History Main / FatalAttractor

* ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'': Although the most common flaw in Rusty Venture's love interests is [[AllLoveIsUnrequited a complete lack of interest in him]], some women are crazy enough to reciprocate his feelings. None of them come across like the best examples of mental stability, and one of them is actually screwed-up to the point she's hauled off in handcuffs, [[CrazyCatLady treats cats like her children]], and ends up in an insane asylum.

* More superheroes than can really even be counted. The lucky ones (Franchise/{{Superman}}, Franchise/SpiderMan, etc.) at least have a single canonical love interest, but most of them just end up in an endless revolving door of doomed relationships.
** ComicBook/{{Daredevil}} is the king of this trope. He's had several girlfriends who have been insane (Milla Donovan) or misguided or evil (Lady Deathstrike, Typhoid Mary, Echo).

** ComicBook/{{Batman}}, who is generally attracted to Anti-Heroines if not outright villains. His most enduring loves are [[DaddysLittleVillain Talia Al Ghul]] and [[ClassyCatBurglar Catwoman]]. His penchant for bad girls once convinced him that his girl of the week was evil due to her being a bit too vanilla.
** Nico Minoru of ''ComicBook/{{Runaways}}''. Her first boyfriend turned out to be TheMole and [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy she ended things with her second boyfriend because he fell for another girl.]] She also made out with a vampire at one point.
** Tony Stark of ''ComicBook/IronMan'' fame. To put things in perspective, his ''best'' romantic relationships have been with Pepper Potts-Hogan (who was married to his best friend most of the time) and with Rumiko Fujikawa, who jerked him around for her own amusement and cheated on him with one of his crazier enemies, Tiberius Stone, before getting killed by a supervillain. Apart from them, Tony has dated supervillains (Madame Masque), plants hired by his enemies to conduct psychological warfare against him (Indres Moomji), other businessmen/women who were only trying to take advantage of him (Sunset Bain, arguably Tiberius Stone), one night stands who may arguably have date-raped him (Heather), and creepy possessive stalkers who tried to kill him (Kathy Dare, the Living Armor).
* The title character from ''ComicBook/MsTree''. Most of Michael's boyfriends since the death of her husband have turned out to be killers.
* From what we see of his various exes ([[TimeAbyss and he's had several]]), Morpheus from ''ComicBook/TheSandman1989'' is ''really'' bad at relationships. In fairness, just about all of them are just as much due to his own flaws as his lovers'; being an AnthropomorphicPersonification of dreams and fantasies, Morpheus is really adept at the 'seducing' part, but his {{pride}} and sense of [[MarriedToTheJob duty]] means he's downright rotten at working to keep a relationship going.

* In ''Series/ScreamTVSeries'', Emma just has worse luck in love - 1. Will, [[spoiler:whose [[TheirFirstTime first time]] with her was on a dare]], 2. Kieran, [[spoiler:who turned out to be the season 1 accomplice and season 2 killer]], and 3. Alex [[spoiler:a.k.a. Tom, who murdered a whole bunch of people ''for'' Emma because he's in love with her, thinking [[NotSoDifferentRemark they're the same]]]].

* From what we see of his various exes ([[TimeAbyss and he's had several]]), Morpheus from ''ComicBook/TheSandman1989'' is ''really'' bad at relationships. In fairness, just about all of them are just as much due to his own flaws as his lovers': Being an AnthropomorphicPersonification of dreams and fantasies Morpheus is really adept at the 'seducing' part, but his {{pride}} and sense of [[MarriedToTheJob duty]] means he's downright rotten at working to keep a relationship going.

* In ''Literature/TheUnexploredSummonBloodSign'', poor Kyousuke broke up with the uber-yandere, a [[EldritchAbomination goddess/cosmic principle]] called the White Queen, when [[FirstLove he was thirteen]]. He hasn't dated since, partly because every girl who's interested in him is an assassin, or unhealthily obsessed with playing out blood-related incest fantasies, or brainwashed by the White Queen's InfectiousInsanity, etc. The mundane explanation for this is that most of the girls Kyousuke meets are summoners, and summoners by nature are abnormal. The mystical explanation is that the White Queen [[WomanScorned warped his fate]] somehow, perhaps without even meaning to. [[TheCorruption She has that effect on people.]]

