History Main / SlidingScaleofBeauty

* In ''Literature/TheKingkillerChronicles'' series, the fey creature Felurian is in the Divine beauty cateogry, basically being a sex goddess with whom men fall instantly in love and presumably die either from exhaustion or separation. Then there's Denna, who from Kvothe's point of view is a World Class beauty. However, there are some subtle hints from other characters that Denna is merely Common or Imperfect beauty, implying that Kvothe's impressions are skewed by his love for her. But because she is constantly with other male suitors and essentially lives off her looks, she probably is rather beautiful. Most other women in the series fall into the Common beauty category.

While in RealLife the concept of beauty is very subjective, in fiction there is a clear consensus on beauty. In addition beauty tends to be dynamic, as some characters get uglier or more beautiful than before.

** Ironically the other characters played by Creator/ZooeyDeschanel are considered Special average.

** Shrek is considered Super Ugly in his ogre form, and Common beauty in his human form.
** Prince Charming is considered World Class beauty.

** Rei is at a Divine Level Beauty, full stop. Women everywhere can't control themselves when they see him for the first time. Though the novelty apparently wears off when they discover he shapeshifts into a bull/tiger-like werebeast, which is treated as Fearsome and Clearly Inhuman.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'' has a super ugly example. There's a kid with a zit blown out of proportion HollywoodNerd style. He's the most unpopular kid in school and nobody wants to sit near him.

They are unattractive, yes, but more than that: they are unattractive in a creepy way. Think Governor Tarkin of StarWars fame. Their traits are not blatantly gonkish, fairly within the limits for a normal human being, but subtly repulsive. More often than not their appearance will match perfectly with their nasty character: for example, a Nazi concentration camp commandant will have a gaunt, skull-like face and glasses [[ScaryShinyGlasses that tend to reflect light]] when it's dramatically appropriate, and an overweight food-hoarding merchant in a famine-struck medieval land will be not fat like an elephant, but his (otherwise completely normal) girth will have a slimy, greasy sheen to it. However, this appearance isn't a sure indicator of evil; a MisunderstoodLonerWithAHeartOfGold can look like this, too.

* In the ''Literature/{{Dragonlance}}'' novels both Laurana and Goldmoon are high-end World Class beauties; Goldmoon was literally worshipped by her barbarian tribe for her beauty upon first seeing Laurana all the heroes are dazzled by her looks, even the ultra-cynical Raistlin. They don't ''quite'' qualify for Divine Level since other characters can interact with them normally without falling in love. Caramon, Tika, Crysiana, and Kitiara are all Common beauty.
** Laurana had multiple characters swear that she was the WorldsMostBeautifulWoman, and when she rode into the city of Kalaman every man, woman, and child in the city was so mesmerized by her beauty that they could only stare at her in silent awe. Making an entire city go weak in the knees at the sight of her should qualify Laurana as a Divine beauty.

** [[WorldsMostBeautifulWoman Cersei]] and [[HalfIdenticalTwins Jaime]] are World-Class Beauties, with Cersei skirting the line between World-Class and Divine (although by the fourth book, her looks are starting to go...). Several noble ladies are World-Class beauties, most notably Sansa Stark and Margaery Tyrell. Robert Baratheon (and Renly, who resembles him) in his prime was also one. Sansa's mother Catelyn, after whom the former takes, is probably between World Class and Common; Sansa is said to be prettier than her and Catelyn, while beautiful wasn't renowned for her beauty like Cersei or Sansa are.

