History Main / DelicateAndSickly

The ill girl is almost inevitably a [[TheWoobie sympathetically cute girl]].[[note]]though lately, more and more 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 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.

* IllGirl/{{Multimedia}}

The ill girl is almost inevitably a [[TheWoobie sympathetically cute girl]][[note]]though lately, more and more 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 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]]".

[[caption-width-right:350: Gives new meaning to phrase "sickeningly cute"]]

This character type is probably indirectly descended from the Western romantic "[[VictorianNovelDisease consumptive heroine]]" (Creator/NicoleKidman's "Satine" in the film ''Film/MoulinRouge'' is a contemporary example). If the afflicted character has any [[CommonMarySueTraits Mary Sue tendencies]], 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]]."

* Wrestling/JushinThunderLiger's had to tone down his high flying style due to an operation get got which removed a brain tumor. He also cannot hear in one ear for the same reason.

* April Hunter was born with pneumonia and later found out she had "chronic lung disease" when competing in an Iron woman contest lead to her needing an emergency inhaler.

[[quoteright:320:[[WesternAnimation/OnceUponAForest http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/f7e45a7e93a6453765589f0594712583.jpg]]]]

->''"The first [witch], by name Asha, was sick of a malady no Healer could cure. She hoped that the Fountain would banish her symptoms and grant her a long and happy life."''
-->-- ''Literature/TheTalesOfBeedleTheBard''

%% Image selected per Image Pickin' thread: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1321477847021707700
%% Please do not change or remove without starting a new thread.

[[quoteright:350:[[Anime/DigimonAdventure http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kari_sick_3372.jpg]]]]

->''"The first [witch], by name Asha, was sick of a malady no Healer could cure. She hoped that the Fountain would banish her symptoms and grant her a long and happy life."''
-->-- ''Literature/TheTalesOfBeedleTheBard''
%%

This character type is probably indirectly descended from the Western romantic "[[VictorianNovelDisease consumptive heroine]]" (NicoleKidman's "Satine" in the film ''Film/MoulinRouge'' is a contemporary example). If the afflicted character has any [[CommonMarySueTraits Mary Sue tendencies]], 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]]."

* Wrestling/BobbyLashley's career has been plagued by mono, though he's done pretty well despite it.

* Wrestling/JushinThunderLiger's had to tone down his high flying style due to an operation get got which removed a brain tumor.

%%%

%%%

This character type is probably indirectly descended from the Western romantic "[[VictorianNovelDisease consumptive heroine]]" (NicoleKidman's "Satine" in the film ''Film/MoulinRouge'' is a contemporary example). If the afflicted character has any [[CommonMarySueTraits Mary Sue tendencies]], she may suffer from what Creator/RogerEbert called [[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]]."

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 O. Henry story "[[http://www.online-literature.com/o_henry/1303/ The Last Leaf]]".

* IllGirl/RealLife

* IllGirl/RealLife

This character type is probably indirectly descended from the Western romantic "[[VictorianNovelDisease consumptive heroine]]" (NicoleKidman's "Satine" in the film ''Film/MoulinRouge'' is a contemporary example). If the afflicted character has any [[CommonMarySueTraits Mary Sue tendencies]], she may suffer from what RogerEbert called [[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]]."

[[foldercontrol]]

!Female Examples
[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* The episode "Awakened" of ''Series/{{Charmed}}'' revolves around Prue and Phoebe discovering that Piper is terminally ill with the disease Oroya Fever. While real life symptoms of Oroya Fever include being covered in warts and rashes, Piper only experiences coughing, exhaustion, and fainting, all done adorably. [[spoiler: Being the main character, Piper survives, but not until after the crying and good-byes.]]
* The titular Esmeralda of phenomenally popular telenovela ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esmeralda_(telenovela) Esmeralda]]'' is born blind. This is later revealed to be due to congenital cataracts and she successfully regains her sight after an operation. Her personality switches from [[TheIngenue sweet and gentle]] while blind to [[BrokenBird tough, stubborn and unforgiving]] almost overnight.
** The female lead from Chilean telenovela ''Corazón de María'' is an [[{{Ojou}} upper class]] Ill Girl with a severe HeartTrauma. She gets a heart transplant coming from a middle-to-low class bride killed in a tragic car accident ''right after her wedding''. The drama starts when she starts searching for the donor María's family, and then she meets and falls for her handsome and hard-working husband Miguel...
** Alicia, a cute young girl in a wheelchair from ''MariaLaDelBarrio'', doubling as a DisabledLoveInterest for a certain boy named Nandito. The scene where the BigBad [[LargeHam Soraya]] threatens her for kissing Nandito while screaming "MALDITA LISIADA!" ("Goddamned crippled bitch!") is so [[{{Narm}} ridiculous and overacted]] that it has reached MemeticMutation levels.
* Perfect example found in the story of [[TheWoobie River Tam]] from ''Series/{{Firefly}}'', a young girl who is a [[AxCrazy schizophrenic]] [[TheEmpath empath]] as a result of [[MindRape extensive neurological modification/experimentation]] done to her by a shadowy, government-affiliated military research facility. Her older brother, [[TheMedic Simon]], gives up his life as a successful doctor and makes them both federal fugitives when he breaks her out of captivity. The siblings are forced to live on the outskirts of society in order to avoid capture, and Simon spends much of his time and resources in his efforts to find a treatment to help restore River to her former self.
** In true Ill Girl fashion, it is also implied that there's no ''real'' possibility for River to ever be cured of her insanity; the best that can be done is short-term chemical treatments, as the damage to her brain is extensive and her body eventually rejects any drugs used to help her. Even after the events of TheMovie, its not made clear whether she's fully healed or has only partially recovered.
** [[WordOfGod revealed]] adds [[spoiler:Inara Serra, resident [[HookerWithAHeartOfGold Oiran]].]]
* Drusilla from ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' is frail and weak when she first appears on the series. She was believed to have been killed by a mob in Prague, but apparently was only severely injured (How that mistake happens with a creature that turns to ''dust'' when killed is anyone's guess), to the point that normal vampiric healing couldn't restore her. Spike manages to restore her to full health by draining power off of Angel.
** Darla was a high class prostitute suffering from syphilys and waiting for her death. Then the Master gave her a visit...
* Jane Seymour on ''TheTudors'', another case of TruthInTelevision considering how she died.
* Shannon (Maggie Grace) from ''Series/{{LOST}}'', who is asthmatic and needs to have an inhalator handy. Sawyer once stole her medicine and tried to use it to bargain...
** Juliet's sister is an Ill Girl whose cancer and resulting infertility is what drove Juliet to do some rather... illegal things as a fertility doctor. When Juliet goes to the island, she is afraid to leave her sister alone, but, with typical ill girl sweetness, her sister convinces her to go.
%%%* ''OneLiterOfTears'' .
* Scully takes on this role for a season in ''Series/TheXFiles'' after it is revealed that [[spoiler: the tests preformed on her during her abduction have left her with (probably terminal) cancer.]] In accordance with the conventions of the trope, her appearance is relatively unaffected by the illness, and the only visible symptom is a [[spoiler: ''{{Deadly Nosebleed}}''.]]
* Happens frequently with Morgana in ''Series/{{Merlin}}'', most notably in ''A Remedy To Cure All Ills'' in which the MonsterOfTheWeek deliberately makes her sick in order to heal her and so win King Uther's trust.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Music]]
* The song "Love You to Death" by {{Kamelot}} is about one of these.
* Kamei Eri had decided to quit [[HelloProject Morning Musume]] due to a long term illness, though it's not a life threatening condition.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Theater]]
* Mimi in every version of ''[[LaBoheme La Bohème]]'' And, yes, despite dying of consumption she's still "beautiful as the dawn" on death's door.
* Fosca from the StephenSondheim musical ''Passion'' suffers from a [[SoapOperaDisease conveniently vague illness]] that waxes and wanes according to her mood, but does nothing to make her more attractive; in a notable subversion of the "consumptive heroine" version of the trope, she's ugly, demanding, self-pitying, and doesn't inspire protectiveness in those around her so much as exasperation and mild disgust.
* The illness of Eva Peron (see Real Life below) is glamorized in the musical ''{{Evita}}''. She's made to look beautiful and fragile. Photos of the real Eva Peron from this period show that her beauty was quickly fading. Real death is seldom pretty.
* 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).
* ''Theatre/LittleShopOfHorrors'': Audrey is never diagnosed with anything, but she "is not a healthy girl" and, thanks to being regularly [[DomesticAbuser beaten senseless by her boyfriend]], has "a black eye...and several other medical problems." Just when it looks like she's getting better, [[spoiler:she's mortally wounded by a giant plant]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:VisualNovels]]
* Setsumi in Narcissu has an unnamed condition. She kills herself at the end of the story. Unique in that Narcissu is a non hentai visual novel.
* Miku in ''VisualNovel/AProfile'' as a result of a slightly botched liver transplant.
* Toko in ''KaraNoShoujo'' is anemic and spends a lot of time sleeping. She also requires some special medicine. All in all, though, it's not too bad [[spoiler:until Mizuhara thinks it's some sort of drug, steals it and Toko ends up getting hit by a truck when she passes out.]]
* ''{{Ever 17}}'' features two: [[spoiler: Yubiseiharukana (the You from Takeshi's path)]] who has a terminal heart condition and [[spoiler: Coco Yagami]] who has [[IncurableCoughOfDeath Tief Blau]].
* ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'':
** In the "Heaven's Feel" arc, Sakura is revealed to be this, due to the stress of the Matou family's crest worms becoming more active. [[DeusSexMachina Shirou has a treatment for her]], at least temporarily.
** Additional materials reveal the existence of another ill girl: [[spoiler: Kirei Kotomine's dead wife, [[http://typemoon.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_minor_characters_in_the_Fate_series#Hortensia Claudia Hortensia]], an inmuno-deficient MysteriousWaif who passed away two/three years after they got hitched. (In a subversion, she actually commited suicide in a desperate gambit to prove him that he wasn't as unfeeling as he thought -- then again, Claudia ''was'' already dying so she wouldn't have lasted much longer anyway).]]
* Miyu Shizuhara from ''{{Crescendo}}''. Her illness isn't specified, but it requires her to stay at the hospital for a good part of her route. [[spoiler: And she does NOT get better.]]
* All the main girls in ''VisualNovel/KatawaShoujo''; in fact, the game started out as an attempt by TheImageBoardThatMustNotBeNamed to create the videogame with the highest Ill Girl count possible. Though [[SubvertedTrope ironically enough]], only the male protagonist's condition is actually life-threatening, since the heroines are all in some way physically disabled but otherwise healthy.
* The eponymous Kana from ''KanaLittleSister''. The cause of her disease is clearly stated: [[spoiler:kidney failure]]. The game also features Sumako and Cana. [[spoiler: Two of the three die.]]
* KeyVisualArts has at least one, sometimes more, in every game (except ''{{Planetarian}}'', because a [[RobotGirl Robot Ill Girl]] wouldn't really work). They use this trope so often that fans have started jokingly referring to any SoapOperaDisease as [[MemeticMutation KeyAIDS]].
** ''VisualNovel/{{Kanon}}'' has Shiori (who is terminally ill).
** ''VisualNovel/{{Clannad}}'' has Nagisa (unnamed illness that [[spoiler: may have supernatural origins]]) [[spoiler:, Fuko (is in a coma after an accident)]], and [[spoiler: Ushio (her mom Nagisa's same illness)]]
** ''VisualNovel/{{AIR}}'' has [[spoiler:Misuzu, whose illness is actually ''born from a curse'']].
%%%** ''VisualNovel/LittleBusters!'' has Mio. [[spoiler:Or does it?]]
* Yuzuha in ''{{Utawarerumono}}'', who is actually something of a MacGuffin - her brother Oboro's theft of the outrageously expensive medicine she needs to survive is the start of a chain of events which snowball into an international war.
* ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'' has Jessica Ushiromiya, who's a very atypical case - an asthmatic {{Tsundere}} who later on becomes a CuteBruiser. However, early on, she tends to have very poorly-timed attacks that make her something of a BadassInDistress.
** It's later revealed that [[spoiler: Jessica partially ''faked'' some of these attacks [[DecoyDamsel to make herself look more helpless than she truly was]] in order to get out of awkward or uncomfortable situations.]]
** Ange also counts, as being afflicted with a severe cold is what preventing her from going to the 1986 family conference.
* Played with in ''EfAFairyTaleOfTheTwo'': Chihiro Shindou doesn't spend almost any time bedridden or hospitalized, but she still suffers the serious consequences of having been hit by a car three years prior to the story ([[spoiler: the loss of an eye that she covers with a white eyepatch, and retrograde amnesia that takes effect every 13 hours]]), so she requires to be taken care of. In short: Chihiro is an Ill Girl turning into a BandageBabe when she got better.
* Another Chihiro with a bad health is Chihiro Fujisaki from DanganRonpa, who never had the strength to go out and play with others as a little girl. [[spoiler: Subverted: Chihiro is an ill ''boy'', not an ill girl, and one of the reasons why [[DisguisedInDrag he crossdressed]] was because he was considered "too weak" as a boy and was bullied for it, so he tried to protect himself via crossdressing. And we don't find out until we find him ''dead''.]]
* ''DaCapoII'': There is a double example in one route: [[spoiler: Anzu. Said girl was the first to fall ill, then comes the protagonist boy's turn. They both spoon spoonfeed soup to each other when the other one lies sick in bed.]]
%%%** In another route, there is [[GenkiGirl Yuzu]].
* ''eden* they were only two, on the planet'' centers around a [[OlderThanTheyLook 100 year old genetically engineered]] sick girl Sion.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* Larisa from ''Webcomic/SandraAndWoo'' is, as a diabetic, on insulin, [[http://www.sandraandwoo.com/2010/01/04/0126-secrets/ among other things]]. "Cute" is not the right word to describe the [[ChaoticNeutral chaotic]] [[PyroManiac pyromaniac]] [[FilleFatale fille fatale]] that Larisa is, though.
* Miho from ''Webcomic/{{Megatokyo}}'' 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.
* Puppet from the ''WhateleyUniverse'' subverts this through her caustic attitude, plus a learned snobbishness from her [[RichPeople upbringing]]. She definitely has it hard though, making her something of an IronWoobie.
%%%* Mecha Maid in ''{{Spinnerette}}''.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* Parodied in the ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'' movie, where a sickly Dot needs money for an operation. At the end of the movie, it turns out that all the operation was was receiving a beauty mark to make her even cuter.
* Subverted on ''WesternAnimation/TheBatman''. A scientist working for Wayne Industries claims to be studying bats so he can cure his niece's deafness. Bruce Wayne goes to see the girl and give her a hearing aid... and she turns out not to be deaf. The scientist was actually studying bats because he was obsessed with Batman, and he eventually managed to turn himself into "Manbat".
** This is the reason why Victor Fries, better known as Mr. Freeze, constantly has to commit crimes in most of his appearances in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' and related media: His wife, Nora Fries, is suffering from a terminal disease, causing him to put her in cryogenic stasis until his research allows him to develop a cure for her ailment. Unfortunately, in order to do so, he ended up having to illegally appropriate research materials from Ferris Boyle, the CorruptCorporateExecutive of [=GothCorp=], resulting in him being kicked into his own formula and deformed into Mr. Freeze. In his next appearance, he was taken by a deranged theme park person and has to help this person in exchange for allowing him to get Nora's miraculously survived cryogenic tank. He only stopped serving him when Batman points out that this is not what Nora would have wanted.
* Played straight in ''JemAndTheHolograms'': In the three-part "Starbright" storyline, the Holograms keep on going with a movie shoot the Misfits have bought themselves into because they need money for an operation to save Starlight Girl Ba Nee's sight. Ultimately the production splits into rival films, and when the Holograms' is a hit, the money is raised and Ba Nee is saved.
* In the ChristmasSpecial ''SantaClausIsCominToTown'', Kris Kringle gets the bright idea to enter locked houses through their chimneys largely because he has to deliver a toy Noah's Ark to "Susan, a tiny little girl who was very very sick."
* ''{{Peanuts}}'':
** Janice, the main character of the ''{{Peanuts}}'' special ''Why, Charlie Brown, Why?'' She's a friend of Linus's who is diagnosed with leukemia.
** Lila, Snoopy's previous owner, in "Snoopy Comes Home." Snoopy wants to come back to her because because he has learned that she's lonely and depressed in the hospital.
* Michelle from ''OnceUponAForest'' becomes comatose after inhaling toxic fumes from a gas leak, and her friends have to search the wilderness to FindTheCure.
* The ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'' episode "Coldhearted" features [[FragileSpeedster Wally]] racing cross-country to deliver a donor heart to a ten-year-old girl named Perdita, who happens to be [[spoiler:[[AChildShallLeadThem the Queen of Vlatava]].]]
* Little Marcie from ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' in the episode "Simon and Marcy." The episode's plot has her friend Simon trying to get her chicken soup in the [[AfterTheEnd post-apocalyptic wreckage]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Multimedia]]
* Maria Robotnik, in various ''{{Sonic the Hedgehog}}'' continuities. Motivator of Shadow's actions after her death.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:RealLife]]
* Virginia Poe. Subverted in that 1) They knew exactly what she had, and 2) it was a foregone conclusion (though some say that if Edgar hadn't been such a starving artist, he might have been able to pay well enough to help her recover). As it is, she lasted '''years'''. This showed up a lot in his works as a result.
* The trope is ''very'' common among female Catholic venerables, blesseds, saints and visionaries. Some of them are:
** WaifProphet and TheChewToy [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gemma_Galgani Saint Gemma Carolina Galgani]]. To start, her mother Aurelia was an Ill Girl who died when she just seven years old. Young Gemma inherited her mom's bad health, which was so bad that she had to leave school and later was rejected by the Passionists when she wanted to become a nun. At age 20 she had spinal meningitis (which according to her was cured through prayers to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the then-Venerable Saint Gabriel Of Our Lady Of Sorrows and Saint Marie Marguerite Alacoque) and died of [[IncurableCoughOfDeath tuberculosis]] at age 25. Aside of that, her visions and bad health made her the victim of [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer bullying from lots of people]] (even from [[AnnoyingYoungerSibling her little sister Angelina]], whose testimony was rejected during the canonization process since she was accused of [[FinancialAbuse trying to get monetary profit]] [[KickTheDog from Gemma's body relics]]): they thought that not only she was useless for her Ill Girl status, but that [[TheOphelia she also was a nutjob]]. [[TheWoobie WAH!]]
** The aforementioned [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marguerite_Marie_Alacoque Saint Marie Marguerite Alacoque]]. She was bed-ridden for four years and, allegedly, was healed as soon as she vowed to take up the habit and consecrate herself to Jesus.
** [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacinta_and_Francisco_Marto Blessed Jacinta Marto]], one of the Fatima visionaries and another WaifProphet. She and her IllBoy older brother Francisco died in the great influenza epidemic in Europe. And [[DyingAlone her lonely death]] is reported [[TearJerker to have been *real* sad.]]
** [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernadette_Soubirous Saint Bernadette Soubirous]], visionary of Lourdes. She was a survivor of cholera as a little girl, had asthma as a side-effect, and finally died of ''very'' painful bone tuberculosis when in her 30's. [[TheChewToy Ouch]].
** [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Catherine_Emmerich Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich]], bed-ridden for eleven years.
** [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandrina_Maria_da_Costa Blessed Alexandrina Maria da Costa]], a Portuguese country girl who jumped off a window located ''13 feet'' above the ground [[AttemptedRape while running away from a rapist]] and was bed-ridden for life from then on, then was hailed as a famous [[WaifProphet visionary]]. (Though she claimed to have had visions from ''before'' these harsh days)
** [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pauline_Jaricot Venerable Pauline-Marie Jaricot]], allegedly healed from [[HeartTrauma a heart disease]] by the intervention of her favorite saint, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philomena#Authorization_of_cult Philomena of Mugnano]].
** [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Valtorta Maria Valtorta]], Catholic writer and poet. At age 23 she got beaten up with an iron rod by a {{delinquent}}, and while at first she seemed to be okay, years later her back showed far more damage than it was believed to have, confining her to bed for 28 years.
** [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Lady_of_Akita Sister Agnes Katsuko Sasagawa]], a Japanese nun from the Yuzawadai prefecture in Akita, who would become the main witness in the Marian Apparition known as Our Lady of Akita. Ever since a poorly-performed operation, Sister Sasagawa had many health problems that got her paralyzed and later deaf; her health improved after drinking some holy water from Lourdes, and her deafness was finally healed in TheEighties. Additionally, Sister Sasagawa also developed ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stigmata stigmata]]'' (allegedly) at the same time the local Mary statue cried TearsOfBlood.
** [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Therese_Neumann Therese Neumann.]] As a child she sustained quite the injuries when she took a bad fall from a stool, years later she was rendered blind and confined to her bed due to her injured back and limbs. Allegedly recovered her sight and later her mobility due to the intervention of her favorite saint, Saint Therese of Lisieux; later she got appendicitis but was miraculously cured right before being operated. OTOH, the then-healthy Therese would develop stigmata, and later [[BreakTheCutie led a very hard life]] during the Third Reich and WorldWarTwo, with the Gestapo keeping an eye on her and attacking her friends and family since she openly critisized the Nazi regime but was so popular among German people that they couldn't attack her directly.
** [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lidwina Saint Lidwina of Schiedam]], a Dutch minor noblewoman who at age 15 was paralyzed and confined to a bed after an accident while ice skating, then became a famous holy woman and faith healer. It's said that, among other things, "she became paralyzed except for her left hand and that great pieces of her body fell off, and that blood poured from her mouth, ears, and nose", and said body parts were supposedly stored and then lost. (And sadly, it's also known that [[RapeAsDrama she was sexually abused to different degrees]], either by soldiers or local priests). It's believed that Lidwina was likely affected by [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lidwina#St_Lidwina_and_multiple_sclerosis multiple sclerosis]], rather than mere damage taken by her fall.
** [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonietta_Meo Venerable Antonietta "Nennolina" Meo]], who had bone cancer and lost a leg for it before dying (but allegedly saw it as a sacrifice to God) and wrote many letters to Jesus Christ before passing away.
** [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maria_Domenica_Lazzeri Maria Domenica Lazzeri aka "Meneghina"]], Italian mystic who spent 14 years bedridden.
* Older example of sorts: Katsura Hoshino, the author of ''DGrayMan''. Her bad health is speculated to be the reason why she takes lots of breaks between work.
* YukoMiyamura ([[NeonGenesisEvangelion Asuka]], [[KingdomHearts Larxene]], [[{{Berserk}} Casca]]) had to temporarily retire from voice acting due to Graves's disease. She's back, though.
** Also, fellow seiyuu Creator/MotokoKumai ([[Manga/CardcaptorSakura Syaoran]], [[{{X 1999}} Nataku]]) had to take a sabbatic year due to bad health.
** A third ill seiyuu is TomokoKawakami ([[Manga/{{Bleach}} Soifon]], [[ShoujoKakumeiUtena Utena Tenjou]]), due to ovarian cancer. [[http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2011-06-10/utena-voice-actress-tomoko-kawakami-passes-away She didn't get better.]]
** KotonoMitsuishi ([[SailorMoon Usagi]], [[NeonGenesisEvangelion Misato]], [[ShoujoKakumeiUtena Juri]], [[OnePiece Boa Hancock]]) had to get her appendix removed by the end of the first ''SailorMoon'' season, so fellow seiyuu KaeAraki [[TheOtherDarrin replaced her temporarily]] as Usagi. This stunt later allowed Mrs. Araki to be casted as Usagi's daughter, Chibi-Usa.
** And then... YukoGoto, although some of that is her own fault. She was diagnosed of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idiopathic_thrombocytopenic_purpura Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura]] as a teen (which eventually developed into Lupus) and could have taken a less stressful job instead, but she took the work of a seiyuu and didn't take regular blood counts to track her condition. It was reported by 2009 she already needs OTC painkillers to function, in 2011 she could no longer climb stairs (and has to be carried by her manager), and in summer 2012 she was hospitalized several months for inflammation in multiple organs. As of October 2012 she may be out but still in immunosuppresive therapy...
** Fellow seiyuu Creator/ChiekoHonda also had cancer [[http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2013-02-22/voice-actress-chieko-honda-passes-away and didn't get better either.]]
* Eva Duarte de Perón aka [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eva_Peron "Evita"]] is an older version, as she died of cancer at age 33.
* The Radium Girls, girls who painted glow in the dark watches with radium paint in a factory, some starting as young as 15. Upon realizing the they had gotten severe radiation poisoning, five of them sued their employers and became a media sensation in the 1920s.
* Mangaka Minami Ohzaki from ''Zetsuai1989'', who had to completely halt the manga for years because of her health.
* Another mangaka, Kyouko Okazaki, became a horror version of this after being hit by a car in 1996. The poor woman had such injuries that she was left [[AndIMustScream quadriplegic AND mute]], and she's still in rehab after almost 15 years. Her assistant [[SugarSugarRune Moyoco Anno]] (wife of ''[[NeonGenesisEvangelion that]]'' [[{{Gainax}} Anno]]) had to finish her horror manga ''Helter Skelter''.
* ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEED Gundam SEED]]'' and ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEEDDestiny Gundam SEED Destiny]]'' script writer Chiaki Morosawa, who has been afflicted with an unspecified cancer by several years.
* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXURnZ92cGM&feature=grec_index Esther Earl]], an influential and inspiring Nerdfighter was one of these. She suffered from cancer for four years and died earlier this year (2010) at age 16. As you can see from her videos, she was as sweet and hopeful a person as any fictional example.
* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kazuya_Minekura Kazuya Minekura]], the author of ''{{Saiyuki}}''. First she had an undiclosed illness that made her have to go through an hysterectomy, and later had a tumor removed from her jaw.
* Sadako Sasaki was two years old when an atom bomb was dropped one mile from her home in Hiroshima. Her story was memorialized in the book ''Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes'', which was inspired by the belief that if a person managed to fold a thousand paper cranes, they would be granted a wish from the gods. She died at the age of 12.
* Lili Boulanger, composer, aged 24. {{Invoked}} by her artistic output, which dwells a fair bit on the whole "WeAreAsMayflies" thing.
* Marie Frederiksson from {{Roxette}}, afflicted with a malignant brain tumor in the back of her head. She can no longer read or count, is blind in one eye and has some loss of movement in her right side - [[PluckyGirl this has not stopped her peforming a full world tour with the band.]]
[[/folder]]

