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"Oh, I see. No dating for the Batman — it would cut too much into his brooding time."
A protagonist — usually the main character — who doesn't do the romance thing. Unlike the clueless Chaste Hero, who just doesn't get romance, the Celibate Hero consciously and actively shuns and avoids it. He turns away every potential Girl Of The Week and shuts out the pleas of his official love interest.
Naturally this results in far more opportunities for romantic encounters (particularly The Vamp) than if they were looking for them. This is not to say that the Celibate Hero is unable to be affected by the force of a Dulcinea Effect, only that he either is acting on a higher ideal (chivalry) or resists its power later on.
There are a variety of potential motives for this behavior:
- "Love is A Distraction" - The Hero has a job to do and can't risk being distracted by something as petty as a love life.
- "Love is Beneath Me," related to the above - The Hero believes that to be someone the squad/city/world/universe can depend on, he has to be more powerful and more resolved than the average human and above the basest human instincts, especially if he's a Bad Ass Normal.
- "I'm A Danger Magnet" - The Hero is Genre Savvy, and realizes anyone he gets close to or he lets get close to him is very likely to shortly end up dead.
- The Hero is maintaining a Secret Identity, and fears exposure if he gets too close to anyone. A Cape will frequently combine this reason with the "danger magnet" excuse, and settle for pining for his love interest from afar.
- Bad romantic experiences in the past:
- Rare today is the idea that the hero's powers rely on him remaining celibate, or that he is celibate out of religious or moral conviction. Most commonly this is found in fantasy settings, which may feature religious orders or mystical powers that may be influenced by sexual activity. Never in a setting based in the real world, of course, because a man is never, ever a virgin, and don't you dare claim otherwise!
- He simply Does Not Like Women (though that's more an Anti Hero thing)
- He does not feel that he is worthy of being loved.
- Any combination of the above (rarely do any of these show up alone).
Often a type of Heroic Vow. See also Asexuality.
Examples:
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Anime and Manga
- Van and Ray Lundgren are both this, due to being loyal to their dead (would be) wives.
- Of course there is Lelouch Lamperouge, who has many characters, such as Shirley, Kallen, and Milly vying for his affection, along with pretty much every girl in his school. Lelouch, however, is a Celibate Hero who doesn't have the time for romance. Instead, he focuses on winning a war for his little sister.
- Train Hartnett of Black Cat has a severe tendency toward this: he gets grossed out by the idea of posing as the pretty Rinslet's husband, whacks Kyoko when she tries to kiss him, and in the anime he puts a cat in front of his face so Kyoko kisses the kitty instead of him. Even with Saya, it's made clear that he only thought of her as a very close friend. He's totally uninterested in men, though (much to Creed's dismay). Admittedly, this seems to be part of his regression back into childhood after leaving Chronos. In other words, Train thinks girls have cooties.
- Shinji Ikari of Neon Genesis Evangelion shrinks from any and all potential relationships, romantic or not, because it's just too painful and frightening for him. This eventually makes him snap in End of Evangelion.
- Perhaps "hero" isn't quite the term, but Light of Death Note doesn't seem to have a sex drive (though most likely he fits both "Love is a Distraction," given his obsession with the Death Note, and "Love is Beneath Me," given his blatant narcissism), despite super-model Misa hurling herself at him. He is fully aware of such matters, and uses the expectation to his advantage. Alternate explanations exist, though. He even uses this to such an effect, that he uses the very semblance of sexuality to his own benefit: he pretends to read porn, supposedly unaware, in front of many security cameras designed to determine his guilt of being Kira to ward off the suspicion. It worked out well for him. He actually does have sexual urges, he just doesn't show them explicitly. And lets not forget the night he told Kiyomi Takada that he was Kira; the next scene had him putting his clothes back on, suggesting he had sex with her.
- Maybe they just didn't want to show any hints of Light having sex because they didn't want to have to write an epic sex scene, with epic latin vocals and awesome zooming camera angles, and Light's eyes turning red as his plan to manipulate the poor woman he's with comes to fruition.
- He lives with Misa for six years as an adult so the odds he never had sex with her aren't good. Another thing: Death Note isn't an adult (hentai) anime, so there's probably a limit on what they'd show.
- In addition the manga has that curious scene of him interacting with a guy in a way that seemed like flirting. Hum...
- Kagemori Mamoru of Kage Kara Mamoru, he believes that "Love is A Distraction" mainly because the girl that he is assigned to is so dimwitted at times that she would not survive without his constant protection and that going out with a girl would detract from his duty. His parents, on the other hand would argue, that Mamoru also has a special duty to find a girlfriend so he can get married and give them some grandchildren so the family tradition can be carried on.
- Female examples: Both Mai and Natsuki from the Mai-HiME anime fall under the "Love is a Distraction" header (Mai because she's got a part-time job and has to take care of her younger brother Takumi, and Natsuki because she's consumed with thoughts of revenge against The Organization that indirectly killed her mother), so they spend much of their time ignoring or otherwise actively avoiding their love interests. After the audience finds out what happens to the first couple who openly declares their love, you can't really blame 'em.
- Gai Shishioh/Cyborg Guy from Gao Gai Gar arguably qualifies. On the one hand, he has a girlfriend, on the other, he's just a head attached to a walking weapon, so it's not like they could do much.
