Bifauxnen: Difference between revisions

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A subtrope of [[Lady Looks Like a Dude]]. The male equivalent is [[Dude Looks Like a Lady]]. Not to be confused with [[Sweet Polly Oliver]], who only dresses like a man to achieve a goal that requires her to seem male. Compare to [[Samus Is a Girl]], where the gender simply isn't discernible until [[The Reveal]]. Can also be a case of [[Bifauxnen and Ladette]] if there's more than one in a particular work or [[Everybody Wants the Hermaphrodite]] if she just happens to have a few male bits in the end. Also see [[The Ladette]] and [[Attractive Bent Gender]]. May involve a [[Gender Reveal]].

== Anime and Manga ==

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** Haruka Tenou (Sailor Uranus) is modeled on a real-life [[Takarazuka]] character. While this is less emphasized after her introduction in the comic, it made her very distinctive in promotional materials by adding some variety, and eventually [[Character Exaggeration|became her major character trait]] in the show adaptation.

** The Sailor Starlights from the final season also qualify under this trope, although the original mundane explanation seems inexplicably avoided.

* ''[[Ranma ~~One Half~~ (Manga)|Ranma One Half]]''

* ''[[Ranma ½ (Manga)|Ranma One Half]]''

** Ukyou, but only around the time of her introduction. From the moment she puts aside her grudge with Ranma and Genma, she gets girlier as the series progresses.

** Likewise, Ryuunosuke from ''[[Urusei Yatsura]]'', Ukyou and [[Gender Bender|Ranma]]'s [[Expy|authorical ancestor]].

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* Juliet Fiamatta Asto Capulet in ''[[Romeo X Juliet]]'' dresses as a boy named Odin to disguise her connection to the Capulet family line, as the last surviving member is known to be female. Small subversion, though: after Juliet learns of her heritage, she's allowed to wear dresses and let her hair down when she's in the Capulet headquarters and away from intruders, and she seems to take it in stride. {{spoiler|And once Juliet's identity is revealed to the public and ''everyone'' knows who she truly is, she just doesn't bother with boyish disguises anymore.}}

* Minami Iwasaki in ''[[Lucky Star (Anime)|Lucky Star]]'', although this is played up by her [[Fan Girl]] classmate.

* Rina from ''[[Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch]]'' is more [[Tall Dark and Bishoujo]] than anything, but she wears the male uniform, and upon her introduction in the anime, Lucia and Hanon wonder, "That was a girl... ''right''?"

* Rina from ''[[Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch]]'' is more [[Tall, Dark and Bishoujo]] than anything, but she wears the male uniform, and upon her introduction in the anime, Lucia and Hanon wonder, "That was a girl... ''right''?"

* ''[[Minami-ke]]'': Touma Minami (no relation) is first persuaded to pose as a brother, then later insists on being called a boy, even though she's not, probably because all three of her elder siblings are [[Aloof Big Brother|Aloof Big Brothers]] (to varying degrees). This provides some nice contrast to [[Wholesome Crossdresser]] "Mako-chan".

* In ''[[Pokémon (Anime)|Pokémon]]'', during the Battle Frontier, Ash met Anabel. Her clothes, short haircut, and [[Cross Dressing Voices|ambiguous voice]], at least in Japan (and the Latin American dub, by extension), led him to assume she was a guy at first. Not even Brock, who successfully blew up Duplica's similar stunt in the first season, could identify Anabel as female when he met her. The dub screwed the effect up by giving Anabel the voice of a grown woman.

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* Averted in ''[[Angelic Layer]]'', since Sai apparently wears a long skirt.

* ''[[They Are My Noble Masters]]'': Averted was Natose, who is a semi-bifauxnen, the only thing is she has boobies (huge ones in fact), and she wears panties under her clothes.

* ''Ice Revolution'' - tomboy Masaki is getting tired of constantly being mistaken for a boy (her short [[Anime Hair]], preference for tracksuits, masculine speaking style, aggressive nature, amazing strength and fighting skills, in-denial dojo-owning father and two brothers, one of whom [[Half Identical Twins|looks just like her]] don't help) gets inspired by ''figure skating'' after trying to find the only boy who's seen her in a girl's uniform in order to thank him after he [[Crash Into Hello|saves her from a truck]]. Unfortunately the coach who discovers her believes he's found the next great ''male'' figure skater. It takes another two chapters before that's cleared up and {{spoiler|a [[Wholesome Crossdresser]] gives her beauty advice}}.

