History Main / NaiveEverygirl

[[folder:Comics Books]]

%%**Dreamy, weak willed Terri from ''Series/DegrassiTheNextGeneration''.

%%* Rebecca Harper in ''TheLatestBuzz''.

The NaïveEverygirl is not a saint. She's bad at showing gratitude, which tends to drive her friends away when she needs them. But eventually she will reconcile with the people who helped her, after [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone wondering how she could be so blind]].

A romantic, innocent character, almost always a preteen or teenage girl, who is essentially a fairy-tale heroine in the present (or in the [[TheFuture science-fiction future]]). She is naive, ignorant and insecure (especially about her body). She will be the target of every bully in the world, especially the AlphaBitch. All she has going for her is her pure heart, which will save her -- she never gives up, no matter what, and will eventually get the better of her tormentors.

The NaiveEverygirl is not a saint. She's bad at showing gratitude, which tends to drive her friends away when she needs them. But eventually she will reconcile with the people who helped her, after [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone wondering how she could be so blind]].

* ''CodeGeass'': Shirley Fennette. Her innocence and naivete makes for a contrast with all the world weary or aggressive soliders/politicans etc.
* A lot of GirlsLove series feature a light-haired NaiveEverygirl as the {{Uke}} to the OneeSama {{Seme}}:

* ''{{Berserk}}'': Jill and Princess Charlotte are two sweet and idealistic girls. The CrapsackWorld they live in is not kind to the naive.

* Pictured above is Giselle from ''{{Film/Enchanted}}'' who is ''not'' an "every-girl" but certainly naive.

* Most 19th century fairy tales have one, either male or female, and modern stories with a NaiveEverygirl will often have a ShoutOut to them. The main difference is that in the old fairy tales, she was just as likely to come to a bad end. (Creator/HansChristianAndersen's "The Little Match Girl" is a sadistic example full of {{Glurge}}.)
* Diane Duane's ''YoungWizards'': Nita, the heroine, started out a NaiveEverygirl, but matured beyond that stage with the discovery and mastery of her wizardry.

* Title character of ''UglyBetty'': Though Betty has become less naive since then, she's still as idealistic as ever.
* Laura Webber (later Baldwin, then Spencer) from ''GeneralHospital'' is an example of this trope, particularly during the character's original appearances from 1975 to 1982. When the character returned in 1993 she had become less naive, but still retained most of the other qualities of this trope.

* Sophia Esteed of ''VideoGame/StarOceanTillTheEndOfTime'', although more emphasis on her naivete and ignorance. Her body image issues are somewhat of a running joke through the game, too.
* Estellise from ''VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia''; like the above example, is not ungrateful, but she is quite naive from being [[ShelteredAristocrat sheltered all of her life]]. Unlike the rest of the party, she is very [[LoveFreak kind]] and [[AllLovingHero never hesitates to show compassion]]. This lead to some [[MindRape unfortunate]] [[BrainwashedAndCrazy consequences]], but she eventually recovers.

But the NaiveEverygirl is not a saint. She's particularly bad at showing gratitude, which tends to drive her friends away when she needs them. But eventually she will reconcile with the people who helped her, after [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone wondering how she could be so blind]].

This character is mostly a DiscreditedTrope on Western TV nowadays but were popular before 1990s; only the most idealistic shows on the SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism (and occasionally their {{Deconstruction}}s) have one nowadays. But in film and "young adult" fiction, she is inescapable. They are however very frequent protagonists of {{Shojo}} stories written by women.

* Shirley Fennette from ''CodeGeass'' is a {{deconstruction}} of the trope. Her innocence and naivete actually leads her to [[BreakTheCutie much misfortune]], [[spoiler: including but not limited to: Mao's MindRape, Lelouch's LaserGuidedAmnesia, the Emperor's FakeMemories, Jermiah's AntiMagic undoing said memories, Rolo's [[{{Yandere}} sociopathic jealousy]], and [[TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth finally her]] DEATH]].

