History Main / UsedToBeATomboy

[[folder:Light Novels]]
* ''LightNovel/{{Haganai}}'': The first oblivious offense of Kodaka the male protagonist. He does not remember the cool loner beauty Yozora from their time as children having played together before long period of separation. He thinks his friend, nicknamed Sora, was a boy.
* In ''LightNovel/StrikeTheBlood'', Kojou and his UnwantedHarem find out that long lost friend, Yuuma Tokoyogi, is returning. The girls look at a picture of Kojou and Yuuma when they were kids and seem relieved at what appears to be a boy in a basketball jersey.. But when Yuuma actually shows herself later, she's grown into a very mature, very feminine, very beautiful young woman.
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* Sora Takenouchi from ''Anime/DigimonAdventure'' is a mix of OneOfTheBoys and TeamMom. In the sequel ''Anime/DigimonAdventure02'' (where the previous Digidestined teenagers), she has become a GirlyGirl, and more or less keeps it in ''Anime/DigimonAdventureTri''.

* Parodied in a mock FlashForward in ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls1998''. The tomboyish Buttercup is portrayed as a feminine, boy-obsessed ValleyGirl (along with her sisters) as a teenager. The scene in question is a joke about the fandom's older versions of the girls.

* Almost everytime we get a FlashForward in ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'' Francine is presented as much more feminine looking than she is currently.

* Parodied in a mock FlashForward in ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls''. The tomboyish Buttercup is portrayed as a feminine, boy-obsessed ValleyGirl (along with her sisters) as a teenager. The scene in question is a joke about the fandom's older versions of the girls.

* The protagonist from ''Manga/{{Prism}}'' is stuck in the past about a boy she spent time with one day in late elementary and [[PuppyLove fell in love with]]. On her first day of high school she gets hugged by a random girl. This girl, [[GenderBlenderName Hikaru]], tells her she was the "boy" she met all those years ago.

* Inverted in ''Manga/PokemonAdventures'' with Sapphire. She wore a pink lolita dress as a little girl and was very feminine. [[spoiler:She decided to change after Ruby got hurt saving her.]] The opposite happened to Ruby--who used to be more rough and tumble as a kid, but is now an effeminate guy whose primary interest is fashion design--making them a MasculineGirlFeminineBoy duo.

* Riku from the oneshot ''Tender Tear'' was a [[HugeSchoolgirl tall]] LesbianJock with BoyishShortHair in high school. Because [[OneGenderSchool her school had no boys]] many classmates [[SituationalSexuality were drawn to her]]. After high school she grew out her hair, began wearing dresses, and learned how to use make-up. Riku notes that after she stopped being androgynous suddenly straight girls didn't take notice of her anymore.

* Inverted with ''Manga/FamilyComplex'''s Fuyuki. She was first introduced as demure and feminine, sporting GirlishPigtails and wearing dresses. As she grew up and got over her shyness, she cut off her hair and started wearing boyish clothes, becoming a {{Bifauxnen}} instead. When she reappears in the manga's sequel ''Manga/PrincessPrincess'', Akira's friends mistook her as Akira's brother.
* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'': Ino, known for being the biggest GirlyGirl out of the Konoha 12 and being TheFashionista as well, was a tomboy a few years prior to the series beginning. She was a short-haired, confident BullyHunter and the tomboy to Sakura's shy and unconfident girly girl. By Part 2, their roles have been reversed.
* In ''Anime/DirtyPair'' when Yuri was a little girl she is shown playing in mud and catching frogs and lizards with her bare hands, as an adult she is much more feminine but she can kick a lot of ass if she needs to.
* In ''Manga/AsteroidInLove'', Ao is introduced as a tomboy with BoyishShortHair and a relatively masculine speech pattern to the point that Mira mistook her as a boy. Puberty turns her into a girly girl ([[GirlyGirlWithATomboyStreak mostly]]); at present day she is quiet, demure, and wears GirlishPigtails.
* Played with in ''Manga/KemonoJihen''. Haruka wore baggy clothes and kept her hair short when she met Robara as a kid, but while she wears openly girlier clothes now, her mannerisms remain the same.

