History Main / TheFirstCutIsTheDeepest

* ''Fanfic/{{Sehnsucht}}'': [[spoiler:The only person Cervello Cynthia ever (romantically) loved was Daemon Spade, who was in love with her adoptive sister. Cynthia, out of respect for their relationship, never confessed her feelings, though it's implied that Daemon was aware of them and, to some extent, returned them. [[CynicismCatalyst Then Elena died]]. Daemon ''never'' got over it, and subsequently followed through with his canon betrayal, and in spite of everything, Cynthia loved him too much to punish him for it. The memories of this tragic relationship still haunt her reincarnation Reiki Noriko, which was only compounded by Mukuro's similarities to Daemon and Daemon's own appearance. As a result, she's shown little to no interest in romance in her second life]].
* [[Franchise/DragonAge Varric]]'s romantic history is the same as it is in the games, with an ex who broke off their engagement and left him with emotional baggage, in ''Fanfic/SkyholdAcademyYearbook''. However, this doesn't actually get mentioned until close to halfway through the series, and his ex only makes a brief appearance in one chapter. It's eventually explained that his work at the eponymous school has helped him deal with the lack of closure. [[spoiler:Finding his SecondLove helps too.]]
* ''Fanfic/TruthAndConsequences'': Adrien wanted nothing more than to be taken seriously as a superhero, rather than treated as though he was nothing more than Ladybug's sidekick. Then Ladybug [[DealWithTheDevil struck a deal with Hawkmoth]] in hopes of protecting him from the AwfulTruth about his father. Come the sequel, ''Mending Warped Designs'', and Chat Noir is finally regarded as a hero in his own right... but he's leery of trusting anyone else like he used to trust Ladybug.

** Rei had fallen in love with her father's secretary, but he married another woman. This version of Rei would later declare she had sworn off men, partly because of this and partly [[MarriedToTheJob because they were in the way of her duty as a Sailor Senshi]];

*** Her first crush Higashi happened also to be Narkissos, ''the first youma she ever killed'' (and ''after'' learning his real identity to boot). What followed was a string of crushes that Artemis sarcastically called "Minako's 5,000 First Loves" (because Minako called one of those crushes her first love and because, including Higashi, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin there were exactly 5,000]]);
*** Number 5,000 of Minako's crushes, Ace, was the most painful of her infatuations. After, [[DoomedByCanon as expected, he died in the final chapter]] [[spoiler:because she found out he was Kunzite's subordinate and killed him]], Minako ''swore off men'' because [[MarriedToTheJob they were in the way of her duty]] (Minako's possible love with [[LesYay Rei]] doesn't count because she's a girl and it doesn't get in the way of duty).

* {{Discussed}} in ''Manga/Evangelion303'': In chapter 13 Asuka tries -- and fails -- to convince Shinji to break up arguing that he is attached to her because she is the first woman that he has ever been with, and men often become attached to their first sexual relationship.

* ''Fanfic/HuntingTheUnicorn'', being a DeconstructionFic of the ButNotTooGay portrayal of [[Series/{{Glee}} Kurt and Blaine]], uses this to [[TearJerker heartbreaking]] effect; Blaine lost his virginity at 16, when he believed [[spoiler: and tried to ''invoke'']] SexEqualsLove. He ended up getting strung along for weeks by a guy who ''didn't'' and had no intention of taking responsibility, leaving him terrified of either getting hurt again or accidentally doing the same thing to Kurt.

AliceAndBob have been growing closer and closer, possibly leading up to a RelationshipUpgrade… only there's a problem: [[WrongGuyFirst Alice's ex Charlie]]. No, it's not that Alice is still in love with Charlie; it's that the fallout from her relationship with Charlie has left her with [[BrokenBird serious emotional baggage]] that must be worked out before [[SecondLove any new relationship]] can succeed. Can also happen when Charlie is dead and Alice still has grief issues to work out. Will often culminate in an EpiphanyTherapy session between Alice and Bob, where Alice spills all her baggage.

* While it's not the first cut, Ted from ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'' has to eventually admit that being left at the altar gave him some serious emotional baggage to deal with.
** Though he did get a first cut too — the girl he lost his virginity to in high school pretended she loved him to get him into bed, ran out on him the moment they finished the deed, promised to call and didn't, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking borrowed twenty dollars that she never returned.]]
** This also occurred with Barney. He gave up the idea of relationships ever being more than one-night stands after he had his heart crushed by his long-term college girlfriend Shannon, who he thought he would marry but who ended up cheating on him and leaving him for another guy.
** Again, while not the first cut (but certainly the first the audience sees), Ted's feelings for Robin have come and gone as a major source of conflict in his search for the mother, especially through the later seasons.
** [[spoiler: Surprisingly the case for the mother as well. Her first love, Max, died on her 21st birthday and she spends most of the next eight years in mourning, never really moving on until she meets Ted.]]

