History Main / TheIngenue

* Entity in the ''Fanfic/AvantasiaProtagAu'' series is a rare male example. He is also a rare not young example, being in his late 30s. But he also [[AmnesiacsAreInnocent doesn't remember his past]] and was thrown across dimensions and was isolated before running into the other main characters. He's sweet and purely childlike, loving plushies and anything cute or sparkly. He's kind to everyone he meets, even to those he shouldn't be. When brought into the police station, he's given coloring books to entertain him while his roommate gets lectured. The officer on his case views him as a child in an adult body. He's also virginal and doesn't quite seem to understand sexuality. ([[{{Asexuality}} Asexual]] by WordOfGod). Interestingly, although he's rarely a true DamselInDistress due to his strength and other physical capabilities, he often believes he is for a while and cries until instinct takes over and he breaks himself free (or sometimes rescuing his [[FamilyOfChoice family]]). Unlike a ManChild though, his behavior and personality is portrayed positively and these traits sometimes end up saving the day.

* ''Radio/OurMissBrooks'': Harriet Conklin is kind, sweet and optimistic, suprisingly given her father Mr. Conklin is a MisterViceGuy. While Miss Brooks is a nice person, she's somewhat too much a DeadpanSnarker to meet this trope.

** Another example, is when they were at the hot Springs and Keiichi was trying to cover up his nakedness. Belldandy was totally unaware of Keiichi's embarrassment at being nude in front of a group of girls and thought that Marller had hurt him. Both Marller and Urd considered her complete obliviousness to be scary [[http://i38.mangareader.net/ah-my-goddess/60/ah-my-goddess-241333.jpg]]

Partially because AllMenArePerverts is alive and well in our culture, there are few modern {{Spear Counterpart}}s to the Ingenue [[NerdsAreVirgins that share the same characteristics and positive connotations]]. The closest equivalents for male characters would be TenorBoy, which is specific to theater, or {{Manchild}}, which is often viewed as [[DoubleStandard immature and emotionally weak]], with the emphasis being more on the lack of adult traits in the manchild versus their childlike purity. (During the ''sturm und drang'' period of {{Romanticism}} a couple of centuries ago, the SpearCounterpart would have been the various TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth Romantic heroes based upon the [[MisaimedFandom popular reinterpretation]] of Literature/TheSorrowsOfYoungWerther.

* Captain Kirk and his many female conquests in ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'': "What is this, 'love?'" Andrea Android from "What Are Little Girls Made Of?", Shahna from "The Gamesters of Triskellion", and Kelinda from "By Any Other Name" comes to mind.

* Deconstructed in ''Film/BlackSwan''. Nina is very much a real-life Ingenue - a quality that makes her perfect to play the pure White Swan in a production of ''Theatre/SwanLake''. However these qualities prevent her from really being able to play the Black Swan - and it's outlined that Nina's purity is really just repression as a result of being smothered by her MyBelovedSmother.

* ''Literature/DangerousLiaisons'' has Cecile, who has been deliberately educated to be an ingenue. Valmont, TheCasanova, casually deconstructs the trope in his first mention of her after being challenged to CorruptTheCutie, implying that her sheltered education will lead to something closer to the CatholicSchoolGirlsRule

* has Cecile, who has been deliberately educated to be an ingenu. Valmont, TheCasanova, casually deconstructs the trope in his first mention of her after being challenged to CorruptTheCutie, implying that her sheltered education will lead to something closer to the CatholicSchoolGirlsRule

* Entity in the ''Fanfic/AvantasiaProtagAu'' series is a rare male example. He is also a rare not young example, being in his late 30s. But he also [[AmnesiacsAreInnocent doesn't remember his past]] and was thrown across dimensions and was isolated before running into the other main characters. He's sweet and purely childlike, loving plushies and anything cute or sparkly. When brought into the police station, he's given coloring books to entertain him while his roommate gets lectured. The officer on his case views him as a child although he's clearly in an adult body. He's also virginal and doesn't quite seem to understand sexuality. ([[Asexuality Asexual]] by WordOfGod). Interestingly, although he's rarely a true DamselInDistress due to his strength, he often believes he is for a while and screams for help until instinct takes over and he breaks himself free. Unlike a ManChild though, his behavior and personality is portrayed positively and these traits sometimes end up saving the day.

