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{{trope}}{{Needs Image}}
When the writers make it clear that there will be no romance between any of the lead characters. A notable amount of writers avoid specific pairings in a story because it tends to [[Romantic Plot Tumor|overtake the plot intrusively]] more than anything. There are a few ways around this. You can give the characters [[The Ghost|offscreen]] significant others, remove one gender, or make the characters a [[True Companions|figurative]] or [[The Family That Slays Together|literal family group]], and/or [[Brother-Sister Team|siblings]].
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[[Shipping Tropes|Doesn't stop Shipping]] [[Toy Ship|in any]] [[Ghost Shipping|way]], [[Cargo Ship|shape]], [[Crossover Ship|or form]]. In some occasions, the writers change their mind along the way and [[Relationship Upgrade|decide to reward fans with an intimate relationship]], but they don't actually illustrate it and don't decide to do it until the [[Last-Minute Hookup|very last second]].
One way to show some romantic ability from the characters without actually putting love in the story is if [[All Love Is Unrequited]]. Can lead to tons of [[
Compare and contrast [[Ship Sinking]].
{{examples}}▼
▲{{examples}}
== Anime and Manga ==
* Despite being a melodramatic shoujo series, ''[[Revolutionary Girl Utena]]'' 's director found [[Shipping]] an annoyingly common [[Plot Tumor]]; many of the relationships in the show are either ambiguously complicated if not morally uncomfortable. [[The Movie]], in contrast, has just enough time crunch to [[Les Yay|give the fans what they want]] for the lead characters.
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* English dubbing of anime, especially those targeted at younger demographics, at times tends to remove or change overtly romantic-sounding dialog with something more [[The Power of Friendship|friendship related]]. For example, compare the scene at 1:47 to 2:30 of this clip of [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvhpo0WF4sc episode 32] of ''[[Bakugan|Bakugan Battle Brawlers]]'' with the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJmF6qzS6ns same scene] in its original Japanese. [[Inverted Trope|Or occasionally it goes in the opposite direction]] - adding it in when such context is not in the subbed version, for example in ''[[Axis Powers Hetalia]]'' and ''[[Saiyuki|Gensoumaden Saiyuki]]''.
* [[Word of God]]: "There is no romance in ''[[Lucky Star]]''." They go so far as to have a scene that sets up what looks like a love confession, {{spoiler|and then it turns out the guy wanted to talk to Kagami so he could beg her Yatsuhashi doll off of her.}}
* While ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist (manga)|Fullmetal Alchemist]]'' is very romance-heavy, to the point of [[No Loves Intersect]], an arguable example of this trope in action is the [[Fullmetal Alchemist (anime)|2003 anime version]]. Both Rose and Winry in this version are implied to be in love with Edward - and it's been implied that Edward likes Winry back just like in the original manga (with Rose it's more ambiguous) - but Ed is too focused on his brother.
* Nelvana's ''[[Cardcaptor Sakura|Cardcaptors]]'' dub managed to, [[Sarcasm Mode|amazingly]], [[Macekre|turn a romance-heavy anime into]] a
* The author of the ''[[Slayers]]'' novels [[Word of God|stated]] that there would be no romance in his series at the very beginning, but the anime ignored this, pairing [[Dark Magical Girl|Lina]] up with [[Idiot Hero|Gourry]], at the very least [[Ship Tease|Ship Teasing]] Zelgadis and Amelia, and throwing in a few others for good measure. The author of the novels [[Word of God|later admitted]] that while he intended to make ''Slayers''
* In the ''[[Pokémon (anime)|Pokémon]]'' anime it seems like the only couples allowed consist of minor characters. None of the main characters are in relationships, and the only one who seems to want to be is Brock. Although, since [[Kid Hero|almost none of them have hit puberty yet]], this kind of makes sense. This doesn't stop the fandom from having vicious [[Ship-to-Ship Combat]] over which girl Ash should end up with, though.
** Several manga for the series avert this rule, though the source games fit this trope somewhat. Romance is implied, even with the protagonists, but it's never going to go anywhere.
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* Despite the relationship between Rosette and Chrono being a major part of ''[[Chrono Crusade]]'', the word 'love' does not appear in the manga, in any context, ''ever''. It's also open to debate whether or not the two ever kiss (the angle on their final scene on the Pandaemonium leaves it ambiguous).
* In one of the [[Word of God|author freetalk sections]] in the first volume of ''[[Natsume Yuujinchou]]'', the author mentions that she wanted to "make a supernatural manga without much of a romantic element."
