History Main / BoyfriendBluff

* This [[https://notalwaysright.com/busted-on-the-bus-video-2/31780/#more-31780 Not Always Friendly]] anecdote.

* Major Kira and Odo also pretend to be romantically involved when they were dealing with someone who was pursuing Kira in an episode of ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine.''
* Suberted in the ''Series/{{NCIS}}'' episode "Designated Target." Ziva asks Tony how to tell someone you no longer want to speak with them while speaking with someone else on the phone. Tony helpfully takes the phone, pretends to be her husband, and threatens bodily harm to the person on the other end. A shocked Ziva informs him he's just yelled at her aunt, who had called asking her for advice on how to stop seeing her elderly mah-jong partner.
* In ''Series/{{Sonny With A Chance}}'', Sonny pretends to be Grady's girlfriend while his brother Grant is visiting.
* In ''Series/ThePretender'' episode "Prison Story", Jarod uses it to rescue a woman being harassed about her jailbird father.
* In ''Series/EnemyAtTheDoor'' episode "The Jerrybag", Peter intervenes when he comes across a young woman being harassed by a couple of German soldiers, apologizing for being late to an invented rendezvous. It doesn't entirely work, since the Germans are confident they have him outmatched physically and in authority, and he has to do some more fast talking to get them both away unscathed.
* ''Series/StrongMedicine''. Kayla asks Peter to pose as her fiance when her ex comes to town for a visit. Sure enough, they start dating soon afterwards.
* ''Series/{{Frasier}}'':
** Roz sees an ex-boyfriend walking past Cafe Nervosa and asks Frasier to kiss her so the guy will think she's moved on. Frasier is reluctant but eventually agrees after being reminded how rude the guy was to him. The ex takes one look at them and walks away without saying anything, but then Frasier's brother Niles walks in and proceeds to have a lot of fun teasing them about it.
** In another episode, Daphne's ex-fiance Clive visits, and she introduces Niles to him as her husband.

* In ''On A Clear Day You Can See Forever'', Edward sends off some ne'er-do-wells by pretending to be Melinda's brother, and singing "Don't Tamper With My Sister," an entire song about not going about that kind of thing (in public).

* In the Videogame/{{Yakuza}} games it's quite common for the player character to do this with hostesses they romance. Tanimura in Yakuza 4 can take a mission where he pretends to be a woman's boyfriend in order to drive away her ex for an extended period.
* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyCrystalChroniclesEchoesOfTime'' you can find a girl being hit on much to her annoyance. You can step in and pretend to be her boyfriend (or girlfriend) and the guy will back off.
* In ''Videogame/LovePlus'', Rinko nearly gets into a fight with a well-muscled youth due to [[SoreLoser his inability to accept his loss]] [[GamerChick in a fighting game to a girl]]. As the situation escalated, Rinko apparently threw the first kick, but when she sees the player nearby, she claims that he is her boyfriend and asks the player to "destroy the punk." Obviously, the player grabs Rinko by the hand and [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere employs the classic Nike defense.]]

* Gender inverted in ''Webcomic/TheLastDaysOfFOXHOUND''. After [[ColdSniper Sniper Wolf]] asks [[IdiotHero Liquid Snake]] on a date, Liquid remembers that Wolf only has crushes on men she's about to kill (she doesn't want to kill him, only talk), so he [[http://www.doctorshrugs.com/foxhound/comic.php?id=125 runs away and asks the first woman he sees to be his girlfriend]]. Coincidentally, this woman is Naomi Hunter, who ''does'' want to kill him.

* In ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad,'' Hayley is in Saudia Arabia without a male escort when the Police of Vice and Virtue find her, only for a random guy named Kazi to come up and pretend to be her brother. [[GuyOfTheWeek Short-term romance ensues]].

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

* Used in an odd sense in ''Manga/AiYoriAoshi''. Kaoru dissuades a pair of guys from making a move on Aoi with this claim...kicker being he really ''is'' [[ChildhoodMarriagePromise her fiance]], and he'd just kicked her out of his home suspecting her of being a ploy by his estranged family to get him to return (only to immediately realize his mistake). The incident kicks off the two's relationship.
* Inverted in the hentai anime ''Sexfriend''. Mina brushes off a persistent ex-lover by grabbing protagonist Takabe and claiming him as her boyfriend.
* ''Manga/FruitsBasket'': Kyo pulls a non-verbal version of this to protect Tohru from some guys that want to take advantage of her. It involves leaning on the wall next to her and glaring at them.

