History Main / ItsNotYouItsMyEnemies

* ''Anime/CodeGeass'': At one point during the second season, some of Lelouch's flunkies (rightfully) think he is doing this with Shirley. When a body double mix up at his school leads to problems maintaining his cover, one points out that it could all be solved simply by getting Shirley involved. Lelouch is reluctant, however, as being near him is a surefire way to get killed [[spoiler:like his half-sister Euphemia]] and [[spoiler:he had already mucked up her life horribly, both [[LaserGuidedAmnesia by tampering extensively with her memories]] and accidentally killing her father]]. Unfortunately, [[spoiler:she dies anyway soon afterward]]. Even with all of this AdaptedOut in the CompilationMovie, [[spoiler: he still dies as part of the Zero Requiem, just with her now being there when it happens.]]

** ''VideoGame/MetalGearRisingRevengeance'': Raiden himself does this to his wife and son because his latest enemies ''rip the brains out of children and force-feed them violent training simulations''. THIS IS NOT AN EXAGGERATION.

* This is why Jenny is reluctant to marry Pete in the ''{{Swries/Adam-12}}'' “[[https://m.fanfiction.net/s/6570493/1/A-Wedding A Wedding?]]” which is part of a series by Aussielover. Jenny is concerned her abusive father will hurt her or Pete. Pete doesn’t let it deter him and she does agree to marry him. Her dad does show up later in the series but they fight through it together.

* ''Manhwa/MetalHeart'': Sia tried this to get away from Minwoo to protect him but he convinced her stay.

* This is why Cole is afraid to let anything romantic happen between himself and Mel in ''{{Series/Tracker}}''. He’s worried he’ll get distracted and one or both of them will get hurt by the fugitives.

* ''Literature/{{Tempest}}'': At the beginning of ''Tempest Revealed'', the half-mermaid Tempest has broken up with her selkie boyfriend Kona and gotten back with her previous boyfriend, the human Mark. She makes regular visits to San Diego to visit him and her family. But after her dad is almost killed by a giant octopus, Tempest realizes that as long as she has ties on land, her loved ones will be targets. She breaks up with Mark again and returns to the ocean. [[spoiler:They get back together after [[BigBad Tiamat]] is defeated and Mark proves himself as a BadassNormal.]]

-->''“If I’d had anyone close to me, Winthrop would just have used them as more leverage against me.”''

* Luke Skywalker from ''Franchise/StarWars'' goes through a rare variation of this. In the ExpandedUniverse, his various love interests have [[DisposableLoveInterest bad things happening to them]]. He eventually concluded that the time he dabbled in TheDarkSide caused this and he had to protect [[OfficialCouple Mara Jade]] from it (it was about as necessary as you'd think). He only [[AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther proved his love for her]] by doing that.
** This was also one of the reasons for the Jedi's controversial tactics in recruiting infants before they had conscious memories of their birth family and in forbidding close emotional ties. A Sith or other enemy could hold a loved one hostage or hurt them to turn the Jedi to the Dark Side. It's even stated outright by Jedi-hunting characters that you hit their allies or Padawans first to make the Jedi weaker. In theory, if a Jedi loves no one and nothing but the Order, duty, and the Force, then the enemy hasn't anything to work with.

* In ''Film/SpiderManNoWayHome'', [[spoiler: as ComicBook/DoctorStrange works to {{unperson}} Peter in order to repair the space-time continuum at the end of the film, Peter promises M.J. and his BestFriend Ned that he'll come find them again. However, after seeing them happy and safe without him around, he can't bring himself to go through with it [[MentorOccupationalHazard after having already lost Aunt May]] and leaves.]]

* ''Manga/MyHeroAcademia'': Izuku Midoriya does a (mostly) platonic variation of this, following the Paranormal Liberation War. Since he comes to grasp that [[BigBad All For One]] is going to hunt him down, he decides to abandon the U.A. High to avoid placing any of his friends in danger just by being near him. It's only ''mostly'' platonic because one of those people he tries to keep safe is his ImpliedLoveInterest, Ochaco Uraraka, whose reaction is the one to get the biggest focus. This is ultimately {{Deconstructed}} when [[spoiler:Class 1-A decide to go after him anyway, knowing that his ChronicHeroSyndrome would just run him ragged, especially with heroes like Endeavour pushing him, and they tell him they ''want'' to help him. This turns into a fight as Izuku is utterly terrified of All for One harming them and is trying to get away from them.]]

** This trope only presumably worked with Chase Meridian. After the whole Riddler thing, it seems that she and Batman are going to still be together, but for some reason, the next movie had Batman dating someone else. We can assume that either she got bored with him (and given [[InHarmsWay the nature of the character]], this is entirely possible), or Bruce pulled this card.

* In ''ComicBook/AstroCity'', this is the reason Silver Agent gave to his first girlfriend. It was a lie; actually, he was sterile, but knew if he told her that, she would try to stifle her dreams for him.

* ''WebComic/KillSixBillionDemons'': This is apparently implied in "The Wheel Smashing Lord" 2-39, even though the character in question is not honest about her motive. Allison is approached by [[spoiler: an incomplete-looking being that's implied to be the beginnings of the reincarnation of the devil Cio, her friend/lover who actually did get killed because of her already.]] She lies to it that they are enemies from its former life, and it should stay away from her or she'll kill it. Note that while both fought side by side in the past, Allison has become the much more powerful one at this point.