This list is for fictional portrayals of asexual or suspected-asexual characters. For non-fiction, see Asexuality in non-fiction.
Please expand this list!
Literature
Novels
Title
|
Author
|
Character(s)
|
Case Histories: A Novel |
Kate Atkinson |
Amelia, Philip
|
The Pavilion of Women |
Pearl S. Buck |
Madam Wu
|
Sherlock Holmes Mysteries |
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle |
Sherlock Holmes
|
Geek Love |
Kathrine Dunn |
Miss Lick
|
Tom Jones |
Henry Fielding |
Blifil
|
Namedropper: A Novel |
Emma Forest |
Viva Cohen?
|
A Room With a View |
E.M. Forster |
Mr. Beebe and Cecil Vyse
|
Jude The Obscure |
Thomas Hardy |
Sue Bridehead
|
Guardian of the Dead |
Karen Healey |
Kevin comes out as asexual to his best friend
|
The Bone People |
Keri Hulme |
Kerewin Holmes
|
The World According to Garp |
John Irving |
Jenny Fields
|
Herland |
Charlotte Perkins Stetson Gilman |
the women
|
The Book of Disquiet |
Fernando Pessoa |
Bernardo Soares
|
Crampton Hodnet |
Barbara Pym |
(Barbara Bird)
|
The Bachelor Brothers' Bed and Breakfast |
Bill Richardson |
Virgil
|
The Wrong Boy |
Willy Russell |
Raymond Marks
|
Operation Hurdler and Operation Outside Hitter |
Michael Bilka |
Faye and Linda Cooper
|
To The Lighthouse |
Virginia Woolf |
Lily Briscoe (described as asexual by Market Drabble in the introduction to the Oxford University Press edition and also here)
|
Science fiction and fantasy
Title
|
Author
|
Character(s)
|
White Mars |
Brian W. Aldiss |
Cang Hai
|
I, Robot |
Isaac Asimov |
Dr. Susan Calvin
|
Diaspora |
Greg Egan |
Akili
|
Distress |
Greg Egan |
?
|
Fool's Errand, Golden Fool, Fool's Fate |
Robin Hobb |
Amber/Lord Golden
|
The Fire's Stone |
Tanya Huff |
Chandra
|
The Metabarons: Aghora the Father-Mother & Immaculate Conception |
Alexandro Jodorowsky |
Aghora
|
The Oathbound, Oathbreakers, and Oathblood |
Mercedes Lackey |
Tarma
|
Ombria in Shadow |
Patricia A. McKillip |
Mag the Waxling
|
The Deed of Paksenarrion: A Novel |
Elizabeth Moon |
Paks
|
When the King Comes Home |
Caroline Stevermer |
Hail Rosamer
|
Cat's Cradle |
Kurt Vonnegut |
Mona Aamons Monzano
|
Deadeye Dick |
Kurt Vonnegut |
Rudy Waltz
|
Rose of the Prophet Trilogy: The Will of the Wanderer, The Paladin of the Night, The Prophet of Akhran |
Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman |
Azriel
|
The Hobbit |
J. R. R. Tolkien |
Bilbo Baggins
|
Short stories
Title
|
Author
|
Character(s)
|
Aye, and Gomorrah |
Samuel R. Delaney |
Spacers
|
The [Widget], the [Wadget], and Boff |
Theodore Sturgeon |
?
|
Featuring asexual or suspected-asexual characters
- Susan Isaacs - Lily White (sexual main characters lead asexual relationship)
- Caren Lissner - Carrie Pilby (Carrie Pilby)
- Caren Lissner et al. - Scenes From A Holiday (Carrie Pilby, see novella titled "Carrie Pilby's New Year's Resolution")
- Tim O'Brien - July, July (Marla Dempsey)
- George Orwell - A Clergyman's Daughter (Dorothy Hare)
- Banana Yoshimoto - The Lake (Nakajima; asexual relationship)
Movies
Year
|
Title
|
Reason
|
Notes
|
1987
|
Withnail and I
|
The film ends with Withnail saying "Man delights not me, no, nor women neither, nor women neither."[1] (These words are in fact originally taken from a quote from Shakespeare's Hamlet, act 2, scene 2.[2])
|
Directed by Bruce Robinson
|
2006
|
Sherlock Holmes (Most versions)
|
Sherlock Holmes is generally considered asexual.
|
-
|
2010
|
Inception
|
Ellen Page plays Ariadne. Unusually for a female character, she isn't a romantic interest and she expresses no desire for other characters in the film. Joseph Gordon-Levitt's character, Arthur, tricks her into a kiss once, to which she seems unreactive.
|
Directed by Christopher Nolan
|
2004
|
Mysterious Skin
|
Brian Lackey, who was sexually abused as a child. He shows no interest in sex or romance, and seems repulsed when a female character abruptly tries to kiss, touch and undress him. Another character describes his "vibe" as "kinda weirdly asexual."[3] His memories of the abuse are strongly repressed until the end of the movie, as he believes he was abducted by aliens and not sexually abused.
|
Directed by Gregg Araki
|
Television Shows
Year
|
Title
|
Reason
|
2006 – present
|
Dexter
|
The title character, a serial killer, feels emotionally divorced from the rest of humanity and has no interest in romance or sex.[4]
|
1963 – 1989, 2005 – present
|
Doctor Who
|
The Doctor's sexuality is ambiguous; his relationship with Rose Tyler has been described as "a love story without the shagging".[5]
|
2010
|
Huge
|
American show, character Poppy (played by Zoe Jarman) is the girl's cabin leader. She self-identifies as asexual in season 1, episode 5.[6]
|
2002 – present
|
Ouran High School Host Club
|
Haruhi Fujioka, the main character, has no interest in romance and prefers platonic relationships despite being surrounded by attractive males and females.[7]
|
1992 – present
|
Shortland street
|
New Zealand TV Show - character Gerald is asexual.[8][9]
|
2007 – present
|
The Big Bang Theory
|
American sitcom, character Sheldon Cooper expresses asexual tendencies.
|
1985 – 1992
|
The Golden Girls
|
American sitcom, character Rose never thought about sex before she was married and when her husband wanted to have sex for the first time she didn't really understand sexual desire. She has never orgasmed.
|
2006
|
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
|
One known asexual character, Yuki Nagato, and an anti-romantic character (titular). The show doesn't feature any relationships except for platonic ones, although the narrator character does experience some sexual attraction himself.[10]
|
2010
|
Sherlock
|
Holmes says having a girlfriend is "not really my area", he considers himself "married to [his] work", and tells Watson, "I am flattered by your interest, [but] I am really not looking for anyone." Steven Moffat said in an interview 'He's happy being Sherlock Holmes... other people might have a problem with him being asexual, he doesn't have any problem with it, he's fine.'[11]
|
See also
External Links
References
- ↑ Withnail & I on Shitespace
- ↑ Hamlet Text and Translation - Act II - Scene II on eNotes
- ↑ Mysterious Skin Script - Dialogue Transcript on Drew's Script-O-Rama
- ↑ Dexter - on AVEN Forums
- ↑ Doctor (Doctor Who) on Wikipedia
- ↑ Huge (TV series) on Wikipedia
- ↑ TV romantic cliches *clenches fist* - on AVEN Forums
- ↑ Shortland Street Asexuality Storyline - playlist on
YouTube
- ↑ Shortland Street on TVNZ
- ↑ The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya - on AVEN Forums
- ↑ Sherlock – Audio interview with Steven Moffat on Geek Syndicate