Everyone Is Bi: Difference between revisions

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[[File:~~EveryBi_ShadowjackWatchesSailorMoon_1730~~.png|link=Shadowjack Watches Sailor Moon|right]]

[[File:EveryBi ShadowjackWatchesSailorMoon 1730.png|link=Shadowjack Watches Sailor Moon|right]]

{{quote|''"You people and your quaint little categories."''|'''Captain Jack Harkness''', ''[[Torchwood]]''}}

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This, needless to say, is hardly a case of [[Truth in Television]]. In the real world, many people can be attracted to either gender (or [[Asexuality|neither]]), and if someone's previously expressed an attraction to their opposite gender, bisexuality is generally the safer naïve assumption. Many shows seem to be moving toward that paradigm, but the base assumption in TV land is still generally that you're either/or, and [[Lowest Common Denominator|Joe Average's]] assumption is still that "[[Depraved Bisexual|bisexual]]" means [[Anything That Moves]]. Curiously, this is not all that different from how homosexual characters have been treated. "Educational" films like Sid Davis's ''Boys Beware'' (1961) suggest that homosexuals are all child molesters, and even modern gay men are often portrayed as [[All Gays Are Promiscuous|willing to sleep with any and all consenting males]].

Of course, then there's the ''other'' extreme: [[Everyone Is Bi]]. Gender, aside from a few token comments, is hardly a factor in the characters' relationships; the [[Jumping the Gender Barrier|gender barrier]] seems an alien concept.

Of course, then there's the ''other'' extreme: '''Everyone Is Bi'''. Gender, aside from a few token comments, is hardly a factor in the characters' relationships; the [[Jumping the Gender Barrier|gender barrier]] seems an alien concept.

What this trope is ''not'' is, for example, the webcomic ''[[Umlaut House]]''. While about half the cast is bisexual, the other half is explicitly not - and even if the ratio were different, the fact that [[Have I Mentioned I Am Heterosexual Today?|neither half will]] ''[[Have I Mentioned I Am Heterosexual Today?|shut up about it]]'' makes it the antithesis of this trope, in which it's rarely, if ever, mentioned at all.

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* In ''[[Strangers in Paradise]]'', most of the female characters have slept with each other, [[Have I Mentioned I Am Heterosexual Today?|even if they self-identify as straight]]. However, even if they [[Does Not Like Men|do not like men]], [[If It's You It's Okay|they have also slept with David]]. [[Love Dodecahedron]] does not even ''begin'' to describe it, and it is one of the only series to have the characters ''themselves'' actually suggest multi-partner pairings in order to [[One True Threesome|deal with the results.]]

* Wendy and Richard Pini, creators of ''[[Elf Quest]]'', have explicitly stated on several occasions that every single elf in the series is at least potentially bisexual. Although most of the characters seem to express a preference for one sex or the other there are several examples of elves in heterosexual relationships taking time out to have same-sex flings as well, perhaps the most notorious being [http://www.p-synd.com/wild/lndance.gif Leetah and Nightfall's nude dance] in Volume 5 of the collected series.

* Similar to the 51st century in ''[[Doctor Who]]'', the eponymous superhero of ''Midnighter'' once tried to explain to a woman from the 95th century that he's gay. She didn't understand the word, and revealed that in the 95th century ''[[Everyone Is Bi]]'' (apparently that's enough of "everyone" that they no longer even have words for monosexuality).

* Similar to the 51st century in ''[[Doctor Who]]'', the eponymous superhero of ''Midnighter'' once tried to explain to a woman from the 95th century that he's gay. She didn't understand the word, and revealed that in the 95th century ''Everyone Is Bi'' (apparently that's enough of "everyone" that they no longer even have words for monosexuality).

* In [[Alan Moore]]'s ''[[League of Extraordinary Gentlemen]]'' the character of Orlando is definitely bisexual, but this makes sense because Orlando is an immortal who changes sex randomly and without warning. However, pretty much all of the female characters (be they historical or mythological) that Orlando spends any amount of time with are bi for Orlando. This includes Mina Murray, the heroine of the series, Fanny Hill, Venus (of course), Marguerite Blakeney and others. And when Orlando is a male, it's at least hinted at and also sometimes explicitly stated that many of his male companions are bi for him also.

