History Main / SheisNotMyGirlfriend

The number of exclamation marks and how much the characters protest and try to convince people that they ''aren't'' together is usually proportionate to the amount of UnresolvedSexualTension between the characters in question. Presumably, characters who really ''are'' just friends wouldn't feel threatened by the accusation. For extra fun, try saying it about some characters who have BelligerentSexualTension. Sometimes the character ''is'' in love, [[UnknowinglyInLove ibut doesn't realize it]].

The number of exclamation marks and how much the characters protest and try to convince people that they ''aren't'' together is usually proportionate to the amount of UnresolvedSexualTension between the characters in question. Presumably, characters who really ''are'' just friends wouldn't feel threatened by the accusation. For extra fun, try saying it about some characters who have BelligerentSexualTension. [[UnknowinglyInLove Sometimes the character]] ''[[UnknowinglyInLove is]]'' [[UnknowinglyInLove in love, but doesn't realize it]].

* In ''Comicbook/Batgirl2009,'' Damian is going undercover as [[TykeBomb an actual]] [[AdorablyPrecociousChild child]] and is approached by RecurringExtra Nell.

* Everyone seems to be under the impression that Toko and Reiji have some kind of relationship in ''VisualNovel/KaraNoShoujo.'' Rather than being defensive about it, Reiji is mostly bemused.

* ''ComicBook/TheIncredibleHercules'': Amadeus Cho famously denied that he and Herc were romantically involved in any way, saying "I am not his eromenos"[[note]]Eromenos - submissive male partner in homosexual relationships in ancient Greece[[/note]]. Among other funny lines like "The technical term is [[InsistentTerminology adventuring companions]]" and "I've read those Internet postings too, and take it from the source, they're total bull!" Much later in ''Prince of Power'' #1, the Griffin taunted him by saying he heard someone killed his boyfriend and asked if it was [[DudeNotFunny too soon]]. Cho just replied that it was [[DeadpanSnarker right on time]].
* In the ''WesternAnimation/CaptainNTheGameMaster'' comics from the ''ComicBook/NintendoComicsSystem'', Princess Lana acknowledges to [[Characters/MetroidSamusAran Samus Aran]] that Kevin is Not Her Boyfriend. The result is your classic BettyAndVeronica LoveTriangle.
* Interestingly enough, [[WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond Terry]] drops this quote verbatim in the ''[[ComicBook/BatmanBeyond Hush Beyond]]'' comic when Bruce calls Max his girlfriend. It appears to be a mix of ShipTease and EveryoneCanSeeIt, but PlayedForLaughs rather than romantic tension.
* In ''ComicBook/PocketGod'', Sun tells Toola that Ooga's not her boyfriend when she asks about their relationship.
* In ''ComicBook/{{Minimonsters}}'', many people (mostly Victor) teases Frank about his not-so secret crush on Henrietta, and that makes Frank blushing and shout desperately that she's not his girlfriend.
* ''ComicBook/GreenLantern'' has Kyle Rayner and Bleez. While Kyle's identity is a secret, anyone who meets him and Bleez (and who isn't familiar with the history of the Green Lantern Corps) assumes they're a couple because... well, she's hot and they assume Green Lantern would have a hot alien girlfriend.
* ''ComicBook/{{Robin|1993}}'': Poor [[Characters/RobinTimDrake Tim]] has to tell people multiple times that he and Steph aren't dating, not helped by the fact that he slowly realizes he likes her but feels like he can't break up with his current girlfriend Ariana because of all the horrible things that had happened to her lately. When Ari breaks up with him he starts dating Steph before the week is up.
* In the ''ComicBook/GravityFallsLostLegends'' story "Face It", after the story's plot is concluded, Pacifica sent a text message telling Dipper that the hug she gave him didn't mean anything. Unfortunately for her, she actually sent the text to Mabel, and unconvincingly claims the text is just a joke.
* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman'' [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1942 Vol 1]]: The young merfolk Firra and Renno who live just off Paradise Island have to explain empathically that they are not dating and are just good friends. In this case neither of them have any romantic interest in the other, but ComicBook/WonderGirl has a hard time believing them since Renno was spending so much time at a dance with Firra.
* ''ComicBook/DominicAndClaire'': In their story together, Cousin Rusty teases Dominic about loving Claire which he denies. Dominic returns fire by taunting Rusty over Samantha from ''ComicBook/SunnyvilleStories''; Rusty says she's just a friend, blushing when doing so.
* In ''Comicbook/Batgirl2009,'' Damian is going undercover as [[TykeBomb an actual]] [[AdorablyPrecociousChild child]] and is approached by RecurringExtra Nell.
-->'''Stephanie:''' Stick with your girlfriend--\\
'''Damian:''' She's not my girlfriend.\\
'''Stephanie:''' You're getting married. Now see if you spot anything out of the ordinary.