* The only display of romantic affection in ''[[Claymore]]'' has so far been the single kiss Clare gave to [[Designated Love Interest|Raki]] just before leaving him for good. Everything else never goes beyond [[I Owe You My Life]] sentiment and [[Vitriolic Best Buds]] relationship, much to the frustration of the considerable [[Yuri Fan
* Despite how deep most of the relationships tend to run in ''[[Soul Eater]]'' - with Soul and Maka being the most canon example - [[Word of God|according to Ohkubo]] in an interview he doesn't plan on taking any of them to a romantic level. Though he also tends to troll his fans so whether or not he's being honest is unsure, and the [[Ship Tease]] isn't helping.
* The ''[[Lyrical Nanoha]]'' series has almost no romance onscreen, although [[Ship Tease|quite a lot is implied]]. Aside from Nanoha's brother and his girlfriend, the only confirmed relationship is between Amy and Chrono, and these characters mostly [[Demoted to Extra|vanish after the second season]], and even when they were a part of the show nothing actually happens onscreen. There are several character pairs that have romantic overtones, but none of them are ever explicitly shown to be more than friendship.
* Probably the reason ''[[Hunter X Hunter]]'' is a total sausagefest. Any women in the series are minor characters who don't stick around long. The two main characters are also prepubescent.
* According to [[Word of God]], ''[[Daily Lives of High School Boys]]'' isn't so much about romance than teenage boys (and some girls) doing things. In fact, the closest things to romance the series have are the Literature Girl and Emi's crushes towards Hidenori, and even then they are one-sided (and in the latter's case, it was even grounded by [[Surprise Incest]]).
{{quote|
==
* ''[[Tintin]]'' has this in spades, no major characters have shown any interest in romance whatsoever. The only exception is Professor Calculus, who has an innocent crush on Bianca Castafiore.
** According to the book "Tintin: Herge & His Creation", Snowy would have been a female human and love interest for Tintin had the Tintin stories not been originally published for a conservative Christian newspaper. Apparently conservative Christians look down upon romance between unmarried couples.
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* [[Played for Laughs]] in ''[[The Princess Bride]]''. When Westley has to leave and he and Buttercup start a romantic kiss goodbye, the young boy to whom the story is being read complains "Is this a kissing book?" In response, the narrator switches to the part where Westley is murdered by pirates. The boy comments: "Murdered by pirates is good." However, by the end, the boy allows Westley and Buttercup to have a romantic kiss, without complaint.
* In the film adaptations of both [[The Da Vinci Code]] and Angels & Demons, the romantic subplots between Langdon and Sophie and between Langdon and Victoria are scrapped altogether (it was stated that this would make the film less realistic). Langdon does give Sophie a friendly peck on the forehead, but that's about it.
* ''[[The Mothman Prophecies]]'', [http://www.cosmoetica.com/B38-DES17.htm apparently to its detriment]:
{{quote|
* In the made-for-TV film ''Path of Destruction'': Katherine Stern and Nathan McCain apparently go on a date at the end, although they never hug or kiss.
== Literature ==
* [[H.P. Lovecraft
** It is also true that ''any'' mention of sexual activity in Lovecraft is not only off-screen, but depicted as grotesque and produces abominable things that should not be. (''[[The Dunwich Horror]],'' ''[[The Shadow Over Innsmouth]]'')
* R.L. Stine's ''[[Goosebumps]]'' books often assign the protagonist a best friend of the opposite sex. No one ever seems to address the topic of romance between the two; in fact, [[Purely Aesthetic Gender|there's virtually no difference between male and female characters at all]]. Differences between the sexes are only important when the characters are teenagers, just as said differences tend to be [[Truth in Television|in real life]]. This is most likely because the books are aimed at prepubescent kids, and he wants both genders to be able to relate to it.
** Though he did avert it in ''one'' book, "How I Learned To Fly," in which the male protagonist actively wants his relationship with his female friend to be romantic.
* ''[[Daisy Miller]]'': The 19th century European aristocracy strongly adhered to this rule. Americans did not so much, however, and Daisy refuses to change her ways and (literally) do as the Romans do when in Rome. She finally becomes an outcast among her fellow American tourists when she commits the
** Deliciously inverted in {{spoiler|The Ambassadors.}}
* ''[[Redwall]]'': The word "love" is almost never used except for family and friendship types of love. (Making the throwaway line in ''The Sable Quean'' where a female [[Mook]] [[Even Evil Has Loved Ones|declares "I loved him"]] [[Minion Shipping|and vows to avenge her slain mate]] even more striking.) Martin and Rose, the most famous couple, are never described with the word "love", and barely even hold paws onscreen, but it's still clear that they're very important to each other, and {{spoiler|still heartbreaking when Rose is killed}}.
