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{{trope}}
[[File:evonylady_1563evonylady 1563.jpg|link=Evony|frame|Where the hell are you, my Lady?]]
 
{{quote|''SHE IS ACTUALLY IN OUR GAME, MY LORD''|''[[Alteil]]'' ad's [[Take That]] at [[Evony]] and [http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2009/07/14/evolution-of-evony-video-game-ads/ this trope]}}
 
The practice of putting sexy women on the box art and in advertisements for video games withoutis herhardly actuallyanything ''appearing''new in the game, or only appearing in a very minor, unmemorable role.- [[Sex Sells]] after all, logic be damned. It can be seen as odd if the game features several significant female characters who could have been used instead, but it doesnShe't really matter who the girl is. She iss there only to attract the [[Male Gaze]], since [[Most Gamers Are Male|most gamers are (heterosexual) men]]. Once he seesSo what theif gameyou is about and decides whether or nothave to... buyembellish it,a her job is done.little?
 
Thus we have '''Lady Not-Appearing-In-This-Game''' - it doesn't matter who this cover gal is, or if only appears in a very minor, unmemorable role (if indeed she appears at all); once our prospective buyer sees what the game is about and he decides whether or not to buy it, her job is done. It becomes especially blatant if the game features several significant female characters who could have been used instead.
A rather blatant subtrope of [[Sexy Packaging]] and [[Covers Always Lie]]. The name is a reference to "Sir Not-Appearing-In-This-Film" from ''[[Monty Python and The Holy Grail]]''.▼
 
The trope has since come to any such case where a cover character doesn't appear in-game, or at least not as portrayed. Of course, examples need not ''always'' be sexualized, or indeed even be women - [[Sex Sells|but as was said...]]
Contrast [[Sir Not-Appearing-In-This-Trailer]], as movies tend to have the exact opposite problem. See also [[Wolverine Publicity]].▼
 
▲A rather blatant subtrope of [[Sexy Packaging]] and [[Covers Always Lie]]. The name is a reference to "Sir Not-Appearing-In-This-Film" from ''[[Monty Python and Thethe Holy Grail]]''.
 
▲A rather obvious subtrope of [[Covers Always Lie]] and [[Sexy Packaging]] (which examples ''usually'' double as. Contrast the similarly-inspired [[Sir Not-Appearing-In-This-Trailer]], as movies tend to have the exact opposite problem. See also [[Wolverine Publicity]].
 
{{examples}}
==[[Film]]==
* The [[Steven Spielberg]] film ''[[A.I.: Artificial Intelligence|A.I.]]'' features a live-action movie version of this trope. Much of the film's promotional material featured [[Ashley Scott]]'s sexy robotic hooker, yet; in the final film, Scott appears for less than 3 seconds, which is just enough time to spout her single line of dialogue.▼
 
