History Main / HollyWoodHomely

* Played with regarding Leela from ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'', thanks to her [[{{Cyclops}} massive solo eyeball]] she has scared off multiple men and even claims people have tried to burn her in the past. While there is some level of uncanniness to Leela somewhat justifying people’s reactions that still doesn’t change the fact she’s still very attractive being a prominent MsFanservice in the show which means Fry and Zapp Brannigan’s attraction to her isn’t unfounded.

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* Creator/HalleBerry:
** In her breakout role ''Film/JungleFever'' she had to fight Spike Lee's insistence that she was too attractive to play a homeless crack addict. So she washed off her make-up and auditioned again, and won the part. For the duration of filming (eight weeks) she resorted to ''not showering''.
** ''Film/MonstersBall'' just gives her an unflattering haircut and light make-up, and it was enough to put her on ''Hollywood's Ten Best Beauty to Beast Transformations'' (in comparison to Creator/CharlizeTheron in ''{{Film/Monster}}'').
** ''Film/Catwoman2004'' tries to present her as a wallflower at the start - even though her QuirkyCurls and outfits with oversized sleeves make her look more cute than mousy. Then after she becomes Catwoman she gives herself a makeover, and the movie stops pretending she's anything other than stunning.
* Creator/CharlotteGainsbourg has made a career out of this trope, playing specifically unattractive characters in some of her biggest roles:
** She plays the title character in ''Film/{{Jane Eyre|1996}}'', whose plainness is a major aspect of her character.
** In ''Film/TheScienceOfSleep'' she plays the plain woman whom the main character initially ignores in favor of her more attractive roommate.
** In ''Film/TwentyOneGrams'', she plays a cuckolded wife whose sick husband acquires a more attractive mistress.
* Creator/AudreyHepburn; her characters were supposed to be embarrassingly frumpy and unattractive in such movies as ''Film/{{Sabrina|1954}}'', ''Film/FunnyFace'', ''Film/MyFairLady'' (until the [[BeautifulAllAlong makeovers]])... even though she was voted [[http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/05/31/1085855500521.html the most beautiful woman in the world]]. Aside from having her wear plain clothes, the movies made no effort to hide her beauty. ValuesDissonance is partly at play here - as she didn't quite match the standards of beauty at the time[[note]]Skinny was not considered attractive, at least not until supermodel Twiggy popularised it in the 1960s, and Audrey was very thin due to suffering from starvation during World War II. She would have been considered pretty but her thinness allowed her to seem more 'accessible' than a curvier woman.[[/note]], and wasn't as uptight about having her costumes hide her body flaws as other stars.
* Creator/KateWinslet, of all people, tends to get this a lot. What makes this especially baffling is that in ''Film/HeavenlyCreatures'' and ''Film/AKidInKingArthursCourt'', she plays the more glamorous contrast to a plainer girl.
** ''Film/{{Enigma|2001}}'': Even anti-dolled to look ordinary, she's still pretty.
** ''Film/LittleChildren'': Her supposed frumpiness is a plot point but many viewers don't buy it because it's still Kate Winslet. Creator/RogerEbert found it pretty laughable.
** A key scene in ''Film/EternalSunshineOfTheSpotlessMind'' features Creator/JimCarrey's character trying to convince her that she's pretty. This is at least done realistically, as it's shown Clementine has ''massive'' body image issues.
* ''Film/FiveHundredDaysOfSummer'' has one random guy react with shock that Summer is dating Tom. He's played by Creator/JosephGordonLevitt, who was a teen heartthrob for years. He's given baggy clothes and hair in his eyes, and the rest of the characters state that Summer is out of his league.
* ''Film/AlienFromLA'': Wanda is supposed to be nerdy, frumpy and awkward, with dorky glasses and bad hair. She's played by supermodel Creator/KathyIreland.
* In ''Film/BabyMama'', Dr. Bicknell the fertility specialist is older than most of the other characters and is treated as a [[DirtyOldWoman disgusting, perverted hag]] for having young children at her age. Her actress? Creator/SigourneyWeaver.
* This trope is skewered in ''Film/Barbie2023'':
** When the main Barbie has an existential crisis and mourns that she's not pretty or interesting, the narrator chimes in and says "Note to the filmmakers: Creator/MargotRobbie is the wrong person to cast if you want to make this point.", as even when we see her without makeup, she's still stunningly beautiful.
** When the Kens take over Barbieland, one of the Barbies' ploys to distract them is by pretending to be insecure by wearing thick ugly glasses, then have Ken [[TheGlassesGottaGo remove the glasses]] to convince her of her "true" beauty.
* ''Film/BatmanAndRobin'' - before Poison Ivy becomes Poison Ivy, she's mousy scientist Pamela Isley. She's given glasses, baggy clothes and frizzy hair. Then after her transformation she just starts to look like Creator/UmaThurman with red hair.
* ''Film/BatmanReturns'' brings us Creator/MichellePfeiffer, then in her early thirties, as Catwoman. Some mousy clothes, frizzy hair, and clumsiness somehow hides her attractiveness from everyone in the movie except Bruce Wayne. It didn't hide it from the audience, who are left trying to square the circle of how the movie is trying to frame ''that'' woman as a CrazyCatLady spinster nobody would date. Attempts are made to emphasise how mousy and shy she is, and it seems as though her personality was holding her back there, since post-makeover Selina just forgoes her glasses and wears her hair down.
* ''Film/BlackChristmas2006'' has a sorority sister called Eve, who's meant to be the weird one in comparison to the glamorous beauties in the main cast. She has her hair pulled back into an unflattering ponytail, given NerdGlasses and framed with dutch angles. Her actress Kathleen Kole was actually a model.
* In ''Film/TheBreakfastClub'', Allison "Basket Case" Reynolds is depicted as an outcast who is seen as weird and unappealing. At the end of the movie, she even gets a [[UnnecessaryMakeover makeover]] to look more traditionally attractive. And while her act-crazy-for-attention behavior might be off-putting, a lot of people would argue that she doesn't actually look bad. Many viewers preferred her stylish [[{{Goth}} gothic]] pre- makeover look (messy hair, heavy eyeliner, dark thrift shop clothes) over her generically pretty post-makeover one --''including'' the actress herself, Creator/AllySheedy. In Sheedy's defense this was TruthInTelevision: Sheedy herself has stated that her career suffered because she was often considered "not sexy enough" at the time:
-->"I was told point-blank that my career was moving slowly because “nobody wants to fuck you.” There was something about me, sexually, that wasn’t selling."
* In ''Film/BeKindRewind'', Creator/MelonieDiaz's character, Alma, is played up as ugly when the male filmmakers are forced to take her over her more attractive sister. They achieve this by... having her sniff and rub her nose a couple of times. It's quickly forgotten and she's the hot girl for the rest of the movie. Especially egregious as she had just starred in ''Film/AGuideToRecognizingYourSaints'' playing the neighborhood hottie.
* The film adaptation of ''Literature/{{Beastly}}'' has several examples:
** Lindy is supposed to be a Plain Jane (albeit one who [[SheCleansUpNicely cleans up nicely]]) who is more concerned with [[BookWorm books and her classwork]] than looking pretty. The movie version casts Creator/VanessaHudgens in the role, and "uglifies" her with messy hair, bangs, and a [[GranolaGirl boho]] wardrobe. Apart from being a bit less polished, she looks no different than the "hot" popular girls.
** The witch, Kendra, is described as overweight and hideous, with bad teeth and skin, a hooked nose, green hair, and ratty black clothes (i.e. like a traditional WickedWitch). In the film, Kendra is...a [[HollywoodPudgy slightly-plump]] Mary-Kate Olsen with bleached eyebrows, heavy makeup (with the odd facial piercing and tattoo) and (fashionably) eccentric hairstyles and outfits. She looks like a Gothic runway model, but the popular students still treat her as if she's hideous (with Kyle calling her a "self-mutilated, tattooed Frankenskank").
** The same goes for any of the other "ugly" students Kyle puts down during his campaign rally. None of them are even below average appearance-wise, but he still treats them as if they're hideously disfigured. Of particular note is a shy boy whom Kyle says has "a face like a burnt Lego."
** [[http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2011/02/28 Then there is the beast himself.]] In the book, he's turned into an ''actual'' beast (fur, fangs, et cetera). In the movie, he just [[AdaptationalAttractiveness loses his hair and gets a lot of tattoos and scars]]. Not ideal, but nowhere near as bad as being a literal monster. The way he reacts to this more realistic appearance (coupled with the way he treats average-looking and marginally attractive people) adds a lot of new implications about his character.
* ''Blended'': Hilary Freidman, due to being raised by her widower father, has no fashion sense and is unattractive to the point of being confused for a boy and being nicknamed Larry. The problem is that Hilary is played by the feminine and beautiful Creator/BellaThorne. They try to make her less attractive via an unflattering haircut and clothes, but it doesn't really work. When Hilary gets a makeover, she literally just looks like Bella normally does.
* The '50s educational short film ''Body Care and Grooming'' tries to make the point that you're more attractive if you bathe regularly and wear presentable clothes... but the opening scene absurdly claims an attractive actress is ''repulsive to men'' because her hair's unkempt and her clothes haven't been ironed.
* Bessie Love's character in ''Film/TheBroadwayMelody'' is supposed to be the "talented but plain" sister in a singing and dancing duo. [[http://www.doctormacro.com/Images/Love,%20Bessie/Annex/Annex%20-%20Love,%20Bessie_05.jpg This]] is Bessie Love.
* ''Film/{{Brokeback Mountain}}'':
** In the short story by Annie Proulx, Ennis is described as "scruffy" and Jack is described as short and having buckteeth. Needless to say, Creator/HeathLedger and Creator/JakeGyllenhaal do not exactly spring to mind.
** Besides, during their time herding sheep on the mountain, both are cleaned up quite a bit better than real cowboys would be.
* ''Literature/{{Carrie}}'':
** The book's first two adaptations manage to skirt around this with the titular character; in [[Film/Carrie1976 the original]] Creator/SissySpacek's character is said that she would look nicer if she made an effort, as demonstrated at the prom. And [[Film/Carrie2002 the 2002 remake]] has Creator/AngelaBettis go down the BeautyInversion route to be believable as an outcast. But the [[Film/Carrie2013 2013 version]] casts the beautiful Creator/ChloeGraceMoretz as Carrie. Even if her hair is messed up, it's still fashionably layered with perfect highlights. She does at least work hard to make Carrie's attitude believable for a socially awkward girl.
** In the 2013 version of Carrie, mean girl Chris Hargenson is portrayed by the beautiful Creator/PortiaDoubleday but that’s all she has going for her with her thin, dark Brown hair, ratty hair extensions, fake tan, ultra makeup and Psychotic personality. It’s actually implied that Chris is jealous of Carrie’s more natural beauty.
* Grizabella of ''{{Theatre/Cats}}'' is meant to be a withered old has-been past her prime. [[IWasQuiteALooker She was quite beautiful]] in her GloryDays, but that is long gone. The 2019 film has Music/JenniferHudson in the role, who was only 37, and not attempted to be rendered in any way uglier or more grizzled than the other cast members.
* ''Film/CircleOfFriends'': Creator/MinnieDriver's character is supposed to be dowdy and heavyset (at one point she refers to herself as a "heifer"). Even playing her against the gorgeous Creator/SaffronBurrows doesn't make this work.
* ''Film/CountessDracula'' dramatizes the story of Elisabeth Bathory, who legend has it bathed in the blood of young women to restore her youth and beauty. At the start she's meant to be [[IWasQuiteALooker past her prime]], yet is played by 60s and 70s sex symbol Creator/IngridPitt in old age make-up and a matronly dress to hide her figure. Once the blood has its effect, Ingrid Pitt just looks like herself and showcases her beauty. They do, however, have her become more deformed each time she snaps back into her older self.
* ''The Courtship of Film/AndyHardy'' (1942) has the title character mercy-dating the daughter of a divorcing couple on whose case his father, a judge, is working. She's depicted as such a "droop" that at one point Andy has to pay his chums to dance with her at a school prom. She's also played by Creator/DonnaReed.
* ''Film/{{Dogfight}}'', starring Creator/RiverPhoenix and Lili Taylor, is about a crew of Marines who challenge each other to a 'dogfight' - finding the ugliest girl they can and bringing her to a party. Phoenix's character selects Taylor's character in order to win this 'dogfight'. By Hollywood standards, she's ''hideous''. By any real-world standards, she's reasonably attractive. Interestingly enough, the script had her written as being overweight, but Lili Taylor endeared the director with her performance (though she did have to gain weight and have her costumes padded).
* The entire premise of ''Film/TheDUFF'' hinges on the notion that Creator/MaeWhitman could pass for a "Designated Ugly Fat Friend", just because she's slightly huskier than the other leading female character. Though it's made clear that you don't have to be ugly or fat to count as such. Still, it's emphasized that she's unpopular because she's awkward and shy and has "unpopular tastes," but even then, someone as attractive as Whitman makes awkwardness much more charming and endearing, and her "strange tastes" (liking old or obscure movies) aren't really that strange or unpopular enough to warrant anyone running for the hills. A lot of her status also relies on the fact that her friends are more 'traditional' in terms of personality and beauty, and people would rather use her as a stepping stone to get to them.
* ''Film/TheEnchantedCottage'': The main woman is so "homely" that no guys will dance with her, young boys comment on her looks, and she generally limits her social life in despair. Later, a man breaks off with his fiancée and considers suicide over a barely visible war scar. As the two fall in love, they become beautiful in each other's eyes - represented on camera by a strange blur on their features.
* ''Film/FailureToLaunch'': Justin Bartha is the ugly one. Not the plain one and not played as a joke; repeatedly throughout the movie he is referred to as being ugly. So is Creator/ZooeyDeschanel; they are hooked up by friends on the theory that since they are both so ugly neither would be able to find anyone else.
* In the [[ReCut extended edition]] of ''Film/TheFellowshipOfTheRing'' Sam remarks that Aragorn aka Strider “looks foul”. True, Sam doesn’t trust him at that point, but “foul” is a word that does not apply to the obviously [[https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn%3AANd9GcQg41CMMgBVU_p04wwoahLldFa5G0vGbrW4ZXNdAqjHYYj3trHC&usqp=CAU incredibly handsome and rugged Viggo Mortensen]]. This probably due to lifting the line from the book where Aragorn is described as weatherbeaten and shady looking when he first appears as a ranger and it’s only later when he symbolically becomes more kingly as TheLeader that he is described as handsome. In the film he’s a looker from the start, so Sam’s line is confusing. It would have been even more egregious with the original actor for Aragorn - PrettyBoy Creator/StuartTownsend!
* Creator/UmaThurman gets this treatment in ''Film/FinalAnalysis'', where a lack of makeup is enough to make her the mousy and plain younger sister to the glamorous Creator/KimBasinger.
* ''Franchise/FinalDestination'' often seems to do this with its heroines.
** The first film's female lead is Clear Rivers - who's meant to be a loner that Alex wouldn't have noticed until the disaster bonded them. As she was played by late '90s/early 2000s super hottie Creator/AliLarter, her blonde hair is dyed brown and cut into an unflattering fringe, and she's given baggy clothes to suit her 'weird artist' persona.
** The second film likewise has AJ Cook as the plainer girl in her group of friends - in contrast to her more outgoing and vampy friend Sheena. AJ Cook likewise dyes her hair dark brown and wears modest coats and cardigans for most of the film.
** The third film's script describes the protagonist Wendy as "pretty but not the most attractive girl in school". They cast Creator/MaryElizabethWinstead and her hair is lightly tousled.
* ''Film/GeorgyGirl'': The main character Georgy, meant to be a "brontosaurus" of a girl, is played by Creator/LynnRedgrave. Because of this the character, despite being slightly overweight and frequently making grotesque faces, is still attractive. The trope is somewhat justified in that Georgy's insecurity and social awkwardness make her seem less attractive than she actually is.
* ''Film/FrankieAndJohnny'': In the stage original, the plain girl was played, to great acclaim, by Creator/KathyBates, who fits the casting requirement by being not particularly physically attractive. For the movie version, the part was recast to Michelle "Catwoman" Pfeiffer.
* ''Film/GoneWithTheWind'' cast famous screen beauty Creator/OliviaDeHavilland as the "plain" Melanie. They get around this by giving her very simple dresses in contrast to the other ladies' elaborate finery.
* Parodied in ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxyVol2''. Drax and Mantis are both pretty good-looking, but their species have [[DeliberateValuesDissonance different standards of beauty]] and as a result, they find each other physically repulsive, even after they become close friends. When Drax is made to imagine them being in a sexual relationship, he comes startlingly close to vomiting. And during the ending, they have this exchange:
-->'''Mantis:''' It's beautiful.\\
'''Drax:''' Yes it is. And so are you.\\
''[beat]''\\
'''Drax:''' On the inside.
* ''{{Film/Halloween 1978}}'' portrays Laurie Strode as the shy girl who supposedly scares guys away and has never had a date. She's played by the gorgeous Creator/JamieLeeCurtis, who would later become a sex symbol in the 80s.
* ''Film/HarryPotter'':
** Hermione Granger is given a significant dose of AdaptationalAttractiveness - the book counterpart is described as having bushy hair and large front teeth. They did initially give Creator/EmmaWatson fake teeth but she found it hard to act in them. From the second film onwards, her MessyHair was cutely curled and she was often seen in flattering clothes, with not even an attempt to look plain. While the films didn't incorporate too much of this aspect of the character in the adaptation (the only time in the films she's referred to as "homely" is in an article by Rita Skeeter, not meant to be taken seriously), the SheCleansUpNicely moment from the Yule Ball is still intact - making it a little odd that Harry's jaw dropped at seeing Hermione dolled up, when she looks quite good in every other scene too. Creator/JKRowling even says that it was lucky she spoke to Emma on the phone before meeting with her (knowing she was perfect when she spoke for a minute without taking a breath) and going OhCrap at how pretty she was.
** Luna Lovegood mildly as well. The book's description is not too flattering - implying she doesn't wash too often and her hair is quite tangled and unkempt (especially in comparison to a younger photo Harry sees of her before her mother's death). Creator/EvannaLynch plays the role in the films and is positively gorgeous, while her fashions look more endearingly quirky than off-putting. Evanna's portrayal of Luna's oddball personality, however, is spot-on, at least making it believable that people might avoid her. Indeed, Evanna wrote in her autobiography about her [[IAmNotPretty issues with body image]], including being hospitalised for anorexia.
** The films had to seriously dress down Creator/MatthewLewis from ''Order of the Phoenix'' onward; Neville is meant to be the runt of the group, but the actor went through a massive growth spurt and filled out, so they had to give him shaggy hair and unflattering sweaters and cardigans. They gave him something of an AdrenalineMakeover for the final two films, reflecting his newfound confidence thanks to CharacterDevelopment. Tellingly, a few years later he starred in ''Film/MeBeforeYou'' as the latter in a BettyAndVeronica love triangle.
** Creator/HelenaBonhamCarter is given bad teeth, slightly messy hair, and pale skin in an attempt to capture the 'Azkaban had taken most of her beauty' description of Bellatrix Lestrange. Instead, she came across as more of an UnkemptBeauty.
* ''Film/TheHarveyGirls'' includes Alma from Ohio, who mentions several times that she couldn't get married because her face is so ugly. She's played by Virginia O'Brien, [[http://web.archive.org/web/20080622151956/https://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/06/18/arts/dance/0618-CHARISSE_2.html on the left, no less attractive than co-stars Judy Garland and Cyd Charisse]].
* ''{{Film/Heartbreakers}}'' has Paige react with disgust that her mother liked Dean, claiming she has to be in serious denial when she says "Dean was kind of cute". You'd think Creator/RayLiotta was a hunchbacked leper from how she goes on about him.
* ''{{Film/Heathers}}'':
** Betty Finn is to be seen as an uncool nerd, and so is given glasses and a frumpy looking cardigan. She merely looks cute, and not too different from the actual Heathers.
** Martha Dunstock is a legitimate aversion though, but the effects of it were felt in the auditions. The character is meant to be seen as unpopular because of her weight, and casting directors only brought in girls who merely weren't HollywoodThin. Insisting that a genuine heavyset actress be cast, they found Carrie Lynn performing stand-up in a bar. While she is indeed very cute in her own right, it is believable that she would be bullied for her appearance.
* ''Film/TheHelp'': A plot point in both the book and the movie is the plainness of Skeeter. However, in the film version, Skeeter is played by the lovely Creator/EmmaStone. Most viewers find it difficult to believe that a character as beautiful as that would have trouble attracting men, even if the filmmakers tried to make her "ugly" by giving her "frizzy" hair.
%%* Creator/NataliePortman in ''Hesher''.
* Mary Bee Cuddy, the frontier spinster heroine of ''The Homesman'' played by Creator/HilarySwank. Two men refuse to marry her, partly because she's too "plain." While not movie-star gorgeous, she's an average nice-looking woman, not unattractive by real-world standards. (However, in both the movie and the novel, it seems likely that their primary reason for rejecting her is the other one they give, that she's "bossy.")
* ''Literature/TheHours'' - Creator/NicoleKidman, renowned bombshell, is given a prosthetic nose to play homely writer, ''Creator/VirginiaWoolf''.
* All the characters in ''Film/TheHouseBunny'' Shelly meets at the sorority qualify - most notably Natalie, who is explicitly said to be a virgin and undesirable, even by the standards of the Betas. It's implied that no guy would ever be interested in her...despite the fact that she's played by Creator/EmmaStone, and her plainness is really nothing more than glasses, a ponytail, and tending toward bland clothing.
* ''Film/IKnowWhatYouDidLastSummer'':
** Elsa, Helen's older sister, was given a significant dose of AdaptationalAttractiveness compared to the book. The script wrote her as plain, but the director decided to cast Bridgette Wilson, who was a former teen beauty queen. She's given a pair of glasses to make Helen seem like the beauty of the family, but she looks like a supermodel herself.
** Julie is meant to look like "shit run over twice" thanks to the guilt of the accident. Jennifer Love Hewitt's hair is just worn straight (compared to how curly it was in the opening) and she's slightly pale. Then again, that comment is coming from Barry and it's used to show him as a {{Jerkass}}.
* ''Film/TheIpcressFile'': Creator/MichaelCaine is playing a British spy who's supposed to be an inversion of the Film/JamesBond-style spy - instead of suave and gorgeous, he's supposed to be a funny-looking Cockney who seduces women by cooking for them. Unfortunately, he wasn't unattractive - [[http://www.fanpop.com/spots/michael-caine/images/7378235/title/young-michael-caine-photo he was Michael Caine, in glasses]]. He even loses his glasses for the second half of the movie.
* Film adaptations of ''Literature/JaneEyre'' are frequent victims of this trope. Jane is portrayed in the novel as being plain (hence the trope PlainJane). However actresses who have played her on-screen include: [[http://www.windowphobe.com/shrine/iw40vb04.jpg Virginia Bruce]], [[https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/f4/44/27/f44427578dee92357b1b7d9d708c1f94.jpg Joan Fontaine]], Susanna York, [[http://cdn3.pitchfork.com/news/43652/399a5835.jpg Charlotte Gainsbourg]] and [[http://wallpapersboom.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/3456_mia_wasikowska.jpg Mia Wasikowska]].
