Moment Killer



"Leela: We're heading straight into a black hole!

Fry: Talk about a mood killer."

- Futurama

"We're having a moment. Don't ruin it."

- Raven to Beast Boy just before he totally ruins the moment, Teen Titans

It's really going to happen this time. They are about to share with each other their feelings after years of keeping them hidden. They come closer together and look into each other's eyes; there has never been a moment so perfect. The stars are aligned, the moon is full and one of them says, "I've never had the courage to tell you this before..."

Then her brother walks into the room, asking if she wants pepperoni or ham on her pizza. "Ugh!" is their reply, echoed by all of the fans. Whatever was there has been shot down dead. They lost the spirit of the moment and it will be a long time before they can get it back. After witnessing their frustrated anger, the brother then asks, "Is this a bad time?"

The Moment Killer is the bane of all shippers, and eternally frustrates those who will find any reason to hook up a favorite pairing. The moment is far most commonly romantic in nature, but covers the instances whenever there is a possibility of a relationship upgrade or change, including going from enemy to ally or getting that coveted "Well Done, Son."

The exact nature of the killer can come under several varieties:
 * 1) Random Accident: The killer is something mundane, so that the frustration is at its highest because the important moment is destroyed by something unimportant. (The pizza example above.)
 * 2) Plot Progression: Something too important to ignore interrupts the moment, but it doesn't make the moment killing any less painful. (Aliens attack.)
 * 3) Fatal Fumble: One of the individuals involved ends up being their own moment killer due to miscommunication, poor choice of words, or just a brief hesitation that ruins the magic. ("Hahaha, you're joking, right?")
 * 4) Deliberate Destruction: A third party intentionally spoils the moment for reasons of their own; often a jealous rival or Overprotective Dad. Also called "the cockblocker." ("You guys aren't doing anything funny in there, are you?")
 * 5) Idiot Matchmaker: Someone who's purportedly trying to help set the mood kills it, through impatience or unconscious design. ("So have you kissed her yet?")

Basic staple of any Will They or Won't They? set up. The most common subtrope is the Almost Kiss. If the moment is about to lead to a declaration of love, then it might be an Interrupted Declaration of Love.

Advertising

 * More than one beer commercial has used the idea of a Moment Killer, usually demonstrating how the advertised beer will aid in thwarting him.

Anime & Manga
"Inuyasha: How about until the fight with Naraku is over, you just stay here?
 * Detective Conan: A running gag in the series is whenever Takagi and Sato tries to kiss, someone comes in and stop them just at the moment they're about to.
 * Planetes: Tanabe and Sempai are back on earth, visiting his parents, they end up on the beach at sunset when Tanabe stumbles and create by accident the favorable position for a kiss... a frigging rocket launched by Hachimaki's brother sinks the moment.
 * Happens to Ranma and Akane in Ranma ½ from as early as the Ice Skating battle. In response to that storyline (it makes sense when you see it, I promise) Ramna was dared by Akane to kiss her. As he worked up the raw nerve, he leaned in closer to her, and paused for just a brief moment, hesitating. He tells her that they should save the kiss for someone they love.
 * A much more infuriating one comes from late in the manga. After the parents have told him that the only way to get Akane to give up the Battle Dogi is to, basically, seduce her, Ranma pulls her into a closet for a "sincere" chat. He realizes very early on that, while she's being honest and affectionate, his intentions were not, which makes him feel like a miserable scumbag. Having realized this, he abandons the "plan" and then proceeds to talk to her with his true feelings, and the two of them embrace and come the closest ever to a real romantic kiss...
 * It frequently happens to Ranma and Shampoo. An infuriating example is when Ranma is about to kiss her because, if he doesn't, she'll turn into a cat and be stuck like that forever as the bride of a huge ghost cat. Just as Ranma is almost finished working on building up the nerve to kiss her, Akane hits him and tells him not to get carried away, despite having guilted him into coming to save her in the first place.
 * This is a must for virtually all manga written by Rumiko Takahashi, in fact.
 * A favourite trope of CLAMP's, it shows up particularly in Cardcaptor Sakura. Every time Touya starts to tell Yukito about his other self (in their Yaoi Guys pose), someone interrupts. Of course, the interruption is usually deliberate. For what Touya is to Sakura, Meilin is to Syaoran.
 * It happens between Syaoran and Sakura in the manga as well. Late in its run, he tries to work up the nerve to tell Sakura what he truly feels for her, but he always gets interrupted by things ranging from Kero-chan wanting to take a picture of her to people yelling loudly over at Seijou High because Yukito fainted in the middle of the athletics track.
 * And then every other scene in the second movie.
 * Every time Keiichi is about to get his nerve up with Belldandy in Ah My Goddess!, something happens. It often involves explosions or magic SNAFUs.
 * Inuyasha's Miroku and Sango have a mutual genius for this, no third party interference required. Miroku is the most frequent offender thanks to his habit of copping a feel just when things are going well, but Sango has been guilty a few times as well. It happens so many times that at one point the series double-subverts it: finding Sango downcast after an encounter with her little brother, Miroku sits beside her to comfort her, and, atypically, remains perfectly chivalrous until Sango remarks that she would have expected him to try groping her by now. Miroku being Miroku, he promptly offers to make up for his omission if she wants him to. Guess what.
 * There's the other time that happens, of course, where she gropes him (expecting to find Shippo's tail, because of course Miroku would never have so much tact to properly comfort her).
 * Inuyasha and Kagome aren't quite as bad, but they catch their share of examples. The most agonizing occurs late in the manga and is reproduced in The Final Act, during one of Kagome's visits to the present, when her family manages to return from a spontaneous hot spring vacation at precisely the wrong moment:

Kagome: [feels his head] Hmm, no fever.

Inuyasha: Hey! I'm not delusional!

...

Kagome: It's all right. I'll always be with you.

Inuyasha: In that case, I'll protect you with my life.

[Almost Kiss]

Kagome's mother: We're home!"

"Germany: Hey! Don't run off when I'm having a moment!"
 * You can quite literally hear the mood bubble pop.
 * Every time Keitaro and Naru in Love Hina come close to kissing or admitting their feelings for one another, someone will inevitably barge in on them or Keitaro will suffer an Accidental Pervert moment and provoke Naru into Megaton Punching him. Even after they finally kiss and become an official Official Couple in the manga, Moment Killers still abound whenever they try to consummate their relationship.
 * This occurs in a romantic moment in Elfen Lied between Kouta and Yuka, in which Nyu promptly jumps out, startling them both and ruining said moment. Luckily though, she's completely naked.
 * Kaoru and Aoi get this a lot in Ai Yori Aoshi. Most of the cast Moment Kills by accident, but Miyabi, being the Mama Bear she is, does it on purpose. She mellows eventually.
 * This trope might have been taken a bit too far in Code Geass's second season, where the Tsunderes, Lelouch and Kallen, rarely have a single conversation that did not go down this path (with each Moment Killer becoming more ridiculous than the one before it). (Note: Code Geass is not a romantic comedy.) It could be assumed that this some-what tortured the fans of this pairing. To make it even more torturous for them, the only uninterrupted conversation they have during the whole season ends with
 * Ironically, in R2 episode 24, A few fans joked that this was revenge for
 * Almost everytime Saito and Louise come together in Zero no Tsukaima. It gets worse and worse. Especially once you consider that it keeps happening during the third season as well, despite the fact that.
 * Taniguchi barging in on Suzumiya Haruhi, when Kyon and Yuki were, erm, close to each other could be counted as a Moment Killer. Of course, it's Played for Laughs. Haruhi disrupting Kyon and Mikuru twice, too.
 * Full Metal Panic: The Second Raid! - Sousuke is finally about to embrace Kaname when she breaks down in tears at the end, but then an entire classful of girls enter the corridor and start shouting at him for upsetting Kaname again.
 * Sousuke himself tends to do this to Kaname. Especially when she misconstrues his actions as being "bold" and "romantic," only for him to completely obliterate any such hope by doing something ridiculous.
 * Inverted Trope in Digimon Frontier. In episode 46, Takuya and Zoe are talking in the library when Takuya blurts out, "I really like you." Cue Luminescent Blush by Zoe and then by Takuya when he realizes what he just said. By the time Izumi tries to respond, Takuya is sleeping. In this case, the Moment Killer was one of the people that would benefit from the completion of the moment. ...The shippers were not amused.
 * America and England of Axis Powers Hetalia have a moment killed in a strip titled this. Also happens between Germany and Italy. In both cases, they don't even need third parties due to Tsundere-ish traits or outright Obliviousness.

