Basic Trope: A character is implied to be bisexual, and a lot of the fandom interpret them that way. However, it is never explicitly confirmed.
- Straight:
- Daniel has dated women before and openly has a crush on Shirley, but also has a very close friendship with Oliver that could be interpreted as something more.
- Daniel is in a relationship with Shirley but frequently comments on how attractive he finds Oliver and other males.
- Exaggerated:
- The show constantly gives contradictory hints about his sexuality.
- The show heavily implied that Everyone Is Bi.
- Downplayed: It's all but stated that Daniel is bisexual, But Not Too Bi.
- Justified:
- Daniel is a bi-romantic heterosexual, who doesn't mind flirting and ogling men, but who's had to break up more than a few times because he has difficulty getting physical with them. As a result, his relationships are usually female but he still shows signs of male attraction.
- Daniel was raised and currently lives in conservative area where heterosexuality is only accepted, unfortunately Truth in Television.
- Daniel come from a culture where affectionate actions with all genders are considered normal, even for non-romantic contexts.
- Daniel is still questioning his sexuality.
- Inverted: Daniel is ambiguously asexual. He shows no attraction to any other characters, and is shown to sleep in a separate bed to his wife.
- Subverted:
- The writers give Daniel a coming out storyline where he proudly embraces his bisexuality.
- Daniel is actually gay; he faked his crush on Shirley so that nobody would figure it out, and only dated women because he was in denial.
- Daniel is actually straight; his friendship with Oliver was more a case of misinterpreted Heterosexual Life-Partners.
- Daniel is revealed to be biromantic and heterosexual, or bisexual and heteroromantic.
- Double Subverted: But it eventually becomes an If It's You, It's Okay situation.
- Parodied: Other characters in the show start debating Daniel's sexuality, nitpicking every hint to being attracted to more than one gender, until Daniel butts in and says that trying to guess someone's sexuality without asking is rude.
- Zig Zagged: ???
- Averted: Daniel is proudly bi, no ambiguity about it.
- Enforced:
- Moral Guardians boycott shows with LGBT characters, thus making the writers hesitant to be explicit about Daniel's sexuality.
- Daniel was written as bisexual, but Executive Meddling forbid the writers from making it explicit for fear of a conservative backlash.
- The writers want to appeal to an LGBT fanbase, but they also don't want to isolate conservative viewers; their solution is to make it a matter of interpretation.
- The idea of Daniel being bi was popular in the fandom, and the writers decided to just go with it.
- The writers haven't decided what sexuality they want to write Daniel as, so keep it ambiguous to leave their options open until then.
- Peter, Daniel's actor, is bi himself.
- Lampshaded: Shirley points out that Daniel loves spending a lot of time with the guys, and Daniel is about to answer for himself before Shirley cuts him off and says it doesn't matter what it means as long as he's happy.
- Invoked: The bi-curious Daniel starts developing close feeling with both genders to find his true sexuality.
- Exploited: In order to rake in a LGBT fanbase, the writers continually promise that Daniel and Oliver's relationship will be explored. It never is.
- Defied: Daniel breaks the fourth wall after every Ship Tease to explain that it's not going anywhere and blames the audience for having too much free time.
- Discussed: "You and Oliver sure are close, huh? Almost too close."
- Conversed: ???
- Implied:
- Daniel has a girlfriend, but also personally knows some of the staff of a local gay bar.
- Daniel Really Gets Around, and a Freeze-Frame Bonus shows that Daniel's phone has a gay dating app installed.
- Daniel refuses to join a threesome when asked by two women, but is later shown leaving with a male-female couple.
- In a Platonic Valentine Episode, Daniel is seen writing Valentine's cards with feminine and unisex names written on each ones.
- Deconstructed: Daniel is revealed to hide his bisexuality because he's ashamed of it, and because when he came out to his parents they disowned him in disgust. Ever since, Daniel has been quiet about his romantic orientation.
- Played For Drama: Daniel's ex boyfriend was murdered in a hate crime after he came out of the closet, so ever since Daniel has been terrified of being too open about his sexuality.
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