Creepy Crossdresser: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

 

Japanese works tend to play up a few common traits for this character type: a combination of a gaudy outfit, a [[Noblewoman's Laugh]] and absolute narcissism. He also often has a crush on the [[Big Bad]], [[The Dragon]], or in more humorous works, the [[Chaste Hero]].

== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==

* The ''quintessential'' example of this character (in anime, at least) is Yuda, from ''[[Fist of the North Star]]''. Outrageous outfit? Check. Annoying laugh? Check. Insanely self-absorbed and narcissistic? To ''eleven''. Gay? Oh, boy. Just take a look at his conversations with Rei...

* ''[[One Piece]]'' examples:

** Mr. 2 Bon Clay of Baroque Works, the only Baroque Works officer without a female partner, since he counts as both the man and the woman. His alias reflects this, being a combination of a number (traditional for male officers) and and a reference to a holiday (traditional for female officers). {{spoiler|[[Defeat Means Friendship|Though after losing]], he pulls a [[Heel Face Turn]], like many ''One Piece'' villains, transforming into a [[Wholesome Crossdresser]].}}

* Kamatari of ''[[Rurouni Kenshin]]'', though he's portrayed fairly sympathetically and is driven by an unrequited love for Shishio. Otowa, on the other hand, is just a [[Psycho for Hire]].

* Jakotsu from ''[[Inuyasha]]''. Also has a crush on Inuyasha (and flirts with Miroku and Sesshoumaru), but later [[Hidden Depths|is shown in a more sympathetic way]] through his genuine friendship with Bankotsu.

* ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist (manga)|Fullmetal Alchemist]]'':

** The androgynous but genuinely male Envy has traits of this which were especially played up in the English dub, where his voice is more feminine.

* Fish Eye from ''[[Sailor Moon]]'' had shades of this, though was clearly intended to appeal to the fetish. As the other villains disguise themselves, the [[Hand Wave]] is dressing as a woman is simply a ''modus operandi'' to cover the [[Cast Speciation|left over type of victims - males]] - as Hawks Eye targeted older women and Tigers Eye targeted younger women. He actually dresses as a male for a specific mission (targeting a gay fashion designer), and while exclusively using ''male'' pronouns when in circus attire, will only use ''feminine'' pronouns when disguised. Ironically, his femininity seems to make him [[Women Are Wiser|closer to Earth]], and he has the first [[Heel Face Turn]] of the season.

** Also Zoisite, though played a bit straighter (no pun intended) than the openly camp Fish Eye. Guilty of feminine appearance, romantic relationship with a male, shrill laugh, and sakura petals ''everywhere''. Fits this trope because he actually crossdresses as the title heroine in order to lure Tuxedo Mask out of hiding. Though the crossdressing was Kunzite's idea, not his.

** Zoisite and Nephrite both crossdress to disguise themselves in the manga. Also, it is not Fish Eye but Hawks Eye who crossdresses in the manga.

*** Despite the nice wide shoulders, this troper would probably never have taken Elendria for anything but a woman, had not the first comment made by anyone after she dropped out of the sky for the first time been Meryl's 'A...transvestite? It has a nice figure...' and Wolfwood's later 'A guy like you...' [Elendria [[Death Glare|gives him a look]].] 'A woman like you...'

*** Notable for the fact that, unlike Kamatari above, although she's competing for the affection of a man who will never look at her she's easily the most sane ''and'' the most physically powerful force he can mobilize, until he {{spoiler|goes [[One-Winged Angel|Million Winged Angel]].}} (Meanwhile [[The Woobie|Legato's]] 'eat steak with no hands' and 'float around in sarcophagus of doom' lines have inspired mutinies out of sheer embarrassment from his subordinatees.

* Orochimaru of ''[[Naruto]]'', who is actually a man [[Body Surf|in a woman's body]] (by the start of the series) [[Shapeshifting]] as an effeminate male. Just to make matters creepier, he first shows up wearing a woman's face as a disguise, after ''tearing it off her body''.

** Made even worse in an omake where he and his apprentice, Kabuto, show up... [[Fan Disservice|wearing]] [[Sailor Fuku]]. [[Brain Bleach|UGAH!]]

* ''[[Monster (manga)|Monster]]'' offers a particularly creepy example in which this trope is '''not''' played for laughs. {{spoiler|Johan impersonates his twin sister, Anna, in a flawless fashion that is quite disturbing. He still manages to sound threatening while wearing a dress, which says a ''lot'' about how ultimately creepy he can be.}}

** Luppi, the briefly Sexta Espada. Note however that the Arrancar Robe seems to be rather "unisex". Not that it does make him any better...

