List of fictional asexual characters
This is a list of fictional characters that either self-identify as asexual or have been identified by outside parties to be asexual. Listed characters may also be aromantic. Not listed are celibate but not asexual characters or non-human characters, such as non-sexual computers or aliens in science-fiction.
For more information about fictional characters in other parts of the LGBTQ community, see the lists of lesbian, bisexual, gay, trans, pansexual, and intersex characters.
The names are organized alphabetically by surname, or by single name if the character does not have a surname. If more than two characters are in one entry, the last name of the first character is used.
Animation and anime
| Characters | Title | Character debut date | Notes | Country |
| Alastor | Hazbin Hotel | In the series pilot, Angel Dust, a gay adult film star, and first guest of the Happy Hotel, engages in sexual advances toward Alastor, who is also known as the Radio Demon. Alastor was confirmed as asexual by series creator Vivienne Medrano and elsewhere as aromantic. | United States | |
| Todd Chavez | BoJack Horseman | In the season 3 finale, "That Went Well," Todd confides in his friend Emily that he doesn't think he is either straight or gay, and in fact "might be nothing". He explores the identity further in season 4 and accepts his asexuality, while meeting others who share his orientation. Todd was the only asexual character GLAAD found on streaming platforms in 2018. | United States | |
| Peridot | Steven Universe | Storyboard artist Maya Petersen stated that Peridot is asexual and aromantic on her Twitter, even though she said her word is not "the ultimate authority" on the matter. This asexual identity was never expressed in the show directly, with fans shipping Peridot with various other characters, specifically Lapis Lazuli and Amethyst, some reviewers even seeing Peridot and Lapis in a "close, loving relationship" in the past. | United States | |
| Owen Burnett / Puck | Gargoyles | Formerly the aid of Xanatos' aide, who is later revealed to be the immortal trickster Puck. When he was Puck, he was bisexual, and while he was Owen he was asexual. | United States | |
| SpongeBob SquarePants | SpongeBob SquarePants | May 1, 1999 | According to an interview with Stephen Hillenburg in 2002, SpongeBob is neither gay or straight but in fact, asexual. This was once again clarified in 2005, because of the controversy on SpongeBob and Patrick's sexual orientation. Hillenburg also instructed that SpongeBob should never have a romantic relationship, since he is asexual and too innocent for it. | United States |
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Film
| Characters | Title / Franchise | Actors | Years | Notes | Country |
| Olivia | The Olivia Experiment | Skye Noel | 2012 | This film revolves around a 27-year-old and grad student who thinks she is asexual, with her asexuality often "questioned and doubted," treated as something temporary. As such, she is encouraged to find a way to "fit into an allosexual narrative" rather than be asexual. | United States |
| Adrian Veidt / Ozymandias | Watchmen | Matthew Goode | 2009 | Matthew Goode has stated that he portrayed the character as being asexual. | United States |
Literature
| Characters | Work | Author | Years | Description |
| Jude the Obscure | Thomas Hardy | 1895 | The character of Sue in Thomas Hardy's novel Jude the Obscure is portrayed as having an active aversion to sex and is considered by some to be an asexual character. | |
| Paksenarrion Dorthansdotter | The Deed of Paksenarrion | Elizabeth Moon | 1992 | The character of Paksenarrion is portrayed as interested in neither sexual or romantic relationships, rejecting men's advances, denying interest in women, and refusing when asked if she would ever marry. She also shows some guilt over another character's unrequited attraction for her. |
| Alfreda Sorensson | Night Calls | Katharine Eliska Kimbriel | 1996–1997, 2014 | Alfreda, the protagonist, is demisexual, with the series starting when she is young, so this is "not apparent yet," according to the author. |
| Kevin | Guardian of the Dead | Karen Healey | 2010 | Although he isn't the protagonist, Kevin is a key part of the book, and he comes out as asexual to his friend, and the book's heroine, Ellie Spencer. This conversation is handled delicately, with Ellie offering support to Kevin when remembering how her sister, a lesbian, has a tough time trying to tell her parents. Unfortunately, as one reviewer puts it, he doesn't explore his asexual identity much after this point. |
| Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano | The Heroes of Olympus | Rick Riordan | 2011 | Reyna was given the prophecy by Aphrodite, "You will not find love where you wish or where you hope. No demigod shall heal your heart." Later, she joins the Hunter's of Artemis, a group of hunters who have sworn off romance and sex. Rick Riordan, the author of The Heroes of Olympus, confirmed her to be asexual on July 3rd, 2020. |