AliceAndBob have been growing closer and closer, possibly leading up to a RelationshipUpgrade… only there's a problem: [[WrongGuyFirst Alice's ex, Charlie]]. No, it's not that Alice is still in love with Charlie, it's that the fallout from her relationship with Charlie has left her with [[BrokenBird serious emotional baggage]] that must be worked out before [[SecondLove any new relationship]] can succeed. Can also happen when Charlie is dead and Alice still has grief issues to work out. Will often culminate in an EpiphanyTherapy session between Alice and Bob, where Alice spills all her baggage.

* In ''Manga/{{Jagaaaaaan}}'', Robahata fell in love with Karen, but some misunderstandings about their relationship and seeing her having sex with someone who hurt her feelings drives him over the edge. Even as he becomes a serial rapist who brainwashes girls into being addicted to having sex with him, it's clear that he's still extremely hurt by Karen's seeming betrayal. [[spoiler:In his last moments, he comes to realize that he still loves her deeply and dies wanting to reunite with her.]]
* At the beginning of ''Manga/{{Kodocha}}'', child star Sana claims to be in a romantic relationship with her older manager Rei, whom she refers to as her "gigolo". After she is made to understand what's wrong with this ''and'' it looks like he may get back with his old girlfriend Asako Kurumi, she's left confused about romance, and this is one of the factors that impedes her getting together with Hayama.

* In ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/42784638 Heartfelt Gifts]]'', everyone can infuse bits and pieces of their feelings and emotions into any gifts they prepare for others, so that their recipients can feel how much they care. In exchange, they can feel how much the recipients truly appreciate their gifts. While Marinette repeatedly infuses all of her gifts for Adrien with her emotions, however, she [[AllTakeAndNoGive never receives anything in return]]. Eventually, this reaches the point where her feelings for him are completely ''exhausted'' -- having given away all she had and gotten nothing in return, there's simply nothing left in her heart for him. Afterwards, it takes time for her to even consider tapping into her emotions for anybody else.

** In chapter 6, Rei is trying to convince Shinji to get over his feelings towards Asuka and suggests him to talk to Kaji because the older man was in a relationship with Misato and she thinks he will make Shinji understanding he has to move on and forget about the past... not knowing Kaji ''never'' got over Misato.

* In ''Literature/{{Pact}}'', Blake Thorburn has an instinctive fear of intimacy or physical contact, stemming from his time spent homeless, when he joined a {{Cult}} where sex was used by the cult leader as a tool of manipulation, deceit, and control. He escaped, but has some complicated feelings about it, and thinks of himself as a flawed, broken person as a result.
* In ''Literature/{{Persuasion}}'', Captain Wentworth can't get over an old heartbreak, but it complicates his relationship with the ''same woman''. After Anne Elliot broke their engagement, he spent eight years at sea in the Napoleonic Wars and winds up in her social circle by accident. His sister and brother-in-law are sure he's looking for a wife because he makes a lot of noise about wanting a woman of firm character and flirts with the Musgrove sisters, but in truth, he's being passive-aggressive at Anne--he's still in love with her. (Fortunately for them both, she still loves him, and he gets over himself enough to rectify things.)

* ''Series/{{CSINY}}'': The series opens with Mac still mourning the loss of his wife, Claire, in the 9/11 terrorist attacks three years prior, and still wearing his wedding band. He has his first date as a widower in the Season 1 finale, but nothing comes of it. By Season 3 he has a girlfriend, but refuses to tell anyone and is still so hung up on his wife that he calls the woman "Claire" during an argument over his secrecy.

* In ''Series/DoctorWho'''s television revamp, the Doctor spends a whole lot of time dealing with Rose's departure, to the point that Martha spends most of her season feeling like an in-universe ReplacementScrappy.

** Monica herself took months to recover from her FirstLove Richard, whom she broke up with because he didn't want children. She later admitted that getting over him was the hardest thing she ever had to do. This knowledge haunted Chandler, (see above) although Monica promised that he was now the love of her life and even when Richard asked her for a second chance, chose Chandler instead, plainly showing that she'd moved on.

* {{Series/Merlin|2008}} starts his series as a teenage boy who has a MeetCute with every single girl he meets, although due to one thing or another he never pursues it much farther. Until Freya came along, and he did, and she fell in love with him too. [[spoiler: It ended with her bleeding to death in his arms.]] Ever since that, he's been utterly uninterested in women, and WordOfGod confirms he's mostly UsefulNotes/{{Asexual}} now.
* ''Series/MyRoommateIsAGumiho'': Woo-yeo has complex feelings about Dam, the woman who now holds his fox bead and whom he is attracted to, because his first love (back in the Joseon dynasty) died from it.

