History Main / OfficialCoupleOrdealSyndrome

* Leonard and Penny from ''Series/TheBigBangTheory''. The romance starts with Leonard's infatuation with Penny followed by her appreciation of his loyalty, kindness and what a great guy he is. Being cute and smart also turns her on. They break up after Leonard tells Penny he loves her and she can't say it back due to her insecurity over her intelligence. They both date other people however, they clearly still love each other and eventually get back together and Penny even says I Love You to him. The romance eventually concludes in marriage and settling down together although they still face some challenges. By the end of Season 12 they're finally secure and expecting a child.

* Leonard and Penny from ''Series/''TheBigBangTheory''. The romance starts with Leonard's infatuation with Penny followed by her appreciation of his loyalty, kindness and what a great guy he is. Being cute and smart also turns her on. They break up after Leonard tells Penny he loves her and she can't say it back due to her insecurity over her intelligence. They both date other people however, they clearly still love each other and eventually get back together and Penny even says I Love You to him. The romance eventually concludes in marriage and settling down together although they still face some challenges. By the end of Season 12 they're finally secure and expecting a child.

* Leonard and Penny from ''Series/''TheBigBangTheory''. Their romance starts with Leonard's infatuation with Penny followed by her appreciation of his loyalty, kindness and what a great guy he is. Being cute and smart also turns her on. They break up after Leonard tells Penny he loves her and she can't say it back due to her insecurity over her intelligence. They both date other people however, they clearly still love each other and eventually get back together and Penny even says I Love You to him. The romance eventually concluded in marriage and settling down together although they still face some challenges. By the end of Season 12 they're finally secure and expecting a child.

* Stefan and Elena from''Series/TheVampireDiaries''. Their romance and relationship drives the plot of the entire series. Although Stefan and Elena have endured endless obstacles (varying from minor to major) trying to keep them apart, Stefan and Elena still manage after all the problems to come back together, surprisingly stronger then ever before. Some minor examples throughout the series include Stefan pulling away from Elena because of his secret blood issues in season one. Another minor example is Stefan and Elena breaking up because of Katherine threatening to harm everyone Elena loves in season two. One major example is in season three, Stefan sacrificing himself to Klaus in order to save Damon's life and protect Elena. During this time, Stefan left Elena and Mystic Falls, turned off his emotions (his humanity) and became a Ripper. With Stefan being a Ripper with no emotions, Stefan had almost tried to kill Elena by biting her under Klaus compulsion. Despite Stefan not feeling anything, Elena was determined to bring Stefan back and get him to turn on his humanity again so that he could feel. This was a huge obstacle and struggle that Stefan and Elena faced in the series. Regardless of how bad or awful things get, somehow, Stefan and Elena manage to overcome the problems, be together happily as if nothing ever happened and come back together as a couple stronger then ever before.

* Stefan and Elena from
''Series/TheVampireDiaries''. Their romance and relationship drives the plot of the entire series. Although Stefan and Elena have endured endless obstacles (varying from minor to major) trying to keep them apart, Stefan and Elena still manage after all the problems to come back together, surprisingly stronger then ever before. Some minor examples throughout the series include Stefan pulling away from Elena because of his secret blood issues in season one. Another minor example is Stefan and Elena breaking up because of Katherine threatening to harm everyone Elena loves in season two. One major example is in season three, Stefan sacrificing himself to Klaus in order to save Damon's life and protect Elena. During this time, Stefan left Elena and Mystic Falls, turned off his emotions (his humanity) and became a Ripper. With Stefan being a Ripper with no emotions, Stefan had almost tried to kill Elena by biting her under Klaus compulsion. Despite Stefan not feeling anything, Elena was determined to bring Stefan back and get him to turn on his humanity again so that he could feel. This was a huge obstacle and struggle that Stefan and Elena faced in the series. Regardless of how bad or awful things get, somehow, Stefan and Elena manage to overcome the problems, be together happily as if nothing ever happened and come back together as a couple stronger then ever before.

