History Main / IJustWantToBeLoved

* Despite what he'll tell you, this and IJustWantToHaveFriends are the primary driving forces for [[spoiler:{{Greed}}]] in ''FullmetalAlchemist.'' By extension, [[spoiler:[[BigBad Father]]]] also wants this.
* Alois from ''BlackButler''. It gets so bad that eventually [[spoiler: he doesn't care whether it's Claude, and sells his soul to Hannah instead because she was pretty much the first person since Luka to earnestly say "I love you".]]
* Miyako Miyamura's goal in ''EfAFairyTaleOfTheTwo'' is this, ever since [[spoiler: her parents's messy divorce that had them ignoring her completely]].

* This, coupled with IJustWantToBeNormal and IJustWantToHaveFriends, and besides her wish to KillAllHumans, is what moved ''ElfenLied''[='=]s Lucy all her life. In fact, this is what moves most main characters in this series.
* Seiji from ''MidoriDays''.
* Fate Testarossa from ''MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha''. She just want to be loved by her dearest mother [[spoiler: who tortures her on regular basis because she hates how Fate (who is a clone) resembles her deceased daughter]]. She gets everything she wished, though: she gets a new family (the Harlaowns) and later [[HasTwoMommies becomes one Vivio's two mommies with Nanoha]]. People even call the three of them "the Takamachi family". Probably the MostTriumphantExample of this trope in GirlsLove.

-->song of solomon 8:6

Contrast the (arguable) {{Spear Counterpart}}s: IJustWantToBeBadass and AManIsNotAVirgin

Related to:IJustWantToBeBeautiful

* Alois from BlackButler. It gets so bad that eventually [[spoiler: he doesn't care whether it's Claude, and sells his soul to Hannah instead because she was pretty much the first person since Luka to earnestly say "I love you".]]
* Miyako Miyamura's goal in EfAFairyTaleOfTheTwo is this, ever since [[spoiler: her parents's messy divorce that had them ignoring her completely]].
* All [[NeonGenesisEvangelion Shinji Ikari]] ever wanted was someone to love him, and when he finally found that person [[spoiler: in [[WhiteHairedPrettyBoy Kaworu Nagisa]], he [[TearJerker lost him in one of the most horribly heart-breaking ways imaginable]].]]
** One can say this is a staple of the series.
* This, coupled with IJustWantToBeNormal and IJustWantToHaveFriends, and besides her wish ti KillAllHumans, is what moved [[ElfenLied Lucy]] all her life, in fact, this is what moves most main characters in this series.
* Seiji from {{Midori Days}}.

* The main character of ''[[FiveHundredDaysOfSummer 500 Days of Summer]]'' has this motivation.
* All of the daughters in ''EatDrinkManWoman'', to various degrees.
* In ''CitizenKane'', Charles Foster Kane is a total bastard who manipulates everyone around him with no interest in or respect for their feelings, but all he really wants is to be loved. He gets yelled at for this by many other characters, but the real problem is Kane's inability to love anyone back.
* In The film version of {{Coraline}}, the heroine wishes for a loving family... and learns thet you should BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor , as love has an ugly side.

* ''{{Twilight}}'' fulfills this wish. The whole point of Bella being an AudienceSurrogate is so the audience can indulge their wish to be loved by Edward Cullen.

* AynRand, in her novel ''AtlasShrugged'', [[DeconstructedTrope deconstructs the trope]] as well as [[GenderFlip gender-flips]] it via the character of James Taggart. James wants to be loved, but not for anything he actually does. Rather, he wants to be loved for himself. Not for the benefits he might bring into the life of the person that loves him. Not for any of his virtues or good qualities. He says that he wants to be loved for himself. Ultimately, what he truly wants is to be loved ''for absolutely no reason at all'', i.e. loved in spite of his own worthlessness.
* In ''TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'' Ford and Arthur try to flatter their Vogon captors poetry to avoid being thrown out of the airlock. The Captain asks them if they're saying that he writes poetry because "Underneath my callous exterior, deep down, I just want to be loved?" Subverted when he announces that he actually writes poetry to throw his callous exterior into sharp relief, and they're going to be thrown out the airlock anyway.
* ''MansfieldPark''
* A male version in OverTheWineDarkSea . Sostratos never keeps a [[HighClassCallGirl Heitaira]] because he wants one that will really love him and can't quite believe it of a hireling.
* Subverted ''hard'' in ''HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince''. Poor Merope Gaunt.

