History Main / RedheadsAreUncool

** Bianca has very obvious red hair and is considered a geeky, socially awkward {{bookworm}}. It's implied that she could be 'cool' if she really tried, but she figures out early on she'd prefer to stay a loser than change herself to fit in with the [[TheBeautifulElite 'Evernight types']] (probably not a bad thing seeing how most of them are snobs and assholes who bully outcast students). It also doesn't stop [[HeroesWantRedheads the heroes from wanting her]].

* Amusingly enough, the writer/artist of ''Webcomic/SaturdayMorningBreakfastCereal'' is a ginger, and as his comics would imply, a MASSIVE nerd. Also played straight with several of his comics. [[http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=2105#comic One strip decided]] that ''male'' redheads fall into this category, while females [[HeroesWantRedheads fall into the opposite camp]].

On the other hand, mature redheads are [[HeroesWantRedheads wanted by heroes]]. Being TruthInTelevision varies between individuals, but '''Administrivia/NoRealLifeExamplesPlease'''

* In ''Franchise/SpiderMan'', Bailey Briggs is Spider-Man's redheaded KidSidekick with a similarly poor reputation. His paralyzing fangs get him labeled a monster by the Daily Bugle and Peter barely tolerates Bailey at first. This is on top of being RetGone from history so no one can remember him. Christina jokes about this while Bailey is grousing about his reputation, calling him something way worse than a vampire: a ginger.

-->--'''Creator/FrankieBoyle''', ''Series/MockTheWeek'', ''"Unlikely lines from a Harry Potter book"''

-->''"Ron had been suffering from swine flu and people were avoiding him. Luckily, he was ginger and he was used to it.''"

* ''Series/EightSimpleRules'': The middle daughter Kerry is often made fun of for her red hair by her more beautiful older sister Bridget. Kerry is a self-professed CoolLoser and despises anything to do with femininity. When she meets a modelling agent who's interested in her sister, she launches into a spiel about how how shallow and superficial modelling is...until said agent compliments her on how beautiful her red hair is and suggests she try modelling. [[HypocriticalHumour Kerry immediately starts gushing]].

* ''ComicBook/RobinSeries'': Philmont Denlinger is a redheaded geek with freckles who gets relentlessly bullied.

** This is usually played straight in ''Literature/{{Goosebumps}}'', with the most notable example being [[StrawLoser Evan Ross]] in the ''Monster Blood'' series.

* [[TheGrotesque Quasimodo]] from ''WesternAnimation/{{The Hunchback of Notre Dame|Disney}}'' plays this trope straight. He is the deformed bell-ringer of the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Notre-Dame_de_Paris Notre-Dame de Paris]] cathedral and, as a result, is the outcast of the citizens of Paris [[spoiler: until he was finally accepted as the hero at the end of the film]].

* ''Film/TheQuietMan'''s Mary-Kate is considered trouble by the locals because of her red hair, but the protagonist Sean (who's American) finds her beautiful.
* ''{{Film/Halloween 1978}}'' downplays it but the auburn-haired Laurie is the shy, bookish one out of her trio of friends.

* In ''Film/TheLastKingOfScotland'', UsefulNotes/IdiAmin tells Nicholas Garrigan that [[ForeignCultureFetish if he could be anything other than a Ugandan, he would be a Scot]], except for having red hair, because while Scottish women find it attractive, Africans like Amin are disgusted.
* In ''Film/DiaryOfAWimpyKid'', the redheaded Fregley is established early on as the least popular kid in the school, due to his [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} many bizarre tendencies]].