| Emras | Banner of the Damned | Sherwood Smith | 2012 | In this book, there are a variety of sexual orientations, with Emras choosing to be asexual. Despite the problematic element that she can decide her own sexual orientation, she realizes that this "choice" is actually a "way of being." |
| Tori Beaugrand | Quicksilver | R. J. Anderson | 2013 | Tori, an engineer, hacker, and friend, is asexual, an important part of her life, as she mediates on an attempt to have a sexual relationship. Her friend Milo wants their relationship to be sexual but he respects the sexual orientation of Tori. In a post on Livejournal, the author explained how Tori being asexual "adds a layer of complication and delicacy to her relationships with her parents and her best friend," Milo, while explaining some of her choices. |
| Neil Josten | All for the Game series | Nora Sakavic | 2013-2014 | When asked about his sexuality by a teammate, Neil claims that he "doesn't swing" either way. He never shows any sort of attraction to anyone until later in the series, when he begins to develop feelings for a teammate. Even after beginning an intimate relationship with a male teammate, he continues to affirm that he doesn't swing, but rather only has feelings for his partner. The author confirmed that Neil is on the ace spectrum, saying he is most likely demisexual. |
| Clariel | Clariel | Garth Nix | 2014 | In this novel, Clariel, the protagonist, is a "complex but not unsympathetic character," independent, and refuses to be passive, while comfortable with her asexuality, possibly aromantic. The latter comes up early in the book and she "consistently deflects the interest of potential romantic/sexual partners," with her asexuality a part of who she is as a person. |
| Kelly Digger | Part and Parcel | Abigail Roux | 2015 | In a Tumblr Post, Roux described Kelly as a biromantic demisexual and Digger as a "hetero sex positive asexual," saying these identities are important to these characters, herself, and "anyone who desperately needs to be able to relate to those identities." |
| Nevian Larryn Jessana Cal | The White Renegade | Claudie Arseneault | 2015 | While Arseneault noted that some of her novels had asexual vibes, in this high fantasy fiction, there are four asexual characters: Nevian, a demi-heteroromantic "sex-repulsed ace," Larryn, a "panromantic gray asexual," Jessana, a biromantic asexual, and Cal, who is aromantic and asexual. These characters help out the protagonist on his quests. |
| Julian | Deadly Sweet Lies | Erica Cameron | 2015 | Cameron, an asexual author, says that Julian is "100% a confirmed ace character." She was glad to include a scene in the book where he has "a personal epiphany about his asexuality." |
| Supporting character. | The Call | Peadar Ó Guilín | 2016 | This book has an asexual character. |
| Tom | This Song Is Not For You | Laura Nowlin | 2016 | Tom, one of the book's protagonists, is interested in Ramona romantically but not sexually, and he eventually tells her that he is asexual, as he struggles to accept the bounds of his new identity. One reviewer noted that this book is unique because it is rare that there are asexual characters in young adult fiction, if when readers "see romantic relationships handled the way they are here." |
| Rivka | A Harvest of Ripe Figs | Shira Glassman | 2016 | In this book, Rivka, a warrior, is a major aromantic character. |
| Nancy | Every Heart A Doorway | Seanan McGuire | 2016 | The protagonist of this book, Nancy, is asexual, and is, as such, "part of an increasing number of ace leads in fantasy and science fiction in recent years," as one reviewer puts it. At one point, Nancy says "I'm asexual. I don't get those feelings" and she has an asexual crush on her trans classmate, Kade. |
| Henry "Monty" Montague, Felicity Montague, Percy | The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue | Mackenzi Lee | 2017 | Henry Montague is bisexual and has romantic feelings towards Percy, while his sister Felicity is asexual. |
| Sophie | The Holy Company | Laura Bailo | 2017 | The protagonist of this story, Sophie, is a biromantic demisexual as described by the book's author. |
| Felicity Montague | Montague Siblings trilogy | Mackenzi Lee | 2017-2020 | Though the word is never used due to the time period, Felicity's descriptions of her sexuality clearly line up with that associated with asexuality. |
| Tash | 'Tash Hearts Tolstoy' | Kathryn Ormsbee | 2018 | Throughout the process of publishing this book, Ormsbee said she struggles with knowledge of the lack of "ace rep books," with more pressure to provide representation for all those on the asexual spectrum. She added that this book is not for all, noting the vastness and naunce of the asexual experience, with every asexual reader unique, having different reading tastes, and admitted that "Tash’s experience won’t resonate with many." |