Leonard and Penny from
* Stefan and Elena from
''Series/''TheBigBangTheory''. Their romance starts with Leonard's infatuation with Penny followed by her appreciation of his loyalty, kindness and what a great guy he is. Being cute and smart also turns her on. They break up after Leonard tells Penny he loves her and she can't say it back due to her insecurity over her intelligence. They both date other people however, they clearly still love each other and eventually get back together and Penny even says I Love You to him. The romance eventually concluded in marriage and settling down together although they still face some challenges. By the end of Season 12 they're finally secure and expecting a child.

* Stefan and Elena from ''Series/TheVampireDiaries''. Their romance and relationship drives the plot of the entire series. Although Stefan and Elena have endured endless obstacles (varying from minor to major) trying to keep them apart, Stefan and Elena still manage after all the problems to come back together, surprisingly stronger then ever before. Some minor examples throughout the series include Stefan pulling away from Elena because of his secret blood issues in season one. Another minor example is Stefan and Elena breaking up because of Katherine threatening to harm everyone Elena loves in season two. One major example is in season three, Stefan sacrificing himself to Klaus in order to save Damon's life and protect Elena. During this time, Stefan left Elena and Mystic Falls, turned off his emotions (his humanity) and became a Ripper. With Stefan being a Ripper with no emotions, Stefan had almost tried to kill Elena by biting her under Klaus compulsion. Despite Stefan not feeling anything, Elena was determined to bring Stefan back and get him to turn on his humanity again so that he could feel. This was a huge obstacle and struggle that Stefan and Elena faced in the series. Regardless of how bad or awful things get, somehow, Stefan and Elena manage to overcome the problems, be together happily as if nothing ever happened and come back together as a couple stronger then ever before.

This trope exists because people tend to identify with an OfficialCouple. Therefore a good way to keep up the suspense is to make their relationship dramatic. This trope is the UpToEleven DarkerAndEdgier version of that. The writer creates an OfficialCouple knowing people will care for it. The entire point of creating this couple and making it official is to make the tragedy of its demise/near-demise all the more obvious/painful to the reader. If the OfficialCouple stays together despite being put through this trope it's a HappyEnding.

* ''VisualNovel/{{Clannad}}'': The OfficialCouple of [[spoiler: Tomoya and Nagisa]] has them eventually getting married and expecting a child. DeathByChildBirth separates the couple leaving their child Ushio with a broken father and no mother.

* [[spoiler: Natsuki and Masaki]] from ''Manga/{{Amakusa 1637}}'' were already together when the story started. A good part of their ordeals is less about getting together and much more about ''staying'' together.

* Guts and Casca from ''{{Manga/Berserk}}'' are very much that DarkerAndEdgier version. [[LoveAtFirstPunch From their first meeting]], the story was set on bringing these two together, and their beginning relationship was rough enough as it was. When they did admit their feelings to each other [[RelationshipUpgrade and become official]], the universe made it its official mission [[StarCrossedLovers to keep the two apart by any means necessary]].

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* In ''Literature/ABrothersPrice'', Jerin falls in love with a princess. As he's a commoner, problems ensue. Then, more problems ensue because one of her sisters doesn't want [[ExoticExtendedMarriage to remarry]]. [[spoiler: After ''that'' is resolved, Jerin is kidnapped.]] His sisters, who play only a minor role, manage to find a husband without so many complications.

* ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour'': Winston Smith and his love interest, Julia, have sex, rebelling against the system. Then, with TheReveal, [[spoiler: O'Brien is found to have turned them in and takes part in re-institutionalizing them into the system. They ''are'' reunited at the end, if briefly, but it turns out they have no feelings for each other anymore.]]
* In ''Literature/{{Overenskommelser}}'' by Creator/SimonaAhrnstedt, Beatrice and Seth have an extremely difficult time. To be fair, [[IdiotPlot it partly is their own fault]], but they also have to deal with [[BigBadEnsemble three villains]], who do everything to keep them apart. It takes them ''twenty months'' [[spoiler: and alas, Beatrice being raped and almost killed]] before they can solve their misunderstandings and find happiness together.