** In the episode "Your Time is Gonna Come", shortly after Jackie starts dating Hyde, she sees her previous boyfriend Kelso kissing with his new girlfriend, and - in the presence of Hyde - screams: "GET OFF MY BOYFRIEND!" In the next episode, she tells Hyde that she may have "leftover feelings" for Kelso "but what am I supposed to do? He was my first boyfriend!"

** In the ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden'' remake, ''VideoGame/FireEmblemEchoesShadowsOfValentia'', some characters will play this straight if their prospect love interest kicks it in Classic Mode: [[spoiler: Mae (if Boey dies), Boey (if Mae dies), Gray (if Tobin lives but Clair dies), Clair (if Gray dies), [[CampGay Leon]] (if Valbar dies)]].[[note]](Tatiana subverts it: she plays it straight in the original, but in the remake, she eventually has a SecondLove.)[[/note]]

* ''VisualNovel/IkemenSengoku'': The main reason Kenshin initially tries so desperately to deny that he's fallen in love with the female main character, and later on [[{{Yandere}} goes to extreme lengths to keep her "safe" from anyone else]], in his route is that [[spoiler:his first love Isehime [[DrivenToSuicide committed suicide]] after she and him were [[StarCrossedLovers torn apart]] by his vassals who didn't approve of their relationship. Shingen notes that if Isehime had lived, he would have eventually gotten over her, but that her suicide left him with unresolved emotional scars and a lifelong fear of losing anyone else he got attached to.]]

* In ''VisualNovel/WindsOfChange'', [[spoiler:''you'' can do this to a few characters in the epilogue depending on certain events and if you decided to pursue a romantic relationship with anyone. Should you release him from immortality before destroying the orb, Ulric becomes king but ''doesn't'' take anyone else at his side. And if you destroy the orb with a high relationship with Damek, he devotes himself to serving Ulric and its implied few others can actually break through his PTSD]].

* Throughout all of ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'', Marinette has an enormous crush on Adrien but can't find the words to say it. In early seasons, she has difficulty even speaking in Adrien's presence. When Adrien instead approaches Marinette, she still can't find the words to return the gesture. In the episode "Derision", it gets so bad that she freaks out and yells at Adrien, apropos of nothing. It is finally explained that she once tried to start a relationship with Kim, who (at the urging of bully Chloe) played a prank on her that was enough to traumatize her.

* {{Implied|Trope}} in ''WesternAnimation/TotalDramaPresentsTheRidonculousRace''. Emma is nervous about getting into a relationship with Noah because of a bad break-up with her ex Jake, which was three years prior. While's it's never stated whether or not it was her first love or not, the trope still applies.

* If someone works up the courage to ask someone for the very first time (usually in high school) and they get rejected, it is not at all unusual for it to be ''years'' before they manage to ask anyone out again, the rejection hurts ''that'' bad. One counselor told a story of a man (good looking, physically fit, and successful) who'd come to her out of sheer desperation, terrified that he was going to spend the rest of his life alone because he just couldn't work up the nerve to ask a woman out. The counselor found out it all stemmed from when he was sixteen years old, asked a girl out, and got rejected. The man's age when he finally came to her? ''Twenty-nine.''

** After the last battle, [[spoiler:Misato and Makoto started dating.]] However, Shinji thinks [[spoiler:his guardian]] can not completely love [[spoiler:Makoto]] because she never stopped loving her first lover.
* In ''Fanfic/PostMULifeScream'', Terry Perry has this problem. As it turns out, [[spoiler: he was head over heels for an AlphaBitch in high school who ultimately wasn't content with just breaking his heart but gleefully shredded not only his social life but his brother's as well so thoroughly the twins had to change school.]] Needless to say, he's slow to warm up to girls in general and romance isn't remotely on his radar.

But there's someone who's torn it apart…"''

* Kyoko's dead husband Soichirou on ''Manga/MaisonIkkoku''. Comparisons to Godai happen all the time. And as many readers fail to understand, [[spoiler: when Godai and Kyoko ''do'' get together, it's not ''just'' because Godai [[CharacterDevelopment has matured from a boy to a man]], but because Kyoko has worked through her baggage with Soichiro enough to be able to fully pursue a relationship with someone else.]] Also, a big point of Godai's maturation is [[spoiler: recognizing this trope; Kyoko may be over Soichiro enough to be able to get with Godai, but '''she'll never fully be over Soichirou''', and he'll have to accept that if he wants to be with her.]]