| Corey | Before I Let Go | Marieke Nijkamp | 2019 | This book features an asexual protagonist, Corey, whose asexuality is integral to the story, which her editor was ok with. Some have described this book as a gripping "asexual tale of friendship and love." |
| Alice | Let's Talk About Love | Claire Kann | 2019 | Kann noted that Alice was the inspiration, as a fully confident character, but that she did a lot of research to brush away her biases and "write the story that genuinely reflected Alice’s experience since asexuality is a spectrum." In this story, Alice has a rocky summer, with her relations with other complicated, her job at a local library seeming to ground her until she has a crush on a new employee. |
| Frances Aled | Radio Silence | Alice Oseman | 2019 | Oseman said she added asexual characters into this book because of the "absolute scarcity of asexual representation," and made clear that asexuality is real, as Frances and Aled are united together not by love but through making a podcast together. |
| Wilbourn Lisa | Parahumans | John C. "Wildbow" McCrae | 2011 | An asexual aromantic character who comes to terms with herself after blaming it on her powers. Is a major character in both Parahuman works. |
| Georgia Warr | Loveless | Alice Oseman | 2020 | Georgia is the main character of "Loveless", coming to terms with her sexuality during the events of the book, realising that she is an aromantic asexual. |
Live-action television
| Characters | Title | Network | Years | Notes |
| Emmerdale | ITV | 1972–Present | Liv has no attraction to men or women, the first time as Liv's actress described it in 2018, that there has been an "asexuality storyline" in a soap opera. | |
| Shortland Street | TVNZ 2 | 1992–Present | Introduced in 2007, Vox identified Gerald as the first "sincere" asexual character on television. Gerald's sexuality was discovered and explored over the course of several episodes. | |
| Mike Smash | Harry Enfield's Television Programme | BBC One | 1994-1998 | His asexuality was stated in a later TV Special titled Smashie's Xmastastic Playlist. |
| Sebastian, the Asexual Icon | The Late Late Show | CBS | 1995–Present | Though he was possibly the first depiction of an asexual character on television in 2003, the writers of Sebastian were likely unaware of the existence of asexuality. |
| Asexual couple | House | FOX | 2004-2012 | In the "Better Half" episode, Dr. Wilson meets an asexual couple, but it is later revealed that the wife of the couple was faking asexuality for the "sake of her husband." The founder of the Asexual Visibility and Education Network, David Jay, criticized the representation, calling it "disturbing but not unexpected," while others, in a petition to FOX executives, wrote that the episode encourages viewers to see asexuality skeptically, rather than accept it, "to probe asexual people for causes of our 'condition' rather than to accept us as a part of the natural spectrum of human sexual diversity." |
| Poppy | Huge | ABC Family | 2010 | She is an ever-cheerful, fairy-like counselor, often very supportive and protective of both the girls she watches over, and she is asexual. She was once overweight and attended Camp Victory herself. |
| Varys | Game of Thrones | HBO | 2011-2019 | Lord Varys is a eunuch, but he states his asexuality predated his castration. Other eunuchs in the series are sexually active. |
| Sirens | USA Network | 2014-2015 | This series introduced Valentina, an asexual main character, and was the "focus of a major storyline" where she has a strong bond with Brian, who is not "asexual but is hopelessly in love with Val." Additionally, even as Brian says Val is his girlfriend, she doesn't accept this officially, and the show was "willing to live in a gray area instead of forcing Val to change." As such, Voodoo's asexuality is treated as a "joke or as an obstacle." | |
| Brad | Faking It | MTV | 2014-2016 | A recurring background character, Brad only briefly exclaims his asexuality in an episode about labels. |
| Shadowhunters | Freeform | 2016-2019 | Raphael came out as asexual in the last episode of Shadowhunters season 2. | |
| Kerry Mucklowe | This Country | BBC News | 2017-2020 | In the Comedy Relief sketch for Red Nose Day 2019, Kurtan described that she isn't interested in dating and is like "an asexual Smurf." |
| Adrian Veidt / Ozymandias | Watchmen | HBO | 2019 | Series showrunner Damon Lindelof has stated that he sees the character as being asexual. |
| Daryl Dixon | The Walking Dead | AMC | 2019–Present | Robert Kirkman has stated that Daryl is "somewhat asexual," and possibly even aromantic. Elsewhere, he has also stated that Daryl is heterosexual, although Daryl's actor, Norman Reedus, has stated that he reads the character as asexual. |
