Automoderated users, Autopatrolled users, Bureaucrats, Comment administrators, Confirmed users, Moderators, Rollbackers, Administrators
213,897
edits
The Beautiful Elite: Difference between revisions
no edit summary
m (Convert media template into media: links) |
No edit summary |
||
| (21 intermediate revisions by 8 users not shown) | |||
Line 1:
{{trope}}
[[File:xxxholicbeautifulpeople.jpg|link=
''Now that you know who you are, what do you want to be?''
|'''[[The Beatles]]''', "Baby You're A Rich Man"}}
The '''Beautiful Elite''' aren't just beautiful. Their whole life is beautiful. They are more fashionable than anyone else, more sophisticated and charming than anyone else, and are usually fabulously rich. Their clothes are all way too expensive for you to ever own. They almost always live in a [[Big Fancy House]] that is so clean and well organized they look like they are [[Living in
▲{{quote|''How does it feel to be one of the beautiful people?''<br />
▲''Now that you know who you are, what do you want to be?''|'''[[The Beatles]]''', "Baby You're A Rich Man"}}
Most of the time they simply fell into this status. In many cases, they are of royal descent, of divine descent, or at least belonging to some sort of lesser nobility. If they weren't born to the upper crust, they have managed to become a part of it. More likely than not, they have been educated in elite private schools.
▲The Beautiful Elite aren't just beautiful. Their whole life is beautiful. They are more fashionable than anyone else, more sophisticated and charming than anyone else, and are usually fabulously rich. Their clothes are all way too expensive for you to ever own. They almost always live in a [[Big Fancy House]] that is so clean and well organized they look like they are [[Living in A Furniture Store]].
▲Most of the time they simply fell into this status. In many cases, they are of royal descent, of divine descent, or at least belonging to some sort of lesser nobility. If they weren't born to the upper crust, they have managed to become a part of it. More likely than not, they have been educated in elite private schools. [[The Beautiful Elite]] rarely have to work hard at anything. In many cases, they don't have to work at all, but if they do have a job, it will be just as glamorous as the rest of their lives.
And to make all of this worse, those who don't rub it in, are so gracious about it that one has to wonder whether their unparalleled humility isn't just one more way they're better than you.
Line 17:
Expected in [[Bishoujo Series]]. See also [[Bishonen]]. Not to be confused with [[The Fair Folk]], although they're often an [[Inhumanly Beautiful Race]]. Contrast [[Beauty Is Never Tarnished]] and [[Unkempt Beauty]].
{{examples|Examples}}▼
== Too Good To Be True: ==▼
== Anime and Manga ==▼
▲=== Anime and Manga ===
* ''[[Trinity Blood]]''. Being [[Perpetual Poverty|Perpetually Broke]] has never looked so good, and it must feel great being a [[Church Militant]] wearing such elaborate and sexy garments -though Abel's robe gets torn off all the time, Tres is a bullet wall and Esther isn't immune to wounds either. The vampires are of course uncannily beautiful, being vampires and all, but so are almost all the human characters (see more in the evil part of the trope). Catherina has the complete dashing beauty + regal paraphernalia in addition to [[Princess Curls]].
* ''
* Most of Rumiko Takahashi's characters don't fit this trope. But there are some exceptions. Some of the beautiful people in her series are Kuno and Kodachi from ''[[Ranma
* Anyone in ''[[Ouran High School Host Club]]'', which pokes great fun in the snooty, upper-crust societies in high schools.
* Justified in ''[[Gundam Seed]]''. You'd expect [[Designer Babies]] to be prettier than everyone else.
** May have a similar thing with [[Evolutionary Levels]] in the classic series.
* [[Lampshaded]] in ''[[
{{quote|
** Pretty much every person in the series is beautiful, save for some of the males like Baron Kelvin, Georg von Siemens, Jumbo, Lord Arthur Randall, Azzurro Vanel, Fred Aberline, Damian, and Doctor.
* Absolutely everyone, including insignificant characters, in ''[[Shattered Angels]]''.
* Most everything by [[CLAMP]], especially in their detailed drawings. Specifically,
** ''[[
** ''[[Code Geass]],'' for which they only did the character designs.
** ''[[
** Chii and {{spoiler|Freya}} in ''[[
** ''[[Legal Drug]]''
** ''[[Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle]]'', which is made up with characters from all their series.
