| 1 | [[quoteright:349:[[WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/68bb9386_f7a3_47d0_873b_7ffc31d2917b.png]]]] |
| 2 | [[caption-width-right:349:Love knows no genetics.]] |
| 3 | |
| 4 | ->''"As the years passed, he fell into despair and lost all hope. For who could ever learn to love a beast?"'' |
| 5 | -->-- ''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast'' |
| 6 | |
| 7 | %% Quote changed per thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1327331003042025100&page=133 |
| 8 | |
| 9 | The male is usually a monster physically, capable of great rage and destruction. The female is kind, smart, and emotional. She [[MoralityPet brings out the best in him]]. She sees the good in him and the world; [[BodyguardCrush he smashes anything that threatens her into itty-bitty pieces]]. This often leads to LoveRedeems. |
| 10 | |
| 11 | The "beast" is [[AlwaysMale usually a male character]], due to ruggedness and by proxy beastliness traditionally being considered masculine traits, but there may be exceptions. |
| 12 | |
| 13 | The ideal is often so high that [[ChastityCouple sexual relations are not mentioned]] ([[RuleThirtyFour not by the creators, at least]]). If they happen or are mentioned, the results could be [[OutWithABang doom]], [[ManOfSteelWomanOfKleenex risky]], [[HeadTiltinglyKinky kinky]] or [[HotSkittyOnWailordAction mysterious in how it works]]. By means of FunctionalMagic, AppliedPhlebotinum, or a good old-fashioned TrueLovesKiss, the issue could be avoided entirely by one of them permanently turning into the other's species. The relation may not even be romantic; all that matters is the contrast between the two characters. |
| 14 | |
| 15 | A common variant is making the Beast intelligent and cynical in contrast to a GentleGiant image. Storytellers may also occasionally invert the typical personality dynamic by having the "Beast" be polite and personable and the "Beauty" be violent and belligerent; it can emphasize how the Beast [[IJustWantToBeNormal seeks to be seen as more normal]] and compensates accordingly, whereas the Beauty [[DoubleStandard isn't held to the same standard]] and thus can act however she wants. A common way around the Beast's appearance is BlindAndTheBeast, though that one doesn't always involve romance. |
| 16 | |
| 17 | See also UglyGuyHotWife (along with its rarer counterpart HotGuyUglyWife) and SexyDimorphism for cases of a beastly partner and a pretty partner, where the difference comes from real-life beauty standards and doesn't symbolize anything about the characters' personalities. See also FreakinessShame. Can be paired with DragonsPreferPrincesses if the dragon and/or the princess loves the other. If the "beast" part is downplayed, it may be a case of InterspeciesRomance (though keep in mind that not every "Beast" under this trope is necessarily a different species from the "Beauty", just more monstrous-''looking''). If they are only friends or work together with no romantic subtext, or that subtext being in the background, that's MonsterAndTheMaiden. For the metaphorical variety, see DeathAndTheMaiden. Also see MarsNeedsWomen. |
| 18 | ---- |
| 19 | !!Examples |
| 20 | |
| 21 | [[index]] |
| 22 | * BeastAndBeauty/AnimeAndManga |
| 23 | * BeastAndBeauty/{{Literature}} |
| 24 | * BeastAndBeauty/WesternAnimation |
| 25 | [[/index]] |
| 26 | |
| 27 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 28 | |
| 29 | [[folder:Trope Namer]] |
| 30 | |
| 31 | * ''Literature/BeautyAndTheBeast'', naturally. In ''all'' of its incarnations. |
| 32 | ** A TV series entitled ''Series/{{Beauty and the Beast|1987}}'' ran on CBS from 1987-1990, starring Creator/LindaHamilton and Creator/RonPerlman as Catherine (the Beauty, a CrusadingLawyer from contemporary Manhattan) and Vincent (the Beast, a hulking [[CatFolk lion man]] from an underground world of magic and mystery). Despite its brief run and disappointing third season, it spawned a vast and enthusiastic fan following. |
| 33 | ** ''ComicBook/{{Fables}}'': The pair are still happily together after a thousand years of marriage, although not without their problems to overcome. Beast usually looks human in the series, but shifts between his human and bestial forms depending on his wife's moods towards him. Also slightly subverted as Beast is an all-around nice guy who doesn't really get that angry, while Beauty is occasionally seen as ambitious and overly critical. |
| 34 | ** There is a [[WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes Merry Melodies]] short called [[WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast1934 ''Beauty and the Beast'']] that completely subverts the fairy tale. The protagonist, an unnamed, chubby little girl who dreams she is in Slumberland, where everybody welcome her but warn about the “terrible beast”. She makes friends with a toy soldier and together they read a book supposedly of the fairy tale; however, the book portrays the Beast as [[AdaptationalVillainy an unrepentantly vicious monster]] whom [[LivingDrawing jumps out of the book]] and grabs the little girl, supposedly to eat her. Fortunately, she wakes up. |