| Percival King/Percy | Epithet Erased | VRV | 2019–Present | She has a strict moral code as a police officer and values order and safety. The creator of the show, Brendan Blaber, confirmed that she is asexual and may also be aromantic, while noting that Zora is canonically bisexual. He also said that while Percy is female and asexual, it was his "intention to leave everything beyond that point up to the viewer," adding that headcannons of fans that she is trans, non-binary, autistic, or anything else, is valid. |
| Florence | Sex Education | Netflix | 2019–Present | Florence is asexual. In the show's fourth episode, she is asked to play Juliet in a play, with Jean explaining to her what asexuality is, describing it as when "someone has no sexual attraction to any sex or gender," but that it is not the be-all, end-all of relationships. |
Podcast
| Characters | Title | Years | Notes |
| Bear | ' | 2016-Present | Asexual |
| Judas Blackthorne | ' | 2016-Present | Asexual |
| Enzo Ford | ' | 2016-Present | Asexual and heteroromantic |
| Dr. Sally Grissom | ' | 2011-2019 | Grissom, the show's main character, uses the terms asexual and ace to describe herself.. |
| Leo Moretti | ' | 2016-Present | Asexual |
| Jet Sikuliaq | ' | 2016-Present | Asexual and aromantic |
| Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Magnus Archives | 2016-Present | Jonathan Sims noted that the character he voices, Jon, head archivist of the Mangus Institute, is an asexual character, although he says that Jon wouldn't actively identify as asexual. Jon has also been identified as biromantic. |
| Sir Talfryn | 2016-Present | Main character in the Second Citadel storyline, asexual and aromantic. | |
| Chloe Turner | The Bright Sessions | 2015-2018 | Chloe, one of the show's main characters is a panromantic asexual. |
| Sir Fitzroy Maplecourt | The Adventure Zone: Graduation | 2019-Present | Fitzroy is portrayed by Griffin McElroy, who said in a Q&A episode that he thinks of Fitzroy as asexual. |
Video games
| Characters | Series / Title | Year | Notes | Developer |
| Parvati Holcomb | The Outer Worlds | 2019 | Companion character who expresses professional and later romantic interest in the Chief engineer of the Colony Ship "Ground Breaker", Junlei, and is an asexual homoromantic. Narrative designer Kate Dollarhyde, an asexual woman who is also bisexual, was excited they were inheriting this character, saying she was glad to "bring that personal experience to the audience," making her character different from other compansions. | Obsidian Entertainment |
| Maya | Borderlands 2/Borderlands | 2019 | A female playable asexual character who can push enemies into another dimension as part of her fighting skills. Some identified with the character, and others called her "extremely refreshing," saying her character accurately describes what it means to be asexual and "the challenges it creates in relationships." | Gearbox Software |
Webcomics, comics, and graphic novels
| Characters | Title | Years | Notes | Country |
| Alix | Sex Criminals | 2013–Present | Alix is an asexual character introduced in issue #13. The story covers her experiences as a teenager feeling pressured to have sex, and how she feels alien without coming across as broken. While other characters in the story are able to freeze time when they orgasm, Alix freezes time through the adrenaline rush of BASE jumping. | United States |
| Clariel | Clariel | 2014 | The protagonist "stands out for her assured asexuality" as she doesn't see the appeal of sex, wanting to live alone in the woods as a forest ranger. But at her current age her parents try to push her to marry a man who is the son of "an unpleasant political ally." | United States |
| Diane | Lumberjanes | 2014–Present | In issue #68, when Hes confesses her love for Diane, Diane says: "...I like you too. But I don't have any interest in kissing or junk like that" and has never had interest in kissing anyone. On the following page, she still says she has romantic feelings toward Hes, but not sexual ones. | United States |
| Dionysus | The Wicked + The Divine | 2014–2019 | Dionysus is confirmed as asexual in issue 26 of the comic series. | United States |
| Jughead Jones | Archie | 1942–Present | In Jughead #4 in 2016, a comic by Chip Zdarsky and Erica Henderson, Jughead was established as an asexual character, with Zdarsky saying at the 2015 New York Comic Con that historically Jughead "has been portrayed as asexual. They just didn’t have a label for it, so they just called him a woman-hater," even though he isn't a misogynist. Zdarsky added that "asexuality is underrepresented," noting that since he is already asexual, he would "continue to write him that way," and said it is more interesting than "writing him as just being behind everyone developmentally." | United States |
