History Main / LovingBully

This is generally PlayedForLaughs and won't normally get into serious violence unless the target is MadeOfIron. This sometimes overlaps with DoubleStandardAbuseFemaleOnMale. RomanticizedAbuse and DomesticAbuse are the significantly less innocent {{Sister Trope}}s, and FetishizedAbuser is the DarkerAndEdgier one. Contrast MadLove, a generally comedic trope wherein the one in love cannot figure out that abuse is ''not'' the sign that their beloved returns their affections. Romantic variations of the FairWeatherFoe might ''claim'' they were actually this to manipulate an enemy into getting with them.

* Deconstructed in ''Manga/TrashSkillGacha'': [[{{Yandere}} Ellis Rifeld]], [[TheProtagonist Crest Bahurst]]'s fiancée at the beginning, holds a ''very'' twisted affection for him - she humiliates him regularly, takes her frustrations with her ACupAngst on him just because his sparring partner at the knight academy is the bustier [[TheHero Minuet Mycelin]], and spreads MaliciousSlander to destroy his reputation so nobody would want to approach him. When Crest is set to be exiled to the [Lower World] (an execution in all but name), she offers to save him if he swears to become her slave - and is shocked when he tells her to go screw herself, choosing death over her offer, because he hates her ''that'' much.

* ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'': Calvin does this to Susie from time to time. Hobbes calls him on it but Calvin claims he really does hate her. This is coupled with AuthorAppeal due to how well the characters bounce off each other due to the "weirdness repels" dynamic. Calvin acts weird to get Susie's attention, Susie's repulsed by it, and Calvin takes this as a cue to act even stranger.

* ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'':

** In ''Anime/PokemonTheSeriesXY'', Serena's MirrorUniverse counterpart takes this approach with ShrinkingViolet Alternate!Ash, bullying him for being a crybaby while still clearly enjoying his company.

This is generally PlayedForLaughs and won't normally get into serious violence unless the target is MadeOfIron. This sometimes overlaps with DoubleStandardAbuseFemaleOnMale. RomanticizedAbuse and DomesticAbuse are the significantly less innocent {{Sister Trope}}s, and FetishizedAbuser is the DarkerAndEdgier one. Contrast MadLove, a generally comedic trope wherein the one in love cannot figure out that abuse is ''not'' the sign that their beloved returns their affections.

* ''Manga/UruseiYatsura'': Subverted with Ryoko and Tobimaro. Ryoko has been pranking and tormenting Tobimaro with cruel and dangerous pranks since childhood, yet also claims to be in love with him, usually causing her [[MySisterIsOffLimits brother]], Mendo, to beat up Tobimaro. It's not clear if she's serious about her "love" for him, since she's a notably sadistic BitchInSheepsClothing, has said the same thing about other people her brother dislikes such as [[LovableSexManiac Ataru]], and once said how she [[AsideComment loves Tobimaro... in]] [[{{Sadist}} pain]]. This is further parodied in that despite Tobimaro being consistently and openly terrified of Ryoko, most of the characters in the story [[WrongGenreSavvy thinks it's romantic]].
* ''Manga/VenusPutsFurOnMe'' has its “heroine”, Shirosaki Hana, as a very twisted version of this. Behind closed doors, she's a violent, sadistic jerk to one boy, Nakajima, in particular, and harms him whenever things don't go her way. "Her way", surprisingly, is ''getting gratuitous bullying and public humiliation'', courtesy of ''him'', just so she can be happy. The story implies more than once that her aggressively sadomasochistic tendencies are her way of processing a crush on the boy, with several arcs devoted to her trying to get him out of reach of other girls like her as he is ''her'' toy.

* ''Fanfic/ApprenticeAndPregnant': Firepaw freely admits that he bickers with Laurelpaw because he honestly doesn't know any way of communicating with her.

