History Main / CompetingWithACorpse

-->-- '''[[Characters/EmmaFrostWhiteQueen Emma Frost]]''', ''ComicBook/AstonishingXMen''

* Film/TheDig2018: Roberta expresses that she feels this way given that it's been years since Namih disappeared and Ronan still clearly loves her more than he ever did Roberta.

* ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix'': Part of the reason why Harry's relationship with Cho didn't work out was that Cho was constantly mourning the death of her previous boyfriend Cedric and Harry didn't like to discuss it.
* In ''Literature/{{Rebecca}}'', the naive second wife arrives at the gloomy mansion house at Manderley to realise everyone, including her husband, is comparing her to the deceased first wife - and she is coming off worse.

* In ''{{Manga/Rurouni Kenshin}}'' Kaoru comes to view Kenshin's first wife Tomoe this way when she realizes her death is still affecting him. It's only at the end of the manga that Kenshin is finally able to move on so they can be together.

* ''Fanfic/DoingItRightThisTime'': Lampshaded by Ritsuko, who has finally been forced to confront everything wrong with her relationship with Gendo. [[spoiler: And then subsequently subverted when they get confirmation that Yui is OnlyMostlyDead.]]
-->"I did everything he asked, I did things that violated every principle I thought I believed in, and he still wouldn't leave his wife for me. Which I could deal with if she hadn't been ''dead'' for ten years."
* In ''Fanfic/AlysanneLadyOfWinterfell'', Alaric Stark marries Alysanne a year after her husband Jaehaerys dies of the Shivers. He often feels either angry at how she still clings to Jaehaerys's memory, or resigned that he would never be able to measure up to Jaehaerys in her eyes.

* {{Implied}} in ''Film/JohnWickChapter2''. Gianna D'Antonio speaks to John in tones almost like a pining ex-lover when he arrives to assassinate her, and asks for the name of "this woman whose life has ended my own" in reference to John's deceased wife Helen (the destruction of keepsakes from her having started this whole mess).
* Film/TheDig2018: Roberta expresses that she feels this way given that it's been years since Namih disappeared and Ronan still clearly loves her more than he ever did Roberta.

* In the ''Literature/WarriorCats'' book ''Firestar's Quest'', Sandstorm realizes that Firestar still has strong feelings for the deceased medicine cat Spottedleaf and feels like she can't compete, that she's just his second choice. Spottedleaf appears to Firestar and Sandstorm and confirms that Firestar does truly love Sandstorm, and eventually the two have kits together. Meanwhile, the short story ''Spottedleaf's Honest Answer'' shows how Spottedleaf felt about the whole thing after her death: she was jealous of Sandstorm to an extent but more than that she wanted Firestar to be happy, and was glad that Sandstorm was there for him since Spottedleaf herself couldn't be.
* ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix'': Part of the reason why Harry's relationship with Cho didn't work out was that Cho was constantly mourning the death of her previous boyfriend Cedric and Harry didn't like to discuss it.

* In ''Series/RepublicOfSarah'', the titular history teacher-turned-President has been pining for her friend Grover for years. Unfortunately for her, Grover is still mourning the loss of her first wife.

* ''Series/HouseOfTheDragon'': King Viserys, feeling pressured into remarrying after his wife's death, makes the [[NotQuiteTheRightThing short-sighted decision]] to marry Alicent Hightower. Their relationship is strained by numerous factors (the age difference, the fact that Alicent was pushed into it by her ambitious father, the loss of Alicent's friendship with Viserys' daughter Rhaenyra as a result, Viserys and Alicent's sons becoming [[HeirClubForMen a threat to Rhaenyra's claim,]] etc.) but perhaps chief among them is Viserys still being hung up on his wife Aemma (not helped by the fact that he bears some responsibility for her death). This bleeds into his treatment of his children with Alicent, [[ParentalFavoritism favoring Rhaenyra]] as the child of his beloved deceased wife. Tellingly, he at one point [[WrongNameOutburst calls Alicent "Aemma"]].

* Downplayed in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeOrigins'', in that there is sex but no romance. Morrigan can perform a magic sex ritual with a male member of the Grey Wardens: a male PlayerCharacter, Alistair, or [[spoiler:Loghain]]. If she goes with the spoilered character, they have an exchange where he needs to close his eyes and pretend she's his dead wife, and she snarks that he finds a corpse more attractive than her.

--->'''Lyanna:''' The night of our wedding feast, the first time we shared a bed, he called me by your sister's name. He was on top of me, in me, stinking of wine, and he whispered Lyanna.

* In the film ''Stanley & Iris'', part of the difficulty in the blossoming romance between the title characters is the fact that WidowWoman Iris is still grieving for her late husband. The first time she and Stanley are intimate, she cries, prompting him to comment that "three people in one bed is too much."

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

* PlayedForLaughs in an episode of ''Series/ElChapulinColorado'', where a married couple are constantly arguing by the fact the woman still seems to pine for her deceased first husband (even having a WrongNameOutburst at one point) and constantly compares his current husband to him.