!!Male Examples
[[folder:Poetry]]
* The "last leaf" cliche dates back at least to the first decade of the 19th century, when Charles Hubert Millevoye wrote his his highly popular poem "La chute des feuilles" ("The Falling of the Leaves"), in which a sick young man wanders mournfully in the woods musing on his upcoming death. "La dernière feuille qui tombe/A signalé son dernier jour" ("The last leaf to fall/Signaled his last day").
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* Ayase / TimeBlue from ''MiraiSentaiTimeranger'' suffered from the incurable Osiris Syndrome throughout the entire series. [[spoiler:However, after time has been altered near the finale, a cure for his disease is found.]]
* Jayne Cobb from ''{{Firefly}}'' faithfully sends money home to treat his ill brother Mattie's damp lung disease.
* ''Film/{{Hawking}}'' portrays the twenty one year old Stephen Hawking as more of a very smart IllBoy than a GeniusCripple, unlike conventional depictions of Hawking as an older man.
* ''Series/KamenRiderFourze'''s Kengo suffers from an unspecified weakness that rendered him unable to use the Fourze system as well as the [[MiniMecha Power Dizer]]; he's actually been nicknamed "King of the Infirmary" due to the amount of time he's spent there (even when he's ''not'' just using it [[PlayingSick as an excuse]] to help fight the MonsterOfTheWeek). [[spoiler:The Aquarius Zodiarts uses her healing powers to cure him about 2/3 of the way through the series.]] [[spoiler: This is later jossed in episode 45, when his illness/weakness comes back full force.]]
* In the Chilean humor show ''Jappening con Ja'', there was a sketch named "El Enfermito" ("The Ill Dude"). It had [[NoNamGiven an unnamed adult man]] permanently hospitalised due to an unexplained SoapOperaDisease, and HilarityEnsues ([[CringeComedy in a way]]) whenever his friends drop by to visit him. [[NotFunnyAnymore It's not as funny now]] due to the ''actor's'' own health taking a massive nosedive in recent years.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Visual Novels]]
* ''VisualNovel/KatawaShoujo'' gives us two:
** Male lead Hisao. While the girls are physically disabled but otherwise fine, he's got ''severe'' [[HeartTrauma heart arrhythmia]] that almost kills him in the introduction. It doesn't do him any favors when [[CrashIntoHello Emi runs into him in the hallway]], either, and keeps being a problem over the course of the game. [[spoiler: ''Especially'' in Lilly's route, in which he has two major incidents... and a ''third'' on the way to the Good Ending that hospitalizes him again ''and almost kills him''.]]
** Kenji Setou, who not only is legally blind but is speculated to be mentally ill as well. Only that he's a LargeHam ConspiracyTheorist instead.
* Shiki Tohno from ''VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}}'' fits into the role in two different respects. The accident that didn't quite kill him still left him with poor health and occasionally life-threatening anemic attacks. On a more subtle but drastic level, his Mystic Eyes of Death Perception growing constantly stronger means [[spoiler:his lifespan is cut extremely short, and he's likely to die before long when his brain overloads.]]
* [[spoiler: Sakura Oogami's boyfriend Kenichirou]] in ''VisualNovel/DanganRonpa'', as revealed [[RelationshipValues by the Free Time talks.]] Even more so: [[spoiler: Sakura explains to Naegi that Kenichirou was ''terminally'' ill and [[AlwaysSomeoneBetter she never could beat him in martial arts]], so he gave her the title of strongest person when he learned that [[YourDaysAreNumbered he had just six months to live]].]] [[FridgeHorror It's even worse]] when you realize that [[spoiler: between two years actually having passed and the Worst, Most Despair-Inducing Incident in the World taking place, there's a high chance that Kenichirou is dead by time Sakura commits suicide.]]
** There's also [[spoiler:Chihiro Fujisaki; see above.]]
* Although KeyVisualArts is well-known for its ill girls (see above), ''VisualNovel/LittleBusters'' has two male examples [[spoiler:and no real female examples, as while Mio is very delicate and seems sickly at first, her issues are very different.]] Most obviously there's Riki, the very {{Moe}} protagonist, who suffers from narcolepsy. [[spoiler:And secondly there's Komari's older brother, who suffered a deadly disease that killed him when Komari was only a small child.]]
** And [spoiler:Ryou's SecondLove Kappei Hiiragi]] from ''VisualNovel/{{CLANNAD}}'', who has bone cancer. [[spoiler: He either has to get his leg amputated or die.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* Parodied in ''AnsemRetort'', where Axel and Zexion deliberately infect Riku with AIDS to make him the poster child for their charity AIDS Aid.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* The plot of ''TheSecretOfNimh'' revolves around Ms. Brisby trying to take care of her son Timmy, who has pneumonia.
* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'':
** Played With often with Kyle. In the 15 seasons he has needed a kidney transplant, said to suffer from type 1 diabetes, nearly died from an infected hemmroid and just generally is shown getting sick with a far greater frequency than the other boys, [[TheyKilledKenny Kenny included]].
** Strangely enough, usually averted with Kenny as he almost always died as a result of violent mishaps. The only times he succumbs to a disease when they nearly killed off for real and an STD he picks up from the elementary school slut.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:RealLife]]
* While not as common as the Ill Girls, the Catholic Church also has Ill Boys among their venerables, blesseds and saints:
** The aforementioned Blessed Francisco Marto, Fatima visionary. Died of Spanish influenza at age 11, along with his little sister Jacinta.
** Francesco Possenti, alias [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Gabriel_of_Our_Lady_of_Sorrows Saint Gabriel Of Our Lady Of Sorrows]]. Had already a bad health as a youngster, was close to die at least twice before turning 18 (and entered the Passionist Order as thanks to the Virgin Mary for his healing), and died of tuberculosis at age 24. Bad health seems to have been a family trait, since at least two siblings of his's also perished when young.
** [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domenico_Savio Saint Domenico Savio]]. Died of pneumonia at age 15.
** Venerable Gabriel of our Lady of the Sacred Heart, better known as [[http://newsaints.faithweb.com/year/1897.htm#Nicolini Galileo Nicolini]].[[note]]Despite his MeaningfulRename, his fellow priests kept calling him "Galileo" as an AffectionateNickname.[[/note]] Another Passionist Order member, died of tuberculosis at age 14.
** Blessed [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceferino_Namuncur%C3%A1 Ceferino Namuncurá]], Argentinian country boy who worked hard to become a Salesian priest despite having a delicate health. He also fell victim to tuberculosis after a trip to Rome, and died at age 19.
* 19th century English poet Creator/JohnKeats, who died at 25 from tuberculosis. This is also the point of a 2009 JaneCampion film, ''Bright Star'' with a DownerEnding because [[spoiler:Keats was engaged to his [[TheMuse inspirational lover]], Fanny Brawne.]] It also helps that the actor playing Keats, Ben Whishaw, is a [[MrFanservice 19th century version of sex appeal]].
* King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem, though he subverts the "cute" part since he was affected with leprosy and thus was disfigured. He still was crowned [[AChildShallLeadThem at age 13]] and grew up [[GuileHero to be a quite effective leader]]. His "KingdomOfHeaven" incarnation (played by Edward Norton) got [[MaskPower a really cool metal mask]], as a part of his HistoricalHeroUpgrade.
* As mentioned above, Polish music composer and piano player [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chopin Frédéric Chopin]]. He had [[IncurableCoughOfDeath tuberculosis]].
* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Souji_Okita Souji Okita]] from the Shinsengumi, as well as the already mentioned [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinsaku_Takasugi Shinsaku Takasugi]]. Both died of tuberculosis before they hit their 30's.
* It's speculated that this trope is one of the reasons why YoshihiroTogashi (husband of SailorMoon's Creator/NaokoTakeuchi and author of YuYuHakusho and HunterXHunter) often takes long breaks in his work.
* Yukito Kishiro, author of ''BattleAngelAlita'' (also known as Gunnm), had to finish it much earlier than he thought because of his bad health and his unwillingness to have an AuthorExistenceFailure happen. He got better, though, and restarted the manga once he was back.
* FormulaOne driver Gerhard Berger had a brief time as one in 1997, having to take at least three races (equalling to several weeks) out due to his health. For worse, that was the time when his father died too, causing him an HeroicBSOD.
* Music/YoshikiHayashi qualifies. As a child he was ill from his mother's difficult labor and crippling asthma. Eventually [[ItGetsBetter he got better]] but then he's had everything from "neurocirculatory asthenia" to mental illness to physical damage from his intense drumming to hyperthyroidism...
* JohnFKennedy. He had Addison's disease ''and'' a never healed (as well as ''very'' painful) back injury coming from WorldWarTwo.
** For TearJerker value, his son Patrick was born prematurely... and died two days after his birth.
** His first-born child and oldest daughter, Arabella, was still-born. To put things in perspective, this means that John and Jackie lost both their oldest and youngest children either right before or directly after their births.
* [[TheHouseOfTudor Edward VI]], the last Tudor King of England, was horribly ill with either tuberculosis or acute kidney failure for the last few months of his short life, and died at age sixteen.
** Similarly, his uncle Arthur Tudor died when he was around 15, due to either TB, diabetes or some kind of sweating sickness. This was actually a big SpannerInTheWorks for his father, Henry VII, since Arthur was the eldest son and his other son, {{Henry VIII}}, was never intended to be king.
* Tsarevich Alexei Romanov, heir to the Russian throne, was plagued throughout his short life by hemophilia, coming close to death many times. Tragically, it wasn't the disease that killed him but being shot along with the rest of his family after the Russian Revolution. [[TheWoobie WAH!]]
* Robert Wyatt probably fits this trope, though to what degree (and more pertinently, what effect his paraplegia had on his music) is conjecture.
* Spanish {{Opera}} singer Jose Carreras had to temporarily retire due to leukemia. He got better and came back to business.
* TeddyRoosevelt was an ill boy, spending much of his childhood bedridden. But then by sheer force of will and vigorous exercise, he ended up becoming probably the most rugged and BadAss of all presidents. There was only ''one'' thing that stopped him: [[CynicismCatalyst the death of his son Quentin]] in WorldWarOne, which plunged the already old Teddy to a DeathByDespair.
* RingoStarr of Music/TheBeatles was very ill as a boy, according to TheOtherWiki. He contracted appendicitis, at six which put him in a coma, and had a bout with pleurisy at thirteen, which led to him being placed in a sanitorium. These setbacks led to many missed days in school, and his education suffered from it. He also fell ill during the Beatles' Australian tour of 1964, and [[TheOtherDarrin Jimmy Nicol]] took his place temporarily. Later on, he had many allergies and sensitivities to food, and brought his own food with him to India in 1968.
* Japanese singer [[http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2011-10-04/digimon-singer-kouji-wada-puts-career-on-hold-due-to-cancer Kouji Wada]], who recently had to put his career on hold to go through cancer treatment. To amke things worse, it's the ''second'' time it happens.
* NoahAntwiler is currently this - in one of his video blogs from November 2010, he revealed that the reason his schedule has been slipping, and the reason why he looked so unapproachable during his E3 trip, was because he has a heart condition that was making him severely ill.
** And now his depression has his sleep cycle out of whack among other side effects. [[TheWoobie The guy needs a hug]].
* [[TheOsbournes Jack Osbourne]] has been diagnosed with [[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-18478530 multiple sclerosis.]]
* Kazuya "Izumi Matsumoto" Terashima, author of KimagureOrangeRoad, [[http://www.comic-on.co.jp/m_newspaper/m_newspaper.html became an older version of the trope]] some years ago, "thanks" to cerebrospinal fluid disease coming from an accident when he was a little kid -- and which made him to take ''six'' years off manga work.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Comic Books]]
* [[spoiler: Cheryl Blossom]] in ArchieComics, [[http://www.comicsalliance.com/2012/03/06/archie-cheryl-blossom-breast-cancer/#ixzz1oMquJ4CK according to recent issues.]] [[spoiler: She has cancer.]]
* [[spoiler: Illyana Nikolayevna Rasputina aka Magik]] in ComicBook/{{X-Men}}. More exactly, [[spoiler: she falls victim to the Legacy Virus, which makes her Colossus's dead little sister. [[BackFromTheDead For a while anyway]].]] It's... complicated.

