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[[File:SasukeIno 6908.jpg|link=Naruto|frame|Sasuke really doesn't appreciate his [[Cursed with Awesome|gift]] for [[Chick Magnet|attracting girls.]]]]
{{quote|''Oh, I see. No dating for the Batman -- it might cut into your brooding time.''
|'''Wonder Woman''', ''[[Justice League Unlimited]]''}}
A protagonist who doesn't do the romance thing. Unlike the clueless [[Chaste Hero]], who just doesn't get romance, the '''Celibate Hero''' consciously and actively shuns and avoids it. He turns away every potential [[Girl of the Week]] and shuts out the pleas of his [[Official Couple|official love interest]].
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** He or she fell for the wrong person, maybe [[The Vamp]]([[Our Vampires Are Different|ire]]) or someone who left them for someone else, and doesn't trust the opposite sex anymore.
** He or she can't let go of [[I Let Gwen Stacy Die|the memory of a dead lover]], especially if he or she feels they're [[Dead Little Sister|responsible for the person's death]].
* He is faithful to a beloved spouse or partner, from whom he is separated (and prevented from returning to) by his circumstances.
* Rare today is the idea that the hero's powers ''rely'' on him or her [[Virgin Power|remaining celibate]], or that he is celibate out of religious or moral conviction. Most commonly this is found in fantasy settings, which may feature religious orders or mystical powers that may be influenced by sexual activity. Male examples, of course, are never in a setting based in the real world, because [[A Man Is Not a Virgin|a man is never, ever a virgin, and don't you dare claim otherwise!]]
* He or she simply [[Does Not Like Women|does not like]] [[Does Not Like Men|the opposite sex]] (more common among [[Anti-Hero
* He or she does not feel that he or she is worthy of being loved (for any number of reasons).
* He or she carries some sort of curse that is passed down from parent to child, so he/she is simply trying to end the curse.
* [[Sorry, I'm Gay]] surrounded by an [[Unwanted Harem]].
* Rarely used in any notable works today in any media for reasons other than religious beliefs or medical disability. If for religious reasons, it is often depicted by bringing attention to the fact, usually in the form of temptation. Expect Buddhist (or any other celibate or abstinence associated religion) characters seeking to abstain from physical distractions to fit in here often. Such examples are often the case with a [[Badass Preacher]] or [[Church Militant]] and overlaps with [[Heroic Vow]].
* Occasionally a case of [[Unsettling Gender Reveal|a Hero everyone thinks is male actually being female]], and pretending to be celibate, asexual or otherwise uninterested in physical relationships (and may be a case of [[Hates Being Touched|panicking whenever touched at all for this very reason]]) in order to avoid discovery. You can pretty much guarantee that someone is going to try and pounce her anyway, and discover their true identity. If it's an ally, they'll probably be sworn to secrecy, but let it get out somehow anyway. If they're an enemy, you can be assured they'll use it against the Hero, especially if she continues to keep it a secret from her fellow teammates.
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Contrast [[Duty First, Love Second]].
{{examples}}▼
▲{{examples}}
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* [[Gun X Sword|Van and Ray Lundgren]] are both this, due to being loyal to their dead (would be) wives.
* Of course there is [[Code Geass|Lelouch Lamperouge]], who has many characters, such as Shirley, Kallen, and Milly vying for his affection, along with pretty much every girl in his school. Lelouch, however, is a Celibate Hero who doesn't have the time for romance. Instead, he focuses on [[Big Brother Instinct|winning a war for his little sister]]. The only reason we know he's not a [[Chaste Hero]] is because of that one time he asked Kallen to "comfort" him.
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* Yanagin in ''[[Daily Lives of High School Boys]]'' hates the idea of dating in general, as she thinks guys are all losers. In fact, acts violently on the idea of ''any'' female dating a guy, or trying to make themselves attractive to a guy.