| 35 | ** ''VideoGame/GrimGrimoire'' completely subverts this as, yes, a man is cursed into a beast unless he gets together with a woman. Except that he's somewhat of a nerd, refuses to fall in love with anyone, and ''doesn't care'' what he looks like. Meanwhile, the ''beauty'' won't stop badgering him to fall in love with her so he can turn into a handsome man again. |
| 36 | ** [[Film/BeautyAndTheBeast2014 The French movie released in 2014]] has many differences from the original fairy tale. To start, Beauty’s sisters are good, while her brothers are the villains. And the Beast has a past. He was HappilyMarried to a beautiful woman whom asked him to not hunt a golden dear that wandered around the castle. He didn’t listen, of course... and discovered that the deer was his beloved wife, who was a fairy. Her father, the God of the Forest, punished him along with his hunting dogs. |
| 37 | ** ''Film/PannaANetvor'': An interesting, darker version of the fairy tale. Netvor (Beast) is a sort of bird-like monster that attacks humans and animals to drink their blood. |
| 38 | ** There is quite a hilarious Italian porno based on Beauty and the Beast... the stipulation of course being that she has to love him in ALL ways. When the beast finally gets ready to get biz-zay... well, let's just say [[SpecialEffectFailure Robot Monster]] would have been more titillating. And then the camera just has to focus more on the guy in the cut-up shag carpet than the woman while an epic romantic aria plays softly in the background. It was either the worst porn movie ever or the greatest Dadaist deconstruction of one. |
| 39 | ** ''Series/TheMuppetShow'': |
| 40 | *** Subverted in an episode where the monstrous Doglion retells the story with Creator/LesleyAnnWarren in a speechless dance. At the end, when true love blossoms despite their differences, [[spoiler:Warren turns into a monster]] and they go away happily. |
| 41 | *** Subverted again in another episode where the guest star Ruth Buzzi, dressed as a princess-ish wife to slovenly, shaggy, ogre-like Sweetums, tries to get amorous, singing "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You" while serving Sweetums, who, in turn, [[TheMasochismTango cruelly rebuffs her]]. This escalates into Ruth [[DestructoNookie proclaiming her love to Sweetums by whomping]] the (metaphorical) stuffing out of him in a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown. |
| 42 | ---->'''Sweetums''': ''Now that's my kind of woman! |
| 43 | ** In Music/MauriceRavel's ''Mother Goose'' ballet music, Beauty is represented by a delicate clarinet melody which alternates with the chromatic contrabassoon groans of her beastly partner. |
| 44 | [[/folder]] |
| 45 | |
| 46 | [[folder:Arts]] |
| 47 | * [[UnicornsPreferVirgins A maiden with a unicorn]] was a very common theme in medieval art, as symbol of purity and innocence (only a damsel could placate the beast). The most famous example is [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lady_and_the_Unicorn a series of six French tapestries]], where a young lady is portrayed with a unicorn and a lion (occasionally, a monkey and a maidservant show up, too). Their true meaning is obscure, mostly interpreted as love or self-knowledge, as one of them has the motto ''My Will Alone'' (''À Mon Seul Désir'') |
| 48 | * In [[UsefulNotes/TheRenaissance Renaissance]] artwork, the motif DeathAndTheMaiden, a dance of death between a woman of age with the personification of death [[spoiler:(usually portrayed as a [[TheGrimReaper withered corpse or skeleton]])]], can be considered a variant of the trope. Some consider this to be a romantic image, while others simply see it as a metaphor for the contrast between life and death. |
| 49 | * A common AllegoricalCharacter in Classical and post-Classical art is Fortitude from TheCardinalVirtues. Her appearance differs more than the other three virtues, but one of the most common interpretations is her as an armored woman accompanied by a lion. This design would later be incorporated as "Strength" from the Major Arcana in UsefulNotes/{{Tarot|Cards}}. |
| 50 | %%* [[http://www.luisroyofantasy.com/en/index.php Luis Royo's]] paintings frequently contain images of this. |
| 51 | [[/folder]] |
| 52 | |
