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Since Most Writers Are Male and Buxom Is Better, there are a lot of female characters with... uh... prominent chests. This trope is about the common ways these women are depicted reacting to their situation. Again, remember Most Writers Are Male and All Men Are Perverts.

This trope can also apply to the girl who's the first to grow breasts. It's not too different, since often in fiction this will overlap with her having the largest assets when she's a teen/adult (and vice versa), but this isn't entirely Truth in Television.

A female character's reaction to possessing large breasts tend to fall into five basic archetypes, each one being usually associated with certain character types and Stock Phrases (or variations thereof):

Type 1: Embarrassment - "Please don't stare.": Gets very flustered by being the focus of attention—most particularly if it's from her secret crush.

Type 2: Resentment - "I wish I never had them.": A somewhat frequent evolution of Type 1. Thinks she's Blessed with Suck, even when others disagree.

Type 3: Indifference - "So I'm bigger than average. Big deal.": Not only does she not exploit it, she may even have no real care for having such "assets" but is usually neutral about this issue. These ladies might show some traces of Type 4, as they are not necessarily against the idea of looking sexy with their outfits, but don't plan on relying on their sex appeal; however, while they might not try to exploit their "talents", the Artists/Animators/Camera View will almost certainly do it for them.

Type 4: Pride - "When you've got it, you should flaunt it!": Prone to parading their "assets" in the presence of male company (or female company, for homosexual ones... Or both, for bisexuals), sometimes with a little extra bounce in their step, and may often brag about them, unknowingly in front of less fortunate, usually younger and self-conscious female characters. Likely to view their "development" as a way to get what they want, they are proud of their physical attractivenesss. Also unlikely to openly tease distracted young men for staring too long, as it makes them feel hot.

Type 5: Ignorance - "Why do men keep running into lamp posts while looking at me?": This is a girl who is so innocent/oblivious/naive that she genuinely can't make the connection between the increase of male accident rates in her presence and where their eyes are straying to.


For self-image with smaller assets, compare A-Cup Angst and its opposite, Petite Pride.


Examples of Big Breasts, Big Deal include:

Type 1 examples[]

Anime and Manga[]

Cquote1

Tomo: "Hey, you really wanna surprise her? Tell her how big those breasts of yours are."
Kagura: (mortified, crossing her arms over her chest) "Wh-what do they have to do with anything?!"
Tomo: "But they're so huge!"
Kagura: "Will you stop embarrassing me?!"

Cquote2

Video Games[]


Type 2 examples[]

Anime and Manga[]

  • Claire from the Blue Eyes Hentai manga starts out as a definite example of Type 2, before gradually changing into Type 1 with the male protagonist's help... and repetitive doses of Good People Have Good Sex.
  • Shii of Puni Puni Poemi has an absolutely enormous chest, large enough that she has to set them down on things around the house to keep from falling over, including the title character's head and apparently once smothered the cat. When each of the family members gets an Imagine Spot for what they'd wish for with Kobayashi Puni Puni Poemi's magical powers, Shii's spot shows a flat-chested version of herself.
  • Keroro Gunsou: Natsumi Hinata is reminded more often that she'd like that (usually by the Schoolgirl Lesbians stalking her) she's more well-endowed than average, and seems to think they're more a burden than a blessing. One of her fears is that she'll "end up a mutant like mom" and the effects of Kururu's age-changing beam in volume three indicate that this is indeed destined to be her terrible fate.
  • Haruka Shiraishi from Chu-Bra!! is mostly this, with a bit of Type 1.
  • Morino from Toshiue no Hito was hounded by boys when her breasts grew, and was even sexually harassed at university before Tsutomu stepped in to save her. When they broke up and Ageha came on the scene, she tried her best to use her sex appeal to win him back first, leading to angst when she was harassed (and saved) again.
  • Maria Ortega from Aoi House is embarrassed by her large chest, so much that she ran off crying when Alex talked to Sandy about her... not realizing that he's within earshot of her.
  • Once in a while, serious warrior types will be seen looking downheartedly at their bust, wondering why they're so big and/or still growing:
  • Kamen no Maid Guy: Naeka Fujiwara resents hers, especially in episode 2 since they apparently make her bad at math. They are so enormous and invasive that not even an iron breastplate can keep them contained.
    • Much to her regret, the usually reliable Fubuki has the same problem...
  • Yae from Hanjuku Joshi really hates having large breasts, even wearing a painfully small bra in an attempt to flatten them down.

