Unwanted Harem: Difference between revisions
m
→Western Animation: Added Example
m (→Western Animation: Added Example) |
|||
| (13 intermediate revisions by 4 users not shown) | |||
Line 5:
''I've got seven women on my mind.''
''[[Clingy Jealous Girl|Four that wanna own me]], [[Tsundere|two who wanna stone me]],''
''[[Unlucky Childhood Friend|One says she's a friend of mine]].''
|'''[[Eagles]]'''|"Take It Easy"}}
'''Not to be confused with [[Harem Series]]''', a genre of Japanese media that sometimes heavily relies on this trope.
Line 11 ⟶ 12:
This is about a certain common reaction of men when a Harem plot begins, and women start fighting for the attention—He might either think like a [[Celibate Hero]], that the gratuitous amounts of boobs he is forced to see every day are just a bother, [[Comically Missing the Point]] that he is in an enviable situation, [[Official Couple|or as an obstacle between him and the girl he truly likes.]]
The more likely reasoning plot wise, is the fact that the male lead cannot reciprocate all the girls' feelings without seeming to the audience to be cruel, manipulative, and/or giving false leads to the many beautiful (and loving) girls. So the far easier solution is to make him oblivious to their affection or [[Cursed with Awesome]].
Even if he does like one or more of the girls, the young man won't or can't admit it. Besides, until the point comes where one of the girls is in danger, the young man would [[I Just Want to Be Normal|rather have his nice quiet life back]]. May or may not involve [[Innocent Cohabitation]].
Line 43 ⟶ 44:
{{examples}}
== Anime and Manga ==
* The best known example of [[The Unwanted Harem]] and the OG is seen in the various versions of ''[[Tenchi Muyo!]]
* ''[[Ranma ½]]''
** Ranma has two unwanted harems, one for his male form, and one for his female. In the manga, with the exception of one persistent lunatic (his lunacy is not related to his persistence), all of them are oneshot characters who usually either only want something very specific from Ranma (for example, the astral projection of a [[Dirty Old Man]] who wants a date to be reminded of his young wife) or lose interest in disgust when they find out they've been "tricked". The one persistent example won't give up only because he's apparently too dumb to realise that [[Gender Bender|"she" isn't quite what she seems...]]
Line 59 ⟶ 60:
** By chapter 340, Negi has to deal with all of the above, plus {{spoiler|Shiori, Akira, Anya, Ku Fei, Ayaka, and [[Even the Guys Want Him|Fate]]}} - and these are just the ones who can be described as having a ''serious'' crush. For the non-serious: Konoka mentioned that Negi would be attractive when he got older in an early volume, Setsuna had a pretty shipteasy moment that Chamo noted sounded 'like a love confession' during the Tournament arc (though it turned into a [[Schoolgirl Lesbians|KonoSetsu]] moment pretty quickly), and Misa proposed the [[Wife Husbandry|Reverse Hikaru Genji plan]], noting that if they waited five years it would be much more normal for the girls to go out with him {{spoiler|and later also got a crush on his older counterpart}}. Overall, that's ''11 or 12'' that have a definite interest in him, and 3 more that have expressed at least a small attraction. Negima [[Zig Zagged Trope|Zig-Zagged]] this trope a lot at the beginning, but it's certainly playing straight the harem aspect now. (Though it's very probable this is less an unwanted harem so much as an [[Oblivious to Love|Oblivious Harem]]...)
* [[Tower of God|''Twentyfifth Baam'']] has the [[Tomboy Princess]] Yuri Zahard, the [[Empathic Weapon]] Black March, the cynical princess Androssi Zahard as well as the the Guide Hwa Ryun and the noblewoman Yeon in his harem (the last ones are up for debate, though). He doesn't care about that, though, since he is focused on finding Rachel.
* ''[[Irresponsible Captain Tylor]]''. {{spoiler|
* Another all male harem is in ''[[Kyou Kara Maou]]''
* ''[[Nagasarete Airantou]]''. Not only is it an Unwanted Harem, it's also on a deserted island.
** Well as deserted as an island filled with women and talking animals can be.
* ''[[Martian Successor Nadesico]]'' could be described as the wacky, bipolar love child of ''[[Tenchi Muyo!]]'' and ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam]]''. There's a lot of women on that ship, and much to the chagrin of the male crew, almost all of them (or at least the one's with screen time and names) insist on fighting over the [[Unlucky Everydude]] who has enough problems of his own. Lampshaded in one scene where one of them points out it's a popular anime trope.