* {{Deconstruct|ion}}ed in ''Webcomic/BittersweetCandyBowl'': [[BrokenBird Lucy]] constantly torments and abuses Mike, who is both her ButtMonkey and LivingEmotionalCrutch. When she finally manages to confess her feelings to him, Mike angrily rejects her, pointing out that he's already in a LongDistanceRelationship and has no interest in hooking up with his abuser. Matters only get worse when he realizes that several of their friends were [[EveryoneCanSeeIt aware of Lucy's feelings]] and actually ''support'' them getting together... despite not doing anything about the way she treated him.

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[[quoteright:275:[[WesternAnimation/HeyArnold https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/helga_and_arnold.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:275:You sometimes hurt the ones you love.]]

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* ''FanFic/ThePiecesLieWhereTheyFell'': [[spoiler: Diamond Back, as Wind Breaker finds out late in the story.]]

%%* [[JerkJock Kidou]] in the visual novel ''School Festival''.

* Kokichi Oma of ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaV3KillingHarmony'' spends much of his time manipulating, lying to, and messing with his fellow students, with Shuichi, Miu, Keebo, and Himiko being some of his favourite targets, but he doesn't seem to actively ''dislike'' any of them. In fact, the ones he picks on most he also seems oddly fond of - Shuichi is one of the few people he comes to genuinely respect since Shuichi solves the murders and finds the truth behind each case and attempts to "recruit" him to his organisation, he spends a lot of time SlutShaming and insulting Miu while well-aware [[LovableSexManiac she likes being treated that way]], provides her alibi in the second trial and respects her talent as the Ultimate Inventor enough to come to her with several blueprints, and [[CruelToBeKind forces Himiko to confront her repressed emotions]] about [[spoiler: Tenko's death]] and even claims he "loves" her at one point (which Himiko lampshades by commenting a boy will often act mean to a girl he likes).

** In the spinoff ''WesternAnimation/AllGrownUp'', Tommy is being picked on by a girl, with Kimi and Lil suggesting that she's doing it because she likes him. They're wrong, the girl really does hate Tommy [[spoiler:because she had a role in one of his films, but Tommy cut her scene out (mainly for time).]]

* There was an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TotallySpies'' where a boy that used to pick on Clover when they were in grade school asked her out on a movie date because he liked her and wanted to make up for all the crap he put her through. She spends a good chunk of the episode trying to figure out how to get her revenge during the date, until coming to the conclusion that, maybe, he actually means it. [[spoiler: [[SubvertedTrope Right after the movie starts, he pulls another prank on her]], revealing that he never really changed. She dumps her drink on his head and storms out.]]

* ''LightNovel/InfiniteStratos'': {{Downplayed|Trope}} and {{Deconstructed|Trope}} with Houki. While she doesn't go out of her way to terrorize Ichika, he admits sometimes she can be really scary. Over time, Houki admits her time apart from him didn't do her personality any favors; as she believed she used kendo as a way to remember him, but upon beating her opponent so hard to the point of making them cry, she admitted she was only indulging in senseless violence.

* ''LightNovel/TrappedInADatingSimTheWorldOfOtomeGamesIsToughForMobs'': In the AlternateTimeline Web Novel series known as the ''Marie Route'', Leon, who was a JerkWithAHeartOfGold in the first place, is this verbally with Marie, who isn't afraid to hit him back verbally or physically.

* In the lesbian romance film ''Film/LesMeilleures'', when her group is preparing the {{cyberbullying}} of Zina, protagonist Nedjma already can't take her eyes off the photos of Zina from her social media profile. She comes to regret what the group has done to Zina when her feelings for the latter get stronger and the relation starts.

** In the spinoff ''WesternAnimation/AllGrownUp'', Tommy is being picked on by a girl, with Kimi and Lil suggesting that she's doing it because she likes him. It turns out to be a subversion, she really does hate Tommy [[spoiler:because she had a role in one of his films, but Tommy cut her scene out (mainly for time).]]

