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[[Love Hurts]]; it's messy and [[Triang Relations|a mathematical nightmare]] where only a few can come out happy, never mind unscathed. One of its worst injuries is perhaps the plainest one... pining away at someone because [[All Love Is Unrequited]], and in the end never even holding them because [[I Want My Beloved to Be Happy]].
 
Then, there's times a deep-frozen love life is not because of [[Star-Crossed Lovers]], the pursued [[Love Interest]] being the [[Master of the Mixed Message]] or any such thing. It's because the rules of plot and characterization dictate [[Plot -Sensitive Snooping Skills|that they not notice]] the protagonist's overtures and [[Longing Look|Longing Looks]]. [[Alice and Bob|Bob likes Alice]], and he makes several increasingly obvious hints that he's interested, he'd like to ask her out, and wants to be her boyfriend. Alice (though gender reversals are common) will usually be oblivious enough that his [[Cannot Spit It Out|stuttering overtures]] aren't heard or followed up on, and on top is usually blind to Bob as a love interest because she either [[Like Brother and Sister|sees him as a brother]], believes she is [[Broken Bird|unworthy of love]] and assumes she's misunderstanding his intentions, [[What Is This Thing You Call Love?|can not recognize love]] when it's not [[All Girls Want Bad Boys|edged with danger]], or he never blips her romantic radar to begin with. [[Selective Obliviousness|Deep, deep denial also is a possibility.]]
 
Expect Alice to say things like "I wish there were someone out there for me" and Bob to respond with "He might be closer than you think." Of course, she'll think he's being vaguely hopeful rather than literal. In the worst cases, Alice may be actively looking for someone (in general or particular) and just be completely blind to other people's feelings for ''her'', or even already seeing someone (let's call him Charlie), Charlie may or may not be the right guy for her, but that's secondary to her being oblivious to Bob trying very hard to get her attention.
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If Charlie is the wrong guy, Bob will win Alice's heart in the end. This is a common consequence of [[Old Flame Fizzle]]. If he's the ''right'' guy, then expect Bob to either [[Cleaning Up Romantic Loose Ends|hook up with]] whoever ''he'' was ignoring or [[Derailing Love Interests|suddenly be revealed as a psycho slimeball]].
 
If Alice really is attracted and doesn't realize it, [[Tsundere]] behavior may result, or she may [[Berserk Button|treat Bob]] as her [[Protectorate]], or [[Through His Stomach|ensure that he's fed]], prior to the [[Love Epiphany]]. [[Green -Eyed Epiphany]] is common.
 
This is commonplace in the [[Love Dodecahedron]], and is a type 5 in [[Triang Relations]]. It also overlaps with [[Everyone Can See It]]. It is also prevalent in [[Boys Love]] and (especially) [[Girls Love]] works, where it is often mixed with [[Gayngst|confusion about one's feelings for someone of the same gender]]. Compare [[It Meant Something to Me]], where Bob overtly says he loves Alice, but she denies having any feelings. See also [[Did You Think I Can't Feel?]]
 
If the problem escalates, then this can lead to a case of [[Clueless Chick Magnet]]. Compare to [[Chaste Hero]], where the character in question is completely clueless to the concept of romance.
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== Fanfiction ==
* Turned [[Up to Eleven]] in ''[[Kyon: Big Damn Hero (Fanfic)|Kyon Big Damn Hero]]'', with Kyon completely unaware of the affections of {{spoiler|Haruhi, Mikuru, Nagato (sort of), Kanae, Tsuruya, and many of the girls in his school. Until his shoe locker is filled with notes from those girls, that is.}} He's also incapable of spotting the [[Polyamory|polyamorous]] relationship that several other characters share. Even ''Mikuru'' worked that one out.
* The male lead of "[[Troper Works/The Private Diary Of Elizabeth Quatermain|The Private Diary Of Elizabeth Quatermain]]" manages to completely miss the fact that the woman he adores has it bad for him right back. Even when it's ''pointed out'' by another character.
* Frodo in [[The Very Secret Diaries (Fanfic)|The Very Secret Diaries]] is oblivious to the fact that every single member of the Fellowship wants in his pants, and tries to flee to Mordor when he figures it out.
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** Forget Lwaxana, what about Beverly? It took an alien mind-linking device for her to realize how he felt. [[Anchored Ship|Not that it helped much.]]
* ''[[Stargate Universe (TV)|Stargate Universe]]'': Chloe at least acts like this for most of the first season, until the finale episode, where it's made clear she isn't quite oblivious as she appears.
* The Doctor to Martha in ''[[Doctor Who (TV)|Doctor Who]]''. He describes to her a device that keeps them hidden from the hypnotised public to her as "It's like when you fancy someone, but they don't even know you exist." He rushes off, and Captain Jack reads her expression: "You too, huh?"
** Taken [[Up to Eleven]] with the [[Just for Pun|Eleventh Doctor]] at the end of Flesh and Stone.
{{quote| '''Amy:''' "I nearly died! I was alone, in the dark, and I nearly died. And it made me think."<br />
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* In ''[[Kanon]]'', Yuuichi has been doing this regarding Nayuki's feelings for seven years straight. {{spoiler|Probably the only reason that she hasn't given up or decided that he wasn't worth the trouble was because he'd already gone through too much at the time of the revelation. Indeed, in the end he realizes that his own amnesia is also caused by [[Selective Obliviousness]]-- he wanted to forget the town where he "lost" Ayu.}}
* Masayuki looks this way in Miku's route in ''[[A Profile (Visual Novel)|A Profile]]''. To be fair, Miku gives off really strange signals, including denying it point blank when asked.
* In ''[[Lux Pain]]'', [[Hot -Blooded|Akira]] is oblivious to romance in general and just doesn't seem to catch on to who has a crush on who. Unless you tell him straight out that this person likes someone else, he's not going to catch it. The best example is the guy Inugaku who has a huge, obvious crush on his dad. {{[[[Nice Girl]] Yayoi}} has to tell him outright that he's gay in order for Akira to understand...and that sends [[Heroic BSOD|him into a humorous state of shock]] that doesn't last long.
** A more serious example is when {{spoiler|Sayuri}} calls him out on this trope technically and calls him a [[Jerk Jock]] that enjoys the women flocking to him and breaking their hearts. Naturally, Akira snaps only because [[The Quiet One|Atsuki]] [[Ho Yay|was standing right there]] when {{spoiler|she}} said that.
** And of course, there's Akira's other friend [[Dandere|Ryo]] who is also oblivious of affection from both the girls that constantly visit his store just to see him (and not buy books, which pisses him off) and his [[Ho Yay|best friend]] [[Unlucky Childhood Friend|Hibiki]] and like Akira above, it has to be spelled out to him in order for him to understand. Only difference is that the person who asks him if Hibiki and him are going out is a [[Yaoi Fangirl]] and Hibiki isn't going to say anything.
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[[Category:Character Flaw Index]]
[[Category:Oblivious To Love]]
[[Category:Trope]]
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