History Main / VowOfCelibacy

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-->'''Diego''': Angela, I'm not sure you should spend so much time around me. I am to be married to God soon.\\
'''Angela''': Wouldn't you rather be with a real girl? Maybe you should try it before you decide.\\
'''Diego''': Lord, give me strength.

--->'''Sebastian''': What? Why are you smiling at me like that... oh. Ohhhh my. I think I need to pray. A lot.

-->'''Bobby:''' [freaking out] But how do they make new Lamas if the Lamas can't-- [suddenly becomes sad] oh, wait... reincarnation...

* The same gag is used for Lara Means in the ''Series/{{Millennium}}''. When she first started having visions of angels it was suggested that she become a nun, but as [[HormoneAddledTeenager she'd started to become interested in boys]] she wasn't impressed by the idea.

* Claude Frollo, the main antagonist of ''Literature/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'', is torn between the pious celibacy he is supposed to maintain as an archdeacon and his lust for the gypsy Esmerelda, becoming [[LoveMakesYouEvil increasingly unstable]] as he fails to reconcile the two. (Not all adaptations maintain Frollo's status as an ordained priest, though -- in [[WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackofNotreDame the Disney one]], he's a judge, and therefore bound only by his own hangups rather than by a priestly vow.)

** It's implied that the ProudWarriorRaceGuy Mandalorians practice this as well, as in ''Literature/TalesOfTheBountyHunters'' [[BountyHunter Boba Fett]] states that premarital sex is immoral and in ''Series/TheMandalorian'' it's stated that a Mandalorian can only ever allow their spouse to see them without their helmet.

* In ''Franchise/StarWars'', the Jedi frown on having strong attachments, and Anakin Skywalker is not able to continue his relationship with Padmé Amidala openly. Although WordOfGod is that the prequel-era Jedi ''are'' allowed to have casual sex.

When rules like this are applied to the whole of society, it's NoSexAllowed. See also InappropriatelyCloseComrades, where the job-based sex ban applies only to people who share that job, not the wider world. Compare CantHaveSexEver, where sex is prevented by something more tangible and hazardous than just obligations. See also {{Asexuality}}, for people who just aren't interested in sex in the first place.
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* {{Paladin}}s in ''Literature/TheDeedOfPaksenarrion'' are expected to be celibate while questing, and though they're permitted to take lovers between quests, they rarely do. Paks herself is {{asexual|ity}}, so this isn't much of a problem for her.

* The ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragonsThirdEdition'' supplement ''Book of Exalted Deeds'' has this as one of several "Vow of X" feats. It requires the user to abstain from both marriage and sex and grants the user a +4 bonus against charm and phantasm effects. As with its sister feats, breaking the vow intentionally costs you the benefits permanently; breaking it because of MindControl requires an Atonement spell to be cast to regain the benefits. Vow of Celibacy is a class required to take the Beloved of Valarian PrestigeClass, which lets you get a unicorn as a companion.

-->'''Sebastian''': What? Why are you smiling at me like that... oh. Ohhhh my. I think I need to pray. A lot.

** Roman Catholic bishops (including cardinals and the Pope) are supposed to be celibate, though Catholic court chaplains are not. It is possible to appoint a married man to a bishopric, in which case he'll divorce his wife. Appointing a character to a bishopric or ordering them to take the vows also disqualifies them from succession, though not from being claimants to a title. Of course, just because they've ''taken'' the vows don't mean the character will necessarily ''abide by them'': with the Seduction focus from the ''Way of Life'' DLC, it's not unheard-of for Catholic clergy up to and including the Pope to end up with mistresses and bastard children. (It is not possible to play as a Catholic religious ruler without mods, due to the object of the game being to continue your ''dynasty'' rather than any particular ''title''.) Orthodox clergy get a lesser version of this: they're not allowed to marry, but they can freely ''stay'' married if they were before their ordination. With ''Monks and Mystics'', characters can also take vows of celibacy by joining monastic societies such as the Benedictines.
*** With the ''Holy Fury'' DLC, reforming a pagan religion with the "Monasticism" doctrine similarly blocks priests from marrying or inheriting titles.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'' allows paladins to take an Oath of Chastity, which works like an archetype (i.e. subclass): the paladin adds a ban on engaging in romantic activities or sexual acts to their [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatResponsibility code of conduct]], and gains resistance to charm effects, critical hits, and additional spells.

* The ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' 3rd Edition supplement ''Book of Exalted Deeds'' has this as one of several "Vow of X" feats. It requires the user to abstain from both marriage and sex and grants the user a +4 bonus against charm and phantasm effects. As with its sister feats, breaking the vow intentionally costs you the benefits permanently; breaking it because of MindControl requires an Atonement spell to be cast to regain the benefits. Vow of Celibacy is a class required to take the Beloved of Valarian PrestigeClass, which lets you get a unicorn as a companion.

** The Jedi Order appears to have a fairly laissez-faire attitude to sex and marriage in this time period: the male[[note]]in the original story; later expansions make them options for [=PCs=] of both genders[[/note]] Knight and Consular [=PCs=] can both romance their apprentices (Kira Carsen and Nadia Grell, respectively) with little objection from the Order, and Jedi Grandmaster Satele Shan herself has an adult son and is a descendant of Revan and Bastila Shan.

* ''Series/IronFist2017'': Danny Rand took one as part of his training under the Buddhist warrior monks. In the present day he breaks it by having sex with Colleen Wing.

* The same gag is used for Lara Means in the ''Series/{{Millennium}}''. When she first started having visions of angels it was suggested that she become a nun, but as [[HormoneAddledTeenager she'd also started to become interested in boys]] she wasn't impressed by the idea.

* {{Implied}} with the Iron Sisters order in ''Series/{{Shadowhunters}}'': Izzy, who is (mildly) an EthicalSlut, remarks when they're first mentioned in "[[Recap/ShadowhuntersS2E5DustandShadows Dust and Shadows]]" that she dreamed of joining them until she found out she'd have to give up boys.

* ''Series/IronFist2017'': Danny took one as part of his training under the Buddhist warrior monks. He later breaks it by having sex with Colleen.

** During the Imperial Agent's Voss arc, Cipher Nine has to enter a CitizenshipMarriage with a Voss in order to gain access to certain relics for the storyline (it's possible for them to have been flirting beforehand). Their new spouse then informs them that Voss traditionally abstain from sex before marriage, and the PC is given the option of taking his virginity during a FadeToBlack.

* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1942'': As the Amazon champion Franchise/WonderWoman has taken an oath of celibacy and cannot marry until she's completed her mission, though there are a few work arounds that pertain to her giving her word to a potential partner in a situation where she's allowing them to compete with her for her hand in marriage. This causes a slight strain in her relationship with ComicBook/SteveTrevor as the pair of them would really like to get married.

* In ''Film/{{Bedazzled 1967}}'' a trickster devil gives Stanley Moon seven wishes in return for his soul. Stanley is in love with Margaret so he wishes for them to be together. The Devil makes Margaret and Stanley nuns in love with each other; they're together in a nunnery, but since they're nuns they're celibate.

* ''Film/StealingHeaven'': Though not formally sworn, Abelard is effectively under this as he teaches at the University of Paris, and teachers there are expected to remain celibate. It's one reason why his relationship with Héloïse is kept secret. Later, they both take them formally as part of becoming a monk and nun respectively (despite then being married), that they keep.
* ''Film/RedSonja'': Sonja swore to never have sex with a man after her rape, unless he beat her in a fair fight.
* ''{{Film/Spotlight}}'': {{Discussed}} by Richard Sipe, a clinical psychologist and former Catholic priest who's treated pedophile Catholic priests for decades. His theory is that celibacy has caused grave problems since many priests just can't abide by it. For many, this leads to simply clandestine relationships with adults. In others though they abuse children, who are vulnerable and easily controlled. It's {{implied}} that he himself couldn't handle it, since he left the priesthood and is married to a former nun (who's another probable example).

** Wizards of Unseen University are generally expected to stay celibate. The common/official explanation is that it [[VirginPower interferes with their magic]], but as per the book ''Literature/{{Sourcery}}'', it's more likely to be a measure to prevent wizards from having descendants, because the [[MagicalSeventhSon eighth son of a wizard (himself an eighth son of an eighth son)]] is a dangerous super-wizard, and it's considered better to prevent wizards from having kids at all than to risk it. In later ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' novels the UU vow of celibacy seems to have shifted in the same way as [[{{UsefulNotes/Oxbridge}} Oxford and Cambridge Universities]] (see Real Life), in that wizards can have relations with women, but can't get married.

