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Instant Ladies' Man, Just Add Applied Phlebotinum
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Yugi: "You're in love with me, right?" |
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This trope is for characters of any gender that have an alternate form or identity that is much sexier than their normal mode. Their normal mode need not necessarily be ugly, but it is generally more mundane or otherwise less appealing than their alternate mode. This usually invovles a change in their physical appearance, but sometimes involves personality changes instead of or in addition to physical changes. Changes might be accomplished through regular means such as acting and wardrobe changes, various Magic and Powers or Applied Phlebotinum, depending on the genre. This often overlaps with Split Personality, Shapeshifting, Older Alter Ego, and Super-Powered Alter Ego. It often results in Loves My Alter Ego.
Given that sexual attractiveness is subjective, the best examples are those when the sexier nature of the alternate form from the perspective of the characters is very cleary responded to or is clearly being intentionally used by the creator. Still, it is generally pretty clear when the creators of the story are trying to change someone from Hollywood Homely (or even downright ugly) to Ms. Fanservice or Hello, Nurse!.
Compare A Darker Me. Compare also to Shapeshifting Seducer where a shapeshifter capable of assuming many forms takes on several forms in an attempt to appeal to a specific person. She Cleans Up Nicely should be used for when a character changes from their usually wardobe, hairstyle and such to be more attractive (particularly at a formal event) however this new appearance is not associated with an alter ego or alternate physical form.
See also Bishounen Line for when a villain gets sexier once they hit a certain power level.
Anime and Manga[]
- Mahou Sensei Negima
- Negi Springfield and Kotaro both use age-up pills to chage from Adorably Precocious Child to Bishonen.
- Vampire Evangeline A.K. Mcdowell is a similar case. She has the body of a 10 year old girl, but uses magic to become older and very much The Vamp.
- Chisame, a fairly normal looking, geeky girl, who combines cosplay, The Glasses Gotta Go and computer graphics editing to make herself into famous web idol Chiu. Eventually she gets an artifact that allows her to do much the same process magically.
- Meru Puri - Aram is under a curse that causes him to age up to a teenager when exposed to the dark, likewise changing him from Cute Shotaro Boy to Bishonen. Of course, to the girls in the manga, this might be viewed as a Cursed with Awesome ability.
- D.N.Angel - Daisuke changes into Dark, a suave, Tall, Dark and Handsome, older looking Phantom Thief who is the heart throb of most of the ladies, except for Riku, who prefers Daisuke.
- In Yu Yu Hakusho, Koenma (usually in the form of an infant with a pacifier) is able to take on an older, more Bishounen appearance. Admittedly, an older more bishounen appearance with a pacifier, but its the thought that counts.
- In D.Gray-man, the Millennium Earl normally uses a goblin-like form but occasionally takes on a normal human form.
- In Tenchi Muyo!! Really Seven Hundred Years Old Washu Hakubi normally looks like a young teenager, and she pulls a fast one on Tenchi by unexpectedly transforming into her adult form to seduce him which is, needless to say, much more well endowed.
- Yugi in Yu-Gi-Oh! is an Adorkable Cute Shotaro Boy, but the spirit of the puzzle is a full out Bishonen, who is far more successful at attracting Tea's attention than Yugi. Lampshaded, of course, in Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Abridged Series:
- Tenjou Tenge has Maya Natsume, who actually inverts this trope. Her real form is that of a voluptuous young woman, but she spends most of her time is spent in the form of a young girl, making most people think it is her regular form.
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"Bob? If that weird little girl suddenly turns into the kind of stacked voluptuous chick you’d see working in a sketchy nightclub, what should I do?" |
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- When shy Aimi Komori applies her magic eye shadow, she becomes the sexy, superpowered cat burglar Shadow Lady.
- In Zettai Karen Children, there's a Hospital Hottie who also happens to be a powerful Esper with powers of illusion. It's eventually revealed that her perky-and-pretty appearance is ALSO an illusion, which she maintains whenever anyone's around - underneath it, she's got a face straight out of a Hammer Horror movie - think 'Frankenstein' more than 'Dracula'.
