Tropedia

  • Before making a single edit, Tropedia EXPECTS our site policy and manual of style to be followed. Failure to do so may result in deletion of contributions and blocks of users who refuse to learn to do so. Our policies can be reviewed here.
  • All images MUST now have proper attribution, those who neglect to assign at least the "fair use" licensing to an image may have it deleted. All new pages should use the preloadable templates feature on the edit page to add the appropriate basic page markup. Pages that don't do this will be subject to deletion, with or without explanation.
  • All new trope pages will be made with the "Trope Workshop" found on the "Troper Tools" menu and worked on until they have at least three examples. The Trope workshop specific templates can then be removed and it will be regarded as a regular trope page after being moved to the Main namespace. THIS SHOULD BE WORKING NOW, REPORT ANY ISSUES TO Janna2000, SelfCloak or RRabbit42. DON'T MAKE PAGES MANUALLY UNLESS A TEMPLATE IS BROKEN, AND REPORT IT THAT IS THE CASE. PAGES WILL BE DELETED OTHERWISE IF THEY ARE MISSING BASIC MARKUP.

READ MORE

Tropedia
Register
Advertisement
WikEd fancyquotesQuotesBug-silkHeadscratchersIcons-mini-icon extensionPlaying WithUseful NotesMagnifierAnalysisPhoto linkImage LinksHaiku-wide-iconHaikuLaconic
Ambigusly gay
Cquote1
"They're extremely close in an ambiguous way!"
"The Ambiguously Gay Duo" Theme Song from Series/Saturday Night Live
Cquote2
Cquote1
"Possibly homosexual? Must remember to investigate further."
Rorschach on Adrian Veidt, Watchmen
Cquote2


A character may have no apparent interest in the opposite sex. They may live in a single-bedroom apartment with one of their "roommates". If the character is male, he may lisp more than someone missing two front teeth, have a limp wrist and an interest in fashion and musicals. He may be unusually fastidious in dress and grooming. He may even profess a great knowledge of modern dance. Conversely, a female character will have a deep voice and an aggressive manner, dress in "unfeminine" clothes and play rough sports.

But nobody will ever come out and discuss the character's sexuality.

Yes, the character is Ambiguously Gay—they display many stereotypes associated with gays, but the "g" and "l" words are avoided entirely. Characters such as this are usually played entirely for laughs, with "hints" regarding their sexuality being portrayed as jokes in and of themselves. Often the victim of numerous instances of The Un-Reveal.

If the character is revealed, against all odds, to be one hundred percent straight, then a male of this type is typically referred to as metrosexual. These characters are often played for laughs, usually only for a single episode as a Running Gag, but they can also be full-fledged recurring cast members as well. Lately, it has become somewhat popular to make the Ambiguous Gay a child or teenager, waving away the character's questionable sexuality as them still trying to figure it out — yet still playing their mannerisms for laughs.

Because of less restrictive rules of media and acceptance of homosexuality becoming more common, modern media (unless it's aimed at children) will be more likely to open the sexuality of their characters, making it a Discredited Trope. Don't expect this type of character to ever be the hero of a children's production, though you'll notice plenty of villains—and sometimes sidekicks—who wear their ambiguous sexuality on their sleeves.

Compare Hide Your Lesbians, where the characters may not act in a stereotypical manner, but their relationships are never outright stated or displayed (except maybe by Word of Gay). The writers in charge of works focused on Heterosexual Life Partners may play around with this. Ambiguously Bi is related, but occurs when a character displays interest in both sexes. Also compare/contrast with Camp Straight, Mistaken for Gay, Transparent Closet, and some types of Have I Mentioned I Am Heterosexual Today?, in which the character's dubious sexuality is much more openly questioned. Also compare Real Men Wear Pink, where a character is very manly despite having one or two girly interests. Compare Have You Tried Not Being a Monster? for when gay innuendo is used to define something supernatural, such as vampires or mutants. Contrast with Flying Under the Gaydar and Straight Gay. Asexuals of all romantic orientations, with their general lack of interest, often fall victim to it (and all its contingent repercussions). This trope is not synonymous with Ho Yay; nor does the character ever need to be declared gay by the work's creator or creators to fit the definition.

Because there's no author to drop hints, No Real Life Examples, Please

Examples of Ambiguously Gay include:


Advertising[]

  • Budweiser: Ran one of their happy, feel-good ads where the first person that a male soldier calls to tell he's coming home is another guy who he also embraces first at his coming home party, even before his own parents.
  • The Happy Chop: This could count, if it qualifies as ambiguous: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55VWTVSNyLk; "if you like small fruit...or even a big one!" and "can I say hard cheese on television?", lol. Why not just call it the Gay Slap?


Anime & Manga[]

  • In Angel Beats, Hinata often tells Otonashi he likes him (it's used as a joke, probably). Later, he tells Yui he likes her and would marry her if they met when they were still alive.
  • Kazuki from GetBackers. He was raised to be like a woman, he looks like a woman, he has long flowing hair, he is always surrounded by men, and Ban jokes about him and Juubei being like a married couple. He did show interest in one girl, but she looks like a boy and is actually a computerized being. He has never said a word about marrying and having children, even though he's the heir to the Fuuchouin clan and all its associated combat arts.
  • Everyone in Gankutsuou. Everyone.
    • Except Eugenie Danglars who is unambiguously straight. Extremely ironic, considering that she is as unambiguously lesbian in the original novel as 19th century literature could hint.
  • Pokémon:
    • Harley. (Or perhaps Getting Crap Past the Radar.)
    • Cilan.
    • Tucker.
      • Though despite the way he dresses, he has a very deep, masculine voice, but still manages to be flamboyant.
    • Burgh. He's a fashion designer who wears tight pants and a scarf.
    • Zoey is usually claimed to be this, for her short hair and habit of dressing almost exclusively in boyish pantsuits for contests.
    • James is often the subject of discussion as to whether he's Camp Gay (often crossdresses, campy mannerisms and obsession with his looks) or Camp Straight (transvestites are usually hetero, straight Bishonen often have campy mannerisms, and he's had several crushes on girls including (very briefly) the psychopathic Jessie-lookalike Jessebelle). The dub dialogue usually exaggerates the former while also adding a few confusing signposts in the other direction; given this is Pokémon, it's unlikely the question will ever get a straight (heh) answer.
    • Bugsy in Pokémon Golden Boys. He's a young pseudo-Bishonen, even more so than in the games. He's constantly blushing and acting sweet around Gold. You may think this is just his personality, but he acts differently around other people.
    • Erika comes off as a Lipstick Lesbian to people. Her gym is all-female, and she doesn't seem to like having men in it — but makes an "exception" for the Red for the games, a few boys in Pokespe, Satoshi plus Ash and Brock. Her gym badge just happens to be rainbow themed too, and she's a bit touchy feely around Misty in Pokémon Special.
    • Pokemon themselves are no exception to this. Meowth from the anime has a Foe Yay driven relationship with Pikachu (it changed to straight Ho Yay once), has had homoerotic fantasy spots about Giovanni, and has fallen for James on one occasion (due to mood-altering Shuckle juice). Ash's Oshawott has the same sort of adoration towards Ash as Chikorita, Aipom, and Gliscor had; the former two of them are confirmed to be female and in love with Ash at one point.
  • Try every single major male lead in Death Note is either this or amiguously Asexual.
    • Light makes it very clear that he is not attracted to women, as well as thinking them useless and annoying. A very blatant example of this is ignoring the sexy girl in lingerie to use the computer behind her. He has massive amounts of Foe Yay with L, such as being chained to him for 50 days and the infamous foot massage scene.
    • L
    • Near takes all the Foe Yay Light had with L to a creepy, rape-y, one sided extreme. He calls Light a lot and then hangs up without talking, pulls... odd faces when thinking of Light and in the manga its revealed that Near didn't entirely want to kill Light, he wanted to keep him.
    • Mello
  • Daley Wong and Linna Yamazaki from Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040 share both similar backgrounds and extremely ambiguous sexuality, though nothing is ever admitted outright. Linna's reaction to the resident biker chick and bad girl getting a boyfriend is telling enough however, as is the fact that she spends the next couple of episodes moping about it. Poor Linna...
    • In the original Bubblegum Crisis, Daley is openly gay, and would occasionally hit on his partner Leon McNichol in order to tease him.
Cquote1

 Daley: You're too tense, Leon. We could get a hotel room together.

Leon: (dismissive) Yeah, sure, Daley, just you and me.

Cquote2
  • Koizumi Itsuki from Suzumiya Haruhi seems to like invading the main male character's personal space a little too much in the Anime, and in the novels especially he makes it quite clear that he trusts and likes Kyon. He claims to act the way he does because Haruhi expects it and would make it real if he didn't, which would be a plausible explanation if he actually did do so while Haruhi is watching. Also, in the 4th novel his alternate universe self admits to having a crush on Haruhi, but this isn't brought up in the main storyline — although many of his actions and words towards Haruhi, especially his constant claiming of being "the expert of her heart" imply some secret affection for her. Whatever the case may be, Itsuki's bond with Kyon could be seen as a fumbled attempt at a bromance or an actual romance slowly developing.
    • It's even more blatant in Haruhi-chan.
  • Pegasus from Yu-Gi-Oh!! (and not just the Abridged Series or the English dub). This one may have been a bit too obvious, and especially weird because Pegasus is one of the most blatant examples on this page...and also quite clearly established as straight.
    • Once the side characters find out that Pegasus had a wife, he knocks them out with the words "I can't have people thinking I'm straight." in the Abridged Series. Of course, the Abridged Series has enough throwaway jokes to confuse the issue with everyone... except Tea.
    • Bonus Points go to Bakura, whose own personalities can't agree on the issue.
Cquote1

 Bakura: I'm not gay, I'm just British!

Yami Bakura: I'm not British, I'm just gay.

