Defrosting Ice Queen: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

Cold demeanor can mean anything from [[Rich Bitch]], to haughty and proud, to [[Emotionless Girl]], to being a [[Jerkass]]. Occasionally, she has—legitimately or not—misunderstood the hero. Over the story, the hero successfully melts the [[Ice Queen]]'s cold cold heart, giving her [[Character Development]] into a nicer character.

** Her [[Mai-Otome]] incarnation also defrosted and opened up to others after meeting Mai at Garderobe.

* Sheryl Nome of ''[[Macross Frontier]]'' is the archetypal example. She starts out as the "Galaxy Fairy," an [[Idol Singer]] loved by all, tremendously arrogant and haughty. However, her meetings with Alto Saotome (who refuses to take any of her crap) and Ranka Lee (whose innocence and optimism rub off on Sheryl) change her outlook on life, making her a much more sympathetic character. Of course, the series goes one further by {{spoiler|giving her a fatal illness}} and doing everything possible to [[Break the Haughty]], which only makes her even more human.

* [[Suzumiya Haruhi|Miss Haruhi Suzumiya]], of course. More than an ice cold queen (or, perhaps, what happens when an ice queen defrosts too quickly), though, she's a [[Genki Girl|cheerful]] but sociopathic [[Jerkass]] without any concept of human interaction. Her [[Character Development]] is all about having her re-learn [[What Is This Thing You Call Love?|what love and friendship are]].

* Ai Shinozaki from ''[[Corrector Yui]]'' starts as the local [[The Snark Knight|Snark Knight]], snarky and aloof and really disliking to team work. Slowly, we get to see how she was a [[Cheerful Child]] until her dad's death, how her mother's accident affected her, and how Yui's persistence and optimism is slowly thawing her...

 

 

* Princess Kinuko in ''[[Usagi Yojimbo]]'' seems to be a [[Rich Bitch]] to Usagi. After being attacked by ninjas and going on the lam, they eventually see that they're [[Not So Different]], as she is nervous about going into an [[Arranged Marriage]] while Usagi is upset that his beloved Mariko has married his rival. They briefly contemplate running away together, but after they're rescued Kinuko decides to err on the side of duty and honor and the two part forever in a [[Bittersweet Ending]].

** It's a double [[Bittersweet Ending]]: {{spoiler|the whole story is a flashback sparked by Usagi hearing Kinuko's name as her entourage approaches. As it passes, Usagi wonders if she remembers him, and stares straight at Kinuko's palanquin while the rest of the townspeople have their heads down. When nothing happens, he accepts that she probably doesn't remember him anyway and walks away... just as Kinuko drops a chrysanthemum flower (her favorite flower) out of her palanquin door.}}

* Almost any ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic]]'' fanfic involving Twilight Sparkle and Trixie Lulamoon (sometimes one defrosting the other and sometimes both defrosting at the same time).

* Weiss Schnee in the ''[[RWBY]]'' fanfic ''[[Emergence]]'' defrosts so thoroughly during her time on Earth that she's practically a puddle. Imagine, if you will, Weiss Schnee in a T-shirt and yoga pants, [[Gamer Chick|sprawled on the floor playing]] ''[[Call of Duty]]'' and screaming obscenities at the other players over her voice connection because [[Celebrity Paradox|they think she's Kara Eberle trolling them]].

 

== Films ==

** Miranda Frost in ''[[Die Another Day]]'' appears to be a straight-up version of this trope, right down to her [[Meaningful Name]], but is actually a subversion {{spoiler|as she's secretly working for the villain, and thus didn't 'melt emotionally' as she appeared to.}}

* Linus Larabee from both film versions ([[Humphrey Bogart]], [[Harrison Ford]]) of ''Sabrina''.

* Arguably, Robert in ''[[Enchanted]]'' is another male example.

* Captain Von Trapp in ''[[The Sound of Music]]'' is also a male example.

** Er. That was in ''[[The Fountainhead]]'', not ''[[Atlas Shrugged]]'', and it was Dominique Francon.

** They blend together...

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130824090535/http://www.merryshannon.com/brandedann.html Branded Ann], from the book of the same name. Her ship is even named the Ice Queen.