- Well, who knows what the cyborg body can do.
- Note that at the end of the TV series Guy gets a body after purifying Zonuda/Motoko, something which she seems very, very happy about. Take that as you will.
- Allen Walker from D Gray Man: He is kissed (on the lips, even!) and hugged by Road Kamelot, who makes it very clear she has a crush on him, but he shows absolutely no reaction, and seems to only regard it as a nuisance, choosing to ignore it (the fact that Road stabbed him in the eye the last time he saw her might have something to do with it). He also chooses to ignore Rohfa's feelings for him, and in numerous occassions, even shows skepticism and signs of being unnerved by it. And in a "character interview" omake, his status as being a Celibate Hero is pretty much confirmed by Word Of God, as he vehemetly denies having a girlfriend or liking anyone, and that he's too focused and busy with his work to do anything like that.
- Taikoubou AKA Fukki from Houshin Engi: He never shows any romantic interest in any of the female (or male) characters. It probably didn't help that the only female character that was chasing him was an incredibly hideous monster. And it probably didn't help that he was actually an ancient alien.
- Another female: Rei Hino/Mars from the Sailor Moon manga. This actually comes both from her Defrosting Ice Queen background and her past life in the Silver Millenium, where her past self made an oath of chastity to Princess Serenity.
- Its also because Rei is a shrine maiden in her civilian identity, and an oath of chastity is part of that.
- Which wouldn't explain why she's boy crazy in the anime...
- In a way, it could also be said for all of Serenity's guardians, as they all promised total dedication to her, that not even love would seperate them. In the manga at least...
- Vash from Trigun is. Especially in the manga. He fakes being passed out in order to avoid the "favors" of prostitutes, spends an inordinate amount of his free time thinking about his dead mother figure, doesn't want any woman to see his scars and avoids any kind of romantic or sexual relationship, be it with Luida, Meryl or Jessica.
- Mikuru Asahina from Suzumiya Haruhi No Yuutsu. It's not just about Haruhi unconsciously using her powers out of jealousy if Mikuru gets close to Kyon, but Mikuru is actually a Time Traveler who is not allowed to have a relationship with someone outside of her own time frame, per obvious work reasons.
- In the first book, Haruhi says that while she is a "healthy young woman, after all," she doesn't have time for sex, what with trying to find the people right in front of her.
- Sanzo in Saiyuki displays no sexual interest or preferences, despite both the anime and manga going out of the way to show that he breaks every other vow he had to take as a Buddhist priest. Wordof God says that he does, indeed, maintain his vow of celibacy, not out of consideration for his Buddhist beliefs (he has none, despite his job) but because he dislikes being touched in "that way", possibly linked to his past. (In the Burial arc of the manga, it's shown that the first people he ever killed intended to rape him, and it's implied this wasn't an uncommon occurrence in his life, with people constantly playing up how beautiful he is as he was growing up.)
- Samurai Gun. Ichimatsu is a regular customer of local Hooker With A Heart Of Gold Ohana, but his "business" with her is strictly the non-sexual services provided. He's not unaware of her own romantic attraction to him, and isn't exactly unattracted to her himself, but he has ...issues with sex, due to the fact that, as a child, he was forced to watch his elder sister be raped and then murdered. He later learns that the one who did the deed was actually a servant of the same council of freedom fighters that he serves as a Samurai Gun; apparently, deliberately traumatising children so as to create recruits for the project was a deliberate tactic of theirs, to both make them "availible", give them a way to control them, and to start their Training From Hell.
- Zoro from One Piece could be argued to adhere to this trope; he seems to have little interest in the opposite sex and was the only Strawhat not to succumb to Nami's infamous Happiness Punch
 - because he didn't even bother to look. Probably a case of Love is a Distraction, as he's pretty singlemindedly focused on swordfighting, but could have a little bit of Dead Little Sister (Kuina) mixed in.
- Is it really that hard to believe he's just got a case of Unlucky Childhood Friend he hasn't recovered from? It's the simplest, most straight forward explanation, and it makes sense for OP's genre.
- Former Chaste Hero Setsuna F. Seiei from Gundam 00 evolves into this in the second season. He's more aware of what romance is, but he considers that he and Rebellious Princess Marina are The Straight Will And Grace more than anything else, and denies twice that she's his lover. The fact that she looks a lot like his Missing Mom doesn't help either.
- Dr. Kenzo Tenma of Monster, after he saves the life of a boy over the city mayor - in defiance of the hospital director's orders. It's a mixture of Love Is A Distraction and I'm A Danger Magnet, as his life takes a very different turn after that fateful decision.
- Kagetora, of Shinobi Life, is justified in this case. As a lowly ninja assigned to protect Benihime (the princess of feudal Japan) he has always been aware of differences in social status. It's more like "Love is Above Me" rather than the usual "Love is Beneath Me."
- It's even more twisted when Kagetora is sent to the present and meets Benihime's descendant, Beni. Beni looks exactly like Benihime, and as Kagetora develops feelings for her, he tries as hard as he can to deny them. Of course, this is a shoujo romance story and Kagetora is about as bishonen as you can get, so you know how it's going to turn out.