* ''Film/JennifersBody'' subverts the trope while still exploiting it anyway. The titular Jennifer is the attractive AlphaBitch and Needy is her "plain Jane" nerdy best friend. Needy is played by the stunning Creator/AmandaSeyfried. However, it is mentioned that Needy has to dress herself down whenever she's out with Jennifer (she's forbidden from showing any cleavage) - so it seems the latter is aware that Needy is a pretty girl who she doesn't want upstaging her. The director and screenwriter joke on the DVD commentary that only in Hollywood would Amanda Seyfried be cast as the unattractive one.
* ''Film/LastActionHero'': Lampshaded, when Danny Maddigan tries to prove that they're in a film by pointing out that none of the women are ugly, to which Jack Slater responds:
-->'''Jack:''' No, this is California.
* ''Film/LegallyBlonde'' has {{Academic Alpha Bitch}} Vivian Kensington, portrayed by the very beautiful Creator/SelmaBlair as the rival of the stunning, beautiful, Platinum Blonde Elle Woods. After Elle’s handsome boyfriend Warner dumps her after they graduate college because he wants a serious, preppy girl, Elle studies and gets into Harvard Law school, where Warner is training to be a Lawyer. However, she discovers he is engaged to an aloof, cold young Brunette, Vivian. While Vivian’s preppy sweaters and short Brown hair make her less attractive compared to Elle, she’s by no means ugly. Elle acknowledged that Vivian is not bad-looking, but that she just needs to pluck her eyebrows and change her style.
** Creator/JenniferCoolidge portrays middle-aged Paulette, who considers herself a mess because of her "stretch marks and fat ass", but she is only a bit frumpy and lacks self-confidence. By the end of the film, she's able to snag the hot delivery man who always flirts with her, with a little help from Elle. Keep in mind, this is the same actress who helped coin the term "MILF" in ''Film/AmericanPie''.
* ''{{Film/Limitless}}'' tries to present Creator/BradleyCooper as a loser before he takes the drug by giving him a messy ponytail that he cuts off in a MakeoverMontage to look like himself.
* Deconstructed in ''Film/{{Unforgiven}}''. The plot is kicked off when a beautiful prostitute named Delilah is attacked and cut up by an angry client. Her coworkers put out a bounty for her attacker. Then we see Delilah in person and her injuries amount to a few small, superficial scratches on her face that haven't completely healed yet.
* The character Jo March in ''Literature/LittleWomen'', meant to be a plain tomboy, has been played by some of Hollywood's most attractive actresses, including Creator/KatharineHepburn, Susan Dey, and Creator/WinonaRyder. The likes of Katharine Hepburn (in the 1933 film) and Creator/SaoirseRonan (in 2019) are considered the more apt casting choices as, while very pretty actresses, they are not conventionally so and more believable against more classic beauties as the other sisters.
* ''Film/LovePotionNumberNine'': Even Hollywood isn't usually shameless enough to pass off Creator/SandraBullock as "ugly", but she is that town's go-to actress when they need an approachable, plain, GirlNextDoor type. "Usually" is the key word there, as she is supposed to be the ugly type in this film. They don't really go out of their way to make her "ugly", but merely extremely nerdy and uncaring about her appearance - no makeup, thick glasses, overbite, mousy hair, and unflattering clothes. Once she starts gaining confidence, she works on all these and her beauty shines through.
* ''Film/{{Marty}}'': Creator/ErnestBorgnine (no prize himself, although that's acknowledged in the film) goes on a date with a "dog" played by former model Betsy Blair, and then-wife of Creator/GeneKelly.
* ''Film/MeanGirls'':
** The film straddles the line with Janis. She's supposed to be an 'art freak' and considered unpopular, despite being played by Creator/LizzyCaplan. Producers even came close to turning her down, finding her too beautiful for the character. As she was the best audition, they opted to instead give her an alternative/goth appearance rather than dressing her down. There is a big fan theory that Janis is, in fact, a former AlphaBitch who got betrayed by Regina the same way Cady plans to do to the latter - and Lizzy Caplan's beauty is a contributing factor. (However, there is another factor--as the film is set in the early 2000s, when homophobia was much more prevalent, Regina's rumor that Janis is a lesbian would unfortunately be enough to tank her social status no matter what she looks like.)
** Gretchen was originally written to be an unattractive girl who was only in the Plastics due to her father's wealth. This was dropped and she was played by the very pretty Creator/LaceyChabert. There are remnants of this in how Damian has to rig the voting to get her nominated for Spring Fling Queen and Regina does say that Gretchen isn't pretty - but in this case, it comes across more as cattiness on Regina's part than Gretchen being considered unattractive.
* ''Film/MissCongeniality'' plays with the trope. Sandra Bullock has to get a makeover to become an UndercoverModel. While she's chosen to go undercover primarily ''because'' she looks like she could pass for a pageant contestant, the jaw-dropped reactions of her co-workers and the pageant director still feel a little overblown. The pageant director even mentions that Dennis Rodman looked better in a dress when they first met [[spoiler:although that might have been said out of spite for being arrested]]. It does help that she's shown having [[TheLadette the table manners of Jabba the Hutt and the charisma of a drunk truck driver]], which justifies it further.
* ''Film/MyBigFatGreekWedding'': While Nia Vardalos is a very pretty woman she is anything but the typical Hollywood bombshell, which many people have stated helped make the film that much more appealing. Her homely look genuinely made her plain, and getting the makeover did ''wonders.''
** From [[Creator/RogerEbert Roger Ebert's]] film review: ''"Everyone in this movie looks like they could be a real person. The romance involves not impossibly attractive people, but a 30-year-old woman who looks OK when she pulls herself out of her Frump Phase, and a vegetarian high school teacher who urgently needs the services of Supercuts. Five minutes into the film, I relaxed, knowing it was set in the real world, and not in the Hollywood alternative universe where Julia Roberts can't get a date."''
* ''Film/NoTimeToDie'': Main villain Lyutsifer Safin was disfigured in a chemical weapon attack as a kid, which served as his StartOfDarkness, but the scar makeup on Creator/RamiMalek does absolutely nothing to hide his handsome features.
* ''Film/NowVoyager'': Creator/BetteDavis spends the first few scenes unconscionably unattractive by having... baggy clothes, unplucked eyebrows, bun hair, and glasses. It's an early example of how to 'do an Ugly Betty'; the film came out in 1942. Bette herself wanted to look even homelier and really have her costumes padded out, but the studio rejected the look for being "too grotesque". However, in a flashback to Charlotte's life at age twenty, she's shown to be quite cute - demonstrating that she's a naturally good-looking woman who's just let herself go. The film likewise downplays the cuteness of child actress Janis Wilson as Jerry's daughter Tina (glasses and messy hair) so that she can have a SheCleansUpNicely moment to signal her character development.
* In ''Film/OnlyYou'', Andrew [=McCarthy's=] character has to make a choice between two potential girlfriends, one who is beautiful and one who is supposedly not beautiful but otherwise desirable. The supposedly plain-looking woman is played by Creator/HelenHunt. [=McCarthy=] has to face the dilemma of whether he should settle for a woman whose worst flaw is she is only as attractive as Helen Hunt.
* In ''Film/{{Outlaw}}'', Rupert Friend's character is violently attacked and scarred in the face before the events of the film, and it's repeatedly stated that his good looks have been ruined, though in fact it really only served to make him [[UnkemptBeauty more appealing]], particularly with the long, flowing hair.
* Parodied in ''Film/TheOtherGuys''. Creator/WillFerrell is constantly apologizing for his wife, even calling her a "battle-ax," when she is played by the obviously stunning Creator/EvaMendes and he is the only one who doesn't realize this.
* ''Film/Penelope2006'': Creator/ChristinaRicci looks cute with a pig's snout, but some of her suitors are so horrified by the sight of her that they jump out of second-story windows to get away.
* In ''Film/ThePhantomOfTheOpera2004'', Erik is ''supposed'' to be so hideous-looking that he used to be a circus freak attraction, but thanks to one of the most infamous cases of AdaptationalAttractiveness, his unmasked self just looks like Creator/GerardButler with a mild rash on one side of his face.
* Music/AshleyTisdale played a nerdy girl in ''Film/PictureThis''. One of the earliest shown pieces of 'evidence' that she's a nerd is a scene that makes a big deal about her wearing 'granny panties' Except, it's not grannie panties, it's clearly a thong; you can see the leg holes of it. It's a [[GoofyPrintUnderwear cartoon print thong]], but still a thong. The most the film does is give her {{tomboy}}-looking clothes and big glasses.
* ''Film/{{Polar}}'': Vanessa Hudgens' stunning looks are downplayed a lot by dressing her in baggy clothes and not having her put on any make-up. This makes sense from an in-story perspective since her character is reeling from past trauma.
* In ''Film/PortraitOfALady'': Isabel and Henrietta go on about how ugly Caspar Goodwood is. That's Creator/ViggoMortensen. Viggo Mortensen with slightly silly hair, but still...
* ''Film/PrideAndPrejudice'':
** In the [[Film/PrideAndPrejudice2005 2005 movie]], Lizzie Bennett, described by Mr. Darcy as 'tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt me', is played by Creator/KeiraKnightley. While this is used to show Darcy as a jerk, it's made clear older sister Jane is the beauty of the county while Elizabeth is fairly attractive but not stunningly beautiful - words that do not describe Keira Knightley.[[note]]What makes this especially odd is that Keira was nearly turned down for being too glamorous to be Lizzie.[[/note]] It's even worse with Mary. Once they get into their ballgowns, it becomes ridiculous to call her plain or plainer than her sisters. The movie also files off Mary's more unlikeable traits - such as being a KnowNothingKnowItAll and anti-social snob.
** In the [[Series/PrideAndPrejudice1995 1995 miniseries]], the older sister (the pretty one, according to dialogue) is plain compared to Lizzie. This crosses over with ValuesDissonance; Susannah Harker, who played Jane, fits the Regency ideal of beauty perfectly, but that ideal has shifted to the point where modern viewers consider Jennifer Ehle more attractive. Additionally, there was a fashion in the Regency period for dark-haired, pale-skinned women, so Jennifer Ehle might have attracted more attention in that era as well.
* ''Film/ThePrincessDiaries'': Mia is supposed to be an ugly duckling before her princess makeover. However, wearing glasses and having a bad perm isn't enough to make [[http://images.fanpop.com/images/image_uploads/Anne-Hathaway-anne-hathaway-753353_1024_768.jpg Anne Hathaway]] look ugly. Sure, she looks a lot better after her princess makeover, but she never looks that terrible. She certainly doesn't warrant the massive wince Paolo gives when he first sees her.
* ''Film/TheQuiet'': Camilla Belle's character is described as being unattractive by several characters. One character goes as far to say that she is a hermaphrodite. The only thing that makes her "ugly" is the fact she has short hair, minimal make-up on, and wears boys' clothing. In real life, Camilla Belle is as beautiful as Creator/ElishaCuthbert.
* Combined with AdaptationalAttractiveness, this is the case with Samantha, a.k.a. [=Art3mis=], in the [[Film/ReadyPlayerOne2018 film adaptation of]] ''Literature/ReadyPlayerOne''. In the book, she has a dark red birthmark over the right side of her face, over which she has a great deal of insecurity. In the movie, the birthmark is much smaller, covering a small part of her forehead and her right eye, which she keeps hidden behind her hair. Moreover, she's played by the beautiful Creator/OliviaCooke. Naturally, ''WebVideo/HonestTrailers'' had a field day with this, with the Narrator making a reaction of exaggerated disgust upon seeing her.
* In the ''Film/RevengeOfTheNerds'' series, Omega Mu is an entire sorority of these, and become a DistaffCounterpart to the Tri-Lamb nerds. They're not traditionally pretty and are (at least in their first appearance) dressed and made up to look frumpy and off-putting, but turn out to be surprisingly fun at parties - not to mention they don't have any hangups about nerds. In the first movie, Booger remarks that "They're cows!" and has to resort to weed to get along with them; in the third he's absolutely excited to have a chance to party with the Mu again.
* In ''Film/TheSaint1997'', the character Emma Russell is implied to be a wallflower who rarely receives male attention, which makes her very vulnerable to Simon Templar's seduction technique. She's played by Creator/ElisabethShue, who is quite attractive.
* ''Film/ShesAllThat'': A teenage film take on the {{Theatre/Pygmalion}} story involves a bet to get any girl in school to win prom queen. After scanning the whole school, they settle on the obviously attractive Creator/RachaelLeighCook as the least likely to be named prom queen. She just wears glasses and paint-colored overalls - not to mention being a bit of a klutz. A minor makeover is all she needs to become a prom queen. The film does at least make an attempt to address this by having the character point out that the reason Rachael Leigh Cook would be a hard sell for prom queen is not so much her looks as her scary and inaccessible personality. ''Film/NotAnotherTeenMovie'' parodies this by having the guys scan the crowd and decide that the conjoined twins, hippie albino, hunchback, and others are not ugly enough, but that the girl with glasses, a ponytail, and paint-covered overalls (played by the clearly attractive Creator/ChylerLeigh) is the ugliest by far.
* ''Film/ShesOutOfMyLeague'': has characters assign attractiveness values to each other. Kirk (played by Jay Baruchel) is given a 5. Many of the other ratings could be disputed by viewers.
* In ''Film/SinCity'', Marv states that [[FaceOfAThug he's so intimidating]] that he could never even hire a prostitute. Creator/MickeyRourke wears prosthetics to exaggerate his facial features and match the comics, but the result does not say "ugly." With his lantern jaw and large nose, he looks more like an extremely weathered superhero.
* In ''Film/{{Sleepover}}'', the lead female runs into a "ticket girl" who couldn't go into the prom because she has never been able to get a date. The actress playing the ticket girl? Creator/SummerGlau.
* In ''Film/SororityBoys'', most of the girls in [[FunWithAcronyms Delta Omega Gamma]], the "loser" sorority, really are plain in appearance... except for the president, a cute blonde with {{Meganekko}} glasses. Guess who the main love interest is?
* In the 1983 film adaptation of ''Literature/SparklingCyanide'', Iris, the "plain but clever" sister of the family, is played by beautiful Deborah Raffin, a ''model''. No attempt is made to make her unattractive except giving her less revealing dresses and less brightly-coloured makeup than her BrainlessBeauty sister wears.
* ''Film/TheSpectacularNow'' plays with this. Sutter's best friend reacts with shock that he's choosing to date Aimee Finicky. While she's a shy geek girl, she's still Creator/ShaileneWoodley. Shailene notably insisted on not wearing make-up for the role - feeling Aimee wouldn't - but she's still a cutie. Sutter even says that two guys were checking her out at the first party he takes her to. When she dolls up for the prom near the end, she's just as gorgeous as any other girl in the film.
* ''Franchise/SpiderMan'': Each of the different films play around with this, with DawsonCasting conflicts matters.
** Creator/TobeyMaguire from the ''Film/SpiderManTrilogy'' did an excellent job playing Peter as an awkward wallflower, and while Maguire is by no means ugly (he is in fact quite the PrettyBoy, with [[InnocentBlueEyes innocent blue ]] PuppyDogEyes, and is [[CelebrityResemblance often mistaken for]] MrFanservice Creator/JakeGyllenhaal and vice versa), he isn't quite conventionally handsome (even Creator/JamesFranco meanly said he had "frog-like" features), which fits the geeky character Peter is written as. Though Maguire's Peter Parker still acts awkward even when he's Spider-Man, which differs from the comic where he's a [[IShallTauntYou quip happy]] ThrillSeeker. Not helping matters is the fact that he is the most muscular Live-Action Peter Parker to date and throughout the movies, he had to wear [[ClarkKentOutfit baggy clothes to hide his ripped physique underneath]].
** Creator/AndrewGarfield from ''Film/TheAmazingSpiderManSeries'' plays this more straight, though this ends up being TruerToTheText as a result. He ''does'' do a good job acting geeky and awkward, but since Garfield is a more conventionally handsome lead, his "loser" portrayal is presented as him being ''really'' shy (including having a [[SpeechImpediment stutter]]), especially around girls, as well as being a scruffy dresser with a bad haircut. The sequel actually utilises this to show Peter's CharacterDevelopment, as by graduation he'd completely grown out of this, having a much nicer haircut with an improved wardrobe, as the experiences in the first film had improved his self-confidence.
** Creator/TomHolland from the [[Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse MCU]] plays this as well as Garfield did, as Tom's ripped physique and handsome face led to memes about people being glad he's not ''actually'' 15, and though he's ''said'' [[InformedFlaw to be an unpopular loser]], he's easily the most handsome kid in his class and doesn't appear to have any trouble making friends (especially as he now goes to a charter school that caters to young intellectuals). Like Garfield, there's at least attempts to show Peter being shy around girls as he has trouble asking out Liz and MJ, but he doesn't seem to struggle at casual conversations.
* ''Film/StrictlyBallroom'': In a similar manner to Nia Vardalos in ''Film/MyBigFatGreekWedding'', Tara Morice is not typical Hollywood stunning. However, her transformation as Fran is [[http://psy317jovitaycb.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/strictly-ballroom-baz-luhrmann-749103_1600_900.jpg nothing]] [[http://themoviefreakblog.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/strictly-ballroom-baz-luhrmann-749214_1600_900.jpg?w=300 short]] of [[https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn%3AANd9GcRtabkE-0lE8lCogeXGCRJEbPA1rDiOOTbPb84uPu8kS0vSWf2D&usqp=CAU breathtaking]].
* ''Film/{{Tamara}}'': The eponymous character is considered unattractive before she undergoes her EvilMakeover. Before that, it is just the very attractive Jenna Dewan with no make-up on and unflattering clothing. The first time we see her in the movie, she's having a dream about what she would be like if she were attractive, demonstrating the fact that [[https://web.archive.org/web/20131022082957/http://imnotobsessed.com/2012/09/17/channing-and-jenna-dewan-tatum-step-out-in-style/ Dewan is an absolute knockout.]] It makes the attempts to present her as "ugly" afterward laughable. It's understandable that they ''had'' to cast a hot chick in order to make her transformation believable.
* Many critics got a lot of mileage out of mocking ''Creator/TylerPerry's Temptation'' for presenting Lance Gross as the safe, bland alternative to sinister charmer Robbie Jones, even though both men are equally charming, equally handsome and have matching six-pack abs.
* ''Film/TheTenCommandments1956'' goes on (and on and on) about the noble choice Moses makes to marry the plain Sephora over the gorgeous Nefretiri. The filmmakers make Yvonne De Carlo look "plain" by putting dirt on her face in most scenes, and not giving her the sparkly dresses that Anne Baxter wears, but she's still [[http://www.doctormacro.com/Images/De%20Carlo,%20Yvonne/Annex/Annex%20-%20De%20Carlo,%20Yvonne_02.jpg Yvonne De Carlo]].
* ''Film/ThoroughlyModernMillie'': Miss Dorothy is drop-dead gorgeous while Millie pales in comparison. Miss Dorothy is believable enough as she's played by Creator/MaryTylerMoore but Millie is played by ''Creator/JulieAndrews''; young, cute Julie Andrews wearing flashy flapper dresses.
* In ''Film/TotalRecall2012'', a not-uglified-at-all Creator/ColinFarrell is presented as the in-universe Ugly Guy to Creator/KateBeckinsale's Hot Wife.
* Creator/JaneaneGarofalo. Despite being cute, she was almost always cast as unattractive and caustic characters. For instance ''Film/TheTruthAboutCatsAndDogs'', with Creator/RogerEbert flat-out stating in his review, "The movie is based upon the presumption that Garofalo is not pretty, and of course, she is." She was outspoken about her frustration with the typecasting and eventually lost a lot of weight so that she could get other roles.
* V. in [[Creator/FrancisFordCoppola Francis Ford Coppola's]] ''Twixt'', to an extent. She comments that other kids mock her for her overbite; aside from said overbite and her wearing braces (both of which are barely noticeable), the film does nothing to deter from the fact that she's played by Creator/ElleFanning.
* ''Literature/VampireAcademy'' - Natalie Dashkov is a very shy, awkward gawky vampire nerd girl who hangs out with the heroines. In the movie, she's ''Creator/SarahHyland'' in glasses.
* ''Film/AWalkToRemember'': The character of Jamie Sullivan. Although the character was never intended to be unattractive (merely unconcerned with her appearance) the audience has a hard time believing the shock of the other characters during her BeautifulAllAlong moment given actress Mandy Moore's natural beauty.
* ''Film/{{Wanted}}'': The producers considered Creator/JamesMcAvoy to be the runt of the litter when it came to casting Wesley Gibson's character, but ultimately chose him because they felt he looked so regular that viewers would be able to relate to him more.
* The portrayal of Eunice in ''Film/WhatsUpDoc'' combines this with ValuesDissonance. Despite being played by Creator/MadelineKhan, she's the target of multiple ugly jokes in the film, mainly from Music/BarbraStreisand's character of Judy. This, along with Eunice being supposedly a needy, high-maintenance shrew, is supposed to make the audience want Howard to end up with Judy, despite Judy being an obsessive troublemaking stalker who brings chaos wherever she shows up.
* The most egregious example comes from the 1960 film ''Where the Boys Are'' where [[http://www.mfwright.com/CFphotogallery/connie269.jpg Connie Francis's character]] is supposed to have a hard time finding a date that [[NoGuyWantsAnAmazon isn't intimidated by her athletic abilities]] and is supposed to be overall unattractive, with the actress involved, it's hard to take it at face value.
* ''Film/WhileYouWereSleeping'' presents Creator/SandraBullock of all people as a shy, mousey Chicago transportation employee who seems to have few friends or loved ones. Perhaps invoked, since her character's primary problem in the movie is less physical attractiveness and more self-esteem; her 'unattractiveness' mainly comes from her character's tendency to wear unflattering and oversized clothing that reflects her general lack of confidence in herself. What's revealed of the backstory also implies that her lack of friends is mainly because she's only relatively recently moved to the city to take care of her ailing father, only for him to pass away not long before the events of the movie.
* ''Literature/TheWomanInWhite'' adaptations are chronically affected by the trope. Marian Halcombe, a ButterFace lady who is explicitly described as very ugly, especially in contrast with her beautiful sister, is always played by good-looking actresses such as Tara Fitzgerald or Jessie Buckley.
* ''Film/WonderWoman1984'' gives us Diana's archenemy, Cheetah aka Barbara Minerva. Much like Catwoman in ''Batman Returns'', Barbara pre-transformation is awkward and mousy, with frizzy hair, baggy dresses, and giant glasses, and she's completely forgettable to all of her coworkers except Diana. Not only is Creator/KristenWiig still beautiful, but her sense of fashion was actually ''trendy'' in the '80s for average women in their day-to-day lives, whereas her EvilMakeover made her look like a blonde Music/PatBenatar.
* In ''Film/TheWrestler'' Cassidy is ''supposed'' to be a washed-up stripper who can't get customers for lap dances. The problem is that Creator/MarisaTomei is way too hot to pull it off and most people believe she's only gotten more attractive the more she's aged.
* In ''Film/AWrinkleInTime2018'' Meg considers herself unattractive becuase she wears glasses and lacks confidence, which causes her to be bullied. Later on she is confronted by "better Meg" who looks ''exactly the same as her'' except missing the glasses and is wearing a stylish outfit. [[note]]There is some in-universe colorism at play here, as Meg is insecure about her hair (which she wears curly) and is bullied by a white AlphaBitch. Notably the ideal version of herself has long straight hair.[[/note]]
* Who did they get to play Creator/KevinJames' PlainJane best friend in ''Film/{{Zookeeper}}''? Creator/RosarioDawson!
* Matilda in ''Film/{{Zoolander}}''. It's a deliberate joke because the movie itself is a joke and stars male models.
* ''Film/KnockedUp'' has a ton of this. Ben is portrayed as schlubby and unappealing, but Creator/SethRogen is by no means bad-looking. Meanwhile Debbie frets continually about getting old and no longer being attractive anymore. Creator/LeslieMann was only 35 at the time and is just too conventionally attractive for this to be plausible.
[[/folder]]