* In ''Literature/TheRedemptionOfAlthalus'', celibacy is either required or recommended for at least some religious organisations. One village priest deals very badly with it, deciding that the women to whom he is attracted must be using witchcraft on him (since a moral person like himself wouldn't struggle so, otherwise). This results in them getting [[BurnTheWitch burned at the stake]].

*** The ''Literature/RepublicCommandoSeries'' has a cameo by Callista Ming from ''Literature/TheCallistaTrilogy'', who is a member of a Jedi sect led by Master Djinn Altis that encourages romantic relations. The mainstream order considers them semi-heretical. Meanwhile, main character Etain Tur-Mukan takes the SecretRelationship approach and has a son with Darman, one of the eponymous clone commandos.

* ''Literature/WizardOfYurt'': The clergy in the West are sworn to celibacy (they're a Catholic analogue) but so are wizards. It causes headaches for Daimbert, who finds a lot of women tempting. He's at least allowed to check them out or flirt-priests are forbidden even that.

** Between a recent purge withing the nobility that resulted in noble-born blue-robes getting called back home by their families and the practice of selling gray-robes to nobles as servants, priests and shrine maidens leaving the temple for positions in which they are no longer expected to celibate is fairly common. Ironically, some blue-robes have been forbidden from properly joining noble society precisely because they had exploited the "a SexSlave is okay" loophole.

* As in its literary counterpart, in ''Series/GameOfThrones'', vows of celibacy are required by several religious and military orders, including the Night's Watch, the Kingsguard, the septons / septas of the Faith of the Seven, and the maesters of the Citadel. Night's Watch members, [[TradingBarsForStripes many of whom aren't there willingly]], are prone to breaking the oath in a nearby brothel, and the High Septon is humiliated while partaking of Lord Baelish's establishment at the start of the Sparrows arc. The ExactWords of the Night's Watch oath are [[RulesLawyer examined closely]] by [[GenreSavvy Samwell Tarly]]: the brothers vow to "take no wife" and "father no children," but sex itself is not specifically forbidden. Note that this setting includes a well-known and apparently-safe [[FantasyContraception birth control herb]], and also that characters seem to believe that the pull-out method is far more effective than modern science has shown it to be in our own world. [[spoiler:In season three, Jon Snow breaks his vow (and his cherry) with Ygritte, a Wildling woman he falls in love with while infiltrating Mance Rayder's army for the Watch. It's partly to maintain his cover but he returns her affection.]]

** In another episode, Frank gets into a spat with New York's cardinal over the church's stance on homosexuality while trying to save a convent from being shuttered. The nun who put him onto the plot reveals afterwards that she's gay, and left her girlfriend when she took her vows.

* The ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' 3rd Edition supplement ''Book of Exalted Deeds'' has this as one of several "Vow of X" feats. It requires the user to abstain from both marriage and sex and grants the user a +4 bonus against charm and phantasm effects. As with its sister feats, breaking the vow intentionally costs you the benefits permanently; breaking it because of MindControl requires an Atonement spell to be cast to regain the benefits. Vow of Celibacy is a class requirement to take the Beloved of Valarian PrestigeClass, which lets you get a unicorn as a companion.
* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'': Some orders of the Sisters of Battle don't actually require vows of celibacy or even chastity, but there's so many heretics to burn that the effect is much the same.

* In ''Franchise/MassEffect'', the Asari race have a group called the Ardat-Yakshi who are compelled to live in celibate isolation in monasteries. For Asari, sex involves a connection between nervous systems, but the Ardat-Yakshi have a genetic condition which causes this connection to be dangerous and possibly fatal for the other partner -- to protect people from this, Ardat-Yakshi are subjected to monastic celibacy whether they like it or not.

