Unrequited Love Switcheroos in Comic Books.
- In the first issue of Archie Comics, "Pep Comics 28". Archie had just moved into the neighborhood; albeit a couple years younger than he was in later issues and with the nickname "Chic". He tries to impress his neighbor Betty Cooper to try to get her to date him through dangerous stunts which she believes make him look arrogant. After Veronica moves in during "Archie Comics 1", the whole dynamic was changed to a Betty and Veronica format where Betty has a really big and sometimes obsessive crush on Archie.
- Early on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Xander had a crush on Buffy. In the comic book continuation of the series, however, she realizes she may have fallen for him, only to find out he's now dating her sister Dawn (who, ironically, had a Precocious Crush on him as a teenager). In this case, though, years passed between the end of Xander's crush and the beginning of Buffy's, during which time they both dated (and in Xander's case, almost married) other people.
- Dick Grayson and Barbara Gordon are often linked this way, with Dick (as Robin) first developing a crush on the slightly older Batgirl as teenagers. By the time Barbara became interested in a relationship, Dick had grown up, became Nightwing, and was dating an alien princess. Dick and Babs got married in the Convergence event, but when placed back in their normal universe, they fell victim to the Flashpoint reboot and are back to being on-and-off again. In the original stories, Barbara wasn't just slightly older nor still in her teens. She was in her early-mid 20's and a college graduate. Eventually, she was aged closer to Dick and given an eidetic memory to explain how she managed to complete school so quickly. Her term in the U.S. Congress (minimum age 25) was quietly retconned out.
- Spider-Man:
- At start of the story, Peter has a crush on Liz Allan. However, she is Flash's girlfriend and initially considers Peter something of a loser, even taking part in the general ridicule that he endures on a daily basis. After she hears an ailing Peter had donned a Spider-Man costume in order to save Betty Brant from Doctor Octopus, she develops a crush on him. By this time, however, Peter's interest has waned considerably, as he notes that Liz never showed any real interest in him until he began dating Betty Brant and assumes that Liz's feelings are little more than a schoolgirl crush.
- After OMD, Peter and MJ were on the outs. She moved on and developed a relationship with others while Peter wasn't ready to move on. Peter eventually decided to start a relationship with Carlie Cooper, while MJ started to reevaluate her feelings for Peter and eventually came to the realization that she still loved him during Spider-Island. The pair slowly tried getting back together, only for the events of Superior Spider-Man (2013) to drive them apart again. After Peter got his body back, MJ had already moved on and started a relationship with another man. After Secret Wars, it was eventually revealed that MJ had broken up with the new man off-panel and relocated to run a new nightclub, which was soon destroyed, leading to her working for Tony Stark. She currently has no love life to speak of, whereas Peter has had some rebounds since then with the likes of heroes like Cindy Moon aka Silk and Bobbi Morse aka Mockingbird. MJ and Peter are currently trying to mend their friendship more than their romance these days. For fans who desire the two to be together however, Peter and MJ remain a married couple in the ASM Newspaper Strip and the ongoing series The Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows.
- X-23 had a crush on Hellion, who believed she was a mindless, apathetic robot and was not shy about saying so. This was the source of much painful confusion for X-23, and after getting some Character Development, she left the school so she could sort out her trauma. Later on, Hellion (who was just beginning his own Journey Of Self Discovery) went through a Trauma Conga Line in which everything he had once believed about the world was turned upside down, and went off to find her. The comic makes it rather clear that he isn't interested in her out of genuine love, but rather a desperate need to no longer be alone- and once Hellion shows up, a far more confident X-23 rejects him. This probably counts as a Deconstruction.
