History Main / BeautyEqualsGoodness

** Of course the show usually plays the trope straight with the [=ThunderCats=] all being portrayed as attractive, while their enemies, Mumm-

** Of course the show usually plays the trope straight with the [=ThunderCats=] all being portrayed as attractive, while their enemies, Mumm-Ra, the Mutants, and Lunataks are ugly.
* Inverted with many of the villainous contestants in ''WesternAnimation/TotalDrama''. Heather, Justin, Courtney, and Alejandro are all considered extremely attractive. Scott, Mal, and Scarlett less so, but they do each have some level of appeal. Jo, Max, and Sugar play the trope straight.
** Generally speaking, however, the show zig-zags quite a bit with the trope, as there are plenty of very attractive contestants in the series who are also known for being good and kind. Bridgette, Trent, Lindsay, and Geoff are prime examples among the first generation contestants, while Zoey and Jasmine are probably the best played-straight examples with the ''Revenge of the Island'' and ''Pahkitew Island'' casts respectively.
** Further playing with the trope is that while there are many contestants who are both very attractive and good people, the contestants who end up being the ultimate “heroes” of the season by making it all the way to the end (or close to it) and taking down the BigBad are usually more average-looking. In Season 1, the two heroes to ultimately defeat [[BigBad Heather]] are Owen and Gwen. Owen, while not ugly, is [[BigFun obese]] and not really attractive to anyone except [[CloudCuckooLander Izzy]]. Gwen is cute, but also aloof, socially awkward, and {{Goth}}, so while she does have appeal to certain other contestants (i.e. Trent, Cody, and Duncan), contestants like Heather, Bridgette, and Lindsay are considered much more conventionally attractive by the majority. In Season 2, the only unambiguous hero to outlast the BigBad Courtney and win (or be runner-up, depending on the ending) is Beth, who is slightly overweight and still looks like a kid, meaning she basically just looks average. While the “hero” of Season 3 is Heather who is very attractive, she is also only the [[AntiHero hero by default]], because of being slightly more good than [[EvilerThanThou Alejandro]] and the only one capable of beating him. The highest-ranking unambiguously good contestant is Cody, who got 3rd, and like Beth, still looks like a kid. Season 4 has Cameron as the only hero to make it to the final challenge (therefore, outlasting the BigBad Scott), and then beating [[JerkJock Light]][[FinalBoss ning]] in the final challenge (in most endings). He is also a scrawny nerd and definitely not any sort of MrFanservice. Season 5 finally breaks the trend with Zoey, who is extremely attractive and the only hero to outlast [[BigBad Mal]]. Then Season 6 continues that trend with the beautiful Sky, who along with the other hero Shawn, is one of only two contestants to both beat [[BigBad Sugar]] and overcome the sabotage of [[FinalBoss Dave]] during the final challenge. Shawn though, like the majority of his predecessors, still looks average.
** The SpinOff series Ridonculous Race then follows the usual pattern of the series. BigBad team Josee and Jacques (the Ice Dancers) are a definite MsFanservice and MrFanservice, respectively, and get 3rd. That team’s main ArchEnemy duo, and one of the two teams to defeat them, is the Police Cadets. Both of whom are pretty average-looking and definitely not distinctly attractive like the villains. Especially Macarthur, who is both more heavyset and [[TheLadette enjoys frequently indulging in]] ToiletHumour. However, the other team to beat the Ice Dancers team is the Surfer Dudes, who are pretty good-looking, but also not really involved in a rivalry with the Big Bads like the Police Cadets were. Although the trope did get pretty close to being [[PlayingWithATrope played straight]] here, since 4th Place team The Sisters were both extremely attractive, both clearly heroic (arguably even moreso than the two winning hero teams, due to Macarthur bordering on AntiHero at times by her willingness to stoop to the Ice Dancers’ level to beat them, and the Surfer Dudes more or less being DumbIsGood and not taking the competition too seriously), got focus on par with the other final teams before their elimination, and had a rivalry with Josee and Jacques too. Meaning they would have qualified if placing just a little bit higher.
* An episode of ''WesternAnimation/XiaolinShowdown'' had a [[MonsterOfTheWeek Villain of the Week]] use this trope to her advantage. As long as she's in water, she looks like a beautiful mermaid and gives the group a sob story about how she's [[LastOfHisKind the last mermaid in the world,]] being hunted by an evil Viking. She's pretty, the Viking is ugly...naturally, they believe her until the Viking sets them straight--''he's'' the good guy here, and she's a monster. Then it turns out that, out of the water, the mermaid becomes a hideous giant monster.
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* ''Anime/YuGiOhArcV'': Starve Venom Fusion Dragon is a horrific BodyHorror monster that scares many people by its look alone. As one way of attacking: it grows its mouth wings into large mouths that devour people and monsters whole, fitting to its carnivorous plant motif. [[spoiler:Once it fuses with Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon to become Supreme King Violet Dragon - Odd-Eyes Venom Dragon, it gets purified and gains a beautiful (yet still somewhat terrifying) appearance. Odd-Eyes Venom Dragon is so beautiful that even Asuka, who used to hate Fusions because they were used to hurt people, is astonished by its appearance alone. When Odd-Eyes Venom uses its Monster Effect to gain more ATK, its wings spread yellow energy, making it look like a blooming flower. It also replaces the carnivorous plant motif for a [[CherryBlossoms chery blossom]] motif. And unlike the other two Pendulum hybrids, its "WhatBeautifulEyes" description is the opposite of them; its "gem-like eyes are shining in kindness".]]