* Vanessa and Ethan on ''Series/PennyDreadful'': In Season 1, both are with various different people, but their official couple status is hinted at in several moments, most noticeably in the episode "Possession" where Vanessa confesses to who she thinks is Ethan that she may be in love with him. The romance is ramped up to 11 in Season 2 when the show mythology becomes about their coupling, implying [[{{ReincarnationRomance}} it is fated]] and it will prevent the apocalypse. However, their romance arc is affected by both characters' {{Cant Have Sex Ever}} and they only share one kiss before Ethan turns himself into the police and shipped off over 3,000 miles away. Vanessa thinks he has abandoned her. In Season 3, though they are promoted as the show's Official Couple and the mythology around the importance of their connection is again ramped up, they never actually meet until the very last episode of the entire series, in which [[spoiler:Ethan has to kill Vanessa to save the world.]] In the end, they only ever kissed twice - the {{First Kiss}} and the {{Last Kiss}} - never consummated anything, and were never really in an acknowledged romantic relationship, only {{UST}} straight to angst and separation, straight to [[spoiler:character death]].

* ''Theatre/{{Romeo and Juliet}}'', the original StarCrossedLovers: Initially, both are greatly in love with each other. However, as the plot moves past the romance, kin and family are killed: [[spoiler:Mercutio for Romeo and Tybalt for Juliet]]. As both are torn by grief, they are at risk of being separated by their FeudingFamilies. With both families ready to destroy each other by play's end, [[spoiler: Romeo and Juliet both commit suicide in grief at having lost each other. Juliet was under the effect of a potion and appeared dead. Romeo proceeds to commit suicide and Juliet follows suit after him.]]

* ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'': Han and Leia. There's the stuff that happens onscreen in the movies, then in the books there's the death of Chewie,the entire Yuzhaan Vong war, the death of their son Anakin, the galactic civil war and fighting with Luke, their older son turning to the Dark Side and killing his aunt... not to mention far too many kidnap and assassination attempts over the years. Luke and Mara kind of fall into it, but to a lesser extent. There is the whole thing with her illness and pregnancy during the war and the stress of the aforementioned civil war and Han and Leia ending up opposing them briefly.

* ''VisualNovel/{{Clannad}}'': The OfficialCouple of [[spoiler: Tomoya and Nagisa has them eventually getting married and expecting a child. DeathByChildBirth separates the couple leaving their child Ushio with a broken father and no mother.]]

* The TropeNamer is the ''TheMagicSchoolBus'' FanFic ''FanFic/FirstImpressionsOfEarth'', which has since been deleted. The story's main pairing is Arnold and Phoebe, but it puts them through eleven years of torture including an abusive stepchild, a car crash, a miscarriage, and infidelity, causing Phoebe to have a HeroicBSOD that culminates in a mental breakdown. And that's just the halfway point.

* ''Series/AllMyChildren'': Cliff and Nina, the characters engaged in a decade spanning romance that saw the couple marry and divorce four times, with their fifth wedding sticking before the two left Pine Valley.

* ''Series/AsTheWorldTurns'': Luke and Noah of SoapOpera who were ''supposed'' to be a couple with problems, but Reid, the intended RomanticFalseLead for Luke, [[EnsembleDarkhorse became extremely popular with the fanbase]]. In an effort not to [[ShipToShipCombat upset either ship]], and being pressed for [[ScrewedByTheNetwork time]], [[WriterCopOut Luke didn't end up either of them.]] Reid was [[DeathOfTheHypotenuse killed off]] near the end and a grieving Luke didn't get back together with Noah.

* ''Literature/{{Percy Jackson and the Olympians}}'': At the end of ''The Last Olympian'', the OfficialCouple [[spoiler:Percy and Annabeth]] are together complete with an UnderwaterKiss. In ''The Lost Hero'' the major plot point is the disappearance of Percy. Then, in ''Mark of Athena'', they [[spoiler: end up falling into Tartarus. When shippers said they'd ship the pairing to Tartarus and back, they didn't know it would literally happen!]]

