Media portrayal of asexuality

[27] Hillenburg also instructed that SpongeBob should never have a love interest or romantic relationship, since he is asexual (as all real-life sea sponges are) and too innocent for it.

[30] In the eighth episode of The Case Files of Jeweler Richard, Shouko Tanimoto, reveals she is asexual and aromantic indirectly, confessing she has never felt romantic attraction.

[31] After being asked if she really wants to marry Homura, she says that she does not know what it means to like someone in a different way than her mom and dad, and adds that "...choosing not to fall in love and never understanding it in the first place aren't the same."

In 2021, the character Lilith Clawthorne from the animated series The Owl House was confirmed as asexual by her voice actor, Cissy Jones, on an Instagram live.

[32] The first mainstream feature film to include a canonically asexual character would be Roman Polanski's 1965 British psychological horror film Repulsion, in which main character Carole Ledoux (played by Catherine Deneuve) is a beautiful but shy, eccentric and withdrawn sex-repulsed asexual woman.

In the film's ending, during which Carole's sister's boyfriend (named Michael) comforts her and carries her away from a judgmental crowd, his compassion is the first time during which she is portrayed as trusting of a man, having had a vague but traumatic and unspoken sexual encounter (implied molestation event) as a child with a much older relative.

[44] Several legendary characters are often interpreted as being aroace, including the Greek goddesses Hestia, Athena, Artemis, and Hecate and Kay, Galahad, Bors, the Grail heroine (Percival's sister), and Dinadan in Arthurian legend.

[45] Arthur Conan Doyle portrayed his character Sherlock Holmes as what would today be classified as asexual,[43] with the intention to characterize him as solely driven by intellect and immune to the desires of the flesh.

[43] Sue Bridehead in Thomas Hardy's 1895 novel, Jude the Obscure is portrayed as having an active aversion to sex and is considered by some to be an asexual character.

[46] There are various openly asexual authors, such as short story writer Morgan Bell, English model Yasmin Benoit, and YouTube personality Julie Sondra Decker.

Instead, Edna's liberal, sex-positive parents worry that their daughter is "prudish" and that her total lack of interest in sex is a mental health issue.

[56] In 2018, Bustle pointed to three writers who had books with asexual protagonists: Kathryn Ormsbee (Tash Hearts Tolstoy), Claire Kann (Let's Talk About Love), and Alice Oseman (Radio Silence).

[57] Oseman's 2020 novel Loveless specifically deals with the protagonist coming to terms with her asexual and aromantic identity while at university.

[76] In a fourth series episode of Game of Thrones, the spymaster Varys (Conleth Hill) derides the role of "desire" in plunging Westeros into civil war, and the show distinguishes him from other eunuch characters by stating his asexuality prior to his castration, and portraying his celibacy after.

[17] In 2017, on the British soap opera Emmerdale, 15-year-old character Liv Flaherty revealed that she fancies neither boys nor girls, leading to speculation that she might be asexual.

[79] At the same time, Valentina "Voodoo" Dunacci in Sirens, was the "focus of a major storyline" where she has a strong bond with Brian, who is not "asexual but is hopelessly in love with Val.

[80] In the tenth episode of the seventh season of American superhero series Legends of Tomorrow, broadcast in January 2022, one of the main characters, Esperanza "Spooner" Cruz, stated that she does not feel attraction to any gender, leading to a conversation where she identifies as asexual.

In early 2022, a Japanese drama series centered around asexuality and aromanticism, Koisenu Futari (As Two People Who Can't Fall in Love), was produced by NHK.

[82] Indian actress, Sriti Jha identifies as asexual as does television personality Caitlyn Jenner, stand-up comedian Paula Poundstone, and Japanese model and actor Satsuki Nakayama.

[102] In the quest, The Unplanned Variable, the player character has the option to relate to Parvati's feelings about sexual intimacy, and can add that, unlike her, they are not interested in romance, too.

[105] In episode 14 of the web series Dimension 20: A Crown of Candy, Liam Wilhelmina comes out to his father as asexual.

[106] Additionally, Percival King / Percy in the web series, Epithet Erased is a police officer with a strict moral code, values order and safety, and is asexual.

[107] He also said that while Percy is female and asexual, it was his "intention to leave everything beyond that point up to the viewer," adding that headcanons of fans that she is trans, non-binary, autistic, or anything else, is valid.

[111] Edinger is known for his "British VS American" series, in which he compares topics such as exams, healthcare systems and taxes with guest YouTubers from Britain.