History Main / StarCrossedLovers

* ''ComicBook/IncredibleHulk'': Bruce Banner and ComicBook/BettyRoss. His uncontrollable transformations into [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk the Hulk]] have made him a fugitive wanted by the United States military. Not to mention Betty's father, General "Thunderbolt" Ross, harbors an intense hatred of him.

One common version of this trope, Love Above One's Station (i.e., being in love with someone from a different social class), is at least [[DiscreditedTrope discredited]] if not actually [[DeadHorseTrope dead and buried]] in contemporary settings, but was [[TruthInTelevision very much true]] in the past, and can still work when applied to historical settings. While it's difficult even today to have a relationship with someone from a very different background, in the old days, it was all but impossible: if you were from the lower class and courted your "better", you'd be treated with the vilest contempt and risk arrest and/or violence (possibly even death); meanwhile, a "better" who reciprocated would be disowned and possibly shut off in a [[TakingTheVeil nunnery]], a [[LockedAwayInAMonastery monastery]]--or even [[BedlamHouse an asylum]].

* Music/{{Nightwish}}'s song "Astral Romance" is all about this. Arguably also several other of their songs.

* Oepidus and Jocasta from ''Theatre/OedipusTheKing''.

In modern times, the term "star-crossed" is often unknowingly misused to mean lovers who are meant to be together. It means just the opposite -- the stars (i.e. destiny or the heavens) have ruled ''against'' them, or "crossed" their plan. Compare the word [[http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=disaster "disaster"]], which has the etymology "away; without" ("dis") + "star; planet" ("aster"). Then again, [[WhenThePlanetsAlign if the stars rule that much]], they probably decreed the love as well as the impossibility, making the stars capricious and cruel at the very least. It also refers to [[BecauseDestinySaysSo destiny]] and [[FateDrivesUsTogether the inevitability of the two characters' paths crossing each other]]. It usually, but not always, refers to unlucky outcomes, since Romeo and Juliet's affair ended tragically. Furthermore, it may connote that the lovers entered into their union without sufficient forethought or preparation, that they did not have adequate knowledge of each other, or that they were not thinking rationally (because they were being controlled by fate).

* In ''Anime/SonicX'', this is the case in the final season with [[spoiler:Tails and Cosmo the Seedrian. Upon first meeting, the developed a strong bond and eventually romantic feelings for one another. Unfortunately, in the penultimate episode, in order to stop Dark Oak, Cosmo was forced to perform a HeroicSacrifice by immobilizing him while the Sonic Driver was fired at him. Making this even worse is the fact that it was ''Tails'' who [[KillTheOnesYouLove pulled the trigger]], the pair of them confessing their feelings for each other in Cosmo's final moments, with the only remnant of her that Sonic could recover was [[TragicKeepsake a small seed]]. However, it is hinted that she may come back as the final scene of the series is of a pot in Tails' workshop, [[RayOfHopeEnding with the seed he planted having sprouted]]]].

* In ''Anime/SonicX'', this is the case in the final season with [[spoiler:Tail and Cosmo the Seedrian. Upon first meeting, the developed a strong bond and eventually romantic feelings for one another. Unfortunately, in the penultimate episode, in order to stop Dark Oak, Cosmo was forced to perform a HeroicSacrifice by immobilizing him while the Sonic Driver was fired at him. Making this even worse is the fact that it was ''Tails'' who [[KillTheOnesYouLove pulled the trigger]], the pair of them confessing their feelings for each other in Cosmo's final moments, with the only remnant of her that Sonic could recover was [[TragicKeepsake a small seed]]. However, it is hinted that she may come back as the final scene of the series is of a pot in Tails' workshop, [[RayOfHopeEnding with the seed he planted having sprouted]]]].

