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{{trope}}
[[File:
{{quote|''"I may be love's bitch, but at least I'm man enough to admit it."''
|'''Spike''', ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]''}}
{{quote|'''Fooker''': What's ''wrong'' with you? Are you ''sure'' you're the same chick who [[Groin Attack|crunched my boys]]? Sam treats you like dirt. He ignores you. He walks all over you. And when half the campus says he [[Your Cheating Heart|cheated on you]], you ''defend'' him!
▲{{quote|''"I may be love's bitch, but at least I'm man enough to admit it."''|'''Spike''', ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)|Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]''}}
'''Fooker:''' Sorry, Ki, if anyone's ''blind'' here, it's not me...
A character devotedly in love with someone who is highly troubled or dislikable, the kind of person very few in real life would stick with. The love interest isn't merely a [[Jerk
▲{{quote|'''Fooker''': What's ''wrong'' with you? Are you ''sure'' you're the same chick who [[Groin Attack|crunched my boys]]? Sam treats you like dirt. He ignores you. He walks all over you. And when half the campus says he [[Your Cheating Heart|cheated on you]], you ''defend'' him!<br />
▲'''Ki''': You don't know him like I do! I see past the lies and see him as he really is!<br />
▲'''Fooker:''' Sorry, Ki, if anyone's ''blind'' here, it's not me...|''[[General Protection Fault]]'', [http://www.gpf-comics.com/archive.php?d=20051013 October 13, 2005]}}
The
▲A character devotedly in love with someone who is highly troubled or dislikable, the kind of person very few in real life would stick with. The love interest isn't merely a [[Jerk With a Heart of Gold]] or even [[Troubled but Cute]]: he/she (''both'' sexes can play the [[Love Martyr]] role) has serious psychological issues and/or an utterly [[Jerkass]] personality which aren't exactly indicators of a healthy relationship.
▲The [[Love Martyr]] is fully aware of their beloved's faults, but willingly endures the insults and troubles they dish out because the Love Martyr believes their [[The Power of Love|unconditional love]] is enough for both of them and/or strong enough to [[Love Redeems|reform their beloved into a better person.]] What separates the Love Martyr from the [[Mad Love|Mad Lover]] is that the two do get into a relationship, [[No Accounting for Taste|albeit a twisted one]], and the love interest is usually said or implied to love them back underneath it all, but the beloved's negative traits outnumber their positive ones to such an extent that their alleged love comes off as more of an [[Informed Ability]] than anything. Very often, others will point out to the character that the beloved would make a bad boyfriend or girlfriend, which the Love Martyr [[Horrible Judge of Character|will ignore]] or [[You're Just Jealous|argue against.]]
The Love Martyr is supposed to showcase the kind of pure and selfless love that can bring out the good side in even the [[The Woobie|most damaged and embittered people]]. If the love interest ''does'' show enough redeeming qualities at the start and believably [[Character Development|develops]] into a decent person, the relationship can evolve into a [[Defrosting Ice Queen]] and/or a genuine [[Love Redeems]] scenario. However, the ''less'' evidence that is given of the base goodness or reform capability of the love interest, the less convincing the [[Rule of Romantic]] becomes, and the more it seems that the character is only sacrificing himself or herself naively for an [[All Take and No Give|unhealthy love.]] When it's a girl loving a troubled boy, this is often [[All Girls Want Bad Boys]] taken to extremes.
More often than not the core of most [[Fan Fiction|fanfics]] written by teenage girls putting [[Draco in Leather Pants]] for their [[Mary Sue]] and [[Author Avatar|self-inserts]] to redeem with the power of [[Strangled
If the Love Martyr is literally killed because of their relationship, and the partner still doesn't make a [[Heel Face Turn]], then the Love Martyr becomes a [[Shoot the Shaggy Dog|shaggy dog]]. Unfortunately, this is the [[Real Life]] trope when a relationship ends with one or both partners dying, and shaggy dogs are the realistic and most common result of abusive relationships that the victim doesn't get out of.
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Can be [[Truth in Television]].