[[folder:Film]]
* ''RepoTheGeneticOpera'' has two of these as various points - Marni, who died before the film started, and her daughter Shilo, who inherited the disease. [[spoiler:Until it turns out that she's not really ill--her father was poisoning her so she would have to stay with him.]]
* ''TheHandThatRocksTheCradle'': Claire (Annabella Sciorra) is an adult Ill Girl who suffers of chronic asthma. [[spoiler:And Payton (Rebecca De Monray), the CuteAndPsycho VillainProtagonist, uses said illness to her advantage... among ''other'' things. She still loses in the end.]]
* The Sandman's daughter in ''Film/{{Spider-man}} 3''.
* ''October Sky'' features a kind and encouraging schoolteacher, Miss Riley, who is revealed to suffer from Hodgkin's Disease during the third act of the film, giving the Rocket Boys that extra emotional push to pull off their last, climactic, rocket launch.
** Seeing as how ''October Sky'' was based off of the autobiography ''Rocket Boys'' (complete with the actual aforementioned Ill Girl), that automatically makes this trope into TruthInTelevision.
* [[http://www.lovehkfilm.com/ LoveHKFilm]] uses the term "terminal beauty" to refer to romance movies that feature one of these girls as the primary love interest, and features a good number of reviews of such Hong Kong movies in general.
* The ''entire point'' of Nicholas Sparks' ''A Walk To Remember''.
* Satine from ''MoulinRouge,'' as mentioned above. An unusual example in that she remains ignorant of her condition until 2/3 of the way through the movie, and then tries to keep it a secret from everyone until the last possibly second. (Everyone but [[LoveInterest Christian]], [[BigBad the Duke]], [[TheDragon the Duke's man Warner]] and possibly Toulouse and the Narcoleptic Argentinian know she's doomed.)
* Jennifer Cavelleri, in ''Love Story''. Probably one of the {{Trope Codifier}}s in Western modern media, as her struggle with cancer [[spoiler: and eventual death]] are still very iconic.
* The female lead in the Taiwanese movie ''Secret''. This is not the titular secret.
* ''Sympathy for Mr Vengeance'' by Park Chan-Wook (of {{Oldboy}} fame) seems to follow this trope to the letter. The plot is driven by the fact that the deaf-mute main character cannot afford the kidney transplant that his sick sister needs to survive. [[ToThePain Abject]] [[CycleOfRevenge unrelenting]] horror ensues.
%%%* ''Film/{{Charly}} '' based on the book by Jack Weyland.
%%%* The Doctor's wife in ''TheFountain'' from 2006.
* Kate from ''MySistersKeeper''. She has leuhkemia (blood cancer), and her illness drives almost everything in the plot since [[BillyNeedsAnOrgan her sister Anna struggles not to become her forced donor]].
%%%* Bastian's mother in a flashback in ''Film/TheNeverendingStory 2''.
%%%* Maggie Murdock's role in ''LoveAndOtherDrugs''.
* Grace in ''Film/{{Excision}}''. Her cystic fibrosis is the main reason why her sister Pauline wants to become a surgeon, [[spoiler:which in turn gets Grace and another girl killed as Pauline tries to perform a lung transplant]].

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* The episode "Awakened" of ''Series/{{Charmed}}'' revolves around Prue and Phoebe discovering that Piper is terminally ill with the disease Oroya Fever. While real life symptoms of Oroya Fever include being covered in warts and rashes, Piper only experiences coughing, exhaustion, and fainting, all done adorably. [[spoiler: Being the main character, Piper survives, but not until after the crying and good-byes.]]
* The titular Esmeralda of phenomenally popular telenovela ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esmeralda_(telenovela) Esmeralda]]'' is born blind. This is later revealed to be due to congenital cataracts and she successfully regains her sight after an operation. Her personality switches from [[TheIngenue sweet and gentle]] while blind to [[BrokenBird tough, stubborn and unforgiving]] almost overnight.
** The female lead from Chilean telenovela ''Corazón de María'' is an [[{{Ojou}} upper class]] Ill Girl with a severe HeartTrauma. She gets a heart transplant coming from a middle-to-low class bride killed in a tragic car accident ''right after her wedding''. The drama starts when she starts searching for the donor María's family, and then she meets and falls for her handsome and hard-working husband Miguel...
** Alicia, a cute young girl in a wheelchair from ''MariaLaDelBarrio'', doubling as a DisabledLoveInterest for a certain boy named Nandito. The scene where the BigBad [[LargeHam Soraya]] threatens her for kissing Nandito while screaming "MALDITA LISIADA!" ("Goddamned crippled bitch!") is so [[{{Narm}} ridiculous and overacted]] that it has reached MemeticMutation levels.
* Perfect example found in the story of [[TheWoobie River Tam]] from ''Series/{{Firefly}}'', a young girl who is a [[AxCrazy schizophrenic]] [[TheEmpath empath]] as a result of [[MindRape extensive neurological modification/experimentation]] done to her by a shadowy, government-affiliated military research facility. Her older brother, [[TheMedic Simon]], gives up his life as a successful doctor and makes them both federal fugitives when he breaks her out of captivity. The siblings are forced to live on the outskirts of society in order to avoid capture, and Simon spends much of his time and resources in his efforts to find a treatment to help restore River to her former self.
** In true Ill Girl fashion, it is also implied that there's no ''real'' possibility for River to ever be cured of her insanity; the best that can be done is short-term chemical treatments, as the damage to her brain is extensive and her body eventually rejects any drugs used to help her. Even after the events of TheMovie, its not made clear whether she's fully healed or has only partially recovered.
** [[WordOfGod revealed]] adds [[spoiler:Inara Serra, resident [[HookerWithAHeartOfGold Oiran]].]]
* Drusilla from ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' is frail and weak when she first appears on the series. She was believed to have been killed by a mob in Prague, but apparently was only severely injured (How that mistake happens with a creature that turns to ''dust'' when killed is anyone's guess), to the point that normal vampiric healing couldn't restore her. Spike manages to restore her to full health by draining power off of Angel.
** Darla was a high class prostitute suffering from syphilys and waiting for her death. Then the Master gave her a visit...
* Jane Seymour on ''TheTudors'', another case of TruthInTelevision considering how she died.
* Shannon (Maggie Grace) from ''Series/{{LOST}}'', who is asthmatic and needs to have an inhalator handy. Sawyer once stole her medicine and tried to use it to bargain...
** Juliet's sister is an Ill Girl whose cancer and resulting infertility is what drove Juliet to do some rather... illegal things as a fertility doctor. When Juliet goes to the island, she is afraid to leave her sister alone, but, with typical ill girl sweetness, her sister convinces her to go.
%%%* ''OneLiterOfTears'' .
* Scully takes on this role for a season in ''Series/TheXFiles'' after it is revealed that [[spoiler: the tests preformed on her during her abduction have left her with (probably terminal) cancer.]] In accordance with the conventions of the trope, her appearance is relatively unaffected by the illness, and the only visible symptom is a [[spoiler: ''{{Deadly Nosebleed}}''.]]
* Happens frequently with Morgana in ''Series/{{Merlin}}'', most notably in ''A Remedy To Cure All Ills'' in which the MonsterOfTheWeek deliberately makes her sick in order to heal her and so win King Uther's trust.

[[folder:Music]]
* The song "Love You to Death" by {{Kamelot}} is about one of these.
* Kamei Eri had decided to quit [[HelloProject Morning Musume]] due to a long term illness, though it's not a life threatening condition.

[[folder:Theater]]
* Mimi in every version of ''[[LaBoheme La Bohème]]'' And, yes, despite dying of consumption she's still "beautiful as the dawn" on death's door.
* Fosca from the StephenSondheim musical ''Passion'' suffers from a [[SoapOperaDisease conveniently vague illness]] that waxes and wanes according to her mood, but does nothing to make her more attractive; in a notable subversion of the "consumptive heroine" version of the trope, she's ugly, demanding, self-pitying, and doesn't inspire protectiveness in those around her so much as exasperation and mild disgust.
* The illness of Eva Peron (see Real Life below) is glamorized in the musical ''{{Evita}}''. She's made to look beautiful and fragile. Photos of the real Eva Peron from this period show that her beauty was quickly fading. Real death is seldom pretty.
* 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).
* ''Theatre/LittleShopOfHorrors'': Audrey is never diagnosed with anything, but she "is not a healthy girl" and, thanks to being regularly [[DomesticAbuser beaten senseless by her boyfriend]], has "a black eye...and several other medical problems." Just when it looks like she's getting better, [[spoiler:she's mortally wounded by a giant plant]].

[[folder:Video Games]]
%%%* Castille from ''PhantomBrave''
* Muse from ''RomancingSaGa3''. Surprisingly enough, she is one of the better characters to recruit after [[spoiler:she is cured of her sickness]].
* Subverted in ''SuperRobotWars: OriginalGeneration'': Ryusei's mother is an adult Ill Girl, but it's due to a military project she used to work on as a psychic destroying her body. Her son has ended up being "recruited" by the same project in exchange for paying for her hospital bills.
* ''SilentHill2'' has Mary, a rare adult example. Naturally, she has the IncurableCoughOfDeath, too. The real rarity is the fact that she dies before the start of the game and is only seen and heard in flashbacks [[spoiler:or maybe not.]]
* ''BreathOfFire 3'' subverts this during the [[InevitableTournament Contest of Champions]]. Emitai, one of the competitors, visits the heroes before their bout (which is weighed against him due to its rules) and introduces them to his daughter; he claims to be in the contest to earn her an operation that will cure her disease, and asks them to throw the fight. As one of the heroes is being held hostage, they refuse. After the match, however, if you visit Emitai's dressing room, you learn that it was a giant fraud on his part to get his opponents to forfeit. Just to make this clear, after the midgame time skip, you can find Emitai again (and recruit him as a master); his daughter has grown up and is rather embarrassed with him.
* In ''AdvanceWars: Days of Ruin'', Isabella/Catleia fills this role early on due to being infected with the mysterious floral virus. Will/Ed is the one to cares for her most, but because the virus only affects younger people, he'd be in danger if he was around her too much. Due to her strange memories, the crew manages to find a cure for it. Unfortunately, the virus later evolves to be able to affect matures as well.
* Heather the Ghoul from the ''[[VampireTheMasqueradeBloodlines Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines]]'' game practically embodies this trope. First, you have to save her life when she lies dying in a hospital. Then, when she finds you again, she acts so cute and affectionate, you just have to have a heart of stone to send her away. Then, she starts making you small presents and other pleasant things, like letting you feed on her blood, free of charge, etc. Most of her behavior is determined by her condition (by turning her into your ghoul, you bind her to yourself and your blood becomes a powerful, addictive drug for her) but that doesn't diminish her cuteness even one bit. Trust me. That she is a {{Meganekko}} and a potential CosplayOtakuGirl doesn't exactly help, either... [[spoiler: if you ''don't'' send her away, at some point she is gonna be kidnapped and murdered as an act of [[PlayerPunch revenge upon you]].]]
* Subverted by Raquel in ''VideoGame/{{Wild ARMs 4}}''. While she's [[spoiler: slowly dying of an unknown disease in her body that's greatly implied to be radiation poisoning]], it doesn't stop her from becoming a badass swordswoman and one of the most powerful characters in the game.
* ''Fire Emblem'' has two cases:
** In ''FireEmblem 7'', [[GentleGiant Dorcas]]'s wife and VictoriousChildhoodFriend in an ill girl named Natalie, who has had problems in her leg ever since she was a little girl. One of the earlier missions is to keep her safe her inside of some abandoned ruins, and if Lyn talks to her husband who is in the enemy group, you can make him defect and [[HeelFaceTurn join your group]].
** In ''FireEmblem 8'', [[spoiler: Orson's wife Monica]] was an ill girl who died prior to the story. [[spoiler: Her husband loved her so much that [[DespairEventHorizon he fell into utter and complete despair]], [[LoveMakesYouEvil and defected to Grado when given the chance to have her revived]].]]
* Tyler Chase's little sister Amy is infected with the Deftera GUILT two years prior to the first ''TraumaCenter'', and [[spoiler: eventually goes into critical condition in Chapter 3. Derek operates on her and cures her, thus removing her status as Ill Girl.]]
* ''Franchise/TalesSeries'':
** Colette from ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'', who ends up suffering from a couple various ailments, the first being Angel Toxicosis [[spoiler:Actually is pain from her soul being consumed by the Cruxis Crystal, as part of the World Regeneration Journey]], and the second Chronic Angeleus Crystallius Inofficium actually ''does'' disfigure her (In the one cutscene where it's visible) and you spend a while (half of disc 2) getting the cure for her.
** Cheria starts ''VideoGame/TalesOfGraces'' like this, but she gets better when Asbel returns.
* Tomoki in ''{{Canvas 2}}''. However, the surgery she needs is actually quite easy and not that expensive. Not even that risky. She's actually afraid it will work and she'll be lonely.
* Mary/Maki Sonomura in ''VideoGame/{{Persona}}'' is introduced as an Ill Girl, but when demons arrive to the scene, she suddenly got back up. [[spoiler:Turns out this healthy Mary is the 'Ideal Mary', imagined by the real, ill Mary, who dreamed of her own world where one of the aspects there is that she's healthy, and by some complicated means, it's coming to take over reality.]]
* Yasumi Aizawa in ''AoiShiro'' is one of these. [[spoiler: Until it turns out she just needed a little blood]].
* Jessica from ''ManaKhemiaAlchemistsOfAlRevis''. One alchemist, [[spoiler:who turns out to be TheHero's "father", sort of]], cured her ... at the cost of her life energy. In short, she got better, but her life was cut in half ''at least''.
* Fana from ''VideoGame/AvalonCode''. Interesting in that you can actually heal her by removing the illness code attached to her, but this requires a series of related plot events, as you can't just pluck out the code and slap it on something else (codes with this property are marked with spiked borders).
* Ameena from ''StarOceanTillTheEndOfTime'', who's also an Expy of [[FinalFantasyVII another flower-selling girl]]. It ends [[DiabolusExMachina even worse than this implies]].
* In the ''TokimekiMemorial'' series, there's [[{{Meganekko}} Mio]] [[HotLibrarian Kisaragi]] of Tokimemo 1, who suffers from anemia and thus and can't handle violent physical activities and emotions, and Hotaru Izumi of Tokimemo 3, who had to stay for a long time at the hospital, and still suffers from some aftereffects, due to a car accident a few years prior the game's proper, which also [[spoiler: [[TheMourningAfter cost the life of her dear boyfriend]]]].
* In ''VideoGame/MitsumeteKnight'', the SpiritualSuccessor of ''Tokimeki Memorial'', the resident Ill Girl is [[{{Meganekko}} Sarah]] [[HotForStudent Pixis]] ; she suffers from a heart disease that prevents her to go outside, and the Asian (the player avatar) gets to meet her as his private teacher. Other Ill Girls are [[TheWoobie Sophia's]] [[TheUnfavourite estranged mother]] and little brother, Dolphan's Queen, as well as [[spoiler:[[HospitalHottie Teddie Adelaide]], Sarah's nurse and friend, who suffers from the same heart disease as her and thus why the two are close]].
* Yonah from ''NieR'', who is infected with the Black Scrawl Virus, prompting her [[PapaWolf father]]/[[KnightTemplarBigBrother brother]] (depending on which version you buy) to go out and fight his way to finding a cure. Later on, it is revealed that [[spoiler:Kaine]] is also infected.
* Patchouli Knowledge from ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'' is really sick. She suffers from asthma, anemia, and Vitamin A deficiency because of her refusal to leave the library she lives in for ''centuries''[[note]]and also because of all the poisonous chemicals that she uses for her magic[[/note]]. This is used to justify her inconsistent power level; when she's an Extra Boss in one game, she explains beforehand that her asthma has cleared up.
* In the JRPG ''LostOdyssey'' the player can acquire an ingame codex entry of the maincharacters past experiences. One in particular centers around an Ill Girl whom liked to hear his stories of far off places when ever he stopped by. The codex ends with the last encounter with this Ill Girl has her comatosed and on the brink of dying when he arrives to tell her one last final story.
* Occurs a couple of times in the {{Growlanser}} series:
** ''Growlanser II: The Sense of Justice'' includes Charlone's younger brother in this role.
** ''Growlanser 3'' has this as part of [[spoiler: TheDragon's motivation to side with the BigBad]].
* ''ProfessorLaytonAndTheLastSpecter'' has [[spoiler: Arianna; she is cured a year after the events of the story.]]
* ''HarvestMoon Magical Melody'' features a girl you can romance who is incredibly ill from some vague disease, and as such she spends every waking hour in the hospital, and you have to come visit her. You could always just woo her nurse instead.
* Kaoru Watabe from TheKingOfFighters, who is in a wheelchair at the start of KOF'97. She has only started to take her first steps out of it by the time she meets the Psycho Soldiers. [[spoiler: Around KOF 99 her health has improved dramatically, atleast enough to have her [[BigDamnHeroes help the group out of the NESTS base]].]]
* In the ''YumeNikki'' fangame [[DotFlow .flow]], through the game's symbolism, [[spoiler:it is heavily implied that Sabitsuki, the player character, is dying from some sort of illness]]. This isn't just an EpilepticTree, but almost ''canon''. [[MindScrew Maybe]].