!!Examples:

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* ''Series/ThirtyRock'':
** Liz Lemon is seen as unattractive and gross by most of the other characters on the show. This is despite being played by Creator/TinaFey, who is far from ugly in real life. She's not as much portrayed as unattractive as she is unappealing and undateable. It's suggested she is a woman whose life is out of order, wears inappropriate clothing, eats horribly, works too much, and doesn't get enough sleep. The people who call her ugly are Jenna (who is crazy and jealous), Jack (who usually just points out her horrible choices), and Jack's associates (who have extremely high standards and are rich person mean). This portrayal could instead be the result of {{Unreliable Expositor}}s, given that she surrounds herself with horribly vain, manipulative people, and is ordinary only in comparison. Her perceived attractiveness does seem to fluctuate at times, since Frank does say he considers her bone-worthy, to the detriment of Jenna, and Liz herself tries to invoke BeautifulAllAlong when she goes to her high school reunion, only to find out her schoolmates never found her too unattractive, but rather mean. Her HeelRealization comes from the reveal that she was her own UnreliableExpositor.
** This is {{lampshade|Hanging}}d in the episode "Cleveland". When Liz goes to Ohio she is offered a modeling contract and is complimented by people on the street.
--->'''Jenna:''' We're all models west of the Allegheny.
** Also justified in-universe in a scene where Liz walks in front of a high-definition camera and the monitor shows her as a horrifically ugly woman.
** In the season 2 episode "Somebody to Love", Edie Falco explains that six reconstructive surgeries made her much better-looking than she used to be, and Creator/AlecBaldwin gets a slap for saying she did make love like an ugly girl. In the Lifetime movie about the Falco character, the ugly version is played by Hollywood homely Kristen Wiig.
* ''Series/AbsolutelyFabulous'': There was a constant stream of fat jokes at the expense of Creator/JenniferSaunders, even though she didn't even ''look'' fat. Meanwhile Creator/JuliaSawalha, who was and still is a very attractive woman, is given oversized glasses, an unflattering wardrobe, and a bad haircut and cast as the "frumpy" Saffron.
* ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'': Agent Fitz saw himself this way in the first two seasons. Even though actor Creator/IainDeCaestecker is by no means ugly, he's attractive in a boyish sense. In the show, he's insecure about his appearance and feels he can't compete with the tall, manly, and muscular Ward and Tripp for the affections of Daisy or his longtime crush Simmons. He grows a backbone over time, however, and does eventually win his lady.
* ''Series/TheAndyGriffithShow'': Andy and his girlfriend help out a farmer's daughter by giving her dresses and makeup in order to make her look good. Her "non-beautiful" state consisted of the (beautiful) actress with a few dirt smudges instead of rouge.
* ''Series/{{Angel}}'':
** In "[[Recap/AngelS02E19Belonging Belonging]]", an obnoxious commercial director bullies [[http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9ENqdNYAbzA/TXCzNBkkv1I/AAAAAAAAD_o/IbSKBYIqxdg/s1600/27013_5068_123_519lo.jpg Cordelia]] for being unattractive. It's lampshaded as unreasonable in-universe by her appalled friends and Angel tries to stand up for her.
** Doyle refers to himself as "homely" in comparison to Angel when he's played by the cute Creator/GlennQuinn, who just has odd fashion choices and the slightest hint of a beer belly.
** "[[Recap/AngelS01E02LonelyHearts Lonely Hearts]]" had a monster that switched hosts through sex. It transferred from a male host who looked like an underwear model to a girl described as "Sarah plain and tall" that Cordy declared must be loaded to have such an attractive paramour. She's a gorgeous blonde girl who is no less attractive than anyone else on the show. Then again, this ''is'' before Cordy (fresh out of ''Buffy'' at the time, and still known for being rude and shallow) got some much-needed CharacterDevelopment. The demon then shows that it really knows how to make its hosts look good.
* ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment'':
** Ann's not really played as "ugly," as much as that she's boring/unmemorable.
** Played for comedy with Kitty Sanchez, who is played by the attractive Creator/JudyGreer. While George Bluth Sr. keeps her as a mistress, LovableSexManiac Gob finds her repulsive. Her "ugliness" is achieved by crossing her eyes when she's not wearing her glasses and having frizzy hair when she lets it down. To play the ugliness up further, she also gets a pair of unfortunate breast implants.
** Lindsey's inability to attract attention from men is a recurring theme throughout the show, despite being played by the gorgeous Creator/PortiaDeRossi.
* ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'': While the characters vary considerably in their stated levels of attractiveness, the actors playing them are never ugly. They are, however, portrayed as shameless nerds, horrible dressers, and with unflattering hairstyles. If you want to see how they can look better, check out [[https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/df/e2/10/dfe2100195b1c74cf591276b96c317a1.jpg some of the]] [[https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/ed/9f/48/ed9f48d9170425c6eecdbd83bbff8344.jpg later photo shoots]].
* The third ''Series/{{Blackadder}}'' series has the Prince frequently referred to as fat (as historically he was) and having trouble with women, in spite of being played by the very thin (and popular with women) Creator/HughLaurie.
* ''Series/{{Bones}}'': In the episode "The Witch In the Wardrobe" Booth and Brennan spy on a group of Wiccans who perform their ceremony naked and Booth asks, "Why doesn't this ever happen with people you'd want to see naked?" Yet when we see coven members in the full light of day (and clothed alas), none of them register as less than slightly above average in looks.
* ''Series/TheBradyBunch'':
** The fact that Peter and Jan tend to be more socially awkward than Greg and Marcia is the only way that episodes like "The Not So Ugly Duckling" or "Cyrano de Brady" are plausible; the general consensus amongst viewers is that the middle children were actually the best-looking of the Brady kids. Over the course of the series they went through visible pubescent awkward stages and in the last season they were so clearly attractive that the writers gave in and [[InvertedTrope reversed course]]. These episodes focused on Peter juggling a date with two girls on the same night and Jan ran for "Most Popular Girl" at school, and won.
** Greg and Marcia also deal with this trope (indirectly). In the late third-season episode "My Fair Opponent," Marcia plays the sympathetic friend when an awkward and butt-ugly classmate named Molly is nominated (as a cruel joke) for hostess of Filmore Junior High's Banquet Night... only for the makeover to work out too well and Molly becomes an insufferable snob. Greg's instance (in Season 5's "Peter and the Wolf") is averted: he merely is led to believe, based on old photographs and memories of his girlfriend, that his girlfriend's cousin still wears pigtails and braces and is horribly undesirable; the cousin turns out to be a total hottie.
** Marcia when she had to wear braces. This is TruthInTelevision.
--->'''Marcia:''' ''[sobbing]'' I'm ugly! Ugly! Ugly!
* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'':
** Xander, despite Creator/NicholasBrendon being an incredibly attractive guy, and the character rather witty, is near the bottom of the social barrel at Sunnydale High with only nerds like Jonathan being lower, and numerous cracks are made at his inability to get girls (except [[FatalAttractor demons in disguise who want to eat him]]). He dates the cheerleader Cordelia from Season 2 onwards. He was told to stop working out by producers because they didn't want Xander to look too buffed. Joss mentions this trope in the DVD commentaries:
--->'''Creator/JossWhedon''': Of course, Nicholas Brendon is way too good-looking, but this is Hollywood, so get over it.
** Willow Rosenberg, played by the very attractive Creator/AlysonHannigan, is in the same boat. In the original, never-aired pilot, Willow was played by Riff Regan, who ''is'' more plain. This is also part ExecutiveMeddling, who requested that Willow be "more hip, like Buffy".
* When ''{{Series/Charmed 1998}}'' wanted to show that Piper had been plain and uncool in high school, they show a picture of her with braces, NerdGlasses and some acne. She ends up seeming rather cute, and as an adult is positively stunning. Creator/HollyMarieCombs even said ahead of the first season's premiere that she wasn't "the typical Spelling babe".
* ''Series/CharliesAngels'':
** Creator/FarrahFawcett, the beauty who swept the hearts of many boys in the 1970s with her gorgeous visage, plays Jill, who goes undercover with a hair bun and eyeglasses, at which point another character says, "Jill, you look terrible."
* ''Series/{{Chuck}}'': Chuck himself, who is supposed to be average and dorky-looking. Even Big Mike, who habitually points out that Chuck is the only reason the store functions, is in disbelief he managed to get a woman like Sarah. Realistically, Creator/ZacharyLevi is pretty much textbook tall, dark, and handsome; so he's dressed in ill-fitting clothes and given a very silly haircut. This has been acknowledged by the creators, who admit that the only reason that Chuck can pass as an ordinary guy is because his love interest is ''so'' good-looking that she makes him appear normal by comparison. Like standing a 6'4" guy (which incidentally, ''is'' Creator/ZacharyLevi's actual height, hence literally TallDarkAndHandsome) in the middle of a 7' basketball team and calling him short.
* ''Series/CobraKai'':
** Downplayed with Johnny. In the beginning he is considered unattractive, in spite of being Creator/WilliamZabka with red eyes and a BeardOfSorrow. One he starts getting his life back together, however, he is considered very attractive, and manages to score several dates in quick succession and even win the heart of a younger woman.
** Similarly, Eli is originally outcast and severely bullied for the scar from his cleft palate repair. However, it is all but stated that his low social status and withdrawn nature, rather than his appearance, is the real reason he isn't considered attractive. When he takes up karate and gains some muscle, along with a lot of confidence, he definitely doesn't want for female attention. And, of course, he is played by the highly attractive and borderline PrettyBoy Creator/JacobBertrand.
** Tory is supposed to be a "trailer trash"-type character, but even unflattering make-up, flannel and ripped jeans can't hide the fact that Creator/{{Peyton List|1998}} is a drop-dead gorgeous glamour girl by birth, trade and inclination.
** Daniel himself, in the movies and the series is occasionally called ugly too. Creator/RalphMacchio is perhaps one of the most iconic cases of OlderThanTheyLook who looked and sounded like a teenager till his early thirties and even in his sixties looks like an attractive man approaching his forties.
* ''Series/{{Community}}'':
** Annie Edison (Creator/AlisonBrie) ended up as this for the first couple of episodes. The original conception of her character was ''much'' different prior to her being cast, and there were still artifacts of that in the early scripts, with some male characters treating Annie as something of an AbhorrentAdmirer and getting the tacit agreement of even the more sympathetic characters; the [[Recap/CommunityS1E04SocialPsychology fourth episode]], for example, has Professor Duncan giving her a BackhandedCompliment by [[SexinessScore rating her]] an "American 8, which is a British 10". By the end of Season 1, pretty much everyone has caught on to the fact that she looks like a real-life Disney princess, and her lack of romantic success is attributed instead to her relative youth and naivete compared to the guys she tends to fall for. Season 2 attempts, belatedly, to {{justif|iedTrope}}y the earlier use of this trope, with Annie explaining that post-rehab she has lost a lot of weight, has better skin, and has dropped a lot of less-appealing character tics. This does explain why Troy initially fails to recognise her despite them having attended school together for years (and why he might be less than thrilled that she had a crush on him), though it's still a mystery why the rest of the study group (who'd only just met her and had no idea what she looked like before) also found her unattractive to begin with.
** There are a few jokes based around Britta not aging the best. In one episode, after telling Annie that a bar won't check Annie's fake ID because pretty girls are good for business, Britta gets her legitimate ID scoured and double-checked after Annie is waved through without incident. Professor Duncan also tells Jeff that he's attracted to Britta because she's slightly past her prime and realizes that she's going to have to settle. The show also occasionally nitpicks her appearance, such as one joke that lampoons her "vacuous mannequin eyes." Of course, Creator/GillianJacobs is exceptionally attractive.
* ''Series/CrazyExGirlfriend'': Twelve-year-old Rebecca at one point acquires enormous frizzy hair, a retainer, and bad skin, which is supposed to freak out her dad a bit, but she's still cute. Which makes it even more implausible when she's later described as having had, at some point, a hormone imbalance which made people mistake her for a guy.
* ''Series/CriminalMinds'': In the episode "Legacy", a SerialKiller is preying on impoverished streetwalkers and homeless people. But his victim ''du jour'' in the episode is played by an actress with the most perfect, straight, gleaming-white teeth - the very personification of a million-dollar smile.
* On ''Series/{{CSI}}'', a witness describes the female victim of the week as looking "like hell" just before her death. In the flashback, we see the woman has...perfectly done makeup and straight, neat hair, and wearing a tank top and sweatpants, both clean, neat, and tailored to her body. [[SarcasmMode How hideous.]]
* ''Series/DesperateHousewives'': Creator/EvaLongoria is supposedly over the hill and has to play The Mom when she tries to return to modeling. ''[[MsFanservice Eva Longoria]]'' is considered a "Hag". Sadly, this is a reflection of the modeling industry. High-Fashion models obviously have a short shelf life, and ''26'' is considered old; many retire (if they're lucky) or never find work again (if they're not).
* Franchise/DisneyChannelLiveActionUniverse:
** Look around for the Creator/MitchelMusso music video 'The In Crowd' for a textbook version of this. [[Series/BigTimeRush Katelyn Tarver]], who plays 'the plain girl' is obviously beautiful - and to 'make her plain', they give her glasses, put her in jeans and a flannel shirt, tie her hair into a messy ponytail, and have her act 'goofy'.
** Most, if not all, of the actresses playing "geeky sidekicks" (Creator/EmilyOsment, Music/AshleyTisdale, Creator/JenniferStone, Creator/SierraMcCormick, [[Series/IDidntDoIt Sarah Gilman]], and [[Series/ThatsSoRaven Anneliese Van Der Pol]], for example) are ''at least'' as attractive and charismatic as the shows' stars, but play awkward or {{Cloudcuckoolander}} characters in nerdy clothes or glasses. The only time they actually cast an "unattractive" actress into such a role was with Creator/RainiRodriguez in ''Series/AustinAndAlly''.
** Creator/DebbyRyan seems to play these a lot. Despite being as attractive as any other Disney channel star, her character's looks are constantly derided, such as in ''Series/TheSuiteLifeOnDeck'', ''Series/{{Jessie}}'', and ''Film/RadioRebel''.
* ''Series/DoctorWho'': The scientist Osgood in "[[Recap/DoctorWho50thASTheDayOfTheDoctor The Day of the Doctor]]" is told by the Zygon taking her form that she's the ugly one, unlike her pretty sister. Osgood is played by an extremely attractive actress with an unflattering hairstyle, nerd glasses, and a ''Doctor Who''-fangirl scarf[[note]]Although considering the audience this was meant for, that might have been the intention all along[[/note]]. Possibly {{justified|Trope}} in that the Zygon was going off her own opinion of herself rather than objective reality. (The justification was later confirmed in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS34E11DarkWater Dark Water]]", where another character says that Osgood is 'so pretty' and really should have a higher opinion of herself.)
** Somewhat subverted with the Doctor himself, who is usually portrayed by relatively plain or normal-looking men (with exceptions, depending on whom you ask), but particularly in New!Who it's pretty clear people find him attractive anyway.
* ''Series/{{Dollhouse}}'': Mellie, played by the actress Miracle Laurie, complains that she's pudgy and can't get dates because she lives in LA and has to compete with all the girls who ''aren't''. Her love interest doesn't care, and neither does the audience, because despite being a little bigger than a size 2, she's still cute. [[spoiler: Later exploited when it is revealed that she is a planted agent with a timid personality specifically designed to ensnare her target.]]
* ''Series/DowntonAbbey'': Edith Crawley may be outshone by her sisters (her less outgoing personality and slightly dowdy outfits have something to do with it), but she certainly isn't ugly. Yet her sister Mary and even their parents constantly harp on how Edith is homely and destined to be a lonely spinster.
-->The casting of Edith was a challenge. Just as you would never cast a boring actor to play a bore, so, when you are casting a plain character, the last thing you want is a plain actress. It’s a trick, really. You need someone who is attractive, but in a different way, allowing the others to act as if she were plain. This will give the audience the sensation that they can see her inner beauty. But of course they’re not looking at her inner beauty, they’re looking at her outer beauty. Laura Carmichael is just as pretty as Creator/MichelleDockery and Creator/JessicaBrownFindlay, but she’s got that slightly more reserved English face. The characters act that she’s the least fetching of the sisters, but she isn’t. They are, all three, very beguiling.