* A quest in ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'' involves scaring off a girl who's picking on a boy. When you go talk to her, you discover that "If he'd just kiss me, I wouldn't have to beat him up." You can then discover her issues with her parents, who constantly shrug off her attempts to ask for advice about the boy because they're too absorbed in their own business.

* ''WesternAnimation/CraigOfTheCreek'' has a [[DeconstructedTrope deconstructed example]] with [[spoiler:Wildernessa]]. "Breaking the Ice" reveals that she has a crush on [[spoiler:Craig]]. However, her past experiences of being bullied for her love of animals has resulted in her trying to cover it up by insulting his lack of knowledge on the subject, with her possibly seeing it as witty banter, but coming off more harsh due to poor social skills. This comes to a boiling point when [[spoiler:Craig]], finally fed up, [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech calls her out on her hypocritical attitude towards people]], [[FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse considering she's human herself]]. [[JerkassRealization After seeing where her behavior has gotten her]], she later apologizes to him and makes an active effort going forward to try and not constantly tear him down.

* When Lincoln from ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'' tells his sisters that he's being bullied by a girl, they start to {{squee}} and assume she's doing it because she has a crush on him, so they convince Lincoln to ask her out. Subverted when this only results in Lincoln coming home with a black eye. Turns out the girl really ''is'' just a bully. [[spoiler:Double subverted when she then throws [[BeefBandage a raw steak]] through his bedroom window with a piece of paper attached with an apology and her phone number on it. His sisters were right after all! By the end of the episode, he and Ronnie Anne, the bully, are dating.]]

* The main concept of ''Manga/DontToyWithMeMissNagatoro'', with the main character being the target of the titular underclassman's affections, with their initial interactions ending with him ''breaking down in tears''. There's more emphasis on the bullying in the original webcomic, where Nagatoro is a straight-up sadist, while the later serialization tones it down to make to closer to teasing, with her toning it down when he's noticeably enraged.

* Youdou from ''Manga/IBelongToTheBaddestGirlAtSchool'' has had a crush on [[ShrinkingViolet Unoki]] since grade school, but she mostly shows her love through bullying and pulling meanspirited pranks on him. In her case, she doesn't do it because she's struggling to understand or express her feelings for him properly, she's just a sadist who gets off on watching him squirm. Either way, her actions have only made Unoki afraid of her and destroyed any chances of the two of them actually becoming a couple. [[spoiler: She does realise this, but as she admits later, she can't stop herself because she's worried that if she ever moved on or if Unoki ever forgave her, the two of them would no longer have anything keeping them together]].

* This is how Seo acts towards Wakamatsu in ''Manga/MonthlyGirlsNozakiKun''. He noticed she specifically targets him by throwing the ball at his face, stalking him on lunchtime, making him buy her things, and carry her stuff...to then taking him to a diner and buying ''him'' some food and even ''buying him some souvenirs''. Nozaki immediately can tell that she likes him.

* ''ComicStrip/{{Crabgrass}}'': In a [[ValentinesDayEpisode Valentines day-related]] arc starting with [[https://www.gocomics.com/crabgrass/2021/02/16 This comic]], Maxine, the local school bully, seemingly falls in love with Kevin; something Kevin is naturally uncomfortable about. Ultimately subverted however; she gave him the wrong card and is actually in love with another Kevin.

* In ''WebVideo/FriendshipIsWitchcraft'', Diamond Tiara hides her crush for Apple Bloom by bullying her.

* In ''Fanfic/TheWoundsStillBleeding'', 10-year old Kakashi begins picking on her teammate Obito so that Obito will notice her more. Even if it's negative attention, it's still attention to her.

* ''VideoGame/Cyberpunk2077'': During [[GadgeteerGenius Judy Alvarez's]] personal quest, "Pyramid Song", when you two go diving in [[DoomedHometown Laguna Bend]], where Judy grew up, you can find an abandoned doll. Judy will be very suprised, and she will tell [[PlayerCharacter V]] that it used to belong to Jenni Chapman, who Judy had a crush on when she was a kid. She used to steal her doll and hide it, to have an excuse to help her look for it and spend some time with her.