- Female example: Shiina Tamai from Naru Taru, who, despite being very young, is already adamant that she'll never get married or have children. This is basically linked to her issues with her mother Misono, who gave her a name she hates and tried to kill her in the past, as Misono blamed her for the death of her other daughter Mishou. Eventually, the trope is subverted, as not only does Shiina gradually develop feelings for her ally Takeo Tsurumaru, but once she starts to finally patch things up with her mother, she admits said feelings to him and even has sex with him; at the end, her daughter goes on to be the new Eve of the "cleansed" Earth.
- Sasuke Uchiha of Naruto, who is a total Chick Magnet, but shows no interest whatsoever in the opposite sex. He most likely falls under "Love is a Distraction". He might also be a Chaste Hero, as he never adresses the whole romance issue at all, not even after Sakura's Anguished Declaration Of Love. In a filler episode, Suigetsu comments on his popularity with the ladies but Sasuke still does not respond. Though a logical explanation could be that he became obsessed with revenge before he was old enough to care about such things. (It still doesn't stop the Ho Yay and Foe Yay with Naruto. Or with Orochimaru and Itachi.)
- The Alternate Character Interpretation of Fatal Fury's Terry Bogard during The Movie of The Anime Of The Game. Having failed to protect his now-dead girlfriend during the first OVA, he becomes incredibly wary about letting women get close to him. However, he eventually succumbs to Plucky Girl Sulia's crush on him unfortunately, as he's considering reciprocating her feelings, Sulia gets kidnapped by her crazed brother, who uses her to find an Artifact Of Doom that transforms him into a godlike being that Terry and his Nakama cannot defeat... Until Sulia performs a Heroic Sacrifice, that is. Poor guy.
- Taito Magatsu from Blade Of The Immortal, despite being attractive and having several female characters display an interest in him, makes a point to avoid any kind of relationship. The girl he shares a bed with even comes out and asks him why he's never tried anything with her, and others have teased him about his lacking sex life. Most put it down to his Dead Little Sister.
- In Fushigi Yuugi, the priestesses are required to maintain their virginity in order to summon the gods.
Comic Book
- Batman, in many incarnations, adheres to a combination of most of the above: love as distraction (his work is his life); love as beneath him (he sees himself as something more); the danger magnet issue (amusingly subverted when, in an episode of Justice League Unlimited, he tried to use that as a reason he couldn't date Wonder Woman; she then demonstrates that he'd be in more danger than her); his Secret Identity, although potential love interests have occasionally discovered the secret anyway; and depending on the actual universe, bad relationships in the past (he maintains that one of his few actual lovers, Talia al Ghul, drugged and raped him).
- Cassandra Hack from HackSlash, although she's recently aquired a suitor...
- Catholic Boy Scout type Tintin has it easy when it comes to resisting carnal sins. There are almost no women in the cast of his adventures, and the few that appear are not sexy. (Well, let's be honest here—Hergé Remi didn't draw noticeably attractive men with any great frequency, either.)
- Let's not forget that it was forbidden to depict relationships in his country when he started to draw the comic.
- Rorschach in Watchmen is depicted as having a total fear of anything sexual, which is implied to be the result of traumatic childhood experiences. Possibly extreme enough to be a Deconstruction.
- Jackie Estacado's the bearer of the Darkness. When a bearer impregnates a woman, and his sperm always will, he dies and the Darkness passes to his son.
- Jughead Jones actively shuns romance, because he's simply more interested in food than love. He remains good friends with Betty, and he and Veronica can usually tolerate one another. Ironically, there has been more than one female who has persistently hounded him due to some infatuation with his aloof, nonchalant nature towards the fairer sex.
- Empowered throws out a justified example: Ninjette uses a ninja technique that channels her sexual frustration into fighting prowess.
- Toward The Terra takes this trope to its extreme conclusion. Even the thought of intimate relationships doesn't seem to exist in the same universe as Soldier Blue or the next Soldier (title for the leader of the Mu), Jomy. Interestingly, Tony has a girlfriend... but she obligatorily dies a few episodes before he becomes Komy's replacement. Odd considering that they need all the psionic power they can get, Authority Equals Asskicking, and power is a function of genetics.
- Judge Dredd. Sexual relationships (or "extra-judicial liasons") are illegal for street Judges.
- The Marvel/ Dynamite comics creation Red Sonja. (As opposed to Robert E. Howard's original Russian sword-maiden of the same name.) Gang-raped to the point of death, Sonja was gifted with revenge by the god Mitra. So long as she "knew no man," Sonja could best almost any man alive in combat. To become her lover - and presumably destroy her gift - a man had to beat her in a fight - a task even Conan the Barbarian found difficult, if not impossible, to do.
Film
- A parody of this character type can be seen in the movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail with the hero "Galahad the Pure", who finds himself visiting a castle filled with nubile, eager young virgins whose charms he (unsuccessfully) tries to resist, but much to his dismay he is 'rescued' by Lancelot. Many of the King Arthur stories this movie is based on feature similar scenarios with chaste, chivalrous heroes having to face temptation from virginal and Vampish seductresses.
Zoot: "We are but eight score young blondes and brunettes, all between sixteen and nineteen- and- a- half, cut off in this castle with no one to protect us. Oooh. It is a lonely life: bathing, dressing, undressing, knitting exciting underwear."