* ''Series/TheLordOfTheRingsTheRingsOfPower'': Most of the Elvish characters are shown to be good-hearted and noble, if deeply flawed individuals. They are described as beautiful by several characters, in contrast with their {{Evil Counterpart}}s, the Orcs, who are all deformed and repulsive-looking.

Compare EvilMakesYouUgly and {{Gonk}}. The opposite of this trope is BeautyIsBad and EvilIsSexy, although they aren't mutually exclusive with this one. UglyHeroGoodLookingVillain is a specific inversion. Compare also VillainousBadlandHeroicArcadia, which applies the same basic concept to landscapes instead of people. Contrast DivinelyAppearingDemons, FaceOfAnAngelMindOfADemon, WastedBeauty. See also ExpectingSomeoneTaller. Can go hand-in-hand with UglyCute (even though this other trope gives focus to physical ugliness), especially in terms of their shared senses of morality.

* ''Film/ThreeHundred'' is very rife with this: the [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Spartans]] exemplify [[GorgeousGreek Greek beef-cakery]] with their [[MrFanservice heroically buff and muscular builds]], while the [[TheEmpire evil Persians]] run gamut of a GrotesqueGallery with several monsters in their army and even the ''[[RoyalHarem harem girls]] look bizarre''. Interestingly, of the two Spartan traitors, Ephialtes is highly deformed but is the most sympathetic at least compared to [[SmugSnake Theron]]. The second movie tones this down by presenting the Persians in a more conventional manner and the villain [[TheBaroness Artemisia]] being a case of EvilIsSexy.

* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'': Often falls victim to this trope (perhaps surprisingly, given its self-awareness). Apart from the Slayers themselves (who are all stunning), all the other major good guy characters are attractive, even HollywoodHomely Willow, while the demons are usually hideous. True, there are ''some'' [[EvilIsSexy good looking villains]], (Spike, Angelus, Faith, etc.), but most of these characters were either very minor or ended up performing a HeelFaceTurn, or ended up ''looking'' really, really monstrous. Glory is the only good-looking seasonal BigBad who was presented entirely without sympathy. (Although The First, able to look like anyone it wants to as long as it's dead and given to appearing like Buffy, might count.) And, of course, Willow was recast from the pilot to be cuter. The original tends to be known on the Internet as "Fat Willow", with forum posters complaining about how the show would have been ruined...

* ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' does an almost facepalmingly straight adherence to this rule. Almost all the good guys will be bishonen, ruggedly handsome men, hot chicks, {{Cool Old Guy}}s (sometimes [[SilverFox good looking for their age]], too) and most of the bosses will be [[https://fireemblemwiki.org/wiki/Heintz old]], [[https://fireemblemwiki.org/wiki/Glass_(character) plain]] or [[https://fireemblemwiki.org/wiki/Gheb gonks]]. They'll attempt to mix things up by always adding [[https://fireemblemwiki.org/wiki/Gonzalez one or two gonks]] and a [[https://fireemblemwiki.org/wiki/Makalov non-hottie]] to the good guys' side, and typically the bad guys will have one or two good looking guys on their side, however they'll usually be either [[AntiVillain good at heart]] or [[https://fireemblemwiki.org/wiki/Narcian wear an unflattering facial expression on their portrait]]. Sometimes a few of the ugly minor bosses will hint or be revealed to not have been bad at heart after their death. The simplest way to put it is ugly characters are the TokenMinority for the good guys and attractive characters are the TokenMinority for the bad guys. Ugly good guys far outnumber attractive bad guys, since EvilIsSexy is not one of Intelligent Systems' favorite tropes. This can sometimes make sense (Most of the early foes are low-class bandits, the latter ones are old nobles and in some games a separate species, while most player characters are nobility and\or young), but often doesn't.

