When the writers make it clear that there will be no romance between any of the lead characters. There are a few ways around this, such as giving the characters offscreen significant others, or making the characters a figurative or literal family group and/or siblings, but on-screen romance still remains non-existent.
Another trick is to ratchet the age of the characters down so it's realistic for them to not be thinking about such things. Particularly common in children's entertainment. One may also make the characters rather mature such as late middle age or older, suggesting that they would be past that sort of thing by then. They could also just be Happily Married (to someone offscreen) or an established Family Man, even if said spouse and kids are never seen. Common with Cool Old Lady or Cool Old Guy main characters.
English dubbing of anime, especially those targeted at younger demographics, at times tends to remove or change overtly romantic-sounding dialog with something more friendship related. Or occasionally it goes in the opposite direction — adding it in when such context is not in the original version.
Doesn't stop Shipping in any way, shape, or form. In some occasions, the writers change their mind along the way and decide to reward fans with an intimate relationship, even if only at the very last second. Some writers use the rule as a way to ramp up UST between characters. If the couple talk explicitly about love but aren't interested in sex, that's Chastity Couple.
One way to show romantic initiative from the characters without actually putting love in the story is if All Love Is Unrequited. Can lead to tons of Starboarding. Can be used to avoid any Romantic Plot Tumors.
Compare and contrast Ship Sinking. Also see Hates Being Touched. If a work with this aspect has a Valentine's Day Episode, expect at least one Platonic Valentine.
Examples:
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Anime & Manga
- In Attack on Titan, romance is essentially non-existent. The few examples of romantic attraction are either unrequited (e.g. Jean's crush on Mikasa, Bertholt's feelings for Annie), or just implied (e.g. Mikasa's feelings for Eren, Krista and Ymir's feelings for each other). In any event, all the characters have far more pressing problems than romance, and out of named characters, only Gabi and Falco and Annie and Armin more or less explicitly get together in the end.
- Azumanga Daioh: Despite taking place in high school, it is devoid of romance and romance is mentioned very little, focusing instead on gags and friendship. The only character in a relationship is Mr. Kimura, who has a wife and daughter.
- Bakugan Battle Brawlers: In the Japanese dub, Runo repeatedly screams that she's in love with Dan and is finally comfortable with admitting it as part of a plot point, which was changed to a loud declaration of being best friends in the English dub.
- Barakamon: Everyone is either older and married with children, or single, and the few times one of those single characters showed romantic interest in another, it wasn't returned. The only non-married characters shown to be in a relationship are two side characters from the later part of the manga, and they are forced to keep their relationship secret.
- Nelvana's Cardcaptors dub managed to turn a romance-heavy anime into a No Hugging, No Kissing series. This isn't just about the controversial stuff (things like Kissing Cousins or huge age gaps between partners); even the most acceptable pairs (mainly Syaoran/Sakura) became devoid of romantic interest. This became particularly bad in the Sakura Cards arc, in which Syaoran's feelings towards Sakura sometimes got 50% of an episode. In the dub, all the romantic scenes are cut out and the dialogue is changed to some more generic subjects (fighting the forces of evil, etc). To fill in the minutes of lost footage, many flashbacks were added. For example, while Cardcaptor Sakura last episode is an intense, emotion-filled finale, Cardcaptors' last episode is almost a Clip Show.
- According to Word of God, Daily Lives of High School Boys isn't so much about romance than teenage boys (and some girls) doing things. In fact, the closest things to romance the series have are the Literature Girl and Emi's crushes towards Hidenori, and even then they are one-sided (and in the latter's case, it was even grounded by Surprise Incest).
"The main characters are almost never there, the female characters don't even get faces and love flags get destroyed all over the place...so why is this so popular?!"
- Eyeshield 21: While there are several instances of Ship Tease (mostly between Sena and Suzuna on one hand and Hiruma and Mamori on the other), it is first and foremost a manga about American Football, so absolutely nothing to do with romance is ever addressed in a conclusive manner.
- Unlike the manga, Fullmetal Alchemist (2003) has basically no romance. Early on there are signs of attraction between Ed and Winry, but as the story split off from the manga, their relationship became more like siblings. And then there is Rose who is clearly crushing on Ed, but he either doesn't notice or pretends he doesn't notice. And in the end, Ed ends up in an alternate world, ending any potential of him getting with either girl anyway. The finale Fullmetal Alchemist: The Conqueror of Shamballa was supposed to have a Love Triangle between Alfons, Ed, and Noah but this was scrapped mid-development, leading to a film devoid of any romance except possibly Winry's hug and goodbye with Edward and the German Hughes'. As far as everyone else goes, Mustang and Hawkeye get Ship Tease during the ending but little more, and Al's manga love interest doesn't even appear/exist in this version.
- Gundam Wing was written with no romance in mind at all. In an interview, the director specifically stated that he considered the political and symbolic relationship between the show's two leads more important than any potential romance; he also said "I can't write boy-girl romance", putting him in the same boat as Akira Toriyama. Despite that, there are some rather obvious romantic overtones in the Duo/Hilde relationship, and Heero and Relena even actually do share a kiss in the only canonical manga spin-off. The most seriously built up romantic connection, in the sense that it would be really cruel to take these two apart, and they build an emotional link and seem to fit together and all that, is Trowa and Quatre. It doesn't have to be sexual, but it's sure as hell romantic. As an aside, despite the director's statements, the same interview had him saying that just because he can't and didn't wrote romantic elements into the series doesn't mean they don't exist. He even said that he could easily see Heero and Relena becoming a couple somewhere down the line when their lives aren't quite so hectic. Which is exactly what happens at the end of the sequel novel Frozen Teardrop.
- Haibane Renmei contains absolutely no romance. The only vague implications of romance comes from a minor character being pregnant. At first glance it seems like Reki had a romance with The One Guy Childhood Friend Hyouko, however Hyouko and Reki's relationship (and by extension, Midori and Hyouko's relationship) are platonic. It's unknown if Haibane are asexual or if the characters simply have no interest in each other.
- Hayao Miyazaki has only ever made two movies that heavily focus on romance, Howl's Moving Castle and The Wind Rises (the former of which was a project he inherited). He’s made a point to never have it in his movies aimed at kids because he sees romance in children’s fiction (especially works aimed at girls) as trite and overdone. He’d rather have kids learn about other things in life.
- Heaven's Design Team: Lampshaded by Venus, who complains that the office is lacking any sort of romance. None of the main characters ever show the slightest hint of romantic interest towards one another, and the one Ship Tease moment between Mars and Mercury is immidiately subverted within about three panels.
- How to Keep a Mummy, despite being a slice-of-life dramedy with both male and female protagonists, has zero hint of romance between them. Sora and Tazuki would love having Asa as a little sister, and Asa shows no romantic attraction to any of the boys. The only vague elements of romance are Tazuki’s crush on Sora’s aunt Kaede (who’s 12 years older) and Tazuki’s little sister Tsukiyo being in love with Sora. The former is obviously unrequited and played more as an occasional Running Gag, and the latter is a minor character to begin with.