** Aeris is a Common Beauty, although one canny enough to overcharge admirers she dislikes for the flowers she sells. She's described as being 'pretty' and is second-choice to be 'interviewed' by the Don, behind Tifa. In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake'', she's noted by several [=NPCs=] to be just OK-looking, which makes her annoyed, although she can later comment that she thinks people like her everyday, down-to-earth charm.
** [[HarmlessLadyDisguise Cloud in a dress]] is Uncanny Average, described euphemistically as being 'healthy-looking', and said to be 'not bad' if you don't look closely. 'She' is the Don's least favorite, and even if you dress 'her' well enough to make the Don pick 'her', he still finds her a bit suspicious... Cloud as himself is a Flawed Beauty - he's convincingly good-looking enough to pass as a former [[ElitesAreMoreGlamorous SOLDIER 1st Class]] and more than a few women ([[MachoCamp and Mukki]]) in game are immediately attracted to his looks (Johnny describes him as being a 'playboy'). On the other hand, he's also seen as overly intimidating and with CreepyBlueEyes that are not well-liked (though Aeris likes them and one NPC finds them sexy). Several other characters (including Cid) describe him as being unpleasantly odd in demeanor, likely the effect of his [[TheMentallyDisturbed winning]] personality. In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake'', he's upgraded to a World Class beauty, his looks catching the eye of two of Wall Market's entertainment moguls as having star potential - both Madam M, and the supposedly extremely discerning Andrea. After a couple of rounds at the Colosseum he attracts a group of screaming fangirls and multiple characters comment on his perfect bone structure. When in a dress, he is apparently an [[AttractiveBentGender awesomely attractive woman]] as well, with young men breaking up with their girlfriends over her after seeing her in the street, and even the [[WhatIsThisThingYouCallLove sexless Chadley]] falling head over heels for her on sight. The Don notices 'she's' muscular and has a very deep voice, but apparently quite likes the idea of a buff trans woman in VisualKei fashion [[BondageIsBad calling him a disgusting pervert and cussing him out]].

** Klaasje is a World Class Beauty. She was a beauty queen representing her own country, and, when Ruby's love of classic female movie pinups is brought up to suggest that Klaasje is her type, Ruby responds that Klaasje is everyone's type. Klaasje is so beautiful that she's able to overpower Harry's brain, leaving the voices in his head unable to suss out her lies.

* In ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'', [[ButtMonkey Meg Griffin]] varies between Super Ugly and Monstrous. Being with her is considered AFateWorseThanDeath in this show. However, in an AlternateUniverse, she is super attractive - though she is still "one of the ugly ones" as everyone is gorgeous in this universe. There is also the episode where she gets a make-over and is upgraded to World Class beauty.

** Marge's appearance hasn't changed over the run of the show, but she's treated as Common Beauty (and sometimes even Just Average) in the earlier seasons and World Class Beauty in the later ones.

* Many of Creator/AgathaChristie's works play with the BeautyIsBad trope; whenever a story features a handsome men of at least Common Beauty, the odds are that he will turn out to be [[BeautyIsBad a villain or at least immoral]]; a heroine who has fallen for him may end up paired with his foil, a man of much better character who may be around Just Average in appearance. This may be a case of WriterOnBoard, considering Christie's two husbands. Diana Ashley from "The Idol House of Astarte" borders on World Class Beauty while Richard Carey from ''Literature/MurderInMesopotamia'' comes under Good-looking but Uncanny; [[spoiler:in both cases, [[SoBeautifulItsACurse their striking appearance contributes indirectly to the murder that follows]].]]

* In ''TabletopGame/{{Nobilis}}'', Ananda, Lord of Murder, the Infinite, and the Fourth Age takes the Intolerably Extreme Beauty level UpToEleven. Even a picture of him induces physical and/or psychological damage in those who see it. His incredible beauty causes madness or death to any creature within a certain radius of him, ''even if they can't actually see him''.

* In ''TabletopGame/{{Nobilis}}'', Ananda, Lord of Murder, the Infinite, and the Fourth Age is very high in the Intolerably Extreme Beauty range. Even a picture of him induces physical and/or psychological damage in those who see it. His incredible beauty causes madness or death to any creature within a certain radius of him, ''even if they can't actually see him''.

* In ''TabletopGame/{{Nobilis}}'', Ananda, Lord of Murder, the Infinite, and the Fourth Age is very high in the Intolerably Extreme Beauty range. Even a picture of him induces physical and/or psychological damage in those who see it, due to his incredible beauty, and actually seeing him in the flesh is even worse, capable of causing death in the beholder.

* Sundari from ''Midnight's Children'' by Salman Rushdie is initially of Intolerably Extreme Beauty. Her mother and the midwife become fully blind at the sight of her as soon as she is born, her father suffers vision impairment just from a fleeting glimpse, and for a time she has to cover her face. A cruel great-aunt slashes her face with a knife and she is reduced to becoming a beggar; she becomes very successful at this because "nobody who looked at her could fail to pity a girl who had clearly once been too beautiful to look at and was now so cruelly disfigured."

