History Main / MoreDeadlyThanTheMale

This is the precursor to the modern ActionGirl, but nonetheless can carry UnfortunateImplications by characterizing women as less morally upstanding than men and by playing into the "crazy bitch" stereotype -- in fact, the {{Trope Namer|}} (Creator/RudyardKipling's poem "The Female of the Species") cites this trope as a reason that women shouldn't be trusted with power. The difference between the modern ActionGirl and this trope is kind of like the difference between a BraveScot and a ViolentGlaswegian. Compare this trope to its [[SpearCounterpart masculine equivalent]] AllAbusersAreMale. Contrast FemalesAreMoreInnocent (in which women are typically seen or viewed as being more psychologically delicate than men).

This is the precursor to the modern ActionGirl, but nonetheless can carry UnfortunateImplications by characterizing women as less morally upstanding than men and by playing into the "crazy bitch" stereotype -- in fact, the {{Trope Namer|}} (Creator/RudyardKipling's poem "The Female of the Species") cites this trope as a reason that women shouldn't be trusted with power. The difference between the modern ActionGirl and this trope is kind of like the difference between a BraveScot and a ViolentGlaswegian. Compare this trope to its [[SpearCounterpart masculine equivalent]] AllAbusersAreMale. Contrast FemalesAreMoreInnocent (in which women were typically viewed as being more psychologically delicate than men).

This is the precursor to the modern ActionGirl, but nonetheless can carry UnfortunateImplications by characterizing women as less morally upstanding than men and by playing into the "crazy bitch" stereotype -- in fact, the {{Trope Namer|}} (Creator/RudyardKipling's poem "The Female of the Species") cites this trope as a reason that women shouldn't be trusted with power. The difference between the modern ActionGirl and this trope is kind of like the difference between a BraveScot and a ViolentGlaswegian. Compare this trope to its [[SpearCounterpart masculine equivalent]] AllAbusersAreMale. Contrast FemalesAreMoreInnocent (in which women were socially viewed as being more psychologically delicate than men).

This is the precursor to the modern ActionGirl, but nonetheless can carry UnfortunateImplications by characterizing women as less morally upstanding than men and by playing into the "crazy bitch" stereotype -- in fact, the {{Trope Namer|}} (Creator/RudyardKipling's poem "The Female of the Species") cites this trope as a reason that women shouldn't be trusted with power. The difference between the modern ActionGirl and this trope is kind of like the difference between a BraveScot and a ViolentGlaswegian. Compare its [[SpearCounterpart masculine equivalent]] AllAbusersAreMale.

This trope describes a setting where the men are fully capable of conventional violence, but the women have a [[BewareTheNiceOnes hidden but apparently bottomless capacity for lethal mayhem]]. To help this trope along, expect the bad guys to dismiss Alice in favor of disabling Bob, Charlie, and Donald, [[GenreBlindness assuming she could never be a threat]]. She probably won't correct them: in fact, she's likely to [[DoubleAgent capitulate or collude]] with her captors, suffering indignities no one would expect her to tolerate, just [[BestServedCold to make her final revenge all the more brutal and more satisfying]]. Should you be foolish enough to want to trigger such behavior in a female, try [[MamaBear pestering her offspring]], [[WomanScorned crossing her in love]], or [[ViolentlyProtectiveGirlfriend threatening her love interest]].

This is the precursor to the modern ActionGirl, but nonetheless can carry UnfortunateImplications by characterizing women as less morally upstanding than men and by playing into the "crazy bitch" stereotype -- in fact, the {{Trope Namer|}} (Creator/RudyardKipling's poem "The Female of the Species") cites this trope as a reason that women shouldn't be trusted with power. The difference between the modern ActionGirl and this trope is kind of like the difference between a BraveScot and a ViolentGlaswegian.

** Princess Mandie (pronounced as man-'''die''', and [[DoNotCallMePaul not like "Mandy"]]), who originated from the planet of Boudacia, is a much more dire one, especially given her [[HairTriggerTemper highly threatening]] and [[FemmeFatale unpredictably flirtatious]] personality, since she plans to marry Mark Chang, a Yugopatamian prince, [[spoiler:just so that she could shove him aside and rule over not only his home planet Yugopatamia, but also the entire universe. Ironically, she met her eventual downfall when she had a brief conflict with Vicky (since both female characters have associations with Mark himself), to which the self-proclaimed "mightiest female warrior" got beaten into a pulp by ''a human being'' (something that Mark was grateful for)]].

