Phenotype Stereotype: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
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* Similarly, Irish characters are very likely to have red hair. Most Irish are actually brown-haired; red is simply ''proportionally'' more common with Irish than other Europeans.
* In a similar vein, if a character is black, he or she is most likely to be from the United States, rather than from an African country or somewhere else. The character may be drawn with poofy hair, if not an afro, as hair texture is otherwise tricky detail in low-budget animation.
* Also [[Germany|Germans]], especially in context of [[Those Wacky Nazis]], (or simply characters [[Putting
Someone who is foreign, [[But Not Too Foreign]] will often look totally non-Japanese, to distinguish him or her from the rest of the cast.
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* Although he's a [[White-Haired Pretty Boy]], ''[[Kodomo no Omocha]]'''s half-American has blue eyes. This is even more noticeable because ''every'' other (Japanese) character in the show has brown eyes.
* ''[[Hanaukyo Maid Tai]]: La Verite'' features two American characters, both of which are blond and have bright green eyes.
* ''[[
* In ''[[Noir]]'', most of the background Corsicans are obviously Mediterranean. The exception is the ''lead'' Mirelle, who is blonde and blue-eyed. Similarly, Kirika may not be Japanese but is obviously designed to look 'familiar' versus Mirelle being 'a hot foreign chick from Europe'.
* ''[[
** Sei, who has blond hair and blue eyes, had once been mistaken as an American by Eriko.
* In ''[[Ouran High School Host Club]]'', The half-French Tamaki has the typical look. In fact, his extremely violet eyes often appear to be fluorescent.
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** Also, several of the German players had blue eyes and either light blond (Schneider), dark blond (Schester) or light brown (Müller, at least in Road to 2002) hair. And not ''all'' dark-skinned charas are Brazilian; Hyuga is Japanese and has much darker skin than his peers.
* ''[[Transformers Armada]]'' (which was Japan-made but apparently set in America) has the blonde-haired blue-eyed Rad as the de facto leader of the human sidekicks. His best friend Carlos is...well, a walking Hispanic-American stereotype.
* ''[[
* So does ''[[Lucky Star]]'''s Patricia Martin, notable for being [[Gratuitous English|unable to say her own name]].
* ''[[Pet Shop of Horrors]]'' has Leon and Chris. Leon, who is blond, blue-eyed and aggressive, is designed to be an example of [[Eagle Land|Americans]] and American/Western philosophy, a foil to the clearly Eastern Count D. The show otherwise takes place in a fairly diversely colored Los Angeles.
* Kaere Kimura from ''[[Sayonara, Zetsubou
* The British special agent "November 11" in ''[[Darker
* Ana in ''[[Ichigo Mashimaro]]'' is British, so of course she is depicted as having light blond hair and blue eyes (much to the delight of [[Cool Big Sis|Nobue]]). Her last name "Coppola" is actually Italian though, but probably sounded foreign enough - not to mention funny to Japanese ears (and hey, it's not impossible that her family moved to Britain from Italy).
** Italians (and most Europeans) have been immigrating to Britain for over two centuries: Antonio Panizzi devised the basis for all modern library classification schemes as Chief Librarian of the British Museum in the 1850s. For a more modern example, Tony Iommi, the lead guitarist of Black Sabbath.
* Likely because of its [[Only Six Faces]] [[Show Within a Show]] gimmick, ''[[Genshiken]]'' goes out of its way to give its "real" characters distinct facial features with more subdued coloring than is usual. Two [[Occidental Otaku|American otaku]] make an unfortunate appearance late in the second season of ''[[Genshiken]]''. Pale, loud, blond, respectively blue- and green-eyed, and without much sense of decency and personal property (respectively). [[Gratuitous English]] abounds.
* Kate from ''[[Sketchbook]]''.
* Tina from ''[[
* David Rice on ''[[Majin Tantei Nougami Neuro]]'' has not only the typical blue eyes/blond hair combination, but an enormous nose and tall frame. {{spoiler|Indeed, when he turns into a monster, his nose becomes about a metre long and [[Freud Was Right|suspiciously phallic]], and he rips off his shirt to show that he is very muscular and wouldn't look out of place in an L.A. street gang. And that's the ''least'' of his [[Eagle Land]] tendencies}}.
* Blond-haired and blue-eyed Anthony is the personification of this trope as the American exchange student in ''[[Doki Doki School Hours]]''. Of course, [[Anime Accent Absence|his Japanese is impeccable]].
* ''[[This Ugly Yet Beautiful World]]'' has character with orange, purple, pink, green, and blue hair, yet the only blonde is the American [[Mad Scientist|Jennifer Portman]].
