Basic Trope: Two people who are not in a romantic relationship are assumed to be by others, leading to denials of such by one or both parties.
- Straight: Alice and Bob are Just Friends. Carol sees them together and asks Bob if Alice is his girlfriend. Bob immediately and loudly denies it.
- Exaggerated:
- Alice and Bob simultaneously deny it, and proceed to describe every single reason they would never, ever date each other... seriously! (Of course, they are long overdue for a Relationship Upgrade and Everyone Can See It.)
- Bob shouts that he and Alice are not dating, then realizes that he is dating Alice.
- Bob resorts to physical violence when asked if he is dating Alice.
- Downplayed:
- Bob corrects that they are not technically dating yet, though admits he likes the idea.
- Bob states this calmly, giving him credibility.
- Justified:
- There are good reasons Alice and Bob would never date; for example, they're siblings.
- People around them play up the subtext within their heads.
- Alice and/or Bob are Tsunderes.
- Alice and Bob are in a setting where their relationship would be illegal.
- Bob is trying to ask out Carol, but Carol thinks that Bob is trying to cheat on Alice.
- Bob is dating Denise, Alice's sister.
- Many people have referred to Alice as "your girlfriend" in a nasty mocking way. Even when they aren't Bob is still not sure.
- Inverted:
- Alice and Bob are already dating, and are asked if they're brother and sister.
- Bob is a Clingy Crazy Jealous Guy, shouting to anyone who will listen that yes, Alice IS his girlfriend, thank you very much! Bonus Points if Alice doesn't really like Bob in that way and it's all in his head.
- Bob and Alice plan to have some time apart but end up the same area. The way the two avoid each other makes everyone think they have broken up despite that they insist they are together.
- Subverted:
- Alice and Bob are asked if they're dating... and Bob says yes. Cue Relationship Upgrade.
- Alice is seen kissing Charlie, and Bob tells everyone "I told you she's not my girlfriend".
- Double Subverted:
- ...Except they were just pretending to be dating and later on go back to denials.
- Bob says yes, much to Alice's shock.
- Once Bob is alone he rages in jealously that Alice choose Charlie over him.
- Parodied:
- Bob has to deny being romantically involved with Alice, Carol, Dana, Ellie, his sister Francine, his mother Georgia, his best friend Harry, and Imelda.
- Alice IS Bob's Girlfriend, but everytime sometime points it out, Bob breaks up with her to make his denial technically true, but resumes the Relationship as soon as they are alone again.
- Alice and Bob were making out when Carol walked up to them and asked if they're an item. Bob is insulted at the accusation!
- Alice and Bob are married and have been for a long time, but Bob still gets angry at the insinuation that they're together.
- Bob has been regularly dating Alice for a while, but insists they're only dating as friends. And they have sex... as friends. And later, he proposes to Alice...but only as a friend. And they get married... as friends. And have a honeymoon... as friends. And have children...as totally platonic, non-romantic friends!
- an angry old cynic complains about unrealistic standards people have for romance; Alice and Bob slowly realize that each of his talking points applies to them... only to immediately go into denial again
- Zig Zagged:
- Alice and Bob seem to confirm or deny their relationship at random and/or Depending on the Writer.
- Bob says yes, Alice IS his girlfriend, much to Alice's shock... Because she was hoping he'd say so for quite some time, and is quite happy he finally has. But Bob was joking.
- Alice and Both say they are and they aren't at random because they're both The Gadfly and fell for each other for that reason. They are a couple, and enjoy taunting others.
- Averted: Alice and Bob are already in a relationship, hence making the point of any denials completely moot. Or they’re not and no one ever claims they are.
- Enforced: "How to establish Alice and Bob as the Official Couple... let's have everyone else assume they're already dating!"
- Lampshaded: "She's not your girlfriend? Yeah, I've heard that line before..."
- Invoked: Alice and Bob deliberately get people to assume they are a couple so they can falsely deny it to screw with people.
- Exploited: Carol has noticed the UST between Alice and Bob and asks if they're dating to provoke a reaction.
- Defied: Alice and Bob know of their constantly being linked together, and decide to fake a relationship in order to throw off inquiries. They may or may not become the mask.
- Discussed: "Do you think Alice and Bob are going out?" "Maybe, but I doubt they'd admit it."
- Conversed: "There they go, denying it again. Can't they just spit it out already?"
- Implied: Bob brushes off questions about Alice with "later, we have important things to do".
- Deconstructed:
- Thanks to constantly having to deny having romantic inclinations towards Alice, Bob starts to resent the time spent with her and starts distancing himself from her.
- Alice and Bob really do not like each other, and being pushed toward each other causes resentment.
- Bob denies being anything more than Just Friends with Alice because if he did make a Love Confession to her, she'd go off the deep end, and everyone else's insistence that Everyone Can See It is no help at all.
- Reconstructed:
- Bob learns that, aside from the jokers just trying to give him a hard time, others are only saying all this because they truly think he and Alice would make a good couple and want him to be happy, or were trying to point him to the fact that Alice does indeed have feelings for him, or noticed Bob's feelings for her and were trying to help him realize those feelings and act on them.
- But it’s Belligerent Sexual Tension as opposed to true hate.
- Bob’s fears are all in his head.
- Played For Laughs: Someone asks Bob out of genuine ignorance if that girl Alice is his girlfriend. Cue Color Failure and high-pitched screaming.
- Played For Drama: Bob denies that Alice is his girlfriend, but Alice, who secretly (or not-so-secretly) likes him and has thought that he likes her back, becomes heart-broken by his statement and thinks he doesn't like her at all. Bob then has to sort out the mess (and his feelings for Alice).
What do you mean, "why don’t I go back to my date with the main page?" She Is Not My Girlfriend!