* ''[[Sayonara, Zetsubou-sensei]]'' has this with how the girls randomly fall in love with the teacher Itoshiki, when he promises to "take them with him" when he commits suicide. Unfortunately for Sensei, most of the characters fall square in the [[
* ''[[Tokyo Mew Mew]]'', sort of (and gender-reversed). Ichigo, whose official love interest is the [[Neutral Female|Neutral Male]] (who has ''his own'' Unwanted Harem of fangirls), has to deal with a bunch of other guys having feelings for her -- [[Mission Control]], [[Stalker with a Crush]] and [[Mysterious Protector]]. {{spoiler|It doesn't help that the latter turned out to be said [[Neutral Female|"Neutral" Male]].}}
* Shinji Ikari of ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'' has [[Kuudere|Rei]], [[Tsundere|Asuka]], [[Christmas Cake|Misato]], [[Even the Guys Want Him|Kaworu]], possibly [[Yangire|Mari]] and countless unnamed fangirls from his school running after him, with the
* Tsukune of ''[[Rosario + Vampire]]'' (pictured) accidentally enrolls in a monster school and acquires—mostly through [[Defeat Means Friendship|conquest]]—a vampire, a succubus, two witches, and a snow woman. <s>A [[Tenchi Solution]] is ruled right out, due to the harem's tendency to spontaneously break out into superpowered free-for-alls both over and ''against'' him during bouts of jealousy</s>, though the loli witch ''does'' repeatedly ask for a threesome [[Les Yay|with the vampire]]. Even harem aside, their unique... quirks... would make a relationship with any rather hazardous (though Ruby is a pretty safe option, if you [[Whip It Good]] like Tsukune).
** Notable in that he's already [[Official Couple|clearly picked his favorite]], which the others notice.
Line 73 ⟶ 74:
** To make things more complicated, he is in love with ''one'' of the heroine's split personalities—the other one just kind of scares him. Even worse, the girl he loves {{spoiler|isn't even real. She is an artificial persona based on the heroine's ''mother'' created by her rosary to protect the "real" girl.}}
** While that was true at first, Tsukune later confesses to loving '''both''' Mokas, each in their own way. This is possibly due to the prolonged amount of time he spent with the "Inner" Moka (the real one) in the second season. {{spoiler|And "Outer" Moka approves of this (reluctantly in the anime), encouraging "Inner" Moka to accept her feelings for Tsukune.}}
* Nagisa from ''[[Strawberry Panic!
* ''[[Transformers Super God Masterforce]]'' has a gender-flipped and G-rated version—each of the boys has a crush on Minerva. Minerva herself just seems to think they're being childish.
* ''[[Happy Lesson]]'' has a school full of [[Hot for Student|hot teachers]] who all decide to play mom for the [[Hikikomori|socially withdrawn]] Chitose, who doesn't really grow to appreciate this sudden forced invasion of personal space until well into the series, and even then he still blows his top when he thinks they go too far.
* In ''[[Katekyo Hitman Reborn]]'', way back in the
* Sahashi Minato of ''[[Sekirei]]'' unknowingly/unwillingly becomes an Ashikabi and starts what can only be described as a [[Battle Harem]] after one act of kindness, and
* In ''[[Omamori Himari]]'', Amakawa Yuuto has an Unwanted Harem comprising two [[Unlucky Childhood Friend]]s and at least twice that number of [[Cute Monster Girl]]s.
* ''[[Gokujou Drops]]'' uses a [[Girls Love]] version of this trope with a [[Seme]] harem and an [[Uke]] harem lead.
* ''[[Ninin ga Shinobuden]]'' parodies this in episode 11 when Sasuke [[Hostile Show Takeover|takes over the show]]. He promptly makes all the female cast members (including Kaede's mom) fall in love with him.
* ''[[Kurogane Pukapuka Tai]]'' is a [[Girls Love]] version of this, in which [[Oblivious to Love|Oblivious To Lesbianism]] Commander Kuki is the center of a harem of women after her: violently protective but shy XO Mamiya, (mostly) [[Chivalrous Pervert]] U-Boat captain Nina, and aggressively womanizing Royal Navy Captain Ann. Much violence (but little blood) ensues, naturally.
* Maiku from ''[[
* ''[[UFO Princess Valkyrie]]'' is this, in the classic line of ''[[Tenchi Muyo!]]''
* ''[[Tenshi na Konamaiki]]'' has another female main character with a male harem although there are some [[Gender Bender|gender issues]].
* ''[[The World God Only Knows]]'' is a rare example of the lead character ''working'' for his harem. It's still unwanted though: he's only doing it because he has an [[Explosive Leash]] forcing him to.
Line 92 ⟶ 93:
* ''[[Shugo Chara]]'', wherein the main character, Hinamori Amu, has her choice of Hotori Tadase, Tsukiyomi Ikuto, Soma Kuukai, Sanjo Kairi, or Fujisaki Nagihiko. The manga and anime both had pretty open endings, so there's not much evidence to say this is who she chose.
* ''[[Nyan Koi]]'' is all about Junpei Kosaka doing favors for cats. That doesn't mean his harem is non existent. Kaede Mizuno, Kanako Sumiyoshi, Nagi Ichinose (probably), Akari Kirishima, Kotone Kirishima, and if you want to add her Chizuru Mochizuki all love cats, and putting two and two together, you get one harem based on cats. Of course, the cats take more of a priority over his harem.
* In a technical sense, ''[[Seto no Hanayome]]'' would count, as San, Lunar, the [[Class Representative]], Mawari, and possibly Akeno all have feelings for Nagasumi. Of course, it goes nowhere, as [[First Girl Wins|it's clear from the outset that Nagasumi is dedicated to San]].