Cquote2
  • Yumichika from Bleach, one of the most metrosexual characters in the entire manga. He's never shown any signs of being attracted to men (not even to Ikkaku) and the only person he's ever openly referred to as beautiful in Canon was Orihime (a girl).
    • Soi Fon is a small, highly aggressive captain who is obsessed with her former captain, Yoruichi. She was indoctrinated by her family from an early age to worship Yoruichi as a goddess so suffers from a chronic case of hero-worship where Yoruichi is concerned. Muddying the waters, however, are both manga omakes and Anime Filler engaging in blatant Ship Tease.
    • Amongst the hollows, there is actor-wannabe, pink-haired, flamboyant Szayel Aporro Granz who becomes even more bishonen when he releases his sword, named Fornicarás (kanji: 'evil promiscuous queen/princess', Spanish: 'you will fornicate'), which he's also willing to deep-throat. His fights are accompanied by lewd, disturbing comments regarding the sexiness of his opponents and whether or not they're his type and when his clothes are damaged, he will stop fighting to get changed before continuing. He'll even use his cloning attack to give his opponents fashion make-overs.
    • Charlotte Cuuhlhourne, who is incredibly proud of his beauty, believes he's the most fabulous thing alive and will fight anyone who disagrees. Yumichika disagreed.
    • Tatsuki: Although she beats up Chizuru for hitting on Orihime, she's very much a Tomboy, has a very close relationship with Orihime, and in chapter 412 she thinks about how beautiful Rangiku is and thinks "Damn that Ichigo, I never heard anything about him knowing a babe like that." However, this could or could not simply be jealousy, hinting a secret attraction to Ichigo.
  • General Blue in early parts of Dragon Ball; he is known to find women disgusting. Bulma and Krillin come right out and call him gay but he strenuously denies it.
    • Barely an episode before he gets a bridge dropped on him, he's revealed to be Shotacon.
    • The next series, Dragonball Z, has Zarbon, who has an extremely feminine face, keeps his hair in a long, loose braid, and wears lots of jewelry, not to mention shiny black thigh-high boots. He's also apparently rather obsessed with his appearance. Sexuality is never touched on. Frieza is questionable as well, having extremely feminine mannerisms in the Japanese and an old-lady voice in the dub(though changed as of Dragon Ball Kai) — but given that the only 3 members of his species we see are identified as male, it's more likely that his species is asexual.
      • Absolutely averted in The Abridged Series where Zarbon reveals he has a girlfriend, much to the utter amazement of other characters and regards Vegeta's questioning of whether or not Zarbon did anything to him while the former was unconscious as an admission of being gay from Vegeta.
  • From Code Geass, Lloyd Asplund is certainly mechasexual and Prince Schneizel is more ambiguous. His Bishounen advisor Kanon lampshades both in R2 09. He likes talking about love for a war advisor, apparently.
    • Not to mention Kanon himself, who is quite pretty and expresses more concern for Schneizel than an advisor should for a boss. Side materials state that he's a crossdresser who had a hard time getting a job until Schneizel hired him for his talents and didn't mind his peculiar tastes.
    • To an extent, Milly.
    • Lelouch himself could be seen to fall under this: he's a Bishonen verging on Dude Looks Like a Lady known for his memetically FABULOUS mannerisms and hamminess, is very fastidious in his clothing, cooking and cleaning, has a huge Unwanted Harem whom he mostly barely notices (and even when he does notice, he barely reacts) and the only girls he does openly admit affection towards are his sisters. Add in all the Ho Yay, the cross-dressing and Mistaken for Gay moments in the side materials...
    • And Rolo in the Anime. While he states that he sees Lelouch as a brother, there's some scenes where it seems more like he's in love with him. This is to the point where many fans saw his murdering Lelouch's girlfriend Shirley and his intended murdering of Nunnally, Lelouch's sister, as a case of Murder the Hypotenuse.
  • Jakotsu in Inuyasha, who hits on pretty much every male character he comes into contact with (except Bankotsu, and has an unwanted attraction to Inuyasha, to the point where, in his sadistic version of love, tries to torture him to death because of it.
    • Also arguable that Sesshomaru falls into this category. He shows no interest in any woman bar Kagura and his appearance is very effeminate.
      • Sesshomaru's follower, Jaken, could also fall into this category, as it is revealed that the reason he started following Sesshomaru around in the first place is that he thought ol' Fluffy was beautiful (and states it) and followed him, despite being ignored for several DAYS.
  • Ayame Sohma from Fruits Basket. Long, feminine hair; feminine clothing; has been seen wearing an actual dress. He acts rather romantic and melodramatic, and his voice (at least in the dub) is... well... stereotypically gay. He and Shigure hit on each other with alarming regularity. And yet, after all this, he's a totally straight pervert who is revealed to be dating his (female) shop assistant, Mine. Even Ayame's American voice actor basically said in the most polite way he could that he didn't want to portray Ayame as a Camp Gay stereotype because he didn't want to be offensive. There's also that one scene where Kyou wakes up to find Ayame sleeping next to him in bed. He goes into a shocked state and Ayame mumbles "I'm still sleepy", grabs Kyou and tries to cuddle with him. We then see him covered in bandages from after Kyou beat the crap out of him and Ayame states he snuck into Kyou's room because Yuki had locked him out of his room when Ayame tried to sneak in.
  • Eyeshield 21: Hiromi Kisaragi, whose obsession with power makes him see buff men as Bishonen. And yet, as strong as the implications are, Kisaragi isn't gay... he's just only attracted to women who fit his "strength is beautiful" aesthetic.
  • Ryu and Ken from Street Fighter II V. Swimming in a pool naked together, pulling each other's underwear and Ryu riding the back of Ken's motorcycle in a girly manner are just some of the examples of this.
    • Just to hammer the point home, there is a video that set such clips to the theme from the Ambiguously Gay Duo. With Duo Maxwell as the narrator for Bonus Points.
    • This doesn't apply to the games, where Ken is married to Eliza and has a son, and Ryu is completely stoic about everything.
  • In Axis Powers Hetalia, Poland could be the poster child for this Trope. The only thing stopping him from being Camp Gay is the fact that his sexuality is never stated or touched upon.
    • Though he could have meant is as a joke or to be insulting the first thing he asked Lithuania upon meeting him was to show him his penis.
    • Also, Italy could possibly fit the Trope as well. He has a high, girly voice (said voice being by the same seiyuu as the below-mentioned Fai and sounding quite similar) and a tendency to sleep naked with his male "friend" Germany. Not to mention he wore a dress growing up and was often mistaken for a girl. Granted, he does like pretty women.
      • Then there's the fact that when Italy was younger (Chibitalia) he had a romance going on with the Holy Roman Empire another male.
    • This Trope arguably applies to most of the series' cast, since most of them show at least bisexual tendencies but none of them ever actually states their sexuality (except France and maybe Sweden).
    • England has had a lot of Ho Yay with America, and he has never shown interest in women.
  • Creed from Black Cat is never explicitly stated outright to be gay. However, pretty much every single character in the series notices his romantic obsession with Train (other than Train himself). He dresses in very flamboyant, feathery clothing, and is constantly seen with roses (he has a freakin' bath filled with them!). He also seems rather resentful and angry at most of the females in the series.
  • In Air Gear guys who ride on the flame road have a tendency for this. Kazu and Spit Fire are ambigous,Aeon however is not.
  • Even when CLAMP's Everyone Is Bi policy is taken into account, Fai from Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle still deserves an honorable mention.
  • Graham Spectre from Baccano! tends to come off like this. First, there's his utterly massive man-crush on Ladd Russo. Then there's his complete disregard for the personal space for pretty much every male he comes in contact with. And then there's that thing he seems to have for Jacuzzi ("Should I let this woman go in deference to you locking up my heart?") which peaks when he waltzes up to Jacuzzi entirely unprovoked and declares, "I like you", while cocking his head as if he were about to kiss him before telling him he has free access to his warehouse and wandering off. But he also expresses some interest in Chane, and claims that he likes older woman. Of course, he's a total nut, so who knows.
  • Touko, from Kara no Kyoukai, blatantly flirts with Shiki, calling her 'a cute young lady along her line of fancy' the first time they meet.
    • Then, some argue that there's nothing ambiguous about Touko wanting to get in Shiki's yukata...
  • Escargon from the Kirby anime. In the English dub, he was voiced with an impression of famous Transparent Closet actor Paul Lynde.
    • It's pretty clear by episode 55 that he's in love with Dedede. He even uses "aishiteru" in his song at the beginning of the episode, and it's known that "aishiteru" is a stronger way of telling someone you love them. He even gets all flustered when he finds out Dedede heard the entire song.
  • Yuda/Juda from Hokuto no Ken, who wears makeup and frequently parades around in his underpants and talks about how beautiful he is. He's straight, though, and has a harem full of women, even if he does make some questionable comments about how beautiful Rei is.
  • Major Alex Louis Armstrong from Fullmetal Alchemist. He's never seen with any women, but this isn't a romance-heavy series, so that's not a strong indication. That said, a lot of his character traits—strong emotions and a preoccupation with bodybuilding and male beauty—fit a lot of Japanese stereotypes about gay men.
    • Sig Curtis might be bisexual. He loves his wife, no question about it, but his "flex-off" with Major Armstrong which ends with the two of them holding hands and sparkling makes ya wonder.
    • Garfiel from the manga/Brotherhood Anime, the only reason why he isn't officially acknowledged as homo/bisexual is because the series doesn't state that directly.
  • D.Gray-man has Kanda, who has an easy-to-provoke personality, a Bishonen design, takes a lot of care of his long hair, and has an apparent lack of interest in any romance. Ironically, in recent chapters it seems almost certain that he isn't gay after all.
  • More or less Rika and Satoko from Higurashi no Naku Koro ni. Yes they're both approximately nine years old. But, their behavior, especially Rika's, is a bit suspicious. Especially in the sound novels and manga.
    • Rena and Shion are ambiguously bi. Rena takes home anyone regardless of their gender, age, or species. Shion has a considerable amount of Incest Subtext with her twin sister, despite having a Canon male love interest.
    • Umineko no Naku Koro ni has a bit of a more obvious example in Ronove, a Battle Butler with No Sense of Personal Space (especially around Battler, who is his main Ho Yay target) who get some spends a lot of his free time baking cookies. In the fourth arc, he gets punched in the face, and his nosebleed turns into rose petals, of all things.
    • Going into huge (Visual Novel only) spoiler territory with Umineko, but what's up with Jessica and Kanon? Did she seriously not notice she was in love with her best friend, who is usually female? For that matter, since Yasu's gender is so ambiguous, it's hard to tell which relationships in the series are straight and which are gay.
  • Kaworu Nagisa and Shinji Ikari from Neon Genesis Evangelion. Kaworu's behavior towards Shinji and their interactions have been hotly debated since the show aired. A homosexual subtext clearly exists, and is carried through to both Alternate Continuity works and some official artwork, but it's never made clear whether this is all there is or if more layers exist. Shinji, being so starved for affection, might see Kaworu as a parental figure or some other source of familial intimacy. On the other side, there's the possibility that familial and sexual affection may not be mutually exclusive for Shinji due to his desperation and traumatic upbringing. There are also arguments that Kaworu is just a Fish Out of Water and does not realize that he's making suggestive comments, or that human sexuality is completely irrelevant to him since he's an Angel. Shinji is also shown to be attracted to both Rei and Asuka, and has Unresolved Sexual Tension with his guardian, Misato.
    • In Rebuild 1.0, Kaworu awakens on the moon to promptly say "I'm looking forward to knowing you, Shinji Ikari." As Lampshaded with many lulz by a fansubbing group, the Japanese word used can mean "to know in the biblical sense." And right after that he says he's gonna make Shinji "happy" this time...
    • Maya also seems to be romantically attracted to Ritsuko, but it is almost certainly one-sided as Ritsuko is instead obsessed with Gendo. In Rebuild of Evangelion, one of Maya's only lines is "I can't stand young men", which is so vague it borders Ambiguously Bi territory.
  • The manga mostly averts this, however, at least from Shinji's side; as he's creeped out by Kaworu's tendency to evade his personal space and tries to stay away from him as much as he can. In vol. 10, Kaworu uses a kiss to stop Shinji from hyperventilating during a nightmare, and makes advances toward Shinji which he flatly refuses. He later leaves Kaworu's apartment with very little in the way of a good-bye, which upsets Kaworu, although after Kaworu's death, he admits to Misato that he was attracted to Kaworu, even though he knew he shouldn't like a boy like that. However, Sadamoto, the author of the manga, he modelled their relationship on a younger middle school student, trying to impress an older, high-school one, "not romance", with Shinji closing himself off to people because of his guilt after killing one of his friends.
  • Iggy, robot sidekick to Action Girl Re-L Mayer in Ergo Proxy, spends a substantial amount of time gossiping and trying to get Re-L to go shopping. Not to mention this was the intention of both the original filmmakers and the company in charge of the dub.
  • In One Piece, Mr. 2 Bon Clay is about as ambiguous as they come. To the point where it's his catchphrase.
    • Also, Kalifa is ambiguously lesbian.
  • Kyoya from Ouran High School Host Club. Tamaki could qualify too, to an extent. They give backrubs and call each other "mommy" and "daddy".
      • When Tamaki calls the rest of the host club (other than Haruhi) the homosexual supporting cast, Kyoya is annoyed. However, he's only annoyed by the 'supporting' line, he doesn't seem to care that he was called a homosexual.
    • Also the relationship between Mori-senpai and Honey-senpai seems rather suspicious.
    • Oh come on! THE FREAKING TWINS, MAN.
      • Karou really only fits this trope though due to him taking his brother first before his probably crush on Haruhi.
      • That and in one episode it was flat out stated that the romance hints were an act to draw in customers for the Host Club.
    • Karou comes across as more of this trope than Hikaru due to being more attached to his brother than Hikaru is to him, and at the end of the manga there is a suggestion that he and fellow-ambiguously-gay-host Kyoya have a very ho yay tastic moment while Kyoya gets changed. This has led some fans to the conclusion that they will get together in the end.
  • Schrodinger, from Hellsing. The flouncy, feminine Cat Boy evades this list no longer.
  • Hunter X Hunter has Neferpitou, a male cat-humanoid chimera ant with a very feminine appearance and mannerisms.
  • Naruto: Zabuza and Haku. And according to most of the Fandom, Orochimaru. To memetic status. Some jokes about Sasuke and Naruto lean this way as well. It's also considered a meme within the fandom to call Naruto and especially Sasuke gay. There's also Sai, what with his Bishonen appearance, midriff bearing top, Ho Yay with Naruto, and tendency towards penis jokes. Many fans have said that Sai is gay. And Suigetsu to an extent, possibly due to the scene where he threatens Sasuke from behind while naked.
  • Yuujirou from Princess Princess.
  • Rolan from MAR.
  • Nyan Koi: Junpei's friend Haruhiko, at least in his mannerisms. He's been known to buy eroge manga and was the one to start peeping on the girls during a Furo Scene. However, he was all-too-willing to wear the maid outfit during the school festival...
  • Nanase from Honey Hunt is more than a little of this with his feminine looks, long hair always in a ponytail, skill at housekeeping and cooking meals, and pretty much acting like a nagging wife to his friend Mizorogi. At the same time he is also studying to be a make-up artist and hair stylist at a technical school. This is confirmed to be true in Chapter 21 where he outright admits to Yura that he's gay and in love with Mizorogi.
  • Father Jelice Bryah of Hatenkou Yuugi. Lampshaded by Rahzel "I don't recall coming out of some queer's stomach." (She said that because he was trying to be her father, but given the Baka of a dad she has, he is definitely a huge improvement.)
  • Kai (Kaisuke in the manga) from Akira is short, slim, well-dressed, girlishly faced, and can knock a guy through a window. Being relatively sensitive and implied to have a crush on Kaneda in the manga (he joyfully glomps him when he finds out he's alive) and Yamagata in the anime, he's often percieved as a young homosexual.
  • Kurotobi of Amatsuki. He constantly hits on Toki, calls him cute and touches him a lot.
  • Peacemaker Kurogane: Most of the characters are pretty strongly implied to be gay or bisexual. Heisuke makes more than a few references to men and boys he finds attractive or may or may not have slept with. Saitou, while he may or may not actually be interested in men (who knows with him?), is willing enough to pretend to be for information. And general dynamics of Ho Yay between various cast members aside, there are always Hijikata and Okita, who always seem just one step shy of being an Official Couple (with Hijikata's voice actor going so far as to respond to a remark about his character having given up romantic pursuits for his mission with, essentially, "Uh...no"). And the shinobi Susumu often cross-dresses (quite convincingly) to gather information, blushes when Tetsunosuke mentions that he and Susumu are friends, and when Tetsunosuke offers him comfort by trying to touch his hand following his sisters death Susumu tightly grabs Tetsunosuke's hand in his. And White-Haired Pretty Boy Suzu was this based on his fanboying of Yoshida's sex appeal and his relationship with Tetsu before becoming a Depraved Homosexual in the Sequel.
  • Alois Trancy in the second season of the Black Butler Anime. He alternates between being Ax Crazy and sweet and cheerful, basically flirts with Sebastian via leaning into him and pronouncing that he "smells good", is very attached to his butler Claude, treats his one female maidservant like absolute crap (he stabs out her eye with his fingers just for looking at him and later mocks her for it), dresses and acts very effeminately and flamboyantly and has a girlish face. Well, he was ambiguous until episode 5 where he outright flirted with Ciel, licked his ear, and stated that he "wants" him. And in episode 11 when he tells Claude "I wanted your love."
    • Also, Finny of Ciel's household staff: girly looks, wears barrettes in his hair, Keet, a bit of a crybaby, and tends to go into fanboy mode over Sebastian.
    • And Claude. It becomes painstakingly obvious after he brainwashes Ciel, though maybe he just really wanted Ciel's soul...
    • Sebastian, believe it or not. Exhibit A. Stilettos. Exhibit B. The way he stands and walks, particularly prominent in the first couple of volumes. Exhibit C. Doesn't he say he finds Ash more attractive than Angela? Exhibit D. And, of course, fighting over Ciel with Claude, which leads to both Alois and Grell implying that he's in love with Ciel. Sebastian doesn't deny it, and, in fact, agrees while fighting Claude in episode... 10? That he's not fighting for Ciel's soul...
      • Not to mention the fact that he reminds Ciel several times that he belongs to him, Physically.
  • Koushaku Chouno, better known as Papillon, from Busou Renkin. He dresses in a flamboyant outfit including speedos and a distinctive butterfly mask, and he certainly has a lot of Foe Yay with Kazuki.
  • Desslok from Star Blazers (aka Uchuu Senkan Yamato) is supposed to be straight, and has slept with at least two women (Starsha and Mela). And yet he has male bath attendants who rub him down vigorously and then clothe him (no, really) and he hits on his generals. And he had an entire canon song written about how he and Wildstar are "bound together" and "unable to live with it anymore". And Zordar, who ignores his girlfriend who is right there and can see everything to hug Desslok. When she got revenge on Desslok and Zordar found out, he said he would have killed her if he wasn't so busy, and did kill her in the original as soon as he got an opportunity. Not to mention Talan, Desslok's faaavorite general, who begs to be sent to prison with Desslok and bursts into tears on the spot when he's told he can't. In Farewell, Sergeant Knox shouts "I LOVE YOU!" to Wildstar (at least in Japanese). Wildstar and Venture do some bizarre wrestling when they're fighting over Nova. Wildstar and Ryusuke also have a fight while the narrator says how Ryusuke felt such new feelings within him. It's like the semi-canon Cast Full Of Gay.
  • Vampire Doll: Most of the main male cast.
  • Moonlight Ladys Io Azuma: Disappointed his cousin by growing up to be a "pretty boy" instead of a "hunk", really into J-Dramas, somewhat flighty, seems to polish his nails...unfortunately, nothing keeps him from being a pretty boy. Averted in the visual novel, where he is the Gay Option.
  • On Zero no Tsukaima Siesta remarks that some think Agnes is into girls. There was that one time with Louise...
    • And Julio is ambiguously bi, because he's in love with Louise but also may have shown some interest in Louise's boyfriend Saito. Whether he was just playing mind games or not is debatable.
  • Goten and Trunks in Dragonball Z have been very tight friends literally their entire lives and, as teenagers, quite often spill over into Ho Yay. Whether their being Fusion Dance partners makes this better or worse is debatable. In the second Dragonball GT ending, it begins with all the various couples being shown together: Goku and Chi-Chi, Gohan and Videl, Vegeta and Bulma, Krillin and Eighteen... and then cuts right to Trunks and Goten walking along, in the same style. Apparently the creators consider them "life partners" after one fashion or another.
    • Then there's the fact that Trunks shows no interest in women, and indeed his mother has gone to the extreme of putting him in a office building shaped like a penis and filled it with hot women. He seems outright intimidated by both.
    • It's just been revealed that in the upcoming Dragon Ball Online, the two of them start a martial arts school together.
  • Several characters from Hana Kimi.
  • Allaindelon in Beelzebub is Ambiguously Macho Camp. On the one hand, he has a daughter. On the other hand... every other aspect of his character and line of his dialogue.
  • Texhnolyze: Toyama.
  • Nabari no Ou: Raikou, Gau, and Miharu.
  • Sugata Shindō from Star Driver. He does love and care for Wako, but nowhere has it been shown that this is a romantic love. Also, his professed "curiosity" about Takuto as well as his gay subtext-dripping conversations with Head are signs that are too big to ignore...
  • Konata of Lucky Star. Holy crap, you could writ a book about this. Her room is covered in posters and figurines of moe girls, she feels her friends up (in a joking manner?), she is obsessed with adult dating games (but girls like those too... right?). She seems to have massive picture archives of moe girls classified into different fetishes on her computer. These seem to include pornographic images as is hinted at in one episode. She definitely admires the female form. She and Kagami seem entangled in some sort of love-hate quasi-romantic relationship. Konata, after Kagami give up her seat to her at a concert, seemingly touched remarks, "What is this feeling?" Konata seems to have only ever had female friends despite having interests which should win her plenty of male attention.
    • On the other hand, Konata enjoys working at a Cosplay Cafe where she claims to enjoy the attention of the male customers whom she says are "kind of like" her boyfriends. She also seems to mention wanting a boyfriend (maybe? hard to sort out the exact words she used. might've been "lover". It was more of a daydream thing anyway where she imagined herself as several Da Capo characters before being swept off her feet by a bishounen [and therefore ambiguously male] version of herself). She also commented that she doesn't really like giant robot shows for the action but just thinks the bishi characters are hot. Whether she's talking about the bishounen or bishoujo character is not clear, though, as she seems to be watching Code Geass when she makes the comment. Also, keep in mind, the only male character who's really in the show is her father and Lucky Star is by no means a romance anime.
  • Fate of Mahou Sensei Negima in chapter 336 where he says "He (Negi) already belongs to me. Give up." and the end of the chapter reads "The strongest love (?) rival appears."
  • Miki from Life, and by extent Ayumu too. Their bond can be described as being stronger than a simple friendship but it's not exactly romance either. Apparently Ayumu liked a boy in middle school but she's shown no interest in boys in high school (though she has good reason not to with all the trouble she's been having). Ayumu falls for a boy by the end of the manga and Miki said she has a boy in her hometown though..
  • Lucia from Venus Versus Virus. Nothing is said about her bond with Sumire, and it doesn't go anywhere on-screen, but it's heavily implied she harbors feelings for her.
  • Mariasama ga Miteru: Essentially all of the girls.
  • Griffith from Berserk.
  • Gilbert Nightray/Raven of Pandora Hearts is sometimes suspected by fans as having feelings for Oz. He's also quite feminine in appearance, the manga artist likes to have him dress up in girls clothes, and he has shown absolutely no interest in females.
    • And Vincent, is sometimes implied to have feelings for his brother Gil based on his affectionate Yandere obsession with Gil. And then there's his Long-Haired Pretty Boy appearance and hatred of woman.
  • Saiyuki: Genjo Sanzo is hinted to be gay as it shown in the first season that he did he not get mad at all when a gay drunk came on to him in a bar:
Cquote1

 Guy: (Leers and holds Sanzo's face) You're so pretty that you look like a woman.

GS: (Calmly nonplussed) I'm a man though.

Guy: (Leers even more) I don't mind.

GS: (Remains placid) Fool.

Cquote2
      • It should be noted that Genjo Sanzo is the grouchy antisocial type who is usually averse, rather violently so, to both physical contact and smalltalk even with his close friends, much less random strangers.