* On ''WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague'' (and ''Justice League Unlimited''), only two of the big seven are even remotely not conventionally attractive. [[Comicbook/MartianManhunter J'onn]], while green, [[VoluntaryShapeshifting is a shapeshifter who can look however he wants]], and Hawkgirl's "weird" look is [[WingedHumanoid angelic wings]]. Now, let's take a look at the villains: Gorilla Grodd, Ultra-Humanite, Parasite, Shade, the White Martians... Except [[EvilIsSexy the female ones]]. And Luthor. Bodies are likewise ridiculously one-note exaggerations, with TopHeavyGuy being the norm-- and not just in body, but with chins that would make Jay Leno blush. Not surprising, given that they're based on comic book characters (easily the worst offender anywhere). Ultra-Humanite happens to also be a subversion in the comics as his power is stealing bodies and he did once steal the body of a beautiful woman.

* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'': The Titans themselves do fight ugly villains or even twisted-looking monsters. Inverted with [[EvilIsSexy Jinx, Blackfire, Madame Rouge]]...

* ''VideoGame/RiseOfTheKasai'' features four playable characters, three of which subvert this trope. Baumusu and Grizz are both old men, Baumusu is bald, burly, heavyset, and is missing an eye. Grizz is wrinkly, thin as a rail, has a huge nose, and is also balding. Both are noble and honorable heroes. Tati is a very attractive female, but is the most morally questionable of the four, to the point [[spoiler:that she can make a FaceHeelTurn at the end of the game.]] Her brother Rau arguably plays this straight as he's a fairly handsome man and arguably the most noble of all four of them. This is played straight with most of the villains, however. The big bad is especially hideous. [[CoDragons The Twins]] are supposed to be [[EvilIsSexy very attractive]] to the point of being able to mind control men, but the game's graphics and the haziness of the scene make it something of InformedAttractiveness.

* {{DiscussedTrope Discussed}} in ''Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar'': when Ken is attacked by Fudo, he spares him because he has "the face of a good man". It helps that Ken is an ExcellentJudgeOfCharacter, and Fudo ''had'' just told him that Ryuken had walked away from him many years earlier, so he wasn't just relying on Fudo's looks.

