History Main / WeddingRingRemoval

* ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'': PlayedForLaughs in an early episode, in which Lily removes her engagement ring after she finds herself missing the attention of random men hitting on her.
** Later, when Robin gets engaged, she has the same realization. Only, in her case, men have gone from worshipping her and giving her free things to either treating her like a normal person or outright not seeing her. She removes her engagement ring several times throughout the episode to highlight the difference. In the end, she realizes that she can live the disappointment as long as her fiancé sees her.

* ''Series/TheMentalist'': Protagonist Patrick Jane continues to wear his wedding ring long after his wife and daughter were murdered by the SerialKiller Red John. After tracking down and killing Red John he continues to wear the ring, only removing it in the last episode, as he's preparing to [[spoiler:marry Theresa Lisbon]].

* ''Series/{{Castle}}'':

* Inverted on ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}''. George puts ''on'' a wedding ring to seem more attractive to women, under the logic that it signals that at least one woman saw something in him. It worked, [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome but none of the women who were into him were willing to enter a relationship with a married man.]] Also, it gets stuck on his finger, and he can't prove his story to anyone.

* Inverted on ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'' George puts ''on'' a wedding ring to seem more attractive to women, under the logic that it signals that at least one woman saw something in him. It worked, [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome but none of the women who were into him were willing to enter a relationship with a married man.]] Also, it got stuck on his finger.

* In ''Film/PhoneBooth'', Stu takes off his wedding ring just before calling the woman he intends to have an affair with. After going through a lengthy TraumaCongaLine, he puts it back on near the end of the film.
* In the opening scene of ''Film/TheRock'', Hummel takes off his wedding ring before going to visit his wife's grave, apologizing in advance for the terrorist act he is about to carry out.

* In ''Film/{{Unbreakable}}'', David removes his wedding ring before flirting with a girl on a train. After a while, she ends the conversation by telling him she's married.
* In the Creator/BobNewhart MadeForTVMovie ''Film/{{Marathon|1980}}'', a middle-aged man going through a HollywoodMidLifeCrisis is considering starting an affair with an aerobics instructor. At the start of the class, he takes his wedding ring off and puts it with his other personal items in the corner of the room. Then it rolls out to the middle of the room, very loudly so that everyone can hear. He makes his buddy go and collect it, claiming it to be his.

* In ''Film/ComingHome'', Bob, who has just found out that his wife cheated on him while he was off fighting in Vietnam, takes off all his clothes, then takes off his wedding ring, then goes walking off the beach into the sea. The wedding ring is likely to let the audience know that he is committing SuicideBySea instead of, say, just taking a swim.
* In ''Film/GoodNightAndGoodLuck'', two of the characters are married to each other, but remove their wedding rings every morning before work, because the TV station where they work doesn't allow married couples.
* In ''Film/ThePrestige'', during the TheReveal that Borden's having an affair with Olivia, there's a scene where he kisses her while rolling his wedding ring across his knuckles with his free hand. [[spoiler: Then again, Borden is secretly a pair of identical twins and only one of them, Alfred, is in love with his wife, Sarah, unlike the other twin Frederick.]]
* A character in the AlienInvasion movie ''Grey Skies'' removes her wedding ring after her husband is taken over by the aliens. [[spoiler: He puts it back on her finger after she's taken over.]]