Comics[]

  • Batman
    • The Joker: Since Harley's transition from the DCAU into Canon comics, the writers have been seemingly trying to tear them apart and made it into a one-sided relationship on her part. Harley & Ivy both think that The Joker only has eyes for Batman. Joker has often professed affection towards Batman (complete with moments of desperate attention-needing) and has made some awkward comments about Robin's shorts and shaving habits. He seems to have quite a flirtatious love/hate thing for Lex Luthor as well. The Joker is also very keen on his appearance and once said he didn't want to see Batman until his nails were finished drying. He also took off his pants in front of Onomatopoeia and told him that he "bottoms from the top." As counter-evidence, Batman The Killing Joke showed the not-yet Joker's pregnant wife saying that he was "good in bed." Readers could dismiss this as part of his Multiple Choice Past, or count the character as bisexual. In the macabre Arkham Asylum, which is a canon Batman comic, Joker slaps Batman on the butt and continually hits on him throughout the comic. The pages are lined with homoerotic content and an unnatural level of sexual tension. Point of order: Arkham is non-canon, though its status as one of the iconic Joker portrayals means it can't be discounted because of that.
  • The Creeper:
    • With DC Comics' original run, this was probably unintentional, but it's difficult to believe that it was. The titular character appears to be wearing nothing but boots, gloves, briefs, and a feather boa, reveals himself (briefly) to be a masochist, and likes to shock his enemies with his flamboyant mannerisms. Somewhat less stereotypically, the Creeper's civilian persona, Jack Ryder, has a dislike bordering on hatred of female affection and immediately takes his male coworker up on his offer to buy an apartment together.
  • Deadpool:
    • Bordering on bisexual in a Transparent Closet. Plenty of attraction to girls, but also flirts with guys constantly, not to mention his Canon attraction (and fanon relationship) with Cable. He has the "faintly hysterical overreaction to being called gay" thing down pretty well, too. Also, refers to himself as a "gunsel"—see The Maltese Falcon below. The less said about the crossdressing the better. Cable himself could fit this Trope; he comes from a gender-ambiguous future and so may not recognize present-day sexual norms anyway, and people frequently comment on his unlikely affection for Deadpool.
  • Gil Thorp:
    • Lini Verde, a flashy-dressing Glee fan who's also a clinch player for the basketball team. Despite the large number of signs, his sexual orientation hasn't been stated.
      • The storyline involves a website that calls him unpleasant names, but the exact nature of those names is unrevealed (probably a good idea for all sorts of reasons). When one character suggests wearing pink to support him, she gets the response "This is about bullying, not ... pinkness!"
  • It's Grim Up North London:
    • Jez and Quin in the Private Eye comic strip. Maybe they're a stereotyped gay couple; maybe they're an equally stereotyped pair of upper-middle-class artistic types, who happen to share a flat.
  • Power Man & Iron Fist
    • Luke Cage and Danny Rand; Cage may be married, but still...Iron Fist!
      • This all came to a head in Cable and Deadpool, when all four of them (and Weasel) got hit by Black Mamba, who has the power to make you see your deepest, darkest desire. We get a black panel, Weasel suggesting he shouldn't ask, and two double acts in some fairly compromising positions.
  • Secret Six
    • Catman and Deadshot are initially BF Fs who other characters jokingly say are in love, but the final issue implies that they may legitimately be in love with one another.
  • Thunderbolts:
    • The Marvel supervillain Man-Killer was... actually not that ambiguous, but the comics spent years not actually stating it directly. Aside from her name, her stereotypically butch appearance, and her firm rejection of any men who showed any interest in her, there's this little exchange from when she decided to try being a good guy.
Cquote1

 Cyclone: One more goes to the other side...

Man-Killer: I was born on that side, Frenchie.

Cyclone: I meant — oh, never mind.

Cquote2
  • Watchmen:
    • Adrian Veidt, of course. Just look at the quote above.
    • Rorschach: The "holding a handshake too long" scene that demonstrates Nite Owl II's sexual tension for Silk Spectre II is mirrored later with confirmed bachelor Rorschach doing the exact same thing to Nite Owl II. Plus he has mommy-issues and possibly idolizes his dad.
      • And, of course, Rorschach *is* technically wearing women's clothes("Colours...not ugly, beautiful").
  • Wonder Woman: Some of the Amazons are ambiguously bisexual; the rest are Ambiguously Gay.
  • Yoko Tsuno
    • The titular character never appears to have a boyfriend, but she eargerly bonds with cute young women throughout the series, which makes quite a few fans wonder about her sexual orientation. In later albums the author tries to couple her with her best friend Vic, even though they don't even have a fraction of the chemistry Yoko has with some of the other girls--especially Ingrid.


Film — Animation[]

  • Aladdin:
    • Jafar: in its first sequel.
  • Beauty & The Beast:
    • Le Fou: is a little too much into Gaston.
    • In the sequel the Enchanted Christmas we have Forte and Fife.
  • The Elm Chanted Forest:
    • Thistle: the neurotic court wizard; aside from his effeminate behaviour(he lisps, is very submissive and even wears a pink dress-like robe), he has a clear crush if not an outright relationship with Emperor Spine and, later in the film, Buddy the Bear.
      • Purple...I think his clothing is even mentioned in the original book to be purple. Although a lot of fans here might not know it, there's actually a second film where he falls in love with the Queen of the fairies.
  • Fern Gully: Batty Koda.
  • Frozen: Elsa's powers can easily be seen has a metaphor for homosexuality.
  • The Great Mouse Detective: Ratigan: Not only does his body language and his poise seem to suggest some, um, implications, but the sheer amounts of Foe Yay he has with Basil is so thick, you could cut through it with a knife, children's movie or not.
  • Heavy Metal: King Ard: from the Den segment acts very effeminate and seems to think that women are inferior.
  • Lilo and Stitch:
    • Pleakly: is a Dandy Neat Freak Wholesome Crossdresser who had a whole Day in The Limelight episode about how his family wanted him to get married and he didn't, complete with Nani having to play The Beard. The writers tried to counterbalance the massive weight of gay in this episode by having one line from Pleakly that he was a "chick magnet". The scales did not balance. He also poses as Jumba's wife for most of the time, to the point where it's hard to tell how much of it is an act. In the aforementioned episode he almost ends up marrying him. There's another episode where Pleakley is depressed that Earth men aren't attracted to him (it's passed off as concern that his Earthwoman-disguise isn't good enough) — at the end of the episode he's delighted when a boy in Lilo's school admits to having a crush on him.
    • Gantu: who runs around in suspiciously colourful clothing, and only agrees to take back his old job if 625 can continue working with him. Oh, and he has 625's name tattooed on his bottom. Gantu does mention a middle-school crush on a girl in one episode, so it's not entirely clear.
  • The Lion King:
    • Zazu.
    • Timon and Pumbaa: Possibly confirmed for Pumbaa. In one House of Mouse episode, the Valentine's Day episode, Mickey states "grab your sweetie and give 'em a smooch" and Pumbaa gets ready to kiss Timon. Timon stops it. In this Continuity everyone's an Animated Actor, so he doesn't need to be in character, though from the looks of it everyone parallels their movie roles. Knowing Pumbaa though, he could have taken "sweetie" as being in a possibly platonic role.
    • A sequence deleted from "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" showed Timon reacting with violent disgust when Pumbaa cuddled up to him in a joke at the lions' expense. It was dropped from the movie at Elton John's insistence.
  • Madagascar:
  • The Nightmare Before Christmas: The Mayor: Of all the citizens of Halloweentown, the Mayor seems to be the most worried for Jack when he goes missing — and it doesn't look like just as a professional and/or as a friend, either.
  • The Road to El Dorado: Miguel & Tulio: The original script had them be lovers, calling each other 'darling' and such. Although the idea was shot down, they left in scenes where you can kind of tell what they were pushing for. Like in the scene where they are woken up in the bed together with ruffled hair and loose clothing? And lest we forget when Tulio and Chel are making out, while they TRIED to imply at the beginning of the film that Miguel was jealous of Chel, this scene was true to the original script, but he wasn't jealous of the female...
  • Robin Hood:
    • Prince John: Behaves very childishly and effeminately and is very quick to cry. You could also get the impression that he's flirting with Little John when the latter shows up wearing pink and fawning over the Prince. And as if all said wasn't obvious, Prince John lacks a mane — which in lions usually means low levels of testosterone.
    • Sir Hiss: immediately starts acting like a jilted lover. Kind of funny, considering that historically speaking, Richard's the one whose sexuality is up for debate.
  • Shark Tale: Lenny.
  • Shrek:
    • Prince Charming: Being voiced by the openly gay Rupert Everett doesn't help.
    • The Big Bad Wolf: He's seen cuddling up to, then dancing with, one of the knights at Shrek and Fiona's wedding. Loves to cross-dress. Take that as you will.
  • Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs:
    • The 7 Dwarfs: (along with the fact that they even bathe together). while still wearing clothes, for the viewer's safety).
  • Toy Story 3: Ken: From his frilly handwriting, to the style of his clothes, to his many clothes, to his happiness when the army men parachute in the ending. Even dating Barbie doesn't help matters. Though he is a girls' toy. Made for and marketed to girls.
  • Yellow Submarine: The Chief Blue Meanie: acts very effeminate, has a high feminine voice, calls his robotic glove his baby, uses stereo-typically "gay" hand gestures, and seems to fall in love with Jeremy at the end.


Film — Live-Action[]

Cquote1

 [Theo and Nell had been arguing over Nells growing crush on Dr. Markway]

Theo You poor stupid innocent.

Nell: I rather be innocent than like you!

Theo: Meaning what?

Nell: [scoffs] Now whos being stupid and innocent? You know perfectly well what I mean.

Theo: Is this another one of your crazy hallucinations?

Nell: I'm not crazy!

Theo: Crazy like a loon! You expect me to believe you're sane and the rest of the world is mad?

Nell: Why not? The world is full of inconsistences. Unnatural things, "Nature's mistakes", they're called... you, for instance!

[Theo recoils in shock, is about to say something when they are interrupted.]

Cquote2
Cquote1

 Bart: As I am your host and you are my guest, what do you like to do?

Jim: Oh, I dunno... Play chess... Screw...

Bart: Well, let's play chess.

Cquote2
  • Plato from Rebel Without a Cause, as apparent to anyone with an intact brain stem. Later revealed to be Word of Gay, but we didn't talk about that sort of thing in The Fifties.
  • Jordy from Mystery Team.
  • Ryan Evans from High School Musical. While Word of God will never admit it, the second movie throws in little hints such as his father trying to "straighten" out his increasingly flamboyant hats. Not to mention Ryan and Chad's homoerotic dance number "I Don't Dance" in the second movie, which was followed by a scene where they sit real close and, oh yeah, are wearing each other's clothes. And eating hot dogs. As of the stage version, he's officially out of the closet.
  • According to Molly Ringwald, one of the reasons Pretty in Pink's female lead wound up with a different guy than the producers intended was because members of the cast couldn't buy her platonic friend, Ducky, as heterosexual.
  • Mr. Wint and Mr. Kidd from Diamonds Are Forever, although they weren't ambiguous at all in the novel.
  • Beef from Phantom of the Paradise would be the very picture of Camp Gay if not for the fact that no one in the Film ever labels him as such... though one of the club's staff calls him "Tinkerbell".
  • Chad from Burn After Reading.
  • Ozymandias in the Film version of Watchmen. He hangs out with the Village People and David Bowie in a montage and has a folder called "Boys" in his computer. Not to mention his suit having Pharaoh Nipples.
  • In the 2007 Three Ten to Yuma movie, no one ever comes straight out and says Charlie Prince is gay. But he struts like he's doing the catwalk, talks with a shrill high-pitched voice, has the best fashion sense of all the cowboys in the movie, and even wears eyeliner. The beautiful and well-endowed bar hostess that Ben Wade is attracted to earns a look of contempt from him, and throughout the whole movie, a big unspoken explanation for his incredible obsession and loyalty to Ben Wade is that he's in love (but they are still True Companions, when Charlie actually talks about why the gang should help him). The closest dialogue that hints at his sexuality is a Pinkerton calling him "Charlie Princess."
  • The wizard Nekron from Fire and Ice. He acts very effeminately, often does the gay wave, and when Princess Teegra is offered to him as his bride he shows very little interest in her. He also seems to get very excited during his fight with Larn, as if he were having an orgasm.
  • Jay of the View Askewniverse enthusiastically hits on women, but when accused in Dogma by Rufus the Thirteenth Apostle of fantasizing about other men while masturbating, his response is "Dude, not all the time!" Later, when waking up suddenly, he babbles "I didn't come in you, Pete, I swear!" Wikipedia lists most of the many times he and Bob do something ambiguous. Word of God is that Jay is most likely bi (though onscreen evidence suggests that he's severely closeted).
  • Wade Wilson, a. k. a. Deadpool in X Men Origins: Wolverine. While no one actually says it, it's heavily implied: first, Victor (Sabertooth) says, "I thought you didn't like girls, Wade." Immediately after that, Wade jokingly offers Victor a manicure with his katana. A couple of minutes later, when everyone is stuck in an elevator, Wade says, "I'm stuck in an elevator with five guys on high-protein diets. Dreams really do come true." It doesn't help that he's played by Ryan Reynolds. However, all of these examples could be interpreted differently: claiming someone is homosexual is just an immature means of emasculating them, offering to give Victor a manicure with his katana could have just been a crack about his long claws, and the "high protein diets" comment could be a fart joke.
  • At least to a modern viewer, Addison DeWitt from All About Eve comes off as rather camp.
  • Ariel, Harris's best friend in L.A. Story is implied to be a lesbian. She lives with another woman, displays no romantic interest in men and the few discreet references to her sex life are gender neutral ("I hate to tell you this, Harris, but if you can find somebody you can have sex with and lie in bed and watch TV, you've really got something.")
  • In The Wrestler, Randy's estranged daughter Stephanie lives with another woman with whom she at the very least shares a very close friendship. Randy himself suspects that's she's gay, but it's never really confirmed one way or another.
  • In Amazing Grace it seems that William Wilberforce and William Pitt the Younger have a thing going on with each other. As in Real Life, they were apparently both buried near each other in Westminster Abbey. It also doesn't help that Pitt the Younger was widely rumored to be gay.
  • T.E. Lawrence as portrayed in David Lean's Lawrence of Arabia. In Real Life, his relations with his male "companions" are considered very suspect.
  • A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy's Revenge: Everything Jesse does or says basically comes out as gay, even though the entire time he wants to woo the lead female. He goes to a gay bar, runs away from a straight sex scene, dances and lip syncs to a girl pop song while wearing sparkly star sunglasses, even the actor who plays him is gay! The dialogue taken out of context comes off as so gay it hurts. And in all honesty, it wasn't a bad Film. Remember it for your next homosexual get-together on Halloween!
Cquote1

 Jesse: Something is trying to get inside of me.

Ron: Yeah, it's female and it's waiting for you in the cabana, and you want to sleep with me.

Cquote2
  • Donald in Scotland, PA. The implications get pretty thick by the end, but he remains closeted; he does live in a small town in the 70's.
  • Eames in Inception is a candidate for this, referring to Arthur as 'darling', acting as Fischer Jr.'s disappointed date (while disguised as a woman), then proceeds to physically flirt with Saito (still disguised as a woman) until Saito realizes that it's actually Eames.
  • Janis Ian in Mean Girls is definitely ambiguously bi.
  • Rob Paulsen's character Larry the male stewardess in "Stewardess School" he is extremely flamboyant and once during an emergency he asks for a bobby pin only to put it in his hair.
  • Hercules Returns, a Gag Dub of an old Italian Sword and Sandals flick, turns the eponymous Hercules into this. It's even turned into a minor Plot point — a character pretending to be Zeus tells Hercules his purpose in the city of Chlamydia is to openly reveal to the world his true homosexual tendencies. Hercules, for his part, vehemently denies being gay.
Cquote1

 Hercules, in a huff: Never heard anything so ridiculous in all of my life. Me, of all peop — My God, what if he's right?! Oh, of course he isn't.

Cquote2
  • The title character in All the Boys Love Mandy Lane. She's athletic, she doesn't seem attracted to any of the guys in school (she rejects Emmet at the end), despite all their best efforts, and her scenes with Chloe are possibly the only moments where she appears to be sexually attracted to another character. And to top it all off, there's some Reality Subtext—the actress who plays Mandy, Amber Heard, recently came out as a lesbian.
  • In the 2009 The Taking of Pelham 123, John Travolta's character Ryder exhibits some gay behavior. He says that Denzel Washington's character has a "sexy voice" and says he would have made Washington his "bitch in prison." When he finally meets Washington, Ryder says he's handsome and later asks how much he weighs for no particular reason. Ryder also comments on the fashion of a young man and says "he makes it work." However, Ryder also brags about taking a female "ass model" to Iceland after a party. It's hard to tell if he's really attracted to men or just being flippant.
  • The two white hitmen in Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia. One reacts with disgust when a hooker makes an advance on him. When one of them is shot, the other becomes extremely emotional and goes on an immediate Roaring Rampage of Revenge.
  • Missy in Bring It On is described by other characters as "dykeadelic", follows Torrance around like a puppy dog, and the only time she shows interest in a man is when she finds out that he's gay. "You speak fag?"
  • Morse in Alien 3 is Ambiguously Bisexual. When the prisoners all find out that Ripley has crashed on their prison planet, Morse declares that he has taken a vow of celibacy "...and that includes women." Later in the Assembly Cut of the film, Morse is finally persuaded to let Golic out of his restraints when Golic says to him "I love you, Morse."
  • Alien: Vasquez is suggested to be a lesbian by the other marines, but it's probably just because she's a butch ladette.
  • Ethan from Due Date.
  • Karen from The Children's Hour. The movie centers around her and her best friend Martha who is later revealed to be gay and in love with her. Karen's engaged to a man, though her relationship with Martha is full of subtext; even people in-story think they're too close, no thanks to a child's Malicious Slander. It's possible she was Bisexual, but it's never stated.
  • Champ from Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy. The companion film, Wake Up, Ron Burgundy, which is made from footage left on the cutting room floor, makes Champ's attraction to Ron painfully explicit.
  • Leland the "Broadway critic" in Citizen Kane (ambiguous by nature of the Hays Code)
  • Played for comedy in OSS 117 Cairo Nest of Spies . Agent 117 has dreamy recollections of time spent with his old buddy frolicking on the beach, which are humorously homoerotic. Later, he states with un-due force that two men having sex is totally disgusting, suggesting that he's closeted and "protesting too much."
  • Otho Fenlock from Beetlejuice.
  • Associate Bob from Demolition Man.