--->--[[WordOfGod Julian Fellowes]], The Complete Scripts, Season 1,page 322.
* Ray Vecchio in ''Series/DueSouth'' is often compared unfavorably to his very handsome best friend Fraser, and women ignore him to pay attention to Fraser, especially when Ray has a bad wardrobe in Season 1. Never mind that Ray has beautiful green eyes and a lovely smile. He does get even more attractive in Season 2, when he has a new haircut and classier clothes, and a few women pay attention to him and not always Fraser.
* Deconstructed in ''Series/{{Euphoria}}'' with Kat Hernandez, who is quite heavyset but not unattractive, nor is she unpopular (her best friend is one of the most popular girls in school) or lacking for admirers (her classmate Ethan has an obvious crush on her), but suffers from low self-esteem because her childhood crush was a little shit who dumped her when she gained weight during a family vacation, and she's internalized the notion that she's ugly and has dressed in a failed attempt to hide her figure. After suddenly becoming infamous when a sex tape of her leaks onto the Internet, she gets a large boost in confidence and starts dressing in ways that play up her curves, and suddenly finds herself turning a lot of heads.
-->"There's nothing more powerful than a fat girl who doesn't give a fuck."
* ''Series/FakingIt:'' Rita Volk plays Amy, who's faking a lesbian relationship with her best friend Karma, played by Katie Stevens. Everyone in the show (including Amy herself!) immediately pegs her as "the butch one". Characters call her the Creator/{{Ellen|Degeneres}} to Karma's Creator/{{Portia|DeRossi}}, and the principal automatically assumes she'd wear the homecoming crown rather than the tiara. This from an actress who convincingly played a parody of a Creator/JenniferLawrence character in a previous movie. Dialogue in episode 2 suggests that Amy is supposed to be plain and unconcerned with her appearance.
* ''Series/FamilyMatters''.
** Steve Urkel: As proven by the 'Stefan' persona, Jaleel White is by no means unattractive, but give him thick glasses, a funny voice, and suspenders and everyone treats him as a repellent geek.
** One episode, that is supposed to be about how true beauty comes from within, has Eddie meeting a witty, charming girl and asking her to the school dance. When he tells Waldo and Weasel who he's taking, both react as if he's going on a date with Swamp Thing, calling her a "dog". Eddie breaks the date in order not to be embarrassed when he's seen with her, but Laura calls him shallow for caring more about her looks than her personality. In the end, he decides her personality, which is what attracted him in the first place, is more important. The girl in question is, of course, a [[http://micholebrianawhite.com/ total hottie]] by any objective standard.
* ''Series/FatherTed'''s housekeeper, Mrs. Doyle, is played by the very cute Pauline [=McLynn=] under dowdy hair and makeup and a lot of goofy faces. You could almost wonder if Father Hernandez's lusting after her isn't him being weird so much as being perceptive.
%%* ''Series/FranklinAndBash'': Jennifer from "Jennifer of Troy". [[http://www.thetvking.com/reviews/412/jennifer-of-troy-astounds-franklin--bash/ Just read this]].
* In both ''Series/{{Frasier}}'' (and earlier on in ''Series/{{Cheers}}''), Lilith's general unattractiveness was harped on. Later in Frasier, though, they do play up the fact that Bebe Neuwirth is ''really'' hot [[SheCleansUpNicely when she turns off the frump and stops being so cold.]]
** Frasier's agent and one-off romance Bebe is definitely Hollywood Homely, especially by contrast to Frasier's usual sort of date. She makes up for it with personality and being a very good example of a BigBeautifulWoman.
*** Both cases seem to be more of an example of extremely ugly ''personalities'', with Lilith seeming very cold and uncaring and Bebe hovering between cloying supplicant and ruthless she-devil.
* ''Series/TheFreshPrinceOfBelAir'':
** Carlton is often portrayed as not just dorky, but unattractive. Problem is, he's played by the handsome and surprisingly buff Alfonso Ribeiro, and his main dorky attributes (a fondness for White conservative culture) actually would have made him more attractive than Creator/WillSmith to the type of girls who attended a private Beverly Hills high school in the 1990s.
** One episode involved the GirlOfTheWeek bribing Will into going on dates with her, despite him not being attracted to her. At one point, Judge Carl Robertson makes fun of her appearance. However, it's pretty obvious that the girl in question is a pretty actress who just happens to have unflattering hair and clothes, and glasses. Hilariously, said girl eventually reveals that she views Will as the Hollywood Homely with his stupid haircut and his big ears, and only bribed him to go out with her to raise her own popularity. This is ''Will Smith''.
* ''Series/{{Friends}}'':
** Ross and Chandler are definitely this. Especially Chandler in the first few seasons where all women seem to treat him like he's repulsive when actually he's quite cute and very funny. It gets better when the writing focuses on how he's socially awkward rather than unattractive. On a more notable level, Fat!Monica.
** It's actually worse with Fat!Monica, because everyone on the show reacts as if she's monstrously huge, when in fact she's just kinda pleasantly plump. If she wasn't given unflattering clothes and 70's hairstyles (as well as a meek, wallflower personality), the song "Low" could be about her.
* ''{{Series/Feud}}'' is really hard on the appearance of Creator/BetteDavis. In her time, she was seen as ugly by studio heads, but these days is considered one of the great screen beauties. She didn't age particularly well by the '60s when the series happens, but she's played by Creator/SusanSarandon - who ''has'' aged well.
* ''Series/FutureMan'': The title character is presented as an unattractive loser, unable to get a girlfriend even when he's a wealthy pro-gamer, despite being played by a teenage heartthrob. The same trope is averted with his unnamed gamer friend, played by rapper Creator/{{Awkwafina}}, who is described as desirable and sexually active in spite of her nerd glasses and odd behavior.
* ''Series/GameOfThrones'':
** Brienne of Tarth is called Brienne the Beauty as an IronicNickname because she's supposed to be ugly. Her [[AdaptationalAttractiveness literary counterpart]] fits this description and is described as comically hideous. Meanwhile in the show she's played by, Creator/GwendolineChristie, a [[StatuesqueStunner model]] who isn't uglied up much beyond a few facial scratches and men's clothing/armor. It's apparently a case of AdaptationalAttractiveness, and the nickname has more to do with her being a woman, though characters still treat her like she's unattractive, likely due to her butch manner and the DeliberateValuesDissonance of the setting.
** The same can be said of Tyrion Lannister, described as severely deformed and hideous, yet played on the TV adaptation by the quite handsome Creator/PeterDinklage. Even though some fans theorize that Tyrion could be perceived as uglier and more deformed than he actually might be because of how society reacts to his dwarfism, including himself, [[WordOfGod George R. R. Martin]] mentioned that Dinklage is remarkably more handsome than the way he made Tyrion Lannister to be in the books.
** Plenty of Walder Frey's (grand-)daughters, especially those who don't get put forward by his snarky comments, are mostly uglied up with unflattering clothing and greased hair.
** They also tried giving Obara Sand a [[http://media.vanityfair.com/photos/55425f78db753b82389caa37/16:9/w_1200,h_630,c_limit/keisha-castle-hughes-obara-tout.jpg mannish appearance]] in an attempt to be consistent with how she's described in the books, and at one point Olenna Tyrell tells her she looks like an "angry boy." Needless to say, Creator/KeishaCastleHughes is [[http://saucemonsters.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Keisha-Castle-Hughes-01.jpg every bit as beautiful as her onscreen sisters.]] The biggest indicator is that she's MsFanservice in many of her pre-''Thrones'' roles.
* ''Series/GeneralHospital'': Part of the backlash on Spinelli is that he's a greasy-haired, geeky nerd with SesquipedalianLoquaciousness...on a SoapOpera, where anyone under a 9 is ugly. This was stretched even more when they brought in a similarly geeky girl...and hid her behind glasses, GirlishPigtails, and clothing that went out in the mid-'90s.
* ''Series/GimmeGimmeGimme'' lampshades the way British TV generally doesn't care about the idea of Hollywood Homely and goes out of its way to demonstrate that if a role calls for a physically unattractive actress, then it's going to bloody well ''get'' one. Enter Kathy Burke, an actress who knows she wouldn't win a beauty contest and has in fact made a career of gleefully playing her lack of conventional good looks for all it's worth, as the hyper-unappealing Linda.
* ''Series/{{Glee}}'':
** [[GenkiGirl Rachel Berry]] is supposedly less attractive than [[AllGuysWantCheerleaders Quinn Fabray]]. Now, Quinn's actress, Dianna Agron, is gorgeous, but Rachel's played by [[https://media.gq.com/photos/5582cfc6e52bc4b477a9ea34/master/w_704,h_964,c_limit/entertainment-2010-11-glee-glee07.jpg Lea Michele]]. In one episode, Finn describes Rachel has having "a smoking hot body...if you don't like boobs." Rachel is noticeably curvier than Quinn. In an [[http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/tv/la-en-lea-michele2-2009dec02,0,6625011.story interview]] with the actress she mentions how the character is not supposed to be seen as attractive in the show. Once she [[ImportantHaircut got bangs]], started wearing more flattering clothing, and became more friendly with the glee club, the show stopped being shy about the fact that she's beautiful.
** In the season 2 finale the coach of their rivals, Vocal Adrenaline, describes the whole club as "hideous". Admittedly Lauren is the BrawnHilda, but the rest? Three hunky football players, one {{Bishonen}} gay boy, three sexy cheerleaders? Even the resident nerd Artie ([[http://static.tumblr.com/b2d926b4548024ca7bb2cc58a3ae12c4/mc0aeuc/KsCmyf7zp/tumblr_static_omgkev1.png or at least]] [[Creator/KevinMcHale his actor]]) is pretty damn attractive, chair and all. The only way this makes any is sense is as TrashTalk.
* ''Series/TheGoldenGirls'': frequent sport was made about Dorothy being physically unattractive. Now, Bea Arthur ''was'' in her sixties when they made that show, so she wasn't a supermodel, but it's hard to argue that she was less physically attractive than Rue [=McClanahan=], whose character was generally portrayed as being [[InformedAttractiveness catnip on legs]] for every man over the age 45. This had less to do with her appearance than the fact that Dorothy had a mannish and abrasive demeanor that often caused men to overlook her in favor of outgoing and flirty Blanche and [[MinnesotaNice sweet-natured]] Rose.
* ''Series/{{Gotham}}'': Oswald Cobblepot, as one would expect, is constantly called a creepy freak in-universe, with one character referring to him as a "freakish little man." This would be more convincing if he wasn't played by the [[PrettyBoy rather good-looking]] Robin Lord Taylor with a tiny nose prosthetic, [[LooksLikeCesare dark undereye shadows]], blotchy makeup, and stained teeth - and even the last two of those disappeared in later episodes.
* BBC adaptation of ''Literature/{{Gormenghast}}'': Steerpike was described by Fuchsia as "so ugly", despite the fact that he is played by Creator/JonathanRhysMeyers, who is most famous for playing MrFanservice roles. They would've been better off not mentioning the character's looks at all, as it only drew attention to this fact.
* The Ugly Stepsisters in the Cinderella-inspired episode of ''Series/{{Grimm}}''. The older one would be prettier if she smiled, true, but the younger one is very pretty indeed.
* ''Series/GreenWing'': Karen Ball is described as plain and having a "furry face", but this is mostly due to her meek and somewhat whiny personality and plain dress sense than the actress actually being ugly, though she is very flat-chested. The fact she has to work in close proximity to [[BigBreastPride Rachel]] and [[AloofDarkHairedGirl Kim]] might also have something to do with it.
* ''Series/TheHoneymooners'': When Creator/AudreyMeadows first auditioned for the part of Alice Kramden, Jackie Gleason rejected her for being "too pretty". So she had a photographer come to her house early in the morning and photograph her just after waking up, morning hair, no makeup, etc. Jackie took one look at the pictures (without knowing it was Audrey) and hired her on the spot.
* ''Series/HorribleHistories'': Inverted with their portrayal of Elizabeth I, where they use make-up to make the actress look quite ugly.
* {{Series/Pretty Little Liars}}: Mona used to have frizzy hair, thick glasses, braces and wore frumpy, dorky outfits. This made her the main target of {{Alpha Bitch}} Alison’s bullying. Alison invited Mona’s best friend, Hanna, to join her clique, and pressured her to ignore Mona. After Alison went missing, Mona removed her glasses, straightened her hair, got her braces out, and rekindled her friendship with Hanna. Hanna and Mona were both overweight and spent the Summer losing weight, and getting nicer, trendier clothes, with Hanna teaching Mona about fashion, which Hanna had learned from Alison. Mona also picked up several traits of Alison, as well as becoming the new {{Alpha Bitch}} of the school.
* ''Series/HotInCleveland'': The premise is a LampshadeHanging of this trope, wherein a bunch of aging Hollywood actresses have a flight layover in the title city and decide to stay after discovering that they're considered attractive there in a way they wouldn't be back in LA. One of them is Valerie Bertinelli, who was one of the most beautiful women on TV in the early '80s, and is still prettier and better-built than women years younger[[note]]She did get somewhat pudgy in the 2000s, but not grotesquely so, and she had lost the weight again over a year before the series started[[/note]].
* ''Series/ILoveLucy'':
** Ethel was the source of constant fat jokes, despite being about the same build as Lucy. To compensate for this, the producers had her wear clothes that were several sizes too small. This was intentional on the part of Vivian Vance. She reasoned that if Fred threw fat jokes at Ethel, and she were actually fat, people would feel bad for her; if she was called fat while actually slender, the hypocrisy and dissonance would make it funny. The {{Urban Legend|s}} that she was contractually obligated to gain 20 pounds is untrue.
** InUniverse, Lucy herself is considered pretty but not quite young or skinny enough for the entertainment industry - which matters when she wants to perform in her husband's show.
* ''Series/ICarly'': TheChewToy Lewbert is played [[https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMTQwNDY2ODQ5MF5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwMzIyOTAzMQ@@._V1_.jpg by this guy]]. In the show itself they mention that Lewbert used to be a male model, until a psycho ex-girlfriend caused him enough grief to make a [[https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/nickelodeon/images/9/92/Lewbert_Sline.jpg/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/340?cb=20180130034850 giant wart]] grow on his face, and at that point, he seemed to throw in the towel on hygiene.
* ''Series/InspectorLynley'': (BBC Homely?) A mild case in the televised version of the mysteries; in the books, DS Barbara Havers is ''committedly'' unattractive - middle-aged, plain, overweight, and badly dressed. Creator/SharonSmall may not fit the supermodel aesthetic, but she is stunningly pretty, and no bad haircut or baggy clothes can completely hide this, with the result that Barbara Havers is adorable for the first four series, and then genuinely pretty (they let Sharon grow her hair out for series 5 and 6). Elizabeth George, who wrote the novels, was quite upset by this until she saw Small's performance in the pilot.
* ''Series/ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphia'':
** Averts this trope with Margaret [=McPoyle=] who is hideous. As it turns out Margaret [=McPoyle=] is played by the very attractive Thesy Surface under ''a lot'' of makeup. Don't believe it? [[http://chataboutit.com/actress-thesy-surface-reveals-the-secrets-of-her-its-always-sunny-in-philadelphia-character-margaret-mcpoyle-with-mr-media-july-8-73/ Margaret McPoyle]] vs. [[http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2316545/ Thesy Surface]]
** Zig-zagged with Dee and Charlie. While they are played by the pretty Kaitlin Olson and the adorable Charlie Day, their long list of character flaws and poor personal hygiene routinely earns them scorn from the other members of the gang. Dee in particular manages to entice several potential romantic partners before later driving them away with her awful personality. Although what's worth noting is that Olson much prefers playing the "ugly Dee" over a standard [[WomenAreWiser closer-to-Earth]] female character.
** The Waitress gets this treatment, too, from just about everyone besides [[StalkerWithACrush Charlie]] (who is, interestingly enough, played by Mary Elizabeth Ellis's real-life husband). Shallow Dennis talks about her as if she were downright repulsive, but she is actually quite pretty. It can be assumed that she's rejected by most men because of her alcoholism and parasitic and toxic behavior.
* ''Series/TheITCrowd'': Often tries to play up Jen as looking "like a man" with freakishly big feet, but Katherine Parkinson is quite attractive and Jen certainly gets a ''lot'' of dates for someone supposedly unattractive.
** Simlarly Moss is often treated and acts like a ridiculous geek even though he's played by the very handsome Creator/RichardAyoade dressed up in sterotypical dorky attrie. Moss also attracts [[ChickMagnet multiple women]] in the show and is way more charming than Roy who is the more realistic nerdy guy.
* ''Series/IZombie'':