"Tadakuni: Hey, this is bad! The potato chips at that convenience store are half-off! Let's get going!"
 * Anytime Nike and Kukuri have a tender moment in Mahoujin Guru Guru, Gipple will inevitably pop up screaming for a barf bag.
 * Naruto and Sakura were having a moment and Sakura was about to feed Naruto ramen when Sai pops in as the Moment Killer -- and offers to feed Naruto himself, which Naruto was not pleased about.
 * Soul Eater - Subverted with Soul and Maka, when Most shippers felt that the Maka Chop that came after was well deserved.
 * Eiken's Densuke and Chiharu, usually caused by Kirika, the other members of the club, and anyone else, in order of likeliness.
 * In the final episode of Tenchi in Tokyo, just when Ryoko was about to kiss Tenchi, Washu pops out of the tree trunk where Tenchi and Ryoko are standing, to test her new and improved Dimensional Tunnel. She was then followed by Sasami, and then Ayeka, and finally Mihoshi and Kiyone.
 * In episode 7 of Tenchi Muyo Ryo-Ohki, Washu dresses up in a nurse outfit to perform her... experiments on Tenchi. And then Mihoshi walks in the lab...
 * Dee and Roy in FAKE are all but guaranteed to have the moment killed for them. The most frequent offenders are Bikky and JJ, who do it on purpose, but there's also that time when Ryo fell asleep right after kissing Dee and that other time when Dee's phone rang just as things were getting hot and heavy between the two of them. No wonder it took them seven volumes -- which is quite long indeed for a Boys Love manga -- to officially get together.
 * Bleach: Good job, Nel, you kind of ruined the quiet, subtle, heart filled moment between Ichigo and Orihime, which essentially counted as their true reunion. Not that you diving into Ichigo's, uh, lower abdomen area wasn't cute in its own way, it's just, you killed that sweet moment.
 * In chapter 228, Rukia and Orihime are veering dangerously close to a Les Yay moment, and Hiyori quite literally falls from the sky and drags Orihime off. Moment killer much?
 * This trope is essentially the only reason it took Please Teacher's Kei and Mizuho so long to, oddly, do anything at all... except hook up. Huh. His annoying and oft-tragic condition doesn't help matters much.
 * Mahou Sensei Negima - Kotarou manages to kill what even the translator called a NegiNodo moment, with some ill-timed comradery. Konoka, you could've left him partly Taken for Granite a little longer.
 * Konoka has her own share of moment killing. On the same pair nonetheless. One may suspect that what Konoka does is actually sabotage to support her own preferred couple.
 * Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu uses this trope extensively, with the primary offenders usually being the sister and maids who are supposedly rooting for them to get together.
 * Wataru of Hayate the Combat Butler blocked himself. Nagi'd stuffed Isumi in a coffin so she could listen in while Nagi talked to Wataru about the problem of the week. She manages to get him to confess to liking Isumi, then turns to Isumi and asks if she needs anything more. Wataru fiercely backpedals and claims it was a joke. The audience weeps for his crush.
 * In Little House With an Orange Roof, Natsumi and Shou are interrupted by Natsumi's sister. Unusually, the killer immediately realizes what she was interrupting and attempts to remove herself from sight.
 * In Baka to Test To Shoukanjuu, when the whole building was falling down and everyone forgot that there was an ESB going on, Akihisa and Yuuji were saving their respective partners. Everyone was going awww
 * In Kannazuki no Miko, Himeko and Souma have their first kiss, when Himeko starts crying.
 * In Gankutsuou Albert and Eugenie are about to kiss in one scene but are interrupted by Andrea.
 * In Omamori Himari, its practically a Running Gag for one of the girls starting to get intimate with Yuuko...only to be violently (and, oftentimes, hilariously) interrupted by one or more of the other girls.
 * This trope is the only thing stopping this from being a hentai... not that it's that far away to start with.
 * In Special A Yahiro and Megumi are about to kiss when Tadashi rushes by on a motorcycle, yelling "Hey, Yahiro! I'm borrowing your bike for a moment!" Yahiro responds "Can't you read the atmosphere here?"
 * Pokémon - In the anime, Brock's Croagunk! Any time Brock gets excited around a woman, he leaps into action with a Poison Jab attack, right in Brock's ass. Brock will collapse and be dragged off. Before Croagunk, variations where Misty or Max would drag him off by the ear or Bonsly tackling him with Double-Edge used to occur.
 * Team Rocket also plays this sometimes, like during the final episode of Diamond and Pearl. As Piplup and Pikachu are sobbing into Togekiss's chest because Ash, Brock, and Pikachu are going back to Kanto, Team Rocket comes in with another stupid capture attempt. This is then turned into a Crowning Moment of Awesome as not only does Ash deliver a Shut UP, Hannibal moment via a Brave Bird, but Team Rocket gets freaking Curb Stomped.
 * Ageha and Tsutomu of Toshiue no Hito are university students living together after a rather fraught courtship. It could be the temporary flatmate or one or all of the members of his literature club or even his parents coming to see why he's living with an older woman, but it seems that no matter what, someone will interrupt their chance of being intimate, often as they're in the middle of taking their clothes off. It's that kind of series.
 * In episode 4 of the first Koihime Musou OVA, Kan'u agrees to sleep with Sousou in exchange of sparing the life of Bachou, who had tried to murder Sousou earlier in that episode. That night, the two are quite blatantly about to have sex... And then Sousou suffers ANOTHER attempt to her life, this time by an unknown assailant who sneaks in her tent from the ceiling. Moment Killing at its best there.
 * Hanaukyo Maid Tai
 * Episode 10. When Mariel is washing Taro's back after a long day he turns to her and their faces move together for an Almost Kiss...then Ikuyo Suzuki runs in yelling to break it up.
 * Episode 15. When Taro and Mariel are having an intimate moment, an unnamed (as yet) Yashima Sanae breaks into their room in search of Taro (who was identified as an intruder earlier while in disguise).
 * Keroro Gunsou: As if Momoka didn't have enough problems trying to confess her feelings to Fuyuki, frequently her attempts to have a private moment are derailed by somebody else showing up at the most inopportune time. Notably, this isn't always the fault of one of the keronians; often it's Natsumi or Koyuki who unknowingly butts in.
 * There's even an entire episode devoted to finding a situation where no one would interfere, and eventually had to find a way to subvert the accidental moment killing nature of nearly the entire cast.
 * In Chapter 81 of Ouran High School Host Club, Haruhi . The moment was totally ruined when Tamaki made an absolute fool of himself by yelling to Hikaru what she just said, falling to the floor, being called a narcissist when he, and being called an idiot. Haruhi then shouts that she's not sure . After all that, he ends up , which made Hikaru cry.
 * Kiss X Sis runs on this a lot. Sometimes (or perhaps more often than not), the moment isn't killed at the Almost Kiss part; it completely shoots past that and ruins the glorious moment instead.
 * Neon Genesis Evangelion: has, surprisingly, quite a few of these. Of course, this being NGE, nothing close to a stable emotional relationship is recognisable within about a five lightyear radius, but the moments are there. The most famous one is probably in Both Of You Dance Like You Want To Win! when Asuka falls asleep right next to a wide-awake Shinji, who tries to lean forward to kiss her... until Asuka calls for her mama . Then a couple of episodes later, Asuka decides she wants to try kissing Shinji because she's "bored" (using the "well if you're too scared to..." tactic to brow-beat Shinji into agreeing), and then ruins the mood herself by holding his nose to stop him from breathing. Kaji and Misato also get their fair share (usually with Misato killing the moment before things go too far... at first).
 * Kenichi the Mightiest Disciple: After over 400 chapters of seemingly being oblivious to the true feelings of Kenichi, Miu finally admits that she feels similarly... only to have her overprotective grandfather suddenly burst in, spewing intense amounts of Killing Intent, scaring the hell out of Kenichi and Miu in the process, the other Ryouzanpaku masters struggling (and failing miserably) to hold him back.
 * In Fruits Basket, there's a scene wherein Yuki starts telling Tohru how cute she is and they move closer and closer...until Ayame comes in talking about how romantic the scene was. Yuki, naturally, decked him.
 * Beatrice pulls this on George and Shannon in Umineko no Naku Koro Ni. After Shannon asks George to tell him that he loved her, Beatrice just trolls up, and replies:You really thought I'd let him say it? DUMB ASS! and then kills them both.
 * This makes up much of the humor of the Yaoi manga I Can't Stop Loving You as Kyouji and Yu's attempts to have sex are constantly thwarted by causes ranging from ghosts to people walking in on them to Yu accidentally crushing Kyouji's ribs with his Super Strength...
 * This happens in Rosario to Vampire to Tsukune and Moka, courtesy of... pretty much everyone else.
 * In To Aru Majutsu no Index, Touma and Mikoto dance together, them Koroko dropkicks Touma in the back of the head.
 * The stated purpose of The MK5 from Beelzebub. Seriously, that's what they like to do. If there's any kind of moment, be it action or romantic, the MK5 will show up and do what they do best.
 * In Black Bird a fair bit of what keeps Kyo and Misao from having hot demon sex is unexpected and ill-timed interruptions by his servants while the couple are making out and really, really horny.
 * Rurouni Kenshin: Right before Kenshin goes off to fight Shishio, Kaoru has a heart-to-heart with him and wishes him well. Then Yahiko interrupts from where he was eavesdropping, yelling that she should have been more forward with his feelings.
 * In the Daily Lives of High School Boys skit High School Boys and the Literature Girl, Hidenori was entangled in an unwanted love tension with a girl he knew nothing about, and he called in his friend Tadakuni to break this up. Tadakuni did this beautifully, despite being punched out by the girl afterwards:


 * Strangely, Hidenori, Genre Savvy as he is, did not initially recognize it was this trope that Tadakuni was invoking, and only got it after a few seconds.
 * In Gintama, Otose and Unlucky Childhood Friend Jirochou are recovering in the hospital after the harrowing attack on Kabukichou. After all the killing and mayhem (including Jirochou putting Otose in the hospital in the first place), the two old friends finally get to say what they need to say to each other after so many years and so much heartache. Then the hospital room doors bust open and pretty much the ENTIRE SUPPORTING CAST falls into the room from where they had been eavesdropping. The guy in the third hospital bed in the room chews them all out for interrupting "just when it was getting to the good part."

