History Main / UnwantedHarem

->''"Well, I'm running down the road trying to loosen my load,\\

One says she's a friend of mine."''

When criticism is raised against a harem show it's usually due to an overdose of this trope; unfortunately, when played straight, this trope is almost always overdosed. While it's often criticized as blatant WishFulfillment, most criticism regards the tendency to portray the female cast very negatively, often giving them little personality, or having their characters largely defined by [[ClingyJealousGirl their dependency on the male protagonist]] and/or [[HystericalWoman irrational tendencies towards violence]].

** TheHeroDies[=/=]AnyoneCanDie (it did say till '''[[KilledOffForReal death]]''' do us part)

* The anime-inspired RPG ''TabletopGame/BigEyesSmallMouth'' has a Defect titled Chick/Dude Magnet (shortened to just "Magnet" in 4th Edition) that makes the character the center of one of these. The game specifically notes that having a bunch of love interests is not a Defect in and of itself; the guys/girls have to actively inconveniece the character with their antics, and the character cannot have the willpower to simply resolve the situation via "extreme measures".

** At the start of ''Theatre/{{Ruddigore}}'', there have been no weddings in the village of Rederring for six months, because practically every bachelor is in love with Rose Maybud, but none of them can pass her standards of ettiquette (except Robin, who is too shy to declare himself).

* A couple of episodes in ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' mention that Finn has one of these.

* ''Literature/AHerosWar'': Morey is assigned an all-female party of skilled and attractive mages, with the intention that if he falls for any (or all) of them, he'll be more closely tied to Inath and thus his loyalty will be better secured. He recognises that that's what's happening and just finds it exasperating, but that doesn't make him immune to a pretty girl, who genuinely admires him, wanting to spend time with him and hear about his problems.
* Thunderbird of the Literature/WhateleyUniverse has a harem of five girls (at a minimum), and he's been utterly oblivious that four of them have been pursuing him (in their own quirky ways) for almost a year. Since he's a SupermanSubstitute down to the 'boy scout' behavior and astonishing good looks, it's easy to see why girls want him. Things have come to a head now that Chaka has claimed him as her boyfriend.

* ''WebAnimation/{{Anon}}'': Chelsea's supposed to be a textbook nerd, yet somehow has a whole hoard of guys chasing her around. Tucker has it even worse, given that not only does he have a new girl chasing after him almost every season, but one of them even went as far as to stalk and kidnap him and his family... twice.

* A rather unusual case in ''Webcomic/{{Misfile}}'', [[GenderBender boy turned girl]] Ash has [[{{Tsundere}} Emily]], [[ManicPixieDreamGirl Missi]], [[JerkAss Cassiel]] who is only tempting Ash to get at [[TheBeard Rumisiel]], [[CasanovaWannabe Colin the counter guy]], [[CanNotTellALie Vashiel]], [[UnluckyChildhoodFriend James]] but ''not'' Rumisiel, who all but a rare few know as Ash's boyfriend, but who knows that Ash is in reality a straight boy.

* Peter Parker alias ComicBook/SpiderMan during ''ComicBook/BrandNewDay'' where every writer (until Slott took over the book) has a favorite girl. Throwing a lot of girls around Peter — Carlie, Lilly, Norah, Michele, Black Cat, Mary Jane, Betty Brant — resulted in this, which led to people complaining that Spider-Man turned into a bad HaremAnime.

* You'd think ''VideoGame/GalaxyAngel'' is like this. [[SubvertedTrope Nope]], the game enforces a strict RoadCone early on in the game. The sequel even makes the fact about which girl Tact married very obscure until the last minute to keep it in line with your own choice in the previous games. The closest this trope comes into play is one instance in Milfeulle's route in Moonlit Lovers, where the Angels start hugging Tact all at the same time [[spoiler:to try and jog Milfie's memories]], and he's visibly uncomfortable.

->''"Well, I'm running down the road trying to loosen my load,''\\
''I've got seven women on my mind.''\\
''Four that wanna own me, two who wanna stone me,''\\
''One says she's a friend of mine."''

* The Spectacles of Eros is a running gag in the ''VideoGame/BlazBlue'' series. Whosoever wears them (like [[AntiHero Ragna]]) pretty much attracts every member of the opposite gender to them, and even some characters of their own gender, even if said characters would normally hate them. Shenanigans will ensue between the infatuated, ranging from Litchi shattering Kokonoe's drugged candy (potent enough to "knock the Black Beast out") to a stripping contest between Makoto and Bullet [[ThinkOfTheCensors that Noel interrupts before it goes too far]] to a cooking contest where Noel and Izanami's cooking wipes out some of the other contestants.