- Hunter × Hunter: Probably the reason the series is a total sausagefest. Any women are minor characters who don't stick around long. The two main characters are also prepubescent.
- THE iDOLM@STER: SideM: Despite the previous two anime having a few of their characters with at least a crush on their opposite-sex Producer, this series decides to go with a male one to match the idols and decidedly plays his relationship with them as a professional one with no Ship Tease at all.
- Little Witch Academia (2017): Word of God is that it won't have any ships become canon, with the original intention of having Akko and Andrew ending up as a couple being scrapped in favor of them being Just Friends despite the subtext between them. Even the Fan-Preferred Couple of Diana and Akko was denied by the creators, despite the ship also having quite a bit of subtext in the show. In any case, they've encouraged fans to do as they please in fanficiton.
- Word of God: "There is no romance in Lucky Star." One side character is briefly mentioned to have a boyfriend, but he never shows up. They go so far as to have a scene that sets up what looks like a love confession, and then it turns out the guy wanted to talk to Kagami so he could beg her Yatsuhashi doll off of her.
- Lyrical Nanoha: The series has almost no romance onscreen, although quite a lot is implied. Aside from Nanoha's brother and his girlfriend, the only confirmed relationship is between Amy and Chrono, and these characters mostly vanish after the second season, and even when they were a part of the show nothing actually happens onscreen. There are several character pairs that have romantic overtones, but none of them are ever explicitly shown to be more than friendship.
- Naoki Urasawa's Monster is probably the only anime that can regularly feature a relationship/connections chart between its characters without even one romantic relationship. Eva had a few minor ones (none of them ended well), there was an old man and woman in a town Tenma went through that were implied to have developed a relationship after he left, and Johan disguised as Nina seduced intel out of a young detective with pure romance in volume 11.
- My Hero Academia has a downplayed case. The manga lacks any Ship Tease between most characters, and even the situation between the protagonists Midoriya and Uraraka is kind of left in the backseat so much, most arcs can go on without that being mentioned, since that is the only canon love interest in the plot. In this case, Surprisingly Realistic Outcome, as it's heavily implied that being a Hero is a job that consumes your life, as almost no heroes shown so far seem to have any sort of romantic relationship.
- Natsume's Book of Friends has almost no romance between the characters at all and focuses much more on supernatural elements, which is rather unusual for a shoujo series. In one of the author freetalk sections in the first volume of the manga, creator Yuki Midorikawa mentions that she wanted to "make a supernatural manga without much of a romantic element".
- One Piece: Author Eiichiro Oda openly declared that there would not be any romance in the series, and instead focuses on the series theme of friendship, stating that romantic scenes would ruin the exciting, party-like mood in the story that appeals to boys or the boyish at heart. One Piece may have some characters who are in love, but Oda's never going to write romance into the story because it would ruin the mood it's established. According to Oda, if you want that kind of thing you should probably read a girl's manga. Parodied in one letter written to Mr. Oda.
"Are any of the characters in love?"
"Yes, they're in love...WITH ADVENTURE!"- Minor exceptions: Rayleigh and Shakky are referred to as a "cute married couple", and Oda confirmed later in a data book that they’re married. Usopp has a potential Love Interest, Kaya, waiting at home for him, but they hadn't yet reached the point of Official Couple when he left. Mr. 9 and Miss Monday were shown to have a kid in a cover page. A large part of Kyros' flashback is about Kyros' relationship to Scarlet, and how she falls in love with him. It's also a defining aspect of Boa Hancock's character that she's fanatically in love with Luffy, and after the Time Skip he's no longer oblivious to her feelings either, although he is quite clear that he only likes her as a good friend.
- Despite Oda's protests, the series is actually getting the closest it ever has to real romance involving major characters, with Sanji being on the cusp of going through with his Arranged Marriage to the lovely Charlotte Pudding. Surprisingly, it would be a Perfectly Arranged Marriage, as the two of them are almost perfect for each other, but Sanji doesn't want to go through with it only because he doesn't want to leave the Straw Hats and is only doing so because he's being blackmailed by his horrible father, and while Pudding has completely fallen for him, she'd be willing to free him if it were possible. No matter how events pan out,note it's pretty hard to claim there isn't at least a spark of real romance there.
- Of course, this promptly got shot in the head with the reveal that Pudding is actually Evil All Along and intends to kill Sanji and his entire family. That is then shot again in the head when it turns out she might actually like him for real after he complimented her third eye...which is Played for Laughs...
- And then totally Played Straight after Pudding removes the memories of The Big Damn Kiss of her and Sanji in order to not inconvenience him further. The scene is quite a Tear Jerker.
- The Wano arc:
- Kozuki Hiyori is explicitly attracted to Zoro and even has a Sleep Cute moment with him. However unlike Sanji, Zoro is a Chaste Hero so he doesn’t respond to her advances and given Oda’s track record, no Relationship Upgrade is likely to come from it anyway.
- Wano flashbacks show Kozuki Oden meeting his future wife Toki, but Oda notably skims over the falling in love part and naughty bits until their children are born.
- Patlabor: The Mobile Police: While the exact nature of Noa and Asuma's relationship remains in question, they're very close and have been known to go out while they're off-duty. They think of it as 'hanging out', though it's implied that it might be deeper than that. Confirmed in The Next Generation, which serves as the series' Distant Finale, by which time Noa and Asuma are said to be Happily Married.
- Pokémon:
- In Pokémon: The Series: it seems like the only couples allowed consist of minor characters. None of the main characters are in a relationship, and the only ones who want one are Brock and later Serena. Ash is a Chick Magnet but is Oblivious to Love. Not even the Pokémon themselves get much romance, despite breeding being a thing in the games and being present in other adaptations like Pokémon Adventures, although there are some exceptions to this, such as Ash's Butterfree and Jessie's Dustox (and even then, we barely get to see their romance). However, in the original soundtrack, "Pokémon 2.B.A. Master", there is a love song which implies that Misty has strong feelings for Ash; while it was added in by 4Kids, the original Japanese version of the anime had Ship Tease between Satoshi and Kasumi too, though it's never been confirmed as anything concrete. A few popularly-agreed "exceptions" exist: Ash was kissed by two movie-only characters (Melody and Latias) and in-series Serena was implied to have kissed him as well in the final episode of XY&Z. Even then, for the last one, the camera cuts away from their faces so it's unknown if it was on the lips or just on a cheek. Professors Kukui and Burnet also do get married onscreen in Sun and Moon, though with no onscreen kissing between them.
- As for Pokémon Adventures itself, an official relationship chart states that all the relationships between the current main characters are platonic apart from a single one-sided crush and the one couple whose romance was the major focus of their arc(s). Ship Tease abounds but Official Couples do not.
- Record of Lodoss War: The original novels keep romance off the radar. There's more of it in the anime adaptations, but other than Deedlit's crush on Parn, most of it is kept low-key.
- Rune Soldier Louie is a parody of the Harem Genre. So despite joining a travelling party of single women, none of them have any romantic feelings towards Louie. Likewise, even though Ila is secretly in love with him, he fails to notice it and she never tells him.