* [[RickAstley Rick Astley's]] ''Never Gonna Give You Up'' shamelessly panders to this wish.

* A PapaRoach song has this line in the chorus.
* [[{{Queen}} Queen's]] ''Somebody To Love''

* Jon Lovitz of ''SaturdayNightLive'' did an impression of Harvey Fierstein (playwright of ''TorchSongTrilogy''). The parody version of Fierstein had a variant of this as his CatchPhrase. "I just want to be loved. Is that so wrong?"

* Chrysothemis in Richard Strauss's opera ''Elektra'', who does not share her sister Elektra's thirst for revenge, and just wants to be a simple wife and mother -- and this wish is what sustains her in her dark, fearful time as a prisoner. (Note: this is not her characterisation in the original Sophocles play)

* [[FamilyGuy Meg Griffin]] is treated horribly by her family and most of Quahog for her [[InformedAttribute supposed]] [[InformedDeformity ugliness]]. She is desperate for affection to the point of mental instability. One cutaway gag shows her 'dating' a corpse. In another episode, Meg accepts a pity date from Brian, her family's talking dog, and becomes obsessed with him [[BecauseYouWereNiceToMe after he insults another girl in her defence and kisses her while drunk]]. [[YourMileageMayVary Fans debate]] whether Meg is a [[TheWoobie Woobie]], BrokenBird or comical ButtMonkey.

[[redirect:TheFourLoves]]

[[redirect:TheFourLoves]

[[redirect:TheFourLoves]]

->"And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity"
-->TheBible Colossians 3:14
->"...for love is as strong as death..."
-->song of solomon 8:6

WishFulfillment is an undeniable part of all fiction, and there is nothing at all wrong with it, in and of itself. IJustWantToBeLoved is a specific wish that some members of the audience would like to have [[WishFulfillment fulfilled]] by the fiction they consume.

This wish is mostly (but not exclusively) expressed by females. Because at least some women believe that family is everything, said women are more likely to care about being loved, as opposed to actually ''doing something really cool''. Feminists of multiple stripes (from StrawFeminist types to completely sane and reasonable feminists) hate this. As such, this trope is seen as having its share of UnfortunateImplications about what women should aim for in life. In spite of these implications, the wish still exists and much media does indeed aim to fulfill it.

Note however that TropesAreNotBad. If a work appeals to this wish, it is not ''automatically'' BadWriting or inherently sexist.

Contrast the (arguable) {{Spear Counterpart}}s: IJustWantToBeBadass and AManIsNotAVirgin

Related to:IJustWantToBeBeautiful

See Also: WishFulfillment, IJustWantToHaveFriends, IJustWantToBeNormal, IJustWantToBeSpecial.