** ''[[X
** ''[[CLAMP School Detectives]]''
** ''[[Blood
** ''Gate7''
* Exemplified in ''[[Star Driver]]''. ''Every single character'', not just the main characters, is beyond beautiful (even, nay, especially the men). There's a reason why the main character of the series is called the "Galactic [[Bishounen|Pretty Boy]]".
* Good god, ''everyone'' from ''[[Alichino]]''. Just [[media:
* Most of the cast of ''[[Fruits Basket]]''. Mostly applicable to the Sohma family however, who are all incredibly good-looking, rich, and mysterious (to the point at which one person asks if their good looks are a genetic trait). On the other hand, the good looks aren't ''always'' a good thing, as proven by Yuki (who is constantly either mistaken for a girl or forced into dressing like one for his lovesick fans).
** It's justified with the Sohmas, since most of the Sohmas in the main cast are supernatural. Apparently being possessed by a Zodiac spirit makes you better-looking.
Line 52 ⟶ 51:
* ''[[Nana]]'' is riddled with them.
* Subverted in ''[[Yamada Taro Monogatari]]'', in which the eponymous Yamada Tarou is so amazingly beautiful that everyone in his school believes that he has to also be rich, noble, and a candidate for princehood. Tarou, who has more practical concerns, uses Valentine's Day chocolate as 'emergency rations' for his six hungry siblings.
* ''[[Sakura Gari]]'', with Souma being the most standout case. However, it's obvious that [[So Beautiful
* ''[[Vampire Knight]]'': The vampires. Later, possible deconstructed with characters that, despite everything, still suffer and hide their pain under this.
* ''[[Special A]]'': Not only is the entire cast ''beautiful'', but Special A is the most elite class in the already prestigious academy.
** Lampshaded in episode 13, when someone comments, "Amazing. Which modeling group are they from?"
* Cossette in ''[[Le Portrait
* Hitagi Senjougahara in ''[[
* Relena's family from ''[[Gundam Wing]]''
* Everyone in ''[[Uragiri wa Boku no Namae wo Shitteiru]]''.
Line 64 ⟶ 63:
* ''[[Infinite Stratos]]''. All IS pilots have snazzy school uniforms, a 5 star hotel grade dormitories, pimping mecha suit, and of course, look very good.
* Most regulars in the ''[[Prince of Tennis]]'' anime are this. Especially Atobe.
* Virtually every named character in ''[[
* The [[
* The nobles in ''[[Reimei no Arcana]]''.
* Everyone in ''[[Skip Beat
* The ruling class of Elites of ''[[
* Just about everyone in ''[[Princess Princess]]'', especially the titular "princesses".
* Just about everyone in ''[[
* The mangaka Chi-Ran never draws anyone in any other manner than a) very beautiful and b) very feminine, whether they're [[Boys Love|male]] or [[Girls Love|female]], major or minor; they live in pretty surroundings too, whether mansions or nightclubs.
* ''[[Sailor Moon]]'': For all its [[Generic Cuteness]], [[Costume Porn]] and [[
* ''[[Rose of Versailles]]''.
* Anything in [[Shojo]]. It is also prevalent in [[Seinen]] where the main focus are [[Bishojo]] but to a lesser extent due to a few male characters and the overall atmosphere of the series.
* ''[[
* ''[[Gokujou Drops]]'': Komari lampshades it all the time, usually something along the lines of "it's different for beautiful girls". Except Sai, who is a slob.
=== Comic Books ===
* This is one of the complaints that the Morlocks - a community of [[The Morlocks|sewer-dwelling mutants]] - and especially their leader Callisto and flesh-shaper Masque had about the [[X
=== Film ===
* ''[[Last Year
* ''[[The Tourist]]'' features two of the best-looking people currently making movies ( ie; [[Johnny Depp]] and [[Angelina Jolie]]), and a series of ''really'' nice hotel rooms.
* In ''[[Attack of the Clones]]'' Padme can be seen having an intellectual discussion, using proper grammar, while sitting in a green field against a waterfall and dressed in a golden summer gown.