* ''WebAnimation/HelluvaBoss'': [[SecretRelationship Ozzie and Fizzarolli]] vehemently deny that they are in love. [[ImplausibleDeniability To an assistant who just walked in on them about to have sex in Ozzie's kitchen]]. Nope, it's just unemotional sex, [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial no romance involved]], because love is stupid. The assistant knows better than to not play along and quietly leaves the room.

* ''WebAnimation/HelluvaBoss'': Ozzie and Fizzarolli vehemently deny that they are in love. [[ImplausibleDeniability To an assistant who just walked in on them about to have sex in Ozzie's kitchen]]. Nope, it's just unemotional sex, [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial no romance involved]], because love is stupid. The assistant knows better than to not play along and quietly leaves the room.

* ''WebAnimation/HelluvaBoss'': Ozzie and Fizzarolli vehemently deny that they are in love. [[ImplausibleDeniability To an assistant who just walked in on them about to have sex in Ozzie's kitchen]]. Nope, it's just unemotional sex, no romance involved, because love is stupid.

* In ''WebVideo/TheGuild'', Codex insists that "there is no circumstance under which [she and Zaboo] are together in any shape or form". [[StalkerWithACrush Zaboo]] feels differently.

* [[SheIsNotMyGirlfriend/AnimatedFilms Films — Animation]]

!!Other examples

[[folder:Asian Animation]]

Compare/contrast with StupidSexyFriend, wherein deciding they ''should'' just be friends is contrasted with the thoughts they can't get rid of about being more than friends, and InsistentTerminology ("She's not my girlfriend, she's my very close gal pal!") Compare IsThatCuteKidYours

* ''ComicBook/YTheLastMan'': Yorick frequently has to inform people that his bodyguard Agent 355 is not his girlfriend. Ironically 355 often pretends Yorick is her transsexual girlfriend in order to hide that he's the last man on Earth.

* The song by Music/MichaelJackson, "Billie Jean", is focused on this trope. [[spoiler:But, it was implied that while Billie Jean was not his lover, her son was indeed his son.]] What's more, it's PlayedForDrama here since Billie Jean represents [[GoldDigger all the groupies who tried to lure Jackson and his brothers into sex so they could have kids and rope the boys into marrying them]].

* In ''Theatre/ThePajamaGame'', Babe, in denial that she's attracted to Sid, sings "I'm Not At All In Love," a claim which is met with smirking derision from the girls:
-->''It's easy to see that her daffy grin\\
Is the grin she always wears,\\
And she's breathless because\\
She ran up a flight of stairs!\\
Obviously! Naturally! Certainly!''
* Many examples in musical theatre of people singing ''you'' are not my boyfriend/girlfriend. Of course, whether they mean it or not, they'll certainly be in love with that person by the end of the show (sometimes the end of the song) :

** In "I'll Know" from ''Theatre/GuysAndDolls'', Sky and Sarah sing about their perfect loves and how unlike Sarah/Sky said love will be. A few scenes later, they start to realise their attraction to each other.

* Roger and Mimi in ''Theatre/{{RENT}}''. In the song "Happy New Year", Benny sings, "Does your boyfriend know who your last boyfriend was?' and Roger responds, "I'm not her boyfriend!".

** BorrowedCatchphrase: In one strip, Linus catches Charlie Brown wishing someone "Merry Christmas, from your Sweet Babboo", and the latter embarrassedly explains "[[AffectionateNickname it's a family expression]]". One suspects the same was true for Schultz.

** Yoshinari mistakes Okazaki and Ichika as dating early in Okazaki's route since he noticed them spending lots of time together despite their insistence they were not dating (yet).
** In Yanagi's route, when helping a lost little girl, she thinks that Ichika and Yanagi are a couple. Yanagi tries to explain it in simple terms that the little girl could understand and ends up saying that Ichika and the little girl are like sisters to him. Ichika quietly muses to herself that for some reason, it bothered to hear Yanagi think of her like a sister.

* Yamato in ''VisualNovel/MajikoiLoveMeSeriously'', regarding Miyako, all the time--though he's [[JustFriends actually got a reason to do so]]. Except, of course, in her path, where he comes around rather quickly once he's made his decision. There are also choices in the game where, if you actually say she ''is'' your girlfriend, you'll immediately end up in an ending with her, whether you were joking or not.

