History Main / Bifauxnen

* Omi, Mally and sometimes Jyou from Music/ExistTrace are considered this, which has caused some ViewerGenderConfusion like for example, someone who isn't familiar with VisualKei will look at Jyou, Omi, and Mally and think "Wait, [[LadyLooksLikeADude the guys in the suits are actually chicks?". Bassist Naoto can look quite masculine as well, but not in a bifauxnen-type way, while the odd one out in the band is Miko, who lacks of the bifauxnen aesthetics.

The major distinction between them and straight-up {{Tomboy}}s is [[SheCleansUpNicely a direct and neat association with elegance and style]], and they often appear [[YoungerThanTheyLook older than they really are]]. Straight-up tomboys are often associated with playfulness and immaturity but are still clearly female. Bifauxnen have [[TomboyWithAGirlyStreak some sense of femininity most straight-up tomboys lack]], though this isn't a requirement. While it is common to have both types of characters in a series, two bifauxnen are less common, and tend to become playful or [[FoeYay sexy]] rivals.

* Inverted with Pete Burns, bisexual lead singer of Music/DeadOrAlive. He had been cosmetically changing his appearance to resemble a woman before he married his wife of nearly 30 years. So feminine was he in his appearance already that when they applied for a marriage license, the clerk snarkily asked which one was the bride. Burns was not amused, recalling it as a "feeble joke" and the only thing that ruined such a perfect memory for him. In general, he was known for passing off a feminine look very well, at least until his surgery money ran out and he encountered one botched operation after another - his hobby was going under the knife to change his style whenever he felt like it, but that all changed when he met the wrong doctor. [[TearJerker Sadly, he was unable to repair the damage]] [[DownerEnding before he died.]]

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The major distinction between them and straight-up {{Tomboy}}s is [[SheCleansUpNicely a direct and neat association with elegance and style]], and they often appear [[YoungerThanTheyLook older than they really are]]. Tomboys are often associated with playfulness and immaturity but are still clearly female. Bifauxnen have [[TomboyWithAGirlyStreak some sense of femininity most straight-up tomboys lack of]], though this isn't a requirement. While it is common to have both types of characters in a series, two bifauxnen are less common, and tend to become playful or [[FoeYay sexy]] rivals.

* The Little Lord in ''Literature/HawkAndFisher'' is essentially a female GentlemanThief; a tall, handsome woman who dresses in slightly old-fashioned upper-class male clothes, complete with short hair and [[HighClassGlass monocle]].

* ''ComicBook/MyVeryFirstVampireBloodDrive'' has Velvet, a gorgeous [[{{ButchLesbian}} butch vampire girl]] who Bunny describes as looking like a "prince from a fairy tale."

* Kishimura the dragon-girl in the ''Manga/DailyLifeWithMonsterGirl'' fanfic [[http://archiveofourown.org/works/7390630/chapters/16787725 Daily Odd Life with Monster Girls]], enabling her to pass as a prince without raising suspicion.

* ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'' fanfic writers like doing this to Setsuna (see above). ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5699544/1/bSuit_b_bUp_b Suit Up!]]'' (one big ShoutOut to ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'') has her invoke this to such an extent that ''all'' of the girls get hot and bothered around her, while ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4078106/1/Egg_Belly Egg Belly]]'' has her don a tuxedo for her date with Konoka.

* Kriska Stares from VisualNovel/{{Sunrider}}.

** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS38E1E2Spyfall "Spyfall"]] puts Creator/JodieWhittaker's Thirteenth Doctor in a tuxedo, to brilliant results.

* ''ComicBook/MyVeryFirstVampireBloodDrive'' has Velvet, a gorgeous [[{{ButchLesbian}} butch vampire girl]] who Bunny describes as looking like a "prince from a fairy tale.]]

[[caption-width-right:350:Bringing [[LesYay romance and excitement]] to your life since the French revolution.]]

* In the early [[Franchise/StarWarsLegends Star Wars comics]], the ones [[ComicBook/MarvelStarWars produced by Marvel]], there was a prince who went to Luke Skywalker for help; later in the arc it was revealed that [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Vila this character]] was that prince's twin sister, as the prince himself had died. In order to keep her planet's morale up, she'd needed to keep his death a secret. At the end of the arc the princess also died, and the two of them met Yoda in the afterlife - the princess was clearly shorter and somewhat narrower-shouldered than her brother, but still fairly androgynous. Without looking at the word balloons, it's actually rather difficult to tell that she's female.

* Creator/EllenPage is a [[DarkActionGirl very scary]] Bifauxnen as Hayley Stark in ''Film/HardCandy''.

* Yet another example from Creator/EllenPage in ''Film/MouthToMouth'', though only after she shaves her head.