* Kokichi Oma of ''VisualNovel/DanganronpaV3KillingHarmony'' spends much of his time manipulating, lying to and messing with his fellow students, with Shuichi, Miu, Keebo and Himiko being some of his favourite targets, but he doesn't seem to actively ''dislike'' any of them. In fact, the ones he picks on most he also seems oddly fond of - Shuichi is one of the few people he comes to genuinely respect, since Shuichi solves the murders and finds the truth behind each case and attempts to "recruit" him to his organisation, he spends a lot of time SlutShaming and insulting Miu while well-aware [[LovableSexManiac she likes being treated that way]], provides her alibi in the second trial and respects her talent as the Ultimate Inventor enough to come to her with several blueprints, and [[CruelToBeKind forces Himiko to confront her repressed emotions]] about [[spoiler: Tenko's death]] and even claims he "loves" her at one point (which Himiko lampshades by commenting a boy will often act mean to a girl he likes).

* Omocat's ''Pretty Boy'' starts out as this, where the titular character's bully slowly falls love with him. He eventually stops the bullying and becomes a better man.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfJimmyNeutronBoyGenius'': It becomes blatantly obvious early on that Cindy's rivalry with Jimmy is just her attempt to mask and deny her massive crush on him -- something Jimmy himself goes through in regards to her. As the series goes, this gradually fades out as Jimmy and Cindy become closer friends, and by the time of the last episode, they were openly flirting, ''footsie'' and all, which served as great gossip fodder for Libby's talk show segment on the news (the main plot of the episode).
* ''WesternAnimation/CraigOfTheCreek'' has a [[DeconstructedTrope deconstructed example]] with [[spoiler: Wildernessa]]. "Breaking the Ice" reveals that she has a crush on [[spoiler: Craig]]. However, her past experiences of being bullied for her love of animals has resulted in her trying to cover it up by insulting his lack of knowledge on the subject, with her possibly seeing it as witty banter, but coming off more harsh due to poor social skills. This comes to a boiling point when [[spoiler: Craig]], finally fed up, [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech calls her out on her hypocritical attitude towards people]], [[FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse considering she's human herself]]. [[JerkassRealization After seeing where her behavior has gotten her]], she later apologizes to him and makes an active effort going forward to try and not constantly tear him down.

---> '''Ed:''' I think Sarah likes you, Eddy.

* ''WesternAnimation/JohnnyBravo'': In the season 3 final "Get Stinky", Johnny's childhood bully Stinky Brownstein moves back into town and is now romantically interested in him. Johnny is extremely suspicious, with him having to deal with years of humilation and pain to the point of greatly disliking Stinky even though she's a 10/10 babe. Although Johnny is proven to be right at the end of the episode, it is heavily implied that Stinky does have genuine romantic feelings for him.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': When Bart develops a crush on a girl, Nelson gives him advice which amounts to "bully her to win her love." Nelson gives Bart a piece of gum to stick in her hair, then adds an additional piece of gum. "Who knows, you may get lucky."

* ''LightNovel/BludgeoningAngelDokuroChan'': As pointed out in the opening; all of the violence, torture, and death that Dokuro inflicts on poor Sakura is her way of showing affection.

* ''Venus Puts Furs on Me'' has its heroine as a very twisted version of this. Behind closed doors, she's a violent, sadistic jerk to one boy in particular, and harms him whenever things don't go her way. "Her way", surprisingly, is ''getting gratuitous bullying and public humiliation'', courtesy of ''him'', just so she can be happy. The story implies more than once that her aggressively sadomasochistic tendencies are her way of processing a crush on the boy, with several arcs devoted to her trying to get him out of reach of other girls like her as he is ''her'' toy.

