Some people and societies often prize virginity (at least in women). As a result, some non-virgins will actually claim to be virgins for the sake of their reputation. The exact motivations behind the lie can vary; someone seeking a long-term relationship might lie in order to make themselves seem like a more desirable partner. In a society where pre-marital sex carries legal penalties, a person will claim to be a virgin to avoid punishment. In societies where not being a virgin is considered shameful, a person might tell this sort of lie to avoid being slut-shamed.
Naturally, like most dishonesty tropes, characters who lie will inevitably be discovered. If someone is widely known to be promiscuous, then it's not uncommon for no one to believe them. If someone manages to fool enough people, then the people who know the truth will inevitably expose the "virgin." If this type of character lies to their partner about not having been in a relationship, expect said partner to dump them once they find out the truth.
Opposite Trope to Of Course I'm Not a Virgin. Compare Unexpected Virgin. An attempt to maintain this lie may involve Consummation Counterfeit to fake a Bloodstained Defloration. This can cause major problems if a Cult tries to use someone like this in a Virgin Sacrifice. Not to be confused with Technical Virgin, which is someone who "Has never had coitus, but they have achieved sexual satisfaction."
Examples:
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Fan Works
- In the Bug Fables fic The Price of Silk, the fake virgin surprisingly enough is Kabbu. It isn't stated whether he ever directly lied about it or just happened to Lie By Omission but it seems that everyone just happened to assume that Kabbu was a virgin anyway given his painfully obvious discomfort regarding even the most casual discussion of it and Kabbu's intense reaction to the pheromones only seemed to confirm it as apparently pheromones affect unmated bugs more than mated ones. It seems though that he was unfortunate enough to be very sensitive to them regardless of his sexual status. Given what happens to those caught in a same-sex relationship in the Northern Kingdom though, Kabbu is considered very justified in keeping quiet about it.
- With Pearl and Ruby Glowing: A dark inversion happens when Frollo rapes Esmeralda, a stripper. When Esmeralda bleeds due to being a virgin, Frollo accuses her of somehow faking her virginity, as he assumes that being a stripper meant that she must be promiscuous.
Films — Live-Action
- Airplane II: The Sequel: A Running Gag is that there's a girl who solicits someone on the plane, claiming she's never done it before and doesn't want to die a virgin. After the first time, she appears again, saying the exact same lines to another guy, and then the third time, there's a whole line of men waiting for their turn.
- The Cabin in the Woods: Dana is selected by the Organization to fulfill the role of "The Virgin" while Jules is designated as the stupid slut who has to die to complete the Human Sacrifice. Dana herself is baffled by this because if anything she was more promiscuous than Jules, having slept with one of her professors. The Organization's handlers excuse this by claiming they "work with what we have".
- Jennifer's Body: Needy hears Nikolai and the rest of the band suggesting Jennifer is a virgin (which she isn't). Jennifer assumes that he wants her to be one (which is true) and tells Needy she'll play up being innocent. When they kidnap her — Jennifer assumes for the purposes of rape — Mick asks if "they even know if she's a virgin". Jennifer, thinking they won't want to rape her in these circumstances, tells them that she is and they find another girl who "knows how to" have sex. She doesn't know that they want her for a Virgin Sacrifice, and saying this gets her killed.
- The Monster Squad: In order to open the portal to the void and banish the monsters, the spell must be read by a virgin. They ask Patrick's older sister to read the spell, only for it to do absolutely nothing, at which point Patrick, shocked, confronts his sister on her claims of virginity, to which she reveals she's been with someone named Steve, but insists he "doesn't count". They're eventually able to get the spell to work by having five-year-old Phoebe read it.
- The Pornographers: Ogata is approached by a creepy businessman who wants a virgin to deflower. He matches the businessman up with an escort who specializes in pretending to be a virgin.
- ThanksKilling: At one point, Ali, who's very promiscuous, claims to be a prude when rejecting Darren. Kristen scoffs and says that Ali's legs are "harder to shut than the JonBenet Ramsey case
."
Jokes
- One joke has a variant involving dirty thoughts rather than sex. A priest approaches a group of boys who explain that they're playing a game in which the person who tells the biggest lie about their sex life wins. The priest claims he never thought about sex when he was their age. The boys respond with "You won, Father!"
Literature
- Captive Prince: According to his side story, the high-class escort Ancel claimed virginity as a selling point for as long as he could get away with it at the beginning of his career, before setting his sights higher. It helped to be a Pretty Boy with youthful features.
The thirteenth time, it lacked all plausibility.
- In The Constant Princess by Philippa Gregory, as well as the TV series based on it, Catherine of Aragon sleeps with her first husband Arthur, but after his death she lies that the marriage was unconsummated to be able to marry Arthur's brother Henry (as marrying a brother-in-law otherwise would be incestuous by the laws of the time).
