History Main / MistakenForRomance

** The media think ''Comicbook/{{Supergirl}}'' and ''Comicbook/LexLuthor'' are together. However, Kara regarded him as a friend and surrogate father before finding out that he considered her to be a useful pawn.

* ''ComicBook/UltimateGalactusTrilogy'': Sue asks Lawson to see him without clothes. Stark is confused, he's in the room, and she wants ''him'' to get naked? Reed clarified: he's an alien, and she's interested in his biology.

* ''Fanfic/AdventuresOfASuperFamily'': After seeing Bruce Wayne, Karen Kent, and Diana Prince attending the same party and talking each other, some tabloids start spreading the false rumor that Bruce is having a threesome with both women.

* In ''Manga/Zetsuai1989'', the IdolSinger Kouji Nanjo is seen talking to a very cute GirlNextDoor named Serika Izumi in public, and it reaches the news. Kouji is actually interested in Serika's ''older brother'' Takuto, a promising soccer player, who is '''furious''' at Kouji because this puts his innocent little sister in the spotlight [[spoiler: and he fears that the Izumi's ''horrible'' DarkAndTroubledPast will also be featured in the spotlight. [[FromBadToWorse Which is exactly what happened]].]]

** Rumor also has it that Bruce Wayne and Barbara Gordon - alias ''Comicbook/{{Batgirl}}'' - are together, but they're just friends... although Bruce actually encourages those rumors.

* In ''Fanfic/BeyondHeroes: Of Sunshine and Red Lyrium'', Varric keeps thinking that [[VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition the Inquisitor]] - Bethany Hawke - is being pursued by various characters, including Cullen, Josephine, Blackwall, and Krem. He's repeatedly puzzled when nothing happens and ultimately concludes that it's probably a case of ItsNotYouItsMyEnemies. [[spoiler:By the end of the story, she's married - to ''him''.]]

* In ''Fanfic/CoOpMode'', Armsmaster [[spoiler: thinks Beetle Knight and Lady Bug]] are dating, when in truth it is all in his head. The same goes for Coil, but does not take it as far as Colin, who even [[spoiler: concludes - wrongly - that Beetle Knight is only an overzealous fanboy]], which is not helped by James' [[spoiler: lack of a Corona Pollentia.]]

* In ''Film/TheWeddingSinger'', Robbie and Julia are mistaken as a couple by wedding photographer Faye, who senses a closeness between them - though they are planning a wedding for Julia, so it can be understood why the confusion exists. Julia replies that they are [[LikeBrotherAndSister brother and sister]] and they both pull quick childhood pranks on each other in a good-natured way.

--->'''Harry''': [[LikeBrotherAndSister I love her like she's my sister]] and I reckon she feels the same way about me. It's always been like that.

* ''Literature/TheRavenCycle''. In the second book, ''The Dream Thieves,'' local Bad Boy Kavinsky is convinced that Ronan's devotion to his friend, Gansey, must be romantic or sexual in nature. When Kavinsky accuses him of wanting Gansey, Ronan states that it's not like that and that Gansey is a brother to him, even more so than his real older brother. [[spoiler: Kavinsky ''was'' right about Ronan having a crush on one of his male friends. He just guessed the wrong one.]]
* In ''Literature/{{Restoree}}'' the heroine, Sara, is kidnapped off the street and planted in the bed of the next heir to the High Lordship of Lothar to embarrass him. Instead, they go with it and Sara poses as his girlfriend - to the considerable irritation of her LoveInterest and the boy's real girlfriend Lady Fara.

** Subverted - rather loudly - in ''Literature/NorthangerAbbey''. When Catherine observes her new acquaintance Henry Tilney walking with a pretty young lady, the narrative comments that if Catherine were a character in another story, her response would be to immediately become jealous; however, Catherine has more than two brain cells to rub together. She recognizes a similarity between the two and remembers Henry mentioning his sister, and promptly deduces that this is her. She's right, of course.

* In the ''Series/BlackBooks'' episode "The Blackout," Fran sees her boyfriend having dinner with another woman [[spoiler:(who turns out to be his sister)]] and showing affection for her. She mistakes his love for romantic and sees an ImaginaryLoveTriangle.

* ''Series/StrangerThings'': At the end of Season 3, [[spoiler: Steve finds out his new best friend Robin is a lesbian. Due to it being a small town in the 1980s, he's literally the only person who knows this. Combine it with the fact they are "Platonic Soulmates with a Capital P" come Season 4 and you can guess where this is going.]]

