History Main / VirginityMakesYouStupid

* While Keith Goodman's {{ditz}}iness and [[ChasteHero chasteness]] have occasionally been demonstrated, the fourth ''Anime/TigerAndBunny Drama CD'' just how phenomenally dense he is when it comes to sex: he invites [[ShrinkingViolet Ivan]] to a rather risque gay club. That he goes to regularly. ''Completely oblivious to the fact that it's a gay club.''

This trope is the reverse of the virgin as portrayed in classical literature. In ancient myths, virgins were often dedicated to some higher purpose. They were supposed to be above such things as lust and passion, upheld as an example that people should strive to follow… and if they fell from this pedestal, boy, did they fall hard. Just ask [[Myth/ClassicalMythology the goddess Artemis' attendants]]; if they gave in to the pleasures of the flesh, there was a world of hurt in store when the Boss Lady found out.

But sometime in the 20th century, there has been a sharp reversal. Virginity no longer guarantees VirginPower or some higher knowledge; in fact, it often indicates the opposite. Many contemporary characters who are still virgins over the age of consent will be TheDitz. The men will be shy to the point of social ineptitude -- or so desperate to prove their manhood that they [[DoggedNiceGuy make idiots of themselves]]. By contrast, female virgins are usually portrayed as hopelessly dim, both in terms of intelligence and social skills. At best, such characters may be good at their jobs and/or book smart, but [[NaiveEverygirl naive to the point of ignorance]] -- remember, this trope often overlaps with TheIngenue.

** Subverted with the [[{{Animesque}} manga-esque]] series ''Tales of the Dark Forest''. Virgins ''have'' to be smart so they can outwit and kill the unicorns they stay virgins in order to hunt. The reason it's a subversion is that the first virgin we see in the series is used for unicorn bait, and [[WhoWouldBeStupidEnough really is that naively stupid]] at least until she's on the run with and apprenticed to a ''real'' unicorn huntress. Then again, she did arrange for said huntress' deflowering beforehand.

* A rare male example is Sagara Sousuke from ''LightNovel/FullMetalPanic''. He is ''[[ChasteHero very]]'' [[ChasteHero obviously a virgin]], and... he is ''incredibly'' stupid when it comes to relationships, being socially inept. However, he is extremely competent when it comes to military combat, and is a teen genius when it comes to handling the HumongousMecha AS. In fact, it's even {{lampshade|Hanging}}d in-series by [[ChivalrousPervert Kurz]], who calls Sousuke numerous times as being a "gutless, stupid virgin" - something which Sousuke [[ChasteHero only vaguely understands as probably being an insult]].

* In ''Franchise/MassEffect'', Liara has little social skills due to spending decades on solitary studies. Guess what? She is also a virgin. Ash, not so much. Also, Liara's species lives to be about 1000 and she's 106 so she would be 18-22. However, she is an archeologist specializing in the Protheans, and she did piece together from her research that something happened to the Protheans and organic life before them consistently (which is the Reapers, the main threat within the storyline), so she's clearly not ''stupid''. She states her social inability is from her constant researching in the field and out of it leaving her alone for lengthy amounts of time. Before that, she had [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer an isolated childhood]] due to [[HasTwoMommies having an asari father]], which is taboo in a society that prizes interspecies relationships to improve genetic diversity.

* In ''Film/HocusPocus'', the main character is a virgin and no one in the film ever lets him forget it. The term is practically interchangeable with "idiot" from the way everyone talks. [[TooDumbToLive And he lit the candle that virgins were explicitly not supposed to light]]. The rare (if not unique) situation where VirginityMakesYouStupid and NatureAbhorsAVirgin both go hand-in-hand with the usually contrasting VirginPower: it takes a virgin to resurrect the {{Wicked Witch}}es.

* {{Subverted|Trope}} with Michelle in ''Film/AmericanPie''. For the first two-thirds of the movie, all she does is tell squeaky clean and achingly dull anecdotes from her time at band camp, giving both Jim and the audience the impression that she not only has NoSocialSkills but is too sheltered to know what sex ''is'', which is a problem for Jim, who's trying to lose his virginity before graduation. Then Michelle mentions ''[[ADateWithRosiePalms that]]'' [[ADateWithRosiePalms one time at band camp]], removing all doubt to the contrary (doubly shocking in that she says all of the following without changing her [[SmarterThanTheyLook deceptively innocent]] demeanor ''at all'').

* The virgin of the 'heroines' in ''Film/HostelPartII'' is flaky, socially awkward due to anxieties, emotionally immature, and lacking common sense. It doesn't even take a Casanova; a little alcohol and desperation for acceptance lubricates her path to [[spoiler:DeathBySex.]]

* ''Manga/FutariEcchi'' has the main-couple Makoto and Yura who were both virgins until they got married to each other at ChristmasCake age, though them being portrayed as stupid is more PlayedForLaughs and generally done by their close relatives because they waited so long.
* [[Manga/AhMyGoddess Belldandy, oh Belldandy]]. She can live fighting demons and impeding doom and usually be the most competent character in the series but was completely sheltered from damaging knowledge such as the fact that guys have penises and that lovers usually kiss. Her most blatant example of this may have been when [[{{Jerkass}} Aoshima]] tricked her into coming with him to a love hotel. She recognized the decor -- because Urd had earlier done up Keiichi's room in the same style -- but still didn't seem to have any idea of Aoshima's intentions until [[AttemptedRape he grabbed her and shoved her down on the bed]]. At times, she has shown more initiative in terms of her relationship with Keiichi and has even kissed him [[DudeShesLikeInAComa while he's been asleep]], but she also seems to be both ignorant and terrified of sexuality.

On the upside, these characters will seldom be downright nasty. While some virgins are inept-but-harmless, most are examples of DumbIsGood. They're usually [[NiceGuy sweet-natured and kind]]--you just wouldn't want them on your quiz team. In fact, their pleasant demeanor is one of the qualities that makes the opposite gender ([[EvenTheGuysWantHim and sometimes]] [[EvenTheGirlsWantHer the same gender]]) ''[[NatureAdoresAVirgin want]]'' to sleep with them, whether it's because they appreciate these nice qualities… [[ForbiddenFruit or because they can't resist the challenge of deflowering an "innocent"]].

* In the anime version of ''Anime/ValkyriaChronicles'', this was reasonably inferred from [[VideoGame/ValkyriaChronicles the game]] about the protagonist Welkin Gunther, but the anime goes on to show that if Welkin has a fault aside from being a little too much of a NiceGuy, it's this trope. In college, he had a chance to get married to the most sought after girl in school, and he friend zoned her almost immediately, and his best friend (who also hit on the same woman) blatantly lampshades it. By present day, it's obvious Alicia Melchiott has feelings for him, but Welkin repeats history to the point Faldio not only starts hitting Alicia himself but in his frustration over Welkin's use of this trope he throws down the gauntlet in Episode 12 and tells Welkin he has feelings for Alicia himself as a BatmanGambit to get Welkin to grow a spine and sex drive and see Alicia as a woman. Thankfully, by the end of the game and anime, he wises up.
* ''Manga/FutariEcchi'' has main-couple Makoto and Yura who were both virgins until they got married to each other at ChristmasCake age, though them being portrayed as stupid is more PlayedForLaughs and generally done by their close relatives because they waited so long.
* [[Manga/AhMyGoddess Belldandy, oh Belldandy]]. She can live fighting demons and impeding doom and usually be the most competent character in the series but was completely sheltered from damaging knowledge such as the fact that guys have penises and that lovers usually kiss. Her most blatant example of this may have been when [[{{Jerkass}} Aoshima]] tricked her into coming with him into a love hotel. She recognized the decor -- because Urd had earlier done up Keiichi's room in the same style -- but still didn't seem to have any idea of Aoshima's intentions until [[AttemptedRape he grabbed her and shoved her down on the bed]]. At times, she has shown more initiative in terms of her relationship with Keiichi and has even kissed him [[DudeShesLikeInAComa while he's been asleep]], but she also seems to be both ignorant and terrified of sexuality.

* Inverted in ''Manga/{{Hellsing}}'' with Sir Integra, holder of "100% virgin blood", yet portrayed as intelligent, highly competent, downright badass and ruthless.

*** One assumes that he knows what the intended use is, but the reason he carries one is for utility: an actual recommended use for condoms in militaries and survival guides is as emergency canteens, being lightweight, durable and able to store a liter of water with ease. He just doesn't care about the more conventional use.

