Line #69 Main/DelicateAndSickly


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10	[[quoteright:350:[[Anime/DigimonAdventure https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ill_8.png]]]]
11	[[caption-width-right:350: Gives new meaning to the phrase "sickeningly cute".]]
12
13	->''"When they met she was fifteen''\
14	''Like a black rose blooming wild''\
15	''And she already knew she was gonna die."''
16	-->--"Love You To Death", by '''Music/{{Kamelot}}'''
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18	%% One quote is sufficient. Please place additional quotes on the quotes tab.
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20
21	A character who is delicate and sickly is almost inevitably a [[TheWoobie sympathetically cute girl]].[[note]]Though lately, more and more [[{{Bishonen}} handsome males]] are taking up the role.[[/note]] The disease can be anything from non-terminal but debilitating conditions like anemia to invariably-fatal issues like organ failure. Smart writers avoid such specifics, making it a SoapOperaDisease. It will never [[BeautyIsNeverTarnished disfigure or impair her cuteness]].
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23	If the condition is terminal, a [[DiscreditedTrope common cliche]] is that the dying character is trying to hold on until some distant, significant day has arrived. For example, she might be lying sick in [[EmpathicEnvironment autumn, noticing leaves falling off a tree by the window]], and hoping she will live long enough to see the last one fall. You can see this one [[SubvertedTrope subverted]] in the Creator/OHenry story [[http://www.online-literature.com/o_henry/1303/ "The Last Leaf."]]
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25	This character type is probably indirectly descended from the Western romantic "[[VictorianNovelDisease consumptive heroine]]" (The classic 19th-century example would be the heroine of ''La dame aux camélias'', source material for ''Theatre/LaTraviata'' and ''Film/Camille1936'', while Creator/NicoleKidman's "Satine" in the film ''Film/MoulinRouge'' is a contemporary example). She may suffer from what Creator/RogerEbert called Ali [=McGraw's=] Disease (after ''Film/LoveStory''): "Movie illness in which only symptom is that the sufferer [[BeautyIsNeverTarnished grows more beautiful as death approaches]]."
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27	Becoming this character is a common side-effect of VictorianNovelDisease. Only occasionally related to DefinitelyJustACold. See also LittlestCancerPatient, TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth, IncurableCoughOfDeath, {{Utsuge}}, SoapOperaDisease, and MarkedToDie. SicklyChildGrewUpStrong occurs when a heroic or powerful character is shown to have been this in their youth. They may be seen with an IllnessBlanket.
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29	For the equestrian equivalent, see TheAllegedSteed.
30
31	[[noreallife]]
32
33	----
34
35	!!Example Subpages:
36	[[index]]
37	* DelicateAndSickly/AnimeAndManga
38	* DelicateAndSickly/ComicBooks
39	* DelicateAndSickly/FanWorks
40	* DelicateAndSickly/{{Film}}
41	* DelicateAndSickly/{{Literature}}
42	* DelicateAndSickly/LiveActionTV
43	* DelicateAndSickly/VideoGames
44	* DelicateAndSickly/VisualNovels
45	* DelicateAndSickly/WesternAnimation
46	[[/index]]
47
48	!!Other Examples:
49
50	[[foldercontrol]]
51
52	[[folder:Music]]
53	%%* The song "Love You to Death" by Music/{{Kamelot}} is about one of these.
54	%%* The protagonist of Music/{{cosMO}}'s song ''Adventurous Girl and the Miniature Garden Game'' is very much this. [[spoiler: [[KillTheCutie She doesn't get better.]]]]
55	* ''Music/{{Hospice}}'' is a ConceptAlbum by Music/TheAntlers that tells of the relationship between a hospital worker and a cancer patient, with the last three songs surrounding the narrator trying to deal with the patient's death.
56	%%* Jessicka of Music/JackOffJill, to the point where it may have ended their reunion.
57	* The music video for Music/{{Sunmi}}'s "Full Moon" has a wan, handsome young man who is bedridden with an illness that subjects him to coughing fits. Throughout most the video, he can only blearily watch the goings-on, lacking the strength to even sit up straight; when he tries getting up, he falls to the floor. A flashback shows him in a wheelchair, looking out the window.