[[folder:VisualNovels]]
* Setsumi in Narcissu has an unnamed condition. She kills herself at the end of the story. Unique in that Narcissu is a non hentai visual novel.
* Miku in ''VisualNovel/AProfile'' as a result of a slightly botched liver transplant.
* Toko in ''KaraNoShoujo'' is anemic and spends a lot of time sleeping. She also requires some special medicine. All in all, though, it's not too bad [[spoiler:until Mizuhara thinks it's some sort of drug, steals it and Toko ends up getting hit by a truck when she passes out.]]
* ''{{Ever 17}}'' features two: [[spoiler: Yubiseiharukana (the You from Takeshi's path)]] who has a terminal heart condition and [[spoiler: Coco Yagami]] who has [[IncurableCoughOfDeath Tief Blau]].
* ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'':
** In the "Heaven's Feel" arc, Sakura is revealed to be this, due to the stress of the Matou family's crest worms becoming more active. [[DeusSexMachina Shirou has a treatment for her]], at least temporarily.
** Additional materials reveal the existence of another ill girl: [[spoiler: Kirei Kotomine's dead wife, [[http://typemoon.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_minor_characters_in_the_Fate_series#Hortensia Claudia Hortensia]], an inmuno-deficient MysteriousWaif who passed away two/three years after they got hitched. (In a subversion, she actually commited suicide in a desperate gambit to prove him that he wasn't as unfeeling as he thought -- then again, Claudia ''was'' already dying so she wouldn't have lasted much longer anyway).]]
* Miyu Shizuhara from ''{{Crescendo}}''. Her illness isn't specified, but it requires her to stay at the hospital for a good part of her route. [[spoiler: And she does NOT get better.]]
* All the main girls in ''VisualNovel/KatawaShoujo''; in fact, the game started out as an attempt by TheImageBoardThatMustNotBeNamed to create the videogame with the highest Ill Girl count possible. Though [[SubvertedTrope ironically enough]], only the male protagonist's condition is actually life-threatening, since the heroines are all in some way physically disabled but otherwise healthy.
* The eponymous Kana from ''KanaLittleSister''. The cause of her disease is clearly stated: [[spoiler:kidney failure]]. The game also features Sumako and Cana. [[spoiler: Two of the three die.]]
* KeyVisualArts has at least one, sometimes more, in every game (except ''{{Planetarian}}'', because a [[RobotGirl Robot Ill Girl]] wouldn't really work). They use this trope so often that fans have started jokingly referring to any SoapOperaDisease as [[MemeticMutation KeyAIDS]].
** ''VisualNovel/{{Kanon}}'' has Shiori (who is terminally ill).
** ''VisualNovel/{{Clannad}}'' has Nagisa (unnamed illness that [[spoiler: may have supernatural origins]]) [[spoiler:, Fuko (is in a coma after an accident)]], and [[spoiler: Ushio (her mom Nagisa's same illness)]]
** ''VisualNovel/{{AIR}}'' has [[spoiler:Misuzu, whose illness is actually ''born from a curse'']].
%%%** ''VisualNovel/LittleBusters!'' has Mio. [[spoiler:Or does it?]]
* Yuzuha in ''{{Utawarerumono}}'', who is actually something of a MacGuffin - her brother Oboro's theft of the outrageously expensive medicine she needs to survive is the start of a chain of events which snowball into an international war.
* ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'' has Jessica Ushiromiya, who's a very atypical case - an asthmatic {{Tsundere}} who later on becomes a CuteBruiser. However, early on, she tends to have very poorly-timed attacks that make her something of a BadassInDistress.
** It's later revealed that [[spoiler: Jessica partially ''faked'' some of these attacks [[DecoyDamsel to make herself look more helpless than she truly was]] in order to get out of awkward or uncomfortable situations.]]
** Ange also counts, as being afflicted with a severe cold is what preventing her from going to the 1986 family conference.
* Played with in ''EfAFairyTaleOfTheTwo'': Chihiro Shindou doesn't spend almost any time bedridden or hospitalized, but she still suffers the serious consequences of having been hit by a car three years prior to the story ([[spoiler: the loss of an eye that she covers with a white eyepatch, and retrograde amnesia that takes effect every 13 hours]]), so she requires to be taken care of. In short: Chihiro is an Ill Girl turning into a BandageBabe when she got better.
* Another Chihiro with a bad health is Chihiro Fujisaki from DanganRonpa, who never had the strength to go out and play with others as a little girl. [[spoiler: Subverted: Chihiro is an ill ''boy'', not an ill girl, and one of the reasons why [[DisguisedInDrag he crossdressed]] was because he was considered "too weak" as a boy and was bullied for it, so he tried to protect himself via crossdressing. And we don't find out until we find him ''dead''.]]
* ''DaCapoII'': There is a double example in one route: [[spoiler: Anzu. Said girl was the first to fall ill, then comes the protagonist boy's turn. They both spoon spoonfeed soup to each other when the other one lies sick in bed.]]
%%%** In another route, there is [[GenkiGirl Yuzu]].
* ''eden* they were only two, on the planet'' centers around a [[OlderThanTheyLook 100 year old genetically engineered]] sick girl Sion.

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* Larisa from ''Webcomic/SandraAndWoo'' is, as a diabetic, on insulin, [[http://www.sandraandwoo.com/2010/01/04/0126-secrets/ among other things]]. "Cute" is not the right word to describe the [[ChaoticNeutral chaotic]] [[PyroManiac pyromaniac]] [[FilleFatale fille fatale]] that Larisa is, though.
* Miho from ''Webcomic/{{Megatokyo}}'' 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.
* Puppet from the ''WhateleyUniverse'' subverts this through her caustic attitude, plus a learned snobbishness from her [[RichPeople upbringing]]. She definitely has it hard though, making her something of an IronWoobie.
%%%* Mecha Maid in ''{{Spinnerette}}''.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* Parodied in the ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'' movie, where a sickly Dot needs money for an operation. At the end of the movie, it turns out that all the operation was was receiving a beauty mark to make her even cuter.
* Subverted on ''WesternAnimation/TheBatman''. A scientist working for Wayne Industries claims to be studying bats so he can cure his niece's deafness. Bruce Wayne goes to see the girl and give her a hearing aid... and she turns out not to be deaf. The scientist was actually studying bats because he was obsessed with Batman, and he eventually managed to turn himself into "Manbat".
** This is the reason why Victor Fries, better known as Mr. Freeze, constantly has to commit crimes in most of his appearances in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' and related media: His wife, Nora Fries, is suffering from a terminal disease, causing him to put her in cryogenic stasis until his research allows him to develop a cure for her ailment. Unfortunately, in order to do so, he ended up having to illegally appropriate research materials from Ferris Boyle, the CorruptCorporateExecutive of [=GothCorp=], resulting in him being kicked into his own formula and deformed into Mr. Freeze. In his next appearance, he was taken by a deranged theme park person and has to help this person in exchange for allowing him to get Nora's miraculously survived cryogenic tank. He only stopped serving him when Batman points out that this is not what Nora would have wanted.
* Played straight in ''JemAndTheHolograms'': In the three-part "Starbright" storyline, the Holograms keep on going with a movie shoot the Misfits have bought themselves into because they need money for an operation to save Starlight Girl Ba Nee's sight. Ultimately the production splits into rival films, and when the Holograms' is a hit, the money is raised and Ba Nee is saved.
* In the ChristmasSpecial ''SantaClausIsCominToTown'', Kris Kringle gets the bright idea to enter locked houses through their chimneys largely because he has to deliver a toy Noah's Ark to "Susan, a tiny little girl who was very very sick."
* ''{{Peanuts}}'':
** Janice, the main character of the ''{{Peanuts}}'' special ''Why, Charlie Brown, Why?'' She's a friend of Linus's who is diagnosed with leukemia.
** Lila, Snoopy's previous owner, in "Snoopy Comes Home." Snoopy wants to come back to her because because he has learned that she's lonely and depressed in the hospital.
* Michelle from ''OnceUponAForest'' becomes comatose after inhaling toxic fumes from a gas leak, and her friends have to search the wilderness to FindTheCure.
* The ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice'' episode "Coldhearted" features [[FragileSpeedster Wally]] racing cross-country to deliver a donor heart to a ten-year-old girl named Perdita, who happens to be [[spoiler:[[AChildShallLeadThem the Queen of Vlatava]].]]
* Little Marcie from ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' in the episode "Simon and Marcy." The episode's plot has her friend Simon trying to get her chicken soup in the [[AfterTheEnd post-apocalyptic wreckage]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Multimedia]]
* Maria Robotnik, in various ''{{Sonic the Hedgehog}}'' continuities. Motivator of Shadow's actions after her death.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Comic Books]]
* ''Comicbook/{{X-Men}}'': Abraham Kieros was a Vietnam War veteran who ended up horribly crippled and abandoned in an hospital. Then, he takes a DealWithTheDevil from Apocalypse and becomes his follower, [[HorsemenOfTheApocalypse War I]]. [[spoiler: After the group is disbanded, Kieros is again paralyzed, but recently he has been healed by his ex-fellow Horseman Archangel.]]

[[folder: Fan Fiction]]
* In the ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' fanfic ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6245901/1/Three_Years_At_Sea Three Years At Sea,]]'' Zuko was "sickly" for most of his childhood, making him appear even weaker in comparison to Azula in his father's eyes.
* Lance Wabisuke-Hamilton from ''Fanfic/OnePieceParallelWorks'' has a mysterious illness that causes him to fall asleep at random times and makes him physically weak. However, {{Word of God}} states that Lance's condition is not life-threatning.

[[folder:Film]]
* Chopin in ''{{Impromptu}}'', although during the period in which the movie's set he's only a bit delicate, not dying.
* [[{{Tombstone}} Doc Holliday]] and his friends were aware of his terminal condition (and the audience was reminded with his IncurableCoughOfDeath,) but it was less often cause for depression than morbid jokes and {{badass}}ery. He also doubles as a RealLife example.
* In ''Film/XMenOriginsWolverine'', [[{{Wolverine}} the titular character]], for the first two minutes of the movie until his mutation manifests.

[[folder:Poetry]]
* The "last leaf" cliche dates back at least to the first decade of the 19th century, when Charles Hubert Millevoye wrote his his highly popular poem "La chute des feuilles" ("The Falling of the Leaves"), in which a sick young man wanders mournfully in the woods musing on his upcoming death. "La dernière feuille qui tombe/A signalé son dernier jour" ("The last leaf to fall/Signaled his last day").

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* Ayase / TimeBlue from ''MiraiSentaiTimeranger'' suffered from the incurable Osiris Syndrome throughout the entire series. [[spoiler:However, after time has been altered near the finale, a cure for his disease is found.]]
* Jayne Cobb from ''{{Firefly}}'' faithfully sends money home to treat his ill brother Mattie's damp lung disease.
* ''Film/{{Hawking}}'' portrays the twenty one year old Stephen Hawking as more of a very smart IllBoy than a GeniusCripple, unlike conventional depictions of Hawking as an older man.
* ''Series/KamenRiderFourze'''s Kengo suffers from an unspecified weakness that rendered him unable to use the Fourze system as well as the [[MiniMecha Power Dizer]]; he's actually been nicknamed "King of the Infirmary" due to the amount of time he's spent there (even when he's ''not'' just using it [[PlayingSick as an excuse]] to help fight the MonsterOfTheWeek). [[spoiler:The Aquarius Zodiarts uses her healing powers to cure him about 2/3 of the way through the series.]] [[spoiler: This is later jossed in episode 45, when his illness/weakness comes back full force.]]
* In the Chilean humor show ''Jappening con Ja'', there was a sketch named "El Enfermito" ("The Ill Dude"). It had [[NoNamGiven an unnamed adult man]] permanently hospitalised due to an unexplained SoapOperaDisease, and HilarityEnsues ([[CringeComedy in a way]]) whenever his friends drop by to visit him. [[NotFunnyAnymore It's not as funny now]] due to the ''actor's'' own health taking a massive nosedive in recent years.

[[folder:Video Games]]
* ''Growlanser II: The Sense of Justice'' has a female character whose younger brother is an ill boy. And yes, there is a mysterious "operation" that can cure him, and this provides that character's main motivation. In a slight variation on the usual plot, the character's family is very wealthy and can easily afford the operation, but the Ill Boy is afraid to go through with it because it is reputed to be extremely painful. (Maybe the MagiTek of the setting doesn't include anesthetic?)
* Despite being a [[BadassBookworm genius-level]] [[CastingAShadow dark magic user]], Prince Lyon of Grado from ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones'' has a very weak constitution that causes him to feel inferior to his best friends, Ephraim and Eirika, and his stern but gentle father Emperor Vigarde.
* In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTellius Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance]]'', local [[WhiteMagicianGirl White Magician Guy]] Rhys appears to constantly suffer from one illness or another, with several characters inquiring about his health.
* In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemElibe Fire Emblem: Binding Blade]]'', the SpoonyBard Elphin [[spoiler:aka Prince Mildain]] has really bad eyesight. [[spoiler:He once was poisoned to near death, and this partial blindness is the only effect that still remains.]]
** Subverted by ''Blazing Sword'''s Lucius, who is said to be pale and sickly and apparently has a borderline seizure in his C support with [[spoiler: Renault]]. However, Lucius himself says it's not a physical illness, but one "from the soul". (It ''could'' be some kind of clinical depression or PTSD, as he says he tries to help others with their pain yet he is afflicted too.)
** Played straight by Nils. At some point he ''does'' have a seizure and collapses, and his [[PromotionToParent older sister Ninian]] asks the group not to move him from the spot he passed out on. The following mission has protecting him for 15 turns as its goal.
** In Henry's supports with Olivia in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'', he claims his bloodlust is a genetic nervous disorder.
** Earlier than all of them, [[spoiler:Prince Julius of Velthomer/Grannvale]] from ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemJugdral Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War]]'' is revealed as one of these. In ''Thracia 776'' he catches a high fever, and a conversation between [[spoiler:his half-brother Saias and girlfriend Ishtar]] states that while he was somewhat delicate as a child, his health really declined after [[spoiler:he became the vessel for the Dark God Loptyr.]]
** And even earlier, we have [[spoiler: [[CrutchCharacter Arran]] ]] from FireEmblemAkaneia. [[spoiler: Who is ''[[YourDaysAreNumbered lethally]]'' [[YourDaysAreNumbered ill]] and joins Marth's group as his last chance [[MyGreatestFailure to atone for an horrible mistake from his past]].]]
* In ''MegaManBattleNetwork 3'', a kid named Mamoru has an illness with a vague acronym (HBD) that essentially boils down to a heart defect. Lan helps the kid out and convinces him to go through another operation that is supposed to cure it [[spoiler: because it just happens to be the disease that killed Lan's twin brother Hub, whose mind was digitized and placed inside Megaman.EXE]]. The hospital just has to be attacked on the day of the operation, and it's up to Lan to save everybody, including the kid.
* Ion from ''VideoGame/TalesOfTheAbyss'' is known to have a weak constitution, and upon using a Daathic fonic arte, becomes weak to the point of collapsing. [[spoiler:This is actually because the Ion seen in the game is a replica of the original Ion, who died a few years prior. Doing things such as using fonic artes or reading the Score cause Replica Ion's body to degenerate.]]
* Emilio Juarez from ''TraumaCenter: Under the Knife 2'', who is [[spoiler:one of the Sinners (read: tortured orphans used by the bioterrorist organization Delphi as lab rats) saved by Derek in the first game]] is seventeen, yet manages to be an excellent example of an Ill Boy all the same. If it weren't for all the "he"s and "boy"s used referring to him, though, it probably wouldn't be hard to [[DudeLooksLikeALady mistake him for a more traditional example of the trope]].
* Subverted: Ukyo Tachibana from ''SamuraiShodown'' has tuberculosis (IncurableCoughOfDeath and BloodFromTheMouth included), but he remains quite a {{badass}} fighter.
* Marlin from the ''HarvestMoon'' games set in Forget-Me-Not Valley was an IllBoy in his youth. He was moved out into the mountains in the hope that the air would cure him. It did help quite a bit, but he's still kinda sickly.
* [[WhiteHairedPrettyBoy Hanbe Takenaka]] from ''SengokuBasara'' is a villanous version of this, as he spends most of his time proving just how [[EvilerThanThou evil he is]] through sheer [[MagnificentBastard manipulation]] and [[KickTheDog dog-kicking]] despite his [[IncurableCoughOfDeath tuberculosis]].
* Similar to the above, Hanbei from ''VideoGame/PokemonConquest'' suffers from tuberculosis (not like the game will state that). Unlike the above example, he keeps it to himself and does what Hideyoshi tells him to do, so at the end of his episode, he starts coughing. When asked what's wrong, Hanbei responds that he got too excited; Kanbei doesn't believe it one bit.
* Akinari Kamiki, the Sun Arcana from ''{{Persona 3}}'', is a prospect writer who was born ill, thus his days have been numbered ever since birth. Developing his S-Link is about having him learn to enjoy his last days of life. [[spoiler: He will die before the game is over, leaving the children's book he wrote with the MC's help and encouragement as a TragicKeepsake, and if his link is maxed his soul will cheer on you before you take on Nyx.]]
* Wally/Mitsuru, TheRival from ''VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire'', is mentioned to be rather sickly and weak-bodied as well. Apparently, he has asthma.
* In both ArtOfFighting and TheKingOfFighters, we have [[{{Bifauxnen}} King]]'s [[PromotionToParent ward and younger brother]] [[CuteShotaroBoy Jean]]. His illness is never specified but it's mentioned that he's very delicate and can only walk short distances, so his older sister's main goal is [[HealthcareMotivation to pay for his surgery and later for his treatment]]. He gets noticeably better around ''[[http://www.vgmuseum.com/end/neogeo/a/aof2king.htm AOF 2]]'' ([[spoiler: Robert and Ryo paid for his operation as thanks for King's help when Yuri was kidnapped]]) /[[http://www.vgmuseum.com/end/neogeo/b/kof96gor.htm KOF' 96]] ([[spoiler: he was hospitalized and in treatment as his sister, Mai and Kasumi fought around the world, and the other two girls bring him to King's presence in the end]]).
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Visual Novels]]
* ''VisualNovel/KatawaShoujo'' gives us two:
** Male lead Hisao. While the girls are physically disabled but otherwise fine, he's got ''severe'' [[HeartTrauma heart arrhythmia]] that almost kills him in the introduction. It doesn't do him any favors when [[CrashIntoHello Emi runs into him in the hallway]], either, and keeps being a problem over the course of the game. [[spoiler: ''Especially'' in Lilly's route, in which he has two major incidents... and a ''third'' on the way to the Good Ending that hospitalizes him again ''and almost kills him''.]]
** Kenji Setou, who not only is legally blind but is speculated to be mentally ill as well. Only that he's a LargeHam ConspiracyTheorist instead.
* Shiki Tohno from ''VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}}'' fits into the role in two different respects. The accident that didn't quite kill him still left him with poor health and occasionally life-threatening anemic attacks. On a more subtle but drastic level, his Mystic Eyes of Death Perception growing constantly stronger means [[spoiler:his lifespan is cut extremely short, and he's likely to die before long when his brain overloads.]]
* [[spoiler: Sakura Oogami's boyfriend Kenichirou]] in ''VisualNovel/DanganRonpa'', as revealed [[RelationshipValues by the Free Time talks.]] Even more so: [[spoiler: Sakura explains to Naegi that Kenichirou was ''terminally'' ill and [[AlwaysSomeoneBetter she never could beat him in martial arts]], so he gave her the title of strongest person when he learned that [[YourDaysAreNumbered he had just six months to live]].]] [[FridgeHorror It's even worse]] when you realize that [[spoiler: between two years actually having passed and the Worst, Most Despair-Inducing Incident in the World taking place, there's a high chance that Kenichirou is dead by time Sakura commits suicide.]]
** There's also [[spoiler:Chihiro Fujisaki; see above.]]
* Although KeyVisualArts is well-known for its ill girls (see above), ''VisualNovel/LittleBusters'' has two male examples [[spoiler:and no real female examples, as while Mio is very delicate and seems sickly at first, her issues are very different.]] Most obviously there's Riki, the very {{Moe}} protagonist, who suffers from narcolepsy. [[spoiler:And secondly there's Komari's older brother, who suffered a deadly disease that killed him when Komari was only a small child.]]
** And [spoiler:Ryou's SecondLove Kappei Hiiragi]] from ''VisualNovel/{{CLANNAD}}'', who has bone cancer. [[spoiler: He either has to get his leg amputated or die.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* Parodied in ''AnsemRetort'', where Axel and Zexion deliberately infect Riku with AIDS to make him the poster child for their charity AIDS Aid.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* The plot of ''TheSecretOfNimh'' revolves around Ms. Brisby trying to take care of her son Timmy, who has pneumonia.
* ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'':
** Played With often with Kyle. In the 15 seasons he has needed a kidney transplant, said to suffer from type 1 diabetes, nearly died from an infected hemmroid and just generally is shown getting sick with a far greater frequency than the other boys, [[TheyKilledKenny Kenny included]].
** Strangely enough, usually averted with Kenny as he almost always died as a result of violent mishaps. The only times he succumbs to a disease when they nearly killed off for real and an STD he picks up from the elementary school slut.
[[/folder]]