** In the second episode of the second season "[[Recap/IZombieS2E2ZombieBro Zombie Bro]]", a frat boy house has an apparent tradition of "dog fight parties" where each frat bro brings the "homeliest" girl they can find, the winner being the one to bring the girl you'd "last throw a bone". The winner is played by the actress Andrea Ware, and while they do add a smidgen of fake acne, jogging clothes, and frazzled ponytail to her, even if that's not already utterly transparent at first glance one look at her Website/IMDb page clearly shows they simply cast an absolute stunner with an oddly square jawline.
* ''Series/JustShootMe'':
** Maya conducts an experiment to prove beautiful people get social perks by sending both an illiterate male model and a well-qualified "ugly" guy to a job interview. She ends up [[HypocriticalHumor proving herself as shallow as everyone else]] by rejecting the charming "ugly" guy and dating the clueless himbo - much to her own self-loathing. However, the actor cast as the "ugly" guy wouldn't have been out of place in GQ.
** Maya herself was treated like this in the show's first season. While this was possibly justified by the show's setting (a high-fashion magazine), by season two they stopped trying to make anyone believe that Laura San Giacomo was in any way "homely".
* [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emma_Wu Gui Gui]] plays Huang Yueying in a parody of the ''Literature/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdoms'' called ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K.O.3an_Guo K. O. 3an Guo]]''. She is certainly far more attractive than her character is supposed to be in legend.
* ''Series/KamenRiderOOO'': episodes #23-24. Sakura is tempted by a Yummy because she doesn't want to be "ugly", which is shown by wearing a lab coat, thick-rimmed glasses, and covering her hair. It was obvious that she was attractive under all that and it was just covered up. [[spoiler:[[JustTheWayYouAre Date agrees.]]]]
* ''Series/TheKingOfQueens'': Doug and his friends find out that an attractive female worker at the bowling alley is quitting and being replaced by a less attractive woman. The men mock this woman like she's the deformed lovechild of [[Franchise/StarWars Jabba the Hut]] and a toad, and is even given a "mercy flirt" by Doug. [[http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0237222/ Many viewers would find the actress pretty]].
* ''Series/TheLegendOfTheCondorHeroes2008'': TheProtagonist, Guo Jing, is described as stout and muscular, and is ''not'' known for being handsome or refined. As a matter of fact, several characters make the comparison of his relationship with Huang Rong as "[[UglyGuyHotWife A beautiful flower planted in cow dung]]". This becomes wince-worthy when he's played by Chinese teen heartthrob Creator/HuGe, who is a RealLife equivalent of a {{Bishonen}}. To underplay his looks, he [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/U1735P28T3D1186872F326DT20060804162756.JPG tied his hair back and slightly frizzed, along with his clothes stuffed with more material so he would look a bit bulkier]]. He can still look prettier than some of the female cast, and halfway through the series, they don't bother trying to uglify him ([[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/U1735P28T3D1319149F326DT20061108153936.JPG straightening his hair]] and [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/200837173742479.jpg giving him more flattering clothes]]).
* Ben from ''Series/{{Lost}}''. He's played by Creator/MichaelEmerson, who is a bit strange looking compared to the rest of the cast (slightly hooked nose, unusually small mouth, wide, staring eyes), but can be quite attractive and appealing with the right clothes and haircut. He's clearly meant to be the [[TheUglyGuysHotDaughter ugly guy to Alex's hot daughter]], and his eyes are the butt of many jokes.
* ''Series/MadMen'': Peggy Olson is supposed to be deliberately keeping herself dowdy in order to be taken seriously at work but she's played by the gorgeous Creator/ElisabethMoss. The character was also shown [[HollywoodPudgy gaining weight]] throughout Season One, presumably for the same reason. [[spoiler:As we learn in Season Two, she was actually pregnant with Pete Campbell's child. Once Peggy has her "date" with Kurt in season 2 and starts dressing herself more fashionably and wearing her hair differently]], the show presents this as her harnessing the power of [[spoiler: "being a woman"]] as Bobbie advised.
* ''Series/TheManyLovesOfDobieGillis'':
** Zelda Gilroy said there's nothing to love about her appearance. Really, the only problem was that she wasn't as supermodel hot as the other girls Dobie would chase. Being a bit of an InsufferableGenius probably didn't help.
** Dobie himself. He's not described as ''ugly'' so much as he's "average", but even still.
* ''Series/MarriedWithChildren'':
** Bud Bundy is depicted as unattractive and someone that only a woman with no standards would date or have sex with despite being played by the not-remotely-ugly David Faustino. For all the women turned off by his looks, far more are repulsed by his personality. As he matures both physically and emotionally (and stops trying far, ''far'' too hard) he starts having more success.
** Marcy also came in for a lot of jokes about her looks even though the actress playing her, Amanda Bearse, is quite far from ugly. For example, in the episode "The Egg and I", she shows off her body in lingerie; Al screams "I'm blind! My eyes, my eyes!" but the studio audience {{Wolf Whistle}}s.
* Subverted on ''Series/{{Martin}}''. He often describes his SitcomArchNemesis Pam as looking like a man and/or various kinds of animals. However, ''only'' Martin seems to have this perception. Pam gets all kinds of positive attention from men on the show, as well as from viewers. She also becomes part of the BetaCouple with Tommy. But before long it became clear that Martin ragging on her appearance and Pam ragging on his short height was just part of their VitriolicBestBuds dynamic.
* ''Series/TheMaryTylerMooreShow'': PlayingWithATrope with Rhoda. Because she's not the star she can't outshine the star, but in the Season 3 episode "Rhoda the Beautiful" Rhoda got her own show. She was given a supposedly less attractive sister to make sure everyone knew that now that she was the star she was now officially pretty.
** One thing that makes this even funnier in reruns is that putting Creator/JulieKavner in "old lady clothes" while dressing Creator/ValerieHarper more stylishly was a large part of it, but unless your own personal fashion sense is stuck in the 1970s the main thing you'll notice is that ''both'' of them are wearing clothing that's laughably out of date.
* ''Series/TheMentalist'': In episode "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" [[http://www.sitcomsonline.com/photopost/data/2492/MP5.jpg this]] woman has trouble getting a date, so she has to resort do a dating service.
* ''Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers'''s nerdy character Billy Cranston was played by David Yost, who was initially auditioning for Jason and asked to read for Billy but got turned down because he was deemed too good-looking for it. He reappeared later now wearing NerdGlasses, with his hair messed up, and won the part. Throughout the first season, they put him in baggy clothes to hide that he was in incredible shape (he was also a champion gymnast). During filming of [[Film/MightyMorphinPowerRangersTheMovie the movie]], he went without the glasses and wore flattering clothes from then on.
* ''Series/MimpiMetropolitan'': The main trio Bambang, Alan, and Prima are just average looking, but every character blunt enough (including themselves) call them ugly just for being not as [[InformedAttractiveness attractive]] as Alexi, Juna, and Melani. Funnily, Madkucil noted that his female fans says that Bambang is more handsome than his usual (curly-haired) self.
* Inverted in ''Series/TheMindyProject''. Mindy is a bit on the heavy side, but she makes a point of dressing well. She is viewed by other characters (and herself) as being fairly attractive.
* The titular character of ''Series/Miranda2009''. She is frequently called "sir", and she cannot for the life of her find a man; while perhaps not conventionally attractive, she is nevertheless average at worst and distinctly feminine-looking.
* The ''Series/MissionImpossible'' episode "Homecoming" features a mystery concerning the murders of young, beautiful women. It turns out that the killer is a local barmaid, ostensibly unattractive, who is jealous of how much attention the pretty women get from a man she is in love with. The homely barmaid is played by [[Series/{{MASH}} Loretta Swit]].
* PlayedForLaughs with Howard Moon from ''Series/TheMightyBoosh'' who true to his ButtMonkey status frequently gets derided for his looks, with multiple characters making fun of his “beady eyes” or outright saying he looks like paedophile. In actuality Julian Barret who plays Howard is [[https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn%3AANd9GcRCk7WPcmvhoaz36TvZRgMxd4XX54T3YBstkASEz9nXirAGo6l_&usqp=CAU quite pleasant looking]] if not [[https://i.gifer.com/Oyu.gif outright sexy]] and ''The Mighty Boosh Live'' he gets the most wolf whistles from the audience so these InUniverse remarks over his appearance are ludicrous.
* ''Series/ModernFamily'' has Alex, who explicitly states in the first few episodes that she's not as pretty as her sister Haley. In reality, she was ''definitely'' as pretty as Haley. [[SheIsAllGrownUp Then she hit puberty.]] Since then they've been stuffing her into frumpy sweaters to hide her curves and even gave her a much less flattering pair of glasses with thicker rims. This has, naturally, done nothing to slow down her fanboys.
* In ''Series/MrsAmerica'' we hear over and over that Betty Friedan is nowhere as beautiful as Gloria Steinem, another prominent feminist, this is something Phyllis Schlafly delightfully exploits in a debate, while the real life [[https://www.history.com/topics/womens-history/betty-friedan Friedan]] was average at best, her portrayer Creator/TraceyUllman is still [[https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2020/04/mrs-america-debate-friedan-schlafly-episode-4-still-watching-tracey-ullman-rose-byrne cute in her age]].
** To a lesser extent, the anti-feminists say this about some of the Women's Libbers, who (like the anti-feminists) range average or plain at worst and cute or beautiful at best.
* ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'' parodies this when they watch the educational short ''[[Recap/MysteryScienceTheater3000S05E10ThePaintedHills Body Care and Grooming]]''. The short tries to pull off a SheCleansUpNicely scene, but Crow thinks the actress looked [[UnkemptBeauty better before her offscreen makeover]], and Joel eventually agrees with him.
-->'''Narrator:''' ''[scornfully]'' Look at your hair...\\
'''Crow:''' I like her hair!\\
'''Narrator:''' Look at that blouse...\\
'''Crow:''' [[EatingTheEyeCandy I'm looking, I'm looking!]]
** The thoroughly ordinary-looking Mike Nelson gets reguarly described in unflattering terms ("Mike, you're huge and pink, you must have some potatoes around there.") by the Bots and the Mads [[RuleOfFunny because it's funny.]]
* ''Series/{{NCIS}}'': In a season 6 episode, a hot young woman's attraction to [[AFatherToHisMen Gibbs]] is portrayed as odd. Gibbs is played by Creator/MarkHarmon, who is one of the few people named EW's Sexiest Man of the Year ''twice''. Perhaps their confusion stems from his irascible personality, though he can be charming when needed.
* One episode of ''Series/NedsDeclassifiedSchoolSurvivalGuide'' dealt with "bad hair" days. Ned's hair is stated in the episode to be really messy...even though it's at most ''very'' slightly more unruly than how he usually has it.
** Lisa Zemo was this for the first two seasons, playing the role of AbhorrentAdmirer to Cookie. This situation was flipped over during the final season when Lisa got rid of the glasses and braces, and changed her wardrobe and hairstyle.
* ''Series/NeverHaveIEver'' seen a trope played so straight in modern day. Devi [[https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod/images/never-have-i-ever-s4-e10-native-00-26-37-11rc-647f5aafa75c1.jpg?crop=0.668xw:1.00xh;0.148xw,0&resize=1200:* (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan)]], her friends [[https://thechicdaily.files.wordpress.com/2022/08/neverhaveiever_season3_episode2_00_03_26_14r.jpg?w=461 (Ramona Young and Lee Rodriguez, who ''modeled'')]], and rival Ben [[https://i.pinimg.com/736x/a1/bb/a2/a1bba2b0e1de0eb8972d5c9144000b72.jpg (Jaren Lewison)]] get this treatment where Ben calls them "Unfuckable Nerds" and Ben being described as a scrawny and undesirable nerd. Looking at the cast, one must wonder if there was a shortage of Vitamin A in their hometown of Sherman Oaks.
* ''Series/TheNewAdventuresOfOldChristine'': The beauty and shapely figure of [[Creator/JuliaLouisDreyfus Julia Louis-Dreyfus]] is ignored by the people around her, even though her wardrobe often shows off what one would consider damn fine assets.
* ''Series/NewGirl'': Nick is constantly called fat. For the most part, this was considered mostly a joke by Schmidt who is FormerlyFat and obsessed with body image. However, other characters have gone onto refer to Nick as chubby despite the fact he really isn't.
* ''Series/TheNightOf'': In the third episode, a shelter guy says people just like purebreds/pretty cats, and the cat that's getting locked up is referred to as an " ugly cat." That cat was cute as hell.
* Parodied on the Adult Swim show ''Series/{{NTSFSDSUV}}''. Jessie, the head lab tech, is called ugly by everyone else on the show. Jessie is played by Creator/RebeccaRomijn wearing a lab coat and glasses. A later episode reveals that the other lab techs are similarly viewed as unattractive and are all played by male models.
%%* ''Series/TheOC'': Seth Cohen.
* ''Series/{{The Office|US}}'': Andy and Michael flirt with a couple of waitresses at a restaurant and attempt to get them to come to a party. They show up at the party with two ''different'' waitresses, the joke being that the first two refused and they had to settle for supposedly less attractive ones. Unfortunately, as co-creator Greg Daniels admitted, poor casting meant the actresses hired were ''too'' good-looking and the joke fell flat.
* ''Series/OneTreeHill'': Millie appears completely and utterly gorgeous, except for a thick pair of glasses. (She later becomes a hit as a model)
* ''Series/OrphanBlack'' dances rings around this trope, featuring as it does multiple very different-looking clone characters all played by the very attractive Creator/TatianaMaslany. Thanks to superb makeup and subtle performance, it is often impossible to tell they are the same person, and chances are you will find yourself calling one of them "the pretty one". This is particularly true of Krystal, the vapid, ValleyGirl manicurist and the one character whose makeup is specifically designed to enhance her attractiveness. She even {{lampshade|Hanging}}s this in Season 4, declaring that she can't be a clone of the main character because "She's a 7 on a good day, and I've been told I'm a 10."
* ''Series/PicketFences'': Kenny can't seem to appreciate Maxine's physical beauty because she's a fat tomboy with a weird face, so he has to learn to love her personality.
* ''A Pocketful of Rye'', an ITV adaptation of the Literature/MissMarple story had the supposedly-plain Elaine Fortescue played by the decidedly beautiful Hattie Morahan, looking her best in fashionable clothes and an elaborate hairdo. Despite this, the other characters were at pains to point out how unattractive she was.
* ''Series/{{Popular}}'': Of the two lead characters, one is supposed to be an extremely beautiful AlphaBitch who leads a [[GirlPosse posse]] of popular blondes, and the other is supposed to be a frumpy, unattractive, unpopular nerdy girl. As far as the audience can tell, they're both very attractive, and viewers can't agree on which one is hotter.
* ''Series/QueerAsFolkUS'': Ted's status as this is meant to {{lampshade|Hanging}} the impossibly high standards of appearance that many gay men place on themselves (and each other). Women check him out all the time, much to his annoyance. And also Michael Novotny's self-depreciation, despite that Hal Sparks is unendingly adorable no matter what Sears-type button up shirts they put him in.
* ''Series/{{Reaper}}'': In episode "Business Casualty", Sock is set up with a friend of Nina's. His reaction to her is that she is hideous beyond all imagining; he tries to get away from her as quickly as possible. In fact, the character is played by a beautiful woman wearing a minimal amount of make-up and wearing average clothes with her hair in a ponytail. There isn't even any of the usual Hollywood Homely attempts to disguise this: she doesn't wear glasses, have braces, wear hideous clothes, have bad hair, or prosthetic makeup. She looks like someone going out to run errands.
* ''Series/RedDwarf'':
** Arnold Judas Rimmer is considered a repulsive smeghead by just about everyone and was rejected by many women when he was alive, even his “best friend” Lister mocks him for his “flared nostrils”. The truth is, as noted by many female fans, Chris Barrie who plays Rimmer is very handsome and quite fit, as seen in the famous ShirtlessScene in “[[Recap/RedDwarfSeasonVTerrorform Terrorform]]”, and as a Hologram he somehow manages to attract multiple women. Although to be fair it’s more Rimmer’s [[{{JerkAss}} distinct]] [[DirtyCoward personality]] than his appearance that makes him unattractive to people.
** Kryten the Mechanoid also gets mocked for his rubbery, angular head, earning him nicknames like “novelty condom head”. Out of universe, however, fans simply adore Kryten, considering him UglyCute at worst, and Robert Llewellyn who plays him is very pleasant looking without the heavy make-up.
** The series has made repeated jokes from the outset about Dave Lister being overweight, despite the fact that Lister's actor Craig Charles was in fact rather skinny.
* ''Series/{{Revenge}}'' keeps trying to pass Nolan off as someone who has trouble getting laid. Even if he wasn't played by a model, he would still be rich. Having trouble forming relationships, that's understandable, but getting laid?
* On ''{{Series/Rome}}'', both Lucius Vorenus (Creator/KevinMcKidd) and Titus Pullo (Creator/RayStevenson) repeatedly refer to themselves as "ugly brutes," despite both being quite hunky (and even having some beauty qualities unlikely for the period, like good teeth). Semi-subverted in that they both grapple with feelings of guilt and self-loathing over [[GoodIsNotNice their violent and immoral actions]] over the course of the series, at least proving the "brute" part accurate.
