History Main / SilkHidingSteel

* ''Series/TheWheelOfTime'': Logain says "There's steel beneath that sweet exterior" regarding Egwene, and it's true. She is a kind and pretty young woman, but nonetheless very tough with a strong determination, even in the most dire circumstances. Although appearing reserved and demure, she is a good fighter, while also capable of holding up under intense torture which surely would break many other people.

** ''ComicBook/DoctorFate'': When not dispensing wise advice and giving her guests cookies, Inza [[HomeMaker tends gardens and keeps up the house.]] She's also a capable magician in her own right.
** ''{{ComicBook/Aquaman}}'': While ComicBook/{{Mera}} is a soft-spoken wife and mother, she also rules Atlantis with Aquaman. [[Recap/JusticeLeagueS1E6And7TheEnemyBelow When her husband was in danger from a usurper]], [[spoiler: she personally broke the Justice League out of jail, single-handedly knocking out several guards in the process]].

* ''Series/TheWheelOfTime'': Logain says "There's steel beneath that sweet exterior" regarding Egwene, and it's true. She is a kind and pretty young woman, but nonetheless very tough with a strong determination, even in the most dire circumstances.

** Toph Beifong is crude, rude, and outspoken; but she had to act like a demure, helpless blind girl for 12 years, so she can definitely act the part on occasion, such as when the group need to get into Ba Sing Se and she manipulates the clerk in check to get free passports.

** Asami Sato is a daughter of a prominent industrialist, pretty and proper... who is also a race car driver and has had the best self-defense training money can buy. [[spoiler:She'll electrify her own father if it means doing the right thing and saving authority figures and her friends from terrorists.]] As the fighting escalates, she dispenses with more and more silk until she better fits LadyOfWar than this trope. There's a visual cue to demonstrate the switch from silk to steel: [[spoiler: her formal induction into [[FanNickname the Krew]] shows her switching from her 'rich girl' clothes to a trench coat and PowerFist]].

** Rarity is always prim and proper, but she boldly charges in to fight a manticore, gets into an EPIC pillow fight, and single-handedly turns the tables on the Diamond Dogs when they try to enslave her. Notably, every time she's been in an ''actual'' fight, she doesn't rely on her magic; instead, [[GirlyBruiser she resorts to good old hoofticuffs]], such as punching out mooks with right hooks.
** Fluttershy too. She definitely fits the character-type (humble, loyal, wise, nurturing, etc. but with a clear touch of iron). She initially comes off as an ExtremeDoormat, as long as you don't push her too far or threaten her friends. You shouldn't do those things. [[BewareTheNiceOnes That's when the ]]''[[BewareTheNiceOnes other]]'' [[BewareTheNiceOnes side of Fluttershy's personality shows.]] The side that can stare down a cockatrice ''[[TakenForGranite as it's turning her to stone]]'', or [[TalkingTheMonsterToDeath scold a]] ''[[TalkingTheMonsterToDeath giant dragon]]'' [[TalkingTheMonsterToDeath so hard that it]] ''[[TalkingTheMonsterToDeath cries]]''.
** Princess Celestia as well. Granted, she generally desires a less formal relationship with her subjects and has a rather puckish sense of humor, but she clearly is a mare of great elegance and refinement. At the same time, when the chips are down, the steel comes out, as when she orders the Mane Six to do away with Discord (and later Queen Chrysalis) with all dispatch, or when she and her sister dealt with Discord themselves thousands of years before that, and King Sombra a mere thousand years ago. [[spoiler:And then there's [[SuperPoweredEvilSide Daybreaker]]...]]

* ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'': Pearl is the most ladylike of the gems and apparently "wasn't built for fighting"[[note]]As Peridot puts it [[spoiler: "Pearls are suppose to stand there and look pretty. They can't be anything else."]] [[/note]] but is so proficient at swordsmanship that she can hold her own against powerful fusions and high-class gem such as [[spoiler:Amethyst]].

* ''VideoGame/ArTonelico2'': Luca refers to it as 'attacking with smiles': pretending to be sweet and submissive when she's really luring someone into a trap.

