Something About a Rose: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

{{quote|''And I [[Cargo Envy|envy the rose]]''

''That you held in your teeth, love,''

''With the thorns underneath, love,''

 

What accessory could you possibly add to up your sex appeal 20 notches, show your sensitive side, and [[Rule of Cool|look really cool]]? A rose, of course! It's a flower, so it's beautiful and romantic like you, but it has thorns, and you're no wuss. Hold it between your teeth, if you want to up your sex appeal a few more notches. Perfect!

{{examples}}

== Male Examples ==

* Kurama (pictured) in ''[[Yu Yu Hakusho]]'', who had the [[Green Thumb|ability to control plants and use them as weapons]]. His [[Weapon of Choice]] is a [[Whip It Good|whip created from a single rose]]. The fact that he was better looking than many of the women in the show also helped up his sex appeal.

* Hideaki Asaba from ''[[Kare Kano]]'', who considers himself God's gift to women.

* Tatewaki Kuno from ''[[Ranma ½]]'' often proffers roses (usually a single one, held in his mouth) to Akane during his rare, serious moments.

* Creed from ''[[Black Cat (manga)|Black Cat]]'' often carries a rose, and this is taken to ridiculous extremes in the anime version, where his bath is full of roses. Also, he encloses a rose in the letter he sends to the hero. The hero is Not Amused.

* In ''[[Tales of Symphonia]]'' if Zelos is in his formal wear costume there is a chance that in battle his weapon will be a bouquet of roses.

* Kenshin of ''[[Rurouni Kenshin]]'' subverts this in an artbook piece, which has the usual setup for him having a rose in his mouth, but it's actually a maple branch with a leaf. It makes sense in character, plus it's [[What Do You Mean Its Not Symbolic|symbolic]].

** Fellow matador [[Street Fighter|Vega]] would later steal this intro for himself, but made it even cooler by not moving at all as the rose was diced into smithereens.

* Soukichi Banba (Big One) from the ''[[Super Sentai]]'' series ''[[JAKQ Dengekitai]]'' had the rose as his symbol. He could use them as throwing weapons, and always sniffed one before transforming.

* Humorously used when [[The Colbert Report|Stephen Colbert]] had to get his photo taken for an Army ID when he trains to prepare for going to Iraq. He isn't allowed to smile, so on the second try he whips out a rose.

* In one episode of ''[[Full Metal Panic!]] Fumoffu'', an elderly man thinks that Tsubaki and Sousuke are going to rape him. In his [[Squick|creepy envisioning of what he thinks is about to happen]], roses are used as censors. Ick.

* In ''[[Tales of Graces]]'', Richard's level 1 [[Limit Break|Blast Calibur]] is called Vertex Rose.

* In ''[[Wooden Rose]]'', Aidan Thorne can conjure up roses from bare ground.

* In [[Dan Abnett]]'s [[Gaunt's Ghosts|Necropolis]] When the noble houses of Vervunhive place Ibram Gaunt in charge of the defense of their city, they give him a symbolic rose from House Chass's gardens. House Chass practices the art of cybernetic gardening, though, each plant a carefully-designed metallic object, so this is a ''steel rose''. It {{spoiler|saves his life when he's shot with a bolt gun point-blank (because it exploded ''next'' to him rather than ''inside'' him}} in what [[Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane|might, or might not, have been]] [[Divine Intervention]].

* In ''[[Tekken]]'', Lee Chaolan can be customized to hold a rose between his teeth, fitting with his [[The Charmer]] persona.

 

== Female Examples ==

* Instead of James/Kojiro, mentioned above, Jessie/Musashi of ''[[Pokémon]]'' has, on at least one occasion, held a rose during an introduction.

* Chie in ''[[Mai-Otome]]'' carries a blue rose around with her, which given her [[Bifauxnen|quasi-boyish appearance]] and the fuckton of [[Les Yay]] that she gives off in her first appearance, is likely playing off this trope.

** She also summons up a veritable storm of black rose petals whenever she makes her [[Incoming Ham|dramatic entrance]] (and [[Villain Exit Stage Left|dramatic exit]]), covering the ground, the walls, the furniture, and the innocent bystanders, who complain about having to clean up after her.

** Black rose bouquets as hidden bombs for sleeping powder and paralysis powder (and actual gunpowder, in one manga story) are also a favorite tactic.

* Crusadermon of ''[[Digimon Frontier]]'', as a prop and as a distraction (Her [[Calling Your Attacks|Scarlet Tempest]] technique creates a storm of petals from one flower to obscure the enemy's view of her exit.) Of course, [[She's a Man In Japan]].

* The Devilstar assassins of ''[[Science Ninja Team Gatchaman]]'' use rose-bombs at times. The Devilstar that killed Joe Asakura's parents tried to kill him with one.

* The song "Masochism Tango" mentions that the singer, a man,

{{quote|"Env[ies] the rose

That you held in your teeth, love

With the thorns underneath, love

* In ''[[Soul Calibur]] II'', One of Ivy's whip weapons is shaped like a rose. It is apparently favored by Ivy cosplayers.

* Shirin in ''[[Harukanaru Toki no Naka de]]'' (including using roses as weapons). The flower is also referenced in her [[Image Song]], "Hyouen no Bara no Fukou".

* In ''[[Rule of Rose]]'' a red rose is a mark of the Rose Princess and by extension the Aristocrat Club. While the Princess doesn't initially seem like a character fitting to the trope, there is some development later in the game that does give her shades of it.

* Alyssa of ''[[Gungnir]]'' wields a giant lance with a rose motif. Since she's a shy noblewoman rather than [[The Vamp]], the roses are [[Princesses Prefer Pink|pink]].

* Beatrix from ''[[Final Fantasy IX]]'' is surrounded by rose imagery and her [[Leitmotif]] is called "Rose of May". This probably symbolises her status as a [[Lady of War]]: Beautiful, but with sharp thorns.

* Koishi Komeji from ''[[Touhou]]'' has a few rose-themed spellcards, though fans tend to notice the [[Freud Was Right|Freudian-themed]] ones more.

* Princess Briar Rose, in the first [[Dark Parables]] PC game, lives in a castle with a recurring rose theme.

 

* ''Sacred Emily'', by Gertrude Stein:

{{quote|[[wikipedia:Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose|Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose.]]}}

 

=== [[Theatre]] ===