* In ''[[Witch Hunter Robin]]'', the Japanese characters have dark hair, while the Italian [[Role Called|Robin]] and the American [[Playful Hacker|Michael]] have blonde hair and blue eyes.
** But Yurika Dojima, who seems to be Japanese, is also blonde-haired and blue
* Both used an averted in ''[[Planetes]]''. Fee is American, but has darker hair and skin than either of the Japanese characters, and the Arab and South American characters also have realistic complexions. On the other hand, the Russian Yuri and German Edel both have blonde hair and green eyes.
* Elizabeth "Liz" K. Strawberryfield from ''[[Kamen no Maid Guy]]'', from England.
* Marie Chupacabra W. Whitebear from ''[[Penguin Musume]]'', from America. Has a bit of [[Red Eyes, Take Warning]] too.
* Alisa Bannings of ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]]'', from America. Fate, who has blond hair, was also able to pass herself off as a foreign student.
* Averted in ''[[
** Misa, who is also entirely Japanese, has Blond hair, but it's explicitly dyed.
** Then there's Mello, a [[Blond Guys Are Evil|blond]], blue eyed guy from Britain who moved to Los Angeles to join [[The Mafia]].
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* ''[[Zettai Karen Children]]'' had the Liberty Bells, a team of ESPers from Comerica. Ken McGwire, the male half of the team, fit this trope. Mary Ford, the other half of the team, was dark-skinned and [[White-Haired Pretty Girl|white haired]].
* In the ''[[Slam Dunk]]'' 3rd [[OAV]], a half-American player named Michael Okita came to Japan and joined the Ryoukufu team. His eyes are blue and his hair is blond, of course.
* Used, Averted, Subverted and Inverted in ''[[Ghost in
* Ayase from ''[[Okane ga Nai]]'' is described as "mixed race", his blonde hair and blue eyes make him seem a foreigner. In the manga it is explained via flashbacks that this is one of the reasons why he was discriminated against while growing up. His amazingly [[Uke|fey looks]] and occasional [[Wholesome Crossdresser|crossdressing]] did not help either.
* Averted in ''[[Code Geass]]'' where it can sometimes be impossible to tell the Britannian characters apart from the Japanese ones. Britannian protagonist Lelouch is actually one of the few characters with black hair, while his Japanese friend/rival Suzaku has light brown hair. In general the East Asian characters have darker, less diverse and somewhat more realistic hair colours. The only outliers are the Japanese Kallen, who is half-Britannian, and the Chinese Mao and Tianzi, who seem to be albinos.
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** So is half-Austrian Touma H. Norstein of ''[[Digimon Savers]]''.
** Half-Italian, half-Japanese Izumi Orimoto (''[[Digimon Frontier]]'') has got the blonde hair. Her eyes are [[Green Eyes|emerald green]], not blue.
* In ''[[
* In ''[[Detective Conan]]'' this trope is evident for Vermouth and Jodie, but subverted by James Black, who has black hair.
** Also, minor character Hakuba, better known from the connecting series ''[[Magic Kaito]]'', is half English, and has blond hair and blue eyes in the manga. In the anime, he is portrayed with darker hair and brown eyes, however.
* In ''[[
* Australian exorcist John Brown from ''[[
* Zigzagged in ''[[Full Metal Panic!]]''. Ethnically German (though [[But Not Too Foreign|born and raised in Japan]]) Kurz Weber is blond-haired, blue-eyed, and about six feet tall. On the other hand the resident American of the [[Power Trio]], Melissa Mao, is black-haired and clearly of Chinese descent.
* Evangeline A.K McDowell from ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'', born in some part of western Europe is blue-eyed and completely blond with [[Rapunzel Hair]]. Ayaka Yukihiro is also half-Japanese and blond.
** On the other hand, you also have the [[Darkskinned Blonde]] Chinese Ku Fei, and the freckled/redheaded Natsumi
* To make sure the audience gets that a very short scene is taking place in the US, ''[[Toradora
* ''[[Axis Powers Hetalia]]'' is hit hard with this trope - justified, since the characters are supposed to be walking stereotypes. Every [[Anthropomorphic Personification|country]] (except Lithuania and Hungary) north of Austria is blonde, getting paler and paler until one hits the platinum blonde-haired Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, and the stark white-haired Iceland, which is [[Truth in Television]] since the percentages of blonds goes up the higher North you go, as shown by [http://www.vagabondish.com/wp-content/uploads/blond-map-europe.jpg blond map of Europe]. And all of them, this time including Hungary and Lithuania, have blue, green, or purple eyes. Hungary having green eyes is a bit of [[Truth in Television]], as Hungary and Turkey are tied for having the highest percentage of green eyes of any country in the world: 20% each. The North American [[Canada, Eh?|twins]] are similarly blonde-haired and blue-eyed. All Asian, Middle Eastern, and Southern European nations have the brown/black scheme.
