History Main / SexlessMarriage

* Emperor Paul Muad'Dib and Princess Irulan in ''{{Dune}}'', while Paul's "real" wife, Chani, is a HotConsort who is his wife in everything but name. Of course, Paul and Irulan were never in love in the first place (at least on Paul's side) and they both knew that the marriage was purely political, not to mention that Paul knew that sleeping with her would just play into the [[EvilutionaryBiologist Bene Gesserit's]] plans. Despite mostly ignoring her he does seem to at least somewhat care for her, and in ''Dune Messiah'' [[spoiler:spares her when the details of the conspiracy, in particular Chani's infertility and later DeathByChildbirth, come out into the open, and he has to talk Chani out of having Irulan killed with the rest of the conspirators]]. It seems that at the very least he values her as an adviser, and after [[spoiler:he exiles himself]] Irulan refers to him with some affection.

* In an episodes of ''TheSimpsons'' when Milhouse's parents Kirk and Luann were still married, after purchasing some of Grandpa's tonic, Kirk remarks: "Tonight, we'll push the twin beds together."

* Emperor Paul Muad'Dib and Princess Irulan in ''{{Dune}}'', while Paul's "real" wife, Chani, is a HotConsort. Of course, Paul and Irulan were never in love in the first place (at least on Paul's side) and the marriage was purely political, not to mention that he knew that sleeping with her would just play into the [[EvilutionaryBiologist Bene Gesserit's]] plans. Despite mostly ignoring her he does seem to at least somewhat care for her, and in ''Dune Messiah'' [[spoiler:spares her when the details of the conspiracy, in particular Chani's infertility and later DeathByChildbirth, come out into the open, and he has to talk Chani out of having Irulan killed with the rest of the conspirators]]. It seems that at the very least he values her as an adviser, and after [[spoiler:he exiles himself]] Irulan refers to him with some affection.

* Emperor Paul Muad'Dib and Princess Irulan in ''{{Dune}}''. Of course, they were never in love in the first place (at least on Paul's side) and the marriage was purely political, not to mention that he knew that sleeping with her would just play into the [[EvilutionaryBiologist Bene Gesserit's]] plans. Despite mostly ignoring her he does seem to at least somewhat care for her, and in ''Dune Messiah'' [[spoiler:and spares her when the details of the conspiracy, in particular Chani's infertility and later DeathByChildbirth, and he had to talk Chani out of having Irulan killed]] and he values her as an advisor.

** Count and Lady Fenring, as he was a Eunuch
*** In the few passages which feature them, they appear to genuinely ''like'' each other; a rather refreshing change from the majority of dysfunctional marriage relationships in the series, which tend to be either "controlled breeding" or "alliance via matrimony" type marriages where the partners at best '''tolerate''' each other.
*** Eunuchs aren't devoid of desire, from what this troper has read of Ottoman history. They were perfectly capable of having fun just not of going all the way.

* Emperor Paul Muad'Dib and Princess Irulan in ''{{Dune}}''. Of course, they were never in love in the first place (at least on Paul's side) and the marriage was purely political.
** I thought he treated her in a positively beastly fashion. Naturally he already had a sorta wife and couldn't cheat on her. But couldn't he at least acknowledge her existence after forcing her to marry him? Did he have to say out loud that he intended not merely to not sleep with her but to actually ''shun'' her? Surely someone with more willpower then a mentat or bene gesserit can be reasonably friendly without cheating?
*** Considering that she was Bene Gesserit, an organization working against him personally and towards a goal his abilities told him would be disastrous for all of humanity generally, simply by not having her assassinated he was arguably being more merciful to her than might have been prudent. Not that there was really any indication that Irulan had any malice towards him, and the brief excerpts of her writings we get at the chapter headings indicate that she might even have held him in high regard. Assuming she actually wrote them, of course; given the politics in ''Dune'' it's at least equally probable that it was simply expedient to ''attribute'' them to her. In other words: she was raised knowing she would be placed in a marriage for political and/or eugenic purposes, and how she felt about it was irrelevant. Getting a husband who ignored her completely was probably better than she could have reasonably hoped for.