* ''Manga/PandoraHearts'' offers a hysterical subversion of the standard plot with Ada and [[spoiler:Vincent]]. The ManipulativeBastard and {{The Casanova}}'s thoughts directly reveal he finds her innocence sickening and only wants to see her tainted. When he asks her to 'lay herself bare' and 'show him the real her', she nervously agrees and leads him to an unused home of her family's only to reveal she didn't pick up on the sexual implications ''at all''; rather, what she shows him is the "[[{{Yandere}} real her]]": [[spoiler:an obsession with magic, darkness, ''and torture'']]. Needless to say, poor [[spoiler:Vincent]] is too shocked (and annoyed) to bother going through with his plans for the time.

* The virgin of the 'heroines' in ''Film/HostelPartII'' is flaky, socially awkward due to anxieties, emotionally immature and lacking common sense. It doesn't even take a Casanova; a little alcohol and desperation for acceptance lubricates her path to [[spoiler:DeathBySex.]]

* {{Subverted|Trope}} with Michelle in ''Film/AmericanPie''. For the first two thirds of the movie, all she does is tell squeaky clean and achingly dull anecdotes from her time at band camp, giving both Jim and the audience the impression that she not only has NoSocialSkills but is too sheltered to know what sex ''is'', which is a problem for Jim, who's trying to lose his virginity before graduation. Then Michelle mentions ''[[ADateWithRosiePalms that]]'' [[ADateWithRosiePalms one time at band camp]], removing all doubt to the contrary (doubly shocking in that she says all of the following without changing her [[SmarterThanTheyLook deceptively innocent]] demeanor ''at all'').

** Modern unicorn stories challenge this trope, although they do it in different ways. The novel of ''Literature/TheLastUnicorn'' includes a scene where a maiden tries rather half-heartedly to summon a unicorn as part of a ritual she has to perform before she can get married. The scene serves to show that virgins can be every bit as cynical and self-serving as anybody else. (It's also heavily ironic since the only unicorn in the world is there to see it and decides not to go to her.)

* In the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' novels, the witches Nanny Ogg, Magrat and Granny Weatherwax fit TheHecateSisters mold. As the maiden, Magrat is nominally the virginal one and is TheDitz. This gets contrasted with Nanny Ogg whose "maiden" years involved her [[ReallyGetsAround really getting around]], linked it seems with her becoming the most knowledgeable midwife of all time (in fact Time gets her to be her midwife). When a (rabid, feral) unicorn needs catching, the only one who can do it is [[spoiler:[[GoodIsNotNice Granny Weatherwax]], proving that you can be a virgin [[SubvertedTrope and]] a proud, cynical badass.]] As Nanny Ogg says to Archchancellor Ridcully: "She always ''could'' run faster'n you..."

* In ''Literature/TheEyesOfTheDragon,'' apparently nobody gave Queen Sasha TheTalk before her ArrangedMarriage since she asked "What's that?" as King Roland undressed. The narration notes that if she had asked that question slightly differently he might have thought she was mocking him and never consummated the union; instead, it reassured him since she was even less knowledgeable with sex than he was. (Whether or not ''he'' was a virgin is unknown, but even at fifty he was quite inexperienced.)

* Quite a lot of Hispanic {{Soap Opera}}s do this regularly, because of all the drama you can milk from the habitual consequences of sex in countries which are mostly Catholic, and I'm not talking about pregnancy. Strangely, this applies even if the ''OfficialCouple'' marries (but only if they do that in the middle of the story).

* Juliette, the main character in ''SeptièmeCielBelgique'' is a ''very'' shy and inexperienced woman, both sexually and romantically speaking, who suddenly ends up in a job environment with a boss who is a MsFanservice with a penchant to let slip about her sexual life, and an old flame she believes is a heartless TheCasanova. She compensates with a lot of shameless lies about her romantic past (easily uncovered by just seeing how uncomfortable she becomes when sexual themes arose, [[DoubleEntendre so to speak]]), a cynical attitude who quickly descends into {{Tsundere}} territory, and a tendency to take a lot of her prejudices and misunderstanding for real. Although that attitude makes her immaturity ''more'' obvious, she somehow manages to hide her virgin status to the other characters until the end of the first season, just before losing it. Interestingly, in the second season, her lack of knowledge about how relationships works and her {{Tsundere}} attitude remains even after she had sex and began a (strained) relationship with her romantic interest.

* In ''Franchise/MassEffect'', Liara has little social skills due to spending decades on solitary studies. Guess what? She is also a virgin. Ash, not so much. Also, Liara's species lives to be about 1000 and she's 106 so she would be 18-22. However, she is an archeologist specializing the Protheans, and she did piece together from her research that something happened to the Protheans and organic life before them consistently (which is the Reapers, the main threat within the storyline), so she's clearly not ''stupid''. She states her social inability is from her constant researching in the field and out of it leaving her alone for lengthy amounts of time. Before that she had [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer an isolated childhood]] due to [[HasTwoMommies having an asari father]], which is taboo in a society that prizes interspecies relationships to improve genetic diversity.

* In ''Webcomic/FauxPas'' Randy is portrayed as incredibly naive for the first [[LongRunner decade]] or so of the strip, especially in regards to sex, his entire knowledge of which comes from soap operas and specific to humans, he and his girlfriend Cindy being foxes. But, after his and Cindy's "honeymoon" he suddenly seems a lot more level headed and actually acts as a bit of a mentor to NaiveNewcomer Hubert.

'''Michelle''': What, you think I know how to get myself off? Hell, that's what half of band camp is: sex ed. So are we gonna screw soon? cuz I'm gettin' kinda antsy.

* Goku from ''Franchise/{{Dragonball}}'' accepts a proposal, believing marriage is a form of food. HilarityEnsues when he grows up.
** To defend Goku, he lived most of his life with his adoptive parent in the wilderness, who happened to also be a martial artist. His first social meeting with someone other than this adoptive parent happened at the start of the series when he was a teenager and most of what he had been taught was how to talk, how to fight, and how to eat. I.E. he had no real reason to know what marriage was in the first place.
** His son Gohan also seems to have inherited his father's cluelessness, as Videl had to jump through hoops to get him to notice her love for him.

* ''Literature/{{Dracula}}'':
** Jonathan Harker. It doesn't help that every time he ''does'' get a chance to hop in bed with his wife, a certain somebody tends to interrupt. With blood-drinking.
** Lucy Westenra even more so. The only character who is explicitly not a virgin, in fact, is Abraham Van Helsing, the OmnidisciplinaryScientist [[TheMentor Mentor]] [[TheSmartGuy Smart Guy]]. Subverted by the fact that, after Van Helsing, the second-most-competent person around seems to be Mina Harker, who is almost certainly a virgin (although Dracula does symbolically rape her at one point...)

It's this plot line that showcases Virginity Makes You Stupid at its worst. A conniving [[TheVamp Vamp]] or [[TheCasanova Casanova]] sets themselves the challenge of sleeping with someone previously thought as pure, untouchable, [[TheIngenue naive]]. And their target will almost always fall for it, even when anyone with two functioning brain cells could spot their intentions from a mile away.

It's this plot line that showcases Virginity Makes You Stupid at its worst. A conniving [[TheVamp Vamp]] or [[TheCasanova Casanova]] sets themselves the challenge of sleeping with someone previously thought as pure, untouchable, [[TheIngenue naive]]. And their target will almost always fall for it, even when [[WhatAnIdiot anyone with two functioning brain cells could spot their intentions from a mile away]].

* In many variations of the "Virgin and the Unicorn" tale, the maiden was duped into attracting and soothing her unicorn friend until the hunters who convinced her to do so could attack and kill the unicorn for its horn. The version found in Nigel Suckling's ''The Book Of The Unicorn'' goes so far as to have the virgin princess ask her father -- a tyrannical, greedy king -- why they have brought a large company of armed men to meet a peaceful creature such as a unicorn. Amazingly, she believes him when he reassures her that they are there only for her protection. WhatAnIdiot indeed.