=== Literature ===
* Noldor Elves in the [[
* Most of the [[Our Vampires Are Different|vampires]] in the ''[[Twilight (
* Anne Rice. All of her vampires, but especially Louis, Armand and, of course, Lestat are gorgeous and rich. This whole trend is heavily subverted with ''Near Dark'', where the vampires tend to be grimey, travel around in camper vans and almost definitely steal their clothes from the people they kill.
** Of course most of the above were chosen as vampires mainly for their looks, and they had money because they stole it; Lestat turned Louis at least partially because he had good stable wealth, and needed a nice place to care for his elderly human father.
* In [[Dan Abnett]]'s [[Warhammer
* Inverted in the Australian school comedy ''[[Hating Alison Ashley]]'' by [[Robin Klein]] (later made into a play and film), where the beautiful and talented Alison is a genuinely nice person, but the 'ordinary' protagonist persists in believing she's a snob who's constantly showing off her superiority.
* ''[[The Clique]]''. The Pretty Committee, the titular Clique, are described with lavish prose down to their accessories and the brand names of their cell
* In ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire]]'', House Tagaryen are described as being inhumanly beautiful (the [[White
** Sansa also decides at the start that she can trust [[God Save Us From the Queen|Cersei]] and [[Royal Brat|Joffrey]] because they are fair, pleasant and members of the royal family, and Sansa believes [[Wrong Genre Savvy|life is like a story]]. She ''really'' [[Break the Cutie|pays for that idea]].
* The Clackers and assorted fashionistas in ''The Devil Wears Prada''. Of course, this comes at the cost of being shallow and obsessed with fashion and dieting to the point of neurosis.
* The Koryon [Korean] royal court in ''[[Conqueror|Bones of the Hill]]'' is described in such a manner - the Koreans are all incredibly good-looking and exotic, the gardens are gorgeous, and the wall hangings and decorations are spectacular. Of course, that scene is told from Chagatai's [[Point of View]]; since this is probably the first time Chagatai has been in a building other than a tent or fort, it's only natural for him to be awed.
* Dick and Nicole Diver appear to be Beautiful People at the beginning of ''[[Tender Is the Night]]''.
* During the first few chapters of ''[[War and Peace]]'', there are various beautiful ladies hanging around a beautiful people party, where all the other beautiful people notice them being beautiful even in relation to their beautiful-to-begin-with-selves, and in fact whatever they do must be accompanied by a beautiful description of how beautifully beautiful they are, and their beautiful dresses, and the beautiful way they do their graceful beautiful beauty walk, and overall their beautifully beautiful beauty, lest you for a second forget what these ladies' apparent defining characteristic is. [https://web.archive.org/web/20120427015034/http://www.quoteworld.org/quotes/5974 And also, you're drunk.]
* [[Deconstructed]] in ''[[The Great Gatsby]],'' a classic novel that starts off by showing all the glamor of the rich, then revealing the ugly truths behind why some of them are this way.
* The good guys in Ayn Rand novels. Example: John Galt from ''[[Atlas Shrugged]]'' is a brilliant enough scientist to rewrite the laws of physics, a brilliant enough engineer to build a perpetual motion device using his discoveries, a brilliant enough philosopher and orator to Author Filibuster on Objectivism for HOURS, and a brilliant enough leader to get every industrialist on Earth to join a utopian society of his own creation. Also, he's [[Incorruptible Pure Pureness|incorruptible]]. And torture proof. And every word of his physical description is dripping with swooning adoration.
* Kyle from ''[[Beastly]]''. As Lindy says, "Ten out of ten shallow high school girls surveyed would agree you're perfect." He's also fabulously wealthy thanks to his father being a huge media reporter and can date any girl in his school. [[Deconstructed]], however, as even before the witch Kendra tells Kyle that he's [[True Beauty Is
* ''[[In Death]]'': Some of the characters, particularly the rich ones like Roarke, end up in this trope. Then there are characters who are average-looking, or just ugly-looking.
=== Live-Action TV ===
* [[Lampshaded]] in, of all shows, ''[[Days of Our Lives]]''. When some of the characters get back from an island adventure holiday, one of their parents remarks on how they can go a fortnight without proper shelter or showers and still look like they just got back from a spa.
** And, in fact, most American [[Soap Opera
* ''[[Friends]]'' is one of the most famous examples, where the supposedly middle-class friends [[Friends Rent Control|have apartments]] that only the richest people in Manhattan could afford in real life, and everyone looks awfully good.
