History Main / StarCrossedLovers

** Rumata and Kira from ''Literature/HardToBeAGod'' ([[spoiler:KillTheCutie]])
** Tojvo Glumov and Asya from ''Literature/TheTimeWanderers''. Tojvo leaves Earth (and Asya) behind).
** Wanderhoose and Postysheva from ''Literature/FarRainbow'', who only get together as they are about to be annihilated
** Robert and Tanya (''Literature/FarRainbow'', same fate).

* Vlad Tepes and Elizabeth Bathory in ''Literature/CountAndCountess''. [[LonelyTogether Or so]] [[StalkerWithACrush they insist]].

* The eponymous ''Literature/EthanFrome'' and his wife Zeena's cousin Mattie Silver.

* Pip and Estella in the original ending of ''Literature/GreatExpectations''. Subverted in the RevisedEnding.
* Lyra and Will from the ''Literature/HisDarkMaterials'' series, specifically the last book, ''The Amber Spyglass''.

* Adam Conant and Cassie Blake from ''Literature/TheSecretCircle''.

* Edward Cullen and Bella Swan from ''Literature/{{Twilight}}''. [[spoiler:[[SubvertedTrope Not]].]]

* [[spoiler:M. Paul and Lucy]] in ''Literature/{{Villette}}''.

* Catherine and Heathcliff from ''Literature/WutheringHeights''.

** Hippo and Yuuri. Just... ''Hippo and Yuuri''. To clarify: Hippo is a penguin who can turn into a little bishonen and is a guardian, fighting alongside the mermaid princesses. Yuuri is part of Gakupo's henchwomen, so they do end up falling love and fighting each other. At the end of the first season, [[spoiler:Yuuri gets turned back into her original non-human form and she and Hippo are separated]]. An episode in the second season revolved around the two [[spoiler:getting to meet for ''one night'' only in their human forms and she will disappear again when the sun rises. Half the episode is about how they are afraid to meet each other ''because'' it will be just for one night]]. It's a heartbreaking episode.

** Guinevere and Lancelot, which is also a form of BodyguardCrush. Some stories have Guinevere not only cheating on Arthur (and Lancelot with Elaine), but have her plotting Arthur's downfall with Mordred. Ouch.

** ''Literature/TristanAndIseult'' (also known as Tristan and Isolde). The legend of Tristan and Iseult is an influential romance and tragedy, retold in numerous sources with as many variations. The tragic story is of the adulterous love between the lovers. The narrative predates and most likely influenced the Arthurian romance of Lancelot and Guinevere, and has had a substantial impact on Western art and literature since it first appeared in the 12th century. While the details of the story differ from one author to another, the overall plot structure remains much the same.

** Merlin and Nimueh may or may not count; it certainly does for him, since she winds up locking him in crystal in most incarnations of the legends.

* Subverted in ''Theatre/TheFantasticks'': two neighboring fathers maintain the appearance of a virulent feud and forbid their children (a son and a daughter) to even look at each other as part of a scheme to get them to fall in love and marry.

* In ''LightNovel/HyouketsuKyoukaiNoEden'', Sheltis and Ymy can talk normally with each other and interact. There's just one problem: both of them can't touch each other because if they try, sparks form between the two of them thanks to Sheltis harboring so much dark energy called mateki while Ymy has an overwhelming amount of light energy called shinryoku. While both do try to find one day to have Sheltis be purified completely, what they can only do is basically talk with each other while everyone else can touch Sheltis completely fine.

* ''LightNovel/SorcererStabberOrphen'':

* ''Anime/WeissKreuz''.
** [[spoiler:Kikuno and Shuichi Takatori]] were very in love, but she was forced to marry [[spoiler:his evil older brother Reiji]]. Then [[FromBadToWorse it got worse]]... [[spoiler:Specially for their [[HeroicBastard off-marriage]] child, Mamoru Takatori... aka Omi Tsukiyono.]]
** And later, [[spoiler:''Omi'' himself, when he falls for his cousin Ouka Sakaki... Reiji's illegitimate daughter [[DaddysGirl and the only person]] [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes he loves]]. And she's shot to death in his arms.]]
** Also, [[spoiler:Youji Kudou and Asuka Murase.]] So much that [[spoiler:he ends up killing her when she's the amnesiac DarkActionGirl Neu.]]

* The relationship between Willem and Chtholly in ''LightNovel/WorldEndWhatDoYouDoAtTheEndOfTheWorldAreYouBusyWillYouSaveUs'' was tinged with tragedy right from the start. A man who had lost everything falls in love with a girl who believes that her own death is just around the corner. [[spoiler:Despite everything he does to prevent it, Chtholly dies saving his life in one of the most gut wrenching moments in light novel history.]] This sad inevitability is perfectly reflected in the anime’s rendition of Scarborough Fair, an English folk tune about the futility of love, which plays during their first meeting and [[spoiler:during Chtholly’s death.]]

* Comicbook/{{X 23}} and [[Characters/AllNewXMen the time-displaced Angel]]. No matter how strong or not their relationship is, it ''will'' ultimately end because at some point he must return to his own time. Their final breakup doesn't even occur on panel, [[ComicBook/Extermination2018 and when he]] ''[[ComicBook/Extermination2018 does]]'' [[ComicBook/Extermination2018 return home they don't even say goodbye]].
* Asgardian [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent wolf prince Hrimhari]] and Rahne Sinclaire of ''Comicbook/XFactor''. The first time they got together, they had to part when the X-Men left Asgard. When Asgard reappeared on Earth, Hrimhari and Rahne were reunited, only for Hrimhari to [[HeroicSacrifice give up his own life to save Rahne]] [[spoiler:[[SomeoneToRememberHimBy and their unborn children]]]].

** Scarlett's mother, Ellen, in [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Film/GoneWithTheWind?from=Literature.GoneWithTheWind Gone With The Wind]] was this with her [[AllGirlsWantBadBoys bad boy cousin]] Philippe, until her father and sisters drove him out of town. He later died in a barroom brawl and Ellen married Scarlett's father Gerald. The family thinks she's the Southern version of YamatoNadeshiko; what she actually is a StepfordSmiler.

* ''VisualNovel/HashihimeOfTheOldBookTown'' [[spoiler:Tamamori and Minakami]] are this, they have loved each other in [[ReincarnationRomance countless past lives]] but never managed to be together, while in their current incarnations [[spoiler:only Minakami is aware of their common past, and he resigned himself to an one-side love because of the shame he feels for his own homosexuality and the price he had to pay as a child to save Tamamori using [[TimeTravelRomance his time traveling powers]]. It takes Tamamori [[GroundhogDayLoop many loops]] and the help of his future self to realize what he actually has been feeling for Minakami since he was a child was romantic love.]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* UsefulNotes/PersianMythology: Layla and Majnun (by the Persian poet Nizami Ganjavi). It is a classical Arabian love story. It is based on the real story of a young man called Qays ibn al-Mulawwah from the northern Arabian Peninsula, in the Umayyad era during the 7th century. There were two Arabic versions of the story at the time. In one version, he spent his youth together with Layla, tending their flocks. In the other version, upon seeing Layla he fell passionately in love with her. In both versions, however, he went mad when her father prevented him from marrying her; for that reason he came to be called Majnun Layla, which means "Driven mad by Layla". To him were attributed a variety of incredibly passionate romantic Arabic poems, considered among the foremost examples of the Udhari school.

** Thomas and Justine. Thomas is an [[HornyDevils incubus]], while Justine is a rather disturbed hottie. Initially their relationship is mutually beneficial, with Thomas feeding on Justine's LifeEnergy and stabilizing her mental state in the process. Then [[spoiler:Thomas was badly injured, on the verge of death if he did not feed. Justine willingly gave herself to Thomas knowing she could die and Thomas stopped himself moments before he was about to kill her, even if it could cost him his life]]. The result was both acts of genuine love now was contained in each other. Since Thomas is literally AllergicToLove, Justine's genuine love makes it so that they can't touch each other without seriously injuring him as he wants her so much he instinctively feeds on her. [[spoiler:Finally averted when Justine starts having sex with a girlfriend so she can then have sex with Thomas, and then regain the protection. He heartily approves]].

* [[TheOjou Akiko Hashou]] and [[CountryMouse Takao "Taka" Itou]] from the old jousei manga ''Manga/KaseiYakyoku''. [[{{Meido}} Sara Uchida's]] own love on Taka doesn't have much more hope, either, and it's even worse when [[spoiler:she ''does'' get something close to a love declaration as well as [[GoodPeopleHaveGoodSex passionate sex]] from him... and then [[FromBadToWorse The Great Kanto Earthquake destroys Tokyo]].]]

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).

* The Axe advert [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UH31wd1ALjk “Soulmates”]], a 90-second spot tells the story of a man's ill-fated pursuit of a woman throughout human history. It starts in prehistoric days with a bearded cave man trying to reach a woman who has just noticed him until the [[SnowMeansDeath ice]] below splits, and there’s a divide between them. The same man and woman are shown in different time periods and places: Ancient Pompeii; an Arabian palace (probably the Ottoman Empire); a cowboy bar in the American West; foggy 19th century London; a sinking ship [[note]]The RMS Titanic, as confirmed in a 'blink and you'll miss it shot' of the ship's name on the front of the lifejacket[[/note]]; an field hospital in UsefulNotes/WorldWarI; a 1960s anti-war protest. There are either natural disasters or human interventions that prevent him from reaching her, even during the times she ''is'' shown noticing him. It isn't until the current day, inside a convenience store at a gas station, that the same man we saw in all of these other time periods takes down an Axe product. He uses some body spray on himself and the long-pursued girl immediately is at his side. They leave together and, as they walk away, a truck crashes into the gas pumps and the station explodes: the intervention of the Axe product prevented another act of fate from keeping them apart.