Literature[]

  • Tom Ripley. In The Talented Mr. Ripley, he claims not to know whether he likes men or women, and jokingly says that he's going to give up both. In the same book, his obsession with another young man seems borderline sexual, although he ultimately becomes disillusioned with him and kills him to get his money. In later books, Tom is married to a woman, but his sexual attraction to her seems minimal at best. They sleep in separate beds and rarely make love, and he seems to treat her more as a trophy wife than an object of love. In The Boy Who Followed Ripley, he's clearly attracted to the 16-year-old "boy" of the title, but nothing ever comes of it. He rescues the "boy" from kidnappers while dressed in Drag Queen, but he seems more amused by this than sexually thrilled. Tom ultimately has little interest in sex of any kind, although he's clearly attracted to other men occasionally.
    • In the Film The Talented Mr. Ripley, with Matt Damon playing Tom Ripley, the character is made much more explicitly gay.
  • Archer's Goon: Torquil. Has a great love for theatrical outfits (eyeliner included), shopping, and disco dancers. This Trope is even more true for the TV miniseries.
  • Higgins from The Bloody Jack series although it's not so much ambiguous as heavily implied. Also, Mam'selle Claudelle day Bourbon in the second book. Her actions around Jacky are a bit suspect.
  • IT: Henry Bowers and Patrick Hockstetter.
  • Hippolyte Swanson, the guardsman-turned-heroic dressmaker in K.P. Bath's Escape from Castle Cant.
  • Alfred Prunesquallor from Gormenghast. His description describes him as having "an undamaged brain", unlike pretty much everyone else in Gormeghast.
  • Aro from Twilight, a more subtle example, who is very cheerful and constantly talks in a feminine manner. He certainly seems to like both his 'dear friend' Carlisle and Carlisle's adoptive son Edward...
    • Hell, Carlisle (especially movie Continuity Carlisle) is more than a little of this. He's an extremely well-dressed (look at that coordinated shirt and tie in the hospital scene! That extremely sexy shade of blue!) has an immaculately clean and artistically decorated house, loves to cook (if only because, as a vampire, he doesn't get to very often) and has a lot of "foster kids" but none of his own. He's also a ridiculously pale, ridiculously blond Bishonen. The wife proves nothing. He's also just a few years older than his "children" are supposed to be. You cannot tell me that if you saw him and Edward in a public place together your first thought would be that they were father and son. In fact, when Eddie's mom told him to save him, Carlisle changed Edward with the intentions of the two of them being companions. The flashback in the movie where he turns Edward is ridiculously full of subtext. In the books Edward mentions Carlisle spent a lot of time in Italy a few centuries back, were he hung out with a load of male vampires who were models for works of art. He left after he got sick of them trying to "convert him to their lifestyle" it wasn't just blood Edward meant.
    • Roger Ebert believes Edward is gay and should just get it on with Jacob already.
    • There's also Kafrina and Senna of the Amazon coven, who are "like two limbs of one organism."
    • The two Romanian vampires in the fourth book were obviously meant to be a couple. It was a legitimate surprise when they
    • Depending on who you ask Alice could be perceived this way.
  • William Marsh in Darkness Visible. How ambiguous it is depends on whether or not the reader picks up on late-Victorian gay traits or not. For example: smoking thin white cigarettes, dressing flamboyantly and (implicitly) hanging about with Oscar Wilde...
  • Joel Cairo in The Maltese Falcon. Less so in the movie, where he's mostly just Peter Lorre.
    • From chapter four:
Cquote1

 The girl returned with an engraved card — Mr. Joel Cairo.

"This guy is queer", she said.

"In with him, then, darling", said Spade.

Cquote2
    • And yes, it does mean what you think it means—see also Hammett's use of the word "gunsel" later in the book. Gutman, Wilmer and Cairo are all supposed to be varying shades of homosexual. It's more strongly alluded to in the first film version (before the Hays Code was fully enforced); as for Lorre's Cairo, watch the cane.
  • Some Harry Potter fans were suspicious of Remus Lupin, pre-Half-Blood Prince, despite being in a relationship with Tonks.
    • Tonks displays more gay characteristics than Lupin in canon, once you think about it. She wears her hair short and spiky, she wears combat boots and rock band T shirts, she works in a male-dominated field...
    • An even more obvious example is Gilderoy Lockhart, a character rivaling Liberace in flamboyance. Periwinkle robes, his own line of hair care products, anyone? Of course it's most likely he's not gay or straight, but a narcissexual.
      • In other words, he's gay... for himself.
    • An Ambiguously Bi case could be made for Harry Potter himself. While he's shown to have a crush on Cho and later fall in love with Ginny, he also had plenty of Stupid Sexy Flanders moments when Bill Weasley is around, when watching Tom Riddle in the Pensieve, and another Stupid Sexy Flanders moment with Cedric Diggory who Harry describes as handsome...and he can't refer to Sirius's teenage self without dropping the word "handsome". In Half-Blood Prince there's also his strange preoccupation with Draco and his massive boycrush on the eponymous Prince.
    • Also, Colin Creevey. A popular fan theory is that Colin had a crush on Harry, due to the frequent comparisons between him and Ginny in the second book. In fact there's a rich history of boy-on-boy crushes at British boarding schools in both literature and real life, and this book goes into great detail on the matter as pertains to the lead-up to the First World War. After reading it, this troper should have seen Colin's death in battle coming a mile off.
  • The California Diaries (a spinoff of Babysitters Club) had Ducky, whose Major Source of Angst (or one of them, at least) was not fitting in with the other guys at school due to an interest in vintage clothes and musicals (and hanging out with girls in a completely platonic way) and a total lack of interest in sports and dating girls. The insults the other guys sling at him are just this side of homophobic ("prancing" is involved, if I recall correctly), though of course that doesn't necessarily mean anything.
  • On the subject of Victorian lit, clothes horse/cricket player/master thief AJ Raffles. He's handsome, lives with his roommate and partner in crime (Bunny), with who he has been very affectionate and flirtatious with, and to top it off, was made with the model of an outed gay of the time. Sure, he had a female love interest and had gone on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge when she died, but his confession afterward comes with the connotations of he'd be willing to do the same for Bunny.
  • The Hellfire Club by Peter Straub has the villain Serial Killer, Dick Dart, who exhibits a bunch of Camp Gay tendencies. He speaks rather effeminately, has the best fashion sense of all the characters in the book, and is big on makeup. In fact, one moment slightly hinted that he was jealous of women, and quite possibly even wanted to be one. The only thing is... he's only shown to rape women, and claims that he "adores" them.
  • Real Life ambiguously gay intellectuals show up recurrently in The Verse of Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle and Cryptonomicon: the former plays it with Sir Isaac Newton, while the latter plays it with Alan Turing.
    • There was nothing ambiguous about Alan Turing in either Cryptonomicon or Real Life. In Cryptonomicon, his boyfriend is brought into the book fairly early on, and in Real Life, he was chemically castrated for being gay.
  • Gene Forrester in A Separate Peace certainly applies. He describes Finny's body, talking about how he moved like a panther. He also talked about Brinker's butt.
    • He doesn't just talk about Brinker's butt, he talks about Brinker's butt for an entire page!
    • And Finny definitely loves Gene, and he has a few effeminate qualities.
  • Maz, from the series Violent Blue, could be applied to this. It's revealed in the end of the series that he is a man, by his female fiance (who gets a sex change before they get married.)
  • The Doctor in the Eighth Doctor Adventures novel The Blue Angel. (From here on in, it may be important to note it's in an Alternate Universe where he's a slightly abnormal human.) He's something of a Supreme Chef, and certainly a very dedicated cook (he panics about having overcooked the potatoes). He redecorates his house to relieve stress and listens to Bette Davis soundtracks. And Freud might find the fact that he's a Momma's Boy to be rather significant. His Heterosexual Life Partner, finding him outside in the snow fussing over the garden, puts his arm around his waist to lead him inside. Most interestingly, in the parts taking place in the normal continuity, he's referred to as a "fussy old confirmed bachelor", which is basically a euphemistic way of saying Camp Gay. The Other Wiki says this was a bit controversial.
    • Paul Magrs, the openly gay author of this book and some of the more idiosyncratic Doctor Who novels, has stated that he writes the Doctor as a middle-aged celibate gay man.
  • Eragon from Inheritance Cycle comes off as this, though his obsession with an unattainable elf girl indicates that he's straight. Despite this, he travels and becomes EXTREMELY close to his half-brother Murtagh, and starts getting vengeful and sulky when Murtagh turns out to think he's an annoying little twerp. Additionally he never notices Arya's sexual characteristics (read: breasts),[1] but he spends a lot of time ogling his master's muscles, "port-red lips" and long, flowing hair, and starts staring intently at the guy's "hairless groin" during a naked bath scene. He also ogles the "hard and lean" muscles of his crippled ex-nemesis, and even drops his pants (but not underwear) in front of his cousin to show a very intimately-placed bruise. Oh yeah, and he spends a lot of timefondling, rubbing and stroking wooden staffs, swords, and other fun phallic weapons.
  • Aziraphale of Good Omens, being an angel, after all, is an exceptionally gentle soul who enjoys the arts, never curses, has soft, manicured hands, and calls his demonic counterpart "dear." It's stated that one of the three first impressions people typically get from him is that he is very gay. In reality, he's more Asexuality.
    • Although, even if he is asexual, he could also be homoromantic. So that doesn't really solve much.
  • Tom and Carl of the "Young Wizards" series are two adult men who live together. Protagonists Nita and Kit talk about the pair being "just friends", but they display all the characteristics of being a married couple. They are partners in wizardry, but seem to be partners in another sense, as well. The idea of a romantic relationship typically happening between wizard partners is strengthened in the most recent book, A Wizard of Mars, in which it appears that Nita and Kit are becoming a couple.
  • Redwall, thanks to this cropping up multiple times with Loads and Loads of Characters, now has its own Ho Yay page. Some of the most obvious examples include Clogg's reaction to Ballaw, who appears to be intentionally flirting with him ("D'you hear wot he called me? Sweet Cloggo. Ain't that 'andsome!"), Craklyn and Piknim's Romantic Two-Girl Friendship vibe, Sunflash writing poetry to Skarlath, and Ruddle and Folrig living alone in a cave together and taking every opportunity to wrestle/hug both each other and Sunflash.
  • The Discworld novel Unseen Academicals has Pepe. On the one hand he's very camp in his role as a fashionista. On the other hand, he's not like that at all when he isn't working. On the third hand, his "real" characterisation edges slightly towards Macho Camp. On yet another hand, he may be in relationship with someone who identifies as female, but on one more hand still she happens to have a huge beard and come from a culture where gender isn't considered important and many women identify as male. On the final hand, Word of God says "He's probably as gay as a tree full of monkeys, but you can never tell. Fandom has a few of them; they've reached a sexual equilibrium and you just don't ask questions."
  • While there's a plethora of Bi the Way characters and a MASSIVE amount of Les Yay, Wicked has Tibbet and Crope. While neither of them are major characters, they are nigh-inseperable, very very VERY close and just sort of come off as...well gay. It doesn't help that Tibbet had sex with a male Tiger in the Philosopher's Club (don't ask, you don't want to know) and Crope ended up in the theater establishment.
  • In Bumped, Harmony's husband from her failed Arranged Marriage, Ram, is implied to be gay. They were placed with each other because they both had issues (she ran away from her first marriage).


Live-Action TV[]

  • The Teletubbies: Tinky Winky carries a handbag, has a triangle on his head and is purple. He even wore a skirt in one episode.
  • Vince Noir from The Mighty Boosh was like this until he was revealed to be Bisexual in the third season
  • Gilroy from Burn Notice.
  • Both Xena and Gabrielle from Xena: Warrior Princess are infamous for this. Their 'relationship' and the subtext behind it is still one of the best remembered things about the show, even by people who havent seen it. Word of God flip flops around, but at one time it stated the characters were common-law married.
    • This is actually lampshaded in the Season 6 episode "You are There", when a modern day reporter (Long Story) asks Xena and Gabrielle about the 'nature' of their 'relationship'. Just as the Warrior Princess and her long time side kick were about to answer, the reporters cameras cut out.
Cquote1

 Nigel: It's dead?! The battery?! This is the world's greatest story and you're telling me the battery is dead?! I don't believe this! Oh, man!

Cquote2
      • Thats not the only case of Lampshading; after Xena's unexplained pregnancy is discovered by Ares, he asks who the father is. Xena replies that Gabrielle is the child's father.
Cquote1
Cquote2
  • Andrew from Buffy the Vampire Slayer is the king of this trope. It helps that Word of God confirms that he was at least bisexual, but never got around to acknowledging it to himself—thus why it was never acknowledged on the show.
    • Not sure how ambiguous that was, considering he all but said he was in love with Warren, and did as he said because "He promised we'd be..." (he does cut off uncomfortably at that point, so it seems likely he was closeted, if not very firmly so, being kinda obvious about it)
      • Not to mention his rather clear moments of lust over Spike, Xander, and um, Jonathon Archer.
    • Jonathon seemed very close to Andrew, especially when they were in Mexico.Spike makes fun of homosexuals and readily protests he isn't one, but he turns guys and seems to be a little turned on and obsessed with Angel, and it's canon that Angel and Spike had sex at least once . So, he might be ambiguously bisexual.
    • Vampire Willow from the third season. Willow even muses "I think I might be gay".
    • Lorne, the Pylean demon from Angel, may be a much more subtle example of this trope. He constantly flirts with "Angelcake", but then again, we don't even know what gender he has, given that his mother looks like a huge bearded man.
      • The actor has stated that he always saw Lorne as an asexual character who enjoyed being alone with a few close friends.
      • There's actually one scene in Season 2 in which he mentions chatting up "señoritas" back home in Pylea. It's possible that, being a demon who clearly has very different physiology than humans, he just isn't attracted to anyone outside his own species.
      • He does say that Cordelia is "be still my loins" HOT at one point.
  • Justin from Ugly Betty and Luigi Lombardi from the Mexican version La Fea Mas Bella; the Italian name is because Camp Gays in Mexico are usually given these kind of names. Interestingly, Mario Lombardi from the original Colombian version was more open but nothing near to flamboyant, having comparatively few mannerisms while talking about his boyfriends and male lovers quite openly; it seems that, in his case, calling him "gay" openly was a bit redundant. And Justin has the unique distinction of being, at most, thirteen years old.
    • When the show premiered, the actor playing Justin was just 11, and his Ambiguously Gay characteristics were essentially just a running gag. Once he got to high school age, the show starting fleshing it out more, with Marc, an openly gay character, becoming something of a mentor for him. After several arcs that never used the word "gay" but always heavily implied it, Justin was the first to speak openly about the issue by flat out denying it. However, when he and another boy started fighting over a girl, it became clear that they were actually more interested in each other, with their tension finally culminating in a kiss which finally brought him out of the "ambiguous" category.
  • Dabney and Lloyd from Malcolm in the Middle, Malcolm's two effeminate classmates who like to talk about his eyes and think he is "handsome".
    • It's obvious to those in the universe; Cynthia even brings it up while she and Malcolm are watching the two of them eat lunch. Cynthia claims she can read lips, and fills Malcolm in. It's never determined if she can actually read lips or not.
    • Reese, particularly in the latter seasons as well.
  • Saturday Night Live parodied this with the "Lyle the Effeminate Heterosexual" sketches, in which the title character would lisp and mince and prance his way through the sketch—and then object loudly whenever somebody insinuated he was gay. Among those led astray by his mannerism were his wife and son.
    • Lyle once got a phone call inviting him to a gay pride parade, and he responded, in a stereotypically "flaming gay" voice, "Listen, you little queen, don't call me again, or I swear I'll break both your legs and you'll never march again. Jesus! What a sick, sick city!"
    • SNL also has Mango, played by Chris Kattan. Mango is a male exotic dancer who performs in a strip club. Though effeminate, Mango is adamant that he isn't homosexual, claiming that he stripped to support his wife and children.
      • For what it's worth, one sketch showed his wife and children on screen. Also, his wife was Monica Lewinsky. No, really.
    • The Ambiguously Gay Duo originated as a animated sketch on SNL and, as such, are detailed further in "Western Animation" below.
  • Also on SNL, we have Stefon, Weekend Update's New York City Correspondent, who denies he is gay, though he constantly shows signs of being in love with Seth Meyers
  • Mr. Humphries of Are You Being Served. He was effeminate, camp, and often talked about his dubious 'leisurely activities', yet it was still hinted that he might actually be straight. John Inman, the actor who played him, came out of the closet years after the show aired.
  • It's made fairly clear to the audience that Finch in Just Shoot Me isn't gay, but many of the characters (particularly his family) have their doubts. Lampshaded in "Pass the Salt", in which one of his macho big brothers is revealed to be gay instead.
    • Sounds a little like what they did with Barney's half-brother in How I Met Your Mother, which is doubly ironic considering that NPH is gay (of the Straight Gay persuasion) in real life.
    • It was primarily just his family; most of the other characters only played along in that episode to annoy Finch.
    • Even funnier considering Finch spent an entire episode trying to get Maya to make out with a female model, showing not only is he straight, but he would go to about any lengths to get two women to kiss.
  • Fruity Rudy from Generation Kill. One minute he's naked in a tent full of Marines sipping tea absolutely unconcerned. The next he's jogging around the base with a gas mask on and encumbered by a backpack filled with rocks, faster than the other marines just in their PE's.
    • Also, he isn't gay. He has a girlfriend. And the other Marines know it; trading insults bad enough to make your mother revolve in her grave is a fun, happy way of passing the time for these guys, and this just happens to be the kind of thing Rudy is a target for. When confronted with the camouflage net he's hacked up and attached to his uniform looking like a chicken-suit, he simply explains that he wears "body-conscious" clothes. He actually plays into the whole thing with Sergeant Patrick later on.
      • The fact that Rudy is played not by an actor but by the actual Rudy Reyes makes it even funnier, too. As for how this kind of thing is perfectly normal in context: one of the DVD extras are several of the actual Marines portrayed in the series, Rudy included, having a discussion with the real Evan Wright. When the discussion ends, Wright asks them all what they're doing now. Rudy is the last to answer and mentions that he's not sure what he'll do outside of the immediate future. How do the others reply, five years after the miniseries takes place and they served together? "Rudy, duh, gay porn." Laughter ensues.
  • Tommy Shafter from the sitcom Titus is a borderline case. Titus' father Ken talks about dishing out vicious teasing and abuse to Tommy in order to keep him on the straight path. "It takes a village to raise a straight kid", as he says.
    • In Season 3, it was revealed that Tommy's father is gay, and Tommy picked up his effeminate mannerisms from him.
  • The Todd in Scrubs began as a hyper-straight chauvinist pig, though later episodes heavily implied he was either a repressed or overcompensating homosexual.
    • The Todd's sexuality and prowess are quite inconsistently portrayed. Primarily, he is still the stereotype of the scalpel jockey stereotype of surgeons. He has surprisingly enough only been explicitly confirmed to be at least heterosexual on the show, with the bisexual or homosexual tendencies only being hinted at (and possibly false given that as he says "chicks dig gay dudes").
      • It would be rather ironic that he might be so secure in his heterosexuality that he doesn't really care about being mistaken for bisexual or homosexual.
      • The Todd has been shown to appreciate the male physique, but that could be purely aesthetic.
    • It should be pointed out in one episode The Todd was seen with his arms around a husband and wife with the clear implication that they had all had sex together. If he's not bisexual, he is sure friendly about it.
    • The Todd is definitely not strictly heterosexual, he's made that much clear himself as he was in a sexual relationship with a couple (yes, both the husband and wife) and made it clear to J.D. and Turk that the gender of a person he was riding (and whose ass he slapped) didn't matter to him. It wouldn't be inaccurate to describe him as bisexual but not totally accurate, either as he's shown he can find sexual excitement in damn near anything (including broccoli).
      • Let's face it. He's Jack Harkness.
Cquote1

