Ah, romance in fiction, is there nothing more captivating time than the dance between people who are clearly attracted to each other? Anything sweeter than a tender confession of feelings? And is there anything more irritating when those feelings go undeclared by the end of a story?
Sometimes, leaving feelings up in the air can lead to some delicious tension. But more often it just leads to frustration to the point that you’d rather have the characters break it off clean than waffle on about it. Whether it’s bad writing that keeps these characters apart or they’re casualties made in the name of good writing, here are some of the most frustrating unresolved romances in gaming.
Since we’re covering unrequited romances at the end of each game, there will be unmarked spoilers for the Resident Evil series, Fire Emblem Awakening, Final Fantasy 7, the Devil May Cry series and all of Kingdom Hearts
7 Leon and Ada (Resident Evil)
Leon S. Kennedy and Ada Wong are the undisputed champions of unresolved romantic tension in video games. Since their appearance in Resident Evil 2, they’ve been dubiously involved across the RE series, something that was preserved in the RE2 and RE4 remakes.
Their romance has a Batman-and-Catwoman appeal, with Leon being the boy scout pining over the morally flexible Ada. However, this can get quickly annoying since Leon’s sense of duty puts him at odds with Ada’s machinations while Ada’s need for secrecy means that she’ll never open up to Leon.
Perhaps most frustrating is that they actually are in a relationship of sorts, having shared a kiss in the RE2 remake and a hookup that was implied in RE Damnation. They’re also never seen romantically involved with other people.
Unfortunately, this romance-on-the-run, only told by implication is hardly satisfying.
6 Cloud and Tifa (Compilation of Final Fantasy 7)
This is an admittedly mild case when it comes to undeclared feelings, since in Advent Children, they effectively are a committed (if chaste) couple. They live together, are raising two kids together, and are even heavily implied to share a room.
However, it still seems like there’s an emotional gap that they still haven’t bridged, likely stemming from Cloud’s insecurities. He spends all his time on the road, even though it’s clear that he cares about the family he’s formed with Tifa, Denzel, and Marlene.
And even though they don’t need to be all lovey-dovey to show that they love each other, we never see Cloud and Tifa so much as hold hands.
5 Link and Zelda (The Legend Of Zelda)
Given the nature of the Legend of Zelda series, this obviously varies game by game, since each Link and Zelda in almost every game are unique instances of the fated duo. Sometimes, they’re childhood friends, sometimes they meet in perilous circumstances, and sometimes they barely even speak.
You’d think across all those lifetimes, they’d have been romantically involved, given how much they rely on each other, but we rarely get more than a thank you and a solemn parting.
Of all the Zelda games, two instances have come close to pairing the two in the series: Skyward Sword and the Breath of the Wild-Tears of the Kingdom saga. In fact, the two are cohabitating in the latter game.
4 Sora, Kairi, and Riku (Kingdom Hearts)
Kingdom Hearts started us with the classic two guys, one girl love triangle dilemma, but much like the story of Kingdom Hearts itself, this dynamic quickly spiraled out of control. As they’ve separated and returned to each other repeatedly across KH’s labyrinthine narrative, their dynamic has taken an interesting shape.
While it’s clear that Sora has the standard teenage crush on Kairi, he also clearly has strong feelings for Riku. Likewise, Riku, enigmatic as he is, clearly put a lot of emotional investment in Sora.
Kairi, meanwhile, clearly has a lot of affection for both boys and would just like for everyone to come home. It’s unfortunate then that instead of everyone going home and hashing out their feelings, Sora is instead sent off to another adventure at the end of Kingdom Hearts 3.
3 Lady and Dante (Devil May Cry)
Play enough Devil May Cry, especially 3 and onward and you’ll quickly notice that Dante’s first language is flirtation. He’s quick with the rizz whenever he encounters any lady, demon, or mortal, mostly as some pre- and post-fight dialogue.
But outside of playful banter, he can never get past just flirting.
Which is a real shame because he has some great chemistry with Lady. They had a meet-cute that would have been lethal had Dante not been a half-demon, and she stays in his orbit long after the events of DMC3.
They have a shared trauma since they both have absent parents and have a similar hobby/job of hunting demons, but it hasn’t really gone any further with the two than a close work-friendship.
It’s wild that someone as cool as Dante can’t land so much as a date with someone who's clearly into him, but his emotionally stunted, frigid brother Vergil somehow has a kid.
2 Cordelia and Chrom (Fire Emblem: Awakening)
Arguably, this is the most frustrating example of unresolved feelings in all of video games. Cordelia has a very obvious and gigantic crush on Chrom, to the point that it’s brought up in almost any Support she has with a potential romance with and becomes a point of conflict with her daughter Severa.
The kicker? Cordelia has no Supports with Chrom. That’s right, despite all her pining, she can never get with Chrom.
It’s a shame that they made her unrequited love such a core part of her character since she’s otherwise so interesting. Expert Pegasus Knight, perfectionist, ill-tempered, yet having low self-esteem, Cordelia is a robust character and yet they reduce her to a girl with a crush.
1 Leon and Claire (Resident Evil)
Leon has an interesting case of bad luck. Like James Bond, it seems like he catches the eye of a different gal in every game and movie he’s in, but unlike 007, he can never seal the deal. To be fair, he’s so hung up on Ada that he never notices the interest of others.
Funny enough, this string of luck predates Ada Wong chronologically, since he met Claire Redfield first. While an attraction is lightly hinted at in the original RE2, in the remake, they flirt pretty openly.
They end up as life-long friends for the rest of the series, but it seems like nothing romantic ever comes of it.
Perhaps what makes the two feel like a missed opportunity lies in what Claire represents. Though Leon is not destined for a normal life, he could have had a stable and relatively normal relationship with Claire, instead of chasing fleeting moments and chance encounters with Ada.