** Also Barragan's Fraccion, Charlotte Cuulhorne.

* The members of the Zuka Club in ''[[Ouran High School Host Club]]''. The crossdressing is justified by the club being a blatant parody of the Takarazuka all-female acting troupe, where both male and female parts are played by women.

** Annasui might classify as this depending on who you ask, given his [[Heroic Sociopath]] nature. But he is technically part of the "good guys", so he might be in a different category of [[Wholesome Crossdresser|crossdresser]].

* ''[[Code Geass]]'' examples:

* One early example of this trope would be Rock, from the various manga by [[Osamu Tezuka]]. Who, in his more villainous incarnations, would often disguise himself as a woman.

* Yuuji Fukunaga from ''[[Liar Game]]'' starts off as this, but slowly pulls a [[Heel Face Turn]] and becomes one of the main supporting characters while still making a better looking girl than most of the female cast combined.

* ''[[Ghost in the Shell]]:[[Stand Alone Complex]]'' has a special case in which {{spoiler|Pazu's}} [[Pycho Ex Girlfriend]] wants to kill him and take both his cybernetic body and his identity. {{spoiler|Hard to say, but she might very well have succeeded.}}

* Chapter 279 of ''[[Air Gear]]'' reveals that the villainous loli Shalott who dresses in a frilly dress and wears a [[Nice Hat]] is [[Unsettling Gender Reveal|actually a guy]].

* [[Creepy Twins|Hansel and Gretel]] of ''[[Black Lagoon]]'' are very fond of swapping clothes (and, more disturbingly, ''personalities'') with each other. Which one's which gender, though, is [[Ambiguous Gender|anyone's guess]].

* ''[[Black Butler]]'': In episode five of the second season, [[Cute and Psycho|Alois]] [[Creepy Child|Trancy]] dresses up as a maid to lure Ciel into his bedroom so he can flirt with him and take his eyepatch. It's also shown that he has a few dresses in his wardrobe.

* One of the bad guys in one of ''[[Lupin III]]'' OVA was [[Those Wacky Nazis|Herr Maphrodite]], who doubles as a [[Sissy Villain]]. He's clearly homosexual too, since he clearly dislikes [[Femme Fatale|Fujiko's]] presence.

* Michio Yuki of manga series, ''[[MW]]'', cross-dresses as his female victims after killing them.

 

== [[Comic Books]] ==

* While he's technically more of a mercenary with a small modicum of heart and it was only the once, when [[Deadpool]] spent a brief time with the X-men he insisted on wearing one of their costumes. Specifically, Marvel Girl's. For unknown reasons he also retained the underwear from the costume underneath his suit even when he went back to his black-and-red tights.

* In [[Grant Morrison]]'s ''[[Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth]]'', the Joker was originally going to be sporting a costume with Madonna's signature cone-shaped bra and stilletto boots, simply because [[For the Evulz|he knew some people find crossdressing morally objectionable.]]

 

== [[Film]] ==

** It was likewise intentionally [[Invoked Trope|invoked]], seeing as he'd kept his Joker facepaint and green haircolor.

* ''Freebie and the Bean'', a buddy cop film from the 70's, features a beautiful blond crossdressing antagonist played by Christopher Morley.

* {{spoiler|Casey (Will Keenan), the killer}} in ''[[Terror Firmer]]''.

* Norman Bates from ''[[Psycho]].''

* Both Frank Booth and Ben, two villains from ''[[Blue Velvet]]'', deserve some mention here as they both wear feminine makeup at some point in the movie.

* In ''[[Death Wish V]]:[[The Face Of Death]]'' one of the villains is Fredrick "Freddie Flakes" Garrity ([[Suspiciously Specific Denial|not at all played by Sid the coroner from ["CSI: NY]]"]), a high-priced mob assassin (nicknamed because of his frequent dandruff) who not only crossdresses during one of his schemes, but later, when hanging out with his girlfriend, comments her shoes, saying he can't wait to see how they fit. (He also has what is quite possibly the stupidest death of the series, immolated by an exploding soccer ball).

* Belle in ''[[Fright Night]]'' Part II. Paired with some rollerskates, he's (she's) definitely [[Our Vampires Are Different]].