58	[[/folder]]
59
60	[[folder:Podcasts]]
61	* ''Podcast/TheLastPodcastOnTheLeft'': In their series on UsefulNotes/GrigoriRasputin, one of the factors that allowed Rasputin to gain the power he did was that Tsar Nicholas II's son Alexei was a hemophiliac, a condition only Rasputin could reliably alleviate and which the Romanovs kept ''very'' secret, lest it be known that Nicholas's heir be a weak, sickly child. Henry Zebrowski presents Alexei as a child constantly on his deathbed, explicitly comparing it to Colin Craven of ''Literature/TheSecretGarden''.
62	-->'''Henry:''' ...and then you're cutting over to Alexei, and that sweet little boy looks like the kid from ''Literature/TheSecretGarden'' and he's like ''(as Alexei)'' "Daddy, do you think that one day I can sprout wings like a bird and fly to Heaven?" and they're like "Aw, fuck... he's gonna have to be Emperor one day..." and he's just like draped in blankets 'cause he's constantly shivering from how thin his blood is.
63	[[/folder]]
64
65	[[folder:Poetry]]
66	* The titular rat in the poem story ''Beishang'' has rather vague terminal illness, the which is characterized by her persistent hacking of blood, and she later dies before she and her father could make amends , However, the poem isn't too clear as to what brought on her illness and seems to imply that she wasn't well before her illness started to take her life and that her despair worsened it or, rather, her sudden terminal illness was caused by her despair.
67	* The "last leaf" cliche dates back at least to the first decade of the 19th century, when Charles Hubert Millevoye wrote his highly popular poem "La chute des feuilles" ("The Falling of the Leaves"), in which a sick young man wanders mournfully in the woods musing on his upcoming death. "La dernière feuille qui tombe/A signalé son dernier jour" ("The last leaf to fall/Signaled his last day").
68	* Similarly, we have this in ''What He Couldn't Save'', the girl's father fights desperately find a cure for his sick daughter, his relationship with whom was strained. When her illness hits terminal, she falls comatose and she later dies, leaving her father unable to make it up to her and haunted by her death.
69	[[/folder]]
70
71	[[folder:Professional Wrestling]]
72	* Wrestling/JushinThunderLiger had to tone down his high flying style due to [[RealLifeWritesThePlot brain surgery]]. He also cannot hear in one ear for the same reason.
73	* While working for Maryland Championship Wrestling, Wrestling/StevieRichards contracted a lung infection that eventually caused its collapse.
74	* April Hunter was born with pneumonia and later found out she had "chronic lung disease" when competing in an Iron woman contest lead to her needing an emergency inhaler.
75	* Wrestling/MontelVontaviousPorter has a heart condition that causes it to beat abnormally fast, which has at times caused him to be removed from cards or have his role reduced, such as on an episode of Wrestling/{{WWE}}'s Smackdown where he was supposed to get beat up by Evander Hollifield but ended up just getting a jab with Wrestling/MattHardy taking most of the beating.
76	* Wrestling/BobbyLashley's career has been plagued by mono, though he's done pretty well in both professional wrestling and mixed martial arts despite it.
77	* While reigning as the first Northern Championship Wrestling Femme Fatales International Champion, [=LuFisto=] lost weight, seemingly had a stroke and then was revealed to have a hole in her heart. An operation allowed it to close back up.
78	* Wrestling/RomanReigns had been diagnosed with leukemia twice. The first time was in 2007, which derailed a potential football career. When the leukemia went into remission, he became a professional wrestler. Eventually, though, it recurred in 2018, which resulted in him relinquishing the WWE Universal Championship and going on indefinite haitus. Until it went into remission again and he returned a few months later.
79	[[/folder]]
80
81	[[folder:Radio]]
82	* ''Radio/BleakExpectations:''
83	** Parodied with [[MeaningfulName Flora Diesearly]], who a short while into her marriage to Pip Bin suddenly comes down with a mysterious rash of fainting, which Pip's doctor proclaims is a sign of the dread Nonspecific Weakness. Despite Pip's efforts, Flora Diesearly dies (though it is suggested that this is more from the medicine Pip bought, rather than the illness itself).