{{examples}}
* Mikiya from ''[[Kara no Kyoukai:]]'' fits this trope to a T. In the face of being completely ignored by the decidedly-unstable Shiki, he {{spoiler|sits in her garden every night, but she eventually comes out, smiles warmly, and tries to kill him with a knife. When this fails she throws herself in front of a car in a suicide attempt and ends up in a coma for three years, where he visits her every day ''even after she tried to kill him''.}} It seems to work, insofarin that she does eventually seem to care about him somewhat, but even that has the opposite effect when {{spoiler|that very caring just makes her kill another person, exactly what he told her not to do}}.▼
▲== Anime & Manga ==
* Electra from ''[[
▲* Mikiya from ''[[Kara no Kyoukai]]'' fits this trope to a T. In the face of being completely ignored by the decidedly-unstable Shiki, he {{spoiler|sits in her garden every night, but she eventually comes out, smiles warmly, and tries to kill him with a knife. When this fails she throws herself in front of a car in a suicide attempt and ends up in a coma for three years, where he visits her every day ''even after she tried to kill him''.}} It seems to work, insofarin that she does eventually seem to care about him somewhat, but even that has the opposite effect when {{spoiler|that very caring just makes her kill another person, exactly what he told her not to do}}.
▲* Electra from ''[[Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water (Anime)|Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water]]'' who resigns herself to just continue being [[Shell-Shocked Veteran]] Nemo's surrogate daughter despite her own feelings for him, at least until his real daughter Nadia shows up again.
** Jean as well, with how he's always taking Nadia's [[Tsundere|hot and cold personality]].
* Dominic in ''[[
* ''[[
* Shuichi from ''[[
* A more comedic example would be ''[[
** Well, he ''did'' manage to steal her horns... maybe [[Defeat Means Friendship|Defeat Means Engagement?]]
** This is hinted at throughout the series, more so during the ending (and final movie) -- Ataru may be ugly, kinda stupid, and have the biggest libido in the universe (No, really)... but he genuinely is a really good person at heart. Lum can see through everything he does (being [[Not So Different|a bit of a lech herself]]) and puts up with him because of that.
** An alternative character interpretation of Ataru is that Ataru acts the way he does because he basically hates himself and does not believe himself to be a good person. This is more prevalent in the manga. In the manga, Takahashi draws Ataru to have a very gentle-looking face when he is at his best behavior as opposed to his normal, stupid expression.
* Subverted ''[[
* She was smart enough not to have any extraordinary expectations for their relationship, but Bulma of ''[[
** A better DBZ example would be Chi-Chi, who stuck by Goku, despite his having pretty much ditched her and Gohan (and later Goten) to go have fun, in multiple years-long stretches. He ''was'' dead in one of those stretches, but that's usually a sign it's time to move on.
* Ekou of ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh! GX (
* Mokuba from ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh (
* Yumi Komagata from ''[[
{{quote|
* Naota from ''[[
* Fate Testarossa in the first season of ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]]'', who was fine with being whipped repeatedly by her mother for being a bad child because she remembers a time when her mother was kind and, you know, sane. Unfortunately, [[Cloning Blues|her memories aren't quite what they seem]]...
** After coming to terms with her feelings about her mother, she still loves her as the one who brought her into the world, but credits her teacher Linith and her [[Happily Adopted|adoptive mother]] Lindy with raising her.
* At the beginning of the [[Boys Love]] manga ''[[
* Soi in ''[[
* Spoileriffic example from ''[[
* Sister Yukariko Sanada's relationship with {{spoiler|the [[Manipulative Bastard|manipulative]] art teacher Ishigami}} in ''[[
** {{spoiler|In the ending, after they're revived, they're inexplicably back together and she's pregnant with his child}}.
* Echidna from ''[[Black Cat (
** In both adaptations, She gets him in the end. In the Anime, Creed even does a [[Heel Face Turn]] soon Afterward. In the manga, she gets him more as a nurse maid after he has his major [[Villainous Breakdown]].