* Since there are only two people in it I am not sure ''[[Kanokon]]'' counts as a harem but considering that both of them are centuries old demons that constantly attempt to rape the protagonist it is definitely unwanted for him. At the end he {{spoiler|gets the [[Tenchi Solution]]}} and he doesn't have any say in the matter.
* ''[[Guardian Hearts]]'' - a harem of [[Magical Girl]]s. Specifically: a "guardian heart", the protector of the peace and well-being of Earth (basically a [[Magical Girl Warrior]]); a [[Everything's Better with Princesses|princess]] from a [[Magic World]]; a [[The Runaway|runaway]] [[Instant Awesome, Just Add Ninja|ninja]]; a [[Human Alien]] [[Cosplay Otaku Girl]]; a [[Human Alien]] [[Miko]]; and a [[Shapeshifting]] bird with a human form.
* ''[[
** An early-series assassination attempt - before a large part of the harem even ''meets'' Touma - makes this a Canon plot point.
* ''[[Magikano]]''
* ''[[School Days]]'' is known for being one of the most brutal [[deconstruction]]s this trope has ever known, especially in the anime and several endings of the visual novel. It seems like your average unwanted [[Harem Series]] at first, where the main character has an [[Ojou]] (Kotonoha), a [[Shorttank]] (Sekai), a [[Token
* ''[[Hiatari Ryoukou]]'' features an unwanted reverse-harem involving high school students living in the same boarding house.
* An unusual case is Leicester Maycraft of ''[[Shukufuku no Campanella]]'', who doesn't seem to be too bothered by the attention from the main girls around him, including his [[Hot Shounen Mom]] Shelly. He seems to just laugh it off even when it happens in public.
* [[Shrinking Violet|Anri Sonohara]] from ''[[Durarara!!]]
** Although one of these men is in an [[Official Couple|rather official couple]] thus far
* ''[[Girls Saurus]]'' thoroughly establishes the "unwanted" part, as the male protagonist suffers from extreme gynophobia after being violated and brutalised by a [[gonk]]ish admirer. This does nothing deter a very determined main cast of girls (including his own sister!) as well as several minor hopefuls. At one point he states how their shriveled hag of a teacher is his "ideal woman" (no threatening sex appeal) which causes her to have a womanly awakening overnight, become hot and young-looking, and try to woo him very directly. He does not approve.
* ''Horribly'' subverted in the second season of ''[[Detective Conan]]''. A [[Rich Bitch]] named Reika Yotsui ''seems'' to have four young men ([[Insufferable Genius|Nikaido]], [[Ambiguously Brown|Mifune]], [[Megane|Ichieda]] and [[Nice Guy|Gojou]]) as her all-male harem... but {{spoiler|Ichieda actually liked the granddaughter of the family's [[Old Retainer]], [[Yamato Nadeshiko|Yaeko]]. Whom Reika and Nikaido ''killed'' years ago. And so, Ichieda poses as a member of the "harem"... and then he kills Reika and Nikaido.}}
* Inverted in ''[[Urusei Yatsura]]''. Ataru is a self-proclaimed "ladies man" that is trying to build up a harem...it's just that no girl but Lum is willing -- and he doesn't really ''want'' Lum (but he also doesn't ''not'' want Lum).
* [[Playing with a Trope|Not quite deconstructed, but certainly not done straight]] in ''[[Bakemonogatari]]''. The male protagonist (who is [[Our Vampires Are Different|not quite]] an [[Unlucky Everydude]]) gets [[The Tease|various]] [[I Didn't Mean to Turn You On|sorts of]] [[Unrequited Love|attention]] from the six girls, at least some of which he would rather do without. What is unusual is that he is [[First Girl Wins|paired off]] before any rivals appear, the [[Debut Queue|focus on one girl at a time]] makes it play out more like a succession of love triangles, and [http://ghostlightning.wordpress.com/2009/09/22/bakemonogatari-11-you-are-not-a-man/ by some analyses] the lead is a commentary on the typical audience of a harem series. None of this stops the series from being watchable as a straight entry, since [[Male Gaze|the audience sees all the girls' flirting from his point of view]].
* Fujimura-kun from ''[[Fujimura-kun Mates]]'', consisting of a [[Cloudcuckoolander]], a [[School Idol]], and the [[Student Council President]]. Three adorable girls who are all deeply in love with him. And they are willing to [[Tenchi Solution|share]], too!
** It is a merciless parody however, as Fujimura is in no way happy with the attention he gets '''at all''', and all of the girls are more or less complete morons with Fujimura being the [[Only Sane Man]].
*
* ''[[Yumeria]]''
* Completely inverted with ''[[Ouran High School Host Club]]''. The Harem is what keeps them in business, and they don't discriminate based on gender or age. Although there was that one [[Stalker with a Crush]]...
* ''[[Soul Eater]]'': It's never explicitly stated how many partner offers Soul gets, though Maka does state that he was always popular, but gets more after {{spoiler|he becomes a death scythe}}. He isn't exactly resentful, but he doesn't seem the least bit impressed. That and his answer to Blair's offer was to ''kill her and eat her soul'' because "cool men don't cheat". It doesn't work on Blair, but it's the thought that counts.