** Spike doesn't fare much better; his first love (Cecily aka Halfrek) was a stuck-up Victorian lady, who either became or was all along a vengeance demon. His second love was his MadOracle vampire sire Drusilla, who cheated on him constantly for over a century then dumped him once she foresaw his incoming infatuation with Buffy. Then he shacked up with newly-turned-vampire Harmony, whom he never cared much for and was mostly just a shallow fling. Then he got in with a [[spoiler: newly-resurrected and suicidally-depressed Buffy.]] In the comics, Xander calls him out for seeking out only doomed relationships thanks to his InferioritySuperiorityComplex and pushes him towards a much healthier relationship with a more well-adjusted Buffy.

* One of the principal tropes of ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}''. Jerry, George, and Elaine have all routinely dated people only to break up with them over one minor character flaw or another.

* [[ComicStrip/{{Garfield}} Jon]] before he started going steady with Liz was like this with pretty much ANY girl he dated.

-->'''Tucker''': Church, the more important question here is: do you know any girls who aren't complete bitches, that won't sleep with me?
-->'''Church/Epsilon''': Sorry, dude. That seems to be all I have in my life.

* In ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'', the sanest girl who's ever been interested in Adrien (other than Marinette) once [[ClingyJealousGirl impulsively cut down a tree]] because she saw someone kissing him on the cheek. You can imagine what the ''rest'' are like, which has led to accusations that the writers are misogynistic. Unusually for the trope, Adrien is no stranger to jealousy himself.

* Used in ''Manga/Reborn2004'', where Longchamp Naito has a different girlfriend in every appearance. Played with in the sense that they're all hideous, so it's not like the writers are even pretending that they have a chance.
* Yuuichi Aizawa of ''VisualNovel/{{Kanon}}'' is often joked to attract girls with psychological problems or on the verge of death. The one normal girl in his harem? [[spoiler: Her mother gets hit by a car.]]

* ''Manga/SakuraGari'': Every one of Souma's lovers is shown to have horrible endings. He even notices and mentions it himself. Of course, this doesn't stop him from continuing to take lovers.

* Shinji from ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion''. This being a CrapsackWorld filled with DysfunctionJunction, it's not unexpected but Shinji seems to be the only one attracted to actually evil non-humans. Rei turns out to be a clone of his mom and Lilith and the key to jumpstarting the Apocalypse. Kaworu is actually Tabris, an angel. [[BrokenBird Asuka's]] the most normal and that's saying a lot.
* ''Manga/SeraphOfTheEnd'': Guren has Mahiru as a girlfriend who just so happens to [[{{Yandere}} be willing to do anything up to including betrayal, researching cursed weapons, putting innocent people's lives in danger, and becoming a demon in order to be with Guren]].
* ''Manga/TokyoGhoul'': Sasaki/Kaneki seems to have a knack for attracting admirers of the VillainousCrush variety — Tsukiyama, Nico, Roma, and Eto are all fascinated with him to one degree or another.
** And now Mutsuki who shows increasing worrying destructive behaviors and mental instability towards himself and others makes it explicitly known that he has feelings for Sasaki/Kaneki.
** Mutsuki is the unfortunate target of a crush by [[StalkerWithACrush Saeki/Torso]] and Ayu/Nutcracker expresses attraction to him at one point via licking and kissing his face when she was in the process of trying to sell him into slavery.
* ''Anime/SchoolDays'': In the anime, Makoto is in a PsychoticLoveTriangle and is TheCasanova to boot and ends up paying for it at the hands of his love interests.
* ''Manga/KurenaiSanshiro'': Whenever the titular character meets a GirlOfTheWeek, the girl gets in trouble or already was knee-deep in a problem. [[spoiler: At least one of them dies.]]
* ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'': Guts has gotten a lot of unwanted sexual attention over the course of his life. Like Casca, he got bought as a SexSlave as a child when a pedophiliac mercenary named Donovan noticed him and asked Gambino — Guts' adoptive father — if he could have him for a night (Guts killed Donovan the next day as revenge for that, by the way). Things got worse for Guts as Griffith became attracted to him and refused to let him go and went crazy when Guts eventually left. There's also Slan, the sole female member of the Godhand, who lusted after TheHero the moment she met him and even pursued him after the Eclipse, dragging him into a PocketDimension where she could molest him. And even Rosine, who seemed to be strictly into her friend Jill, flirted with him and called him hunky before attempting to kill him. Also, Farnese was attracted to the sight of his scarred muscular torso after giving him lashes and had repressed sexual desire for him which was released and exacerbated upon after a demon from the group following Guts possessed her and made her undress and act overtly sexual towards him in an ominous manner. Before she changed for the better she was also a pyromaniac, who got off from torturing people with fire.