Literature[]

  • In Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret., Margaret and the other girls envy Laura Danker, who developed breasts early. Boys ogle her and girls circulate gossip about her. Later in the story, it's revealed that Laura wishes she didn't have them: she doesn't like the attention they attract.
  • In the Dragonlance novels, Tika Waylan feels awkward and dumpy because of her big breasts and is envious of the elven princess Laurana's slender figure.
  • In One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Nurse Ratched resents having large breasts and tries to hide them.
  • In The Clique it's explicitly pointed out that pre-teens Alicia and her sister, Nina, were forced to have breast augmentation surgery by their family (to make them easier to "marry off") so boys lust after them and the other girls envy them...but unlike Nina, who relishes the attention, Alicia is insecure about how overblown she is.
    • Massie, the leader of The Clique also has breast implants, again she explicitly mentions them, and compares some of her bad situations to when they "burst" once and had to be replaced.

Live Action TV[]

Cquote1

Stella: Oh, why was I born with these big bazongas?
Ed: Oh, I'm sure you weren't born with them; I'm sure they developed over time, ya know?

Cquote2


Theatre[]

  • A hilarious monologue in the mostly serious play How I Learned to Drive has the main character comparing her emerging boobs to parasitic aliens who have latched on to her.

Video Games[]

  • Sypha from Castlevania Judgment is pissed off that she has such large tits. This is only mentioned in Maria Renard's story, where Sypha is one of the three characters that Maria has dialogue in outside of the pre-match words.
Cquote1

Maria: Uh huh... They're huge...
Sypha: (annoyed) Will you stop? These things only get in the way.

Cquote2


Web Comics[]

  • Ash from Misfile. Not the least of all because they're especially big reminders of her position.
  • His treatment of a woman who felt this way is the reason Rayne Summers isn't allowed to go into Subway anymore.
Cquote1

Buxom Sandwich Artist: Sir, I told you my eyes are...
Rayne (still staring at her cleavage: ... up there, yes, I know. I'll get to them in a minute.

Cquote2
  • Candy of Nip and Tuck suffers from frequent backaches because of her breasts and is saving up for reduction surgery.

Real Life[]

  • There can be a reason for this. Women who are well endowed often get treated as if they were sexually promiscuous, regardless of their actual behavior. This is made worse by the fact that if they have truly huge breasts (we're talking Gag Boobs territory), loose clothing makes them look fat, and tight clothing makes them look slutty. And then there's the difficulty of finding bras that actually fit. Or the purely physical problems of weight and bulk; a lot of large-breasted women have back problems.
    • And imagine having Most Common Superpower at 14, an age when any girl is insecure, but those girls suffer from being leered at all the time by perverts. Breasts don't mean she's an adult, or wants anything.
      • Don't forget how many of these early bloomers are harrassed, bullied, slut-shamed and/or beaten up by other girls their age just because of their breast size. See this F!S secret and the reactions.
  • Soleil Moon Frye (Punky Brewster) had hers reduced. Frye stated in a People Magazine interview that if she stood up straight, other girls looked at her like she must be a prostitute. At fourteen.
    • They nicknamed her 'Punky Boobster'. Luckily, she has a sense of humor about it and did a Robot Chicken sketch about it a few years ago.