Step lightly around delicate flowers like the EnglishRose or the YamatoNadeshiko. Their manner and appearance suggest meekness and submission and they have perfect etiquette, never speaking out of turn, their voices but an ephemeral whisper. They are beautiful things, kind and pure, clothed in fine dresses and soft gloves who hold [[HighClassFan silk fans]]... made of sharpened blades. In short, [[BewareTheNiceOnes beware]] the ''proper'' ones.

* ''WebComic/{{Homestuck}}'' has Kanaya Maryam. Being the representative of the Virgo sign, she bears all personality traits from it, being prim and proper, meticulous and, as she's also derived from its image, a GirlyGirl. However, while Kanaya never stops carrying herself with a [[TheFashionista fashionista]] flair, she's also the troll equivalent of a vampire and wields a ''chainsaw'' disguised as lipstick as her default WeaponOfChoice.

* ''Anime/DigimonAdventure'': Mimi Tachikawa of the original series. She's feminine, good-looking and acts like a princess but she's more capable than she looks like when she leads an army of Digimon alone to help the others against Piedmon making her possibly the most badass female Digidestined of this season.

* Nagisa Shiowatari is a ''[[RaisedAsTheOppositeGender male]]'' example of this. He's polite, soft-spoken and conflict averse, to the point his [[MasculineGirlFeminineBoy much more masculine]] [[ArrangedMarriage fiancee]] Ryuunosuke Fujinami complains about his tendency to burst into tears when critiqued. He's also been competing in and ''winning'' beach sumo contests since he was a little kid. When Ryuunosuke tries to attack Nagisa, he literally manhandles her like she was a child, [[SuperStrength effortlessly holding her back]] before slinging her over her back. In a second duel, he easily evades every attack, then bearhugs her into submission. For context, Ryuuosuke was the strongest, most aggressive and undefeatable fighter in the cast until Nagisa showed off what he could do.

* Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse:
** ''Film/IronMan'': Pepper Potts is a polite, benevolent, elegantly dressed businesswoman cum art curator. She's also the only person who can wrangle a genius billionaire playboy philanthropist superhero; has obtained incriminating evidence from under a villain's nose; fried him; oversaw the evacuation of a public event during an air raid; argued with the US government over the ownership of War Machine ''and won'' (as of ''Film/IronMan3'', it's on loan from SI); kick-punched another villain to death; [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and will deliver a mean burn if you demean her]]. Do not mess with the woman.

* ''LightNovel/BodaciousSpacePirates'': Jenny Doolittle is initially portrayed as the {{Ojou}} and displays major nerve when facing down the ''Lightning 11''. [[spoiler:She later plays this trope literally, concealing a pistol in her (silk) wedding dress.]]

* ''LightNovel/CrestOfTheStars'': Lafiel, polite and proper even when threatening someone. By her strength of will and cleverness, she maneuvered her way from 'prisoner' to recruiting Klowal's pet-like maids in rebellion against him. As for 'being in charge', she may be a princess, but she's still a 'pilot trainee' and must obey the hierarchy. Also, SheCleansUpNicely.

* ''LightNovel/TheGardenOfSinners'': Ryougi Shiki crosses this with LadyOfWar. Raised as both the {{Ojou}} and a competent swords-woman, she generally wears a kimono.....with her favorite knife tucked behind the sash.

* Nanami Yasuri from ''LightNovel/{{Katanagatari}}'' has the looks of a little girl, is polite, well-dressed, and almost never talks louder than a whisper. And she's one of the strongest and most skilled fighters in the entire series.

* TheWomanWearingTheQueenlyMask -- add sacrifice.

** Daenerys Targaryen is a beautiful, demure 15-year-old girl, who has sacked three cities and is bent on reclaiming the Iron Throne. She's also TheWomanWearingTheQueenlyMask.

* ''Series/TheMusketeers'': Queen Anne is TheWomanWearingTheQueenlyMask. She is gentle, kind, and elegant and she genuinely cares about her subjects and has even forgiven attempts on her life. She also is a subtle but powerful influence on the king, has the loyalty of the most skilled soldiers in France, and has earned the respect of some of the most dangerous and powerful people in France. She also doesn't shy away from life and death situations and as one man learned, she's rather handy with a [[EyeScream hair pin]].