▲== Comic Book ==
* ''[[Batman]]'', in many incarnations, adheres to a combination of most of the above: love as distraction (his work is his life); love as beneath him (he sees himself as something more); the danger magnet issue (amusingly subverted when, in an episode of ''[[Justice League Unlimited]]'', he tried to use that as a reason he couldn't date Wonder Woman; she then demonstrates that he'd be in more danger than she); his [[Secret Identity]], although potential love interests have occasionally discovered the secret anyway; and depending on the actual universe, bad relationships in the past (he maintains that one of his few actual lovers, Talia al Ghul, drugged and raped him).
** With the [[Retroactive Continuity|Reboot]] it seems the whole Talia thing was consensual. He still wasn't proud of it though.
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* In [[Marvel Star Wars]], most of the time Luke Skywalker is one of these. Pre-ROTJ comics have him interested in Leia and shy about going through with a [[Relationship Upgrade]], but also unwilling to look at someone else because of her. Until very late in the series he actively runs away from Zeltrons, an entire species who think he's the most gorgeous man alive, and he puts up with the attentions of one who becomes an ally only reluctantly. He seems shy and massively taken aback when people express interest in him.
== [[Fan
* Douglas Sangnoir of ''[[Drunkard's Walk]]''. A married man ejected from his native timeline by enemy action, he studiously ignores any romantic interest from the women he meets during his travels, remaining faithful to his wife for the entire century-and-a-half he is in exile (except for a single encounter with Misato Katsuragi of ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'', for which he berates himself for literally ''decades'' afterwards).
* ''[[The 40-Year-Old Virgin]]'' is about one man's quest to defy this trope.
* Subverted in the 1987 movie version of ''[[Dragnet]]''. Although Joe Friday turns down Sylvia Wiss, who practically throws herself at him, and lectures his police partner about how it was the right thing to do, he does eventually end up with [[Insistent Terminology|[The Virgin]]] Connie Swail.
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* The Jedi order from ''[[Star Wars]]''. The subversion of the rule by Anakin and the forbidden love that ensues is a plot point.
== [[Literature]] ==▼
▲== Literature ==
* Genuine [[King Arthur|Arthurian]] example: Sir Gawain shares the bed of the Green Knight's lady night after night, but doesn't take advantage, as that would violate the laws of Chivalry and Hospitality. This display of virtue saves his life.
** Probably from the same root story: Pwyll, from the First Branch of the Mabinogion, chastely shares a bed with Arawn's wife, despite being flawlessly disguised as Arawn himself, which results in a lasting friendship between the two men.
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** Having {{spoiler|Carlos, who until that point certainly talked a good game,}} outed as a virgin by said succubus must have taken some of the sting out of it (or at least given him an ample means of redirecting the mockery). It also makes him another example, though his reason (for that matter, whether it's a conscious choice or just lack of opportunity) isn't explored.
* Phury of the ''[[Black Dagger Brotherhood]]'' takes a "Love is a Distraction" vow of chastity when he comes of age and decides to search for his kidnapped twin.
* ''[[Discworld]]'':
** Every wizard
** ''[[
** This seems to be getting glossed over in more recent books: apparently it was okay for Professor Earwig to marry, as long as he retired (see "The Sea And Little Fishes", ''[[
** Rincewind, despite being a scruffy abject coward, is propositioned by ladies surprisingly more than one would expect. Or, he at least seems to spend a lot of time around them, including the scantily clad variety. However, as his mind is usually occupied with running away, nothing ever comes of it. Also, he's aware of his status as a [[Cosmic Plaything]] and Fate's [[Butt Monkey]], so any time someone is nice to him, he assumes it's to set him up for a bigger fall.
*** Once, while abandoned on a desert island, he is approached by several [[Hot Amazon]]-types looking for a man to help them procreate and rebuild their civilization. Unfortunately for him, he was completely obsessed with potatoes at the time and thought that they were offering him some. It was only some time after he was whisked away by magic that he belatedly realized what they had been offering. Talk about missing the ball.
*** However, in ''[[
** Also from [[Discworld]], Granny Weatherwax. After all, she tamed that unicorn... which really shocked her friend Nanny Ogg and the revelation made Ridcully, her one time love interest, get rather soppy.
*** Note that Granny's celibacy has nothing to do with magic, as witches aren't subject to the same prohibitions as wizards.