Type 3 examples[]

Anime and Manga[]

  • For Bleach, Kukaku Shiba, Tier Halibel, Cirucci Sanderwicci, Katen Kyokotsu, Chimpette, Mila-Rose, Nemu Kurotsuchi, Nelliel (non-loli version) and Haineko don't seem to care all that much about theirs, no matter large the size or how much the exposure. In fact, the vast majority of the big-breasted women in this manga fit this trope. Even Rangiku and Yoruichi are Type III sometimes (they're Type IV the rest of the time, however).
  • Yoko from Gurren Lagann, despite what her Stripperiffic Limited Wardrobe may imply.
  • Most of the larger girls in Mahou Sensei Negima (including Chizuru, Mana and Kaede, the top three) tend to fit into the Indifference type.
  • Motoko Kusanagi from Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex is completely indifferent about her looks. Despite her personal issues about retaining her individuality in a society that has become so integrated with technology, that people's souls are digital data, she has no objections about how her body and face itself is a mass-produced model that was rather popular from a few years back. She also wears a leotard that accentuates her breasts as her normal attire. When the subject about her appearance is brought up by coworkers and her roommates, she just tells them that she prefers the model she uses. All in all though, she'll flaunt it if she wants (needs) to, but otherwise just doesn't care.
  • In contrast to her daughter above, Aki Hinata has no problem with being extremely well-endowed but neither does she make a big deal about them, and she's far too Genre Savvy to be unaware of their Male Gaze attracting properties.
  • When the subject of boobs was brought up in an episode of Sky Girls by the resident flat chested girl Otoha, Eika (who got mentioned as having the most "ideal" size) chides her thusly:
Cquote1

Eika: If you have time to worry about breast size, you should worry more about your training.

Cquote2
    • Subverted slightly that, out of earshot, Eika did ponder about hers being "ideal". This is never mentioned again.
  • Princess Amelia of Slayers is considerably bustier than the heroine (and older sister figure), Lina. Whereas Lina has an enormous complex over her small bustline, Amelia doesn't seem fazed by her own. This can be said for most of the bustier females of the series, except of course Naga who falls under Type 4.
  • Despite it being a common trait in Asu no Yoichi, most of the girls fall into indifference. Ayame makes more of an issue of it, Chihaya falls into Pride when she's trying to provoke Yoichi into a response and Kagome falls into resentment, wishing she compared to Ayame (considering she's only 10, probably reasonable).
  • Fumika from Koe de Oshigoto! views her rather ample chest as little more than a burden, possibly leaning slightly towards Type 2. The likely reason is that she is 21 and so far her breasts have done nothing to help her get a boyfriend.
  • Rina and Elga from Inumimi are well-endowed and don't see what the big deal is. At first they qualify as Type 5 because they used to be dogs and didn't understand. After it's explained to them why all the guys stare, they get it but still don't care. Neither do they consider Emina's smaller cup size to be any big deal. (Although Emina certainly doesn't see it that way.)
  • Reinforce Eins of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha. As she mentioned when Hayate practically squees over her huge breasts in A's Sound Stage 2, she won't get embarassed about them unlike Signum, and even tells Hayate that she could touch them as much she wants.
  • Rushuna from Grenadier certainly knows she's well-endowed, since she uses that fact to her advantage for reloading her revolver and soothing her opponents. She never brags about it, though.
  • Haruka Gracia from Basquash is mostly indifferent to her "lunar bust" (she resorts to I Have Boobs - You Must Obey! though).
  • Lucy in Fairy Tale doesn't make a particularly big deal over her sizeable melons (although Taurus certainly does). On the other hand, in the Freaky Friday episode, Gray-in-Lucy bitched about how much his back hurt, so she clearly can't be a Type 5.
  • Iida (and possibly Sakurai, depending on one's definition of "big") in Rail Wars!

Comic Books[]

Film[]

  • Jessica Rabbit in Who Framed Roger Rabbit? has large breasts, but blithely remarks that it's just how she's drawn.
  • In Inside Man, one of the robbers is a buxom lady. Two people in the bank qualify, a hot Latina and another (the criminal) who while being interrogated is asked to lower the zipper on her jacket. When the cops explain why, her reply is "So I violated Section 34 Double D?".

