While the outcome of gravitational collapse in classical general relativity is unquestionably a black hole, up to now no full and complete semiclassical description of black hole formation has been thoroughly investigated. Here we revisit the standard scenario for this process. By analyzing how semiclassical collapse proceeds we show that the very formation of a trapping horizon can be seriously questioned for a large set of, possibly realistic, scenarios. We emphasise that in principle the theoretical framework of semiclassical gravity certainly allows the formation of trapping horizons. What we are questioning here is the more subtle point of whether or not the standard black hole picture is appropriate for describing the end point of realistic collapse. Indeed if semiclassical physics were in some cases to prevent formation of the trapping horizon, then this suggests the possibility of new collapsed objects which can be much less problematic, making it unnecessary to confront the information paradox or the run-away end point problem.

CB has been funded by the Spanish MEC under project FIS2005-05736-C03-01 with a partial FEDER contribution. CB and SL are also supported by an INFN-MEC collaboration. MV was supported by a Marsden grant administered by the Royal Society of New Zealand.

revtex4, 14 pages, 2 figures

Peer reviewed