Kiss Diss

"If he attempts to kiss her on the lips she should turn her head slightly so that the kiss falls harmlessly on her cheek instead. If he attempts to kiss her hand, she should make a fist. If he lifts her gown and attempts to kiss her anyplace else she should quickly pull the gown back in place, spring from the bed, and announce that nature calls her to the toilet."

- Instruction and Advice for the Young Bride

Bob wants to kiss Alice. Bob moves toward her, but at the last moment, Alice turns her face, and Bob ends up kissing her cheek instead.

Generally done to show that relations between two characters are frosty. If relations are especially frosty, she may not even be that subtle. Other reasons do exist, such as to delay The Big Kiss (in which case, Alice didn't realize Bob was trying to kiss her), or because it's not the time/place for smooching. Or maybe one part of the party just doesn't want to kiss.

See also Almost Kiss, for when the kiss is interrupted by external circumstances.

Anime and Manga

 * In Ultra Maniac, Ayu does this to Kaji, but only because he caught her by surprise. She's happy to let him kiss her a little later.
 * Fire Tripper: Before being treated for some of his wounds, Shukumaru tries to kiss Suzuko, but she rejects his advances, due to believing that.

Film
"Flint: So, where were we?
 * Zack's girlfriend avoiding his kiss is the first sign she's about to dump him in She's All That.
 * In Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, after Flint apologizes to Sam before their big mission starts, he moves in for a kiss (since they'd had an Almost Kiss the day before), but she puts her hand up to stop him. Not the time, not the place, not the right mood.
 * Then at the end of the movie:

Sam: You were about to kiss me.

Flint: Were you gonna kiss me back?

Sam: Why don't you find out?

Flint: Because I don't wanna go for it and then get shot down again...

Sam: Just kiss me!"


 * Done in the film Double Jeopardy. As Libby publicly confronts her duplicitous husband (he faked his death at sea and framed her for murder) she turns her head as he tries to kiss her, invoking "oohs" from the observing crowd.
 * Done in The Bodyguard when Rachael wants to make Frank jealous with another man. He decides he wants sex with her. He leans in for a kiss, and she turns her head away. He then grabs her face and turns it back, and she turns away again, before asking one of her bodyguards to make him leave.
 * Stu's girlfriend in The Hangover is shrewish, controlling, and shows very little affection, if any. Before the trip to Vegas Wine Country, he leans in to kiss her goodbye and she reels back in abject horror almost on instinct...while keeping a completely indifferent look on her face.
 * In the first Spider Man movie, when Harry goes to kiss MJ at the World Expo she turns her head to the side, signalling that she doesn't really care for him that much. Peter on the ground sees this as well. In the novelisation it's made clear he understand exactly what she just did and is ecstatic that she might still love him.

Live Action TV

 * Done humourously in Wonderfalls: Aaron tries to kiss his girlfriend in public, but she's trying to keep their relationship secret. When he moves in, she gives him the good ol' interrupting starfish.
 * In the intro to The Dick Van Dyke Show Rob walks in the door, his wife approaches him, he goes to kiss her but she puts her hand up between their mouths, saying "We have guests," so he goes to greet them.
 * Kasidy does this to Sisko once in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine after he apologizes for being afraid of commitment.
 * Happens in the episode "Cold Feet, Hot Body" of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air in which will kiss disses Denise before he leaves her for good to see her fiance Lisa.
 * Inverted in an episode of Hannah Montana where Rico blackmails Miley. They settle on a cheek kiss as payment, but Rico turns his head at the last second and ends up kissing Miley's lips. He was thrilled, she was pissed.

Music
"Now I've been hangin' 'round you for days / but when I lean in you just turn your head away"
 * The song "Always Have to Steal My Kisses from You" by Ben Harper has this line:

"Baby said he couldn't stay, wouldn't put his lips to mine,
 * Fiona Apple's "Paper Bag":

A fail to kiss is a fail to cope."

Video Games

 * Kinda similar. In Harvest Moon Animal Parade, during one of their rival cutscenes, you see that Kathy has lost a bet to Owen and now has to kiss him. She then closes her eyes and tries to do so, only to find that Owen has moved all the way across the field as a prank. He then teases her for actually having wanted to kiss him. She then goes Tsundere and storms off.

Web Original

 * As the page quote implies, this is a tactic young women can use to evade sex, according to Instruction and Advice for the Young Bride. (By the way, the guide is a hoax.)
 * A mighty accurate and keenly-observed hoax, be it admitted.

Real Life

 * Prince Charles and Princess Diana when their marriage was starting to hit the rocks.
 * Its a fantastically blunt way for someone to give their partner a very clear message "I. Am. Pissed."