* ''WesternAnimation/CraigOfTheCreek'' has a [[DeconstructedTrope deconstructed example]] with [[spoiler: Wildernessa]]. "Breaking the Ice" reveals that she has a crush on [[spoiler: Craig]]. However, her past experiences of being bullied for her love of animals has resulted in her trying to cover it up by insulting his lack of knowlege on the subject, with her possibly seeing it as witty banter, but coming off more harsh due to poor social skills. This comes to a boiling point when [[spoiler: Craig]], finally fed up, [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech calls her out on her hypocritical attitude towards people]], [[FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse considering she's human herself]]. [[JerkassRealization After seeing where her behavior has gotten her]], she later apologizes to him and makes an active effort going forward to try and not constantly tear him down.

When someone bullies someone else because they have a crush on them. This is usually because they aren't sure how to convey their feelings properly. Often the bully is a Type A {{Tsundere}}.[[labelnote:Note]]There is actually a sub-type known as "sadodere", combining the words [[{{Sadist}} sadistic]] and sweet.[[/labelnote]] The target of the bullying is generally under the impression that the bully is simply mean and [[ObliviousToLove has no clue the bully has a crush on them]].

%%* Itta towards Fuuka in ''Manga/GirlXGirlXBoy.''
* In one FAQ of ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' Rukia says that ''someone'' was a schmuck towards her in the Shinigami school because he couldn't tell her his feelings. Unsurprisingly, chapter -17 (a bonus chapter) seems to indicate that that someone was Renji. [[spoiler: They end up married in the epilogue.]]
* The unnamed couple in Creator/{{Natsuneko}}'s one-shot manga ''Her Desire'', with a twist that the bullied girl actually likes it that way.

* Yuki Katsura in ''Anime/OkusamaWaMahouShoujo'', the leader of the two bullies at school, is really just acting on an immature crush, but he learns to show it a little better later on. Ultimately, [[spoiler: he pretty much saves Wonderland by confessing to Cruje]].

* In ''Manga/OnihimeVS'', Arima and her girl posse relentlessly bully and molest poor Setsuna...because Arima is in love with him. It's exactly as messed up as it sounds.
* ''Manga/GreatTeacherOnizuka'': Subverted with Anko, who bullied Noboru before falling in love with him, and stopped her abuse after Onizuka helped her uncover her true feelings.

* ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'':
** Nurse Joy from ''Anime/PokemonTheOriginalSeries'' suggests this about Ash and Misty.
--->"What's the saying? You only hurt the ones you love."
** In ''Anime/PokemonTheSeriesXY'', Serena's MirrorUniverse counterpart takes this approach with ShrinkingViolet Alternate!Ash, bullying him for being a crybaby while still clearly enjoying his company.
* This is how Seo acts towards Wakamatsu in ''Manga/MonthlyGirlsNozakiKun''. He noticed she specifically targets him by throwing the ball at his face, stalking him on lunchtime, making him buy her things, and carry her stuff...to then taking him to a diner and buying ''him'' some food and even ''buying him some souvenirs''. Nozaki immediately can tell that she likes him.
* ''LightNovel/BludgeoningAngelDokuroChan'': As pointed out in the opening; all of the violence, torture, and death that Dokuro inflicts on poor Sakura is her way of showing affection.

* ''Manga/WanderingSon'':
** Played with. Doi doesn't bully Nitori because he likes her, he bullies her because she's [[UsefulNotes/{{transgender}} feminine]]. This doesn't stop him from being attracted to her once she grows her hair out though. By high school, the attraction disappeared over time as Nitori became increasingly masculine looking.
** Early on, Anna would tease and make fun of Nitori. This is implied to be due to her SugarAndIcePersonality. Later they become the OfficialCouple and Anna's negative aspects disappear.