* In ''Film/TheAbyss'' Bud throws his titanium wedding ring down a toilet in a fit of pique when he learns his estranged wife is visiting the underwater station he is running. Thankfully he has second thoughts and fishes it out. It eventually saves his finger (and life) when a bulkhead closes on it later.
* In ''Film/{{Suffragette}}'' Maud takes off her wedding ring after her husband threw her out of the shared flat and [[spoiler: gave their son up for adoption without her consent. Shortly after, she writes a letter, refusing the offer to become a spy and betray her fellow suffragists in order to get her old life back.]] It symbolizes her commitment to the cause of voting rights for women.
* In ''Film/CriesAndWhispers'': After a particularly chilly dinner with her husband, Karin describes her marriage as "a web of lies" and removes her wedding ring. Then she mutilates her vagina with a shard of glass.
* In ''Film/TheScarOfShame'', Louise does this when deciding to leave Alvin, after he confesses that he never told his mother about their marriage.
* ''Film/OBrotherWhereArtThou'': FunnyBackgroundEvent, as the guys encounter the singing sirens, Everett pulls his wedding ring off right before the girls come over and start getting cozy with them.
* ''Film/{{Adrift 2018}}'': At the very end, Tami takes off the engagement ring Richard made for her.
* ''Film/{{Limite}}'': A man waiting in a cemetery takes off his wedding ring. It turns out he is laying in wait for another man, who is coming to visit the grave of his own wife, and is having an affair with the first man's wife. After the other man arrives at the grave, the first man confronts him.
* ''Film/TheBigCube'': When Lisa realizes that Johnny is a GoldDigger who never loved her, she angrily flings her wedding ring to the floor.
* ''Film/TheRaffle'': Newly-widowed Francesca finds out that her husband had a mistress, and in fact was driving back home from her house at the time of his fatal accident. She pulls her wedding ring off in a fit of rage and flushes it down the toilet.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* ''Literature/TheDrop'': George Irving takes off his wedding ring before flinging himself off the top floor of the Chateau Marmont.
* In ''Literature/GravitysRainbow'', a despairing Franz Pökler emerges into the ruins of the Dora work camp and happens upon a dying Jewish woman. He removes his wedding band, places it upon her finger, and wanders out into the wastelands of the Zone.
* In ''Literature/LethalWhite'' from the ''Literature/CormoranStrikeNovels'', Robin Ellacott takes off her wedding ring when going undercover as Venetia Hall in the House of Commons. Her relationship with her husband Matthew is rocky at best and when she forgets to wear the wedding ring on their trip for their first anniversary dinner, he is quick to notice and chastise her for not even bothering to remember to wear it for that.
* At the start of ''Literature/TheCrossesBoysCounselor,'' when he attends a speed-dating session at his local bar, Dover notes that a few of the men who are present have pointedly taken off and hidden their wedding rings.

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* In the finale of ''Series/BattlestarGalactica2003'', William Adama removes his wedding ring and places it on Laura Roslin's finger when she dies.
* One episode of ''Series/NashBridges'' has Joe try to prove a point to Nash by removing his wedding ring and hitting on some girls. Unfortunately, he loses it and has to spend the rest of the episode trying to find it and keep Inger from finding out.
* ''Series/TheMentalist'': Protagonist Patrick Jane continues to wear his wedding ring long after his wife and daughter were murdered by the SerialKiller Red John. After tracking down and killing Red John he continues to wear the ring, only removing it in the last episode, as he's preparing to [[spoiler:marry Theresa Lisbon]].
* In the season 1 finale of ''{{Series/CSINY}}'', Mac takes his wedding ring off finally. He had been unable to bring himself to remove it before then, as he was still struggling with the loss of his wife on 9/11 (almost 4 years earlier). He continued to struggle for a while, but taking off the ring was symbolic of him being ready to start dating again.
* In ''{{Series/Jekyll}}'', Tom Jackman always slips his wedding ring off just before turning into Hyde, as he doesn't want Hyde to know that he's married. When Jackman turns into Hyde in front of his wife Claire for the first time, the wedding ring falls off to mark the moment of transformation. Basically, if Jackman's ring comes off then he's either about to become Hyde or has already done so.
* In the ''Series/MurdochMysteries'' episode "The Tesla Effect", as Murdoch and inventor/businessman James Pendrick are discussing how and why [[spoiler: his wife Sally Pendrick]] framed Pendrick for murder and masterminded an art theft, Pendrick removes and looks at his wedding ring before placing it on a table.
* PlayedForLaughs in an early episode of ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'', in which Lily removes her engagement ring after she finds herself missing the attention of random men hitting on her.
** Later, when Robin gets engaged, she has the same realization. Only, in her case, men have gone from worshipping her and giving her free things to either treating her like a normal person or outright not seeing her. She removes her engagement ring several times throughout the episode to highlight the difference. In the end, she realizes that she can live the disappointment as long as her fiancé sees her.

