Vain Sorceress: Difference between revisions
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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 smartalecky ''hag'' gimmick, which only in recent years has become popular enough to be taken seriously.
The
The
If there's a [[Black Magician Girl]] in the hero's party, the Vain Sorceress will mock her unrefined, [[Shorttank|tomboyish]] look and intentionally flirt with the hero to make her mad. If there isn't, she'll mock the [[White Magician Girl]]'s naivete. This again goes back to her vanity: the presence of other, younger females that spend most of their time with the good-looking heroic opposition means that putting them down and preserving her top spot is naturally a high priority.
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
Sometimes the
If the
Note: this 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 mage's monstrous forms are]] compared to [[One-Winged Angel|those of a male mage]].)
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** Seeing as how Orochimaru usually defaults to his normal appearance unless he wants to try a stealth approach to something, he is more really just trying to live forever and pick up his host's jutsu along the way. If his preferred host happens to be a looker, it's really just icing more than a specific objective.
* ''[[Record of Lodoss War]]'' features Karla, a witch who must [[Grand Theft Me|steal the bodies of others to survive.]] Although she can possess ''anyone'' she chooses, she ''prefers'' to possess beautiful, young, magically-talented females (like Laylia the priestess), which may be just enough to qualify her for this trope.
* Taiitsukun from ''[[Fushigi Yuugi]]'' is not a
* Used as an [[Inverted Trope]] in ''[[The Slayers|Slayers]]'': Lina Inverse, being something of a late bloomer, is always on the lookout for any magical item that will ''increase'' her apparent age (and with it, her bust and hip measurements).
** Naga in the movies fits this trope to a T.
* Alcyone from ''[[Magic Knight Rayearth]]''
* Evangeline A.K. McDowell from ''[[Negima]]'' normally has the appearance of a 10-year old girl (being a vampire, she doesn't age), but switches to a [[Sexier Alter Ego|sexy]] [[Older Alter Ego|adult woman]] form if she wants to be taken seriously - at least by adults - or wishes to flaunt her adult form's sex appeal (particularly to [[Shotacon|10-year-old Negi]], and often while '''naked'''; she seems to like seeing his flustered and embarrassed reaction).
* [[Big Bad]] {{spoiler|Dante}} from [[Fullmetal Alchemist (anime)|the 2003 anime version]] of ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist (manga)|Fullmetal Alchemist]]'' turns out to be a several centuries old [[Body Surf
* Princess Vina in ''[[Dragon Half]]'' uses magic to make herself look like a beautiful teenage girl... not because she's old (she really ''is'' a teenager), but because in her natural body she's a small purple slime.
* Tsubaki the Dark Priestess from ''[[Inuyasha]]'' wanted the Shikon no Tama to keep her power, youth and beauty, and as a strike for not being chosen as its keeper despite her abilities. She tried to steal it from Kikyou, with less than positive consequences (Kikyou ends up cursed, and in the anime her little sister Kaede [[Eye Scream|loses an eye]] in the fight).
* Queen Nehelenia from ''[[Sailor Moon]]'', so very much. She consumed the dreams of the young and happy to stay beautiful, because she caught a glimpse of her ugly future self in her [[Magic Mirror]] and was terrified.
** In the anime, this was partially {{spoiler|an after-effect of said [[Magic Mirror]] [[More Than Mind Control|putting the whammy on her]]. She was still crazy and vain enough to choose being imprisoned in said mirror than losing her good looks, until Sailor Galaxia released her.}}
** The Ayakashi Sisters were [[The Psycho Rangers]] of the R Season, and to remark on such a role they were always taunting each other about not looking young (the eldest sister, [[Christmas Cake|Petz]], was the most usual butt of jokes) and applying make-up to their pretty faces when off-duty. {{spoiler|They're actually [[Anti-Villain|more heroic than the standard]] and ultimately have [[Heel Face Turn