* Takaki Tohno from ''[[
* Kaname Chidori from the ''[[Full Metal Panic
** The [[Wife Husbandry|twins Yu Fang and Yu Lan]] towards [[Ax Crazy|Gauron]]. Granted, he probably did stuff with them that would make them feel that he loved them back. But all in all, he isn't shy about showing that he only really seems to care about using them for his plans to ensnare Sousuke / [[Murder the Hypotenuse|kill Sousuke's love interest]]. It's made pretty clear to them that the only one he has eyes for is the 16-year-old boy he has an [[Stalker
* In the final arc of ''[[Higurashi no Naku Koro
** In a manga-only arc, {{spoiler|Akira proves to be one himself after Natsumi}} stabs him in response to him trying to give her a [[Cooldown Hug]]. He ends the arc swearing to stay by her side and to always love her. Granted, he does know that she's under the influence of a {{spoiler|[[Hate Plague]]}}. In the DS version, he actually doesn't do this, and {{spoiler|Natsumi kills herself}} as a result, blaming him for {{spoiler|her death}}. He promptly crosses the [[Despair Event Horizon]], pretty much accepting her conclusion.
* Platonic/Paternal example from ''[[Baccano
{{quote|
** Also, Lua and Ladd are a textbook case. Lua, Ladd's fiance, shows unwavering loyalty to her man, even though he's an [[Ax Crazy]] [[Psycho for Hire|serial killer]]. Somewhat subverted in the fact that he really does love her. Which in his world apparently translates to telling her how much he wants to kill her.
** For Ladd, "I'll kill you last" --> "I'm saving you for last because you're the person I'll enjoy killing the most" --> "I love you more than anyone else baby!"
* ''[[Ranma ½
** Really, depending on a viewer's sympathies, ''any'' of the characters caught up in the [[Love Dodecahedron]] could come off as a Love Martyr, as all of them honestly try to open their heart to the person they love, but none of them receive any attention from the person they desire. Even Ranma and Akane have no real clue whether or not their feelings for each other are reciprocated.
** Played for laughs in the Sleep Incense arc. In one of Akane's dreams, she's a love martyr working hard to try and please her beloved Ranma. Too bad he's a perverted [[Jerkass]] who treats her like crap and has at least 27 wives. Back in the real world, she tearfully scrubs the floor and looks dramatic, while [[Jerk
* Misa Amane from ''[[
** This is also the reason the readers pity her, despite the fact she is a mass murderer.
** Kiyomi Takada gets it even worse. All she wants is to be Kira's goddess. {{spoiler|[[You Have Outlived Your Usefulness|Oops.]]}}
** And then there's poor Rem. She [[Schoolgirl Lesbians|loves Misa]], [[I Want My Beloved to Be Happy|even when she knows Misa only has eyes for Light]], and when {{spoiler|Misa is put into danger, she [[Heroic Sacrifice|sacrifices herself to kill Watari and L]]. [[Memetic Mutation|Just as planned.]] She even realizes that it's what Light wants and has planned for, but does it anyway for Misa's sake.}}
* [[Digimon Adventure
* Probably also Kaori from [[
** Following the manga, it can be also said that Tetsuo ''did'' somewhat care for Kaori but was already fucked up beyond belief when they met, thus he didn't get a real chance to develop something for the girl beyond making her his partial [[Morality Chain]]. {{spoiler|He WAS really pissed off and upset when his [[Smug Snake]] assistant shot her in the back and killed her; IIRC, after he assisted Kaori in his last minutes, he killed the guy gruesomely and carried Kaori's lifeless body around in his arms}}
* {{spoiler|Sasame}} from ''[[
* Wang Liu Mei's [[Battle Butler]] Hong Long of ''[[
* Mary Magdalene in ''[[
* Athena teaches [[
* ''[[
* Ritsuka from ''[[
* ''[[
* Rolo Haliburton is this for Lelouch Lamperouge in ''[[
* ''[[
* Arguably Doumeki in ''[[
* A rare sibling example is wonderfully demonstrated in the one-shot manga "[http://www.mangafox.com/manga/smargs_won_t_sing/c001/5.html Smargs Won't Sing]", which is [[Better Than It Sounds]].
** {{spoiler|It turns out to be a [[Jerkass Facade]] by the older sister in order to be [[Dying Alone|hated by everyone]] as her end of the [[Deal
* Franz d'Epinay of ''[[
* Gilbert from ''[[
* ''Zoids: New Century Zero'' has Harry Champ, a rich kid hopelessly obsessed with [[Trigger Happy|firebrand]] Leena Toros, despite the fact that the latter would (and often does) gleefully blast his mecha to scrap. (Leena has been known to take advantage of this behavior at times.)
