History Main / TertiarySexualCharacteristics

** It is hard to tell clothed boys from girls before puberty, but aside from hairstyle and clothes differences, children very early adopt gendered behavior too.

Writers tend to assume that for some reason [[MostWritersAreMale most viewers]] will assume that the protagonist is a guy [[TheSmurfettePrinciple by default]]. So to make absolutely sure there's no ViewerGenderConfusion, developers will assign Tertiary Sexual Characteristics to the females. Occasionally, males will have some as well, but they tend to be much less obvious.

--"Well, she's got a bow on her head!"

* Long or heavily-styled hair with [[EveryGirlIsCuterWithHairDecs decorations]], even if their species doesn't even ''have'' hair in real life!

!!Examples

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<<|AnimalTropes|>>
<<|AnimatedTrope|>>
<<|GenderAndSexualityTropes|>>
<<|IndexOverdosed|>>
<<|VideoGameTropes|>>

* Gender-specific physical differences were created for some ''{{Pokemon}}'' in the ''Diamond/Pearl'' games. Fortunately, they tend to be arbitrary markings or based largely on gender differences in reality, so good on Game Freak. Female Wobbufetts appear to wear ''lipstick'', but [[RuleOfFunny it's just for the lulz]].
** Prior to this, the few gender-dimorphic Pokemon had their obviously different male and females listed as '''separate species'''! Male Volbeat is red and has a glowing tail, female Illumise is purple and doesn't. As a maybe-intentional subversion/inversion of the typical blue/pink color scheme, Nidoran-line females are blue/indigo, but the males are ''[[RealMenWearPink pink/purple]]''.

*** Note that the Pokémon that get different numbers based on their gender ''are'' actually very different. The male and female Nidoran lines learn entirely different moves and have differing stats. Some Pokémon only exist as a certain gender (no male Combee will ever evolve into a Vespiqueen, for example). Male and female Pikachu (and most other Pokémon species), though, are indistinguishable apart from their gender.

* In ''{{Pokemon}}'' Ash's Butterfree falls for another Butterfree, which just happens to be the only Pink Butterfree around (and this was before Shiny ''or'' gendered Pokemon were invented).
** As it turns out, possibly as a {{continuity nod}}, the shiny butterfree does have a pinkish tint, and is distinctly pink in the second generation.
** Toshiro Ono's manga also had a version of the "Pikachu temporarily joins up with a group of wild Pikachu" story where Pikachu hooks up with another Pikachu with a flower on its head, presumably intended to be female, with Ash's Pikachu [[AmbiguousGender being]] male.

* In ''{{Digimon}},'' eyelash difference is the only distinguishing feature between male and female [=KaratsukiNumemon=].

->'''Ben:''' "What makes you think it's a girl?"\\
'''Kevin:''' "Yeah, if it was a girl, it'd have a big bow on the side of its head or something."
--> -- ''Ben10AlienForce''

[[quoteright:350:[[HouseOfMouse http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mickeydonaldasminniedaisy_5485.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Bows? Check. Lipstick? Check. Eyelashes? Check. Makeup? Check. [[PinkGirlBlueBoy Lots of pink]]? Check. [[NonMammalMammaries Breasts]]? Half check. Jewelry? Check. Skirts? Check. High Heels? Check. No mistake, [[BlatantLies they're]] [[WholesomeCrossdresser girls]]!]]

* In TheLionKing, Shenzi, the female hyena, has thicker lips, no 'stubble' markings, heavily applied eyeshadow markings, and bangs. If it weren't for her voice actress and her male buddies lacking those features, you'd never know.

* Possibly a part of {{PPC}} agent Drake's DudeLooksLikeALady problem, as anthropomorphic foxes all look fairly similar to the untrained human eye and he has long {{Bishonen}}-type hair. However, this can't be the only explanation, as even other anthropormorphs have been known to have trouble. His {{Keet}} personality and GenderBender transformation ray addiction probably make matters significantly worse.

* When Amy Rose first appeared in ''Sonic CD'', her defining sexual characteristics are being pink (a contrast to Sonic's blue), eyelashes, and a skirt. When she was redesigned for ''Sonic Adventure'', her femininity was more emphasized by changing her hairstyle (up until then, it was exactly the same as Sonic's) and giving her large golden bracelets to wear on her wrists.

** ''KaizokuSentaiGoukaiger'' puts an interesting spin on this. The Goukaiger can [[MegaManning copy the powers of past Ranger teams]], so when Goukai Blue (male) copies a female Blue Ranger's powers, he gains a skirt. Conversely, when Goukai Yellow (female) copies a male Yellow Ranger's powers, she loses the skirt.

* In ''SpyroTheDragon: A Hero's Tail,'' girl dragon Ember is [[PinkGirlBlueBoy pink]], has a necklace, and has a heart-shaped tail tip.

** In Finland, where the nudity taboo is weaker than in most Western countries, this troper has witnessed a variation of identical stick figures with woman having a hole drilled in her pelvis, and the man having a small stick sticking out from the same spot - it's a joke rather than the standard, though.

* Much of Osamu Tezuka's works. Most male characters designed by him has long eyelashes, and in certain cases, even end up looking feminine (AstroBoy could easily pass off as a girl if his name didn't make it clear that it's a ''he''). KimbaTheWhiteLion actually caused some gender confusion, and it didn't help that he was [[CrossDressingVoices voiced by Yvonne Murray]] in the new dub.

** The PR-T's are also all pink... save for a [[TokenMinority single]] [PickGirlBlueBoy blue]] one visable in the background in one shot.

Note that many, many animals already have distinct sex-specific characteristics, though these are almost guaranteed to be totally ignored in designing fictional animal characters. Either the writers DidNotDoTheResearch or assumed the [[ViewersAreMorons viewers wouldn't know what they are]].

* Used in typically snarky fashion in ''PearlsBeforeSwine'': The female ''crocs'' & ''pigs'' are identified by ''{{Simpsons}}''-style beehive hairdos. Maura the non-anthropomorphic duck is given a hair (?) bow to distinguish her from her identical boyfriend Guard Duck - so that when they're both wearing helmets in a recent strip, her bow rides atop.

* Nintendo's Miis have all the same facial and hair combinations, however males wear a shirt & pants and females wear a dress that flares out.

* There's an episode of ''TheFairlyOddparents'' where Timmy wishes everyone would look exactly the same. Everyone turns into a gray blob... and the female characters have ''gray lipstick'' and heavy eyelashes. [[WallBanger Fail]].

* Much of Osamu Tezuka's works. Most male characters designed by him has long eyelashes, and in certain cases, even end up looking feminine (AstroBoy could easily pass of as a girl if his name didn't make it clear that it's a ''he''). KimbaTheWhiteLion actually caused some gender confusion, and it didn't help that he was [[CrossDressingVoices voiced by Yvonne Murray]] in the new dub.

* Much of Osamu Tezuka's works. Most male characters designed by him has long eyelashes, and in certain cases, even end up looking feminine (Astro boy could easily pass of as a girl if his name didn't make it clear that it's a ''he''). Kimba the White Lion actually caused some gender confusion, and it didn't help that he was [[CrossDressingVoices voiced by Yvonne Murray]] in the new dub.