- Slayers: The author of the novels stated that there would be no romance (again, like Toriyama, because he felt like he'd be poor at writing it), and whatever comes about resembling romance is either Played for Laughs or unrequited (namely the relationsip between Luke and Millina). When the anime was made, however, Lina and Gourry were cemented as an Official Couple, even sharing a (not remembered) kiss, and there was plenty of Ship Tease for Amelia and Zelgadis, who were strictly friends in the novels. A few more couples were thrown in for good measure. Later on, Kanzaka admitted that he didn't plan it, but realized that the characters all fell in love on their own.
- Soul Eater: Despite how deep most of the relationships tend to run — with Soul and Maka being the most canon example — according to Ohkubo in an interview he doesn't plan on taking any of them to a romantic level. Though he also tends to troll his fans so whether or not he's being honest is unsure, and the Ship Tease isn't helping.
- Downplayed in Superwomen in Love!; while mention is made of romance and hugging, nobody ever says a word about sex or kissing.
- Variable Geo: As hot as the VG waitresses are, you'd think they'd have guys lining up around the block for the chance to be with them. Yet, aside from Reimi's secret relationship with Washio and Yuuki's unrequited lust for Satomi, none of them have boyfriends, nor do they seem to have any interest in dating. The subject never even comes up.
- World Trigger: Downplayed. Crushes exist, but otherwise, romance is close to nonexistent. It's telling that the closest thing to an Official Couple is Chika and Yuzuru (a so far one-sided crush), the latter of whom isn't even a main character and wasn't introduced until over a 100 chapters in.
- Zatch Bell!: Despite there being some Ship Tease between Kiyo and Megumi and some Ship Tease between Zatch and Tia, nothing really happens between neither of them in neither the anime nor the manga. Kiyo and Megumi never get together. And despite Tia obviously having a crush on Zatch, he however never finds out about her crush on him and he never develops a crush on her. Wonrei and Li-en, Ted and Cherish, and Sunbeam and Elle were the only "canon" couples in the whole series, but their relationships never got that much focus.
Asian Animation
- BoBoiBoy: Word of God said that there would be no romance between the True Companion main characters, and indeed, no Ship Tease of note seems to exist between them.
Comic Books
- Tintin has this in spades, no major characters have shown any interest in romance whatsoever. The only exception is Professor Calculus, who has an innocent crush on Bianca Castafiore. According to the book Tintin: Hergé & His Creation, Snowy would have been a female human and love interest for Tintin, but that idea was discarded.
- The Transformers (Marvel) sway in this direction, as head writer Simon Furman didn't see why robots should or could think about such things. Cybertronians are typically portrayed as not having any relationships beyond friendships, and other works for Transformers that Simon is behind the pen on tend to follow suit.
Fan Works
- To quote the summary of Advent Crossover Crisis directly; "Rated T for swearing and violence, but relax, there's no kissing!" Indeed, romance is effectively non-existent in the story — a single ship between two featured characters is alluded to in the vaguest possible terms, and the two members of same never actually meet.
- Imperfect Metamorphosis spreads around oodles of Ship Tease, especially between Marisa and Alice, Kaguya and Mokou in a side story, and whatever is going on between Rumia and Rin Satsuki, but never makes any relationships or attractions explicit. Even Yuuka's depravations are only implied.
Films — Animation
- The Ratchet & Clank (2016) movie has two females whose personalities complement the main characters: one takes action and shoots anything that gets in her way, like Ratchet, and the other prefers to create clever strategies, like Clank. In the interest of time, however, the movie skips any sort of romantic entanglements and instead chooses to focus on the newly-formed friendship between the two male leads, detailing how they became Heterosexual Life-Partners.
- Disney Animated Canon: This has become a trend in the 2010s, often featuring two characters of different genders who become Like Brother and Sister by the movie's end:
- Big Hero 6 does not feature any form of romance forming between the hero squad, despite a few nods to Hiro's crush on Honey Lemon in the comics.
- Zootopia does not end in a romance between the two leads, who happen to be both male and female and end up working together. (Try telling this to fans, though.) They also happen to be members of different species of animals. The director has openly stated that he doesn't mind if fans choose to see their relationship as romantic, though.
- Moana, despite being a Disney Princess movie, does not end with or even imply a romance between the male and female leads. Maui and Moana only grow closer as friends and have a purely platonic hug at the end.
Films — Live-Action
- In the film adaptations of both The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons, the romantic subplots between Langdon and Sophie and between Langdon and Victoria are scrapped altogether (it was stated that this would make the film less realistic). Langdon does give Sophie a friendly peck on the forehead, but that's about it.
- The Mothman Prophecies, apparently to its detriment
:
This is a film too bad to be good & too good to be so bad it’s good. DULL is the watchword, unless watching Richard Gere’s Shatnerian reactions to a phone ringing is your idea of edge-of-the-seat horror. That Mothman never makes an appearance would be fine if the film gave us something else, or kept a mystery worth keeping- but nada. & this is perhaps the only ‘action’ film I can recall where a gratuitous love story would have improved the tale. Laura Linney’s Connie is the only character developed to any emotional or deep extent, or which induces any concern. She radiates a down-home sensuality, yet John never makes a move, even after saving her. Not even a peck on the cheek. Loser! - Played straight—actually is an essential part of the plot—in The Remains of the Day.
- In contrast to G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, there's almost zero romance in G.I. Joe: Retaliation. The closest it gets is some slight Ship Tease between Flint and Lady Jaye.
- Guillermo del Toro says that this trope, coupled with the Downer Ending, is what is making studios hesitant to back his proposed adaptation of "At the Mountains of Madness".
- In The Numbers Station, there is no romance between the male and female leads, who are a radio operator and a spook who have only recently met. The two operators on the other shift, however, are hugging and kissing at the very least, but this isn't their story.
- In The Last Witch Hunter, while two leads are man and woman, there's no romantic chemistry and no romance between the two. Explainable by Kaulder having The Lost Lenore and, more importantly, being eight hundred years old while Chloe seems to have not yet hit her thirties.
- In spite of coming to respect each other and battling across the Wasteland together, Max and Furiosa in Mad Max: Fury Road never express any romantic interest towards each other. Joe has his "wives", but his relationship with them is anything but romantic.
- A famous example in The Pelican Brief. There was supposed to be a romance between leads Denzel Washington and Julia Roberts, because that's what happens in the book. But because of backlash when the rumors of a lovemaking scene got out, the scene was cut from the final film, as well as any romantic overtones. Instead, the film ends with them being friends.
- Many Clint Eastwood movies lack overt romance: Dirty Harry, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, For a Few Dollars More, etc.
- Master and Commander, but mostly because most of the cast is male.
- Molly's Game: Molly deliberately avoids any romance with her customers at the poker games she runs, and the film is silent on the question of whether or not she has any romantic or sexual partners off-stage.