* Ruby in ''Webcomic/StickyDillyBuns'' fits the book-smart version of this trope. She's a university graduate, and also, when she first appears, a snarky, deconstructive sort of [[TheIngenue ingenue]]. She's also a neurotic virgin who believed someone who told her that a DangerouslyShortSkirt made her look "professional and distinguished," is totally nonplussed to [[http://www.stickydillybuns.com/strips-sdb/must_put_a_stop_to_this_right_now see two gay men kissing,]] and has [[http://www.stickydillybuns.com/strips-sdb/now_pucker_up trouble understanding the difference between mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and a kiss.]] Even [[http://www.stickydillybuns.com/strips-sdb/it_is_complex her speech patterns shift]] from [[http://www.stickydillybuns.com/strips-sdb/pretty_for_your_date "educated sarcastic"]] to [[http://www.stickydillybuns.com/strips-sdb/knock_yourself_out "naive pre-teen"]] when she has to deal with matters of love or sex, and [[http://www.stickydillybuns.com/strips-sdb/whatever_is_on_your_mind the prospect of a kiss]] sends her into an [[HeroicBSOD extended fugue]]. How she got through university with this mindset is unclear; her antipathy to sex ''is'' due to [[FreudianExcuse early trauma]]. However, sharing an apartment with [[CampGay lead character Dillon]] gives her a crash course in reality; [[http://www.stickydillybuns.com/strips-sdb/that_is_improper her facial expressions]] soon suggest that she understands ''him'' all too well. On the other hand, she also becomes a YaoiFangirl, after which, anything to do with gay male sex scrambles her brain, presumably due to poorly-repressed sexual urges.

See also: MyGirlIsNotASlut. In the context of musical theatre, this character will ''always'' be a soprano or a TenorBoy (frequently called a "dolt-boy"). Compare InnocentBigot and InnocentlyInsensitive; contrast VirginPower and CelibateEccentricGenius. Exceptions to the "nice-but-dim" virgin rule occur when there is a ChasteHero or AmazonBrigade running the show--even then, expect their virginity to be challenged (and more likely than not, relinquished) at some point in the plot. {{Brainless Beaut|y}}ies are the typical inverse, having the experience this type lacks but still being dumber than everyone else. See also {{Asexuality}} for portrayals of characters who genuinely ''don't want'' sex. NerdsAreVirgins comes from the same mindset even though "nerd" and "stupid" are hardly synonymous terms; it's surely a fair way of interpreting the word "nerd" if you think that [[NoSocialSkills being stupid about social skills]] is part of the meaning.

* Averted in Creator/RobertEHoward's ''SolomonKane'' stories. The eponymous character is a badass who will [[KnightTemplar pursue evil-doers across oceans]], but is a devout Puritan who doesn't frolic with the ladies. (This might explain why he's not as well known as Howard's other creation Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian.)

* ''Film/TheFortyYearOldVirgin'' plays with this trope; Andy is definitely a bit of a naive {{Manchild}}, and the plot of the story revolves around his [[QuestForSex quest to get rid of his virginity]], but the story gradually makes clear that he's actually a lot more well-adjusted, mature and sensible than many of the more 'experienced' men and women around him. [[SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped ...and the moral is..]].

* SherlockHolmes, while almost certainly a virgin due to his disdain of romantic love, was ''no'' fool. His less-gifted friend Watson was married (presumably with all that entails), but it's not quite an aversion, as Watson was much more capable than many adaptions painted him to be, especially given ''anyone'' will look less-gifted next to Sherlock Holmes.

* In ''ComicBook/{{Asterix}} and Son'', TheFool Obelix, while much more prone to flirting and blushing around lovely girls than Asterix is shown to be, unintentionally reveals that he has no idea how babies are made, still believing in the DeliveryStork despite being in his thirties ([[VagueAge maybe?]]). Asterix, who is much less excited by girls (but implicitly because he's quite experienced), is aghast that he managed to get to his age without ever finding out and promises to [[TheTalk explain the details to him later]]. [[BrickJoke In the final panel]], we catch the tail-end of this explanation, and Obelix earnestly asks [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar what the stork is for, in that case]]. This was after the second writer took over writing, so it's possible it was just his ManChild qualities receiving some {{Flanderization}}.

* This trope is reversed in real life, as research points to people with higher education losing their virginity later in life. Considering that someone who ''is'' able to spot TheCasanova 's intentions from miles away will ''not'' lose her virginity to him, but wait for someone more worthy, remaining a virgin in the meantime, this makes rather more sense.