The unwelcome character reveal that has left Riverdale fans furious.

Netflix teen drama Riverdale has come under fire this week for showing a historically asexual character share a kiss.

Riverdale is the television adaption of a long-running comic series by Archie Comics. It was recently added to the Australian Netflix library.

The character of Jughead Jones came out as asexual in the comic series last year, making him the first character to openly identify as asexual in a mainstream comic.

Listen: Netflix’s new show Riverdale has been influencing you your whole life and you never realized. 

In the latest episode of the revamped series, and without spoiling it for those who are yet to see the show, Jughead kisses a female character.

The kiss, to original fans, carries the sting of outright betrayal as even the comic’s co-creator, Chip Zdarsky, told a New York Comic-Con panel in 2015, the character would continue being written as asexual, according to CBR.

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“People have asked me if there is going to be a romance if I’m writing Jughead, because I’m very romantic, and the answer is no, because there is enough of that in Archie,” he said.

“I think something like asexuality is underrepresented, and since we have a character who was asexual before people had the word for it, I’m continuing to write him that way.”

Fans furious at the erasure of the character's identity took to social media to vent their frustration and even pledge to boycott the show.

The hashtag, "#aroacejugheadorbust" began collating all the rage and disappointment felt by viewers.

One asexual (and aromantic) fan shared how they had cried in relief the first time the character stated their asexuality.

The fan went on to say that although Jughead could indeed kiss a character and still identify as asexual, his original character was also read as aromantic.

Aromantic individuals typically have little to no romantic attraction to others.

"You can't cherrypick his orientation. It's erasure," they wrote.

Another fan suggested the kiss could lead to the character realising his asexuality or aromantic identity. Considering the series is yet to finish airing its first season, this kind of exploration remains on the cards.

One of the Riverdale writers, Britta Lundin, even appeared on the Fansplaining podcast to discuss how the character was “not explicitly anything right now”.

“I don’t know what the right answer here is, because I think the best thing to do is be truthful, and the truth is, it’s not addressed in Season One," she said.

The truth behind whether Jughead will maintain his identity remains a mystery but it seems some insight may be offered in later seasons.

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