* ''LightNovel/InfiniteStratos'': {{Downplayed|Trope}} and {{Deconstructed|Trope}} with Houki. While she doesn't go out of her way to terrorize Ichika, he admits sometimes she can be really scary. Over time, Houki admits her time apart from him didn't do her personality any favors; as she believed she used kendo as a way to remember him, but upon beating her opponent so hard to the point of making them cry, she admitted she was only indulging in senseless violence.
* ''Manga/UruseiYatsura'': Subverted with Ryoko and Tobimaro. Ryoko has been pranking and tormenting Tobimaro with cruel and dangerous pranks since childhood, yet also claims to be in love with him, usually causing her [[MySisterIsOffLimits brother]], Mendo, to beat up Tobimaro. It's not clear if she's serious about her "love" for him, since she's a notably sadistic BitchInSheepsClothing, has said the same thing about other people her brother dislikes such as [[LovableSexManiac Ataru]], and once said how she [[AsideComment loves Tobimaro..in pain]]. This is further parodied in that despite Tobimaro being consistently and openly terrified of Ryoko, most of the characters in the story [[WrongGenreSavvy thinks it's romantic]].
* ''Manga/KOn'': Ritsu is a platonic ([[HoYay/KOn or not]]) version of this trope towards [[ShrinkingViolet Mio]]; Ritsu is often teasing, scaring, and pushing Mio past what she can tolerate, but it's made clear time and time again that she cares for Mio and wants her to stop being so afraid of everything.
* In ''Manga/BokuraNoHentai'', a bully mocks pre-transition Marika and calls her "gay" in a derogatory way. After she comes back to school as a girl, he still mocks her and thinks she's "disgusting" but he [[BigotWithACrush begins crushing on her]].
* Tamayo and Kotaro's relationship in the anime version of ''Manga/AngelicLayer'' falls into this, as well as ChildhoodFriendRomance. They know each other since they were four, and Tamayo had been using Kotaro as her go-to target to practice her martial moves on, to his utmost annoyance. However, during the BeachEpisode, Tamayo confesses that she is in love with Kotaro and that he's her first love. In the manga, though, Tamayo and Kotaro's relationship is completely platonic, and Kotaro ends up with Misaki.
* Youdou from ''Manga/IBelongToTheBaddestGirlAtSchool'' has had a crush on [[ShrinkingViolet Unoki]] since grade school, but she mostly shows her love through bullying and pulling meanspirited pranks on him. In her case, she doesn't do it because she's struggling to understand or express her feelings for him properly, she's just a sadist who gets off on watching him squirm. Either way, her actions have only made Unoki afraid of her and destroyed any chances of the two of them actually becoming a couple. [[spoiler: She does realise this, but as she admits later, she can't stop herself because she's worried that if she ever moved on or if Unoki ever forgave her, the two of them would no longer have anything keeping them together]].
* ''LightNovel/TrappedInADatingSimTheWorldOfOtomeGamesIsToughForMobs'': In the AlternateTimeline Web Novel series known as the ''Marie Route'', Leon, who was a JerkWithAHeartOfGold in the first place, is this verbally with Marie, who isn’t afraid to hit him back verbally or physically.
* ''Venus Puts Furs on Me'' has its heroine as a very twisted version of this. Behind closed doors, she's a violent, sadistic jerk to one boy in particular, and harms him whenever things don't go her way. "Her way", surprisingly, is ''getting gratuitous bullying and public humiliation'', courtesy of ''him'', just so she can be happy. The story implies more than once that her aggressively sadomasochistic tendencies are her way of processing a crush on the boy, with several arcs devoted to her trying to get him out of reach of other girls like her as he is ''her'' toy.