[[folder:Real Life]]
* The [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halo_effect Halo effect]] is a documented psychological phenomenon wherein people's judgment of another person's traits spills over to other (unrelated) traits. So the perception is that beautiful = good/competent, ugly = bad/incompetent, etc. Further proof that humans can be very judgmental.
** To go even further, in social psychology there exists such a thing as "self-fulfilling prophecy" which further cements the "halo effect". Those who are treated as good or bad people (even if only on the basis of their appearance) will be prone to behave accordingly. That is, those who are treated well, will behave well in return and [[ThenLetMeBeEvil vice versa]].
* The 1960 U.S. presidential election debates were the first to be televised. Polls showed that those who watched the debate on television thought the handsome UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy had won the debate, while those who listened on the radio thought the sweaty, uncomfortable-looking UsefulNotes/RichardNixon had won. Of course, TV being a relatively emergent technology that was only just starting to be adopted at the time could have resulted in differences in the demographics of television owners and non-television owners. And, of course, while it might be a poor reason to not vote for someone because they look like a slightly-crazed, paranoid, crook, the fact that Nixon, in fact, turned out to be a slightly crazed, paranoid crook is of no little relevance.
** Even more interesting: While Kennedy was the president who brought the US military into UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar full-force (before then, the US were supplying troops but it was not an official war), the less-attractive UsefulNotes/LyndonJohnson has tended to receive the lion's share of the blame for the conflict. Nixon was the one who eventually pulled the US out, but this is rarely mentioned, mainly due to (a) his "tough talk" rhetoric that made this ''seem'' unlikely (even though it was actually key to executing the policy at all), (b) his initial escalation of the fighting, and (c) does it bear mentioning that this was UsefulNotes/RichardNixon?
*** Although here a number of other factors are at least as important, if not more so. John F. Kennedy's image was retroactively enhanced by his assassination, which conveyed a kind of secular sainthood on him and made a lot of people forget how controversial he had been in life, and also by the fact that there weren't many news stories involving Vietnam during his administration. Johnson, in contrast, had to deal with bad news from Vietnam throughout his two terms. And while Nixon got the US Army out of Vietnam, the way that happened was perceived as a humiliating failure that set South Vietnam up for utter defeat, with the images of the hurried evacuation of the U.S. embassy in Saigon sticking in the public consciousness for decades to come (even if Nixon was already out of office by the time it happened).
* During the Victorian era, this concept was widely held to be true; a person's physical appearance was a reflection of their morality and social standing. The introduction discusses 19th Century quackery discourses of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phrenology Phrenology]] and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physiognomy Physiognomy]] as an attempt to quantify and qualify these dubious claims. While the latter discipline was not unique to the 19th Century, its influence and popularity reached a zenith during the Georgian, Regency, and especially, Victorian eras. This wasn't surprising since one's wealth typically coincided with the degree of their access to proper necessities which made beauty even ''possible;'' as a result, today's "average" was yesterday's "god-like."
* In Spanish, "to be" can be translated as two different verbs (''ser'' and ''estar'') "ser buena" (to be good) means to be a good/nice person, and "estar buena" (literally translated also: "to be good") means being physically attractive (although usually "hot" more than "beautiful"). This might be because ''ser'' means "to be a certain way inherently" whereas ''estar'' draws its distinction in definition from meaning something more like "to be a certain way at a specific time." In other words, "ser buena" most means "to be good inherently," whereas the most literal translation for "estar buena" could be "to be good for the moment" and not necessarily as a regular thing. This suggests that Spanish-speaking cultures are probably at least somewhat aware of beauty's tendency to be fleeting and superficial, and have therefore linked it to temporary and superficial goodness in their language. The connection--however tenuous--between being physically attractive and being morally upright is still there, however.
** That whole mess can technically be avoided with other adjectives (bonito/a, hermoso/a, guapo/a, etc.). In these cases one can say, for example, ''ser bonita'' (to be naturally pretty) or ''estar bonita'' (to be pretty at the moment, by dressing up for example).
* In French, one way of saying "she's hot" is "elle est bonne", which also translates as "she's good". Strangely, this expression is not used in the masculine form. Also, using this expression in this context is considered offensive as it makes it feel like the person who says it only see her as a sex object.
* Even in English, someone is said to be "'good' looking".
* The UsefulNotes/{{ancient Gree|ce}}ks took this very, ''very'' seriously. ''Kaloi k'agathoi'' ("the Beautiful and the Good") was what Greek aristocrats called themselves. To be beautiful was considered a gift from the gods and was a sign of their favor. This allowed good-looking Greeks to [[ScrewTheRulesImBeautiful get away with things just because they were beautiful]], and occasionally hurt ugly people when accused of a crime. For instance:
** Phryne, an Athenian [[HighClassCallGirl courtesan]] known for her beauty, [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phryne was once accused of a form of blasphemy]]. At trial, her defense consisted, at least in part, of stripping off her clothes and saying to the (all-male) jury: "Would you dare destroy ''this''?" She was acquitted--which, to be fair, wasn't ''purely'' lust on the part of the jury; again, exceptional beauty was seen as a sign of divine favour. Therefore, at least some of the jurors may have feared that by executing the exceedingly beautiful Phryne, they would risk the wrath of the gods, or one in particular ([[LoveGoddess Aphrodite]]),[[note]]One of the accounts refers to her as a "priestess of Aphrodite", which may or may not have been a euphemism for prostitute, but which certainly reflects how a Greek of her era would have seen someone so beautiful.[[/note]] or at least figured that one so favoured by the gods was incapable of committing blasphemy. The Athenians later [[ObviousRulePatch passed a law]] [[ItOnlyWorksOnce that from now on]], [[ObviousRulePatch judges are not to look at the defendants]].
** Creator/{{Socrates}}, on the other hand, was famously ugly (both Creator/{{Aristophanes}} and Creator/{{Plato}} make quite a few "ugly guy" jokes at Socrates' expense). This may have figured into the decision to convict Socrates at trial (the decision to execute him, on the other hand, was more or less because of what he said).
* This attitude persisted into UsefulNotes/TheByzantineEmpire, where emperors were expected to be free of blemishes, and deposed rulers were often [[PunishedWithUgly disfigured to prevent them from retaking the throne]]. This worked most of the time until the emperor [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justinian_II Justinian II]] (also known as "Justinian the Split-nosed") retook the throne by force. After that, they [[EyeScream blinded former emperors]] to be on the safe side.
