Vain Sorceress: Difference between revisions

While any sorceress who looks over 40 runs the risk of being ridiculed for her less than perfect looks, ancient-looking wizards, Warlocks and ''male'' magic users are rarely subject to the same kind of ribbing. They will also be far less likely to fly off of the handle when called "Old man" or "Gramps", even when they have [[Firefly|no grandchildren]]. Many of them may actually be trying to purposely cultivate the "wizened old man" look to inspire respect or get their enemies to underestimate them. It should be noted that ''some'' female characters do act this way as well, but they're going for the obvious smartaleckysmart-alecky ''hag'' gimmick, which only in recent years has become popular enough to be taken seriously.

The '''Vain Sorceress''' might just be a particular version of the rule that in fantasy stories, all female main characters must appear youthful in appearance regardless of age. This is especially true for female mages who are associated with big strong virile warriors as their tanks; the difference between [[Black Magician Girl|a good mage]] and the '''Vain Sorceress''' is only about [[Sensible Heroes, Skimpy Villains|30% less clothing]] and 30% more purple dye.

The '''Vain Sorceress''''s youthfulness is often related to a specific power, where the character has to maintain their appearance by sucking energy from the young—if not be an outright vampire. Evil sorceresses tend to be far more [[I Just Want to Be Beautiful|obsessed with the perfection of their appearance]], and go to further lengths to maintain it than good ones will. They may even go so far as to pull a [[Grand Theft Me]], stealing a younger, prettier body to act as the vessel for their soul. In any case, they ''have'' to be the [[Fairest of Them All]]... by any means necessary.

This leads close to being an [[Always Female]] trope, as male characters who acts this way are usually depicted as [[Bishonen|very fey]] if not [[Sissy Villain|outright effeminate]]. Works that believe [[All Women Are Vain]] are just about guaranteed to have at least one '''Vain Sorceress''' running around.

Sometimes the '''Vain Sorceress''' is the [[Dark Magical Girl]] all grown up, so the heroine is the 'good' version. If the protagonist is a young ''male'', this can venture into unintended Freudian overtones.

If the '''Vain Sorceress''' suffers from the [[Green-Eyed Monster]], she often features as the [[Fairest of Them All]]. Usually delights in answering [[Revenge SVP]]s.

Note: thisThis trope doesn't have anything to do with shapeshifting, deceptive illusion, or the [[One-Winged Angel|more drastic physical changes]] that a male or female magic user may undergo in their campaign against an enemy. This is strictly a vanity thing. (It's interesting to note however, [[Bishonen Line|how much prettier and more human-looking a female magesorceress's monstrous forms are]] compared to [[One-Winged Angel|those of a male magesorceror]].)