* As Mallory Pike of ''Literature/TheBabySittersClub'' is the only one in her family with red hair, glasses and braces. Mallory often feels unattractive and an ongoing plot arc of hers was trying to convince her parents to let her spice up her look with contacts, pierced ears, and a new wardrobe. She also feels like her parents treat her like a baby.
* Trisana Chandler, Tris for short, is a character in Tamora Pierce's ''Literature/CircleOfMagic'' series. She has curly red hair (her friend Briar calls her "Coppercurls"), gray eyes, and wears spectacles. She believes herself to be fat and is called "Fatty" a few times by some of the series' crueler characters. Before she learned control over her magic, strange things would happen when she got angry or emotional, such as causing it to hail indoors or to strike lightning nearby.
* Joyce from ''Literature/{{Joyride}}'' is prudish to the point that even her only real ally in her circle of "friends" is prone to being agitated by her.
* The eponymous Eleanor of ''Literature/EleanorAndPark'' gets picked on for being fat ''and'' having red hair, which she's suitably insecure about. Her time with Park leads her to rise above this.

* ''Literature/{{Evernight}}'':
** Bianca has very obvious red hair and is considered a geeky, socially awkward {{bookworm}}. It's implied that she could be 'cool' if she really tried, but she figures out early on she'd prefer to stay a loser than change herself to fit in with the [[TheBeautifulElite 'Evernight types']] (probably not a bad thing seeing how most of them are snobs and assholes who bully outcast students). It also doesn't stop [[HeroesWantRedheads the heroes from wanting her]].
** Averted by Adrian, Bianca's dad, a biology teacher who is seen as a CoolTeacher (although he's said to have very dark red hair that looks almost black, while Bianca's hair is a much brighter shade).

* Willow of ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' is presented as a bookish nerd with considerable computer skills, dowdily dressed and easily intimidated by more popular girls in school. Willow becomes much more confident in college, finally finding a place that respects her intellect, and to show that, she has embraced the redness of her hair by having dyed it a brighter red.
* ''Series/StrangerThings'': Subverted in Season 2 (at least from the boys' perspective) with the introduction of Max, a tomboy girl who likes skateboarding and video games.

* In the pilot of ''Series/{{Smallville}}'', nine-year-old Lex Luthor is being chastised for being scared and keeping his eyes closed while on the helicopter ride. Once he opens them he gets more scared and needs to use his inhaler because he has an asthma attack. That day the meteor shower caused him to lose all his red hair.

* ''Series/EightSimpleRules'' - the middle daughter Kerry is often made fun of for her red hair by her more beautiful older sister Bridget. Kerry is a self-professed CoolLoser and despises anything to do with femininity. When she meets a modelling agent who's interested in her sister, she launches into a spiel about how how shallow and superficial modelling is...until said agent compliments her on how beautiful her red hair is and suggests she try modelling. [[HypocriticalHumour Kerry immediately starts gushing]].

* ''Series/{{ER}}'''s Kerry Weaver. Fussy, officious, hypercritical, ''hypo''critical, two-faced, control freak, irritating, etc, etc.
* ''Series/{{Bridgerton}}'': The Featheringtons are treated mostly as uncouth pariahs, and all of the women have dark red hair.

* The titular character of ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory''. Dexter is a geeky redheaded boy-genius, complete with giant glasses, lab coat and awkward speech.
* The Goldman family, father, wife and son from ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' are all gingers and are walking clichés of uncool tropes.
* Eugene in ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'', who is the accident-prone resident jinx.
* Twist of ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' shows several stereotypically nerdy traits, such as a curly red mane and tail, pale coat, large, large glasses, and a nasal SpeechImpediment (she has a hard time pronouncing W's and S's). She is the last one in her class to get her cutie mark before the cutie mark crusaders.