Step lightly around delicate flowers like the EnglishRose or the YamatoNadeshiko. Their manner and appearance suggest meekness and submission and they have perfect etiquette, never speaking out of turn, their voices but an ephemeral whisper. They are beautiful things, kind and pure, clothed in fine dresses and soft gloves who hold silk fans... made of sharpened blades. In short, [[BewareTheNiceOnes beware]] the ''proper'' ones.

* The ''Franchise/BattleTechExpandedUniverse'' novels have Omi Kurita, a polite and soft-spoken Kuritan princess and Keeper of the House Honor, making her a classic YamatoNadeshiko. However, do not mistake her gentle and demure nature for weakness or timidity, as the events of ''Grave Covenant'' show that while her silk is a kimono, it hides the refined steel of a katana--when she and [[StarCrossedLovers Victor Davion]] were attacked by assassins sent after them by the Combine's ultranationalist [[SecretSociety Black Dragon Society]], she did her part to fend off the assassins alongside Victor. Omi did so by stealing one of the assassins' swords and [[OffWIthHIsHead unflinchingly beheading him in a single stroke]] after the man's compatriots attacked Victor. They had unwisely disregarded her due to their sexist views on women as weak and non-threats, and they did ''not'' live to regret the error.

** Demon Hammer Marie Mjolnir. She is a goofy example and her belief in being a ChristmasCake was enough to have her consider marrying a ''toliet'', but nonetheless a feminine Death Scythe and one of the few who listens to Shinigami's orders. Her kind demeanor and calming soul wavelength allows her to help keep Stein calm and away from Madness. As for the steel -- her nickname is "Crushing Weapon." She is a powerful hammer with lightning powers and can extend the hammerhead to become a tonfa. [[spoiler:When confronting Justin Law on BJ's murder, she reacts to the possibility of him harming her students by landing a punch on his chest so hard he's thrown into the air. This comes after Justin, having clearly forgotten he's in a WorldOfActionGirls, points out that though he and Marie are both Death Scythes, she has only a "woman's power".]]

** Wendy, a [[WiseBeyondTheirYears very mature girl]] with the ability to influence someone like Peter Pan himself. During the WalkThePlank scene, she is the definition of composed.

** Rosa of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'' first appears to be TheChick, due to [[spoiler:being helpless and then kidnapped for the first quarter of the plot]], but once she joins permanently, you realize she's a combination of this and WhiteMage; she can seriously '''fuck shit up''' with her Aim ability. And she is '''refusing to move out of Cecil's way after he ordered her off the Big Whale for the final confrontation''', flat out telling him that she won't let him go unless he takes her with him.

* ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'': Charity is this -- although she dislikes the series' narrator, so the readers rarely get to see the 'silk' part. She's a devoutly religious {{housewife}} who raises several children, and she knows swordsmanship and thinks nothing of trekking into the BigBad's freezing, {{Mook|s}}-filled castle to rescue one of [[MamaBear her daughters]]. Harry describes her as 'a rose wrought of stainless steel.'

-->-- '''Twilight Sparkle''' (about Rarity), ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'', "A Dog and Pony Show"

** Jadzia might look like more of a buttoned-up HotScientist in comparison to the more rough-and-tumble Major Kira, but she is a dangerous combatant with hundreds of years of experience to call on, and knows her way around a bat’leth well enough to hang with {{Proud Warrior Race Guy}}s like Kang and Kor as an equal.

* ''Manga/FairyTail'' presents Mirajane, who runs the guild from behind the scenes and holds the rank of Class S. [[ProperLady She's also the most feminine member of Fairy Tail in addition to being adorable and a good cook.]] [[spoiler: It's revealed that her magic is Demon-takeover magic, allowing her to take on the forms of various powerful demons after absorbing them (yes she basically eats demonic energy) and has earned the title of "Fairytale's She-devil"]]