** To a smaller degree, also Green Esmeraude.
* Related: in ''[[Katekyo Hitman Reborn]]'', Mammon says that it is common for female illusionists to make their bodies disappear during their death throes so they don't leave an unsightly corpse behind. {{spoiler|He thinks this is what is happening when Chrome's body disappears, but she is actually quite alive and ready to continue the fight.}}
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== [[Comic Books]] ==
* Somewhat [[Justified]] in the case of the ''[[X-Men (Comic Book)|X-Men]]'' opponent Selene in that even if she did not [[Healing Factor|regenerate]], use her various [[Psychic Powers]], or [[Functional Magic|cast any of the spells she has picked up over the centuries]] she has to drain life from others just to stay alive. One may ask if it would be more efficient to let herself age past thirty or so, but not to her face if you like being healthy.
** Note that it's not a case of merely natural aging; if she goes too long without a [[Life Energy]] fix, she starts to revert to her true
** It's implied that her Good Counterpart (or at least Less Evil Counterpart) Emma Frost uses her psychic powers to appear slightly more beautiful than she already is. Considering she's one of the few comic book characters to admit to plastic surgery, it doesn't take too much effort.
* [[Empowered|Sistah Spooky]] had made a [[Deal with the Devil]] to become much more beautiful, her sorcerous powers were an accidental bonus. She plays it straight later when she gets into power-throwing jealously fits if it feels like no one appreciates her good looks. Considering what they cost her...
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== [[Film]] ==
* The ultimate example may be the Wicked Queen from ''[[Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (Disney film)|Snow White]]''; moreso in the [[Disney Animated Canon]] version, whose character design was reputedly based on [[Katherine Hepburn]]. This example also illustrates the primary paradox intrinsic to this trope: Why would an intelligent, powerful woman like the Queen be so crazily obsessed over something as seemingly paltry as mere physical appearance? Sure, vanity might explain part of it, but to go so far as to seek the death of a rival (who is actually not even be aware of her grudge), and undergo a painful transformation to disguise herself so that she could personally carry out a murder plot? Seems a bit over the top, but then again, that's the warping nature of evil for you.
** In an [[wikipedia:The Legend of Snow White|anime adaptation]], she wants to [[Grand Theft Me|steal Snow White's body]] instead. And it's revealed that she's not actually the Queen, but stole ''her'' body instead when she was a child. She (or even 'it') may have spent ''generations'' [[Body Surf
** In some of the earliest versions of the tale, the Wicked Queen fears Snow White's maturing beauty because it symbolizes her impending death due to an ancient mythological trope that a person's child is his or her
* Maleficent, in Disney's ''[[Sleeping Beauty (Disney film)|Sleeping Beauty]]''. Her grudge against the title heroine is based on other factors, but this 'tall, dark and lethal' lady [http://kingdomhearts.wikia.com/wiki/Maleficent clearly hasn't neglected her looks].
* A live action example can be seen in ''[[Excalibur (film)|Excalibur]]'': Morgana Le Fay uses her magical powers to keep herself looking young into middle age. Interestingly, when Merlin goes into her dream and tricks her into casting a powerful mist spell, she releases so much energy that she ages far beyond what her natural age was originally.
** In fact, just about ''any'' evil sorceress in any show, (especially those who use a forbidden, "sacrificial" form of magic to maintain their appearance) will wind up becoming old and
* Rare, non-fey male example: ''[[Merlin's Shop of Mystical Wonders]]'' (which 99% of viewers probably saw on ''[[Mystery Science Theater 3000]]'') featured a jerkish newspaper reviewer who dabbled in magic and discovered that doing so caused him to age rapidly. He then concocted a spell to make himself young again, but it worked a little ''too'' well...
* The witches in ''[[Hocus Pocus]]'' spend all their time looking for children to suck the life out of to make themselves look younger, with the added impetus once they've been resurrected of ''having'' to do this or they'll turn to dust. At one point, the 8(?)-year-old heroine says, "It doesn't matter how young or old you are. You sold your soul! You're the ugliest thing that's ever lived! And you ''know'' it!"