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** Knowing of the faultiness of such a pledge, the slave traders who own The Unsullied castrate the slaves for just this purpose. The slave trader proudly points out that while the Night's Watch and Kingsguard ''claim'' celibacy, The Unsullied are the only ones who are truly, well, unsullied.
* Pretty much [[Author Tract|every single main character]] of [[H.P. Lovecraft]]'s stories is too busy being chased by tentacled monsters and/or slowly losing his sanity to get involved in any kind of romantic and/or sexual relationship.
* Joscelin Verreuil in the ''[[Kushiel's
* In the [[Kate Daniels]] novels by Ilona Andrews, Kate remains celibate for much of her adult life. Partly because she thinks friends and lovers will distract her from her mission in life, partly because everyone close to her dies violently (her mother, her father, her mentor, and her friend), partly because [[Can't Have Sex Ever|sex would expose her secrets]], partly because any guy powerful enough to protect himself from [[It's Not You, It's My Enemies|the skeletons in her closet]] probably didn't get that kind of power by being ethical, but mostly just because she's afraid of being hurt or rejected.
* Drizzt in Bob Salvatore's [[Forgotten Realms]] novel series followed this trope for some time. He wasn't interested in casual sex. His first contact with sex was witnessing a graduation ritual for female priests, that involves the summoning of a 5-meter-tall demon. His first and so far only girlfriend was once involved with his presumed-dead best friend; and things got complicated when he was rescued from hell. Eventually, Drizzt allowed himself to love, and started getting some regularly. {{spoiler|[[Stuffed in The Fridge|Then she died.]]}}
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** Although it isn't explicitly mentioned, functionally, Gustavus Adolphus Vasa, King of Sweden, Emperor of the United States of Europe, and Hereditary Captain-General of the State of Thuringia-Franconia, out of a combination of marital loyalty and absence; his queen lives in Stockholm and doesn't travel, and he's ''never'' there, apparently because he can't stand her. They ''do'' already have one child at the beginning of the series, but the fact that she ''is'' an only child, and universally expected to remain so, is quite frequently mentioned.
** There are also quite a few important characters who are ordained Catholic priests, though one of them petitions the Pope (successfully) to be released from his vows in order to marry, and another had an illicit secret wife and sons (and was then induced - by another priest - to regularize the situation ''by marrying her while remaining a priest'').
* [[Beowulf]], possibly, as he has never been married in the 50 years the story covers and does not have an heir by blood, naming [[Hypercompetent Sidekick|Wiglaf]] his heir right before he dies. Of course, whether that means he's ''celibate'' or not is another story.
== [[Live
* Marcus Cole, Ranger extraordinaire, from ''[[Babylon 5]]'' tries to save himself for the right woman, only she never gets around to 'boffing' him before his [[Heroic Sacrifice]].
* FBI agent Paul Ballard in ''[[Dollhouse]]'', shortly after he found out {{spoiler|his girlfriend's a doll}}. He even refused to sleep with Echo, whom he's crazy in love with, for a long time, because she was messed up from being a doll and he felt it would be wrong. And since both of these women are ridiculously beautiful, this makes him either incredibly moral or [[Too Dumb to Live]].
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* Cmdr. Ed Straker of ''[[UFO]]'' is manifestly celibate after an acrimonious divorce, after the loss of his son to his successor, and the death of his son, even thought a variety of attractive and eligible women have a go at him (e.g. Lt. Barry). His reaction to the rampant libido shown by the rest of his staff ranges from cold disregard to amusement.
▲== Music ==
* [[Lady Gaga]] came out as celibate.
* Morrissey was very publicly celibate during the 1980s
* [[Emilie Autumn]] has shunned romantic and sexual relationships after the situations which caused her to right the [[Woman Scorned]] part of her ''Opheliac'' album (Bad situations in the past). Just her crumpets and her plague rats/muffins now....also falls into "Love is A distraction" excuse. She makes all her music on her own and sets up her own tours. Does not have the time, does not want the time.
