Tall, Dark and Handsome: Difference between revisions
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[[File:TallDarkHandsome.jpg|link=Clark Gable|frame]]
{{quote|''"You will have the [[King Kong|tallest, darkest leading man]] in Hollywood."''
|'''Merian C. Cooper''' to Fay Wray}}
Well, [[Everyone Loves Blondes]], [[Heroes Want Redheads]], and of course there's the [[Shiny Midnight Black|sensual Brunette]]. But for men, there seems to be one main perceived ideal: '''Tall, Dark, and Handsome'''. Sometimes, it's a Tall, Dark, and Handsome Stranger.
Being one of the oldest tropes in the book, [[Dead Horse Trope|it's nowadays more often used in subversions and deconstructions]]. The actual invocation of the trope
{{tropenamer}}
▲:: -- [[Tall, Dark and Bishoujo]] ([[Distaff Counterpart]])
▲:: -- [[Tall, Dark and Snarky]] (Combined with [[Deadpan Snarker]] or [[Gentleman Snarker]])
{{examples}}
==Examples when the trope is invoked, parodied and/or subverted==
=== General ===
* Best known example (and, maybe, the [[Ur Example]]) would be a Roma fortune teller prophesizing that her female customer will meet a Tall, Dark and Handsome Stranger.
=== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ===▼
* Gilbert Nightray from ''[[Pandora Hearts]]'' physically fits the description. Psychologically, though, he's a wubbly mess and often behaves very childishly. The other characters (and the mangaka) enjoy picking on him mercilessly. He's like the anti-seme.
** Still epic [[Mr. Fanservice]], though. ''Wow''.
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* Reiji Marco of ''[[Eyeshield 21]]'' fits the description, but underneath the expensive suits and [[Affably Evil|suave demanour]] is a panicky geek, and a [[Manipulative Bastard]], to boot.
=== Fanfic ===▼
* All ''[[South Park]]'' fanfic writers make Craig Tucker this in all fanfics and fanarts, especially in the AU High School fics.
* "Fairground Gypsy fortune teller" variant parodied in [https://web.archive.org/web/20111109170521/http://www.fos-ff.net/viewstory.php?sid=17745 this] ''[[Re-Animator]]'' fanfic. [[Slash Fic|It's Dan, for a given value of handsome]].
=== Film ===▼
* As noted above, the director of the original ''[[King Kong]]'' [[Exact Words|truthfully]] promised Fay Wray that she would be working with the "tallest, darkest" leading man in the world. Although a bit of a stretch: the actual Kong ligature used for most scenes was only about sixteen inches tall.
* ''[[The Man with the Golden Gun]]'': One of Fransisco Scaramanga's associates describes him in this way to Bond. Bond remarks that his aunt matches that description, too.
=== [[Literature]] ===▼
▲=== Literature ===
* In ''[[Good Omens]]'', Anathema Device hoped that the man she was prophesized to meet would be a Tall, Dark and Handsome stranger. Turned out, the stranger in question was Newton Pulsifer. She decided that she could live with two out of three.
** [[Noble Demon|Crowley]], although he's also a bit [[Tall, Dark and Snarky]].
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* In Victoria Hanley's ''Light of the Oracle'', the love interest of the main character Kiran fits the tall and dark like an animal until he gets a makeover, becoming so handsome that he goes from being snubbed by the [[Rich Bitch]] Clea to being pursued by him.
=== [[Live-Action TV]] ===▼
▲* Phoebe from ''[[Charmed]]'' occasionally describes her love interest Cole this way.
* ''[[Smallville]]'': instead of using their names, Lois describes Clark (at least) once as "tall, dark, and bumbling" and on another occasion as "tall, dark, and single" and Davis/{{spoiler|Doomsday}} as "tall, dark, and scary".
** When Lois watches a video from her [[Missing Mom]] (played by a [[Lois and Clark|former Lois Lane]]), she is told that she will meet someone special, and her mother guesses he will be tall, dark, and handsome.
=== [[Music]] ===▼
*
▲=== Music ===
▲* ''Heart'' did a song called ''Tall Dark Handsome Stranger'' which is actually a deconstruction of this trope, taking a rather negative view, all about how much better a [[Nice Guy]] is. Disturbingly, a search of Youtube shows that this song is being used to celebrate the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTfSTEV0NRA&feature=related Tall Dark Handsome Stranger] - I guess <s>[[All Girls Want Bad Boys]]</s> [[Viewers are Morons]].
* 19th century tunesmith Henry Clay Work's ''Buckskin Bag of Gold'' comes complete with a fortune teller and has great fun taking the wind out of the trope's sails.