| 53 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 54 | * ''ComicBook/BeautyAndTheBeast (2014)'': a French retelling of the fairy tale, written by Maxe L’Hermenier, which seems loosely based upon [[Film/PiratesOfTheCaribbeanTheCurseOfTheBlackPearl Pirates of the Caribbean]]. Belle wears pants and spends her time reading whenever she hasn’t to put up with her sexist {{Childhood Friend|s}} or her abusive sisters. Beast is the titanic captain of a flying ship full of pirate zombies that search for dark souls (including the aforementioned sisters, the reason of Belle offering herself as a hostage). [[spoiler: Their relationship is purely platonic, since he is HappilyMarried, or was, before an evil sorcerer became obsessed with his wife, but Belle is more than happy to help the StarCrossedLovers.]] |
| 55 | * Franchise/MarvelUniverse: |
| 56 | ** ''ComicBook/TheAvengers'': |
| 57 | *** ''ComicBook/AvengersTheInitiative'': has an inversion: Komodo and Hardball. Komodo is female and reptilian, while Hardball is an attractive blond guy with energy powers. |
| 58 | *** ''ComicBook/YoungAvengers'' has a same-sex version with Wiccan, a SquishyWizard, and Hulkling, well, a Hulk-esque shapeshifter. |
| 59 | ** ''ComicBook/{{Cloak and Dagger|MarvelComics}}'' consist of a beautiful, buxom blonde and a shadowed, hidden black man. Cloak tends to be the darker of the two (no surprise) and is more prone to violence and angst. Dagger is the front woman, and in a minor subversion, they actually feed off of each other -- Cloak depends on her to keep him alive, by feeding him light-energy to resist the drain of his powers, and Dagger needs a safe outlet to release the energy that builds up inside her or it'll kill her. |
| 60 | ** [[Characters/MarvelComicsTheEnchantress The Enchantress]]: Amora takes great pride in her own beauty and appreciates handsome men just fine. But being an immortal ages-old goddess, she is able to see beyond mere physical attractiveness. She kept Skurge, an imposing brutish warrior, at her side for centuries and cherished him. She also once took Keep, a huge and only vaguely humanlike thing of green wood and tendrils with a truly monstrous face, to her bed. She remarked that it was a suitably '''epic''' experience. |
| 61 | ** ''ComicBook/FantasticFour'': Benjamin J Grimm, a.k.a. Characters/TheThing, and the blind girl Alicia Masters. {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d in [[Film/FantasticFourRiseOfTheSilverSurfer the second movie]], where Johnny asks Ben about the details. Ben is not amused. |
| 62 | ** ''ComicBook/XMen'' has an interesting example, where [[Characters/MarvelComicsBeast Beast]] is in a relationship with Abigail Brand, an attractive woman with green hair. Personality-wise, Beast is kind and gentle and Brand... isn't. |
| 63 | ** ''ComicBook/TheBalladOfBetaRayBill'': Characters/BetaRayBill is an alien of the Korbinite race technologically transformed into a bio-machine resembling the "most ferocious carnivore in the Burning Galaxy" , although its head looks like a horse's. On her turn, Sif is a [[ActionGirl hot warrior goddess]] and [[Characters/MarvelComicsThorOdinson Thor]]'s romantic interest. Unusually, it's Bill's gentle heart that helps Sif to become more compassionate during their adventures on space. [[DidTheyOrDidntThey It has never been clear if they were "just friends" or something else.]] |
| 64 | * Creator/DCComics: |
| 65 | ** ''ComicBook/AngelAndTheApe'', a fairly obscure detective series from the late 1960s, avoided ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin only by virtue of the fact that Angel is her name, not a literal description. The ape, on the other hand...[[note]]Humans are ''technically'' apes, but Sam Simeon, the Ape in question, is a gorilla. Under at least one writer he was [[Characters/TheFlashRoguesGallery Gorilla Grodd]]'s grandson.[[/note]] |
| 66 | ** In ''ComicBook/SuicideSquad'', June Moone is a beautiful woman working as a graphic designer. She's romantically linked with her teammate [[Characters/BatmanRoguesGalleryPart2 Killer Croc]], who's a giant cannibalistic [[LizardFolk lizard-man]]. |
| 67 | ** ''ComicBook/SwampThing'': Alec is an elemental plant-man with regenerative powers. Abby is a beautiful, white-haired woman with such a DarkAndTroubledPast that it's a wonder she hasn't lost her sanity. They eventually marry and have a child... with John Constantine's "help". |
| 68 | ** ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1987'': Ferdinand (a [[OurMinotaursAreDifferent Kythotaur]]) has always been a good guy, but despite his strength and size, he was always content to remain in the background and act as a chef until he fell in love with the lovely Dr. Leslie Anderson, at which point he became more proactive and even embarked on a heroic quest with Diana after mistakenly believing Anderson was repulsed by his appearance. |