** In ''Century: 1910'', Mina, angry with both Orlando (who's male at this point) and her partner Alan, announces that she'll be in self-[[Exiled to the Couch|Exile To The Couch]], and they'll have the bed to themselves. She also comments that she likes Orlando better when (s)he's female.

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== Fanfiction ==

* Everyone in the That Damned [[M Preg]] universe is bi unless specifically stated otherwise, exclusively straight and gay characters are few and far between.

* ''[[My Immortal]]'', though only the guys show ~~it--for~~ the girls, it's just an [[Informed Attribute]]. Ebony herself flip-flops between [[Bi the Way]] and [[Have I Mentioned I Am Heterosexual Today?]] for no adequately explored reason.

* ''[[My Immortal]]'', though only the guys show it—for the girls, it's just an [[Informed Attribute]]. Ebony herself flip-flops between [[Bi the Way]] and [[Have I Mentioned I Am Heterosexual Today?]] for no adequately explored reason.

* Absolutely everybody in ''[[Kim Possible]]'' fanfic, [[Depending on the Writer]].

* In C'hou in ''[[With Strings Attached]]'' there are no sexual taboos amongst the C'hovites; hence, [[Everyone Is Bi]]. For example, when Ma'ar asks George to sex with her, she tells him to invite the others in and they'll all enjoy one another. (Given that the four are firmly heterosexual, George agrees to sex but asks to leave the others out of it.) Grynun says that inside the castle walls, the four can have sex with each other but with none of the Idris until she has them first. And As'taris ogles the naked Paul and comments to Grunnel that if he'd known what he was missing, he wouldn't have treated Paul so indifferently.

* In C'hou in ''[[With Strings Attached]]'' there are no sexual taboos amongst the C'hovites; hence, Everyone Is Bi. For example, when Ma'ar asks George to sex with her, she tells him to invite the others in and they'll all enjoy one another. (Given that the four are firmly heterosexual, George agrees to sex but asks to leave the others out of it.) Grynun says that inside the castle walls, the four can have sex with each other but with none of the Idris until she has them first. And As'taris ogles the naked Paul and comments to Grunnel that if he'd known what he was missing, he wouldn't have treated Paul so indifferently.

** This doesn't apply on the Hunter's world; he talks of the “shameful female-men.”

* Choose two characters in all of fiction. There is a fic pairing those two. Now notice how gender was not specified in the prompt. That is because ~~[[Everyone Is Bi|~~everyone can be bi]] in [[Fan Fiction]].

* Choose two characters in all of fiction. There is a fic pairing those two. Now notice how gender was not specified in the prompt. That is because everyone can be bi in [[Fan Fiction]].

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* In the novels by Gregory Maguire (especially ''[[Wicked (novel)|Wicked]]''), everyone is bisexual until they state they don't care for one or both genders. (Especially if you're descended from the Thropp line.)

** Hell, in terms of ruining your childhood, it wouldn't be much of a stretch to pin this on the [[Land of Oz|Baum Oz books]].

* In Fiona Patton's ''Tales of the Branion Realm,'' pretty much everyone is bi, and this goes completely unremarked. There is even a Guild of Companions (a cross between bodyguard, courtesan, same-sex sexual partner, and spy) who are contracted to the nobility. The first book revolves around the Crown Prince's relationship with his ~~mother -- she~~ wants him to get married and have an heir, he would prefer to shack up with his Companion. He starts a civil war over this. His mother, BTW, has four Companions of her own.

* In Fiona Patton's ''Tales of the Branion Realm,'' pretty much everyone is bi, and this goes completely unremarked. There is even a Guild of Companions (a cross between bodyguard, courtesan, same-sex sexual partner, and spy) who are contracted to the nobility. The first book revolves around the Crown Prince's relationship with his mother—she wants him to get married and have an heir, he would prefer to shack up with his Companion. He starts a civil war over this. His mother, BTW, has four Companions of her own.

* In [[Robert A. Heinlein]]'s ''[[Time Enough for Love]],'' Ishtar and Galahad agree to "Seven Hours of Pleasure," even though they have so far seen each other only in all-concealing biohazard-protection suits and, thus, neither knows the other's sex. It is strongly implied that in their society (the Howard Families colony-world of Secundus), it is considered in bad taste even to care.

** Each one is pleasantly surprised to learn the sex of the other, as Ishtar is oddly tall and Galahad is oddly short. And both are absurdly beautiful, particularly Galahad (think the statue of David, except not terrified).

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* In ''[[The Neanderthal Parallax]]'', litterally everyone in Neanderthal society is Bi, being expected to take a "man-mate" and a "woman-mate".

* [[Word of God]] about the [[Liaden Universe]] novels is that Liadens should be assumed to all be bi. We see several homosexual encounters but all the permanent arrangements we see on screen are heterosexual- unsurprising for a culture that puts huge weight on providing an heir.

* ''[[Swordspoint]]'' and ''The Privilege of the Sword'' ~~-- perhaps~~ not ''everyone'' is bi, but the only monosexual major characters are the villainous Lord Ferris (a depraved heterosexual, perhaps?) and {{spoiler|Marcus}}, whose straightness may or may not have been caused by childhood trauma (thereby inverting [[Rape and Switch]]).

* ''[[Swordspoint]]'' and ''The Privilege of the Sword''—perhaps not ''everyone'' is bi, but the only monosexual major characters are the villainous Lord Ferris (a depraved heterosexual, perhaps?) and {{spoiler|Marcus}}, whose straightness may or may not have been caused by childhood trauma (thereby inverting [[Rape and Switch]]).

* Due to the nature of a dragons mating flights and the fact that over 50% of the dragon population are females that mostly take male riders, it's implied that at least 80-90% of dragonriders in [[Anne McCaffrey]]'s [[Dragonriders of Pern]] series are at least bisexual. Only Gold riders (1%) and Bronzeriders (5%) are exclusively heterosexual.

* In Janet Morris' ''The High Couch of Silistra'' and sequels, while being straight seems to be the social norm, homosexual sex is apparently commonplace and completely acceptable. Estri, who begins the novel as a [[High-Class Call Girl|well-woman]] has a lot of experience servicing men, but when a customer essentially forces her into lesbian sex with another well-woman, she admits to being very aroused by the experience. Chayin and Sereth, two of her primary lovers, also have sex with each other, though [[Bi the Way|only off-screen]].

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** In fact, Gurgeh from ''The Player of Games'' is considered bizarre because he's straight and has never changed his sex. A friend of his also seen as weird because she spends almost all of her time as female.

* In ''[[The Stone Dance of the Chameleon]]'' by Ricardo Pinto, sexuality is pretty much discarded as a point of interest, where straight and gay relationships are equally common-place. The problem comes where you have the Chosen (who are the undisputed 'supreme race' so to speak) and the other races (who act as their slaves and who aren't even allowed to look at their faces). Considering that all subservient races are completely oppressed by the Chosen and horrifically bound by The Law, their tends to be a ''lot'' of sexual abuse, rape, and subjugation of both genders of those races ... and some of the stuff the more sadistically-minded Chosen are into crosses the line of 'torture' and becomes [[Brain Bleach]] incarnate ([[Up to Eleven]]). In fact, when the main character (who is a Chosen, but brought up away from their culture), finds out that another Chosen has raped his half-slave brother, said Chosen can't understand why he's so upset and is genuinely shocked that he cares so much. Nuff said.

* [[Arthur C. Clarke]]'s novel ''Imperial Earth'' includes a line in which the protagonist's best friend is described as "aggressively normal," because he seems to have ''no'' preference between males or ~~females -- most~~ people in the late 23rd Century go both ways but have at least a slight inclination toward one gender or the other.

* [[Arthur C. Clarke]]'s novel ''Imperial Earth'' includes a line in which the protagonist's best friend is described as "aggressively normal," because he seems to have ''no'' preference between males or females—most people in the late 23rd Century go both ways but have at least a slight inclination toward one gender or the other.