Comics

 * The Strontium Dog arc "Bitch" sets up what appears to be the end to all the Unresolved Sexual Tension between Johnny Alpha and Durham Red when Johnny joins his female colleague in the shower ... until a naked Ronald Reagan (It Makes Sense in Context) decides to enter the fray and immediately drop the soap.
 * In Teen Titans, Beast Boy and Raven go on a "Not a Date" and have a sweet, tender moment... which is ruined when her brothers show up and beat the crap out of Beast Boy. I guess they don't approve.
 * In the first issue of Young Avengers: The Children's Crusade, Hulking and Wiccan are about to start making out in the Avenger's mansion when Speed shows up literally out of nowhere and asks what the hell they're doing. Cue the fans: "Dammit, Tommy!"
 * When Superboy and Wonder Girl had their first kiss, Wonder Woman out of nowhere grabs him by the collar and chucks him to the horizon.
 * When Wonder Girl (again) and Supergirl reunited in Teen Titans there was the extremely close hug, actual "I love you", leaning in... and being shot with a rocket launcher by Ravager, who apparently enjoys having invulnerable teammates.
 * Near the end of a short oneshot comic arc, Ultimate Daredevil is confronting Ultimate Punisher and trying to talk him out of his Roaring Rampage of Revenge. The Punisher has his guns leveled at the superhero, but is listening. And slowly, very slowly, he starts to lower them. That's when a well intentioned but horribly timed kick from a passing by Spider-Man breaks the moment and destroys what Daredevil had almost accomplished.
 * A preemptive one can be seen in Scott Pilgrim as Scott's plan to cuddle with his girlfriend is ruined by his gay roommate sitting around in his underwear.

Fan Works
"Jade: OH HELL NO YOU DON'T! I'm - We're - having a moment here!""
 * Just when Kanae was going to kiss her Sempai in the Haruhi Suzumiya fanfic Kyon Big Damn Hero the unnamed enemy slider appeared himself to get her. It doesn't help that the enemy slider dislikes both of them and he has been searching for Kanae for a long time (the last time he lost Kanae was one month ago).
 * The AmericaxEngland fanfic You Can't Take The Sky From Me has America and England talking about their pasts while in England's cabin, culminating in an Almost Kiss... before Prussia walks in.
 * In the How to Train Your Dragon fanfic Rebuild All Your Ruins, Toothless interrupts what would have led to wrestling-match-turned-kiss by eating the fish that Astrid was hitting Hiccup with.
 * Toothless seems to be a master at this trope.
 * In Twisted Fates, Yomiel has just got home from work and really wants some quality time with his wife. Sissel, however, really needs to talk to him and breaks up the moment rather unceremoniously. He feels bad about it, though.
 * In the DC Nation plot "Heaven or Las Vegas," Jade and Kyle are laughing themselves silly over the completely crazy scenario they're trapped in, and making out after a brief tussle with a Yellow Lantern construct. Then, the Star Sapphire flies in.


 * Sparx does this to Spyro and Cynder in the first chapter of The Legend of Spyro a New Dawn.
 * Wario Ware: Even 9-volt does this to the boss he works for and Mona...
 * In Dave Stdider Pokémon Traner, Terezi and Dave are lying naked in bed after kissing, just as they are about to have sex, Will Turner bursts in the door and tells them that they can't have sex without "Condominuims". Then Dave realizes that he's got more important things to do than banging Terezi, such as exorcizing Giratina from his friend John and leaves her alone naked. The moment is further ruined when Karkat comes in and takes a naked picture of her. Then Jack uses it to blackmail her and stabs Will. Basically, this is the WORST ruined moment in history.

Film - Animated

 * As for Disney Films:
 * In The Little Mermaid; Ursula does this intentionally to prevent a kiss between Eric and Ariel. It has a bit more behind it, though -- she's not specifically trying to keep them apart, but instead trying to keep Ariel from fulfilling the terms of her Deal With the Devil.
 * Happens several times between Bernard and Bianca (involving a marriage proposal rather than a kiss) in The Rescuers Down Under.
 * In Aladdin; Jasmine and Aladdin were having a moment at his sleeping spot and talking about how they both feel trapped by their circumstances. About to kiss, they are interrupted by the palace guards arriving to rescue Jasmine and arrest Aladdin.
 * In Hercules; Megara and Hercules were having a post-date conversation and falling in love when Phil arrives with Pegasus to interrupt and chastise Hercules for sneaking out on him. Making the best of the situation, he gives her a flower and a kiss on the cheek before he leaves and that leads to Megara's "falling in love" song.
 * In The Nightmare Before Christmas, the Mayor does this to Jack and Sally with a spotlight in Oogie's lair when Jack finally realizes Sally's affection for him is more then Just Friends. To be fair, the Mayor did think Jack was dead (er, well, more dead then he was), and the final scene with Jack and Sally atop of snow-covered Spiral Hill is a lot more romantic than in Oogie's lair.
 * WALL-E - Another subversion (or aversion, depending on your point of view) of this trope pops up in the final scene:
 * Cars: McQueen and Sally are interrupted by Mater on the Dinoco helicopter.

Film - Live Action
"Columbus: My God. You are like a giant cockblocking robot developed in a secret fucking government lab.
 * In The Empire Strikes Back, summarizing what was pretty much his role in all the Star Wars movies, C-3PO interrupts Han and Leia kissing with, "Captain Solo! Captain Solo! I've isolated the reverse power flux coupling!" "Thank you. Thank you very much." "You're welcome, sir!"
 * Dot Matrix, the parody version of C-3PO in Spaceballs, has a Virgin Alarm that lets out a loud klaxon when Lone Star and Princess Vespa are about to kiss. "It's set to go off before you do!"
 * Judge Dredd. The title character and Judge Hershey are having an intimate talk in Hershey's trashed apartment. Herman Ferguson, the comedy relief sidekick who's been tagging along with Dredd, walks in and interrupts them, then says "Is this a bad time?"
 * Donkey does this constantly in the Shrek films. Often to say stuff like "Isn't this romantic?"
 * Back to The Future: Marty and Jennifer are dreaming about things in the clock-tower square and are playfully flirting, coming close to a kiss. But it is interrupted by an activist asking for donations to save the clock tower, setting up the Chekhov's Gun about lightning hitting the tower later in the film. At the end of the movie (or the beginning of Part 2), the return of the Delorean from Doc's trip to the future interrupts another kiss.
 * In The Dark Knight, Rachel and Bruce are on the balcony outside the large fundraiser for Harvey Dent. Just as they look like they're going to reconcile romantically, Dent comes in abruptly. To make matters worse,
 * When Harvey was proposing to Rachel, Bruce appears out of nowhere to knock him out and drag him to a closet because.
 * Of course, Rachel misunderstands this at first and thinks that Bruce is attacking him out of jealousy.
 * Another balcony scene: in Iron Man, Tony and Pepper are talking outside one of Tony's annual parties. They almost kiss, and stop when both of them realize how awkward the situation is. Pepper asks for a drink and Tony goes downstairs. A related scene at the end of the movie, Tony and Pepper share a tender moment when he reminds her of "that night" on the balcony.
 * Happens AGAIN in the second movie. After  finally kiss for the first time, Rhodey interrupts them and calls them "two seals fighting over a grape."
 * In another Mel Brooks film, Robin Hood Men in Tights, after defeating the Sheriff of Rottingham and finding his key fits Mariam's Chastity Belt, Robin was about to unhook her when Mariam's nursemaid storms in, declaring: "Before you do it, you must go through it!... or else I blew it." Cue Robin snapping his fingers in frustration at being cock-blocked.
 * Used as a Running Gag in Chicken Run. Every time Ginger and Rocky try to kiss, something interrupts them. (Mostly done because the animators had no clue how to make two chickens kiss...)
 * Who Framed Roger Rabbit: Eddie and Delores are about to kiss when they hear Roger sighing. "P-p-p-please, don't mind me."
 * Zenon: Zenon and Greg mutually are guilty of a fatal fumble on this one. At one point they are sitting side-by-side, facing the same direction, with awkward silence. Zenon tells Greg that if he wants to kiss her he should just do it already. After a pause, they both turn towards each other at the same time - and accidentally smash their faces into each other.
 * Mikaela in the Transformers film improvised and used this as an excuse why Sam was acting nervous and jittery when his parents came into his room: "He was hiding a girl." And his parents fell for it enthusiastically, actually really happy about it. Of course the real reason was that anxious alien robots were in the backyard.
 * The entire Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince film is just one cockblock after another for Harry. After Dumbledore ruins Harry's chance with a cute waitress and Hermione smacks him for even looking at Romilda Vane, he then has this happen twice with his true love Ginny. The first time, Ron sits down in the couch between them with an oversized plate of pies. And it just gets better when a bathrobe-clad Ginny is interrupted in kissing Harry when a gaggle of Deatheaters come right the frig out of nowhere and wreak havoc upon The Burrow. Later he finally gets one tiny kiss...and she's gone when he opens his eyes. Oh well, maybe next time. After Voldemort's defeated, or something.
 * Done again in the beginning of The Deathly Hallows Part One when Ginny asks Harry to zip up her dress. Then George walks in...
 * Pfft. This is obviously just karma for Harry being a third wheel.
 * Imagine Me and You: the long-awaited make-out scene between Luce and Rachel is interrupted by the sound of Rachel's husband's voice.
 * The X-Files: Fight the Future: When Mulder and Scully are about to kiss, Scully is Unless, of course, you watch the blooper in which Gillian throws David against the wall, kissing him, or a real deal deleted scene, in which the two actually do kiss, prompting Mulder to pick Scully up and go...offscreen.
 * In Notting Hill just before the "I'm also just a girl, standing in front of a boy" speech, Will and Anna are interrupted by a random customer and by a phone call from Will's mother.
 * From Enchanted, during the ball scene, Robert and Giselle were dancing together, including Robert singing softly in Giselle's ear (when he earlier claimed that he didn't sing), leaning quite close to each other, when Nancy and Edward interrupted them.
 * Tallahassee does this in Zombieland.