* The LDD-fanfic, ''Fanfic/BridgeToTerabithia2TheLastTime'', reveals that Leslie took a further GirlinessUpgrade, even more so than the [[Literature/BridgeToTerabithia 2007 film adaptation]], where as a teenager she starts growing her hair past her shoulders, wearing makeup and lipstick, and becoming even more feminine in Jess' presence. The fact that her supposed death in the original story was retconned as [[spoiler: being abducted by a human trafficking syndicate and subsequently cut away from society until she was rescued 5 years later, before eventually returning to Lark Creek and reuniting with Jess as a teenager]], might be a contributing factor to her massive change in personality.

* Happens to Helga Shortman (née Pataki) in ''[[Fanfic/AfterTheJungleSeries After the Jungle]]'' (by [[Creator/Flowerprincess11 Flower princess11]]). Everyone remembers her as this [[{{Tsundere}} hot]][[LovingBully headed]] {{tomboy}} [[TomboyWithAGirlyStreak (with some girly interests)]] back in the original series, but she mellows out a lot as she gets older (especially after she and Arnold get married and have children) and also becomes girlier and more feminine as time goes on--but she still retains some of her more tomboyish traits and can also still be rather aggressive and also has really strong protective instincts towards her loved ones.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Up}}'': Ellie was shown to have been a tomboy in flashbacks to her childhood. In her adulthood she was more feminine-looking.

* ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory2'': Jessie's previous owner Emily went through a cowgirl phase, and loved horses, cowgirl hats, and Wild West things. As she became a teenager, her interests shifted to makeup, music, and colorful '60s posters.

* ''Literature/WutheringHeights'': Catherine goes through a GirlinessUpgrade during her visit to the Lintons. When her childhood friend Heathcliff sees her again, he's all freaked out because he remembers her as a tomboy with whom he explored the countryside and had barefoot running contests. Ultimately, this change is portrayed as Catherine betraying her true self, and during her ultimate [[spoiler: mental breakdown]] she yearns desperately for her past as a tomboyish child, "half-savage and hardy, and free."

* In ''LightNovel/StrikeTheBlood'', Kojou and his UnwantedHarem find out that long lost friend, Yuuma Tokoyogi, is returning. The girls look at a picture of Kojou and Yuuma when they were kids and seem relieved at what appears to be a boy in a basketball jersey.. But when Yuuma actually shows herself later, she's grown into a very mature, very feminine, very beautiful young woman.
* ''LightNovel/{{Haganai}}'': The first oblivious offense of Kodaka the male protagonist. He does not remember the cool loner beauty Yozora from their time as children having played together before long period of separation. He thinks his friend, nicknamed Sora, was a boy.

* In "Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen" by Music/NeilSedaka, one of the lines is "My little tomboy now wears satin and lace".

* Yoona from ''Webcomic/WelcomeToRoom305'' was the [[MasculineGirlFeminineBoy tomboy to her sensitive little brother]] and at least once beat up other kids in order to protect him. She became somewhat more feminine with age, and her brother less attached and less of a crybaby, but she kept her temper and [[BigBrotherInstinct over-protectiveness]]. As the webtoon goes on her [[TheLadette ladette]] qualities become more obvious.

* Parodied in a mock FlashForward in ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls''. The tomboyish Buttercup is portrayed as a feminine, boy-obsessed ValleyGirl (along with her sisters) as a teenager. The scene in question is a joke about the fandom's older versions of the girls.

* ''I'm A Fool'' is a YuriGenre oneshot that revolves around a woman meeting the '[[{{bifauxnen}} prince]]' of her old high school, who has grown out her hair and looks more conventionally feminine. She only noticed her due to her distinctive BeautyMark on her ear. The woman is noted not to be terribly comfortable with stuff like wearing stockings yet.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994'': Nala was a mischievous cub who could beat Simba in every fight. She was also very adventurous and restless. She loses her tomboyish traits as an adult and becomes more mature and regal, although she's still as capable a fighter as ever.

* Yuki from ''Anime/WolfChildrenAmeAndYuki'' as a young child she loved to get dirty, fight with other animals and hunt them, and collected snakes, bugs, and animal bones, however once she began to go to school she freaked out the other girls with her hobbies and wolf tendencies, so in order to fit in she begins to act more girly and wear more fashionable dresses, she also rejects her wolf side.

%% Image taken from the yuri one-shot ''Blushing Girl'', which may violate content policy.

* Played with in ''Manga/FamilyCompo'', somewhere between this and OldFriendNewGender. Masahiko once met a boy at a grave site years ago, who played a joke on him and he is bitter towards the memory even years later. It turns out that was his cousin Shion. Shion looks feminine most of the time but is implied to be [[{{Transgender}} genderqueer]] and sometimes still dresses as a boy.