- A Song of Ice and Fire: Maidenhead is highly prized among prostitutes in Westeros, and prostitutes who are able to sell their maidenhead can command high prices for it. As a result, it's a semi-common practice for prostitutes to pretend to be virgins for that purpose.
Live-Action TV
- Game of Thrones: In "What Is Dead May Never Die", Margery Tyrell is introduced having just entered a political marriage with Renly Baratheon to support his bid for the Iron Throne. On the wedding night, Renly discusses their impending consummation with his boyfriend, her brother Loras; when asked whether Margery is a virgin, Loras replies, "Officially." Her virginity or lack thereof turns out to be irrelevant, as Renly is completely incapable of getting it up for her in either case.
- Glee:
- Finn claims he's a virgin when he has sex with Rachel for the first time, but in reality, he and Santana had sex in an earlier episode.
- Finn and Quinn play with this trope; Quinn claims that she got impregnated by Finn's sperm swam into her through a hot tub, not wanting to admit that she was cheating with Puck.
- Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: In "Pure", Sebastian Ballentine/Henry Palaver is revealed to have a fetish for raping virgins. His dim Love Martyr wife, Carlene, met him when he was in prison for one such crime and fell obsessively in love with him. She lied to him and claimed that she was a virgin, which she tried to achieve by abstaining from sex after their relationship started. However, when they actually had sex for the first time, he could tell she wasn't actually a virgin due to his skills — and, as a result, they had a completely Sexless Marriage in which she procured virgins for him to rape.
- Skins: Implied with Franky due to her Aborted Arc in Skins Generation Three. She says that she's a virgin in Series 5, unusual for a series where Everybody Has Lots of Sex, and she freaks out when Matty tries to have sex with her in the finale. However, in Series 6, she and Matty are a couple, and she tells her friends that she's "been losing her virginity loads of times."
- Supernatural: In "Like a Virgin", a string of disappearances turns out to be the work of shapeshifting dragons looking for Virgin Sacrifices. While investigating, the Winchesters notice that the victims are mostly purity-ring-wearing young women, then confirm their suspicions when one is attacked but not taken.
Dean: Look, nobody is judging anybody here, okay? Believe me. But... should you really be wearing that ring?
Melissa: Well— I-I mean— I-I am— Matt Barne didn't count!
Theatre
- The Changeling (Middleton and Rowley): Alsemero makes Beatrice drink a potion that will reveal if she's a virgin. She's not, but she knows the effects of the potion and is able to fake them convincingly.
Visual Novels
- Shale Hill Secrets: Invoked when Leah and the Protagonist have sex for the first time. Leah claims to be a virgin, though the MC notes that she could just be saying this to make him even happier.
Web Animation
- Etra chan saw it!: My old school bully suddenly got famous and was on TV every night!: Akane is a celebrity who claims to have no experience with guys on TV. Azami, one of her old classmates, knows that she's lying because Akane had seven boyfriends at one time while in middle school.
Webcomics
- Errant Story: Meji attempts to get an A on her final project by means of Sextra Credit, but then the following exchange happens:
Meji: I could sleep with you, I'm still a virgin!
Yukiri: Not according to some of the graffiti I've seen in the men's room stalls.
Meji: Well, er, you could still take my, um, oral virginity?
Yukiri: No. And again, not according to what I've seen written in the restrooms. - Oglaf: In "The Virgin Cobbler", the title character claims that her great skill comes from Virgin Power, so a wealthy client seduces her to ensure she'll never make a finer work for someone else. Cue her nonchalantly buying a bogus "potion of virginity restoration".
Apothecary: You know this is just sugar water, right?
Cobbler: [grinning] Like I know cobbling skill comes from talent and practice. - The Order of the Stick: In one of the book-only strips, the Order encounters a unicorn. Haley tries to pass herself off as a "maiden of virtue", and the unicorn falls over laughing.
Web Videos
- Dragon Ball Z Abridged: Implied; After Yamcha dies, his girlfriend Bulma cries, claiming that she was saving herself for him. Roshi responds by saying "Bullsh*t"
Western Animation
- Family Guy: In "April In Quahog", Quagmire tricks Joe into letting him sleep with Bonnie, Joe's wife, by claiming that he's actually a virgin and that he lied about all the sex he's had and begs Joe to let him sleep with Bonnie before the world ends. After Quagmire does sleep with Bonnie, he reveals that he's had sex plenty of times and just wanted to have it again.
- Futurama: In "I Second That Emotion", the mutants demand an "unspoiled virgin" to act as a Virgin Sacrifice and lure in the vicious sewer monster El Chupanibre. Leela volunteers, and while the mutants point out that she is definitely not a virgin, they accept her offer due to a lack of alternatives.
Female Mutant: Nice try, Leela, but we've all seen Zapp Brannigan's web page.