!!Mixed Examples
[[folder:Video Games]]
* The quarians from ''MassEffect'' are a ''species'' of Ill People. Since their forced exile from their homeworld 300 years before the events of the games, quarian immune systems (which were already weaker than those other species) have deteriorated to the point that all quarians must wear [[LatexSpaceSuit environmental suits]] at all times just so they don't die. ''Every'' quarian Shepard meets in the games--from WrenchWench party member Tali'Zorah to {{Badass}} marine Kal'Reegar to the valley girl complaining about her boyfriend on Illium--is one suit breach away from potentially deadly sickness. That said, they don't appreciate the stereotype:
--> "I'm not gonna die from an infection in the middle of a battle. That's just insulting!”
* The main characters of ''{{Narcissu}}'' are a terminally ill boy and girl. The prequel adds two more ill girls to the cast, one of them an [[LittlestCancerPatient 8-year-old orphan.]] And the third game... just say the whole series revolves around this trope.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
* [[IlivaisX Iriana Estchell]] fits the typical characteristics, but she's not EXACTLY sick. However, she only has a handful of non-artificial organs and is very limited in the physical activities she's capable of doing, and will definitely go into a coma after five minutes outside. Why? Because she was made for the sole purpose of being the titular mech's pilot, without the intent of ever leaving it. Her body IS capable of regeneration mostly as a side-effect of her internal recycling so as to not require nutrients, but her source of energy is the mech. Without her battery, she's essentially immortal inside her Ilivais, but if she stays out too long, she'll eventually die.
* The Building-verse (''{{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]]).
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* In ''TheTwelveKingdoms'', the holy beasts named ''kirin'' choose [[FisherKing each of the rulers]] for the realms. If said king or queen doesn't do well and the land suffers, they get struck with a fatal illness named ''shitsudou'', manifesting itself via FacialMarkings and physical weakness that quickly kills them. Only the full redemption (which has never happened) or the RedemptionEqualsDeath ([[spoiler: Joukaku of Kei and Shishou of Sai]]) of the sovereign can save them from death. Kirins of ''both'' genders (Hourin, Kourin and Sairin are females; Keiki is male) have gotten it due to their masters's mistakes or madnesses: [[spoiler:Sairin and Keiki]] get better, [[spoiler: Hourin and Kourin]] do not.
* In ''Manga/{{Gangsta}}'' the entire Twilight ''race'' is essentially compromised of Ill Boys and Ill Girls. All of them are born addicted to a PsychoSerum that they must take daily to prevent the withdrawal symptoms - only for the drug to eventually accumulate in their systems, breaking down their bodies and killing them. The whole reason they're called Twilights is because the this effect makes it a damn miracle if any of them live to hit thirty.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* Hikari (Kari) Yagami in ''Anime/DigimonAdventure'', younger sister of Taichi (Tai), who gets the IncurableCoughOfDeath during one episode. Through a flashback in the anime, she is shown to have gotten pneumonia, but as she ages her illness mysteriously vanishes.
** Actually, it's stated that [[spoiler: Hikari had ''not'' properly healed from a huge cold that left her bedridden and unable to join the kids who'd become the Digidestined in their fateful school trip. Said cold came back with a vengeance when they were in the Digital World, causing Hikari to fall down with a fever that was just as bad as back home -- only that in this particular SickEpisode, they had no ways to properly treat her, and for worse Machinedramon was tracking them. It triggered Taichi's bad memories of the incident in which, years ago, he accidentally caused Hikari to almost die of pneumonia.]]
** Relena Norstein from ''Anime/DigimonSavers'', which led to her older half-brother Touma joining sides with [[SmugSnake Kurata]] to get her "cured." This is a prime example of the writers not defining the disease: she's in a wheelchair, although she can walk short distances, and [[spoiler:[[DistantFinale Touma wins the Nobel Prize for curing her]],]] but it's incredibly vague otherwise.
* Chiho, Uzume's Ashikabi from ''{{Sekirei}}'' has a mysterious unnamed illness that keeps her hospitalized. It later becomes a pivotal plot point towards the middle of the second season (Pure Engagement)
* ''FruitsBasket'':
** Rin (stomach ulcers [[spoiler: coming from her BrokenBird personality and the stress of her [[AbusiveParents horrible former home life]] ]]) and [[spoiler: Akito (unclear illness that comes from the stress of being the God of the Zodiac, which may be the same sickness that killed her father Akira)]]. Even though they're sick, they both scare the living crap out of people: Rin because she's headstrong and harsh, [[spoiler: Akito because she's the feared leader of the Sohma clan.]]
** In [[spoiler: Akito]]'s case, her illness [[spoiler: ''may'' be more psychosomatic than anything. She's shown doing a LOT better in the health fields after her HeelFaceTurn.]]
* ''RurouniKenshin'': Sayo Mutou aka Magdaria, the younger sister and MoralityPet of Shougo Amakusa, has an IncurableCoughOfDeath (and some BloodFromTheMouth). Unlike other cases, though, we know what she has: it's tuberculosis, Magdaria's had since she was a little girl, and she even "inherited" it from her MissingMom, also an Ill Girl. [[spoiler:That's not what kills the poor girl, though. She [[TakingTheBullet takes the bullet]] for a person who's willing to help her brother and his followers and dies in Sanosuke's arms. Even if she didn't, [[DiabolusExMachina Sayo was almost in the terminal stage so she would've died anyway]].]]
%%%* Marie in ''LightNovel/SisterPrincess''.
* An episode of ''Anime/GalaxyAngel'' has an ill Mint in a hospital while watching the leaves on a tree -- she hopes to live long enough to watch a leaf fall off -- and it promptly does, at which point she notes she was referring to ''another'' leaf, which also falls off. As she tries to refer to a ''third'' leaf, ''all'' the leaves are blown off by a strong wind. Another character, Chitose, is an obvious parody, claiming to have been confined to a hospital most of her life. More likely it's another product of her attention whoring; she was enough of a [[TheScrappy Scrappy]] in [[VideoGame/GalaxyAngel the game]] that even the anime writers didn't like her, and her personality was exaggerated to that of a {{wangst}}y histrionic (although to be fair, everyone else was exaggerated too).
* Hayate Yagami in ''MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaAs''. [[spoiler:However, in the sequel series ''[=StrikerS=]'', she is completely healthy. This because her "illness" was actually the curse of the Book of Darkness, so once the Book was destroyed she was able to recover.]]
* Hyatt in ''Manga/ExcelSaga'' is a particularly over-the-top parody of this, as she tries to go about her duties as an agent of [=ACROSS=] despite her tendencies to [[DeathByFallingOver collapse]], cough up contaminated blood (which kills small birds and sickens humans), faint, or even drop dead and then spontaneously come back to life. She ''always'' comes back to life, once even being charred to a decent crisp only to sit up later, as if nothing had happened.\\
\\
This appears to be an empathetic illness, at least in the manga. For several volumes Hyatt went some time without her usual blood and death routine, but the revelation that the competent Excel was an impostor brought it back.
%%%* Rika in ''HanbunNoTsukiGaNoboruSora''.
%%%* Kaori in ''LightNovel/StrawberryPanic''.
%%%* Akiko from ''{{Itazura na Kiss}}''.
* ''[[SailorMoon Sailor Moon S]]'': {{Anti Villain}}ess An occasionally fell into the archetype, getting tired and out of breath easier than [[BrotherSisterIncest her "brother/lover"]] Ali/Seijuuro. Although in An's case this was caused by her starving, since she refused to eat regular food like Ali did, and humans' life energy wasn't available every time she needed it.
%%%** Hotaru Tomoe
%%%** One-time character Misa-chan from the Stars season.
%%%* Megumi aka Megu, Suigintou's medium and MoralityPet from ''RozenMaiden''.
* Shizuka Kawai (a.k.a. Serenity Wheeler) from ''Franchise/YuGiOh'' prior to her operation. (In the [[Anime/YuGiOhFirstAnimeSeries first anime series]], she has an unspecified disease, but in the [[Manga/YuGiOh manga]] and [[Anime/YuGiOh second anime series]], she's going blind.)
** It turns out that [[spoiler: Pegasus]]'s FreudianExcuse was centered around one of these: [[spoiler: his deceased fiancée and VictoriousChildhoodFriend Cecilia, who died of illness few before their wedding.]]
* ''AngelicLayer'': The mother of the main character, Shuuko, is an adult Ill Girl who abandoned her daughter because she "[[HeroicSelfDeprecation didn't want to be a burden]]" and feared Misaki would be ostracized for [[ValuesDissonance having a "useless" mother]]. This gives her somewhat of an excuse for literal ParentalAbandonment, leaving Misaki in the "more capable" care of her aunt. (Meanwhile, [[spoiler:the entire Angelic Layer game is an elaborate plan coming from her friend Icchan to get enough data on human neurophysiology to cure this disease.]]) Curiously, this is not in the manga at all.
* ''CodeGeass'': Nunnally Lamperouge/vi Britannia, the younger sister of the main character, is both blind and contained in a wheelchair after she witnessed and barely survived their mother's brutal murder. He promises her that by the time she gets well, the world will be a better place. He never mentions ''how'' -- to him, [[WellIntentionedExtremist it doesn't matter how many people have to die or be manipulated]] to destroy the TheEmpire. Further, [[spoiler:she didn't actually see it, having been a false witness due to a memory-altering Geass. Also, she gets better with time: in the series, she stays in a wheelchair but regains her sight ''and'' becomes the Empress of Britannia, and in the NightmareOfNunnally manga she heals completely and stays under the wing of Empress Euphemia Li Britannia.]]
** Also, fellow student and revolutionary Kallen Stadtfeld/Kozuki uses the ''image'' of the Ill Girl to cover up her frequent absences from school so she can go play revolutionary. Maintaining the illusion limits her somewhat, but fortunately there's usually a distraction around to keep others from asking when she makes an unexpected display of physical prowess. Lampshaded in the 2nd picture drama, where Shirley [[SkinshipGrope grabs a naked Kallen from behind]] while they're bathing and comments on how Kallen is ''much'' stronger and athletic than she's supposed to be.
* Subversion, possible parody: Kagome's never-ending parade of fake illnesses in ''{{Inuyasha}}'' [[HilarityEnsues causes much sympathy and embarrassment.]]
** Kikyou took this role more than once, despite being undead. Namely, it happened every time she was either weakened by poison or suffering the physical downsides of her clay body.
* Though it's never mentioned in the anime, Kurz Weber of ''LightNovel/FullMetalPanic'' is stated to have joined Mithril in order to pay the hospital bills of a young girl who was critically injured in a mission he was involved in. [[spoiler:More exactly, during the assassination of the man responsible for the deaths of Kurz's parents. Kurz, who was supposed to take the shot, stopped when he realized that the poor girl would also be hit; his ColdSniper mentor, Wilhelm Casper, had fewer scruples and fired anyhow]].
* ''MermaidMelodyPichiPichiPitch'' has Michal Amagi, a Tomoe Hotaru-esque figure that also happens to be Lucia's [[ClingyJealousGirl romantic rival]] and the little sister of one of the villains. [[spoiler: It's a wonder she survives, really.]]
* Anju Kitahara in the anime version of ''MarmaladeBoy''. She has [[HeartTrauma a weak heart]] and might not live for long if she doesn't go through a ''very'' dangerous operation in ther USA, but [[PluckyGirl she attempts to remain cheerful]] and befriends her beloved Yuu's girlfriend Miki, telling her [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy that she won't break them up]] and is as happy as she can with being Yuu's UnluckyChildhoodFriend. [[spoiler:She's operated and gets better, and when Yuu breaks up with Miki she has a small chance to get Yuu for herself, but ultimately she (and Miki's other love interest Kei) give up when they get back together.]]
* Toji Suzuhara's off camera sister in ''NeonGenesisEvangelion'': After the injuries she suffers among the civilians caught in the middle of the fight in the first two episodes, Toji is eventually recruited as the pilot of Unit 03 in exchange for her being transferred to NERV's medical facilities. However, [[spoiler:Toji himself is severely crippled when an Angel takes over his Eva.]]
** In ''[[RebuildOfEvangelion Rebuild]]'', we get to see Toji doting on his little sister as she finally gets out of the hospital, [[spoiler: and Asuka ends up piloting Unit 03 in his place.]]
* In ''FafnerInTheAzureDeadAggressor'' Shouko Kazama is the ultimate Ill Girl who suffers from some incapacitating disease that makes her a recluse of sorts. The trope is subverted though since [[spoiler:her death is not caused by her illness, instead Shouko sacrifices herself for the sake of the island in a grand HeroicSacrifice]]. This also qualifies as her CrowningMomentOfAwesome.
* Otohime Mutsumi from ''LoveHina'', who has a severe case of aenemia and passes out almost everywhere. During her CrashIntoHello with Keitaro, she fell over, with BlankWhiteEyes ''and'' BloodFromTheMouth. Keitaro checks for a pulse...and there isn't one. Cue FreakOut. She got better, but it seems her fainting spells are closer to actually dying then "normal" fainting. Read about it [[http://manga.animea.net/love-hina-chapter-21-page-3.html here.]]
** Naru ''used'' to be an Ill Girl as a child. She has asthma, and while she's mostly fine in teenage/adult years, in her childhood her attacks were much more serious. [[spoiler: Several years ago, Naru's parents sent her to Hinata Sou hoping that she'd recover due to the zone's benign climate, but she was very lonely and depressed. That was the time when she befriended two older kids, Keitarou and Mutsumi, and the three made ThePromise.]]
* Fujimiya Aya fills this role for most of ''WeissKreuz'' after she's hit by a car and ends up comatose, prompting her older brother Ran to become an assassin to pay her hospital bills - and to actually assume her name in tribute. [[spoiler: She ultimately gets better.]]
** In one episode Ran encounters another Ill Girl, whose brother has entered a DeadlyGame to pay her medical bills.
* Mitsuki Koyama from ''Manga/FullMoonOSagashite'' has a [[LittlestCancerPatient cancerous tumor]] that prevents her from singing, and gives her exactly one year left to live. When she transforms into "Full Moon", she temporarily loses this tumor, and gains an amazing singing voice.
* In ''BinbouShimaiMonogatari'' Asu winds up in hospital from a neglected cold, giving her sister Kyou the chance to indulge in emotional memories about the time their mother was hospitalized.
%%* Himeka Karasuma from ''KamichamaKarin''.
%%* Hisami Hisaishi from the ''[[Anime/ReadOrDie Read Or Dream]]'' manga and ''RODTheTV''.
* ''GunslingerGirl'':
** [[spoiler:Rico]] turns out to have been an Ill Girl prior to becoming a cyborg, languishing away in an hospital after [[ParentalNeglect her parents simply abandon her there to her luck]] until she's taken in by the organization; meanwhile, [[spoiler:Angelica]] eventually becomes one due to the side effects of the "conditioning" the girls go through. Eventually though, ''all'' girls will meet the same fate, since their lifespan is immensely shortened due to their cybernetic implants.
** Also, [[spoiler: Claes]] stops taking roles in missions not just because of [[spoiler: her trainer Raballo's death]], but because she actually has a weak heart.
** [[spoiler: Elisabeta]], a Chernobyl survivor and former aspirant ballerina who developed cancer [[spoiler: and tried to commit suicide after her cancerous leg was amputated. Then she was brought into the Agency and became Petrushka aka Petra.]]
* Parodied in ''[[PrettySammy Magical Project S]]'', where one of the [[MonsterOfTheWeek Love-love Monsters]] is called "fake sick girl", who even gives the speech about not seeing the last leaf fall from a tree. When the person talking with her mentions that the tree is quite full and healthy, she blows it up with a cannon hidden in her bed.
* Subverted quite quickly in ''Manga/TheDaughterOfTwentyFaces'', in that the "ill girl" is in fact the main character who recovers quite quickly when taken away from the source of her "illness" by the eponymous GentlemanThief Twenty-Faces.
%%* Usopp's best friend Kaya from ''Manga/OnePiece''. She got better later, though.
* Dr. Manga/BlackJack had ''five'' patients of this type in the new anime series:
** Pinoko, his adopted daughter assistant. [[spoiler:She was originally a [[BodyHorror sentient tumor in the body of a young girl]], whom he extirped and gave a doll-like body out of pity since he found out that she strongly wished to live, just like Black Jack wanted to after the accident that killed his mother and left him paralyzed for years. Pinoko's sister had a FreakOut and disowned her, so Black Jack took the kid around as his adoptive daughter and assistant.]];
** Michiru, a TeenGenius manga artist whose biggest dream was to get married before she died, [[spoiler:so Black Jack played the charade to make her accept the operation that would save her, later "breaking up" with her so she wouldn't let her one-sided love for him stunt her. She not only gets better, but ends up marrying her UnluckyChildhoodFriend.]]
** Souno, another {{Ojou}} (but in a more [[YamatoNadeshiko traditionally Japanese]] way than Michiru) who also was a skilled Ikebana expert, but had a never specified illness that was made more serious by the pressure [[WellDoneSonGuy her well-intentioned but ultra-strict father]] put on her.
** Watou and Kumiko's classmate Rei, an IdolSinger who takes her career as ''really'' SeriousBusiness, but has a tumor in her ''throat'' that will put it in serious risks.
** Megumi Kisaragi, a female doctor whom Black Jack fancied, but had advanced ovarian cancer. [[spoiler: After having her affected inner organs removed, she changed her name to Kei and left, living her life as a male, despite not being outright said if she went through a sex change or not]].
** In the backstory, there is another: [[spoiler: Black Jack's own mother, who was severely injured in the same incident that left him as an IllBoy and died few months later.]]
* ''Anime/LuckyStar'':
** Kanata, Konata's mom and Soujiro's wife, apparently died in a very Ill Girl way early. That, and the couple being {{childhood friend}}s, Kanata being [[OlderThanTheyLook older than she looked]], made [[GenreSavvy Konata]] wonder if the whole thing is a DatingSim plot. Kanata's [[OlderThanTheyLook super youthful looks]] ''are'' related to the disease, so [[OlderThanTheyLook Konata]] ''may'' fall victim to the same disease... (At least one rather absurd DarkFic {{Doujinshi}} had her develop into a suicidally depressed college student living in fear of her possible demise.)
** [[CheerfulChild Yutaka]], Konata's ''paternal'' cousin, has recurring (albeit mild) health problems that make it difficult for her to keep up with her friends-- she was nearly rendered a BrokenBird from the social isolation caused. And her case of OlderThanTheyLook is even more severe than Kanata's...
%%* ''ParanoiaAgent'' actually features a direct parody of "The Last Leaf".
* Parodied and played melodramatically in ''{{Mamoru-kun ni Megami no Shukufuku wo}}''. During the Valentine's Day episode, a contest is on to see who can give Mamoru chocolate in the most creative way possible. Shione orchestrates a "Last Leaf" situation with her brother claiming her lack of fashion sense is a disease affecting "one in six billion people" that will kill her. In the end, Shione "dies", but not before giving Mamoru her chocolate...[[AnimeHair shaped like her hairstyle]].
* [[spoiler: Yuuki Konno]] from ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnline''. [[spoiler:She contracted AIDS when she was born. By the time she was introduced in ''Mother's Rosario'', she was already blind, bedridden and on the verge of death in the real world.]]
* [[spoiler:Sora]] from ''MahouTsukaiNiTaisetsuNaKotoNatsuNoSora'' seems to be mostly in good health, having little trouble with physical exercise or performing straining magical rituals--until she suddenly appears to have been suffering from a terminal heart condition for a while already, leading to a severe {{mood whiplash}} in the series.
* There are several in the Franchise/{{Gundam}} meta-series.
** Four Murasame from ''[[Anime/MobileSuitZetaGundam Zeta Gundam]]'', a war orphan turned into TykeBomb who got lots of power via treatment and training, at the cost of terrible mental unstability and constant physical pain (in Four's case, splitting headaches that affect her more than once).
** Played with in ''[[Anime/AfterWarGundamX Gundam X]]''. Female lead Tiffa Addil is a FaintingSeer and kinda delicate, but this doesn't stunt her that much. Her ''only'' brush with death was actually [[spoiler: a side-effect of her being ''poisoned'' by one of the villains.]]
** Stella Loussier from ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSEEDDestiny Gundam SEED Destiny]]''. Being [[TykeBomb one of the Extended]], her life hangs on by treatment in the Alliance medical rooms and she ''will'' die if she doesn't get it, which is shown in her seizures and memory gaps. For worse, the training has damaged her mind as well, and she's few more than a very childish Ophelia almost unable to function in real life when outside missions. [[TheWoobie Yeah, it sucks to be her.]]
** ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundam00 Gundam 00]]'': [[spoiler: Louise Halevy]] in the second season. [[spoiler: To start, Louise lost her left hand in the bombing incident that decimated her family in the first season. She got said hand back through an undisclosed medical treatment and TookALevelInBadass that led her to become a DarkActionGirl, but she also had some very ugly seizures and had to pop some pills. Her sanity continued slipping as the series advanced, but luckily, by the end she starts getting better. In TheMovie, she's mentally doing better but still in physical recovery.]]
** Lu Anon from ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamAge Gundam AGE]]'' is a tragic non-combatant example. A Vagan girl who is Kio Asuno's age, she suffers from a terminal disease due to exposure to Mars Rays. In the little time she has left, she wants to live happily and normally, [[spoiler:especially after she meets Kio. The time they spent together and her heartbreaking death became major turning points in Kio's attitude towards the enemy and the war.]]
*** Similarly, [[spoiler: Kio's CoolBigSis Shanalua Mullen]] has a little sister who's ill and needs an expensive treatment. [[spoiler: And then it turns out that Shanalua became TheMole to [[HealthcareMotivation pay said sister's hospital bills]].]]
* Subverted in ''IkkiTousen'': [[spoiler: Ryoufou Housen]] is dying of an undisclosed illness, but she's still a fearsome DarkActionGirl [[spoiler: and actually goes down fighting. In the anime, she [[DeathIsCheap gets]] [[BackFromTheDead better later]], though that also included some LaserGuidedAmnesia... ''and dying again'' in the end.]]