| Bo | Acception | 2015-present | This ongoing Dutch teen dramedy romance webcomic by Coco “Colourbee” Ouwerkerk, who was inspired by "manga genres such as shojo and shounen," focuses on a rainbow-haired male protagonist named Arcus McCarthy, a high school student who faces some hostility for his appearance. The comic also features various LGBT characters. This includes Luna Lion, a trans woman who is introduced in the 23rd comic, who is transitioning, and Casper, a gay guy, both of whom have crushes on Arcus. The comic also features Bo, an asexual woman, introduced in the 78th comic, along with gay, trans male, lesbian, bisexual, characters in other comics. | United States |
| Raphael Santiago | The Shadowhunter Chronicles | 2007–Present | In The Red Scrolls of Magic, a fey woman asks Raphael about his sexuality. He responds and says his sexuality is "not interested." Author Cassandra Clare confirmed his asexuality, but has rarely spoken about the subject. | United States |
| Nadia van Dyne | The Unstoppable Wasp | 2016–Present | In the second issue of The Unstoppable Wasp, by Jeremy Whitley and Elsa Charretier, Nadia expresses no interest in "making out behind a bleacher". In the same issue, Edwin Jarvis asks if she's interested in "teenager stuff", such as kissing boys. She replies with "Ewwww", expressing disgust, and says she'll let Jarvis know when she starts "being more interested in kissing someone than quantum physics". In 2020, writer Sam Maggs, the author of the novel "The Unstoppable Wasp: Built On Hope", confirmed during the YALLWEST Book Festival that Nadia van Dyne is in the asexual spectrum. A few weeks after Maggs' statement, Whitley confirmed he indeed wrote Nadia as asexual in the comics, but it never got to be discussed on-panel because the series got cut short, and he's "glad Sam is getting a chance to discuss it". Both authors talked about it before Maggs wrote the book. | United States |
Background
Representation for asexual people in fiction has always been mixed, with strong prejudice against asexuals and asexual erasure. There have been cases where writers have made characters in their fictional works asexual when the writers aren't asexual themselves, and a lack of representation. The latter is connected with the issue that many characters are "suspected to be asexual," but are not explicitly stated as asexual. In recent years, more characters have appeared in TV and films, but is often portrayed as a fixable problem, as tropes for asexual and aromantic people are common. Furthermore, asexual characters are often secondary and are not protagonists. One writer, Lauren Jankowski, for Bitch described the state of representation in a 2015 article, writing that:
Not welcoming asexuals to participate in shaping the portrayals of asexuality in mainstream media has resulted in grossly inaccurate and damaging depictions of this orientation. Most allosexual people can name a fictional character who can be interpreted as asexual, but very few can name a single real-life asexual writer, director, actor, or other artist. The beautiful art and contributions asexual-identifying people make to society will continue to be suppressed as long as these negative portrayals and beliefs continue to go unchallenged...In the meantime, here's to hoping we see an asexual character soon whose orientation is treated as normal—not a problem to fix.
This lack of representation was also reflected in a 2017 list by Book Riot which included only four books with asexual characters, along with eight books highlighted by Tor and Bustle. The same year, GLAAD started counting, for the first time, non-binary and asexual characters, noting that in the past, characters of these identities were "often relegated to one-off episodes, which did not allow for nuanced exploration." In the same report, they noted that while Jughead is asexual in the Archie comics, the series by The CW is not making him asexual, adding that "the ace community remains nearly invisible in media." They pointed to Raphael Santiago in Shadowhunters as the "only asexual character...on all of cable television" and Todd Chavez in BoJack Horseman, describing him as "the only asexual character on streaming originals," adding that he is the first GLAAD counted since they began counting streaming services in 2014.
In 2018 Vox reported that asexual characters in popular media has a large impact on the asexual community, and described the history of asexual representation as "short and shallow." The same year GLAAD found one asexual character, Todd on BoJack Horseman, on American cable television and streaming platforms. This fact was reflected in GLAAD's reports in 2018 and 2019. In the first of these reports said that Todd and Raphael had remained, while "no additional asexual characters have been added" and that there are "still no ace characters on broadcast." This report also described Todd as "the only asexual character on streaming services," adding that as Raphael is on the way out as the series ends, they hoped to "see other series step in to fill the void." The second report noted that Todd remained the only asexual character on broadcast and streaming services, with no additional asexual characters.