* [[Film/AvengersInfinityWar ''Infinity War'']]: Wanda Maximoff and Vision just ''cannot'' be happy together. In ''Civil War'', they're separated on opposite sides of the "war" despite their obvious feelings for each other, and the enforcement of the Accords drives Wanda into hiding. ''Infinity War'' reveals that they've had two years of sweet stolen moments together, but their happiness soon comes to an end when Vision finds out he’s #1 on Thanos’ hitlist due to possessing the Mind Stone, and has to talk Wanda into killing him. His friends try their hardest to spare him that fate, but she is eventually forced to concede and kill him by her own hand. And ''then'' watch Thanos resurrect him and brutally murder him again right in front of her. Come ''Series/WandaVision'', she [[spoiler:discovers he bought property for them to live in together and obviously intended to marry her, and she breaks down in explosive grief at the crushing realization of the life they never got to have. Her powers magically create a perfect replica of him that later ''also'' dies when she has to dissolve her magic hold over the town of Westview.]] The two simply cannot catch a break, in the mainline movies or even seemingly in any [[WesternAnimation/WhatIf2021 alternate universes]].

** Rei: She's perhaps the only person (other than [[spoiler:Kaworu]]) to give him unambigous, unconditional affection in his [[CosmicPlaything hell of a life]], and he's the only person to value her for herself, not her function as Mecha pilot, [[spoiler:ApocalypseMaiden]] or [[spoiler: ReplacementGoldfish]]. Too bad she's [[spoiler:a HalfHumanHybrid ArtificialHuman created to destroy the world, not to mention [[IncestIsRelative partially cloned from his dead mother]] and thus [[SurpriseIncest Shinji's half-sister]],]] with neither of them knowing that last bit. In the classic series, [[spoiler:she pulls a HeroicSacrifice to save his life]], in the Rebuild movies, [[spoiler:she gets eaten by an EldritchAbomination while he's in TenMinuteRetirement, and he ends up [[NiceJobBreakingItHero inadvertently]] causing TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt in a futile attempt to save her.]] [[GoMadFromTheRevelation Finding out what happened proves too much for his fragile and delicate mind]].

* Mirasol and Haik in ''Literature/TheCrocodileGod'' didn't ''start'' this way as a [[MayflyDecemberRomance Filipino/Tagalog sea-god and his mortal wife,]] but [[DeathOfTheOldGods the conquest of Spain]] has [[ForegoneConclusion thrown a long-lasting wrench]] into their ReincarnationRomance. When a Spaniard [[ImperiledInPregnancy shot the pregnant Mirasol]] and caused their first daughter's [[TragicStillbirth stillbirth,]] Haik promptly went over the DespairEventHorizon and has since lost contact with his increasingly Catholicized followers, of which the present-day Mirasol is [[TheOnlyBeliever the last one left in 2017 California.]] And ''before'' they lost their first daughter, Haik had already lost contact with the other Tagalog gods and [[EverybodysDeadDave assumed they were all dead--]][[AdultFear many of whom were his family members.]]

* ''Film/TheBubble:'' The lovers, besides both being men, are an Israeli and a Palestinian; the Palestinian is from a conservative Muslim family and is being pressured into an arranged heterosexual marriage.

* Augustus and Hazel in ''Literature/TheFaultInOurStars'' are an IllBoy and an IllGirl with cancer, so they start a relationship being aware that it won't last. [[spoiler: It doesn't: Augustus, the most healthy at first sight, ends up having a relapse in his illness and dies.]]

** [[AntiHero Hajime]]/[[spoiler:[[HeroicNeutral Izuru]]]] and Chiaki: Hajime's own insecurities caused him to view himself as [[InsecureLoveInterest unworthy of her]], leading to him [[spoiler:volunteering for [[DeathOfPersonality the Kamukura Project]]. His new self, Izuru, loses all memories of Chiaki and falls in cahoots with [[BigBad Junko]], who ultimately murders Chiaki. It's only after he watches her bleed to death that Izuru [[NotSoStoic is stirred to weep]], and he then [[TragicKeepsake carries her hairpin around]] [[TheMourningAfter for the rest of the series]].

** The show’s producer, Kentaro Hattori, compared [[HoYay Mikaela and Yuuichirou]] to Romeo and Juliet, saying that, “[[http://mantan-web.jp/2015/05/16/20150515dog00m200053000c.html Just like Romeo and Juliet]], [[http://misora-reiki.tumblr.com/post/119105932775/anime-interview-seraph-of-the-end-guren-sama-is Yuu and Mika have been torn apart.”.]]