* Someone subverted in ''{{Planetes}}'', where during a hospital stay Hachimaki meets a girl who he believes to be chronically ill, but does not want to be rude by asking. In reality, she is a child who was born on the moon, and is staying in the hospital to provide medical information to scientists and doctors.
* ''MahouSenseiNegima'' has [[TheWoobie Ako Izumi]] briefly filling the role after she catches some sort of disease upon arriving in Magicus Mundus. It varies a little bit in that she gets the cure early on, but it's so expensive that it forces her and two of her friends (Natsumi Murakami and Akira Ookochi) to sell themselves into slavery. This in turn leads to Negi having to enter a tournament to win the money to buy their freedom.
* In the ''CowboyBebop'' episode "Waltz for Venus," Spike befriends a smuggler named Roco who is trying to earn enough money to pay for his blind sister Stella's eye operation. [[TearJerker It ends in tragedy.]]
* Kotori Monou from ''{{X1999}}'' has a serious heart condition. One of her older brother Fuuma's first scenes in the manga has him reading out loud a list with the remedies that Kotori has to take that day.
** Subverted with Hinoto. She's deaf, mute and blind... but that's due to being BlessedWithSuck via possessing ''massive'' PsychicPowers [[SuperpowerLottery of several kinds]] that overwhelm her body.
* ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'': Jotaro's mother Holly, if hidden powers activated by appearance of a powerful vampire that she's unable to control and slowly kills her counts as an disease.
* Chiyuki from ''AThousandSnows''.
* {{Deconstructed}} in a ''Manga/DetectiveConan'' case: our Villain of the Week had a bad heart, but it was her who killed the loanshark who [[DrivenToSuicide drove her boyfriend to suicide]] over the money for "that operation" (see FingerLickingPoison for the murder itself). God, is she a bitchy ''chain smoker''. In her confession, she mentions that her boyfriend was her MoralityPet and the only one who ever loved her after her parents's deaths. Be careful when threatening an Ill Girl's loved ones: if she gets better, she'll kill you!
** The other moral: in RealLife, [[{{deconstruction}} being chronically sick can make a person]] [[BrokenBird pretty bitchy]].
** Played [[TearJerker heartbreakingly straight]] in the {{filler}}s, with a girl named Kaori whose older brother Todakuro is the ghost writer to a murdered novelist, Daisuke Torakura, who paid for her hospital bills in exchange for the guy's hard work. [[spoiler: We later learn the horrible truth: Kaori actually died a year ago because Torakura actually ''bribed her doctor into keeping her on '''painkillers only''' instead of paying for '''crucial''' and expensive treatment abroad (as per his end of the bargain)'', so Todakuro would remain indefinitely time as his subordinate, which ultimately killed her. Then, Torakura mantained the lie via keeping Todakuro locked in his countryside villa, telling him that Kaori (supposed to be in an American hospital) was going to get better. When poor Todakuro found out the truth from the guilt-ridden nurse who used to tend to Kaori, he went nuts with pain and murdered Torakura. AssholeVictim seems a bit lenient. Basically, Torakura was MovingTheGoalposts.]]
* Subverted quite cruelly with Aiko from the ''VampirePrincessMiyu'' OAV, who was thought to be in a ConvenientComa due to either illness or DemonicPossession, but Himiko later discovered that [[spoiler: she summoned the main Shinma in despair after blaming herself for her parents's death, having survived the accident that caused their demises. Ever since then, she lays on her old futon located in her her decadent BigFancyHouse and simply... sleeps, while the Shinma wreaks havoc around. She only wakes up when Himiko confronts the Shinma, but Miyu stops her when she's about to drink Himiko's blood, and once the Shinma is defeated Aiko dies.]]
* In the Miyu SpinOff series of sorts ''Vampire Princess Yui'', this is also subverted. It's believed that Yui is an Ill Girl with severe anemia, but the truth is that her Guardian powers have just awakened and, since she had no real idea of what was going on, she lacked of the blood "meals" she needed. (It's not helped by how Yui at first refuses to drink blood from humans if she can help it, so her BattleButler Nagi gives her his blood instead.)
* Though no one takes her seriously, Umino of ''SatouKashiNoDanganWaUchinukenai'' claims that her painful limp and clumsiness were caused by a witches spell that turned her into a human with an imperfect pair of legs. She says this same spell will turn her into sea foam in one months time if she does not fulfill her wish of finding a "precious friend."
* ''Very'' cruel version: [[spoiler: Miyuki Aiba/Shana Carter aka Tekkaman Rapier/Teknoman Shana]] from ''Anime/TekkamanBlade''. [[spoiler:She's actually a Tekkaman whose transformation process was incomplete, therefore she suffered horrible pains and her lifespan was dramatically shortened... therefore, she chose to go down fighting and perform an HeroicSacrifice than die of her illness.]]
%%%* Tsubaki Kakyouin aka "Tsubaki-hime" and [[spoiler:Muraki's fiancée]] Ukyou Sakuraiji, both from ''YamiNoMatsuei''.
* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': Byakuya Kuchiki's deceased wife, Hisana. It's implied that [[spoiler: her sickness was caused or compounded by her repetitive guilt-driven visits to Rukongai in search of her lost sister, Rukia]].
* Inori's older sister Seri in ''{{Harukanaru Toki no Naka de}}''; Inori even has the BigBrotherInstinct towards her because of this, despite him actually being younger. A flashback in the ''Hachiyou Shou'' TV anime reveals that this is part of the reason Seri got close with Iktidar, who saved her when she was threatened by several men while helpless from her condition. [[spoiler:Somehow, being an Ill Girl didn't stop Seri from having Ikutidaru's baby.]]
* Subverted with Izumi Curtis from ''Manga/FullMetalAlchemist'': a [[EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette pale]], slender, [[SexyMentor attractive]] IronWoobie with frequent attacks of BloodFromTheMouth. It's sometimes PlayedForLaughs when she coughs up blood on someone who upsets her, she can kick your ass, {{bears|AreBadNews}}' asses, and her [[HugeGuyTinyGirl gigiantic]] [[BigBeautifulMan husband]]'s ass, and it generally need not be said that you [[DontYouDarePityMe shouldn't pity her]], because she's so fierce. Also, [[spoiler:she gets better... though only in the manga and the ''Brotherhood'' series, as in the first anime she passes away in between the events of the GrandFinale and TheMovie.]]
* [[spoiler:Anemone]] from ''EurekaSeven''. [[spoiler: This DarkActionGirl has to ''live'' drugged to get away with the process she underwent to become Coralian-like, which causes her horrible side-effects like headaches, {{psychic nosebleed}}s and wild mental unstability. The doctor even says her resistance to the drugs was her greatest value.]] [[JerkassWoobie OUCH!]]
** Female lead Eureka, as well. She spends much of the first half of the series feeling progressively worse due to her diminishing connection to the Nirvash.
* Takiko Okuda ''and'' her MissingMom Yoshie from ''FushigiYuugiGenbuKaiden''. Takiko caught tuberculosis from the deceased Yoshie while tending to her in her own world. She insists it's just a cold, as her father makes plans to take her back to Tokyo for medical treatment.
** Then we have [[spoiler: Mitsukake's girlfriend Shouka]] from [[FushigiYuugi the original series]], who actually [[spoiler: ''did'' die. And then CameBackWrong.]]
* Kozue Ayuhara from the old-school anime ''AttackNumberOne'' is ill and has to quit sports awhile and move where she can rest because of it, until she comes back and joins the volleyball team.
* Kosumo Koganehara from MichiyoAkaishi's ''TowaKamoShirenai'' was born with a weak heart, and in fact the manga starts when she has a seizure during her treatment in the USA and needs an urgent transplant, but her extremely rare blood type doesn't allow for an easy one. The donor that saves her life just ''happens'' to be Himiko, a {{Miko}} and MagicalGirlWarrior who has just died via an HeroicSacrifice to save a child, so Kosumo inherits her powers alongside her heart and blood and must take up her demon slaying mission - with the help of Himiko's TallDarkAndHandsome guardian, Hitsuji.
** And later we meet another: [[spoiler: the 98th Himiko, the one who came before the aforementioned Himiko we know. She was a fellow {{Miko}} who died of cancer when the 99th Himiko was 10 years old, which wasn't helped by her already suffering of a years-long depression and being separated from her bodyguard and lover Hishou.]]
* ''Manga/KatekyoHitmanReborn'': Chrome Dokoro/Nagi will die if Mukuro [[spoiler: or currently Daemon Spade]] isn't giving her illusionary organs to replace the ones that she lost when she was hit by a car.
* [[spoiler: Tamaki's French MissingMom, Anne-Sophie Grantaine]] in ''OuranHighSchoolHostClub''. More exactly, [[spoiler: she has lupus.]]
* In the second season fo ''GetBackers'', one of Ban and Ginji's missions is to get a very rare type of blood (named the "Bombay Blood") for an Ill Girl named Yumiko, who needs an urgent transfusion or she'll die in few days. It turns out that Akabane has a dose of it and they have to fight him and his partner Maguruma. [[spoiler: It's also revealed that Ginji [[TheLostLenore had an Ill Girl friend]] in the Infinite Fortress days and she died due to lack of treatment, so he's [[MyGreatestFailure determined to not fail again]] for Yumiko's sake]]. They get the Bombay Blood, and Yumiko is saved.
* [[spoiler: Homura Akemi]] from ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'', before meeting Madoka and her friends, was this. She spent most of her life in the local hospital due to [[HeartTrauma a severe heart illness.]] It's not specified how she got rid of it, but most likely did it with [[spoiler:her MagicalGirl powers]]. This is also the basis of her attitude towards [[spoiler:Madoka]], as her social isolation and orphanhood means the latter is the first and {{only friend}} she could made for the past ''14 years''.
** Also, according to popular {{Fanon}}, [[spoiler:the witch Charlotte may have been one when she was still a MagicalGirl]]. What prompted this EpilepticTree was [[spoiler: that her Grief Seed first appeared outside a hospital, there is a general medical theme to her barrier as well as the sweets, and the fact that she's obsessed with cheese, which chemotherapy patients aren't allowed to have]]. Add in the detail that Kyubey ''has'' contracted girls on the verge of death at least once (see: [[spoiler:Mami, who had been seriously injured in the car crash where her parents died]]), and this theory became popular.
* Yuki Miyata from ''{{Moshidora}}''. Her illness is not specified, aside of being a congenital one; her hospitalization requires her best friend Minami to take her place as the local CuteSportsClubManager. [[spoiler: Unfortunately, Yuki does NOT get better.]]
* Anju Marker from ''{{Karin}}'' is ''believed'' to be this. [[OurVampiresAreDifferent That's far from the truth, obviously.]]
* Three of these show up in ''HanaNoKoLunlun'':
** Alitta from the Netherlands arc. Fortunately, it's a temporary illness rather than a life-threatening one. Unfortunately, she's a famous stage actress and thus she needs her IdenticalStranger Lunlun to be her temporary BodyDouble...
** Anna from the Switzerland arc, who's confined to a wheelchair and [[DontYouDarePityMe refuses to go out since she hates how people look down on her.]] She subverts the "sweet and kind" part by being rather harsh and spoiled due to her health issues, [[spoiler: until she becomes the JerkAss Pete's MoralityPet.]]
** Lucero, the little girl from the OrphanageOfLove in the Italy arc, who's blind. Her friends decide to search for an old treasure buried near the orphanage to sell it and get the money for the orperation. [[spoiler: The treasure is actually an old bomb.]]
* Haruna from ''[[TenchiMuyo Tenchi Forever!]]'' is this. After fleeing with her lover, [[spoiler:Yosho/Katsuhiko]], she became ill during their trip. [[spoiler:She died]] before the couple arrived on Earth.
* [[spoiler: Ultear Milkovich]] from ''Manga/FairyTail'' was this in the past. [[spoiler: Then she fell in the hands of a bunch of {{Mad scientist}}s whom her mother asked for help, not knowing about their intentions; they ''did'' heal the little girl, but they told Ur that she had died and ''then'' told their ex-patient that her mother had abandoned her... just so they could make the desperate Ultear their DarkActionGirl TykeBomb.]]
* Kaoru "Kaoru-no-Kimi" Orihara from ''OniisamaE'' was held back a year due to an unspecified illness, and when the story begins she has just returned to Seiran Highschool. As such, she not only [[BerserkButton hates it when people neglect their physical well-being]], but sometimes collapses in fits of pain and needs both rest and painkillers. [[spoiler:What's her ailment? ''Breast cancer'', and she even had to go through a ''mastectomy'' at age 16, which caused her to break up with her then-boyfriend Takehiko (the titular Oniisama), and when she returned, she kept her illness a secret from most of her classmates until the symptoms of a possible relapse were shown towards the end.]] What happens to her varies according to the different continuities: [[spoiler:In both of them she goes to Germany with Takehiko after they rekindle their relationship... but while she lives on and they stay HappilyMarried [[BabiesEverAfter with a child]] in the anime, in the manga Kaoru ''does'' die two years after leaving Japan.]]
* Three show up in ''HonooNoAlpenRose'': Clara (temporary but plot-important illness [[spoiler: that has her brother rat out Jeudi and lundi to get money for her medicine]]), Marie ([[spoiler: confined to a wheelchair, but starts to walk after befriending Lundi]], and specially [[spoiler: Jeudi's MissingMom Helene (weak heart and almost total blindness after the accident that separated her from Jeudi.)]]
** It's horribly subverted in the case of the third, too: [[spoiler: the villain Toulonchamp and his [[DaddysLittleVillain daughter]] Mathilda ''have been slowly poisoning her for years'' so they force her parents to collaborate in their schemes.]]
* One of the two reasons why [[HaouAiren Kurumi Akino]] [[PromotionToParent is the main breadwinner]] of the family is that her mother is an ill girl and thus she cannot take a regular job. The other is that Kurumi's father died two years before the story started.
* Asa Shigure from ''{{Shuffle}}'' suffers a mysterious illness that often leaves her bedridden, and starts becoming worse as time passes. [[spoiler: It's not an illness, but PowerIncontinence: her weak half-demon body cannot handle the strong magic inherited from her mother, the demon Ama, but Asa utterly refuses to use said power because Ama suffered ''horribly'' due to them and thus she doesn't want her mother to be sad. Rin has to [[TakeAThirdOption take a VERY risky third option]] to force her release said energy, and almost dies for it.]]
* Kiku from ''Idaten Jump'', also [[spoiler: [[{{Ninja}} Kouhei]]'s little sister]] and the local YamatoNadeshiko. [[spoiler: Her illness turns out to be a consequence of the disbalance between the X Zone and Earth, and once it's fixed she starts to get better.]]
* Himari Takakura from ''Anime/MawaruPenguindrum''. Her illness isn't exactly clear, but it seems to be due to a weak heart. In fact, the plot is kickstarted when [[FirstEpisodeResurrection she dies and is revived in the first episode]]. [[spoiler: And it won't be the first time she kicks it.]]
* [[spoiler: Chizuru Nanbara]] from ''CombattlerV''. Her illness is explained [[spoiler: (malformed heart valve)]], it kicks in at a critical moment [[spoiler: ([[HeroicRROD during battle!]])]], and [[spoiler: while it keeps her away from action for a while, she's successfully operated on and returns to the battlefield.]]
* [[spoiler: Jintan Yadomi's MissingMom Touko]] in ''[[Anime/AnoHanaTheFlowerWeSawThatDay Ano Hana]]''. [[spoiler: Touko actually died a while before Menma did... and ThePromise that Menma made with her (making Jintan cry and show emotions) is Menma's forgotten [[GhostlyGoals Ghostly Goal]].]]
* [[spoiler:Countess Larissa Mikhailovna]] from ''Manga/HaikaraSanGaTooru'' has tuberculosis and because of that, [[YourDaysAreNumbered she has a very shortened lifespan]]. [[spoiler:In a subversion, she didn't die from the disease, but from a FallingChandelierOfDoom while making a DivingSave to save Shinobu.]]
* There were ''four'' in ''AngelBeats'' [[spoiler: when they were still alive]]: [[spoiler: Masami Iwasawa (suffered a stroke after being hit on the head by her abusive father and died in the hospital)]], [[spoiler: Yui (was quadraplejic after an accident and languished away in bed until she kicked it)]], [[spoiler: Otonashi's dead little sister Hatsune (undisclosed illness that ultimately kills her)]] and [[spoiler: Kanade "Angel" Tachibana ([[HeartTrauma heart illness]] that leads her to [[BillyNeedsAnOrgan need a transplant]])]]. In fact, [[spoiler: after the latter died, her main goal was to find and thank the person who donated their heart to her and allowed her to live a little longer... Said person turned out to be the male lead Otonashi.]]
* [[YamatoNadeshiko Kikuri Tanima]] from TheKingOfFighters ''The Sun and the Moon ~ Prologue'' RadioDrama. She is the sister of [[AntiHero Iori Yagami's]] bandmate [[MsFanservice Konoe]], and she suffers more than one seizure during the drama. [[spoiler: And she does NOT get better... in fact the CD drama is a WholeEpisodeFlashback, and Kikuri has already been dead ''for at least five years''.]]
* The title character of ''Binetsu Shoujo'' ([[LampshadeHanging "Feverish Girl"]]), Rina Kisaragi. She had anemia and tends to pass out quite a bit, so she often goes to a local hospital for check-ups.
* Toki Onjouji and Yuu Matsumi from ''Manga/{{Saki Achiga-hen}}''. The former has a tendency to faint at any given moment, and the latter gets chilled very easily to the point where she has to wear a cardigan, mittens, and a muffler even ''during the summer''
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
%%%* Liza, Madame Khokhlakov's daughter, in ''TheBrothersKaramazov''.
* Fantine in Victor Hugo's ''Literature/LesMiserables''. She subverts a few characteristics of this trope, popular in that era and genre, because her illness is named, her wizened, aged appearance is described in detail, and when she dies, she does not die from the disease itself. On the other hand, she manages to soliloquize paragraphs on what she's going to do when she gets better (despite the fact that the narration says she coughs near-constantly) and win the heart of all around her. Either way, it's OlderThanRadio.
** Fantine in the musical of ''Theatre/LesMiserables'' is ailing and wasting away, and also sings a plaintive song about the winter wind crying and the night encroaching, and of how she would love to see her little girl one more time before she dies. And then she dies. And her death acts as a motivator for the rest of Valjean's actions for the next, oh, ten years or so.
* Helen Burns from ''Literature/JaneEyre'', who has [[IncurableCoughOfDeath tuberculosis]] [[spoiler: and dies dramatically of it.]]
* Elizabeth "Beth" March from ''Literature/LittleWomen'', who ar first was just a little delicate, but later contracted scarlet fever ''and'' the side-effects gravely weakened her. [[spoiler: She later became the March family's dead little sister.]]
%%%* Lin Tai-yu in ''Literature/DreamOfTheRedChamber''.
%%%* Lady Pole in ''JonathanStrangeAndMrNorrell'', seemingly.
* Many of the female characters created by Edgar Allen Poe fit this type. Notable examples include the eponymous heroines of his short stories "Ligeia" and "Berenice", and his famous poem "Annabel Lee". [[spoiler: They always die.]]
%%%* [[OnlyKnownByTheirNickname Miss Sneezy]] in ''Literature/{{Haunted 2005}}''.
* Michelle in Robin Cook's medical thriller ''Fever'', suffering from leukemia and further weakened by chemotherapy.
* Pomma from the ''Literature/GreenSkyTrilogy'': SoapOperaDisease plus [[TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior an addiction]] to [[FantasticDrug wissenberries]]. [[spoiler:She ends up getting better with [[ThePowerOfFriendship Teera]] around.]]
* The Creator/JaneAusten universe provides a few:
** Anne de Bourgh, daughter of the formidable Lady Catherine in ''PrideAndPrejudice'', is said to be "of a sickly constitution." It's never made very clear what this means, exactly.
** Marianne Dashwood, in ''Literature/SenseAndSensibility'', isn't normally an Ill Girl but becomes one when a nasty cold turns into a more severe illness.
** Jane Fairfax, in ''Literature/{{Emma}}'', crosses this with IncurableCoughOfDeath. WordOfGod states that [[spoiler:she died of tuberculosis a few years after the end of the book]].
* Queen Ehlana, in ''Literature/TheElenium'' trilogy by DavidEddings, is a variation on the trope. Under normal circumstances, she's perfectly healthy and energetic, but as it gets explained to her personal champion, she's been getting progressively more sick since her coronation, and her sickness isn't something that anyone's ever seen -- her symptoms contradict each other. They eventually work out that she's been poisoned, and the poison she was given has no known cure. [[spoiler:Except one.]]
* Mercy from ''Literature/TheWitchOfBlackbirdPond'' has a lame leg and poor health as a result of a fever she caught as a very small child.
