A Man Is Not a Virgin: Difference between revisions

* Sexually active sidekick: On the rare occasions that the lead character is sworn to chastity, or else so single minded that he has no time for sex, he will often have a sidekick who is, or wishes to be, sexually active. This seems to be so that the audience won't think the heroes are "queer".

* [[All Men Are Perverts]]: A man could never not want to have sex with a woman, NEVER EVER.

** [[Black Comedy Rape]]: When the above is done for laughs.

* [[Sex Is Cool]]: Really, the underlying reason why this trope exists.

* Thoroughly, thoroughly averted in the early [[Jim Carrey]] film ''Once Bitten'', in which the only reason the vampire's interested in the protagonist at all is because it's so hard to find a male virgin these days: [[Our Vampires Are Different|she has to bite a virgin to retain her youth]], isn't interested in girls, and is having a tough time finding a boy over puberty who hasn't had sex yet. Not so averted, considering the day is finally saved when {{spoiler|he has sex with his girlfriend, making him useless to the vampire.}}

* ''[[The 40-Year-Old Virgin]]'' was all about [[Sex As Rite of Passage|the hero's attempts to lose his virginity]]. In a minor subversion, however, his male friends -- who had all had sex and were eagerly egging him on -- were in many ways much bigger losers than he was, and were certainly far more infantile and immature about sex, compared to the affable and handsome hero. One critic pointed that even his "unmanly" preference for bike riding rather than using a car or a motorcycle works to the hero's favor since it helps keep him in great shape and attractive to women.

** [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] in the conversation with the cop on the motorcycle. "I'll get it tattooed on my forehead, all right!?"

** All of this joking and other general obsession about Max's lack of a sex life is made just a mite [[Squick|squicky]], since ''he's only fifteen, at the very oldest!''

*** Not so much a lack of a biological sex drive: simply that 36 years of conditioned upbringing in an underground Romanian laboratory would leave one on a little on the funny side. It's also suggested throughout the series that 47 is starting to soften his ways: in the first game, he grimaces with disgust after Lei Ling kisses him, but in the [[The Rashomon|alternate interpretation version]] of the same mission which 47 experiences a flashback of four years later, he reacts more with simple surprise and bemusement. Additionally, his relationship with his handler Diana has become increasingly cordial over the course of the series.

* It's implied, though never outright stated, that Billy was a virgin in ''[[One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest|One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest]]'' {{spoiler|until he slept with Candy.}} However, in the novel though not the film, [[Mc Murphy]] claims to have lost his at the age of TEN. Though that may be macho bragging.

* Totally subverted in ''[[Born On the Fourth of July]]'' where the protagonist (played by [[Tom Cruise]]) is a wrestling star in high school who loses his final match, much to the disappointment of his parents, goes off to Vietnam to prove his manhood, and gets his legs blown off. He then loses his high school sweetheart, who he had been saving himself for (who remains his friend and gets him involved in the anti-war movement). In a fit of despair, he moves to a whorehouse in Mexico frequented by boozy, PTSD'd Vietnam War paraplegics and attempts to lose his virginity (more or less) to an attractive girl there. He doesn't enjoy it much.

* Alex O'Connell in ''[[The Mummy Trilogy|The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor]]'' tells his mother that he has had numerous romantic affairs right before he proceeds to botch a conversation with his love interest.

* Also averted in [[Captain America the First Avenger]]. Pre-Transformation Steve Rogers is terribly intimidated by women (owing to his small stature), even afraid to ask girls to dance with him. His apprehension remains after receiving the Super Soldier serum, even when women throw themselves at him. {{spoiler|His brief macking with Peggy Carter may very well be his first kiss.}}

** {{spoiler|Well, that's not counting when a enamored female Army private lays one on him after he wins the Medal of Honor.}}

* ''[[Twins]]'' :

{{quote| '''Vincent''': You do like women?<br />

* Averted in ''[[Kushiels Legacy]]'', which describes Imriel losing his virginity in great detail. Imriel had previously been a sex abuse survivor, so it was a big deal for him to overcome his old fears.

* Averted in Mary Stewart's trilogy about the life of Merlin; the feared and powerful enchanter is a virgin {{spoiler|until he hands over his powers, and his virginity, to his successor}}. In fact, the one time he tries to have sex with a woman, [[The Loins Sleep Tonight|he fails]]. He states that he had to choose between his powers and sexual prowess.