Live-Action TV[]

  • Maya in Just Shoot Me was once described as having the biggest breasts in the office (and considering she works at a fashion magazine, that's saying something), but she consciously plays down her looks, wishing to be admired for her mind instead.
  • Dr. Molly Clock, a minor character in Scrubs, told Elliot to act confident for people to believe that she's confident. To demonstrate, Molly walked over to a table of old male board members.
Cquote1

Molly: Excuse me.
All four men look at her chest
Molly: Yeah, those are my boobs.
All four men look up

Cquote2
  • Jennifer Marlowe, the receptionist from WKRP in Cincinnati is a good example of this. While she had generous endowments and often wore tight sweaters that showcased her assets, she didn't use them to her advantage or think of herself as the most beautiful woman in the group or superior to all other women. She was intelligent, great friends with the other female at the radio station (the more modestly endowed Bailey Quarters), and treated almost all of the guys as friends only.
  • 2nd Lt Vanessa James in Stargate Universe. She wears tight t-shirts and tank tops around the ship but doesn't seem to be looking for attention. However, she clearly knows she's got a stupendous rack - note the scene in "Darkness" where she looks down at her cleavage after Eli and Riley are caught playing peeping tom with a Kino.

Video Games[]

Visual Novels[]

  • Mia Fey from the Ace Attorney series is also generally this type as well.
    • She takes advantage of it exactly once and only because her flat chested sister Maya asked her to. (She had a good reason.)

Web Comics[]

  • Any well-endowed girl in Supernormal Step that isn't Eva is Type III: Cecilia, May, and Alice are all rather large, but this is more or less irrelevant to their characters and personalities.
  • This covers both Bowler and Marron from Voodoo Walrus. While they have been known to wear revealing outfits, no extra attention is brought to their breasts one way or the other.

Web Original[]

  • Mille Chanteau of Ilivais X would much rather nobody make a big deal or think any different of her for her body.
  • Nella from The Nostalgia Chick has what was once described as an 'ample bosom' but typically wears t-shirts and blouses that neither hide her figure nor show it off. In the one exception (a Moulin Rouge crossover review), she wore a corset and the comment board went wild.

Western Animation[]

  • In an episode of King of the Hill while waiting for a professor outside his classroom Hank bumps into a woman with very large breasts with a tiny cutoff t-shirt, the woman says "They're breasts big deal!" and Hank reacts in embarrassment.
    • Made even funnier by the fact that said woman had a large, glaring graphic on her shirt that Hank could have just as easily have been looking at.

Real Life[]

  • As hard as it is for people to believe, there are well-endowed girls who are fine with their breasts. Some may admit to having some problems with them, but they are able to cope with it or don't think they should resent their breasts for it. While they don't mind attention, they still would like to be taken serious as a person and also don't appreciate the negative comments they receive.


Type 4 examples[]

Anime and Manga[]