* Shinobu Miyake in ''Manga/UruseiYatsura'' has such awful luck with guys she even goes to her local {{miko}} to ask if she's under some kind of curse at one point. Her FirstLove was with her childhood friend, Ataru Moroboshi, who was a [[LoveableSexManiac raging lech]] and UnluckyEverydude who [[AccidentalMarriage accidentally betrothed himself]] to [[ CuteMonsterGirl a beautiful alien princess]]. Then she spent months chasing the hand of handsome, wealthy conglomerate heir Shutaro Mendo, only to finally realize he had no feelings for her and [[HandsomeLech he was as big of a pervert as Ataru under a thin veneer of charm]]. She was intermittently stalked by a [[DumbMuscle strong but incredibly stupid]] and [[{{Gonk}} ugly]] teen delinquent, and once met a handsome farm boy who thought he was in love with her, but was actually thinking of his new pet calf. Finally, she found reciprocal love in Inaba, a genuinely nice, courteous and respectful guy... who just happens to run around in a rabbit suit and lives in another dimension.

* Dharkon in ''[[https://incorrectsmashbrosquotes.tumblr.com Incorrect Smash Bros Quotes]]'' is either this or really, ''really'' good at making terrible decisions. His exes consist of ''[[Franchise/CthulhuMythos several Lovecraftian horrors]]'', the last of whom--[[GodOfEvil Nyarlathotep]]--[[PsychoExBoyfriend phone stalks him]] and refuses to accept the breakup. His current boyfriend, Galeem, [[{{Jerkass}} isn't]] [[HairTriggerTemper much]] [[BelligerentSexualTension better]].

* ''Series/{{Smallville}}'' plays this to ridiculous levels.
** [[Franchise/{{Superman}} Clark Kent]] is, of course, a textbook example of DoomMagnet, as [[DesignatedVictim Chloe]] and [[DamselScrappy Lana]] could attest, and they both have been attracted to him for years. Clark himself may become a danger whenever he comes in contact with red kryptonite, or possessed, or mind-controlled. For short term LoveInterests, Kyla turns out to be a [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent shapeshifter]] who accidentally killed the VictimOfTheWeek and [[VillainTeleportation Alicia]] tried to kill Lana, [[TheScrappy not that anyone wanted Clark to stop her doing just that]].
** Chloe has very little luck with love, even not counting [[ObliviousToLove Clark]]. Sean turned out to be a murderous psycho, Justin turned out to be a murderous psycho, Ian turned out to be a murderous psycho, [[spoiler: Davis]] [[OverlyLongGag turned out to be a murderous psycho]], and [[spoiler:the marriage between Jimmy and her [[TearJerker/{{Smallville}} ended with tears]]]].
** Lana also attracted a bunch of [[MonsterOfTheWeek freaks of the week]]. That's not even getting into four out of her five long term relationships on the show being villains.
** Lex Luthor was married three times on the show with all three wives trying to kill him in the end.
* Harry Kim, from ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'', who is described in the quote at the top of the page, fairly accurately sums up this trope. And for those of you who were wondering, the person being discussed in that conversation turned out to be an alien saboteur who was trying to start an interstellar war. Poor Harry just can't catch a break in the romantic department.