* ''Series/TheWheelOfTime2021'': Nynaeve thinks that Lan and Moiraine are a couple after witnessing their relationship and having only a couple of Green Aes Sedai's Warders to compare it with [[spoiler: (she [[PlatonicLifePartners couldn't ]] [[IncompatibleOrientation be]] more wrong)]].

* ''VideoGame/Onmyoji2016'': After Seimei agrees to let Yaobikuni, who has just delivered a ShipTease-heavy dialogue about how he is her "fated one" who is the only one able to [[DeathSeeker kill]] [[CompleteImmortality her]], become his companion, Kohaku comments that Seimei is a "lady-killer", even though the two never develop a romantic relationship after that. [[spoiler: They are now enemies by the way.]]

** [[PlatonicLifePartners Phoenix and Maya]] are constantly mistaken for a couple - mostly by [[ShipperOnDeck Pearl]], Maya's 9-year-old cousin, who absolutely refuses to believe that they're not an item. She goes so far as to slap him whenever she thinks he's "cheating" on Maya.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Clarence}}''. In "Pretty Great Day With A Girl", Belson and his friends think Clarence and Amy are hanging out because they're a couple when really they're just hanging out as friends.

!This trope is [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=16960396300.17291400 under discussion]] in the Administrivia/TropeRepairShop.

This {{supertrope}} describes situations where a platonic relationship between characters is seen as something romantic by another character.

As we know, there are [[TheFourLoves many different kinds of "love"]], and people often confuse "[[TrueCompanions friendship love]]" or "[[LikeBrotherAndSister brotherly/sisterly love]]" with "romantic love". In this trope two people love each other. Some or many people, perhaps even those who know the two well, take this to mean they are romantically involved, but contrary to popular belief, they are just friends.

The key to this trope is that though affection and even love exists between the two people, it ''is not'' [[UsefulNotes/{{Aromantic}} romantic]] (though in some cases there was the potential for it at some time in the past). ''Neither'' of the two characters have (or probably ever will have) any interest in the relationship becoming romantic, unlike in the JustFriends trope which requires this. However, one or more bystanders/others think that the love ''is'' a romantic one and may try to call them out on it.

The two may be (but are not necessarily) HeterosexualLifePartners, PlatonicLifePartners, or LikeBrotherAndSister, or they could in fact be [[RelativeError blood relatives]]. If a third person gets involved with one of the people and then finds out about the other it can turn into an ImaginaryLoveTriangle. See also TheNotLoveInterest, a character who fills a typical LoveInterest role but isn't actually interested in romancing the protagonist or vice versa.

* StrictlyProfessionalRelationship: They're actually co-workers.

!Administrivia/TropeRepairShop sandbox for MistakenForRomance. [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=16960396300.17291400 Discussion thread.]]

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!This trope is [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=16960396300.17291400 under discussion]] in the Administrivia/TropeRepairShop.

The key to this trope is that though affection and even love exists between the two people, it ''is not'' [[UsefulNotes/{{Aromantic}} romantic]] (though in some cases there was the potential for it at some time in the past). ''Neither'' of the two friends have (or probably ever will have) any interest in the relationship becoming romantic, unlike in the JustFriends trope which requires this. However, one or more bystanders/others think that the love ''is'' a romantic one and may try to call them out on it.

The two may be (but are not necessarily) HeterosexualLifePartners, PlatonicLifePartners or LikeBrotherAndSister. If a third person gets involved with one of the people and then finds out about the other it can turn into an ImaginaryLoveTriangle.

Different to SheIsNotMyGirlfriend and EveryoneCanSeeIt in that the two are not remotely romantically interested in each other, it is all in the eyes of the beholders. In ''those'' tropes, the the bystanders are being more perceptive and there ''is'' some truth in it.

* MistakenForGay -- they're actually straight
* RelativeError -- they're actually family
* StrictlyProfessionalRelationship -- they're actually co-workers
* NotThatKindOfPartner -- they're actually law firm partners, project partners, or some other kind of nonromantic "partners"

Sometimes TruthInTelevision. See also MistakenForFlirting.