* [[Childhood Friend Romance|Sayaka Miki]] from ''[[
* Haku from ''[[
** Naruto himself may count as a platonic ([[Ho Yay|or is it]]) example.
** Sakura too.
* If Subaru from ''[[X
{{quote|
* This trope combined with [[Stockholm Syndrome]] characterizes most of Jonah Matsuka's relationship with Keith Anyan in ''[[
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==
* [[
* Mr. Gosh from ''[[Lenore the Cute Little Dead Girl]]'' is the epitome of this trope. He is ''killed'' by Lenore countless times, in [[Cruel and Unusual Death|the worst, possible ways]] and he still thinks that she kills him "by accident". [[Mad Love|That's how big his love for her is]]. ([[Your Mileage May Vary|or obsession, you choose]]).
* Rayek in ''[[Elf Quest]]''. He's a former [[Jerkass]] [[Anti-Hero]] who's trying to repent. His love interest, Winnowill, is an ancient megalomaniac bent on world domination. When she kills herself to gain ultimate power as a spirit, he uses his [[Chekhov's Skill]] of absorbing souls into himself in order to trap her inside his mind forever. He can't ever die for fear of releasing her spirit, he can't go near other elves ever again for fear of getting them close to Winnowill, and she torments his mind and body every day of her existence. He ''still'' loves her.
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== Fan
* Caphriel, from ''[[Good Omens]]''
* Mao from ''[[Code Geass
* In ''[[
* In ''[[
** [[It Got Worse]]. Blaine is implied to think [[Sex Equals Love]], {{spoiler|so he lost his virginity at sixteen to a guy who either didn't notice or didn't ''care'' that he was leading Blaine on.}} Later on, we find out that {{spoiler|Blaine tried to ''invoke'' [[Sex Equals Love]]}}, which makes it [[Wide
* In the ''[[
== Film ==
* ''[[Sophie's Choice
* ''[[
** She adored them? This troper got the feeling that she was simply resigned to be stuck with them, coupled with the fact that they use her indirect involvement in the deaths of their parents to emotionally manipulate her.
* ''[[Vertigo]]'': Judy is introduced as a coarse, sharp-tongued woman, but her love for Scottie, a man who's interested in her only because she [[Loving a Shadow|looks like the dead woman he was obsessively in love with]], causes her to gradually lose her forceful personality and ultimately her ''identity''. The clincher comes when Judy realizes that Scottie will never love her for herself, but decides that she doesn't care that Scottie is forcing her to change her appearance and clothes to become a [[Replacement Goldfish|replacement]] for his dead lover as long as it results in him returning her love. And she doesn't even get a happy ending, as in the end {{spoiler|Scottie discovers that she was actually the dead woman he was obsessed with, which was part of a bigger plot, drags her to the same bell tower where she faked her death, and she accidentally tumbles off the roof to her death -- this time for real.}}
* [[Star Wars
* Evelyn in ''The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio'' constantly has a smile on her face and supports her family almost exclusively through winning contests for jingles, since her husband is an alcoholic who spends most of his money on booze.
* ''[[The Maids]]'' is all about this: main heroes are two [[Psycho Lesbian|psycho lesbians]] taking turns to be each other's martyrs.
* Gelsomina in Fellini's ''[[La Strada]]'', [[Inspirationally Disadvantaged]] waif whose [[Love Redeems]] the brutish Zampano, working from beyond the grave.
* Mimi in ''[[Bitter Moon]]'' plays this utterly straight and eventually wishes she hadn't.
* Mitsuyo in ''[[
== Literature ==
* The main character, Alice, of [http://www.amazon.com/One-Who-Waited-Erika-Griffin/dp/1411627164 The One Who Waited] can be said to be at least a partial example of this trope. Particularly come the dramatic end of the book...
* Despite his abrasive personality, stalking tendencies, and overall dangerous nature, Bella of ''[[Twilight (
** I would say this is mutual. Edward suffers when he is close to Bella due to having to resist the urge to kill her, when she is in danger that she usually places herself to, when she is clearly attracted to Jacob, and risking her life by having a baby knowing full well that Edward would kill himself if she dies. He still thinks the world of her and would give his... existence for her.