* Ah, the poor characters on ''Series/{{NCIS}}''. Somebody's new girl/boyfriend turning out to be evil happens just about once a season, to the point that fans instantly suspect anyone's new love interest. There was an undercover Mossad agent, an identity thief, two serial killers, the daughter of an international arms dealer, and a ''freaking South African assassin.'' [=McGee=] ends up having the aforementioned assassin try to kill him, and she ends up shot and dying in his arms, prompting him to mumble, "I swear I'm joining a monastery." Tony has sexual tension with (probably over) half the female killers on the show. Abby's ex-boyfriend stalked her and intended to kill her and make it look like a suicide. Even ''Ducky'' got in on the action by dating a serial killer. It makes Gibbs look kinda normal, though he's gone out with a few (yes, literal) killers over the course of the show.
* Daniel Jackson of ''Series/StargateSG1'' only ever seems to get a reprieve from this when his CartwrightCurse kicks in. Vala Mal Doran, the lecherous, amoral starship thief whom he only ever had a committed relationship with in an alternate universe, was actually a step ''up'' for him.
** And, considering her husbands included [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking a religious zealot bent on utter domination of the galaxy and a cook who couldn't make pie]], he was kind of a step up for her too.
* Justin in ''Series/WizardsOfWaverlyPlace''. First there was the werewolf, then there was the vampire, then the angel of darkness masquerading as a guardian angel [[spoiler: ([[BecomingTheMask at first]])]]...
* ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'': Sam Winchester. His love interests have included a kitsune, a werewolf, a demon (twice!) and multiple arachne (they were turned into monsters after Sam slept with them but ''still''). Even girls he simply befriends turn out to be monsters or evil (like Meg or Ava). In [[Recap/SupernaturalS04E14SexAndViolence "Sex and Violence"]], Dean uses this trope to deduce that the [[HospitalHottie doctor]] Sam is sexing up is the current monster of the week. [[spoiler:Surprisingly, he's wrong. The siren is actually the male cop whom Dean has been bonding with]].
** Dean has attracted some female demons as well, the most dangerous being perhaps Abaddon. Also, in a later season, he attracts the Darkness, also known by the name Amara, who is a supremely powerful primordial entity who has existed since before the beginning of time, predating both God and Death, who were of similar age.
* Series/JonathanCreek and his boss Adam Klaus both have a tendency to date girls who end up being that episode's murderer.
* One of the principal tropes of ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}''. Jerry, George, and Elaine have all routinely dated people only to break up with them over one minor character flaw or another.
* Oliver Queen from ''Series/{{Arrow}}'' has this on top of his CartwrightCurse. Helena Bertinelli, he mentored until she JumpedOffTheSlipperySlope and Oliver had to put her in jail. Sara Lance is a member of the League of Assassins, who while an ally, is much more ruthless than he. Isabel Rochev turned out to be the Ravager and working with Slade. Lampshaded in season 3
-->'''Oliver:''' Last girlfriend? She's in the League of Assassins. My girlfriend before that shot my girlfriend before that. Not exactly a catch at the moment.