* [[Ursula K. Le Guin]]'s story collection ''A Fisherman of the Inland Sea'' deals with attempts at instantaneous space travel. The final story, ''Another Story or a Fisherman of the Inland Sea'', introduces the traditional culture of Planet O where pretty much everyone has to be bi for a successful marriage. Marriage is not between two people but four, two men and two ~~women--a~~ man and woman of the Morning moiety and an Evening man and woman. The Morning woman and Evening man, the Evening woman and Morning man, the Morning woman and Evening woman, and the Morning man and Evening man all have sex with each other, meaning every partner in the marriage has a husband and wife from the opposite moiety. (Sex within the moiety is forbidden, so the Morning man/woman and Evening man/woman in the marriage are strictly platonic. In fact, it's perfectly proper for siblings to be the Morning or Evening half of the foursome. Yes, this does mean that you are banging the same woman that your sister is regularly doing, and also the man who would otherwise be your brother-in-law.) The protagonist's mother, a Terran woman of Japanese descent, married in this way to be with the man she loves but finds it strange many years into the marriage, even though she is on good terms with her wife in the marriage.

* [[Ursula K. Le Guin]]'s story collection ''A Fisherman of the Inland Sea'' deals with attempts at instantaneous space travel. The final story, ''Another Story or a Fisherman of the Inland Sea'', introduces the traditional culture of Planet O where pretty much everyone has to be bi for a successful marriage. Marriage is not between two people but four, two men and two women—a man and woman of the Morning moiety and an Evening man and woman. The Morning woman and Evening man, the Evening woman and Morning man, the Morning woman and Evening woman, and the Morning man and Evening man all have sex with each other, meaning every partner in the marriage has a husband and wife from the opposite moiety. (Sex within the moiety is forbidden, so the Morning man/woman and Evening man/woman in the marriage are strictly platonic. In fact, it's perfectly proper for siblings to be the Morning or Evening half of the foursome. Yes, this does mean that you are banging the same woman that your sister is regularly doing, and also the man who would otherwise be your brother-in-law.) The protagonist's mother, a Terran woman of Japanese descent, married in this way to be with the man she loves but finds it strange many years into the marriage, even though she is on good terms with her wife in the marriage.

* In [[Mythpunk|Palimpsest]] it's not as much as [[Everyone Is Bi]] but "Everyone is so desperate to go back into Palimpsest that they will slept with anybody with the mark, no matter the gender".

* In [[Mythpunk|Palimpsest]] it's not as much as Everyone Is Bi but "Everyone is so desperate to go back into Palimpsest that they will slept with anybody with the mark, no matter the gender".

* Many [[Mary Renault]] novels fit this trope. She wrote a lot of historical fiction set in ancient Greece, where bisexuality was considered the norm, for males at least. Some of her Greeks are exclusively or near-exclusively heterosexual or homosexual, but many aren't. The characters in her contemporary novels are also often quite flexible about gender.

* In the [[Lyremouth Chronicles]] series by Jane Fletcher, this is the standard situation for the people on the mainland (the islanders have a more [[Bury Your Gays|mediaeval]] approach towards same-sex relationships), to the point where being exclusively attracted to a single sex is almost incomprehensible and rather rare. The closest the mainlanders get to homo/heterosexuality is preferring a single sex, which is put on the same level as a preference for tall people, or people with blond(e) hair.

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* ''[[The Daily Show]]''. ''Everybody'' on the show has either shown bisexual tendencies on screen, or simply mentioned having had sex with both genders.

** More often than not, the bisexuality is played as either comedic misunderstanding themed (Jason Jones once mentions that he married a gay man, after misinterpreting a recent ruling allowing gay marriage) or the correspondent is gay for pay (as seen with Rob Riggle, who had sex with men for money in order to earn the cash to buy an iPhone.)

* [[J. Michael Straczynski]]'s philosophy for ''[[Babylon 5]]'' was that in 2258, sexual orientation is a non-~~issue -- not~~ that everyone is bi, people just don't make a point of it. He suggested early on that one of the main characters was bisexual. This turned out to be Ivanova, but it only came up a couple of times.