* [[Hooker
* Rhett Butler in ''[[Gone
* More like a Lust Martyr, but Nathaniel Graison in the [[
* In ''[[Catherine, Called Birdy]]'', Catherine's mother notes that her husband is in fact a greedy, mean miser but it doesn't seem to bother her much.
** Considering it was set in the Middle Ages, she didn't have much of a choice in the matter.
* Evie from ''[[The Frog King]]'' puts up with far more from the main character than she should. Until she stops, at least.
* The eponymous [[The Great Gatsby
** To say nothing of {{spoiler|Myrtle herself}}.
* In Orhan Pamuk's "The Museum of Innocence", Kemal's life revolves around Fusun, even if Kemal is engaged to someone else.
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** Arguably Dorian's fiancee, Sybil. She falls head-over-heels for Dorian, the point in which she starts to give up on her fantastic acting ability because her love makes it seem false. When he yells at her for this, since it accidentally led to his embarrassment (he brought his friends to see her perform, only for her to do a subpar job), she starts weeping and begging for him to forgive her. And that night she decides to commit suicide, which is even more tragic since Gray repented his actions the next day and was going to visit her to apologize.
* Diana Mayo of ''[[The Sheik]]''. Nevermind that the titular character is an abusive rapist, she falls in love with him and is willing to do anything to please him.
* ''[[
* In [[
* ''[[The Last Unicorn (
* In Edmond Hamilton's short story "He That Hath Wings," David—[[Winged Humanoid|born with functional wings]]—falls for Ruth. Unfortunately, she [[But Your Wings Are Beautiful|doesn't find said wings beautiful enough to not be weirded out by them]]. {{spoiler|He has them amputated so that she'll marry him, and eventually [[Driven to Suicide|becomes suicidally depressed as a result]]}}. [[Stoic Woobie|Poor guy]].
* Phereniq Kala in ''[[Indigo|Infanta]]'' does [[The Good Chancellor|all that she does]] out of love for the [[Oblivious to Love]] Augon Hunnamek.
* The protagonist of Mika Waltari's novel, ''[[The Egyptian]]''. He gives all he has to Nefernefernefer until he is ruined and needs to start a new life.
* In [[
* Peeta for Katniss in [[The Hunger Games]]. He is willing to die for her, although she is too traumatized to let him into her heart {{spoiler|until the end of the last book.}}
* This trope is the major theme of [[Fifty Shades Of Grey]], but {{spoiler|subverted at the end when Anastasia leaves Grey because he is unable to return her love}}.
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== Live-Action TV ==
* Dr. Molly Clock from ''[[
* Da'an of ''Earth Final Conflict'' loves his son Zo'or, even after his repeated attempts on his life, and has even covered up for him a couple of times.
* In ''[[Star Trek
* Wilson puts up with an amazing amount of abuse from ''[[House (TV series)|House]]'' in the name of friendship.
** House has also forgiven some bad behavior from Wilson, such as not telling him he'd cured a patient, thinking it would teach House humility, but instead plunged him back into Vicodin abuse.
** And let us not forget Dr. Allison "I like damaged people" Cameron. In her backstory, she fell in love with a man who she ''knew'' had a terminal illness, and basically married him just so he wouldn't die alone.
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** Anyone who falls in love with Starbuck better gear up for some serious abuse.
* ''[[Juken Sentai Gekiranger]]'': Mele, madly in love with [[Evil Overlord]] Rio, arguably counts, although Rio does have his [[Pet the Dog]] moments proving that he does care for her. {{spoiler|In the end, [[Love Redeems|their love redeems them both]], and they [[Heel Face Turn|turn good]]... [[Redemption Equals Death|and then die]].}}
* Check out [https://web.archive.org/web/20111225051852/http://www.hulu.com/watch/19590/saturday-night-live-the-phil-donahue-show this classic Saturday Night Live parody] of the Phil Donahue Show. [[Phil Hartman]], RIP.
* Niles of ''[[
* ''[[
** When he was with Drusilla. She spent half of season 2 openly flirting (if not more) with Angelus right in front of Spike while he was in wheelchair. She also took Angelus' side in the final battle in the season finale, and then left Spike for a chaos demon. She seemed to "adore" Spike only as long as he was exactly the kind of big bad strong vampire she had helped mold him into because that's what she wanted in a partner.