** Resine and Simone from ''Manga/ShiroiHeyaNoFutari'', the first Yuri manga. [[spoiler: Simone? She's stabbed to death by an ex-boyfriend. Resine? She [[TheFirstCutIsTheDeepest refuses to fall for anyone in the rest of her life]].]]
** Maya and Reina from ''Manga/MayasFuneralProcession'', both of them [[{{Expy}} expies]] of Resine and Simone. [[spoiler: Not only are they half-sisters, but Maya later commits suicide]].
** In the ''Manga/DearBrother'' anime, Mariko tells Tomoko and Nanako about the legend of two lovers who died in Seiran School. They were separated by their different social class and [[SuicidePact killed themselves to not be torn apart]], under the biggest elm tree in the garden. [[spoiler: It's the same tree that Rei waited for ''hours'' underneath, under Fukiko's orders, causing her to catch a huge fever.]]
*** [[spoiler: Nanako and Rei]] might qualify as well. Especially in the anime [[spoiler: where Rei dies in an accident right when she was going [[StoodUp to meet up with Nanako]], in what's all but stated to have been ''this'' close to become their first date.]]

** Seishirou Sakurazuka and Subaru Sumeragi from ''Manga/TokyoBabylon'' are trapped in a cycle of love and hatred since [[spoiler: Seishirou is the [[ProfessionalKiller current assassin]] known as the Sakurazukamori, an enemy that the Sumeragi family has been fighting for generations. Seishirou should've killed Subaru when he witnessed him murder someone, but decided to make an odd sort-of bet between them, erasing their first meeting from Subaru's mind. After meeting and living together years after, Seishirou [[BreakTheCutie betrays Subaru]], leaving his life [[HeartbrokenBadass completely shattered]]]]. Nine years later, they find themselves on opposite sides of the war for the world in ''Manga/{{X1999}}'', but it's obvious their concentration is [[ItsPersonal more on each other]] than the planet's fate. The two's [[StellarName names are even taken from stars]]: Seishirou after "Orion", the constellation that appears to be pursuing "Pleiades", which gives Subaru his.
** And as revealed by ''Manga/{{X1999}}'', [[spoiler: Subaru's sister Hokuto and Kakyou Kuzuki. ''The'' breaking point for Subaru and Seishirou was the latter's murder of Hokuto when she tried to save Subaru at the cost of her life; Kakyou was Hokuto's soulmate and as shown in the X OAV, he tried to save her to no avail. Years later, Kakyou's biggest wish is to die so he and Hokuto can be TogetherInDeath.]]

* ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'': [[spoiler: Eren, with Mikasa. The final chapter reveals that he does return her feelings and would love nothing more than to start a relationship with her. Unfortunately, circumstances outside of their control separate the two, and Mikasa is ultimately left with no choice but to kill him to save humanity.]]

** Also, the beginning of the show shows another pair of star crossed lovers: [[spoiler: Koga Danjou and Iga Ogen, Gennosuke's grandpa and Oboro's grandma respectively.]]

* In ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'', it's almost as if fate has made it its personal mission to ensure that Guts and Casca ''never'' find happiness. [[spoiler: That moment of love the two of them shared near the waterfall in the Golden Age Arc was the closest they came to it before the Eclipse went down and [[FromBadToWorse everything literally went completely to Hell]]. [[RapeLeadsToInsanity Ever since Casca lost her sanity from a brutal rape at the hands of her former superior turned archdemon -- Griffith --]] she can no longer understand human emotion and [[AmnesiacLover has no recollection of her relationship with Guts.]] Even with her sanity recently restored, she cannot even look at Guts or speak his name without the horrible Eclipse memories coming back, and only time will tell if she and Guts can still be together.]]

* In ''Manga/BlackLagoon'', a fairly strong case can be made for the YakuzaPrincess Yukio Washimine and the badass Yakuza Ginji Matsuzaki. On one hand Ginji's loyalties lie solely with Yukio [[BodyguardCrush and his reasons are all but stated to be romantic]], whereas Rock speculates that Yukio's decision to take over the Washimine clan came from her desire to be with Ginji. On the other, they were subjected to an absolutely ''brutal'' breaking process that involved: an all-out war against Hotel Moscow, the bloody betrayal of a group of the Washimine yakuzas [[spoiler: where Yukio was physically/sexually humiliated by the ringleader and Ginji [[PayEvilUntoEvil took an horrible yet well-deserved revenge on him]], Ginji's death in a duel with Revy]] and, right after the last one, [[spoiler: Yukio commiting suicide rather than [[BetterToDieThanBeKilled facing Balalaika in dishonor]] ''and'' being without Ginji.]]

** Euphemia and Suzaku are another pair. Although they were on the same sides, Suzaku was still considered inferior. [[spoiler: And Euphemia still died.]] At the same time, Lelouch is implied to have some [[IncestSubtext affection]] for Euphemia while being on the opposite side [[spoiler: to the point of saying she was "the first woman I loved" when he was forced to MercyKill her]] and Euphie brings up how she once wanted to marry him when they were kids.

* [[spoiler: Remy Matsuda and Merril Benten Tamagawa]] from ''Anime/CyberCityOedo808'', since [[spoiler:she's a sort-of vampire/human hybrid and he's a human AntiHero who must take her down. It ends with them sharing a LastKiss before Benten puts Remy in a capsule and shoots it into outer space.]]

** [[TheRival Kyosuke]] and Chisa: At first, they seemed like a happy OfficialCouple, but are quickly torn apart by [[spoiler:her death in the first episode of ''Side: Future'']]. ''Side: Despair'' later reveals that [[spoiler:Chisa was tortured and brainwashed by [[BigBad Junko]], becoming evil and acting as her mole, meaning she was working for the very side her boyfriend had vowed to destroy all along]]. It's even worse when one considers that [[spoiler: Kyosuke's ''other'' friend, Juzo, [[ArmoredClosetGay also was in love]] with [[EvenTheGuysWantHim him]], kept it a secret [[{{Gayngst}} both out of fear]] and to not ruin Kyosuke and Chisa's bond, and died in a mix of HeroicSacrifice and RedemptionEqualsDeath while mistakenly believing that Kyosuke hated him, when in reality Kyosuke desperately wanted Juzo's forgiveness.]]

* [[VillainProtagonist Lucy]] and Kouta in ''Manga/ElfenLied''. Not only do both of them have massive issues (Kouta is an amnesiac, Lucy is a Diclonius and has been rejected by almost everyone in her life until he and Yuka took her in), but there's how [[spoiler: Lucy ''killed Kouta's dad and sister'' in the middle of a killing spree coming from her cracking under the pressure]].

* ''LightNovel/TheFamiliarOfZero'' has [[spoiler: Louise's best friend, Princess Henrietta of Tristam, and her boyfriend ''and'' [[KissingCousins first cousin]] Prince Wales of Albion.]] At first politics prevent them from being together officially, [[SecretRelationship so they have covert meetings]]. Then [[spoiler:Wales is murdered by Louise's treacherous ex-boyfriend Jeean-Jacques, and later a heartbroken Henrietta ends up giving an AnguishedDeclarationOfLove... to the copy of poor Wales's body, animated with a little of his soul.]]
* If you're a [[EasternZodiac Member of the Zodiac]] in ''Manga/FruitsBasket'', you and your beloved will be Star-Crossed Lovers. The only question is whether you get scarred by Akito (physically, mentally, or both), or just never confess your love and languish in your misery. [[spoiler: When Akito is defeated ''and'' has a HeelFaceTurn thanks to Tohru, the curse is slowly broken and the major part of the separated/unconfessed couples get together..]]

** In the backstory and in ''Manga/FushigiYuugiGenbuKaiden'', Uruki and Takiko "Genbu no Miko" Okuda are more or less get together, [[ForegoneConclusion but everyone knows what happened to her in the end.]] [[spoiler: If the reader doesn't know, well, here it is: Takiko was being devoured from the inside by Genbu as a side-effect of having been a Miko; everyone else thought she had fallen victim to a SoapOperaDisease (and to be fair, she was already an ill girl) but her father knew the truth, so he {{Mercy Kill}}ed her and commited suicide afterwards. Takiko lived enough to make her wishes and [[DiedinyourArmsTonight die in Uruki's arms]]; he [[TheMourningAfter never married]] and became TheGoodKing. (Still, [[ReincarnationRomance their next reincarnations]] [[EarnyourHappyEnding got their happy ending]]).]]

** It doesn't even ''have'' to happen between Mikos and Seishis. [[spoiler: Uruki's cousin Firuka and Urumiya Hagas]] from ''Manga/FushigiYuugiGenbuKaiden'' were this as well, [[spoiler: with him loving Firuka [[BecauseYouWereNiceToMe because she]] [[IOweYouMyLife was kind to him]] [[FlorenceNightingaleEffect in his moment of need]] [[TheStoic but being unable to show it properly]], and Firuka believing her love for him was onesided even after he died in his SelfSacrificeScheme to free his brother Tegu, who ultimately tells her how much Hagas loved her. (In a slightly happier note, Tegu becomes Firuka's SecondLove, and one of their descendants became Uruki's successor.)]]
* [[spoiler: Chigusa Tsukikage and Ichiren Osaki]] in ''Manga/GlassMask''. The world also seems to be hell-bent on keeping Maya and Masumi away.

** [[spoiler: Unless you see Stellar and Shinn's bond as romantic. Then, they get the raw-est part of the deal. Not helped by how Stellar's last words are "Shinn... I love you". If they don't count, is there a sort-of trope that is an equal of "Star Crossed Lovers", but with friends and family?]]
** Also, while [[spoiler: Kira and Lacus]] ''do'' get their happy ending, [[spoiler: Kira and his first girlfriend Fllay]] count as this. [[spoiler: She started out as a {{Yandere}} who pretended to love him to get revenge since he didn't save her father from a really messy death, [[BecomingTheMask then truly fell for him]] when he showed her genuine kindness... but she could only sort-of tell him her true feelings ''after'' she was murdered by the BigBad, as her soul managed to have a last talk with the grief-stricken Kira before he fought and killed said BigBad.]]
** Saji Crossroad and Louise Halevy fit this trope after the WhamEpisode of ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam00'', [[spoiler: where she became her family's SoleSurvivor and lost her hand as well]]. The second season has them fighting on opposite sides, [[spoiler: as he's forced to join Celestial Being as their TagalongKid to save his life and she's become a DarkActionGirl for the A-Laws. [[EarnYourHappyEnding It takes them LOTS of effort to get back together]].]]
*** Lyle Dylandy and [[spoiler: Anew Returner]]. It starts well but ends up terribly, since [[spoiler:she turns out to be an Innovator ManchurianAgent and betrays Celestial Being when her "trigger" (her Innovator twin Revive Revival) appears and "resets" her. When Lyle offers her a LastSecondChance she almost takes it, only to be mind controlled by Ribbons Almark into fighting him anyway and she eventually has to be killed by Setsuna to keep her from killing Lyle.]]
** The ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing'' novel ''Frozen Teardrop'' give us [[spoiler: Treize's parents, Ein Yuy and Angelina Khushrenada. They tried to run away to escape the ParentalMarriageVeto coming from her family, but her SmugSnake father Cinquante kidnapped Angelina back into the clan and got Ein killed. She was so broken that she went insane with grief.]] Also, [[spoiler: Trowa Phobos and Kathy Winner ''may'' end up as this too.]]
** And now we have [[spoiler: Flit Asuno and Yurin L'Ciel]] from ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamAGE''. [[spoiler: Yurin dies in the WhamEpisode, and while Flit marries his childhood friend Emily and they're still together after the TimeSkip, Yurin's death was also his StartOfDarkness ''and'' Emily simply can't fill the void she left.]]