* Diggory's mother Mabel Ketterley-Kirke in ''TheChroniclesOfNarnia: TheMagiciansNephew'' is bedridden and dying of an unnamed disease. In fact, she and Diggory live with Uncle Andrew and Aunt Lettie because they're taking care of her while Mr. Kirke has to work in India. [[spoiler: With a little help of Aslan and a magical apple he gives to Diggory at the end of his and Polly's adventures, Mabel ultimately gets better.]]
* The aforementioned Kate in ''[[MySistersKeeper My Sister's Keeper]]'', with leukaemia. Arguably, ''My Sister's Keeper'' is a deconstruction of this type of story, showing how Kate's mother's efforts to save her daughter take a considerable toll on the whole family.
** Kate is actually so ill that [[spoiler: she actually ''does'' want to die, thus she asks her sister/prospect donor Anna [[ThanatosGambit for help]] so Anna can be released from being her forced donor and Kate can die in peace.]]
** This trope is also seen in two of JodiPicoult's other books, ''HandleWithCare'' (Willow has ostogenesis imperfecta, or brittle bone disease) and ''Change of Heart'' (Claire Nealon needs a heart transplant). Like ''My Sister's Keeper'', the mothers of these children are willing to do anything for their child (in the former, the mother sues her best friend and OBGYN for not telling her about a disabled child, that she presumably would have aborted, and in the latter the mother refuses a transplant from the murderer who killed her husband).
* The book ''María Jesús: Un milagro de amor'' ("María Jesús, a miracle of love") by Chilean author Ana María Figueroa is the biography of an Ill Girl named María Jesús, gathering all kinds of testimonials about how she coped with the leukemia that ultimately killed her.
* Laura and Eileen from ''Laura and the Silver Wolf'' both have leukemia.
* Alice in A. Sapkowski's ''Złote Popołudnie'' ("Golden Afternoon"), a retelling of "Alice in Wonderland" from Cheshire Cat's POV. In this version Alice's visit in Wonderland is in fact her {{DyingDream}} after drinking laudanum instead of her cold medication. She does get better.
* Annie in Creator/ConnieWillis's ''LincolnsDreams'' is plagued by nightmares and [[spoiler: a heart condition]].
* Gabrielle Gabrielson in ''The Story of Gabrielle'' by her mother Catherine. Published as a RealLife story, although there's no background info to verify it. Gabrielle, the [[TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth brilliant]] and SpoiledSweet little daughter of a well-to-do New England couple, begins complaining of stomach pain. She [[WaifProphet informs her mother]] that the pain is incurable and will eventually kill her. She's right. While most of her doctors think she has hepatitis and a few dismiss her as play-acting, a tiny "shadow" on the x-ray troubles the youngest doctor enough to call for an exploratory. He finds a gigantic, malignant cancer at the base of her spine. Catherine records Gaby's last weeks, her strange speeches and experiences as the cancer invades her brain, and her quiet death. All of this takes place in a hospital, which seems unlikely until you remember this was the 1940s and people could actually afford this level of health care.
* Cadpig from ''Literature/TheHundredAndOneDalmatians'' by Dodie Smith, who was born nearly dead and revived, and is significantly weaker than her siblings throughout the book, requiring special provisions to be made for the journey back to London.
* Sister Edith from Selma Lagerlöf's ''Thy Soul Shall Bear Witness!'', a Salvation Army worker who caught an IncurableCoughOfDeath while at work and has a single wish to be fulfilled: to speak with a man named David Holm, whom she has tried and failed to redeem. [[spoiler: Little does she know that David has died and his soul has been forcibly made into the rider of the Death Cart, so he can see how he has ruined other people's lives. As such, David is the one who fetches Edith's soul -- thus ''sorta'' fulfilling her wish.]]
* In Creator/GeneStrattonPorter's ''Michael O'Halloran'', Peaches, the crippled girl.
* ''TheFaultInOurStars'': Hazel, although her disease is clearly known from the [[FirstEpisodeSpoiler opening chapter.]]
* Wilkie Collins' ''TheWomanInWhite'' has something of an Ill Girl Ball going between the young female characters (one suspects it's homing in on whoever it looks cutest on, given the way it goes...)
* In the HistoricalFiction book ''Fabiola'', the main character's servant Syra has a best friend named Caecilia, a cute beggar girl who's completely blind since birth. She's also InspirationallyDisadvantaged, as she handles herself quite well despite her disability. [[spoiler: Since Caecilia is a Christian young woman who lives in Rome during the persecutions, [[KillTheCutie she gets tortured to death instead]].]]
* Evangeline "Eva" St.Clare is a particularly melodramatic example in ''UncleTomsCabin''. Before dying of her [[IncurableCoughofDeath tuberculosis]], she convinces the sympathetic characters to change their ways and resist the evils of slavery.
* In ''Jack and Jill'', Janet "Jill" Pecq is severely injured in an accident and almost is confined to a wheelchair. The book is about her and the other wounded kid (her boyfriend Jack)'s shared path to recovery as well as their ComingOfAgeStory.
** [[spoiler: In the backstory, Mrs. Minot's childhood friend Lucy Snow spent 25 years bedridden after a similar incident. She was described as pretty much a saintly figure.]]
* In Edmondo D'Amici's book ''Heart'', one of the tales about "Heroic Italian Boys" has an adult version: [[spoiler: Marco's mother Anna in ''1000 Leagues to Find Mother''. She has fallen gravely sick while working abroads and is extremely depressed as well, so she refuses treatment; when Marco finally finds her, Anna changes her mind and accepts to be operated on, which saves her life. The WorldMasterpieceTheater series based on this story keeps this plot point as well.]]
* The title character of Banana Yoshimoto's novel ''Goodbye, Tsugumi''. Young Tsugumi Yamamoto been ill all of her life, but still tries to live the rest at her fullest and keep interacting with those around her - specially the protagonist, her cousin Maria Shirakawa.
* There are three in the ''Literature/WhatKatyDid'' novels (plus an IllBoy in later books):
** Katy's cousin and CoolBigSis Helen is confined to her bed, and she's described as "a cripple". She's still a sweet and kind person whom Katy adores.
** In a manner similar to Jill from ''Jack and Jill'', Katy has an accident (this time she falls from a swing) and severely damages her back, thus spending the rest of the book in treatment. She's still not fully recovered in the second book.
** Amy in ''What Katy did Next'' becomes very sick while travelling around.
* [[spoiler:Julia Valerian]] of ''Literature/TheMarkOfTheLion'' spends the second book dying of an [[TheDiseaseThatShallNotBeNamed ambiguous sexually transmitted disease]], too [[RichesToRags penniless]] to even get it properly diagnosed, let alone treated before it is too far gone. Given her promiscuous, careless, and selfish behavior in the first book, when her plight is discovered, some characters see her as someone to be pitied; others think she’s getting her just desserts.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* Captain Jushiro Ukitake from ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' may fit this trope. He's been suffering from tuberculosis all his life, which makes him spew blood if he exerts himself too much, turned his hair white, and causes him to spend most of his time in bed. (Although since he's over two thousand years old, it's obvious he isn't dying from it... Unless he's dying ''very, very slowly'').
* Oddly enough, Mai Tokiha's brother Takumi from ''Anime/{{Mai-HiME}}'' and ''Anime/{{Mai-Otome}}'' manages to fit this trope while also being a domestic type (at least in the former show), and is inordinately fond of his older sibling.
* ''ThePrinceOfTennis'' has Rikkaidai captain Seiichi Yukimura. Ironically, his slender frame and long hair [[{{Bishonen}} give Yukimura an almost feminine outlook]]. [[spoiler: And when he gets better, he's revealed to be [[YamatoNadeshiko the gentlest, politest and more softspoken person]] outside of the courts... and a KnightTemplar MagnificentBastard [[BewareTheNiceOnes inside of them]].]]
** A further subversion is that Yukimura does in fact have a specific illness (Guillain-Barré syndrome, a disease of the nervous syndrome) which led to some fan complaints after [[spoiler:he recovered, [[YouFailYourMedicalBoardsForever because this condition is incurable.]]]]
*** Handwaved in an author's note, apparently: he does ''not'' suffer from Guillain-Barré, but from a similar illness... which is not mentioned.
** And his IllBoy condition is spoofed ''mercilessly'' in the [[FunSize Chibi episodes]], where he collapses and dies every five seconds much to Sanada's despair. [[SayMyName "YUKIMURAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!"]], indeed.
* Jun Misugi from ''CaptainTsubasa'', forced to withdraw from soccer because he's got a weak heart. [[spoiler: He ''partially'' gets better later. [[HesBack He can play again]] after an operation, but [[FragileSpeedster is frequently plagued by stamina problems]] and takes [[TheStrategist a strategist and Smart Guy role]] instead.]]
* Rosette Christopher's brother Joshua in ''ChronoCrusade'' was plagued by constant seizures when he was a child -- made even more frustrating by the fact that they came alongside [[HealingHands healing abilities]] that were completely ineffective on himself. It's this that drove him to accept Chrono's horns from Aion, completely unaware that [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity they would drive him completely insane.]]
* Prayer Reverie of ''[[Manga/MobileSuitGundamSEEDAstray Gundam SEED X Astray]]'', who'd almost count as a LittlestCancerPatient if he weren't capable of hopping into a HumongousMecha and kicking ass.
* Hayate Gekko from ''{{Naruto}}'', who looks pale and sickly and has a huge IncurableCoughOfDeath. [[spoiler: Again, he died, but his illness isn't the cause. [[HeKnowsTooMuch He heard the plans of Orochimaru and the Sunagakure people]] and paid for it.]]
** A villainous example is Kimimaro Kaguya from the Sound Five. It's implied to be [[IncurableCoughOfDeath tuberculosis or something similar]], as he coughs a lot and has a very shortened lifespan.
** [[spoiler:Itachi, afflicted ith an unspecified illness that gives him BloodFromTheMouth]].
* Played with in ''UFORoboGrendizer''. Duke Fleed/Daisuke Umon is an Ill Boy [[spoiler: who's actually dying of radiation poisoning]]... and the ''lead character''
* An ill ''baby'' boy is Ivan Whisky aka Cyborg 001 from ''{{Cyborg 009}}''. [[spoiler: His enhancements somewhat cure or slowen his illness, but he's now trapped in the body of a baby forever. On the other hand, he's now a ''very'' powerful psychic.]]
* [[spoiler: Akira Sohma, Akito's father]] in FruitsBasket. He always was frail [[spoiler: due to being the God of the Zodiac (as it's mentioned above)]], and by the time the series starts [[spoiler: he's been dead for years. His daughter Akito inherits said illness.]]
* ''SailorMoon S''
** Luna's sort-of temporary love interest in the movie (and in a side-story of the manga) was an ill boy HotScientist named Kakeru Ohzora. The MacGuffin of the movie (a crystal belonging to the BigBad, Princess Kaguya), which is in his possession, saps his LifeEnergy away as the movie passes - he starts relatively healthy, then starts to cough and later is weakened and bedridden. [[spoiler: He gets better]]
** Mamoru Chiba spent the last part of the Super S season as an ill boy as [[spoiler: the Dead Moon Circus takes over ther Earth more and more, which causes him great physical pain and weakness since, as Prince Endymion, he's the equivalent of SailorEarth. When the Circus is banished away, he gets better]].
* The ''IkkiTousen'' manga has [[spoiler: Kakuka from Kyoushou High's PowerTrio, who is healthy in the anime.]] Also, [[spoiler: Ryoumou's UnluckyChildhoodFriend Teifu]] is a ''crippled AND blind'' boy.
* Kenneth "Ken" Robbins from ''KaleidoStar''. His dream was to participate in the Kaleido Stage as one of the acrobats, but since he got a weak heart, he mostly does staff job. Later in the series, he does some acting as well, but not with any life-risking acrobacies.
* Subverted in ''CodeGeass R2''. Lelouch's opponent and later ally Li Xingke has an IncurableCoughOfDeath and might not live for long, but remains an excellent pilot and strategist. [[spoiler: He makes it to the end of the series, but it's hinted that he may have passed away after the Zero Requiem.]]
* ''The08thMSTeam'' has Ghinias Saharin as an ''Ill'' ''MadScientist''. It's not mentioned what he has, but considering his sympthoms, a popular {{fanon}} theory is that he has [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hepatolenticular_degeneration Wilson's disease]].
* Another adult ill boy is Kenshin's BigBrotherMentor Takasugi Shinsaku, from the RurouniKenshin ''Tsukiokuhen'' OAV. Based on the RealLife samurai of the same name, who ''also'' was an ill boy. Both were affected with tuberculosis. [[spoiler: Neither the real nor the fictional Takasugi lived enough to see the beginning of the Meiji restoration.]]
* Romeo's commoner friend Petruccio from ''RomeoXJuliet'', afflicted with what's all but stated to be turberculosis. [[spoiler: He dies in Romeo's arms in the same episode he's introduced. ]]
* In ''Anime/AfterWarGundamX'' we have [[spoiler: Caris Nautilus]], a WellIntentionedExtremist who made a sort-of DealWithTheDevil to [[spoiler: become an artificial Newtype, including going through horrible experiments that give him massive PsychicPowers but completely warp his mind and body]]. It goes really, ''really'' bad for him.
* [[NoNameGiven Tomokane's older brother]] in ''Manga/GAGeijutsukaArtDesignClass''. He apparently spent more time in the nurse's office than his own classroom, to the level that teachers fear his attendance would be the major obstacle in college admissions. He and his {{Bokukko}} younger sister make an ([[SiblingRivalry uncordial]]) example of SiblingYinYang.
** He also [[ExploitedTrope exploits]] this trope to avoid punishment from, say, mentally bullying his sister as he's often seen to be too frail to be physically punished.
* Aslan Battour in the {{backstory}} arc of ''Manga/KazeToKiNoUta'' ([[spoiler:in the main timeline he's [[PosthumousCharacter already dead]]]]) seems to be a deliberate male version of the werstern "consumptive heroine" archetype; a young, [[{{bishonen}} pretty]] 19th century French [[BlueBlood aristocrat]] suffering from [[VictorianNovelDisease tuberculosis]].
* Subverted and parodied mercilessly by the manga-only character of Densuke in ''[[RanmaOneHalf Ranma 1/2]]''. He is a sickly, bedridden boy who muses that he will die by the time the last persimmon falls from the tree outside his window... cue female Ranma coming by with a huge sack to pick all the persimmons herself. Densuke's illness is never specified, however, he is relatively healthy (if abnormally weak) and all it would take to cure him is a single dose of a powdered medicine. He refuses to take it, though, unless [[IntimateHealing delivered mouth-to-mouth by a pretty nurse]].
** Parodied earlier in both the Manga and the anime by the "ill boy" who insisted on keeping Genma (in his Panda form) as a pet. It turns out he isn't sick, just lazy (and spoiled.)
* ''Manga/DetectiveConan''
** [[{{Dojikko}} Eisuke Hondou]]'s important [[{{Backstory}} backstories]] were all when he was hospitalized; first due to leukuemia and then due to accident. In the first case, he was saved due to his older sister's marrow donation, [[spoiler: which changed his blood type and tipped Conan/Shinichi off in regards to said sister's own identity and role.]]
** [[spoiler: Seiji Asou]] from the [[spoiler: Moonlight Sonata]] case used to be this as a young boy. In fact, when he was hospitalised in Tokyo, his family (including his father, a famous pianist) was killed in strange circumstances, related to the authorities from the island he grew up in and the shady dealings they had with his dad. For the rest of the story, see [[spoiler:HarmlessLadyDisguise]].
** Also voiced by Creator/AiOrikasa as the previous example: [[ChildProdigy Hiroki Sawada]] of the NonSerialMovie ''The Phantom of Baker Street'' -- but [[InformedFlaw not at all related to the plot]]. [[spoiler: And that's not [[IntelligenceEqualsIsolation what kil]][[DrivenToSuicide led him]], either.]]
* Yoite of ''NabariNoOu''. There's a huge reason for it: [[spoiler: his fighting technique, the Kira, [[CastFromLifespan has horrible effects on his body]], both robbing Yoite of his senses and causing his IncurableCoughOfDeath.]]
* [[spoiler: Lasse Aeon]] from ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundam00 Gundam 00]]'' was healthy in the first season, but in the second one he had quite the IncurableCoughOfDeath. It's apparently a consequence of [[spoiler: his battle with Alejandro Corner.]]
* ''DennouCoil'', which seems to enjoy gender-flipping a number of traditional shonen anime roles, has a sick boy in the form of Harakawa Kenichi aka "Haraken." He suffers from fainting spells and some kind of poorly-defined heart flutter that [[spoiler: may or may not have to do with his investigations into the mysterious Illegals.]]
* ''AxisPowersHetalia'':
** England takes up the role briefly in the episodes featuring TheGrimReaper.
** Spain, when his economy is in a ''terrible'' state and he gets a cold because of it.
** According to WordOfGod, Austria spent some years in a wheelchair. It's not explained ''when'' this happened, but {{fanon}} speculates that it may have taken place either after the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire or right after WorldWarII.
** The {{Hetalia Bloodbath 2011}} brings another one: [[spoiler: the pre-teen Holy Roman Empire, afflicted with [[IncurableCoughOfDeath a dangerous cough]] and BloodFromTheMouth]].
* Dr. Kuro Hazama aka Manga/BlackJack, thanks to [[LandMineGoesClick the hidden field mine that went BOOM on him and his mom]], killing Mrs. Hazama and severely injuring him. Of coruse, he also attends many ill boys and girls as well; in fact, regular character Sharaku was introduced as one in the newest series, since he and his sister Wakou join the cast after BJ has to operate on him in the first episode.
* Suzu's best friend Seishuu in ''TheTwelveKingdoms'' got a head injury as a little child, in the same incident with monsters that got his mother killed. As a consecquence, he sustained brain damage and suffers constant headaches. [[spoiler: He later [[HeroicRROD goes blind as a side-effect]], which gets him killed when he cannot see a carriage going towards him and gets hit point-blank.]]
* Masataka's little brother Mitsugu from ''SakuraGari''. He was born with a weak heart, barely survived Spanish influenza in the past, and in-series he gets pneumonia. [[ButtMonkey Ouch.]]
* Kyousuke Kamijou from ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' was a talented violinist involved in an accident, thus we meet him in the hospital and see that not only his arm was injured to the point that he won't be able to play anymore, but he must go through painful therapy to regain use of his legs. The manga goes further by [[GoodScarsEvilScars directly showing the horrible scars on his arms.]] [[spoiler: Sayaka, Madoka's best friend who fancies Kamijou, becomes a MagicalGirl and uses her wish to heal him so he can play again. Too bad that, in this particular world, making a SelflessWish is ''not'' a good thing.]]
* Sho from ''TheBorrowerArrietty''. He tells Arrietty he has always been ill and can't play with other kids. The reason he is currently staying at his aunt's place is because he is getting an operation on his heart.
* ''[[HoshizoraEKakaruHashi Hoshizora e Kakaru Hashi]]'' has two of these: one is the protagonist's little brother and the other a random village kid.
* Friederich [[spoiler: Brandel]] from ''HonooNoAlpenRose'' [[spoiler: aka Jeudi's DisappearedDad. In a subversion, a good part of his horrible health comes as a consequence of a terrible accident he was involved into... and he ''dies'' of it, right after having been reunited with Jeudi.]]
* Michio Yuki from ''{{Manga/MW}}''. Not only the titular chemical warfare turned him into an asshole beyond redemption, but also gives him occasional headaches, getting hospitalized at one point, and only a few years left to live.
* Yayoi from ''{{Loveless}}'', which seems to be the result of severe athsma.
* ''HeartcatchPrettyCure'' has a very interesting case -- Itsuki Myoudouin's older twin brother Satsuki is a case of Ill Boy ''and'' a HeirToTheDojo. With him sick, Itsuki's determined to take over their grandfather's dojo, leading her to become a WholesomeCrossdresser because she thinks she won't be taken seriously otherwise. It isn't until halfway through the series that Satsuki goes through an operation and is cured (though it's a pretty risky surgery that could've potentially killed him), leading to Itsuki to start abandoning her role, openly embrace her love for more girlish things and be the [[SixthRanger Third Precure]].
* Three male characters in ''{{Another}}'' have this. Our protagonist Kouichi Sakakibara has pneumothorax ([[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pneumothorax collapsed lung]]),[[spoiler:and he's hospitalized due to it for almost a month at the start of the story, making him miss his first day at [[NewTransferStudent his new school]] and thus missing several details about what will go on]]; Ikuo Takabayashi has [[HeartTrauma a heart condition]] [[spoiler:[[KilledOffForReal and it takes away his life]]]], and Daisuke Wakui is asthmatic.
* [[spoiler: Coach Jin Munakata]] from ''Manga/AimForTheAce''. We know what he has: [[spoiler: leukemia]]. [[spoiler: And unlike others, he actually ''dies''.]]
* Nikaidou from ''Manga/SangatsuNoLion''. He has an unspecified illness that often manifests in the form of anemia. It's frequently mentioned by members of the cast, and is something of a minor sub-plot involving him.
* In {{Bokurano}}, [[BigBrotherMentor Kunihiko Moji]]'s best friend Nagi is an ill boy with a weak heart and is hospitalised when the plot rolls in. [[spoiler: Moji, who has signed up to pilot a HumongousMecha PoweredByAForsakenChild, wants his own heart to be harvested and given to Nagi for a transplant once he kicks it. In the manga, this is fulfilled and Nagi gets better; however, in the anime Nagi dies during Moji's battle.]]