* ''Ice Revolution'' - tomboy Masaki is getting tired of constantly being mistaken for a boy (her short [[Anime Hair]], preference for tracksuits, masculine speaking style, aggressive nature, amazing strength and fighting skills, in-denial dojo-owning father and two brothers, one of whom [[Half-Identical Twins|looks just like her]] don't help) gets inspired by ''figure skating'' after trying to find the only boy who's seen her in a girl's uniform in order to thank him after he [[Crash Into Hello|saves her from a truck]]. Unfortunately the coach who discovers her believes he's found the next great ''male'' figure skater. It takes another two chapters before that's cleared up and {{spoiler|a [[Wholesome Crossdresser]] gives her beauty advice}}.

* ''[[Oniisama E]]'' has Rei Asaka and Kaoru Orihara; Rei usually wears a black suit with lacy shirt while Kaoru's clothes tend to be almost vaguely unisex.

** Rei more so than Kaoru, who was actually [[Bifauxnen and Ladette|more of a]] [[Tomboy]]. Besides, {{spoiler|Kaoru got a [[Girliness Upgrade]] [[Bait and Switch Lesbians|after marrying Takehiko]] [[Babies Ever After|in the end]] while Rei remained a bifauxnen until [[Bring Out Your Gay Dead|the end.]] }}

* Kana, the [[Wrench Wench]] from ''[[Haibane Renmei (Anime)|Haibane Renmei]]''. She dresses in a boy's uniform and her voice is low enough in tone to be passable for either gender, and every so often someone asks about "him". These aspects of her, however, are only lightly touched upon in the anime.

* ''[[Cowboy Bebop]]'': Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivrusky IV. See [[Cowboy Bebop At His Computer]] for the confusion that resulted from her character design.

* Hilling Care, [[Dark Action Girl]] and Ribbons' {{spoiler|[[Half Identical Twins|twin sister]]}} from [[Gundam 00]].

* Hilling Care, [[Dark Action Girl]] and Ribbons' {{spoiler|[[Half-Identical Twins|twin sister]]}} from [[Gundam 00]].

* ''[[Baccano (Light Novel)|Baccano]]'': Ennis is a partial case, being obviously female but prone to dressing and carrying herself like a man in a time period where that didn't often happen. The real Bifauxnen however is Ricard Russo, who's more often taken for a cute little boy than a teenage girl by characters ''and'' [[Viewer Gender Confusion|readers]].

* ''[[Black Jack (Manga)|Black Jack]]'': Kisaragi Kei is an early example. She began living entirely as a man after her (cancerous) ovaries and uterus were removed.

* Kiri-chan from ''[[Ga Rei Zero]]''. (''Almost'' a carbon copy of the one in the picture above.)

* Shadow in ''[[Godannar]]'' manages to cross the line all the way to "are you ''sure'' she's not a man?" despite having an obviously female body. This is because she manages to be one of the few pilots {{spoiler|to contract the Insania Virus, which is supposed to primarily affect ''men''.}}

* After ''years'' of doing the opposite in ''[[Jo ~~Jos~~ Bizarre Adventure (Manga)|Jo Jos Bizarre Adventure]]'', Hirohiko Araki finally dropped the reverse Bridget on us with {{spoiler|Hot Pants}} in Steel Ball Run. It makes her Stand power, {{spoiler|the flesh-spraying Cream Starter}} surprisingly fitting.

* After ''years'' of doing the opposite in ''[[Jo Jo's Bizarre Adventure (Manga)|Jo Jos Bizarre Adventure]]'', Hirohiko Araki finally dropped the reverse Bridget on us with {{spoiler|Hot Pants}} in Steel Ball Run. It makes her Stand power, {{spoiler|the flesh-spraying Cream Starter}} surprisingly fitting.

* ''[[Axis Powers Hetalia (Manga)|Axis Powers Hetalia]]'':

** After [[Important Haircut|cutting off her long braids]], Lichtenstein can pull of a rather convincing Bifauxnen, despite being a [[Proper Lady]] personality-wise. She's not very pleased by such a prospect, though, since it outlines [[A Cup Angst|her lack of endowments.]]

** Also Hungary, who once thought she was a [[You Fail Biology Forever|boy]] and wasn't bad looking while dressed as a male.