* Public opinion in any trial-by-media scenario will often fall in line with this trope. MissingWhiteWomanSyndrome (always pretty, young girls) is an obvious real-life relation, and people often have harsher reactions to unusual-looking suspects (as opposed to attractive serial killers mentioned below, who often get fanmail or marriage proposals). Even non-criminal media scandals get this reaction. Take, for example, public perception of the British Royal Family. Princess Diana is lovingly remembered, despite having affairs as her former husband did, while Prince Charles is unpopular and Lady Camilla is largely hated, and both are mocked for their appearance.
* According to an actual scientific subject on the topic, beautiful criminals usually get more lenient sentences than their ugly counterparts, regardless of the severity of their crime, but when the crime in question is fraud, the tables are turned: attractive frauds almost consistently get the longest convictions. Psychologists believe that this is due to the fact that people find themselves betrayed when this trope isn't played straight, and react far more severely. A beautiful thief or murderer can be explained as a victim of the circumstances, but a beautiful fraud explicitly uses their appearance to deceive and mislead people, and they just can't forgive that.
* UsefulNotes/WilliamHowardTaft was the last president elected before photographs became a standard feature of newspapers (somewhat obviously).
* The opposite assumption--Ugliness Equals Evil--is exhibited in the various meanings of the Arabic word ''qabīḥ''. Its most common meaning is simply "ugly," but it can also mean "disgusting" or "monstrous" or, well, "evil" (as an adjective). However, the more usual word for "evil" is ''shirrīr'', and the other meanings of ''qabīḥ'' only occur to the educated, so it's not played ''entirely'' straight (except in the Maghreb, where it is the colloquial word for "bad"--not "evil," but "bad"[[note]]i.e., in Morocco, if the new microwave or computer or car you just bought turned out to be hot garbage, it was ''qabīḥ''. It's actually close to the British usage of "pants" as an adjective.[[/note]]).
* This could be one of the principles behind DoubleStandardRapeFemaleOnMale since the cultural standard for "female" is "beautiful." You can see this in action when it comes to things like child molestation and statutory rape. [[TeacherStudentRomance Mary Kay Letourneau does her 12-year-old student?]] Have you ''seen'' what Mary Kay Letourneau looks like? Either he must have wanted it, or he was gay.
* Recent pictures of [[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d7/Nancy_Kerrigan.jpg/220px-Nancy_Kerrigan.jpg Nancy Kerrigan]] and [[https://s.abcnews.com/images/US/171229_abc_truthlies_tonya_16x9_992.jpg Tonya Harding]] seem to play this trait pretty straight. Kerrigan still looks youthful and gorgeous, while Harding (who, as anyone who was alive during the 1990s remembers, conspired with her ex-husband and bodyguard to break her rival Kerrigan's leg to render her incapable of competing in the Olympics), looks a bit like the mother from ''Film/TheFighter'' after a few ''more'' years' hard living.
* Unfortunately, it's for this reason that animals people consider cute or charismatic get better protection than creepier or menacing-looking ones. It's the reason WhatMeasureIsANonCute exists. This trope can be disastrous for the ecosystem, and it's the reason the concept of a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umbrella_species "Umbrella species"]] was invented. Can't get people to care about that rare and useful spider species? Get the habitat of a more popular animal that lives in the same area protected, and now the spider is taken care of too.
* All visual propaganda uses this. Showing how evil your opponents are would take up too much space on the poster -- more or less subtle differences in beauty are used instead.
** Nazi propaganda continuously portrayed the regime's enemies as shrunken, deformed subhumans, and eulogised the handsome, dashing, blond-haired blue-eyed Aryan hero. The regime itself was obsessed with its image. Even UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler himself had adoring fangirls (despite not looking like the Aryan ideal).
** The US portrayed the Japanese as fanged snake people in [[WartimeCartoon wartime cartoons and comics]].
** And, turnabout being fair play, the Japanese depicted the British and Americans as demonic ([[VoluntaryShapeshifting tricksy shapeshifters]] or brutish {{oni}}).
* Newborn infants prefer to look at attractive faces (about 80%) than less attractive or plain ones. This is due to the aesthetic, symmetric appeal of a beautiful face, suggesting that inbuilt preferences are involved which help babies make sense of their environment.
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[[folder:Real Life]]
* Notorious female outlaws were often very unattractive, possibly due to being social outcasts, but the ones who were attractive often used their beauty to their advantage.
* This trope came out to play regarding Susan Boyle. When she walked on stage, the judges of ''Britain's Got Talent'' looked at her awkward appearance and assumed she was going to be a total disaster. When an amazing voice comes out of her mouth, the judges were visibly floored and left commentators asking why we assume lack of physical beauty automatically means lack of talent.
* During the globally-televised opening of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, a cute girl lip-synced a beautiful song while an unattractive girl hidden behind the stage sang the actual song.
* The [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scutigera_coleoptrata house centipede]] looks like the unholy offspring of a spider and a cockroach, is nightmarishly fast, and can slip through almost ''any'' crack. And they're on ''our'' side. They're harmless to humans, tend to only come out when we're asleep, don't damage foodstuffs or household structures, and prey on every kind of household pest that does[[note]]Spiders, ants, bed bugs, cockroaches, silverfish, termites, you name it[[/note]]. They also serve as a radar; an abundance of these benevolent creepy-crawlies will give you a heads up that you undoubtedly have an as-of-yet unnoticed infestation of something else.
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Compare EvilMakesYouUgly and {{Gonk}}. The opposite of this trope is BeautyIsBad and EvilIsSexy, although they aren't mutually exclusive with this one. UglyHeroGoodLookingVillain is a specific inversion. Compare also VillainousBadlandHeroicArcadia, which applies the same basic concept to landscapes instead of people. Contrast DivinelyAppearingDemons, FaceOfAnAngelMindOfADemon, WastedBeauty. See also ExpectingSomeoneTaller. Can go hand-in-hand with UglyCute (despite it being physically unorthodox), especially in terms of their shared senses of morality.

