Am I the only one who thinks Aromantic and Aromanticism should not be redirects for this trope? Celibacy is something quite different from not experiencing romantic attraction and someone who is aromantic is not necessarily celibate or asexual and is quite capable of wanting to have sexual partners. Celibacy is a lifestyle choice that people of any sexual and romantic orientation may make, conflating it with a specific romantic orientation seems an incredibly odd choice.
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I agree. While the trope description does briefly mention aromantic and asexual people, and I'm totally cool with aromantic people also being listed in the examples here, the redirect is silly. They're not the same thing and it doesn't make sense. Asexuality has it's own page. I don't see why aromanticism shouldn't either, or at least remove the redirect.
Edited by yirggzmb
Wizzard
Not sure about the claim that the Doctor isn't this trope because he has a granddaughter and a wife. His relationship with River is complicated but seems to be a lot more sexual on her part than his. The origin of his granddaughter is another matter, and the Expanded Universe has wasted a lot of time coming up with ways to explain her away, none of which entirely work. But even if it's as simple as it seems (which I favour) that just indicates that he wasn't always a Celibate Hero, not that he isn't one now. (And, indeed, arguing that he isn't one now still doesn't mean he wasn't one between the death? of Susan's grandmother and meeting River/Rose/Romana/character of choice.) I can't see anything in the description that says you can't become celibate.
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"This hero was celibate at some time" seems like shoehorning, and honestly like wishful thinking. A lot of fans want to view the Doctor as a celibate hero... but the show is just not agreeing with that. Besides, there's a difference between being celibate and "not having a love interest right now."
Found a Youtube Channel with political stances you want to share? Hop on over to this page and add them.
Not having a love interest right now, not understanding why a newly-married couple might not want bunk beds, lines like "You're a beautiful woman, probably", Word of God from Paul McGann that the Big Damn Kiss in the movie was "his first kiss in the playground, and he's not sure he liked it"...
I mean, there's evidence against the proposition as well, but at the very least it's Depending on the Writer.
So is there villainous counterpart to this trope out there at the moment? I see a few less than heroic examples on this page, but they're mostly Villain Protagonist examples like Yagami Light (which people have fairly enough taken issue with being here for other reasons anyway). Well, someone also listed Hitler in the Real Life section, but yeah. Seems wrong putting bona fide fictional villains here when the trope is called Celibate Hero, even though I can think of examples that would otherwise fit.
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Celibate villains ought to have their own trope.
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
Because celibate characters tend to come off as uptight and prudish in this day and age. Nobody likes those kind of characters.
What kind of nonsense is that? You've to have sex to be a good character? Enjolras(which I don't like by the way) is a Celibate Hero and he's one of the most beloved characters in Les Miserables by fans.
Methinks the reason why this trope is listed under Discredited Tropes is because changing sexual conventions have made more openly sexual characters more fashionable in works, reducing the importance of this trope.
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
Do we have a separate trope for an involuntary celibate hero? Someone who just hasn't been lucky in such things.
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Only Hollywood Dateless, and even then, only sometimes.
Edited by 69.172.221.8
"Just not lucky" and "indifferent" contradict the trope description.
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In a similar vein, I removed this type:
- Simply he doesn't has [sic] a Love Interest in the story.
"Actively avoids love interests because he doesn't have a love interest?"
A celibate is not a person who doesn’t want to have sex. A celibate is a person who actively pledges to live a life without sex, marriage, and any romantic entanglements whatsoever. When you imply a person who avoids a relationship or just never shows interest is automatically celibate, in a certain context, there’s the insinuation that a person is simply obligated to pursue these things regardless of whether they contradict their preferences, standards, or sense of agency. You’re implying that if someone makes an advance on a person, regardless of how attractive they are, it’s odd to refuse their offer.
Can someone please edit this trope? This entire page, from the label of Discredited Trope, the copious amount of misused examples, to the article, itself, is written in a very patronizing tone. It's almost like the thought of someone actually being perfectly content to remain single indefinitely or someone putting other priorities above sex and romance, is somehow odd, if not unthinkable.
Really is this a Shipping mentality or are people honestly baffled by this phenomenon despite many tropers claiming to be Asexual? I just can't help but be offended by a lot of the underlying derision being displayed here.
Edited by ScarletSpecter Hide / Show Replies
Here, here! The sheer number of characters listed for asexual behavior is staggering. In particular, Light from Death Note, who is very Ambiguously Asexual, and Luffy, who has been confirmed as asexual by the author himself. And then there's Count D who is "strongly implied" to be asexual. Even on the example page itself, furthering any confusion for readers.
I'm actually considering fixing this problem myself, but I'm a little hesitant about just removing every misused example of this trope on the page and elsewhere. So, I'd like to hear some more consent before going ahead.
Also, I'd just like to add that one of the "potential motives" (Sorry, I'm Gay among an Unwanted Harem of the opposite sex) does not count as celibate. At all. To be celibate means to experience attraction or interest in sex, but purposefully not acting on it because of some external factors (religion, for example.) If someone is gay, they hold no attraction to people of the opposite sex and their refusal to show interest in an Unwanted Harem is a result of just that - lack of interest or attraction. Not celibacy.
Get it right, or prepare to be swamped by angry asexuals.
EDIT: Didn't see one particularly glaring example until after I posted this, but Tim Gunn was listed as a Celibate Hero despite considering himself asexual. Really, now? This is just getting silly.
Edited by ChaoticTrilby
When did Simon have sex in the pilot for Firefly? If you're thinking of that scene with Inara, I'm pretty sure she just told Mal she slept with Simon to piss him off.
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Really? I never thought of that interpretation. I thought he just was afraid River had been abused and assumed that Inara was the obvious place to get such stuff. And that Inara was covering that up because Simon didn't want to embarrass River.
In any case the reason I thought the pilot was an aversion was that Simon did not have ruffled clothes or signs of embarrassment and in fact looked clinical. Simon is inperturbable about medicine and he is even inperturbable about danger, but he is not inperturbable about relations with the opposite sex. Furthermore Inara specificly said she was providing medical supplies. It was an enigmatic scene but the most likely interpretation I thought of was that he expected a Companion to have specialized medical supplies that he did not have, and that the only reason Simon would want those would be that he was afraid River had been abused.
Just Me
I only see the hero addressed as a "he". Is this trope male-only?
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I was wondering that too.
"If it ain't broke, don't fix it. And even if it is broke, just ignore it and maybe it'll be sort of OK — like the environment."
That is the generic male. It was used to mean "human" before Political Correctness Gone Mad. While the English language does have gender-neutral words for human(like human)a lot of them would be unaesthetic in many writing contexts.
Obviously unless specified by further subtroping, Celibate Hero would also mean Celibate Heroine.
Previous Trope Repair Shop thread: Ambiguous Name
, started by entropyalarm on Feb 26th 2017 at 4:20:33 AM
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman