Line #99 Main/MatchmakerCrush


1	->''"Oh, get over it! You can admit it, can't you?! I mean, she is beautiful, and she is kind... How could anyone not have feelings for her? (...) But I guess I will have to let you take the lead here, since that is truly the knightly thing to do for one's partner..."''
2	-->-- '''Sain''' towards '''Kent''', ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade''
3
4	A character ''starts out'' [[ShipperOnDeck trying to help one character hook up with another]], but ends up falling in love with the person they were helping (or worse, the person they're trying to help them ''get''), seriously undermining their own efforts.
5
6	Why? Perhaps they felt unworthy and [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy just wanted their beloved to be happy]] but in the end, just can't resist their own feelings. Or maybe their intentions were pure at the beginning, but the excessive attempts to help their target caused feelings to bloom.
7
8	Alternatively, the [[HopelessSuitor hopeless and lovestruck individual]] employs the help of the matchmaker to help him/her hook up with the object of their (sometimes superficial) affections... only to later on find themselves falling deeply and genuinely in love with the matchmaker themselves. This usually occurs if the matchmaker and the suitor spend a lot of time together, perhaps practicing how to do the approach or even getting to know their matchmaker a lot better. If this happens, the suitor often reveals later on that his/her feelings have shifted to the matchmaker in question.
9
10	Sometimes overlaps with WifeHusbandry when an older man tries heroically to pair a younger woman off with men her own age, only to fall for her himself. This trope may result in MatchmakerFailure.
11
12	LoveTriangle-arity ensues. See also PlayingCyrano, another intermediary type who generally isn't in love with the target.
13	----
14	!!Examples:
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16	[[foldercontrol]]
17
18	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
19	* ''VisualNovel/{{Clannad}}'': Throughout the {{Anime}} series, at every opportunity, Kyou tries to push Tomoya to be with her twin sister Ryou, even though she too has a crush on him. And in the Visual Novel, Ryou doesn't even ''get'' a real route. Well, she does, but it doesn't count towards the true ending of the story.
20	* In ''Manga/DadTheBeardGorillaAndI'', Yukari wants to pursue Souichi, and she is helped by Tsukasa and Hino, who give her tips on how to attract his attention and try their best to find opportunities for the two to get together. Eventually, Tsukasa falls for Souichi, while Hino becomes attracted to Yukari. [[spoiler:The first pair becomes an OfficialCouple, while the second gets a MaybeEverAfter after the former gets married.]]
21	* In ''Manga/DestinyOfTheShrineMaiden'', Chikane actively pushes Himeko to date Souma because [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy she wants her to be happy.]]
22	* ''Anime/DragonQuestYourStory'': Bianca supports the hero on his Engagement Challenge set by Rodrigo to marry Nera, despite her own obvious feelings for the hero, and she even tries to coach Luca through his actual proposal.
23	* The Korean manhwa ''Green Boy'' has a more direct spin on this. [[GenkiGirl Ha-Eun]] has a crush on [[BadassBookworm Taejin]], who is already crushing on [[ActionGirl Jae-in]]. Since Ha-Eun wants to be friends with both Jae-in and Taejin, she happily pushes them both toward each other even as she makes no secret about her crush on Taejin to both of them while assuring them that she'd never act on it because she [[ShipperOnDeck finds them both adorable together]]. The trope is played with, however, when later chapters show that this is partly [[StepfordSmiler a facade]], and she visibly struggles to stifle her GreenEyedMonster the first time she sees them kiss.
24	* ''Manga/HayateTheCombatButler'':
25	** [[TheIdiotFromOsaka Sakuya]] gave up her own spot in a [[ElaborateUniversityHigh high-class school]] so that her childhood friend Wataru could go to the same school as another childhood friend, Isumi, he has a crush on. She also loudly complains about his lack of progress in confessing his feelings to Isumi. A lot of the ShipTease in the later chapters, however, suggests very strongly that Sakuya has a crush on Wataru herself.
26	** There's also Hinagiku vowing to help Nishizawa but liking Hayate herself. Isumi has something similar going with Nagi, but unlike Hinagiku makes no attempts on her own behalf as well. Of course, Nishizawa would gladly [[{{Polyamory}} share Hayate with Hinagiku... or is that share Hinagiku with Hayate?]]
27	* ''Literature/HighSchoolDxD''
28	** During the earlier parts of the series, Rias Gremory would try pairing her servants; Issei Hyoudou and Asia together, due to Issei being a HaremSeeker, while Asia is shown to have fallen in love with him due to him being a NiceGuy who saved her from being killed, as Issei was initially unable to see Asia's affection for him as romantic love. However, after Rias sees Issei fight earnestly for her in order to free her from her ArrangedMarriage and promising to rescue her, Rias falls in love with him herself, with the two girls becoming love rivals. However, due to Issei's desire for a harem, both accept the fact that they will have to share him but compete for his attention and affection.
