Ambiguous Gender: Difference between revisions

See also [[Viewer Gender Confusion]], something which invoking this trope may cause to persist even if the character does get a [[Gender Reveal]].

 

 

{{examples}}

== Anime and Manga ==

* Helba from ''[[.hack]]''; it's unknown if Helba's Player is a guy or a girl.

* Edward in ''[[Cowboy Bebop]]'' is introduced like this. Male name, lanky but with prepubescent features, typically dresses in a baggy white shirt and biker shorts (when in a dress, the effect is... ''sort of'' like drag). Regardless of attire, characters are often visibly confused, as Ed's [[Cloudcuckoolander|behavior]] and voice reveal only childlike androgyny. In Ed's introductory episode, the ambiguity is resolved in the very last line, as we cut to an external shot of the ship while Faye wrestles with her:

{{quote|"Hey, you're a '''girl'''?!"}}

* Envy from ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist (manga)|Fullmetal Alchemist]]''. While the gender is eventually revealed in the [[Fullmetal Alchemist (anime)|2003 anime]] ({{spoiler|in which he was originally male}}), and turns out to [[No Biological Sex|not be really applicable in the manga]], Envy's androgynous 'normal' appearance, and being a [[Shape Shifter]], left it ambiguous for quite some time.

* Otto during ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS]]''. As revealed in the [[Comic Book Adaptation|supplementary manga]], even most of her fellow [[Quirky Miniboss Squad|Numbers]] were unsure if Otto was a male or a female, with the few who knew being told to keep quiet about it by [[Smug Snake|Quattro]]. Eventually revealed to be female, though Seven Arcs continues to play up her ambiguous gender by, for example, excluding her from the Numbers' [[Fan Service]] [[The Merch|posters]].

{{quote|'''Fans''': Is NZ a boy or a girl?

'''NZ''': Which do you think I am? :D }}

* In ''[[Black Lagoon]]'' It's impossible to tell which one of Hansel and Gretel is a boy and which is the girl as they change appearances for the heck of it. It is also speculated that they were both the same gender, which one is anyone's guess.

* In ''[[07-Ghost]]'', Kuroyuri's gender has yet to be revealed. Even the other characters don't know, in which Kuroyuri will even threaten them to death whenever they ask.

* People are STILL debating the genders of some of the appliances (especially Toaster) from [[The Brave Little Toaster]]

* [[The Lord of the Rings (film)|Gimli]] on dwarf women:

'''Aragorn:''' It's the beards.

'''Gimili:''' This in turn has given rise to the belief that there ''are'' no dwarf women and that dwarves just spring out of holes in the ground, which is of course ridiculous."}}

'''Hodgins & Sweets''': I dunno.

''(later)'' {{spoiler|'''Angela''': [[Unsettling Gender Reveal|It moved, he's a guy.]]}} }}

* In the original ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series]]'' pilot episode "The Cage", the alien Talosians were played by actresses in heavy alien makeup, but their speech was dubbed over with male voices. The incongruity between their facial features and voices was intended to emphasize their alienness.

** Next Gen: Riker dated a hermaphrodite once. The hermaphrodite was being ostracised from her species' society for acting slightly like a woman instead of carefully maintaining gender ambiguous behaviour. It was [[An Aesop]] about how [[Transgender]] people should be accepted as whatever gender they identify as, even if that gender is ambiguous, but with "the masses" portrayed as being ambiguous rather than divided into two definite genders.

* [[Pink Floyd]]'s David Gilmour came across as pretty androgynous at times. [http://img52.imageshack.us/img52/4357/davidgilmour.jpg Observe.] (A friend of mine actually mistook him for a woman in that photograph; this is very notable in that she is a diehard Floyd fan who has a more-than-decent grasp on what each band member looks/looked like.)

* Annie Lennox from the Eurythmics got some heat over looking a little more masculine than some would prefer.

 

== Religion ==

 

== Tabletop Games ==

* ''[[Vampire: The Requiem]]'' features the Galloi, a Nosferatu bloodline that decides to trade in "[[Uncanny Valley|the crawling creepies]]" for "beauty beyond compare." It doesn't quite work out as planned; they become beautiful and utterly androgynous, but they're ''so'' beautiful that they can't possibly be anything natural, and thus still unnerve people. On top of that, a lot of them worship Cybele, and prefer to do so [[Groin Attack|the old-fashioned way]].

* In ''[[Forgotten Realms]]'', the ormyrr are a non-humanoid race that look like huge worms with big, toad-like heads, and four arms. While they do have genders and have no problem telling each other apart (possibly by odor), it is impossible for members of other races to do so. Most other races use neutral pronouns when referring to them, which doesn't offend them, apparently.

 

== [[Theatre]] ==

'''Robo''': But its exterior is that of a female...

'''Flea''': Male...female...what's the difference? Power is beautiful, and I've got the power! }}

{{quote|'''Frog''': She is a powerful magician. Do not lower your guard! Flea is not the mere woman she seems.

'''Flea''': Yes, yes... I'm a man, after all, right? *pout*

'''Lucca''': Say what? That's a guy!?

'''Flea''': Tee hee hee... Man or woman, it's all the same. Power is beauty, and I'm deliciously strong! }}

* Yumeji from the ''[[Samurai Shodown]]'' series.

* The Great Mizuti from ''[[Baten Kaitos]]''. However, during a very important scene near the end of the game the truth is revealed: {{spoiler|Mizuti's a girl.}}

* Captain Viridian in ''[[VVVVVV]]'' is never explicitly assigned a gender. Even when giving (somewhat less-than-fulfilling) romantic advice to a trusted member of their crew, the issue of Viridian's gender is entirely unresolved in any capacity. The retro graphics do ultimately little to help clear anything up.

* In ''[[Journey (2012 video game)|Journey]]'', the mysterious robed player character has no gender.

* ''[[Pokémon]]'':

** Played straight in ''[[Pokémon Red and Blue|Pokémon Red, Blue and Yellow]]'' with the exception of the Nidoran evolutionary lines - but including "obvious" candidates like Machop (which evolves into the male bodybuilder-esque Machoke and Machamp) and Abra (which evolves into the mustachioed Kadabra and Alakazam).

** Subverted with the introduction of gender markers in [[Pokémon Gold and Silver|''Gold'', ''Silver'' and ''Crystal'']] - while there's no difference in appearance between genders for Pokémon, some Pokémon such as the aforementioned Machop and Abra families have non-50/50 gender ratios, and others like Kangaskhan, Miltank and Tauros are [[Single Gender Species]]. In these games only, gender was also tied to Attack IVs - specifically (and a bit [[Unfortunate Implications|unfortunately]]), female Pokémon would always have lower ones than male Pokémon.

** Further subverted from the fourth generation on - ''[[Pokémon Diamond and Pearl]]'' introduce gender differences in appearance for several Pokémon, with some being more subtle than others - e.g., male and female Gyarados have different whisker colorations, while male and female Hippowdon are different colors entirely! These games also introduced gender-specific evolutions such as Vespiquen, Mothim/Wormadam, Froslass, and Gallade.

 

== Web Comics ==

* Most animals.

** Hyenas are especially bad about this because of their rare [[Matriarchy|matriarchal]] social structure, how the female is bigger and more aggressive than the male, and how their naughty bits are almost identical due to the female's usually high level of testosterone, to the point of making ancient people think they were [[Hermaphrodite]]s or [[Gender Bender]]s.

*** Some birds, like toucans, take this [[Up to Eleven]], so their genders can only be discovered via DNA exams!

* As mentioned above, androgyne is a gender identity for something "halfway" between male and female. Also many a genderqueer person, who reject the binary entirely.