History Main / DeconfirmedBachelor

[[JustForFun/IThoughtItMeant Has nothing to do with getting a four-year college degree.]]

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* Bill Bellamy's character in spades if he's featured in any Black romantic comedy. ''The Brothers'', ''Love Jones'', ''Film/HowToBeAPlayer''...

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* Literature/ErastFandorin appears to become a confirmed bachelor after the death of his first wife in the very first novel. It takes a midlife crisis for him to consider marrying again (though his second marriage proves disastrous for entirely different reasons).
* Literature/SherlockHolmes: Lord Robert St. Simon of ''The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor''. He's 41 years old on the day of his wedding to Hatty Doran. Holmes remarks that 41 is "mature for marriage" and it's strongly implied that his [[GoldDigger motivation]] for finally settling down is due to the fact that he's [[ImpoverishedPatrician broke]] and Hatty is [[NouveauRiche rich]]. But it's subverted when no sooner are the nuptials solemnized [[spoiler: Hatty's previous husband, whom she thought was dead, shows up alive and well. And so St. Simon's marriage becomes null and void and he resumes being a [[ConfirmedBachelor bachelor in his forties]].]]

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** In ''The Belgariad'', Silk is a staunch bachelor who is determined to remain single; even when his friends are succumbing to marriage all around him, he informs Garion that if he ever loses his senses and the worst comes to the worst, he still knows how to run. Cue ''The Malloreon'', where he is finally snared by his fellow spy, the relentlessly determined Velvet. In the end, while he moodily admits to Garion that he's finally been caught in his "dotage", he decides to take the bull by the horns and announce their engagement... before asking in her in the first place. Her revenge consists of making sure the wedding is set for a date in which every single friend she and Silk have ever had can make it to see her victory over Aloria's most infamous bachelor.

** In ''The Belgariad'', Silk is a staunch bachelor who is determined to remain single even when his friends are succumbing to marriage all around him. While he informs Garion that if he ever loses his senses and the worst comes to the worst, he still knows how to run. Cue ''The Malloreon'', where he is finally snared by his fellow spy, the relentlessly determined Velvet. In the end, while he moodily admits to Garion that he's finally been caught in his "dotage", he decides to take the bull by the horns and announce their engagement... before asking in her in the first place. Her revenge consists of making sure the wedding is set for a date in which every single friend she and Silk have ever had can make it to see her victory over Aloria's most infamous bachelor.

* Silk from ''Literature/TheBelgariad'' has strong tendencies of this trope, especially in the Mallorean when he trades out his vaguely tragic UnrequitedLove for Queen Porenn to catching the eye of wily [[ActionGirl up-and-coming Lady-Spy]] Liselle.
-->'''Garion:''' Is ''everybody'' getting married?
-->'''Silk:''' Not ''me'', my young friend. In spite of this universal plunge towards matrimony, ''I'' still haven't lost my senses. If worse comes to worse, I still know how to run.

Bob is a ConfirmedBachelor and has been as long as anyone can remember. He dates with abandon but has no interest in making a permanent commitment. In fact, he usually denounces marriage and anyone foolish enough to enter into it. He says things like "Men who get married are whipped. I'd never let myself get ensnared by a woman." Whenever he was in a relationship previously, and his (now ex-)girlfriends asked him if marriage was in their future, he'd always say he wasn't interested in marriage, or would string them along until they got fed up with waiting (or trying to convince him to get down on one knee) and [[TheOneThatGotAway left him]].

* Creator/CSLewis was a lifelong confirmed bachelor until the age of 58, when he married the American poet Joy Davidman, a close friend who edited his autobiography ''Surprised by Joy''[[note]]a reference to a poem by William Wordsworth, though his friends would remark in later years, in reference to his enduring love for his wife, that he really had been "surprised by Joy"[[/note]], in order to make it easier for her [[CitizenshipMarriage to stay in the United Kingdom]]. It was two years later, after she was diagnosed with cancer, that he utterly lost his heart to her; they married in the Church, and her death in 1960 devastated him so much that he wrote his seminal work ''A Grief Observed'' as he struggled to cope with her loss. He continued to raise her sons by her first husband after her death, until his own three years later; one of his stepsons is his literary executor. Their love for each other is chronicled in the film ''Film/{{Shadowlands}}''.

