Second Law of Gender Bending: Difference between revisions
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* Subverted in ''[[Sekirei]]''. {{spoiler|Homura}} deals with being a girl, but she doesn't like it and is obviously still uncomfortable with her growing attraction to her [[Designated Love Interest]].
* In ''[[One Piece]]'' Ivankov can use his Devil Fruit powers to change a person's gender; usually, the recipient wants him to do it, but he has done it to enemies, and reactions are mixed. One would-be assassin who barged into his club was subjected to it, and was clearly humiliated and mortified. On the other hand, when he did it to a male guard at Impel Down, the guard actually liked the change, and was willing to help him and Luffy. Ivankov himself has claimed that his powers "awaken" a person's "true self", and that he cannot change a person unless that person wants to be changed, even if it's only a subconscious desire.
== Comic Books ==
* Inverted twice over in an ''[[Excalibur]]'' story where the heroes are subjected to a [[Freaky Friday Flip]] with their enemies the Crazy Gang. Not only was Meggan ''not'' very happy with the Knave's male body, the Knave was ''really'' unhappy with ''hers'' too. Although given what he said, it may have had more to do with him not being able to control Meggan's shapeshifting ability than the gender issue
== Fan Works ==
* Becomes a plot point in ''[https://www.tthfanfic.org/Story-16165/EllandrahSylver+Fool+s+Consequences.htm Fool's Consequences]'', a ''[[Harry Potter]]/[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' crossover fic by "EllandrahSylver". The speed with which Calypso (formerly Draco) Malfoy adapts to and starts enjoying being female is noted on (and worried about) by several characters -- and leads to discoveries and developments that transform the story by the end of its existing material.
* The ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' pseudo-crossover fic ''[[Xendra]]'' comes at this trope from several angles:
** Andrew/Andrea, is ''very'' much a case, reinforced by Andrew's apparent [[Transgender]] status before That Halloween.
** Xander/Xendra initially worries about it constantly, but eventually comes to a kind of equilibrium state where he's equally comfortable as either. Of course, Willow (and later Faith, too) being intensely into both of his forms helps a lot.
** Wesley/Linda is an odd case. Wesley does not come to particularly prefer his female form, but because it makes it possible to be with the woman he loves, he chooses to become "Linda" permanently.
== Film ==
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* Slightly subverted in ''[[The Warlock Of Strathearn]]''. The main character turns himself into a woman because {{spoiler|he falls in love with a lesbian.}} This works out very well for awhile, and he enjoys many aspects of being a woman. Eventually, though, {{spoiler|after his lover dies, he begins to experience the not-so-good parts of being a woman, and begins to want to be a man again. However, his powers aren't working anymore, and he has to make a deal with someone to change him back into a man.}} He turns out to like different qualities of being either gender.
* In ''[[The Wheel of Time]]'' after Balthamel is resurrected in the body of a Borderland woman he comes to accept his new life as a woman. His/her appetite for sex and women is not lessened in the slightest, the gender change does however broaden his interests and provide him a wealth of new assets.
* From Discworld: Although he's only crossdressing, not actually a woman, Corporal Nobbs is reluctant to get back into his male uniform/role after he's spent half of ''[[
* Andrew Jackson Libby, a character from several of [[Robert A. Heinlein]]'s works, had his gender changed to female when he was resurrected, when it's discovered that he had both male and female sex chromosomes. He changes his name to Elizabeth Andrew Jackson Libby Long, and tells anyone and everyone that he's much happier as a woman.
== Mythology ==
* Possibly Tiresias from [[Greek Mythology]], who spent seven years as a woman (and bore children) after killing a mating female snake, then transformed back into a man after killing a male; at very least, one can assume he enjoyed sex better as a woman. Zeus and Hera called upon him to settle an argument over which gender enjoyed it more (as he alone had experienced it from both perspectives), and Tiresias claimed, "Of ten parts a man enjoys one only." In other words, he was saying a woman enjoys it ten times as much. By the by, that crack was what got him turned into a [[Blind Seer]], as Hera did not take the answer well and Zeus tried to make up for his wife's behavior by giving Tiresias powers of prophecy.
== Music ==
* [[The Who]] song "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4_eSW6D6sc I'm a Boy]" subverts this trope; the narrator can't wait to resume his normal sex role.
== Tabletop Games ==
* Stories in ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'' regarding the dreaded ''Girdle of Masculinity/Femininity'' (a cursed magic iten that [[Gender Bender|gender bends]] the user, with the [[First Law of Gender Bending|First Law]] in full effect) tend to subvert this Trope:
** In ''[[Baldur's Gate]]'', a jester gives one as a “gift” to Duke Lobelahn's lover; neither the Duke nor his lover found the joke very funny, the jester was executed.
** The sourcebook ''The Shining South'' (of the ''[[Forgotten Realms]]'' setting) relates that the halfling fighter/wizard Brac Bristletoes had his ''girdle of storm giant strength'' stolen. He eventually recovered what he thought was his belt, but unfortunately, it was a ''girdle of masculinity/femininity''. Brac spent several years with the woman's body until he earned enough to pay an archmage who could reverse the effect, clearly not liking the change at all.
== [[Video Games]] ==
* {{spoiler|Xion}} from [[Kingdom Hearts]] is an iffy example. {{spoiler|She is physically male or genderless but was treated as female throughout the game.}} Regardless, she considers herself female even after the reveal.