** First is [[spoiler: the main characters, NiceGuy Shinobu and TheLadette Benio, after Shinobu goes MIA and later has TraumaInducedAmnesia.]]. They get better, [[BreakTheCutie but not before MUCH heartbreak]].
** In the backstory, [[spoiler: Shinobu's grandmother and Benio's grandfather, who were in a PerfectlyArrangedMarriage but were torn apart by political/social standings (One family was pro-Shogunate, another supported the Meiji Restoration.) The reason why the leads were betrothed was a sort-of promise made to them: if their kids or grandkids have a chance to marry, they'd be engaged to do so as a sort-of solace.]]
** And there's more! [[spoiler: Shinobu's own parents were an example, too. His father was a member of the Iijyuin clan, but his mother/Colonel Iijyuin's mistress was a German woman. [[MalignedMixedMarriage They couldn't marry]] due to social standing and her heritage, so after Shinobu's birth she was forced to leave her child in the care of his paternal family and leave Japan.]]
* [[spoiler: Jeudi's parents Friederich and Helene]] in ''Manga/HonooNoAlpenRose''. Specially because [[spoiler: they ''did'' get married and had Alicia/Jeudi, but then they had to run away from Austria to Switzerland, Helene and Jeudi went missing, and it went FromBadToWorse.]]
** As things get worse and worse, it seems the Universe itself is conspiring to give Lundi and Jeudi trouble. Specially [[spoiler: when Lundi disappears when the train he and Jeudi have boarded to reach Austria is caught in a bomb attack, and Jeudi has to go to Austria alone.]]

* In ''LightNovel/TheIdealSpongerLife'', each nation's royal family jealously guards their RoyaltySuperPower, such as the Capuan Space-Time magic. About a hundred fifty years before the start of the story, a Capuan prince fell in love with a princess from a neighboring kingdom. Both families opposed their marriage and he used Space-Time magic to elope to another world, disappearing from history. [[spoiler: Their descendent Zenjiro is summoned to marry into the Capuan royal family devastated by war. Negotiations with the other kingdom over the status of a child who may inherit powers from both bloodlines, or the possibility of Zenjiro taking concubines, are very tense.]]
* ''Manga/{{Inuyasha}}'': Inuyasha and Kikyo thanks to Naraku's making them think they betrayed each other, fatally injuring Kikyou AND making her seal him. Later she's forcibly revived by a witch, and things aren't much easier as he's starting to fall for her reincarnation Kagome ''and'' she's filled with rage and pain. [[spoiler: In the end, she dies again but much more peacefully, in Inuyasha's arms.]]

* Tomoe from ''Manga/KamisamaKiss'' has this as his default view on human/youkai relationships. [[spoiler: Naturally, he ends up in one such relationship with Nanami.]]
* [[TheOjou Akiko Hashou]] and [[CountryMouse Takao "Taka" Itou]] from the old jousei manga ''Manga/KaseiYakyoku''. [[{{Meido}} Sara Uchida's]] own love on Taka doesn't have much more hope, either, and it's even worse when [[spoiler: she ''does'' get something close to a love declaration as well as [[GoodPeopleHaveGoodSex passionate sex]] from him... and then [[FromBadToWorse The Great Kanto Earthquake destroys Tokyo]].]]

** The {{Warrior Monk}} [[spoiler: Souma Miki]] and the ActionGirl [[spoiler: Anju]] trained together and were heading towards ChildhoodFriendRomance, but [[spoiler: she was caught by the BigBad Karuma and then BrainwashedAndCrazy into becoming her follower, then into killing her former companions. Only Souma survived and he believed Anju to be a traitor for years, not knowing that her memories were erased; when he calls her out on it, she begins to recover them...]]
** Later, there's [[spoiler: Inugami and Sayaka. Inugami is the Prince of the Demon World, a half-demon young man who opposes Zenki in the second part of the series; on the other hand Sayaka is one of {{the hero}}ine Chiaki's {{muggle best friend}}s. Inugami is at first cold and uncaring, but slowly begins to [[DefrostingIceKing defrost]] as Sayaka starts getting to him...]]

* ''Anime/LupinIIITheSecretOfTwilightGemini'': Part of the film's backstory reveals [[spoiler: Dalune]] was formerly a member of the French foreign legion, while Lorre was both a dancer at the Geltic royal palace and a member of the royal family. They fell in love soon after they met and consumated their relationship not long afterward. Unfortunately, it was during a time when there was firece conflict between the Gelts and the Igo Tribes. The last time they saw each other was the day [[spoiler: the Geltic Tribe was forced to flee their ancestral home. Neither one knew Lorre was with child, which Dalune didn't become aware of until many years later, after Lorre had long since given birth and passed away]].

* ''Manga/MagicKnightRayearth'': [[spoiler: Princess Esmeraude and [[BodyguardCrush Zagato]] are in love, but since Esmeraude is the local BarrierMaiden and she's required to dedicate herself ''only'' to Zephiro, as soon as her thoughts turn to him, Zephiro begins to crumble. Esmeraude intends to [[ICannotSelfTerminate summon the Magic Knights to kill her]] so a new Pillar can be chosen, but the desperate Zagato kidnaps her.]] Their situation is so bad, it's said that they can only be TogetherInDeath. [[spoiler: And that's what happens: as the Magic Knights kill Zagato believing him to be the BigBad, Esmeraude [[DespairEventHorizon cracks]] and her SuperpoweredEvilSide awakens. What's left of her conscience [[AstralProjection projects her image]] to the Knights and explains everything, begging them to kill her. As the girls slay her, they see Zagato and Esmeraude's souls together, and hear Esmeraude first thanking them for releasing her, then telling Zagato that she's finally all his'.]]

* Meiko Akizuki and Shinichi "Nat-chan" Namura from ''Manga/MarmaladeBoy'', due to the HotForTeacher angle as well as [[UptownGirl the social class difference]] (Namura is middle-class, Meiko is TheOjou). [[spoiler: Subverted later: they ''do'' get their happy ending.]]

** ''Anime/MazingerZ'': Shiro Kabuto and Lorelei. He was the little brother of Kouji Kabuto, TheHero and pilot of Mazinger-Z. She was the daughter of a foreign MadScientist, [[spoiler: or better said -- a RobotGirl built by that Madscientist, who wanted to prove he was better than Dr. Kabuto, builder of Mazinger-Z and Shiro's grandfather.]] What happened? [[spoiler:He built a HumongousMecha, Rhine X1, and a RobotGirl, Lorelei, that was meant to fuse with it to make it work. When the scientist got a fatal wound, he confessed the truth to her and pleaded her to defeat Mazinger; determined to fulfill her father's last will, Lorelei merged with Rhine and challenged Mazinger to a death match, so a very unhappy Kouji was forced to fight and kill her.]] Poor Shiro was devastated after that.

** Manga/ShinMazingerZero has ''Kouji Kabuto and Sayaka Yumi themselves''. [[spoiler: A RobotGirl named Minerva-X has witnessed almost 3000 timelines in which the world is destroyed. The trigger for this is ALWAYS the same one: Sayaka is horribly murdered (and in one continuity, raped before dying), Kouji crosses the DespairEventHorizon, becomes a WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds, and in no time Earth is destroyed [[EldritchAbomination by the out of control Mazinger]]. Poor Minerva has reset the timeline to [[DefiedTrope try averting these tragedies]] and help the star-crossed lovers stay together and alive, but it never works... until the present one, which may be the 'line in which both Sayaka and Kouji will survive and keep the world safe.]]

** Hippo and Yuuri. Just... ''Hippo and Yuuri''. To clarify: Hippo is a penguin who can turn into a little bishonen and is a guardian, fighting alongside the mermaid princesses. Yuuri is part of Gakupo's henchwomen, so they do end up falling love and fighting each other. At the end of the first season, [[spoiler: Yuuri gets turned back into her original non-human form and she and Hippo are separated]]. An episode in the second season revolved around the two [[spoiler: getting to meet for ''one night'' only in their human forms and she will disappear again when the sun rises. Half the episode is about how they are afraid to meet each other ''because'' it will be just for one night]]. It's a heartbreaking episode.

** 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 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]].
** Kaworu: In the classic series Shinji met Kaworu in one of the lowest points of his whole life (and that's saying a lot), was drawn immediately to him, Kaworu offered him kindness and told him that he loved him (whether romantically or not, he ''still'' said it)... [[spoiler: and then it turned out he was [[HoneyTrap an Angel in human form]], which completely shattered Shinji's mind. But Kaworu still cared, offered few to none physical resistance when Shinji confronted him, and ultimately allowed Shinji to kill him while saying that thanks to Shinji, his life was meaningful.]] And in the Rebuild series [[spoiler: he also approaches Shinji kindly after the heartbreaking deals with poor Rei, but ''also'' ends up sacrificing his life again.]]

** Misato and Kaji end up being this too, [[spoiler: after the latter is shot and killed by [[TheUnreveal an unknown assailant]]]].

