->''When they are alone they want to be with others, and when they are with others they want to be alone. After all, human beings are like that.''
-->-- '''Gertrude Stein'''

Physical solitude, or mental (which can be worse in a crowd) -- and its causes, and its consequences.

A total lack of human contact can leave the character isolated even if surrounded by non-humans; and sometimes they have to be specific kinds of humans (caring friends and family), and sometimes, if a character is facing depression, no one can keep them from feeling isolated.

Compare IntroversionTropes. Contrast {{Ensembles}}, PowerTrio and DuoTropes. See TheSinglesIndex, which deals with romantic solitude.

!!Tropes
[[index]]
* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: A character is mistreated and/or shunned by most or all other characters.
* AloneAmongTheCouples: A character with no loved one is surrounded by those with loved ones.
* AloneAmongFamilies: A character with no family is surrounded by happy families.
* AloneInACrowd: A lonesome character is surrounded by a crowd.
* TheAloner: Being alone after a catastrophe.
* AloneWithPrisonerPloy: A guard or "guard" pretends to want to be left alone with a prisoner for nefarious reasons in order to get a chance to pass a message or comfort the prisoner.
* AloneWithThePsycho: A defenseless character is alone with a dangerous character who wants to kill them.
* AntiInterferenceLockUp: A character is locked up or restrained to keep them out of the way, often resulting in temporary isolation.
* AttractivenessIsolation: An attractive character is alone because no one dares to ask them out.
* BetterWithNonHumanCompany: The character is just fine with ''other'' beings/lifeforms, but can't make connections with fellow humans.
* BleakBorderBase: The last place you'd want to be stuck, at the edge of civilisation with little contact.
* CantLiveWithThemCantLiveWithoutThem: A character is stuck with someone against their will, but realizes they miss them when they're alone.
* CityInABottle: A city that is sealed away from the rest of the world.
* CornerOfWoe: A character retreats to a corner because they feel upset.
* CreepyLonerGirl: A female character has no friends due to her creepiness.
* CrewOfOne: A single person performs a duty that typically takes multiple people.
* DarkMagicalGirl: They are typically lonely and jealous of the MagicalGirl's relationships.
* TheDrifter: A character who is WalkingTheEarth.
* DyingAlone: A character dies alone with no one around them.
* EatingLunchAlone: A character is found eating by themself only.
* EveryoneIsGoneEpisode: A character (or small group of characters) finds that everyone else has unaccountably disappeared.
* FigureItOutYourself: A character asks for help or advice and is told to figure it out for themselves.
* FirstFriend: A loner character manages to make one friend.
* FriendlessBackground: A character is presented as not having any friends.
* FriendlessnessInsult: Insulting someone by claiming they have no friends.
* FriendshipHatingAntagonist: An antagonist who hates friendship and bonds, serving as an antithesis to the main hero.
* FrozenDinnerOfLoneliness: Lonely characters want something easy to reheat and eat.
* GettingMyOwnRoomPlot: A character wants a bedroom they don't have to share.
* GoMadFromTheIsolation: When being alone causes a character lose their sanity.
* HatesBeingAlone: A character hates being by themself.
* HeadphonesEqualIsolation: A character with headphones on pays the world no mind.
* TheHermit: A character lives in isolation and likes it like that.
* HermitGuru: A particularly wise character who lives in a remote location.
* HeroicNeutral: A character wants to be alone and have nothing to do with anyone else.
* HiddenElfVillage: A secret location inhabited by isolationists.
* {{Hikikomori}}: A character with a strong aversion towards going outside.
* IJustWantToHaveFriends: A solitary character longs for friends.
* IWorkAlone: One character can do the work of five. Usually a OneManArmy.
* ImNotHereToMakeFriends: A contestant is focused on winning the game as opposed to making friends with other contestants.
* InTheEndYouAreOnYourOwn: When a hero's allies can't follow them in the final showdown.
* IndividualityIndex: A list of tropes about individuality and individualistic traits and behaviors.
* IneffectualLoner: A character's solitary nature is not enough.
* InformedLoner: The narrative implies he's a loner, but he's shown to be with friends.
* IntelligenceEqualsIsolation: Intelligent people are loners.
* InvisibleIntrovert: Characters with stealth powers tend to be shy or asocial.
* ItsUpToYou: Only the player character can accomplish the game's goal.
* JunglePrincess: A young (usually European) woman is raised alone in the jungle.
* KarmicShunning: A character's shunned by others because of their horrible actions.
* AKindOfOne: A fictional species is extrapolated from a unique, famous, mythical creature.
* KnightErrant: A heroic character who wanders the Earth helping anyone in need they come across.