 After the Todd appreciates half a dozen widely varying people in as many seconds...

Janitor: What are you?

The Todd: I'm The Todd.

Cquote2
      • The Todd is basically pan-sexual.
  • Lieutenant Gruber in Allo Allo. Word of God confirmed it during the recent reunion special, but the Where Are They Now epilogue leaves it ambiguous by showing that he married Helga after the war and had children with her.
  • Brian Topp in Spaced, who when questioned as to whether he's gay or not replies in the negative, but in a thoughtful tone of voice that suggests that if he's not gay, then he thinks he should be. Many episodes deal with his love-slash-lust for one of the female characters, but one episode also deals with the return of his platonic-love heterosexual ex-life partner.
    • Played up in several episodes, such as the one in which he "comes out" as an artist to his mother, who had been under the impression he was a lawyer because he thought his parents would disapprove of art. Her cheerful response — "Don't be silly, your father and I don't mind what you do, as long as you're not gay!"
  • Gill on Frasier. Ambiguously Gay from day one, was married to a Butch Lesbian, then suddenly became gay.
  • Garak on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, to the point where nervous executives shoehorned him into a relationship with Ziyal.
    • See also the more extensive entry for Garak under Always Camp.
  • Salvatore on Mad Men falls under this trope for about six episodes before he's resolved as, ah, unambiguous, but that has more to do with the decade he lives in than with maintaining any kind of tension.
    • And now, compare this to the episode where a more minor character, a copywriter from Europe, very unambiguously outs himself to his coworkers. One look at Sal's face tells you that he was comparing their situations.
  • Pre-reveal Ellen Morgan on Ellen. Jay Leno's take on the reveal was, "... and in other news, Bill Cosby has announced that he is, in fact, black."
  • Chandler Bing on Friends is often mistaken for gay, even after he marries Monica.
    • The writers at one stage planned to make him a Straight Gay at most. But that didn't happen, obviously.
    • Another case where he may have picked up his mannerisms from his father, who was a performing drag queen.
  • Tobias from Arrested Development. The (often) very obvious homosexual undertones in his lines are possibly the show's longest running gag.
Cquote1

 "I wouldn't mind kissing that man between the cheeks, so to say."

Cquote2
  • In NCIS, Ziva is Ambiguously Bisexual although it's also been suggested that she drops these hints just to torture Tony.
  • There's little doubt that Shawn in Psych likes the ladies, but he's also really quite cool about flirting with / trying it on with the guys as well, making him more Ambiguously Bi:
Cquote1

 Shawn: This is a great plan. Callum McAllister deserves to be commended.

Gus: (sarcastic) Maybe you should date him too.

Shawn: (confident) Maybe I will.

Cquote2
    • Lassiter also shows some signs of ambivalent bisexuality. E.g. there's an episode where he ducks to avoid a woman in the police department because he made out with her at a picnic. Several seconds later he ducks again, when a different person passes.
Cquote1

 Shawn: That's a dude!

Gus: (deadpan) Must have been some picnic.

Cquote2
    • Lassiter is also regularly given homosexually suggestive lines.
Cquote1

 Juliet: Guys, we don't have time for this.

Shawn: I know, and that's why I'm here to offer our services.

Lassiter: I'd rather shower with a bear.

Juliet: (Looks at him)

Cquote2
  • Michael Davies from The Latest Buzz. Being a kid's show, they can't actually state that he is gay but he is teenaged boy who writes the magazine's gossip column, is obsessed with fashion, and loves musicals (and sings the female parts).
    • In second season they tried to move away from this characterisation by toughening him up and giving him an interest in girls, with varying degrees of success.
  • Sam in ICarly is said to be lesbian or bisexual by some fans. Sam likes guys but none of them ever seem to last past one episode, including the one in "iMake Sam Girlier" that such a big deal was made over. That episode also seemed to lampshade Sam's Butch Lesbian behaviors. Also, she and Carly have a lot of Les Yay. There is also speculation that Carly's brother Spencer might be gay, because of the episode where he was wearing a dress and dancing with cute guys saying, "I think I like it."
    • What about Nevel, the little freak that's always trying to shut down iCarly? Granted, all his attempts are made so that he can steal a kiss from Carly, but you have to wonder about his odd mannerisms. Maybe it's a front.
    • The petographers from that one episode seemed pretty gay to me... They lived together, they had a pet cat, and I swear one of them was fanning his crotch when he found out that the cat had been kidnapped. Their voices don't exactly help...
  • Michael Scott of The Office. His unusual obsession with Ryan the temp leads to hilarious moments, such as saying he would have sex with Ryan during a 'who would you sleep with' game, and disturbing moments, like intently peering at Ryan behind the blinds of his office space. Came to a head in Gay Witch Hunt when, to show he is tolerant of gays, tried to kiss Oscar against his will.
    • Tried?
  • Parodied on The Catherine Tate Show with the character of Derek, a man who behaves in the stereotypical manner of a Camp Gay but becomes very offended whenever anyone assumes he is homosexual. His Catch Phrase: "Who, dear? Me, dear? Gay, dear? No, dear!"
  • In series one of Heroes, Claire's friend Zach has elements of this. Word of God has it that Zach was indeed originally intended to be gay, but this was changed because the actor's manager thought playing a gay character would ruin his chances of winning the role of John Connor in The Sarah Connor Chronicles. He got it.
    • It wasn't so much undone as it was ignored. It wasn't as he suddenly got a girlfriend or anything, and his big "I know who I am — I like who I am" speech doesn't leave much to the imagination.
      • He's not ambiguous, he just wasn't involved in any romantic subplots. The whole "best friend has super powers and a serial killer after her" plot took precedence.
  • Stephen Colbert (the character) on The Colbert Report (and frankly, on The Daily Show, too) straddles the line between this and Transparent Closet. The real Colbert is straight, Happily Married, and has three children.
    • Of course Stephen isn't gay! He's in a loving, committed relationship with his soulmate, Sweetness.
  • The impeccably-dressed Kurt from Glee, until he admits to Mercedes that he is gay in episode three. Though everyone else in universe and out already knew.
    • Sam, as demonstrated in 'Rumours' when it looks like he and Kurt are seeing each other behind closed doors. Finn is more shocked at the idea of Kurt cheating on Blaine than anything else.
      • Which makes him more like Ambiguously Bi since he has dated and clearly been involved with multiple female characters
    • This trope is explicitly explored with Coach Bieste, a rough and aggressive female football coach who's automatically assumed to be a lesbian. It's a bit of a plot twist when she reveals that she's 100% straight.
  • One episode of Dan for Mayor featured the titular Dan trying to win the support of an ambiguous conservative for his campaign. As he tries to interrogate the real estate agent for clues on his sexual orientation, the answers he gets are all the more ambiguous.
  • Rules of Engagement: A recurring friend of Jeff is this in his first episode, and both women concluded he was gay, whilst both guys did not.
    • The boyfriend of Jeff's gay friend appears in other episodes, and he's very much Camp Gay.
  • Community: Dean Pelton (as ambiguous as someone checking out Jeff's ass when he's stripped to his underwear, carefully filming Jeff's naked pool game and then trying to give a congratulatory hug to Jeff afterwards can be).
  • Supernatural seems to tip-toe around the matter , but Crowley -who is homosexual or bisexual in canon-generally acts this way.
    • Like the time he kissed Bobby to seal a deal. Yes, that's the way he has to seal ALL of his deals, but he even took a picture of the kiss with his phone.
Cquote1

 Why'dja have to take a picture?

Why did you use tongue?

Cquote2
    • Angels are supposedly genderless and asexual, but Castiel's willingness to sacrifice everything for Dean makes a little more sense if you factor in something like vague romantic feelings, and Castiel usually wears an adult man, so he fits this trope. A lot of the characters (including Dean) comment on Castiel's body language around Dean, and a relationship between the two characters.
      • Ambiguously bisexual seems to be a trend: Crowley, Bobby (he used tongue) and Gabriel all show signs of swinging both ways. Also Dean, after seeing him with Castiel, and also his reactions with Doctor Sexy, you can't honestly think that's he's straight. Plus, he's the one who always points out that he's not gay. He's got to be at least ambiguously bi.
    • Pretty much every demon or angel from Supernatural can be seen as at least ambiguously bi, given their predilection for genderswapping their meatsuits/vessels. Take Meg when she possessed Sam and went after Jo, or Lucifer appearing in both male and female forms to essentially seduce his vessels. Although the entire concept of gender is pretty ambiguous for angels especially, making the question of sexuality even more confusing.
  • David Duchovny appeared twice on The Larry Sanders Show against type as a version of himself whose words and mannerisms constantly had Larry wondering if he was coming on to him.
  • Sergeant James Hathaway of Lewis refuses to draw neat lines between sexualities or tell Lewis his own orientation. A former seminary student before joining the police, Hathaway seems conflicted about religion and sexuality.
  • For nine years George Huang's sexuality was debated among Law & Order: Special Victims Unit fans until the episode "Hardwired" confirmed he was gay.
    • Ditto Olivia Benson, who looks like every lesbian stereotype, from one end of the spectrum to the other all rolled together and had the most incredible Les Yay with Assistant District Attorney Alex Cabot . Jossed in "PC". It probably doesn't help that their collected attractiveness, Alex and Olivia would make the most earth-shatteringly beautiful couple ever.
  • Another case of Ambiguously Bi: Hawkeye Pierce from Mash. As well as flirting with absolutely everyone, ever notice how they give the impression that his nudie magazines aren't just women-only?
    • That's not just an "impression". Of course, it fits with the period: to avoid censorship issues and pornography charges, magazines had to be marketed as "health" magazines (they have names like "Sunshine and Health"), which didn't really fool anyone but gave the publisher plausible deniability. Including some men in the pictures helped with this, as it allowed the publishers to demonstrate that clearly it was not simply a magazine filled with pictures of naked women.
  • Tim Gutterson on Justified is a possible example. In "Veterans", he openly flirts with a (male) bouncer outside of a bar.
Cquote1

 Tim: I love this shit. This shit makes me hard.

Raylan: Well, now we've both been warned.

Cquote2
  • Sardo of Are You Afraid of the Dark?: Earrings, effeminate mannerisms, high voice, quasi-obsessive tidiness...
  • Kelsey from Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue — While she is on the femme side of butch, she is an extreme sports junkie, and she got very close to an astronaut named Nancy. Vida from Power Rangers Mystic Force on the other hand, is very awfully butch for a ranger based on a butterfly (it was a fairy in Magiranger, by the way), was made into a Lesbian Vampire, and at the end of the series when said vampire was turned human noted loudly how hot she became.
    • Kelsey is debatable, as when Chad said Marina was "the one" for him, Kelsey is clearly upset. She could just be feeling sorry for her friend, or...
  • Kalinda on The Good Wife. The show likes to be ambiguous about it (or pretend that they are being so), but even though Kalinda has made out with guys while on cases, it seems strongly implied that she prefers ladies on her own time.
  • LazyTown's Robbie Rotten. Despite claiming to hate Sportacus and wanting him to leave the town, Robbie sure spends a lot of time talking about Sportacus, touching Sportacus and jumping into his arms whenever the slightly-above-average hero shows up.
  • Depending on what "mood" they were in, Servo and Crow from Mystery Science Theater 3000 can qualify, even attempting to get married at one point. However, considering they are robots, they often do not "understand love".
    • "Brain Guy" Observer was a bigger example of this trope, going into the ladies' restroom with Pearl, dressing up in a stereotypical leather outfit for a "hot date", and refusing to seduce a woman:
Cquote1

 Observer: Oh oh oh, no no, I could never seduce a woman, Pearl.

Pearl: Oh, because you're...

Observer: I thought you knew! I am completely, utterly... without a body.

Pearl: Well, thank you for coming out with that information.

Cquote2
  • The mannerisms and speech of Beaks, the assistant of insane stage director Nelson Halliwell from the Tales from the Crypt episode "Top Billing", just scream "gay". Of course, it could also be because he's insane as well.
  • Spence and Danny from The King of Queens.
  • The Amanda Show had Penelope, who wanted to be Amanda's "best friend" really badly. The website plays it even thicker with tons of captions over her affections for Amanda, her saying she doesn't find a male actor on the show attractive, and her all but outright drooling over cheerleaders. Getting Crap Past the Radar, maybe?
  • Dr. Grace Pedersen from Combat Hospital. When a female character flirts with her and asks her out, she only refuses because she's already taken (never mentioning said partner's gender), and she also claims to have her appetite for men spoiled by her husband.
  • Michel on the Gilmore Girls hit every Camp Gay stereotype (obsessed with his appearance, dotes on his mother, French!) but he did once mention a girlfriend (who went unseen).
  • It was a running joke in Keeping Up Appearances that Hyacinth and Richard's son Sheridan, who lives with a man named Tarquin (who makes his own curtains, wears silk pyjamas, and has won prizes for embroidery), is possibly gay. Hyacinth, however, seems blissfully oblivious to the fact.
    • Its heavily implied that Richard either simply pretends not to know for his wife's sake or just doesn't care if his son is gay, he's only bothered that he keeps phoning to ask for money.
  • Fans of Wizards of Waverly Place who don't think Alex is in love with Justin or Mason tend to think this of her, based on how she acts around other girls. Particularly with Stevie who is less ambiguous.


Pro Wrestling[]

  • AMERICAN MALES!AMERICAN MALES!AMERICAN MALES!AMERICAN MALES!AMERICAN MALES!AMERICAN MALES!AMERICAN MALES!AMERICAN MALES!
  • Billy & Chuck:
    • The WWE tag team were ambiguously Manly Gay, from being spotted backstage oiling each other up and doing bizarre stretches, to their shiny red trunks and matching personalized headbands, to their boy-band entrance theme. This became less ambiguous when they planned a gay wedding, on television—and then became outright subverted when they stopped said gay wedding to declare that the whole thing was a publicity stunt, and they weren't really gay, just Heterosexual Life Partners.
      • Since we're on Billy and Chuck territory, we would be remiss in not mentioning their manager Rico, who took their gimmick AND their theme song to whole new levels.
        • Not only that, but the You Look So Good To Me theme has been used time and again in the WWE to mark a character as non-heteronormative. See Marella, Santina.
  • The Brooklyn Brawler:
    • While his onscreen persona has always been a tough guy, an Urban Legend amongst longtime wrestling fans is that Steve Lombardi is gay, rumored to be in a relationship with Pat Patterson.
  • D Generation X:
    • During their most recent DX run, Triple H and Shawn Michaels seemed to pass off as convincing Heterosexual Life Partners at the very least.
    • They only even somewhat pass because most current viewers don't remember the original D Generation X, where there was very little heterosexuality to be had, between Shawn kissing Hunter on national television numerous times and Hunter's infamous "bi" quote:
Cquote1

 Triple H: I'm "bi" a lot of things. Lingual ain't one of them.

