Distaff Counterpart: Difference between revisions

[[File:supergirl_distaff_6776_2281supergirl distaff 6776 2281.jpg|link=Supergirl|frame|The X-Chromosome marks the spot.]]

{{quote|''"Think of me as you with a vagina."''|'''Alex''', ''[[Up in the Air]]''}}

A male character who goes through the [[Gender Bender]] will find himself turned into his own [['''Distaff Counterpart]]'''. The implications for the character, writers, and audience are left as an exercise for the reader.

NOTE''Note:'' "Distaff" means "female". Therefore, the inverse of this (a male counterpart to an existing female character or [[Always Female]] trope) is technically and traditionally a '''[[Spear Counterpart]]''' (which was named for the spearhead-shaped end of the symbol of Mars that represents males. [[I Thought It Meant|You may also be thinking]] the "spear" [[Freud Was Right|meant something else]]).

SECOND''[[Genius NOTEBonus|Genius Bonus]] Note:'' A "distaff" is a spinning device, used with a spinning wheel and, even before that, with a spindle. More [[wikipedia:Distaff|here]]. That's why it's used to symbolize femininity.

Compare [[Gender Flip]], which reverses roles based on gender, rather than cloning them. If they're fan-created, it's [[Rule 63]]. If this appeals to a fan fetish, it's a form of [[Playing to The Fetishes]]. When you take this trope to its literal conclusion, you get an [[Opposite SexGender Clone]].

* [[ShonenShōnen Demographicmanga]] ↔ [[Shoujo Demographic]]

* [[StraightInvisible Gayto Gaydar]] ↔ [[Lipstick Lesbian]]

== AnimeDistaff &Counterpart MangaExamples ==

*** Similarly, in the Mazinger Angels manga (a spoof of [[Charlie's Angels]]) the main characters are Sayaka, Jun, Hikaru and Maria, piloting Aphrodite A, Venus A, Diana A and Minerva X, respectively. It's like your usual [[Crossover]] blending ''[[Mazinger Z]]'', ''[[Great Mazinger]]'' and ''[[UFO Robo Grendizer]]'', but [[Gender FlippedFlip]]ped: the male pilots and their robots are nowhere to be seen, and the main characters are the female leads and robots.

* [[Anime/Getter Robo|Getter-1]] -- [[Anime/Getter Robo|Getter Q]]

** As well, [[Anime/Getter Robo|Getter-2]] -- Getter—Getter Shou/Neo Getter-2

** Angemon/HolyAngemon -- AngewomonHolyAngemon—Angewomon

*** By the same token, their partners in ''[[Digimon Adventure]]'': Takeru Takaishi -- HikariTakaishi—Hikari Yagami

** Devimon/NeoDevimon -- LadyDevimonNeoDevimon—LadyDevimon

* ''[[Strike Witches]]''. World War II [[Ace Pilot|Ace Pilots]]s "reimagined" as [[Magitek]]-wielding teenage witches.

** Exception: Sanya V. Lityvak is based on [[wikipedia:Lydia Litvyak|Lydia V. Litvyak]], one of only two real-life female [[Ace Pilot|Ace Pilots]]s.

* [[Claymore|Claymores]]s are essentially gender-flipped [[The Witcher|Witchers]]

* Hawkgirl, is a [[Distaff Counterpart]] of [[Hawkman]]. Hawkman has had five series, the longest of which ran for 49 issues. Hawkgirl then [[Breakout Character|took over the series]] for the final 17 issues.

* Immensely common in comic books. The first one was probably Mary Marvel, spun off from Captain Marvel in the 1940s, and it continues to the present day, with characters like [[Supergirl]], [[Batgirl]], [[She Hulk]], [[Spider Woman]] and Stargirl (both a female Star-Spangled Kid and a female Starman). Some of these are also [[Legacy Character|Legacy Characters]]s. They can also exist in [[Alternate Universe Fic|Alternate Universe Fics]]s that are written by fans or [[Elseworlds]] published by the companies themselves, where different female characters receive the [[Call to Adventure]] in lieu of their male counterparts in the mainstream universes.

** In comics, this is necessary for the purposes of trademark and copyright protection, since if the comic companies don't [[Ashcan Copy|publish the obvious derivative characters]] then others would be legally able to do so. One well-known example of a company losing a counterpart trademark is how one of [[DC Comics]]'s most famous characters is [[Wonder Woman]], but [[Marvel Comics]] was able to secure the trademark to [[Wonder Man]]. [[Stan Lee]] specificlyspecifically mentions the Wonder Woman and Wonder Man trademarks as a reason why Marvel created Spider-Woman to secure rights to the trademark.