* Creator/AngelinaJolie in ''Film/GirlInterrupted'' was wonderfully Johnny Deppish. She was also androgynous in her role as [[http://www.proyouthpages.com/jolie-foxfire.jpg Legs]] in ''Foxfire'', and spends the last act of ''{{Film/Salt}}'' with a short haircut, wearing men's clothes [[spoiler:while she's in disguise as a man, complete with facial prosthetics which she removes, while keeping the hair and clothes]].

Female characters who resemble [[{{Bishonen}} pretty, androgynous boys]] [[{{Fanservice}} in a positive way]], coupled with a masculine presentation. Swooned over by [[UnsettlingGenderReveal confused females]] as much as outright SchoolgirlLesbians. Sometimes in the episode they're introduced, they're confused for men until the other characters recognize and treat them as girls. Occasionally, it's also a roundabout way of adding a stereotypically "male" role to a show that doesn't have (or [[ImprobablyFemaleCast want]]) one. Frequently subject to at least one StupidSexyFlanders gag, sometimes even after TheReveal of their true sex.

[[folder:Art]]
* Many women in the work of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romaine_Brooks Romaine Brooks]], particularly the subject of ''[[https://americanart.si.edu/artwork/peter-young-english-girl-2909 Peter, a Young English Girl]]''.
[[/folder]]

* Dacey Ashcroft of ''Roleplay/SurvivalOfTheFittest'' version 3 is described as being very ambiguous in gender - especially since she is very tall for a girl and in general, just doesn't act 'girly'. That she deliberately perpetrates this charade doesn't help matters for the confused.
* [[http://lesbianswholooklikejustinbieber.tumblr.com/ Lesbians Who Look Like Justin Bieber]]. It's ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin.

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Cybersix}}'': The title character's secret identity involves [[ClarkKenting wearing glasses]], recombing her hair and dressing as an English teacher named Adrian, and manages to fool everyone. She dresses in much looser clothes which hide her figure and speaks in a lower voice.
* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'': Pearl wears a tux in the MusicalEpisode [[Recap/StevenUniverseS3E8MrGreg "Mr. Greg"]], and pulls off the look quite well.
** In [[Recap/StevenUniverseS5E23Reunited "Reunited"]], which shows Ruby and Sapphire's wedding, LipstickLesbian Sapphire wears a tux, while ButchLesbian Ruby wears a dress. Their outfits combine once the two have a BigDamnKiss and fuse back into [[FusionDance Garnet]].
[[/folder]]

* Female {{crossplayer}}s are a particular real-life version of this trope, as groups will often pick their most masculine-looking female friends to cosplay Bishounen characters. This will often lead to bizarre situations occurring at Anime conventions, though people have generally learned not to question the gender of those entering bathrooms.
* "Otokoyaku" (boy role) actresses in Creator/TakarazukaRevue. Often leading to copious amounts of EvenTheGirlsWantHer.
* In Andrew Loomis's ''Drawing the Head & Hands'', he more or less sums up this trope when he talks about how artists have more leeway in drawing masculine-looking women than [[DoubleStandard feminine-looking men]] (keeping in mind this was in the early 20th century, before {{bishonen}} characters became popular).
* Genderqueer androgynous model [[http://www.buzzfeed.com/skarlan/13-reasons-rain-dove-is-the-androgynous-model-of-your-dreams Rain Dove]].
* Swedish model Erika Linder. She is a model for both women's and men's fashion.
* Pete Burns, bisexual lead singer of Music/DeadOrAlive, managed to invert this trope. He had been cosmetically changing his appearance to resemble a woman before he married his wife of nearly 30 years. So feminine was he in his appearance already that when they applied for a marriage license, the clerk snarkily asked which one was the bride. Burns was not amused, recalling it as a "feeble joke" and the only thing that ruined such a perfect memory for him. In general, he was known for passing off a feminine look very well, at least until his surgery money ran out and he encountered one botched operation after another - his hobby was going under the knife to change his style whenever he felt like it, but that all changed when he met the wrong doctor. [[TearJerker Sadly, he was unable to repair the damage]] [[DownerEnding before he died.]]

* ''Series/Batwoman2019''. As an 'out' lesbian Kate Kane normally has a butch BikerBabe look, but [[SheCleansUpNicely adopts the bifauxnen look when opening her gay nightclub]] in "Drink Me".

Bifauxnen, however, do not include trans men, as the latter ''are'' men and not simply "mistaken" for men. Usually, they can be distinguished by how they identify, such as Tetsuo from ''Manga/{{Yuureitou}}'', though it may be {{ambiguous|gender identity}} for some characters.

This type of character in anime/manga and Japanese video games often prompts speculation from Western fans that she's either a trans man or a lesbian, particularly the latter, since in much of European and North American works in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, having a female character wear men's clothing is a common way of [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar implying she's not heterosexual]] when open acknowledgment and depiction of her sexuality, even in a negative way, would have been forbidden by taste-and-decency standards. In reality, the ubiquity of the Bifauxnen archetype in Japanese media can likely be traced back to the influence of the Creator/TakarazukaRevue.