== [[Oral Tradition]], [[Folklore]], Myths and Legends ==
▲== Opera ==
* The title character of [[Richard Wagner]]'s ''Parsifal'', based on the old legend.▼
** Well, yes and no. In his own opera, he is, but in the later-set though earlier-written ''Lohengrin'', the title character is Parsifal's son.▼
== Radio ==▼
* ''[[The Lone Ranger]]'' and ''[[The Green Hornet]]''▼
** Averted to various degrees in later adaptations of ''[[The Green Hornet]]''; in the TV series Britt Reid was cast more as a rich playboy/publisher, and given the occasional [[Love Interest]] while Kato remained a celibate sidekick. This was probably an artifact of the [[Dramatic Half Hour|series format]]; as a half hour series it would be difficult to shoehorn a romantic subplot into a show which could barely fit the action/adventure main plot within its runtime. Totally averted in the NOW Comics adaptation of ''[[The Green Hornet]]'', which pretty well paired off almost all of the various Green Hornets and Katos with more-or-less permanent [[Love Interest]]s.▼
* Roman Catholic Priests, by policy, in imitation of Jesus (though an exception exists for married Anglican priests who then convert).
** Nuns as well. Mother Teresa counts as a hero.
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* [[Greek Mythology|Theseus]]' son Hippolytus was one of these, and it got him killed. There are risks to swearing off love forever when the goddess of love is very real and very petty. It's also a bad idea to ''[[Do Not Taunt Cthulhu|mock]]'' said goddess in the process.
* Hanuman of the [[Hindu Mythology]] is known to be a celibate god, though there are many versions which depict Hanuman having lovers [[Depending on the Writer|depending on the country]].
* [[Greek Mythology]]; the goddesses Hestia and Athena swore themselves to eternal chastity; Artemis more then them, being the Goddess of Chastity, despite also being revered as a Goddess of Childbirth.
▲== [[Radio]] ==
▲* ''[[The Lone Ranger]]'' and ''[[The Green Hornet]]''
▲** Averted to various degrees in later adaptations of ''[[The Green Hornet]]''; in the TV series Britt Reid was cast more as a rich playboy/publisher, and given the occasional [[Love Interest]] while Kato remained a celibate sidekick. This was probably an artifact of the [[Dramatic Half Hour|series format]]; as a half hour series it would be difficult to shoehorn a romantic subplot into a show which could barely fit the action/adventure main plot within its runtime. Totally averted in the NOW Comics adaptation of ''[[The Green Hornet]]'', which pretty well paired off almost all of the various Green Hornets and Katos with more-or-less permanent [[Love Interest]]s.
== [[Tabletop Games]] ==
* ''[[GURPS]]'' gives us the Chastity disadvantage, giving your Celibate Hero functional rules for what that entails.
* ''[[Paranoia]]'' [[Crapsack World|doesn't have heroes]], but does have universal celibacy due to hormone suppressants in the food supply. Some citizens do get off the suppressants, mostly either (a) High Programmers or (b) Troubleshooters stuck Outdoors during a mission and forced to eat natural food long enough for them to wear off. Some of these citizens end up going back on them ''voluntarily'' so they can concentrate on not getting killed. It's that kind of game.
* The 2nd Edition of ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]'' has an interesting variation with the clergy of Nut, the Egyptian Goddess of the Sky. Her clerics are allowed to have lovers and expected to be faithful to them, but can never legally marry. In addition, they must always aid couples who are in love but forcibly kept apart. This is due to Nut herself [[Star-Crossed Lovers| being separated from her own lover, the Earth god Geb]]; to devote oneself to Nut, one must symbolically be separate from the one they love.
== [[Theatre]] ==
▲* The title character of [[Richard Wagner]]'s ''Parsifal'', based on the old legend.
▲** Well, yes and no. In his own opera, he is, but in the later-set though earlier-written ''Lohengrin'', the title character is Parsifal's son.
== [[Video Games]] ==
* Leon S. Kennedy from ''[[Resident Evil 4]]'': He spends the entire game going through hell to try to rescue the president's [[Damsel in Distress|very busty teenage daughter]], who keeps hitting on him and pretty much throws herself at him at the end of the game, and he reacts to this with great awkwardness, rejecting her very quickly when he notices her advances. Not to mention that the game's [[Action Girl]], who also has feelings for him, is mainly regarded by him with suspicion. He doesn't even seem to notice all the leg she's showing. Seems to be more of an example of the "Love is A Distraction" type.