Tallahassee: Hey..."

"Charlie: (after making out with Jessie under a waterfall) Okay, I'll admit it. This is the most romantic moment of my entire life. (Louis screams and cannonballs into the water near them) And now it's over."
 * The best part is, he accidentally ruined the moment by coming in and asking if they could help him build a pillow fort.
 * Ron Howard's character Genius from the MST3K-featured movie Village of the Giants is this early in the film.
 * In the apparently-never-heard-of movie Space Camp, Kevin and Kathryn's kiss is interrupted by two of the camp counselors, because they weren't supposed to be outside of the camp after dark.
 * Superbad - "You just cockblocked McLovin, man! He's our friend, we should be guiding his cock."
 * My gods, the moment killing in Teen Titans Trouble in Tokyo drove the Robin/Starfire shippers nuts. "No! Why did you walk in now? They were about to, and Robin's wearing those!"
 * Louis in Kangaroo Jack, part of the Running Gag on his Ditz / Born Unlucky character. Charlie lampshades it.


 * In the first Christopher Reeve Superman movie, Supes goes back in time to save Lois from death, the two are just about to smooch -- and then Jimmy Olsen runs onto the scene and wrecks everything.
 * Total Recall. As Quaid and Melina are kissing in the Martian catacombs, the rebels show up and take them into custody.
 * In Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Shu Lien was apologizing to Mu Bai for letting the sword get stolen, believing that was the reason why he had came to see her. He said that he did not hear about the stolen sword until he arrived in town, implying he came specifically to confess his feelings towards her. When he was about to say it, a servant came in, interrupting them.
 * In The Fighter, an intended "afternoon delight" between Micky and Charlene (complete with lingering shots of Charlene in Black Bra and Panties) is torpedoed when Micky's mother and half-sisters show up at Charlene's door to tell her off. Cat fighting ensues.
 * Jason starts to do this to himself in Mystery Team as he shares an extended embrace with Kelly, by commenting that her skin feels like what he imagines a dolphin's does. Before this sinks in, Duncan vomits dog urine on the two of them.
 * This makes up Trick's entire plot with Mark and Gabriel's attempts to have sex being constantly thwarted by demanding friends. Interestingly, this is actually implied in the end to be a good thing as Mark and Gabriel were originally planning on a one-night stand only but ended up forming a genuine emotional connection somewhere amidst their continual interrupted meetings.
 * In The Weekend, Lindsey Vuolo and David McElfresh are interrupted during foreplay when Beau Allulli and Daniel Bartkevicz set off an alarm while peeping in on them through his Window/NSFW

Literature
"Harry: OI! There's a war going on here!"
 * A much earlier example of the meddling robot (a la C-3PO/Dot Matrix) appears in the Robert Sheckley short story Human Man's Burden. Every time the man and the woman start edging towards expressing their true feelings, an obnoxious marrying-bot bursts in, ruining the moment. Some other robots finally physically restrain the intruder long enough to allow the couple to clinch.
 * Thursday Next's time-traveling father does this to Thursday and Landen in the first book when he shows up (freezing time for everyone but himself and Thursday) to have a chat with his daughter about the invention of the banana -- while she and Landen are having a moment.
 * That's exactly what happens in Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows, when Ginny invites Harry to her bedroom to give him his birthday present (a kiss). How far they would've gone is debatable, but they clearly would've gone past "Thank you for the gift." if Ron hadn't shown up to assassinate the moment. In the film Ron is replaced by George, who knows exactly what he's doing.
 * Later, Harry takes a turn as moment killer for Ron and Hermione - though he does have a good reason.


 * In the third Kate Daniels novel, Kate and Curran are having hot and heavy makeouts in a hot tub when oblivious Derek comes in and asks Curran's opinion on another matter. After he leaves, Kate shuts Curran down cold, the break giving her a chance to regain her willpower and her resolution not to get romantically involved.
 * In Starfighters of Adumar, Wedge and Iella, who have been undergoing something like a decade (both real time and In Universe) of Will They or Won't They?, are giving little hints about hooking up again, but then someone bursts into the room next door to start a duel for honor, and they pull back.
 * Of course, they get together right after that, so the moment-killer / neighbor-killer was only so effective. (He succeeded at the other of his goals!)
 * Oh so many times in The Darkest Powers Trilogy. Especially with Chloe and Derek. Simon is a master cockblocker.
 * A hilarious moment in Master and Commander has a Mr. Timely showing up at Jack's door just as his girlfriend is sticking her cleavage in his face so he can see what the necklace he just gave her looks like on.
 * In Time Enough for Love, when Lazarus and Maureen are headed off for an adulterous tryst, their moment is well and truly murdered by the abrupt appearance of Maureen's five year old son Woodrow, who stowed away in the car in the hopes of getting a trip to the amusement park. Their reluctance to continue is prompted not so much by concern for Woody's innocence as much as his complete inability to keep his mouth shut.
 * Happens multiple times in Audrey Wait. Random Accident varieties are from the customers in the Scooper Dooper, and Sharon is the jealous rival type.