*** Her first crush Higashi happened also to be Narkissos, ''the first youma she ever killed'' (and ''after'' learning his real identity to boot). What followed was a string of crushes that Artemis sarcastically called "Minako's 5,000 First Loves" (because Minako called one of those crushes her first love and because, including Higashi, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin they were exactly 5,000]]);
*** Number 5,000 of Minako's crushes, Ace, was the most painful of her infatuations. After, [[DoomedByCanon as expected, he died in the final chapter]] [[spoiler: because she found out he was Kunzite's subordinate and killed him]], Minako ''swore off men'' because [[MarriedToTheJob they were in the way of her duty]] (Minako's possible love with [[LesYay Rei]] doesn't count because she's a girl and it doesn't get in the way of duty).

* What happened to [[spoiler: Yoko Littner]] in ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann''. [[spoiler: Having lost her first great love (Kamina) ''right after their FirstKiss and LoveConfession'']] will understandably make a person reluctant to get romantically involved afterwards. And it's worse when you recall that [[spoiler: it happened twice: Kittan gave her a LastKiss and a sort-of LoveConfession right before his massive HeroicSacrifice.]]

* In ''Manga/YonaOfTheDawn'', Yona's longtime crush on Su-Won and his subsequent murder of her father and his betrayal has left her with serious emotional baggage. So much that [[spoiler: when she started slowly developing feelings for her ChildhoodFriend Hak, she doesn't even notice until she's ''well'' past the crush phase.]]

* Discussed in ''Manga/Evangelion303'': In chapter 13 Asuka tries -- and fails -- to convince Shinji to break up arguing that he is attached to her because she is the first woman that he has ever been with, and men often become attached to their first sexual relationship.

* "The First One" by Boys Like Girls:
-->''The first one is the worst one when it comes to a broken heart.''
* "''[[http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJZ3N73XoKk This Cut is the Deepest]]''" by Swallow the Sun
-->''You are nothing but a shadow of the beauty what you used to be.''

* "All My Gold" by Music/BatForLashes:
-->''There was someone that I knew before, a heart from the past that I can not forget \\
I let him take all my gold and hurt me so bad, and now for you, I have nothing left''

* Played with in ''VisualNovel/DaughterForDessert''. The protagonist certainly misses Lainie, and he has a sex dream about Lainie at the end of the first chapter that seems to set the stage for his relationship with Amanda. However, it’s not clear that anything gets, or needs to get, resolved regarding the protagonist and Lainie.
* Averted with the protagonist of ''VisualNovel/DoubleHomework''. While his bond with Rachel is still special, and seeing her is painful at the beginning of the story, the two of them don’t have to resolve anything for the protagonist to date and form meaningful relationships with other girls.

* ''VisualNovel/IkemenSengoku'': The main reason Kenshin initially tries so desperately to deny that he's fallen in love with the female main character, and later on [[{{Yandere}} goes to extreme lengths to keep her "safe" from anyone else]], in his route is that [[spoiler:his first love Isehime [[DrivenToSuicide committed suicide]] after she and him were [[StarCrossedLovers torn apart]] by his vassals who didn't approve of their relationship. Shingen notes that if Isehime had lived, he would have eventually gotten over her, but that her suicide left him with unresolved emotional scars and a lifelong fear of losing anyone else he got attached to.]]
* Discussed in ''VisualNovel/{{Melody}}''. Since his breakup with Bethany is so recent, several characters ask the protagonist if he still has feelings for her.

* In ''VisualNovel/WindsOfChange'', [[spoiler:''you'' can do this to a few characters in the epilogue depending on certain events and if you decided to pursue a romantic relationship with anyone. Should you release him from immortality before destroying the orb, Ulric becomes king but ''doesn't'' take anyone else at his side. And if you destroy the orb with a high relationship with Damek, he devotes himself to serving Ulric and its implied few others can actually break through his PTSD]].

* In ''WesternAnimation/WreckItRalph'', Sergeant Calhoun had the most Tragic BackStory ever -- her beloved boyfriend died ''[[WidowedAtTheWedding at the altar and during their wedding]]'' because [[MyGreatestFailure she forgot to do a perimeter check for escaped Cy-Bugs.]] [[spoiler:Really painful when Felix, moving into SecondLove, uses the same line that he used all the time (without knowing the story behind it, to be fair) and poor Calhoun has a huge HeroicBSOD.]]

** Monica herself took months to recover from her FirstLove Richard, who she broke up with because he didn't want children. She later admitted that getting over him was the hardest thing she ever had to do. This knowledge haunted Chandler, (see above) although Monica promised that he was now the love of her life and even when Richard asked her for a second chance, chose Chandler instead, plainly showing that she'd moved on.