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2%% This list of examples has been alphabetized. Please add your example in the proper place. Thanks!
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4%% Image chosen per Image Pickin' Thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1522154701054130000
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7[[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDameDisney https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hunchback_didnotgetthegirl.png]]]]
8[[caption-width-right:350:"Dammit... I had a [[{{Pun}} hunch]] this would happen."[[note]]But fret not, Quasi - you'll have better luck in [[WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDameII the sequel]].[[/note]]]]
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10%% Caption selected per Caption Repair Thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/crowner.php/ImagePickin/DidNotGetTheGirlcaption
11%% Please do not replace or remove without further discussion there.
12%%
13
14->''"I guess I'll never get to call you mine..."''
15-->-- '''Music/SimplePlan,''' "When I'm With You"
16
17This trope is when TheProtagonist -- who is clearly not {{celibate|Hero}} -- ''doesn't'' end up with the {{Love Interest|s}}. Someone else wins her heart or she has no choice but to marry someone to save her family or something. For whatever reason, the hero ends the story alone. It can be played either for comedy or tragedy. It isn't always a DownerEnding or a BittersweetEnding, but it sure does tend to be that way.
18
19Despite the name, this trope can just as easily apply to not getting the ''guy''. Of course, the idea of a person being something to ''get'', as if they're a mere possession to be possessed, can be troubling to ponder.
20
21Related to NoRomanticResolution (the resolution here is: it didn't work out). Compare to BetterAsFriends and RomanticRunnerUp. Contrast EverythingButTheGirl, where the protagonist usually ''does'' get the girl eventually. Not to be confused with two leads not ending up together because one of them dies -- that is a [[BittersweetEnding different trope]], DeathOfTheHypotenuse when one of the leads is the hypotenuse of someone else, and PlatonicLifePartners where neither of them wanted each other in the first place. See also {{Netorare}}, a {{hentai}} SubGenre revolving around this, and DumpThemAll, where the protagonist rejects all of his LoveInterests instead of them leaving him.
22
23!!As this is an {{Ending Trope|s}}, [[Administrivia/SpoilersOff unmarked spoilers abound]]. [[Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned Beware]].
24----
25!!Example Subpages:
26[[index]]
27* DidNotGetTheGirl/AnimeAndManga
28* DidNotGetTheGirl/ComicBooks
29* DidNotGetTheGirl/FanWorks
30* [[DidNotGetTheGirl/LiveActionFilms Films - Live-Action]]
31* DidNotGetTheGirl/{{Literature}}
32* DidNotGetTheGirl/LiveActionTV
33* DidNotGetTheGirl/VideoGames
34* DidNotGetTheGirl/WesternAnimation
35[[/index]]
36
37!!Other Examples:
38
39[[foldercontrol]]
40
41[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
42* Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon:
43** The Disney version of ''WesternAnimation/{{The Hunchback of Notre Dame|Disney}}'', which is featured as the image of this page. Unlike most of the lead males of the Disney Renaissance, Quasimodo doesn't end up with the woman he falls in love with. Namely, Esmeralda never learns of his feelings and falls for Phoebus, [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy though Quasimodo chooses to accept that she loves him without issue]]. He eventually gets together with another woman in the [[WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDameII sequel]], though.
44** At the end of Disney's ''WesternAnimation/{{Pocahontas}}'', John Smith, severely injured, returns to Europe and leaves Pocahontas behind. As well as Smith being saved by Pocahontas, this is one of the only historically based moments in the entire movie and one of Disney's few {{Bittersweet Ending}}s. Exacerbated in the [[WesternAnimation/PocahontasIIJourneyToANewWorld sequel]], where Pocahontas actually ends up with a different guy, the one she married in real life.
45** That [[TearJerker/TheSwordInTheStone poor squirrel lady]] from Disney's ''WesternAnimation/TheSwordInTheStone''. She falls in love with Wart while he's a squirrel, but once he turns human, she's heartbroken.
46* [[DiscussedTrope Discussed]] in ''WesternAnimation/{{Megamind}}''. Megamind is the [[BigBad villain]], and he [[GenreSavvy knows it]]. He [[ThenLetMeBeEvil gladly embraces]] the tropes that come with villany, so when the time comes to this one, he accepts it as well, even if he is genuinely heartbroken. Since the movie is a DeconstructiveParody, it ultimately gets subverted, although it is not clear to what extent.
