-gladiator embittered by a failed DestructiveRomance who strikes up a partnership with a widow named Rizpah who had previously adopted the child whom he had thought his previous lover had aborted. Despite [[BelligerentSexualTension hating one another's guts at first]], they eventually fall for each other; she [[LoveRedeems pulls him out of his nihilistic cynicism]] and he is able to help her experience true love for the first time (she was a prostitute as a child and her first husband was a kindly older man for whom she never had romantic feelings).
* Gender inverted in ''Literature/TheSilmarillion''. Indis loved Finwë from afar even before he married. After he visits her when his first wife dies, she openly declares her love for him.

* [[spoiler:Karina]] from ''Anime/TigerAndBunny'', who [[spoiler: has a crush on the widowed lead male Kotetsu, despite him being around twice her age. The scene is from the GrandFinale]].

* GenderFlipped in VideoGame/TheBannerSaga with [[TheHero Rook]] and [[TheLancer Oddleif]]. If the player makes the right choices up to about halfway through [[VideoGame/TheBannerSaga3 game 3]], [[TheyDo they become a couple]].

* ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/14878527/chapters/34453056 Second Chances]]'': Technically, both Marinette and Adrien are widows, but Adrien has recovered much better. He and Chloe married more because they were comfortable with each other than anything else, and were already separated when she died in childbirth; he does miss her and is saddened by the past, but he knows that the life he would have liked to have with her wasn't ever going to happen. And he has their daughter filling his attention. Whereas Marinette and Nathanael were passionately devoted to each other, and his untimely death tore her apart. It takes quite a while before she's able to face the idea of moving on and dating again. [[spoiler:Ultimately, Emma forces their hand, latching onto Marinette as a mother figure and making her choose between being Emma's mother fully or walking out of her life entirely.]]