* ''Fanfic/BackToZero'': As kids, Butch would tease Jessie and try to get her attention because he had a crush on her. Jessie didn't like this and thought it was a silly way of showing that you liked someone.
* ''Fanfic/InASkyOfAMillionStars'': It's implied Katsuki's bullying of Izuku was veering into this. This is deconstructed, as Izuku reciprocated his feelings but didn't know those feelings existed; therefore, having the object of his affections treat him so badly only helped further his depression.
* In ''Fanfic/TheWoundsStillBleeding'', 10-year old Kakashi begins picking on her teammate Obito so that Obito will notice her more. Even if it's negative attention, it's still attention to her.
* In episode 55 of ''WebVideo/YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries'', Kaiba claims that he is this to his little brother.
* In ''WebVideo/FriendshipIsWitchcraft'', Diamond Tiara hides her crush for Apple Bloom by bullying her.
* Giselle in ''Fanfic/PokemonResetBloodlines'' is a downplayed example towards Joe. She's not shown bullying him directly but encourages the rest of her class to apply ToughLove on him to get him to improve his performance (they're considered the "Golden Generation" and he's the dead last). Ultimately, the way they treated Joe drove him to quit the school and find his own path, which greatly saddened her because she actually liked him.

* In ''Film/WelcomeToTheDollhouse'', Brandon likes Dawn and he [[KidsAreCruel treats her terribly]].

* John Bender in ''Film/TheBreakfastClub'' acts like a dick towards everyone but to Claire he's especially rude. It's shown as the film goes on that he's [[BelligerentSexualTension harboring a crush on her.]]

* In the [[AMinorKidroduction opening scene]] of ''Film/HesJustNotThatIntoYou'' the child version of Gigi, one of the characters, is abruptly pushed off a jungle gym by a boy. When she tearfully asks why he did that, he yells, "Because you smell like dog poo!" In trying to comfort her, her mother claims, "Do you know why he did that? Because he likes you!" As an adult, Gigi angrily points out that telling girls this [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome sets them up for years of ill-treatment at the hands of men]] [[UnfortunateImplications because of being conditioned to believe that it's actually a form of affection]].

%%* Buttercup to the Farm Boy in ''Literature/ThePrincessBride''.
* In ''Literature/DragonBones'', Beckram bullies his cousin Ciarra by telling her that he finds her hair pretty - his brother explains it is not what he says but how he says it that scares Ciarra, who is mute and a bit childlike. [[spoiler: They end up married in the sequel when Ciarra has recovered from her psychological problems and can speak.]]

* On ''Series/MalcolmInTheMiddle'' Reese tries this with a girl in school that he has a crush on, and then doesn't understand why she hates him as a result and cries in his room after things go badly. Malcolm then tries to help by telling him to do things to her that wouldn't make her cry, [[ComicallyMissingThePoint so he joins her cheerleading squad.]] It's far from the only time Reese has ever done this since bullying is his go-to approach for ''everything''.

* Also happened in ''[=iCarly's=]'' older sibling show, ''Series/DrakeAndJosh'', with Mindy Crenshaw, who gave Drake and Josh hell in her first few appearances. While she does legitimately hate Drake, she teases Josh because she likes him. The two become a couple after that and a pretty stable one at that.
* ''Series/SexEducation'': [[spoiler:With Eric and Adam.]]
* In a rare case of this being the case of both parties, Vince and Howard are hinted to be this to each other in ''Series/TheMightyBoosh''.

* [[spoiler:Spike]] to Buffy in ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', though he goes quite a bit further than most. When he first starts to sense that he might be attracted to her in Season 4, he sets out to kill her immediately but comes to accept it after he gets the opportunity and finds he doesn't have it in him.

* In the first season of ''Series/BrooklynNineNine,'' Jake Peralta ruthlessly teases Amy, even going so far as to make her go on the "worst date ever" as a result of losing a bet. Jake's best friend Boyle sees right through it, likening him to a little boy pulling a girl's pigtails because he likes her. Thankfully, he eventually [[CharacterDevelopment grows out of it enough to just tell her his feelings,]] and the two end up the show's OfficialCouple.

%%* It's implied that Sarah is this to Fiona in ''Webcomic/YuMeDream''.
* Ruth behaves this way to Billie in ''Webcomic/DumbingOfAge''. It's also deconstructed as both of them realize the relationship is not healthy.
* Jeremy the Scout in ''Webcomic/CuantaVida'' continually slings homophobic slurs at Jordi the spy -- until he works himself up to confessing his attraction to him, sparking a RelationshipUpgrade and markedly improved manners.