*** Brought up more directly in a sketch where Hungary dons a nice male outfit, ties her hair in a ponytail and strikes a [[Knight in Shining Armor]] pose for a Liechtenstein with [[Long Hair Is Feminine|long hair]] and a cute [[Pimped Out Dress]].

*** Brought up more directly in a sketch where Hungary dons a nice male outfit, ties her hair in a ponytail and strikes a [[Knight in Shining Armor]] pose for a Liechtenstein with [[Long Hair Is Feminine|long hair]] and a cute [[Pimped-Out Dress]].

*** Again brought up in ''[[Hetaween 2011 (Manga)|Hetaween 2011]]'' when she dons a prince-like cosplay. [[Masculine Girl Feminine Boy|And ropes her boyfriend Austria into wearing a dress and being her "princess".]]

*** Again brought up in ''[[Hetaween 2011 (Manga)|Hetaween 2011]]'' when she dons a prince-like cosplay. [[Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy|And ropes her boyfriend Austria into wearing a dress and being her "princess".]]

** ''[[Hetaween 2011 (Manga)|Hetaween 2011]]'' also has Ukraine donning the looks, when she cosplays as the Mad Hatter in the Slavi/Baltic group. Liech also dresses up in boyish clothes again, this time cosplaying as the son of Wilhelm Tell while her brother Switzerland is Wilhelm Tell himself.

** As well, both [[Ninja Maid|Hungary]] and [[Cool Big Sis|Belgium]] wear rather masculine [[Good Looking Privates|military uniforms.]] [[Tall Dark and Bishoujo|Vietnam's]] uniform has only been seen in a few sketches, but appears this way as well.

** As well, both [[Ninja Maid|Hungary]] and [[Cool Big Sis|Belgium]] wear rather masculine [[Good Looking Privates|military uniforms.]] [[Tall, Dark and Bishoujo|Vietnam's]] uniform has only been seen in a few sketches, but appears this way as well.

* ''[[W Juliet]]'': You would never know Miura Ito was a girl unless she told you, especially at the beginning of the manga. Likewise, [[Dude Looks Like a Lady|her boyfriend Makoto makes a gorgeous woman]], to the point where {{spoiler|all of his male classmates are in denial when they find out the truth at the end of the manga.}} Ito is constantly given male roles in the school drama club (their teacher is apparently a huge Takarazuka fan), and the one time she was cast as the female lead it was supposed to be a comedy version of Swan Lake, with Makoto as the hansom prince.

* Jun of ''[[Saki (Manga)|Saki]]''. Short hair, dress shirt and tie, husky voice, usage of male first-person pronouns, and a tall, lean figure? [[Viewer Gender Confusion|Even some viewers]] were thrown off by this despite her presence in an all-girl tournament.

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* Kaori Makimura from [[City Hunter]] is often mistaken for a handsome dude, sometimes by all the pretty girls that [[Chivalrous Pervert|Ryo Saeba]] is chasing.

* Subverted in [[Gundam Seed]]. During her first appearance, Cagalli is dressed in rather boyish clothes but does ''not'' do anything specific to hide her gender. People just ''assume'' she's a boy..

** With her face [[Only Six Faces|exactly]] [[Palette Swap|the same as her]] [[Bishounen]] [[Half Identical Twins|brother]] (and their [[Hot Shounen Mom]]), [[Justified Trope|one couldn't blame]].

** With her face [[Only Six Faces|exactly]] [[Palette Swap|the same as her]] [[Bishounen]] [[Half-Identical Twins|brother]] (and their [[Hot Shounen Mom]]), [[Justified Trope|one couldn't blame]].

* Itsuki from ''[[Heartcatch Pretty Cure]]''. Justified because she had to take over her family's business, and her older brother Satsuki (who [[Dude Looks Like a Lady|looks like a girl]], oddly enough) is an [[Ill Boy]], so she has to dress like the opposite gender. And her disguise was so convincing, [[Even the Girls Want Her]].

* Interestingly, another Itsuki is assumed to be this at first in ''[[The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya]]'', but the title character quickly decides that "for now, he looked male".

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== Film ==

* [[Ellen Page]] is a [[Dark Action Girl|very scary]] Bifauxnen as Hayley Stark in [[Hard Candy]].