* Literature/SherlockHolmes: Lord Robert St. Simon of ''The Adventure of the Noble Bachelor''. He's 41 years old on the day of his wedding to Hatty Doran. Holmes remarks that 41 is "mature for marriage" and it's strongly implied that his [[GoldDigger motivation]] for finally settling down is due to the fact that he's [[ImpoverishedPatrician broke]] and Hatty is [[NouveauRiche rich]]. But it's subverted when no sooner are the nuptials solemnized when [[spoiler: Hatty's previous husband, whom she thought was dead, shows up alive and well. And so St. Simon's marriage becomes null and void and he resumes being a [[ConfirmedBachelor bachelor in his forties]].]]

* While he doesn't really have this attitude in the original play, Mortimer in the film of ''Theatre/ArsenicAndOldLace'' is presented as being a railer against marriage, and consequently, takes pains to cover up his engagement, because he's embarrassed about being called out as a hypocrite.

* At least half of Creator/CatherineAnderson's heroes fall under this trope. They spend a good amount of time fighting it, but the moment the heroine comes along it's obvious their final destination is the altar.

* Creator/GeorgeClooney swore he would never marry again after a divorce at the beginning of the 90's, but then, in 2014, Amal Alamuddin came along...

* H.L. Mencken could be the poster child for this trope, until he fell madly in love with a chronically ill fellow writer.

* Creator/CSLewis had a similar situation. He married at 58, and his wife died of cancer two years later. He initially married her to make it easier for her [[CitizenshipMarriage to stay in the United Kingdom]], but developed a very strong love for her (chronicled in the film ''Shadowlands''), and continued to raise her sons by her first husband after her death. One of his stepsons is his literary executor.

* ''Series/{{Bridgerton}}'': Despite being a highly desirable bachelor, Simon is determined not to marry as he wants his abusive father's line to end with him. Nevertheless, he falls for Daphne and they end up married.

* Pete Malloy in [[https://m.fanfiction.net/u/1221931/ this]] ''{{Series/AdamTwelve}}'' series by Aussielover. He meets Jenny when he is hurt on the job and in need of rescue, and things escalate from there.

* Pete Malloy in [[https://m.fanfiction.net/u/1221931/ this]] ''{{Series/Adam-12}}'' series by Aussielover. He meets Jenny when he is hurt on the job and in need of rescue, and things escalate from there.

->''When I said I would die a bachelor, [[BlatantLies I did not think I should live till I were married]].''

->''When I said I would die a bachelor, I did not think I should live till I were married.''

* Bill Bellamy's character in spades if he's featured in any Black romantic comedy. ''The Brothers'', ''Love Jones'', ''How to Be a Player''...

* Mat Cauthon in ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'' series. It was a prophecy and poor choice of words that got him married.

* Bill Bellamy's character in spades if he's featured in any black romantic comedy. ''The Brothers'', ''Love Jones'', ''How to Be a Player''...
* Just as much as the the [[Theatre/MuchAdoAboutNothing theatre]] version, Benedict and Beatrice are this in [[TheMovie the movie]].