* Ruby of ''Webcomic/StickyDillyBuns'' {{deconstruct|edTrope}}s the trope, at least for the first couple of volumes. She's younger than most of the rest of the main cast, woefully naive (and at least one older figure has taken advantage of this in the past), virginal, and if not immune to sexual innuendo, certainly very bad at handling it. However, she's also petulant, arrogant, and insecure, and her "purity" is treated as both a symptom and a cause of emotional damage. She's ''also'' determined to succeed on her own terms, and would probably be angry if anyone tried to play Prince Charming for her. CharacterDevelopment eventually abrades away most of her naivety and some of her petulance.

* Music/LanaDelRey's "National Anthem" from ''Music/BornToDie'' is definitely this.

Partially because AllMenArePerverts is alive and well in our culture, there are few modern {{Spear Counterpart}}s to the Ingenue [[NerdsAreVirgins that shares the same characteristics and positive connotations]]. The closest equivalents for male characters would be TenorBoy, which is specific to theater, or {{Manchild}}, which is often viewed as [[DoubleStandard immature and emotionally weak]], with the emphasis being more on the lack of adult traits in the manchild versus their childlike purity. (During the ''sturm und drang'' period of {{Romanticism}} a couple of centuries ago, the SpearCounterpart would have been the various TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth Romantic heroes based upon the [[MisaimedFandom popular reinterpretation]] of Literature/TheSorrowsOfYoungWerther.

Paired with a ByronicHero, you're looking at BroodingBoyGentleGirl.

* ''Anime/CodeGeass''

* Light's little sister Sayu in ''Manga/DeathNote'' arguably counts as this.

* Himeko from ''Manga/KannazukiNoMiko'' is an innocent, naive high school girl who becomes swept in conflict after falling for AloofDarkHairedGirl Chikane.

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* Merrill in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'' crosses this with CloudCuckooLander. Bethany plays the trope straight in Act 1, and graduates into either SilkHidingSteel or an IronLady, depending on where she spends the remaining two acts.

* Recette from ''VideoGame/RecettearAnItemShopsTale''. She's cheerful and friendly to a fault, and seemingly incapable of thinking anything bad about anyone else. Her innocent friendliness ends up winning over a large number of people in-game, including (to his never-ending consternation) [[spoiler:a demon who hates humanity as a whole]]. Fortunately, she has Tear, a rather more down-to-earth and cynical fairy as a companion who is able to keep others from taking advantage of her.

* The titular character of ''WesternAnimation/{{Kaeloo}}'', DependingOnTheWriter, may either be one of these, or a BitchInSheepsClothing who tries too hard to appear as one.
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The ingenue is a StockCharacter found throughout all media but is especially popular in {{Opera}} where it is almost always voiced by a lyric soprano. The PrincessClassic is one of the most common examples of this. If this character is played straight and not in a traditionally romantic setting, she may be WrongGenreSavvy, and will usually [[BreakTheCutie be screwed over]].

* As said above, this has always been a popular trope in opera, where the Ingenue is usually played by a lyric or lyric coloratura soprano with a sweet voice to match her innocent personality.

Partially because AllMenArePerverts is alive and well in our culture, there are few modern SpearCounterparts to the Ingenue [[NerdsAreVirgins that shares the same characteristics and positive connotations]]. The closest equivalents for male characters would be TenorBoy, which is specific to theater, or {{Manchild}}, which is often viewed as [[DoubleStandard immature and emotionally weak]], with the emphasis being more on the lack of adult traits in the manchild versus their childlike purity. (During the ''sturm und drang'' period of {{Romanticism}} a couple of centuries ago, the SpearCounterpart would have been the various TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth Romantic heroes based upon the [[MisaimedFandom popular reinterpretation]] of Literature/TheSorrowsOfYoungWerther.

She is kind, sweet-natured, polite and optimistic, and on the SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism, she falls very much on the idealistic side. Her innocence will often inspire protective feelings in heroic characters, and she is frequently one of the more beautiful characters because of the convention that BeautyEqualsGoodness. Unfortunately, her innocence also often makes her [[HorribleJudgeOfCharacter woefully naive]], making her a prime target for a villain seeking to take advantage of her, often in an IHaveYouNowMyPretty fashion. As a result, the ingenue is one of the most common [[DamselInDistress Damsels in Distress]]. She is also [[EntendreFailure immune to sexual innuendo]]. In a worst-case scenario, the character will be given [[FlatCharacter no personality]] beyond her [[PuritySue purity and innocence.]]