Literature
- H. P. Lovecraft's stories do not focus on even the slightest bits of romance or affection. Even when the protagonist mentions a wife, it is usually in a rather offhand manner. The story The Thing on the Doorstep involved a marriage as a plot point but it wasn't the marriage of the protagonist, but that of a friend. Even then, no acts of romantic affection between said friend and his love interest are ever described, and, said marriage was actually just a way for an Eldritch Abomination inhabiting the woman to keep the husband close at hand since said Eldritch Abomination wants to eventually take control of said husband's body. Even friendships are subject to this since Lovecraftian protagonists often describe friendships in a detached manner, Any mention of sexual activity in Lovecraft is not only off-screen, but depicted as grotesque and produces abominable things that should not be. (The Dunwich Horror, The Shadow Over Innsmouth)
- R.L. Stine's Goosebumps books often assign the protagonist a best friend of the opposite sex. No one ever seems to address the topic of romance between the two; in fact, there's virtually no difference between male and female characters at all. Differences between the sexes are only important when the characters are teenagers, just as said differences tend to be in real life. This is most likely because the books are aimed at prepubescent kids, and he wants both genders to be able to relate to it. There is one aversion, "How I Learned To Fly," in which the male protagonist actively wants his relationship with his female friend to be romantic.
- Daisy Miller: The 19th century European aristocracy strongly adhered to this rule. Americans did not so much, however, and Daisy refuses to change her ways and (literally) do as the Romans do when in Rome. She finally becomes an outcast among her fellow American tourists when she commits the unforgiveable crime of strolling down the street on the arms of two men! Deliciously inverted in The Ambassadors.
- Several novels by Isaac Asimov. Asimov himself openly acknowledged his (at least perceived) inability to write interpersonal relationships, let alone romance, and on several occasions lampooned himself for it. There are married couples in his books, but their relationship seldom plays a large role in the narrative. With the ironic exception of The Gods Themselves, written in part as a response to criticism that his books didn't have enough aliens or sex, which featured alien energy beings having the least titillating (to a human audience) threesomes in history. Which are absolutely essential to the plot.
- The first three The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy books, aside from Arthur's brief crush on Trillian. Then came So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish, which devoted a majority of the book to Arthur and Fenchurch's relationship. Douglas Adams, being himself, took the opportunity to mock those who kept asking him about Arthur's sex life and those who prefer this trope.
- There is no romance in The Mysterious Benedict Society. There's no Ship Tease between Reynie, Katie, and Sticky despite being of similar age. The adults similarly have no love interests. There's just a lot of friendship and familial affection.
- The Spirit Thief, despite featuring at least three married couples, has no romance whatsoever - and of those three, Nibel and Slorn can't interact due to her nature as a demonseed, Banage and Sara are in separation and Josef got married to Adela in absentia, with neither interested in consummating the marriage, much less falling in love.
- Unusually, breeding instincts and heat aren't alluded to in the xenofiction book A Dog's Life. This is likely because it's aimed at children.
- Doctor Who Expanded Universe:
- The Davison-era creators felt so strongly about "no hanky-panky in the TARDIS" that a short story by the script editor written for the 20th anniversary retroactively declared that Susan wasn't really the Doctor's granddaughter, because that would imply the First Doctor had children, and therefore that at some point in his life he did the thing you have to do to have children.
- The Doctor Who New Adventures featured a lot of hanky-panky, all over the place, but in keeping with his traditional portrayal, the Doctor was kept out of it, with an early reveal that Time Lords use Uterine Replicators and sex simply isn't part of their culture.
- The protagonist of Trash of the Count's Family never expresses any romantic or sexual interest in anyone, coming off as asexual. There's barely any mention of romance at all in the story, and it doesn't play an important part to any character.
- The Northern Caves is about the fandom of the fictional Chesscourt series. Chesscourt is said to be staunchly devoid of any romance. This is part of the tremendous weightiness of the series. Fandom shipping, then, it's a sort of defiance against the themes of canon.
Paul's narration: It isn't just that no romance occurs, which would not be too unusual in a series of this kind. It's that it feels like it never could have occurred. The characters, by virtue of being the heirs of the Manor, are afflicted with a kind of terrible noblesse oblige whose full weight emerges steadily across the course of nine whole books. There is no time to stop and enjoy what are, for the rest of us, the ordinary pleasures of life -- everywhere, Weightier Things beckon, and they only beckon louder and louder with time.
Live-Action TV
- Power Rangers had three on-screen kisses in seventeen years (all done by the same couple, Kimberly and Tommy), often taking Will They or Won't They? to painful levels. According to SPD executive producer Greg Aranowitz, higher ups demanded as-low-as-possible levels of romance in the series, since it's targeted at little boys (he only said that about SPD, naturally, but who knows what goes through the minds of Disney). This presumably explains why Trent and Kira's romance arc in Dino Thunder was left unresolved.
- Christopher Khayman Lee has said that a kiss between his character (Andros) and Tracy Lynn Cruz's (Ashley) was filmed in one of the last episodes of In Space, but it wasn’t included in the final cut.
- According to Dan Ewing, a kiss between Dillon and Summer was scripted for "Belly of the Beast", but was vetoed (we got the closest thing to it instead).
- Power Rangers Mega Force has two - first, Emma kisses Orion on the cheek in "The Wrath" and Gia gives one to Jake at the end of "Legendary Battle". Both are included in the Extended Edition. This is the first time there's been a kiss of any kind since MMPR season 3.
- Ninja Steel establishes Calvin and Hayley as dating in the first episode. They hold hands frequently, but it takes until the 16th regular episode for them to share a peck on the cheek.
- Its parent show Super Sentai, and its sister show, Kamen Rider, tend to only sparingly feature relationships.
- While Corner Gas isn't completely devoid of romance, the level is incredibly low for a show about six single, middle aged characters (and Oscar and Emma), and the few episodes do deal with romance bring up pairings just to dismiss them. Except for the reunion movie where Brent and Lacey kiss, much to the stunned amazement of their friends, only to reveal that they've been a couple for more than a year!
- Doctor Who:
- The original series did have some romance here and there, but it was so rare, almost never involved main characters, when it did it rarely affected the plot, and was more often than not two characters arbitrarily smushed together. The Doctor himself didn't have any interest in romance and often mocked it altogether if it did come up, largely written as asexual (except for a clearly romantic subplot with a guest character in "The Aztecs", in a prime example of the series' Early-Installment Weirdness). This is one of the main complaints that older fans have with the new series, which focuses very heavily on romance and turned the Doctor into an outright Chick Magnet.
- During the Troughton era, the BBC censor at the time forbade the Doctor from touching female companions of any degree. This led to a lot more touching with Jamie, particularly in "The Tomb of the Cybermen", where the Doctor and Jamie hold hands on several occasions.
- At one point (particularly in the Davison era), there was a No Hugging, No Kissing, No Touching (for example, a comforting hand on the shoulder was a no-no) rule between the Doctor and his female companions, to dispel the notion of "hanky-panky" going on in the TARDIS. This was an Enforced Trope by John Nathan-Turner, since at one point in the Davison era the young-looking Doctor was travelling alone with two gorgeous female companions, one of whom was about the same age as the actor playing the Doctor. There were a few exceptions, like when Nyssa leaves. She gives the Doctor a kiss on the cheek. Davison once quipped in the commentary for "Mawdryn Undead" that this trope was the reason the Doctor trusted Turlough so easily: just to have a companion he could actually touch.