* In ''VisualNovel/CafeEnchante'', regardless if the player chooses to romance Canus, several locals believe that Kotone and Canus are dating.

* [[Characters/MarvelComicsGammaMutates Amadeus Cho]] famously denied that he and [[Characters/TheIncredibleHercules Herc]] were romantically involved in any way, saying "I am not his eromenos"[[note]]Eromenos - submissive male partner in homosexual relationships in ancient Greece[[/note]]. Among other funny lines like "The technical term is [[InsistentTerminology adventuring companions]]" and "I've read those Internet postings too, and take it from the source, they're total bull!" Much later in ''Prince of Power'' #1, the Griffin taunted him by saying he heard someone killed his boyfriend and asked if it was [[DudeNotFunny too soon]]. Cho just replied that it was [[DeadpanSnarker right on time]].

Especially common in shows and on channels ("Teen" Nick goes crazy with this) where kids and/or preteens are the main audience. Quite interesting, as more often than not, most kids aren't ready for that kinda stuff yet, and therefore could use whatever interpretation comes their way. For some, the trope can be coupled with the fact that it allows for both a male and female protagonist in starring roles (thus reaching a wider audience) but is as far as either the {{Media Watch Dog}}s or writers will ever go in terms of illustrating romance and relationships in a series.

* ''ComicBook/CaptainAmerica'': A running gag involving Steve Rogers and [[ComicBook/{{Agent 13}} Sharon Carter]] during the Creator/MarkWaid run on Captain America. Played with in that they used to date and have a very strained relationship at present.

* ComicBook/AmadeusCho famously denied that he and [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHercules Herc]] were romantically involved in any way, saying "I am not his eromenos"[[note]]Eromenos - submissive male partner in homosexual relationships in ancient greece[[/note]]. Among other funny lines like "The technical term is [[InsistentTerminology adventuring companions]]" and "I've read those internet postings too, and take it from the source, they're total bull!" Much later in ''Prince of Power'' #1, the Griffin taunted him by saying he heard someone killed his boyfriend and asked if it was [[DudeNotFunny too soon]]. Cho just replied that it was [[DeadpanSnarker right on time]].
* In the ''WesternAnimation/CaptainNTheGameMaster'' comics from the ''ComicBook/NintendoComicsSystem'', Princess Lana acknowledges to Samus Aran that Kevin is Not Her Boyfriend. The result is your classic BettyAndVeronica LoveTriangle.

* ''Franchise/GreenLantern'' has Kyle Rayner and Bleez. While Kyle's identity is a secret, anyone who meets him and Bleez (and who isn't familiar with the history of the Green Lantern Corps) assumes they're a couple because... well, she's hot and they assume Green Lantern would have a hot alien girlfriend.
* ''[[ComicBook/RobinSeries Robin]]'': Poor Tim has to tell people multiple times that he and Steph aren't dating, not helped by the fact that he slowly realizes he likes her but feels like he can't break up with his current girlfriend Ariana because of all the horrible things that had happened to her lately. When Ari breaks up with him he starts dating Steph before the week is up.

* ''Franchise/WonderWoman'' [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1942 Vol 1]]: The young merfolk Firra and Renno who live just off Paradise Island have to explain empathically that they are not dating and are just good friends. In this case neither of them have any romantic interest in the other, but ComicBook/WonderGirl has a hard time believing them since Renno was spending so much time at a dance with Firra.

* Diane and Nick from ''Theatre/ComeFromAway'' are mistaken for husband and wife by Claude in the song "Screech In", who is bewildered that they could make their marriage work with him living in England and her in Texas. They then clarify that they've actually just met. [[spoiler:They end up married anyway]]. Interestingly, the specific conversation also happened in RealLife.

* Website/ChannelAwesome:
** In "Thanks for the Feedback: Date with Doug", WebVideo/TheNostalgiaChick denies having any attraction to WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic. It was a little too firm to be believed anyway, but lost all credibility when Doug and Lindsay confirmed later that the characters had already had sex at this point.

The number of exclamation marks and how much the characters protest and try to convince people that they ''aren't'' together is usually proportionate to the amount of UnresolvedSexualTension between the characters in question. Presumably, characters who really ''are'' just friends wouldn't feel threatened by the accusation. For extra fun, try saying it about some characters who have BelligerentSexualTension.

!!Examples: