Self Fanservice: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

 

 

Well, there's one thing. The series as it originally stood was sort of... ''missing'' something.

Maybe it was [[Periphery Demographic|directed mostly at the opposite gender from some of its fans]]. Maybe the [[Thick Line Animation|art style]] didn't really have the [[Generic Cuteness]] common to many other animated works. Maybe the primary audience was children, so out of [[Parent Service|a few isolated instances]], making attractive characters wasn't really the primary goal of the series. Or maybe the original was a ''book'', so the appearances of the characters were mostly left up to the reader's imaginations. Whatever the case, the series finds itself without a [[Mr. Fanservice|Mr]] or [[Ms. Fanservice]] other object of [[Perverse Sexual Lust|fan lust]].

 

 

To a casual member or newcomer to a fandom, this can seem strange, seeing an ordinarily unattractive (in a [[Hollywood Homely|bland way]]) character suddenly drawn in [[Shirtless Scene|shirtless poses]] with a seductive look.

 

{{examples|Examples (by original media):}}

** However, Ash, Gary, Drew, Paul and Kenny also have their share of fangirls as well, even Tracey has some. Oddly, the only main character without hoards of fangirls is probably Brock.

*** Tracey usually does match his description and characterization, though.

* Given how ''[[Dragonball Z]]'' fangirls see him, you probably wouldn't think that Vegeta was a perpetually scowling midget.

* The eponymous characters of ''[[Akagi]]'' and ''[[Kaiji]]'' are often getting their (rather... bizarre) faces [[Generic Cuteness|turned more into standard]] [[Bishonen]] style.

** The women (''especially'' [[Abhorrent Admirer|Mikoko Sakazaki]]) also get this treatment fairly regularly.

* This happens to 90% of the characters in ''[[Naruto]]''. Hinata Hyuuga is described by the databooks as rather plain and bookish, but fanart tends to make her out to be this gorgeous goddess. Sakura has a small chest and fanart tends to make her out to be a goddess too.

** [[All There in the Manual|Databook]] descriptions aside however, Kishimoto draws Hinata buxom and [[Moeand|cute as a button]] while Sakura reaps all the benefits of [[Generic Cuteness]] and makes up for her lack of endowment with a different focal point.

** He's the anthropomorphic personification of ''death''. What do you expect to find under the mask?

** The manga has, in fact, indicated that Shinigami ''might'' have/had a human form at one point; one, Mosquito knows what the Lines of Sanzu are, which Shinigami doesn't obviously have at the moment, and two Kid is a sort-of clone of Shinigami.

** Maka occasionally gets this as well, albeit to a lesser extent; granted, she's fairly cute to begin with, but some fans seemed to miss the memo that she's [[Pettanko|above an A-cup]]

** The huge lot of Russia fanarts in which he gets [[Gag Nose|a nose job]] and a liposuction, making him another victim of [[Generic Cuteness]].

*** The same can be said of Belarus. Since breast size tends to be genetic and she's Ukraine's sister, it can be justified, but it's rather jarring when fanon "bust charts" portray her as bigger than [[Boobs of Steel|Hungary]].

** America is shown shirtless in canon. While he's no lightweight, his muscles are still about half the size fandom commonly portrays them.

* [[Slam Dunk]]: In canon, the characters are generally good looking but [[Rated "M" for Manly|in the most masculine way possible.]] Fangirls tend to forget this and draw them as generically pretty.

 

** Being played by [[Hugh Jackman]] in the movies for one.

 

** Even the regular stitchpunk versions of the characters are sexed up. And especially the OCs. So. Many. Boobs!

 

 

* Apparently some ''[[Supernatural]]'' fans think that Gabriel isn't pretty enough and thus give him a new, drop-dead gorgeous vessel in their fanfics so that he can fit the archangel part better in looks. No, really. [http://community.livejournal.com/fanficrants/9660970.html There's even a post on fanficrants about it.]

 

 

* ''[[Bionicle]]'', features mostly robotic but still humanoid characters. It goes to reason that fan artists will try to humanize them even more, or smooth out their metal parts to create a sleeker appearance. For a more direct example, compare Toa Gali [http://www.ns-media.com/bionicle/images/bionicle_r3_c1.gif as a set] and [http://fc00.deviantart.net/fs22/f/2008/012/e/3/Gali2008_by_Lordstevie.png in fan art].

 

* Alma from the ''[[First Encounter Assault Recon|F.E.A.R.]]'' games.

** Of course, post-Project Origin, this isn't quite so applicable. Healthy (as opposed to emaciated) adult Alma is actually attractive ([[Full-Frontal Assault|and naked all the time. No matter what.]]).

** A good bit of Midna fanart (the ones by Japanese fan artist Dogear, in particular) up her from amply-curved to extremely amply-curved. Though there's just as much that goes the opposite extreme and makes her sort of a reverse-[[Pettanko]]...

** Navi, in the games she's a floating ball of light, in the fanart she's sort of an angel with fairy wings & a skimpy costume/wearing nothing.

** Don't forget [[Furry Fandom|Frog]].

** To be fair, he was [http://www.chronocompendium.com/Term/Guile.html designed to be very pretty in the sequel(s).]

*** He always had Vegeta's face, except paler. And Piccolo's body structure (tall and muscular). [[Akira Toriyama]] tends to reuse character designs, after all.

** Also Lucca.

** Mario is a short, plump, round-faced toon with a big nose and solid mustache. When the trope is applied, you get the most average looking anime character in existence that happens to be wearing a red cap with overalls, that used a pencil to scribble on their upper lip. Oddly enough he'll always stand taller than Peach, even though not a single video game has portrayed him taller than the princess. Luigi is the same, just taller. Wario replaces all fat with muscles, maybe a slightly thicker mustache, and Waluigi is just a sly, tall, lanky version of Mario.

** Both Peach and Daisy also get this a lot. ''A lot.'' It's considered a fetish to a good amount of people. Peach goes from a slightly ditzy, easily tricked lady with plain expressions, with absolutely nothing overly sexual about her character other than that she's pretty. The fans amp up the boobs and remove 50% of her dress. This is assuming she's IN a dress and not something sluttier...

* Izanami, {{spoiler|the [[True Final Boss]]}} of ''[[Persona 4]]'', looks only slightly attractive in her {{spoiler|non-human yet non-boss}} form. Then certain fanart transformed her rather gorgeous versions of herself.

** Even fans who aren't really trying to pretty them up generally draw them younger than the character models appear to be, i.e. as young adults or sometimes teenagers; the Special Infected may be [[Younger Than They Look]] [[Epileptic Trees|as a side effect of the virus]] (this is a common fan theory), but they still ''look'' like they're at least in their thirties in-game. Again, this happens the most with the Witch and the Hunter. Mind you, getting close enough to take a good look at their faces in-game (as opposed to in Garry's Mod or looking at a reference picture) is difficult and inadvisable, so this is forgivable.

** Also, since a lot of their grossness comes from icky details, simplifying an Infected's appearance will obviously make them cuter as well.

* Characters from ''[[Okami]]'' find themselves subject to this quite a bit. [[The Faceless|Perpetually]] [[Mask Power|masked]] Oki is invariably assumed to be [[Bishonen]] under the disguise and tiny, [[The Napoleon|Napoleon]] Issun usually ends up as a [[Cute Shotaro Boy]]. The most notorious example has to be the protagonist, Amaterasu. In the game, she's a nonanthropomorphic wolf. In fanart... well, [http://kaze-hime.deviantart.com/art/Okami-83412801 maybe] [http://oreo-the-artist.deviantart.com/art/Okami-73020562 you] [http://kaze-hime.deviantart.com/art/Okami-45412844 should] [http://kaze-hime.deviantart.com/art/Okami-Amaterasu-84283977 just] [http://draa.deviantart.com/art/Okami-Amaterasu-65889723 see] [http://ryo-hakkai.deviantart.com/art/Amaterasu-90056462 for] [http://ferazhin.deviantart.com/art/okami-73302928 yourself]. (It is true that the wolf isn't Amaterasu's original form and that one character sees her as an attractive young woman, but the player doesn't get to see this, so it still counts as an example.)

* A few ''[[Pokémon]]'' characters get this. For example, Silver has a large fan base that makes him seem different from what he is... It's hard to tell which Silver (Special!Silver or Game!Silver) has the fan base at times though.

** Fan arts of feminine-looking Pokémon (such as Gardevoir) are usually drawn more attractively.

** Cynthia often gets a few cup sizes larger than she is in canon.

** Perhaps the most notable example is [[Badass Bookworm|Patchouli]]: loli-lovers draw her [[Pettanko|flat]] and, well, loli-esque, big breast lovers give her larger breasts and an adult body and everyone else makes her "medium-sized" and teen-ish. It helps her character type fits either way, and that her clothing is baggy enough that her body type is totally ambiguous.

* ''[[Disgaea]]'' characters get this done to them sometimes, although it's almost always [[Pettanko|Etna and Flonne]].

* ''[[Kirby]]'' fans mostly leave the characters alone...except for Zero Two, who is continually transformed from a floating white ball into an angel in fanart.

** Oh, and [http://media.photobucket.com/image/Sexy%20Sonic%20Shadow/bluecynder/Sonic%2520The%2520Hedgehog/sexyshadowOMFG.jpg Shadow] too.

* While a good deal of ''[[Kingdom of Loathing]]'' fan art uses the same simplistic stick figure art style as the game itself, there's still some artists that invoke this from time to time.

** Duster also gets this treatment quite a lot.

 

 

** Strong Bad intentionally does this to himself all the time, and he invented [http://www.hrwiki.org/wiki/Different_Town_Character_Variations#Modestly_Hot_Homsar Modestly Hot Homsar].

** On that matter, it looks like turning Strong Sad into a hoodie-wearing Emo kid has become increasingly popular. A rather ''thin'' one too.

 

** [http://miimochi.deviantart.com/ Miimochi] has what could be considered some of the best example(s) of EE&E Self Fanservice. (though all the character's tongues are the same... unusual colors as in the show...)

** More surprisingly, [[Terrible Trio|the Kanker Sisters]] also get a lot of this, especially [http://14-bis.deviantart.com/art/Trailer-Trash-208760185 Marie].

* ''[[South Park]]'' gets rampant Stan/Kyle slash and anime-style fanart of the boys as [[Bishonen]]. Sometimes you realize that the '''skinny''', bishonen guy in the red shirt...is supposed to be Cartman.

** Zim is not the only recipient of Self Fanservice in the series. Far from it.

** Did you know Irkens are not actually supposed to [[Non-Mammal Mammaries|have boobs]]? No, really, go check the show. See how flat Tak's chest is? Yeah, it's quite different than the fanart, isn't it?

** Like her brother, 10-year-old Gaz in fanart is aged up and given all the beauty that comes with it.

* ''[[The Venture Brothers]]'' fanfiction makes the average men musclebound beefcake via [[Applied Phlebotinum|Science Induced Phlebotinum]]. And turns Hank's and Dean's brotherly love into [[Yaoi]]. Not to mention those Brock on Doc fics where Doc somehow grows hair and muscles.

* In ''[[Metalocalypse]]'', one minor, self-conscious use of this trope in the fandom involves giving [[Ugly Cute|Murderface]] a more flattering haircut than the triangular 'do he has in the show.

** Nathan Explosion also tends to lose his slight paunch and gets a sixpack instead.

* In ''[[Kim Possible]]'' fanfics, Ron, who is honestly pretty goofy looking, is usually amped up considerably in the looks department... to the point that some authors both [[Lampshade Hanging|hang a lampshade on it]] and apologize to the reader.

* Due perhaps to heavy abuse of [[Thick Line Animation]], ''[[Danny Phantom]]'' has enourmous amounts of this, mostly directed towards the main eponymous character although resident [[Perverse Sexual Lust]] magnet Vlad certainly isn't bereft.

* The more clunky ''[[Transformers]]'' are sometimes transformed into very pretty, and noticeably more Human-like forms (usually for your [[Companion Cube|CLANG]] action).

** Notably with a ''female'' shape.

** Jessie tends to get a bit of extra "stuffing" in certain strategic areas in fanart.

* Heloise in ''[[Jimmy Two-Shoes]]''. In the show, she looks like a little girl ([[Word of God]] says she is [[Vague Age|14ish]]). In fanart, she's a very busty and very [[Evil Is Sexy|sexy]] figure.

* ''[[Phineas and Ferb]]'' is getting this treatment too. Expect to see lots of bishonen versions of the characters, yaoi of the main characters, and sexy humanized versions of Perry the platypus.

** There is a lot of fanart of the ponies themselves as well, of course...

 

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[[Category:Just for Pun]]