* In ''TabletopGame/{{Nobilis}}'', Ananda, Lord of Murder, the Infinite, and the Fourth Age is definitely in Intolerably Extreme Beauty range. Even a picture of him induces physical and/or psychological damage in those who see it, due to his incredible beauty, and actually seeing him in the flesh is even worse.

* ''ComicBook/LilAbner'' features both extremes of the scale: the Lovecraftian-level Lena the Hyena induces insanity in those who look upon her, while Stupefyin' Jones is an Intolerably Extreme Beauty, the sight of whom causes any mortal man to be frozen petrified on the spot.

* Nymphs in ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' must be Intolerably Extreme Beauty -- they're so beautiful it actually acts as a BrownNote, at least if they will it. In 2nd Edition, it could not be turned off. See a nymph, you go blind. See one naked, and you die. Talk about SoBeautifulItsACurse.

* Sundari from "Midnight's Children" by Salman Rushdie is initially of Intolerably Extreme Beauty. Her mother and the midwife become fully blind at the sight of her, father suffers vision impairment just from a fleeting glimpse, and for a time she has to cover her face. A cruel great-aunt slashes her face with a knife and she is reduced to becoming a beggar; she becomes very successful at this because "nobody who looked at her could fail to pity a girl who had clearly once been too beautiful to look at and was now so cruelly disfigured."
* In Richard Kennedy's "The Dark Princess", the titular character progresses from Divine Level Beauty to Intolerably Extreme Beauty by the time she grows to young womanhood, causing all who look at her to go blind (as she is also). The King discovers, however, that she can be looked at safely through a piece of colored glass.

** Melisandre is an UncannyValleyGirl - she is noted as beautiful, but something is off about her.

** Tifa is a World Class beauty, semi-famous in her city for her good looks, able to get 'interviewed' in a brothel for the position of a wife for a powerful crime boss, and so gorgeous one of her worst enemies won't attempt to hurt her in boss battles.
** Aeris is a Common beauty, although one canny enough to overcharge admirers she dislikes for the flowers she sells. She's described as being 'pretty' and is second-choice to be 'interviewed' by the Don, behind Tifa. In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake'', she's noted by several [=NPCs=] to be just OK-looking, which makes her annoyed, although she can later comment that she thinks people like her everyday, down-to-earth charm.
** [[HarmlessLadyDisguise Cloud in a dress]] is an UncannyValleyGirl, described euphemistically as being 'healthy-looking', and said to be 'not bad' if you don't look closely. 'She' is the Don's least favorite, and even if you dress 'her' well enough to make the Don pick 'her', he still finds her a bit suspicious... Cloud as himself is a Flawed Beauty - he's convincingly good-looking enough to pass as a former [[ElitesAreMoreGlamorous SOLDIER 1st Class]] and more than a few women ([[MachoCamp and Mukki]]) in game are immediately attracted to his looks (Johnny describes him as being a 'playboy'). On the other hand, he's also seen as overly intimidating and with CreepyBlueEyes that are not well-liked (though Aeris likes them and one NPC finds them sexy). Several other characters (including Cid) describe him as being unpleasantly odd in demeanor, likely the effect of his [[TheMentallyDisturbed winning]] personality. In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake'', he's upgraded to a World Class beauty, his looks catching the eye of two of Wall Market's entertainment moguls as having star potential - both Madam M, and the supposedly extremely discerning Andrea. After a couple of rounds at the Colosseum he attracts a group of screaming fangirls and multiple characters comment on his perfect bone structure. When in a dress, he is apparently an [[AttractiveBentGender awesomely attractive woman]] as well, with young men breaking up with their girlfriends over her after seeing her in the street, and even the [[WhatIsThisThingYouCallLove sexless Chadley]] falling head over heels for her on sight. The Don notices 'she's' muscular and has a very deep voice, but apparently quite likes the idea of a buff trans woman in VisualKei fashion [[BondageIsBad calling him a disgusting pervert and cussing him out]].

* In Robert Kennedy's "The Dark Princess", the titular character progresses from Divine Level Beauty to Intolerably Extreme Beauty by the time she grows to young womanhood, causing all who look at her to go blind (as she is also). The King discovers, however, that she can be looked at safely through a piece of colored glass.

* In Robert Kennedy's "The Dark Princess", the titular character progresses from Divine Level Beauty to Intolerably Extreme Beauty by the time she is twenty, causing all who look at her to go blind (as she is also). The King discovers, however, that she can be looked at safely through a piece of colored glass.