History Main / DelicateAndSickly

-->-- Love You To Death, by Music/{{Kamelot}}

* ''WebAnimation/RefreshingStories'': Hiroshi's high school girlfriend [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImlOVn8g7fI Ayako]] fell ill and eventually died due to a lack of medical equipment.

* WebAnimation/InanimateInsanity has Tissues, who suffers from a flu-like infection known as "the condishawn". Expect him to unleash a giant sneeze whenever he appears. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, viewers weren't a fan of his snotty (literally) ways, causing him to be the first eliminated from Season Two.]] That said, he has picked up a sizable fanbase more recently, most of which say he's adorable.

* We have Anwen von Eyre from Wiki/{{Killerbunnies}} and she is ill with a progressive illness that will eventually take her life. She turned to villainy to find a cure if not something that will prolong her life.

* In-character, Ironmouse of WebVideo/VShojo has been rendered weak and feeble due to being a demon who refuses to devour human souls. In real life, she suffers from [[https://medlineplus.gov/genetics/condition/common-variable-immune-deficiency/ Common Variable Immune Deficiency]], a genetic disorder that has compromised her immune system, leaving her homebound and reliant on weekly plasma transfusions.

** ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKgnpbgiAFY My sick and coddled sister said she wanted my boyfriend...]]'': still appeared sickly even when she was discharged from the hospital, but her older sister Masumi knows she's faking it so her parents will spoil her. Years later when they meet again, Kasumi notices she's dating Ren and tries to steal him from her. When Ren and Masumi come to her family's house, [[spoiler:the former calls Kasumi out for faking her sickness, even showing her parents a photo of himself and Kasumi at the slots, and she's shown ''smoking''. Of course, Kasumi rants at Ren, without knowing that she exposed her own facade to her parents.]]

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3bnmMWUuBU Yuuki]] is a sickly young boy who wanted to be with his older brother Hirokazu at all times, much to the latter's annoyance as their parents dote on the latter while forcing the former to put up with him.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKgnpbgiAFY Kasumi]] still appeared sickly even when she was discharged from the hospital, but her older sister Masumi knows she's faking it so her parents will spoil her. Years later when they meet again, Kasumi notices she's dating Ren and tries to steal him from her. When Ren and Masumi come to her family's house, [[spoiler:the former calls Kasumi out for faking her sickness, even showing her parents a photo of himself and Kasumi at the slots, and she's shown ''smoking''. Of course, Kasumi rants at Ren, without knowing that she exposed her own facade to her parents.]]

This character type is probably indirectly descended from the Western romantic "[[VictorianNovelDisease consumptive heroine]]" (The classic 19th-century example would be the heroine of ''La dame aux camélias'', source material for ''Theatre/LaTraviata'' and ''Film/Camille1936'', while Creator/NicoleKidman's "Satine" in the film ''Film/MoulinRouge'' is a contemporary example). She may suffer from what Creator/RogerEbert called Ali McGraw's Disease (after ''Film/LoveStory''): "Movie illness in which only symptom is that the sufferer [[BeautyIsNeverTarnished grows more beautiful as death approaches]]."

This character type is probably indirectly descended from the Western romantic "[[VictorianNovelDisease consumptive heroine]]" (The classic 19th-century example would be the heroine of ''La dame aux camélias'', source material for ''Theatre/LaTraviata'' and ''Film/Camille1936'', while Creator/NicoleKidman's "Satine" in the film ''Film/MoulinRouge'' is a contemporary example). She may suffer from what Creator/RogerEbert called [[Literature/EbertsGlossaryOfMovieTerms Ali McGraw's Disease]] (after ''Film/LoveStory''): "Movie illness in which only symptom is that the sufferer [[BeautyIsNeverTarnished grows more beautiful as death approaches]]."

[[WMG:[[center:[[AC:This trope is [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1644781678000228700&page=1 under discussion]] in the Administrivia/TropeRepairShop.]]]]]]

%%* The music video for Music/{{Sunmi}}'s "Full Moon" has a young man who is bedridden with illness.

* ''Radio/BleakExpectations:'' Parodied with [[MeaningfulName Flora Diesearly]], who a short while into her marriage to Pip Bin suddenly comes down with a mysterious rash of fainting, which Pip's doctor proclaims is a sign of the dread Nonspecific Weakness. Despite Pip's efforts, Flora Diesearly dies (though it is suggested that this is more from the medicine Pip bought, rather than the illness itself).

Becoming this character is a common side-effect of VictorianNovelDisease. Only occasionally related to DefinitelyJustACold. See also LittlestCancerPatient, BandageBabe, TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth, IncurableCoughOfDeath, {{Utsuge}}, SoapOperaDisease, and MarkedToDie. SicklyChildGrewUpStrong occurs when a heroic or powerful character is shown to have been this in their youth. They may be seen with an IllnessBlanket.