** See also just about every other "young single people living in the city" sitcom of the last two decades.
* In ''[[The Cosby Show]],'' nobody wore the same outfit twice, everyone's hair was perfect when they woke up, and the parents were overachievers who could catch up on twenty tasks before breakfast. In fairness, the parents in question were a doctor and a lawyer, so money was probably not a problem, but they should have had a lot heavier demands on their time.
* Many, many, many sitcoms on [[Nickelodeon]] and [[Disney Channel]] take place in a world where everyone is [[Living in
* The BBC comedy series ''[[Beautiful People]]'' both supports and subverts this trope.
* [[
* ''[[Gilmore Girls]]'' Lorelai says of her family's lifestyle that "These people live in a universe where they feel entitled to get what they want, when they want it, and they don't care who's in their way..." They'll dress in gown and tux whenever they get the chance or talk about their boarding school experiences.
* ''[[The Vampire Diaries]]'' which is set in the quaint town of Mystic Falls where there are like 2 or 3 ugly people that always stay at home. Seriously, it is very difficult to spot a less-than-good-looking extra in the show so we will not even talk about the main cast. Also, they seem to have endless time to spend in social gatherings, thematic parties, period balls and charity events with obviously huge budgets. All in all, a great place to live (except for the vampires, of course).
* The [[Korean Series]] ''[[Boys Before Flowers]]'' has so much couture hanging off the hot pieces of cheese of F-4 that it sparked fashion lines for Korean teens.
* Refreshingly subverted in ''[[Parks and Recreation]]'', where a majority of the main cast and the extras look like actual regular people. Even Mark, the [[Casanova]] of the first and second season, is only slightly better than average-looking; the casting directors are pretty much committed to keeping the fictional city of Pawnee, Indiana ("Fourth in obesity! We're coming for you, San Antonio!") as real as possible. In fact, when Chris and Ben arrive around the end of the second season it's a little
* The Knights of the Round Table in ''[[Merlin (TV series)|Merlin]]'', truly the most catwalk-ready team of knights ever to grace the television screen.
* Everyone except the actual main characters working at Reynholm Industries in [[The IT Crowd]]. As near as anyone real or fictional can tell, Reynholm Industries is in the business of looking incredibly sexy and having lots of sex, and occasionally having a computer problem that IT needs to deal with.
=== Newspaper Comics ===
* [[The Comics Curmudgeon]] website refers to the ''[[Judge Parker]]'' cast as "The Pretty People Posse" who, in spite of doing virtually nothing (even by realistic serial-strip standards), routinely get huge sums of money dropped into their lap.
===
* Princess Voluptua in ''[[The Inexplicable Adventures of Bob]].'' Lampshaded by the fact her appearance ''is'' an illusion, and she actually [[Starfish Alien|isn't humanoid at all.]]
* [[The Kingfisher]]: The vampire progenitors are born, and therefore a bit random looking or odd. Their "children" are chosen, and therefore...
=== [[Web Original]] ===
* The Goodkinds of the [[Whateley Universe]], particularly Phase's big sister Heather Goodkind who chose not to go into the family business and instead has 'worked' as a supermodel and a Hollywood actress. Apparently, Phase's mother Helen Hilton-Goodkind counts as well.
=== Video Games ===
* The [[Castlevania]] series received a makeover with more beautiful characters for both heroes and villains, males and females, courtesy of character artist Ayami Kojima. Her art is associated with Team IGA's tites, which started with [[Castlevania: Symphony of the Night]].
* [[Xenoblade]] features [[Bishonen|Shulk]], Fiora and [[Ms. Fanservice|Sharla]], all of whom would be top models in the real world (specially if you see them in a swimsuit), and Melia is pure Fetish Fuel. On the other hand this game has much less characters like this than one would expect from a JRPG. Dunban for example, while still physically attractive, is within levels reachable by the average person, and Reyn would be unthinkable in most of the rest of Japanese fantasy media. The NPCs attractiveness varies a lot throughout the game, too.
== Dream Worlds ==
=== Dream World Examples ===▼
▲== Dream World Examples ==
* Mount Olympus, with it's inhumanly-beautuiful behaviorally-chaotic inhabitants, is one of the prototypes for this trope. Which makes it [[Older Than Feudalism]]. There were some exceptions among the Olympians, however, such as Hephaestus, who was scorned for his ugliness.