** Resine from ''ShiroiHeyaNoFutari''.
** Reina from ''Manga/MayasFuneralProcession''.
** Nanako from ''OniisamaE''.
** Himeko Kurusegawa from ''KannazukiNoMiko'' basically personifies this trope.
** Nagisa from ''LightNovel/StrawberryPanic''.
** Yumi from ''LightNovel/MariaSamaGaMiteru''.
* Miaka from the anime ''FushigiYuugi'' is an example with the dark side exaggerated, to the point where some fans thought it went too far.

* Tohru Honda of ''FruitsBasket'' is definitely this, especially with how she enters and approaches the various members of the Sohma family.

* Subverted deliciously with Hikari/Kari in ''DigimonAdventure''. At first she seems like nothing more than the AffirmativeActionGirl and/or the IllGirl of the team. She's innocent, sweet, holder of the Crest of ''Light'' and hates to see other people in pain. However [[PluckyGirl she also has all the guts and nerve]] of the older [[BigBrotherWorship brother she idolises]] and at the age of ''eight'' is capable of holding her own. ''And'' she also suffers the downsides of her Messiah condition - as in, she's unable to handle the pressure and has at least ''two'' HeroicBSOD moments.

* Oh poor, poor Jill and Princess Charlotte from ''{{Berserk}}''. Two sweet and idealistic girls who live in a CrapsackWorld...

[[folder:Film -- Animated]]
* In ''Disney/ThePrincessAndTheFrog'', we have Charlotte, being TheDitz and a complete romantic, wanting to fall in love with a prince and become a princess, a dream of hers since she was a little girl. In the end, [[spoiler: she gives up that dream so that Prince Naveen and Tiana would get together and [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy was generally happy]] for her best friend]].
** Most of the earlier {{Disney Princess}}es fit into this as well.
[[/folder]]

* Pictured above is Giselle from ''{{Film/Enchanted}}''. Her cheerfulness and curiosity stand out more because she is a ''literal'' Disney Princess who has been put in the real world.
* Babe from the two ''Film/{{Babe}}'' films (especially the sequel, ''Babe: Pig in the City'') is a rare male example. (Of course, he's also a TalkingAnimal [[CrossDressingVoices voiced by a woman]].)

* Jamie Bartlett from the DisneyChannel movie ''Read It and Weep,'' who became so blinded by the prospect of being in the popular crowd that she pretty blew off everyone her inner circle and [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone ignored her best friend Connor, who'd secretly been harboring a crush on her]], only to lose this newfound popularity once it's revealed that her novel, "Is Saves The World", was truly a mockery of her high school and its cliques, which makes it difficult for her to gain back everyone's trust.

* [[ShrinkingViolet Alex Burroughs]] from the TV movie ''Model Behavior''.

* the titular character from the ''Literature/{{Alice Series}}'' by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor.
* The protagonist of JudyBlume's ''AreYouThereGodItsMeMargaret''.
* Most 19th century fairy tales have one, either male or female, and modern stories with a NaiveEverygirl will often have a ShoutOut to them. The main difference is that in the old fairy tales, she was just as likely to come to a bad end. (Creator/HansChristianAndersen's "The Little Match Girl" is a particularly sadistic example, full of {{Glurge}}.)
* Nita, the heroine of Diane Duane's ''YoungWizards'' series of books, started out a NaiveEverygirl, but matured beyond that stage with the discovery and mastery of her wizardry.
* Sci-fi author Creator/JohnRingo tends to have subversions or inversions of this trope in his books. Megan Trevante and [[spoiler: Mirta]] in the short story at the end of John Ringo's ''Emerald Sea'', as well as from the later books of his ''Literature/CouncilWars'' series are subversions of this, one being a very intelligent, tough and cunning young woman and the other spending most of her time pretending to exemplify this. The character Shenea, however, while being ''very'' sexual, exemplifies this trope. There are also several in his ''Literature/PaladinOfShadows'' series (mainly Katrina), which is odd considering the fact it is, by far, his most misogynistic series.
* Mary Anne Spier and Mallory Pike in ''TheBabysittersClub'' series.