Live Action TV
"Maryanne: They didn't need any God damn towels!"
 * Named from a running gag in an episode of Scrubs. Whenever J.D. worked up the nerve to ask Kim out on a date, Elliot would step in and chat with her girl-pal. Cue title-card: Elliot Reid: Moment Killer. The series itself is filled with many other examples.
 * Elliot/J.D. had this happen to them in one of the earliest episodes, when J.D. is growing closer to Elliot and were about to kiss for the first time, only to be interrupted by Dr. Cox. J.D. noted that in such a situation he had 48 hours to actually kiss her before he entered "The Friend Zone" and spent the next two days trying to get that kiss. Right at the buzzer they were about to kiss again, only for Elliot to confess their work life was too hectic to consider a relationship at that point. Note that J.D. and Elliot are the Official Couple of the series, so that was just the start of their Unresolved Sexual Tension.
 * I Carly:
 * Spencer does this to all 3 of them: he cockblocks Carly hard in her attempt to kiss Shane in iSaw Him First; when Freddie hits on Carly in iDon't Wanna Fight, a flush is heard from Spencer's toilet; and as for Seddie fans, Spencer breaking in to find his banjo before they even answer Carly's question if Sam and Freddie liked their kiss.
 * The episode iSaw Him First is quite full of moment killers where both girls attempt to kiss Shane first in all futility.
 * In iSaved Your Life Mrs. Benson abruptly interrupts as Carly and Freddie are in the middle of a heated make out session. In his bed. With Freddie having just come out of the shower, wearing only ''a bathrobe.
 * In Zoey 101, one of I Carly's spiritual predecessors, this becomes a Running Gag. Every time Chase tries to tell Zoey he's in love with her, someone always interrupts. Fittingly, he ends up telling her completely by accident.
 * Friends
 * Ross and Rachel. In "The One with the Blackout", Ross is about to declare his feelings to Rachel on the balcony, then gets attacked by a psycho cat who belongs, of course, to Paolo.
 * Also, in "The One Where the Monkey Gets Away", Ross is about to declare his feelings to Rachel again, when her ex-fiance barges into the apartment.
 * This happens again with Rachel in The One Where Chandler Doesn't Like Dogs when she is about to reveal her feeling to her assistant Tag until he realizes that his car is being stolen.
 * Frasier
 * Constantly occurring in the seventh season finale. Nearly every supporting character from the episode enters at one point or another, interrupting.
 * Also in the seventh season, Frasier and Roz come quite close to hooking up when Kenny barges in unknowingly interrupting them. Of course Frasier and Roz are better suited as Just Friends.
 * Parodied in the SM:TV Live Chums sketches, "Me and Cat alone in the flat..." However, Mary being Mary, she understood they had to leave.
 * In the Firefly episode "Objects in Space", Simon and Kaylee are talking, one thing leads to another, they both lean in, about to kiss for the first time, and then Book interrupts by accident.
 * Simon also has the dubious distinction of having killed at least one moment on his own, though. When alone with Kaylee, in a freak show of sorts, he gives as reason that he is attracted to her, that she is the only woman in his life who is neither married, a "professional," or a close blood relative. He is, of course, trying to say that Kaylee is the only girl for him, but - boy - does he mess it up or, as quoth Wash, "Oh my God! It's grotesque! Oh, and there's something in a jar."
 * Mal had another moment, compounded by Kaylee's reaction. Simon and Kaylee get drunk. Next morning, Mal finds them fast asleep in the bar, cuddled up together. He pauses to double-take then deliberately kicks them awake. Even Kaylee's a little startled by the situation she and Simon find themselves in - Simon naturally panicks and tries to reassure Mal that he would never do anything disrespectful to Kaylee such as randomly sleeping around with her. It's fairly obvious what he means but Kaylee misinterprets it as him not wanting to sleep with her and takes it so badly she abandons him at the bar.
 * In Farscape Aeryn and John are stranded, apparently going to die. So of course they kiss and start taking off their clothes. Then D'Argo shows up, doing his Big Damn Heroes impression - easily a Crowning Moment of Funny what with Aeryn's pissed-off voice ("Someone's docking?!") and D'Argo's obvious amusement. Also notable is that Aeryn manages to be the moment killer in most of their future romantic moments. Though attacking spaceships, imminent death and Scorpius-take-overs do manage to contribute to aborted romantic moments.
 * John manages to do this when he walks in on Chiana and D'argo in the... er, middle of things, shall we say. Chiana, being Chiana, doesn't really mind the intrusion, D'argo however does, and calls Crichton on "killing the moment" for them (warning him in non too vague terms to please not do it again).
 * And of course the final episode (before the movies) had John and Aeryn in a row boat with John proposing
 * In The Office fourth season finale, Jim is about to, which the show had been hinting at in recent episodes, when asks  to marry him.
 * Earlier seasons often featured Jim and Pam having a moment, only for it to be interrupted by the people they were actually with at the time...
 * A very unique version happens in the third season finale of Angel. Cordelia asked Angel to meet her at romantic spot on the beach to talk about their feelings, and very strange things happen to prevent that from happening. It sorta Makes Sense In Context.
 * There's also the end of "Waiting in the Wings", when Angel is trying to tell Cordy about his feelings for her...and then Groo shows up.
 * This happens quite literally in Life On Mars. Sam Tyler is leaning over the table to kiss WPC Cartwright... when his future self has an induced heart attack.
 * Count how many times Gene Hunt interrupts a heart-to-heart talk between Sam and Annie throughout both seasons. He's paid back in Ashes to Ashes, though.
 * Ashes to Ashes - Every time Gene and Alex get near each other, Shaz pops in with some vital bit of info or other. manages to pull off one hell of an epic cock block. Mind you, that was accomplished with  so maybe he deserves the credit after all...
 * Doctor Who - In a hearts-to-hearts between the Doctor and the Master, The Doctor almost persuaded the Master to come and travel with him through the universe. The Master is going all teary-eyed and mellow, there's a declaration of affection on the Doctor's part -- and then Wilfred shouts his way into the conversation. Arg.
 * Turnabout is fairplay, though, since the Doctor himself is often guilty of this; most recently in "The Lodger", when Craig, his landlord and Hapless Nice Guy, has invited his best friend Sophie around to finally admit to her that he's in love with her. He's just about to blurt it out when cue the Doctor, having decided to rewire the house's electricity.
 * Smallville: Clark and Lois are about to kiss for the first time, "officially", when there is a shout of "Oh my god!" and Clark's ex, Lana Lang, walks in.
 * Buffy the Vampire Slayer
 * Buffy and Angel when they first kiss -- Angel vamps out unexpectedly. This is how Buffy finds out about Angel's true nature.
 * A more long-lasting moment killer is when Faith started to teeter towards The Dark Side and Angel managed to capture her before she killed Xander. While talking her down and actually getting her to listen, Wesley burst in with a Watchers Council squad to apprehend her. This effectively ruined any chance to stop her before she made a full Face Heel Turn. Although this was the start of a unique friendship between her and Angel because of being Not So Different.
 * The beginning of Season Two. Willow and Xander are out for a nighttime stroll, and Xander playfully dabs Willow's nose with ice cream. He's just about to kiss it off when they are interrupted by a vampire, which Buffy promptly arrives back in town to kill. Willow later attempts to recreate the moment, but by that point, Xander is back to being all hung up over Buffy.
 * Faith spies Scott Hope with another girl, knowing that he had dumped Buffy. So she swings into action and pretends to be an ex who has\had received several ST Ds during their relationship in a bid to get back at Scott for Buffy.
 * In True Blood, Tara and Eggs' first near-makeout is interrupted by Maryanne's servant carrying towels. Maryanne is not happy about this.

"Arthur: It's not like you to get nervous, is it, Merlin?
 * In Merlin, Merlin accidently interrupts a tender moment between Gwen and Arthur.
 * Merlin and Arthur constantly serve as their own moment killers. The two of them are always stumbling into tender moments, only for one of them to freak out and toss a sarcastic mood-breaker into the conversation at the last minute. However, Arthur doesn't quite succeed at it in The Tears of Uther Pendragon, while Merlin is helping Arthur on with his armor before the battle... the moment happens, and the moment-killing element is too little, too late.

Merlin: I'm not nervous.

Arthur: No?

Merlin: Because I trust in your destiny.

Arthur: Have you been on a sider?!

Merlin: It is your fate to be the greatest King Camelot has ever known... and your victory today will be remembered, by every age; 'till the end of time. long silence

Arthur: There are times, Merlin, when you display a sort of... I don't know what it is. I want to say - it's not wisdom. But yes. That's what it is. long silence fraught with meaningful looks Oh, don't look so pleased, the rest of the time you're a complete idiot."

"Laura: Why are they shooting at us?
 * Dan for Blair and Chuck on Gossip Girl in the season two episode where she has decided to take the chance and tell Chuck that she loves him. Ironic since she originally turned to Dan for help on how to get Chuck into bed without telling him she loved him (he refused to put out unless she confessed love and she didn't want to let him win) and Dan gave her a little speech that convinced her that it was better to take the chance and risk her pride for a shot at happiness. Dan then does a 180 and realizes he hates Blair so he intercepts her on her way to see Chuck and basically tells her she's doomed if she confesses love to Chuck Bass. She tells him he's wrong, but when she's face to face with Chuck she loses nerve and they end up arguing instead.
 * Also Vanessa in season one, when Dan and Serena try to have sex for the first time. Dan does it to Chuck and Blair again in the season three finale. Chuck's on one knee, box in hand, says "Blair, will you-" and then Dan punches Chuck
 * Finn for Puck and Quinn, twice, in the same episode of Glee. First when the two were about to kiss, and then when Puck tells her he wants to be with her and their baby and she tells him he's special.
 * A horrifically literal example pops up in the Dollhouse episode "Getting Closer." Topher and Bennett do outright kiss.
 * The Mighty Boosh has a couple, albeit somewhat variated: in the first season episode 'Tundra' Howard and Vince are tied up and about to be frozen to death by the evil black frost. Vince and Howard break into a crimp; then Howard suddenly blurts out that he loves Vince. Vince starts to laugh, but when Howard becomes angry and hurt, Vince admits he loves him back. Then, seconds later, Dixon Bainbridge enters the ice cave and spoils the moment. It's variated because a) They aren't looking into each others eyes and b) it's somewhat unclear if Howard means he loves Vince in a platonic or romantic way. It's fairly obvious though that Vince meant his declaration romantically. The second, more brutal moment killer comes about in the episode 'Jungle'. Vince becomes fed up with Howard's constant worship of his mentor, Tommy, and asks Howard if he was in love with Tommy. Howard laughs it off; then Vince moves closer to Howard, looks into his eyes and asks if he ever kissed him. The moment is spoiled when Howard storms off.
 * Toward the end of Chuck's second season, Chuck and Sarah finally make out and start to have sex, but when Chuck gets a condom from his wallet, he only finds an IOU from Morgan. This sufficiently kills the moment that their relationship stalls for another season.
 * On Dark Angel the moment killer was Logan's eternally helpful PT, Bling and killing moments was very nearly his entire raison d'etre.
 * A non-romantic example in Supernatural.
 * And then, of course, two seconds later when things have gotten tense again-- "HEY, ASSBUTT!"
 * Remington Steele: According to Steele, the entire universe was involved in a vast conspiracy to prevent him from getting chummy with Laura Holt.

Steele: Because we were kissing. Somebody always shoots at us when we're kissing!"