* Subverted and most likely [[Played for Laughs]] in the last ''[[Axis Powers Hetalia]]'' manga volume. When he gets to meet the [[Gender Flip]] versions of the Allies (plus female!Japan and female!North Italy), all of them fitting at least the basics traits of a prospect harem... [http://i1116.photobucket.com/albums/k561/pipipiyo/nyoo.png Estonia pretty much] [http://i1116.photobucket.com/albums/k561/pipipiyo/nyooo2.png has a] [http://i1116.photobucket.com/albums/k561/pipipiyo/VOLUME%204/nyoo3.png meltdown.]
* Nitori from ''[[Wandering Son]]'' has a harem of sorts, both with girls and boys, though it comes off as a [[Deconstruction]] of a harem. So far Chiba has liked him, he's had a ''very'' close friendship with Takatsuki (who Nitori says he had a onesided crush on at one time), Doi is unusually into him, Seya fell for him, his friend Mako has a crush on him, and he has an (ex?) girlfriend called Anna who still likes him from the looks of it. He doesn't seem to really like the attention.
* [[The Ingenue|Kurumi Akino]] from ''[[Haou Airen]]'' has a reverse harem with [[Asskicking Equals Authority|Hakuron]], [[Break the Cutie|Huo Long]], [[Blood Knight|Di Long]] and [[Cute Shotaro Boy|Kaafai]] after her, each in their own ways. Considering how [[melodrama]]tic this manga is as well as Hakuron's [[Bastard Boyfriend]] nature, the trope is very much ''not'' [[Played for Laughs]].
* Subverted in ''[[Hana no Ko Lunlun]]''{{'}}s Netherlands arc. Lunlun befriends three handsome brothers... but the three fall for her {{spoiler|after a "pep talk" from Togenishia}} and propose to her at the same time. {{spoiler|Lunlun [[Screw This, I'm Outta Here|runs away as soon as she can]] to continue her mission, much to the three's dismay, and An Aesop about shallowness is delivered by Serge.}}
* ''[[Girls Bravo]]'': Four girls have feelings for Yukinari, one is a bully who has beaten him up almost every day for years, another is an insane [[
* ''[[Hanaukyo Maid Tai]]''. Hanaukyo Taro inherited his grandfather's fortune and, with that, hundreds of maids willing to serve him. In each season he has three personal maids who constantly try to seduce him. The problem: he's only a child.
* ''[[Rappi Rangai]]''
Line 130 ⟶ 131:
** Played for laughs in one storyline where the female characters (including old lady Otose) and ...MADAO convince Gin that he had a one-night stand with them (on the same night) and now has to take responsibility. It's a ploy to get him to stop drinking so much.
* Hibiki ends up with one in ''[[Vandread]]''. Naturally, since he's a member of a [[One-Gender Race]], he has absolutely [[Oblivious to Love|no knowledge of love whatsoever]].
* [[Noble Demon|The main character]] of ''[[Shina Dark]]'', aka. Satan Exoda, has a thousand females sent as a sacrifice,<ref>The term "women" isn't used because there are even some pre-pubescent girls amidst the lot</ref> to discourage him from destroying the world. They were sent because of [[Malicious Slander|a newly-added clause in the book of legends, which described his supposed pervertedness]], and all he wants is to be left alone. [[Played for Drama|Seeing as none of them can return home after being sent to the island of Satan]] (because others think that they now carry his children), they have no way but to live on his island, and [[Played for Laughs|weird things happen]].
* Exaggerated in ''[[One Piece]]'' - After Luffy does the gorgon sisters one of the biggest favours they could ever ask for, he ends up with an entire
* In ''[[Kemeko Deluxe]]'', Sanpeita ends up with MM, Izumi, Vanilla, Miura and a [[Miko]] after him.
* Happens to Muneakira in ''[[Hyakka Ryouran Samurai Girls]]''.
Line 143 ⟶ 144:
* In ''[[Maji de Watashi ni Koi Shinasai!]]'', Yamato confesses his feelings to Momoyo, but she rejects him, wanting to remain friends. The other four girls then decide they want a shot at taking him.
* ''[[Kiniro no Corda]]'' has a reverse harem surrounding Hino.
* ''[[Princess Lucia]]''.{{context}}
* ''[[Hozuki-san Chi no Aneki]]'' There's one developing around Gorou with Misaki, Mizuno, and Kyou - it's unwanted because he's too smitten with his stepsister Haru to consider any of them as a love interest.
* ''[[Bleach]]'': This trope doesn't exist in the manga. However, it didn't stop the anime [[Adaptation Expansion|trying to create]] it by using the following females: [[She Is Not My Girlfriend|Rukia]], [[Childhood Friend Romance|Orihime]], [[The Tease|Yoruichi]], [[Precocious Crush|Ririn]], [[Genki Girl|Senna]], [[Cute Monster Girl|Nel]] and [[Sugar and Ice Personality|Riruka]]. To prevent things getting too far away from the manga, the anime naturally makes Ichigo [[Oblivious to Love]] to maintain the status quo.
* Utsumi in ''[[GE - Good Ending]]'' develops one at one point.