** Gold D. Roger is revealed to have had [[MyGirlBackHome a lover]], a PluckyGirl named [[spoiler: Portgas D. Rouge.]] [[spoiler: Around the time Roger was executed, Rogue was pregnant with their son; keenly aware that said baby's life would be in danger, she held the baby inside ''[[LongestPregnancyEver for twenty months]]'' [[MamaBear to protect them]], and [[DeathByChildbirth perished as soon as she gave birth]], entrusting baby Ace to Roger's WorthyOpponent Garp.]]
** It looks like [[spoiler: Vinsmoke Sanji]] and [[spoiler: Charlotte Pudding]] are heading towards this, as they fell in pretty much LoveAtFirstSight and in other circumstances [[BirdsOfAFeather they would've been an absolutely perfect match]]... yet not only [[spoiler: their marriage was arranged by two ''horrible'' people (Sanji's ArchnemesisDad Vinsmoke Judge and Pudding's EvilMatriarch Charlotte "Big Mom" Linlin)]], but [[spoiler: it would force Sanji to leave both his beloved TrueCompanions ''and'' his lifelong dream to reach the All Blue, essentially making him abandon ''everything'' he's ever stood for.]] And ''then'' it turns out that [[spoiler: Pudding is a [[DaddysLittleVillain Mommy's Little Villainess]] anyway, and played up the NiceGirl act [[HoneyTrap to sucker Sanji AND his family into her mother's plans]].]] And '''then''' [[spoiler: Sanji still giving her a kind comment on the ThirdEye [[FreakinessShame that Pudding hates so much]] has made her go through a sobbing VillainousBreakdown and ''not'' killing him.]]

** [[spoiler: ''Almost'' played straight with Rue and Mytho, due to her being [[DarkMagicalGirl Princess Kraehe]] and him being cursed into a Raven... but Rue's AnguishedDeclarationOfLove ''and'' HeroicSacrifice unlock Mythos's feelings, revert him to a human, let him rescue her from her ArchnemesisDad, and earns them their happy ending.]]

* UsefulNotes/MarieAntoinette and Count Fersen from ''Manga/TheRoseOfVersailles.'' Oscar/André are another pair from the series ([[spoiler:they ''do'' manage to get together, but die immediately afterwards]]).

** ''Anime/SaintSeiyaSoulOfGold'' has two pairs of doomed lovers: [[spoiler: the reformed Cancer Deathmask and the InnocentFlowerGirl Elena (she's murdered by his rival and, as an ill girl, was doomed already)]] and [[spoiler: Leo Aiolia and Lyfia (they get lots of ShipTease, but in the end he must die again alongside his fellow Golden Saints while she stays in Asgard to be Odin's new priestess/representative).]]

** In the Silver Millenium days, Serenity is the Princess of the Moon and Endymion is the Prince of Earth, so they're not allowed to even meet and thus they have to do it behind their people's backs. [[spoiler: Then the war comes in, Endymion is killed, and Serenity either kills herself due to grief (manga and ''Crystal'') or dies alongside him as she's hit by the same blast that takes his life (first [[Anime/SailorMoon anime]]).]] Then they're [[ReincarnationRomance reincarnated into Usagi/Sailormoon and Mamoru/Tuxedo Kamen]], who ''do'' manage to [[EarnYourHappyEnding get AND stay together]].

** Guren Ichinose and his girlfriend Mahiru Hiragi, since [[spoiler: Mahiru was a beautiful and talented human girl until she was turned into the demon Mahiru-no-Yo]]. Even after this, Guren has never romantically loved anyone else, and Mahiru's actions through the plot ([[spoiler: including more than one instance [[DemonicPossession where she possesses Guren's body]] ]]) are to get back with him. [[{{Yandere}} No matter what.]]

** [[spoiler: Majik]] and [[spoiler: Fienna]] are this, because [[spoiler: she can't leave her village or she will die, as a part of being the [[BackFromTheDead revived]] priestess of a Dragon God, whereas he aims to be a great sorcerer and that includes WalkingTheEarth.]]
** [[spoiler: Childman Powderfield and Azalie Caith-Sith]], as well. [[spoiler: Azalie loved Childman ever since [[PrecociousCrush she was a teen and he was a young adult]], but he rejected her LoveConfession because she was [[TeenGenius the most talented student]] from their WizardingSchool and [[LoveIsAWeakness he didn't want to be a distraction]]. [[BrokenBird Her bitterness]] fueled her [[AmbitionIsEvil ambitions]] and she ended up as an EldritchAbomination after an experiment GoneHorriblyWrong, ''plus'' she believed he wanted to eliminate her after her transformation - when in reality he loved her back, [[ItsAllMyFault felt horribly guilty]] and wanted to ''save'' her. And then, it went FromBadtoWorse]]...

* In ''Manga/TenYoriMoHoshiYoriMo'', [[spoiler: Mio Mizumori and Shou Narumiya]] were this. [[spoiler: [[ReincarnationRomance In at least two lifetimes]].]]
* [[spoiler:Simon and Nia]] from ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'' in the ending, as [[spoiler: she dissolves into nothingness right after they get married, and she should've died after the destruction of the Anti-Spiral but held on for days solely out of determination]]. Lampshaded in-series by the BigBad.
** [[spoiler: Yoko and Kamina]] too. [[spoiler: Right after acknowledging their feelings and sharing their first kiss? Kamina gets killed off in battle. And even with the whole LastKiss deal with Kittan, it's pretty much spelled that [[TheFirstCutIsTheDeepest Yoko never loved anyone else the way she loved Kamina]].]]

** Yoshimura and his [[TheLostLenore Lost Lenore]], Ukina. Their romance ended in [[ShootTheDog tragedy]], but changed him from a ruthless loner into the kind FriendlyNeighborhoodVampire of the current story. [[spoiler: It also resulted in the BigBad of the series, their HalfHumanHybrid child Eto/Sen, being hunted by various organizations]].
** Nishiki and his human girlfriend, Kimi. She explicitly points out that if he's exposed as a Ghoul, he'll be killed and she'll be sent to prison. [[spoiler: When Anteiku is raided, he makes the decision to leave her in hopes of protecting her from suspicion]].

** [[spoiler: Yuuko and Clow]] may count too.

* Subverted in the ''Manga/VampirePrincessMiyu'' [=OAVs=]. [[spoiler: Kei Yuzuki is a very handsome human who is [[StepfordSmiler horribly bored with his life but does his best to hide it]], so at first he only wants eternal youth and beauty and consults the UncannyValleyGirl from his school, Ranka. Turns out she's a Shinma and she promises to give him what he wants yet planning to make him her prey... but later, the guy ends up falling in love with her despite knowing who she is, and much to her own shock Ranka finds herself ''returning'' these feelings. They reach an agreement and Ranka ''transforms Kei into a Shinma'', so Miyu (who had her eyes set on him too, thus she was horribly humiliated when she found out) had to send them both to the Dark. The last time we see them, they happily and peacefully walk together towards the Darkness.]]
* Ai and Yota from ''Manga/VideoGirlAi'', since he's a human and she's a RobotGirl who [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman shouldn't have human feelings]] and was tasked with simply helping Youta, but fell in love with him which is a death sentence for Video Girls. [[spoiler: They [[EarnYourHappyEnding earn their happy ending]], though.]]

** [[spoiler: Kikuno and Shuichi Takatori]] were very in love, but she was forced to marry [[spoiler: his evil older brother Reiji]]. Then [[FromBadToWorse it got worse]]... [[spoiler: Specially for their [[HeroicBastard off-marriage]] child, Mamoru Takatori... aka Omi Tsukiyono.]]
** And later, [[spoiler: ''Omi'' himself, when he falls for his cousin Ouka Sakaki... Reiji's illegitimate daughter [[DaddysGirl and the only person]] [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes he loves]]. And she's shot to death in his arms.]]
** Also, [[spoiler: Youji Kudou and Asuka Murase.]] So much that [[spoiler: he ends up killing her when she's the amnesiac DarkActionGirl Neu.]]

* [[spoiler: Makie and Taki Renzaburou]] by the end of the ''Anime/WickedCity'' movie. [[spoiler: While them hooking up and becoming a BattleCouple is one of the biggest plot points of the movie as a whole, in the end the pregnant Makie must return to the Demon World and Renzaburou musty stay on Earth.]]

* The relationship between Willem and Chtholly in ''LightNovel/WorldEndWhatDoYouDoAtTheEndOfTheWorldAreYouBusyWillYouSaveUs'' was tinged with tragedy right from the start. A man who had lost everything falls in love with a girl who believes that her own death is just around the corner. [[spoiler: Despite everything he does to prevent it, Chtholly dies saving his life in one of the most gut wrenching moments in light novel history.]] This sad inevitability is perfectly reflected in the anime’s rendition of Scarborough Fair, an English folk tune about the futility of love, which plays during their first meeting and [[spoiler: during Chtholly’s death.]]

* Again in ''ComicBook/BrightestDay'', Deadman gets the same treatment: while he's resurrected too, and starts to appreciate his new stab at life by romancing the overtly cute and lovely superheroine Dove, [[spoiler: he gets returned to his undead state, the Entity using his life force to resurrect and empower the new iteration of the Comicbook/SwampThing. All the while with Dove still able to hear his disembodied voice, but tearfully aware of their separation.]]

** In ''ComicBook/BrightestDay'' instead, while Hawkman and Hawkgirl get [[spoiler: briefly]] resurrected by the ''Life Entity'' and freed by their curse, the same Entity [[spoiler:turns Hawkgirl into the latest air elemental, barring her from living her last life with Hawkman.]]

* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'': Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson were forced into this by ComicBook/OneMoreDay. Stan Lee even labels them this in his afterword in the OMD Trade Paperback. Fortunately, they're still very much together in the [=MC2=], Ultimate, and Newspaper Strip continuities, the latter of which continues to this day. [[spoiler: Nick Spencer brought them back together in the very first issue of his run on ''Amazing Spider-Man'', following Dan Slott's departure. Fingers crossed...]]

* ''ComicBook/SupermansPalJimmyOlsen2019'': One of [[Characters/SupermanJimmyOlsen Jimmy's]] ancestors, Jimberly, and one of [[spoiler: Lex Luthor's]], Hannah, fell in love, despite the decades-old animosity between the family. For a while, the relationship flourished in secret, driven partially by the disdain of their relatives. The relationship ended tragically with Hannah's father shooting her beau in the leg while other relatives held her back. While they married other people, [[spoiler: their illegitimate son ended up tying the Olsen and Luthor bloodlines together.]]

* ''ComicBook/UltimateSpiderMan'': Peter and Mary Jane end up as this, [[spoiler: what with the former being KilledOffForReal]]. It's subverted later on, [[spoiler: when it turns out he's not actually dead and they elope together]].