84	** Parodied even further with the terminally metaphorical streetsweeper, Joe Sentimental Overlord, who spends his time sitting around giving off metaphors about how he is at death's door, but never seems to actually die from whatever disease he's got. Pip Bin isn't sympathetic to him, and decades later regards him as irritating and whiny.
85	[[/folder]]
86
87	[[folder:Toys]]
88	* It's never explained what her illness is, but Sine from ''Toys/LittleAppleDolls'' died of some sort of illness. She is shown healthy as a young child but a few years later is wheelchair bound. She's described as getting weaker and weaker until she can't visit her favorite orchard anymore, and later she dies.
89	* Meet Advertising/SuzyPuppy, an educational toy made to teach people about the dangers of puppy farms and how to buy a puppy safely. Suzy comes with [[EyeScream conjunctivitis]], [[ToiletHumour diarrhoea]], fleas, [[AllThereInTheManual worms]], and worst of all, parvovirus (likely the cause of the diarrhoea).
90	[[/folder]]
91
92	[[folder:Theatre]]
93	* In ''Theatre/CrossRoad'', when Niccolo Paganini was very young, everyone but his mother had given up on the idea of his living past 10. He does reach adulthood, (believed to be thanks to the PowerOfLove in his mother's singing to him), but he remains sickly. His DealWithTheDevil, in which his musical genius is CastFromLifespan, doesn't help -- though one theory is that the contract made him live long enough to play out its million songs, and that he would have died sooner without it.
94	* The illness of Eva Peron is glamorized in the musical ''Theatre/{{Evita}}''. She's made to look beautiful and fragile. Photos of the real Eva Peron from this period show that her beauty was quickly fading. Real death is seldom pretty.
95	* ''Theatre/IAndYou'': Discussed and Defied. Caroline purposefully cultivates a hostile, sardonic demeanor to stop people from treating her as a helpless waif rather than a regular teenage girl due to her severe illness. While she does have a hidden softer side, she never never loses her bite.
96	* Mimi in every version of ''Theatre/LaBoheme''. And, yes, despite dying of consumption she's still "beautiful as the dawn" on death's door.
97	* ''Theatre/LittleEyolf'' by Creator/HenrikIbsen has the title character Eyolf, an eight year old boy, who is crippled and hardly gets to play with the other boys. He dies, of course, by drowning.
98	* ''Theatre/LittleShopOfHorrors'': Audrey is never diagnosed with anything, but she "is not a healthy girl" and, thanks to being regularly [[DomesticAbuse beaten senseless by her boyfriend]], has "a black eye...and several other medical problems." Just when it looks like she's getting better, [[spoiler:she's mortally wounded by a giant plant]].
99	* Invoked in ''Theatre/MoulinRouge''. While improvising the plot for ''Bohemian Rhapsody'', Toulouse says their story's tragic ingenue is "rather sick with some obscure malaise", and the others quickly come up with a dashing love interest for her who evidently doesn't mind said illness.
100	* Fosca from the Music/StephenSondheim musical ''Passion'' suffers from a [[SoapOperaDisease conveniently vague illness]] that waxes and wanes according to her mood, but does nothing to make her more attractive; in a notable subversion of the "consumptive heroine" version of the trope, she's ugly, demanding, self-pitying, and doesn't inspire protectiveness in those around her so much as exasperation and mild disgust.
101	%%* The point of ''Radium Girls'', especially Grace and Kathryn who appear throughout the play. The worst part is that it's based on a true story (see Real Life).
102	* In a case of RealLifeWritesThePlot, Ilse from the revival of ''Theatre/SpringAwakening'' is implied to be ill when she takes off her wig and reveals her bald head. At the time of the Los Angeles production, her actress Krysta Rodriguez was going through chemotherapy for breast cancer.
103	[[/folder]]
104
105	[[folder:Web Original]]
106	* ''WebAnimation/AttackOnMika'':
107	** ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfe5QOk1GmE A father kicks out his wife and son but keeps the daughter...]]'': Eiji and Sayuki's mother is a young woman who often fell ill, but her sickness didn't stop her husband from forcing her to do the chores even in that state.
