General Hospital's Most Tragic Love Stories Ever
"General Hospital" is renowned for being the home of many soap opera supercouples. After all, they created one of the most popular pairings with Luke (Anthony Geary) and Laura Spencer (Genie Francis), and continue to wow fans with swoon-worthy couples like Carly Benson (Laura Wright) and Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard), or even Trina Spencer (Tabyana Ali) and Spencer Cassadine (Nikolas Chavez). However, the road to happiness for a soap couple is never without obstacles, and sometimes, their love isn't enough to pull them through to a happy ending.
Tragic love stories are almost as popular as successful ones on soap operas. For every happy couple, there's another one who just can't seem to catch a break. Whether it's getting whiplash from so many breakups and makeups, or the tragic death of one significant other, there are plenty of unfortunate endings to popular couples on "General Hospital," and each one is more heartbreaking for fans than the last.
Scott Baldwin and Dominique Stanton
One of the most heartbreaking love stories on "General Hospital" was that of Scott Baldwin (Kin Shriner) and Dominique Stanton (Shell Danielson). Dominique first met Scott when they were both working for Deception perfume. Although she was initially interested in someone else, she and Scott went on a trip to Vegas together and drunkenly tied the knot. They originally planned on getting divorced, but upon their return to Port Charles, they developed feelings for one another and fell in love.
Their love story took a sad turn when Dominique was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor in 1993 and only had a short time to live. Before she died, Dominique decided she wanted to leave Scott with their biological child, so his friend Lucy Coe (Lynn Herring) acted as a surrogate for the couple. Unfortunately, Dominique didn't live long enough to see their daughter Serena born, but she was able to hear the baby's heartbeat before she passed.
Dominique's love story with Scott got a sense of closure when she reappeared to him as a ghost years later, encouraging him to move on from her and find love with someone else. The sense of loss and unfinished business between the two solidifies it as a tragic ending for a short-lived couple.
Stone Cates and Robin Scorpio
The love story between Stone Cates (Michael Sutton) and Robin Scorpio (Kimberly McCullough) was one for the ages on "General Hospital." Their relationship didn't garner much support from Robin's uncle Mac Scorpio (John J. York) in the beginning, given that Stone was associated with mob boss Sonny Corinthos. Despite the lack of support, Robin was enamored with Stone from the jump. They hit a road bump when Stone was tested for HIV, but the results came back negative, so the couple finally consummated their relationship.
Stone's illness continued to progress, and he finally had to confess to Robin that he had contracted HIV/AIDS from one of his ex-girlfriends who was addicted to drugs. He advised that Robin get tested, and although her initial results came back negative, she was retested soon after and was revealed to have contracted HIV. As Stone's illness worsened, Robin acted as his caretaker until he died. While their relationship was short-lived in the context of the show, it sparked a new conversation among viewers about the HIV/AIDS crisis at the time.
Nikolas Cassadine and Emily Quartermaine
Nikolas Cassadine (then Tyler Christopher) and Emily Quartermaine (then Amber Tamblyn) had a harrowing relationship from the start. They met when Emily returned to Port Charles after recovering from temporary paralysis. In an attempt to keep her ex-husband Zander Smith (Chad Brannon) away, Nikolas and Emily pretended to fall in love, leading to them actually developing feelings for each other. However, she married Zander right before she thought she was going to die, but she ended up surviving. Eventually, her marriage to Zander was ruined after she had an affair with Nikolas.
As Nik and Emily were finally free to be together, Nik landed in a car crash that caused him to have amnesia. Mary Bishop (Catherine Wadkins) took him in, but Emily eventually rescued him. Nik's grandmother Helena Cassadine (Constance Towers) tried to break them up, even ordering Connor Bishop (Tyler Christopher) to assault Emily, which caused a rift in her and Nik's relationship.
After some time apart, they finally made their way back to each other, even getting engaged during the Black and White Ball. However, Emily was killed by Diego Alcazar (Ignacio Serricchio), who was masquerading as the Text Message Killer at the time. Despite the obvious connection between them, Nikolas and Emily were never in the right place at the right time to make their relationship work.
Duke Lavery and Anna Devane
Duke Lavery (Ian Buchanan) and Anna Devane (Finola Hughes) reigned as one of "General Hospital's" supercouples before they met a tragic ending. Duke and Anna first met when he was working as a nightclub owner. Immediately drawn to her, Duke was ordered by his boss to propose to her in order to keep her close, but when she learned that his job also involved money laundering and mob ties, she broke it off.
Anna and Duke eventually reunited and planned on marrying, but their wedding was interrupted by Camellia McKay (Liz Keifer), who framed Duke for a murder she committed. He was eventually acquitted, and he and Anna finally tied the knot in one of the soap's most iconic weddings.
Their marriage stalled when Duke had to escape into the witness protection program after testifying in court against his mob enemies, but he returned to town under the name Jonathan Paget. Sadly, Julian Jerome (William deVry) presumably killed Duke before he could reconcile with Anna. However, Anna found Duke alive in 2012, but their relationship was rocky when Duke got involved with the mob once again.
They finally made plans to escape Port Charles together in 2015, but as they were figuring out their future, Carlos Rivera (Jeffrey Vincent Parise) shot and killed Duke. His death was a blow to the entire soap, but especially to fans of the couple who thought they belonged together.
Maxie Jones and Nathan West
Nathan West (Ryan Paevey) and Maxie Jones (Kirsten Storms) might not have a very long relationship compared to some of the supercouples on "General Hospital," but that doesn't mean fans loved them any less. Nathan arrived in Port Charles and rented out Maxie's apartment while she was out of town, but when she came back with Levi Dunkleman (Zachary Garred) on her arm, Nathan immediately disliked him.
As Maxie and Nathan got to know each other, they developed feelings for one another, but since she was with Levi, neither one acted on it. However, after Victor Cassadine (Thaao Penghlis) imprisoned them, they confessed their feelings for one another.
Nathan and Maxie started dating, but she dumped him when he accepted Damian Spinelli's (Bradford Anderson) offer of a boxing match for Maxie's love. Eventually, Nathan was able to win Maxie over at the Nurses' Ball and they reunited. They tied the knot in a happy ceremony, but Maxie's trip to Portland for work caused Nathan to distance himself from her. However, all was forgiven when she returned and soon became pregnant.
Unfortunately, Nathan's father Cesar Faison (Anders Hove) showed up in Port Charles determined to cause trouble. He kidnapped Maxie and held her hostage, and as Nathan tried to rescue her, Cesar shot and killed him. Nathan died with Maxie by his side, and all she had left was their child together. Despite their short-lived romance, Nathan's death left fans wanting more from the couple that had so much potential.