| 69 | * ''ComicBook/SinCity'': Marv and Goldie are a tragic example. He has a single beautiful night with a HookerWithAHeartOfGold. Then she is murdered horribly, and Marv framed for the murder. Cue the RoaringRampageOfRevenge... |
| 70 | * ''Franchise/GIJoe'': Snake Eyes and Scarlett. She's a beautiful, cheerful (her file-card mentions it's difficult to believe someone as deadly as her could have such a good sense of humour) redhead. He's a [[TheVoiceless mute]], orphaned killing machine suffering constant pain from a face so horribly scarred it's been known to shock people who see it into a sort of traumatic paralysis. Scarlett isn't just the love of his life, she's the main reason he bothers to go on living in the first place. |
| 71 | * ''ComicBook/AstroCity'' has Rex and Natalie of the First Family. He's a giant orange dinosaur monster with rocky scales and the prince of Monstro City; she's an energy being who internalizes her powers to become a SizeShifter giantess. |
| 72 | * ''ComicBook/{{Fables}}'': Snow White and "Bigby" Wolf. She's a fairy-tale princess, he's, well, the Big Bad Wolf himself. Of course, it helps that she's actually an iron-willed political leader ("You dumb bastards! I'm Snow White! I run Fabletown, and I'm never outgunned!") and that he can take on human form (making him essentially a Wolfwere who can also turn into a Werewolf). |
| 73 | * ''Rowlf'': The first fantasy comic created by Richard Corben depicts the story of a wolfdog with a lustful passion for his curvaceous owner, princess Marayara, a.k.a. Yara. She is kidnapped by "demons" (probably a mutant race, since the story happens in an [[AfterTheEnd apocalyptic world]]); Rolph seeks help from Yara's suitor, Raymon, but the genius hates the dog so much that he thinks that Rowlf killed her. He asks a mage to transform Rowlf into a human, so they'll torture him into telling where Yara's corpse is. The magic turns Rowlf in a tall, muscled dogman, still unable to talk but much more intelligent than Raymon and the magician. He decides to save Yara by himself. A curiosity: [[Creator/HayaoMiyazaki Hayao Miyazaki]] wanted once to animate Rowlf, but the project was abandoned. |
| 74 | [[/folder]] |
| 75 | |
| 76 | [[folder:Comic Strips]] |
| 77 | * Deconstructed in ''ComicStrip/{{Mutts}}'': Doozie decides to recreate the film with Moochie, believing that the cat will become a prince if they'll dance together and fall in love. They dance briefly, dressed (in her imagination) as Belle and Beast, but she is disappointed to see that Moochie is still a cat. [[BeingHumanSucks He tells Earl that he loves happy endings]]. |
| 78 | [[/folder]] |
| 79 | |
| 80 | [[folder:Fairy Tales]] |
| 81 | * This is a recurring theme in European fairytales and legends, which share strong thematic links with one another. |
| 82 | ** In "Literature/TheSingingSpringingLark" a man is asked by his daughter to bring her a singing, springing lark from his travels, but he's only able to find one at the very end of the journey. However, the lark belongs to a lion who demands that, in exchange for the lark the man stole, he must give him the first creature to come to him when he returns home -- which ends up being, of course, that same daughter. The two end up marrying and remain together for some time, with the lion becoming human at night, until the lion is turned into a dove when candlelight falls on him and flies away. His wife has to track him down by asking after him to the sun, the moon and the winds, who give her gifts as they send her on her way, and eventually learns that he is once more a lion and fighting a dragon who used to be a princess. The protagonist is able to turn them back, but the princess flees with the former lion and intends to marry him; the lion's wife is able to buy the right to spend a night with him by giving the princess each of the gifts she was given -- one gift, one night -- but the princess gives her prospective husband sleeping draughts to ensure he does not wake. He does not drink the second night, however, and they're able to escape. |
| 83 | ** In "Literature/EastOfTheSunWestOfTheMoon", a bear marries a young woman in exchange for making her poor father rich and reveals to his wife that he's a cursed man who must take bear form by day and can only shed it in the dark. It shares several themes with "The Singing, Springing Lark" and the Greek tale of Eros and Psyche, including the betrayal of trust revealed when her candle's wax falls on him, the wife's search for her husband, and the winds' gifts to her being used to buy the right to be with him for a night. |