* In ''[[Shojokyuu
* Next to Tenchi, ''[[Love Hina]]'' is one of the most well
* ''[[Final Approach]]''.{{context}}
* ''[[Rail Wars!]]'': Iida, Koumi, Sakurai, Sasshou, and Noa are all interested in Takayama. Takayama is interested in [[Rail Enthusiast|trains]].
* Bell Cranel of ''[[Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?]]'', being a [[Chaste Hero]], doesn't even realize he has a harem. But Hestia, Lili, Syr, and possibly Ais know... and Hestia's the jealous type.
==
* [[media:LegionRomanceSplash.jpg|This]] ''[[Legion of Super-Heroes (comics)|Legion of Super-Heroes]]'' comic panel. Though it's a [[Subverted Trope|subversion]], as the girls actually trying to make [[Superman|Jimmy Olsen's]] girlfriend jealous.
* Subverted in ''[[Y: The Last Man]]'' where just about every woman Yorick comes across is either trying to kill him or capture him as a bargaining chip.
** Unless you count Beth, [[Name's the Same|Other Beth]], [[Pirate Girl|Captain Kilina]], [[Wrench Wench|PJ]] and {{spoiler|355, for all of five minutes}}.
* [[Deconstructed Trope|Deconstructed]] and then [[Reconstructed Trope|reconstructed]] with the [[Higurashi no Naku Koro ni|''Higurashi'' cast]] backstory in ''[[Kyon: Big Damn Hero]]''. {{spoiler|Also, Kyon's harem has grown by at least three.}}▼
▲== Fan Fiction ==
* Exactly fits with Avarian from ''[[The God of Death]]'' (a ''Warhammer-Warcraft'' crossover), a Space Marine (with a Space Marine character) who picked up a nightelf, a bloodelf, a highelf, two human females and even a forsaken (undead) elf, almost all bearing romantic feelings towards him, without Avarian noticing
▲* [[Deconstructed Trope]] and then [[Reconstructed Trope]] with the [[Higurashi no Naku Koro ni|Higurashi cast]] backstory in ''[[Kyon: Big Damn Hero]]''. {{spoiler|Also, Kyon's harem has grown by at least three.}}
* ''[[In Flight]]'':
▲* Exactly fits with Avarian from '[[The God of Death]]' (Warhammer-Warcraft crossover), a Space Marine (with a Space Marine character) who picked up a nightelf, a bloodelf, a highelf, two human females and even a forsaken (undead) elf, almost all bearing romantic feelings towards him, without Avarian noticing ANYTHING (being a Space Marine, he just picked them up because he thought they would be useful on his quest, he himself is totally unaware of the emotion called 'love' and, much unlike his companions think, does not bear the 'male weak-minded crave-for-female-flesh'-lust) This is going to be fun.
▲* [[In Flight]]: AND HOW! Lets break it down. In Flight is a crossover between Sekerei and Fate/Stay Night. You see where this is going? Shirou has Rin and Saber who he has been going steady with for 2 years now back in London. Akitsu joins and quickly develops radical levels of devotion to him. Then Musubi, Then Matsu, then Tsukiumi. On top of this if the author continues as he has been there will be Kazehana still to come. On top of THIS it is possible that Yukari is also interested. Added up to the fact that none of them have any idea as to his status as a Mage or the nature of Saber and Rin, regarding them as a old pair of exes that he broke up with. In short Shirou has got himself into an inescapable position. At this point in the fic there is no way out without breaking somebody's heart.
** [[Tenchi Solution|Not necessarily.]]
== Film ==
Line 173:
* This trope was the entire plot to the Australian film [[wikipedia:Alvin Purple|Alvin Purple]].
* [[The Emperor's New Groove|The Emperors New Groove]] features a different kind of Unwanted Harem. Kuzco rejects all the women because he thinks nobody is good enough for him.
== Literature ==
* [[Harry Potter]] ends up with a large number of admirers in the sixth book.
** He also suffers from this trope in the fourth book, due to his status as a Tri-Wizard champion. Viktor Krum also, both because he's his school's champion and an internationally famous
* ''[[Odyssey|The Odyssey]]'': dozens of foreign nobles seek Penelope's hand in marriage after her husband is presumed dead. {{spoiler|He returns and kills them all.}}
* Bella from ''[[Twilight (novel)|Twilight]]'' is a female example of this with a total of five guys in love with her, two of them supernatural. And she didn't have any boyfriends before moving to Forks.
Line 183 ⟶ 182:
** [[Stephenie Meyer|The author]] insists that this was based on her successful love life in college after she wasn't looked at twice in high school. In one quote, she mentioned that she was dating three guys at the same time (which none of them knew about).
*** [[Sarcasm Mode|Sure she did...]]
* In the [[Jane Moore]] novel ''[[Fourplay]]'', main character Jo ends up with four very different men staking their claim on her (one of whom happens to be her ex-husband).
* [[Anita Blake]], the eponymous heroine of Laurell K. Hamilton's monster hunting series, although as the harem gets bigger it seems to be less and less unwanted. When it was just a vampire and a werewolf she was stressing over it.