Cquote2
  • The Fabulous Ones.
  • The Genius: when he managed Mr. Perfect. Just look at this screen grab!
  • Goldust:
    • From the WWE, even though his homosexual overtones are primarily mind games he plays with his opponents. One notable example is his feud with Razor Ramon, where in one match he rubbed Ramon's chest and freaked him out.
  • The New Generation.
  • Layla El:
    • She and Michelle are a little too close and it was Layla who suggested they go to couple's therapy. And then there's the fact that she's blatantly dry humped Kelly Kelly and Natalya on TV.
  • Too Much
    • Predated Billy & Chuck; had "Too Sexy" Brian Christopher and Scott "Too Hot" Taylor as tag team partners who were very concerned about each other's safety. However, they found more success when the then-WWF repackaged the team as Too Cool, with the duo becoming rapping and dancing wiggers.
    • Rumor has it, that Billy & Chuck's "wedding" angle was originally planned for Too Much.
      • Entirely true. It was vetoed by Jerry Lawler (Brian Christopher's father) who was afraid his son's career would never recover.


Radio[]

  • Round the Horne:
    • Julian and Sandy: a couple of out-of-work actors.
      • Not just actors, they could turn their hand to anything. In one episode they were lawyers, leading to the glorious line "We've got a criminal practice that takes up most of our time." (At the time, homosexuality was still technically illegal in the UK.)


Video Games[]

  • Played possibly unintentionally in the first The Sims. When inviting a sim over to your house, they will sometimes tell you how excited they are to share the latest gossip with you. The way it is said though makes sense coming from a female, but when it is from a male sim...Justified if The Sim in question is being played as a gay one.
  • Luigi from Super Mario Bros. comes off this way in certain depictions. Particularly in Mario and Luigi Superstar Saga due to how he acts in regards to the shiny Bishonen Prince Peasley.
    • There's also his Level Up stance in Bowser's Inside Story, and about every move he makes in the RPGs is some form of gay dancing. And that tendency even transcends the RPGs and reappears in Brawl. As his Final Smash.
    • Gay Luigi?[1]
  • Played for Drama in Assassin's Creed I with Abul Nuquod, who dresses very flamboyantly (both for the time and in general) and caresses his bodyguard's shoulder suggestively. However, he isn't played for laughs and is shown to be extremely ashamed of being "different" to the point of being a social shut-in.
    • Actually, he's not necessarily ashamed so much as resentful of the people and the social stigma he carries among them.
    • Assassin's Creed 2 has Leonardo da Vinci. His biography says he was probably gay and was convicted of sodomy (which is Truth in Television), but he is also very familiar with a brothel in Venice. The only thing for certain is that he really likes hugging Ezio.
      • Who says that the brothel only has girls for offer? He and "Sister" Teodora might just keep quiet about this, since it's the 15th century, and all.
        • Leonardo's no longer ambiguous since the latest DLC and the introduction of his assistant/lover, Salai. (which might be Truth in Television)
    • Rebecca could also count, seeing as she went on a date with Shaun's girlfriend. That haircut isn't doing any favors either...
  • Ash Crimson from The King of Fighters, who enjoys doing nail art and wears ornaments in his hair. However, he's also one of the stronger characters in the series, as he was able to best Orochi Iori in a straight-up fight (something even Kyo couldn't do).
    • Benimaru Nikaido, also from The King of Fighters, who is a model from Japan that mostly wears clothes that are common within gay people. In almost all latin american Gameplay Parodies of The King of Fighters (called Parodia Loquendo (english for Text-to-Speech Parody), Benimaru is portrayed as homosexual, narcissistic and even a simp who would do anything in order to get Kyo's heart, despite in the canon story, Benimaru is attracted to women as shown in some interaction he has with characters like Leona through the series.
    • Despite the duo is straight and hate each other to death, most of the fan works featuring Kyo and Iori portrays them as a gay couple.
  • Maximillian Galactica, from the third case of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Justice For All wears pink, constantly says "fabulous", and calls Phoenix "sweetie". Although early in the case, it's discovered that he proposed to a girl.
    • Also Miles Edgeworth, from the same series who reacts with nothing short of genuine repulsion when his coworker observes how popular he is with women, and is completely immune to the beautiful Dahlia, who every other male in the game instantly goes crazy for. (The Ho Yay with Phoenix doesn't help either.) Despite this, he's never shown to be interested in men, and nothing about his sexuality is mentioned at all.
      • Someone apparently interviewed one of the series creators and asked about his sexuality; there was an awkward pause before the creator replied that Edgeworth "does not like women". So, we have two possibilities here.
      • One scene in the third game when Miles is acting as a defense attorney has him showing great interest in interviewing a "girl in a bikini" (Who was actually a nun named Bikini). Although this hints at heterosexuality, really it just makes him all the more ambiguous since everything else just points to asexual.
      • That could be due to the fact that Edgeworth wants to know why someone would be wearing a bikini somewhere that cold though.
    • Franziska von Karma, Miles' adopted sister, comes around the other way as Ambigiously Lesbian. She has short hair and a very short temper, and enjoys using her whip to deal pain to men who get in her way—but around women she can actually be very tender and caring.
    • Likewise, Lana Skye and Adrian Andrews are both implied to have had an "intellectual attraction" to other women. Made more obvious by a moment at the end of the third game, when Franziska takes Adrian away on holiday... supposedly "teaching her how to use a whip" in the process.
      • Adrian Andrews deserves somewhat of a special mention here, given that she had a very close attachment to her mentor, Celeste Inpax, that when she had committed suicide, Andrews had also attempted suicide. In general, she has a tendency to be dependent on other women. When she shows up again in 3-2, much more mentally stable, she then begins to show a dependency on Franziska.
    • And Jean Armstrong from the third game pretty much is this trope. Oo-la-la!
      • Though he really drops the "ambiguous" part...
  • Micky, the boss head of Star Demon Overlord Valvolga from Makai Kingdom talks with a lisp and twiddles his fingers a lot. He's probably just "shy". Really.
  • Baten Kaitos has Geldoblame. In Origins he has an affinity for children's toys and cute things, a generally prissy demeanor (but he's an Imperial politician, so that's not a huge indicator) and keeps a scrapbook of another male character by his bed. He also takes that character's betrayal quite hard, almost as a spurned lover.
  • Between his mannerisms, his voice and his partner Merry Maggie looking like a guy in drags, Jolly Roger from Banjo-Tooie certainly qualifies. Or perhaps he's just that "jolly", who knows really.
    • Seaman's Surprise? Toad in the Hole? Merry Maggie having one of the deepest voices in the game?
      • It's even worse in Nuts and Bolts. Jolly now wears a purple robe, a belly shirt, and pink pants. He also screams like a girl if you hit him or attempt to run him over, and he paints Banjo's house pink at the end of the game! Then there's also how he sometimes calls Banjo "Teddy Bear".
  • The Lazy animal archetype in Animal Crossing: Wild World often fills out this role, often when you least expect it. Some conversations between certain female character types also fill out a fair amount of weird Les Yay moments, including one such discussion where one animal comments that it would be cool if the other was made out of cake, so she could eat her thighs.
    • And let's not even get into the Jock-type animal's strange obsession with spandex.
  • Joshua from The World Ends With You. His favorite color is pink; he loves rainbows, takes pictures of the main character's ass and calls him pet names; and as one announcer put it: "When he sees a hole, he knows how to fill it." Not to mention his constant girlish giggling.
    • and don't forget this whole exchange right before Neku enters Shibuya River in Another Day:
Cquote1

 Neku: I guess that's understandable. All right, I'll go check it out.

Joshua: Whoa there, Black 'n' Blue. I'm going with.

Neku: You? You seem the LAST person who'd want to go in there.

Joshua: I could never live with myself if I let you go alone. Let's spend some quality time.

Beat: Whoa ho ho! You guys are... Like, you ain't...

Shiki: Blue and Pink!? Sure, they go.. but I didn't know they went LIKE THAT!

Neku: Now look what you've done!

Joshua: Hee hee... Shut up and walk, dear.

Shiki: ... I'm going, too. If something happens, I want to see... I mean stop it!

Cquote2
    • And in the normal game, there's the priceless line:
Cquote1

 Joshua: You watch my behind, and I'll watch yours.

Cquote2
    • And he starts with a very high Brave stat which lets him wear metrosexual shirts right off the bat and equip handbags with a bit of grinding.
    • Two words: Frilly. Parasol. Two more words: Bunny Parka.
    • Four word: A Flash, A Spark. Three more words: Pink Gauze Shirt.
      • OBJECTION! A Flash, A Spark are actually a "for men"-design, you know, with crocodile leather and stuff?
  • Legault from Fire Emblem: Rekka no Ken (Fire Emblem in the US) occasionally makes remarks that could lead to certain assumptions being made about him in his conversations with Lloyd, Matthew, and Heath... but then again, he makes similar remarks to Isadora.
    • This editor is fairly certain that Legault just likes making people squirm.
    • Maybe he really does go for Anything That Moves. Considering it's Fire Emblem, it'd actually be pretty tame.
    • There's also Florina, who is afraid of men, yet lived with Lyn for a time on the Sacaean plains, and tells Lyn "Oh, I do so love you!"
      • If she does have feelings for Lyn, however, this would probably just make her bisexual because she marries Hector is she gets an 'A' level support with him.
    • More questionable than the previous two is Ike, the main character from Path of Radiance and the deuteragonist of Radiant Dawn. At the end of Radiant Dawn, he only gets a special ending with Soren or Ranulf if he gets an 'A' level support with either, in which he leaves the continent with said character. In the case of Soren, Soren vows to always be at Ike's side (interpret that as you may). Coupling this with the fact that Ike never shows any type of strong affection toward females, Ike's sexuality is definitely in question.
      • Speaking of Soren, calling his sexuality questionable is almost giving it too much credit.
    • There's also Heather from Radiant Dawn, though it can be debated whether it's actually ambiguous.
    • Anyone still remember Maggie and Rose, Jasmine and Paul, and Pain and Agony?
  • Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility has Julius, who likes to be called Juli and loves perfume. Apparently, there was an attempt to remove him from early versions of the English version of the game akin to how the Gay Option was removed in an earlier version of Harvest Moon. He's straight, though, and eligible only if you're playing as a woman.
    • All of the "Special Girls" in DS Cute are ambiguously bisexual, or straight out lesbian. Three words: Best.Friends.System. Sure, they're "Best Friends", but the Harvest King "magically" impregnates one of the girls, thus making them have a child. Also their dialogue is exactly the same as in the boy version. All of it, even the dialogue that includes the word "marriage".
      • So now we understand why the Harvest Goddess dislikes the male character after she marries him.
    • Don't forget the Mineral Town girls in Cute. They are a little too friendly with the main character after you befriend them. Similarly, but less apparent and extreme, their ancestors in "More Friends of Mineral Town".
  • Ebisumaru from Ganbare Goemon is a glaring example of this trope, right down to the mincing gait and occasional crossdressing (not to mention his admiration of Goemon that borders on attraction). He's shown to be very interested in women, however, and to top it all off is the revelation of his daughter Mao at the end of Goemon's Great Adventure though no mention of it is made after that.
  • Mid-Boss and Master Big Star from the Disgaea series qualify. However, this may be unintentional, due to differing Japanese stereotypes.
    • Then again, Master Big Star's character profile (for the Japanese version, anyways) did say one of his favorite things were "manly men"...
  • Halfway through Disgaea 4: A Promise Unforgotten, several of the characters start to suspect that Fenrich's obsessive loyalty towards Valvatorez isn't exactly platonic. After bluntly asking Fenrich if he swings that way and getting no denial on his part, Fuka just assumes he's gay from that point on.
  • The Magypsies in Mother 3, though they also all have an Ambiguous Gender.
  • Bebe, the Gratuitous Japanese-spouting Funny Foreigner of Persona 3. Very camp, head of the Fashion club and shares a good amount of Ho Yay with the Main Character.
  • In Persona 4, Kanji's shadow and subsequent level is absolutely dipping with Flamboyant Gay and Ho Yay to the point of being both Anvilicious and offensively stereotypical. The game then builds an argument that Kanji may not be gay but is just questioning his sexual identity to the point that, by the time the game ends, the player isn't quite sure whether the guy is gay or not. The players are left to make up their own minds and, presumably, judging Kanji by his character and not by his sexual identity was the entire point.
    • If Extra Credits is to be believed, the developers at Atlus told Troy Baker, Kanji's voice actor, that he was gay in order to assist the way his character should act and speak. So this makes it a case of in-game Hide Your Gays that came with the English translation, seeing as it was stated outright in the original Japanese dialogue that Kanji was gay.
  • In Persona 5, Yusuke Kitagawa's expressions when talking about art are so weird that can be associated to gay behaviours, despite that, he's straight as he's in love with Futaba Sakura.
    • Ichiryusai Madarame in his Shadow Form has some make-up on his face, making him look like a gay person.
  • 'Punch Out Wii gives Disco Kid this personality, just to round out the cast of stereotypes. He even calls himself FABULOUS.
  • Aera, from the second Swordcraft Story game of the Summon Night franchise. She behaves odd around girls, especially Lynn. Then again, Swordcraft Story is best known for its Lesbian options.
  • The Carecrow from Toonstruck behaves like a stereotypical gay man; he's very effeminate, he calls his crows his babies, and he's obsessed with fashion.
  • Zhang He from the Dynasty Warriors series is very flamboyant and focused on beauty, and these character traits only increase with each installment in the series. Compare: DW3, DW4, DW5, DW6. Yes, that is makeup he's wearing in that last one.
  • Liquid Snake of Metal Gear Solid, whose glorious theatricality has led him to be featured on such lists as "The Top 7 Outrageously Camp Bad Guys In Video Games", and who has been described by another reviewer as "Oscar Wilde meets Darth Vader." Liquid has no canonical sexuality, but he was rather keen on getting Solid Snake's shirt off and proving his "dominance."
    • Interestingly enough, Liquid's English-language VA Cam Clarke is openly gay.
  • Balthier from Final Fantasy XII is definitely a candidate. Despite being a sky pirate that seems to woo most of the women in the game, the writers make him more irresistibly charming to them than actively pursuing any of the gender. His brightly colored bracelets and rings, concern for his clothes and appearance, and constant ambiguity in other such situations (such as his motives for helping the group) has made numerous fans suspect that something is up.
    • Fran does however state in the sequel that he did "something" to woo her and that his methods are different than the ones Tomaj tries in the same game. What he actually did and if they're actually a couple is left open however.
    • Lest we forget, when Al-Cid Margrace invites Ashe to his mansion in a conversation full of Lampshaded Double Entendre, in the background, Balthier looks offended that he wasn't invited instead.
  • Debatable in Chrono Trigger. It's mentioned in one of the bonus endings that Cyrus plucks (or, in the Japanese version, pencils!) his eyebrows. On its own that just makes him vain, but then, consider the Ho Yay with Glenn...
  • Lucretia, Lelei and Cathari in Suikoden V. Lelei has been confirmed as lesbian and is hopelessly in love with Lucretia, who is implied to have been romantically involved with Cathari in the past. A few lines of dialogue (followed by a fade-to-black) between Lelei and Lucretia on the night before the big battle might easily be seen as a Relationship Reveal. It's a Suikoden game, of course, so these are only the most obvious examples.
  • Although his presence is brief, Belzeber from Star Ocean Till the End of Time certainly gives off this vibe. He speaks in an eccentric tone, has very flamboyant mannerisms, and wears lipstick.
  • Flak and Shrapnel from Fallout 3. While Flak looks a lot like a stereotypical Leather Man and they share a bed, there's nothing explicitly stated about their sexual orientation. And this is a game with Discount Lesbians.
  • In Street Fighter IV there's Juri whose original profile's "Likes" folder had "big breasts" included. This was later removed for unknown reasons, but if it still holds true...
  • Blaz Blue has Jin Kisaragi, whose speech patterns grow very disturbing in a Does-This-Remind-You-Of-Anything kinda way whenever he gets the chance to talk to his dear 'niisan'. Depraved Homosexual? You be the judge until Word of God gives us the Word of Gay. Or not.
    • Jin is most likely bisexual. It's established in Continuum Shift that there is something between him and Tsubaki but that doesn't stop the Ho Yay moments with Ragna.
  • In the third Rayman game, Globox was depicted very... strangely, to say the least. In one boss fight, he shouts "Hey! Get your hands off of MY Rayman!"; if he's punched during gameplay one of the things he says is "I'm a lover, not a fighter!"; and near the beginning he hugs Rayman so closely and tightly that another character is compelled to ask "Hey, you got room for a third?". That's not even covering his dream about pregnancy and maternal attitude towards the main villain...
    • And yet if plot points of the game and previous interpretations of the character are anything to go by, he is certainly not homosexual, as he is quite clearly attracted to other females of his species. So the trope is probably just Played for Laughs in the third game... Probably.
  • Lux-Pain: Akira and Hibiki. The former is prone to saying the wrong thing at the wrong time while the latter is questionable.
    • Let's go through the checklist with Akira. Best friends with three girls and shows no interest in them? Check. Forcing yourself into the life of the main character that you just met? Check. Says double innuendo whenever near said main character? Check. The best cook of the group, check. The only character in the game that didn't need Rui to tap his shoulder in order to remember Atsuki? Double check.
    • Hibiki has more checks than Akira. Shows no interest in women? Check. Hits on his best friend Ryo (who is oblivious to said flirting)? Check. Gets jealous when Ryo hires a young co-worker at his bookstore? Check. Stalks Atsuki just to creep him out. Check. Rather feminine looking body? Check. Supporting Suzu's yaoi fantasy about him and Ryo being together? Double check.
  • Jak and Daxter: Razer in Jak X. Every other character says "Wham, bam, thank you ma'am!" as a victory line, even Ashelin. Razer, however...
Cquote1

 Razer: Wham, bam, thank you... sir.

