History Main / EverybodyIsSingle

* The vast majority of ponies in ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' are single; the only OfficialCouple is Mr. and Mrs. Cake. There are frequent {{Ship Tease}}s for Golden Harvest and Written Script (with an occasional hint that Golden Harvest [[YourCheatingHeart plays the field]] or Dr. Hooves and Roseluck, but everypony else looks to be single. In fact, of the Mane Six, only Rarity has shown any romantic interest whatsoever, and this always for single-episode [[AnAesop lessons about]] [[AndKnowingIsHalfTheBattle not compromising for a crush]].

** Notably averted by ''ComicBook/SpiderMan''. He managed to hang onto Mary Jane for decades. At least until the relationship was {{retcon}}ned out of existence in the ''ComicBook/OneMoreDay'' storyline. That, and Lois and Clark.

** Averted in the DCU by the [[TheGoldenAgeOfComicBooks Golden Age]] Flash, Jay Garrick and his wife Joan.

* Most of the faculty in Archie comics, with the exception of Coach Clayton. And he's possibly the only subversion because his kid attends the school and is friends with Archie.
* Seems to have creeped up on Franchise/TheDCU with ''The New 52''. [[TheFlash Barry Allen]] is no longer in any kind of relationship with Iris West (effectively wiping out Wally West in the process), {{Franchise/Superman}} is no longer married to or interested in Lois Lane.

* In Series/{{Cheers}}, everyone working at the bar is unmarried. This caused a problem when Rhea Perlman (Carla) who in real life is married to Danny [=DeVito=], got pregnant. Since her character was shown as a trollop they just had her get pregnant by one of the guys she was dating. However, at the same time Shelly Long (Diane), who was also married (to a stockbroker) in real life, got pregnant, and it would look ridiculous to show both bar maids as pregnant, so they mostly hid Diane behind various fixtures to disguise her pregnancy.

* JasperFforde married off the character of Literature/ThursdayNext in her first book, [[AvertedTrope specifically to avoid romantic subplots]] in the rest of the series, and get on with the main story.

* In the Literature/DoctorWhoNewAdventures novels, the decision to give ex-companion BerniceSummerfield her own spin-off series -- in which, as lead character, she would be expected to participate in romantic-interest subplots -- led directly to the messy collapse of her marriage, which upstaged the violent deaths of a tenth of the Earth's population. This, ''less than a year'' after an entire novel was devoted to the wedding and much effort was expended in assuring readers that it was HappilyEverAfter-type True Love.

* ''Fanfic/{{Bait and Switch|STO}}'' uses this for the characters whose marital status we know, although in the case of security officer Dul'krah, Clan Korekh it's because his species doesn't actually ''practice'' marriage. According to [[http://memory-gamma.wikia.com/wiki/Dul%27krah,_Clan_Korekh his bio]] on the Memory Gamma {{fanon}} wiki, Dul'krah has a son and daughter by two different women.

** Notably averted by ''ComicBook/SpiderMan''. He managed to hang onto Mary Jane for decades. At least until the relationship was [[{{Retcon}} RetConned]] out of existence in the ''ComicBook/OneMoreDay'' storyline. That, and Lois and Clark.

* Though this happens in a lot of sports movies, it's extra-noticeable in ''The Game Plan'' starring Dwayne Johnson. Not only is almost the entire team of professional sports stars unmarried and single, all but one (besides Johnson's character) aren't parents either, and are merciless with their teasing about his new status. In real life, of course, a '''lot''' of professional sports stars are married and/or parents.
* Averted explicitly in at least one instance in the baseball film ''BullDurham'': when Millie, the younger baseball groupie (and protege to Annie Savoy (Susan Sarandon)) is working her way down the bench introducing herself to various Durham Bulls players, she flirts with one:
-->'''Millie:''' [''flirtatiously''] Hi, I'm Millie.
-->'''Player:''' [''brusquely''] Hi. I'm married.

* In ''StarTrekTitan'', both Will's first officer and his superiors are concerned about his wife Deanna serving aboard ''Titan'' as Senior Diplomatic Officer because it puts her directly in the chain of command (as just Ship's Counselor, she was not an officer of the line).

* On ''Series/TwentyFour'', this is universally true at CTU -- however, this is partly because of ''[[Series/TwentyFour 24]]'''s recurring theme of the conflict between family vs. duty. Hence, there are a lot of divorcees and widows featured on ''Series/TwentyFour''.

