Basic Trope: Superheroes tend to be single, usually because having a love life would get in the way of their goals and the story.
- Straight: Alex / Monkey Man has no love interest because of his job as a superhero.
- Exaggerated:
- None of the superheroes in the setting have ever been in any romantic situation whatsoever.
- Alex / Monkey Man doesn't even have friends, and he's estranged from his family as well.
- Downplayed: Alex / Monkey Man has been on a few casual dates, but it never really gets further than that.
- Justified:
- Alex is worried about the possibility of his possible love interests discovering his secret identity, which he fears could be dangerous in the wrong hands.
- Being in a relationship would mean that Alex cannot do his duties as a superhero as well, since he would often be unavailable.
- Alex is also Asexual, Aromantic, or just otherwise uninterested in sex/romance anyway.
- One of Alex's former love interests died, and he still blames himself for their death.
- Inverted: Superheroes always have love interests in the setting.
- Subverted: Alex / Monkey Man later gets a love interest.
- Double Subverted: He's forced to break up with the love interest anyway.
- Parodied: ???
- Zig-Zagged:
- Some of the superheroes are in stable relationships, some are not.
- Alex / Monkey Man occasionally gets a love interest, Depending on the Writer.
- Averted: Alex / Monkey Man is able to be a superhero with a love life.
- Enforced:
- "It wouldn't really make a lot of sense if the superheroes were in a stable relationship, due to how often they have to go out and fight evil."
- The writers are trying to appeal to a demographic of people who are also single.
- Giving Alex / Monkey Man a love interest would result in the plot either being Strangled by the Red String or developing into a Romantic Plot Tumor, so it's just avoided.
- Lampshaded: ???
- Invoked: Alex makes the decision to be a Celibate Hero.
- Exploited: ???
- Defied: Alex finds a fellow superhero to fall in love with, and they become a Battle Couple.
- Discussed: ???
- Conversed: "Why do superheroes rarely have consistent love interests?"
- Played for Drama:
- Alex wants to be in a relationship, but feels as though he won't be able to be in one due to his job.
- Alex gets into a relationship, but his love interest dies, undergoes a Face–Heel Turn, etc
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