A character who is delicate and sickly is almost inevitably a [[TheWoobie sympathetically cute girl]].[[note]]Though lately, more and more [[{{Bishonen}} handsome males]] are taking up the role.[[/note]] The disease can be anything from non-terminal but debilitating conditions like anemia to invariably-fatal issues like organ failure. Smart writers avoid such specifics, making it a SoapOperaDisease. It will never [[BeautyIsNeverTarnished disfigure or impair her cuteness]], [[HealthcareMotivation but usually prompts an older brother or sister figure into shady business to help pay the medical bills]]. Or prompts them to rush into some dangerous/brave deed while she cheers them on.

-->'''Henry (as Alexei):''' Daddy, do you think ''I'' could grow wings and fly like a bird...?

* ''Podcast/TheLastPodcastOnTheLeft'': In their series on UsefulNotes/RasputinTheMadMonk, one of the factors that allowed Rasputin to gain the power he did was that Tsar Nicholas II's son Alexei was a hemophiliac, a condition only Rasputin could reliably alleviate and which the Romanovs kept ''very'' secret, lest it be known that Nicholas's heir be a weak, sickly child. Henry Zebrowski presents Alexei as a child constantly on his deathbed, explicitly comparing it to Colin Craven of ''Literature/TheSecretGarden''.

* The song "Love You to Death" by Music/{{Kamelot}} is about one of these.
* The protagonist of Music/{{cosMO}}'s song ''Adventurous Girl and the Miniature Garden Game'' is very much this. [[spoiler: [[KillTheCutie She doesn't get better.]]]]

* Jessicka of Music/JackOffJill, to the point where it may have ended their reunion.
* The music video for Music/{{Sunmi}}'s "Full Moon" has a young man who is bedridden with illness.

* Wrestling/KentaKobashi had a malignant tumor, but he killed it with a burning hammer.
* Wrestling/EddieGuerrero would get addicted to drugs after being in a car accident while working for Wrestling/{{WCW}}. While Eddie would find his way back to sobriety, he never fully recovered from the effects of the drugs he used, which were the direct cause of his death.

* The point of ''Radium Girls'', especially Grace and Kathryn who appear throughout the play. The worst part is that it's based on a true story (see Real Life).

* Hwan Sung-Ah in ''Webcomic/TheGamer'' is a victim of a permanent StatusEffect that makes her a classic Ill Girl.
* In Webcomic/{{Knite}}, we have a terminally ill Min-Min, as a result of pollution.

* The {{Webcomic/Buildingverse}} (''{{Webcomic/Roommates}}'', ''Webcomic/GirlsNextDoor'' etc.) has several more-or-less-seriously ill-people who play on this trope (but the illnes won't be fatal as the NobodyCanDie rule is in effect): Mag (She is permanently blind); Satine (Has VictorianNovelDisease); Jareth (when he caught the [[PowerIncontinence magical]] [[CatchYourDeathOfCold cold]] made an insufferably cute IllBoy too... [[UnexplainedRecovery He Got Better]]; later he also got mortally wounded by a WeaponOfXSlaying).

** Miho is...complicated. Short version: Lots of fainting spells and time in the hospital. Long version: [[spoiler:She's ''the'' IllGirl, the in-universe TropeMaker. Her story, the archetype of a young girl dying from some nameless disease, tugged on the heartstrings of the world so much that it became more "real" than she ever was. She is forced to relive her sickness and "die" over and over again. How long this has been going on is unclear, but long enough that she ''hates'' the archetype she created]]. And just to further complicate things, she's TheChessmaster and the closest thing the comic has to a BigBad.

** In-universe, Kotone, the girl Kimiko is voicing in the game ''Sight'', is another IllGirl. Details are sparse, but apparently she was kept innocent and sheltered her entire life. [[spoiler:She's an {{Expy}} of Miho, just like every other in-universe IllGirl. Once we see Miho with long hair, the physical similarities become more clear]].

A character who is delicate and sickly is almost inevitably a [[TheWoobie sympathetically cute girl]].[[note]]Though lately, more and more [[{{Bishonen}} handsome males]] are taking up the role.[[/note]] The disease can be anything from anemia to organ failure. Smart writers avoid such specifics, making it a SoapOperaDisease. It will never [[BeautyIsNeverTarnished disfigure or impair her cuteness]], [[HealthcareMotivation but usually prompts an older brother or sister figure into shady business to help pay the medical bills]]. Or prompts them to rush into some dangerous/brave deed while she cheers them on.

A [[DiscreditedTrope common cliche]] is that the dying character is trying to hold on until some distant, significant day has arrived. For example, she might be lying sick in [[EmpathicEnvironment autumn, noticing leaves falling off a tree by the window]], and hoping she will live long enough to see the last one fall. You can see this one [[SubvertedTrope subverted]] in the Creator/OHenry story [[http://www.online-literature.com/o_henry/1303/ "The Last Leaf."]]