- Kichiku Megane stars the adorable, shy, door matty uke Saeki Katsuya, who turns into a sadistic and sexy seme when he puts on his glasses.
- Makoto in Nicoichi is much more attractive (and popular) in his female persona than his normal self.
- Nanatsu no Taizai has the Lion's Sin of Pride, Escanor, who's kind and meek-looking by night - and an super strong Hunk by day.
Comics[]
- Spider-Man villain Stunner was an overweight and lonely receptionist who gained super strength and great beauty through virtual reality technology.
- DC Character Looker was a frumpy librarian until she got her powers, and then she could turn into a redheaded hottie. Eventually, though, after she became a vampire, the sexy became her Shapeshifter Mode Lock.
- Captain Marvel - Not that Billy Batson is ugly, but Cap is better looking (not to mention Not Jailbait).
- Utilized in the Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam continuity, where Billy is stuck in a Loves My Alter Ego situation with a Lois Lane Expy.
- The titular WITCH are fairly average (albeit skinny) teenagers in their normal form. When transformed however, the are changed to look much more.. adult. Lampshaded on more than one occasion.
- Rose from Rose Is Rose has a sexy biker alter ego.
- Bothe Prime and Elven from The Ultraverse.
- Compare mousy Jennifer Walters to the Hot Amazon Green Skinned Babe that is the She Hulk.
Film[]
- Stanley Ipkiss, from The Mask film. Note that he's not more physically attractive (unless you're into that sort of thing), but more confident and impulsive (and gets Reality Warper powers), and that's why he gets the Love Interest in the end.
- This was a main plot point in both versions of The Nutty Professor. In both versions, the titular professor invents a way to change him from a nerdy looking fellow in the original film (and a rather overweight guy in the remake) into a smooth ladies man.
- Anne Bowman from Psycho Beach Party (Chicklet's Split Personality) looks the exact same during her scenes but her confidence and behaviour, using her body language, makes her much more of a sex object than Chicklet's shy and Tomboy-behaviour. In-Universe, that is.
Literature[]
- In God Stalk, the first volume of P.C. Hodgell's Chronicles of the Kencyrath, Jame's tavern dancer persona, the B'tyrr, is this. It's partly the rather revealing and sensual Senetha costume she wears, described as revealing "much skin in unexpected places", but also the dance, which is magically seductive. Since this is so not Jame's persona otherwise, people who've seen her as the dancer generally don't recognize her regular persona in public.
Live Action TV[]
- Family Matters - Steve Urkel had a machine that turned him into Stefan Urquel, a sexier version of himself who was a smooth ladies' man without a hint of nerdiness.
- The Are You Afraid of the Dark? episode "The Tale of the Dark Dragon" had two students taking a special serum that made them temporarily into their "true" selves (more good looking, confident etc). Once they were able to accept their deep psychological issues, the transformation became permanent.
- Candice from Heroes casts illusions of her appearance (similar to Shapeshifting, but her shape doesn't really shift it just looks like it). She usually appears as a Hot Chick but her real appearance is a lumpy, acne covered mess named Betty.
- In the Star Trek: The Original Series episode "Mudd's Women", Mudd has pills that he claims makes a woman more attractive. It was eventually revealed to be a placebo, with the Aesop being that attitude and confidence is what makes a woman attractive. Of course, given that they clearly showed women physically changing as a result of the pill rather than just acting differently, it was something of a Broken Aesop.
Web Original[]
- Homestar Runner once featured in one of Strongbad's Imagine Spots Modestly Hot Homsar.
Western Animation[]
- In Animaniacs Minerva Mink had a nerdy wolf Abhorrent Admirer who turned sexy under a full moon.
- Present in the WITCH television series as well as the comic above. Cornelia even wonders at one point if she can date older boys in her Guardian form. In Season Two does just that with Taranee's older brother.