29	** After seeing Rias fall in love with Issei, [[HeterosexualLifePartner her best friend]]; Akeno Himejima, tries to help progress their relationship by sometimes giving Issei advice or teasing them about their relationship. However, due to seeing Issei's determination and victory during Rias' engagement, Akeno became attracted to him and offered to have an affair with him, much to Rias' dismay. She later fully falls in love with him and enjoys the prospect of being Issei's [[TheMistress mistress]].
30	* ''Manga/KashimashiGirlMeetsGirl'': Tomari pushes Hazumu to confess to Yasuna, ends up dragged into the {{yuri}} LoveTriangle that is the main plot.
31	* Tenga from ''Anime/{{Kiznaiver}}'' tries to set up Chidori with [[NewOldFlame Katsuhira]]. [[spoiler: It's revealed in episode 8 that Tenga has developed feelings for Chidori.]]
32	* ''Manga/LovelyComplex'' begins with HugeSchoolgirl Risa and TheNapoleon Otani trying to be mutual matchmakers for each other. They fail (their respective partners fall for each other and become the BetaCouple), only succeeding to underline to everyone else just how much better they'd do as a couple themselves.
33	* In ''Manga/MaidSama'', [[spoiler:Aoi]] ships Usui/Misaki, but recently realizes he likes Misaki too. Despite this, he is [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy genuinely happy]] for Misaki's relationship with Usui because being with him makes her look "cuter," and [[spoiler:Aoi]] likes it when Misaki looks cute.
34	* Takeo from ''Manga/MyLoveStory'' tries to hook up his friend Suna with Yamato, however he's fallen for her. He decides to cheer their 'romance' on nevertheless. The problem is Yamato likes ''Takeo'', not Suna, but Takeo is ObliviousToLove. It takes Suna outright telling them that the other likes them for the two to become a couple.
35	* ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'':
36	** Yue Ayase supports her friend Nodoka's feelings for Negi. First, she has no interest in Negi. Then she starts becoming attracted but suppresses it. Eventually, Yue gets found out and tries to run away in shame, but Nodoka tells her that it's okay for both of them to have feelings for Negi and that they're still friends. Additionally, Nodoka [[CovertPervert soon comes up]] with an [[MarryThemAll interesting solution]] that embarrasses her.
37	** Haruna aka Paru plays with this, she's acting as matchmaker for both Yue and Nodoka. After Negi's battle in the Ostian tournament, she declares she has fallen for him...then laughs, declares she was kidding, and gets yelled at for her joke.
38	** Akira Ookochi, who asked Negi directly to go the Pactio route with Ako, Makie, and Yuuna (Ako and Makie both like Negi, while Yuna needs the Pactio to follow in her mother's footsteps) but refused to get one for herself. Until a long while later. Lampshaded by Chamo right before the last fact happens. In fact, subtle hints in previous arcs imply Akira was crushing on Negi ''way before'' Ako.
39	* ''Anime/PokemonTheSeriesDiamondAndPearl'': During a mini-arc in the ''Galactic Battles'' season, GuestStarPartyMember Lyra tries to pair her friend Khoury up with Dawn. But over time, Lyra comes to realize she may have feelings for Khoury herself.
40	* ''Manga/TheQuintessentialQuintuplets'': At the start of the story, Ichika tries to hook up Fuutarou with one of her sisters, actively acting as mediator so they can get along better. However, spending some moments alone with him causes her to develop feelings for him, which cause her to become conflicted about what she should do. [[spoiler:Deconstructed later on, when after a chat with Yotsuba, she decides to be more selfish in her pursuit of him and resorts to underhanded methods to try and keep the others from making moves on him before she does]].
41	* Yukari, a bisexual girl from the manga ''Manga/RosarioPlusVampire'', is this for both Tsukune and Moka, who she openly ships together. This is because Yukari's in love with both of them and she thinks that if they become a couple, it'll be easier for her to get a threesome with them.
42	* ''Literature/ShakuganNoShana'': Hayato Ike often helps Kazumi Yoshida to hook up and show her affection toward Yuji. When he chastises Yuji for leading her on, Yuji confronts Ike about his own feelings for her. It took him until the second season for Hayato to realize it and tries to do anything for himself, for the sake of his feelings toward Kazumi.
