Ben: It smells.
Gwen: It breaks down.
Grandpa Max: And it's like family.
Lots of people have this one item that they really only keep around for sentimental value, or maybe it does have a purpose, but they don't use some other item instead because this one has sentimental value. Sometimes this item is a bit worse for wear (perhaps it's dirty, stained, worn, broken, or a combination of the above) but that's okay. This trope is for when the wear and tear is seen as a sign that the thing's been loved.
The general logic of this trope is because (barring some situations, such as dust, spills, and being knocked over), things can only get broken, worn, or dirty if they're being used, and if the person didn't love the thing, they wouldn't have used it. Also, some things nearly always wear out if used too much. This trope is also often applied to blankets or plush toys belonging to small children (or people who are a bit older but have had them since they were small children), which makes sense since small children often take less-than-optimal care of their blankets and toys. Another example of when this trope makes sense is if the owner of the item is a dog, because we all know dogs chew things up.
A common way of playing out this trope is to have the object be replaced but the character wants the old one back because it's dirty and/or tattered and therefore has sentimental value, or because the new one is "too clean/perfect". Sometimes, the object is not replaced but rather cleaned or repaired and the character messes it up again because they prefer the way it was before. These plots are common if the character is a small child or a dog (The dog part has a grain of Truth in Television— dogs like objects that haven't been washed because they smell like whoever touched them last).
In order for it to qualify as an example of this trope, someone (a character or the narrator) has to say or imply that it was "love" that led to the object's wear and tear. If someone's sentimental object is dirty or ragged but no allusion to love as the cause is made, it's not an example.
There are two idioms which describe this phenomenon: "loved to bits/pieces" and "loved to death" (although sometimes both of these are just talking about love itself rather than damage from love.) So well-known is this trope that sometimes people use "loved" or "pre-loved" as a euphemism for damaged, which overlaps with Polish the Turd if they're advertising the damaged thing.
Sometimes is the reason why The Alleged Car is "alleged" (and if that's the case, expect Only I Can Make It Go and/or a vehicle-specific version of Machine Empathy to apply). Compare and contrast Love Imbues Life. Often applies to a Security Blanket, Companion Cube, or Sentimental Homemade Toy. Compare And Call Him "George", for when an expression of love hurts or kills a sentient being. Can sometimes lead to New Technology Is Evil and Older Is Better if people prefer beat-up old tech to new tech.
Examples:
- In Moriarty the Patriot, William's #1 Dime returned to Moran is a playing card that shows the obvious signs of having been drowned in the Thames alongside William and wear from being carried around for three years while Moran thought William dead, and Moran recognizes it as the affection William showed in keeping with him to his potential death and not letting it go until it was returned to Moran.
- In an unnamed Calvin and Hobbes fanfiction, Hobbes (the plushy tiger) has gotten dirty and his tail has gotten worn from Calvin playing with him outside and holding him by the tail. This is seen as sentimental, and when Calvin grows up and gives his son another toy tiger, he deliberately wears it out and dirties it so it's similar to Hobbes.
- Toy Story 2: When Woody is stolen by the greedy toy collector Al, the latter has him cleaned up by a professional into perfect condition, as preparation for selling him to a toy museum where he'll be kept in unplayed storage forever. In contrast, Woody's owner Andy is considerably sloppier at his attempt to repair Woody, but it's recognized as a sign of his affection and devotion to playing with his toys.
- Downplayed in Turning Red. Mei's stuffed dog Wilfred is in pretty good condition, considering she's had it since she was in grade two and regularly sleeps with it. It's only slightly discolored in some places.
- Barbie (2023): Weird Barbie has her hair messily cut short, scribbles on her face in different colors, mismatched and ill-fitting clothing, and "is always in the splits". Her appearance is in reference to real life Barbie dolls lovingly defaced and worn out in the same manner by children. Fittingly, she's the one who tells Robbie's Barbie to venture to the Real World for answers.
- The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter: An early scene shows Bastian wearing a tattered and gaudily-designed sweater during breakfast. His father Barney suggests he should stop wearing something in such poor condition, but Bastian points out that it was a gift from his late mother — and is rather put off that his dad doesn't remember where it came from. A flashback later in the movie shows that Bastian got it when he was barely past toddler age, implying that part of the reason it is so tattered is that he started outgrowing it.
- In the kids' book Best-Loved Bear, a teddy bear wins the prize for being best loved because his fur has been hugged off, his nose has been worn off with kisses, and his owner spilled ice cream on him.
- In "The Box" by Bruce Coville, Michael spends his entire life looking after a mysterious wooden box that an angel gives him for safekeeping. When the angel finally returns, an elderly Michael apologizes for all the wear and tear on the wood, only for the angel to tell him with sincere gratitude that he's done perfectly.
- In one of the Hairy Mc Clairy books, Schnitzel von Krumm is given a new doggy bed but he misses his old one. The narrator keeps mentioning that part of what he misses about his old bed is "the holes and the hair".
- In the children's book Lucy's Lovey, Lucy has a baby doll named "Smelly Baby" initially because it's scented but then it starts to stink due to her excessive playing with it but that's seen as sweet and a sign she loves it and when someone washes it, she instantly dirties it again deliberately.
- In The Moomins, Sniff's plush dog Cedric is described as "love-worn".
- There Is No Epic Loot Here, Only Puns: Ruli brings the Dungeon a bag of what looks at first like trash. A bent fork, a boot with a hole in the toe, a soaked and unreadable diary. Then she goes on to explain how they ended up in such a state, how the tiny candle is what's left of a candle that saved her life during a spelunking accident, the fork was bent when she used it to fend off a wolf, and so forth. Delta feels quite guilty about her initial thought that Ruli was just getting rid of junk.