----
!!Examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:AnimeAndManga]]
* Despite what he'll tell you, this and IJustWantToHaveFriends are the primary driving forces for [[spoiler:{{Greed}}]] in ''FullmetalAlchemist.'' By extension, [[spoiler:[[BigBad Father]]]] also wants this.
* Alois from BlackButler. It gets so bad that eventually [[spoiler: he doesn't care whether it's Claude, and sells his soul to Hannah instead because she was pretty much the first person since Luka to earnestly say "I love you".]]
* Miyako Miyamura's goal in EfAFairyTaleOfTheTwo is this, ever since [[spoiler: her parents's messy divorce that had them ignoring her completely]].
* All [[NeonGenesisEvangelion Shinji Ikari]] ever wanted was someone to love him, and when he finally found that person [[spoiler: in [[WhiteHairedPrettyBoy Kaworu Nagisa]], he [[TearJerker lost him in one of the most horribly heart-breaking ways imaginable]].]]
** One can say this is a staple of the series.
* This, coupled with IJustWantToBeNormal and IJustWantToHaveFriends, and besides her wish ti KillAllHumans, is what moved [[ElfenLied Lucy]] all her life, in fact, this is what moves most main characters in this series.
* Seiji from {{Midori Days}}.
* Fate Testarossa from ''MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha''. She just want to be loved by her dearest mother [[spoiler: who tortures her on regular basis because she hates how Fate (who is a clone) resembles her deceased daughter]]. She gets everything she wished, though: she gets a new family (the Harlaowns) and later [[HasTwoMommies becomes one Vivio's two mommies with Nanoha]]. People even call the three of them "the Takamachi family". Probably the MostTriumphantExample of this trope in GirlsLove.
** On a non-eros[[MemeticMolester (?)]], Hayate Yagami. From an orphan to being one of the aces, adored by her immediate underlings who are also her surrogate family.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* In ''DorkTower'', Matt [=McLimore's=] ongoing desire to be involved with ''someone'' repeatedly pushes him back to his ex-girlfriend, Kayleigh... even while his dream girl, Gilly the PerkyGoth, hovers nearby.
* ''{{Irredeemable}}''. This is the Plutonian's motivation for being a superhero after spending years in several foster homes with people who were afraid of him. Despite being a respected champion, he's so obsessed with the negative comments and constant demands people give him that it drives him over the edge.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:FanFic]]
* There are probably too many fanfics to list that appeal to this wish. The appeal of the RelationshipSue is arguably derived from this wish (as well as the specific desire to be loved ''by a particular character'').
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Film]]
* The main character of ''[[FiveHundredDaysOfSummer 500 Days of Summer]]'' has this motivation.
* All of the daughters in ''EatDrinkManWoman'', to various degrees.
* In ''CitizenKane'', Charles Foster Kane is a total bastard who manipulates everyone around him with no interest in or respect for their feelings, but all he really wants is to be loved. He gets yelled at for this by many other characters, but the real problem is Kane's inability to love anyone back.
* In The film version of {{Coraline}}, the heroine wishes for a loving family... and learns thet you should BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor , as love has an ugly side.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* ''{{Twilight}}'' fulfills this wish. The whole point of Bella being an AudienceSurrogate is so the audience can indulge their wish to be loved by Edward Cullen.
* The RomanceNovel exists to fulfill this wish.
* AynRand, in her novel ''AtlasShrugged'', [[DeconstructedTrope deconstructs the trope]] as well as [[GenderFlip gender-flips]] it via the character of James Taggart. James wants to be loved, but not for anything he actually does. Rather, he wants to be loved for himself. Not for the benefits he might bring into the life of the person that loves him. Not for any of his virtues or good qualities. He says that he wants to be loved for himself. Ultimately, what he truly wants is to be loved ''for absolutely no reason at all'', i.e. loved in spite of his own worthlessness.
* In ''TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'' Ford and Arthur try to flatter their Vogon captors poetry to avoid being thrown out of the airlock. The Captain asks them if they're saying that he writes poetry because "Underneath my callous exterior, deep down, I just want to be loved?" Subverted when he announces that he actually writes poetry to throw his callous exterior into sharp relief, and they're going to be thrown out the airlock anyway.
* ''MansfieldPark''
* A male version in OverTheWineDarkSea . Sostratos never keeps a [[HighClassCallGirl Heitaira]] because he wants one that will really love him and can't quite believe it of a hireling.
* Subverted ''hard'' in ''HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince''. Poor Merope Gaunt.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Music]]
* [[RickAstley Rick Astley's]] ''Never Gonna Give You Up'' shamelessly panders to this wish.
* Most BoyBand songs fulfill this wish as well.
* A PapaRoach song has this line in the chorus.
* [[{{Queen}} Queen's]] ''Somebody To Love''
* There are many romantic ballads featuring the singer singing about how they really love "you" the person they are singing to.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:LiveActionTelevision]]
* Jon Lovitz of ''SaturdayNightLive'' did an impression of Harvey Fierstein (playwright of ''TorchSongTrilogy''). The parody version of Fierstein had a variant of this as his CatchPhrase. "I just want to be loved. Is that so wrong?"
* Phoebe of {{Charmed}} made it her personal mission to find love during the last few seasons. In the end, she got a Cupid. Yay?

[[/folder]]

[[folder:Theatre]]
* Chrysothemis in Richard Strauss's opera ''Elektra'', who does not share her sister Elektra's thirst for revenge, and just wants to be a simple wife and mother -- and this wish is what sustains her in her dark, fearful time as a prisoner. (Note: this is not her characterisation in the original Sophocles play)

[[/folder]]