** Harmony regards herself as such in relation to Spike. He hardly ever hid the fact that he found her annoying and was only using her for sex, and (later on) as a Buffy substitute. He even staked her just because he was irritated by her blabbering (it didn't kill her only because she happened to be wearing the Gem of Amara)... and she still came back. Eventually when Spike tied up Buffy and Drusilla and was ranting over his spurned affections for them both Harmony finally had enough, yelled at him for ignoring his "actual" girlfriend in favor of drooling over them, shot him with a crossbow, tried to stake him, then broke up with him for good.
* [[Serial Killer|Sylar]] and [[Psycho Electro|Elle]] [[Psycho for Hire|Bishop]] of ''[[Heroes (TV series)|Heroes]]''. {{spoiler|Sylar lets Elle [[Good Thing You Can Heal|kill him repeatedly]] because he loved her and she needed to because [[You Killed My Father|he killed her]] [[Abusive Parents|(abusive) father]]. [[Brought Down to Normal|For a moment they thought they could have a normal life together.]] But then [[This Is Your Brain
* ''[[Life On Mars]]''. WPC Anne Cartwright supports Sam Tyler despite his bizarre behaviour and the fact that she doesn't believe his story about being from the future. In one episode Sam decides that the only way to return to 2006 is to bring down his colleagues over a death-in-custody. Despite the fact that, if true, it would mean she'd be wiped out of existence, and if not, Sam has violated the unspoken "code of silence" among police of the era, Cartwright still agrees to stand by Sam. {{spoiler|It's only in the finale when Sam confesses to being an undercover officer investigating police corruption that she finally turns against him.}}
* In ''[[The Sopranos]]'', Adrianna is this to Christopher. She believes that deep down Christopher is a good person and would choose her over the mob in a heartbeat. {{spoiler|When she is forced to become an informant to the FBI, she tells Christopher and after the third beating she gives him the choice. Christopher chooses the mob and it results in Adrianna's death.}}
* Dean and Sam from ''[[Supernatural (TV series)|Supernatural]]'' put up with a lot of each other's major issues.
** Sam shuts off in season four, getting so bad even Dean doesn't know if Sam's human anymore. But he says he'll take Sam as is anyway, {{spoiler|even when Castiel and Zachariah bribe him with heaven. And virgins}}.
** Sam forgives Dean for dragging him back to life when he basically had a DNR, because Dean didn't want to be alone.
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** And then, of course, there's poor Castiel. Whether you're a shipper or not, he gives up literally ''everything'' for Dean, loses his Grace, his faith and (twice) his ''life'' - choosing to remain on Earth after every other angel has left in an apocalyptic world and breaking at the edges, and he did it, all of it, for Dean.
* Blair Waldorf on ''[[Gossip Girl]]'' prostitutes herself to a man she loathes for Chuck Bass. However, she then realises that it's not healthy to love someone so much you'd literally do anything for them, and ends the relationship.
** By season five the tables have turned and Chuck is now a
* Sterling "Stink" Patterson in ''[[
* Beck and Jade from ''[[
** For example, in the episode ''Jade Dumps Beck'', Jade gets jealous that he's hanging out with an attractive celebrity. But she instantly regrets it and gives him a rottweiller. Even though it almost kills his dad, they make up.
* [[Degrassi]]: Alli’s first boyfriend, Johnny, ignores her in public, shows the naked pictures she sent him to his friends and lies about being a virgin. Her second boyfriend, Drew, cheats on her and tries to lie about it and she takes him back. Even [[Jerkass Has a Point|Bianca]] points out she must have low self-esteem to take back a cheater.
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== Music ==
* [[
{{quote|
I need to be by your side
I have knelt at your feet
I have felt your deceit
Couldn't leave if I tried }}
* "Bleeding Love" by Leona Lewis comes immediately to mind as an example.
* On another [[Incredibly Lame Pun|note]], The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus' song "Your Guardian Angel" is probably meant to sound sweet and romantic... but some of the lyrics, if applied to less-than-ideal situations, seem very much to be Love Martyr talk. The song even contains the lyrics "Use me as you will/Pull my strings just for a thrill," which gave this troper pause when she discovered them.
* The song "Self-Esteem" by [[
{{quote|
But I really think it's better this way
The more you suffer
The more it shows you really care,
Right? Yeah! }}
* "Façade" by [[
{{quote|
Frightened and trembling / Did she fall again, an accident
Her eyes encircled in black again / I can't believe that she's still with him
For how long will you try? / How long until you walk away?