* In ''[[Ferris ~~Buellers~~ Day Off (Film)|Ferris Buellers Day Off]]'', Mr. Rooney finds who he believes is Ferris at the arcade, but turns out to be a girl with some Pepsi.

* In ''[[Ferris Bueller's Day Off (Film)|Ferris Buellers Day Off]]'', Mr. Rooney finds who he believes is Ferris at the arcade, but turns out to be a girl with some Pepsi.

* In ''[[Victor Victoria]]'', the title character is played by Julie Andrews. Female both in real life and in the movie, she plays the eponymous Victor, an ostensibly male drag queen. Part of the plot is fueled by various women being very attracted to "Victor" (as a subplot, a few of the male characters have a [[Stupid Sexy Flanders]] reaction to "him.")

* The actress [[Tilda Swinton]], who started her career by ''living'' this trope. She is attractive to both genders, while being androgynous enough to apply for [[Even the Girls Want Her]] ''and'' [[Even the Guys Want Him]], depending on the character.

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* ''[[Bloodline Champions]]'' has the Nomad bloodline's Officer outfit. There's has cleavage on her, but otherwise looks very androgynous. There's a piercing under their lip which one could mistake for a soul patch.

* King from ''[[The King of Fighters (Video Game)|The King of Fighters]]''. She dressed as a man in the original ''[[Art of Fighting]]'', due to an incident regarding her gender and childhood training in Muay Thai. In that game, she is presented as asexual (besides baring her bra if beaten with a super move), but future games acknowledge her true gender. She continues to dress is masculine clothing in all her later appearances, though; the closest concession to her actual gender, clothing-wise, is wearing a dress in her ending in ''The King of Fighters XI''.

* Another [[SNK]] example - Koujiro, the [[Sweet Polly Oliver]]/[[Half Identical Twins]] of ''The [[Last Blade]]''. Thanks to a [[Tomboyish Name|gender-ambiguous name]], her gender is debatable until her story-mode ending, when {{spoiler|her supporting cast are relieved that she can go back to [[Stay in The Kitchen|Staying In The Kitchen]]. Thankfully, she has other ideas}}.

* Another [[SNK]] example - Koujiro, the [[Sweet Polly Oliver]]/[[Half-Identical Twins]] of ''The [[Last Blade]]''. Thanks to a [[Tomboyish Name|gender-ambiguous name]], her gender is debatable until her story-mode ending, when {{spoiler|her supporting cast are relieved that she can go back to [[Stay in The Kitchen|Staying In The Kitchen]]. Thankfully, she has other ideas}}.

* Razzy, a major supporting character in the [[Needs More Love|underrated game]] ''[[Summon Night]]: Swordcraft Story'' is very [[Ambiguous Gender|ambiguously gendered]] (To characters anyways, she's first introduced as another character's "niece"). In fact, throughout a good chunk of the game, the player character and various NPCs think that Razzy is a boy. One NPC even comments that Razzy will be a handsome man when he grows up. Coupled with this boyish look is that, out of the five available weapons in the game (sword, axe, spear, knuckles, and drills), Razzy uses knuckles. Also adding confusion is that it is hinted that (read:Immediately starts addressing you as [[Onee Sama]] and directly wonders if two girls can get married), while playing as the female option, Pratty, Razzy will [[Ho Yay|acquire a crush on you]].

* Razzy, a major supporting character in the [[Needs More Love|underrated game]] ''[[Summon Night]]: Swordcraft Story'' is very [[Ambiguous Gender|ambiguously gendered]] (To characters anyways, she's first introduced as another character's "niece"). In fact, throughout a good chunk of the game, the player character and various NPCs think that Razzy is a boy. One NPC even comments that Razzy will be a handsome man when he grows up. Coupled with this boyish look is that, out of the five available weapons in the game (sword, axe, spear, knuckles, and drills), Razzy uses knuckles. Also adding confusion is that it is hinted that (read:Immediately starts addressing you as [[Onee-Sama]] and directly wonders if two girls can get married), while playing as the female option, Pratty, Razzy will [[Ho Yay|acquire a crush on you]].

* Hikaru of ''Power Instinct Matrimelee'' is a almost a parody of characters like Bridget from ''[[Guilty Gear (Video Game)|Guilty Gear]]'' (like many characters in the game). Her gender is so well hidden that nothing in the game itself actually mentions it, not even in her ending. The only way someone would be able to determine her true gender is from other documentation.