* ''[[Monster (
* Fumio's grandfather in the [[Manga]] ''[[Saitama Chainsaw Shoujo]]'' looks, talks, and acts like John Wayne... assuming of course that John Wayne was a practitioner of [[Martial Arts and Crafts|Chainsaw-Fu]].
* [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] pretty hard in the ''[[Touhou]]'' [[Doujin]] ''God's Children's Day'' by Kagero. In a prescient anticipation of her characterization as [[Cloudcuckoolander|daydreaming]] [[Wrong Genre Savvy]] Nerd in the then-unreleased ''Undefined Fantastic Object'' and ''Hisoutensoku'', Sanae immediately categorizes the blue-eyed ([[Kaleidoscope Eyes|that day]]) and blonde Alice as "some kind of super-foreigner" and try to speak to her in English. The comic then goes on a tangent about what Sanae must have thought of the equally blonde, but ethnically Asian Marisa ([[Mukokuseki|Or so we're told]]).
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** Kensuke's hair is a lot lighter than one would expect a full-Japanese person's hair color to be. He also seems to have blue eyes. This has never been explained, but fans usually agree that he must have a gaijin ancestor somewhere in his family line.
** There's also a scene in the second Rebuild of Evangelion movie; where the American division of NERV had people who looked like they were of Nordic/Aryan decent- Blue eyes, light blonde hair, and even detailed facial features associated with Caucasians. But then you had Kaji standing right behind them looking like the only young, cool, (and not to mention: bishonen) guy in the room. (Maybe because he's Japanese...hopefully that's not supposed to be racist?)
* Either played straight or possibly slightly parodied in ''[[
* In ''[[Love Hina]]'', the American Sarah McDougal has blonde hair and blue eyes. [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] a little when she tells Motoko, "Kaolla and I are not Japanese!"
* Momiji Sohma of ''[[Fruits Basket]]'' is half German and half Japanese; he has blond hair like his German mother despite the fact that it isn't the dominant phenotype. In the anime it's not a result of the curse, since Momiji's uncursed little sister has the exact same blond hair as him, while in the manga she has some shade of brown.
* Bandit Keith from ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!]]'' actually started the trope of [[Wearing a Flag
* Liz and Patty from ''[[Soul Eater]]'' are both Americans (New Yorkers, in fact) and are blonde and blue-eyed. Though blonde/very light-brown-haired Maka's exact ethnicity is never really specified, her surname is "Albarn" (which points to being at least part Anglo-Saxon) and her mother's name is Kami, pointing to Japanese, so she probably gets this from her (even though we have yet to see her) while her father, Spirit, is the death scythe for North America.
* ''[[Durarara!!]]'' averts this trope with Simon, an African-Russian guy who works for a ''Russian sushi shop''...? in Japan.
** He still has blue eyes, though.
** Also we meet Russian tourists and an Italian immigrant. Atypical.
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* Played extremely straight in ''[[Eyeshield 21]]''. All the major players of the Nasa Aliens are blonde with the exception of Patrick "Panther" Spencer (who's black) and the Gonzales brothers (who are most likely Latino).
** Not to mention the World Cup arc. In particular, the "Pentagon" of Team America is made up of Panther, two blondes (who are also extreme jerkasses), a Native American (he has braided hair and wears face paint at all times), and a Hollywood action star. At first it seems the Hollywood star, Bud Walker, appears to simply avert the blonde stereotype (his hair is black) till you realize it's because he's a parody of American action movie actors like Brad Pitt.
* In ''[[
* Averted in ''[[
* Averted for the most part in ''[[Transformers Super God Masterforce]]''; The show's cosmopolitan cast features characters of many national origins, but only the French-born Minerva is a blue eyed blonde. Of course, the Mexican (repeat, ''Mexican'') Bullhorn has flaming red hair, green eyes, and fair skin.
* In ''[[Shaman King]]'', [[Magical Native American]] Silva actually has the closest to mongoloid features in mukokuseki; he has (ridiculously) slanted eyes, even though real Indians (with the exception of Inuit) often don't even have the epicanthic fold. Oddly, he's [[Fan Yay|built like a bara character]].
* ''[[Now and Then, Here
* ''[[Softenni]]'''s Elizabeth Warren.
* In one episode of ''[[You're Under Arrest]]'' there's a white American kid with green eyes, freckles, and blond hair. Somewhat subverted since he's [[But Not Too Foreign|half-Japanese]].
* Mariya and his sister from ''[[Maria Holic]]'' have [[But Not Too Foreign|some]] Italian genes in them, and are blonds.