- Again spoofed in "Martyrdom of St. Victor" from Monty Python's Contractual Obligation Album: Victor is all too willing to succumb to the temptations of the maidens, but the Lord smites them anyway. Victor calls the Lord a rotten bastard.
- In Impromptu about the romance between George Sands/Aurore Dudevant (Judy Davis) and Frederic Chopin (Hugh Grant), Chopin's tuberculosis makes him a little hesitant to take things to the next level with Aurore.
Frederic Chopin: Certain acts are... uh, unseemly. They are unsuitable.
George Sand: Chopin... it's an act of love! It's the divine mystery itself!
Frederic Chopin: You must think I'm inexperienced, but I assure you, I was baptized... in the brothels of Paris, when I first arrived. But, um... I'm so ill... and I have been for such a long time, and my body is such a great disappointment to me, that I've already said goodbye to it, I'm... not really *in it* any more, I'm just... happier floating about in music. And if I should come back... inside this miserable collection of bones, then I... am afraid that it would probably collapse altogether. Forgive me. I'm ashamed.
George Sand: No, no. Forgive me. I'm a fraud, you know. "Divine mystery"? I never experienced that with anyone!
- Rustler's Rhapsody is a parody of old B-Westerns, so at the start singing cowboy-hero Rex O'Herlihan never does anything more than chastely kiss the girls before riding on to the next town. After a false start or two, he finally "gets better".
- Parodied in The Librarian where, after another relationship fails because of his job and his co-workers encourage him to think of himself as a "celibate monk", Flynn threatens to kill himself (with Excalibur).
- Inverted in Milos Forman's Amadeus, where we have a Celibate Antagonist in Salieri, whereas Mozart is portrayed as something of a Casanova.
- The 1967 spoof Casino Royale has David Niven as the original James Bond, a celibate recluse (See Bad Romantic Experience Part 2) who views his namesake's behavior with disdain, and resists almost certain temptation in a scene that anticipates Monty Python's Castle Anthrax.
- In The Golden Child, the Old Man assigns Chandler Jarrell (Eddie Murphy) a task of purification in order to fully realize his role as The Chosen One. This task involves remaining celibate, which is tough for Jarrell because he's got the hots for his Sidekick Kee Nang, and made even more complicated by the facts that (a) he's not allowed to tell her about it, and (b) once he stops being such a Jerk Ass, she starts falling for him.
Literature
- Genuine Arthurian example: Sir Gawain shares the bed of the Green Knight's lady night after night, but doesn't take advantage, as that would violate the laws of Chivalry and Hospitality. This display of virtue saves his life.
- Probably from the same root story: Pwyll, from the First Branch of the Mabinogion, chastely shares a bed with Arawn's wife, despite being flawlessly disguised as Arawn himself, which results in a lasting friendship between the two men.
- Ged, the protagonist for most of the Earthsea Trilogy, is celibate because he is a mage. This accounts for a complete lack of romance in the first three books, even when a pairing up, first with his friend's sister and then with Tenar, looked to be inevitable. All the mages in Earthsea are celibate by rule, in theory because they will lose their power unless they are chaste, though the truth of this belief is not exactly confirmed.
- Sherlock Holmes has "Love is a distraction" taken to extremes. He showed something remotely like interest (which knows wasn't "anything like love" because that would have terrified him) in precisely one woman, Irene Adler, who appeared in the short story A Scandal in Bohemia and actually upstaged Holmes, earning her a begrudging admiration from the famous detective, Ensemble Darkhorse status in the fandom, and Promotion To Love Interest in many adaptations.
- Enjolras, from Les Miserables also has "Love is a distraction" taken to extremes, as evidenced by his introduction and by his reply, when one of the others is commenting on how the others all have mistresses, of Patria.
- Raistlin Majere, antihero of the Dragonlance books. Actively manipulating the lovesick, annoying Crysania to his advantage, he resists the temptation to actually do anything with her because A) it's beneath a mage of his stature, B) he can't afford to be distracted from his "Overthrow the Gods for No Good Reason" project, and C) he had sex once before and was crap at it. And, though it's not explicitly stated, suspicions are that, were he to actually try anything as physically vigorous as sex with Crysania, he'd probably just wind up coughing blood all over her and collapsing into a heap, which, whatever way you look at it, isn't very romantic. There is possibly some inconsistency over whether Raistlin actually ever had sex or not. The Legends trilogy very strongly implies that he did, with one of Caramon's ex-girlfriends but The Soulforge, which covers the time period it would have happened equally strongly implies he remained a virgin (there is a girl, again a lover of Caramon and there appears to be budding mutual affection but... well read it yourselves).
- You forgot to mention Crysania had THE hots for him. He could have done anything with her, without even having to resort to magic or anything. For such a brilliant wizard, he's actually quite stupid.
- There was a short story called "Raistlin's Daughter", which implied he may have had a daughter, in the more or less conventional way and was magically made to forget the experience. Interestingly the entire story is treated as an in-universe rumour and when Raistlin encounters a girl claiming to be his daughter in Dragons of Summer Flame he drolly comments on his bad luck at sleeping with a beautiful woman and not remembering it. For the record the girl in question is not his daughter, much to the relief of his nephew Palin.