* Sookie in ''[[The Sookie Stackhouse Mysteries]]'' has been romantically/sexually
** Slightly justified in that she has fairy blood, which for vampires (and maybe other supernaturals) is like cat nip.
* In ''[[The House of Night]]'' series, heroine Zoey Redbird has three admirers/boyfriends: Heath, her human ex-boyfriend and quarterback of the football team, Erik Night, the hottest guy in the vampyre high school, and Loren Blake, a teacher and poet. Loren leaves the harem later on when {{spoiler|he's revealed to be evil and then dies}}, only to be replaced by Stark.
Line 197 ⟶ 196:
* In [[Saki (author)|Saki]] (H.H Munro)'s play, ''[[The Watched Pot]]'' (written in collaboration with Charles Maude), Trevor Bavvel, the local heir to the manor, is pursued by four different young women. In Saki's "The Elk," Bertie Thropplestance is in much the same position, pursued by every woman whom he rescues from the eponymous dangerous quadruped.
* [[The Dresden Files]] tend to lampshade the fact that Harry has a ton of attractive (and often supernaturally hot) women angling to get into his pants from time to time. These range from [[Mentor Ship|his apprentice]] to [[Divine Date|Faerie]] [[Did You Just Romance Cthulhu?|Queens]] to his [[Ship Tease|Police]] [[Fair Cop|officer]] best friend and [[Hot Scoop|attractive reporter]] girlfriend. Being a semi-quasi-[[Chaste Hero]] with abandonment issues who doesn't want to get involved without emotion backing it up, much of this attention (apart from said reporter girlfriend) is unwanted. A lot of the rest is unwanted because the lady in question is trying to bed him in order to enslave/devour/corrupt him or those close to him. Yeah... he has a complicated love life.
** Don't forget the demons, the
* In the ''[[Disgaea]]'' [[Disgaea Novels|novels]] [[Disgaea: Hour of Darkness/Characters|Laharl]] gets a whole bunch of girls after him, including [[Promoted to Love Interest|Flonne and Etna]], Gordon and Jennifer’s daughter [[Disgaea Novels/Characters|Jane]] and Flonne’s little sister [[Disgaea Novels/Characters|Ozonne]], and ''more'', to [[Allergic to Love|Laharl’s mayor dismay]].
* Derek of the web-novel ''[[Domina]]'' has at last count [[The Quiet One|Akane]], [[Occidental Otaku|Ling]], and maybe [[Ice Queen|Laura]] interested in him—that's three out of the five female characters. Lily claims [[Clueless Chick Magnet|he never notices]], mostly because [[Single-Target Sexuality|he's only interested in Lizzy]]. [[All Love Is Unrequited|She, in turn, doesn't notice]].
* Suleiman-bin-Daoud of the ''[[Just So Stories]]'' has ''nine hundred and ninety nine'' wives. He's not very happy about it.
* Miriam, the elder sister of Jonathan in ''[[The Roman Mysteries]]'', has one.
== Live Action TV ==
Line 211 ⟶ 209:
* Seth Cohen in ''[[The OC]]'' spends years as the Dateless Nerd before finding himself pursued by both Summer and Anna.
* Dr Temperance "[[Bones]]" Brennan has often been pursued and flirted with by several guys. There was one early episode when she went to a small town and most of the guys there were all trying to get her attention at a local bar, until [[Will They or Won't They?|Booth]] stepped in and grabbed her for a dance. However, she's not a [[Chaste Hero]], as she does date several men, two at the same time at one point.
* Played straight and parodied on ''[[Glee]]''. Played straight with Will in how
* Constable Benton Fraser of ''[[Due South]]'' tends to instantly inspire crushes in every American woman he comes across. It only really sticks with Ray Vecchio's sister, though [[Stalker with a Crush|she's definitely enough]].
* The one-season Scott Bakula sitcom ''[[Eisenhower And Lutz]]''. Bakula played Bud Lutz, a shady lawyer who was juggling two girlfriends, a waitress played by DeLane Matthews and a much more successful lawyer played by [[Home Improvement (TV series)||Patricia Richardson]]. In the final episode, an enemy of Bud's vowed to make his life miserable. He did so by sending both women engagement rings in Bud's name!
* [[Doctor Who|The Doctor]], thanks to his penchant for traveling with good-looking young companions. See [http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/4044/doctorsgirlsbymimina.jpg this picture].
* Bertram Wooster (the Wooster bit of ''[[Jeeves and Wooster]]'') has a gang of girls who all feel that they have an open invitation to attach themselves to him whenever their current relationship has gone south. All of the women in question are attractive but they all have issues with their personalities. There's Madeline Bassett (a [[Love Freak]] prone to [[Tastes Like Diabetes|extreme sentimentality]]), [[Rich Bitch|Florence Craye]] (a pretentious [[I Can Change My Beloved|ball buster]]), and [[Brawn Hilda|Honoria Glossop]] (who is probably a closet lesbian who [[I Can Change My Beloved|wants to "mould" him]]). He has also expressed terror at the prospect of marrying Pauline Stocker, [[The Trickster|Bobby Wickham]], and Stiffy Byng, even though none of them really want to. His terror of matrimony also has a lot to do with Bertie's wish to preserve his [[Ho Yay|cosy bachelor establishment]] with Jeeves.
== Music ==
Line 227 ⟶ 224:
* The Carl Perkins song "Everybody's Trying to be my Baby"
* The Eagles song "Take It Easy," as seen in the page quote.