108	** ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3bnmMWUuBU I put a voice recorder under my hospitalized brother's pillow]]'': Yuuki is a sickly young boy who wanted to be with his older brother Hirokazu at all times, much to the latter's annoyance as their parents dote on the former.
109	** ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qKgnpbgiAFY My sick and coddled sister said she wanted my boyfriend...]]'': Kasumi still appeared sickly even when she was discharged from the hospital, but her older sister Masumi knows she's faking it so her parents will spoil her. Years later when they meet again, Kasumi notices she's dating Ren and tries to steal him from her. When Ren and Masumi come to her family's house, [[spoiler:the former calls Kasumi out for faking her sickness, even showing her parents a photo of himself and Kasumi at the slots, and she's shown ''smoking''. Of course, Kasumi rants at Ren, without knowing that she exposed her own facade to her parents.]]
110	* ''Everyone'' in ''Roleplay/Bay12KatawaShoujoRoleplay'' and the sequel ''Roleplay/KatawaShoujoGaiden''.
111	* The {{Webcomic/Buildingverse}} (''{{Webcomic/Roommates}}'', ''Webcomic/GirlsNextDoor'' etc.) has several more-or-less-seriously ill-people who play on this trope (but the illnes won't be fatal as the NobodyCanDie rule is in effect): Mag (She is permanently blind); Satine (Has VictorianNovelDisease); Jareth (when he caught the [[PowerIncontinence magical]] [[CatchYourDeathOfCold cold]] and became insufferably cute too... [[UnexplainedRecovery though he got better]]; later he also got mortally wounded by a WeaponOfXSlaying).
112	* [[Literature/IlivaisX Iriana Estchell]] fits the typical characteristics, but she's not EXACTLY sick. However, she only has a handful of non-artificial organs and is very limited in the physical activities she's capable of doing, and will definitely go into a coma after five minutes outside. Why? Because she was made for the sole purpose of being the titular mech's pilot, without the intent of ever leaving it. Her body IS capable of regeneration mostly as a side-effect of her internal recycling so as to not require nutrients, but her source of energy is the mech. Without her battery, she's essentially immortal inside her Ilivais, but if she stays out too long, she'll eventually die.
113	* ''WebAnimation/{{Dreamscape}}'': Keela's limbs are more skinny than the rest of the cast and she has a raspy voice, so she gives off this vibe. This also means it takes her longer to heal through traditional medicine. She reveals in 'The Mystery of Melinda' that she was in a near-death state before she made a DealWithTheDevil, so she became "frozen" in that state of body when she became a DemonOfHumanOrigin.
114	* Toki was dying from leukemia during the events of [[http://akaichounokoe.deviantart.com/art/Flashbacks-I-Alone-and-Frail-334638145 Flashbacks I]]. She gets better but the effects are still there. She is also frequently ill due to having what Amoridere describes as a "wiped immune system".
115	* We have Anwen von Eyre from Website/{{Killerbunnies}} and she is ill with a progressive illness that will eventually take her life. She turned to villainy to find a cure if not something that will prolong her life.
116	** We seem to also have this with with case of "Nuclear Blast" Nova, as it's implied her scars are the result of operations in which she's had to have tumours removed.
117	** We also have this to some degree with Sheyla, who has respiratory problems necessitating her to use be hooked up to an oxygen tank.
118	* In-character, Ironmouse of WebVideo/VShojo has been rendered weak and feeble due to being a demon who refuses to devour human souls. In real life, she suffers from [[https://medlineplus.gov/genetics/condition/common-variable-immune-deficiency/ Common Variable Immune Deficiency]], a genetic disorder that has compromised her immune system, leaving her homebound and reliant on weekly plasma transfusions. Her signature squeaky voice is a result of CVID.
119	* Puppet from the ''Literature/WhateleyUniverse'' subverts this through her caustic attitude, plus a learned snobbishness from her [[RichPeople upbringing]]. She definitely has it hard though, making her something of an IronWoobie.
120	* ''WebAnimation/InanimateInsanity'' has Tissues, who suffers from a flu-like infection known as "the condishawn". Expect him to unleash a giant sneeze whenever he appears. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, viewers weren't a fan of his snotty (literally) ways, causing him to be the first eliminated from Season Two.]] That said, he has picked up a sizable fanbase more recently, most of which say he's adorable.