43	* ''VisualNovel/SchoolDays'':
44	** Sekai helps Makoto and Kotonoha hook up and puts a lot more effort into it than you would expect. Then she gives herself a reward for her efforts by surprise-kissing Makoto. This does ''not'' end well.
45	** There's actually a recursive variant, as Sekai is in turn assisted by her best friend [[spoiler: or better said, half-sister]] Setsuna who ''also'' has a crush on Makoto [[RescueRomance because he protected her from bullies]]. It turns out that originally [[spoiler: Sekai was helping ''Setsuna'' try to win Makoto, but developed her own feelings for him and ended up asking Setsuna for help...]]
46	* Akane in ''VisualNovel/{{Suika}}'' eventually regrets that she set up Touko and Yoshikazu.
47	* ''Momo'' in ''Manga/ToLoveRu'' is one of the rare [[InvertedTrope inversions]]. After she falls for her older sister Lala's fiance Rito, she then tries to [[HaremSeeker hook him up with almost every named female in the series]]. Lala is the crown princess of the galaxy, so, as she says "the rules of Earth don't apply"; Momo knows if Rito is forced to pick a girl out of the [[LoveDodecahedron Love Dodecahedron]]... it wouldn't be her. So she came up with the [[MarryThemAll Harem Plan]] because ''she would get to be in it.''
48	* Ryuji and Taiga of ''Literature/{{Toradora}}'' are another example of mutual matchmakers falling for each other. He was trying to help her get Yusaku's affections, whereas she was supporting him with Minori, and one thing led to another.
49	* ''Manga/VideoGirlAi'': Ai falls for Youta, the UnluckyEverydude she's trying to hook up with his female friend Moemi. He, ironically, was trying to hook up said friend with ''his'' best friend, Takashi. (And his selfless act is what lets him get Ai's help in the first place...)
50	* In ''Manga/TheWorldGodOnlyKnows'', this trope is used on two occasions to prove that even Keima can be GenreBlind:
51	** {{Inverted}} in Chihiro's arc. When Keima needs to capture Chihiro, he helps her capture her crush (after all, she just needs to fall in love, it doesn't have to be with Keima), but she eventually skips the confession to be with Keima instead.
52	** A few arcs later, Keima recruits Chihiro's friend Ayumi to help him recapture Chihiro [[spoiler:to determine which of them is Mercury's host]]. Ayumi accepts to help him and does a good enough job at feigning disinterest that Keima comes to the conclusion that she doesn't have feelings for him [[spoiler:and has no goddess]]. He was wrong.
53	** Another example would be Tenri's goddess, Diana. Since Tenri is too shy to come forth with her feelings for Keima, Diana tries to push her towards him and eventually falls for Keima herself.
54	* When the two protagonists of ''Anime/YourName'' are switching bodies, Mitsuha tries to help Taki get closer to his crush Miki Okudera, eventually setting up a date between them. However, Mitsuha gradually falls in love with Taki, [[spoiler: even visiting Tokyo in order to wish him good luck, not realizing their time is out of sync.]] Taki on the other hand also falls in love with her, with Miki seeing this when he doesn't seem to be interested in their date.
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56
57	[[folder:Comic Strips]]
58	* ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}'':
59	** Marcie trying to set up Charlie Brown and Peppermint Patty while liking Charlie Brown herself.
60	** Linus trying to set up Charlie Brown and the Little Red-Haired Girl, but turns out to like her himself (unfortunately for Charlie, Linus is way smoother than he is).
61	[[/folder]]
62
63	[[folder:Fan Works]]
64	* Variant in ''Fanfic/AdviceAndTrust''. Both Shinji and Asuka had a crush on Rei before starting playing matchmaker, but since they were dating and not willing to share, they decided to look for someone who was good enough for her.
65	* A common variation in ''Manga/LoveHina'' stories is Mutsumi is trying to get Keitaro and Naru together because she loves them both and wants [[OneTrueThreesome all three of them to be together]].
66	* A complicated but ultimately tragic example in ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/17323838 The Secret Kept From Yourself]]''. In the story, while Alya is helping her best friend Marinette get together with Adrien, she also falls in love with [[LovesMyAlterEgo Ladybug]] and getting plenty of mutual ShipTease, even a kiss between them. However, Alya soon finds out that Marinette ''is'' Ladybug and, to the reporter's horror, that [[AlternateIdentityAmnesia her kwami has been suppressing the memories of both identities from each other]]. While it doesn't deter Alya's feelings for Marinette, it does leave her stuck as a SecretKeeper of both identities out of fear [[AdaptationalVillainy of the kwami destroying them if Marinette/Ladybug found out the truth]].