** Roman Catholic bishops (including cardinals and the Pope) are supposed to be celibate, though Catholic court chaplains are not. It is possible to appoint a married man to a bishopric, in which case he'll divorce his wife. Appointing a character to a bishopric or ordering them to take the vows also disqualifies them from succession, though not from being claimants to a title. Of course, just because they've ''taken'' the vows doesn't mean the character will necessarily ''abide by them'': with the Seduction focus from the ''Way of Life'' DLC, it's not unheard-of for Catholic clergy up to and including the Pope to end up with mistresses and bastard children. (It is not possible to play as a Catholic religious ruler without mods, due to the object of the game being to continue your ''dynasty'' rather than any particular ''title''.) Orthodox clergy get a lesser version of this: they're not allowed to marry, but they can freely ''stay'' married if they were before their ordination. With ''Monks and Mystics'', characters can also take vows of celibacy by joining monastic societies such as the Benedictines.

* ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon'': Oranguru is incapable of learning the move Attract (which is a move almost all Pokémon that have genders are capable of learning), which may be a subtle nod to how gurus tend to eschew such earthly desires to achieve enlightenment. They can still be bred like most Pokémon, though, and they are not immune to being attracted due to having genders and not having access to Oblivious.

** Jolee Bindo reveals that he was once secretly married in defiance of his Jedi vow of celibacy, but his wife fell to the Dark Side, left him, and was killed fighting for the Sith Lord Exar Kun. Despite this, he argues to the PlayerCharacter that, if you can keep your emotions in check, love itself is a good thing, pointing to [[LoveRedeems its redemptive power]]. In ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublicIITheSithLords'', the Exile remarks that by the time she was in the Order (a couple of decades after Bindo), [[PersonAsVerb "pulling a Bindo"]] had become a slang term for leaving the Order for love.

* Some Christian religious denominations require that their clergy be celibate. The most well known of these is probably the Roman Catholic Church. However, other denominations, including most Protestant groups, have no such requirement and their pastors are free to marry. Some denominations take an intermediate approach -- Eastern Orthodoxy, for example, generally requires bishops to be celibate, but allows ordinary priests to be married provided the marriage predates their ordination.

** This wasn't ''always'' a requirement of Catholic priests, and technically is not a dogma of the Church (that is, something held to be an infallible truth, belief in which is a fundamental requirement of Catholicism and denial of which would be innately heretical). Thus, it's technically possible that any future Pope could abolish the requirement (and in fact [[https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2019/10/07/pope-francis-celibacy-requirement-some-priests-may-waived/3896740002/ Pope Francis indicated in 2019 that he might do that]]). But celibacy of the priesthood has become such a deep-rooted tradition of the Church that's it's highly unlikely this would happen.[[note]]Originally, it was a policy put in place to curb {{Nepotism}}, as Popes/priests/bishops/etc. of the time were passing their position on to their sons, whether or not those sons were qualified. Saying that priests could not be married, and could not have sexual relationships, was a way of solving that problem, that became part of a larger part of tradition, by depicting it as a worthy sacrifice. However, many still just had children by mistresses, then claimed these were "nephews" (this is where the term "nepotism" actually came from).[[/note]] However, men who married before being ordained are allowed to become priests.

* Until the 1880s, [[{{UsefulNotes/Oxbridge}} Oxford and Cambridge Universities]] had a vow of celibacy for dons. This was originally because it was assumed that all scholars would have training as priests. However by the 18th century, the definition of "celibacy" in this context had shifted; a Fellow of the College could have relations with women, but couldn't get married.

** Wizards of Unseen University are generally expected to stay celibate. The common/official explanation is that it [[VirginPower interferes with their magic]], but as per the book ''Literature/{{Sourcery}}'', it's more likely to be a measure to prevent wizards from having descendants, because the [[MagicalSeventhSon eighth son of the eighth son of a wizard (himself an eighth son)]] is a dangerous super-wizard, and it's considered better to prevent wizards from having kids at all than to risk it. In later ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' novels the UU vow of celibacy seems to have shifted in the same way as [[{{UsefulNotes/Oxbridge}} Oxford and Cambridge Universities]] (see Real Life), in that wizards can have relations with women, but can't get married.

* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40K'': Some orders of the Sisters of Battle don't actually require vows of celibacy or even chastity, but there's so many heretics to burn that the effect is much the same.