  • Love Hina: Mitsune "Kitsune" Konno. Poor Keitaro.
    • And semi-Expy Kazumi Asakura from Mahou Sensei Negima. Luckily, she's one of the few girls who is only interested in Negi because he's a wizard rather than seeing him as a romantic interest.
  • Kirika Misono just loves using them to embarrass (and "attempt to seduce") Butt Monkey protagonist Densuke... both clothed and in nude.
  • Kanokon's Chizuru definitely falls under this, especially since she gets really down when a curse temporary removes her assets.
  • Rangiku Matsumoto from Bleach is pretty much shameless in this regard (and Word of God essentially confirms that her figure was an intentional aspect of her character design); it must be mentioned, though, that she is a bit of a cross between types 3 and 4. While she does flaunt them, she's not vain or really arrogant on the matter, and rarely does she use them for seduction purposes. But then she fits 4 to a T when it comes to Nanao. She constantly brags about the size of her breasts to the more average sized, but cute nerdy girl.
    • Yoruichi. While she's often a 3, she definitely used her nakedness to intimidate Ichigo.
  • The Familiar of Zero‍'‍s Kirche is a textbook example of the type 4 buxom.
  • Satella from Chrono Crusade knows what she has and shows it off.
  • At least during the early part of the Rosario Plus Vampire manga, Kurumu was very proud of her... talents... and regularly taunted a smaller girl about it. Makes sense considering that she's a succubus and it comes with the territory.
  • Naga from Slayers is a definite case of Type 4.
  • Ami from Toradora!.
  • Urd from Ah! My Goddess, once outright stating this was her view. Peorth and Hild also appear to qualify.
  • Hayate the Combat Butler: When Hayate mentions that he's noticed Athena's growth after their meeting and battling after ten years, Athena questions what part he noticed, and makes sure that he answers correctly.
  • Satsuki from Ichigo 100% after her numerous attacks on Manaka.
  • Macross Frontier: "My breasts are different. They give people hopes and dreams!" Sheryl Nome, such a big deal that each of her breasts have their own Fan Nickname.
  • Kami Hestia of Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?, who uses hers to intimidate women who she sees as being interested in her human companion Bell. Her in-universe nickname is "rori kyonyū" / "Loli Big-Boobs".

Comic Books[]

  • As most comic superheroines tend to have huge chests, it takes a lot of effort to have one stand out, but Emma Frost manages to define this trope, being one of the few comic characters to openly admit to having had breast augmentation. And let's not go into her preferred fashion style...
    • Ironically, Emma Frost turns out to be one of the more modest examples. The only other females to ever own up to some Breast Expansion are demonstrated as being pretty shallow, and thus fit this trope to a T (or at least Type 4, anyway):
    • Swift from The Authority openly bragged about her "20,000 dollar boob job" after she suddenly showed up with brand new superpowers after previously being flat chested.
    • Latex Red, a villain from the comic 3 Little Kittens, also was quite openly boastful about her breast implants...which, instead of silicone, were nuclear warheads. According to her (very buxom) former team mates, she got them after she was thrown off the team because she thought she needed to "outdo" them.
    • Both Outlaw and Spider-Woman have breast implants too. Outlaw just came out and said it when asked, but Spider-Woman hasn't even though she was actually shown having the surgery in one of the comics (and the writer said she had implants too). Although Spider-Woman herself is more of Type 3, who doesn't seem to care if her breasts are big and not really flaunting them on purpose.
    • Cat Grant was not only open about getting breast implants but was literally arrogant about them. This led to a rather humerous panel where she's sticking out her new chest and Supergirl calls them "strage lumps of plastic".
    • Raven Hex, from the Tarot series is a twisted version of this type. She openly flaunts her breasts, but will literally poke the eyes out of any man who she catches noticing them.

Video Games[]

  • Mabinogi: Unlike Type 1 Nao, Rua is quite happy with her endowments, and has no problem using them to get what she wants.
  • Judith from Tales of Vesperia wears her assests with pride.

Visual Novels[]

  • April May, the initial female antagonist in the Ace Attorney series, is a pretty definite case of Type 4 (when she doesn't get angry).

Web Comics[]

  • Fa'Lina from DMFA is a type 4, but the male members of the cast are are much less distracted than she would like.
  • Word of God states that Eva from Supernormal Step deliberately wears clothes that show off her body, but so far she's had little interaction with anyone male besides her brother and hasn't been able to "show off" yet.

Web Original[]

  • A bunch of the high school girls at Whateley Academy have the Most Common Superpower and flaunt it. Solange and Attributes (yes, she gave herself a codename of 'attributes') are just two of them.
  • Ashe Gogus in Ilivais X, who says something about her assets in every other line. It doesn't help her last name is literally Turkish for boob, which bodes well for whatever family she has.
  • The Nostalgia Chick likes her cleavage baring tops. Her bust is probably the only part of her body that she enjoys.
  • The Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Abridged Series does this with Mai, who always refers to herself as "My Breasts".