": "Next time, we deactivate the comm system.""
 * Happened at least once between Wes and Jen in Power Rangers Time Force. And even after everything was spout the two never kissed.
 * Bones - That goddamn clown Bones.
 * Happens a few times in early episodes of Get Smart - in the pilot, Smart realizes 99 is a girl (after quite awhile), they draw closer, closer, and his dog Fang lets out a bark. 99 says "He's right." and they go after the bad guys.
 * An non-romantic version in The Pacific: Sledge and Snafu have just shared a sweet moment in which Snafu wordlessly comforts his friend over the death of his dog by leaning against his shoulder...and then Hamm barges in to announce that his brother was on a ship that was attacked by kamikazes. (Snafu: "Wow.")
 * Alias - Several moments between Sydney and Vaughn were killed: at the end of The Counteragent, Asst. Director Kendall interrupts a particularly tender moment between the two; at the beginning of Phase One, Weiss bursts into the "flirting corner" with exceptionally awful timing,.
 * In the Fringe episode "Jacksonville," Olivia pulls one on herself, and yet another happens.
 * In the Better Off Ted episode "The Great Repression," Veridian's productivity plummets when Love Is in The Air due to the company's new lenient sexual harassment policy. Ted and Veronica are just about to succumb and start making out too when Ted's daughter walks in and kills the moment. Ted and Veronica realize they can harness the moment-killing power of children, and they have the day-care class marched through the office periodically to make the employees stop thinking about sex and get back to work.
 * Happens plenty of times in The Big Bang Theory, usually between Penny and Leonard. The biggest one would be mid-season two, in the Just Friends period between their first date and their official hook up. Leonard's mom, a ruthless neuropsychologist, was visiting and quickly reduced Penny to tears discussing her father issues and just being there incited Leonard's own parental issues. Seeking solace with each other, Leonard and Penny ended up in her apartment doing tequila shooters and other drinking games. One thing led to another and they were in Penny's bed. Leonard was giddy that this was finally happening and referenced how his Mom would interpret the Freudian implications of what was happening (basically they represented each others parents, Leonard was Penny's father and Penny was Leonard's mother). This disturbed Penny enough to ruin the mood, though the next morning they both silently agreed to just not talk about it.
 * Also, Sheldon does this many times by knocking on Leonard's door and interrupting with something unimportant. For example: he wants Leonard to participate in a card trick. He also spent some time with Penny trying to decipher the meaning of a tie on Leonard's doorknob, which Penny explained as "Do Not Disturb." Sheldon ended up calling him to let him know "Message received."
 * When Leonard and Penny end up alone in a hotel room in Big Sur, Raj walks in and climbs into the other bed. He also asks if they want to watch Bridget Jones' Diary.
 * This is a Running Gag in the season three premiere. Leonard's come home from a long trip to the North Pole, and Penny has missed him very much. While there's no shortage of kissing, it's always interrupted, right up until the end of the episode.
 * In The X Files episode 'Small Potatoes' Scully is just about to kiss a shapeshifter disguised as Mulder... when the real Mulder bursts in and kills the mood. However, that moment killer was appreciated by all involved and watching. And in true Mulder and Scully sytle, they never speak of that moment again.
 * The Dean's interuption of Jeff and Slater in Community episode Interpretive Dance just when they are starting to makeout.
 * Almost every serious romance between main characters in Star Trek is replete with moments where someone phones in and tells one or both to report to the bridge.

"Diana: Oh, you're still here.
 * Being Human rather enjoys this trope. While Nina and George are an already established couple, there is a scene in the third series that is just one moment killer after another. They are attempting foreplay and are first interrupted by her hair getting caught on his glasses. Then the pen in his pocket makes it difficult to move. Then Mitchell obliviously walks in, climbs over the bed, takes something off the nightstand, and rushes out. Nina tries to recapture the moment, but George just whines and pouts.
 * Gilmore Girls had Kirk and his night terrors interrupting Luke and Lorelai's first real kiss.
 * In the season seven premiere of How I Met Your Mother, Robin is about confess her resurfaced feelings for Barney when his phone rings. This puts a serious damper on the moment, seeing as the caller is Barney's new romantic interest and Robin actually ends up playing Cyrano for them.
 * Similarly, in the S7 episode 'Disaster Averted,' we see an almost-kiss in the rain between Robin and Barney interupted by Robin's dad calling her.
 * In the fifth season finale, after Robin crashes at Ted's after being dumped by Don, the two come close to kissing after having too much to drink while Ted is trying to comfort her. However, at the last moment, Robin accidentally knocks off his baseball cap to reveal his hair, which he had bleached hideously blond on a dare earlier in the episode, causing both of them burst out laughing hysterically. Future!Ted notes that "And that's how dying my hair stopped your Aunt Robin and I from doing something we both would have regretted."
 * During Lucy and Jimmy Moon's first unofficial date, the two are watching a romantic French film and about to share a moment when Eric bounds into the room with his guitar. This was actually a revenge ploy by Mary, who was angry at Lucy for some reason or another.
 * Happens with these two again in the Valentine's Day episode. Jimmy's about to give Lucy her first kiss when an usher pops in and announces that Simon, Nigel, Lynn and Ruthie were caught acting up and have been kicked out of the theater.
 * Happens between Maddy and Jonathan in several episodes of Jonathan Creek. Most of them interrupted by someone from the case calling or showing up on their doorstep or a small misunderstanding turned Up to Eleven by Maddie (finding a pulse monitor on Jonathan when they're about to have sex, spotting him in another woman's car on the eve of his birthday).
 * Late Night with Conan O'Brien had a character played by Jon Glaser who could ruin any moment by saying one word. That word?.
 * On Thirty Rock, Liz invokes this trope to get in the way of the weird sexual tension between Jack and his mother-in-law, played by Mary Steenburgen. Liz proudly declares that, "All my life, I have been the third wheel that prevents people from having sex." Apparently she was nicknamed "The Blocker" in college.

Liz: That's what they all say"


 * from Mad TV, "My Gay Dad" which is about a girl whose gay dad steals her boyfriends.

Music

 * Queen's song "Tie Your Mother Down" is about the narrator taking...drastic measures to avoid his Love Interest's family ruining their moment.
 * Billy Joel's song "Leave a Tender Moment Alone" is about this but the Moment Killer is the narrator himself breaking up the moment between himself the girl he fancies.

Theatre

 * In Act 2 Scene 3 of Othello, Othello is called down from being in bed with Desdemona to break up a fight between Cassio and Roderigo. It's implied that they interrupted his attempt to consumate his marriage.

Video Games
"Snake: I need you.
 * In Persona 3, during the Yakushima Island vacation, the Main Character goes out to comfort Yukari after she runs off upon discovering that . After a brief and somewhat stormy conversation, depending on the player's dialog choices, the Main Character will move to embrace Yukari... and then the two will fly apart when Junpei shows up to bring them back inside. True to form, Junpei asks "Did I miss something?"
 * In a cut scene in Max Payne 2, Max and Mona are in an alley heavily making out to the point where Mona is leaning against a wall with her legs wrapped around Max and her shirt pulled up to her neck and Max *ahem* below that, when they hear Mooks yelling and running towards them. They then have to end their previous activities.
 * In Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, Naked Snake managed to cock-block himself. EVA moved in to kiss him and was suggesting a little more when he out of the blue decided to offer her a roasted snake, while moving his head away from her.
 * Later on, he declares his love for her!... except he doesn't:

EVA: ... Say that for me one more time.

Snake: I need you. I can't pilot the WIG all by myself."

"Marta: *blush* Your hands are so warm, Emil.
 * Mass Effect - Shepard and your chosen Love Interest are getting quite close (should you pursue the romantic subplot between them) when Joker interrupts. Shepard can accuse him of doing it intentionally.
 * At the end of Uncharted Drakes Fortune, just as Nate and Elena are leaning in suggestively for a kiss, Sully comes out of nowhere and says "You two got a funny idea of romantic!" therefore breaking up the romance... and making it a dreaded Almost Kiss. Nice job, Sully.
 * Jak and Daxter - Daxter. Daxter Daxter Daxter Daxter Daxter. Turning a kiss into an Almost Kiss once would be forgivable, but doing it twice?
 * The Legend of Zelda Phantom Hourglass, Tetra finally gets better from being Taken for Granite, and Link and Tetra look one another in the eyes. Smiling, they reach their hands out to one another in slow-motion, and just as they're about to touch,.
 * Becomes a running gag in Ace Attorney, when Detective Gumshoe walks in, accompanied by a loud "Thump" and exclaims "Hope I'm not interrupting anything!" Cue the icy stares and Gumshoe sulking off. After which Phoenix will promptly call him over, it was a running gag in the bonus fifth case where Gumshoe would then retort "You're doing this on purpose aren't you? Making a gumshoe run around while on duty! And on top of that you drag me here! I've seen happier people at funerals!"
 * Final Fantasy IX has one scene involving Steiner and Beatrix together... which gets wrecked when Baku walks into them, sneezing loudly.
 * The Curse of Monkey Island - Guybrush has just proposed to Elaine, and put the engagement ring on her finger, when Wally appears and innocently informs them that the ring has a huge voodoo curse on it. Elaine is not happy.
 * In Earth Bound Zero, right after Ninten and Ana confess their love for each other, Teddy bursts in and a giant robot attacks them, Real moodkiller there.
 * In Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World, this is Tenebrae's specialty. If an EmilxMarta scene ever gets interrupted, chances are good that Tenebrae has something to do with it (of course, not that other characters aren't guilty of this also). It even gets lampshaded a few times.