* Almost all cases of [[Our Elves Are Better|high elves and space elves]], from Tolkien elves to the [[Babylon
=== Art ===
* The [[Zeerust]] World of Tomorrow from the 1930s-1950s, (Up to the early-60s [[The Jetsons]]) with shiny new [[Crystal Spires and Togas]] and not a speck of dirt
** ''[[Bill and Teds Excellent Adventure]]'' joke with this, where in the future, everything--"even the dirt"
* Just look at any illustrated advertisement from [[The Fifties]]. Good God, we should be so lucky! Those ads had you believe that women wore the most glamourous makeup ''all the time'', and that men had impeccable hair, dimples, and teeth - and, of course, everyone was always in a really good mood. Compare those with actual photographs from the 1950s, and you'll see the tremendous toll that an era when plastic surgery and physical fitness were still at a premium took on the appearance of certain people.
=== [[Live
* ''[[Sex and
** [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21494412/ One would argue that Sarah Jessica Parker's beauty] falls squarely in the territory of [[Informed Attribute]].
* ''[[
* ''[[Beverly Hills Teens]]'' was a half spoof, half straight version of this.
* ''Zoey101'' may be the pinnacle of this trope. It takes place in a preppy boarding school that...actually, preppy doesn't begin to describe it. The indoor scenes are more like "rainbow technicolor fairy land." Multi-colored glass, rainbow knick-knacks, Rube Goldberg gadgets that [[It Runs
* The middle school in ''[[Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide]]'' looks like a cartoon come to life, with a dash of [[Two Decades Behind]] (in this case [[The Eighties]]) thrown in for good measure. Which makes sense, since the entire cast acts like the old [[Looney Tunes]] come to life.
== Evil Versions ==
=== Anime and Manga ===▼
▲== Anime and Manga ==
* Siegfried's ''Contra Mundi'' team in the ''[[Trinity Blood]]'' manga. Perfect skins, stylish, expensive <s> Nazi</s> uniforms and haircuts, and ''[[Bishie Sparkle|ohmygod, he sparkles!]]''. (Then {{spoiler|Cain shows up naked and ruins the effect. Nice butt, though.}})
* Subverted in ''[[Umineko no Naku Koro
** Averted with Hideyoshi and George, who are overweight and not especially attractive, but played straight with the rest of the main cast, excluding non-Ushiromiyas.
** Witches, on the other hand, take this trope and veer it straight into [[The Fair Folk]] territory. They're very beautiful and grandiose, and [[Squick|They'll be sure to make their murders just as grandiose and magnificent]].
Line 173 ⟶ 170:
* Just about every character in ''[[Gankutsuou]]'' is beautiful and either endured some trauma in their past or ''will'' in their present life.
* Everyone in ''[[Uragiri wa Boku no Namae wo Shitteiru]]'' is impossibly good looking with some sort of [[Dark and Troubled Past]].
* ''[[Vampire Hunter D]]'' where most of the [[Our Vampires Are Different|Nobles]] and [[Dhampyr
* Pegasus J. Crawford and Siegfried von Schroider of ''Yu-Gi-Oh!'' are both impossibly rich, intellectual and [[Camp|glamorous]]. Unfortunately, they're also ''very'' unhappy with their lives.
* The Celestial Dragons in ''[[One Piece]]'' are people who have the blood of "the creators." Their beauty is in the [[Uncanny Valley]] category (but the series is 90% [[Gonk]] anyway so that's fairly normal), but are by far the biggest antagonists in the series. In fact, they are exempt from the law, so if they don't get what they want, they kill without a second thought, leading to one of the first Celestial Dragons seen to near-literally [[Shoot the Dog]] and then [[Kick the Dog]]. Not to mention the treatment of their numerous slaves. They ride them around, even if their bodies aren't suitable for that kind of pressure. If a slave escapes, they have an explosive collar around their neck that will kill them before they get too far.
Line 179 ⟶ 176:
** It is, however, heavily implied that this just be posturing. They still live on a planet made for prisoners (even flowers are a rarity). Furthermore, for all her apparent luxury, Esmeraude has never seen or tasted anything sweet before, leading to a [[Crowning Moment of Funny]] when she [[Big Eater|wolfs down an entire tray at the local bakery's All You Can Eat opening special]].