* In ''Series/TheSentinel'' both Jim and Blair have attracted unsuitable women-- thieves, assassins, stalkers, serial killers, and general nutcases. Fanfic writers have Flanderized this.
* ''Series/{{Gotham}}'': Jim unintentionally attracts a laundry list of admirers, male and female, most of whom are AxCrazy. At last count, they include: Penguin; Nygma; Barbara; Sionis; and last but not least Theo Galavan who genuinely planned to have Jim at his side when he took over Gotham but due to Jim's refusal to bend to him finally orders him killed.
* ''Series/RizzoliAndIsles'': Jane unfortunately seems to be a psycho magnet, in that she attracts the attention of SerialKiller Charles Hoyt and a delusional man who kidnaps her while insisting she's his wife.
* In ''Series/ScreamTVSeries'', Emma just has worse luck in love - 1. Will, [[spoiler:whose [[TheirFirstTime first time]] with her was on a dare]], 2. Kieran, [[spoiler:who turned out to be the season 1 accomplice and season 2 killer]], and 3. Alex [[spoiler:a.k.a. Tom, who murdered a whole bunch of people ''for'' Emma because he's in love with her, thinking [[NotSoDifferentRemark they're the same]]]].
* ''Series/{{Psych}}'': Juliet's mother has a really bad track record when it comes to men. Her first and second husbands were a con artist and gambling addict, respectively. She has also dated an embezzler, an alcoholic pickpocket, and a man who sold defective above-ground pools.
* ''Series/TheTribe'' character Bray turns girls yandere. No, we don't mean that the girls were always yandere. We mean that there have been girls in the cast who were perfectly kind and decent (some of them even go on to have healthy relationships with ''other'' boys, later), but the moment they fall for Bray, their sanity goes out the window unless and until they let go of their feelings. Even weirder, Bray is fully aware of this fact; it's why [[InformedLoner he insists on travelling alone]] despite living in an incredibly dangerous WretchedHive. Only [[MarriedToTheJob Amber]] is immune to the effect- and it's implied she's deliberately holding it back- which is [[SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan a big reason]] why [[TrueLoveIsExceptional they get married]].

[[folder:Magazines]]
* Parodied by ''Website/TheOnion'' [[http://www.theonion.com/content/node/34124 here.]]

[[folder:Newspaper Comics]]
* [[ComicStrip/{{Garfield}} Jon]] before he started going steady with Liz was like this with pretty much ANY girl he dated.
[[/folder]]

* In ''Webcomic/CtrlAltDel'', all of Lucas' ex-girlfriends are crazy or wanted to harm him in some way. It got to the point where he wore a bulletproof vest on his latest date. As for how that one turns out, [[spoiler:it's a loveless relationship where the other party allows him to essentially use her for sex and companionship in the hopes that he'll reciprocate her deeper feelings]], ''and they are both fine with this''.
** Until Lucas DOES reciprocate her feelings and walks in on her taking advantage of the open nature of their relationship... with another man.

* Abby from ''WesternAnimation/{{Grossology}}'' has had the misfortune of falling for ''three'' different supervillains over the course of the show -- V.K. (a JerkJock who planned to infect all of his rivals with a serious case of foot fungus), Lance Boil (back when he was [[IWasQuiteALooker a handsome fellow grossologist]] and not a mad scientist with [[BodyHorror a boil for a head]]), and Chester/Kid Rot (who actually reciprocated, but unfortunately the fact that he was taken over by a SuperpoweredEvilSide [[spoiler:and (seemingly) killed later]] put a damper on that relationship).
* Although the most common flaw in [[WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers Rusty Venture]]'s love interests is [[AllLoveIsUnrequited a complete lack of interest in him]], some women are crazy enough to reciprocate his feelings. None of them come across like the best examples of mental stability, and one of them is actually screwed-up to the point she's hauled off in handcuffs, [[CrazyCatLady treats cats like her children]], and ends up in an insane asylum.

* ''WesternAnimation/GarfieldAndFriends'': Jon's tendency to flirt with any woman with a pulse has led to several instances where the woman in question turns out to be a criminal or someone otherwise trying to take advantage of him (e.g. "The Great Getaway" has him fall for a pickpocket who tries to steal his wallet, and "Rainy Day Dreams" sees him date a woman who uses his attraction to try and sell him insurance). Their schemes usually get foiled by Garfield (either intentionally or accidentally), leading to Jon figuring out the truth by the episode's end.

* Justin in ''Series/WizardsOfWaverlyPlace''. First there was the werewolf, then there was the vampire...