Western Animation[]

  • One Gargoyles fan wrote to Greg Weisman to ask why Titania, as Queen of The Fair Folk, wore such revealing clothing rather than more "regal" attire. His response: "She got it, she flaunt it." No word if this attitude helped factor into her and Oberon's past relationship problems.
  • An episode of Duckman features a woman named Tamora who seemed proud of her large assets and regularly used them to seduce people.

Type 5 examples[]

Anime and Manga[]

Literature[]

Movies[]

  • Melody from Josie and the Pussy Cats. Not so much in the movie, where the car crash happened because of the sign that said "Honk if you love pussycats," rather than due to her figure.

Web Comics[]

  • Didi from Ménage à 3 is extremely well-endowed, but doesn't seem to notice her effect on people.

Western Animation[]

  • Bebe in South Park—and the boys who are going crazy over her are also ignorant of why. Only Wendy Testaburger seems to know what's going on.
Cquote1

Bebe's Mom: Oh, women in our family are always told we are smart and wonderful!
Bebe: Mom, what's 6 times 8?
Bebe's Mom: Oh, sweetie, those are completely different numbers!

Cquote2
  • An episode of Duckman has Duckman and Cornfed keeping watch over a pair of twins who have enormous breasts twice as big as their heads, they are completely ignorant as to why men are always staring at them.

Multi-Type Examples[]

Note: "Multi-Type" is strictly limited to cases where a single character simultaneously qualifies for two or more of the above types; "evolving" from one type to another is not "Multi-Type".

Anime and Manga[]

  • Manyu Hikencho revolves around this, depicting a society where a woman's social status depends entirely on her breast size. Type 4 is most common, but the main character has been known to demonstrate more than one type at once. Mostly combinations of Type 1-3.
  • Rin Todoriki starts Mahoromatic in the "Please don't stare" camp; ends the series in the "When you've got it, you should flaunt it" camp.

Comic Books[]

  • Clover from Blue Monday might fit this. While she doesn't like being objectified and often dresses conservatively, she has no problem using her breasts as a weapon (literally "punching" a guy in the face with them at one point). Also, instead of being embarrassed about her boobs, she just gets snippy or violent. It should be noted that Blue Monday's writer is a woman, which may be why Clover doesn't easily fall under any of the above types.
  • Power Girl depending on the writer. She knows she has big breasts, and so does everyone else. She has also cited them as the reason she doesn't need to wear a mask, while at the same time being embarrassed when she was used to distract a young teen supervillain. She more seems to take offense at people who assume she only has a good body and no brains.
  • Gina Diggers from Gold Digger was originally a severe Type 5 bordering on Asexuality. She specifically remembers thinking: "Jinkies! Where did those come from?!" when Brittany pointed them out the day she awakened her sex drive. Now, the flits between Types 3 and 4, depending on the situation (or the guy(s) in question).

Live Action TV[]

  • Max in Two Broke Girls is both Type 3 and 4, with jokes in several episodes referencing her (and actress Kat Dennings') large breasts, with her reaction ranging from indifference to acknowledgement.

Video Games[]

  • Tear Grants from Tales of the Abyss is both Type 1 and 3. Most of the time her huge breasts are not an issue whatsoever, but when they're pointed out in skits (specially when she wears a revealing outfit), she shows some minor embarrasment.

Web Comic[]

  • Sister Germany of Scandinavia and The World. Types 2 and 3.
  • Chloe in Eerie Cuties was surprised by all the attention after her "growth spurt". Later she did see what's going on, that's when she learned to use succubus abilities, which includes shapeshifting, so most of the time she was enjoying a form that won't strain her back this much.

Web Original[]

  • Rationalist/atheist/humorist vlogger Laci Green is a mix of types 3 and 4 — she'd prefer to be known for something other than her immense bustline, but sees no reason to be ashamed of it either.
    • She made a whole video addressing her bust size and how it related to her vlogging, decrying the people who said she should cover up while admitting she doesn't mind fanboys who want her to show more.
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