** Another example, is when they were at the hot Springs and Keiichi was trying to cover up his nakedness. Belldandy was totally unaware of Keiichi's embarrassment at being nude in front of a group of girls, and thought that Marller had hurt him. Both Marller and Urd considered her complete obliviousness to be scary [[http://i38.mangareader.net/ah-my-goddess/60/ah-my-goddess-241333.jpg]]

** Shirley is the nicest girl in the series and only peripherially connected to the war theme.

* ''Manga/{{FAKE}}'': A rare male version is Ryo. He is not a {{Manchild}} and a very mature StraightMan to contrast his partner LovableSexManiac Dee. However, he is extremely naive when it comes to intimate matters and often nearly taken advantage of as a result. Sexual innuendo tends to fly over his head, has little experience in relationships and is hardly able to keep his partner's (or his boss's) sexual advances at bay. In the English version, other characters call him 'Sandra Dee', an actress known for playing the Ingenue in many roles.
* May Chang from ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'' is a sweet, naive and well-meaning princess. Did we mention that she can also [[LittleMissBadass kick your ass?]]

* ''Manga/KimiNiTodoke'': Sawako Kuronuma of fits this as a modern-day reinterpretation. Academically, she's very bright, but has almost no social skills. She falls for a guy who became incredibly popular at school due to his penchant for being nice to people. While she does get into "distress" from time to time, it's usually high school issues that pose the threat, and her friends encourage her to solve the problems herself.

* The original ''Anime/SuperDimensionFortressMacross'': Lynn Minmay. They made her more of a Ingenue in the American version, ''Anime/{{Robotech}}''. However, she matures into an all around woman by the end of both series. In some ways she [[DeconstructedTrope deconstructs]] the trope without taking things for a darker turn; she can be InnocentlyInsensitive at times, can be a SpoiledBrat, and it leads to her struggling post-war as the strain of her IdolSinger career gets to her.
* ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'''s Nia Teppelin also exhibits this trait, as she was extremely sheltered until the age of 14. Her innocence and cheer enables her to become TheHeart of Team Dai-Gurren and Simon's LoveInterest.

* Tailgate of ''ComicBook/TheTransformersMoreThanMeetsTheEye'' is a rare non-female and non-human example, although his purity and naivety are largely the results of both his youth (having only been actively 'online' for a few years following a six-million year coma) and his having missed out on the entire Autobot/Decepticon war. True to the trope, another character takes advantage of his innocence to try and manipulate Tailgate into becoming [[spoiler: a FallGuy for a power play, expecting him to try and alter Megatron's memory and be murdered in the process.]] In the Season 2 promos, he is even referred to as 'the ingenue' - writer James Roberts was unaware that the term refers to female characters, but was pleased when it was pointed out to him, as part of his general approach to handling gender identity and assignment in a race of MechanicalLifeforms. (Tailgate has been presented to date as having 'holoavatars' - human-appearing holograms that reflect the psyches of the users - resembling an ambiguously gendered baby and later a young child, so his 'gender' is still ambiguous.)

* Pintosmalto of "Literature/{{Pintosmalto}}" is a male version and his naivity and innocence is particularly strong during the feast held in celebration of his and Betta's wedding. He is said to "had only opened his eyes on the wickedness of the world three hours before" and this the queen makes use of to abduct him with ease.

** ''Film/{{Enchanted}}'': Giselle hearkens back to this archetype, and comments on it in the general theme of the "Franchise/DisneyPrincess in the Real World" that goes on through the whole movie. [[spoiler:Maturing into a grown woman is a plot point and she's a business woman by the end; the childlike innocence helps her connect with like-minded children seen in the epilogue.]]
** ''WesternAnimation/{{Tangled}}'': Rapunzel is more confident and capable than the classic archetype, but fits as a result of being cut off from the world. The movie doesn't hesitate to play her naivety for as much laughs as possible though.

* Deconstructed in ''Film/BlackSwan''. Nina is very much a real life Ingenue - a quality that makes her perfect to play the pure White Swan in a production of ''Theatre/SwanLake''. However these qualities prevent her from really being able to play the Black Swan - and it's outlined that Nina's purity is really just repression as a result of being smothered by her MyBelovedSmother.

-->"Look at me I'm Sandra-Dee, lousy with virginity....I don't drink I don't swear, I don't rat my hair.."

* ''Literature/NightWorld'' novel ''Witchlight'':Iliana's behavior is explained this way by another character. "She's too pure to deal with this kind of stuff." Considering that her life has been that of a normal teenagers' but she is in fact in a world with vampires, witches, werewolves, and shapeshifters, and that she is well-liked enough that people try to be good people around her, this is understandable. [[spoiler:She toughens up some later.]]