== [[Video Games]] ==
* The cover girls for the ''[[Grand Theft Auto]]'' games. There are some who do appear in their respective games, namely Misty in ''GTA 3'', but their roles are so small that they effectively still count. They're always odd choices, since every ''GTA'' includes one or two significant female characters who could have been used instead.
** This is also done in ''[[Red Dead Redemption]]'', with a prostitute on the instruction manual. Fans attempted to avert this trope with the [[Epileptic Tree]] that she's the protagonist's wife during her prostitute days, but this was [[Jossed]].
* As illustrated above, the online ads for ''[[Evony]]'' featured women ranging from innocent-looking girls to porn stars, beckoning "my Lord" to play the game. It's worth noting that ''Evony'' is not an RPG but a strategy game, meaning you don't see ''anyone'' up close, let alone some bimbo in anachronistic lingerie. It's infamous enough that "[[Evony Ad Girl]]" is a redirect to this page.
** The slow degeneration of Evony's ad campaigns from "actual relevant ads" to "<big>Boobies!</big> <small>(oh, and play our game)</small>" has becomebecame [http://contexts.org/socimages/2009/07/14/evolution-of-evony-video-game-ads/ a running joke] on game-related sites.
* SF strategy MMO ''Lacuna Expanse'' used a [https://web.archive.org/web/20150510004502/http://d3c1jot4uxnt54.cloudfront.net/ads/300x250-evony-tribute.jpg similar advert], allegedly as a tribute to Evony. More recently we also got [http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/imgad?id=CJGf1sG17rbWggEQrAIY-gEyCESnG5sWIJmA this one] [http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/imgad?id=CPymzOvDxZ_ecxCgARjYBDIImwVO95qondk this one], and [http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/imgad?id=CNbwz-LqqZ6EvAEQoAEY2AQyCIG78VowBOBP this one], which are at least vaguely relevant to the game and considerably more tasteful.
* In ''[[Ever QuestEverQuest]]'' and ''EverQuest 2'', Firiona Vie and Antonia Bayle respectively fill this role. Firiona Vie is a partial subversion, as she's actually an important character in the mythos, but it's very unlikely your characters will ever encounter her. Antonia is less important and a bit less reclusive than Firiona.
** Firiona and this trope in general were parodied in [[The Noob]]. [http://thenoobcomic.com/index.php?pos=186 link]
* The cover of ''[[Arcanum: ofOf Steamworks and Magick Obscura]]'' is dominated by the tattooed head of a female elf. None of the player portraits for elves or half-elves look like that, nor does any prominent elven npcs. There are also a spellslinging mage and dwarf with a flamethrower included, neither of whom notable characters but far more awesome.
** The game has an alternate brighter cover with Raven, whom you do meet, prominently displayed. The unidentified female elf in the commercial cover is by that logic most likely Min'Gorad, the leader of the Dark Elves, who does not have a character potrait in-game.
* A particularly [[Egregious]] case with theThe ''[[Spellforce]]'' series. Eventends to do this even with the female characters who ''do'' appear in the game,; their [[Stripperific|choice of clothing]] on the cover doesn't reflect the mostly modest clothing and armour choices worn by the character, their party and NPC'sNPCs.
* Naava Daishan was one of most prominent characters in the promotional materials for the first ''Kohan'' game, appearing in the order info in the demo, and all over the website. while she's available in the game, her role in the story before the second game (Wherewhere she's the main character), is zero.
* ''Dragonfable'' has , or at least had, an ad floating around that uses a character from another one of their games.
* Ever heard of ''Knightshift''? Known in the states as ''[[Once Upon A Knight]]''? No? Well, two out of the six official wallpapers at [http://www.knightshift.com/eng/index_eng.htm their site] prominently feature a bikinified magic babe... who isn't in the game. Another features an alt design for the Amazon Sorceress, which is noticeably kinkier than the in-game counterpart.... maybe if they had better marketing than "Hot Babe Who's Not in the Game Wallpapers" there might have been a sequel?
▲* The [[Steven Spielberg]] film ''[[A.I.: Artificial Intelligence|A.I.]]'' features a live-action movie version of this trope. Much of the film's promotional material featured Ashley Scott's sexy robotic hooker, yet in the final film Scott appears for less than 3 seconds which is just enough time to spout her single line of dialogue.
* Male inversion in ''[[Arc Rise Fantasia]]'' - Niko, the comic relief character, is the only main playable character not mentioned in the manual or featured on the box art, yet he joins exceptionally early in the game and sticks around for a very long time (with continuing importance to the plot after that). Following the trope closer is Adele, who never joins you except as a Guest character, yet she rates a picture in the manual stating her weapon preference... though her in-game outfit changes after only a few hours.
* The "recruitment posters" for ''[[Final Fantasy XIV]]'s'{{'}}s Grand Companies caused a small bit of confusion on some forums, due to the fact that [https://web.archive.org/web/20131207213830/http://lodestone.finalfantasyxiv.com/pl/company/twinadder/index.html one poster] (presumably a parody of ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20120415070003/http://www.mtholyoke.edu/courses/rschwart/hist255/la/delacroix.html Liberty Leading Her People]'') kept being mistaken for a depiction of the Company's commander, Kan-E-Senna, and people were upset that "wasn't showing up in the game." Kan-E-Senna actually resembles a young teenager, and is a different person from the woman in the poster.
** Fun fact: the woman on the poster is actually one of the twelve gods of Eorzea, Nophica.
* An ad once featured on this very[[TV wikiTropes]] for a game called ''[[Call of Roma]]'' ''goes even further than Evony'' by featuring a scantily clad woman and advertising that you are "one click away from a Roman orgy." It's a turn based strategy game.
** Later, they replaced "orgy" with "army", which makes a little more sense. The girl's still there, though.
* ''[[Forge of Empires]]'' claims to be pornographic and has quizzes before you enter, saying there is [[Blatant Lies|hardcore sex with other players and amazing customizations]]. In reality, it's a forgettable city-building game.
 
* The trailer [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qop8oF2q2Us seen here] is for a game called ''War 1937'', which at first glance, seems like some thrilling video game with hot babes fighting tanks and using [[Powered Armor]], even giving what seems to be a tragic backstory for one of the heroines. Thing is, it's a card game designed for use with the Android, so pretty much everything in the trailer takes a lot of liberties.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:AlwaysUsually Female]]
[[Category:Fan Service]]
[[Category:Videogame Culture]]
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