* Attempted by one character in ''Manga/BlueDrop'', but it just makes the Arume he's bluffing threaten to impregnate the woman in question.
* In ''Manga/RecoveryOfAnMMOJunkie'', Lily used to get a lot of unwanted attention from male players, to the point that it almost ruined her enjoyment of the game. Eventually her guild master Kanbe suggested that she tell people they were partners, which caused the harassment to die down. In Episode 3, she asks Hayashi to become her new partner and he accepts, with Kanbe's approval (though it's also subverted, since Hayashi and Lily are slowly developing into an actual couple -- or at least their players are).
* In ''Manga/SeitokaiYakuindomo'', Aria escapes from two persistent pickup-artists at the beach by claiming that Takatoshi was her husband. [[TheNapoleon Suzu]] is less than pleased at being treated as their child.
* In ''Manga/SayILoveYou'', Mei calls Yamato in episode 1 after she's unable to reach her mother when she notices there'a a creepy guy following her. He arrives to escort her home, then gives her a kiss, which is enough to scare the guy away, while unintentionally taking her FirstKiss.
* Inverted in ''LightNovel/{{Oreshura}}''. Masuzu, the most popular girl at the school, gives a very public LoveConfession to Eita, partly because she finds his lack of interest in love fascinating, and partly to stop having so many boys ask her out everyday. She [[BlackMail forces him]] to continue pretending that they're dating by managing to get a copy of a journal he wrote fantasy stories in, and telling him that if he doesn't pretend to be her boyfriend, or he [[SecretKeeper tells anyone]] about the fake relationship, she would release the contents of the journal on the internet. Since he considers the journal to be an embarrassing OldShame, he's forced to comply with her demands. Naturally, this doesn't sit well with his ChildhoodFriend, [[ClingyJealousGirl Chiwa]], who then keeps close tabs on them.
* The ''Manga/LovePlus: Rinko Days'' manga adaptation has the protagonist invoking this to save Rinko from an angry gamer who got beaten by her in a fighting game at the local arcade. The game itself has it inverted, with Rinko being the one who pretends the player is her boyfriend.
* In ''Anime/HowlsMovingCastle'', this was how Sophie first met Howl, with him pretending to be her boyfriend to rescue her from a couple of harassing soldiers. While it managed to get the soldiers off Sophie's back, it also had the unintended effect of making the Witch of the Waste jealous of Sophie.

* ''Manga/SpyXFamily:'' When they first meet, Yoru asks Lloyd to pose as her boyfriend at a party. He agrees, as he conveniently needs to find a woman to pose as his wife as part of his mission. Unfortunately, he only makes it to the party after a grueling mission, and accidentally slips up by saying he's Yoru's husband rather than her boyfriend. After they leave, she asks that they be married to help escape suspicion from gossips and the country's paranoid government as a couple.
* Literature/HalfPrince: Prince has girls fawning and throwing themselves at him left and right. He described it as them being wolves looking at a piece of meat. Luckily, he meets Lolidragon who is enamored by his good looks but not as crazy and calls herself his wife to get the women to leave Prince alone. It works.

* In ''Manga/GakuenBabysitters'', it's PlayedForLaughs when Inui wants to meet "Inomata" (actually a crossdressing Ryuuichi). In order to deter him, Yayoi comes up with a situation where Kamitani pretends to be "Inomata"'s boyfriend.
--> '''Kamitani''': This is my woman. You better give up.

--> '''Conner:''' ''I'm'' her husband.
--> '''Guard #1:''' Oh. You ''are''?
--> '''Conner:''' I am. *to Lophi* You okay, "Honey"?
--> '''Lophi:''' The hell?