Your facade can't disguise / the fact you're in misery... }}
* The lyrics to "Grenade" by Bruno Mars are a bit disturbing, considering the lengths the singer would go for...whoever.
{{quote|
Throw my hand on a blade for ya
I’d jump in front of a train for ya
You know I'd do anything for ya... }}
** Even more disturbing when its implied she was abusive to him. "Black black, black and blue, beat me 'til I'm numb. Tell the devil I said hey where you go back to where you're from."
** The video is even more disturbing than the song. Rather than a scattershot of examples of how devoted to her he is and how cruel she is, he spends the entire video ''dragging a piano across town'' for her, by himself and with nothing but a rope, past bums and bridges and cars and stunned and at one point hostile onlookers. When he arrives she's with another man, spots him through the window and doesn't seem to particularly care.
* The entire point of the [[
** In another video dealing with the Kagamine twins, ''Monochrome Ward'', Len was going to be killed by scientists (hinting to be a failed experiment), but Rin switched places with him without the scientists knowing.
* Carole King wrote a song called "He Hit Me (And It Felt Like A Kiss)" where her husband/boyfriend/lover beats her, but she stays with him because "If he didn't care for me/I could have never made him mad" and "He hit me, and I knew I loved him/When he took me in his arms/With all the tenderness there is/He hit me, and he made me feel."
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* It's probably more complicated than that, but Sheryl Crow's "Strong Enough" can certainly sound like a woman looking for one of these: "When I've shown you that I just don't care/When I'm throwing punches in the air/When I'm broken down and I can't stand/Will you be man enough to be my man?"
* ''Tainted Love''
{{quote|
I give you all a boy can give }}
* ''Too beautiful'' by He is we.
* "Fistful of Love" by Antony and the Johnsons is crafted from the same clay as "He Hit Me (And It Felt Like a Kiss)", with the whole "You hit me out of love" concept. Bonus points for its total [[Lyrical Dissonance]].
* [["Weird Al" Yankovic
* Quite a few Lullacry songs have this feel, such as [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LL8cv4QZN0&feature=related Crucify My Heart] and [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciiROLJKHrk Heart Shaped Scars]. The latter's [[Lyrical Dissonance]] adds to its creepiness.
* "Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man". The narrator's lover is lazy and stays out late and she even ''admits'' she can’t come up with a reason why she loves him.
* "Beat Me" by [[
== Mythology ==
* [[Norse Mythology|Sigyn]] stuck with Loki despite his infidelities, murders, and mad antics. To date, nobody is really sure why.
* [[
== Theater ==
* Posner in ''[[
* In ''[[Starlight Express]]'', the long-suffering dining car Dinah struggles with her undue devotion to her [[Jerk Jock]] diesel engine boyfriend Greaseball. She decides to give up on him after he dumps her for the observation car Pearl, but her friends convince her that racing with the electric engine Electra will make him jealous (and thus cause Greaseball to desire her again). {{spoiler|Eventually, Greaseball [[Character Development|gets better]], and their relationship is saved.}}
* [[Cyrano De Bergerac]]: This play ''deconstructs'' this trope by showing us the personality necessary to be a
* Helena from ''[[A Midsummer Night's Dream
== Videogames ==
* In ''[[Princess Maker]] 2'' you can make your adopted daughter [[Wife Husbandry|fall in love with you]] if just scold her enough after she has done something bad, but in order to make her feel guilty you have to [[Training
* [[Ax Crazy|Jack]] tries to scare Shepard away with this in ''[[
* The Warden takes a ''lot'' of flak for his relationship with [[Black Magician Girl|Morrigan]], from her and from others, in ''[[
* Bishop from ''[[
* Deionarra of ''[[Planescape: Torment]]'', literally martyred by her love for The Nameless One in one of his earlier lives. There's a recorded memory {{spoiler|in one of the Sensates' halls}} where the Nameless One can feel just what it was like, from her side of the story, one of the most emotional and painful points of the game.
