Basic Trope: A heroic character who avoids all romantic relationships.
- Straight: Bob makes it a point to never get involved in romantic entanglements.
- Exaggerated:
- Bob never shows any romantic feelings towards the opposite sex, nor the same sex, nor anyone outside the norm, and is proud of it.
- Bob outright hates romance and sex.
- Downplayed:
- While Bob is secretly intrigued by women, he has no interest in romance.
- Bob is fine with dating, but almost never seeks out a relationship and may be very particular about who he goes out with.
- Justified:
- Bob has had several severe disappointments in his love life before and has become uninterested in relationships.
- Bob's mission has already taken the life of several love interests, so he decides to become a celibate hero in order to avoid causing the demise of more loved ones.
- Bob is a Knight Errant who walks the Earth, or perhaps being pursued. He will not (or can't) put down roots, and doesn't want to break any hearts when he leaves, so he simply refuses any sort of romantic attraction.
- Bob is a member of a Religious Order which requires members to take a Heroic Vow of celibacy.
- Bob is a Kid Hero who is too young to be interested in relationships.
- Bob is simply a confirmed bachelor who prefers his single life to nesting and doesn't want children.
- Bob simply doesn't have the time for a serious relationship.
- Bob has a mental disorder that makes him incapable of forming lasting relationships.
- Bob isn't human, he only looks like one. Romance and sex aren't things that his species need for reproduction.
- Alice is a nonhuman species who are normally Literal Maneaters, but she herself is a Benevolent Monster who is horrified at the thought of killing innocents and refuses to get romantically involved with anyone lest her instincts be tempted.
- Bob is aromantic and/or asexual.
- Inverted:
- Unholy Matrimony
- Battle Couple
- Bob is a villain with a voracious sexual appetite.
- Bob is a Celibate Villain who is too busy plotting for world domination to find a romantic and/or sexual partner.
- Bob is an Extremely Omnisexual villain.
- Subverted:
- Bob makes constant attempts to avoid all romance, until he meets the woman of his dreams, whom he falls madly in love with.
- Later episodes reveal that Bob doesn't believe in having sex until marriage, making him a hero who values chastity instead.
- Bob shuns romance from all women because he's pining after one woman from his hometown, who, for whatever reason, he cannot be with for the time being.
- Bob shuns all romance; we eventually find out he's married with kids.
- Double Subverted: His relationship with this woman turns to be extremely pathological and auto-destructive, so he swears off of love for good this time.
- Parodied: Bob's celibacy turns him into the ultimate Forbidden Fruit; women and Succubi and Incubi from everywhere try their damnest to try and seduce him... And they all fail hilariously.
- Zig Zagged: Bob is constantly switching modes. On one day he may swear off love entirely, while the next he has fallen helplessly in love. This goes back and forth for some time, before Bob finally realizes he is being dumb and decides to give love a chance.
- Averted: Bob's love life is never brought to issue or is never discussed.
- Enforced:
- This film is being produced by a religious organization, and Bob is an adventuring priest who must remain celibate as per his vows.
- The producer is sick of The Power of Love's dominance in fiction, so they urge the author makes an aromantic hero to not only make a breath of fresh air, but to make a positive role model that single people can look up to.
- Lampshaded: "What are you going to do, Bob, be a single person for the rest of your life?" "Well, if I don't forbid you to be in a relationship, why would you importune me to be in one?"
- Invoked:
- After a painful breakup, Bob removes all female contacts from his address book and begins to distance himself from all female friends.
- Bob has received some sort of Virgin Power, so he decides to take the celibate hero route in order to sustain it.
- Exploited: Because Bob is well known for never having sex, the king chooses him to be the Queen's bodyguard. This is despite the fact that Bob is a bumbling fool with no combat abilities whatsoever.
- Defied:
- Defrosting Ice King
- Alternatively, Bob's friends get him, really, really drunk one night...
- Alice tries to force Bob into loving him forever or else.
- Discussed: "Bob, I know you think love is a waste of time, but you can't just give up." "I can. What's it to you?"
- Conversed:Dave: What's wrong, Bob? Not into girls anymore?
Claire: Good for him! Romance is overrated anyway.
Dave: What?! Don't tell me you are...
Claire: Aromantic? Didn't you know already? - Deconstructed:
- Bob's existence without romance causes him to become a lonely and bitter person, which in turn causes him to lose all interest in his original quest, and he lives the rest of his life as a lonely hermit.
- Bob is very clearly sexually repressed to an unhealthy degree, and is deep in denial about it.
- Bob's lack of interest in romance has earned him the criticism of society who expects everyone, especially men, to get married and have children.
- Despite being uninterested in romance, Bob always wanted to have children. Since he can not find a woman to bear his children, he will probably have to resort to adoption.
- Reconstructed:
- Bob learns how to channel his frustration into a greater drive to complete his quest.
- Bob already lacks romantic and/or sexual attraction in the first place, so the absence of romance in his life doesn't affect him at all.
- Bob lives his life on his own terms, regardless of what other people have to say about it.
- Bob becomes an activist to advocate for the social acceptance of people who do not wish to be in a romantic and/or sexual relationship like him.
- Bob kindly turns down any women or men for potential relationships, but Bob likes making friends, so he befriends them instead.
- Bob lives a full and happy life with his adopted child(ren), and is ultimately satisfied with his choice to live without romance and/or sex.
Back to Celibate Hero. No, I'm not into relationships, but I'll help out anyone in need.