[[folder:Fan Fic]]
* ''FanFic/{{Rules}}'': A gender-inverted example with Light and Charlie, in order to get rid of Misa. It seems to have worked ''at first'' -- Charlie tells her, over the phone, to stay the hell away from "her man", which relieves Light of the constant emails, calls, and voicemails. However, it was just the calm before the storm, as Misa goes as far as ''showing up on campus'' to win him back. Even a FakeOutMakeOut doesn't completely deter her -- she is convinced that she can't save Light from the "American whore," and will instead ''wait for Light'', who she believes will come crawling back to her once Charlie breaks his heart. Obviously, that will never happen, as Light and Charlie aren't actually dating [[spoiler:yet]].
* In the prequel to book 1 of ''Fanfic/SevenDaysInSunnyJune'', a bunch of guys try to pick up Fluttershy, with or without her consent. Sunset Shimmer appears and poses as her hyper-aggressive girlfriend. It works, though it takes Sunset pulling out an (illusionary) gun to get them to back off.

--> '''Aladdin:''' Come on sis, time to go see the doctor.
--> '''Jasmine:''' *to camel* Oh hello doctor, how are you?
--> '''Aladdin:''' Uh uh, not that one...

%%* Memorably done by John Cusack in ''Film/SayAnything''.

-->'''Tank Girl''': Quit pickin' on my girlfriend! [makes out with Jet Girl]
-->'''Sergeant Small''': God, that is... [disgusted look, leaves]
-->'''Jet Girl''': Thanks. It worked.
-->'''Tank Girl''': [mischievous look] What worked?
-->'''Jet Girl''': [disgusted look, leaves]
* Played with in ''Film/{{Predator 2}}''. Jerry Lambert (Bill Paxton) is at a bar. He goes over to a man talking to a woman.
-->'''Jerry''': Hey, do you mind? It's [[MySisterIsOffLimits my sister]]. [man leaves] Oh, you're not my sister.
* ''Film/MrAndMrsSmith2005'': it's how they met. They managed to avoid the ''military'' this way: they were looking for an American traveling alone.
* ''Film/BlackWidow1987''. Alexandra Barnes and Catharine Petersen are taking a scuba diving class. An unattractive woman with a cold asks to be Catherine's partner, but Alexandra intervenes and says that she and Catharine had already agreed to be partners, much to Catharine's relief. This example fits the trope because there was considerable subsequent romantic subtext between Alexandra and Catharine, including two kisses.
* GenderFlipped in ''Film/LegallyBlonde'', where [[HelloAttorney Elle]] pretends [[{{Geek}} a boy at her college]] broke her heart, in order to make him seem cooler and get the GirlPosse to stop haranguing him.
* In ''Film/LittleChildren'' , Brad and Sarah (who are married, but not to each other) hug and kiss once to freak out the yuppies at the playground. [[UnresolvedSexualTension It works.]]
* In ''How To Be Single'', Lucy meets her old friend at a bar who announces her engagement and bluffs at Lucy for being single. Tom, the bartender, sees this and kisses Lucy claiming to be her boyfriend.
* ''Film/{{Hitch}}'' pretended to be the boyfriend of a woman at a bar to get rid of a guy she obviously was not interested in.

* In ''Film/FilmGeek'', Niko simultaneously wards off and puts down Brandon by telling him Scotty, whom Brandon called "a spaz," is her boyfriend, and pulls him in for a kiss for good measure. Brandon is not fooled, but leaves her alone.
* Mentioned in ''Film/{{Turistas}}'': "I'm here with my little sister. I get to pretend to be the boyfriend when creepy guys try to bother her."
* ''Film/ThisMeansWar2012'': Lauren [[{{FakeoutMakeout}} makes out with FDR]] in which to convince her ex, Steve, that she is perfectly happy without him. FDR builds on her [[{{BlatantLies}} story of her surgeon boyfriend]] by adding that he is a [[{{UptoEleven}} neurosurgeon, head of department at a children's hospital.]] He puts the crowning touch on by calling Steve the wrong name--repeatedly. [[spoiler: The payoff comes when Steve's new fiancée clasps Lauren's hand and tells her she's "so lucky", while Steve looks ''verrry'' uncomfortable.]]
* In ''Film/BlueIsTheWarmestColor'', Adèle "accidentally" ends up in a lesbian bar, and being young, pretty, confused, and vulnerable, is of course easy pickings to be hit on. [[LoveInterest Emma]] wards them off by claiming to be Adèle's cousin, and keeps her company for the rest of the evening.