* ''[[Boondock Saints]]'' - Detective Smecker (William Dafoe) gets a little too into character when dressing drag to infiltrate a mob manor. So do the Mook guards.

* Bob, one of Holli Would's Goons from ''[[Cool World]]''.

* Marion Penrose in ''Unhinged'', due to his mother being an insane misandrist.

* The villain of the Hong Kong slasher film ''He Lives By Night'' is a crossdressing serial killer who prowls the streets at night, brutalizing women before strangling them with white stockings.

 

== [[Literature]] ==

* ''"Why Grandma, what big eyes you've got!"'' The Big Bad Wolf from ''[[Little Red Riding Hood]]'' is one of the [[Older Than Feudalism|oldest ones in the book]], dressing up as the title heroine's grandmother.

* Norman Bates from ''[[Psycho]]''.

* In the ''[[Redwall]]'' series, Emperor Ublaz Mad Eyes is a possibly-not-intentional-on-the-author's-part borderline example. The silk robes, painted nails and perfume he is mentioned as having in his first appearance are par for the course for an evil exotic emperor, but the entire book revolves around him attempting to steal a famous set of six large pink pearls to put in his crown. He goes so far as to slaughter entire tribes to get the things. He also stops in the middle of his angry [[Mirror Monologue]] to debate what he's going to wear for the victory parade; ''"If I had the Tears of all Oceans now, they would be set in my crown, all six of them, wondrous rose-colored pearls! I would don my green silk mantle, or maybe the black one with gold trim ..."''

* An odd little novel called ''Pest Control'' by Bill Fitzhugh featured, among other things, a diminutive hitman who likes to dress up as a little girl to do his hits. He also bangs a repressed middle-aged mom who has a thing for midgets and circus peanuts.

* Antiheroic example in ''[[Discworld]]'''s Nobby, who picked up the habit in Foreignland and has gotten to the point where he asks:

{{quote|Nobby: Do I look good in taffeta?

Angua: Erm, yes. Lovely.

Nobby: Really? You don't think it makes me look too fat? }}

* Bèbelle from ''[[Malevil]]''. Part of it is being creepy and evil, another part is using [[Disguised in Drag]] to infiltrate settlements prior to his marauding army invading.

 

* Borderline-ish example: the second season of ''[[Skins]]'' features a [[Stalker with a Crush|character]] who, while still visibly female, binds her chest and dresses in boyish clothes with hopes of making herself more attractive to the object of her romantic obsession, [[Fag Hag|who happens to be gay]]. It doesn't work.

* Alonzo Torquemada of HBO's ''[[Oz]]'' is a tall, strapping Hispanic crossdresser with one glass eye and a penchant for hallucinogens. While not quite as evil as his namesake, Torquemada isn't above slipping his enemies poisoned dope, or seducing Miguel Alvarez.

** The UnSub in "Limelight" is a crossdresser, wearing his victim's clothes as a means of reliving his murders.

** "Conflicted" takes the cake of this trope, with an UnSub who is a cross-dressing serial killer alter personality who lures and disarms her victims sexually and then rapes them (penetratively). The cross-dressing is more convincing to the characters than to the audience, and to top it off, the UnSub has a habit of suddenly cross-acting without redressing.

* ''[[Red Dwarf]]'' plays this Trope for laughs a few times:

** In the season five episode "Demons and Angels," Lister is running for his life from the evil versions of the Red Dwarf crew, until he runs into Evil Rimmer ... wearing what's best described as a Dominatrix-type get up.

** Barry Zuckerkorn goes to the City of Industry to pick up a prostitute, but quickly drives off when the prostitute reveals that she is ''not'' a man in drag. There are also some hints that Barry himself is a closet cross dresser.

** While he was hiding in the attic, George Sr. dresses in his late daughter-in-law's maternity clothes. During a hug, Michael also notes that he was wearing her perfume, too.

 

== Music ==

* The titular character in [[Pink Floyd]]'s first single, "Arnold Layne."

* [[The Velvet Underground]]'s "Sister Ray".

 

== Newspaper Comics ==

* Sanjak from ''[[Terry and the Pirates]]'' is a rare female version.

 

== [[Professional Wrestling]] ==

* Harvey Whippleman as "Harvina" won the WWF Women's Championship, and Santino Marella's [[Paper-Thin Disguise|identical twin sister]] "Santina" won the Miss [[Wrestlemania]] battle royale.

 

* [[The Rocky Horror Picture Show|The Rocky Horror Show]].