Emil: *blush* You think so?

Tenebrae: Ah, two young hearts all aflutter. How sweet.

Emil: "Aflutter"? Who says stuff like that anymore?

Tenebrae: I do. You got a problem with that?

Emil: *laugh* You're funny, Tenebrae.

Marta: Way to kill the moment, you two..."


 * Happens a couple of times in Black Sigil. Every time Kairu and Isa seem about to kiss, Juji comes in and breaks them up.
 * In one of the street cases of LA Noire, Cole Phelps become one of this when the suspect and his girlfriend is having a romantic moment.
 * In Solatorobo, Red does this to Dade and Vanille. His sister Chocolat also does it accidentally when she tells a group to Leave the Two Lovebirds Alone too loudly and the lovebirds in question overhear her.
 * Jenon has an unfortunate tendency towards this in Blaze Union. Early into the story, there's a scene where protagonist Garlot and his childhood friend Siskier have a heart-to-heart while waiting for their enemies to walk into their trap--and right when Siskier has finished giving Garlot some much-needed encouragement, Jenon comes charging in with the announcement that it's time to fight. And then pauses to ask Siskier what's wrong and why her face is so red. Siskier is not amused.
 * Much later, in the final chapter of the canon route, there's a scene after the battle of the day has been won where Gulcasa and Nessiah take a few moments to praise each other on their good teamwork. Their happiness is, of course, short-lived: Jenon comes charging in to interrogate Gulcasa with no small lack of subtlety or sensitivity, leaving him very confused and upset. Nessiah then cuts in to inform Jenon that now is kind of a bad time, and proceeds to drag Gulcasa off so that the two of them can have peace and quiet. Among other things, this scene is very much meant to be a more somber Call Back to the early one between Garlot and Siskier.
 * In yet another scene from the canon route (taking place before the Gulcasa and Nessiah one), Siskier comes out to chat with Garlot one night while the latter is worrying about the future, and over the course of their discussion, she comes very close to confessing her feelings for him several times but continually cuts herself off. Just when Garlot has finally figured out that something is weird about the way she's acting, there's a surprise attack from the enemy.

Visual Novels
""You mean despite his manly structure and power, The Chief of Police...likes to play with puppets?!""
 * The Judge does this many times in Ace Attorney. Many a tense moment is spoiled by a him misunderstanding words or saying something stupid. For example when Edgeworth is saying about how and the suspense music starts up, only for the music to stop abruptly as the Judge says this stupid remark:

""Oh wait, you mean someone who uses someone else! Never mind.""
 * He does however a lot of the time correct himself like in the above example:


 * In the Fate/stay night games, Sakura tends to walk in at bad moments. This is especially bad in Fate/hollow ataraxia where she manages to walk in on just seemingly every scene that Shirou and Rider have together. Perhaps justified though--Sakura is Rider's Master, also likes Shirou, and the few times she doesn't walk in,

Web Animation
"Homestar: Ah, good evening ungodly couple, my name is Waiter, I will be your Homestar for this evening. Can I start you two off with a glass of "Breaking Up", or perhaps "Never Seeing Each Other Again" with capers?"
 * In the Homestar Runner cartoon Date Nite, Homestar and Strong Bad do this on purpose to Marzipan and The Cheat.


 * In one of the early Bionicle animations, Hewkii and Macku appear to be about to kiss when they turn around and realize their friends are right behind them. Luminescent Blush ensues.
 * Then, of course, that moment got Killed Off for Real via Retcon, since Bionicle characters aren't supposed to be capable of having romantic feelings.

Web Comics
"Pierrot: Sorry about the whole Fiyena thing.
 * Forgath has become this in Goblins whenever he shows up as Minmax and Kin discuss their feelings...and lately
 * This becomes a Running Gag in Kid Radd.
 * Casey and Andy, Strip 627: Andy pops in to inform Casey of the arrival of Jenn's time-traveling daughter, and the necessity to embark on further temporal misadventures to save the timeline... while he's in the middle of proposing to his girlfriend. Of course, Mary is very understanding, and even lets Casey go off with Andy to save the timeline. "Cockblocked by God. That's gotta suck"
 * Gunnerkrigg Court:
 * Chapter 18 of begins with Kat walking in on her parents as they're getting intimate. Much cheer was had when they carried on after she had left the room.
 * Also, in Chapter 30, with Parley having admitted her love for Andrew, as they're moving in for their first kiss, Antimony interrupts them by continuing the discussion they were having beforehand.
 * Then seconds later does it again when the moment is in danger of reestablishing itself. Kat has to drag Antimony off.
 * Misfile - Rumisiel plays the Moment Killer on Ash and Em in an early strip, sending their relationship straight down Belligerent Sexual Tension alley. And here we have Ash and Em having a significant moment, with Em just on the verge of saying that... "Y Helo Thar, Missi!"
 * Order of the Stick:
 * # 316: Haley attempts to kiss Elan during New Year's Eve, but can't bring herself to do it. When she finally gets the courage, another girl jumps in and kisses Elan instead.
 * "Just curious, do you get XP for killing this dramatic moment?"
 * The Adventures of Dr. McNinja: A velociraptor-riding bandito (roll with it) makes a very cool speech at the end of this strip. Then the doctor has to go and ruin it.
 * El Goonish Shive had this often, usually with Sarah doing the moment-killing -- and occasionally realizing that she'd just killed a moment. Also Lampshaded in the process of Aversion when Tedd asks Grace why she's leading him away from Ellen and Nanase as if they need privacy for some reason.
 * The Demonic Duck
 * In Eight Bit Theater, Black Mage accidentally killed his own moment. The one time when it seemed he might be slowly winning the heart of White Mage, he casually let it slip that his Hadoken siphons love out of the universe every time it's used... and that he sacrificed several children to obtain the spell. She didn't take it too well. Tough luck for BM, but if he ever reads this page, he'll feel better knowing he killed something.
 * Except that he would probably want those moments back. And this is not the only time Black Mage cockblocked himself either.
 * The title character of Experimental Comic Kotone is a Moment Killer, a theory that Konstantin forcibly tests out here
 * Agatha and Gil's Almost Kiss in Girl Genius is interrupted by an angry professor on a mechanized Gatling gun carrier. This fact, all by itself, tells you everything you need to know about the comic. Gil's reaction to being shot at is an indignant 'hey!' that is clearly a reaction to the moment being killed rather than him almost being killed.
 * Sluggy Freelance: Torg and Zoe have something like this happen a few times.
 * In the chapter "Summer Vacation", Zoe feels attracted to Torg after he does something heroic (if stupid). Even Kiki comments that they're going to smooch. But when Zoe starts telling how brave she thinks he was, he obliviously says that if she was impressed by it, another woman he has a crush on is "going to flip", and goes to call her. The moment is killed so thoroughly Zoe stops showing any such inclination for years.
 * Later, having realized he's in love with her, Torg tries to win Zoe's heart with a giant bejewelled necklace he found in a pyramid as a Christmas present. She's quite taken with the gift, until she puts it on and it turns her into a camel.
 * Subverted in "Love Potion," when Torg and Zoe look at each other by accident while they think they're under the influence of a potion that makes people madly attracted to the first person they see. As they're staring at each other, Gwynn pops up to tell them the potion's effects have worn off. After she leaves, Torg finally asks Zoe out and she readily accepts.
 * The big moment killer comes in the same chapter, during said date. Just as he's contemplating leaning over and kissing her, he suddenly finds lips touching his - but they belong to an immortal assassin who is extremely obsessed with him. To protect Zoe, he has to insult her and then laugh it off when said assassin kicks her in the face, right before dragging him away to get married. Epic moment kill.
 * Done for all sorts of drama in the "bROKEN" Story Arc. Zoe has just realized that Torg's in love with her, and, to her own amazement, that she loves him back. And Torg's rushing to her location right at that moment.
 * Deliberately set up in Blip. When Hester gets set up on an unwanted date, she arranges for her friend K to "accidentally" run into them and act as a third wheel for the remainder of the date.
 * Nerf Now, this strip. Scout - an impatient, twitchy loudmouth - is of course a natural Moment Killer.
 * Sandra and Woo: Soccer ball, apply directly to the forehead!
 * Freefall had a particulary vicious one. And full-on Cerebus Syndrome after that.
 * Dubious Company has a moment that acts as both a romance killer and a heroism moment killer. Walter and Tiren are being chased by Mary, Gary, and Marty and reach a cliff. Walter rips off his shirt (he has wings) and grabs Tiren. Meanwhile, the rest of the crew is climbing up said cliff. Leading to this exchange. Did I mention Tiren is Walter's first mate?
 * Knights Errant: Wilfrid the Heartless is the killer of many things- "the moment" among them. Like here, where he kills the moment so hard that the moment's ancestors probably felt it.
 * In Spacetrawler, Pierrot manages to ruin his own moment. When his love interest Emily is outnumbered and outgunned, Pierrot swoops in on a hover bike, gun a-blazing, and then takes Emily in his arms and kisses her. Then...

Emily: Holy hell, do you know how to ruin a mood."