=== Film ===▼
* ''[[The Stepford Wives]]'' takes place in a [[Town
▲== Film ==
▲* ''[[The Stepford Wives]]'' takes place in a [[Town With a Dark Secret]] where the women and their houses look too good to be true...and are. Notable in that the people who run the town, the Men's Association, are the only things that are ugly.
* ''Seconds'' depicts a elderly man who pays to literally be remade as one of the Beautiful People; in a nice touch, post-transformation he is played by Rock Hudson. It doesn't work out very well.
* The highest-ranking members of society in ''[[In Time]]'', are very good looking and rich. In the film, everybody stops aging physically at 25.
=== Music ===▼
▲== Music ==
* "Beautiful Dirty Rich" by [[Lady Gaga]] seems to be about people of this nature. Many other examples from [[Lady Gaga]] have also appeared in her work, most notably "Paparazzi". The video takes place in a nice looking mansion, but during the [[Talky Bookend]] part Gaga is thrown off a balcony by her boyfriend. [[It Gets Worse]] from there on out, as there are repeated shots of models' corpses throughout the video, among other things, and at the end {{spoiler|Gaga gets revenge on her boyfriend by poisoning his drink}}.
* [[Marilyn Manson]]'s [[Concept Album]] ''Antichrist Superstar'' features a race of beautiful, superior beings who lord over the oppressed masses. The story is told from the perspective of "Wormboy", a downtrodden [[Muggle]] who seeks to join the ranks of these [[Ubermensch
* [[David Bowie]]'s "Oh! You Pretty Things" tells the story of a perfect next generation, homo superior, who will discard and destroy the current population of humanity.
=== Literature ===▼
* ''[[Brave New World (
▲== Literature ==
* In Scott Westerfeld's book ''[[Uglies|Pretties]]'' everyone gets turned phenomenally [[
▲* ''[[Brave New World (Literature)|Brave New World]]'' is one of the most famous examples. A [[Dystopia]] where everyone is raised to be a [[Stepford Smiler]], and everyone looks twenty years old (except the Epsilons, the lowest caste; they are barely human).
* In William King's [[Warhammer
▲* In Scott Westerfeld's book ''[[Uglies|Pretties]]'' everyone gets turned phenomenally [[The Brainless Beauty|beautiful]] at age sixteen, but given brain lesions, so that they're all the same and follow the herd.
▲* In William King's [[Warhammer 40000]] [[Space Wolf]] novel ''Wolfblade'', the House of Belisarius is like this. They even provide this kind of luxury for the Wolfblades, their Space Wolf bodyguards. The [[Divided We Fall|factional fighting]] is something else again, as well.
* In Jim Butcher's [[Dresden Files]], the White Court.
** Averted with Inari Raith, Thomas' little sister. Cute, but not blinding, jaw-droppingly beautiful like Lara, although that's only because she is still human. It is shown in the same book that teenaged Thomas was, while not ugly, slightly overweight and had a "squint that suggested a need for glasses." So becoming a White Court vampire literally ''makes'' you one of the beautiful people.
*** Which makes sense because they're [[Horny Devils|Succubi and Incubi.]]
* Treacherous Beautiful People often figure in the novels of [[Sidney Sheldon]], dating back to his breakthrough hit ''The Other Side of Midnight'' and villainess Noelle Page, a poor French girl who clawed her way to the top by utilizing her beauty. Good Beautiful People exist too, but usually are the targets of the bad ones.
* [[Terry Pratchett]]'s novel ''[[
** The beauty turns out just to be a glamour field though - to anyone that can see through it, they look vaguely feline and not especially attractive at all.