 

* ''[[Super Mario Brothers]]'': Birdo...[[She's a Man In Japan|at least in Japan.]]

** [[Bizarre Alien Biology|"His" laying eggs]] ''[[Bizarre Alien Biology|from his mouth]]'' just makes it wierder.

* Justice from ''[[Guilty Gear]]'' counts, if only because of the huge crotch spike in her armor ...

** There's also the tendency for people to identify mecha as male unless they look distinctly feminine. Even without the crotch spike, she looks sort-of gender-neutral, and thus would likely be identified as male at first glance.

* In ''[[Black Sigil]]: Blade of the Exiled'', {{spoiler|Mondu after the world fusion}}.

* A man in ''[[Fable II]]'' is wearing a very crude attempt at a home-made woman's outfit. It turns out that he's insane and trying to feed people to his adopted family of goblin-like monsters. The game allows the player character to cross-dress, but no other characters do.

* {{spoiler|1=Thomas MacLaine}} in ''[[Deadly Premonition]]'', who at that point in the story has been in such a massive [[Trauma Conga Line]] as well as {{spoiler|being the villain's [[Replacement Goldfish]] for the woman he actually loves}} that he's gone completely off the edge of sanity.

 

* Nicholas in ''[http://www.samuraiprincess.com/ Samurai Princess]'' has a very serious case of a bad man trying to be a woman. He has so far been shown in a geisha-like dress, a catsuit and, heaven forbid, a maid outfit.

* Red Mage from ''[[8-Bit Theater|Eight Bit Theater]]'' often wears a dress for not always apparent reasons.

 

== [[Web Original]] ==

* In ''[[Survival of the Fittest]]'' v2, Damien Carter-Madison comes across women's clothing inside a wardrobe... and starts playing dress-up. One of the outfits he tries on is a sailor fuku, of all things. Note that he is a well-known villain of that version.

 

== [[Western Animation]] ==

* Sakko from ''[[Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go!]]''.

* Ice Man, of all characters, has a go at this in the beginning of the ''[[Mega Man (animation)|Mega Man]]'' episode "Ice Age".

{{quote|"Oh well, I suppose it does make me look pretty." }}

* [[Played for Laughs]] in ''[[Jimmy Two-Shoes]]'', during a [[Zombie Apocalypse]], Jimmy sees Heloise about to consume what will turn her into a zombie. However, when she turns around, [[Eye Pop|it's mose definitly not Heloise]].

{{quote|'''{{spoiler|Dorkus}}''': You, uh, probably shouldn't tell Heloise about this.

'''Jimmy''': Really, I wouldn't know how. }}

 

== [[Real Life]] ==

* Murderer Ed Gein is often described as this trope, and one who didn't stop at just [[Genuine Human Hide|the clothes]]. But while this is the most common interpretation of Gein, it's also a sensationalistic one. His psychiatric assessments hold instead that he wanted a replacement for his mother, one he could keep around.

* In Ancient Rome Publius Clodius Pulcher dressed up as a woman so that he could sneak into the Bona Dea festival (a sacred religious rite strictly confined to women) and seduce the wife of Julius Caesar. He was caught when a servant tried to encourage the seemingly shy "girl" to join in the festivities; Clodius' masculine voice gave him away and he was chased out of the house by Caesar's mother. He was brought to trial for sacrilege and indecency but managed to escape conviction by bribing the jury.

* Sam Duddy, a senior UDA/UFF figure [Northern Ireland Loyalist terrorists] who died in 2007, once worked as a drag queen under the name Samantha. He was once a suspect in the murder of Pat Finucane, the Roman Catholic lawyer shot dead by the UDA in 1989.

* Peter Langan, the leader of the "Aryan Republican Army," a group implicated in the Timothy McVeigh bombing, was discovered to be a crossdresser, going out at night dressed up as a woman.

* Canadian Col. Russell Williams, who is as of October 2010 being sentenced for multiple murders, sexual assaults, breaking and entering, and so on, took thousands of photos documenting his crimes. Newspapers often put the ones of him wearing little girl's underwear on their front pages to demonstrate his depravity.

* The general legacy of FBI director J. Edgar Hoover is about as controversial as his supposed crossdressing. In truth, it's extremely unlikely that he belongs either in this trope or [[Wholesome Crossdresser]], but the notion has become [[Common Knowledge]].

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Disguise Tropes]]

[[Category:Stock Characters]]