67	* ''Fanfic/QueensOfMewni'': Queen Hemera the Builder and her eventual husband, Roman Fields. Hemera’s younger sister, Nixie, developed a crush on Roman when he first came to the castle but was too shy to approach him, so she asked Hemera to talk to him for her. The more time Hemera spent with Roman, however, the closer they became. [[HoistByTheirOwnPetard It certainly didn’t help that Nixie kept putting off approaching Roman herself, pushing him and her sister closer together]]. Nixie would forever resent Hemera for 'stealing' Roman, would antagonize her for the rest of their lives, and [[spoiler:poisoned Hemera, Roman, her own husband, and herself the night Hemera's daughter married Nixie's son out of revenge for losing Roman and Hemera allowing the marriage of their children.]]
68	* In ''[[https://www.fimfiction.net/story/291812/sunset-reset Sunset Reset]]'', Cadance spends a lot of time trying to get Sunset and Shining together but ends up falling in love with both. By the end of the story, all three of them are trying to get the other two together. Guess [[MarryThemAll what]] [[OneTrueThreesome happens]].
69	[[/folder]]
70
71	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
72	* In ''Film/AmericanPie2'', Michelle helps Jim get Nadia, the girl he's always been in love with, only to find that she's fallen in love with him.
73	* ''Film/FrenchKiss'': Luc starts out trying to help Kate win back her ex-fiance Charlie, but falls for her in the process. Somewhat subverted in that he doesn't realize this until after the plan succeeds.
74	* In the movie ''Film/{{Roxanne}}'', the articulate fire chief "C.D." helps a much younger fireman Chris, hook up with a bright, beautiful astronomer (Roxanne), by writing love letters for him to give to her. He finds he has fallen for Roxanne as well.
75	* ''Film/HesJustNotThatIntoYou'' sort of has this. Justin Long's character doesn't realize he loves Gigi, the girl he was teaching about men and dating, until after he turns down her advances (she had a crush on him, mistaking his kindness for interest. Subconscious attraction?).
76	* In ''Film/NowYouSeeMe'', Merritt takes delight in using his cold reading skills to uncover the romantic history and continuing attraction between Danny and Henley, [[ShipperOnDeck apparently hoping]] they'll eventually get (back) together... but is not above hitting on Henley himself when he sees she's getting nowhere with Danny.
77	* ''Film/TheUglyTruth'': The lead characters start to get along when he helps her get together with the guy she likes. Of course, then the two start falling for each other...
78	* In ''Film/WhatsYourNumber'', Colin falls in love with Ally while he's helping her track down her ex-boyfriends to see if any of them are worth taking a second look at.
79	* A brief subplot in ''Film/WhenHarryMetSally'' finds Harry and Sally setting each other up with each other's best same-gender friends. Unfortunately, said friends hit it off immediately with each other, leaving Harry and Sally to continue to deal with their own feelings.
80	[[/folder]]
81
82	[[folder:Literature]]
83	* In ''As You Wish'' by Jackson Pearce, the jinn that appears to Kayla is supposed to grant 3 wishes to her as quickly as possible, as per protocol. One of her wishes is to date the most popular guy in school, and the jinn starts to fall in love with her after she wishes this.
84	* In the ''Literature/DragonridersOfPern'' novel ''The White Dragon'', we find Masterharper Robinton has strong feelings for his gifted apprentice Menolly, even though he has done everything he can to foster a romantic attachment between her and Sebell. In a moment of weakness, he kisses her and finds, to his surprise, Menolly feels the same way, although the immense age difference (implied to be 40 years or more) makes a romantic involvement a non-starter.
85	* In an Creator/LMMontgomery story "The Education of Betty", a man, having been the best man while his best friend marries his true love, then did his best for the widow and orphan. When the girl is grown up, he tries to pair her with a man his own age and demands to know why she refused -- whereupon she declares her love. Prior to that, his awareness had been limited to realizing that her mother was not so perfect after all, lacking her daughter's spirit.
86	* ''Literature/{{Emma}}'' shows the one way to make this scenario more awkward: Emma tries to hook up Mr. Elton with her [[LesYay best friend]] Harriet. The result is Mr. Elton falling for ''Emma!''
87	* In a similar Creator/JaneAusten example, Edmund Bertram of ''Literature/MansfieldPark'' spends some time shipping his future wife (and cousin) Fanny Price with Henry Crawford...even though Fanny can't ''stand'' Henry.
88	* ''Literature/MemoirsOfAGeisha'' has the Chairman heroically giving up Sayuri to his friend Nobu until he discovers Sayuri has been in love with him for years. Interestingly, we don't actually find out he loves her (though there are hints) until almost the end of the book.