* ''Literature/HardToBeAGod'': Kira is one of very few natives on the planet that Anton identifies as a good person. That is more or less her only trait, but in a CrapsackWorld, it counts for a lot.

* Alec is a rare male example in the first 2 books of the ''Literature/{{Nightrunner}}'' series - kind, honest, unworldly, amazingly polite for someone who grew up a peasant, blushes often, especially when faced with nakedness (even that of other men), inspires goodness in random strangers, hardly ever gets angry and forgives easily. Also, he's a virgin until the second book and apparently hadn't even had any sexual thoughts or urges until that point in his life (age 16). [[ColdBloodedTorture Trauma]] just slides off him [[AngstWhatAngst like water off a duck.]] And of course he's blond, blue-eyed and unconsciously pretty. He inspires the protective feelings of LovableRogue Seregil (to the point that he wants to protect Alec from his own "corrupting" influence and occasionally kind of regrets teaching him to lie and steal), as well as playing the DamselInDistress in the narrative, at least in the beginning.[[note]]Though after a year of training, he does eventually free himself when captured again, before Seregil can reach him.[[/note]] That he's a rare male example is perhaps explained by the fact that he was written by a first-time author trying to write gay romance in the 1980s/1990s. So she used a lot of classic hetero romance tropes and just gender-flipped the heroine.

* In ''Literature/NightmareAlley'', the character of Molly is young, beautiful and almost painfully naive and trusting, something which the main character Stan preys on and manipulates relentlessly. Growing up she was very [[DaddysGirl close to her father]] after the [[MissingMom death of her mother]] when she was very young. Since her father's sudden death she has been forced to work at a travelling carnival for money and lodging. Compared to the rest of the carnival folk, she is very sheltered and innocent of the ways of the world.
* In ''[[Literature/AmaranthineSaga Tsumiko and the Enslaved Fox]]'',Tsumiko is so kind, accepting, and generous that others assume she must be naive and easily manipulated. Tsumiko herself disputes this, pointing out that she was ignorant, not naive, when she was first introduced to TheMasquerade, and she has taken pains to educate herself, and that she has only given her trust to people who are actually worthy of it. Later, she proves herself to actually be a bit of a GuileHero by putting on a show total childlike innocence and naivety while completely shutting down her "relatives" who are hoping to pin her down into marriage to one of their sons.

* Drusilla from ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' was originally this, before Angelus [[BreakTheCutie broke her]]. Her innocence, purity and innate goodness and belief in God are what drew Angelus to her.
* ''Series/{{Carnivale}}'': Even though she has been working as a prostitute and stripper since her early teens, Libby fits surprisingly well into this trope. Her characterization relies heavily on her attempting to reconcile the realities of her life with her identity as a normal 1930s-style ingenue. She is extremely trusting and innocent (at least, with regards to human nature and life), has few social ties outside and information sources outside of 30s popular media and her immediate and extended Carnival family (who, despite farming her out at an early age out of necessity, obviously love and protect her). She dresses and behaves like the traditional ingenue, has unrealistic dreams and is genuinely very vulnerable and sweet. She also seems to be somewhat misinformed about sex (for example, telling Sophie that you can't get pregnant your first time). When she becomes romantically involved with [[spoiler:Sophie and Jonesy]], she is no more equipped or experienced than your average ingenue would be (despite knowing a lot more about sex): her shyness and vulnerability is presented as genuine.
** Despite being in her early to mid twenties, Sophie knows almost nothing about sex. Her mother Appollionia actively prevented her from interacting with the strippers and other performers, and her few social contacts (Appollionia, Jonesy, Samson and Libby) are very protective of her and actively discourage attempts to explore her sexuality. Although she dated Jonesy prior to the start of the series, their relationship was not sexual and she remains a virgin until the incident during the dirtstorm with a man she knew was probably married. It is subverted particularly brilliantly when [[ManipulativeBastard Sophie]] [[spoiler: seduces and sexually humiliates Libby for the sake of revenge ]]. Consequently, her [[BitchInSheepsClothing occasional nastiness]], as well as her active attempts to explore and express her own sexuality might prevent her from being a completely straight example of this trope, but it certainly doesn't stop everybody around her seeing her as the classic Ingenue.

* ''Series/FoylesWar''. 'Sam' Stewart is always cheerful, loyal, kind, well behaved and seldom has a bad word to say about anyone. However she does engage in activities her vicar father would not approve of, such as helping with murder investigations. However she also shows great strength of character, bravery, and generally sees through anyone who tries to fool her.

