Star-crossed
The terms "star-crossed" and "star-crossed lovers" refer to two people who are not able to be together for some reason. These terms also have other meanings, but originally mean that the pairing is being "thwarted by a malign star" or that the stars are working against the relationship.[1] Astrological in origin, the phrase stems from the belief that the positions of the stars ruled over people's fates, and is best known from the play Romeo and Juliet by the Elizabethan playwright William Shakespeare. Such pairings are often said to be doomed from the start.
This article is about the phrase. For other uses, see Star-crossed (disambiguation).Modern examples[edit]
Prime time television has had various star-crossed lovers labeled as notable and "unforgettable" love stories. IGN considers Buffy Summers and Angel from Buffy the Vampire Slayer to be one of the genre's most tragic and notable star-crossed pairings.[11] The Doctor bidding farewell to his companion Rose Tyler in Doctor Who has been named one of the greatest love scenes in science fiction.[12] Cole Turner and Phoebe Halliwell from Charmed, Michael and Nikita from La Femme Nikita, Kara Thrace and Lee Adama from Battlestar Galactica, Clark Kent and Lana Lang from Smallville, as well as Lucas Scott and Peyton Sawyer from One Tree Hill are other notable star-crossed couples from the genre.[13][14][15][16][17] Commander Lexa and Clarke Griffin from the TV series The 100 are also considered star-crossed lovers, as well as Nancy and Ace in Nancy Drew.[18]
With film or within modern novels and books, such star-crossed couples as Jack Dawson and Rose DeWitt Bukater from Titanic, Landon Carter and Jamie Sullivan from "A Walk to Remember", Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amidala and Kylo Ren and Rey from the Star Wars saga, Ennis Del Mar and Jack Twist from Brokeback Mountain, and Jake and Neytiri from Avatar have been included.[19][20][21][22][23][24]
In soap opera, modern examples of star-crossed lovers have included couples such as Cliff Warner and Nina Cortlandt, JR Chandler and Babe Carey and Bianca Montgomery and Maggie Stone from All My Children.[25][26][27] In 2008, a web-based reality soap opera was created based on the concept of being star-crossed. In Starcrossed, Fox News astrologer Greg Tufaro takes a couple in crisis and separates them for one cycle of the moon. Each is then set up with individuals who are a better match astrologically. The show puts the question "Is love written in the stars?" to the test with the couple deciding on the 28th day of their separation whether they will stay together or remain apart.[28]
In comics, the decision of Marvel Comics to kill off Gwen Stacy, the girlfriend of Spider-Man, made the two of them into star-crossed lovers - though that was not the original intention.
Video games too have featured star-crossed couples[29] across different genres, particularly role-playing video games: Cloud Strife and Aerith Gainsborough from Final Fantasy VII have been cited as a well-known star-crossed love story.[30][31][32] Tidus and Yuna from Final Fantasy X have also been called star-crossed lovers.[33] Zero and Iris from Mega Man X4 are another notable example.