Bifauxnen, however, do not include {{transgender}} men, as the latter ''are'' men, and not simply "mistaken" for men. Usually, they can be distinguished by how they identify, such as Tetsuo from ''Manga/{{Yuureitou}}'', though it may be {{ambiguous|gender identity}} for some characters.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Cybersix}}'': The title character's secret identity involves [[ClarkKenting wearing glasses]], recombing her hair and dressing as an English teacher named Adrian, and manages to fool everyone). She dresses in much looser clothes which hide her figure and speaks in a lower voice.

This type of character in anime and Japanese video games often prompts speculation from Western fans that she's either a trans man or a lesbian, particularly the latter, since in much of European and North American works in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, having a female character wear men's clothing is a common way of [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar implying she's not heterosexual]] when open acknowledgment and depiction of her sexuality, even in a negative way, would have been forbidden by taste-and-decency standards. In reality, the ubiquity of the Bifauxnen archetype in Japanese media can likely be traced back to the influence of the Creator/TakarazukaRevue.

This type of character in anime and Japanese video games often prompts speculation from Western fans that she's either a trans man or a lesbian, particularly the latter, since in much of European and North American works in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, having a female character wear men's clothing is a common way of [[GettingCrapPastTheRadar implying she's not heterosexual]] when open acknowledgment and depiction of her sexuality, even in a negative way, would have been forbidden by taste-and-decency standards. In reality, the ubiquity of the Bifauxnen archetype in Japanese media can likely be traced back to the influence of the Creator/TakarazukaRevue.

Female characters who resemble [[{{Bishonen}} pretty, androgynous boys]] [[{{Fanservice}} in a positive way]], usually coupled with a masculine presentation. Swooned over by [[UnsettlingGenderReveal confused females]] as much as outright SchoolgirlLesbians. Sometimes in the episode they're introduced, they're confused for men until the other characters recognize and treat them as girls. Occasionally, it's also a roundabout way of adding a stereotypically "male" role to a show that doesn't have (or [[ImprobablyFemaleCast want]]) one. Frequently subject to at least one StupidSexyFlanders gag, sometimes even after TheReveal of their true sex.

Female characters who resemble [[{{Bishonen}} pretty, androgynous boys]] [[{{Fanservice}} in a positive way]], usually coupled with a masculine presentation. Swooned over by [[UnsettlingGenderReveal confused females]] as much as outright SchoolgirlLesbians. Sometimes in the episode they're introduced, they're confused for men until the other characters recognize and treat them as girls. Occasionally, it's also a roundabout way of adding a stereotypically "male" role to a show that doesn't have (or [[ImprobablyFemaleCast want]]) one. Very often subject to at least one StupidSexyFlanders gag, sometimes even after TheReveal of their true biological sex.

Interestingly, most versions are PrinceCharming types and overwhelmingly [[WholesomeCrossdresser good characters]]. Bifauxnen are -- from an artistic standpoint -- everything that is positive about masculinity while also not losing anything fundamentally "woman". Many characters, in fact, simply associate with traits typically praised in men; the appearance is just another path to that. Most of the time the bifauxnen is ''not'' a ButchLesbian and is [[ChasteHero mostly oblivious]] to reactions they incite.

The major distinction between them and {{Tomboy}}s is [[SheCleansUpNicely a direct and neat association with elegance and style]], and they often appear [[YoungerThanTheyLook older than they really are]]. Tomboys are often associated with playfulness and immaturity but are still clearly female. Bifauxnen do have [[TomboyWithAGirlyStreak some sense of femininity most straight-up tomboys lack of]], though this isn't a requirement. While it is common to have both types of characters in a series, two bifauxnen are less common, and tend to become playful or [[FoeYay sexy]] rivals.

This is mainly a Japanese trope. Western examples do exist, dressing this way either throughout a work or in a single scene, but the Western example is generally '''not''' straight. Rather, dressing a female character up as a SharpDressedMan was, in European and North American works in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, a standard GettingCrapPastTheRadar way to imply that she was lesbian or bisexual when open acknowledgment and depiction of her sexuality, even in a negative way, would have been forbidden by taste-and-decency standards.

Female characters who resemble [[{{Bishonen}} pretty, androgynous boys]] [[{{Fanservice}} in a positive way]], usually coupled with an appropriate "masculine" outfit. Swooned over by [[UnsettlingGenderReveal confused females]] as much as outright SchoolgirlLesbians. Sometimes in the episode they're introduced, they're confused for men until the other characters recognize and treat them as girls. Occasionally, it's also a roundabout way of adding a stereotypically "male" role to a show that doesn't have (or [[ImprobablyFemaleCast want]]) one. Very often subject to at least one StupidSexyFlanders gag, sometimes even after TheReveal of their true biological sex.