* Pandora of ''Series/{{Skins}}'' series 3 (and occasionally series 2) is sheltered and naive, self-confessed to be useless, and often is the unwitting source of innuendo. Part way through the third series she [[spoiler:falls in love with Thomas, an African immigrant, and a true gentleman.]] But later [[spoiler:in Thomas' absence, she is seduced by Cook, and quickly loses her blissful ignorant disposition as this complication comes to light]].

* ''Theatre/CyranoDeBergerac'': Deconstructed by Roxane, who is highly intelligent and practical, but is completely convinced her (and Christian) lives are like the Romance Novels she had read. Notice that no one of his suitors tries to force her to accept reality until Christian wants her to choose between Cyrano and him at Act IV, and that her HiddenDepths and CharacterDevelopment demonstrate that she could handle reality very well.

* Cordelia from ''Theatre/KingLear'' is the sweet younger sister in contrast to her two wicked sisters Goneril and Regan. She's one of the most moral characters in the play, but ends up TooGoodForThisSinfulEarth. She does at least get to be the one who pulls BigDamnHeroes by leading the French army against her sisters.

** Margaery claims to be an ingenue at some point in her debut song, but is shown to be more of a case of SilkHidingSteel.

** [[VideoGame/KingdomHeartsBirthBySleep Ventus]] is a very good male example, though the reason that he is so pure and innocent is because [[spoiler: [[OldMaster Master]] [[EvilOldFolks Xehanort]] forcibly extracted all the darkness from his heart.]] Still played straight though, as [[spoiler:the Ven in the flashback is shown to be largely [[TheCutie the same as his present self]].]]

** Rosa Farrell in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'' looks like one, although she's really more of the TeamMom in practice--it's actually non-genue ''Cecil's'' naivete that causes the most trouble.

* Lucy Devlin from ''VideoGame/BladeRunner'' is a good example of this; she's fourteen (despite having the appearance of an eighteen year-old at the least), naive, and highly impressionable.

* Amiti in ''VideoGame/GoldenSunDarkDawn'' is a rare male example. He is SpoiledSweet, he has BlackAndWhiteMorality (which is rare in his world), and considering that he genuinely believed that he was a virgin birth until his guardian revealed [[HeroicBastard the truth]], it's possible that he is clueless about sex, despite canonly being [[MrFanservice the fancy of "all the girls in Ayuthay"]]. It is ironic because he is the oldest person in your party for a good half of the game and yet he seems to be the most naive.

* Azusa Miura from ''VideoGame/TheIdolmaster'' is a rather uncommon example of this. She's the oldest of the idols, making her the local CoolBigSis. The problem is she's TheDitz who has NoSenseOfDirection, as well has having an innocence to match even her younger co-workers.

* Liara T'Soni starts this way in ''VideoGame/MassEffect1''. By the time of ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'', she has lost a lot of her innocence as a result of [[spoiler:losing Shepard and the Normandy, going through hell and high water to recover Shepard's body, and pursuing a vendetta against the Shadow Broker for trying to sell said body to the Collectors that killed him/her]], to the point that when she is re-introduced in ''Mass Effect 2'', she's channeling her mother Benezia and threatening to flay someone alive with her mind. By the start of ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'', she is introduced briefly being pursued by two bad guys before she lures them into an ambush and dispatches them with ease using a combination of biotics and [[DoubleTap pistoleering.]]

* ''Webcomic/KnightsOfBuenaVista'' is a CampaignComic covering ''{{WesternAnimation/Frozen|2013}}''. Mary plays Anna with exaggerations of this trope, including being scandalized at hearing TheTalk from Elsa, and insisting that Hans was too much of a gentelman to "do such ''filthy things'' to me!".
* ''Webcomic/{{MYth}}'' has spring goddess and underworld queen, Persephone. She may be the most naive of the godesses, not even second thinking and saying straight out that Zeus is her daddy ''while in the mortal world'' and not knowing how the "bees and the birds" work in the ''Irresponsable'' omake, driving Zeus and Aphrodite insane. Also, thanks to her godly beauty and naiveness, Zeus had to put undercover gods to bodyguard her way to the place Hades can find her, so nobody does something to her.

* Miss Cooter from ''Theatre/MeAndMyDick'' is sweet, naive, optimistic, beautiful and caring. There's just little thing: she's the heroine's vagina. It MakesSenseInContext.