* [[J. Michael Straczynski]]'s philosophy for ''[[Babylon 5]]'' was that in 2258, sexual orientation is a non-issue—not that everyone is bi, people just don't make a point of it. He suggested early on that one of the main characters was bisexual. This turned out to be Ivanova, but it only came up a couple of times.

** Another interesting note is in the Babylon 5 movie ''River of Souls'' we find out that a holographic program was created with an image of Captain Lochley. Garibaldi discovers this program is especially popular with women.

** In a subtler incidence, Marcus and Franklin pose as a newlywed gay couple when undercover on Mars. Nobody considers this unusual, though people aware that it's a cover do consider it funny - not the idea that they might be gay, but because they make such an ill-suited couple.

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** During the Valentine's day event, [[Player Character|PCs]] can exchange pledges of adoration with [[Non-Player Character|NPCs]] for love tokens. Gender is only a factor in that female [[Non-Player Character|NPCs]] will romance [[Player Character|PCs]] wearing cologne and male [[Non-Player Character|NPCs]] will romance [[Player Character|PCs]] wearing perfume. Either gender can wear either cologne or perfume. Worth mentioning that to get the Largest prize you need at least twenty pledges from each city, Darnassus is all female and Ironforge is all male. On Horde-side, Silvermoon is all male.

* In ''[[City of Villains]]'', Succubi have a power called "Come Hither" that prevents players from being able to attack them directly. Interestingly, it works on both genders just as easily. The spell is broken immediately if the Succubus attacks the player.

* Quite possibly the men of ''[[Metal Gear Solid]]'', where there are three canon bisexual ~~characters -- Colonel~~ Volgin, Vamp, and Dolph himself. There's also [[Ho Yay|subtext]] between Solid Snake and Otacon despite their own things for the ladies, and while Big Boss has no canonical partner he benefits from [[Even the Guys Want Him|Everyone Being Gay For Big Boss]] with {{spoiler|EVA/Big Mama}} and especially when {{spoiler|Ocelot goes so far as to sacrifice his own personality/self by using nanomachines and hypnotherapy to make himself think that he was Liquid Snake}} ~~-- hence~~ "Liquid Ocelot" ~~-- throughout~~ the events of ''[[Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots]]''... all for the cause, all for Big Boss.

* Quite possibly the men of ''[[Metal Gear Solid]]'', where there are three canon bisexual characters—Colonel Volgin, Vamp, and Dolph himself. There's also [[Ho Yay|subtext]] between Solid Snake and Otacon despite their own things for the ladies, and while Big Boss has no canonical partner he benefits from [[Even the Guys Want Him|Everyone Being Gay For Big Boss]] with {{spoiler|EVA/Big Mama}} and especially when {{spoiler|Ocelot goes so far as to sacrifice his own personality/self by using nanomachines and hypnotherapy to make himself think that he was Liquid Snake}}—hence "Liquid Ocelot"—throughout the events of ''[[Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots]]''... all for the cause, all for Big Boss.

** In ''[[Metal Gear]] Online'', both male and female characters can learn the Charm ability which causes them to do a sexy dance, stopping other characters in their tracks. The sexy dance does not discriminate based on gender.

*** Neither do the play-boy magazines

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* Most of the cast in ''[[Sparkling Generation Valkyrie Yuuki]]'' have shown or talked about attraction to both genders. The rest aren't confirmed as either bisexuals or monosexuals as of yet. Of course, most of the cast are [[Norse Mythology|Norse mythological figures]], where this trope also applies.

* Most drows of ''[[Drowtales]]'' are bisexual. However, only heterosexual and lesbian couples appear in the main comics.

* ''[[El Goonish Shive]]'' is a funny case, since characters who have been genderbent by Tedd's TF Gun develop a temporary attraction to the opposite gender. Depending on how you look at it, between one and two characters are naturally bisexual (Ellen is an [[Opposite Sex Clone]] who has all the memories of her original male heterosexual self, and hasn't fully come to terms with the fact that she's attracted to guys as well as to girls. Grace is [[Single-Target Sexuality|"Teddsexual"]] regardless of Tedd's current gender.), but seven of them have been genderbent, and of those the four straight ones have all had to deal with attraction to both genders. (Justin and Nanase are exempt from this due to being naturally ~~gay--when~~ genderbent, they just get ''even more'' attracted to guys and girls, respectively.)