* In "Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen" by Neil Sedaka, one of the lines is "My little tomboy now wears satin and lace".

* ''Literature/WutheringHeights'': Catherine goes through a GirlinessUpgrade during her visit to the Lintons. When her childhood friend Heathcliff sees her again, he's all freaked out because he remembers her as a tomboy with whom he explored the countryside and had barefoot running contests.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994'': Nala was a mischievous cub who could beat Simba in every fight. She was also very adventurous and restless. Nala loses her tomboyish traits as an adult and becomes more mature and regal.

* Hungary from ''Webcomic/AxisPowersHetalia'' was shown to have been a {{Bifauxnen}} CuteBruiser who thought she was a boy when she was a child. As an adult she's a TeamMom who wears frilly dresses and sports hair decorations. Noticeably the series averts the common cliche that they get [[RealWomenDontWearDresses weaker]] when they become more girly, in that Hungary actually got TookALevelInBadass when she grew up: as a tomboy she got defeated at least twice off-screen, while as a GirlyBruiser she's ''never'' been defeated.

* Played with in ''Manga/FamilyCompo'', somewhere between this and OldFriendNewGender. Masahiko once met a boy at a grave site years ago, who played a joke on him and he is bitter towards the memory even years later. It turns out that was his cousin Shion. Shion looks feminine most of the time but is implied to be [[{{Transgender}} genderqueer]] and sometimes still dresses as a boy.
* Sora Takenouchi from ''Anime/DigimonAdventure'' is a mix of OneOfTheBoys and TeamMom. In the sequel ''Anime/DigimonAdventure02'' (where the previous Digidestined teenagers), she has become a GirlyGirl, and more or less keeps it in ''Anime/DigimonAdventureTri''.
* Inverted in ''Manga/PokemonAdventures'' with Sapphire. She wore a pink lolita dress as a little girl and was very feminine. [[spoiler:She decided to change after Ruby got hurt saving her.]] The opposite happened to Ruby--who used to be more rough and tumble as a kid, but is now an effeminate guy whose primary interest is fashion design--making them a MasculineGirlFeminineBoy duo.

* ''LightNovel/BokuWaTomodachiGaSukunai'': The first oblivious offense of Kodaka the male protagonist. He does not remember the cool loner beauty Yozora from their time as children having played together before long period of separation. He thinks his friend, nicknamed Sora, was a boy.

* This trope serves as the FamilyUnfriendlyAesop of ''Boys and Girls'' by Creator/AliceMunro; the main character starts out as a masculine farmhand, but soon comes to realize that [[StayInTheKitchen she's "just a girl" and will never amount to anything because of it]].

* ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'': Mitzi, an old friend of Baljeet's from when he and his family were still living in India, comes to visit him in America for the first time in the Titanic-themed episode. When they were younger, they played in the mud together, and Baljeet is looking forward to her visit--and then she shows up in a gorgeous red dress and makeup. He panics and escapes.

A common variation, especially in comedies, is OldFriendNewGender. Sub-trope of ShesAllGrownUp and related to GirlinessUpgrade. Compare FormerTeenRebel and TomboyAngst.

* ''Disney/TheLionKing'': Nala was a mischievous cub who could beat Simba in every fight. She was also very adventurous and restless. Nala loses her tomboyish traits as an adult and becomes more mature and regal.
* ''Disney/TheLittleMermaid'': Teenage Ariel was a rebellious TomboyPrincess. In the [[Disney/TheLittleMermaidIIReturnToTheSea sequel]] she acts quite queenly, becoming the GirlyGirl to her daughter's {{tomboy}}.

* Inverted in ''Manga/PokemonAdventures'' with Sapphire. She wore a pink lolita dress as a little girl and was very feminine. [[spoiler:She decided to change after Ruby got hurt saving her.]] The opposite happened to Ruby, making them a MasculineGirlFeminineBoy duo.

* Initially ComicBook/WonderGirl Cassie Sandsmark was a tomboy, who kept her hair cropped short, wore baggy clothes and geeked out over getting to meet her hero Franchise/WonderWoman. In her later appearances, especially in ''ComicBook/TeenTitans'', she seems more like a stereotypical girly boy-obsessed cheerleader type who wears a skintight cleavage showing and midriff revealing outfit.