47--->'''Megamind:''' I'm the bad guy. I don't save the day, I don't fly off into the sunset, and I don't get the girl.
48* In ''WesternAnimation/CorpseBride,'' Emily gives up her chance to marry Victor [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy so that he can marry Victoria instead]].
49* According to Disney's ''WesternAnimation/MelodyTime'', this is actually [[JustSoStory the main reason why]] [[WolvesAlwaysHowlAtTheMoon coyotes always howl at the Moon.]]
50* In ''WesternAnimation/RankinBassJackFrost,'' the titular sprite is InvisibleToNormals, but hears a beautiful girl named Elisa say that she's "in love with Jack Frost." Taking her at her word, he becomes human, but [[BecomeARealBoy will only stay that way]] if she marries him by the beginning of spring. While she and "Jack Snip" become close, he learns right before the deadline that she's fallen in love with her NewOldFlame, [[KnightInShiningArmor Sir Ravenal]]. He turns back into a sprite just as the pair are HappilyMarried.
51* Shua in ''Animation/SkyBlue'' manages to bring down Ecoban, but thanks to Locke, it's almost certain Jay will die.
52* ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory3'': Although Buzz Lightyear and Jessie, and to a much lesser extent, Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head and {{Franchise/Barbie}} and Ken, are now finally united with each other, Woody and Bo Peep aren't... at least until ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory4.'' (At the very beginning of the film, Bo Peep was seen only in a flashback, and when Woody lists Wheezy, RC, and the other toys that were sold before the film, Rex sheepishly adds Bo-Peep to the list; Woody is notably sad because of this.)
53[[/folder]]
54
55[[folder:Gamebooks]]
56* In Douglas Hill's ''Have Your Own Extra-Terrestrial Adventure'', several of the paths have the HardboiledDetective protagonist team up with beautiful ActionGirl Mala, but in each one, they go their separate ways at the end, much to his disappointment.
57[[/folder]]
58
59[[folder:Music]]
60* Music/AmonAmarth's ConceptAlbum ''Jomsviking'' has the male protagonist kill an earl's servant to protect his love from DroitDuSeigneur and have to flee town. He ends up a warrior with the Jomsvikings and, in the song "A Dream that Cannot Be", returns to get his OldFlame (whose part is sung by Music/{{Doro}}) and bring her into his new life. She tells him to piss off and then pulls a knife on him when he tries to force the issue.
61* Rhett Akin's "That Ain't My Truck," about a guy in a LoveTriangle who gives his lover an ultimatum to choose. He doesn't hear from her, so he swings by her house, and finds:
62-->''That ain't my truck in her drive\
63Man, this ain't my day tonight\
64Looks like she's in love and I'm out of luck\
65That ain't my shadow on her wall\
66Lord, this don't look good at all\
67That's my girl\
68My whole world\
69But that ain't my truck''
70* Music/BowlingForSoup's "Graduation Trip" has this as a BittersweetEnding. The narrator meets and falls in love with a girl on a four-day cruise, but they live in separate states, so the relationship fizzles out. This doesn't change the fact that she was his FirstLove, and what they had, brief as it may have been, was still deeply meaningful to them both.
71-->''I hear you're doing amazing,''\
72''and believe me, that makes me smile.''\
73''But I hope you think of me,''\
74''every once in a while.''
75* "7 & 7," by the Music/TurnpikeTroubadours, has the narrator pondering a failed relationship, and wondering what might have happened if he hadn't been [[HeelRealization "the boy who your mama warned you about."]]
76-->''That old scene is always coming to me''\
77''I see you standing with your husband and your child''\
78''And you're a picture of strength and grace and beauty''\
79''And me, I'm just a fool in a supermarket aisle''\
80''Well I know "hello" would surely end up awkward''\
81''I never had the knack for talking anyway''\
82''And you're not the kind for bending over backward''\
83''So I smiled and turned my shopping cart around and walked away''
84[[/folder]]
85
86[[folder:Theater]]
87* ''Theatre/CyranoDeBergerac'': [[LoveDodecahedron Cyrano, Christian and De Guiche love Roxane]]. No one of them will get her. Roxane won’t get any guy too, because she's been LovingAShadow. Even Raguenau is abandoned by his wife, Lisa. Nobody gets anyone.