89	* In ''Literature/{{Middlesex}}'', this happens with Desdemona and Lefty. Although Lefty was in love with her before she started trying to matchmake for him. It's only during the matchmaking process, however, that the feelings start to become more reciprocal.
90	* Sophia in ''Literature/MyNextLifeAsAVillainessAllRoutesLeadToDoom'' is at least a little in love with her best friend Katarina, but unlike everyone else, she seems more interested in getting her to date her older brother Nicol. [[BigBrotherWorship Given how much she thinks of her brother]], that says a ''lot.'' With her advice, Nicol is the only one to manage to successfully get her to accept a girly gift like a necklace by making sure it's not too expensive and resembles one from a story Katarina likes.
91	* ''Only In The Movies'' combines this with PlayingCyrano. Vanni, a bright but unattractive girl plays Cyrano for her close friend Jake, despite having a huge crush on him. Don't worry: he figures it out eventually.
92	* In the ''Literature/SweetValleyHigh'' book "Taking Sides", Elizabeth and Jessica try to fix up their respective best friends Enid and Lila with newcomer Jeffrey French. At some point, Elizabeth realizes that she herself likes Jeffrey and becomes so guilt-ridden that she becomes obsessed with pushing Jeffrey and Enid together, even as they each try to tell her that they don't have any chemistry and that Liz's efforts are making them miserable.
93	[[/folder]]
94
95	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
96	* In ''Series/{{Charmed\|1998}}'', Coop, a cupid whose job is to find true love for people, falls in love with his charge, Phoebe.
97	* ''Series/{{Community}}'': Played with in "[[Recap/CommunityS4E08HerstoryOfDance Herstory of Dance]]." Shirley and Annie both try and set Abed up with dates, and Abed thinks it will be fun to invoke the TwoTimerDate trope (without telling Shirley, Annie, or the dates). At the beginning of the night, he meets a girl named Rachel at the coat check, who thinks his plan sounds awesome and decides to help. Throughout the night, Rachel and Abed are getting closer, but he fails to notice and accidentally offends her. He goes back to apologize and admits he really should have noticed.
98	-->'''Abed:''' I was so caught up in the obvious trope that I missed the even more obvious one.
99	* Inverted in ''Series/{{Frasier}}''. AllegedlyDateless Frasier hires matchmaker Charlotte to find him a woman, and after a truly classic TerribleIntervieweesMontage, ends up falling for Charlotte instead.
100	* ''Series/{{Friends}}'': Rachel made this mistake twice with Ross. First, she initially agrees to Phoebe setting Ross up with a "bald" girl before finding out that said girl has grown her hair back and is beautiful. Second, she begs Ross to take Emily (her boss's niece) to the opera so she can meet up with Joshua but then starts having feelings for Ross again when he and Emily are getting married.
101	* In ''Series/GossipGirl'', Chuck spends the first half of Season 1 trying to help his friend Nate have sex with Blair. And then the second half trying to prevent them from having sex.
102	* On ''Series/HomeAndAway'', Rachel has twice set her coworker Julie up with her male friends, only to discover that said friends were more interested in her. This was previously done to Rachel when Dan and Leah tried to set her up with Peter only to discover that Peter was in love with Leah.
103	* On ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'' Robin finds that after she sets up Barney with Nora, she wants him back herself.
104	* On ''Series/{{Misfits}}'', Rudy spends all of Series 4 and the beginning of Series 5 trying to get Jess to go out with Finn. Rudy being Rudy, it's fairly inevitable that he eventually ends up falling for her himself and going to extreme and comical lengths to ensure everyone gets a happy ending. [[spoiler:Making a video of Jess on the loo so that Finn will see her at her most unattractive, accidentally posting it to Website/YouTube instead of texting it to Finn, then knocking her phone into a lake before she can watch - only to have her see it later anyway on someone else's computer because that's how the Internet works - is actually one of the less disastrous things he does.]] Luckily it all works out... eventually.
105	* In ''Series/PowerRangersZeo'', when Tommy receives a DearJohnLetter from Kimberly and gets heartbroken, Katherine tries to help him hook up with a girl named Heather, who seems the perfect match for him. Her attempts only result in Tommy becoming attracted to ''Kat herself'', which coupled with the fact she already harbored feelings for him from the past season result in the two getting together.
106	* ''Series/{{Skins}}'' does this in the S4 finale; [[spoiler:Katie is trying to get Thomas and Pandora back together but realises at a fairly awkward moment that the plan has gone badly wrong and she's fallen for him...]]
107	* Inverted on ''Series/That70sShow''. Red tries to set Eric up with their coworker Stacey but when he tries to talk Eric up to her, she makes a pass at Red himself.