- This became a bit of a Chekhov's Gun in Moffat's run of the revival, since the Doctor still firmly believed that "no hanky-panky in the TARDIS" was still effective. He gave his companions bunk beds and everything. Amy and Rory (who by this point were married, it should be noted) didn't listen at all, and discovered that hanky-panky in the TARDIS while it's in the Time Vortex can result in some very unexpected side effects. The Doctor's face when he realises that they shagged in his TARDIS is absolutely priceless.
- The Twelfth Doctor tried to enforce the No Hugging, No Kissing rule in Series 8 — in part due to the instigation of an Anchored Ship — but kept being hugged regardless by Cuddle Bug Clara. By Series 9, by which time a subtle form of ship rescue was under way, not only was he enjoying the hugs, he was instigating them on occasion. Word of God (actors and producer) is that the Doctor and Clara don't display affection openly for each other, so the no kissing rule remains in effect, with a notable exception being "Last Christmas", where Clara kisses the Doctor on the cheek before agreeing to run away with him in his TARDIS, and in "Face the Raven" the Doctor kisses Clara's hand when he says good bye to her (after sharing one final hug).
- Seinfeld had a variation which was referred to internally as "No Hugging, No Learning." Basically the characters are committed to each other about as far as what is needed for the plot to happen, but beyond that entertain a mild indifference to the emotional well-being of the others in the group. Only a handful of episodes have them show any sort of excitement to be with each other, and beyond Jerry and Elaine having romantic history they avoided exploring anything of the internal cast past the third season. The show was otherwise rife with romantic juggling among all the characters with people outside the main group, solely to have it fall apart in spectacular fashion.
Radio
- Big Finish Doctor Who has fun with this. There's no longer any radar to slip things by and they can get away with things the old series never could, but the cast are still aware there's some kind of rule preventing classic Doctors from getting too close to people. Five's awkwardness makes Turlough wonder how he managed to have grandchildren, Six convinces someone he's not the Doctor by passionately kissing a woman, and Seven showing interest in a woman is a warning sign he's been drugged. Eight, the first Doctor to break the trend, is a Chick Magnet with a lot of painful consequences.
Podcasts
- There is not the slightest hint of romance between the characters of Wolf 359, who spend the first couple of episodes driving each other insane through various quirky hijinks and the rest of the series trying to stave off the many ways a person can be killed aboard a space station operated by an immortal megalomaniac.
- Other than Martin's unrequited crush on Head Archivist, Jon, and references to the fact that Jon and Georgie used to date well prior to the start of the series there is almost no romance seen either amongst the main characters of The Magnus Archives or in the statements Jon reads from.
Tabletop Games
- Warhammer 40,000 and all of its spinoffs, including the role-playing games, tend to gloss over or completely avoid the subject of romance and love, bar that love and desire feed one of the Gods of Chaos. It's understandable, given the settings' all-encompassing emphasis on war and mayhem, but even in the books, offhand references at best are the rule, with exceptions few and far between. Said exceptions are either mild (Ciaphas Cain, where it's mostly implied) or to show why this trope is a good idea (Ravenor, where it all ends horribly).
- Warhammer, likewise, gives virtually no attention to romance or romantic/sexual relationships, thanks to being focused almost entirely on warfare and battles. Such things are touched on briefly in a couple of the novels, but always in passing and never as a major plot device or focus. The game materials themselves leave the romantic status of most characters almost entirely unmentioned. Exceptions include the vampires Vlad and Isabella von Carstein (who are married and deeply devoted to each other), the High Elf Prince Tyrion (who is the consort of Alarielle the Everqueen, though the precise nature of their feelings are not mentioned), the Wood Elf King and Queen Orion and Ariel (likewise a couple, but left at that) and perhaps Malekith the Witch King (who is rumoured to be disturbingly and unnaturally close to his mother Morathi...).
Theatre
- The Mrs. Hawking series: None of the three main characters have any romantic interest in each other, and though there are some relationships with supporting cast, romance is not a big part of the series.
- Pokémon Live! is weird about this. Giovanni and Delia have a past, and Giovanni still loves Delia, but they're never explicitly mentioned to have dated. They're described as "friends" in the dialogue despite the clear-as-day implications that they were a couple (Delia is also described as "hanging out" with bad kids, instead of being a Team Rocket member, so the play is intentionally vague with her backstory). Yet at the same time, Misty explictly likes Ash.
Toys
- BIONICLE:
- An example of Executive Meddling. There were hints of romance in the early flash animations, online games and Direct to Video movies, but these were decanonized when the Lego Company decided to eliminate romance on the grounds that the core demographic (5-12 year olds) would find it "icky." To paraphrase lead story writer Greg Farshtey:
"If I say no, I open one can of worms. If I say yes, I then get dozens of questions about the sex lives of plastic toys."- Several years after he said this, Greg cleared up any remaining questions by declaring that most sentient Bionicle characters are built and wildlife are hand-created by mixing viruses in potions.
- One of the movies went ahead and had an Unholy Matrimony plot. Farshtey had to handwave that one as merely a kind of political alliance, the same way kings would have their children married to strengthen bonds between royal houses (which to be fair is very much Truth in Television).
- The rule officially only existed within the Matoran Universe (story years 2001-2008) where No Biological Sex strictly applied. Outside that, romance does exist, but is only touched upon twice: In the final novel, Kiina confesses her feelings toward Mata Nui by hugging him, and riding away in tears... and she was a feisty Action Girl who barely displayed any deep emotions like this up to that point. The only other example was the marriage between Sahmad and his deceased wife, as part of Sahmad's backstory.
- My Little Pony has hundreds of characters but relatively little romance. In G1 there were a few "family" sets that consisted of mares, stallions, and their foals, however that was more-or-less it besides a Moondancer/Glory figurine. The adaptations had some romance but not by much. By G3 there weren't even any stallions or colts. The G4 cartoon has romance pop up frequently but none of the main characters have anything concrete besides Spike's Precocious Crush on Rarity, Twilight's crush on Flash in My Little Pony: Equestria Girls, sci!Twi's crush in an Equestria Girls sequel, and Rarity having a few crushes that never go anywhere.
Video Games
- Art of Fighting: Applies to both Ryo's tentative attraction to King and the mutual attraction between Robert and Yuri. According to SNK, Buriki One is canonically the latest point in the AOF/KOF timeline, by which point, Ryo and Robert are in their mid-40snote . Ryo states that Robert and Yuri are both "still single" and that they still haven't had a date. Ryo doesn't fare any better with King, because they're still Just Friends.
- Animal Crossing has the opposite gender villagers crush on you if you talk to them enough. (Especially Snooty, Peppy, and Smug for the males, and Smug for the females) But being that you're a human and they are... well, cartoon animals it doesn't go past flirting from the females to the male Player. If you're into that you're welcome to flirt with them, and they in turn will send you romantic letters with "My dear Player", or end their letter with Love, Player. Or heck, even put hearts for the Peppy villagers. Regardless of how you feel, you can't reciprocate those feelings due to the player being a Heroic Mime. Villagers mention dating one another, however they're never shown doing anything romantic, like going on dates, on-screen.