* ''Literature/HarryPotter'' does this to Ron and Hermione (usually played for laughs). ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheOrderOfThePhoenix Order of the Phoenix]]'' plays it straight with Harry and Cho.
* The ''Literature/MortalEngines'' series is effectively the narrative of this happening over an eighteen-year period with Tom and Hester, culminating in [[spoiler: his death from a heart attack and her suicide over his dead body]].
** Each book's BetaCouple also tend to go through a lot of ordeals, especially Katherine and Bevis in the first book. [[spoiler:they both die]]. The BetaCouple in the second book [[spoiler:don't even get to ''be'' a couple until they've gone through an ordeal in the third book, sixteen years later.]]
* ''Literature/HisDarkMaterials'' makes Will and Lyra go through Hell (figuratively) individually, meet, go through Hell (literally and figuratively) together, and then have to leave each other in {{Alternate Universe}}s because doing so is the only way to save the multiverse.
* This is a fundamental trait of the ''Literature/SwordOfTruth'' series. Richard and Kahlan have been in love since early in the first book, but the increasing turmoil in the setting means they have to deal with separation, invasion, apparent betrayal, and ultimately save the world ten or twelve times before (and after) they can be together.
* In ''Literature/{{Overenskommelser}}'' by Creator/SimonaAhrnstedt, Beatrice and Seth have an extremely difficult time. To be fair, [[IdiotPlot it partly is their own fault]], but they also have to deal with [[BigBadEnsemble three villains]], who do everything to keep them apart. It takes them ''twenty months'' [[spoiler: and alas, Beatrice being raped and almost killed]] before they can solve their misunderstandings and find happiness together.
* ''Literature/TheHungerGames'': Played up in-universe for [[StarCrossedLovers Katniss and Peeta]], especially in "''Catching Fire''" when they are forced to go back into the arena. They're not actually a couple at that point and their relationship is a facade for the Capitol audience but it becomes real soon enough.
* Han and Leia in ''Literature/StarWarsLegends''. There's the stuff that happens onscreen in the movies, then in the books there's the death of Chewie,the entire Yuzhaan Vong war, the death of their son Anakin, the galactic civil war and fighting with Luke, their older son turning to the Dark Side and killing his aunt...not to mention far too many kidnap and assassination attempts over the years. Luke and Mara kind of fall into it, but to a lesser extent. There is the whole thing with her illness and pregnancy during the war and the stress of the aforementioned civil war and Han and Leia ending up opposing them briefly.
* Safi and Merik in ''Literature/TheWitchlands''. After a book's worth of {{UST}}, they finally have their first kiss (and a little more than just a kiss), but then they're forced to run, become separated, and eventually each of them is convinced that the other has died.

* ''Series/{{Friends}}'': A thousand times Ross and Rachel. The writers admitted they planned to keep milking their issues until the end of the series, so by the end it's hard to remember they ever had a relationship at all. Averted with Monica and Chandler who didn't break up ''once''. After upgrading from FriendsWithBenefits to a serious relationship the pair stayed together, in-love and ended HappilyMarried. They also retained the fandoms patience.
* In ''Series/{{CSINY}}'' Danny and Lindsay have a mid-strength case of this syndrome. First, Lindsay pulls back because of what she's going through with the aftermath of a traumatic childhood incident she survived. Then,after a boy Danny's caring for is shot, Danny pulls away and even sleeps with the kid's mother once. After they get married and Lindsay has his baby, Danny is shot and temporarily paralyzed. Then barely a year later, they and their daughter are stalked by a deranged criminal who blamed Danny for losing his idyllic image of his brother. He battled Danny during the family's first vacation, and they only escaped because he was knocked over the railing of a lighthouse. Then, he shows up in their apartment, holds their daughter hostage and wants to kill all of them. Only Lindsay stops him. Then a year after that, there's Danny as a sergeant, getting grilled by IA because one of his rookies shot the wrong guy. The cop who did it accuses Danny of cheating because she's scared to tell the truth, and Lindsay has to pressure her to tell what really happened.

* The slowly developing and frequently sidetracked relationship between Chuck and Sarah is the meta-plot of ''Series/{{Chuck}}''. [[spoiler:A later season episode implies that Sarah fell in love with Chuck on their very first meeting in the very first episode.]]
** [[spoiler:They officially got together only once and were together for the rest of the series. Outside love interests never came between them again and there was never any threat of a break-up.]] They did, however, continue to take turns getting kidnapped and almost dying.
* Stefan and Elena from ''Series/TheVampireDiaries''. Their romance and relationship drives the plot of the entire series. Although Stefan and Elena have endured endless obstacles (varying from minor to major) trying to keep them apart, Stefan and Elena still manage after all the problems to come back together, surprisingly stronger then ever before. Some minor examples throughout the series include Stefan pulling away from Elena because of his secret blood issues in season one. Another minor example is Stefan and Elena breaking up because of Katherine threatening to harm everyone Elena loves in season two. One major example is in season three, Stefan sacrificing himself to Klaus in order to save Damon's life and protect Elena. During this time, Stefan left Elena and Mystic Falls, turned off his emotions (his humanity) and became a Ripper. With Stefan being a Ripper with no emotions, Stefan had almost tried to kill Elena by biting her under Klaus compulsion. Despite Stefan not feeling anything, Elena was determined to bring Stefan back and get him to turn on his humanity again so that he could feel. This was a huge obstacle and struggle that Stefan and Elena faced in the series. Regardless of how bad or awful things get, somehow, Stefan and Elena manage to overcome the problems, be together happily as if nothing ever happened and come back together as a couple stronger then ever before.
* Luke and Lorelai of ''Series/GilmoreGirls''. After four seasons of {{UST}}, they start going steady and even got engaged at the end of the season. The wedding gets called off when Lorelai realized that Luke found out about a secret love child of his and didn't tell her about it. Lorelai even somewhat lampshades the trope when she realizes that all of the wedding preparations were going by perfectly and was expecting something to go wrong along the way. By next season, showrunner Amy Sherman-Palladino and her husband weren't working on the show anymore, leading to nearly an entire season where Luke and Lorelai were broken up. Everyone ''knew'' they would get back together because advertisements for the show continued to show the couple together, it was just a question of when they would. It wasn't until the last few minutes of the series finale that they renewed the relationship.
* UpToEleven on ''Series/SpartacusBloodAndSand''. Granted it is a show about people who have been [[MadeASlave enslaved]] and stage a GladiatorRevolt. Naturally this makes their romantic lives complicated to put it mildly. But even the comparatively well-off Roman elite tend to have relationships of the UnholyMatrimony or DestructiveRomance sort. ''Nobody'' has a drama-free relationship!
* Crichton and Aeryn on ''Series/{{Farscape}}''. It starts with Aeryn's Peacekeeper training and associated baggage cooling her on the thought of romantic attachments. Then they start to fall for one another, leading to a kiss that scares Aeryn and Crichton's subsequent marriage to a planetary royal. Once that gets resolved they ramp up the WillTheyOrWontThey until the season 2 finale when they confess their love for one another. Unfortunately, Crichton is being controlled by Scorpius's neural clone and bashes Aeryn's head in right after. And then later in the episode Aeryn dies. She gets better in the season 3 premier and they finally say "I love you," but the HeroicSacrifice by Zhaan to revive her leads Aeryn to insist on not acting on it. Then Crichton gets duplicated, and the crews split up to escape Aeryn's mother. Aeryn and Crichton on Talyn get together for real, and then ''Crichton'' dies in a HeroicSacrifice (and this Crichton stays dead). So when the crews reunite on Moya, Aeryn turns cold and wants nothing to do with the surviving Crichton, and eventually leaves him behind at the end of the season when she goes off on her own. By the time Crichton and Aeryn reunite in season 4 she's now decided she wants him back, but now Crichton is giving ''her'' the cold shoulder with the aid of drugs given to him by Noranti. Aerynfinds out about this and reads him the riot act, at which point they ''finally'' get together for good. And then Aeryn gets kidnapped and tortured by the Scarrans. By the time Crichton gets her back and they defeat the plans of the Scarran Emperor in the series finale, the couple finally settles down to catch their breath, at which point Crichton proposes marriage to her, and Aeryn accepts. And then they get vaporized by an alien spacecraft in the cliffhanger ending (''Farscape'' was originally signed for two additional seasons, but was cancelled). Fortunately, the miniseries ''finally'' gives them their happy ending. Whew!

* ''Series/Daredevil2015'': Matt Murdock and Karen Page are set up for OfficialCouple status beginning in "Penny and Dime". Of course, the moment they start dating, Elektra reenters Matt's life and essentially hijacks him, causing him to falter in contributing to Frank Castle's trial. It doesn't help when Karen stumbles upon a wounded Elektra in Matt's apartment [[NotWhatItLooksLike and thinks he's cheating on her]]. While they're estranged for most of the third act of the season, in the final scene of season 2, Matt privately meets with Karen to reveal his secret identity, hinting at the possibility of them reconciling. They then spend ''Series/TheDefenders2017'' with Matt clearly interested in reaching out to Karen, but Karen is still guarded around him because she doesn't want to talk about killing James Wesley. After Matt's presumed "death," there seems to be an indication that they'll reconcile firmly in season 3.