== Theater ==
* [[Gilbert and Sullivan]] seem to be fond of this trope: 9 of their 14 operas have some version of it.
** In ''[[Iolanthe]]'', The Lord Chancellor, the Earls of Mountararat and Tololler, and the entire Chorus of Peers are all in love with Phyllis, who wants none of them.
** At the start of ''[[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
** In ''[[The Gondoliers]]'', the entire female chorus is in love with the same two brothers, who feel it "indelicate" to show a bias towards any particular girl.
** In ''[[The Grand Duke]]'', Ludwig is all set to marry Lisa, but through various plot contrivances, finds himself forced to marry Julia Jellicoe, the Baroness von Krakenfeldt, and the Princess of Monte Carlo.
** Played straight and subverted in ''[[Patience]]'': At the start of the opera, the whole chorus of Rapturous Maidens are in love with the poet Bunthorne; when a handsomer poet, Grosvenor, appears on the scene, all the women transfer their affection to him. But while Grosvenor genuinely ignores the Maidens as much as he can, Bunthorne only pretends to — he only dons Aesthetic clothing and writes poetry so he can be followed around by an adoring harem.
** Played with in in ''[[H.M.S. Pinafore]]'': Sir Joseph enters "accompanied by the admiring crowd of female relatives who follow him wherever he goes" ("relative" is a euphemism here). Sir Joseph obviously enjoys the attention, but doesn't actually want to marry any of them. On the other hand, Hebe is the only "relative" actively pursuing him.
*** One of Pinafore's major influences is a poem by Gilbert called "The Bumboat Woman's Story", in which Lt. Belaye, who commands a British gunship, discovers that his entire, unusually well-behaved crew is made up of young women, who dressed up like sailors to continue being around him.
** Played with again in ''[[Trial by Jury (comic opera)|Trial by Jury]]'': As soon as the Plaintiff enters the courtroom, the entire jury falls in love with her. She does not want them, but manipulates them as much as she can to win her case.
** Subverted in a different way in ''[[The Pirates of Penzance]]'': Frederic proposes to the entire female chorus, who unanimously turn him down. Averted completely a moment later, when Mabel enters.
** Similarly Subverted in ''[[The Sorcerer]]'': Dr. Daly, under the influence of the love potion, proposes to every maiden he meets, but each one refuses. (This happens offstage, but he sings a song about it.)
== Video Games ==
* ''[[.hack GU Games|.hack//G.U.
* ''[[Baldur's Gate]]'' only has three options, although due to class and/or alignment you're pretty unlikely to keep them all in the same party...
* The way the dialogue in [[Neverwinter Nights 2]] is written, a male player expressing interest in Elanee is reacting to Neeshka as if this trope is in play.
** The dialogue in question is probably an artifact from when Neeshka was going to be a possible love interest for the male PC.
* In ''[[A Dance With Rogues]]'', every male character who joins your party ([[Les Yay|and one female character]]) have at least some interest in the Princess.
* ''[[Persona 3]]'' plays this trope straight with Akihiko: he has a harem, but he [[Oblivious to Love|doesn't pay attention to it]]. He doesn't even know the names of the girls involved.
* In ''[[Yggdra Union]]'', there's the [[Bishonen|lovely]] [[Kuudere|Roswell]]. [[Christmas Cake|Mistel]], [[Christmas Cake|Eudy]], [[Cloudcuckoolander|Pamela]], [[Black Comedy Rape|Ortega]], [[
* You'd think ''[[Galaxy Angel (video game)|Galaxy Angel]]'' is like this. [[Subverted Trope|Nope]], the game enforces a strict [[Road Cone]] 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.
* From ''[[Mass Effect 2]]'', [[Badass Bookworm|Mordin]] [[Cool Old Guy|of]] [[Crazy Awesome|all]] [[Deadly Doctor|people]] claims to have had one of these, or at the very least many come-ons from different species, and he is able to rationalize why each species would find him attractive.
Line 266 ⟶ 262:
* ''[[Fable]]'' has this if you get attractive enough. It will result in you being blocked into your house/shops. It is a [[Scrappy Mechanic]]
* [[Sonic the Hedgehog]] has one of these, though most of the girls are never shown.
* Occurs in the [[H-game]] ''[[Artificial Girl]]
* In ''[[Come See Me Tonight]]'', the main character's parents mysteriously disappear one day, so an old friend of the family offers to let him stay with her. When he arrives, he discovers her 3 beautiful daughters and a [[Dojikko]] act as hostesses in the restaurant she owns. He slowly but surely becomes the target of their affections as he helps out in the restaurant.
** The sequel involves the son of a family that runs a shrine famous for its annual harvest festival and accompanying "Dance of the Shrine Maidens" taking over his grandfather's duties as chief priest - which involves helping 3 beautiful maidens-in-training learn the dance, as well as learning his own part, and picking which of the maidens will become his wife.
* Ohgami of ''[[Sakura Taisen]]'' gains one, and is one of the earliest originators of the [[Harem Hero]] subtrope.
* ''[[Fate/hollow ataraxia
* In ''[[
* Takeru gains one in ''[[Muv-Luv]]''.