108	[[/folder]]
109
110	[[folder:Music]]
111	* The legend of the star-crossed lovers Diarmuid and Deirdre in Irish mythology (below) was set to music by Irish folk-rockers the ''Music/{{Horslips}}'' as the ballad ''Warm Sweet Breath of Love''. The opera ''Tristan und Isolde'' sets the whole tale to music.
112	* The music video for ''Shura'''s "What it Gonna Be?" is about a nerd with a crush on a popular girl and a dorkish girl with a crush on a jock who decide to team up and befriend the other's crush. [[spoiler:They wind end up [[ClosetKey falling for each other's crushes]].]]
113	[[/folder]]
114
115	[[folder:Myths & Religion]]
116	* The legend of the star-crossed lovers Diarmuid and Deirdre in Myth/CelticMythology. The valiant and noble warrior Diarmuid is sent by his King to collect the lovely Deirdre, the fairest woman in all of Ireland, for her arranged marriage to the King Diarmuid serves. The King explains that he can only trust Diarmuid to be principled enough to ensure the beautiful woman arrives safely, and still a virgin. However, she is less than thrilled at being married off to a man twice her age. Romance begins and the two elope as lovers, enraging the king who sends warriors to track and slay them. This is further complicated if one takes into account the other versions of the legend in which Diarmuid is cursed with a spot on his skin that entrances any woman who sees it; which is what happened with Deidre who magically forces him to run away with her, though Diarmuid did come to genuinely love Deidre in time.
117	* ''Literature/TristanAndIseult'': Hearing of Iseult's revulsion for King Mark of Cornwall, Tristan acquires a love potion, which with the best of intentions he intends to use on her to make her fall in love with Mark. But she deftly ensures Tristan drinks it so he falls in love with her.
118	[[/folder]]
119
120	[[folder:Theatre]]
121	* The original ''Theatre/CyranoDeBergerac'' -- that is, the original play, not the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyrano_de_Bergerac real person he's very loosely based on]] -- provides a retrospective MatchmakerCrush. Cyrano has been in love with his cousin Roxane for years before she and RomanticFalseLead Christian (who happens to be a friend of Cyrano) first meet, and Cyrano helps hook them up because IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy, not because he likes the False Lead.
122	* ''Theatre/JasperInDeadland'': At first, Gretchen is eager to hear about Jasper's relationship with his lost "[[SheIsNotMyGirlfriend friend]]" Agnes, is disappointed when he won't go into detail about TheirFirstTime, and is totally fine with guiding Jasper across Deadland in the hopes of finding her. Not long into their journey, Gretchen starts to get jealous, realizing that no one has ever loved her as much as Jasper loves Agnes.
123	* In the opera ''Theatre/LaGioconda'', the main character Gioconda is in love with the rebel Enzo. However, he's in love with the noblewoman Laura, who saved Gioconda and her mother at the beginning. [[UnrequitedTragicMaiden Gioconda]] decides to repay her debt to Laura by helping her escape from her loveless marriage and get together with Enzo, [[spoiler: even [[HeroicSacrifice giving her life to do so]].]]
124	* Launcelot in ''Theatre/TheMerchantOfVenice'' is the go-between for Lorenzo and Jessica, delivering their love messages and generally helping them with their elopement. However, he's fond enough of Jessica that many productions interpret their relationship this way. Lorenzo himself can't help but wonder, at one point joking that he'll get jealous if Launcelot keeps stealing Jessica for alone time.
125	* Averted in ''Theatre/MuchAdoAboutNothing'', though the villain of the play briefly convinces Claudio that this is in play between the Prince and Hero. Don Pedro the Prince is also sometimes interpreted as being so interested in the match he makes between Beatrice and Benedick because he's in love with Beatrice himself.
126	* Viola in ''Theatre/TwelfthNight'' ends up PlayingCyrano when she's disguised as a boy and the man she's fallen in love with sends her to the girl ''he'' likes with love messages. Then the girl falls in love with ''her''...
127	* Julia in ''Theatre/TwoGentlemenOfVerona'', worried about her love interest who's been away, disguises herself as a boy and follows him. To her dismay, she finds him running after a different girl, and when he doesn't recognize her in her disguise she ends up delivering a love note for him.
128	[[/folder]]
129
130	[[folder:Video Games]]
131	* ''VideoGame/DragonQuestV'': Bianca supports the hero on his Engagement Challenge set by Rodrigo to marry Nera despite her own obvious feelings for the hero.