=== [[Newspaper Comics]] ===▼
▲=== Newspaper Comics ===
▲* [[Garfield|Jon Arbuckle]] once asked his cat if he was this. Garfield responded
{{quote|Maybe if you stand on a chair, turn off the lights, and squint.}}
=== [[Video Games]] ===▼
=== Videogames ===▼
* During the music video of ''[[Plants vs. Zombies]]'':
{{quote|
* There's a trophy in
* [http://arthurkingoftimeandspace.com/1734.htm Invoked] in ''[[Arthur,
===
▲* [http://arthurkingoftimeandspace.com/1734.htm Invoked] in ''[[Arthur, King of Time and Space|King of Time and Space]]''
* Parodied in ''[[SpongeBob SquarePants]]'', where Pearl, in one episode, refers to her crush as "long, tan and handsome". Yes, he does {{spoiler|turn out to be a complete dork}}
* In Disney's ''[[Aladdin (Disney film)|Aladdin]]'', when Jasmine distracts Jafar by pretending to be mind-controlled into loving him, she describes Jafar as "tall, dark..." Apparently, calling Jafar handsome would just be too suspicious.
** Nah, it'd be redundant, since she already did.
=== [[Real Life]] ===
*
▲=== Real Life ===
▲* [[Real Life]] subversion: Fred Astaire was always, always cast as the hero love interest (usually with Ginger Rogers) and was [[Mr. Fanservice]] to millions of women, but mostly because of his incredible poise and superhuman dancing skills, capable of literally sweeping women off their feet.<ref>late in life, he regarded [[Michael Jackson]] as a worthy successor of many of his dance moves, ironically enough</ref> He's actually quite short and plain-looking and admitted he probably wouldn't have a career without his dance.
== Examples when the trope is played straight: (WARNING: Highly subjective!) ==
▲=== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ===
▲=== [[Anime and Manga]] ===
* All of the darker-haired males in the Sohma family of ''[[Fruits Basket]]''. Except most of them are pale in skin color.
* Ren Tsuruga from ''[[Skip Beat!]]''. He has rather long legs, is ''very'' handsome, and has dark hair. {{spoiler|Even though he used to be a blond.}}
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* Susumu, Hijikata, and Yoshida from ''[[Peacemaker Kurogane]]''.
* ''[[Code Geass]]'' loves this trope. Lelouch in particular stands out.
**
** Suzaku kinda fits, since he's a bit short compared to other males but is still quite tall for a Japanese male.
* L from ''[[Death Note]]'' is obviously tall and dark. Although there is no implication of the fact that he is handsome, and he was deliberately designed as offputting in appearance, he has more fangirl crushes than Light.
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* Shoei Jinnai of ''Desire Climax''.
* Inugami of ''[[Wolf Guy Wolfen Crest]]''.
* Sen and Swordfish of ''[[
* Izaya of ''[[Durarara!!]]''.
* ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist
* Luka of ''[[Uragiri wa Boku no Namae wo Shitteiru]]''.
* Jonathan of ''[[Legend of the Blue Wolves]]''.
* Yamato of ''[[Karakuridouji Ultimo]]''.
* Lantis from ''[[Magic Knight Rayearth]]'' seems to define this trope. Black haired, handsome, and a height of ''1.98'' (neck breaker much?).
** This is ''[[CLAMP]]''...
* Mamoru and Saphir from ''[[Sailor Moon]]'' both belong here. This troper - and probably others - also must mention that they resemble each other. A lot. And resemble Lantis from ''[[Magic Knight Rayearth]]''. Actually, the resemblances between Mamoru and Lantis are a bit too much (and not only in appearance - armor too).
* Hagi from ''[[Blood
=== [[Comic Books]] ===
▲=== Comic Books ===
* ''[[Lenore the Cute Little Dead Girl]]'' has the tall, [[Sealed Evil in a Can|dark]], handsome Ragamuffin, in his human form.
* [[Corto Maltese]].
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* ''John [[Blacksad]]'' is tall, a black cat, and constantly being eyed by most females. Add to that his [[Dark and Troubled Past|mysterious]] nature and you have an archetypal Tall, Dark, And Handsome character.
▲=== [[Film]] ===
* Charles Boyer in ''Algiers'' with Hedy Lamarr.
{{quote|''[[Beam Me Up, Scotty|"Come with me to the Casbah]]. We'll make beautiful music together.''}}
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* The date doctor, [[Hitch|Alex Hitchens]], is referred to as this.
* Notorious ladies' man Catcher Block in ''[[Down With Love]]''.
* Luke Evans as Gaston in the [[Beauty and the Beast (2017 film)|live-action version of Disney's ''Beauty and the Beast'']].
=== [[Literature]] ===▼
* Aragorn from ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]''—although when we first meet him, he is said to 'look foul and feel fair.'▼
▲=== Literature ===
** While he is described as "grim" when we first meet him, as the book continues, he is constantly described as "noble", with standard Numenorean good looks. The grimness refers more to his
▲* Aragorn from ''[[Lord of the Rings]]''—although when we first meet him, he is said to 'look foul and feel fair.'