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== Live
* ''[[Power Rangers]]'' had three on-screen kisses in seventeen years, often taking [[Will They or Won't They?]] to painful levels.
** Not to mention those kisses were all done by the same couple. That couple was Kimberly and Tommy. Which means that all three kisses happened between Tommy's debut (middle of season 1) and Kimberly's departure (middle of season 3) That amounts to three kisses in roughly the span of two seasons, out of what is now 19 seasons and nearly 20 years.
** [[Executive Meddling]] forces may have been at work, too. According to ''[[Power Rangers SPD|SPD]]'' executive producer Greg Aranowitz, higher ups demanded as-low-as-possible levels of romance in the series, since it's targeted at little boys and all (he only said that about SPD, naturally, but who knows what goes through the minds of Disney).
*** [[Executive Meddling]] stroke again: according to [http://heropower.livejournal.com/90113.html Dan Ewing]{{Dead link}}, a kiss between [[Power Rangers RPM|Dillon and Summer]] was scripted for "Belly of the Beast", but was vetoed (we got [[Almost Kiss|the closest thing to it]] instead).
* ''[[CSI: Crime Scene Investigation]]'' torpedoed the [[UST]] between Grissom and Sara via the episode "Butterflied," where Gil's monologue about an older man pursuing a younger coworker pretty much annihilates Sara's enthusiasm. However, two and a half seasons later, they're [[Shocking Swerve|revealed to be in an intimate relationship]] that they've kept completely hidden from everyone else.
* ''[[Doctor Who]]'' took this one to the point where a noticeable section of fans believed (and still do) that Time Lords are asexual, and have contrived extremely elaborate [[Fan Wank]] to make this a biological viability. A form of this supposed asexuality is [[Canon]] in one [[Expanded Universe]] novel series, based off plans script editor Andrew Cartmel had for the Seventh
** The new series very quickly made efforts to dispel this aspect of the original series, with the Doctor and Rose having a [[Will They or Won't They?|slow-burning relationship]] climaxing in a kiss at the end of the first season. By now, the Doctor has snogged or been snogged by Cassandra, Reinette, Astrid, Joan, Martha, Donna, Amy, River, Catherine, the freaking {{spoiler|TARDIS}} [[Ho Yay|and Captain Jack]] (and Rory in the comics), all for various reasons. Naturally, many of that first section of fans dislike the new series for precisely this reason. However, the writers are quite respectful towards the fans who'd rather see the Doctor be chaste, and always leave room for a bit of denial. (As for the Rose thing: {{spoiler|he leaves her behind forever so she can go live happily with his mortal clone. Problem solved!}})
** At one point (particularly in the Davison era), there was a No Hugging, No Kissing, No ''Touching'' between the Doctor and his female companions, to dispel the notion of "hanky-panky" going on in the TARDIS. (Ironically, [[Ho Yay|it just made fangirls think he was gay for Turlough.]])
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== Tabletop Games ==
* ''[[Warhammer
** Very mildly averted in the ''[[Ciaphas Cain]]'' novels, where Cain is a devoted pursuer of women, and there's a few other relationships mentioned when they cross his path. It's mostly offscreen, and mostly implied, but it's there.
== Toys ==
* An example of [[Executive Meddling]] in ''[[Bionicle]]''. There were hints of romance in the early flash animations and online games, but these were [[Canon
{{quote|
** And then one of the movies went ahead and had an [[Unholy Matrimony]] plot. Farshtey had to handwave that one as merely a kind of political alliance, the same way kings would have their children married to strengthen bonds between royal houses (which to be fair is very much [[Truth in Television]]).
** The rule is now and forever more broken, officially. In the final novel of the entire saga, Kiina confesses her feelings toward Mata Nui by hugging him, and riding away in tears... and she was a feisty [[Action Girl]] who barely displayed any [[Hidden Depths|deep emotions]] like this up to that point.
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* ''[[Knights of the Old Republic]] II'' (which the lead quote refers to), by itself, isn't a very violent offender, although the romantic element is clearly downplayed compared to the first game and doesn't have as much impact on the main plot.
* Link and Zelda's relationship in ''[[The Legend of Zelda]]'' has almost never been romantic, barring a few exceptions and hints.