* ''[[El Goonish Shive]]'' is a funny case, since characters who have been genderbent by Tedd's TF Gun develop a temporary attraction to the opposite gender. Depending on how you look at it, between one and two characters are naturally bisexual (Ellen is an [[Opposite Sex Clone]] who has all the memories of her original male heterosexual self, and hasn't fully come to terms with the fact that she's attracted to guys as well as to girls. Grace is [[Single-Target Sexuality|"Teddsexual"]] regardless of Tedd's current gender.), but seven of them have been genderbent, and of those the four straight ones have all had to deal with attraction to both genders. (Justin and Nanase are exempt from this due to being naturally gay—when genderbent, they just get ''even more'' attracted to guys and girls, respectively.)

* While only two characters in ''[[Ghastlys Ghastly Comic]]'' have ever been called "bisexual", almost every cast member has slept with, kissed, or had a [[Stupid Sexy Flanders]] moment with members of both sexes at one point or another.

* ''[[Concession]]'': not everyone is bi, but a large proportion of the cast are. Joel, Matt, Roland, Angie, Emily, and Chelsie are all described as bisexual on their cast pages.{{spoiler|Matt and Emily have only actually been seen interacting romantically with their respective same-gendered partners Joel and Kelly, but the others have all demonstrated at least some bisexual tendencies onscreen.}} Nicole (who is [[Dropped a Bridget On Him|actually a male named Aaron]]), Cecil, and Kelly are gay. The other ten characters named on the cast page are heterosexual {{spoiler|counting Kate, who is a practicing pedophile whose personal harem is made up of male preteens, plus the male-to-female [[Transsexualism]] Chelsie, though she also slept with the adult Artie and her own twin brother}} - so, not everyone, but a much higher proportion than real life. A remarkably high proportion of gay and bi characters show up in the randomly generated background character population as well.

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* Almost everyone on [[That Guy With The Glasses]] will flirt or perv on a person of their own gender if it aids a joke or [[Fan Service]].

* [[Gaia Online]]'s Valentines 2009 event allowed the users to send Valentines to a number of NPCs, who would respond or refuse according to programmed turn-ons or turn-offs. [[The Casanova|Liam]], [[Pet Homosexual|Devin]], and [[Gag Boobs|Vanessa]] refused Valentines based on the sex of the avatar who sent it to them; everyone else had qualifications based on other things and would respond regardless of gender.

** In addition, there have been three Chance Item sets based on [[Dating Sim~~|Dating Sims~~]]. The user can freely choose whether to pursue a male or female love interest in each, and none of the interests are restricted by the user's gender.

** In addition, there have been three Chance Item sets based on [[Dating Sim]]s. The user can freely choose whether to pursue a male or female love interest in each, and none of the interests are restricted by the user's gender.

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** In terms of sex, it was considered socially acceptable to have sex with, say, an attractive slave boy, as long as you were doing the penetrating. But even then, many would have regarded it as a decadent foreign (i.e. Greek) practice. But under no circumstances would it be acceptable to have an openly homosexual relationship with a free person, citizen or not. Not to say it didn't happen, but it would definitely be a secret.

*** There were examples of Romans being publicly known to be on the receiving end, as it were (including at least one Emperor), but it was considered extremely scandalous.

** This was actually pretty typical of various ancient societies, where it can seem from the modern perspective that [[Everyone Is Bi]], when in fact it's more a case of [[Blue and Orange Morality|Blue And Orange Sexuality]], to borrow a metaphor.

** This was actually pretty typical of various ancient societies, where it can seem from the modern perspective that Everyone Is Bi, when in fact it's more a case of [[Blue and Orange Morality|Blue And Orange Sexuality]], to borrow a metaphor.

** [[Julius Caesar]]'s [[Berserk Button]] was people saying that he had been the submissive partner in a relationship with the King of Bitynia. [[Insufferable Genius|Cicero]] summed it up, when Caesar was pleading for Roman support of the man:

{{quote|'''Cicero:''' Enough of that. It is well known what you gave him...and what he gave you.}}