Adrenaline Makeover: Difference between revisions

[[File:katara makeover 6135.jpg|link=Avatar: The Last Airbender|frame|Can you see the difference?]]

 

 

The Adrenaline Makeover candidate is almost always or was [[Beautiful All Along]]. But at the beginning of the story, our heroine is mousy, shy, wearing the bad glasses, the frumpy clothes, etc.

This often happens to make [[The Chick]] [[Hot Amazon|more palatable]] to men (and sometimes, [[Real Women Never Wear Dresses|"more exigent" females]]), and to [[Token Romance|add that romantic element]] so that [[Most Writers Are Male|action movies]] can also be [[Most Fanfic Writers Are Girls|date movies]]. The recipient of the Adrenaline Makeover is almost [[Always Female]], though a [[Non-Action Guy]] can occasionally also get a Makeover.

 

 

Basically [[Fan Service Pack]] as [[Character Development]]. The opposite of [[Chickification]].

 

Subtrope of [[Took a Level in Badass]] (or of [[Xenafication]] when it's done without [[Character Development]]).

 

* After {{spoiler|she saves Athrun's life and ends up having to defect from ZAFT as a consequence}}, [[Bridge Bunnies|Meyrin]] [[Naive Everygirl|Hawke]] from ''[[Gundam Seed Destiny]]'' switches from a rather modest cadet uniform and [[Girlish Pigtails]] to a tighter jacket/pants combination and [[Expository Hairstyle Change|wearing her long hair loose]].

* Youko Nakajima from ''[[The Twelve Kingdoms]]'' is a more subdued version. She starts shy and mousy [[Joshikousei|in her dark grey school uniform]], becomes a [[Dark-Skinned Redhead]] [[Action Girl]] in Chinese clothing after being [[Trapped in Another World]], later is seen in regal clothing when crowned as the Queen of the Kei Kingdom (but switching to her traveler outfits whenever she leaves the palace).

* ''[[Persona 4: The Animation]]'' gives the male Yu one, involving letting his uniform jacket hang open.

 

 

* In ''[[The Incredibles]]'', there's no [[Love Interest]] involved, but it's fighting for her life and her family that causes [[I Just Want to Be Normal|Reluctant Hero]] Violet Parr to come out of her shell, learn a [[Power-Up|new power]], and quit hiding behind her hair. In the same movie, getting back in the hero game inspires her bored father Bob to slim down (and bulk up) and have more fun with his family.

** Incidentally, the guy at school Violet was pining after only notices her post-adventure. Slightly understandable, since before she only had the confidence to lurk behind the scenery staring at him.

* Hiccup in ''[[How to Train Your Dragon (animation)|How to Train Your Dragon]]'' suits himself up with dragon-riding gear, gains some confidence, and finishes out the movie looking even more hardcore with {{spoiler|a prosthetic limb}}.

* Jane Porter's clothes and hair change in ''[[Tarzan (Disney film)|Tarzan]]'' over the course of the film, it starts with her wearing her hair in a bun and in a large yellow dress, when she brings Tarzan back her hair is loose, and she starts wearing a shirt and skirt and occasionally goes barefoot, when she falls in love she's wearing loose fitting clothing, and by the end of the film she's wearing animal skin like Tarzan.

* Chris in ''[[Adventures in Babysitting]]'' is played from a slightly different angle. She finds out during a night of running from gangbangers and criminals that her boyfriend is cheating on her because she won't put out. She gets everybody safely home, parents none the wiser, and gets a nicer, new, upgraded boyfriend when all is said and done—all ''without'' changing her look. Then again, she doesn't really ''need'' to change her look—a running gag/subplot of the film is the [[Identical Stranger]] who is the current Playmate of the Month, for whom she is repeatedly mistaken.

* ''[[Fantastic Four (film)|Fantastic Four]]'': Sue Storm, a.k.a. the Invisible Woman. She was acknowledged as extremely beautiful from the very beginning but she was the "hair in a bun, glasses on the face" science girl. Starting from the moment they get back to earth, she starts wearing the hair down and ditches the glasses. The movie progresses through her reconciling with Reed, and by the end of the movie they're an [[Adventure Duo]] plus two. By the sequel, she's [[Took a Level in Badass|way more skilled with her powers]] and takes no crap, even from Reed.

* Evey Hammond of the ''[[V for Vendetta]]'' film begins as a meek, conventionally pretty pushover of a women, but after V's done with her (most noticeably her shaved hair) she is independent, fearless, and (if I do say so myself), much more striking.

 

* Averted with ''Stationery Voyagers''. Since Neone is a highlighter marker; with her cap on, it's impossible to tell if she gets more or less sexy underneath as a Voyager than as a [[Hooker with a Heart of Gold|prostitute]].

 

* On ''[[Xena: Warrior Princess]]'', Gabrielle goes from a mousy wannabe bard to a [[Sai Guy|sai wielding]] [[Action Girl]] over the course of the series, inciting a [http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l9hf7fzhxn1qbg38lo1_500.jpg very] [https://web.archive.org/web/20060827042002/http://www.xena.nu/gabrielle35.JPG dramatic] change in retrospect.

* Willow from ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' starts out as a wimpy nerd and becomes one of the most powerful characters in the series by the end of the show. Although she has a few romances along the way, her transformation isn't a direct result of any one of them.

* Dana Scully of "[[The X-Files]]" started off the series as a painfully serious, straight-laced, everything-by-the-book agent who wore unfashionable blazer/skirt combos. By the end of the series, she no longer as uptight and has embraced the idea of the paranormal. On top of that, the frumpy plaid pantsuits are gone and in their place are more flattering clothes.

 

* [[Rihanna]] after the assault on her by [[Chris Brown]] (at least during the ''Rated R'' era).

 

 

* In ''[[Final Fantasy IX]]'', Princess Garnet starts off very shy, awkward around commoners, and unsure of her future status as Queen. She's still beautiful and useful in combat (especially after she gains her summons), but has this whole [[Disney Princess]] thing about her. But about 3/4 through the game, she decides to be more daring and uses Zidane's dagger to [[Important Haircut|cut her hair short]], and her personality becomes more forward. Even her profile pic changes to a front-facing smile instead of the previous distant stare.

** Yuna from X to X-2.

* Anya from ''[[Gears of War]]'' will fit this trope in the third game, if the previews are any indication. [[Justified Trope|Justified]] because humans are going extinct, and [[Word of God]] states that every available body is needed for battle.

** Also applies to [[Big Bad|Queen Myyrah]], who, after {{spoiler|the flooding of the Locust Hollows and the current Lambent Invasion}}, has donned her battle armor and personally leads the remnants of the Locust in battle from atop her Tempest warmount.

 

 

* ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]''. Pictured above: Katara begins the series as the [[Team Mom]], dressed practically (she ''is'' from the South Pole), but as the series progresses and the seasons/latitude/climates change, she literally lets down her hair, and we get occasional shots of her in underwear or [[Bare Your Midriff|midriff-baring outfits]]. It should be noted her regular Water Tribe outfits (the clothes she wears most often) are still very practical, and she bares a lot more skin in the Fire Nation islands, which are mostly tropical and volcanic.

** Aang and Sokka, too. [https://web.archive.org/web/20120809184352/http://piandao.org/screencaps/ep9/ep9-227.png First] [https://web.archive.org/web/20120809184121/http://piandao.org/screencaps/ep9/ep9-236.png season], and [https://web.archive.org/web/20120809184311/http://piandao.org/screencaps/ep50/ep50-928.png third] [http://iroh.org/screencaps/ep58/ep58-583.png season.]{{Dead link}}

 

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