Compare EvilMakesYouUgly and {{Gonk}}. The opposite of this trope is BeautyIsBad and EvilIsSexy, although they aren't mutually exclusive with this one. UglyHeroGoodLookingVillain is a specific inversion. Compare also VillainousBadlandHeroicArcadia, which applies the same basic concept to landscapes instead of people. Contrast DivinelyAppearingDemons, FaceOfAnAngelMindOfADemon, WastedBeauty. See also ExpectingSomeoneTaller. Can go hand-in-hand with UglyCute (despite it being physically unorthodox), especially in terms of their senses of morality.

Compare EvilMakesYouUgly and {{Gonk}}. The opposite of this trope is BeautyIsBad and EvilIsSexy, although they aren't mutually exclusive with this one. UglyHeroGoodLookingVillain is a specific inversion. Compare also VillainousBadlandHeroicArcadia, which applies the same basic concept to landscapes instead of people. Contrast DivinelyAppearingDemons, FaceOfAnAngelMindOfADemon, WastedBeauty. See also ExpectingSomeoneTaller.

* ''America's Prince: The John F. Kennedy Jr. Story'': Played with. Two female mourners outside of the home of John and Carolyn include a beautiful brunette[[note]]Played by ''Anime/SailorMoon'' voice actress Katie Griffin, who portrayed Sailor Mars[[/note]] and an unattractive redhead. While both women are GossipyHens who don't like John's wife ([[GreenEyedMonster for obvious reasons]]), the brunette at least expresses genuine sympathy for Carolyn's mother over the tragedy.

Compare EvilMakesYouUgly. The opposite of this trope is BeautyIsBad and EvilIsSexy, although they aren't mutually exclusive with this one. UglyHeroGoodLookingVillain is a specific inversion. Compare also VillainousBadlandHeroicArcadia, which applies the same basic concept to landscapes instead of people. Contrast DivinelyAppearingDemons, FaceOfAnAngelMindOfADemon, WastedBeauty. See also ExpectingSomeoneTaller.

** Also in ''Guardians of the Galaxy'', the only sign of [[Characters/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyModern Gamora]]'s cyborg augmentation is some ridging on her face, which looks as if it might even be her species' natural bone structure. By contrast, her EvilCounterpart and former friend [[Characters/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyModern Nebula]] has a metal strip across her face including a cybernetic eye and one clearly cybernetic arm. In the sequel, it's explained that Thanos used to make the two of them fight and would order a piece cut off the loser and replaced it with cybernetics. Gamora kept winning the fights, so she didn't end up with as many cybernetic parts as Nebula. [[spoiler:Also, Nebula makes a HeelFaceTurn after the two of them reconcile.]]

* There are three types of mutant in ''[[VideoGame/SonsOfTheForest]]'': Cannibals, which look like ugly humans, sometimes emaciated and often coated in mud or blood. Creepies are inhuman monsters that look like jumbles of arms and legs that are barely recognizable as human-derived. Then there's Virginia, who's a pretty blonde woman in a spotless white one-piece swimsuit with one extra arm and one extra leg. Guess which can be befriended. Go on, guess. Here's a hint: it's not the Cronenbergian monstrosities.

* The ''Franchise/{{Shrek}}'' series has an ogre as the hero, and the love of his life becomes an ogress herself at the end of [[WesternAnimation/Shrek1 the first film]]. By contrast, the handsome Prince Charming from [[WesternAnimation/{{Shrek 2}} the second]] and [[WesternAnimation/ShrekTheThird third films]] is a bratty, immature, villainous twit. Interestingly, the not-so physically attractive Shrek's heroics and the comparatively more physically attractive Prince Charming's malice also collectively create an [[InvertedTrope inversion]] of this trope at the very same time.

* Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse: Played with in [[Characters/MarvelComicsLoki Loki]]'s case. In ''Film/{{Thor}}'', Loki's lovely RavenHairIvorySkin looks denote that he was once on the side of good before his FaceHeelTurn, and he's a sympathetic (if appallingly misguided) anti-villain. In ''Film/TheAvengers2012'', he becomes an EeriePaleSkinnedBrunette, and his more sickly complexion conveys that he's an unsympathetic, malevolent villain. In ''Film/ThorTheDarkWorld'' and ''Film/ThorRagnarok'', Loki appears healthy again, with his gorgeousness being emblematic of his potential for a HeelFaceTurn, and he's an anti-hero in both films. [[spoiler:In ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'', his vulnerability and desperation in closeups are intensified because he's a LongHairedPrettyBoy, and it makes his HeroicSacrifice that much more grisly and disturbing.]]