* Kubo's parents in ''WesternAnimation/KuboAndTheTwoStrings''. Sariatu first met Hanzo [[spoiler: as enemies, with her being sent by her father, the Moon King, to kill him]]. They fell in LoveAtFirstSight and later had a son but due to [[spoiler: Sariatu's family]] disapproving of their relationship, Hanzo was killed and Sariatu fled with the baby Kubo. [[spoiler: Made even more tragic in that Hanzo is actually an amensic Beetle and Monkey is Sariatu in another form and both died not too long after realizing Hanzo's true identity.]]

* ''Film/TheAdjustmentBureau'''s whole premise is this. David and Elise meet in a bathroom one night, in what was meant to be a chance encounter. But the titular bureau tries to keep them from reuniting, out of fear of what effect it will have on the plan. [[spoiler: David and Elise ended up together in the original plan, and remnants of this keep bringing them together]].

* In ''Film/Aquaman2018'', Arthur's parents are Atlanna, an Atlantean Queen, and Thomas, a human lighthouse keeper. Their happy relationship was sadly only able to last for a few years before Atlanna was forced to return home. After marrying King Orvak and giving birth to Orm, she was executed by being thrown into the Trench. Despite this, Thomas continues to wait at the docks every sunrise, hoping to see her again. [[spoiler: Fortunately, they do.]]

* [[HumanPopsicle Steve Rogers]] and [[ActionGirl Peggy Carter]] in the ''[[Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger Captain]] [[Film/CaptainAmericaTheWinterSoldier America]]'' [[Film/CaptainAmericaCivilWar films]]. Minutes after their first kiss during World War II, Rogers sacrifices himself to save the Eastern United States and is presumed dead. When he returns from his coma in the modern day, Carter is [[spoiler: bedridden from old age and has Alzheimer's (after having lived a heroic and fruitful life otherwise) thus preventing her from permanently retaining the knowledge that he's alive. She then dies in ''Civil War'', leaving Steve heartbroken]]. Her own [[Series/AgentCarter TV series]] depicts her moving on from this and finding a SecondLove, but only after a very long grieving period.

* Invoked in ''Film/{{Heathers}}''. Everyone in town ''thinks'' the two dead high school football players killed themselves because they were gay lovers who believed that the community would never accept them. Everyone, that is, except for [[spoiler: the two people who murdered them and forged the suicide note that lead the town to believe that two heterosexual football players were secretly gay lovers]].

* ''Film/{{Jasminum}}'' features [[PlotParallel two pairs]], some 400 years apart: the [[LockedAwayInAMonastery first Czeremcha]] with the [[InterClassRomance poor nobleman's daughter]] and his present-day namesake with [[spoiler: Natasza]]. The XVI century couple is [[TogetherInDeath finally reunited]], but the XXI century one finally decides to [[BetterAsFriends part ways]] and get on with their lives.
* ''Film/{{Ladyhawke}}'' - the title character Isabeau and her lover Captain Navarre travel together but only ever set eyes upon each other for the briefest moment because [[spoiler: due to a curse, Isabeau turns into a hawk at dawn and Navarre turns into a wolf at sunset]]. The movie is all about them and Navarre's companion, Philippe, trying to go ScrewDestiny [[spoiler: and break the curse itself]]. [[spoiler: It works in the end.]]

* In ''Film/{{Metropolis}}'', Freder is the son of the evil Capitalist overlord, and Maria is a young Socialist reformer. [[spoiler: It turns out okay, though.]]
* In ''Film/MemoirsOfAGeisha'', this is shown in the form of three women: Hatsumomo, Mameha and Sayuri. Hatsumomo was in love with a baker but was forbidden by Mother to never see him again, because as a geisha, she mustn't give her body up to men who can't earn enough money. Mameha was hinted to have loved the Baron at one point but had long given up that emotion. And the last one is Sayuri who had loved the Chairman at first sight and from that moment on, did everything she could to meet him again. Like the others, she was doomed not to have a future with him. However, [[spoiler: Sayuri [[EarnYourHappyEnding earned her happy ending]] as the Chairman reciprocated her love and they remained together.]]

* The lovers in ''Film/MyBeautifulLaundrette'' are maximally star-crossed. One is from a tradition-minded Pakistani family, the other runs with National Front skinheads, and both are boys... But it's subverted in that there's no angst, there's minimal bitching about their star-crossed status, and at the end [[spoiler: they end up together, realistically happy, without ever telling anyone about their relationship.]]

* Jamal and Latika in the movie ''Film/SlumdogMillionaire'' - who were childhood friends drawn together by bad circumstances, and then forced apart by similar ways. [[spoiler: At least until the very end of the movie.]]

* 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. 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.]].

* ''Film/WhereHandsTouch'': Leyna and Lutz are pretty much doomed from the start, as an interracial couple in Nazi Germany. They keep things completely secret as a result. [[spoiler: Lutz dies in the end.]]
* Subverted in ''Film/TheWorldOfSuzieWong''. Robert is a middle class American architect-turned-artist, while Suzie is a poor Hong Kong prostitute. Despite the movie illustrating their different backgrounds [[spoiler: they both overcome them and learn to make their relationship work]].

** Rumata and Kira from ''Literature/HardToBeAGod'' ([[spoiler: KillTheCutie]])

** Duncan [=McLain=] and Maryse [=MacArdry=]. Expecting to be parted over a feud between their clans, they [[spoiler: marry in secret and Maryse conceives a son, Dhugal]]. Duncan later learns Maryse died of a fever the following winter, but he doesn't know the rest of the story until '''much''' later.
** Rothana Nur Hallaj and Kelson Haldane. After much thought, she decides to put aside her temporary novice's vows and marry him, then he disappears down a waterfall and is thought to be dead. She is persuaded to marry someone else [[spoiler: traitorous Conall Haldane]], and feels she cannot marry Kelson once they are both free to do so. She even arranges for him to marry someone else!
* ''Film/{{Devdas}}'': The book (and subsequent movie versions) is definitely of the second variation, having been written in 1917 when such rules still existed. The eponymous hero (son of a wealthy upper-class family) and [[HighSchoolSweethearts Childhood Sweetheart]] Paro (daughter of a middle class trader family) fall in love upon adulthood, but because Devdas is too weak-willed to stand up to his father's disapproval of their getting married, the two of them spend the remainder of the book apart. He spends his days drinking and mourning her, while Paro is in an ArrangedMarriage to an older aristocratic gentleman. [[spoiler: Sensing that he's close to death because of his drinking and despair, Devdas crawls to Paro's house and dies in front of her gate, fulfilling a promise he made to her on the day of her wedding, and Paro can't even see his face because of the rules of Purdah.]]

* Though romance is not a major theme in the books, Eisenhorn and Bequin from the ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}: {{Literature/Eisenhorn}}'' series. Eisenhorn is a Psyker and Bequin is a Blank (anti-psyker), thus meaning it was painful for Eisenhorn just to be near Bequin. The only time he is able to be close to her and open his heart is when [[spoiler:Bequin is in a coma (thus canceling her 'Blankness'),]] after [[spoiler:trying and ''failing'' to stop a possessed Imperial Titan]]. Unfortunately [[spoiler: she doesn't wake up]].

* Augustus and Hazel in ''Literature/TheFaultInOurStars'' both have 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.]]

** The ''real'' star-crossed lovers of the trilogy turn out to be [[spoiler: Finnick Odair and Annie Cresta, with her even ending up with SomeoneToRememberHimBy]].
* In ''Literature/TheIronDragonsDaughter'', Jane and [[IKnowYourTrueName Tetigistus]]. When she and [[spoiler: one of his incarnations (Rooster, Peter, Puck or Rocket)]] got together, it ended in tragedy. [[spoiler: More for him than for her.]]

* Renata Remedios "Meme" Buendía del Carpio and Mauricio Babilonia play the role in ''Literature/OneHundredYearsOfSolitude''. Not only theirs is an UptownGirl deal (Meme is from the powerful Buendia clan, Mauricio is a mere mechanic and hinted to be of UsefulNotes/{{Romani}} heritage), but there's a HUGE veto coming from her family -- specially her mother Fernanda. [[spoiler: They try to overcome said veto... and it goes FromBadToWorse.]]
* ''Literature/{{Oroonoko}}'': Oroonoko and Imoinda's love go through enslavement, white society's unwillingness to acknowledge them, and a (failed) slave revolt. [[spoiler: Their love is not enough to overcome these events.]]

* In ''Literature/RevelationSpace'', Ana Khouri and her husband are critically wounded in combat, leading them to be put in [[HumanPopsicle cryostorage]] and shipped to orbital hospitals to heal. A [[ForWantOfANail shipping error]] causes Ana to be loaded into the coldsleep chambers of a slower-than-light starship and sent to a system 20+ light years away. By the time she is awoken, an entire generation has gone past and she resigns herself to never seeing her husband again. However, a transhuman kidnaps her and reveals they have her husband in cryostorage and will reunite them if she kills a man on the world of Resurgram. [[spoiler: They are never reunited as the PrecursorKillers show up and slag the system, and Ana admits the cryostorage may have been a fake.]]

* ''Literature/SchooledInMagic'': ''Love's Labor's Won'' involves two lovers who come from rival {{feuding families}}. [[spoiler: The pair are disowned when found out, but still stay together.]]

* ''Literature/ShadesOfGrey'', Eddie and Jane. Jane, who is the epitome of {{Tsundere}}, would rather kill Eddie than marry him, and he's supposed to marry upwards anyway. And then [[spoiler: when they do fall mutually in love, it turns out Jane is a Green and shouldn't even talk to eighty-six-percent-Red Eddie, much less marry him.]]
* The lead couple of Creator/HansChristianAndersen's short story [[http://www.andersen.sdu.dk/vaerk/hersholt/TheShepherdessAndTheChimn_e.html "The Shepherdess and the Chimney-sweep"]] are two porcelain figurines who fall in love, but a mahogany satyr figure is in talks to an also porcelained Chinese Old Man figure (who is a sort-of ParentalSubstitute for the Shepherdess) to get her in an ArrangedMarriage to him. (ItMakesSenseInContext, we swear) So the two attempt to run away so they won't be separated. [[spoiler: Unusually for the very angsty Andersen tales, they manage to [[EarnYourhappyEnding stay together]].]]