- The Obsidian Trilogy, written by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory, features a hero who remains chaste and celibate—virginal and unmarried, respectively—for a year and a day in return for his life being saved by a unicorn. The penalty for breaking his vow, since his life was saved, will of course be death by goring. While the first woman he meets is his sister, and the next woman he finds himself intrigued by is the queen of the elves and happily married, the third woman he is attracted to is neither attached nor unattractive nor uninterested in him...
- According to Harry Turtledove's Honeymouth short story, you can be a cussing, hard-drinking mercenary who rides a unicorn into battle and still be able to satisfy a full whorehouse each night, not to mention being satisfied yourself. Apparently the unicorn's radar can't distinguish between those who are still technically virgins and those who are truly chaste.
- Doc Savage's unusual upbringing has made him ill-equipped to deal with women on any level other than "save from peril." He's smart enough to foist interaction with women on his companions for the most part, but seems profoundly uncomfortable when this is not possible.
- Taken way, way to the extreme in the Leo Tolstoy novella The Kreutzer Sonata. Not only does the protagonist kill his wife in a jealous rage, but he makes the argument that one should renounce sex in any circumstance, including marriage, and that the subsequent death of the species would mark humanity's highest moral achievement. The fact that this story is more or less an Author Tract brings it perilously close to Squick. People are already working on this.
- Harry Dresden from The Dresden Files spends a heck of a lot of the novels not getting any, and being quite bitter about it. Though he's given a few chances, he never takes them because they generally come with a lot of baggage (e.g. she's a lust demon, or his underage apprentice), and he refuses to enter into a relationship which isn't pure and based on love - and he also doesn't want to bring anyone else into his dangerous world if he can help it. The fact that his first girlfriend was brainwashed into trying to kill him, and whom he thought for years he had killed and his second girlfriend got turned into a vampire because of his involvement with her may have something to do with it. Although even with that track record, succubi making fun of how pathetic your sex life is has got to hurt. It gets tot he point where it turns out Harry's latest love interest, Anastasia Luccio, was psychically mind-controlled into being attracted to him.
- Having Carlos, who until that point certainly talked a good game, outed as a virgin by said succubus must have taken some of the sting out of it (or at least given him an ample means of redirecting the mockery). It also makes him another example, though his reason (for that matter, whether it's a conscious choice or just lack of opportinity) isn't explored.
- Phury of the Black Dagger Brotherhood takes a "Love is a Distraction" vow of chastity when he comes of age and decides to search for his kidnapped twin.
- Every wizard on Discworld stays celibate; the official reason is that sex drains magic power. The actual reason is that the eighth son of a wizard (himself the eighth son of an eighth son) always is a sourcerer. And you really do not want to meet one.
- Rincewind, despite being a scruffy abject coward, is propositioned by ladies surprisingly more than one would expect. Or, he at least seems to spend a lot of time around them, including the scantily clad variety. However, as his mind is usually occupied with running away, nothing ever comes of it. Also, he's aware of his status as a Cosmic Plaything and Fate's Butt Monkey, so any time someone is nice to him, he assumes it's to set him up for bigger fall.
- Once, while abandoned on a desert island, he is approached by several Hot Amazon-types looking for a man to help them procreate and rebuild their civilization. Unfortunately for him, he was completely obsessed with potatoes at the time, and thought that they were offering him some. It was only some time after he was whisked away by magic that he belatedly realized what they had been offering. Talk about missing the ball.
- Also from Discworld, Granny Weatherwax. After all, she tamed that unicorn...
- Jon Snow gave a shot at this, refusing to go to the whorehouses when the other boys on the Wall did, refusing advances (all to obey the rules of the Night Watch). Didn't work out so well for him.
- Pretty much every single main character of HP Lovecraft's stories is too busy being chased by tentacled monsters and/or slowly losing his sanity to get involved in any kind of romantic and/or sexual relationship.
- Joscelin Verreuil the Cassiline in {{Kushiel's Dart}}. Played up for much angst in the second book, but he and Phedre are finally together for the third book.
- In the Kate Daniels novels by Ilona Andrews, Kate remains celibate for much of her adult life. Partly because she thinks friends and lovers will distract her from her mission in life, partly because everyone close to her dies violently (her mother, her father, her mentor, and her friend), partly because sex would expose her secrets, partly because any guy powerful enough to protect himself from the skeletons in her closet probably didn't get that kind of power by being ethical, but mostly just because she's afraid of being hurt or rejected.
- Drizzt in Bob Salvatore's Forgotten Realms novel series followed this trope until. He wasn't interested in casual sex. His first contact with sex is a graduation ritual for female priests, that involves the summoning of a 5 meter tall demon. His first and so far only girlfriend is was once involved with his presumed-dead best friend; and things got complicated when he was rescued from hell. Eventually, Drizzt allowed himself to love, and started getting some regularly. Then she died.
- Solomon Kane is a devout Puritan and remains celibate because of his religous convictions.
- David Eddings's character Sir Bevier (from the Elenium and Tamuli novels) is aware that his good looks make him irresistible to women. Because he's the one most likely to abandon the steel for the cloth, he elects not to do anything about it.
