35 Movie & TV Characters Stuck In The Friend Zone, Ranked

You know that tight little twist in your chest you get when the side character looks lovingly at the lead,
offers the perfect pep talk, saves the day… and then gets rewarded with a high five? That, my friend, is the
cinematic friend zone – and pop culture is obsessed with it.

The term “friend zone” itself blew up in the ’90s thanks to an early episode of
Friends, where Joey warns Ross that he’s dangerously close to being nothing more than Rachel’s “pal.”

Since then, lists, think pieces, and fan votes from outlets like Ranker, YourTango, Refinery29, Barnes & Noble,
Her Campus, and more have argued over who has it worst.

Drawing on those debates (and a lot of rewatching), here’s a playful, slightly painful ranking of
35 movie and TV characters who live – sometimes permanently – in that bittersweet corner of pop culture:
the friend zone.

Ranked: The 35 Most Friend-Zoned Characters in Movies & TV

Note: A lot of these characters eventually escape the friend zone, but they spent serious time there, so their suffering still counts.

35. Helga Pataki – Hey Arnold!

Helga spends an entire childhood bullying Arnold to hide the fact that she writes sonnets about his “majestic football head.”
For years, he only sees her as the loud, mean girl from class, while she’s scripting their future wedding in her diary.

34. Fez – That ’70s Show

Fez worships basically any girl who looks his way, but Jackie is his long-term, unreachable crush.
He’s the awkward, eager friend who hangs around the basement crew hoping that one day the cool kids will let him be more than comic relief.

33. Xander Harris – Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Xander falls hard for Buffy, but she’s too busy slaying vampires and pining for a 200-year-old brooding immortal to notice.
He becomes the funny friend, the loyal sidekick, and the guy who brings snacks instead of romance.

32. Lucy Van Pelt – Peanuts TV Specials

Lucy is absolutely ride-or-die for Schroeder and his piano, and he’s absolutely ride-or-die for Beethoven.
She spends decades leaning on the piano, flirting shamelessly, while he responds with… more practice scales.

31. Steve Urkel – Family Matters

“Did I do that?” Yes, Steve – you accidentally invented the sitcom friend zone.
His entire identity orbits Laura, who mostly sees him as a walking disaster in suspenders. It’s loyalty, slapstick, and unrequited love in one squeaky voice.

30. Jack Sparrow – Pirates of the Caribbean

Jack flirts with Elizabeth Swann as if it’s a full-time job, but the romantic storyline clearly belongs to Elizabeth and Will.
In the end, Jack is the chaotic friend with good cheekbones who gets a ship instead of a girlfriend. Honestly, could be worse.

29. Peter Parker – Spider-Man (various adaptations)

Before MJ or Gwen ever look at Peter with heart eyes, they usually see him as the nice, nerdy lab partner.
Meanwhile, he’s writing love poetry and also casually saving New York on weekends. Classic “you’ll miss me when I’m swinging away” energy.

28. Leah Burke – Love, Simon

Leah is in love with her best friend, Simon, who’s secretly in love with another boy.
She’s stuck in a double friend zone: her feelings aren’t returned, and the story isn’t even about her crush. That’s a special kind of side-character heartbreak.

27. Stiles Stilinski – Teen Wolf

Stiles’ crush on Lydia is practically its own subplot.
For seasons, he’s the funny, anxious best friend who would absolutely die for her, while she’s dating other guys and slowly realizing he might actually be the best one.

26. BoJack Horseman – BoJack Horseman (with Diane)

BoJack’s “thing” with Diane isn’t just friend zone – it’s trauma zone.
He can’t articulate what he wants from her beyond validation, while she keeps him firmly in the “do not date this disaster” column.
It’s emotionally messy, but very recognizably human.

25. William Miller – Almost Famous

William is head-over-Converse for Penny Lane, the impossibly cool Band-Aid who treats him as the sweet little journalist kid.
He gives her loyalty, honesty, and a near-death plane ride; she gives him… a life lesson and a bittersweet goodbye.

24. Steve Harrington – Stranger Things

Steve starts as Nancy’s boyfriend, but when the dust settles, he’s the designated babysitter with great hair and no girlfriend.
Watching her move on while he becomes the kids’ unofficial big brother gives him a glow-up – but not an immediate love story.

23. Éponine – Les Misérables

In every stage and film version, Éponine is the blueprint for “I love you but you love her.”
She literally dies helping Marius find Cosette, singing about how “on my own” she really is. The friend zone has never sounded so operatic.

22. Quasimodo – The Hunchback of Notre Dame

Quasimodo saves Esmeralda, risks his life, and basically holds Paris together – but her heart belongs to Phoebus.
The Disney film turns his pain into a lesson about self-worth: sometimes the best outcome is respect, not romance.

21. Chase Matthews – Zoey 101

Chase spends years as Zoey’s crush-ridden best friend, planning big gestures while she dates other guys.
Fandom basically crowned him “Mayor of Friend Zone City” long before the characters finally caught up to what the audience already knew.