* In ''Series/PeepShow'', Mark feels that he is in this situation after Gerrard, a male version of the IllGirl who is his rival for Dobby's affections, dies of the flu.

* TheDig2018: Roberta expresses that she feels this way given that it's been years since Namih disappeared and Ronan still clearly loves her more than he ever did Roberta.

* ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix'': Part of the reason why Harry's relationship with Cho didn't work out was because Cho was constantly mourning the death of her previous boyfriend Cedric and Harry didn't like to discuss about it.

* In ''Series/SpartacusBloodAndSand'', Spartacus begins a romance with Mira some time after his wife Sura dies, but he still mourns deeply for Sura. Although he cares for Mira, their relationship lacks the emotional intimacy she craves and he never tells her he loves her, much to her sadness and frustration. [[spoiler:This eventually leads to them breaking up late in ''Vengeance'', because they both realize Mira can never be what Sura was to Spartacus; they're surprisingly {{amicable|Exes}} about it though after the initial bust up]].

* ''VideoGame/TalesOfLegendia'': Shirley Fennes and her elder sister Stella were both in love with [[TheHero Senel Coolidge]]. Sometime before the events of the story, Stella was victorious but wound up [[HeroicSacrifice sacrificing her life]] to try and [[BigSisterInstinct protect]] [[MacGuffinGirl Shirley]]. Both Senel and Shirley are devastated by her loss, but Shirley still has lingering feelings for Senel, which she cannot help but try to act upon. [[spoiler:Later, it turns out that Stella wasn't quite dead after all, but she still winds up dying for real afterward, reopening wounds that had only just begun healing. In the later portion of the game, Shirley can't hold back anymore and [[DeclarationOfLove openly declares her love for Senel]], and he rejects her as he still pines for [[TheLostLenore Stella]]. This rejection in favor of her dead sister, in addition to the murder of her best friend Fenimore by soldiers looking to kill her, [[LoveMakesYouCrazy causes Shirley to snap]] and awaken her latent [[ApocalypseMaiden Merines powers]], setting off a chain of events that [[LoveMakesYouEvil would wipe out mankind]]. Shirley, [[UnstablePoweredWoman blinded by jealousy, rage, and grief]] just no longer cares what happens]], until finally brought back to her senses by Senel, who apologizes and is more receptive to her feelings, although he admits it will still take time.

-->'''[[Characters/EmmaFrostWhiteQueen Emma Frost]]''', ''ComicBook/AstonishingXMen''

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-->'''[[Characters/MarvelComicsEmmaFrost Emma Frost]]''', ''ComicBook/AstonishingXMen''

->"Superpowers, a scintillating wit, and the best body money can buy ... And I still rate below a corpse."
-->''[[Characters/MarvelComicsEmmaFrost Emma Frost]]'', ''ComicBook/AstonishingXMen''

!!Examples

* In the ''Literature/WarriorCats'' book ''Firestar's Quest'', Sandstorm realizes that Firestar still has strong feelings for the deceased medicine cat Spottedleaf and feels like she can't compete, that she's just his second choice. Spottedleaf appears to Firestar and Sandstorm and confirms that Firestar does truly love Sandstorm, and eventually the two have kits together. Meanwhile, the short story ''Spottedleaf's Honest Answer'' shows how Spottedleaf felt about the whole thing after her death: she was jealous of Sandstorm to an extent, but more than that she wanted Firestar to be happy, and was glad that Sandstorm was there for him since Spottedleaf herself couldn't be.

* ''Series/{{Nikita}}'': Nikita and Michael have a longstanding UnresolvedSexualTension since their days working together at Division, but the first time they almost consummated it, he stopped because he couldn't "move forward" until he avenged his wife and daughter by killing Kasim Tariq. [[spoiler:Tariq turns out to be a renegade Division agent who killed Michael's family by accident (the bomb was meant for Michael himself, to build a cover to infiltrate al-Qa'ida), and after Nikita kills him they become an OfficialCouple.]]

* In ''Series/SpartacusBloodAndSand'', Spartacus begins a romance with Mira some time after his wife Sura dies, but he still mourns deeply for Sura. Although he cares for Mira, their relationship lacks the emotional intimacy she craves and he never tells her he loves her, much to her sadness and frustration. [[spoiler:This eventually leads to them breaking up late in ''Vengeance'', because they both realize Mira can never be what Sura was to Spartacus; they're surprisingly {{amicable|exes}} about it though after the initial bust up]].

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''. When Ned Flanders starts dating again after the death of his wife Maude, his new girlfriend Rachel is acutely aware of how much he still pines for Maude, to the point of her imprint on the bed still being there and him trying to style her hair like Maude's while she sleeps. At the end of the episode when she helps him remove the imprint on the bed it's a major step towards him moving on.

* In ''Series/RepublicOfSarah'', the titular history teacher-turned-President has been pining for her friend Grover for years. Unfortunately for her, Grover is still mourning the loss of her first wife.