[[folder: Webcomics]]

* [[spoiler:Hiro and Zero Two]] from ''Anime/DarlingInTheFranxx''. '''And how'''. [[spoiler:Not long after Hiro made a ChildhoodMarriagePromise to Zero Two, APE soldiers capture the two. Hiro gets hit with LaserGuidedAmnesia as punishment for their escape attempt, while Zero Two once again becomes a subject of ColdbloodedTorture to study her Klaxosaur physiology. Because of Hiro's tampered memories, Zero Two has no idea he was her original Darling when they meet in Episode 1. Then, when they finally recover their memories in Episode 13, Zero Two gets reassigned to the Nines and Ichigo stops Hiro from chasing her. It's not until Episode 15 when they ''at long last'' reunite and make up for lost time.]]

* [[spoiler:Hiro and Zero Two]] from ''Anime/DarlingInTheFranxx''. '''And how'''. [[spoiler:Not long after Hiro made a ChildhoodMarriagePromise to Zero Two, APE soldiers capture the two. Hiro gets hit with LaserGuidedAmnesia as punishment for their escape attempt, while Zero Two once again becomes a subject of ColdbloodedTorture to study her Klaxosaur physiology. Because of Hiro's tampered memories, Zero Two has no idea he was her original Darling when they meet in Episode 1. Then, when they finally recover their memories in Episode 13, Zero Two gets reassigned to the Nines and Ichigo stops Hiro from chasing her. It's not until Episode 15 when they ''at long last'' reunite and make up for the lost time.]]

* ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour'': Winston Smith and his love interest, Julia, take part in ThisAndThat, rebelling against the system. Then, with TheReveal, [[spoiler: O'Brien is found to have turned them in and takes part in re-institutionalizing them into the system. They ''are'' reunited at the end, if briefly, but it turns out they have no feelings for each other anymore.]]

* Stefan and Elena from ''TheVampireDiaries''. Their romance and relationship drives the plot of the entire series. Although Stefan and Elena have endured endless obstacles (varying from minor to major) trying to keep them apart, Stefan and Elena still manage after all the problems to come back together, surprisingly stronger then ever before. Some minor examples throughout the series include Stefan pulling away from Elena because of his secret blood issues in season one. Another minor example is Stefan and Elena breaking up because of Katherine threatening to harm everyone Elena loves in season two. One major example is in season three, Stefan sacrificing himself to Klaus in order to save Damon's life and protect Elena. During this time, Stefan left Elena and Mystic Falls, turned off his emotions (his humanity) and became a Ripper. With Stefan being a Ripper with no emotions, Stefan had almost tried to kill Elena by biting her under Klaus compulsion. Despite Stefan not feeling anything, Elena was determined to bring Stefan back and get him to turn on his humanity again so that he could feel. This was a huge obstacle and struggle that Stefan and Elena faced in the series. Regardless of how bad or awful things get, somehow, Stefan and Elena manage to overcome the problems, be together happily as if nothing ever happened and come back together as a couple stronger then ever before.

* ''Series/Daredevil2015'': Matt Murdock and Karen Page are set up for OfficialCouple status beginning in "Penny and Dime". Of course, the moment they start dating, Elektra reenters Matt's life and essentially hijacks him, causing him to falter in contributing to Frank Castle's trial. It doesn't help when Karen stumbles upon a wounded Elektra in Matt's apartment [[NotWhatItLooksLike and thinks he's cheating on her]]. While they're estranged for most of the third act of the season, in the final scene of season 2, Matt privately meets with Karen to reveal his secret identity, hinting at the possibility of them reconciling.