20. Raj Koothrappali – The Big Bang Theory

Raj’s love life is one long running gag. He helps everyone else with their relationships while repeatedly falling for women who don’t feel the same.
At one point he’s closer to his dog than to an actual relationship. Relatable? Unfortunately, yes.

19. Ted Mosby – How I Met Your Mother (with Robin)

Ted keeps trying to turn his friendship with Robin into a rom-com, and Robin keeps going, “We’ve talked about this.”
Their long, tangled storyline is basically a semester-long course in “Why mixed signals and grand gestures aren’t a relationship strategy.”

18. Mr. Collins – Pride and Prejudice (1995/2005)

Mr. Collins isn’t so much friendzoned as “politely but firmly nope’d.”
Still, in many film and TV adaptations he keeps popping up at Bennet family gatherings like the human embodiment of an unwanted LinkedIn message.

17. Edgar Linton – Wuthering Heights Adaptations

Edgar marries Catherine, but it’s pretty clear she’s emotionally married to Heathcliff.
In many film versions, he’s the well-meaning, gentle guy who becomes the stand-in husband while her heart runs wild on the moors without him.

16. Pip – Great Expectations Adaptations

Pip is childhood-crush level obsessed with Estella, who was literally raised to break hearts.
Whether it’s the ’90s film or TV miniseries, he spends his life chasing someone who never truly loves him back.

15. Viktor Krum – Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Krum takes Hermione to the Yule Ball, but the films make it clear she’s emotionally preoccupied with Ron.
Krum is the international Quidditch star who gets reduced to “guy who accidentally made Ron jealous for a bit.”

14. Bruno Carrelli – Ms. Marvel

Bruno is Kamala’s genius best friend, quietly in love with her while she saves Jersey City and crushes on the cool new guy.
He’s the “nice boy from downstairs” who packs her gadgets, her emotional support, and his feelings into the same backpack.

13. Tinker Bell – Peter Pan

Tink is ride-or-die for Peter and aggressively jealous of any girl who so much as looks at him (hi, Wendy).
Yet she’s literally classified as his “fairy friend.” No matter how bright she glows, she’s still stuck as the sidekick.

12. Ron Stoppable – Kim Possible

Ron and Kim technically end up together, but for most of the series he’s the goofy best friend trailing behind the cheerleader-spy with a naked mole rat.
Fans still debate whether he’s truly friendzoned or just a slow-burn success story.

11. Ross Geller – Friends (Season 1 Era)

Before “we were on a break,” Ross was the original friend-zone poster child.
He pined after Rachel for years while she saw him as Monica’s nerdy brother… until the airport, the rain, and that iconic kiss changed everything.

10. Jim Halpert – The Office (Early Seasons)

Jim’s crush on Pam is practically its own documentary subplot.
She’s engaged to someone else, he’s the prank-loving coworker who brings her coffee and emotional support, and the camera crew catches every single wistful glance.

9. Jacob Black – The Twilight Saga

Jacob literally turns into a werewolf and still can’t out-brood Edward.
He’s the strong, loyal, sun-kissed option who ends up permanently labeled as Bella’s “best friend.” And then the imprinting plot twist drops and… yeah, the friend zone gets weird.

8. Gordo – Lizzie McGuire / The Lizzie McGuire Movie

Gordo is textbook: quietly in love, endlessly helpful, and chronically overlooked.
He protects Lizzie from public humiliation in Rome, stands by her through every middle-school disaster, and finally gets a shy rooftop kiss that feels like escape from a years-long friend-zone prison.

7. Mark – Love Actually

Mark is in love with his best friend’s wife and chooses the creepiest possible way to confess it: a cue-card performance on her doorstep.
She kisses him once, politely, and then he goes back to “enough. Enough now.” That’s not just friend zone; that’s self-imposed exile.

6. Gale Hawthorne – The Hunger Games

Gale is Katniss’s hunting partner, confidant, and silent crush.
Peeta gets the slow-burn romance; Gale gets political arguments, trauma, and a complicated fallout that leaves him permanently on the outside looking in.

5. Gunther – Friends

While Ross escapes the friend zone eventually, Gunther never does.
For ten seasons, he pours coffee and heart eyes at Rachel, only to finally confess his feelings in the final season and get a gentle, definitive “no.”

4. Milhouse Van Houten – The Simpsons

Poor Milhouse has spent over 30 animated years being hopelessly in love with Lisa Simpson.
She appreciates him when it’s convenient, but romantically? She’s usually got bigger ambitions than dating the kid who faints at her smile.

3. Duckie Dale – Pretty in Pink

Duckie is the vintage-shop bestie who dances, jokes, and worships Andie while she falls for someone else.
In the original planned ending, he actually got the girl – but test audiences wanted the “dream guy,” so Duckie was officially locked in the ‘80s friend zone forever.

2. Jorah Mormont – Game of Thrones

“Ser Friend Zone” literally crossed deserts, survived greyscale, and came back from exile for Daenerys.
She thanks him with promotions, forgiveness, and zero romantic interest.
He dies defending her, and the ship still never sails. Brutal.