▲** While he is described as "grim" when we first meet him, as the book continues, he is constantly described as "noble", with standard Numenorean good looks. The grimness refers more to his demeanour as a Ranger. Not to mention, of course, that he caught the eye of Arwen, who is supposed to be as beautiful as her ancestor who was the most beautiful elf to ever exist, so he definitely [[She Cleans Up Nicely|cleans up nicely]]. And when we first meet Strider in the book, he is a subtle [[Tall, Dark and Snarky]].
* Sirius Black from [[Harry Potter]] is definitely tall, dark, and handsome. The book constantly reminds us of it.
** Voldemort/Tom Riddle in his teenage years. Snape would be an example, too, if the author described him as "handsome".
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* While few detailed descriptions of his appearance are given, 6'9" [[The Dresden Files|Harry Dresden]] probably counts.
▲=== Live-Action TV ===
* Justin Russo from ''[[Wizards of Waverly Place]]''. The bookworm type.
* When [[Buffy the Vampire Slayer|Buffy]] first met Angel, he called himself a friend and she said that he was Dark, gorgeous in an annoying sort of way.
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* In the second episode of the first season of ''[[Smallville]]'', Clark smiles down at Chloe and she says, "It's amazing how far that Kent charm will get you."
* Lancelot from ''[[Merlin]]'', whose colouring makes him a perfect visual counterpoint to golden-haired, blue-eyed Arthur.
* Hawkeye Pierce from ''[[M*A*S*H (television)|
* Gomez Addams from ''[[The Addams Family]]''. Suave, mustachioed, passionately devoted to his wife...and just as much a [[Crazy Awesome|crazy]], [[Cloudcuckoolander|weird]] [[Nightmare Fuel Station Attendant]] as the rest of his family. Not ''quite'' the tallest one there, of course, but still.
* Benedict Cumberbatch as [[Sherlock|Sherlock Holmes]] most definitely qualifies. In real life, he's [[Dye Hard|ginger]].
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* The titular character (played by Gil Gerald) from ''[[Buck Rogers in the 25th Century]]''.
=== [[Myth, Legend and Folklore]] ===
* Hades, Dionysus, and Thanatos from [[Classical Mythology]] were usually depicted as this; Apollo, as well, arguably, since he was described as having black hair. Don't expect modern works to show this, however; Hades and Thanatos are generally [[Everybody Hates Hades|literally demonised]] (never mind his seduction of Persephone, the [[Seasonal Baggage|goddess of spring]]), while Dionysus is often depicted as ugly, and Apollo is more often than not blond.
* "Sweet Rosie Jones" by Buck Owens (1968) has the narrator lose the love of the title character to a "tall dark stranger." A year later Owens recorded a spinoff/sequel actually called "Tall Dark Stranger" that explored the trope even further.
=== [[Video Games]] ===
▲=== Video Games ===
* Jin Kazama from ''[[Tekken]]''.
* [[Final Fantasy]]:
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* Guy from ''[[Final Fight]]'' and ''[[Street Fighter]]''. Ibuki refers to him as a hunk, [http://streetfighter.wikia.com/wiki/Guy and it's not hard to see why.]
* Duo Lon from ''[[The King of Fighters]]''. Mai actually uses the trope name to describe him.
=== [[Web Original]] ===
* Some [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imXdYuyafEA slideshows] came up that show Tall, Dark and Handsome is very much alive in the minds of some women. Just read the comments.
* [[War God|Ares]] in ''[[Thalia's Musings]]''. His half-brothers lean more toward [[Bishonen]].
* [[Slender Man Mythos|Slenderman]].
** Not ''that'' kind of Dark.
=== [[Web Original]] ===
* Menelaos in ''[[Greek Ninja]]'', although he's mostly tall. Very tall.
=== Western Animation ===
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* Although he is not tall when he's a teenager, Robin, from ''[[Teen Titans (animation)|Teen Titans]]'', is definitely dark and handsome. He also becomes tall in his thirties as Nightwing.
* Vince from ''[[Recess]]'' (according to [[Word of God]]).
* In [[Beauty and the Beast (1991 film)|Disney's ''
=== [[Real Life]] ===
* Christian Bale, anyone?
* [[Johnny Depp]]. (Height is also subjective. Depp is 5 ft 10 inches per his official website—that is, dead average for his age and nationality.)
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* John Francis Daley, if you find that [[Nerds Are Sexy]].
* [[Jon Hamm]]. This one is also totally objective.
* As noted in the Film section, [[Colin Firth]].
* [[Sean Connery]], when he was young, fit the bill.
* Zachary Levi.
* Matthew Goode.
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* [[Travis Willingham]] definitely counts at 6'4".
* [[Aidan Turner]] of ''[[Being Human (UK)]]'' fame.
* [[Jeremy Brett]]. [[The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes|Granada]] picked an actor to fit [[Sherlock Holmes
*
{{reflist}}
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