88* Creator/PeterUstinov's play ''The Love of the Four Colonels'' is set in Germany shortly after World War 2, where the four titular officers -- one from each occupying power -- come across Sleeping Beauty's castle and fall in love with her. Due to the machinations of the good and evil fairy, none of them gets the princess -- the British and the Soviet colonel return to their wives (even though e. g. the Russian one has in the meantime given birth to another man's child), while the American and the Frenchman have themselves put to sleep so that in another 100 years they'll have another go at wooing her, even though they just know that the fairies will ensure that neither of them is successful.
89* ''Theatre/TheMisanthrope'': Alceste refuses Célimène's offer of marriage because he's finally sure that she doesn't love him (or at least doesn't love him any more than she loves any man who pays attention to her).
90* On a more comical note, ''Theatre/{{Patience}}'' is subtitled ''Bunthorne's Bride''. Guess who is the only male character in the play to end up without a bride...
91* In ''Theatre/ThePlayboyOfTheWesternWorld'', Pegeen Mike rejects Christy Mahon in the end. It's not a downer ending for him, though; he gets so much else that he's got a good chance of getting over the rejection -- whereas she regrets her decision deeply as soon as it's too late to take it back.
92* Creator/GeorgeBernardShaw's play ''Theatre/{{Pygmalion}}'', but not the musical ''Theatre/MyFairLady'' or for that matter most other PygmalionPlot adaptations.
93* ''The Student Prince'': In a huge TearJerker moment, just as the titular prince is about to defy his father and marry the commoner he's fallen in love with... he learns his father is dying. He agrees to marry for diplomatic reasons, and takes up the crown, but goes to see his true love once more before he does.
94* In ''Theatre/StreetScene'', Sam is crushed when Rose leaves him in the end, having decided that, after what happened with her parents, she can't let their lives be tied together.
95* ''Theatre/SweetCharity''. Although all signs point to the contrary, Oscar winds up leaving Charity.
96* Jonathan Larson's semi-autobiographical play, ''Theatre/TickTickBoom'', has the protagonist choose between pursuing his dream of being a famous composer and settling down with his girlfriend Susan and a steady job. The stakes rise when Susan tells him she is moving away and wants him to come with her. In the end, he chooses to stay and pursue his dream, and they decide to be JustFriends, and for his birthday she gives him sheets of blank paper with which to write to her.
97* A Did Not Get The Guy example: Kathy in ''Vanities''. She apparently [[TheMourningAfter never finds another]].
98%%* Jack Point in Creator/GilbertAndSullivan's ''Theatre/TheYeomenOfTheGuard'' plays it straight.
99[[/folder]]
100
101[[folder:Visual Novels]]
102* ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'':
103** Fate route: In the most tear-jerking way, Shirou has to part with Saber and life moves on. [[spoiler:However, in Realta Nua's bonus ending of Fate they [[TogetherInDeath meet again]].]]
104** Two of the bad endings in Heaven's Feel result from the heroine of the route, Sakura, being killed while Shirou is still alive and well. If [[spoiler:Shirou]] kills Sakura, Shirou destroys his remaining humanity to pursue [[TheNeedsOfTheMany Kiritsugu's dream]]; if [[spoiler:Rin]] kills Sakura, Shirou is [[DespairEventHorizon driven to despair]] due to previously surrendering his dream to protect Sakura.
105* ''VisualNovel/GalaxyAngel'': Regardless of the route chosen, if Tact botches the choice before the last two missions, his chosen Angel will dump him, and he will leave the Elsior returning to his old job patrolling the borders. Subverted by the fact that this scenario leads to [[SixthRanger Chitose's]] route in the sequels, and they do get together at the end of the third game.
106* In ''[[http://lemmasoft.renai.us/forums/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=19865 Get Dumped]]'', no matter what you do, Michi will be unable to convince Arashi to stay with her and the true ending has her realize that she was LovingAShadow.
107* Can happen in ''VisualNovel/{{Melody}}'' if the player steers clear of the romantic paths of ''all'' the girls.