* [[PrettyBoy Nathanael]] from ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'' spends a lot of his time drawing, and is made fun of by [[AlphaBitch Chloe]] for his crush on another classmate. This leads him [[spoiler:to turn into a villain for one episode and attempt to get revenge on her.]]
* Chuckie Finster of ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'' is danger-prone, cowardly, wears glasses that would break from time to time, has a perpetually stuffy nose, and is often picked on by other kids. So much so that there have been entire episodes devoted to him having an operation that temporarily cleared his nose, him trying to dye his hair black to fit in with the rest of the kids, and his other quirks.
* The "Ginger Kids" episode of ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' features Cartman turning his bigotry on redheads, claiming that they're soulless and unattractive to the point of being frightening. Subverted halfway through when the other boys make Cartman look like a ginger to teach him a lesson: Cartman immediately starts a ginger supremacy group and tries to kill all of the non-ginger kids. [[spoiler:Several seasons later, this becomes a double subversion: [[WhamEpisode 201]] sheds some light on Cartman's true father, and Scott Tenorman, whose parents had been previously murdered by Cartman reveals that they are half-brothers on their father's side, meaning Cartman himself is in his own eyes half-ginger. Cartman is also one of the most unpopular kids at South Park Elementary, not at all helped by the fact he's a sociopath.]]
* Zoey of ''WesternAnimation/TheProudFamily''. She has glasses, braces, a lanky body, and a desperate attempt to be cool.
* Eliza Thornberry from ''WesternAnimation/TheWildThornberrys'' can be geeky at times. She has red hair (always in braids), large glasses, braces, an overbite and a chimpanzee as a best friend, all the while being homeschooled while traveling the world and hiding her secret ability for talking to animals.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheGrimAdventuresOfBillyAndMandy'':
** Pud'n is Endsville's resident ButtMonkey and [[TheChewToy Chew Toy]].
** Averted with [[AlphaBitch Mindy]], who is the most popular girl in school.
* Adam Lyon, the main character of ''WesternAnimation/MyGymPartnersAMonkey'', is a typical freckle-faced ginger boy who [[ButtMonkey is frequently pushed around and bullied]], with rarely anything ever going right for him.
* Ginger from ''WesternAnimation/AsToldByGinger'' is presented this way, especially in early episodes, however her being unpopular doesn't stop her from being a DudeMagnet or befriending the most popular girl in her middle school.

* [[DarkSkinnedRedhead Will Vandom]] from ''ComicBook/{{WITCH}}'' and the [[WesternAnimation/{{WITCH}} animated series]] is the TheLeader of the titular group and the relatable everygirl that worries about her figure and whether her boyfriend would prefer older, more mature girls while also [[EverybodyHatesMathematics having trouble with her math classes]], not helped by the fact that her teammates are a [[EveryoneLovesBlondes gorgeous blonde]] LovableAlphaBitch, a free-spirited {{Otaku}} that is talented in designing and making clothes, a TeenGenius that's also a skilled dancer and an "early bloomer" that had several more boyfriends than the other girls during the comic's run, making it harder for Will to stand out in comparison. It's actually [[DownplayedTrope downplayed]] that despite Will's confidence issues and sometimes poor self-image she's an excellent compeitive swimmer, dating one of the coolest guys at her school and as mentioned is the leader of a team of [[MagicalGirlWarrior Magical Girl Warriors]] that have saved the multiverse multiple times and [[TrueCompanions are closer than sisters to her]], so it's more that Will ''feels'' like an unpopular redhead than actually being one.

* The "Ginger Kids" episode of ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' features Cartman turning his bigotry on red heads, claiming that they're soulless and unattractive to the point of being frightening. Subverted halfway through when the other boys make Cartman look like a ginger to teach him a lesson: Cartman immediately starts a ginger supremacy group and tries to kill all of the non-ginger kids. [[spoiler:Several seasons later, this becomes a double subversion: [[WhamEpisode 201]] sheds some light on Cartman's true father, and Scott Tenorman, whose parents had been previously murdered by Cartman reveals that they are half-brothers on their father's side, meaning Cartman himself is in his own eyes half-ginger. Cartman is also one of the most unpopular kids at South Park Elementary, not at all helped by the fact he's a sociopath.]]

* [[TheGrotesque Quasimodo]] from ''WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'' plays this trope straight. He is the deformed bell-ringer of the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Notre-Dame_de_Paris Notre-Dame de Paris]] cathedral and, as a result, is the outcast of the citizens of Paris [[spoiler: until he was finally accepted as the hero at the end of the film]].