** PlayedStraight with Sanguinius, Primarch of the Blood Angels, who is frequently described as both angelically beautiful (and ''not'' just because of the wings) as well as one of the most noble, kind, and pure-hearted Primarchs, second only to his brother Vulkan in the latter regard. There's a reason he was one of the most beloved Primarchs not just by the Imperium as a whole, but even by his fellow Primarchs and the Emperor himself. That said, ''most'' of the Primarchs were noted for their striking physical looks and superhumanly perfect features, including several of the Traitors (Fulgrim naturally comes to mind, but even Konrad Curze was described at various points as being "perfect" in appearence, if you got past his horribly unkempt appearence and black eyes).

* Almost subverted in ''VideoGame/StarCraft''. One of the few attractive characters (most of them being alien or plain) does a FaceHeelTurn, and probably the closest thing to good guys in the game are aliens who are only somewhat humanoid... except for Jim Raynor, who is a classic rough-hewn hero and, with one exception, easily the most moral person in the entire series thus far.
** From another viewpoint, ''VideoGame/StarCraft'' can be seen to be completely neutral in this respect, as every race and character is crafted to be both good and evil, in one way or another. [[spoiler:The Protoss are noble, but are all but undone by their traditions and hubris; the Terran are very versatile but are almost constantly fighting amongst themselves for power and resources; the Zerg are the stereotypical 'evil' race but are the only race that's striving to better themselves, and being a hivemind, they have the highest 'integrity' of the races (until a human enters the Swarm and the Overmind dies, which results in said human fighting with the Cerebrates for control over the Swarm...)]] As far as attractiveness is concerned - beauty is in the eye of the beholder... or in this case, the player. Take, for instance, the release of the Zerg models for ''VideoGame/StarCraftII'' by Blizzard - the entire fanbase was falling over themselves in adoration of their favourite spiny, scaled, and virulent units.

* Parodied via exaggeration in ''Blog/HowToWriteBadlyWell'' in [[http://writebadlywell.blogspot.com/2010/07/equate-physical-beauty-with-virtue.html "Equate physical beauty with virtue"]]. The alleged double agent has a bad moustache, pimples, a cleft lip, a malformed hand, and a withered leg, and the muscular, luscious-haired, handsome hero straight up says he "should have known never to trust someone so ugly."

*** However, when Princess Bubblegum becomes temporarily ugly, she immediately becomes more vicious, thereby playing this trope at least [[PlayedStraight half-way straight]].

** Most World Nobles are malformed and ugly, but St. Homing and his wife, rare examples of ''nice'' World Nobles, look fairly normal and even pretty. [[spoiler:He passed on his good looks, but not his good morals, to his child Doflamingo.]] And then there's Saint Mjosgard, whose looks ''notably'' improve after he changes his outlook on life and reforms into a better man without the usual God complex.
** It turns out Sabo himself is a noble and is the only child noble who looks attractive, especially when compared to the {{Gonk}} looking spoiled brats. He's also a TokenGoodTeammate. [[spoiler:It even seems to [[EvilMakesYouUgly affect reformed Nobles]]; Mjosgard's return came with both a revealed HeelFaceTurn as he renounced his aristocratically malevolent ways ''and'' a sizeable improvement to his looks.]]

* ''ComicBook/XMen'' is often pretty good about averting this by having heroes like [[Characters/XMenTheOriginalTeam Beast]] who have really freakish mutations, or Characters/{{Wolverine|JamesLoganHowlett}} (arguably the most famous of the X-Men) being depicted, both in the art and by the other characters, as a "short, square-built, hairy and smelly man". However, note that almost all of the "grotesque but benevolent" mutants in the X-canon are male. There's a definite double standard there. And they're still frequently drawn as being generically attractive.

* In ''VideoGame/SpyroYearOfTheDragon'', the BigBad, the Sorceress, and her Rhynocs minions are dinosaur-like monsters, who even gain SlasherSmile{{s}}, MoreTeethThanTheOsmondFamily, or [[DeathGlare Death Glares]] in the [[VideoGame/SpyroReignitedTrilogy remake]]. TheDragon, Bianca, is a ShrinkingViolet rabbit who is a MinionWithAnFInEvil, who looks adorable even when she's trying to look intimidating. Sure enough, Bianca makes a HighHeelFaceTurn near the end of the game and even gets into a relationship with Hunter.

* ProgressivelyPrettier: If a villain undergoes a HeelFaceTurn, don't be surprised if they're gradually drawn as more attractive over time, especially male villains, as villainesses tend to invoke [[EvilIsSexy other]] [[TheVamp tropes]].

* ProgressivelyPrettier: If a villain undergoes a HeelFaceTurn, don't be surprised if they're gradually drawn/presented as more attractive over time, especially male villains, as villainesses tend to invoke [[EvilIsSexy other]] [[TheVamp tropes]].