** Princess Mandie (pronounced as man-'''die''', and [[DoNotCallMePaul not like "Mandy"]]), who originated from the planet of Boudacia, is a much more dire one, especially given her severely intimidating personality, since she tries to marry Mark Chang, a Yugopatamian prince, [[spoiler:so that she could shove him aside and rule not only his home planet Yugopatamia, but also the entire universe. Ironically, she met her downfall when she had a conflict with Vicky (since both ladies have associations with Mark himself), to which the self-proclaimed "mightiest female warrior" got beaten into a pulp by the FieryRedhead herself (something that Mark was grateful for)]].

** [[FieryRedhead Vicky]] is a huge example of this, especially given that, being a greedy babysitter, she often gives Timmy a miserable life, so it's no wonder why he's very reliant on his fairy godparents Cosmo and Wanda in handling his unfortunate situations with her.
** Princess Mandie (pronounced as man-'''die''', and [[DoNotCallMePaul not like "Mandy"]]), who originated from Planet Bou, is a much more dire one, especially given her severely intimidating personality, since she tries to marry Mark Chang, a Yugopatamian prince, [[spoiler:so that she could shove him aside and rule not only his home planet Yugopatamia, but also the entire universe. Ironically, she met her downfall when she had a conflict with Vicky (since both ladies have associations with Mark himself), to which the self-proclaimed "mightiest female warrior" got beaten into a pulp by the FieryRedhead]].

* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'':
** While there are very competent male Fire Benders and fighters in her family, [[DaddysLittleVillain Princess Azula]] plots, schemes, and ruthlessly manipulates others to do her dirty work, before finally bringing out the lightning. And she [[TheCaligula puts even Daddy to shame]] with all of [[MagnificentBastard her machinations, murder, and mayhem.]] Best displayed by the fact that she actually managed to [[spoiler:kill Aang (though he did get better).]]
** Katara can also have shades of this. While she doesn't have the raw power of Aang, she can be downright terrifying when angry. Most notable when she's on the receiving end of chauvinistic comments (things tend to break around her) and when hunting for her mother's killer [[spoiler:(where she used bloodbending)]].
** Even the Avatars show shades of this. The female Avatars all show signs of being fiercer than the male Avatars are -- after all, it's [[WomenAreWiser Yangchen]] and [[LadyOfWar Kyoshi]] (both female) who outright tell Aang to kill [[spoiler:Ozai]], whereas Kuruk and Roku (both male) use vague "be decisive, choose your destiny" advice. Kyoshi had such a fierce reputation that she's (falsely) on record as a murderer (she's explicitly killed two people for the record). Korra is also a much more pragmatic Avatar than Aang and doesn't hesitate to kill if she has to.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' follows suit like its predecessor series in regards to some of its female fighters.
** While the [[NebulousEvilOrganization Red Lotus]] consists of anarchistic benders with [[WrongContextMagic unique and unusual abilities]], [[BloodKnight Ming-Hua]] and [[ColdSniper P'Li]] are far more ruthless and vicious in battle than Zaheer and Ghazan. [[ZigZaggedTrope That being said]], Ghazan has the most raw destructive force of the group while Zaheer has the most directly lethal application of bending shown onscreen.
** [[TheClan The Metal Clan]] has this, inevitably given that the badass genes are from [[BadassAdorable Toph]]. Two of the males are [[NonActionGuy Non-Action Guys]] and the other two are {{satellite character}}s to Suyin the matriarch in every fight scene.

* ''WesternAnimation/MeetTheRobinsons'': DOR-15, or Doris, is qualifiable to be considered as such (despite not being technically feminine in the biological perspective) since she's proven herself to be '''a lot''' more dangerous than her [[spoiler:former]] partner-in-crime, the Bowler Hat Guy (who is actually [[spoiler:the vengeful Mike Yagoobian, Lewis' old roommate]]). [[spoiler:Just take a good look at the movie's climax.]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/RegularShow'', it's revealed in "The Real Thomas" that [[spoiler:"Thomas" himself is actually a Russian spy named Nikolai who works with Natalia, another Russian spy whose pseudonym is simply "Natalie", in order to bring the Park into Russia as a piece of territory from the United States (under the orders of the KGB) for international provocation. However, Thomas was able to overcome his purpose as a ruthless spy with the help of the Park gang, '''[[BeyondRedemption but Natalia didn't]]''', so naturally they fought against each other for that matter (which ironically resulted in [[DidntThinkThisThrough her abrupt demise]]). Keep in mind that after their respective revelations, Natalia was also keeping the '''entire''' Park gang in captive]].