* In [[Robert E. Howard]]'s [[Conan the Barbarian]] story "[[
* ''[[The Picture of Dorian Gray]]''
=== Live-Action TV ===
* Almost any portrayal of royal courts on television. In the polar opposite of [[The Dung Ages]], royal courts from ancient Rome to the Tudors to Louis XIV are often portrayed as places where everyone is a scheming courtier in [[Gorgeous Period Dress]] who has
* ''[[The Twilight Zone]]'' episode, "Number 12 Looks Just Like You", may have been inspired by ''[[Brave New World (
* The tv movie "The Girl Most Likely To..." is about a smart, homely, overweight girl who enters college and is routinely tormented by the beautiful people. Driven to the brink, she ends up in a major car crash. After months of hospitalization with her jaw wired shut and extensive reconstructive surgery, she emerges slim and beautiful. Returning to college unrecognized, she gets close to her tormentors who regard her as one of
===
* High Elves in ''[[Warhammer Fantasy]].''▼
▲* Almost any portrayal of royal courts on television. In the polar opposite of [[The Dung Ages]], royal courts from ancient Rome to the Tudors to Louis XIV are often portrayed as places where everyone is a scheming courtier in [[Gorgeous Period Dress]] who has everything --looks, brains, charm -- except a soul. This requires [[Did Not Do the Research|completely ignoring]] the uglier parts of historical court life. For instance, Louis XIV's Versailles was beautiful, but it was incredibly uncomfortable and unhygienic. (Courtiers sometimes used the stairwells as lavatories.)
* The Bretonnian Knights in ''[[Warhammer Fantasy]]''. They are brave, noble, courageous killing machines living off the sweat of the peasants bearing 90% taxes on them.▼
▲* ''[[The Twilight Zone]]'' episode, "Number 12 Looks Just Like You", may have been inspired by ''[[Brave New World (Literature)|Brave New World]].'' (It was based on a Charles Beaumont story.) The future ''Dystopia'' in which the story is set forces its people to undergo an operation that makes them beautiful and ditzy. (Said people are only allowed to choose from a small number of idealized forms for their new bodies - which is why except for the main character {{spoiler|until she goes through the operation at the end}} all the roles in the episode are played by only three people - and thus have to wear nametags in order to identify each other.)
▲* The tv movie "The Girl Most Likely To..." is about a smart, homely, overweight girl who enters college and is routinely tormented by the beautiful people. Driven to the brink, she ends up in a major car crash. After months of hospitalization with her jaw wired shut and extensive reconstructive surgery, she emerges slim and beautiful. Returning to college unrecognized, she gets close to her tormentors who regard her as one of them - close enough to kill them off one by one.
== Tabletop Games ==▼
▲* High Elves in [[Warhammer Fantasy]].
▲* The Bretonnian Knights in [[Warhammer Fantasy]]. They are brave, noble, courageous killing machines living off the sweat of the peasants bearing 90% taxes on them.
* Subverted with one of their Bloodlines, the Carnival - an entire bloodline of [[Body Horror|sideshow freaks]]. Imagine having the hungers and desires of someone who could trade entirely on their looks, but looking like you just crawled out of an auto wreck.
* The Fairest from ''[[
* ''[[
* The Excrucians of ''[[
* Many of the [[Exalted]] are like this, particularly ones old enough to reach a permanent Essence rating of 6 or higher (who can thus raise their Appearance stat to beyond-human levels). Abyssal Exalted, unless they are so horrifically ugly that their Appearance is permanently 0, actually ''have'' to become this as they grow stronger.
* The Galateids of ''[[Promethean: The Created]]'' can only be created from the bodies of beautiful people. They exude charm and grace, and their innate power allows them to become masterful manipulators. [[Glamour Failure|And then you see what they really look like.]] Under the surface, they look like mannequins, statues... ''embalmed corpses''. When the world gets too much, they snap and [[Yandere|try to claim what they want regardless of who suffers]]. Part of what drives them to try to [[Become a Real Boy]], even though it means aging and decay, is to stop living out the lie.
* The BB Corps in ''[[Metal Gear Solid]] 4'' are a collection of four stunningly-beautiful women from all over the world, described as being 'drop-dead gorgeous' and some of the most beautiful women in the world (in a universe where everyone has [[Generic Cuteness|Generic Sexiness]]). They also fall right into the [[Uncanny Valley]] due to being scanned into the game from real life actresses, and are really, really [[Ax Crazy]].
=== Web Original ===▼
* [[
▲== Web Original ==
▲* [[Orions Arm]]: While genetic modifications can give pretty much anyone who chooses this status by modern standards, Clade Labela stands out as an extreme example since their mandatory scarcity make them all the more attractive.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:The Beautiful Tropes]]
[[Category:Rule of Glamorous]]
[[Category:Improbable Appearance Tropes]]
▲[[Category:Trope]]
| |||