* Omocat's ''Pretty Boy'' starts out as this, where the titular character's bully slowly falls love with him. He eventually stops the bullying and becomes a better man.
* Deconstructed in ''Webcomic/KarkatGoesToAConvention'', when after [[spoiler:Vanessa admits that she bullied Nan because she was an ArmouredClosetGay, Nan fires back and says Vanessa's crush doesn't excuse the bullying she put her through for years.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'':
** Chuckie once had a suitor like this. After trying to be nice to her and it failing, he becomes a Loving Bully for her as well. Then he sees her picking on another boy...
** Betty, Phil and Lil's mother, explains that she had picked on Howard when they were kids until much later when he realized she was this.
* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Recess}}'' had a boy who was harassing Gretchen admit he was this trope after being confronted (the other half of the episode had him acting as a DoggedNiceGuy[=/=]StalkerWithACrush).

* ''WesternAnimation/JohnnyBravo'': In the season 3 final "Get Stinky", Johnny's childhood bully Stinky Brownstein moves back into town and is now romantically interested in him. Johnny is extremely suspicious, with him having to deal with years of humilation and pain to the point of greatly disliking Stinky even though she's a 10/10 babe. Although Johnny is proven to be right at the end of the episode, it is heavily implied that Stinky does have genuine romantic feelings for him.
* ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy'':
** The Kanker Sisters are utterly head over heels for the Eds, as well as their worst tormentors. Somewhat unique in that their amorous feelings are completely known to their victims, and the bullying usually involves the girls [[DoubleStandardRapeFemaleOnMale forcing themselves on the Eds]].
** Sarah falls in love with Edd in a season 1 episode and apparently gets over it. However, it's sometimes implied she still has a crush on him in later episodes and confirmed by her diary in "For Your Ed Only". This doesn't stop her from beating him up and treating him like crap. She writes in the diary that if she shows any mercy, people will be walking over her. So you could say she's sort of a {{Tsundere}} type A towards him.
** Invoked in "High Heeled Ed" after Sarah brutally attacks Eddy in her usual way:
---> '''Ed:''' I think Sarah likes you, Eddy.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfJimmyNeutronBoyGenius'': It becomes blatantly obvious early on that Cindy's rivalry with Jimmy is just her attempt to mask and deny her massive crush on him -- something Jimmy himself goes through in regards to her. As the series goes, this gradually fades out as Jimmy and Cindy become closer friends, and by the time of the last episode, they were openly flirting, ''footsie'' and all, which served as great gossip fodder for Libby's talk show segment on the news (the main plot of the episode).

* In ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'' episode "One Crazy Summoner", the gang's helping a Franchise/HarryPotter parody named Nigel Planter win the love of a girl he has a crush on, and at one point in the episode, Billy suggests that Nigel give the girl a noogie or throw a kickball at her -- explaining that's what the boys at his and Mandy's school do when they have a crush on a girl.
* When Lincoln from ''WesternAnimation/TheLoudHouse'' tells his sisters that he's being bullied by a girl, they start to {{squee}} and assume she's doing it because she has a crush on him, so they convince Lincoln to ask her out. Subverted when this only results in Lincoln coming home with a black eye. Turns out the girl really ''is'' just a bully. [[spoiler:Double subverted when she then throws [[BeefBandage a raw steak]] through his bedroom window with a piece of paper attached with an apology and her phone number on it. His sisters were right after all! By the end of the episode, he and Ronnie Anne, the bully, are dating.]]
* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/AaahhRealMonsters'' had Oblina put on a human girl disguise and go undercover as an elementary school student to study humans Jane Goodall-style. One of the first "discoveries" the monsters make about human culture comes when a boy starts teasing Oblina on the school bus, and a girl tells her, "He must really like you." The monster scientist conducting the study (observing it all on a hidden camera) tells the class, "Take note how humans show love by administering pain."