* Faris, the pirate captain in ''[[Final Fantasy V (Video Game)|Final Fantasy V]]'', whom Bartz and Galuf [[Sweet On Polly Oliver|swoon over]] ''before'' [[The Reveal]].

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* Part of an [[Instant Cosplay Surprise]] (sort of) inflicted on [[Tomboyish Name|Alex]] by Lita in ''Cheer!'' for their "date". [[Les Yay|Don't think she didn't have an agenda there.]]

* ''[[Sparkling Generation Valkyrie Yuuki (Webcomic)|Sparkling Generation Valkyrie Yuuki]]'': Die-hard anime fan Yuuki seems to be deliberately aiming for this effect with her boy's uniform but can't quite pull it off due to the [[Most Common Superpower]].

* Brooke Lynn of ''[[Eerie Cuties]]'' is one complete with 'That guy from summer camp.' Cue [[Cross Popping Veins]] and possible [[Berserk Button]].

* Brooke Lynn of ''[[Eerie Cuties]]'' is one complete with 'That guy from summer camp.' Cue [[Cross-Popping Veins]] and possible [[Berserk Button]].

* [http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/archive_page.php?comicID=694 "Shell"] in ''[[Gunnerkrigg Court (Webcomic)|Gunnerkrigg Court]]''.

* Some female readers of ''[[The Meek (Webcomic)|The Meek]]'' were shocked to learn that [[Badass|Soli]] was a girl...and even more shocked when [[Stupid Sexy Flanders|they realized how little they cared.]]

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* Berri from ''[[Fiyora Nya]]''.

* Katt o' Nine Tails from ''[[Spinnerette]]''.

* In [http://www.drowtales.com/mainarchive.php?id=509 this] ''[[Drow Tales]]'' [[Self Parody]], it's [[Played for Laughs]]:

* In [http://www.drowtales.com/mainarchive.php?id=509 this] ''[[Drow Tales]]'' [[Self-Parody]], it's [[Played for Laughs]]:

{{quote| Phani: "Had she the look of a real woman, she sould have been more lucky in love."<br />

Zala: "Do not mock her so. It is not her fault if she looks like a man... a very pretty man." }}

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* [[Black Flag]] bassist Kira Roessler. Often the only thing gave it away was her affinity for wearing dresses on stage (and even then mostly for shock value) during Black Flag concerts.

* Kim and Kelley Deal. Wearing lumberjack shirts and smoking like chimneys hasn't helped.

* ''Many'' Victorian actresses and comediennes-- notably Vesta Tilley-- made a career out of this. For others, it was the only acceptable way beyond a [[Romantic Two Girl Friendship]] they could actually get out there and enjoy a romantic relationship with whoever they wanted.

* ''Many'' Victorian actresses and comediennes-- notably Vesta Tilley-- made a career out of this. For others, it was the only acceptable way beyond a [[Romantic Two-Girl Friendship]] they could actually get out there and enjoy a romantic relationship with whoever they wanted.

* [[Annie Lennox]], especially during the height of [[The Eighties]] androgynous phase.

* [[Tilda Swinton]]. Oh dear lord, [http://tildastardust.tumblr.com/ Tilda Swinton.]

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* There's the story of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Joan Pope Joan], who was supposedly only revealed when she gave birth. Of course, the story didn't show up until several centuries after it supposedly happened and most historians now agree it was a myth.

* Radclyffe Hall, an early twentieth century [[Butch Lesbian|lesbian]] writer.

* Spanish [[Nun Too Holy|ex-nun]] and later swordsman and crossdresser Catalina de Erauzo, known as "la monja Alferez" ("The Ensign Nun").

* Spanish [[Nun-Too-Holy|ex-nun]] and later swordsman and crossdresser Catalina de Erauzo, known as "la monja Alferez" ("The Ensign Nun").

* Tracey Thorn of Everything But The Girl. She also has a deep voice similar to the aformentioned Annie Lennox.

* [[Lady of War|Hatshepsut]], Pharaoh. She reigned over ancient Egypt from 1479 to 1458 BC. While women had a reasonably high status at the time and female Pharaohs were not uncalled for, she particularly enjoyed being depicted in traditionally male king's attire, complete with fake beard. This was likely to show off her power.

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[[Category:Turn-On Tropes]]

[[Category:Bifauxnen]]

[[Category:Trope]]

[[Category:Trope]][[Category:Pages with comment tags]]