[[folder:VideoGames]]
* The DatingSim genre arguably exists because of this wish.
* [[spoiler:The Collector]] in LittleBigPlanet, and [[spoiler:[[MetalGear Liquid Ocelot]]]] in the Metal Gear level pack.
* At the climax of TimeSplitters Future Perfect, [[spoiler: RobotBuddy R-110 is fatally wounded by the BigBad and in his last moments he laments, "I only wanted to be loved..." This runs contrary to his [[AxCrazy recent]] [[CloudCuckooLander activities]] throughout the last act.]]
* The motivation -- and a frequent line of dialogue -- for the fallen hero Flambeaux in ''CityOfHeroes''.
* Maandatory ''{{Touhou}}'' example: Koishi Komeiji, the [[BonusLevelFromHell extra boss]] of Subterranean Animism and the little sister of Satori Komeiji. Her kind are mind readers, and sometimes AMindIsATerribleThingToRead, leading her to closing her evil-eye. When you fight her, her spellcards are all themed with [[AllPsychologyAreFreudian Freudian psychology]], including one that [[FreudWasRight looks phallic]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:WesternAnimation]]
* [[FamilyGuy Meg Griffin]] is treated horribly by her family and most of Quahog for her [[InformedAttribute supposed]] [[InformedDeformity ugliness]]. She is desperate for affection to the point of mental instability. One cutaway gag shows her 'dating' a corpse. In another episode, Meg accepts a pity date from Brian, her family's talking dog, and becomes obsessed with him [[BecauseYouWereNiceToMe after he insults another girl in her defence and kisses her while drunk]]. [[YourMileageMayVary Fans debate]] whether Meg is a [[TheWoobie Woobie]], BrokenBird or comical ButtMonkey.

[[/folder]]


----

* Irredeemable. This is the Plutonian's motivation for being a superhero after spending years in several foster homes with people who were afraid of him. Despite being a respected champion, he's so obsessed with the negative comments and constant demands people give him that it drives him over the edge.

* Maandatory ''{{Touhou}}'' example: Koishi Komeiji, the [[BonusLevelFromHell extra boss]] of Subterranean Animism and the little sister of Satori Komeiji. Her kind are mind readers, and sometimes AMindIsATerribleThingToRead, leading her to closing her evil-eye. When you fight her, her spellcards are all themed with [[AllPsychologyAreFreudian Freudian psychology]], including one that [[FreudWasRight looks phallic]]. After you defeat her (especially if you use Marisa), she decide to re-open her evil-eye.

Realted to:IJustWantTOBeBeautiful

See Also: WishFulfillment,
IJustWantToHaveFriends, IJustWantToBeNormal, IJustWantToBeSpecial

There are probably too many fanfics to list that appeal to this wish. The appeal of the RelationshipSue is arguably derived from this wish (as well as the specific desire to be loved ''by a particular character'').

* In "Citizen Kane", Charles Foster Kane is a total bastard who manipulates everyone around him with no interest in or respect for their feelings, but all he really wants is to be loved. He gets yelled at for this by many other characters, but the real problem is Kane's inability to love anyone back.

* [[FamilyGuy Meg Griffin]] is treated horribly by her family and most of Quahog for her [[InformedAttribute supposed ugliness]]. She is desperate for affection to the point of mental instability. One cutaway gag shows her 'dating' a corpse. In another episode, Meg accepts a pity date from Brian, her family's talking dog, and becomes obsessed with him [[BecauseYouWereNiceToMe after he insults another girl in her defence and kisses her while drunk]]. [[YourMileageMayVary Fans debate]] whether Meg is a [[TheWoobie Woobie]], BrokenBird or comical ButtMonkey.

* This, besides her KillAllHumans phase, is what moved [[ElfenLied Lucy]] all her life, in fact, this is what moves most main characters in this series.

* Miyako Miyamura's goal in EfAFairyTaleOfTheTwo is this, ever since spoiler: her parents's messy divorce that had them ignoring her completely]].

In The film version of {{Coraline}}, the heroine wishes for a loving family... and learns thet you should BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor , as love has an ugly side.

[[folder:FanFic]]
There are probably too many fanfics to list that appeal to this wish. The appeal of the RelationshipSue is arguably derived from this wish (as well as the specific desire to be loved ''by a particular character'').

* A rather blatant example of this trope (even including the title of the fic itself), where the desire to be loved is clearly held by the author, can be found [[http://mgslash.com/fanfiction/wantingtobeloved.html here]]. [[SoBadItsHorrible You probably may not enjoy reading it...]]
** To be completely fair, the title is actually derived from a line spoken by the main character (the one that [[RapeAsDrama gets raped]]), but in the source material the character says the line in ''past-tense'', so said character was ''not'' referring to presently-held desires. The fiction is clearly an example where the author's wish [[IJustWantToBeLoved to be loved]] takes precedence over faithfulness to the source material.

See Also: WishFulfillment, IJustWantToBeAccepted, IJustWantToBeNormal, IJustWantToBeSpecial