* In ''Film/BadTeacher'', the title character runs after her chubby, nerdy student, who has just been cruelly rejected after publicly declaring his love for the most popular girl in class. After consoling him, she gives him her bra, then drags him back to where the group is waiting "angrily" claiming that she caught him making out with a high school girl. In two seconds, he goes from outcast to legend.

* Literature/AnitaBlake takes hitman Bernardo with her to a [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot werewolf biker-gang]] bar, because she believes they are unlikely to listen seriously to a woman who shows up at their hangout alone.
* Considering the above example, Granny needing to take Greebo with her to the opera in ''Literature/{{Maskerade}}'' may count.
* In ''Literature/PaperTowns'', Q goes out pranking with Margo at the beginning of the book. Someone hits on her and makes a comment about her "little brother," ie, Q. She tells the clerk, "Actually, he's my cousin." * grabs ass* "And my lover."
* Inverted in [[Literature/TheBible the book of Genesis]], where Abraham pretends that his beautiful wife Sarah is his sister whenever he travels to a foreign country so that other men [[MurderTheHypotenuse won't try to kill him to have her]]. He actually did this ''twice''. Then [[GenerationXerox his son Isaac tried to do the same thing about his wife Rebecca]].

* In the book, ''Son of the Mob'', this is how the titular mob boss's son meets and eventually starts dating the daughter of an FBI agent.

* GenderFlipped in ''{{Literature/Everworld}}''--the group encounters the Amazons, who seem prepared to take any unclaimed man for themselves. [[TokenEvilTeammate Senna]] claims that [[HeroicWannabe David]] is hers, which is [[MoreThanMindControl kind of true]], while [[TheSmartGuy Jalil]] is claimed by [[TheChick April]], to his surprise. [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Christopher]] is claimed by no one and willingly taken away by the Amazon queen. He claims they just cuddled.
* In the third book, {{Literature/A Storm Of Swords}} in the {{Literature/A Song Of Ice And Fire}} series, Gendry pretends to be Arya's older brother to repel the advances toward Arya from older creepy men at a brothel. Arya is surprised and upset by Gendry saying this and asserts that he's not her brother probably because she has a huge crush on him.

* Ross tried to do this for Rachel on ''Series/{{Friends}}'', but it was unwanted because Rachel was actually interested in the guy.

* Alex pretends to be Elaine's boyfriend "Bill Board" on ''Series/{{Taxi}}''.
* ''Series/RizzoliAndIsles'' has a lesbian version in a scene where the titular characters dissuade a mechanic from romantically pursuing one of them by pretending to be a couple.

* Gabrielle gets a man to do this in the ''Series/XenaWarriorPrincess'' pilot.

* ''Series/DoctorWho'': In "The Time of the Doctor," Clara asks the Doctor if he'd like to pretend to be her boyfriend for when her parents come over for Christmas dinner. He dutifully arrives, but he makes the worst possible impression upon the family--''[[ItMakesSenseInContext he's stark naked!]]''
* Invoked in an episode of Series/GraceLand, where a female FBI agent going undercover in a BadGuyBar instructs a male fellow agent to pose as her cocky, possessive boyfriend so she won't be mobbed by unsavory guys while trying to focus on her target.

* ''Series/RizzoliAndIsles'' has a LesYay laden version in a scene where the titular characters dissuade a mechanic from romantically pursuing one of them by pretending to be a couple.

* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyCrystalChroniclesEchoesOfTime'' you can find a girl being hit on much to her annoyance. You can step in and pretend to be her boyfriend, or [[LesYay girlfriend]], and the guy will back off.

* ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13695718/5/I-m-Nobody I'm Nobody]]'' has an unusual variant in a "Sister Bluff" by having an angry Ashley getting a pair of flirtatious asari with NoSenseOfPersonalSpace away from [[ChasteHero (the rather naive)]] Roxas by claiming to be his [[BigBrotherInstinct over protective big sister]].

[[caption-width-right:246:Actually, it's amazing how much the guy on the left [[DisguisedInDrag doesn't]] [[SweetPollyOliver know]]. He can count himself lucky.]]