* Neither can Xander from ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', who in addition to his past relationship with Cordelia and his unrequited crush on the title character, always seems to end up with murderous non-humans. (Except for the murderous non-human who transformed into a law-abiding human). FanFic likes to make this a source of constant LampshadeHanging. In the episode [[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS4E9SomethingBlue "Something Blue"]], some careless words by Willow after casting a spell that made herself a RealityWarper turn Xander into a ''literal'' demon magnet.

* ''LightNovel/DenpaTekiNaKanojo'': Juuzawa Juu, a TroubledButCute {{Delinquent|s}} picks the interest of a lot of girls. Only Fujishima Kanako was... sane. The other ones are a SerialKiller StalkerWithACrush [[spoiler: (who killed Fujishima and tried to kill him)]], a ManipulativeBastard, [[spoiler: (who tried to kill him)]] a {{Tsundere}} who proposed him SexForSolace and a girl who claims to be his MagicalGirlfriend. Also, because AllGirlsWantBadBoys and therefore EvilIsCool, TheBully is obsessed with destroying his life. Fortunately, the girl who believes herself a MagicalGirlfriend will protect him, but Juu could not have a relationship with her because she is, obviously, CrazySane and he is AboveTheInfluence.

-->-- ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'', "Drive"

* ''LightNovel/DenpaTekiNaKanojo'': Juuzawa Juu, a TroubledButCute {{Delinquent|s}} picks the interest of a lot of girls. Only Fujishima Kanako was… sane. The other ones are a SerialKiller StalkerWithACrush [[spoiler: (who killed Fujishima and tried to kill him)]], a ManipulativeBastard, [[spoiler: (who tried to kill him)]] a {{Tsundere}} who proposed him SexForSolace and a girl who claims to be his MagicalGirlfriend. Also, because AllGirlsWantBadBoys and therefore EvilIsCool, TheBully is obsessed with destroying his life. Fortunately, the girl who believes herself a MagicalGirlfriend will protect him, but Juu could not have a relationship with her because she is, obviously, CrazySane and he is AboveTheInfluence.

* ''LightNovel/FullMetalPanic'': Sousuke attracted Gauron's [[StalkerWithACrush ''attention'']] without even trying. Unfortunately for Sousuke, Gauron is an AxCrazy PsychoForHire, and a man.

** Comicbook/{{Daredevil}} is the king of this trope. He's had several girlfriends who have been insane (Milla Donovan) or misguided or evil (Lady Deathstrike, Typhoid Mary, Echo).

** Comicbook/{{Batman}}, who is generally attracted to Anti-Heroines if not outright villains. His most enduring loves are [[DaddysLittleVillain Talia Al Ghul]] and [[ClassyCatBurglar Catwoman]]. His penchant for bad girls once convinced him that his girl of the week was evil due to her being a bit too vanilla.

* The title character from ''Comicbook/MsTree''. Most of Michael's boyfriends since the death of her husband have turned out to be killers.
* From what we see of his various exes ([[TimeAbyss and he's had several]]), Morpheus from ''Comicbook/TheSandman'' is ''really'' bad at relationships. In fairness, just about all of them are just as much due to his own flaws as his lovers': Being an AnthropomorphicPersonification of dreams and fantasies Morpheus is really adept at the 'seducing' part, but his {{pride}} and sense of [[MarriedToTheJob duty]] means he's downright rotten at working to keep a relationship going.

* In ''LightNovel/TheUnexploredSummonBloodSign'', poor Kyousuke broke up with the uber-yandere, a [[EldritchAbomination goddess/cosmic principle]] called the White Queen, when [[FirstLove he was thirteen]]. He hasn't dated since, partly because every girl who's interested in him is an assassin, or unhealthily obsessed with playing out blood-related incest fantasies, or brainwashed by the White Queen's InfectiousInsanity, etc. The mundane explanation for this is that most of the girls Kyousuke meets are summoners, and summoners by nature are abnormal. The mystical explanation is that the White Queen [[WomanScorned warped his fate]] somehow, perhaps without even meaning to. [[TheCorruption She has that effect on people.]]

* ''LightNovel/AiNoKusabi'': Riki. Most of the people that want him have very serious issues to work out, and he always ends up paying for it.