132	* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'''s romance subplot, Tifa begins to like Cloud ''more'' when he shows concern for her friend and potential love rival Aerith. It can easily be seen as Tifa appreciating the fact that Cloud actually cares about ''somebody'', even if that somebody isn't her. On the other hand, in the exact same situation, Aerith loses affection points for Cloud when he shows concern for Tifa.
133	* ''Franchise/FireEmblem'':
134	** Quoted above: Sain from ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade'' tells such phrases to his best friend and partner Kent in their B support, having noticed Kent's BodyguardCrush on their common lady of liege Lyndis, whom he also has a crush on. (Then again, this ''is'' [[ChivalrousPervert Sa]][[ShipperOnDeck in]] we're talking about.)
135	** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'': Subverted. In [[TheAce Cordelia]] and [[BoisterousBruiser Gregor's]] supports, Gregor develops feelings for Cordelia [[UnrequitedTragicMaiden who has been in love with Chrom for a long time]] but decides to give her tips to win his affections instead. In the S support, however, Cordelia surprises Gregor by declaring her love for ''him'' instead, and [[RelationshipUpgrade they get together]].
136	--->'''Gregor''' (In the A support): [[LampshadeHanging "Ah, Gregor... You have let fair woman take your heart while you not looking. ...... Sigh Ah, well. Gregor must solider on..."]]
137	** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'':
138	*** The support chain between [[HotBlooded Hinata]] and [[GirlyBruiser Oboro]] has Hinata PlayingCyrano between Oboro and their lord-of-liege [[TheCynic Prince Takumi]]... only for him to realise that ''he'' has fallen for Oboro. If the player unlocks their S-Support, Hinata gives a LoveConfession to Oboro - which she accepts, since by that time he has become her SecondLove.
139	*** This can also potentially happen to [[BornUnlucky Arthur]], shall the player unlock his supports with Princess Camilla who is in love with the PlayerCharacter. Again, if their S-Support is unlocked Arthur will tell Camilla about his feelings, and she will tell him that she has come to like him back.
140	** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'':
141	*** Hubert, after spending most of the Black Eagles route as a ShippingTorpedo toward [[PlayerCharacter Byleth]] and Edelgard, switches gears and becomes a ShipperOnDeck [[spoiler:after you side with her on the Crimson Flower route]], despite his own feelings for Edelgard. If a female Byleth chooses to S-Support Hubert, his feelings can flip toward her instead.
142	* In ''VisualNovel/TokimekiMemorial'', your best friend (alias, the main guy's friend) Yoshio Saotome is always ready to help out with tips about the girls in the game. However, he might have feelings for one of these ladies as well... Lucky for you, he's more likely to fall for your girl's best friend (i.e.: if you woo Shiori, he may hook up with her best friend Megumi) than fight you. [[spoiler: In the radio drama canon, in fact, he's seen dating the local {{Meganekko}}, Mio Kisaragi.]]
143	** ''Tokimeki Memorial 2'' has Kotoko Minaduki, who wishes for her best friend, Hikari (the heroine, and main love interest of the protagonist) [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy to finish with her childhood friend of a protagonist]]. Being a solid Type A {{Tsundere}}, she will NOT hesitate to slap him if she ever feels he neglects Hikari. Yet the protagonist can woo Kotoko (much to her resistance to her growing feelings for him), leading to this trope, and [[spoiler: a SlapSlapKiss (coming all from Kotoko) on Kotoko's ending, where she and Hikari are in love with the protagonist]].
144	** ''Tokimeki Memorial 4'' has Miyako Okura, a HiddenInPlainSight SecretCharacter who's more than happy to play the part of the TheMatchmaker, in spite of being an UnluckyChildhoodFriend... Unless you manage to [[DoggedNiceGuy nag her into a date]]. [[spoiler: It all goes downhill from there, and unlocking her effectively cuts you off from being able to win almost all characters you haven't met yet. For worse, Miyako soon shows her {{Yandere}} side too...]]
145	[[/folder]]
146
147	[[folder:Visual Novels]]
148	* [[spoiler:Rider]] in ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'', judging by ''VisualNovel/FateHollowAtaraxia''. She's clearly pushing Sakura and Shirou together the best she can (very awkward, uncomfortable, and dangerous-feeling way) in Heaven's Feel but in the sequel, she's revealed to have something of an attraction to him as well. Oh, and Sakura gets [[{{Yandere}} very]] jealous when Shirou admits that [[spoiler:Rider]] is very beautiful and he likes her. He means it in a completely platonic way, but Sakura's self-esteem isn't very good. Interestingly enough, being nice to [[spoiler:Rider]] still gets you Sakura points -- and this includes the scene where Shirou says [[spoiler:Rider]] is pretty.