* A variant in ''Series/LizzieMcguire's'' "First Kiss", when Ronnie breaks up with Lizzie, she throws off the ring he gave her right in front of him.
* In ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'' episode "[[Recap/SherlockS01E01AStudyInPink A Study in Pink]]" Sherlock determines via SherlockScan a victim to be an unfaithful married woman, noting that her wedding ring is shiny on the inside, indicating that it is removed often.
* ''Series/OneLifeToLive'' [[TheGamblingAddict Gambling addict]] Max has been told by his mistress Blair that his wife and best friend are having an affair. He storms out to confront them, only to find them hugging in a classic example of NotWhatItLooksLike--he was comforting her over ''Max's'' infidelity. With this, he removes his ring and throws it in her face, declaring their marriage over.
* In ''Series/DoctorWho'', the Twelfth Doctor wore a ring at all times, mostly to disguise [[Creator/PeterCapaldi the actor's]] own wedding ring. After Twelve has regenerated, there's a shot of the ring sliding off the Thirteenth Doctor's (smaller) finger and falling to the floor.
* ''Series/{{Frasier}}'': After catching Maris having an affair with their marriage counselor Niles finally accepts the relationship is over. He takes off his wedding ring and decides to get closure by throwing it off Frasier's balcony while declaring that Maris can't hurt him anymore. He turns to go back inside...only for Martin to point out the ring landed on his car and dented the bodywork.
* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'': In the episode "The Purple Testament", a soldier named Fitzgerald develops the ability to see a strange light on the faces of those who are about to die. His commanding officer, Captain Riker, doesn't believe it... but when Fitzgerald sees the light on ''his'' face, he removes his wedding ring and sets aside his family photos. Sure enough, he dies in the next attack.

** ''Series/LoveIsBlind'': In Season 1, Diamond [[spoiler: removes her engagement ring during her break up with Carlton and he dramatically tosses it in the pool in response.]]

* In ''VideoGame/{{Yakuza}} 5'', a character subplot involves Youtarou Nakajima when Mayumi tells Kiryu that she spotted a ring mark on his hand. [[spoiler:It's revealed that his wife died in a traffic accident many years ago and his removal of the wedding ring is a sign for him to move on from her death and reform himself since he used to be a street racer when he was young.]]
* At some point in ''VideoGame/{{Firewatch}}'', Henry leaves his wedding ring behind in his cabin when he goes hiking. It's ambiguous whether this is because he doesn't want to see it lost or damaged, he's upset by his marriage's inevitable end due to his wife's early-onset Alzheimer's, or because of his new, ambiguously romantic relationship with fellow ranger Delilah. Interestingly, if the player chooses to have Henry put the ring back on, he never takes it off again.

* In the Creator/BobNewhart MadeForTVMovie ''Film/{{Marathon}}'', a middle-aged man going through a HollywoodMidLifeCrisis is considering starting an affair with an aerobics instructor. At the start of the class, he takes his wedding ring off and puts it with his other personal items in the corner of the room. Then it rolls out to the middle of the room, very loudly so that everyone can hear. He makes his buddy go and collect it, claiming it to be his.

* In the Bob Newhart MadeForTVMovie ''Marathon'', a middle-aged man going through a HollywoodMidLifeCrisis is considering starting an affair with an aerobics instructor. At the start of the class, he takes his wedding ring off and puts it with his other personal items in the corner of the room. Then it rolls out to the middle of the room, very loudly so that everyone can hear. He makes his buddy go and collect it, claiming it to be his.

Note that the character need not necessarily still be married for this trope to be used: they could be a widow(er), or even separated or divorced. Sometimes the character is only engaged, and removes their engagement ring.

[[folder:Literature]]
* ''Literature/TheDrop'': George Irving takes off his wedding ring before flinging himself off the top floor of the Chateau Marmont.
* In ''Literature/GravitysRainbow'', a despairing Franz Pökler emerges into the ruins of the Dora work camp and happens upon a dying Jewish woman. He removes his wedding band, places it upon her finger, and wanders out into the wastelands of the Zone.
* In ''Literature/LethalWhite'' from the ''Literature/CormoranStrikeNovels'', Robin Ellacott takes off her wedding ring when going undercover as Venetia Hall in the House of Commons. Her relationship with her husband Matthew is rocky at best and when she forgets to wear the wedding ring on their trip for their first anniversary dinner, he is quick to notice and chastise her for not even bothering to remember to wear it for that.
[[/folder]]

* This was done unintentionally in ''Manga/OtonaNiNatteMo''. Ayano is always forgetting her wedding ring, so she made it into a necklace. Her husband made a matching necklace, but they rarely wear them. They both eventually decided to predominantly use their rings as decorations for their home. Akari has fallen for married women before and knows to check for rings, but she doesn't see one on Ayano so she thinks she's single. It isn't until afterwards that Akari learns Ayano has a husband.