** Perhaps not too surprising. Ashley quite a bit younger than Leon (the RE wiki puts their ages at 20 and 27 during [[RE 4]]), and is experiencing a series of highly traumatic events. There's also many ways hooking-up with the president's daughter could end poorly. Also, you can't blame him for being suspicious of Ada. In RE 2 she left him to die after the poor, lovesick boy took a bullet for her, and in 4 she is clearly up to something, so his wariness is pretty justified.
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* [[Innocent Fanservice Girl|Felicia]] from ''[[Darkstalkers]]''; she's a nun, the Trope comes with the position.
== [[Web Comics]] ==
* Nikolai Tesla, in [http://harkavagrant.com/index.php?id=61 this] strip of ''[[Hark! A Vagrant]]''.
* Zander in [[Metanoia]] fits the last category.
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JOHN: romance and dating are dumb and boring. we are legendary heroes, and we have bigger fish to fry. like that smug fatass over there on the horizon. }}
* Marlene of ''[[Jet Dream (webcomic)|Jet Dream]]'', apparently indifferent to sex of any sort, thinks of [[Gender Bender|her sex change]] as a minor inconvenience that occasionally gets in the way of [[For Science!|Doing Science]]. The occasional urge can be dealt with easily enough by using [[A Date with Rosie Palms|her Jet Dream Vibrostick]]. This attitude [https://web.archive.org/web/20100918040858/http://tgcaps.com/caps/modcomics/suedenim/jetdream/mjdr01/mjdr1_01.jpg.php doesn't last forever], though.
* In ''[[Nodwick]]'', Piffany is this, despite having a secret crush on Nodwick, but she has a very good reason. A prophecy stated at her birth claimed that the first time she kissed a man, the recipient would gain a supernatural boon on the cosmic scale, possibly to the point of [[Rewriting Reality]] in order for that to occur. Confident that this is meant for a specific event that will avert a possible apocalypse [[Properly Paranoid| (which it is)]] Piffany refuses to waste it until she is certain what the event is. In the episode where she tells this to Nodwick (after he "double-doggie dare promises" to keep it secret), she is afflicted by a [[Love Potion]], and goes so far as to have herself bound by shackles in her basement in order to avoid kissing him. {{spoiler|In the final arc of the comic, she does indeed use her first kiss to avert an apocalypse and defeat [[God of Evil| Baphuma'al]] (sadly, Yeagar is the one who gets the kiss, not Nodwick) and the final scene suggests she is free to show her affections and pursue a relationship.}}
== [[Web Original]] ==
* Daichi in ''[[Greek Ninja]]'', who is not only annoyed by girls' attention, but also appears unaware of their gaze.
== [[Western Animation]] ==
* Ensign (later Lieutenant) Boimler in ''[[Star Trek: Lower Decks]]'' is this, depending on the interpretation. In "Mining the Mine's Mines" he is the only member of the crew whose fantasy has nothing to do with sex or romance (while Mariner and Rutherford spawn images of Jennifer and Leah Brahms trying to seduce them, Boimler spawns an image of an Admiral offering him a chance to be a hero by fighting the Borg), which both Mariner and Rutherford tease him about. In "Grounded", he barely acknowledges the obvious flirtations of the gorgeous female workers on his family's vineyard, although in a later episode he claims he was ignoring them on purpose because he didn't want to get roped into working there permanently.
== [[Real Life]] ==
* Mohandas Gandhi renounced all sexual activity at the age of 36, while still married. In spite of this, he would frequently sleep naked with very young women and girls, many of his own relation, to "test" himself. Some small controversy has arisen over Gandhi's complicated sexuality now that these stories have surfaced.
* Sir Isaac Newton died a virgin. He said that one of the greatest things he could boast about is that he never had sex.
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]▼
[[Category:Love Tropes]]
[[Category:Discredited Trope]]
[[Category:Older Than Feudalism]]
▲[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
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