{{quote|{{spoiler|Xion}}: {{spoiler|Now its time for the puppet to play her part.}}}}
* Disturbingly subverted in the [[Eroge]] ''[[X-Change]]''. Takuya's life is almost unarguably ''worse'' as a girl (he goes from ignored milquetoast to [[Black Comedy Rape|potential sex toy for almost anyone in the school]]), but in the bad endings, she's too far gone or traumatized to care.
** Played straight in many instances with X-Change Alternative in which Kaoru does indeed come to be more comfortable as a girl in a few endings. However these endings fluctuate between good and outright bad. Miu, Renji, and Touya's routes has this play out in a fashion that just about fills most good ending criteria, Saya's is fairly neutral, and Mizuki just doesn't have a female ending. Kyoka's female ending on the other hand {{spoiler|plays out with X-Change's old "too far gone" approach with them nothing more than sex toys for Yui and her brother.}}
* In ''[[World of Warcraft]]'', Chromie is a male dragon who almost always appears to humans as a female gnome. Why? As she herself explained in the ''Visage Day'' comic book adaptation, she tried many male visage forms, but never felt comfortable with them, and that the female gnome simply "suits" her more. Not many mortals press the subject, for while she is usually benign, she ''is'' a dragon.
== Webcomics ==
* Subverted in ''[[Misfile]]''. Despite her life being much improved in several aspects, Ash is still vehemently trying to go back to being a boy, even if it means that all the good things she achieved in the meantime disappear. Keeping a firm grasp of "his" male identity remains top priority over all else.
** {{spoiler|Double subverted, Ash realizes that things would kind of change for the worse if (s)he becomes a boy again. (S)He has then doubts about turning back into a boy.}}
* Averted in ''[[The Order of the Stick]]''. Roy doesn't seem to terribly mind being female (it helps him get perspective on [[Knight Templar|the kind of person]] Miko Miyazaki is), but he'd much rather have his "Trouser Titan".
* ''[[The Wotch]]'' positively loves this trope, with four jocks-turned-cheerleaders (who later got a spinoff comic), a male teacher turned Asian girl student and an [[Innocent Bystander]]-turned-[[Perky Female Minion]], amongst others. There's even a variation where a woman turned centaur decides she prefers that form as well.
** Special mention goes to a couple who keeps swapping bodies and gender as a [[Running Gag]]. The one person who has expressed an interest in trying the other gender again recreationally is the ''girl'', not the guy.
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* Played with a great deal in ''[[The Dragon Doctors]]'', since there are a great deal of gender benders in it. It's all over the map, ranging from genuine gender dysphoria to total acceptance and everything in between.
* Probably played straight with Julius of [[The Key to Her Heart]], mainly because being female allows him to have a relationship with the girl he loves, who is a lesbian. {{spoiler|also played straight with his mom (who took to her mode-locking to female with gusto) but subverted with his dad, who is very much a manly badass-type who does ''not'' take well to his gender-changing.}}
* The emperor from ''[[Beyond The Veil]]'' embraces this trope mere minutes after changing genders. It's implied issues with a new body were never a big concern and she takes her second-in-command as [https://web.archive.org/web/20120626160852/http://beyondtheveilcomic.com/?p=251 her new lover] (having never found a worthy one as a man) before going back to trying to conquer the universe.
* Very, ''very'' averted with the main character of ''[[Exiern]]'', and played emphatically straight with {{spoiler|one of the priests}}. The latter example started as a [[Crowning Moment of Funny]] before [[Cerebus Retcon|becoming]] a [[Transgender|solid counterpoint]] to the main character's plight.
* In ''[[Eerie Cuties]]'', this is Zigzagged for Ace. In one story in chapter 0, he is [[Gender Bender|Gender Bent]] along with most of the school, and he is upset about it at first, but quickly sees a benefit, as he can sneak away and make out with Kade (who is such an attractive [[Bishonen]] that [[Even the Guys Want Him]]) without it seeming awkward. Unfortunately, by doing this, she does not get the cure that the rest of the school does, and starts to regret it - but then she sees more benefits. Her parents are ''very'' understanding (it seems his father would have preferred a daughter, and can now admit it to him) and because female werewolves go through puberty faster, he no longer has the problem where she couldn’t revert his paws to hands. Plus Layla decides not to kill her for trying to steal Kade (as she finds it so hilarious) and he is invited to her slumber party, ''without'' being the [[Designated Victim]] of the "makeover". Ace spends four entire chapters as a girl, until the curse is finally undone at the end of the fourth.
== [[Web Original]] ==
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== [[Western Animation]] ==
* In the ''[[Futurama]]'' episode "Neutopia", a sexless alien first [[No Biological Sex|takes away everyone's gender]], then when asked to restore them gets everyone backwards. The now-male Leela, Amy, and LaBarbara struggle to save the sinking Planet Express while the feminized men have fun being girls and goofing off. When the "guys" force the "girls" to make a swimsuit calendar, they go along with it a lot more happily than the real women did earlier. Despite all this, the men go back to their original sex with zero protests when the opportunity came up ({{spoiler|except for Scruffy, who came in late}}).
* In the ''[[Harley Quinn (TV series)|Harley Quinn]]'' episode "Riddle U", shapeshifting villain Clayface assumes a female identity - "Stephanie" - in order to help Harley and Ivy infiltrate Gotham University, and starts to have ''way'' too much fun being "in character". Harley actually has to remind him (more than once!) that he's a giant clay-monster in disguise.
== Real Life ==
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{{reflist}}
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]▼
[[Category:Gender Blending Tropes]]
[[Category:Laws and Formulas]]
[[Category:Shapeshifting]]
▲[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
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