- Betrayal at Krondor has no romance, Disregarding Owyn's crush on Gamina or references to James's one-night-stands. This is facilitated by all six of the main characters being male.
- Unlike it's sequels (except it's own direct sequel), there is very little romance in Disgaea: Hour of Darkness, and any feelings between the trio of Laharl, Flonne, and Etna are left ambiguous. Even as they make appearances in later games they retain their status quo, and the subject of who likes who is a very touchy subject among the fandom.
- Street Fighter has no onscreen romance, despite Ken, Guile, Dhalsim and Hakan being married with children. The most that happens are characters expressing a desire for romance, with Sakura's secret one-sided crush on Ryu (which likely won't go anywhere) and Ibuki's interest in getting a boyfriend (which she never seems to actually find).
- The relationships in the Super Mario Bros. games seem entirely platonic, with Mario and Luigi only receiving kisses on the cheek for the reward to each rescue. Surprisingly, Luigi is asked about Mario and Peach's relationship in Super Paper Mario, and he admits that it is confusing but they seem to be just friends. Additionally, Super Mario RPG employed joke kisses (where Bowser and Booster could accidentally wind up kissing Mario on the cheek or each other on the lips while trying to steal a kiss from Peach). Aside from that, the series just teases potential pairings such as Luigi/Daisy and Yoshi/Birdo.
- Freelancer makes it very clear that Trent and Juni start out as brothers at arms to end up as close friends, but nothing more.
- Touhou Project has no romance whatsoever between any of the characters. Interestingly, this managed to help the massive shipping fanbase, as they can pair anyone with anyone else without any Ship-to-Ship Combat or conflict with canon.
- As mentioned in the anime, there's little romance in Pokémon other than implications and subtext.
- Devil May Cry clearly has no time for romance between all the Hack and Slash action; Word of God stated the relationship between Dante and Trish and Lady are purely platonic (it does help that Trish resembles Dante's mother Eva). The real subversion is Nero and his childhood sweetheart Kyrie from the fourth game who are explicitly a couple, though their only kiss is off-screened.
- Wild ARMs 3 has no romance subplot at all whatsoever.
- Love and sex are never mentioned in Dark Souls. The only marriage ever mentioned is off screen and neither character involved is personally encountered. However, it's heavily implied through Ciaran's dialogue that she was in a relationship with the Knight Artorias, even going so far as to say this as she dies, should the player kill her:
Ciaran: "My... dear... Artorias..."
- Played with in Dark Souls 3. Technically, there is one character who has something of a romance plot, however it involves a cult you can work with kidnapping him/her (his/her gender changes depending on yours), possibly killing him/her, then you stabbing his/her face with a ceremonial sword in some sort of ritual. Though you do see him/her alive in the ending you get from doing this, it's clearly not your standard romance plot.
- While love and sex are referenced in Bloodborne none of it really approaches the physical level. The closest thing is the resident Hooker with a Heart of Gold who gives you her blood, and even then it's only because blood transfusion is comparable to sex in the culture of Yharnam. The Doll does eventually confess her love for the Hunter, but it's intentionally vague if it's maternal, romantic, platonic, or even real, the last of which she is aware of as a possibility.
- Persona 4: Arena is a very odd example. In the original game, the Silent Protagonist could pick from one of several girls from optional Romance Sidequests. Since Arena is a direct sequel, story wise, whether or not the hero (now named Yu Narukami and is speaking) entered into a relationship with a girl, or who the girl would be is never discussed in order to keep it open and prevent Ship-to-Ship Combat. It's merely hinted at by some characters that he is a Chick Magnet.
- Final Fantasy
- Final Fantasy V. Apart from a very light Bartz/Lenna Ship Tease and a Stupid Sexy Faris moment early in the game, there's absolutely no romance in the main party. Instead, the focus is on familial love (for both birth family and their True Companions bond). Quite a contrast to Final Fantasy IV having an Official Couple from the start and Final Fantasy VI's multiple Love Hurts backstories.
- Dissidia Final Fantasy: Opera Omnia generally has a touching reunion occur when the two halves of a game's Official Couple find each other, but there are no new pairings among the cast from across the series who make up the main party. The closest it comes is having the flirtatious characters universally being turned down.
- Final Fantasy XIV zig zags with this. Many characters are shown giving each other affection, but the player character is never given the same treatment beyond the occasional flirting and teasing. Sure, some NPCs may flirt or tease a bit with the player, but the players is never given a chance to reciprocate those feelings. The most a player's relationship with an NPC will go is friends. Word of God says that the player's relationship with the major characters was intentionally designed this way so that nothing is forced upon the player and thus the player can envision whatever relationship they want.
- The Ivalice Alliance games generally avoids using love tropes in favor of having the story more focused on the politics and background elements. Whatever signs of romance that are shown are very brief and are either quickly put to the wayside or doesn't go beyond some teasing.
- The Tales Series games usually avert it with at least one Official Couple, but a few play this trope straight:
- Tales of Vesperia, for the most part. No romance seems to develop between any of the characters. However, it's not without its Dirty Old Man trope, wherein Raven often hits on the female characters. Estelle seems clueless, Judith doesn't care, and Rita gets violent.
- Tales of Zestiria has the Chaste Hero Sorey, who is shown to be incredibly oblivious to women in general. It doesn't help that his foster brother Mikleo is the one who carries most of the standard Tales heroine traits, including appearing in certain scenes that have been used to help cement the Official Couple in other games. Much like Vesperia, there is a resident Dirty Old Man in Zaveid, but he doesn't get anywhere with anyone.
- Tales of Berseria has the malak Laphicet's eventual one-sided crush on Velvet, and some subtext that has a lot of fans thinking Velvet is bisexual, but there is no open romance in sight. Everything is in the backstory or unrequited, usually because the target is Oblivious to Love.
- Resident Evil has about a half-dozen battle couples, but since every every game is about narrowly averting a Zombie Apocalypse, they're always a little too busy for romance, barring the occasional flirty character and intimate moment between characters. The closest exception is Leon Kennedy and Ada Wong, who have a ton of UST between them. They're the only ones to share an onscreen kiss. The true exception is definitely Ethan and Mia from RE7 who are married albeit estranged, though they reunite in the Golden Ending.
- The Legend of Zelda:
- Link and Zelda never have anything past friends/close acquaintances with each other, although some games will tease with Zelda showing some sort of feelings for Link (but never anything beyond it). The ending of Zelda II: The Adventure of Link has Link and Zelda holding hands with Zelda possibly giving Link a kiss behind the curtains as it drops down, but it's never confirmed for sure. In most of the 3D installments, there'll always be a few female NPCs that will fawn over Link while Link himself doesn't show any interest in the girls. In The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess Ilia and Link are implied to have feelings but it doesn't go anywhere explict. Similarly, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword ship teases Link and Zelda terribly, but depending on how you approach one of the sidequests, your Link will end up dating another character (with Fi saying that he should hold off on telling Zelda about this).