* In ''WesternAnimation/RegularShow'', it's revealed in "The Real Thomas" that [[spoiler:"Thomas" himself is actually a Russian spy named Nikolai who works with Natalia, another Russian spy whose pseudonym is simply "Natalie", in order to bring the Park into Russia as a piece of territory from the United States (under the orders of the KGB) for international provocation. However, Thomas was able to overcome his purpose as a ruthless spy with the help of the Park gang, [[BeyondRedemption but Natalia wasn't]] where they fought against each other for his change of heart (which ironically resulted in her abrupt demise). Keep in mind that after their respective revelations, Natalia was also keeping the '''entire''' Park gang in captive]].

* In ''WesternAnimation/RegularShow'', it's revealed in "The Real Thomas" that [[spoiler:Thomas himself is actually a Russian spy named Nikolai who works with Natalia, another Russian spy whose pseudonym is simply "Natalie", in order to bring the Park into Russia as a piece of territory from the United States under the orders of the KGB for international provocation. However, Thomas was able to overcome his purpose as a ruthless spy with the help of the Park gang, [[BeyondRedemption but Natalia wasn't]] where they fought against each other for his change of heart (which ironically resulted in her abrupt demise). Keep in mind that after their respective revelations, Natalia was also keeping the '''entire''' Park gang in captive]].

** In terms of villians however, this trope is subverted. King Sombra, Discord, The Pony Of Shadows and Lord Tirek are all among the most powerful characters in the show with all of them having PersonOfMassDestruction- level powers and AntagonistAbilities that not even the female Alicorns and the Mane 6 can match. They need the Elements Of Harmony to stand a chance against them. Additionally, the female villians of the show are much weaker compared to them as well. Queen Chrysalis is quite powerful in her own right as she was able to defeat Princess Celestia, but she doesn't quite have the destructive capability of the aforementioned male villians. Once she loses her army, her threat level also becomes practically non-existent showing that in actuality she is not too impressive power-wise. Starlight Glimmer is a very smart and powerful Unicorn, who is able to cast extremely powerful and rare spells such as time-travelling and cutie-mark manipulation. However, at her core she is still a mortal Unicorn and as shown in Season 9, King Sombra is able to take control of her quite easily. Meanwhile, Cozy Glow is just a normal pegasus filly. She is all brains no brawn. Nightmare Moon, despite being a MadGod who is able to bring TheNightThatNeverEnds, was merely the StarterVillian of the series and the Mane 6 took her out quite easily.

* In ''WesternAnimation/RegularShow'', it's revealed in "The Real Thomas" that [[spoiler:Thomas himself is actually a Russian spy named Nikolai who works with Natalia (whose pseudonim "Natalie"), another Russian spy, in order to bring the Park into Russia as a piece of territory from the United States under the orders of the KGB for international provocation. However, Thomas was able to overcome his purpose as a ruthless spy, [[BeyondRedemption but Natalia wasn't]]. Keep in mind that after their respective revelations, Natalia was also keeping the '''entire''' Park gang in captive]].

* UsefulNotes/{{The Bronze Age|OfComicBooks}} ComicBook/TeenTitans. ComicBook/{{Starfire}} was a hardened ex-slave from a ProudWarriorRace. [[ComicBook/WonderGirl Donna Troy]]? A literal Amazon operating under the same code as her older sister, ComicBook/WonderWoman. ComicBook/{{Raven}}? Half-Demon with daddy issues, and some ''seriously'' scary powers. Robin (Dick Grayson) had his mentor's "do not kill" code. Cyborg was strong, but not an experienced fighter, and Changeling (Gar Logan) was only dangerous if you backed him into a corner.