1. Severus Snape – Harry Potter Films

Snape is the tragic grand-master of the friend zone.
He loves Lily since childhood, loses her to James, and still devotes his life (and death) to protecting her son.
His entire character arc is basically: “What if we took unrequited love and cranked it to 11?”

Why We Can’t Stop Watching Friend-Zone Stories

So why do we keep returning to these friend-zoned characters, voting them up on lists and writing 5,000-word fan essays about their pain?
Because, deep down, a lot of us have been that person: the one who shows up, listens, remembers their coffee order…
and still hears, “You’re such a good friend.”

Friend-zone characters give us three things:

• Emotional catharsis: It’s oddly comforting to see someone else go through unrequited love and survive it.
• Wish-fulfillment: We quietly root for the side character to finally get picked – even when the script refuses.
• A reality check: They remind us that chemistry, timing, and consent matter more than effort alone.

They also expose the darker side of friend-zone thinking: the idea that kindness should be rewarded with romance.
Modern commentary is increasingly critical of that entitlement, reframing “the friend zone” not as a punishment, but simply as:
they don’t like you that way, and that’s okay.

Real-Life Lessons from 35 Fictional Friend Zones (Extra Deep Dive)

Watching these 35 movie and TV characters orbit the people they love is funny on the surface – but if you binge them back-to-back,
some surprisingly real relationship lessons pop out. Think of this as the “director’s commentary” for your own love life.

1. Effort Doesn’t Equal Entitlement

Snape protects Harry. Jorah charges into battles. Milhouse lets Lisa walk all over his puppy-eyed heart.
All that sweat and loyalty still doesn’t obligate anyone to fall in love with them – and that’s the crucial reality check.
In real life, doing nice things for someone is kindness, not a down payment on a relationship.

If your inner monologue sounds like, “After everything I’ve done, they should give me a chance,”
you’re sliding from “sweet but sad” into “slightly red-flaggy.”
Healthy attraction is mutual, enthusiastic, and freely given – not earned like store rewards points.

2. Mixed Signals Are Not a Strategy

So many of these stories drag on because nobody communicates clearly.
Ted dances around his feelings for Robin for seasons.
Mark in Love Actually says nothing for ages, then shows up with cue cards like he’s inventing emotional PowerPoint.
Even in high school shows, half the drama is two people staring wistfully across hallways instead of using their actual voices.

In real life, a calm, respectful conversation beats a grand, confusing gesture every time:
“I value our friendship, and I’ve also developed feelings. I don’t expect you to feel the same, but I need to be honest.”
That’s grown-up. The cue-card confession to your friend’s partner? Maybe not so much.

3. Don’t Build Your Whole Identity Around One Crush

Friend-zone characters often have one defining trait: they’re in love with that person.
Gunther is “guy who likes Rachel.” Chase is “boy who likes Zoey.” Quasimodo is “guy whose entire world is Esmeralda.”
When the crush doesn’t pan out, they’re left with nothing but emotional whiplash and maybe a part-time job at a coffee shop.

Offscreen, that’s a dangerous pattern. If 90% of your headspace is dedicated to someone who isn’t choosing you,
you’re not leaving much room for your own hobbies, friends, or options.
You shouldn’t have to disappear as a person in order to be “the supportive best friend.”

4. You’re Allowed to Set Distance – Even If You “Just” Got Friend-Zoned

One thing most of these characters don’t do is take a step back.
They stay close, sometimes closer, hoping that persistence will magically convert friendship into romance.
But feelings don’t heal in close-quarters emotional combat; they need air.

In real life, you’re absolutely allowed to say:
“I really value you, but I need a little space to recalibrate my feelings.”
That’s not petty or dramatic; it’s emotional hygiene. You can be kind and still protect your heart.

5. It’s Okay to Want More – And Okay to Walk Away

What makes characters like Éponine or Jorah so heartbreaking is that they never really choose themselves.
They stay until the end, even when it’s painfully obvious that their love is a one-way street.
It’s noble, sure, but it’s also a little devastating to watch.

Your real-world version doesn’t have to end with a tragic song or a battlefield monologue.
You’re allowed to look at a situation and say:
“I’m an amazing friend, and eventually, I’d like to be someone’s first choice, not their emotional side quest.”
Then you can bow out gracefully and leave the door open for people who do see you that way.

6. Sometimes the Friend Zone Is Just… Friendship

There’s also a quieter truth under all this drama: sometimes the “friend zone” is just two people who are genuinely better as friends.
Some writers and critics have pointed out that we over-dramatize platonic relationships by treating them as “failed romance”
instead of valuable bonds in their own right.

If you’ve ever looked back at an old crush and thought, “Wow, we would’ve made a terrible couple,
but I’m glad they were in my life,” you already know what that means.
Not every connection needs a kiss to matter. Sometimes being “just friends” is the healthiest, kindest, and most honest version of the story.

So the next time you see a Jorah, a Duckie, or a Milhouse on screen, you’re allowed to laugh, cringe, and feel a tiny bit called out.
Then maybe take the hint: be honest sooner, respect clear boundaries, and don’t forget to cast yourself as the lead in your own love story.