*** In the few passages which feature them, they appear to genuinely ''like'' each other; a rather refreshing change from the majority of disfunctional marriage relationships in the series, which tend to be either "controlled breeding" or "alliance via matrimony" type marriages where the partners at best '''tolerate''' each other.

* John McClane is separated from his wife, and thus not sleeping with her, in DieHard and DieHardWithAVengeance.
* David and Audrey in ''Unbreakable'', even sleeping in separate beds.

* Hard to say just how long it lasts, but definitely longer than it should: in ''[[{{Disgaea2}} Disgaea 2]]'', after [[spoiler:Almaz and Sapphire]] get married, and part-way through the honeymoon, [[spoiler:Almaz]] complains that he hasn't even had the opportunity to ''kiss'' his wife yet. Implied not to be because the couple is not in love, but probably because the husband is the universe's ultimate ButtMonkey.

* Hard to say just how long it lasts, but definitely longer than it should: in ''Disgaea2'', after [[spoiler:Almaz and Sapphire]] get married, and part-way through the honeymoon, [[spoiler:Almaz]] complains that he hasn't even had the opportunity to ''kiss'' his wife yet. Implied not to be because the couple is not in love, but probably because the husband is the universe's ultimate ButtMonkey.

* In ''{{Clannad}} After Story'', Nagisa and Tomoya sleep on separate futons, and it was implied that they only started having sex when she wanted to get pregnant. [[CourtlyLove Otherwise they ''really, really'' love each other, so apparently they are just that chaste.]]

* Catherine the Great's husband Peter III, who is now thought to have been mentally retarded, was more interested in playing with his toy soldiers than he was in her. This was one reason many people thought that Catherine's son Paul was actually the son of one of her lovers, and Catherine herself implied this in her memoirs.

** Louis XVI actually had a disorder where arousal was painful so that probably hurt his sex life.

* Malcolm and Anna throughout most of TheSixthSense (if you've seen it, you know why.) He does seem willing and able in the first scene, but he doesn't get the chance.

There are a few times where this trope can be in play for other reasons. Sometimes there are uncomfortable sleep issues involved (snoring, etc.) and one side will be [[ExiledToTheCouch banished from the bed]]. The trope will also occur with either a CitizenshipMarriage or someone who has SettledForGay, although in those cases this may be the default state of the marriage. In neither case does this trope suggest the romantic problems that it will under the more stereotypical circumstances. In one case because the romance is fine - it's just the sleeping patterns that are bad, and in the other because there wasn't supposed to be any romance to begin with.

-->'''Stewie:''' That's not the point! Don't change the...[[YouFailSexEdForever it's a kind of cake]]?

* In one of the episodes of ''TheSimpsons'' when Kirk and Luann are still together Kirk remarks: "Tonight, we'll push the twin beds together" after purchasing some of Grandpas tonic.
** When Apu cheated on Manjula they entered a relationship like this, and though they still slept in the same bed they put considerable distance between them. It was really kind of sad, but they promised to work it out with each other (though later episodes showed Manjula treated Apu like a HenpeckedHusband as revenge).

** Count and Lady Fenring, as he was a Eunuch
*** Eunuch's aren't devoid of desire, from what this troper has read of Ottoman history. They were perfectly capable of having fun just not of going all the way.

There are a few times where this trope can be in play for other reasons. Sometimes there are uncomfortable sleep issues involved (snoring, etc.) and one side will be banished from the bed. The trope will also occur with either a CitizenshipMarriage or someone who has SettledForGay, although in those cases this may be the default state of the marriage. In neither case does this trope suggest the romantic problems that it will under the more stereotypical circumstances. In one case because the romance is fine - it's just the sleeping patterns that are bad, and in the other because there wasn't supposed to be any romance to begin with.