149	* ''VisualNovel/KatawaShoujo'':
150	** [[spoiler: Misha is revealed to harbor one of these in Shizune's route. In a subversion, Misha isn't in love with Hisao... but with ''Shizune'']].
151	** This ''may'' have happened in [[spoiler: Lilly]]'s path too. [[spoiler: With Hanako developing feelings for Hisao, but choosing to not reveal them since she can clearly see that Hisao is smitten with Lilly]].
152	* Riki in ''VisualNovel/LittleBusters'' starts to develop feelings for Sasami during her route, even though he's trying to help her out with her feelings for Kengo. In his case, it's more out of necessity since [[spoiler:he believes that Sasami created the artificial world they're trapped in out of a desire to confess her feelings to Kengo and that they'll remain trapped until she settles things. The route eventually shows that she isn't the creator of the artificial world like he first thought]].
153	* In ''VisualNovel/RumblingHearts'', Mitsuki does her best to hook Takayuki up with Haruka, only to end up paired with him after the accident. Granted, it's implied that she had a secret crush on him before that but it only fully blossoms after Takayuki and Haruka start going out with her help.
154	[[/folder]]
155
156	[[folder:Web Comics]]
157	* Inverted with ''Webcomic/{{Candi}}''. Linda tries to convince Candi to ''leave'' her boyfriend and winds up falling for him during her scheme to break them up to help Candi.
158	* ''Webcomic/FreakingRomance'': Zelan initially is a hardcore shipper for Zylith and her best friend Verose. However, things get complicated when he starts to develop feelings for Zylith, and it's implied that the reason he ships them so hard is to avoid his catching feelings.
159	* Variation in ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'': Jane has a crush on Jake, but when he asks her if she feels that way for him, [[spoiler:she panics and says no. He is quite relieved and leaps at the opportunity to have an actual friend to discuss things with, given that all of his other friends have some sort of romantic interest in him. So he ends up confiding in her about how he's pretty sure Dirk has a crush on him and that he's actually considering going along with it. Jane, panicking even more now but desperately trying to be Jake's friend, ends up telling him that's great and even encouraging him to ask him out, berating herself all the while in the process.]]
160	[[/folder]]
161
162	[[folder:Web Original]]
163	* In ''WebOriginal/KeitAi'', the boy who somehow contacted the [[AlternateUniverse alternate universe]] version of his crush (who's also in love with his own [[AlternateSelf AU self]]) must cooperate with each other to win the hearts of their other selves. However, DRAMA ensues when he and the AU girl fall for each other instead.
164	[[/folder]]
165
166	[[folder:Western Animation]]
167	* Linus seems prone to these in the ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}'' specials. In ''Someday You'll Find Her, Charlie Brown'', he ends up falling in LoveAtFirstSight with Charlie Brown's "dream girl", completely forgetting that he spent the entire special trying to track her down so that he could introduce her to his friend. It really, ''really'' didn't help that the "dream girl" was actually... [[BirdsOfAFeather very similar to Linus.]] She even had her own SecurityBlanket!
168	* ''WesternAnimation/HarleyQuinn2019'': In the first half of Season 2, Harley is all for Ivy and Kite Man getting married because she thinks that'll make Ivy happy, even encouraging Ivy to accept the proposal despite Ivy not being sure she wants that herself. [[spoiler:Midway through the season, Harley realizes she has romantic feelings for Ivy and sort of asks her to cancel the wedding with Kite Man so they can hook up. Ivy is reluctant because she can't trust Harley won't break her heart and thinks she should stay with Kite Man, but it's ultimately him who calls off the wedding because it's obvious Ivy really does want to be with Harley.]]
169	* A variant happens with Daffy and Lola, Bugs' absent-minded StalkerWithACrush, in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheLooneyTunesShow''. When helping Daffy figure out how to charm his crush Tina, she ends up falling for the very pick-up lines she wrote for him after he reads them aloud. The remainder of the episode has Lola try to gain Daffy's love, while a jealous Bugs tries to win back her affection.
170	* ''WesternAnimation/StarVsTheForcesOfEvil'' has the episode "Sleepover", where it is revealed that Star had unknowingly -- [[SelectiveObliviousness even to herself]] -- developed feelings for Marco over the course of their adventures together, despite her regular attempts to make him and Jackie-Lynn Thomas a couple over the previous season and a half. [[spoiler:Jackie and Marco getting together causes Star to become so jealous that it causes her magic to go haywire in several episodes. The second season ends with her admitting her feelings for Marco, while Jackie is in the room no less, before moving back home permanently to Mewni.]]
171	[[/folder]]

Context Main / MatchmakerCrush