** Possibly more heartbreaking is the fact that the player also gets to see the earlier Nameless One's side of the story, and {{spoiler|what a soulless, [[Manipulative Bastard]] he was as well as how little he actually cared for the girl who died for him.}}
* {{spoiler|Decus}} for {{spoiler|Alice}} in ''[[Tales of Symphonia
* {{spoiler|Selvaria to Maximillian}} of ''[[
* Just about any of your potential love interests should you pursue the Way of the Closed Fist in ''[[
* Dandy is a minor example in ''[[Ghost Trick:
* Princess Ishtar of Freege from ''[[
* Litchi Faye-Ling in ''[[
** To Lotte's credit, in two of Arakune's endings, he pulls himself together long enough to either save Litchi from her own corruption erasing her memories of him in the process or beg her to abandon him and seek help from Kokonoe. Her love for him was at least partially reciprocated.
== Visual Novels ==
* Jane in the backstory of ''[[
* Quite a few of your clients in ''[[Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney
** Familial example: {{spoiler|Iris, your sister is a serial killer. You know this. Stop helping her.}}
** The only major subversion, really, is {{spoiler|Ron and Desiree. Ron was under the impression she'd leave him if she found out he wasn't rich and had turned to crime to support her, which might lead the player to think she is selfish and shallow. However, it eventually becomes clear that [[Happily Married|Desiree is as in love with Ron as he is with her]] and the only thing wrong with their relationship was a dire lack of communication.}}
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== Web Animation ==
* Taken to an extreme/absurd level (in a high school setting no less!) in [[CCC
== [[Web Comics]] ==
* Dina from ''[[Walkyverse|It's Walky!]]'' There's STILL controversy about her relationship with complete Jerkass [[Sociopathic Hero]] Mike, and {{spoiler|Dina's dead}}. Most of the arguments are about whether or not Mike returned her affection at all; for example, {{spoiler|he took her to her favorite place in the world, the museum, something her usually nicer ex-boyfriend Walky was never shown as doing (in fact, Walky was depicted as very selfish when it came to his relationship with Dina)}} and {{spoiler|implied that he had loved her to Joe after Dina's death.}}
* ''[[Zebra Girl]]'' has most of the cast turn into this as the main character descends into her demonic side. Noticeably lampshaded [https://web.archive.org/web/20090627041635/http://zebragirl.keenspot.com/d/20090608.html here].
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130530025321/http://www.bugcomic.com/comics/love-lessons/ Deconstructed] by ''[[Bug
* In [[General Protection Fault]], Ki becomes this as her relationship with her fiance Sam deteriorates when he faces pressure on several fronts, notably his parents being opposed to him going out with her. Even as rumors spread of him cheating on her (which are never explicitly confirmed but strongly implied to be true) spread, she remains loyal to him until {{spoiler|he [[Moral Event Horizon|tries to rape her]] when she's unable to go through with having sex with him}}.
* In ''[[
== Web Originals ==
* [[
* [[
** Nella from [[
* Jean Teasdale of [[The Onion]] is a [[Deconstructive Parody]] of this concept. She stays with her husband Rick despite what could be called a horrible homelife.
== Western Animation ==
* Zuko of ''[[
** Iroh doesn't really qualify, since he was definitely trying to be a positive influence on Zuko and succeeding, which kind of contradicts the basic concept of a love martyr.
* [[The Simpsons (
** Hell, even Homer became this in "Strong Arms Of The Ma". Marge is taking steroids because she got mugged, is going out of control and actually [[Double Standard Rape (Female
* ''[[
== Real Life ==
* Tragically common in abusive relationships of all kinds. Gender, age, etc., doesn't matter.
* More optimistically, it's also common in very devoted, non-abusive relationships, and especially can seem like this when one member of a couple is going through a difficult time. The website [https://web.archive.org/web/20100810080441/http://www.lovegivesmehope.com/ Love Gives Me Hope] has many examples.
* Of ''all'' people, [[Katharine Hepburn]], during her relationship with Spencer Tracy. He did genuinely love her, but he had an alcohol problem and would frequently fly into rages and even hit her. No matter what happened, though, she never left him. One quote from her autobiography explains the whole philosophy behind this trope:
{{quote|
{{reflist}}
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[[Category:Unrequited Love Tropes]]
[[Category:Love Martyr]]
[[Category:Abuse Tropes]]
[[Category:Love Is a Crapshoot]]
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