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild comes close to bucking the trend:
- Mipha who was not only Link's childhood friend, but she also loved him so deeply that she crafted a special armor made for his size and planned to give it to him as a marriage proposal. It is not shown whether or not Link was also in love and the answer can never be explored due to Mipha being killed by Waterblight Ganon.
- This was the first game to confirm in words that the series titular princess, Princess Zelda, had some romantic feelings for Link. She's revealed to have rejected the advances of Kass's unnamed teacher on account of "only having eyes for her appointed knight", and it's stated that her sealing power was awakened through her love and need to protect Link. It's even implied that she was going to ask the Great Deku Tree to pass on her Love Confession to Link once he returned for the Master Sword—though the Great Deku Tree cut her off to tell her it would sound better coming from her instead. However, much like with Mipha, his feelings are never confirmed and it's left open-ended whether or not the two of them ever become a couple after the end, meaning the trope is still very much in effect... at least in the Western translations. The original Japanese makes it clear that Link is aware of both girls crushing on him, and that he reciprocates Zelda's affections.
- The Metroid series has been devoid of romance since its inception. This is usually because Samus Aran's missions tend to only have her encountering the evil Space Pirates and various alien wildlife, but even the later games and supplementary manga and comics that do portray friendly, intelligent characters don't feature any romance. The only exception among the games is Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, where a Battle Couple are among the deceased Luminoth Keybearers.
- Unlike the rest of Zero Escape trilogy, Virtue's Last Reward has no on-screen romance whatsoever. There are mentions of Sigma's girlfriend who broke up with him just before he was kidnapped for the Nonary Game and Tenmyouji's first love, but they're just mentioned, and the two hugs that happen in story are played non-romantically.
- ZigZagged in Sonic the Hedgehog.
- The games have mostly avoided serious romance plots, with Sonic later explicitly portrayed as a Celibate Hero starting in the 2010s, the closest coming in the form of the occasional focus on Amy's crush on Sonic. The one game to directly avert this with a human crushing on Sonic was roundly rejected for it and offered one of the most infamous moments in the series with its kiss scene.
- Until the 2010s, this varied with spinoff media. It was notably Averted in Sonic the Hedgehog (SatAM) and its spiritual successor in the Archie comics, the latter having its fair share of Romantic Plot Tumors. Other adaptations to avert it include the 1992 manga adaptation that introduced Amy and Sonic X, introducing Vector crushing on Cream’s mom Vanilla and the Tails/Cosmo relationship in Season 3.
- For whatever reason, in the 2010s Sega started to crack down on romance being present in the franchise. The longstanding Sonic/Sally relationship was mandated down to Just Friends in the rebooted continuity of the Archie comics. Sonic Boom would massively downplay Amy’s crush on Sonic, a change that would follow into the games. Since then, romance has been strictly off-limits within the franchise and its spinoff materials such as the IDW comics, which has notably stymied the Whisper/Tangle ship from becoming confirmed.
- The Alliance Alive confirms in one scene that Galil's feelings for Azura are romantic, and then never mentions it again. The other implicitly paired characters fare no better. (Then again, Galil and Azura are only fifteen, so it's a Justified Trope.)
- In Twisted Wonderland, not only is there a rare lack of romantic tension between the cast and the Player Character, none of the characters are shown or said to have any romantic interests onscreen or otherwise, despite a few characters showing an interest in the opposite sex (or same sex in Cater and more ambiguously Rook's case). It comes off as quite odd considering the cast consists entirely of attractive guys. This is humorously lampshaded in Ghost Marriage when Deuce says that the reason they have such a tough time talking to girls is because they're attending an all boys school. Ace's SSR Groom-For-A-Day personal story also sheds a light on the lack of romance for a few characters when they talk about the experiences they've had with romance in the past, or the lack of it:
- Ace explains that he had a girlfriend in middle school but eventually grew bored of their lack of shared interests which lead to him ghosting her. Since then he had adopted a Bros Before Hoes mentality and wants to focus on getting better at magic rather than love, though the other character believe he's being dishonest and tease him in reference to the The Reason You Suck speech he'd delivered to Eliza about love just minutes earlier.
- Jack's reason for not having a girlfriend is because Wolf Beastmen in general all chose to only cherish one person for the rest of their lives. When the time comes for him to fall in love, he also wants to spend the rest of his life with that person.
- Deuce explains he's never had a girlfriend due to everyone, boys included (If they're not among Deuce's old delinquent friends), being too afraid to approach him during his delinquent days. The only woman he could talk to without hesitation is his mother.
- As for Epel and Sebek, Epel's hometown lacked people his age, and he only finally met people his age when he is enrolled to Night Raven College. Sebek claims that he would rather focus on protecting Malleus than think about romance.
Webcomics
- Free Spirit (2014) cartoonist Peter Paltridge has no plans to make Winnie Goodwin and Thomas Harper a couple. While the show that inspired the comic created romantic tension between them, Peter fears that hooking them up would require Winnie to out herself as a witch to Thomas. The pilots of both the show and the comic had Winnie clearly state that the terms of her staying with mortals forbid Thomas from finding out about her magical abilities.
Web Videos
- MikuMikuDance community has a strict no-romance, no-shipping policy, but showing characters dancing to romantic/explicit music is fine.
- An Invoked Trope in The Nostalgia Critic reboot, as in Eight Crazy Nights Rachel and Malcolm (their As Themselves characters, not the people) try to get together for Christmas sex, but Critic instantly separates them and tells them to watch the movie with him.
- Weird school rules in Hong Kong plays with this, but it applies in most of the skits throughout the series:
- Invoked by various secondary schools in Hong Kong, with rules explicitly banning dating and romantic relationships among students. The host says that this was an understandable rule, but would be very strange in certain types of schools.
Unnamed student: So the school rules explicitly state we're not allowed to date or talk about romance.
Fat Tom: How is this a strange rule?
Unnamed student: But… we're a boys' school.
(The two boys sitting in front of them caress each other's faces dramatically)
Unnamed student: Are you kidding me?! - Later subverted in Episode 5 in the skit on banning food from McDonald's, where the Class Princess is seen going out with a boy from another school after class. However, even then, they are just seen holding each other by the arm/hand and nothing more intimate than that.
- In actuality, romance and attraction is implied in various skits but it rarely actually goes anywhere: in the second half of the boys' school skit mentioned above in Episode 3, the unnamed student and Fat Tom find the female New Transfer Student "awesome" but are reprimanded by the teacher; and in Episode 15, when one of the girls reveals she got a tattoo in a place covered by her summer uniform, her male classmate asks to see it, but that's where the skit ends.
- Invoked by various secondary schools in Hong Kong, with rules explicitly banning dating and romantic relationships among students. The host says that this was an understandable rule, but would be very strange in certain types of schools.
Western Animation
- In 3-2-1 Penguins!, none of the main characters have any onscreen romantic relationships.
- The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan: Despite the many love songs and possible Incest Subtext, the lives of Mr. Chan and his children were decidedly romance-free (on camera, anyway). The only romantic subplot ever was between the family dog and a one-episode canine character.
- Arthur has this mostly Played Straight, but surprisingly Averted on a few specific occasions.