* ''[[The Princess Bride (Literature)|The Princess Bride]]'': Westley. Possibly. The man who spends all his life, all his time doing nothing but singlemindedly laboring to be able to be with Buttercup, whom he loves in a mysteriously perfect way for whatever reason. In "Buttercup's Baby," the fragment continuing the story of ''[[The Princess Bride (Literature)|The Princess Bride]]'' a little bit, it's implied that he's not a virgin when they have their first time. Well, if it were someone else, it would be pretty clear, but knowing him and thereby that it makes no sense, room is left for doubt. Referring to his knowing there's more they could do than kissing, the narrator casually mentions that "he had been the King of the Sea for several years, and, well, things happened." She, of course, doesn't even know whether they should be standing up or lying down to do it.

* Averted on Edward Cullen from ''[[Twilight (Literature)|Twilight]]''. He is a 114 year old vampire virgin that never had a sexual urge before meeting the leading lady and insists on getting married before giving it up.

* Initially averted and later played straight with Ambrosio in ''[[The Monk (Literature)|The Monk]]'' when he breaks his vow of chastity with Matilda.

* In Richard Wright's famous autobiography ''Black Boy,'' he recalls a co-worker who had a bad case of gonorrhea, and actually acts ''proud'' of it because it's proof he's had sex, and is therefore a real man. Richard doubts he's as proud of it as he acts, however, when he sees him urinate one day, with his teeth clenched, tears streaming out of his eyes and with a hand on the beam above him to keep from falling over in agony.

 

== [[Live Action TV]] ==

** Interestingly, Susan was only made the Doctor's granddaughter to avoid the [[Unfortunate Implications]] of an old man travelling alone with a young girl.

** And yet, despite his general [[Celibate Hero]] status, the new series still felt the need to point out, in their own veiled G-rated way, that the Doctor is not a virgin. (He's a [[Sufficiently Advanced Alien]] with probably genetically engineered [[Bizarre Alien Biology]] and a member of the society that could give the Master a new body just like that - having had a grandchild doesn't prove anything.)

** Averted by Castiel. He may be a virgin, but he's a ''badass'' virgin who has saved the sexually-active brothers on several occasions.

*** And it was almost played straight. When Dean first learns that Castiel is a virgin, he decided that ''apocalypse'' could wait until Cas has that particular problem fixed. Of course, put an angel in a brothel, [[Hilarity Ensues]].

* In ''[[The Dresden Files]]'' TV show, the first scene we see of grown-up Harry starts with him waking up in bed with a nameless blonde who we never hear from again. It's especially striking considering his character in the books...

* Averted in ''[[The Prisoner (TV)|The Prisoner]]'' where Number 6 is deliberately never shown to possess any kind of sexual desire, in deliberate contrast to the James Bond-inspired spy image of the time. Naturally, theories about his sexuality abound, with much being made of the fact that the one time he even goes so far as to kiss a woman, he's in another man's body.

** And lets not forget Commander Riker, who's sexploits rival or exceed those of Kirk's (who might as well be the [[Trope Namer]]) Riker also functions as something of a sexual sidekick to the more restrained Captain Picard (especially in the first season). Of course, Picard gets his fair share of action over the run of TNG.

** Ironically enough, the record holder for most tail in ''TNG'' might actually be [[Creator's Pet|Wesley Crusher]].

** It's actually a pretty good subversion, as Marcus, ''the virgin,'' is repeatedly shown as being an incredibly talented fighter, once [[Badass|wiping out an entire bar while barely losing his breath]]

{{quote| '''Marcus:''' Bugger! Now I have to wait for someone to wake up!}}

** Amused by his outrage, his father exclaims "Great fire, boy, didn't you ''date'' in Paris?" However we find out later, {{spoiler|at least according to the possibly biased Tarvek Sturmhalten, that Gil did quite a bit more than dating in Paris.}}

** apparently something of a retcon, since when they went back to colorize the early pages, the line becomes {{spoiler|"red fire boy, what kind of women did you associate with at school", which fits in better with how Travek said gil acted in paris.}}

* Averted in ''[[Dominic Deegan]]''. Gregory, despite being a virgin for the first several hundred strips, is a very powerful white mage, as noted by his brother when his magic first shows as white fire.

** He was crippled by the blight, which would also explain why no girl wanted him. {{spoiler|Ironically, his virginity is not only unrelated to being a white mage, he actually gets some after truly "becoming" one, once the blight is removed.}}

[[Category:Romance Novel Tropes]]

[[Category:A Man Is Not A Virgin]]