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[[folder:Literature]]
* Tiny Tim in ''Literature/AChristmasCarol'', practically prototypical with both his weak health and his unability to walk without his crutch.
* Smike in ''[[Creator/CharlesDickens Nicholas Nickleby]]'' eventually dies of tuberculosis, although the disease is never explicitly named.
* Holden Caulfield from ''Literature/TheCatcherInTheRye'', who actually has tuberculosis.
* ''ASongOfIceAndFire'':
** While Robert Arryn is indeed ill, he subverts what you'd expect from the usual IllBoy [[KidsAreCruel quite]] [[SpoiledBrat completely.]]. Blame it on [[MyBelovedSmother his terribly overprotective mom]], huh.
** Bran Stark, severely crippled after being thrown off a balcony. And then he became a GeniusCripple and WaifProphet.
* Colin Craven of ''TheSecretGarden'', who isn't actually ill, but is weak and gets sick a lot from spending all his time shut up in his room, never leaving his bed and having hysterical tantrums.
* "The Boy" in ''Literature/TheBorrowers'', to whom Sho of ''TheBorrowerArrietty'' is based on, had rheumatic fever -- which, up to this day, was still pretty dangerous, as it causes inflammation... of the ''cardiac muscles''.
* Big Eyes [[spoiler:(AKA He-Who-Hunts-With-Rose-Cub)]] in Marti Steussy's ''Forest of the Night'': Although not sickly, ''per se'', he has a congenital disability that makes hunting difficult for him. And despite his [[GeniusCripple considerable intelligence]], this means that the rest of his [[IntelligentGerbil species]] is [[BlueAndOrangeMorality fully willing to let him starve to death]]. [[spoiler:That's ''not'' what [[TearJerker gets the poor little guy in the end]], though. ''[[WouldHurtAChild Damn your hide]]'', [[MeaningfulName Killer]].]]
* Tony Makarios from ''[[HisDarkMaterials The Golden Compass]]''. His "illness" was that [[spoiler: he had been forcibly separated from his daemon]].
* Callie's little brother Sam in ''Literature/{{Cut}}'' is a little cutie who has a severe case of asthma.
* The main character of Donna Jo Napoli's "Breath"--subverted in that he doesn't really act the part, as he is very active throughout the story. (The epilogue to the story later explains that he has cystic fibrosis, and the story occurs during a time when nobody knew what that was, and it was a one-way ticket to an early and painful death.)
* Selma Lagerlof's ''Thy Soul Shall Bear Witness!'' has, aside from Ill Girl Edith, [[spoiler: the main character David Holm, who has tuberculosis. (In fact, he's to blame for Edith being an Ill Girl). He dies of his IncurableCoughOfDeath and then his soul is forcibly bound to the Death Cart as [[BreakTheHaughty punishment for being an asshole]]. In the end, however, he's BackFromTheDead, stops his BrokenBird wife [[KillTheCutie from killing herself]] [[OffingTheOffspring and their kids]] and [[CharacterDevelopment becomes a much kinder and humbler person]].]]
** Also [[spoiler: David's younger brother Bernard, who also led an astray life and is dying of tuberculosis in prison, lamenting how he couldn't fulfill a promise that he made to a child. David, as the Death Cart Rider, promises to fill that vow and helps Bernard to die in peace.]]
* ''Literature/TheChangeover'': Jacko is being preyed upon by a sort of energy vampire, which prompts magical action on the part of his older sister.
* Linton Heathcliff of ''Literature/WutheringHeights'' is a cowardly, emotionally manipulative SpoiledBrat Ill Boy who constantly uses his illness to get what he wants, or at least to make other people miserable.
* As mentioned above, while Janet Pecq from ''Jack and Jill'' suffered almost crippling damage to her back, her boyfriend Jack Minot got severe wounds to his right leg. his injuries aren't ''as'' bad as Jill's, but he also must go through lots of therapy and CharacterDevelopment.
** Jack's BigBrotherMentor Ed is slightly delicate, but nothing too big. [[spoiler: But all of a sudden, towards the end of the book Ed gets so sick that [[TooGoodForHisSinfulEarth he]] ''[[TooGoodForHisSinfulEarth dies]]'', and poor Jack suffers a HUGE HeroicBSOD when this happens.]]
* The plot of ''Literature/{{Papelucho}} en la Clínica'' is kickstarted when Papelucho befriends Casimiro alias "Casi", a LonelyRichKid who's about to be operated on. They switch places for a prank, [[spoiler: then Papelucho is operated instead by mistake and a scared Casimiro goes home to tell his dad about it]]. And halfway through the book, [[spoiler: Casimiro has a relapse in his illness and is operated for real.]]
* ''Literature/WhatKatyDid'' gives us Phil, Katy's [[TheOneGuy only brother]], in the fourth book (''Clover''). He and his sister Clover go to Colorado so he can properly recover.
[[/folder]]