* In ''Literature/StarWarsLostStars'', a pair of youths from an Outer Rim planet join the Empire together. Ciena Ree remains true to her oath as am Imperial officer, even as she becomes disillusioned by the Empire. Thane Kyrell defects and joins the Rebellion after Alderaan. They still remain in love, even as they fly against each other in combat. Ultimately, [[spoiler: he rescues her after she crashes her star destroyer into Jakku, but [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome it is only so that she can be arrested by the New Republic.]]]]

* Edward Cullen and Bella Swan from ''Literature/{{Twilight}}''. [[spoiler: [[SubvertedTrope Not]].]]
* By the end of ''Literature/TheUnderlandChronicles'', [[spoiler: it's strongly implied that Gregor will never see Luxa again.]]

* [[spoiler: M. Paul and Lucy]] in ''Literature/{{Villette}}''.

* "Running Bear", famously [[https://youtu.be/E3meEmDpaDU sung by Johnny Preston]], is essentially a Romeo and Juliet story between two Indians from warring tribes, culminating in the pair [[spoiler: diving into a river they had no hope of swimming through so [[TogetherInDeath they could meet in the middle to drown]].]]

* "[[http://www.jamendo.com/en/track/590342 For Love]]" by Blood Angel and Kate Warwick (Gothic-/Symphonic- Metal, also released [[http://www.jamendo.com/en/album/65768 as a single]])

* "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t16A-kBQubg She Was The World To Me]]" by Music/DanielRomano is about an unrequited love between two people kept apart by socioeconomic class.

** Also the narrator and his ex-girlfriend in ''[[http://youtu.be/WY2r28M1TrY Manhattan Skyline]]''. They refuse to get in a LongDistanceRelationship, the girl leaves on a boat, the guy angsts about how he won't be able to fall in love again ever... and then decides to leave to New York.

* "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRyZdDNT8c0 Life Waster]]" by Creator/CorpseHusband seems to be a pragmatic and realistic take on this. In the song the speaker seems to fall in love with a woman from a very different background or with different life experiences (''I went to substances/You went to college''), but they nonetheless bond over their different traumas and/or being outsiders. However, this has a SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: as much as they might have bonded together at one point (''let the mask off/mixed our tears on the asphalt''), and the song contains some common love themes (lyrics talking about ''stars in your eyes'', and ''[[LoveRedeems If I get to know her then I might save her]]''), their differences and the emotional and physical traumas they have cause them to drift apart. What's worse is that after the drifting apart starts, there are numerous lyrics with references to her lying, hinting at something along the lines of cheating or emotional manipulation, and the situation seems to turn from simply drifting apart due to differences while still caring/being fond of each other (''fuck your fucking sickness/lost you in the process/Ima get it for us like I always promised'') to becoming outright angry and hostile, especially as it seems like the speaker embraces his own dark side in the last verse.
* Humorous version: "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnXImywqQ3U Tu mundo y el mío]]" ("Your world and mine"), by singer/writer/humorist Leo Maslíah, tells the story of two lovers that have serious problems to be together. Initially it seems like the classic story of two people from different social circles, but as the song advances the difficulties become more and more evident: she doesn't speak in Spanish... because she's from Mars; her planet doesn't have water or oxygen for him; she'll be treated as a specimen if she comes to Earth; and he can't go there anyway because he'll never be an astronaut; their bodies are so different that they can't even touch (and she appears to be similar to an ''Alien'' xenomorph). The differences pile up and finally the earthling encourages his beloved to forget him.

** Lorenzo and Jessica in a side-plot of ''Theatre/TheMerchantOfVenice''. Jessica is Jewish and her OverprotectiveDad is the play's antagonist, forcing her to flee in the dead of night. [[spoiler: They earn their happy ending.]]

* Peter and Jason in ''Theatre/BareAPopOpera''. It is made especially clear these two are a parallel of ''Romeo and Juliet'' [[spoiler: when Jason ends his life by downing a lethal dose of GHB]].

* In ''Theatre/LesMiserables'', Eponine and Marius ([[UnrequitedLove or at least Eponine thinks they could be]]). Eponine sings about this in "On My Own", and unfortunately, she is the hypotenuse in a love triangle involving herself, Marius and Cosette. [[spoiler: She becomes a victim of DeathOfTheHypotenuse and lies dying in Marius' arms. In some stagings, they AlmostKiss, but she dies before they do. Bummer.]]

* Ti Moune and Daniel in "Theatre/OnceOnThisIsland" which [[spoiler: Ti Moune sold her soul to Papa Ge to let Daniel live so she can fall in love with him but Daniel was arranged to marry Andrea which led Ti Moune to die of a broken heart.]]

* Tomoya and Tomoyo come very close to this in ''VisualNovel/{{Clannad}}'' if the player goes down Tomoyo's route. The latter is a former delinquent who's cleaned up her image and eventually becomes student council president, the former is still a delinquent and is seen as a problem child by everyone who isn't close to him. [[spoiler: The other members of the student council eventually badger Tomoya into breaking up with Tomoyo by convincing him that he's only holding her back, though eventually they get back together after graduation.]]
* Saint-Germain and Cardia from ''VisualNovel/CodeRealize''. One is a [[spoiler: homunculus created to harbor a Philosopher's Stone until it has matured.]] The other is [[spoiler: an immortal member of The Apostles of Idea, a group dedicated to steering humanity down the path towards salvation.]] [[spoiler: In Idea's eyes, Cardia is a deviation from this path and Saint-Germain is given the order to kill her. Unfortunately, he didn't count on [[SpannerInTheWorks falling in love with her]] before he could do the deed. He has multiple chances to kill her in the common route, but doesn't, and hesitates to kill her in his main route, which leads to Cardia escaping to safety. In the end, he decides that the only way to guarantee her safety is to destroy every member of the Apostles of Idea, an act that will result in his immortality being taken from him and him dying. Cardia rejects this plan, and bargains with the leader of Idea, Omnibus, for Saint-Germain's life at the cost of her destroying her Horologium and dying afterwards. It's only thanks to some serious pleading, a little help from one of the surviving Apostles, and just a hint of proving Omnibus' predictions can be wrong by [[MakesSenseInContext defeating Guinevere]] that they're allowed a hard earned happy ending together.]]

** Anghel claims that he and Hiyoko were star-crossed lovers in a previous life. [[spoiler: If his route is to be trusted, he's almost surely telling the truth.]]
** [[spoiler: Nageki and Hiyoko become this if his path is completed. Nageki [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence fades away]], due to him realising that he loves Hiyoko, and tells her that as he loves her as he disappears]].

** Hisao Nakai and [[spoiler: Lilly Satou]], if the player get their BadEnding and [[spoiler: Lilly goes back to Scotland with her family, never to return. The Good Ending is all about Hisao deciding to ScrewDestiny and taking a RaceForYourLove to [[EarnYourHappyEnding stop this at the last moment]].]]
** Also Hisao and [[spoiler: Rin Tezuka]], ''especially'' in the Neutral Ending where she leaves Yamaku to go to Tokyo, fully knowing that she'll become [[spoiler: a great artist]] but at the cost of [[DespairEventHorizon destroying herself mentally.]] Her last scene has her [[spoiler: begging Hisao to forget about her, and they share a last hug under the rain before she abandons him and her former life forever.]]

** The PlayerCharacter Saori can enter a relationship with Toru [[spoiler: Nakagawa]]. She's a member of a VigilanteMan group devoted to protect the city of Nagasaki, whereas he's an AntiVillain determined to violently overthrow the corrupt and old-fashioned Tokugawa Shogunate [[spoiler: ''and'' is the rebellious brother of Saori's boss, Makoto]]; as such she prioritizes her loyalties to the group and to Nagasaki over their love, no matter how much it hurts the two of them, and Toru is well-aware of her determination - if not even a little proud, since it tells him [[AmazonChaser how strong]] [[PluckyGirl Saori is]]... [[spoiler: It's ultimately subverted: while Toru is captured, judged and exiled, both of his endings have him and Saori [[EarnYourHappyEnding ultimately reunited in one way or another]].]]
** The other prospect SCL deal will take place in the path of Toru's best friend and companion, Tsubaki Kusunoki. Tsubaki is a BadassBookworm who grew deeply bitter [[spoiler: due to being [[HalfBreedDiscrimination half-Japanese/half-Dutch]] ''and'' [[SonOfAWhore the son of]] a HighClassCallGirl]], and as such he also views the Shogunate as ineffectual and corrupt; he plans to [[spoiler: personally assassinate the Tokugawa Shogun]] and launch Japan in a new era from then onwards. Saori, logically, loves him deeply but disagrees with that, since she wants the Shogunate to change but '''not''' through violence [[spoiler: and magnicide]]; they discuss their positions several times, but in the end they can't reach an agreement. [[spoiler: Subverted, too: Saori and the Vigilantes manage to ''barely'' stop Tsubaki from killing the Shogun, said Shogun turns out to be a ReasonableAuthorityFigure that pardons Tsubaki in exchange of having him work with the Vigilantes, and [[LoveRedeems Tsubaki gains his faith on people back AND stays with Saori]].]]

** Danganronpa ''loves'' this trope. Another example from the same game are Sonia Nevermind and [[spoiler: Gundham Tanaka]]. Just like [[spoiler: Peko above, when Gundham is revealed as Case 4's blackened, Sonia cannot believe it, and demands Monokuma spare him. She vows to carry on his will by taking care of his hamsters, and takes his last words of "Live no matter what!" to heart. Just like Peko and Fuyuhiko above, this does get better as Tanaka wakes up in ''Anime/DanganRonpa3'' Sonia and Gundham are close as can be.]]
** To round out Goodbye Despair, we have Akane Owari and [[spoiler: Nekomaru Nidai]]. Though [[spoiler: Nekomaru dies one case prior to his actual death, Monokuma brings him back as a robot which Gundham fights to the death, and ends up killing, thus both Sonia and Akane lose their significant other in the ''exact same case''. As if that wasn't bad enough, Akane is relentless in trying to figure out who killed her "Coach". Yes, three of the five survivors of Goodbye Despair (at least until the 3 anime where everyone wakes up, have all lost someone special to them, four if you count Hajime and Chiaki as a couple.]]

*** First goes to [[spoiler: Kaede Akamatsu and Shuichi Saihara]]. A rare instance in the person who dies is [[spoiler: a DecoyProtagonist]] The two are practically inseperable throughout Chapter 1, and even when [[spoiler: Shuichi accuses Kaede of murdering Rantaro Amami, he can barely keep himself together.]]
*** Second is Maki Harukawa and [[spoiler: Kaito Momota]] who are pushed as creator Kazuichi Kodaka's favourite ship in the whole game. Just like most of the above, [[spoiler: Kaito is revealed to be a blackened, which Maki desperately tries to deny, and goes out in a blaze of glory, being the first and so far only, blackened to not die by the execution, but rather the terminal illness he was given by the real mastermind [[BigBad Tsumugi Shirogane]]. Despite this taking longer than previous ships to get going, within the third chapter, [[spoiler: Kaito invites Maki, who he affectionately calls "Maki Roll" to join him and Shuichi in training every night.]] When the mastermind reveals that [[spoiler: Maki and Kaito were ''intentionally'' written as a tragic couple. Maki GoesMadFromTheRevelation.]]
*** To round out V3, we have the originally one sided [[DoesNotLikeMen Tenko Chabashira]] and [[CuteWitch Himiko Yumeno]]. [[spoiler: While exactly how much of a couple they are is debatable, it's clear from Tenko's death that Himiko misses her like a lover would miss her deceased boyfriend. When asked, Kodaka gave a ShrugOfGod, showing he does feel they were intended to be a couple, but it's mostly subtext. At first, Himiko hated being gushed over by Tenko, but when she is murdered by Korekiyo Shinguji, Himiko breaks down, and ignores the fact her other best friend died too, and says she'll cast a death spell on anyone who calls Tenko's death meaningless, making it clear she thought of her as more than a friend, she just CannotSpitItOut. Unlike the previous Goodbye Despair examples, none of those who are killed come back to life, making them more straight examples.]]

* BLU Sniper and RED Spy in ''Webcomic/CuantaVida''. [[spoiler: [[TogetherInDeath Though it didn't last long...]]]]

* ''Webcomic/ItHurts'': Aurora and Pasqualo. [[spoiler: Aurora is literally fated to ''start the apocalypse'' if she gets too close to Pasqualo, and no amount of universe resetting can change that. Pasqualo eventually gives up his life to ensure Aurora reincarnates in the universe he creates.]]

* [[spoiler: Finn and Flame Princess]] from ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' are getting closer and closer to the trope.

* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' has this in the story of Oma and Shu, who became some of the first Earthbenders, learning from the badgermoles. When he was killed by her tribe, she unleashed rage and vengeance on both until they agreed to work together. Actual in-series example would be [[spoiler: Sokka and Princess Yue]].

* Obi-Wan Kenobi and Satine Kryze in ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars''. He’s a Jedi, she’s the Duchess of Mandalore, it was never going to work out. It takes a dark turn in the episode “The Lawless”, when [[spoiler: Satine is killed by Maul.]] Obi-Wan even admits that he would have left the Jedi order to be with her if she’d have asked him to.

* Newtype romances, in any ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'' series that includes Newtypes, generally do not end well. This goes double if Creator/YoshiyukiTomino, Mister KillEmAll himself, is actively involved in the series. Note that newtype analogs, like the Coordinators from SEED, don't really count (they tend to survive, and have stable relationships).

** The wolf Hige, who's always dreamed of finding a hot babe, eventually gets together with the wolf-dog Blue. Of course, with everything else that's going on nobody gets much time for romance, [[spoiler:and [[KillEmAll they all die]] in the OVA episodes. At the very end Hige is apparently reincarnated as a human, along with the other wolves, but we don't see Blue.]]

* Saint-Germain and Cardia from ''VisualNovel/CodeRealize''. One is a [[spoiler: homunculus created to harbor a Philosopher's Stone until it has matured.]] The other is [[spoiler: an immortal member of The Apostles of Idea, a group dedicated to steering humanity down the path towards salvation.]] [[spoiler: In Idea's eyes, Cardia is a deviation from this path and Saint-Germain is given the order to kill her. Unfortunately, he didn't count on [[SpannerInTheWorks falling in love with her]] before he could do the deed. He has multiple chances to kill her in the common route, but doesn't, and hesitates to kill her in his main route, which leads to Cardia escaping to safety. In the end, he decides that the only way to guarantee her safety is to [[KillEmAll destroy every member of the Apostles of Idea]], an act that will result in his immortality being taken from him and him dying. Cardia rejects this plan, and bargains with the leader of Idea, Omnibus, for Saint-Germain's life at the cost of her destroying her Horologium and dying afterwards. It's only thanks to some serious pleading, a little help from one of the surviving Apostles, and just a hint of proving Omnibus' predictions can be wrong by [[MakesSenseInContext defeating Guinevere]] that they're allowed a hard earned happy ending together.]]

* The Literature/{{Mahabharata}} narrates the story of Kacha and Devayani. The gods were at war with the Asuras and were frustrated that Sage Shukracharya would always [[BackFromTheDead resurrect the Asuras]]. So Indra approached his mentor's son, Kacha and pleaded him to learn the art of resurrection from Shukracharya. So Kacha went to Shukracharya and became his disciple for a period of 1000 years. Although Shukracharya was aware of Kacha's intentions, he liked his dutiful nature and let him spend time with his [[DaddysGirl daughter]], [[SpoiledBrat Devayani]]. Devayani fell in love with Kacha. Meanwhile, the Asuras suspected Kacha's intentions and killed him. However, on Devayani's pleadings, Shukracharya resurrected his disciple whenever he was killed. One day, the Asuras killed Kacha and this time, they cremated him and mixed his ashes in wine, which they offered it to Shukracharya. Later, the sage was shocked to learn that Kacha was in his stomach. Left with no choice, Shukracharya taught Kacha the art of resurrection. Kacha emerged from Shukracharya and revived his teacher. After 1000 years were over, Kacha took leave of his teacher and returned to his abode. He took leave of Devayani, who confessed her feelings for him. Kacha replied that since he was reborn from Shukracharya, he is technically her brother and cannot marry her. Devayani curses Kacha that he will never be able to use the art of resurrection. Kacha replies that he can still teach the art to the gods and curses Devayani that she will never find marital happiness.

* Deirdre and Naoise in the tragedy [[Literature/TheExileoftheSonsofUishnech Deirdre of the Sorrows]]. Deirdre, betrothed against her will to King Conchobhar of Ulster, has just reached marriageable age in Iron-Age Ireland (15 for women, 18 for men) when she falls in love with Naoise and they flee Ulster to Scotland with Naoise's brothers to escape the wrath of King Conchobhar. While their romance ends tragically, in some versions they are buried together and in many versions a yew tree grows from each of their graves and twine around each other, so that the lovers are [[TogetherInDeath together in death]].
* Pelleas and Melisande (French: Pelléas et Mélisande) is a Symbolist play by Maurice Maeterlinck about the forbidden, doomed love of the title characters. A classical myth, was a common subject for art during the Renaissance and Baroque eras.
* Hero and Leander. It's a Greek myth, relating the story of Hero (Greek: Ἡρώ), a priestess of Aphrodite who dwelt in a tower in Sestos, at the edge of the Hellespont, and Leander (Greek: Λέανδρος, Leandros), a young man from Abydos on the other side of the strait. Leander fell in love with Hero and would swim every night across the Hellespont to be with her. Hero would light a lamp at the top of her tower to guide his way. When Leander drowned during a storm, Hero threw herself off the tower.
** The same basic plot is told in the German folk ballad ''Es waren zwei Königskinder'' ("There were two royal children"). Here the three candles in the window are extinguished by a "false nun" (who in some versions is a Norn).
* Prince Paris of Troy and Helen of Sparta of ''Literature/TheIliad'' seem to be this, but it's subverted in that Helen really regrets what happened and clearly doesn't like Paris. In some interpretations, she's seen as an outright [[AbductionIsLove kidnapping victim,]] especially since Aphrodite [[JerkassGods promised her to Paris WITHOUT caring that she was already married.]]
* Orpheus and Eurydice from Myth/GreekMythology. When Orpheus’ wife dies from a snake bite on their wedding night, he does what any doting husband would do: he dives down to the depths of the Underworld to rescue her. After hashing things out with Hades, Eurydice is freed on the condition that Orpheus will not look at her until they return to Greece. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Orpheus fails. His beloved is sent back to the Underworld, leaving Orpheus to wander the countryside. In some versions, such as Gluck's opera ''Theatre/OrfeoEdEuridice'', Orpheus attempts suicide so he can return to Eurydice forever, only to be talked out of it and for his undying love to be rewarded by Eurydice returning to life anyway.
* Myth/ClassicalMythology has several: Hero and Leander, Troilus and Cressida, and Aphrodite and Adonis.
** Adonis is based directly on Innana/Ishtar and Dumuzi, the OlderThanDirt Mesopotamian story of the vegetation god whose annual death and resurrection cause the seasons because of the misery of his bereaved love.
** Aeneas and Dido, Orpheus and Eurydice, and Pyramus and Thisbe show up in Ancient Roman writings.
* [[Myth/EgyptianMythology Geb and Nut]], Egyptian god of the earth and goddess of the sky, respectively, are forever kept separated by their father Shu, god of air and light. As in, he physically holds them apart so they can't touch more than their toes and fingertips. One version has him trying to prevent the birth of the god Set.
** They still managed to sire Seth, Isis, Osiris and Nephthys. [[GagPenis Must set a cosmic record...]]
* Popocatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl. It refers to a number of mythical and folkloric explanations of the origins of the volcanoes Popocatépetl ("the Smoking Mountain") and Iztaccíhuatl ("white woman" in Nahuatl, sometimes called the Mujer Dormida aka "sleeping woman" in Spanish) which overlook the Valley of Mexico.
** The most popular version of the myth says that [[WarriorPrince the warrior and nobleman]] Popocatépetl went to war in Oaxaca to overcome the ParentalMarriageVeto coming from his beloved Princess Iztaccíhuatl's father; however, this was an UriahGambit from her dad, and when it failed he told his daughter that her beloved boyfriend had died in battle and she succumbed to DeathByDespair. When poor Popocatépetl returned and found himself in the path of his girlfriend's funeral, he fell in despair and commited suicide on the spot; the Gods then [[SnowMeansDeath covered them in snow]] and transformed their corpses in mountains, with Popocatépetl's angry and pained spirit transforming his new rock body into a volcano rather than a simple hill.
* Layla and Majnun (by the Persian poet Nizami Ganjavi). It is a classical Arabian love story. It is based on the real story of a young man called Qays ibn al-Mulawwah from the northern Arabian Peninsula, in the Umayyad era during the 7th century. There were two Arabic versions of the story at the time. In one version, he spent his youth together with Layla, tending their flocks. In the other version, upon seeing Layla he fell passionately in love with her. In both versions, however, he went mad when her father prevented him from marrying her; for that reason he came to be called Majnun Layla, which means "Driven mad by Layla". To him were attributed a variety of incredibly passionate romantic Arabic poems, considered among the foremost examples of the Udhari school.
* Oepidus and Jocasta from ''Theatre/OedipusTheKing'' in a particularly tragic case of SurpriseIncest. The pair don't find out that they are mother and son until years later after raising a family together.
* Pictured above: Myth/ChineseMythology speaks of the ''Weaver and the Cowherd'', a legend of the stars Vega and Altair. Star-crossed lovers Zhi Nu and Niu Lang are separated forever across the Milky Way. They may only reunite once a year when magpies form a bridge between them. This is the basis of the Chinese cultural equivalent to Valentine's Day.