* Melanie Brodie from ''Series/DegrassiJuniorHigh''.
** Dreamy, weak willed Terri from ''Series/DegrassiTheNextGeneration''.
** Manny in the first two seasons.
** Nerdy little Clare, despite coming a long way, still falls into this trope even after the show's rebrand to ''Franchise/{{Degrassi}}''.
* Title character of ''UglyBetty'', especially in earlier episodes. Though Betty has become less naive since then, she's still, of course, as idealistic as ever.

* Hannah Rogers in ''{{Everwood}}'', coupled with ShrinkingViolet.
* Carly Shay in ''ICarly''.
* Alex in ''TheSecretWorldOfAlexMack''.
* Rebecca Harper in ''TheLatestBuzz''.
* Meg Pryor in ''Series/AmericanDreams''.
* Spencer from ''SouthOfNowhere'' is a bit older than usual, but still fits this role perfectly.

* ''LizzieMcGuire''

* The GarfunkelAndOates song "29/31" is about a woman who is like this when she is 29 years old, but becomes a lot more cynical when she reaches 31.

* Sophia Esteed of ''VideoGame/StarOceanTillTheEndOfTime'', although with less emphasis on a lack of gratitude (she doesn't have much to be grateful for, really) and more emphasis on her naivete and ignorance. Her body image issues are somewhat of a running joke through the game, too.
* Estellise from ''VideoGame/TalesOfVesperia''; like the above example, is not ungrateful, but she is quite naive from being [[ShelteredAristocrat sheltered all of her life]]. Unlike the rest of the party, she is very [[LoveFreak kind]] and [[TheMessiah never hesitates to show compassion]]. This lead to some [[MindRape unfortunate]] [[BrainwashedAndCrazy consequences]], but she eventually recovers.
* Sumia from ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'' has many shades of this trope, despite being a competent fighter in addition to having a good heart.

* Parodied in the ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' episode "Are You There, God? It's Me, Jesus."

* In the sequels of Disney's ''Disney/{{Cinderella}}'', [[spoiler: Anastasia, the redheaded stepsister]] gets [[RetCon retconned]] into a character like this.

* Sharon Spitz from ''{{Braceface}}'' fits this trope to a T.

* Annie Redfeather from ''AdventuresFromTheBookOfVirtues'', in spades.

* BridgetJones is clumsy, insecure (especially about her body), and is very vulnerable yet won't give up her pursuit of love.

* Shirley Fennette from ''CodeGeass'' is a {{deconstruction}} of the trope. Her innocence and naivete actually leads her to [[BreakTheCutie much misfortune]], [[spoiler: including but not limited to: Mao's MindRape, Lelouch's LaserGuidedAmnesia, the Emperor's FakeMemories, Jermiah's AntiMagic undoing said memories, Rolo's [[{{Yandere}} sociopathic jealousy]], and [[TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth finally her]] [[KilledOffForReal DEATH]]]].

* Jamie Bartlett from the DisneyChannel movie ''Read It and Weep.''

* Jamie Bartlett from the DisneyChannel movie ''Read It and Weep.''

* the titular character from the ''{{Alice Series}}'' by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor.

* the titular character from the ''Alice(Series)'' by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor.

* the titular character from the ''AliceSeries'' by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor.

* the titular character from the ''Alice'' series by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor.

* Elena Gilbert from ''TheVampireDiaries'' sometimes fits this trope. Elena is sometimes very unaware of how much her family and friends sacrifice for her in order for her to be safe.

* Mia from ''ThePrincessDiaries'' blew off her best friend's brother to go to a party with the most popular guy in school who would hopefully give her a [[FootPopping foot popping kiss]].

* Sci-fi author Creator/JohnRingo tends to have subversions or inversions of this trope in his books. Megan Trevante and [[spoiler: Mirta]] in the short story at the end of John Ringo's ''Emerald Sea'', as well as from the later books of his ''CouncilWars'' series are subversions of this, one being a very intelligent, tough and cunning young woman and the other spending most of her time pretending to exemplify this. The character Shenea, however, while being ''very'' sexual, exemplifies this trope. There are also several in his ''Literature/PaladinOfShadows'' series (mainly Katrina), which is odd considering the fact it is, by far, his most misogynistic series.