108* In ''VisualNovel/NineHoursNinePersonsNineDoors'', [[spoiler:Akane and Aoi]] flee Building Q before [[spoiler:Junpei]] can catch up to them. He spends the rest of his days trying to [[spoiler:find Akane]]. The sequel, ''VisualNovel/VirtuesLastReward'', really hammers it in by showing [[spoiler:Junpei as an old man, now going by Tenmyoji]], ''still'' trying. [[spoiler:Though he does succeed in this game, Akane is so far removed from what he remembers that he gives up on her.]] As for the third game, ''VisualNovel/ZeroTimeDilemma'', which takes place between the first two... [[spoiler:Thanks to time travel, the trope is finally averted and Junpei and Akane get together in the GoldenEnding.]]
109* ''VisualNovel/SayaNoUta'' has two of the endings (the third one has [[spoiler:them TogetherInDeath]]):
110** In the Asylum ending, Saya cures Fuminori's agnosia and allows him to see the world as normal, non-fleshy stuff again. But because [[spoiler:she is herself a fleshy EldritchAbomination]], she decides [[ButNowIMustGo they cannot be together]] and says a final goodbye while visiting him in the titular asylum.
111** In the Bloom ending, [[spoiler:Saya dies upon "blooming" and converting humanity into her species, while Fuminori survives]].
112[[/folder]]
113
114[[folder:Webcomics]]
115* ''Webcomic/{{Katamari}}'' (a comic based on ''VideoGame/KatamariDamacy'') had a story arc revolving around the Prince of Cosmos helping a man try to regain his girlfriend by rolling up a katamari of all the things she likes as a show of affection. However, when presented with it, she shows she's flattered by the gesture but lets him down gently that she isn't interested in pursuing the relationship.
116* Despite the effort Shigeo puts trying to become someone his longtime childhood crush might be interested in over the course of the series, ''Webcomic/MobPsycho100'' ends with Tsubomi politely but soundly turning him down. [[spoiler:Six months later, he's over it and probably happier than he's been in ages anyway, since all the CharacterDevelopment he had on the way makes it so much easier for him to stop withdrawing into himself and actually connect with people.]]
117* ''Webcomic/OrderOfTales'' ends with Koark joining the Searchers in [[WanderingTheEarth their travels]], after [[spoiler: Bottle Woman has made a HeroicSacrifice to save the world]] and he has nobody else in his life.
118* ''Webcomic/ThePhoenixRequiem'' ended with [[spoiler:Jonas and Anya splitting over his need to become the Grim Reaper. Though the ending left it ambiguous as to whether it would stay that way for good]].
119* In ''Webcomic/TowerOfGod'', this was how the {{Big Bad}}'s backstory ended back when he was TheHero of his own story. King Jahad loved one of his companions, Arlene, more than anyone else in the world, but when their adventure went as far as Jahad was destined to reach, she chose another of their companions and turned on him. When he learned of their child, he turned {{Yandere}} and murdered the child with his own hands in resentment. King Jahad [[SingleTargetSexuality refuses to move on]] and marry any other woman. He has also resorted to absurdly murderous methods to keep things that way.
120[[/folder]]
121
122[[folder:Web Original]]
123* ''WebVideo/DoctorHorriblesSingAlongBlog'' plays this in the most tragic fashion possible, as [[spoiler: Doctor Horrible has ''killed'' his LoveInterest, Penny, himself. He had been aiming for his arch-enemy, but accidentally killed her]].
124* Creator/FreddieWong in the action short "Gun Size Matters," leading to a hilarious live-action version of OcularGushers. %% context?
125* ''Literature/TheKindnessOfDevils'': This is one of Hardestadt Delac's personal problems throughout the series. He's immortal, and all the women he's dated have either been killed during his various conquests or simply died of old age. ''Literature/LovesLostAndFound'' shows more than half a dozen of Delac's wives or lovers that he's had over the course of ''centuries'', and all of them (except Erin and Eliza) all died off-screen at some point.
126* Gender-inverted in ''WebAnimation/NekoSugarGirls''. Raku's LoveConfession to Hitoshi-san fails because [[spoiler:he is dating Kidnapper-kun. Raku then dies due to her heart breaking]].
127* ''WebAnimation/RedVsBlue'':
128** While Tex does not die at the end of the series, neither is Church able to keep her in his life.
129** Agent York of Project Freelancer had feelings for Agent Carolina. [[spoiler: Too bad he thought she was killed by the Meta and he was killed before she was revealed to still be alive.]]
130[[/folder]]
131

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