* Going strong so far on ''TheMentalist''. Viewers know little of Lisbon and Cho's personal lives (except Cho's seems to consist largely of working steadily through very thick books), with the impression they're too consumed with their work to bother. Rigsby loves van Pelt, but van Pelt runs like a frightened rabbit from the idea because as the junior member of the team, she'd get transferred out if she started dating a coworker (and she doesn't come off as that into Rigsby anyway). Jane, meanwhile, lost his wife and daughter to a pissed off serial killer he was helping to hunt, and still hasn't recovered emotionally.

* By the end of ''Series/{{Friends}}'', only Joey is single.
** What about the numerous dates the characters have over the course of the series?
*** In the first half of the series they all have short relationships that usually only last a handful of episodes. (Joey and Kate/Kathy, Chandler and Janice/Kathy, Monica and Bobby/Richard/Pete, Phoebe and David, Rachel and Paolo/Ross/Joshua, Ross and Julie/Rachel/Emily) but are mostly single. From Season 5 onwards Monica and Chandler are the only two in a long-term relationship and the others continue with short relationships. (Gary, Janine, Mona, Tag, Parker, Gavin, Charlie etc.)

* Of the main cast of ''Series/{{NCIS}}'', only Jimmy Palmer is married, and he wed at the end of Season 9. Director Vance [[spoiler:was HappilyMarried before his wife was killed]]; and Gibbs, who has had three divorces, is rather cynical on the subject of marriage.

* PhoenixWrightAceAttorney. Throughout the series, only 3 of the clients, and none of the victims or main characters, are married/have married parents (possible exception for flashbacks to Nick and Edgy as a kid, even though his parents aren't mentioned). Some (like Ms. von Karma) are never even mentioned, the Feys (Mia, Maya, Pearl, and [[spoiler:Dahlia and Iris]] are specifically said to come from unstable families, and Trucy's mother is missing from an accident. But none of the main characters (possibly excluding Manfred) have ever been married.

* In ''{{Homestuck}}'', despite the {{Love Dodecahedron}}s, AllLoveIsUnrequited is in effect and of the [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters giant cast]] very few are capable of getting into a relationship at all, let alone keeping it without breaking up or [[AnyoneCanDie dying]]. The fact that most of the characters are between 13 and 16 helps, but you'd think at least some of them would manage it, and even the adults are pretty uniformly single as well. [[spoiler:Dad and Mom started going out at one point, but...well, here's where that 'without dying' catch comes in.]]

*** The Spider-Man example is particularly notable, since both the above comic and TheCloneSaga were explicitly made to be an extremely convoluted series of {{Retcon}}s all for the purpose of making Spider-Man single again. This backfired ''monumentally'' with the fans (Mary Jane was really popular with them, and StanLee), and the flaws can be summed up in [[WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall Linkara's]] tirade on reviewing ''One More Day''.

* Almost averted in ''Series/{{The X-Files}}'', Scully was originally supposed to have a boyfriend named Ethan. A scene with him in the pilot was filmed but cut when the idea was scrapped before the show premiered. Mulder and Scully instead remained single until finally hooking up with each other sometime in the later seasons. Skinner is shown to be married but we only find out about this in the episode where he gets divorced.

** It's rather telling though that the ''one'' main character in a lasting nuclear family is the character the writer's have confessed to [[TheChewToy enjoy torturing]].

*** The Spider-Man example is particularly notable, since both the above comic and TheCloneSaga were explicitly made to be an extremely convoluted series of {{Retcon}}s all for the purpose of making Spider-Man single again. This backfired ''monumentally'' with the fans, and the flaws can be summed up in [[WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall Linkara's]] tirade on reviewing ''One More Day''.

** Bellatrix Lestrange is a weird aversion. She's married, but her husband is rarely mentioned in the books and never mentioned in [[Film/HarryPotter the films]].
*** Because she doesn't care about him. It's clear to anyone with a pulse that Bella only has eyes for her Dark Lord -- she only married Rodolphus because his family was well-connected and pureblood.

* Subverted and played straight in ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles''. Michael's status as a happily married, loving father is a major plot point in some of the novels, but Harry and Murphy's near-perpetual single status is much important to the series dynamic. Both of them have had a LoveInterest or two, but these tend to either not be very serious or end rather...[[DepopulationBomb explosively.]]

* ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' averts this trope somewhat with Zoe and Wash. JossWhedon, who liked the idea of a {{happily married}} couple, had to fight a bit for this with the network.
** This is this trope being averted for most of the rest of the cast is justified at the start of ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' because the unmarried characters are either in professions that do not allow for romantic relationships (Book, Inara), mentally unbalanced (River), a crude and brutal mercenary who [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking hires prostitutes regularly]] (Jayne) or so cynical and broken that the best he could hope for is some UnresolvedSexualTension (Mal). The only ones for whom this trope is in effect for is Simon and Kaylee [[spoiler: at least, until the end of ''Film/{{Serenity}}''.]]

** there is the Daniel/Vala pairing, and it sorta did happen, but then didn't since there was time travel
** Carter also managaes to maintain a relationship with Pete Shanahan for most of a series.

* ''Series/ThirtyRock'' has two aversions in its main cast. Tracy Jordan and Pete Hornberger have been married for the entire run of the show, though neither one has been entirely monogamous.

* None of the main cast of ''Series/{{NCIS}}'' are married, and Gibbs, who has had three divorces, is rather cynical on the subject of marriage.
** This could be a DoubleSubversion. [=McGee=] and Abby dated at one point, and Tony's [[UrbanLegendLoveLife supposedly a ladies man]], but never gets serious with anyone. And then it gets averted outright with [[HappilyMarried Vance]].

** JJ and Will are now married, but Garcia split from Kevin (Xander), and everyone else is still single. Newcomer Alex Blake gives lip service to being married, but it's highly unlikely we'll see her husband, as he's a member of Doctors Without Borders and is always abroad.

*** The Spider-Man example is particularly notable, since both the above comic and TheCloneSage were explicitly made to be an extremely convoluted series of {{Retcon}}s all for the purpose of making Spider-Man single again. This backfired ''monumentally'' with the fans, and the flaws can be summed up in [[WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall Linkara's]] tirade on reviewing ''One More Day''.

* Played largely straight in the original ''MobileSuitGundam'', which isn't surprising, since most of the main cast are junior officers still in their late teens. Averted in ''ZetaGundam'', with two couples from the original who had gotten married in the intervening years. Most Gundam shows play it straight, though.

** Notably averted by ''Spider-man''. He managed to hang onto Mary Jane for decades. At least until the relationship was [[RetCon RetConned]] out of existence in the OneMoreDay storyline. That, and Lois and Clark.

* Seems to have creeped up on TheDCU with ''The New 52''. [[TheFlash Barry Allen]] is no longer in any kind of relationship with Iris West (effectively wiping out Wally West in the process), {{Superman}} is no longer married to or interested in Lois Lane.

** Not actually considered much of an issue in the British Army, provided those involved are not in the same chain of command, i.e. no boinking the boss.

* When ''Series/ParksAndRecreation'' started, Tom was the only character who was married. He later got a divorce (in an episode titled "Tom's Divorce", no less).

* A pop literature aversion: in the Literature/InDeath series by JD Robb, policewoman Eve Dallas gets married shortly into the series, and has stayed that way throughout the rest of the books. Her best friend is married and has a kid, and her aide is living with a serious boyfriend. Many of the other supporting characters are also shown as more or less happily married, with a few exceptions.

* Subverted in ''TheMoonIsAHarshMistress'', in which the protagonist is married... but still eligible for a love interest subplot, as it's a group marriage. In fact, four spouses (three male/one female), get added to the marriage over the course of the book, two of which are main characters. The new wife is the protagonist's new love interest (and all the other spouses grow to love her too), one of the new husbands is a friend protagonist and love interest acquired during the plot, who thoroughly charms all the other spouses.
* A pop literature aversion: in the ''InDeath'' series by JD Robb, FairCop Eve Dallas gets married shortly into the series, and has stayed that way throughout the rest of the books. Her best friend is married and has a kid, and her aide is living with a serious boyfriend. Many of the other supporting characters are also shown as more or less happily married, with a few exceptions.

* All seven Friends of Narnia in ''TheLastBattle'' are single. None of them married either in Narnia or England.

* Subverted and played straight in the ''DresdenFiles''. Michael's status as a happily married, loving father is a major plot point in some of the novels, but Harry and Murphy's near-perpetual single status is much important to the series dynamic. Both of them have had a LoveInterest or two, but these tend to either not be very serious or end rather...[[DepopulationBomb explosively.]]