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* In ''[[Stardust (novel)|Stardust]]'', the witches' motivation for cutting out the Star's heart is to regain youth permanently and to a notably lesser extent, to become more powerful.
* In a subplot of ''Never Trust a Dead Man'' by [[Vivian Vande Velde]], [[Deadpan Snarker]] mentor Elswyeth (a witch) spends much of the book collecting ingredients for a spell to make herself young. This is mostly an [[Averted Trope|Aversion]], however, since her motives are practical rather than aesthetic (fewer aches and pains, a longer lifespan) and her young form is not particularly attractive.
* In ''[[The Witcher]]'' world it's so common that it not only gets [[Lampshaded]], but outright [[Deconstruction|deconstructed]]. Virtually all the sorceresses are like this, at least in the Northern Kingdoms. This is due to the fact that while magical talent is distributed pretty evenly among population, it is, for all its [[Anachronism Stew|anachronisms]], a late Medieval period, when a woman's purpose in life was marriage and motherhood. So, only girls who had a chance to take up magic were the ones with the worst marriage
* In [[David Eddings]]' ''[[Belgariad]]'' [[Prequel]] ''Belgarath the Sorcerer'', a sorcerer's appearance seems to be connected to their mental image. While the original sorcerer Belgarath deliberately goes for either the old vagabond storyteller look or the hale and hearty old man appearance (and is still in remarkable physical shape, come to think of it, enough that ''many'' women find him ''very'' attractive), his daughter Polgara always looks quite stunning. She notes that an old women is called a "crone" for a reason, and cronehood isn't exactly her idea of a positive impression.
** Given that in this setting sorcerers shapechange simply by thoroughly visualizing their new body (no incantation or ritual), very low level leakage from the subconscious should make this a reasonable side effect of simply living for a few millennia. Probably explains the muscles, too - all that exercise accumulating without the atrophy (you notice the former happening more). May even explain the immortality.
* [[Piers Anthony]]'s earlier ''[[Xanth]]'' novels feature Iris, a sorceress who uses illusions to maintain her aura of
** In the ''[[Apprentice Adept]]'' series, the Yellow Adept has, and occasionally uses, a potion to restore her youth. The difficulty of making it keeps her old most of the time.
* Dorian from ''[[The Picture of Dorian Gray]]'' is pretty much the male poster for the trope, having expressed the desire to never age or show any flaws so he could stay young and be loved by everyone. His portrait became uglier and older every time he did something bad, while Dorian remained young and handsome.
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* The double standard is fairly well pointed out early on in ''[[Errant Story]]''; female magic-users that show the slightest sign of aging are more or less expected to dedicate some of their power to maintaining their appearance. The main character hates this expectation, mainly because she's largely resistant to such magics.
** Said main character's mother sympathetic one, who's doing it so she'll still be at attractive to the main character's father, an immortal elf, {{spoiler|Too bad he's a [[Jerkass]] who doesn't care about her or his daughter.}}
* In ''[[El Goonish Shive]]'' Nioi, [[Half-Human Hybrid|human-skunk chimera]] sorceress, is a benign
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* Played straight in ''[[WITCH (animation)|WITCH]]''. While second season [[Big Bad]] Nerissa starts out as a 60+ hag with almost viper like features, as soon as she has some power to spare she turns into a 20-something diva.
** Though in this case, the regaining of youth is presented as more of a side-affect of Nerissa's power boost (albeit one she's certainly pleased with) rather than her ''primary'' goal.
* Toyed with in ''[[Justice League]]'' - their version of Morgan Le Fay drains youth from random [[Muggle
** Oddly subverted with Tala, who is a Sorceress, but is more poised on romance than anything else.
* Subverted by classic ''[[Looney Tunes]]'' character [[Punny Name|Witch Hazel]], who is very vain and obsessive about her ''ugliness''. In "Broomstick Bunny", Hazel becomes jealous when Bugs shows up at her house on Halloween, wearing a witch mask more hideous than she is. In the same cartoon, she's tricked into drinking a potion that actually turns her into a beautiful woman, which causes her to [[Freak-Out]].
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