* A sub-plot in Chapter 925 of ''Manga/CaseClosed'' has IdolSinger Yoko Okino and soccer star Ryusuke Higo making a scandal when reporters saw them shopping together in what looks like a date. They were actually just school mates looking to buy a gift for their former teacher who is retiring.
* In ''Manga/DestinyOfTheShrineMaiden'', Chikane and Souma are the two most popular students at their school and everyone, including the main character Himeko, thinks they are the perfect match for each other and must definitely be dating. In reality, there is nothing going on between them and both are interested in Himeko. [[spoiler:Himeko ends up with Chikane.]]

* While not exactly romance, Chapter 228 of ''Manga/KaguyaSamaLoveIsWar'' has almost all of Ishigami and [[spoiler:Koromo's]] classmates become convinced that they're FriendsWithBenefits after seeing how suddenly close the two are. They actually became friends on Discord the previous day and spent all night playing video games, but the fact that they're both half asleep (along with the others not understanding their gamer jargon) leads to them giving [[InnocentInnuendo a very poorly worded explanation]].

* ''ComicBook/TheSmurfs'': In ''The Betrayal of Smurfblossom'', Smurfstorm falsely accuses Blossom of having a crush on Hefty, spearheading the teasing insistence of them being 'sweethearts'. Throughout the story, most of the other smurfs fall for it, or question whether or not it's true. Including [[BelievingTheirOwnLies Storm herself]], as she [[GreenEyedMonster starts getting jealous]] of their supposed relationship.

* ''Franchise/WonderWoman'' [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1942 Vol 1]]: In the ComicBook/WonderGirl Impossible Tale in #116 Wonder Girl mistakes Renno's interactions with the mermaid Firra as Renno finally finding a girlfriend he doesn't have to pretend to be someone he's not to be with, but he and Firra are just friends. WG leaving has Renno once again setting himself off on a task he has no hope to complete in order to try and win her over.

* ''Fanfic/AdventuresOfASuperFamily'': After seeing Bruce Wayne, Karen Kent and Diana Prince attending the same party and talking each other, some tabloids start spreading the false rumor that Bruce is having a threesome with both women.
* ''Webcomic/AnythingsPossible'': Shego mentions that many people think she and Drakken are a couple, but they're not. He's twice her age and there is no romantic interest between the them.

* In ''Fanfic/BeyondHeroes: Of Sunshine and Red Lyrium'', Varric keeps thinking that [[VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition the Inquisitor]] - Bethany Hawke - is being pursued by various characters, including Cullen, Josephine, Blackwall, and Krem. He's repeatedly puzzled when nothing happens, and ultimately concludes that it's probably a case of ItsNotYouItsMyEnemies. [[spoiler:By the end of the story, she's married - to ''him''.]]

* ''Fanfic/TheLionTheWitchAndTheFairysTail'': In the first part, Natsu and Lucy from ''Manga/FairyTail'' spend [[spoiler:three years]] as King and Queen of [[Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia Narnia]] alongside Gray and Erza. Outside of ShipTease the two remain friends during their rule. By the time of ''Return to Narnia,'' centuries has past in the other world and Narnian history recorded Natsu and Lucy as husband and wife.

** When Lando meets the family for the first time since Padmé is awakened, he assumes that she is involved with Luke before witnessing a news broadcast that confirms her real relationship to the family.

* In ''Fanfic/TangledFate'', the new Lady Castellan is assumed to have taken the Lunar Exalted who came with her to Greyfalls as her consort. It's an easy mistake to do since Lunars and Solars tend to marry each other and Ryouga acts in a rather ambivalent manner around Ranma -- however, Ryouga's weird behaviour is caused by memories from his past incarnation messing with his head as he very much considers Ranma as his friend, and Ranma isn't interested in moving him out of the friend category either.

* In ''Fanfic/AThingOfVikings'', when Hiccup and a group of Berkians arrive in Iceland and are rescued from Mildew by another Night Fury, Hiccup initially assumes that this Night Fury is Toothless's new girlfriend based on their obvious closeness, before Toothless 'borrows' Ruffnut and Tuffnut to explain that the new Night Fury (later named Fearless) is actually his long-lost sister.

* ''Fanfic/WhiteSheepRWBY'': Happens all the time, mostly centered on Jaune. Jaune mistakenly believes that [[TheBully Cardin]] has a crush on him, which leads to everyone else in school believing the same. Ruby and Yang think Jaune has a crush on Ruby due to the way he flinches every time he [[DeadlyGaze meets her eyes]]. Blake thinks "Hentacle" (who is actually Jaune) has romantic interests in her because he never hurt her. Jaune thinks his adoptive sister Cinder and his younger sister Lavender are fighting over Roman when they're just using him as a pawn. Around and around it goes. The biggest one, however, is how Yang told Jaune "it's a date!" when setting up a friendly hang-out, and Jaune assumed she meant it literally. His charming behavior on these "dates" (buying her flowers, holding her hand) leave her flustered and eventually lead to them dating for real.