- The children's picture book Turtle and Me by Robie H. Harris is about a boy who has a stuffed turtle he takes with himself everywhere and gets many stains and tears over the years as a result. When Turtle gets a really big rip as a result of the boy fighting over it with a playmate, the boy briefly decides he no longer wants the toy, but changes his mind.
- The Velveteen Rabbit: All toys are sentient, but if someone loves a toy an awful lot, they're described as "real" (but they're still not a flesh-and-blood animal, and they were sentient before, so it's unknown which definition of "real" they're using) and shabbiness is often cited as a symptom of "reality".
- Magrat's milk jug in Wyrd Sisters, which Granny magically teleports to directly above a bandit leader's head. When Hwel looks at the remains, he notices that it had already been smashed and glued back together several times, and concludes "Someone had really loved that jug". In the next scene, Magrat is still complaining that it was a present from her aunt and you just can't get ones like that any more.
- How I Met Your Mother: Marshall absolutely loves his Fiero that nearly managed to hit 200,000 miles. The season 2 episode "Arrivederci, Fiero" revolves around the car's demise and the group of friends recall their road trips and adventures, telling stories how they all became closer because of the car. The car was a gift from Marshall's brothers who played a bunch of mean pranks on him. Robin and Lily made a mess in the car by spilling their Thai food in it, and they also broke windows to make it look like someone else broke into the car.
- BBC series When the Boat Comes In has a Christmas episode where everybody has to do a turn and they cajole the local schoolmaster, who is higher-class than most of his uneducated listeners. He gives a treacly tear-jerking poem, about an old man forced to pawn his dead wife's battered old wedding ring, which they listen to in respectful but uncomfortable silence till the end. The hard-hearted pawnbroker is melted by the old man's regret, and gives him money for what is a worthless trinket. Closing words of the story: "And as the old man shuffled off, he could be heard to speak, 'Things are looking up,' he said 'That's the fourth one gone this week.' "
- In The Real Mccoys Grandpa is forced to give up his beloved if decrepit old jalopy, with all its memories. To his joy, it is returned, with the admonition from Pa not to tell Grandpa that the junkyard refused to take it.
- Invoked in an episode of Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide: Ned is fighting with Moze over a pair of sneakers he found in the lost and found. Because she still is hung up over losing a stuffed animal, which she calls "Puppybear"note , a couple of grades ago, Moze is determined to find the sneakers' owner. In an attempt to get Moze to stop, Ned orders a new Puppybear online and has it delivered to the school, attempting to pass it off as her old one. However, he immediately realizes it's too new... so we cut to him taking a hand sander to its face, something Moze instantly calls him out on when he tries to give it to her.
- In the Barenaked Ladies song "The Old Apartment", the singer returns to the old apartment he used to share with his girlfriend, and laments that it's been fixed up since he moved out.
- Sesame Street: Played for laughs when Zoe shares a book she loves a lot but it's all tattered. Telly can't fathom the idea of something being tattered because someone loves it. It even has a bite mark suggesting she's had it long before she became literate.
- In Dragon Age II, if you romance Merrill and have her move in with you, she will still keep her hovel in the Alienage, which is where you'll find her in between quests. While this initially appears to be a case of Merrill being sentimental towards her people, in reality, she's there because she has the Eluvian there, it's too fragile to move easily, and she doesn't want anyone to learn that she's trying to fix it.
- In Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Leonie has a necklace Jeralt carved for her when she was a child. Though she admits it's "well-loved", Hilda scoffs at how worn and raggedy it looks, recommending Leonie wash it and coat it in resin to preserve it. Leonie thanks her for the suggestion, but says she'd much rather keep it as is because of how much Jeralt means to her.
- Sebastian Castellanos' dirty, well-worn Not-So-Badass Longcoat in The Evil Within was a gift from his missing but presumed-dead wife. Unfortunately, he loses the coat once the plot gets started, and between the events of the first game and its sequel, it doesn't appear that he ever got the chance to recover it.
- In Daughter for Dessert, Amanda wants the protagonist to do whatever he can to get their jukebox fixed, no matter how impossible it is, even making a long trip to take it to the designated repair shop in Whiskeyville, than to buy a new one - understandable, as she named the jukebox “Lainie,” after her late mother.
- In Ben 10, in the episode "Ben 4 Good Buddy", when Ben points out the insurance payout from the stolen Rustbucket should be enough to buy a brand-new RV, Grandpa Max refuses, claiming that the old Rustbucket is irreplaceable and has "character". Of course, the Rustbucket's rusted exterior hides advanced Plumber technology, but Max never makes that a point.
- In the Bob's Burgers episode "Sacred Couch," the Belcher family buys a brand new couch and discards their shabby old one. However, they soon find they were very attached to the old couch and try to get it back.
- In Martha Speaks, the episode "Martha's Chair" has Martha's owners replace her chair, because it's covered in her slobber, with a dog bed, but Martha doesn't like the bed and prefers the slobber-covered chair.
- In Doug when Doug decides to be a collector, he tries to see what his friends all collect. Al and Moo Sleech show him their identical comic book collections, but Moo keeps his in pristine shape, whereas Al's are visibly worn and unkempt. However, Al clearly enjoys reading his comic books where Moo has never even removed his from the plastic wrappings.
- Rugrats:
- Angelica's doll Cynthia is very ratty-looking, mostly bald except for a few patches of hair sticking out. That doesn't stop Angelica from loving the doll any less, even when she's older by the time of the spin-off, All Grown Up!.
- In the later episodes, Chuckie has a worn-out teddy bear named Wawa (which serves as the pic for the main page), which was given to him by his deceased mother. He ends up distraught when his step-mom, Kira, tries to wash and fix him up. Luckily for Chuckie, Tommy's brother, Dil, had gotten his hands on Wawa and sort of returned him to his previous state.