Web Original
"Jared Clayton: "Less fucking, more playing. Keep it in your damn pants and maybe watch your fucking backs for once? Wanna wind up like Anthony? Thought not. Wanna argue? I won this game. Fuck you. You have a godsend of a mentor, and he's telling you to wise up.""
 * In the fourth book of Shadow of the Templar, Jeremy, normally calm and emotionally unaffected, suddenly kisses Simon passionately and seems to be about to tell him something important. Of course, they're interrupted before he can get it out.
 * In Awkward, Alex performs this function for Lester and Steph. Lester being the target of his stalkerish affections, it's entirely intentional. Lester doesn't take it well.
 * In Spoony's Vlog/Review of the New Moon movie, he comments on how Bella and Jacob are about to kiss several times before something stupid happens, such as, as he put it, a guy runs in yelling "Hey you guys I made muffins!!".
 * calls Tom in Echo Chamber's "Trope Of The Week" Unresolved Sexual Tension and ruins a moment between him and.
 * A variant of this trope occurs in SOTF-TV, where, after a traumatic first day, Amber Lyons and Sterling Odair start to get... "intimate". Unfortunately, however, each team has a mentor which can give advice through the collars. Hilarity Ensues.


 * In The Nostalgia Chick's countdown of songs about sex, the Chick manages to kill the moment herself when, after Todd in The Shadows agrees to sleep with her (out of boredom) she puts on one of the songs from her list and he immediately runs away.
 * There's also Mignon, her puppy, who likes to nom on her mistress even when Dark Nella is being all threatening.

Western Animation
"Raven: We're having a moment here. Don't ruin it."
 * Teen Titans: Plenty of these in the series and several in Teen Titans Trouble in Tokyo, between Robin and Starfire. Beast Boy and Raven had, not one, but two of these. The first one was after a tender hug, Cyborg promptly threw a ball of dirty laundry at Beast Boy's head. It Makes Sense in Context. The second was killed by Beast Boy himself, much to Raven's annoyance.

"Robin: (singsong) Oh, Cybooooorg...."
 * This is actually quite a common occurrence in Teen Titans, whenever two (or more) characters share a quiet moment, be it romantic or otherwise. For instance, when Starfire was cheering Cyborg up about not being normal at the end of "Deception", the rest of the Titans show up to wrestle Cyborg into a pink dress as an "initiation".

"Leela: Looks like everybody's got somebody. Except me.
 * Avatar: The Last Airbender.
 * In "The Earth King", the group was parting ways for a little time, and Aang wanted to confess his feelings to Katara. Just as he said, "I kinda want to tell you something..." Sokka swings his arm around him and excitedly talks about where they are going.
 * Earlier Aang finds himself in the rather odd situation of having the person he's trying to talk to be the moment killer: when he first tells Katara how he feels she's so completely not paying attention that she actually shushes him.
 * Zuko and Katara have a gentle moment where Katara was pondering whether to use her healing powers on Zuko's scar... when Aang bursts through the cave wall to come to the rescue. Word of God has repeatedly said that nothing romantic was implied in that scene anyway, except maybe a cruel "never-going-to-happen" Ship Tease.
 * Zuko also picks a very bad time for a chat with Sokka...
 * Although this doesn't actually kill the moment so much as delay it for a few minutes.
 * And even later when Zuko sits between Aang and Katara when Aang wanted to sit next to Katara. Zuko is really bad at this. His Fan Nickname is Prince Zuko: Master Cock-blocker.
 * Runs in the family: Azula does it to Zuko and Mai during their sunset picnic. Azula does it on purpose. Zuko simply doesn't think. (He's older and more experienced than most of the kids on the show, it's just that he's a bit too self-focused to realize other people might have relationships outside him.)
 * In the comic continuing the series, we see what happened just after that last kiss between Aang and Katara.
 * Played with on Code Lyoko. After returning from a school break, Yumi wanted to walk to Ulrich about their UST. No less then three times in 10 minutes, as they tried to have that moment, they were interrupted.
 * In an episode of The Spectacular Spider-Man, Gwen keeps attempting to suggest that she'd like to go to the High School Dance with him (since she Cannot Spit It Out any other way), but Peter is her Moment Killer by confessing that he had been going to go with an older girl, but she turned him down. And then Gwen tries to be a little more blunt...("She's not the only girl who would...")...before Peter changes the subject. What an Idiot!.
 * In Justice League Unlimited, Flash managed a dramatic moment killer: the league makes a perfect, epic entrance and the awe of the moment gets Narmed by Flash shouting "Ta da!" More traditional examples happen to moments between Green Lantern and Hawkgirl. A few of these happened to Batman and Wonder Woman. One time, they were discussing about their potential relationship when an alarm sounded off.
 * Wade does this a few times in Kim Possible. Apparently it was funny according to the writers.
 * Futurama
 * In the episode "A Flight to Remember", where the characters travel on a cruise spaceship:

Fry: And me.

(they almost kiss, when the ship shakes and they fall over)

Leela: What was that? Oh, my God! We're heading straight into a black hole.

Fry: Talk about a mood killer!"

"Lion-O: "Are you kidding me? Now?""
 * In the episode "Parasites Lost", Fry himself kills the moment. First, he runs away to get rid of the parasites, hoping to prove that Leela loves him and not just what the parasites did for him. When he came back, and Leela was rather miraculously still in the mood, he managed to tick her off by bringing an old girlfriend into the conversation. Fry would rather win her over while remaining who he is instead of letting the miracle worms keep turning him into Batman.
 * One of the most epic moment killers ever involved an episode where time would skip forward randomly, such that certain things would happen and the character never remember how they got to that point. Fry had managed to convince Leela to marry him in one of those skips and she divorced him during another, so he tried to figure out what he did to convince her in the first place..
 * Cody from Total Drama Island constantly kills Gwen and Trent moments by trying to win Gwen's affections, he even manages to pull this off in the theme song.
 * In Superman: Brainiac Attacks, the titular villain is the moment killer for Clark and Lois. Let's face it, all supervillains seem to have perfect timing for moment killing...
 * In the Hulk vs. Wolverine this seems to be Deadpool's role, though he kills drama rather than romance. For example, as the Weapon X members resolve to hunt down Wolverine and there's the traditional menacing shot of the team assembled and ready for violence, Deadpool shouts, "Strike a pose!"
 * Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go - The Super Robot does this to Sprx and Nova, ironically enough by saving their lives.
 * In The Fairly Odd Parents, "Wishology" Part III had a Running Gag about Timmy and Trixie trying to kiss, but a different character would interrupt them each time: first Mark, then Mr. Turner, then finally Jorgen, who may be the worst (or best, depending on how you look at it), since.
 * Parodied in South Park; for most of the series, every time it's even theoretically possible Stan and Wendy might be on their way toward having a moment, he throws up. Usually on her.
 * Tucker Foley from Danny Phantom.
 * Several happen for Candace and Jeremy in Phineas and Ferb, mostly due to Candace's status as the resident Chew Toy of the show.
 * Perry the Platypus totally kills the moment for Doofenshmirtz in "Get That Bigfoot Outta My Face" when his date suffers from a bad case of Cuteness Proximity.
 * On American Dad, there's always something to ruin Steve's chances with attractive women.
 * "Failure is Not a Factory-Installed Option": Just as Steve and his friends are about to reach first-base with the popular girls, after setting up a drive-in, the cars Stan gathered are repo'ed and the girls leave with the repo man who calls this "an evening full of disappointment and compromise" for these boys.
 * "A Jones for a Smith": A crack addicted Stan ruins Steve's chance to hook up with a beautiful girl.
 * In the "Teen Talk" episode of Beavis and Butthead, Beavis and Butthead are about to hook up with Lolita and Tanqueray when Captain Dick Jackman cockblocks them and the two girls end up making out with two members of the production crew instead.
 * Happens on Kick Buttowski between Kick and Kendall. They're having a moment... that really only seems to lead to one thing, which apparently a member in the audience picks up on and thus shouts "KISS HER!", to which the moment is ruined and the pair feels disgusted.
 * Lampshaded in the ThunderCats (2011) episode "Song of the Petalars" Lion-O and Cheetara are sharing a tender moment alone by a campfire, when Snarf jumps onto Lion-O's face.


 * Jimmy Two Shoes: When Jimmy is under the influence of a love sweater, his attempts to kiss Heloise are thwarted by Beezy who, due to the effects of a fear sweater, "rescues" him.
 * In an episode of G.I. Joe, Cobra Commander spots Destro and Baroness making out and immediately orders them to stop.
 * The Simpsons: In the "New Kid on the Block episode, the Simpson's babysitter, Laura Powers and Jimbo Jones are making out at second base when Moe Syzlak charges into the Simpsons' house to threaten Jimbo with a rusty and dull butcher knife in retaliation for making prank calls that Bart made in his name, causing Jimbo to break down in tears. Laura then dumps him.

Other

 * Comedian Pablo Francisco describes this trope perfectly in one of his sets.
 * In Patton Oswalt's comedy album Werewolves & Lollipops, Oswalt is building a serious moment about birth control and having an intimate relationship when... this happens.

Real Life

 * General news reporter/news anchor Wendy Rieger when interviewed on a college cable channel said that one thing that annoys her is when fans bother her for an autograph and end up twatblocking her when she's trying to pick up guys.