* Stephen Maturin in the ''Literature/AubreyMaturin'' series. As an odd, solitary physician over the age of thirty, no one expected him to get married. When he and his wife maintained separate residences, people actually thought it made a lot of sense.
* At least half of Creator/CatherineAnderson's heroes fall under this trope. They spend a good amount of time fighting it, but the moment the heroine comes along it's obvious their final destination is the altar.
* Victoria Alexander has a quartet of books surrounding men who make a bet about who can evade marriage for the longest. The winner gets four shillings and a bottle of cognac, which are meant to symbolize freedom. They're all determined to be the one to win, and of course they all wind up married by the end of it.
* Ivan Vorpatril is TheCasanova type for most of the ''Literature/VorkosiganSaga'' until he falls in love and gets married (not necessarily in that order) in ''Literature/CaptainVorpatrilsAlliance''. Of course, it is worth noting that he was already growing increasingly desperate to get married, as his generation is tilted towards men at a ratio of nearly 5 to 4, and the girls who used to swoon over him have moved on and married other people.
* Literature/ErastFandorin appears to become a confirmed bachelor after the death of his first wife in the very first novel. It takes a midlife crisis for him to consider marrying again (though his second marriage proves disastrous for entirely different reasons).
* Postman Martin Wackernagel from the Literature/SixteenThirtyTwo series is a partial aversion; he does marry. Several times, in fact. He won't settle down with any of them, though, preferring to keep riding his rounds and meeting new women to fall in love with. Circumstances conspire to force him to let his last wife in on the secret, and she makes him promise that he won't do it anymore, although she'll leave him alone about his current wives.

* On ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'', Barney and Robin are both this, though Robin is slightly less aggressive about it. They of course beat the narrator Ted down the altar even though he has wanted to get married since the first season. [[spoiler: Ted meets his wife at their wedding.]]
* Danny on ''Series/{{CSINY}}''

* ''Series/{{Bones}}'': Rare female version with Temperance Brennan. She insists marriage is antiquated and relationships are temporary and initially refuses Booth’s plea to commit to him fearing she can’t give him what he wants. But they later become a couple and marry. She doesn’t give up her beliefs but they evolve and she comes to believe exceptions can be made.
* ''Series/{{Bridgerton}}'': Despite being a highly desirable bachelor, Simon is determined not to marry as he wants his abusive father's line to end with him. Nevertheless, he falls for Daphne and they end up married.

* Benedick in ''Theatre/MuchAdoAboutNothing'' is the ur-example. (His love interest, Beatrice, is a rare female version of this trope.)

* In the musical ''[[Theatre/CompanySondheim Company]]'', Robert ("Bobby") is a 35-year-old New York bachelor whose circle of non-romantic friends are all couples. In the song "Side By Side By Side" he sings:
-->''"Here is the church. Here is the steeple. Open the door and see all the crazy married people"''
** [[spoiler: A SubvertedTrope in that he decides to stay single for now, while being welcoming of the possibility of marriage in the future.]]

* Creator/CSLewis had a similar situation. He married at 58, and his wife died of cancer two years later. He initially married her to make it easier for her [[CitizenshipMarriage to stay in the United Kingdom]], but developed a very strong love for her (chronicled in the film ''Shadowlands''), and continued to raise her sons by her first husband after her death. One of his stepsons is his literary executor.
* Creator/GeorgeClooney swore he would never marry again after a divorce at the beginning of the 90's, but then, in 2014, Amal Alamuddin came along...

* ''Series/{{Friends}}'': Chandler. At the beginning of the series he has serious problems with commitment. Then he falls in love with Monica, and they stay together for the rest of the series. Deconstructed as before this he did ''want'' commitment but was scarred by his parents' divorce and hurt whenever he tried to commit. Ironically he turns out to be better at serious relationships than casual dating. He also states Monica made him happier than he'd ever been before.

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Of course, [[TemptingFate the marriage gods are not mocked]]: the more Bob insists he will never, ''ever'' marry, the more likely it is that he's going to meet [[OneTrueLove The One]]. Alice will come along, and by hook or by crook (love at first sight, her feminine wiles, the plotting of all Bob's friends who would love to make him eat his words or a combination of the above), Bob ends up willingly, happily tying the knot and becoming a deconfirmed bachelor.