* ''WesternAnimation/The7D'': Hildegard "Hildy" Gloom has shown more determination in being wicked than her husband Grim Gloom (who is often portrayed as being [[VileVillainLaughableLackey rather wimpier than her]] throughout the show), which includes her plan od becoming Jollywood's new queen.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheEmperorsNewGroove'' has a '''very''' comedic example: Yzma is this to Kronk, as both characters used to work with each other rather mischievously, but Kronk himself is proven to be far more humane than Yzma is, who displays a rather minimal sense of moral conscience, ''even'' towards him.

* ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'': The Ice Queen is much more competent than the Ice King. [[spoiler:Justified, as it's a gender-flipped fanfiction of the latter, so he probably made her competent regardless of her gender.]]

* Elena from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' is the only female member of the Turks, and though she is only ever fought once in the game (in an optional battle to boot), she outstrips her male cohorts Rude and Reno in terms of virtually every stat. This is also for her ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRebirth'' counterpart, who is also the most dangerous of the four Turks both in and out of battle.

* Elena from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' is the only female member of the Turks, and though she is only ever fought once in the game (in an optional battle to boot), she outstrips her male cohorts Rude and Reno in terms of virtually every stat. This also appears to be true for her ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRebirth'' counterpart, as her debut trailer shows her depicts her preforming multiple heavy-hitting attacks against the playable party. She is also depicted in the orignal game as being strong enough to punch Cloud down a mountainside in one hit if a certain button prompt is missed.

* ''WesternAnimation/MeetTheRobinsons'': DOR-15, or Doris, is qualifiable to be considered as such (despite not being technically feminine in the biological perspective) since she's proven herself to be '''a lot''' more dangerous than her [[spoiler:former]] partner-in-crime the Bowler Hat Guy (who is actually [[spoiler:the vengeful Mike Yagoobian, Lewis' old roommate]]). [[spoiler:Just take a good look at the movie's climax.]]

* Eagles, or any other bird of prey (aside from certain vultures). To give some context, a surefire way to figure out if a baby eagle is male or female is to wait until it grows up. If it's bigger than its father ''before'' it reaches full adulthood, it's a girl.

** Once thought to be true of the eagle's forefathers [[note]]or perhaps fore''mothers'' in this case[[/note]], the theropod dinosaurs. [[ScienceMarchesOn Nowadays]], we know that there isn't any evidence for this, but at the same time, there isn't any evidence ''against'' it either (and it's not really something we can learn from fossils anyway), so the possibility is still there.

* While male lions are pretty fierce and threatening, and larger and stronger than the females, from an animal's point of view (e.g. a zebra) they are actually less dangerous as male lions are used to having the females in the pride hunt for them (though this is something of a misnomer, as it's far from unusual for male lions to hunt, and indeed they are often relied on to overpower and kill especially large prey once the females have caught it). If a male lion is ousted by another and has to fend for themselves, they tend to make poorer hunters because their distinctive manes make it harder to sneak up on prey, their bulk makes them slower, and they may starve to death.

* In some countries women fight harder than men in the police or the military because they expect respect from their male colleagues.
* During the UsefulNotes/SecondWorldWar, the Germans were absolutely ''terrified'' of the Soviets' female soldiers, especially because while the male Soviets would surrender, the female Soviets would fight until death.

* UsefulNotes/{{The Bronze Age|OfComicBooks}} ComicBook/TeenTitans. ComicBook/{{Starfire}} was a hardened ex-slave from a ProudWarriorRace. [[ComicBook/WonderGirl Donna Troy]]? A literal Amazon operating under the same code as her older sister, Franchise/WonderWoman. ComicBook/{{Raven}}? Half-Demon with daddy issues, and some ''seriously'' scary powers. Robin (Dick Grayson) had his mentor's "do not kill" code. Cyborg was strong, but not an experienced fighter, and Changeling (Gar Logan) was only dangerous if you backed him into a corner.

* in ''WesternAnimation/EdEddNEddy'', '''every single one''' of the show's main set of female characters are capable of fighting back against any male character, ''even Nazz'' (despite being [[BewareTheNiceOnes the nicest]] among them).

* in ''WesternAnimation/EdEddnEddy'', '''every single one''' of the show's main set of female characters are capable of fighting back, ''even Nazz'' (despite being undoubtedly the nicest among them).