* Lady Aliena in ''[[The Pillars of the Earth]]''. She eventually defrosts enough to fall in love with the lowly Jack Jackson/Builder.

* [[Sherlock Holmes]] becomes this towards Watson; especially shown when Watson gets hurt.

* While the titular character of ''[[Beachwalker]]'' is a kind and giving person, it takes a {{spoiler|bullet wound}} for her to let anyone start to get close to her.

* Hermione Granger in ''[[Harry Potter]]'' starts off as a stuck-up know-it-all, but calms down after [[Fire-Forged Friends|Ron and Harry defeat a troll for her.]]

* Invoked in Carter Brown's ''[[Mystery Fiction|Charlie Sent Me!]]'' with an actress whom protagonist Larry Baker had called "the Snow Queen" and a "frozen virgin." She decided to change his mind, saying after kissing him, "Beware the Snow Queen when she melts. Then comes the avalanche!" Alas, they were [[Moment Killer|interrupted]] before things could get really interesting.

 

== Live Action TV ==

* Quinn from ''[[Glee]]''. Santana also seems to be headed down this path.

** Kurt is a rare male example, especially after his {{spoiler|transfer to Dalton}} means he no longer needs to be constantly on the defensive just to survive high school.

*** And [[Incredibly Lame Pun|he is indeed a queen...]]

* Kochanski in later seasons of ''[[Red Dwarf]]''.

** [[Super sentai]]

* In [[Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger]] we have Houji who initially started of as a cold,arrogant and a standoffish person especially towards Ban as the series progress he become much more matured and a [[Friendly Sniper|compassionate person]] and began to warm up to Ban.

Tetsu also counts as this he was initially arrogant and distant towards other dekarangers but quickly became very close with them and treats ban like his own brother

** For that matter, [[Star Trek: The Original Series|Spock]].

* Dr. K from ''[[Power Rangers RPM]]'' goes from treating the Rangers like weapons (and, in Ziggy's case, a total idiot) to caring for them as friends ([[Mentor Ship|and]] [[Official Couple|more,]] [[Aw, Look -- They Really Do Love Each Other|in Ziggy's case]]). Well, in her own way.

* Helena Peabody is very icy for most of season 2 of [[The L Word]] but warm and likable in the subsequent series.

* In an interesting case of a role defrosting an actor, the title role on ''[[Murphy Brown]]'' did a '''lot''' to soften up [[Candice Bergen]]'s image after years of being known as a cool debutante. Her dry wit has been a staple of most of her roles since.

*** Orube, however, really ''is'' a good example of this in the comics, beginning as a rather typical emotionless warrior woman-type and ending up being an older sister of sorts to the main characters, and falling in love with {{spoiler|resident [[Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain]] Cedric.}}

* In the first season (especially the first episode) of ''[[Drawn Together]]'', it looks like Princess Clara will go this way. Ultimately, however, they end up taking her in the other direction.

* [[All Guys Want Cheerleaders|Cheerleader]] Liz Allan from ''[[The Spectacular Spider-Man]]'' [[Animated Series]] shows signs of doing this; she is kind and encouraging to Peter, but immediately turns into the [[Alpha Bitch]] around the [[Jerk Jock]] Flash... and she looks like she regrets the quasi [[Face Heel Turn]]. By mid-season, she's pretty much completely defrosted, having broken up with Flash and directly expressed interest in Peter.

** Of course, given this huge amount of [[Character Development]], when compared with her mainstream comics counterpart, Peter actually comes off as something of an unintentional [[Jerkass]] when he breaks up with her to be with Gwen. She attempts to cover the whole thing up by making a huge scene and implying she is doing the dumping in front of a crowd, but then later is seen hiding behind a corner, crying her eyes out, showing that she genuinely did have feelings for Peter.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Stock Characters]]

[[Category:Love Interests]]

[[Category:Emotion Tropes]]

[[Category:Introversion Tropes]]