* TheLastManHeardAKnock: After believing one is alone, one finds signs of another...usually not in a positive light.
* LastOfHisKind: When a character is the lone member of his group.
* LeaveHimToMe: When a character tells his allies he can handle the villain on his own.
* LeaveMeAlone: A character rejects others' help because he thinks he can do it on his own.
* LeaveTheTwoLovebirdsAlone: Two characters on the verge of a romantic revelation are quickly abandoned by their friends in order to admit or confirm their feelings, often as part of a EveryoneCanSeeIt plot.
* LonelyAmongPeople: A character who has friends or is social, but feels lonely.
* LonelyAtTheTop: When becoming successful leads the character to be alone.
* LonelyDollGirl: Alice's only "friends" are dolls.
* LonelyFuneral: Few, if any, attend the funeral.
* LonelyRichKid: A wealthy kid who is alone.
* LonelyTogether: When two characters share a common bond of loneliness.
* LonersAreFreaks: When being a loner is labeled as being weird or evil.
* LonerTurnedFriend: A solitary character becomes a friend to someone.
* LonersWillStayAlone: Even after temporarily connecting with a group for an adventure, a character will resume being alone.
* MaddenIntoMisanthropy: A character becomes a loner because he gets fed up with society.
* MinorLivingAlone: When a child lives alone.
* MisunderstoodLonerWithAHeartOfGold: The loner isn't bad as people make them out to be.
* NatureHero: A hero who lives alone in the wilderness and can commune with animals and/or plants.
* NoSocialSkills: A character is too ignorant of social conventions to make friends.
* OffTheGrid: A character has a lifestyle meant to keep them untraceable, which usually means no social connections.
* OnePersonBirthdayParty: A character celebrates their birthday alone because they have no friends.
* OneRiotOneRanger: A OneManArmy is sent to resolve a conflict instead of a large force.
* OnlyFriend: Character only has one friend.
* TheOnlyOne: The hero is the only one who can solve the problem because no one else can do it.
* OrphansOrdeal: When being an orphan sucks.
* ParentalAbandonment: A character's parents are missing or never shown.
* ParentalNeglect: A character's parents are not spending time with their child or paying any interest despite their presence.
* RememberThatYouTrustMe: A character is reminded they have friends.
* RichReclusesRealm: An immensely wealthy character prefers to hide away in a domain of their own making.
* {{Robinsonade}}: The plot is about one or more characters living stranded away from civilization and having to live off the land.
* RodentCellmates: A character only has rats for company.
* SafelySecludedScienceCenter: A research laboratory is isolated for safety's sake.
* TheShutIn: A character never goes outside, or only goes out for basic necessities.
* SingleLineOfDescent: A lineage only has one key living descendant.
* SingleSpecimenSpecies: A being who is the only member of their species in existence.
* SmallSecludedWorld: The planet itself is too small to have more than a small population, meaning that many inhabitants spend much of their time isolated.
* SpaceIsolationHorror: Part of the horror of being trapped in space is being utterly alone and millions of miles from help.
* SoleSurvivor: The character is the only survivor of a tragedy that wiped out their companions.
* SolitarySorceress: A magical woman lives deep in the wilderness for the heroes to seek out.
* SoloDuet: Singing a duet by themselves.
* SoloSequence: In a game where the player controls multiple characters together, for this part only one character is involved.
* SurvivorGuilt: A character feels guilty for surviving a tragedy where others died.
* ThereIsAnother: A character isn't the LastOfHisKind, after all.
* TheyreCalledPersonalIssuesForAReason
* ThisIsSomethingHesGotToDoHimself: The hero's allies choose to stay out of the fight due to it being too personal for the hero to not face it alone.
* TokenGoodCop: The only good law enforcement officer in an agency full of bad ones.
* TraumaSwing: A depressed character sits alone on a swing.
* TrulySingleParent: A child has a single parent not just in the sense that their parent has no spouse, but also in the sense that they were the only parent involved in their child's conception and birth.
* UnDuet: One person singing only part of a duet.
* UniquenessValue: Being the only one makes you important.
* UsedToBeMoreSocial: A character used to be close with others, but is now withdrawn.
* WanderingWizard: A magic user who usually travels by their lonesome.
* WildChild: A character that was born and raised in the wilderness.
* TheWorldMocksYourLoss: After a person breaks up, they see everyone else having successful love lives to add insult to injury.
* ZenSurvivor: The SoleSurvivor finds peace and clarity in isolation.
[[/index]]
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''Quite a crowd of them, isn't there?''
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