*** And then Loki had to go and one-up this, he became his OWN [[Distaff Counterpart]] for awhile by stealing the reincarnation body intended for Sif.

* Marvel has justthen one-upped itself. Not content to merely turn the Hulk's nemesis Thunderbolt Ross into a palette swapped Hulk -- RedHulk—Red Hulk, aka Rulk -- theyRulk—they turned his daughter Betty into a distaff of the Rulk!

* [[The DCU]] now has a whole [[Alternate Universe]] (Earth-11) made up of [[Distaff Counterpart|Distaff Counterparts]]. All the superheroes there are [[gender-flip|gender-flipped]]ped, including a berserk-with-testosterone "Wonder Man" who's a [[Captain Ersatz|dead ringer]] for King Leonidas of ''[[300]]''.

* She-Hulk -- madeHulk—made shortly after a ''[[Benny Hill]] Show'' sketch which showed a woman hulking out -- wasout—was a deliberate move by Marvel to ensure that a copyright for a female Hulk character was established.

** There were also rumors at the time that CBS was planning on making a spinoff of the wildly successful ''Hulk'' TV series starring a female Hulk. At first Marvel assumed that they would automatically receive royalties from CBS should it happen. However, when Marvel moved to collect royalties from the ''Benny Hill'' sketch, Marvel's own lawyers told them they couldn't. Marvel realized that they wouldn't receive any royalties from CBS either, so they created She-Hulk.

* [[Spider-Man]] has four different Spider-Women and two different [[Spider-Girl|Spider-Girls]]s.

=== FanficFilms -- Animation ===

* Jessie is Woody's distaff counterpart in [[Toy Story (franchise)|Toy Story]]. [[Justified Trope|Justified]] in that [[Show Within a Show|"Woody's Round-Up"]], which was the show that their toy line was based on, was a show from around [[The Fifties]], just before it became common to have a distaff counterpart.

* ''[[Brother Bear]] 2'' has Anda and Kata, two "moosettes" that are distaff counterparts / [[Love Interest|Love Interests]]s for Rutt and Tuke. [[Fridge Brilliance|This works especially well since their voice actors were on]] ''[[SCTV]]'' (respectively, Rutt and Tuke were voiced by [[Rick Moranis]] and Dave Thomas, while Andrea Martin and Catherine O'Hara voiced Anda and Kata).

* According to the writers of ''[[Aladdin (Disney film)|Aladdin]]'', Jafar, the film's [[Big Bad]], is essentially a male version of [[Sleeping Beauty (Disney film)|Maleficent]]. What makes those two villains similar is the fact that they both wield magic powers, they both wear long, flowing black robes, they both carry staffs in their arms, they both have birds for henchmen, and they both [[One-Winged Angel|turn into]] [[Scaled Up|reptilian monsters]] at the end of their respective films. Ironically, according to the show ''[[House of Mouse]]'', Maleficent actually ended up falling in love with ''[[Hercules (Disney1997 film)||Hades]]'' of all people!

* A person wrongly convicted of murdering their spouse, escaping from custody, determined to track down those responsible, pursued--andpursued—and eventually aided--byaided—by an equally determined lawman played by [[Tommy Lee Jones]]? No, not [[The Fugitive|Richard Kimble]]. [[Double Jeopardy|Libby Parsons]]. The filmmakers tried to jazz it up by having the spouse in question having faked his death and having Libby escape from parole rather than prison, but viewers and critics weren't fooled. There's a reason ''[[Double Jeopardy]]'' is referred to as "The Female Fugitive", to the point where people genuinely needed to be reminded that it was ''not'' another sequel.

* [[Biggles]] -- Worrals—Worrals of the W.A.A.F.

* ''Eisenhorn'' -- By—By Dan Abnett of [[Warhammer 4000040,000]] brings us Inquisitor Gregor Eisenhorn, a moderately powered Psyker who falls for one Alizebeth Bequin. Alizebeth is a "Blank" who not only cancels out his powers, but is difficult for him to be around as it causes him pain. Never the less they fall in love.