121	* The first ''WebAnimation/PokemonTwilightWings'' short stars a little boy named John. John has been hospital-bound from an early age.
122	* ''WebAnimation/RefreshingStories'': Hiroshi's high school girlfriend [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImlOVn8g7fI Ayako]] fell ill and eventually died due to lack of medical equipment.
123	* ''WebAnimation/RevengeFilms'': [[https://youtu.be/JbGfYZ5ZtKE The OP's mother-in-law]] fell ill and he had to take care of her while his wife was away. When he tried to remind her of her mom's condition, she whined about how he had it easy for working at home. When his wife went to Hawaii with her lover, the MIL suffered a high fever and eventually died of her illness.
124	* ''WebAnimation/SekaiNoFushigi'': [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rs4jf0alYQ Koki]] has a illness during his childhood which caused him to miss school a lot and he didn't make it to high school. Fortunately, he got a surgery which cured his illness and he was able to catch up with his studies and he eventually went to Oxford University.
125	* ''WebAnimation/TroubleBusters'': [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMev_qCdSG0 Hillary]] suffers several heart conditions and was kicked out by her parents because of it, living a hard life until she met David, who seemed caring but revealed his abusive personality once they married.
126	[[/folder]]
127
128	[[folder:Webcomics]]
129	* Parodied in ''Webcomic/AnsemRetort'', where Axel and Zexion deliberately infect Riku with AIDS to make him the poster child for their charity AIDS Aid.
130	* In ''Webcomic/DemonStreet'', Kate suffered from an unknown illness causing coughing fits while living in the human world. The air of the demon world she [[TrappedInAnotherWorld became stuck in]] cured her symptoms.
131	%%* Hwan Sung-Ah in ''Webcomic/TheGamer'' is a victim of a permanent StatusEffect that makes her a classic Ill Girl.
132	%%* In Webcomic/{{Knite}}, we have a terminally ill Min-Min, as a result of pollution.
133	* ''Webcomic/MagicalTwelfthGraders'': Yeorum is a psychological version during the current story, and in flashbacks she was doted on by her parents for physical problems. [[spoiler:She was faking at least some of it for the attention]].
134	* ''Webcomic/MegaTokyo''
135	** Miho is...complicated. Short version: Lots of fainting spells and time in the hospital. Long version: [[spoiler:She's the in-universe TropeMaker. Her story, the archetype of a young girl dying from some nameless disease, tugged on the heartstrings of the world so much that it became more "real" than she ever was. She is forced to relive her sickness and "die" over and over again. How long this has been going on is unclear, but long enough that she ''hates'' the archetype she created]]. And just to further complicate things, she's TheChessmaster and the closest thing the comic has to a BigBad.
136	--->'''Miho:''' Have you ever fallen in love with a girl ''because'' you knew she was going to die?
137	** In-universe, Kotone, the girl Kimiko is voicing in the game ''Sight'', is another. Details are sparse, but apparently she was kept innocent and sheltered her entire life. [[spoiler:She's an {{Expy}} of Miho. Once we see Miho with long hair, the physical similarities become more clear]].
138	* Larisa from ''Webcomic/SandraAndWoo'' is, as a diabetic, on insulin, [[http://www.sandraandwoo.com/2010/01/04/0126-secrets/ among other things]]. "Cute" is not the right word to describe the [[ChaoticNeutral chaotic]] [[PyroManiac pyromaniac]] [[FilleFatale fille fatale]] that Larisa is, though.
139	** As of the WhamEpisode (which the creators accurately call [[http://www.sandraandwoo.com/2015/09/10/0717-dropping-the-bomb/ "Dropping the Bomb"]]), we know that what's wrong with her is a ''lot'' worse than just diabetes.
140	* Mecha Maid in ''Webcomic/{{Spinnerette}}'' has [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amyotrophic_lateral_sclerosis Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis]] (ALS) likely because of [[spoiler:being experimented on as a baby]] and is unable to move except in her PoweredArmor. It's PlayedForDrama as it's made abundantly clear that this condition is slowing destroying her body and is going to [[YourDaysAreNumbered be fatal]].
141	[[/folder]]
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Context Main / DelicateAndSickly