Cquote2
    • Some of his other lines are pretty suggestive as well.
    • And Erol, but only when he's around Jak.
  • Male Blood Elves in World of Warcraft, though more as a joke than anything. Not only is this a joke among the players but many of the male Blood Elves' /emotes, particularity /joke, dab in this trope. Then there's Martek's tale in the quest "The Day that Deathwing Came: What Really Happened." Ironically, male Blood Elves are larger and more muscular then the average real-life male.
    • If anything; they're hte most realistically proportioned in that game!
  • Mega Man 8's Aqua Man, with his flamboyant posing, high-pitched voice and introduction.
  • Elder Magnus from Spyro The Dragon: A Hero's Tail, who is dark-ish pink, speaks in an effeminate tone, and calls Spyro 'sweetheart'
  • The recurring villain from the flash RPG franchise Sonny, Baron Brixius, speaks in a voice that would likely produce a false positive on all but the most finely-calibrated of gaydars (with two of the three voice clips that play whenever he gets hit with an attack sounding more appropriate for wrestling than the armed combat generally seen in the games).
  • Dark/Demon Lord Ghirahim from The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword.
    • A less extreme example would be Fledge. He's small, effeminate, soft-spoken, and very fond of Link.
  • Red-Brief J from Wario World, a giant, muscular, anthropomorphic bull that wears a red speedo.
  • Zelos from Tales of Symphonia. He's vain, feminine, wears pink, has long hair, and has several Ho Yay moments with The Hero (especially if his Relationship Values are maxed). The fact that he's The Casanova would set things straight, if not for the fact he's also very deceptive, which basically means it's impossible to discern his true orientation or lack thereof, and this has lead some people to believe his womanizing behavior is just another part of his facade.
  • Hugh Bliss from the Telltale Sam and Max Freelance Police games. His voice sounds like that of a homosexual, he's obsessed with rainbows and "Prismatology", he looks like a homosexual, and according to Episode 205, one of the months on his Prismatology calender is called "Gaypril".


Webcomics[]

  • Badly Drawn Webcomic:
    • Does this a lot, in particular here and here.
  • Bittersweet Candy Bowl:
    • David: adores Abbey according to the chart. And this or this makes it seem that David likes touching Abbey while having fun.
  • Blip: Part this trope, part Informed Attribute; K speculates that her friend Liz might be bi. But aside from a few odd Power Perversion Potential moments, Liz has yet to show any physical or romantic attraction to anyone.
  • Bob and George: Zero & X: The actual Mega Man X games have some mild Ho Yay but is mostly the product on the fanbase. Bob and George however takes this idea and runs with it. While X and Zero angrily deny this, plenty of humor comes from them being way too affectionate and concerned with each other, and entering into oddly ambiguous banter. Many other characters often debate if they're gay or not the second they leave the room, and Bob at one point actually referred to them, upon their entrance, as "The Ambiguously Gay Duo".
Cquote1

 Protoman: Okay, to turn it off, all we need to do is press Zero's left boob-light.

George: ... I'm not gonna do it! You do it!

Protoman: Where's X? He'll do it.

Cquote2
  • The Class Menagerie:
  • Dan and Mab's Furry Adventures:
  • El Goonish Shive:
    • Tedd: despite looking rather feminine and even recreationally spending some of his time as a woman, is not only totally straight, but mildly homophobic (because everyone thinks he's gay). He's trying to get past the latter, though.
    • Played for drama with Nanase, despite it seemingly starting out as a joke. She is, of course, the genuine article.
  • Emergency Exit: Jason. Fell into this category for the first few years, but the innuendo has gotten clearer since to the point that the only question is "gay or bi?".
  • Erfworld: Prince Tramennis of Jetstone: A diplomat in a family of warriors, who comments on his brothers' fashion tastes, annoys his father, and rocks some low-grade Zettai Ryouiki.
  • Funny Farm: Mike Sopkins. Spent a lot of time frolicking gaily through this trope. And, of course, ended up being revealed as utterly straight, if unbelievably innocent about sex in general; in fact, Ridley is afraid to come out to him.
  • Hanna Is Not a Boy's Name:
    • Conrad: is all over this one. Violent aversion to women? Check. Tight, fashionable clothing? Check. Apartment in the "artsy" side of town? Check. But nothing's yet been stated straight out.
      • Not to mention Doc Worth with his fabulous (though probably a little grungy) fluffy pink coat. And his ambiguously Slap Slap Kiss relationships with both Lamont and Conrad.
Cquote1

 Hanna: Yanno, actually Worth is kinda keen on you now.

Conrad: WHU-? What.

Cquote2


Web Original[]

  • Don't Fear The Dark: Lieutenant Starkey.
  • The Fantastic Favio Bros: Tony often acts as the foil to Favio. As such, while Favio is a Chivalrous Pervert, Tony is ambiguously gay. His Evil Twin, LeTony, also has traces of ambiguous sexuality.
  • Homestar Runner:
    • Coach Z: is married to Bubs and has worn a skirt and hair curlers in two different toons. The only reason why he is ambiguous is because his sexuality is never mentioned.
  • I Am Fighter:
    • About 50% of the humor in the series is derived from this Trope, really.
    • Barry 'The Blender' Henderson and Thomas 'The Tanker' Smythe:
      • Both fit this trope to some extent; Thomas frequently takes it to Squick levels.
      • In his first appearance, Barry asks Thomas to perform a chokehold on him. Thomas obliges, and knocks the unsuspecting Barry out cold. The scene cuts to Thomas standing over Barry, stroking an erection, whispering "So...yer out cold, are ye?"
      • In the recent episode on Poverty, Barry encourages viewers to "Fuck poverty in the arse!" while standing behind a trouserless Thomas, an eager look on his face, while removing his own clothing. Luckily, the scene fades out before we see anything.
      • In the final episode, Thomas leaves because Barry "dropped a dumbbell on his copy of Brokeback Mountain". When he returns at the end, he says "Wish I knew how to quit you...", eliciting a confused "What?" from Barry. He then runs his hand over his face, saying "Oh, I missed ye...". Barry responds by swatting his hand away, saying "Missed ye a wee bit myself', but don't be runnin' yer fingers all over me mouth-hole!"
      • At the beginning of the episode, Barry is seen crying while leaning on a punching bag with Thomas' face taped to it. He sobs "Fuck you Thomas!". Pan down to a comically-sized picture of a penis, also taped to the punching bag, while Barry cries "Fuck you and your dick!"
  • Look a Vlog: Will.
  • Red Vs Blue: The Blood Gulch Chronicles: Donut. In Season 1, he had been given pink armor ("It's not pink, it's lightish red!") and was your typical new recruit. In Season 2 (where this trope comes into play) he started using lotions, talking about his feelings, screaming like a woman, analysing dreams, and generally being as effeminate as possible while retaining some air of heterosexuality. It's gone by Season 3.
Cquote1

 Tucker: I don't think Santa's outfit is a biker's costume and a codpiece, Donut.

Donut: It was the best Christmas ever!

Cquote2


  • In Persona Memeverse, this trope is shown when Joker aka HaremF**ker249 ask a human Morgana why is he so hot.
  • In various SMG4 videos, Luigi is portrayed as gay for comedy purposes (even the SMG4 wiki have him as an LGBT character in one of the categories because of that), in one video, there was a calendar showing a photo of Luigi shirtless while showing the month June (referencing the pride month, a mostly gay agenda), also, when Mario thought he stole Princess Peach's bikini, she marks that it's not hers, then the fat plumber sees the label in the bikini having the name Luigi in there, for his horror.
  • In most of the season 2 of RU🅱Y, Yang Xiao Long tried to flirth with Blake, ultimately failing at it due to her own stupidity (and sometimes, because of being mean towards her), it is later revealed that she have a fetish related to Neko girls and that's the reason she does not leave the poor Faunus alone, referencing to how people, independient of if they're straight or not, feel attracted to characters of their same sex when is being involved in a situation they consider as their fetish (e.g., Clover in Passion Patties, Kaa's hypnosis from The Jungle Book, Violet Beauregarde's blueberry form, and a huge etcetera.)


Western Animation[]

  • Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog:
    • Scratch seems to have a a sexual interest in Dr Robotnik at times.
    • Robotnik has his moments.
  • Alvin & The Chipmunks: The school play director in Alvin And The Chipmunks Meet The Wolfman movie has a lisp, is noticeably feminine, calls the principal "sister", and works in the Always Camp role of over-zealous school play director.
  • Ambiguously Gay Duo/Saturday Night Live TV Funhouse:
    • Parodied with the cartoons as superheroes Ace and Gary fight crime with an array of phallically-suggestive vehicles and gadgets while engaging in plenty of Ho Yay behavior, all the while their villains dance around the obviousness of their gay-ness.
    • On the commentary for the "Best of TV Funhouse" DVD, SNL writer Robert Smigel said "one of them is gay, and one of them is straight, which will lead to a breakup". He refused to say which was which.
  • Arthur: Mr. Ratburn. He is single, thin and neat. With the exception of some earlier episodes, he speaks in a somewhat "sing-songy" way compared to other adult male characters. His hobby is performing puppet shows, and he owns and maintains quite a collection of marionettes.
  • As Told by Ginger:
    • Brandon Higsby. He is rather girly looking, is extremely hyper, is always neatly dressed and mentioned in one episode that he dreams about purple unicorns and he likes the color pink and teddy bear pencils.
    • Blake Gripling always seemed a little too obsessed with winning Carl's friendship and hates Carl's best friend Hoodsey.
    • Heck, even Courtney gives off these vibes. To everyone. Within the "Nick LGBT" community, she is synonymous with starting, or helping start, Nick's Getting Crap Past the Radar Les Yay run.
  • Avatar: The Last Airbender
    • Princess Azula. Even fans who don't like the interpretation of her character as a Psycho Lesbian won't deny that there is some basis for it in the show.
    • There's Ty Lee as well, but she's more of an example of ambiguously bi. She does show an interest in Sokka, but also seems to show an interest in Azula. On Ember Island, she prefers Azula's company to the company of several attractive boys who really like her. She also tells Azula that she's the smartest, most perfect girl in the world.
  • Batman the Animated Series
    • Clayface in the episode "Feat of Clay", Matt Hagen(who becomes Clayface) has a partner and stand-in called Teddy Lupin, who shows some very ambiguous signs. At first glance they might just be good friends, but with Teddy grabbing Matt's arm out of joy, mothering and looking after him constantly, and saying things such as "we can go on!", not to mention Hagen's violent mood swings, it's hard not to interpret it as an abusive homosexual relationship. Hagen, however, shows affection for a female character in a later episode "Mudslide", suggesting that he is either bisexual, or that the feeling was not mutual, or that there was no relationship whatsoever.
      • What the later episode mainly demonstrates is that Matt is happy with using and abusing anyone who happens to fall in love with him, regardless of gender, which is hardly an atypical trait among celebrities or cartoon villains.
  • Blazing Dragons: Sir Blaze.
  • Chowder:
    • Officer Snow Leopard displays this trait in both of his appearances.
    • Reuben.
    • Ambiguously bi example; the pig that evaluates Mung and Endive for their "Certifrycate" re-certification, seems interested in Endive. In another episode, when he meets Shnitzel, he goes "You're tall." Not to mention all the swimsuit clad men on his boat.
    • Chowder himself has come across as this on occasion, what with the crossdressing and aversion to the opposite sex.
  • Code Lyoko: subverted hard with Odd Della Robbia: he constantly dresses in yellow, pink and purple, acts very effeminate, and on Lyoko he is a cat boy in purple spandex. Yet, his sexuality is pretty clearly mentionned, and he is actually a a Camp Straight who dated almost every girl in his school.
  • Cow and Chicken: The Red Guy also from the I Am Weasel show, he declares himself upon arrival "the king...and queen...of Cheese"; quite fitting, in more ways than one.
  • Dan Vs.: Dan is ambiguously bi.
  • Dexter's Laboratory:
    • The Silver Spooner. In the banned episode "Barbequor", the title character's sidekick(a Silver Surfer parody) was extremely effeminate and campy, reasons include the limp wrist, he also skipped when excited and raised one leg like a woman, walking on his tiptoes while swinging his hips, and slapping Monkey to prevent him from getting to his master.
      • Not to mention the title of the episode is close to this Title.
  • Drawn Together:
    • The entire cast, especially in regards to the bizarrely perverted Ensemble Darkhorse Captain Hero and Xandir P. Wifflebottom who stated "I'm on a never ending quest to save my girlfriend!" for the first three episodes, until he finally faces his sexuality and then changes that to, "I'm on a never ending quest to save my boyfriend!"
    • There's also Wooldoor Sockbat and Spanky Ham. When Captain Hero simulates sexual advances to Wooldoor, he swoons and says, "Captain Hero? I want you inside me." To which he responds, "Class dismiiiised." As for Spanky, he was right in the middle of a triple French kiss with Hero and Wooldor. Not so ironically, the ladies took "poker night" surprisingly well.
    • The episode where Xandir came out also featured other ambiguously gay characters such as Elmer Fudd and Snagglepuss.
  • Droids/Star Wars: C-3PO. While noted from the film canon already, the 1986 spinoff cartoon Droids takes the implications Up to Eleven. In addition to being mincing and prissy, Threepio has limp wrists, seems legitimately uncomfortable when a woman hugs him, harbors a fondness for fashion accessories, and shares a surprising amount of Ho Yay with R2-D2.
  • Ed, Edd 'n' Eddy:
    • Jimmy exhibits a lot of stereotypically gay behaviors, the most memorable being in the Christmas special, where he bakes gingerbread sailors on shore leave. He also enjoys painting and making other various pieces of art, has a substantial collection of stuffed animals, wears curlers to bed, bakes soufflé, has taught a tai chi class, and chose a day with Sarah and Nazz over go-karting. However, he has a pretty obvious crush on his best friend Sarah and was shown to be jealous of Double Dee when Sarah developed a crush on him.
    • Double D, though he was shown to go all Love Makes You Dumb over Nazz like most of the other boys in the neighborhood, so he's probably ambiguously bi. For example, he's obsessed with things being neat and orderly, he's the most sensitive out of the three Eds, and some scenes between Double D and Eddy in The Movie just scream Unresolved Sexual Tension. (Plus Eddy's brother mistakenly thought Double D was a girl and came to the conclusion that Double D was Eddy's "girlfriend") Also, in the episode "Key to My Ed", Ed is dancing around while Rolf's playing music. He grabs Eddy and slams him into Double D, the two catching each other in a dancing position. Double D's only remark is a smirk and, "What? No flowers?" Also, his only complaint of Ed trying to kiss him under the mistletoe was that someone might be watching.
      • In the episode "Your Ed Here" Eddy kisses Double D. On the mouth.
      • Because Kevin made him do it.
    • Ed, especially in the Valentine's day episode.
      • In "May I Have This Ed?", Eddy, excited about the school dance, sticks a 'WIN A DATE WITH EDDY' contest form on the wall. Seconds later, someone's signed it, and Eddy excitedly checks the form...only to find Ed's signed it. Cue Ed looking at Eddy and blushing.
  • The Fairly Odd Parents:
    • Sanjay. The fact that he's way too into Timmy should tip you off.
    • Mr. Bickles the drama teacher.
    • Cupid qualifies along with Mr.Bickles, if you don't think they're flat out Camp Gay.
      • In the recent "Wishology" trilogy, Cupid and Juandissimo had a scene in "The Exciting Middle Part" where they were eating in an outdoor cafe together, acting very much like a dating couple. Juandissimo is known to be attracted to Wanda (and a lot of female fairies are attracted to him) but that doesn't exclude him from being bisexual.
    • Chester doesn't like being too close to girls because he gets rashes, an episode had Chester cross-dressing and dancing with AJ when the two needed dance partners.
    • Cleveland was another example during his 'repressed by his wife' stage. Especially the mustache episode.
  • George And Martha: Oscar & Wilde. Apparently in the short lived cartoon series, there is a pair of alligator characters who give off so many clear signs that there is definitely something more to their relationship. They live together, they go on vacation together, one is never seen without the other, and there's even a scene in one episode where the two are dressed up in outfits straight out of the Village People. The kicker? Their names are Oscar and Wilde. It's like they were trying to see how far they could go in a children's cartoon without outright stating the fact.
  • Hanna-Barbera:
  • He Man and The Masters of The Universe: Though looking back, the "ambiguously" was incredibly tenuous sometimes.
  • Hey Arnold: Eugene has a room decorated with rainbows and unicorns, and often takes interest in anything related to dancing and musicals. Mr. Simmons fell under this as well, until Word of Gay confirmed it.
  • Jimmy Two-Shoes:
    • Samy Garvin, who can best be described as Smithers from the Simpsons in demon form. The fact that he has Always Camp dreams of stardom do not help his case.
    • The titular Jimmy Two-Shoes as well. He has considerable Ho Yay towards Lucius and in Matchmaker Jimmy, when Lucius tells Beezy he needs a date for an upcoming event, Beezy turns to Jimmy and asks him how he looks in a dress. Jimmy responds with "What kind of a dress?"
  • Johnny Bravo: Carl pounces on Johnny constantly (as in "Johnny Goes to Camp"), is very clingy despite Johnny shoving him away, all-too-into playing Johnny's pretend date ("Charm School Johnny") or wife ("Chain Gang Johnny"), is impervious to the wiles of chicks, often thinking they're evil ("Forest Chump"), and even said he loved Johnny while standing up for him against an angry mob in "Lodge Brother Johnny". Heck, the episode "Carl Be Not Proud" is practically nothing BUT Ho Yay.
  • Johnny Test:
    • Gil.
    • Dukey, his trademark laugh, some of the outfits he wears (particularly the vampire hunter episode) and getting cuddly with Johnny in the episode Johnny Irresistable to the point where he nearly starts humping Johnny's leg.
  • Kim Possible: Both Shego and the titular character of Kim Possible are Ambiguously Bi. They show considerable amounts of Foe Yay and Les Yay toward each other, one episode has their 'friendship' overshadowing Kim and her own boyfriend's relationship (his reaction doesn't help either), and they have had either male love interests or show attraction to men.
  • Legion of Super Heroes:
    • Color Kid, in the cartoon, had a rainbow on his chest, as well as speaking and gesturing flamboyantly. He's also concerned at one point that he may not have used the precisely appropriate shade of green.
    • He has the rainbow on his chest (because, y'know, Color Kid) in the comics as well, though he's not particularly gay (ambiguously or otherwise) there. There was a story in which he was called Color Queen, but he was female at the time (hey, it's the Legion, things like that happen there).
  • The Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack: Flapjack definitely counts, considering how touchy-feely and girly he is. Not to mention he was mistaken as a girl in one episode and wore purple panties in another.
  • My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic:
    • Gilda acted like a jealous girlfriend to Rainbow Dash, but she never admits romantic feelings. Which only added to the already-rampant speculation about Rainbow Dash's tomboy personality and connection with rainbows.
    • The Sea Serpent from part 2 of the pilot. He's pinkish-purple, speaks in an effeminate voice, and cries when his mustache is ruined.
    • Every single pony from G1 My Little Pony, though a few stand out. Applejack licked Glory in the beginning of the first special, though it seems like it's just affection and due to the fact she's covered in apple juice — it seems innocent until you notice some official figurines have Glory marrying Moondancer, another mare. There's also Gusty, who fits for most of the same reason Dash does in G4 (plus she has an androgynous voice).
  • The Penguins of Madagascar:
    • King Julien. As mentioned in the film above, but is even more noticeable here, although he shows interest in courting the only main female character, Marlene the otter, and has also admitted to having girlfriends in Canada (no, really). Some of his dialogue can easily be interpreted as a ring-tailed lemur in serious denial. (Six words: "No one will be sucking seed!")
    • Mort might be a close second, though he's only interested in Julien's feet specifically, not the rest of him.
    • Roger the alligator:
      • who doesn't want to scare anyone; he wants to bake muffins for bullies, and wants to sing on Broadway.
    • All the penguins have their moments, but those made the biggest deal of are Private and Rico — Private could be acting babyish, but it's just funny for the Dumb Muscle to have quite the number of notable 'gay' moments.
  • The Powerpuff Girls:
    • Him, the main inspiration for his character is the already listed Chief Blue Meanie from the Beatles' Yellow Submarine film.
      • Hilariously, during one of the intermissions to Cartoon Network's Cartoon Cartoon Fridays blocks, Him was seen talking to The Red Guy from Cow and Chicken (listed directly above this example), both of whom whom used comments and mannerisms that took this trope Up to Eleven while a visibly disturbed Johnny Bravo slowly backed away.
  • The Problem Solverz:
    • Roba:
      • He is the most sensitive member of the team and is frequently anxious about being loved and accepted. He practically had a man crush on master funny face artist Tony Marv, and becomes upset in another episode because he wouldn't be able to wear a salsa hat if Bad Cat went undefeated. Roba was also completely turned off by Katrina Rad's amorous advances (although she was crazy), and is quick is criticize Alfe's fashion sense. His high-pitched voice and effeminate hand gestures are additional traits.
  • The Proud Family: Michael the "sissy" sole male cheerleader and son of the macho coach(who he can't call "Dad" in public).
  • The Reluctant Dragon: In the Disney animated short, the title character is rather effeminate and very campy, singing in a high voice, reciting poetry, dancing on his tiptoes, doing the stereotypical gay wave, etc.
  • Ren and Stimpy:
    • When asked about fan rumors that the titular characters are a gay couple their creator reportedly just gave a Shrug of God.
    • In the Adult Party Cartoon, however, it was made explicit...quite explicit...that the duo were in fact lovers. This kind of ruined the joke, though.
  • Rocko's Modern Life:
    • The Chameleon Brothers
    • Heffer's adopted brother Peter:
      • although he didn't have any of the stereotypical traits he was seen wearing a female cheerleading outfit and a ballerina tutu on a couple of occasions and his father yelling at him for it.
  • Scaredy Squirrel: Dave the Fat Idiot skunk shows quite a few Camp Gay mannerisms like a lispy voice and crossdressing.
  • The Simpsons:
    • Mr. Waylon Smithers used to be Ambiguously Gay but in later seasons the show just ran with the gay jokes. Originally he was strictly a "Burnsosexual", which eventually devolved into Ambiguously Gay and then just plain gay. As a matter of fact, he'd previously mentioned having a wife. Of course, in a flashback, their relationship was played out as a reference to Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, so...
      • In the episode where Burns falls in love with Marge's mother, Smithers is shown to be jealous.
    • Milhouse: A lot of jokes travel this route; Bart's Heroic BSOD after disastrous early school experiences (flashback episode "Lisa's Sax") lead to this exchange with a school counselor:
Cquote1