* [[Mr. Men]] -- Little—Little Misses. Specific ones include:

** Mr Happy -- LittleHappy—Little Miss Sunshine

** Mr Chatterbox -- LittleChatterbox—Little Miss Chatterbox

** Mr Greedy -- LittleGreedy—Little Miss Greedy (originally Little Miss Plump)

** Mr Noisy -- LittleNoisy—Little Miss Loud

** Mr Small -- LittleSmall—Little Miss Tiny

** Mr Uppity -- LittleUppity—Little Miss Splendid

** Mr Tidy -- LittleTidy—Little Miss Neat

** Mr Clever -- LittleClever—Little Miss Brainy

** Mr Bump -- LittleBump—Little Miss Whoops

** Mr Busy -- LittleBusy—Little Miss Busy

** Mr Rush -- LittleRush—Little Miss Quick

** Mr Impossible -- LittleImpossible—Little Miss Magic

** Mr Quiet -- LittleQuiet—Little Miss Shy

* ''[[Kamen Rider Dragon Knight]]'' has one! Kamen Rider Wing Knight, [[Badass Biker|Len]] has been seen as a cool guy on bike until his girlfriend Kamen Rider Siren, [[Biker Babe|Kase]] came in with the same attitude. In it's Japanese version, ''[[Kamen Rider Ryuki]]'', Siren was actually called "Femme". And she wasn't as big as she was in ''Dragon Knight''.

* Old ''[[Battlestar Galactica Classic(1978 TV series)|BattlestarOld Galactica]]''Battlestar -- New Galactica'']]—[[Battlestar Galactica Reimagined(2004 TV series)| New ''Battlestar Galactica]]'']]: Boomer becomes Sharon "Boomer" Valeri, Starbuck becomes Kara "Starbuck" Thrace, Commander Cain becomes Admiral Helena Cain. There's also a female president, but she succeeds the late (male) President Adar, who was also in the original series.

* T'Pol from ''[[Star Trek: Enterprise|Star Trek Enterprise]]'' is this for Spock from ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series|Star Trek the Original Series]]''.

* Dr. Pulaski from ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation|Star Trek the Next Generation]]'' was an attempt to create a female version of "Bones" McCoy from [[Star Trek: The Original Series|the original series]]. Pulaski's cold abrasiveness (with none of Bones' passionate humanism to balance it out) made her an instant [[The Scrappy|fan un-favorite]] and she was dumped after one season.

* The titlartitular ''Time Warp Trio'' -- Joe—Joe, Fred, and Sam -- manageSam—manage to have distaff counterparts in the form of their great-granddaughters from the future, cleverly named Jodie, Freddi, and Samantha.

* A rare example of this happening in-universe occuredoccurred on ''[[Married... with Children]]'' when Kelly got a job as a gatekeeper at a local amusement park. She quickly turned into a [[Distaff Counterpart]] of her father Al, complete with her own horror stories involving fat women who come to the gate and generally miserable, bitter outlook on life.

** Sean -- AlexSean—Alex before she comes out

** Spinner -- JaneSpinner—Jane, lampshaded by Marco

* [[Home Improvement]] --(TV Lastseries)|Home Improvement]]—Last Man Standing. In both shows, [[Tim Allen]] plays the father to three kids. The difference is, in ''Last Man Standing'', all the kids are daughters instead of sons.

* ''[[The Bachelor]]'' -- ''[[The Bachelorette]]''.

=== Music ===

* [[Iron Maiden]] -- Iron—Iron Maidens, an all-female [[Iron Maiden]] tribute band.

=== MythsNew and LegendsMedia ===

* Kung Zhu -- ZhuZhu—Zhu Zhu Pets

=== Video Games ===

** Speaking of ''[[Metal Slug]] 4'', the characters that replaced Tarma and Eri in that game, Trevor and Nadia, were also [[Distaff Counterpart|Distaff Counterparts]].

** Also for the series, Tiamat is both a [[Distaff Counterpart]] and [[Evil Counterpart]] to Bahamut following [[Dungeons and& Dragons]] tradition. This is especially noticeable in ''[[Final Fantasy VIII]]'', where Tiamat is a [[Palette Swap]] of Bahamut and her Scan description indicates she underwent a [[Face Heel Turn]] from being a Guardian Force.

* ''[[Mega Man X]] 8'' had two new [[Mission Control|Navigators]] to accompany Alia, a mainstay since the fifth game. Sure enough, all three of them can be unlocked as playable characters, [[Distaff Counterpart|Distaff Counterparts]] of the three heroes, having similar playstyles: Alia --> X, Layer --> Zero, and Pallette --> Axl. All they need to think about now is a [[Distaff Counterpart]] to Sigma. Better yet, they ''shouldn't''.

* The ''[[Harvest Moon]]'' video game series practically lives off of these. There's Jack --> Jill/Claire and Mark --> Chelsea--butChelsea—but don't worry, there's more.

*** Zekrom ↔ Reshiram: Intended to be the case according to [[Word of God]], but [[Larynx Dissonance|both were given male voices in the anime]].<ref> For the record, both of them are technically genderless/unknown-gendered.</ref>

* ''[[BioshockBioShock (series)]] 2'' gives us Big Daddy --> Big Sister.