* ''Series/RulesOfEngagement'' has Liz. Descriptions of the character indicate that she's overweight and highly unattractive. Visual inspection begs to differ.
* ''Series/SabrinaTheTeenageWitch'' tried to treat Valerie as this when she first appeared - she acted as though it would be impossible for her to get a date. Emphasis was placed on her being socially awkward, but Lindsay Sloane was just as gorgeous as the other female stars. The show eventually abandons this and gets Valerie providing plenty of {{Fanservice}} (even an episode where she wears a SpyCatsuit).
* ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'': Ted the lawyer is a aversion created with makeup and an ill-fitting suit. The actor has been quoted as saying that after seeing him in the pilot episode, his mother called him up and asked if he was ill.
* ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'': Ada, George's secretary in "The Secretary." George rejects attractive women for the position of secretary but Ada is not much more unattractive despite the implication.
** George himself could be this trope to many viewers as well, his lack of attractiveness having more to do with his height, glasses, baldness, and neuroses.
** Additionally, a woman George dates in one episode is basically very average, and certainly not less attractive than George himself. However, she's still implied to be extremely ugly, with George only going out with her because she's the daughter of the woman reviewing his unemployment claim.
* ''Series/SexAndTheCity'':
** The character Miranda (played by Creator/CynthiaNixon) is supposed to be the ugly one of the four lead characters.
** Charlotte's second husband Harry. While played up as UglyGuyHotWife due to his baldness and slight weight, his actor Evan Handler has a cute face, and is hardly less attractive than many of the character's [[GirlOfTheWeek guys of the week]] over the years. In the last season, they dropped the UglyGuyHotWife angle.
** Charlotte was this for exactly one episode, when she turns 36 and is freaking out about being an "old maid". She may be the most prudish of the bunch, but it is highly unlikely she would really wear a frumpy button-up blouse on a trip to Atlantic City!
* ''Series/SheHulkAttorneyAtLaw'' has the very pretty Creator/TatianaMaslany as lawyer Jen Walters, and yet she only gets attention as the green AmazonianBeauty alter-ego ComicBook/SheHulk. Jen's endeavor in a dating app only led to her being ignored aside from one unsuccessful date. She decides to do another profile after HulkingOut, and the matches quickly enter the double digits.
* ''Series/SiliconValley'': The inhabitants of the Hacker Hostel are all meant to be seen as rather unattractive to the point that it's quite a big deal when one of them gets a girlfriend. The main actors however, really aren't all that ugly.
** Gilfoyle in particular is played by Creator/MartinStarr, who gives the character a subdued [[NerdsAreSexy hot nerd]] vibe, with the only "ugliness" being his unkemptness.
** Jared is seen as almost anorexically thin in-universe, some characters even say he's akin to a skeleton. Making it a shock when it turns he's TheCasanova. But his actor Creator/ZachWoods looks like a relatively fit person.
** Richard is described as ugly by many characters but Creator/ThomasMiddleditch looks average at worst.
** Dinesh is seen as very ugly in-universe, to the point that he’s called “dogface” in one episode. But he’s played by the decently handsome Creator/KumailNanjiani.
** Erlich’s appearance has been described in the show as akin to that of a “manatee”. While Creator/TJMiller certainly doesn’t have the body of a supermodel, his face really isn’t ''that'' repulsive.
* ''Series/{{Skins}}'': The cast constantly say Sketch is ugly. She doesn't get all dolled up like most of the other girls on the show, but she is definitely pretty.
* ''Series/{{Smallville}}'': Lampshaded when [[Franchise/{{Superman}} Clark]] thinks of himself as plain, but as the high school reunion and even his friends (such as Pete) have mentioned, he is quite handsome. He's played by a former underwear model.
* ''Series/StrangerThings''
** Somehow Joyce Byers and Barb Holland are supposed to be less attractive and feminine than [[StacysMom Karen]] and [[DudeMagnet Nancy]] Wheeler, yet they are played by Creator/WinonaRyder (even with the necessary BeautyInversion to make her look like a stressed out single mom in an impoverished home, still looks gorgeous) and Creator/ShannonPurser (who is a natural redhead with classic features and a BigBeautifulWoman who does modeling in real life). It could be a reflection of of how shallow and narrow-minded their town is to not recognize the worth of people, inside and out.
** By the same token Jonathan Byers is treated as an awkward loser by PrettyBoy and JerkJock Steve Harrington and the "cool kids" clique, despite Charlie Heaton looking like a young Norman Reedus. This is probably just shallow bullying due to his alternative appearance and second-hand clothes, since Nancy falls for Jonathan, his estranged father's girlfriend Cynthia thought he was attractive, and Samantha, [[PerkyGoth a random girl]] from the Halloween party, started flirting with him.
** Mike Wheeler has been called "Frog Face Wheeler" by bullies and even his father cannot believe he would be hiding a girl in his room for a week, yet Mike has attracted the psychic Eleven, and he is played by Creator/FinnWolfhard, who has a legion of fangirls in real life.
** Max is also portrayed as an unattractive teen outcast who only Dustin and Lucas are crushing on, despite being played by the very good-looking Creator/SadieSink.
** Eddie “The Freak” Munson is treated like Quasimodo by the social elite of Hawkins and Jason is adamant his girlfriend Chrissy would never even talk to him let alone hang out with him. This despite the fact Eddie is played by the good looking Creator/JosephQuinn whom clearly charmed Chrissy even in her depression (her actor Grace Van Dien even confirmed she would’ve left Jason for him if things had turned out differently). There’s some DeliberateValuesDissonance by today’s standards someone like Eddie would be the coolest and probably as popular as Jason or Steve, but in the 80s the small town kid who’s into both HeavyMetal and D&D is simply gonna be regarded as a weirdo.
** Season 4 does it’s hardest to make Eleven out as someone who would be unpopular and mocked in High School. But baggy clothes are simply not enough to make Creator/MillieBobbyBrown unattractive.
* The miniseries adaptation of Creator/StephenKing's ''Series/TheStand1994'' features the "fat ugly" Harold Lauder... played by PrettyBoy [[Series/ParkerLewisCantLose Corin Nemec]].
* ''Series/That70sShow'':
** Big Rhonda was made up to look homely, but the actress ([[https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0483701/ Cynthia Lamontagne]]) who played her wasn't. This is seen in the episode "It's a Wonderful Life", where in an alternate timeline she was dumped by Eric and appears at the gang's ten-year reunion without the whole Big Rhonda look. She also played a fembot in ''Film/AustinPowers''.
** Inverted with Donna (Creator/LauraPrepon), who's frequently mocked as a "giant" and a "lumberjack" by Jackie (who finds fault with everyone anyway), while alternately depicted as a "hot redhead" whom Eric could never hope to date otherwise. He even considered her his equivalent of the actual Brooke Shields dating Donna's father.
* The makeover series ''Series/TheSwan'' received lots of criticism for the extensive plastic surgery the contestants had to get. One personal trainer even stated that most of the women could have just been given a good gym program, a trip to the salon, and tips on what clothes would be flattering - as opposed to multiple cosmetic surgeries.
* ''Series/TheTudors'':
** In Season 3, Joss Stone appears as Anne of Cleves. Henry VIII claims he cannot tell her from his horse (which speaks either very poorly of his eyesight or very well of his horse) and is unable to consummate his marriage to her because she is so ugly. This is based on something Henry historically said, but contemporary reports suggest that she was quite pretty. An alternative explanation suggested by other characters is that he's turned off because Anne is a virgin who doesn't know what to do. We also know that Henry was almost 50 years old and as heavy as 400 pounds, so he may have had performance anxiety of his own. Either way, it's most likely all in his head.
** This is used in Philippa Gregory's novel, ''The Boleyn Inheritance'', where Anne of Cleves seems very frumpy at first because she is wearing modest (read: baggy) and unflattering clothing that she brought with her from Germany. After Henry VIII divorced her, she was free to wear English clothing and hold her own court in her own household. The next time she showed up at court, everyone thought that she looked very pretty. There are several historical accounts that support this theory. Henry slept with her in Season Four.
** A case can also be made for Henry himself in his later age. King Henry was a fit and athletic man in his youth, and even still is given an HistoricalBeautyUpdate with the casting of Creator/JonathanRhysMeyers. In his later years, Henry is plagued by age, injury, illness and obesity, but he's still played by the same actor with only minor cosmetic changes.
** A similar case happened with the portrayal of the Emperor Charles V, who appears in ''The Tudors'' with the huge Hapsburg chin and all (even though [[http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0273797/ the actor Sebastian Armesto is quite handsome without the prosthetic]]), compared to Charles V's portrayal in ''Carlos, Rey Emperador'', where he's [[http://images.vertele.eldiario.es/2015/12/03/noticias/carlos-rey-emperador-VEINTE_1744335663_8040530_660x371.jpg remarkably more handsome]] than any painting of his historical counterpart, and receives the same ageing process than Jonathan Rhys Meyers by the end of the series.
* Deliberately invoked and used in-universe in ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'' episode "Eye of the Beholder" in that a woman, convinced that she's hideous, undergoes plastic surgery to improve her appearance. When the wrappings around her head are removed, she looks the pinnacle of beauty (at least according to the fashion at the time of this episode's production) but is horribly upset she's still hideous. The faces of the other people around the hospital are then revealed, which appear grotesque and inhuman but are deemed normal to attractive by the standards of their world. The episode sends [[AnAesop the message]] that human perceptions of beauty and ugliness are created through observation of other people.
* ''Series/UglyBetty'' plays with the trope by casting the obviously cute America Ferrera underneath a battery of accessories to hide her appearance. The idea is that she's working at a fashion magazine, which has a very high and conventional standard of beauty. It's not that Betty is ugly; she's just not made up like a model. Indeed, season four has a DreamSequence in which Betty is "beautiful," but the beautiful version is just America Ferrera without her "ugly" accessories.
* ''Series/{{Victorious}}'':
** Trina, who's played by the far from unattractive Creator/DaniellaMonet, is subject to this a lot. In "Ice Cream for [[Music/{{Kesha}} Ke$ha]]", she offers to kiss a boy who previously came on to the other three main female characters and he turns her down. In the episode "Wifi In The Sky" Beck and Andre are horrified at getting a close-up shot of her behind as she leaves her seat. Several male viewers would be gratified if they were in their place. Unlike most examples of this trope, there is no effort made to make Daniella look anything less than gorgeous. If anything, Trina's unattractiveness is entirely an InformedFlaw. (Though in all fairness, her [[SmallNameBigEgo terrible personality]] probably turns a lot of people off.)
** Robbie gets this too. He's pale, skinny, wears glasses and has an unflattering hairstyle, but he's average-looking at worst. Yet people seem to find him repulsive. Robbie gives himself a makeover in "The Slap Fight" and he looks pretty good.
** Invoked when the reason the gang had to participate in Sinjin's game show in "The Worst Couple" is that the original contestants were deemed too unattractive for television, because they looked like average teenagers.
* ''Vieja yo?'': The Venezuelan soap played with this. Margot is a {{housewife}} who has just turned 50 and has been trying to be an actress for years; thanks to her skills she ends up fronting for an old man to discover who are the really honest people in his company. Everybody keeps calling her "old hag" (even her very unfaithful husband and her three kids), and they treat her like she truly is a hideous old prune. Of course, she is portrayed by [[http://www.notas.com/html/html/Vieja%20yo%203%20MIMI%20LAZO%20Y%20ADRIAN%20DELGADO%204.JPG Mimi Lazo]], who is the Venezuelan poster lady for SilverVixen, and all the name-calling comes from the mouths of people who are either envious of her luck and/or looks, or far older and uglier - people who have valid reasons to dislike her and just use the "old hag" card to hurt her. Unfortunately, her younger {{Love Interest|s}} fell into the InformedAttractiveness category, as he gained weight during the soap and was put in clothing too formal for the poor man in an attempt to become more visually suitable for the heroine. Yet he was still referred to as the second hottest man in the setting.
* The 2016 Creator/{{BBC}} adaptation of ''Literature/WarAndPeace'' cast Jessie Buckley as Princess Marya Bolkonskaya, whose only redeeming physical feature is her [[WhatBeautifulEyes gorgeous, doe-like eyes]] and who is constantly derided as plain (though not outright ugly) by pretty much everybody. While Buckley's eyes are certainly lovely, [[https://cdn.thestage.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Shot-03_198-1color-edit2_LAND1-700x455.jpg so is her everything else]], too. Of course, this version was only following in the footsteps of Robert Dornhelm's 2007 production of the same, which cast the sultry Italian beauty [[http://66.media.tumblr.com/63030f9420e9fc18e10902c7576d73ed/tumblr_ncqkffxMLa1rwahceo1_1280.jpg Valentina Cervi]] as Princess Marya.
* ''Series/TheWhiteQueen'': Faye Marsay, who plays Anne Neville, may not be the classic beauty some of the other women are, but she's still cute as a button. Margaret of Anjou explicitly calls her "a plain little thing," and when Richard of Gloucester makes clear his intention to marry her, George of Clarence assumes that he's after her fortune, because he can't possibly be attracted to her.
* In ''Series/TheWitcher2019'', Yennefer is considered deformed and ugly by the other villagers, but not even a hunchback prosthetic, a facial appliance, and a bad wig can fully hide Anya Chalotra's attractiveness.
* ''Series/WizardsOfWaverlyPlace'':
** Justin. In one episode his family couldn't believe that a pretty girl would consider dating him. At one point, Alex said that Justin was not cute all. How are we supposed to believe this when he's played by the hot ''David Henrie''?
** While it's never stated that Harper is unattractive, her personality quirks and bizarre dress sense probably shouldn't have been as effective as they were at repelling boys. While Jennifer Stone struggled with her weight for part of the series, she is definitely not ugly - many would say far from it. Harper was eventually paired up with Justin's socially awkward but somewhat handsome friend Zeke.
* ''Series/WKRPInCincinnati'': Many male fans insist this one was (unintentionally) inverted wherein Jan Smithers as shy and nerdy Bailey came off as a hotter than 'blonde bombshell' Loni Anderson. Loni Anderson stated that the trope was being intentionally averted and that she enjoyed playing on a show where the two attractive women were loyal co-workers and good friends.
* ''Series/{{Wonder Woman|1975}}'': Give Diana glasses and her hair in a bun and suddenly she's nowhere near as attractive as her superhero counterpart. As with the Maya/Just Shoot Me example, the second season (which fast-forwarded 30 years) stopped trying to convince audiences that even a bespectacled, ponytailed Creator/LyndaCarter was homely. Her supposed homeliness is highlighted in an exchange between Steve and Diana in the season 1 episode called "Beauty on Parade", where Nazis have infiltrated a beauty pageant.
-->'''Diana''': Perhaps if we could get one of our own agents into that beauty contest...\\
'''Steve''': ...it might flush them out. It would take a really beautiful girl, though. Someone with all the right qualifications.\\
'''Diana''': Well, I'd be willing to try.\\
'''Steve''': Thanks, Diana. I know you'd do a wonderful job. But I'm afraid this calls for a really gorgeous girl. Someone who looks great in a bathing suit. Say, I won't be needing you for a while, is there anything you'd like to do?
* ''Series/YoSoyBettyLaFea'', the Colombian soap opera on which ''Series/UglyBetty'' is based, looks [[http://img.timeinc.net/pespanol/i/galeria/2006/septiembre/Betty_Colombia_090506.jpg a bit more convincing]] into characterizing Betty as ugly, even when the main actress is [[https://newsbeezer.com/colombiaeng/the-sensual-figure-of-ana-maria-orozco-betty-46-ugly/ quite pretty]]. See [[http://web.archive.org/web/20121126055839/http://estb.msn.com/i/79/C1A1B6E4E161C812F7BFBCD0B447.jpg this comparison]].
* ''Series/{{Zoey 101}}'':
** Quinn Pensky, played by Creator/ErinSanders. Though the less we say about the relative attractiveness of someone under the age of 18, the better.
** Coco Wexler. She is neither so fat nor so horrible as they say in the series. The fact that her supposed ugliness is accompanied by a series of romantic failures ultimately has UnfortunateImplications, even though her role is the ButtMonkey.
** One episode where the kids have to give two male nerds a makeover. The ''ugly nerds'' in question were two hunky twenty-somethings with glasses and bad clothes.
** Chase is supposed to be seen as a plain dork with bushy hair.
[[/folder]]