== Web Comics ==
* In addition to her two husbands within two years, Candi Levens of the ''[[Ciem Webcomic Series]]'' has had to deal with two other men attempting to rape her. In the book, she has been bedded by three men and had to ward off (at least) two would-be rapists that were after her. She even comes to complain about how she appears to be a rape magnet. Making matters worse, her high school's boy population could never remember which of the Flippo girls they'd slept with. So Candi was occasionally flirted with by ''Marina's'' old suitors!▼
▲* In addition to her two husbands within two years, Candi Levens of the [[Ciem Webcomic Series]] has had to deal with two other men attempting to rape her. In the book, she has been bedded by three men and had to ward off (at least) two would-be rapists that were after her. She even comes to complain about how she appears to be a rape magnet. Making matters worse, her high school's boy population could never remember which of the Flippo girls they'd slept with. So Candi was occasionally flirted with by ''Marina's'' old suitors!
** [[It Got Worse]]. One of Steve's old friends, being a voyeur, set up hidden cameras to spy on Steve and Miriam. Hence, Miriam's unwanted career as the porn star Mila Fila was born without her knowledge or consent. This led to hundreds of fans, a few living in the Evansville area, mistaking Candi for Miriam and casting awkward glances. Some days, the only escape was to run around rooftops dressed like a centipede. The poor girl's [[All Women Are Lustful|mostly]]-[[Urban Legend Love Life|undeserved]] [[Really Gets Around|reputation]] could ''never'' catch a break!
** Donte eventually gives up [[My Girl Is Not a Slut|trying to defend Candi's honor]]. Especially after he caves in under his own fears and [[I'm a Man, I Can't Help It|becomes part of the problem]]. He finally resigns to the fact that he loves her no matter who else she's been with and regardless how little others think of him for marrying her.
Line 289 ⟶ 284:
* Keith from ''[[Twokinds]]'' has a gender-confused wolf-woman, an ex-fiancee, a (gay) general, and a cute lieutennant gunning for him. This would be a good thing except his people can only get off once a year and mate for life.
* [[Yamato Nadeshiko|Mye]] of ''[[Charby the Vampirate]]'' appears to have admirers wherever she goes, although she describes herself as not all that pretty. Eventually {{spoiler|this is revealed to be, unknown to her, the effect of a spell that draws men to her.}}
* David from ''[[Ow, My Sanity]]'' has one made entirely of [[Eldritch Abomination]]s who can take the form of [[Cute Monster Girl]]s and find that [[Humanity Is Infectious]].
* Played with in ''[[Dubious Company]]''. Elator is repulsed by most of his harem. [[Clingy Jealous Girl|Mary]] has [[Manic Pixie Dream Girl|personality]] [[Wall of Blather|issues]] that he finds grating. [[Chivalrous Pervert|Marty]] is not a [[Gay Option]], so much as he has yet to realize that Elator is a [[Dropped a Bridget On Him|dude that looks like a lady]]. [[Creator Cameo|Tria]] is a matter of [[Stealth Hi Bye|blink]] and you’ll miss her. [[Petting Zoo People|Raque'Falicoona]] is a case of [[
* [[Karate Bears]] love women, [http://www.karatebears.com/2012/01/still-not-happy.html?spref=fb but not one woman
* ''[[Electric Wonderland]]'' had a [[Valentine's Day Episodes|Valentine's Day Comic]] in which a random man walks into the protagonists' workplace, and unwittingly becomes an object of attention for Trawn, Shroomy, and Aerynn.
* ''[[Homestuck]]'': It seems that all of Jake English's friends secretly harbor romantic feelings for him. This includes [[Ho Yay|Dirk Strider]]. He is of course mostly oblivious to this.
* In ''[[Rain]]'', it appears that every kid in the school with a compatible sexual orientation gets a crush on the titular character. The attention terrifies her.
* Gary of the [[Not Safe for Work]] webcomic ''[[Ménage à 3]]'' gains one - he wants to focus on Yuki, but Kiley and Sonya both want him. Sonya backs off after realising she loves Zii, but then Didi becomes interested in him. And now that Kiley's backed off, Amber and Senna can be added to the list.
== Web Original ==
* Thunderbird of the ''[[Whateley Universe]]'' 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 [[Superman]] [[Expy]] 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.
** Chaka herself has a lot of people after her. More than a few are female.
* ''[[The Impossible Man]]'' subverts this trope. Michael Garcia either hires a woman or his mother hires one and he accepts their application to work for his store.
* In [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eq8xbX87UY this] ''[[Pokémon:
* Happens in ''[[Sapphire]]''. Admittedly, it's not actually ''Alec's'' harem, but he still refuses to fall for their advances.
== Western Animation ==
* A couple of episodes in ''[[Adventure Time]]'' mention that Finn has one of these.
* In ''[[Phineas and Ferb]]'', Baljeet has one composed of Mishti, Wendy and Ginger.
* Female-with-male-harem example, in one episode of ''[[Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends]]'', Frankie is wooed by Mac, Bloo, Prince Charming, and the pizza guy. Eventually she takes the Dump Them All option, but stays friends with them.
== Real Life ==
| |||