* Vanessa and Ethan on ''Series/PennyDreadful'': In Season 1, both are with various different people, but their official couple status is hinted at in several moments, most noticeably in the episode "Possession" where Vanessa confesses to who she thinks is Ethan that she may be in love with him. The romance is ramped up to 11 in Season 2 when the show mythology becomes about their coupling, implying [[{{ReincarnationRomance}} it is fated]] and it will prevent the apocalypse. However, their romance arc is affected by both characters' {{Cant Have Sex Ever}} and they only share one kiss before Ethan turns himself into the police and shipped off over 3,000 miles away. Vanessa thinks he has abandoned her. In Season 3, though they are promoted as the show's Official Couple and the mythology around the importance of their connection is again ramped up, they never actually meet until the very last episode of the entire series, in which [[spoiler:Ethan has to kill Vanessa to save the world.]] In the end, they only ever kissed twice - the {{First Kiss}} and the {{Last Kiss}} - never consummated anything, and were never really ever in an acknowledged romantic relationship, only {{UST}} straight to angst and separation, straight to [[spoiler:character deaths]].

* ''AsTheWorldTurns'': Luke and Noah of SoapOpera who were ''supposed'' to be a couple with problems, but Reid, the intended RomanticFalseLead for Luke, [[EnsembleDarkhorse became extremely popular with the fanbase]]. In an effort not to [[ShipToShipCombat upset either ship]], and being pressed for [[ScrewedByTheNetwork time]], [[WriterCopOut Luke didn't end up either of them.]] Reid was [[DeathOfTheHypotenuse killed off]] near the end and a grieving Luke didn't get back together with Noah.

* Tuxedo Mask and the eponymous ''Franchise/SailorMoon''. After they're reincarnated, he almost dies, she has to fight against him when he's evil and brainwashed, he's taken away from her many times, and so on. But they are always together.

* In ''FanFic/JusPrimaeNoctis'' this is downplayed but present. [[LightNovel/TheFamiliarOfZero Louise and Saito]] keep suffering interruptions to getting around to TheirFirstTime, but nothing to horrible to cope with.

* In ''Film/{{Hancock}}'' Hancock and his one true love are destined to be apart forever, because if they're together much their powers leave them and they eventually die. This has happened to their entire race; only she and Hancock are still alive.

** In a rare non-forbidden example, Brambleclaw and Squirrelflight. They became best friends after going on a long journey together, even though initially they were always irritated by each other. Their relationship was tested when he began to follow his evil father, and associate with his half brother, who made no secret of his dream to rule all the Clans, and there was a bit of a LoveTriangle when Ashfur showed interest in her as well. Their relationship was eventually mended, and [=StarClan=] sent a vision of the two as mates, walking into the sky with stars trailing behind their paws in a single path - their destiny intertwined. Everything seemed fine - they had kits. [[spoiler:Then it was revealed that they weren't actually her kits; she'd been covering for her sister Leafpool, who, as a medicine cat, was forbidden to take a mate.]] They barely spoke to each other for at least two years, until Brambleclaw [[spoiler:became leader and chose her as his deputy]], admitting that she'd always done what she thought was right; they eventually have kits of their own.

* AsTheWorldTurns'': Luke and Noah of SoapOpera ''who were ''supposed'' to be a couple with problems, but Reid, the intended RomanticFalseLead for Luke, [[EnsembleDarkhorse became extremely popular with the fanbase]]. In an effort not to [[ShipToShipCombat upset either ship]], and being pressed for [[ScrewedByTheNetwork time]], [[WriterCopOut Luke didn't end up either of them.]] Reid was [[DeathOfTheHypotenuse killed off]] near the end and a grieving Luke didn't get back together with Noah.

** In a rare non-forbidden example, Brambleclaw and Squirrelflight. They became best friends after going on a long journey together, even though initially they were always irritated by each other. Their relationship was tested when he began to follow his evil father, and associate with his half brother, who made no secret of his dream to rule all the Clans, and there was a bit of a LoveTriangle when Ashfur showed interest in her as well. Their relationship was eventually mended, and [=StarClan=] sent a vision of the two as mates, walking into the sky with stars trailing behind their paws in a single path - their destiny intertwined. Everything seemed fine - they had kits. [[spoiler:Then it was revealed that they weren't actually her kits; she'd been covering for her sister Leafpool, who, as a medicine cat, was forbidden to take a mate.]] They barely spoke to each other for at least two years, until Brambleclaw [[spoiler:became leader and chose her as his deputy]], admitting that she'd always done what she thought was right. The authors have said their relationship probably won't get back to where it was, but he's forgiven her to an extent.