* Lina Inverse from ''Literature/{{Slayers}}'' is described as being awkward in appearance, ranging from flat-chested to lanky to having a pug nose. While it's true that she occasionally travels with the scantily-clad and [[BuxomBeautyStandard buxom Naga]], the beautiful Sylphiel, or the short-but-busty Amelia, Lina is regularly drawn in a very attractive light and seems to only slightly pale in comparison to her female companions' exceptional beauty.

* ''ComicBook/MsMarvel'': A running joke in the books for a long while was of villains saying that Carol's [[HollywoodPudgy fat]]. The closest this came to being accurate (i.e. not even remotely) was the fact that she had a bigger backside than most similarly stacked female characters.

* ''ComicBook/SpiderMan'': Peter Parker was supposed to be a gangly bespectacled nerd (Creator/SteveDitko even based Peter's appearance off himself as a boy) who gets rejected by the likes of Liz Allen and bullied by JerkJock Flash Thompson for being a wimp. When Peter gets bitten by a radioactive spider, his social life [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatHotness improves]] thanks to newfound strength and confidence as Spider-Man, and he gets a girlfriend in Betty Brant and a [[ChickMagnet dozen others]] after her before settling down with the supermodel actress Mary Jane Watson. It's worth noting Peter's bad luck with girls in high school mostly stemmed from his shy wallflower nature, and probably thanks to Aunt May choosing all his clothes for him, making him look dorky as hell.
** DependingOnTheArtist factors, too, Ditko only made Peter more traditionally attractive in later comics, while John Romita Senior drew him as outright handsome and most artists followed suit. When it flashbacks to pre-spider bite days, most comics have Peter be bespectacled and much less striking and more geeky than he is now.

