Can't Live with Them, Can't Live Without Them: Difference between revisions

* In ''Robotech'', Lisa Hayes ''despises'' cadet pilot Rick Hunter, and he returns her contempt...yet when she thinks for a moment he was killed in a Veritech hit, she panics, and later when she's threatened by a Zentraedi, Rick berserks. When Cadet Hunter becomes Lt. Hunter and then begins to rise up the ranks, the tension gets worse because they're always encountering each other...and discovering to their dismay that they work well together. Pretty much everybody that knew them saw what was happening before they did, though.

* Tomoe and Nanami from ''[[Kamisama Kiss]].'' Tomoe is a [[Kitsune]] that has been forced to serve Nanami against his will and is typically very rude and condescending towards her. Nanami thinks he's a [[Jerkass]] in return. However, should anything happen to Nanami he freaks and should another man take interest in her [[Green-Eyed Epiphany|watch out]]. Meanwhile, Nanami hasn't bothered to hide the fact that she has developed feelings for Tomoe.

 

== Comic Books ==

** Can't stand him, [[Teleporter Accident|can't bodyslide without him]].

* [[Garfield]] and Odie.

 

== Film ==

* In ''[[Shrek]]'', the titular ogre has this happen after he rescues the princess, when he believes she can't care for him because he's an ogre. He receives the deed to his swamp and returns to it, but feels very empty inside. Eventually, Donkey makes him realize he does love the princess. Cue a rush to beat her [[Wedding Deadline]] to Lord Farquaad.

* Jokingly subverted by Tom Arnold's Gib in ''[[True Lies]]'': "Women. Can't live with 'em, can't kill 'em."

 

== Literature ==

** In a meeting of all the local witches, it's noted that Granny "couldn't be having with other witches, and ''certainly'' couldn't be having with Nanny Ogg, who was her best friend."

* The ''[[Star Wars]]'' [[Star Wars Expanded Universe|Expanded Universe]] has Mara Jade. She told Luke: "Sometimes I can't stand you, and I love for it." Awwwwww.

* A darker twist on this appears in ''[[Therese Raquin]]'' where Thérèse and Laurent find Thérèse's husband Camille to be more of a roadblock than anything, but once he's dead they find that being constantly haunted by his memory is far, far worse.

 

* In ''[[Dexter]]'', the title character says of his adopted sister who crashed at his place for a while after some troubles: "Can't live with her, can't kill her." As Dexter happens to be a ''serial killer'', the second half of the phrase takes on a different meaning. He was joking though because he is "rather fond" of her.

* In ''[[Scrubs]]'', Dr. Kelso initially couldn't stand his wife's snoring. She got the operation, but [[Rule of Funny|(this being Scrubs)]] only exacerbated the problem. Cue this trope:

* Arguably, Jerry and Elaine in ''[[Seinfeld]]'', in that they are no longer interested in each other sexually but still hang out with each other because they don't have many other friends.

* Pretty much the reason why Al in ''[[Married... with Children]]'' hasn't just up and left his ungrateful life parasite of a wife and kids. This being one of the only few shows where the viewers were hoping for [[Parental Abandonment]] on the fathers part.

 

== Music ==

* Rihanna and Neyo's duet [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMOOr7GEkj8 "Hate That I Love You."]

* The Coral's "Dreaming of You" has lyrics of "I still need you, but I don't want you now."

 

== Video Games ==

** Not so abrupt if you unlock certain scenes or do certain events correctly (the "band concert" event being a big example; you have to get the music exactly right or Squall will just be annoyed with Rinoa the whole way.)

 

* Pretty much the longest running plotline in ''[[CRFH]]:'' Margaret's attraction to and inability to let go of Dave.

* Also a long running plotline in ''[[Bittersweet Candy Bowl]]''. Mike and Lucy spend most of their time agonizing over this fact.

'''Cale''': That's a little bit extreme.

'''[[Card-Carrying Villain|Richard]]''': You may be right... [[Crosses the Line Twice|What are your thoughts on]] [[Refuge in Audacity|penning them up to use for mating]] [[Eats Babies|and the creation of snacks?]] }}

 

== [[Web Original]] ==

* Parodied, to great effect, in ''[[The Guild]]''.

{{quote|'''Vork:''' Women. Can't live with them -- they will not go out with me.}}

 

== Western Animation ==

* Helga and Arnold of ''[[Hey Arnold!]]'' technically have a one-sided version of this. At ''least'' [[Once an Episode]], we see Helga slip off into private to deliver a [[Tastes Like Diabetes|flowery, romantic poetic rant about her yearning for her one true love]], usually following a statement to the tune of "What a twerp, what a loser, what a football-headed dweeb. How I hate him. [[Here We Go Again|And yet...]]"

* The titular family in [[The Simpsons (animation)|The Simpsons]] is a great example. They love each other, but they drive each other crazy.

 

== Real Life ==

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Solitary Tropes]]

[[Category:Bollywood Tropes]]