* Played with in ''Anime/MagiTheLabyrinthOfMagic''. For the most part, the heroes or ambiguous anti-heroes are mostly good-looking. But certain villains like Jamil, Judar, and [[spoiler:Gyokuen Ren and other Al-Thamen members like Dunya and Ithan]] are just as attractive, though they can occasionally lapse into twisted, dark caricatures.

* Oddly averted in ''VideoGame/YggdraUnion'' [[GenericCuteness partially due to the art style]]; every bad guy from the lowest mook to the cruelest boss is cute as hell.

* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'': The Titans themselves do fight ugly villains or even twisted-looking monsters. Inverted with [[EvilIsSexy Jinx, Blackfire, Madame Rouge...]]

** To go even further, in social psychology there exists such a thing as "self-fulfilling prophecy" which further cements the "halo effect". Those who are treated as good or bad people (even if only on the basis of their appearance) will be prone to behave accordingly. That is, those who are treated well, will behave well in return and vice versa.

*** Although here a number of other factors are at least as important, if not more so. John F. Kennedy's image was retroactively enhanced by his assassination, which conveyed a kind of secular sainthood on him and made a lot of people forget how controversial he had been in life, and also by the fact that there weren't many news stories involving Vietnam during his administration. Johnson, in contrast, had to deal with bad news from Vietnam throughout his two terms. And while Nixon got the US Army out of Vietnam, the way that happened was perceived as a humiliating defeat, with the images of the hurried evacuation of the U.S. embassy in Saigon sticking in the public consciousness for decades to come.

** Nazi propaganda continuously portrayed the regime's enemies as shrunken, deformed subhumans, and eulogised the handsome, dashing, blond-haired blue-eyed Aryan hero. The regime itself was obsessed with its image. Even UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler himself had adoring fangirls.

* In the Film/JamesBond movie ''Film/ForYourEyesOnly'', Aris Kristatos, a handsome Greek tycoon decorated by the British government for valor during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII and devoted to his patronage of an aspiring Olympic figure skater Bibi Dahl, warns Bond that Milos Columbo, a swarthy, greasy-haired heroin smuggler, has the encryption device that Bond is attempting to retrieve. When Bond meets with Columbo, he declares that, yes, he is a smuggler, but [[EvenEvilHasStandards he never smuggled heroin]], and that Kristatos is the real drug smuggler, having warned Bond that he may have to kill Columbo to knock out the competition. By the end of the movie, Kristatos has attempted to kill Bond (and clearly had non-fatherly designs on Bibi), while Colombo aided Bond in taking him down.

* [[http://thatfellowinthecoat.com/somejerkcaptaineo.php A review]] on ''WebVideo/MrCoatAndFriends'' noted that this was an aspect of ''Film/CaptainEO''.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNeEGBDTnig Discussed heavily]] by ''WebVideo/TheCriticalDrinker'' when discussing ''Film/{{Avatar}}'', which he criticizes for how the movie uses this trope to ensure the viewers sympathize with the Na'vi, to the point that it feels manipulative and superficial, before comparing it to ''Film/{{District 9}}'' which he felt used superior writing to make the viewers sympathize with the Prawns despite them looking hideous and even ''acting'' like savages.
--> The Na'vi are practically a textbook example of how to emotionally manipulate your audience. They're similar enough to us in general appearance that viewers can impose human identity on them and see them as people even though they technically aren't. They're graceful and aesthetically pleasing so the romantic relationship between Jake and Neytiri doesn't come across as weird or uncomfortable. Because let's face it. If the Na'vi happened to look like this (shows a Xenomorph from ''Franchise/{{Alien}}''), or this (shows "Klaud" from ''Film/TheRiseOfSkywalker''), or this (shows one of the Magog from ''Series/{{Andromeda}}''), then Avatar would be a ''very'' different movie. They even have big, innocent, trusting eyes typically associated with animals because nobody likes seeing an animal getting hurt or killed. As a comparison, consider the aliens from District 9. They certainly don't look attractive, and they don't seem to have any redeeming qualities at first glance. The difference is the script actually puts in the work to help you understand their origins and empathize with their situation, and by the end you're rooting for them just as much as the protagonist. It doesn't matter that they look like giant prawns. The Na'vi on the other hand come across as kind of creepy and manipulative when you consider the motivation behind them. You're expected to like them because they look nice and are being oppressed by evil people. That's it.

Compare EvilMakesYouUgly. The opposite of this trope is BeautyIsBad and EvilIsSexy, although they aren't mutually exclusive with this one. UglyHeroGoodLookingVillain is a specific inversion. Compare also VillainousBadlandHeroicArcadia, which applies the same basic concept to landscapes instead of people. Contrast DivinelyAppearingDemons, FaceOfAnAngelMindOfADemon, and WastedBeauty. See also ExpectingSomeoneTaller.