** In ''[[Literature/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows The Deathly Hallows]]'' Ron sees Harry and Hermionie's affection, mistakes it for romantic, and [[ImaginaryLoveTriangle gets jealous]]. Later, Harry reassures him:

* ''Literature/ThePrioryOfTheOrangeTree'': Arteloth Beck suffers for this because the person he has this relationship with is the unmarried Queen Sabran. Sabran's spymaster sees the friendship as a huge impediment for her marriage prospects and appoints him ambassador to a country that has recently become {{Mordor}} to dispose of him. Loth, in his narration, comes across as a man who is unaware that he's aromantic (he has ''three'' extremely close platonic friendships and he contemplates that he has yet to feel the glow of romance well into adulthood) and had, in fact, promised to give Sabran away at her wedding--but to foreign suitors, that doesn't mean much.

** Subverted - rather loudly - in ''Literature/NorthangerAbbey''. When Catherine observes her new acquaintance Henry Tilney walking with a pretty young lady, the narrative comments that if Catherine were a character in another story, her response would be to immediately become jealous; however, Catherine has more than two brain cells to rub together. She recognizes a similarity between the two and remembers Henry mentioning his sister, and promptly deduces that this is she. She's right, of course.
* ''Literature/SomethingToTalkAbout'': Jo and Emma, her assistant, are taken for a couple while having what's actually just a friendly moment laughing together in public as reporters looked on. Due to Jo's long-standing police of not commenting on her love life, the rumor mill just keeps spinning.

* ''Series/TheBarrier'': Two characters who eventually get together are mistaken for a couple at a point where they are sticking with each other for pragmatic reasons. They SureLetsGoWithThat the person, but are clearly awkward about the assumption once they are alone again.

** Willow is on the opposite end in Season 6 when she and Tara are in the process of improving their relationship, but haven't properly gotten back together. She sees Tara talking to a girl in the hallway and assumes it's a date, when she's just a friend from class.

* Played for laughs in ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoV'' where Tonya believes Franklin is Michael's lover just because the two of them had been hanging out for a while and became good friends. Franklin denies the claims, but Tonya thinks Franklin can do what he wants and that there's nothing wrong with him having sex with another man. Another scene plays out the trope in a more dramatic sense between Michael and Trevor where a Chinese gang hunts down Trevor, but grabs Michael instead and believe he is Trevor's boyfriend just because the two of them were seen hanging out around Trevor's trailer.

* ''VisualNovel/SteinsGate'' has three main characters guess that Okabe Rintarou and Shiina Mayuri are dating, a suggestion Mayuri responds to with confusion, and Okabe responds to with a flat denial. Though things have potential to progress in that direction, at the respective times of the guesses, neither of them think of each other that way.

* In ''WesternAnimation/AaahhRealMonsters'' episode "She Likes Me" Oblina and Krumm both think the other one is crushing on them, because some of their classmates say so. They both try to 'break up' each other and after asserting that they don't feel anything romantic, they end the episodes as friends, nothing more.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Clarence}}''. In "Pretty Great Day With A Girl", Belson and his friends think Clarence and Amy are hanging out because they're a couple, when really they're just hanging out as friends.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeagueUnlimited'' episode "The Cat and the Canary," initially Green Arrow presumes Canary and Wildcat have a romantic relationship and is visibly disappointed. Canary explains him that she sees Wildcat as a mentor and second father, not a romantic interest.

** In "Gorizilla", Marinette and Adrien hide in a fountain to avoid the latter's mob of {{Loony Fan}}s. As soon as they get up, a man photographs them and puts the photo on the internet, leading to Adrien's fans assuming that Marinette is his girlfriend. [[CannotSpitItOut Not that she minds too much.]]
** Their alter-egos of Ladybug and Cat Noir also run into this in "Prime Queen", where Nadja Chamack tries to get them to admit they are dating to boost her show's ratings. In this case it's Adrien/Cat Noir that doesn't really mind the idea, since he has fallen head over heels for Ladybug.