** The [[Expanded Universe]] manga adaptations of the games completely defy this and openly show Link and Zelda having feelings for each other (though usually more Link than Zelda). Much of the less canonical material, such as [[The Legend of Zelda (animation)|the American cartoon]], the American comic that ran in Nintendo Power, and the [[The
** On the other hand, every female of appropriate age ([[Shotacon|and one that's not]]) in ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time|Ocarina of Time]]'' seems to be [[Chick Magnet|hot for Link]]. Princess Ruto even becomes [[Childhood Marriage Promise|engaged to him]].
*** Possibly, there are two females of inappropriate age for Link in OOT, given how Saria can't grow up (unless you're into [[Toy Ship]]). Still, OOT Link ''does'' have a surprisingly large number of girls who show interest in him, given how other Zelda games usually only have one or two.
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* Obsidian Entertainment's later ''[[Neverwinter Nights 2]]'', in comparison, avoids it almost completely (save for a single scene under the moon), and whatever sexuality-related themes are there are mostly played for laughs.
** The expansion pack to ''[[Neverwinter Nights 2]]'' however does have one romantic option for the main character (based on his/her gender). [[Level Up At Intimacy 5|It affects your stats in game.]]
* Similar to the ''Zelda'' example, the relationships in the ''[[Super Mario
* ''[[Freelancer]]'' makes it very clear that Trent and Juni start out as brothers at arms to end up as close friends, but nothing more.
* ''[[Touhou]]'' has no romance whatsoever. Hell, only a literal handful of characters even have known family members.
* ''[[Dynasty Warriors]]'' was pretty bad with this, despite the canon couples such as Liu Bei and Sun Shang Xiang, then Sima Zhao and Wang Yuanji, most notably on the latter, which has both of them act like close friends instead of being a couple, at least.
** The closest to subverting this trope is Wu's ending on ''DW7'', with Sun Quan carrying Lian Shi (both are an example similar to Zhao and Yuanji). Koei, you really need to to make these relationships believable.
* As mentioned in the anime, there's little romance in ''[[Pokémon]]'' other than implications and subtext.
* ''[[Wild
* Love and sex are never mentioned in ''[[Dark Souls]]''. The only marriage ever mentioned is off screen and neither character involved is personally encountered. It might just be that the world [[Crapsack World|sucks]] so much no one can really bother thinking about such things, or that the Dark Sign is also [[Sterility Plague]].
* In ''[[MapleStory]]'' Several female characters, including [[The High Queen|Cygnus]], flirt with your character [[Even the Girls Want Her|(even if you have a female one) but they never get very close. {{spoiler|Unless you unlock the first Hidden Mission in FriendStory, where Cygnus catches the player by surprise and gives him/her one, earning you a special achievement.}}
== Web Comics ==
* In ''[[Something
== Western Animation ==
* While there were [[Ship Tease|hints of possible mutual interest]] between the two leads in Disney's ''[[Fillmore!]]'', there was nothing really overt between them. All other positively romantic relationships in the series were limited to couples smiling, holding hands, and giving each other meaningful looks. It should be noted that most of the characters in the series are in middle school.
* The closest thing to romance in ''[[Invader Zim]]'' is [[Mauve Shirt|Gretchen]]'s implied crush on [[Hero Antagonist|Dib]], [[Eviler Than Thou|Tak]]'s brief and incredibly violent "relationship" with Zim (motivated by revenge and SCIENCE!, respectively), and [[Robot Buddy|GIR]]'s very obvious interest in [[Creepy Child|Gaz]].
* The first two seasons of ''[[
* Despite the many love songs and possible [[Incest Subtext]] in ''[[The Amazing Chan and The Chan Clan]]'', the lives of Mr. Chan and his children were decidedly romance-free (on camera, anyway). The only romantic subplot ever was between the family dog and a one-episode canine character.
* ''[[My Little Pony]]'' in general tends to not have any on-screen romance.
** [[Word of God|Lauren Faust specifically noted that]] ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]'' was not a show which would contain romance of any kind for the [[Fan Nickname|mane cast]]. Despite this, Rarity is initially attracted to [[Prince Charmless|Prince Blueblood]] (she got over ''that'' quickly though) and Spike has a [[Precocious Crush]] on Rarity herself {{spoiler|which she is apparently aware of}}. All other romantic scenarios happen to minor characters, so there is still a [[Valentine's Day Episodes|Valentines' Day]] episode and "[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic
** Averted in the romance heavy ''[[My Little Pony Tales]]''. Also averted in ''[[My Little Pony and Friends]]'' - one episode featured a mutual crush between a mare and a Big Brother Pony. The toy line attempted to avert up until [[My Little Pony G 3|G3]], where all romance was dropped.
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