** In ''[[Super Robot Wars Reversal]]'', you are allowed to choose between Raul and Fiona Gureden, the male and female versions of the same player character, respectively. In [[Super Robot Wars Original Generation|Super Robot Wars Original Generations]]s, both of them are adapted into the story as [[Half-Identical Twins]].

** In ''[[Super Robot Wars GC]]'', Banpresto once again allowed the player to select a male or female version of the same character. This time around, both of them actually share the ''same exact'' namename—Akemi -- Akemi Akatsuki -- onlyAkatsuki—only with their given names spelled using different ''kanji''. Lord knows how Terada plans to work around ''that'' one if he ever decides to put them into the ''OG'' series.

* [[StarcraftStarCraft|Kerrigan]] -- [[Warcraft|Arthas]]

* ''[[Mortal Kombat]]'' has quite a few. [[Mortal Kombat 3|Sheeva]] is a female [[Mortal Kombat (video game)|Goro]] and [[Mortal Kombat 2|Kintaro]] (she was even known as She-Goro in early development before named were decided upon). [[Mortal Kombat 3|Chameleon has Khameleon]] and Sub-Zero has [[Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance|Frost]] (the latter is [[Justified]] in that Frost was--[[Deceptive Disciple|for a time]]--Subby—Subby's handpicked pupil). [[Mortal Kombat: Deception|Kira]] is said to be a female [[Mortal Kombat (video game)|Kano]], [[Composite Character|although she also draws inspiration from]] [[Mortal Kombat (video game)|Sonya]].[

* ''[[Problem Sleuth]]'' features [[Distaff Counterpart|Distaff Counterparts]]/[[Opposite SexGender Clone|Opposite Sex Clones]]s of the three protagonists, Problem Sleuth, Pickle Inspector, and Ace Dick, who live in the imaginary universe and which each briefly becomes during a "spiritual journey". Problem Sleuth gets Hysterical Dame, Pickle Inspector matches up to Nervous Broad, and Ace Dick gets... Ace Dick in a wig, because Ace's imagination isn't good enough to have an actual female alter-ego.

* ''[[Superjail]]!'' -- Ultra—Ultra-Prison, with female counterparts for all the main cast. Strangely, there were no female counterparts for [[Creepy Twins|the Twins...]] though this was probably for the better.

* Gimpy of ''[[Undergrads]]'', whose online alias is G-Prime, has a [[Distaff Counterpart]] in SHE-Prime; she's also his rival/love interest. Ironically, they don't realize they live next to each other.

* A recent ''[[The Fairly OddParents|Fairly OddparentsOddParents]]'' episode has a one-shot character in the form of [http://fairlyoddparents.wikia.com/wiki/Kimmy Kimmy], a female version of Timmy. She appears as Sanjay's date for the school dance in that episode (and [[Ho Yay|the fact that she resembles Timmy]] probably explains why he asked her).

* In ''[[The Mr. Men Show]]'' Mr Scatterbrain and Mr Stubborn are Mr Men counterparts to their Little Miss book counterparts.

* Arguably, ''[[Totally Spies!]]'' and ''[[The Amazing Spiez]]'' as another female to (younger and mostly) male version.

* [[Rated A For Awesome]] - ''[[Phineas and Ferb]]'' (to an extent). Both series have male protagonists, but ''[[Phineas and Ferb]]'' has more female involvement, including female focused episodes and merchandise.

== RealSpear LifeCounterparts ==

* In ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]'', judging from Rarity's portrayal of her in the play that makes up the plot of the episode Hearth's Warming Eve, Princess Platinum is one of [[Prince Charmless|Prince]] [[The Scrappy|Blueblood]] (or he is a [[Spear Counterpart]] to her, if you go by in-universe chronology).

=== Real Life ===

* The perception of our own body images. It's fairly common knowledge that girls are more easily suspectible to eating disorders such as ''[[wikipedia:Bulimia nervosa|Bulimia]]'' and ''[[wikipedia:Anorexia nervosa|Anorexia Nervosa]]'' in an attempt to lose weight because they think they are [[Hollywood Pudgy|too fat]]. Less commonly known is that the opposite generally holds true for guys, who try to get bigger instead. In the belief that they are [[Muscle Angst|too skinny or scrawny]] some will almost obsessively work out and eat a lot of food in order to put on more weight (in the form of muscle mass). This tends to happen more often to those who are already perceived as being very physically fit or muscular, and is known as ''[[wikipedia:Muscle dysmorphia|muscle dysmorphia]]'' or, appropriately, ''reverse anorexia''. Both are essentially nasty side-effects of the way our modern media portrays the ideal body figure for both women and men.{{context|reason=How is this an example of the trope as written?}}

[[Category:DoppelgangerDoppelgänger]]

[[Category:DistaffThis CounterpartIndex Is Copypasted]]