* The ''Butterfly Lovers'' of Chinese folklore, Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai. The Butterfly Lovers is a Chinese legend of a tragic love story of a pair of lovers, Liang Shanbo (梁山伯) and Zhu Yingtai (祝英台), whose names form the title of the story. The title is often abbreviated to Liang Zhu (梁祝) and often regarded as the Chinese equivalent of Romeo and Juliet. The girl, Yingtai, convinces her father to let her disguise herself as a young man in order to attend school. She meets and becomes roommates and best friends with Shanbo, a nerd who doesn't pick up that his roommate is actually a girl. Eventually he figures it out and they fall in love. Unfortunately, Yingtai is betrothed to someone else; Shanbo becomes heartbroken and eventually dies. On her wedding day to the RomanticFalseLead, Yingtai visits Shanbo's grave. The ground swallows her up and both of their spirits become beautiful butterflies.

* There are some legends through Latin America that refer to native badass princesses that fight the cruel Spanish settlers, fall in love with [[TokenGoodTeammate kindly Spanish soldiers]], and end up dying tragically with him as they're stuck between both sides. The most popular one is included among the many versions of the La Tirana myths, featuring the Qulla leader Nusta Huillac and her alleged Spanish lover Vasco de Almeida. Other legends and myths including Guanina and Don Cristobal de Sotomayor, and Juan de Salcedo and Kandarapa.

* ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'':

* ''ComicBook/MsTree'' found herself in that situation when her stepson fell for the daughter of the boss of the Meurita crime family. Subverted, regardless of her opinion of this situation, she considers the matter purely the kids' affair and enjoys seeing the girl's mother's attempt to keep them apart backfire into strengthening their relationship.

* ''Franchise/XMen'':
** Scott Summers ('''Comicbook/{{Cyclops}}''') and Comicbook/JeanGrey ('''Phoenix'''). Often described as destined soulmates who were meant to be yet have been through so much tragedy, including death and destruction.

* ComicBook/WallyWest and Linda Park may as well be DC's AlternateCompanyEquivalent to Spider-Man and Mary Jane in regards to this. Linda faces the perils of supervillains moreso than any other superhero LoveInterest due to Wally discarding the use of a SecretIdentity for most of his career. Meanwhile, Wally himself, due to being a CosmicPlaything and CreatorsPest for someone obsessed with making DC TrueArtIsAngsty, gets to suffer the most due to the constant reboots. It's revealed that he was RetGone for nearly half a decade because of being trapped in the Speed Force. In ''ComicBook/DCRebirth'', one of the first people Wally tries to reach out to in order to escape was Linda, but she has no memory of him, completely negating ThePowerOfLove that used to tether him to the physical plane. After many more hardships Wally manages to rescue his and Linda's kids (who were also victims of RetGone) and return them to Linda, allowing her to remember everything, but apparently at the cost of Wally losing his humanity.
* While played straight in the DCEU movie, ComicBook/WonderWoman’s relationship with Steve Trevor is a non-fatal example, as she cannot commit herself to him until the world is rid of evil.

* ''WesternAnimation/GnomeoAndJuliet'', of course.

* ''Film/BramStokersDracula'' - Dracula and his wife Elisabeta. Upon hearing false news of his death, she killed herself, and he became a vampire in retaliation. He falls in love with her reincarnation - Mina Harker. But as he's a vampire, and she is married to another, it doesn't end well.

* Jack Twist and Ennis del Mar from ''Film/BrokebackMountain'' due to society's homophobia. The film poster is in fact modelled after that of ''Film/{{Titanic 1997}}''.
* ''Film/TheBubble2006'': 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.
* Nate and Dana from ''[[Film/CampRock Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam]]'' is this because they are from opposing musical camps led by two former bandmates turned rivals. Added points that Dana is the daughter of Camp Star's leader, and Nate is the nephew of Camp Rock's leader.

* Marcus and the elfess Caitlys in ''Literature/TheArtsOfDarkAndLight'', since both the elf-kingdom Elebrion and the human Republic of Amorr usually look [[MalignedMixedMarriage very unkindly]] upon human-elf relationships. Amorr's BanOnMagic doesn't make people there more accepting of the sorceress Caitlys, either. Since the series is still ongoing, their ultimate fate remains unresolved thus far.

* Winston and Julia in ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour'', who are forbidden to love each other by the dictates of the Party, and are [[spoiler:ultimately forced to betray their love for each other by the sadistic O'Brien in {{Room 101}}]].

" Indian movie, ''Ek Duje Ke Liye'' (transl: Made For Each Other). Vasu and Sapna are neighbours who fall in love by chance. However, since they belong to different backgrounds, their love is vehemently opposed by their respective families. Eventually, the young couple are forced with the contract that they must not contact each other for one year. If they still want to marry each other after this period, they may do so. However, the parents have no intention of keeping [[TheCakeIsALie their side of the bargain]] and exploit the contract to create misunderstandings. Towards the end, after surmounting many ordeals, Vasu and Sapna are finally reunited... [[spoiler:during their dying moments. Sapna laments over their fate, stating [[LampshadeHanging that the whole world is opposed towards their love]]. [[TogetherInDeath The dying couple commit suicide by jumping off a cliff, into the sea.]]]]

* "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnXImywqQ3U Tu mundo y el mío]]" ("Your world and mine"), by singer/writer/humorist Leo Maslíah, tells the story of two lovers that have serious problems to be together. Initially it seems like the classic story of two people from different social circles, but as the song advances the difficulties become more and more evident: she doesn't speak in Spanish... because she's from Mars; her planet doesn't have water or oxygen for him; she'll be treated as a specimen if she comes to Earth; and he can't go there anyway because he'll never be an astronaut; their bodies are so different that they can't even touch (and she appears to be similar to an ''Alien'' xenomorph). The differences pile up and finally the earthling encourages his beloved to forget him.

* "Life Waster" by Creator/CorpseHusband seems to be a pragmatic and realistic take on this. In the song the speaker seems to fall in love with a woman from a very different background or with different life experiences (''I went to substances/You went to college''), but they nonetheless bond over their different traumas and/or being outsiders. However, this has a SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: as much as they might have bonded together at one point (''let the mask off/mixed our tears on the asphalt''), and the song contains some common love themes (lyrics talking about ''stars in your eyes'', and ''[[LoveRedeems If I get to know her then I might save her]]''), their differences and the emotional and physical traumas they have cause them to drift apart. What's worse is that after the drifting apart starts, there are numerous lyrics with references to her lying, hinting at something along the lines of cheating or emotional manipulation, and the situation seems to turn from simply drifting apart due to differences while still caring/being fond of each other (''fuck your fucking sickness/lost you in the process/Ima get it for us like I always promised'') to becoming outright angry and hostile, especially as it seems like the speaker embraces his own dark side in the last verse.

*** From the Third Generation [[spoiler:Kio Asuno and Lu Anon. It's bad enough that Kio's from Earth and Lu's from Vagan, but [[IllGirl Lu]] [[YourDaysAreNumbered also suffers from an incurable disease due to Mars Ray exposure.]] While Kio eventually got her medicine (which only relieves the symptoms and doesn't actually cure the illness), she dies in Episode 38, leaving Kio heartbroken as he escapes Vagan with his father.]]

** ''Anime/SaintSeiyaSoulOfGold'' has two pairs of doomed lovers: [[spoiler: the reformed Cancer Deathmask and the InnocentFlowerGirl Elena (she's murdered by his rival and, as an IllGirl, was doomed already)]] and [[spoiler: Leo Aiolia and Lyfia (they get lots of ShipTease, but in the end he must die again alongside his fellow Golden Saints while she stays in Asgard to be Odin's new priestess/representative).]]

** The sequel, ''Paper Planes'' by Rin Kagamine then reveals she is an IllGirl, who snuck away from the hospital each day to see him, despite the risk to her health. Her father was a guard at the prison who forbade her to see him and then instigated the fight with him as an excuse to put him to death. [[DownerEnding The girl succumbs to her illness months later]].

** In the backstory and in ''Manga/FushigiYuugiGenbuKaiden'', Uruki and Takiko "Genbu no Miko" Okuda are more or less get together, [[ForegoneConclusion but everyone knows what happened to her in the end.]] [[spoiler: If the reader doesn't know, well, here it is: Takiko was being devoured from the inside by Genbu as a side-effect of having been a Miko; everyone else thought she had fallen victim to a SoapOperaDisease (and to be fair, she was already an IllGirl) but her father knew the truth, so he {{Mercy Kill}}ed her and commited suicide afterwards. Takiko lived enough to make her wishes and [[DiedinyourArmsTonight die in Uruki's arms]]; he [[TheMourningAfter never married]] and became TheGoodKing. (Still, [[ReincarnationRomance their next reincarnations]] [[EarnyourHappyEnding got their happy ending]]).]]

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

In modern times, the term "star-crossed" is often [[YouKeepUsingThatWord 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).