 Dr. Pryor: Mr. and Mrs. Simpson, there's nothing to be alarmed about. Public school can be intimidating to a young child, particularly one with as many flamboyantly homosexual tendencies as your son.

Marge: Bart's gay?

Dr. Pryor: Ah, whoo, wrong file. (Counselor replaces file into its rack; audience sees the label: "van Houten, Milhouse").

Cquote2
    • Principal Skinner was suspected to be gay by Homer in the Season 2 episode where Homer tries to set Marge's sister Selma up with a man.
    • Ralph Wiggum too. He once referred Bart as his boyfriend. Another time he hugs Comic Books Guy and says he will never let go. Though his interest in Lisa says he may actually be bi.
    • Lisa is ambiguously bi. She had a Romantic Two-Girl Friendship in one episode and according to "Holidays of Future Passed" (which probably isn't canon) Lisa had several girlfriends in college before marrying Milhouse.
  • Skunk Fu!: Baboon is known to behave very effeminately at times, the hand gestures, the hip swings, the fact that he was willing to teach a monkey how to act like a girl and dressed up like one for Dragon's birthday, on the other hand he has been shown to have a crush on Fox the youngest shapely female character in the show.
  • The Smurfs: Vanity Smurf is very effeminate, has the stereotypically affected voice of a "gay man", has a flower on his hat, and doesn't care about anyone but himself.
  • South Park:
    • Eric Cartman:
      • his obsession with Kyle Broflovski reached this stage a long time ago. The subplot of the three-part-special Imaginationland consisted of Cartman trying to force Kyle into sucking his balls, to the point where he traveled across the country to get him to do it. At one point he even wanted to film it. The episode ended with Cartman actually imagining him doing it, complete with calling him a 'dirty girl'. Additionally, Cartman states that girls are vile and disgusting, had a relationship between Ben Affleck and his hand puppet of Jennifer Lopez, and he made-out with a cardboard cutout of Justin Timberlake, while he was pretending to be Britney Spears. He performed oral sex on Butters, and made Butters reciprocate in a feeble attempt to right the first blowjob, which just lead to Butters being sent to a camp for gays.
      • Though to be fair, he said (in the expanded version of Imaginationland at least) he did it to humiliate Kyle, not for any actual sexual pleasure. Of course, whether or not he can be believed, especially given his other borderline-homosexual tendencies, is up for debate.
      • Cartman has fallen in love with girls on a few occasions though.
      • Although it may or may not have been a ploy, Cartman spent the entirety of the season 16 episode Cartman Finds Love convincing others he and Kyle are in a gay relationship. And the climax is Cartman proclaiming their love in front of thousands of people, complete with singing him a love song and calling him "Babe".
    • Stan, his funny (as his mother puts it) relationship with Kyle makes Cartman look straight in comparison, though at least Stan has a girlfriend.
      • Trey said over 10 years ago that of any of the four main boys, Stan is the most likely to turn out to be canon gay, because he's the most sensitive. You can still see it (like how he sounded like he was crying after he found out no one wanted to help him with the whaling problem.)
      • Stan also vomits any time things start to get even vaguely romantic with Wendy. In the episode "Follow That Egg" Stan and Kyle are the reason gay marriage gets legalized in Colorado. It's complete with lines like:
Cquote1

 Mrs. Garrison: How 'bout our gay couple: Stan and Kyle?

Cquote2
    • Kyle himself might be of the Armoured Closet Gay variety; he's the only male of the main boys who expresses disgust at naked males, when the other male student characters seem fine with watching naked dudes, implying that he is unsecure about his own sexuality; furthermore, the only things he considers disgusting are suspiciously penis related (pee and bananas), while he doesn't have any problems with far less hygienic things like anthropomorphic sapient shits, further implying that he wants to make himself look straighter even though he has no need to. Canonically, he had two attractions to female characters, only one of which arguably sexual, and since these were early episodes it is likely that they are subjected to a Retcon (for instance, Word of God stated in an early interview that Stan was to be the gay character, yet he still has a girlfriend and commented on a girl's ass on a recent episode).
    • Terrance & Phillip:
Cquote1

 Terrance: That Scott really hates us.

Phillip: Yes, perhaps he's homophobic.

(Silence)

Terrance: But we're not gay, Phillip.

Phillip: We're not?

Cquote2
  • SpongeBob SquarePants: Various hardline religious groups have made efforts to get Spongebob taken off the air for its perceived support of the so-called "gay agenda". Word of God has said that calling SpongeBob "gay" or "straight" doesn't make sense, since he's a sea sponge that reproduces asexually. Later official information mentions that Spongebob has a crush on Sandy, a girl. (Contrary to popular belief, it is entirely possible to have a crush on someone and still be asexual)
  • Pearl of Steven Universe, so much so that she's acquired the Fan Nickname "gay bird" as a result (because her nose resembles a beak). Aside from her aversion to grown men (recoiling when Greg hugs her, annoyance at Dewey acting flirty, her blunt "no" when asked if she wants to check out some "buff studs") she's almost constantly clinging to or brushing up against Garnet in stressful/emotional situations, has supreme Belligerent Sexual Tension with Amethyst, and she stayed on Earth in the first place solely because Rose was staying ("Why would I ever want to go home if you're here?") It's no longer ambiguous. The creative team have confirmed that her feelings for Rose Quartz are not platonic.
  • Storm Hawks: Arygyn the Skeelur, in Episode 25, "The Lesson", Arygyn(voiced by Scott McNeil) appears to the Storm Hawks team to train them. He is rather flamboyant in his mannerisms and clothing style, and often makes comments about someone's lousy hairstyle or the need for more decorations on the Condor.
  • Sym-Bionic Titan: Todd the decorator of the student council from the episode "Under The Three Moons". He wears a pink shirt, tight pants, and a scarf, he's very flamboyant, speaks with a lisp, and skips when excited.
  • Time Squad:
    • Larry 3000, especially in the second season. The first season did have its share of gay innuendo with Larry, but not as much as Season 2. It's like the writers knew the show was getting cancelled and they wanted to get as much as they could past the censors.
      • The biggest example being "Ex Marks The Spot", an episode that was pure Ho Yay with Tuddrussel and even ended with the line that he would be "Sleeping on the couch tonight"; the nightclub scene from "Day of the Larrys" is a close second.
      • If you ignore the fact that almost every single thing in Larry's wardrobe (including a tutu) is either totally pink or has a pink accessory that goes with it, in the episode "Blackbeard, Warmheart" Larry's pirate costume features a black vest, no pants, and an earring on his right side(which was an old-fashioned and stereotypical indication of sexuality, similar to the hankerchief colour code).
      • Larry also seems to be fond of wearing make-up, according to "Ladies and Gentlemen, Monty Zuma" and "Father Figure of Our Country."
      • So much evidence alludes to the fact that Larry is gay that all pretense of ambiguity has been shattered (except for, you know, outright saying it). Even if we don't count all the Ho Yay moments with Buck Tudrussel as evidence, it's safe to say that the Larry 3000 radiates Camp Gay more than Ambiguously Gay.
  • Jacques from Total Drama Presents: The Ridonculous Race is extremely camp: wears pink and purple outfits, loves to add sequins to his clothes, screams higher than any other male constant, has no problem donning a tight dress for the magician challenge and, of course, takes part in the extremely camp sport of Ice Dancing. Fresh TV have also confirmed that he and his female partner are Just Friends so make of that what you will.
  • Transformers Animated:
    • Blitzwing, or more precisely, one third of him. When he's in his "Random" persona he has a high-pitched giggly voice, enjoys flamboyant dancing, is "light on his oscillating servos" and on one occasion referred to a crane as "big, bold, and sassy"—before he realized that the crane was an inanimate object and not a fellow Transformer.
      • Blitzwing's other two personas have not expressed any sexual preference, but he seems actively repulsed by Blackarachnia. However, this may be more because of her technoorganic form rather than her female persona.
      • Oddly it is the Random persona who likes Blackarachnia the most as while it is the cold one who froze her hand and told her how disgusting she is and the angry one who almost threatens to kill her before being interrupted by the random face, it is random Blitzwing who wanted to "express his feelings for her in song".
    • Starscream, who, as well as being on occasion quite flamboyantly fabulous, made five clones meant to represent different aspects of his personality—one of which was distinctly female. Which part of his personality was she? The answer given was "guess".
      • G1 Starscream was a tad that way too—the most infamous moment here is him glomping Megatron.
      • The fact his feet resemble stiletto heels doesn't help him much.
        • The stiletto feet carry over to Transformers Prime BIG TIME. Also check his mannerisms and sometimes the way he talks. Maybe more than sometimes. Though that might be more a case of The Starscream.
    • Slipstream. Although since the sex of protoforms may well be fixed (Sari is a girl, even though she was "born" when her protoform scanned a man's DNA), Slipstream's gender might not be relevant.
    • Prowl has some questionably gay habits in Transformers Animated.
    • Lockdown, the bounty hunter appears to have a bit of a thing for Prowl.
    • Knock Out. In Transformers Prime he not only incredibly vain and effeminate (he ran another driver off the rode for scratching his paint job), but he actually wolf-whistled at Optimus Prime, admiring his rims. Naturally, fans have latched onto this.
      • The writers have cleverly dodged the question by saying that robots are technically genderless and therefore can't have sexuality. Most fans ignore this; anyway, Transformers have had genders since G1.
  • Tutenstein: Luxor the cat shows signs of this in the "Cleo's Catastrophe" episode where he thinks about dating Jake.
  • Ugly Americans: Twayne is deliberately written as an ambiguous homosexual (or at least bisexual, given his attraction to Callie) as a running joke. He embodies a number of stereotypes about gay men, such as watching Oprah, being a poor athlete, and is even shown wearing a dress as a child. Additionally, most, if not all of his close friends are women and he even belongs to an all-female social club called "The Girls Club".
  • Watership Down: Cowslip from the animated adaptation acts like an elderly gay gentleman. He gets very excited when Hazel says they have no does (female rabbits) with them; he also hates getting wet and often brushes his ears back like an effeminate man would do with his hair. He was possibly intended to be more "intellectual snob" than gay, but that's what the viewers saw there.
  • Disney's The Weekenders:
    • Carver is into fashion, particularily especially shoes but also mostly all of it, and gets caught wearing and/or buying women's clothes repeatedly, claiming they're for his sister.
    • Tino comes from a broken family, dominated by his trying-hard-to-be-unorthodox mother, and also has a very submissive/dependant personality that hints at a back-burner relationship or fascination with the local bully rough trade(as hinted at in said bully's not-declined offer of "Take me to the concert, and I'll beat you up" when Tino found that he had an extra ticket for a local concert...Tino's response was "I'll think it over").
  • Xiaolin Showdown:
    • Jack Spicer the young Evil Genius has bundles of this, girly scream and constantly worrying about his hair aside, his reactions towards Chase Young go far beyond admiration(one time his eyes changed into hearts) and is generally willing to do anything for the man who only threatens him if he doesn't leave.
      • In one episode, he made an entire squad of fighting cheerleader robots and treated them like as a little girl would a doll, having named them all and weeping when they had been beaten.
    • Little girls don't usually try to kiss dolls that can electrify them, Jack clearly enjoyed kissing one of them (despite getting electrified), so I'd guess he's more likely bi.
    • Still, he appears to have a crush on Kimiko.
  1. perhaps because he's the badass MAGIC CHOSEN ONE and thus above such things as staring at boobs
Advertisement