When a guy (and it's almost [[AlwaysMale always a guy]]) saves a girl on the street from being harrassed by some undesirables by coming over and pretending to be her boyfriend or brother, or something similar. The girl is usually not aware that the guy is about to do this, and often doesn't even know the guy in question. This doesn't stop them from [[RomanticFakeRealTurn turning into real lovers]] at some point.

* Occurs a couple of times in Robert Asprin's ''Literature/MythAdventures'' series as a con gambit: a sexy young woman comes onto a guy, and as they're getting cozy, her companion/s burst in, claiming to be brothers, boyfriends or general protectors, protecting the girl's honour. The first time it's used, Skeeve is the mark, and the intent is to rob him. Later it comes back, with the same woman using a variant on the scheme to make the soldiers look like cads.

* ''Series/{{Frasier}}''. Roz sees an ex-boyfriend walking past Cafe Nervosa and asks Frasier to kiss her so the guy will think she's moved on. Frasier is reluctant but eventaully agrees after being reminded how rude the guy was to him. The ex takes one look at them and walks away without saying anything, but then Frasier's brother Niles walks in and proceeds to have a lot of fun teasing them about it.

* In ''Film/LittleChildren'' , Brad and Sarah [[YourCheatingHeart (who are married, but not to each other)]] hug and kiss once to freak out the yuppies at the playground. [[UnresolvedSexualTension It works.]]

* ''Series/LawAndOrderUK''. Matt and Alesha's relationship sparks when the team is hanging out at a pub and she's hassled by some drunken footballers. When one of them asks if she's with anyone, Matt answers for her, declaring, "She's with ''me''."
** Another story has him taking it even further and saying that she's his ''wife''.

* ''Film/ThisMeansWar'': Lauren [[{{FakeoutMakeout}} makes out with FDR]] in which to convince her ex, Steve, that she is perfectly happy without him. FDR builds on her [[{{BlatantLies}} story of her surgeon boyfriend]] by adding that he is a [[{{UptoEleven}} neurosurgeon, head of department at a children's hospital.]] He puts the crowning touch on by calling Steve the wrong name--repeatedly. [[spoiler: The payoff comes when Steve's new fiancée clasps Lauren's hand and tells her she's "so lucky", while Steve looks ''verrry'' uncomfortable.]]

* Inverted in the hentai anime ''Sex Friend''. Mina brushes off a persistent ex-lover by grabbing protagonist Takabe and claiming him as her boyfriend.

[[folder:FanFic]]

[[folder:Film - Animated]]

[[folder:Film - Live Action]]

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

* This trope has appeared twice in ''Webcomic/StickyDillyBuns'':
** "Rudy" saves "Dilla" from an attempted chat-up with a "Get lost. I saw her first." The twist there is that both are DisguisedInDrag -- "Dilla" is actually Dillon, and "Rudy" is Ruby. Given that Ruby is usually rather nervous and easily embarrassed, and she bluffs down a guy who's larger than herself to help someone she doesn't even like very much, this is a bit of a personal SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome for her.

* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' parodying ''Film/{{Titanic 1997}}'', Fry is simultaneously pretending to be Amy's boyfriend so her parents will stop harassing her about [[IWantGrandkids giving them grandchildren]] and pretending to be Leela's boyfriend to keep her from being harassed by [[AbhorrentAdmirer Zap Brannigan]].

* Done in Disney's ''Disney/{{Aladdin}}'', though in this case Al pretends Jasmine is his {{Cloudcuckoolander}} sister. Points to Jasmine for immediately getting it and playing along.

* Considering the above example, Granny needing to take Greebo with her to the opera in ''Discworld/{{Maskerade}}'' may count.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'' episode "Helga's Boyfriend" Helga enlists Stinky to be her boyfriend in order to make Arnold jealous.

* ''Film/BlackWidow'' (1987). Alexandra Barnes and Catharine Petersen are taking a scuba diving class. An unattractive woman with a cold asks to be Catherine's partner, but Alexandra intervenes and says that she and Catharine had already agreed to be partners, much to Catharine's relief. This example fits the trope because there was considerable subsequent romantic subtext between Alexandra and Catharine, including two kisses.