** Ban and Elaine. Ban became an immortal thanks to a HeroicSacrifice made by Elaine, thus the barrier between life and death separates them. Ban however decided to make it his personal mission to find a way for them to be reunited. [[spoiler:Near the end of the manga, Ban fully resurrects Elaine by giving her half of his immortality and they start a family together.]]
** Meliodas and Elizabeth. [[spoiler:3,000 years ago, they were the prince and the princess of two enemy races. Their parents, the Demon King and the Supreme Deity, cursed them for betraying their races by falling in love. Meliodas can never age nor permanently die, Elizabeth repeatedly reincarnates as a human. In every of Elizabeth's reincarnations, she meets Meliodas and the lovers meet a tragic ending over and over again; either Elizabeth remembers her past lives and the curse kills her three days later or she dies from old age while Meliodas remains the same. They finally break out of the cycle when Meliodas destroys the curses.]]

* In Anime/WhisperOfTheHeart, Shizuku is told the story of the grandfather clock by the antique dealer; the Dwarf King and the Elf Princess are deeply in love, but can't be together due to coming from two different worlds. The Elf Princess is turned into a sheep for most of the day, only returning to her true form when the clock strikes twelve, the only time of the day she can see the king. In turn, he waits dutifully for her each day just for the chance to see her for that fleeting moment.

* Floria Tosca and Mario Cavaradossi in Puccini's ''Theatre/{{Tosca}}''. After Cavaradossi is arrested for hiding a political prisoner, the corrupt Scarpia forces Tosca to reveal the prisoner's hiding place by torturing Cavaradossi, which results in her lover's anger and political gloating before he is led to execution. Scarpia then gives Tosca the ultimatum that if she sleeps with him, he'd let her lover go. However, despite Tosca killing Scarpia, it turned out that he lied and Cavaradossi ends up killed, so Tosca also commits suicide to avoid arrest.

* The ''WesternAnimation/DungeonsAndDragons1983'' series has three couples like this. The first one is [[{{Megane}} Presto]] and [[RealityWarper Varla]], and the other two have [[ActionGirl Diana]] and either [[TheChosenOne Kosar]] or [[DefectorFromDecadence Josef.]]

* ''WebAnimation/TheMostPopularGirlsInSchool'': Platonic[[RomanticTwoGirlFriendship (?)]] example between Trisha Cappelletti and Trisha 2; they developed a friendship despite being in feuding cheer squads.

* Rose [=DeWitt=] Bukater and Jack Dawson from ''Film/{{Titanic 1997}}'' are probably the second most infamous use of this trope, after the [[Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet trope namer]]. To elaborate, Rose is from a high class American family and Jack is a homeless pauper. What's more is that they're both passengers on the Titanic, which is doomed to sink [[spoiler: and result in Jack's death]]. Of course, uniquely for this trope, [[spoiler: despite Jack's death, Rose found a SecondLove and by all accounts had a happy life with him [[note]]Also, depending how one interprets the ending, Rose passes away in her old age and is reunited with Jack and young again in the hereafter, which looks like the Titanic, as all the other souls give a standing ovation.[[/note]] ]].

* Rose [=DeWitt=] Bukater and Jack Dawson from ''Film/{{Titanic 1997}}'' are probably the second most infamous use of this trope, after the [[Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet trope namer]]. To elaborate, Rose is from a high class American family and Jack is a homeless pauper. What's more is that they're both passengers on the Titanic, which is doomed to sink [[spoiler: and result in Jack's death]]. Of course, uniquely for this trope, [[spoiler: despite Jack's death, Rose found a SecondLove and by all accounts had a happy life with him]].

A pair of star cross'd lovers take their life,\\

* Noah Calhoun and Allie Hamilton from ''Film/TheNotebook''. Their love is forbidden due to the fact that Noah is a poor boy with no money and Allie is a spoiled rich girl that comes from wealth and this causes much chaos and tension in their relationship. Despite this, the two young lovers do everything they can to be together and in the end, they end up getting married and having a family.

* Possibly the second most known Teenage Death Song (after "Leader of the Pack") is "Run Joey Run" by David Geddes. Boy (implied) knocks girl up, father gets mad and fetches gun, but not for shotgun wedding all could have lived with. Girl TakingTheBullet, the end.