- Mr. and Mrs. Read kiss in "Arthur's Cousin Catastrophe," "Kiss and Tell," and "Happy Anniversary."
- In "Buster and the Daredevils," the titular daredevils dare Buster to kiss Francine straight on the lips, which he does. Francine does not take it well.
- In "Muffy Gets Mature," Muffy has an Imagine Spot of kissing Buster on the lips after a teenage girl tells her she was kissed by her boyfriend. She finds it gross (and also turns into a toad in her imagination as a result).
- In "Kiss and Tell," Emily brags to D.W. about being kissed on the hand by a boy, leading D.W. to seek out a kiss from a boy as well out of jealousy. She gets one on the cheek in the end, but decides it wasn't all it was cracked up to be.
- Played With in "D.W. Unties the Knot", where D.W. is inspired to plan her dream wedding after watching a reality show about fancy wedding parties. However, being four years old, she fails to realize that a wedding is not just a fancy party, but also an occasion where you actually marry someone. Once she finds out the truth, she's no longer willing to go through with it.
- Care Bears: Similar to the My Little Pony examples below, none of the animated series inspired by the franchise seem to have any kind of on-screen romantic couple, or any shipping element in general.
- Craig McCracken tends to follow this rule for all his series, with any romance involving main characters being one-sided (e.g. Berry in Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends and Lord Hater in Wander over Yonder) or ending badly (e.g. The Professor and Ms Keane in The Powerpuff Girls (1998)), and mostly Played for Laughs. The 2016 PPG reboot, which didn't have McCracken's involvement, gives Blossom a Satellite Love Interest.
- DuckTales (2017):
- Series co-developer Francisco Angones has said that Webby will not get into a relationship with any of Donald's nephews or vice versa. They're just really good friends who treat her like the fourth triplet on their adventures. Given that the finale revealed that they are biologically related, it would have been really creepy if there was any romance between them.
- This is averted with the adult characters, several of which have their own romantic arcs. This is especially true for Scrooge and Goldie, who have a very strong sexual tension between them and are very comfortable with touching each other.
- Elena of Avalor: According to show creator Craig Gerber, Elena will not get into a relationship with any of her friends, focusing instead on strengthening their relationships as really good friends. This also applies to his other show, Sofia the First, with the little romance that's shown being either for side characters or parents, or played for quick gags if involving main characters.
- Fillmore! features very little romance. It's most noticeable with the main duo, as most series would have Ship Tease between opposite gender leads but Fillmore's partnership with Ingrid is strictly professional and platonic.
- Invader Zim: The closest thing to romance is background character Gretchen's possible crush on Dib. Word of God clearly established that "liking each other is not the point" and that Zim does not love anyone. The Valentine's Day episode seems to parody the very idea: Zim "dates" the new girl, Tak, because he mistakes her violent abuse for how humans show affection and wants to study how it works. Once he cruelly "breaks up" with her, he's surprised when she not only doesn't cry, but reveals herself to be another Irken trying to steal his job.
- The Lion Guard: The first two The Lion King films had romance in them, and in fact the second film was influenced by Romeo and Juliet. On the other hand, this show is aimed at a younger demographic than the films (despite the films being aimed at a young demographic themselves) and stars Kid Heroes. There's much more of a lean towards family and friends than romance.
- Marvel's Spider-Man takes cues from Ultimate Spider-Man (2012) in not having Peter getting into a relationship or even implying one with either Anya Corazon or Gwen Stacy, though there are hints that his Aunt and her friend Anna Watson are trying to set him up with Anna's niece, a certain iconic red head...
- My Little Pony in general tends to not have any on-screen romance outside My Little Pony Tales.
- Lauren Faust specifically noted that My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic was not a show which would contain romance of any kind for the main six ponies, which was a rule followed even after she left the production in season two. That said, in season one, Rarity is initially attracted to Prince Blueblood (she got over that quickly though) and Spike has a Precocious Crush on Rarity herself that lasts up until the final season. All other romantic scenarios happen to minor or less recurring characters, most notably between Princess Cadance and Twilight's older brother Shining Armor.
- Averted and subverted in the episode "Simple Ways", wherein Rarity and Applejack end up in a Love Triangle with a visiting fashion writer.
- It's very telling that both Valentine's Day Episodes, "Hearts and Hooves Day" and "The Break Up Break Down", focus almost entirely on side characters rather than the Mane 6.
- While the Distant Finale shows that Pinkie Pie and Cheese Sandwich eventually got married, we don't see any romance between them play out on the actual show.
- Lauren Faust specifically noted that My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic was not a show which would contain romance of any kind for the main six ponies, which was a rule followed even after she left the production in season two. That said, in season one, Rarity is initially attracted to Prince Blueblood (she got over that quickly though) and Spike has a Precocious Crush on Rarity herself that lasts up until the final season. All other romantic scenarios happen to minor or less recurring characters, most notably between Princess Cadance and Twilight's older brother Shining Armor.
- PAW Patrol: The closest thing to romance is the wedding of Farmers Al and Yumi and their pet pigs Cornelius and Emma, alongside Wally and Walinda Walrus, as well as Katie's possible crush on Ryder. Word of God clearly established that there is little to no chance of romantic ships being confirmed, at least for now and the near future.
- ReBoot: The first two seasons, strangled mercilessly by Executive Meddling, made sure to ruthlessly stifle any impression that Bob and Dot were romantically linked, or were at all interested in each other in that way. Needless to say, once cut free, the creators quite happily rectified that.
- Return to the Planet of the Apes was a first in the original Apes series in that it featured a female astronaut character who was, for a change, allowed to survive and participate in the ongoing plot. Judy Franklin, was regarded by both Bill and Jeff in a completely professional manner. There was no intimacy between her and either of them even suggested.
- Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Unlike its predecessor series, this show features nothing in the way of on-screen romance, with none of the main characters expressing any interest in the opposite gender beyond friendship. Indeed, the sole explicitly romantic relationship is long over by the time the series starts, and while there's romantic subtext between certain characters, there's never anything concrete.
- The original Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! was about a group of friends travelling together. Despite it featuring two boys and two girls, there's no Ship Tease anywhere. Future Scooby-Doo installments stray from this precisely because of Urban Legends of something between Fred and Daphne in the 1969 series.
- Star Wars Rebels despite the two Jedi pointedly not being Celibate Heroes and centering around two teenagers, has no romantic plots or subplots. The creators have said that the characters have no time for romance due to the war, so Kanan and Hera's relationship is only implied and Ezra's unrequited crush on Sabine disappears after season 1 and eventually becomes Like Brother and Sister. The most important relationship in the show is the family bonds the crew share. This is eventually subverted in the final season, as Kanan and Hera finally get to kiss after a Running Gag of them getting interrupted. Mirroring the audience's reaction, the rest of the crew lets them enjoy the moment.
- Ultimate Spider-Man (2012) completely avoids every form of teen romance, which is ironic given how complicated Peter's love life has been in almost every other version. Word of God Loeb established "Our show lives in a world that is pre-romance" even though the characters are all old enough for it.
Don’t feed me no lines and keep yer hands to yerself!