* ''Comicbook/XMen'':

* ''ComicBook/{{Deadpool}}'':
** Wade Wilson aka Characters/{{Deadpool|WadeWilson}} was once conventionally attractive like all the other average comic-book leading men. He became ugly due to an experimental cancer treatment that saved his life and gave him superpowers but made him look like Freddy Krueger. Being ugly is a big part of his character, and one of the things that he's very insecure about. DependingOnTheArtist, he can actually look the part, and be very repulsive. In other instances, [[http://ic.pics.livejournal.com/silverfang2/29185537/1133289/1133289_1000.png he can almost be handsome again.]] Which is justified to an extent, because Deadpool doesn't actually have a fixed appearance. His HealingFactor also heals his cancer and spreads it to every cell of his body, yet at the same time heals the damage done by the cancer. So his skin is constantly changing rather than permanently scarred, meaning that sometimes it looks much worse than others.
** Dr. Ella Whitby, his one-time prison psychiatrist. She's referred to by several characters as fat and/or ugly (including Deadpool, who at one point had a crush on Creator/BeaArthur, but finds Dr. Whitby revolting). In actuality, she's fairly pretty and barely 20 lbs. heavier than anyone else. Also, another patient, the ComicBook/{{Foolkiller}}, is actually madly attracted to her but his feelings go unreciprocated.
* In ''ComicBook/SinCity'', Marv states that he's so intimidating that he can't hire a prostitute. While Marv is a hulking, scary-looking guy, his features are traditionally masculine so he's referring to his FaceOfAThug.
* ''ComicBook/{{Empowered}}'' has Emp herself, who is extremely attractive, but is continually insulted by the other heroes for being "fat" (usually specifically referring to her butt), which she's particularly sensitive about because her powers come from her literally skintight costume that doesn't work if she wears anything over it. Not a truly straight example, because her inner circle (her boyfriend, her best friend, and the caged eldritch being from another dimension that lives on her coffee table) don't think she's fat (well, what Demonwolf says implies he does think she has a bigger-than-average butt, but he also seems to be kind of into that and phrases it in generally positive terms), and even most of the people who insult her seem to covertly find her attractive (the male ones, at least)...they're just insulting her because they're jerks. [[spoiler: We find out later that Sistah Spooky, fueled by her own issues, inadvertently cursed Emp so that she's continually the target of ridicule and humiliation]]
* Thanks to ArtEvolution, Ethel from ''ComicBook/ArchieComics'' has become this. Originally she dressed in a conventionally unattractive manner and looked [[{{gonk}} gangly and awkward]]. Over the decades they've toned her down to just being an [[HugeSchoolgirl above average height]] girl with buck teeth and a different build from [[OnlySixFaces the norm]].
* H'el, an enemy of Characters/{{Superman|TheCharacter}}, considers himself a hideous freak. Like the ''Beastly'' example, H'el has a rock star's deathly pale skin, black eyes, and a bunch of manly scars on top of the chiseled physique of an Olympic bodybuilder and the flowing black hair of a Renaissance painter's ideal man. Frankly, this "freak" looks like a god that descended from Mount Olympus, even more so than Superman. Most people would consider themselves quite fortunate to be half as "hideous" as H'el.
* [[InvokedTrope Invoked]] in [[Creator/TomKing Tom King's]] ''ComicBook/MisterMiracle2017'' run, where Big Barda's insistence that her husband, Mister Miracle, is out of her league is treated as just one of her many self esteem problems; nearly everyone else think it's the other way around, and her complaints about being [[NoGuyWantsAnAmazon too tall]] are almost laughable when most people [[AmazonianBeauty consider it a positive]]. You know you have body image issues when someone like ''[[{{Sadist}} Granny Goodness]]'' tells you that you're selling yourself short.
* ''ComicBook/UltimateSpiderMan:'' In the change-over to ''Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man'', MJ suddenly gains a pair of glasses and less fashionable clothing. The intention of making her look nerdy falls flat given that the art style means she still looks exactly as good-looking as she did before, since none of the cast are unattractive by any means, just she now has glasses.

* ''Series/SheHulkAttorneyAtLaw'' has the very pretty Creator/TatianaMaslany as lawyer Jen Walters, and yet she only gets attention as the green AmazonianBeauty alter-ego Comicbook/SheHulk. Jen's endeavor in a dating app only led to her being ignored aside from one unsuccessful date. She decides to do another profile after HulkingOut, and the matches quickly enter the double digits.

* The ''Literature/WhateleyUniverse''. A majority of the characters are exemplars (that is to say, idealized humans, superhero-beautiful), and there are those who use auras and glamours to make themselves even more attractive. Non-examplars, even when they're on a level with otherwise gorgeous baselines like Hollywood actors/actresses, don't stand a chance. Example: Aquerna. She's hardly worth a second glance on campus, but the devisers think she's hot, and when she goes home for the holidays with her pal Rhiannon, lots of guys are hitting on her.

* A common criticism of Website/{{Wattpad}} protagonists is that the leading lady claims that she is too ugly and ordinary for a boyfriend, yet the author will describe her as a voluptuous, petite blonde/brunette with glowing, beautiful eyes (and that's not including when the author wants Creator/ScarlettJohansson or Creator/AmandaSeyfried [[HypotheticalCasting to play her]]).

* ''A Nameless Witch'' by A. Lee Martinez parodies this:

* ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRedAlert2'': Lt. Eva Lee, who serves as the Allied MissionControl. While she's clearly beautiful, she's much less obvious {{Fanservice}} than her [[EvilIsSexy latex-clad Soviet counterpart]] and even on her own team her looks are far more downplayed compared to [[ActionGirl Agent Tanya]]. When SheCleansUpNicely for the final cinematic of the ExpansionPack, it's a genuine surprise.

** Downplayed with Johnny. In the beginning he is considered unattractive, in spite of being Creator/WilliamZabka with red eyes and a BeardOfSorrow. One he starts getting his life back together, however, he is considered very attractive, and manages to score several dates in quick succession and even win the heart of a woman two decades younger than him.

** The reason the gang had to participate in Sinjin's game show in "The Worst Couple" is that the original contestants were deemed too unattractive for television, even though all of them looked like average teenagers.

* In ''Series/MoonKnight2022'', one of the main characters, Steven Grant, is supposed to be a nerdy loner type who has bad luck with women. Steven is played by Creator/OscarIsaac with slightly messy hair and slightly unflattering clothes. It's especially egregious when his (married) alter ego, Mark Spector, takes over the body--and almost right away has a ShirtlessScene.

* A perennial favorite of tabloid magazines is to show candid photos of starlets without makeup. But since most of the women featured are stunningly beautiful with or without cosmetics, tabloids will choose the most unflattering photos possible: bad lighting, bad angle, bad posture, being tired or upset, hair tied back, ''in addition'' to not wearing makeup.[[note]]If they're over the age of 50, you get the added bonus of rumors that they're sickly and near death.[[/note]] If all that wasn't enough, the photos are then compared to their most airbrushed glamour shots, with the rather hypocritical implication that nothing in Hollywood is real.

** Greg and Marcia also deal with this trope (indirectly). In the late third-season episode "My Fair Opponent," Marcia plays the sympathetic friend when an awkward and butt-ugly classmate named Molly is nominated (as a cruel joke) for hostess of Filmore Junior High's Banquet Night... only for the makeover to work out too well and Molly becomes an insufferable snob. Greg's instance (in Season 5's "Peter and the Wolf") is averted: He merely is led to believe, based on old photographs and memories of his girlfriend, that his girlfriend's cousin still wears pigtails and braces and is horribly undesirable; the cousin turns out to be a total hottie.

** In "[[Recap/AngelS02E19Belonging Belonging]]", an obnoxious commercial director bullied [[http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9ENqdNYAbzA/TXCzNBkkv1I/AAAAAAAAD_o/IbSKBYIqxdg/s1600/27013_5068_123_519lo.jpg Cordelia]] for being unattractive. It's lampshaded as unreasonable in-universe by her appalled friends and Angel tries to stand up for her.

* ''Series/{{Bones}}'': In the episode "The Witch In the Wardrobe" Booth and Brennan spy on a group of Wiccans who perform their ceremony naked and Booth asked, "Why doesn't this ever happen with people you'd want to see naked?" Yet when we see coven members in the full light of day (and clothed alas), none of them register as less than slightly above average in looks.

* ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'': Agent Fitz saw himself this way in the first two seasons. Even though actor Iain De Caestecker is by no means ugly, he's attractive in a boyish sense. In the show, he's insecure about his appearance and feels he can't compete with the tall, manly, and muscular Ward and Tripp for the affections of Daisy or his longtime crush Simmons. He grows a backbone over time, however, and does eventually win his lady.

** Spacek herself was nearly cast as one of the pretty, popular girls (even though did well reading for the part of Carrie White) because the director thought she was too attractive to be believable as a high school outcast. Spacek showed up for her second reading in a homemade dress, with her face and hair unwashed, and mumbled her way through her lines. The rest is history. The ultimate irony of this movie? In high school Sissy Spacek was voted the Homecoming Queen.

'''See also''': GenericCuteness is the animated equivalent of this trope, and the result is a ''very'' InformedDeformity. AdaptationalAttractiveness, BeautyInversion, ImNotPretty, BeautifulAllAlong, CoolLoser, FormerlyFat, HiddenBuxom, HollywoodPudgy, and SheIsAllGrownUp. Contrast InformedAttractiveness and GorgeousGorgon. Tends to go hand-in-hand with the UnnecessaryMakeover, with an attempt to undo this resulting in a character looking ''less'' attractive.

* Guts from ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'' is similar to the L example in that he is supposed to be more brutish looking in [[NobleMaleRoguishMale comparison]] to the angelic {{Bishonen}} Griffith. This does fall flat when fangirls and women InUniverse note that Guts is an obviously handsome {{Hunk}} [[SheCleansUpNicely especially when he wears noble attire]], but since he has the FaceOfAThug most of the time it’s played straight. Similarly, Casca has BoyishShortHair and is mistaken for a man by the princess (whom she is envious of), leading to Casca thinking she is unattractive and shuns of her femininity in general. Like her lover Guts, this is subverted as Casca looks stunningly beautiful in [[SheCleansUpNicely fancy dresses]] and [[AllMenArePerverts most of the men]] in the series want to get in her pants.

* Each of the different ''Franchise/SpiderMan'' films play around with this, with DawsonCasting conflicts matters.

** Creator/AndrewGarfield from ''Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan'' plays this more straight, though this ends up being TruerToTheText as a result. He ''does'' do a good job acting geeky and awkward, but since Garfield is a more conventionally handsome lead, his "loser" portrayal is presented as him being ''really'' shy (including having a [[SpeechImpediment stutter]]), especially around girls, as well as being a scruffy dresser with a bad haircut. The sequel actually utilises this to show Peter's CharacterDevelopment, as by graduation he'd completely grown out of this, having a much nicer haircut with an improved wardrobe, as the experiences in the first film had improved his self-confidence.

* * ''Film/KnockedUp'' has a ton of this. Ben is portrayed as schlubby and unappealing, but Creator/SethRogen is by no means bad-looking. Meanwhile Debbie frets continually about getting old and no longer being attractive anymore. Creator/LeslieMann was only 35 at the time and is just too conventionally attractive for this to be plausible.

** The film straddles the line with Janis. She's supposed to be an 'art freak' and considered unpopular, despite being played by Creator/LizzyCaplan. Producers even came close to turning her down, finding her too beautiful for the character. As she was the best audition, they opted to instead give her an alternative/goth appearance rather than dressing her down. There is a big fan theory that Janis is, in fact, a former AlphaBitch who got betrayed by Regina the same way Cady plans to do to the latter - and Lizzy Caplan's beauty is a contributing factor.

* ''VideoGame/{{Onmyoji}}'''s Mushishi complains that she's ugly while looking like [[https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/306skin1.png this]].

* The miniseries adaptation of Creator/StephenKing's ''Series/TheStand'' features the "fat ugly" Harold Lauder... played by PrettyBoy [[Series/ParkerLewisCantLose Corin Nemec]].

** Downplayed with Johnny. In the beginning he is considered unattractive, in spite of being William Zabka with red eyes and a BeardOfSorrow. One he starts getting his life back together, however, he is considered very attractive, and manages to score several dates in quick succession and even win the heart of a woman two decades younger than him.