- Prince Rupert is very much a Celibate Hero in Simon R Green's Blue Moon Rising so much so that he even rides a Unicorn and is rather defensive about it. The reason for this is that as a second son he isn't allowed to be sexually active in case of Dynastic complications. This is a minor Truth In Literature as many younger sons of nobility were packed off to the priesthood for much the same reason in the middle ages, it had about the same level of effectiveness then as it does in the book.
- John from Manly Wade Wellman's 'Silver John' stories, until he meets and weds his true love Evadare.
- Pinkie Brown of Brighton Rock is a celibate villain, being thoroughly squicked by sexuality and femininity as a result of his childhood. He mentions having considered becoming a priest instead of a crook, and this is entirely plausible given his characterization.
- Edward Cullen from Twilight, he didn't want to have sex with Bella while they were dating, due to being afraid of hurting her. Although there was a combination of not worthy of being loved involved, plus he wanting to keep at least one thing that he actually did right according to the moral upbringing he had when he was born on 1901.
Live Action TV
- The Doctor, for reasons he cares not to divulge, though in the new series he's made it clear that he likes to be thought of as a sexual being.
- Yet he made it so that Queen Elizabeth could no longer be called by one of her nicknames...wonder which one THAT could be...
- He also had a Granddaughter in the old series, and in the revival it's mentioned that he used to have a family.
- In a nutshell, One had a granddaughter and Ten had clear romances. Nine wanted to be thought of as sexual, but romance wise he was never as overt as Ten. All the Doctors in the middle? Either definite chaste heroes or arguable chaste heroes.
- Marcus Cole, Ranger extraordinaire, from Babylon 5 tries to save himself for the right woman - only she never gets around to 'boffing' him before his Heroic Sacrifice.
- Supernatural: Unlike his brother Dean, Sam really really tries to do this since everyone he has sex winds up dead. But, fortunately for every fangirl out there, that doesn't stop him from having rough, hot, sweaty and completely gratuitous werewolf!sex in Heart.
- The girl of the week in Monster Movie asked Dean if he was this. He did not reply "HA HA HA!"
- Secret Agent AKA Danger Man: John Drake was meant to be seen in contrast to the oversexed Bond and Bond clones, per request of the show's star Patrick McGoohan, who found Bond morally reprehensible because of his promiscuity. It was not that John Drake might not have a sex life when outside of his job, but when he was working his attitude towards women was strictly professional.
- McGoohan stipulated in his contract that he not be seen even kissing a woman. This was not just because he wanted Danger Man to be a contrast to James Bond, though; McGoohan had the same clause put into all his television contracts, for personal reasons.
- Angel, while definitely not one of those for most of his existence, became one after being cursed with a soul, initially because he was a complete loner. Later it turned out that a "moment of pure happiness" would break the curse, unleashing Angelus, whereupon he had a good reason to avoid sex. Subverted in the second season, when it turns out that this doesn't just mean sex, he actually does have to be happy as well, and abandoned in the fifth when he realized this doesn't mean he can't have what a colleague describes as "acceptable happiness".
- In Carnivale, it's strongly implied that Ben is a virgin, and he actively shuns sexual advances. This is related to the fact that he grew up with strict religious values pounded into him by an uncaring mother. When he does have sex with Ruthie he tells her that it was "a sin" and that it won't happen again. He also tends to freak out when others try to touch him. Although he does seem to change his mind later in the series regarding Sophie. It doesn't work out too well, though.
- Daniel Jackson in Stargate SG1. At first it's because his wife is being held prisoner, but then, even years after his wife has died, he still remains remarkably celibate. Although, nobody in this show tends to get a whole lot of action, except maybe Teal'c.
- However, there are some exceptions. When devolved by a virus, Daniel shacked up with a woman from another planet. When made evil by a sarcophagus he had a fling with the princess of that planet (Jack even lampshades him ending up with a girl on every planet). He also hooked up with Vala when they were stuck in a time bubble in the final episode (that was undone). Jack himself has had relationships (or at least a quick fling) at least three times, and Sam at least one.
- Captain Janeway, despite flirting with Chakotay in early seasons of Star Trek Voyager only ever 'did it' with a holographic boyfriend after six years trapped in the Delta Quadrant. This was an eternal frustration to fans given Janeway's touchy-feely body language and frequent use of the Big Gooey Look. There are differing opinions why this had to be the case: the writers wanted to play up Janeway's noble suffering, or they didn't like relationships in a series with few long-term plot arcs, or they simply believed a female captain couldn't (or shouldn't) have a relationship with a subordinate.
- Though it was an episode many fans would rather forget, in Threshold a hyperevolved lizard version of Janeway had baby lizards with a hyperevolved lizard version of Paris.
- Seven of Nine was never in the chain of command . . . but then, according to Paramount, there was nothing going there, either.
- No, she just wasn't a member of Starfleet. Seven was still a member of her crew, and therefore under Janeway's command. But anyway, homosexuality is only practiced in the evil Mirror Universe.
- It gets worse. According to the books, about a year and a half after they get home, she and Chakotay get together for real. They spend one night together, he leaves on a mission, and she is killed on a separate mission before he gets home. It's not like she is being punished for having sex finally or anything.
- In fairness, other captains on Star Trek tended to not have much truck when they try something with a subordinate.
- Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory. He seems to be asexual, but also sees love as a distraction from scientific work.
- This was even pulled off once in Friends; when Rachel's father was hospitalised due to a heart condition, she turned to Ross for emotional support. However, when she started coming onto him, he turned her down, reasoning that she wasn't thinking clearly. Ironically, however, she later resents him for this.
- Shepherd Book in Firefly
- Simon Tam almost manages this. He only slips twice (in the Pilot and in the Movie) and both times he is tired and slightly shell-shocked. In eight months. Cooped up in a ship with Kaylee. This is because "he has a job to do," he considers it ungentlemanly to press (and because he is a control-freak over himself) which makes it "beneath him" as well, and there's his role as The Caretaker for his sister River to take into consideration. Book does it for religious reasons; we don't know what Simon's beliefs (if any) are other than looking after his sister.
- There's also Mal, who pretty bluntly admits in "Our Mrs. Reynolds" that he hasn't gotten laid in a long, long time. Though he does eventually manage to get somewhere with Nandi in "Heart of Gold."
- Michael Westen on Burn Notice has rebuffed Fiona multiple times, citing his personal history, their problematic past history, her enjoyment of violence, the danger to everyone around him (which of course doesn't stop him from calling them to help with cases), the distraction, his higher purpose of finding out who burned him, and most recently, his patriotism.
- Patrick Jane on The Mentalist has apparently made a Heroic Vow to avenge his wife before indulging in pleasures of the flesh. He turned down two attractive ladies at a bar who made a pass at him, flashing his wedding ring and telling them he was married. Jane sometimes flirts with women, but it usually ends with the outing of a suspect.
Opera
- The title character of Richard Wagner's Parsifal, based on the old legend.
- Well, yes and no. In his own opera, he is, but in the later-set though earlier-written Lohengrin, the title character is Parsifal's son.
Radio
- The Lone Ranger and The Green Hornet
- Averted to various degrees in later adaptations of The Green Hornet; in the TV series Britt Reid was cast more as a rich playboy/publisher, and given the occasional Love Interest while Kato remained a celibate sidekick. This was probably an artifact of the series format; as a half hour series it would be difficult to shoehorn a romantic subplot into a show which could barely fit the action/adventure main plot within its runtime. Totally averted in the NOW Comics adaptation of The Green Hornet, which pretty well paired off almost all of the various Green Hornets and Katos with more-or-less permanent Love Interests.
Video Games
- Leon S. Kennedy from Resident Evil 4: He spends the entire game going through hell to try to rescue the president's very busty teenage daughter, who keeps hitting on him and pretty much throws herself at him at the end of the game, and he reacts to this with great awkwardness, rejecting her very quickly when he notices her advances. Not to mention that the game's Action Girl, who also has feelings for him, is mainly regarded by him with suspicion. He doesn't even seem to notice all the leg she's showing. Seems to be more of an example of the "Love is A Distraction" type. There's also many ways hooking-up with the president's daughter could end poorly. Also, you can't blame him for being suspicious of Ada. In RE 2 she left him to die after the poor, lovesick boy took a bullet for her, and in 4 she is clearly up to something, so his wariness is pretty justified.
- Directly after rejecting Ashley, though, he tries to grab a date with Hunnigan (and gets promptly shot down).
- Also worth mentioning is that while Ada's hot and all, she's also stabbed him in the leg, set off a flashbang in his face, and aimed a gun at his face twice. And that's to say nothing of the fact that she introduces herself in RE 2 by shooting at him.
- Japanese fighting games are riddled with this archetype, exemplified by Ryu ("The Fight Is All") of Street Fighter. Strangely enough, SNK largely averts this - the Bogard boys are both attached (Terry Bogard/"Blue" Mary Ryan, Andy Bogard/Mai Shiranui), Kim Kaphwan is married with two sons, and there are a number of others. Although Andy Bogard tries to project this, much to Mai's dismay.
- How much does SNK not like the trope? Even their original answer to Ryu, Ryo Sakazaki, is in a relationship - with resident Bifauxnen King, no less.
- Played with in Samurai Shodown, though. Haohmaru has a girlfriend, yes, his priority is fighting and Oshizu knows that very well; Nakoruru has Galford as her Dogged Nice Guy, but her own priority is being a Nature Warrior; Charlotte also adheres to the trope after she finds out her affections for Haohmaru won't be returned... OTOH, Hattori Hanzou is married to a fellow Ninja named Kaede (and later was widowed) and Sieger got to tie the knot with his lady in liege, Princess Elizabeth.
- Adell from Disgaea 2 spends most of the game loudly proclaiming that he can't stand women. This turns out to be due to a traumatic run-in with a succubus years before.
- Laharl from Disgaea is already 1313 years old, but can't stand sexy women, and doesn't appear to be attracted to non-sexy women either. This might also have something to do with the fact that he is Allergic To Love. He is a perfect example of the "Love is Beneath Me" type. Of course, we should point out that, centuries-old or no, Laharl has yet to hit puberty and is still considered Just A Kid by demon standards.
- Ike from Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn is one of these. Alternate explanations exist, of course.
- Flik from Suikoden has refused a lot of suitors who flirt with him, especially Nina, because he has made a vow to be loyal to his first lover Odessa... even though she's already dead.