* In ''[[Asobi
* The personifications of America, France, and Britain in ''[[Afganisu-tan]]'' all have [[Blue Eyes]]. Meriken and Britain have blond hair, while Franse has light red.
* In ''[[
* [[Zig Zagged]] in ''[[
* One of the protagonists of ''[[Flower Flower]]'' is a blonde haired girl with [[Green Eyes]]. She comes from a fictional country called "Adingala" which seems European.
* Averted in ''[[
* In ''[[
* ''Bokutachi Otokonoko'' revolves around two protagonists, one of them being only half Japanese and having blond hair.
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== Video Games ==
* In ''[[Umineko no Naku Koro
* In ''[[Katamari Damacy]]'', one of the characters you can roll up is a fat blond man with an American flag on his shirt. His name is, of course, "American Guy". He's even fatter than the ''sumo wrestlers''.
** Hilariously, he also ears a ball-cap, has glasses and is bearded. He looks like Micheal Moore (who has worn American flag shirts before).
* ''[[Street Fighter]]'' varies with this this - the characters are from all over the world and they for the most part have varied physical appearances that would seem appropriate to their nationalities (although Sagat must have had a rather excitable pituitary gland, and doesn't look the least bit Southeast Asian). It still shows a disproportionate number of blond Americans, since only Americans who aren't blond are Guy (who's Asian,) Balrog (who's black,) and Crimson Viper. They're outnumbered by the blond Ken, Guile, Charlie, Cody, Alex, and Rufus, though it's [[All There in the Manual]] that Ken dyes his hair.
** Vega (Balrog in Japan). He's European, therefore he has a light skin and bright blond hair (sometimes light brown or red), in accordance to the Japanese stereotype (according to [[Soul Calibur]], the Japanese seem to mix up Spain and France, the same way we'd mix up Korean and Japanese culture). And he's Spanish therefore in the American film adaptations he's played by dark-skinned and black haired [[
* ''[[Harukanaru Toki no Naka
* Bebe, the French foreign exchange student in ''[[Persona 3]]'', is as blatant an example of this trope as you could ever hope for.
* ''[[Katawa Shoujo]]'''s token [[But Not Too Foreign|half-Japanese]] girl is naturally one.
** The other half is Scottish, though, not American.
* ''[[
* The ''[[Tokimeki Memorial]]'' series is guilty of this, especially being a series that loves the [[You Gotta Have Blue Hair]] trope: the only two characters having the Blonde Hair / [[Blue Eyes]] combo in the series are Patricia McGrath of ''Tokimeki Memorial 1 Pocket'', and Elisa Dolittle Naruse of ''Tokimeki Memorial 4''. The first is an [[Eagle Land|Eaglelander]]; the second a case of [[But Not Too Foreign]].
** Averted in the case of [[Secret Character]] Chiharu Aoki of ''[[Gender Flip|Tokimeki Memorial Girl's Side 1st Love]]'': he's an [[Eagle Land|Eaglelander]] too, but has blue hair and eyes. In ''Girl's Side 2'', meanwhile, blond and blue-eyed Englishman Christopher Weatherfield [[Lampshade Hanging|hangs a lampshade]]: "It's clear that I'm a foreigner. Don't I look like one~?"
* ''[[Pokémon]]'' has the [[Eagle Land|"Lightning American"]], Lt. Surge.
** Unova, which is based on New York, has its fair share of blonds. It's [[Averted]] in a lot of cases though.
** Orre, which is based off Arizona, also averts this in many cases.
* ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]'' has the oddly red-skinned people of Cosmo Canyon (which is based on American Indian stereotypes). And of course Barret is a [[Mr. T]] Mr [[Expy|lookalike]].
* ''[[Harvest Moon]]'' averts this in most cases. The entire series takes place in Western towns in an unidentified country that resembles the Americas and occasionally Europe, with a lot of Japanese influence. Since the cast is western, it can't have every game plagued with blonds and red-heads.
** It's partially justified by the choice of giving potential partners a distinctive look. Each of the potential husbands and wives have a different hair and eye colour. Usually, it became distinctive of their respective relatives.
* The Heroic Spirit Gilgamesh in ''[[Fate/stay
* Klavier and Kristoph Gavin in ''[[Ace Attorney]]'' both are pale-eyed with blond hair. The von Karmas have either white (due to being old) or blue hair. They're all referred to as "German" in the English versions of the game, but in the original Japanese they're from America.
* Vert's design in ''[[Hyperdimension Neptunia]]'' is based on the American Stereotype of being Blonde, Blue Eyed and Busty.
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[[Category:Race Tropes]]
[[Category:Sublime Rhyme]]
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