- Ivy from the Soul Series, amazingly, is strictly celibate despite being Fetish Fuel incarnate. This is due to her cursed lineage, which she doesn't want to risk passing on to a child.
- As much as the Shippers want to deny it, Link from The Legend Of Zelda typically just rescues the princess and leaves it at that. Of course, in a series with humungous amounts of Shipping Bait, one can't help but think it's because the developers couldn't decide on which girl to pair him up with.
- Especially balant in Ocarina of time: Despite beeing 12 years old, Link is Chick Magnet incarnate. Let's count them: Kokiri Sage Saria, Farmer Girl Malon, Zora Princess Ruto, Probably Princess Zelda and even Gerudo sage Nabooru makes a comment in that direction! Still, he manages to avoid all of them, even the one who tried to get him engaged with her. Wind Waker mostly tried to avoid giving Link such an Unwanted Harem, with Medli instead beeing slightly attracted to Prince Komali, the two girls on Windfall island eighter having different problems or already beeing in love, and Aryll beeing, well, his sister. Only the creepy fairy-queen is seen flirting with him and she's never seen again after that.
- Meanwhile, Link and Zelda broke their years long No Hugging No Kissing agenda in Spirit Tracks. But it doesn't go beyond the hugging part. (And Link had a rather uncomfortable look on his face when Zelda hugged him- Than again, his hat's tip rose.) Also, the game features absolutely no other female characters that could paired up with Link, except if you are a fan of Granny-Shotacon.
- Zero, after his tragic first girlfriend, Iris, who he killed, accidentally, by his own hands, likes to keep things merely professional with future female co-workers from now on, as seen with X8's Layer (although he's also oblivious to her feelings)
- Alistair in Dragon Age Origins turns out to be a virgin. In his case it's mostly the result of lack of opportunity, since he was taken in by the church as a child and trained as a templar, then recruited from that straight into the Grey Wardens. A female Player Character has the opportunity to rectify this, however.
- Samara is a Double Subversion. She's actually the mother of three daughters, and simply chooses not to have any more romance in her life. It turns out this is because all of her daughters turned into psychopaths that she had to hunt down and kill. Since this was due to a genetic defect, she's staying away from sex to prevent it from happening again.
Web Comics
Real Life
- Perhaps the ultimate example of a Celibate Hero is Jesus Christ, who is often portrayed as someone who must resist the desires of the world and shun intimate female company. The book and the movie The Last Temptation of Christ portray Jesus' struggle between His own needs and wants and His mission on Earth.
- Paul of Tarsus was also famous for this, and may well be a prototype for your average stoic anime hero with his confused, squicked out distaste for the subject in general.
- Hardly confused or squicked out. The man may be asexual (being a Jewish Rabbi, with a Jewish Mother, and the understandable dread of a Jewish Mother-In-Law must have helped), but he certainly knew about sex.
- Uh you know that stereotype comes from Jews in America thousands of years after this, right?... Seriously though, rabbis then weren't in favor of celibacy (that they were often misogynistic is another issue), and to the extent Paul fits this, he probably got that from Jesus.
- Not only were Rabbis "then" not in favour of celibacy, but Judaism was and remains actively opposed to celibacy, as it is considered to contradict the commandment to "Be fruitful and multiply." An Orthodox Rabbi MUST be a married man, and until a Jewish man is married he's considered to be only half a person. It's even part of the Jewish marriage contract that a man owes his wife regular conjugal relations, and his failure to satisfy her sexually is ground for divorce. The expectation of marriage is less stringent for women (theologically, if not socially).
- You're speaking as if in the centuries AD and BC there was only a single kind of Judaism which Rabbis could follow. There was several branches, as there is in modern Christianity, and some of them were celibate, and took celibacy very seriously.
- Joseph from the book of Genesis could arguably be the original. He's left in charge of his master's house, all alone with the master's hot hot wife, the hot hot wife is making... offers... and Joseph soundly refuses, even when she goes so far as to jump him. So, you know what that means.
- Joseph's faith was a big factor, but there was also the matter of not wanting to be thrown in jail for dallying with the master's wife. Fat lot of good it did him, since she accused him of rape after he turned her down.
- Joseph isn't a perfect example as he did do it eventually (presumably with his own wife, not someone else's) as he did have two sons (Manasseh and Ephraim) who went on to be namesakes of two of the thirteen Israelite tribes.
- Roman Catholic Priests, in imitation (well, at least majority who are faithful, and who were not originally Anglicans that converted after becoming priests and being married).
- Mohandas Gandhi renounced all sexual activity at the age of 36, while still married. Anyone else feeling sorry for the wife?
- Sir Isaac Newton died a virgin. What's even more remarkable is that he said that one of the greatest things he could boast about is that he never had sex.
- William James Sidis fits this trope, but is more of a celibate smart guy
- Nikola Tesla attributed his genius to the power of celibacy. Kate Beaton did a comic about it.
- Authority figures aren't above exploiting this trope for propaganda purposes, even if they don't really live up to it. Hitler kept his long affair with Eva Braun out of the public eye, in part, because his propagandists played off the "Love is a Distraction" and "Love is Beneath Me" themes, making it seem that Germany was all that mattered to him.
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