| 84 | ** In ''TheBlackBullOfNorroway'', three sisters consult a witch to seek fortune. The witch tells them to look at the back door. The first girls find rich coaches that take them away, but the youngest finds just a bull. The bull takes her to the castles of his three brothers and each of them gives the girl a gift to open when she'll need help. After this, the bull takes her to a valley of glass and tells her that he's going to fight the Devil. If the sky gets red, it 'll mean the bull has lost; if the sky gets blue, he won, but the girl must not move an inch or he'll not be able to find her. The sky becomes blue, but the girl naturally moves and gets stuck in the valley. She meets a blacksmith, who says that if she'll work for him for ten years, he'll repay her by making her a pair of shoes to climb out of the valley. The rest of the story happens just like "The Singing, Springing Lark" and "East Of The Sun West Of The Moon", with the girl using her gifts to stop her [[ShapeshiftingLover now human fiancé (a knight)]] from marrying another woman - the witch's daughter, this time. |
| 85 | * In "Literature/TheFrogPrince", the beauty breaks the frog curse on the prince ''by killing him'' (resurrected as a human, he then reveals that his curse could be broken only by a female killing him). This tale predates the classic "Beauty and the Beast" tales by centuries. Much later versions of the Frog Prince make the cure a kiss instead of a killing, but in most of the original tales, death or beatings at the hands of a woman were the only ways to turn the beast into a man. |
| 86 | * "Literature/PrinceLindworm": A queen's attempt at a fertility cure goes wrong and, while she has twins, the first one is born as a lindworm and thrown into a nearby forest. Years later, he confronts his human twin when the latter is searching for a bride and demands that, as the elder, he should marry first. All of the maidens presented to him are afraid and repulsed, so he eats them, but a shepherd's kind, beautiful daughter manages to trick him into shedding his skins until he turns into a human and marry him. |
| 87 | [[/folder]] |
| 88 | |
| 89 | [[folder:Fan Works]] |
| 90 | * Name any ''ComicBook/XMen'' romance fanfiction involving [[Characters/MarvelComicsNightcrawler Nightcrawler]] or the Beast. Now see how many of those feature a female protagonist who is not a mutant herself. |
| 91 | * Lampshaded in the title of the ''WesternAnimation/{{Metalocalypse}}'' [[CrackPairing Murderface/Skwisgaar]] SlashFic ''Beauty and the Bassist''. Murderface is by no means a monster, but he is an UglyCute Type A male {{Tsundere}} who can be awfully abrasive, and Skwisgaar is about as close to a bishonen as the show's art style gets. Played for humor in story's [[http://pics.livejournal.com/dethfiction/pic/00010y2g/ illustration]]. |
| 92 | * The internet artist and writer Furioso, most if not all of whose oeuvre is erotic fan works of comic book characters (particularly Franchise/WonderWoman), is quite fond of this -- to the point where the Beast need not even be sentient. |
| 93 | * In [[https://www.deviantart.com/regularshowandsonic/art/Amazing-World-of-Gumball-meets-Dracula-614996656 this crossover]] of [[WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball Gumball]] and Literature/{{Dracula}}, the Count once had a human wife who saw the beauty in him, but it ended in tragedy, resulting in Dracula declaring war on humanity the following year. |
| 94 | * ''FanFic/{{Greenfire}}'': An InterspeciesRomance starts developing between the glamorous unicorn [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Rarity]] and the intimidating dragon Greenfire ([[AlternateUniverse a.k.a. Spike]]). That's not to say Spike is ugly, just terrifying by pony standards, and Rarity grows to [[FemaleGaze admire his impressive musculature]]. |
| 95 | * There's a ''WebAnimation/{{HazbinHotel}}'' AU on Tumblr which parodies Disney's ''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast'' with Charlie as Belle, Alastor as the Beast/Adam, Angel Dust as Lumiere, Husk as Cogsworth and Vaggie as Maurice. |
| 96 | * This trope applies to ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' fics or webcomics that ship the chimeric MadGod Discord with either [[BecauseYouWereNiceToMe Fluttershy]] or [[FoeYayShipping Celestia]]. Pinkie Pie even mentions the trope in ''Webcomic/TheLastAdventure''. |
| 97 | ** There is a Fluttershy/Discord fic that parodies Disney's film, ''Fanfic/BrideOfDiscord''. It has two sequels and audio versions on youtube. |
| 98 | * In ''Fanfic/HopeForTheHeartless'', we have [[MoralityPet Avalina]], a pretty teenager human, and [[WesternAnimation/TheBlackCauldron the Horned King]], a [[OurLichesAreDifferent horrifying lich]]. They're also the case of an IntergenerationalFriendship, though the Horned King shows shades of being a ParentalSubstitute towards Avalina. |
| 99 | * ''Fanfic/TheAdventuresOfJaina'' has the pretty [[SquishyWizard human mage]] [[BlackMagicianGirl Jaina]] and the ancient, eight-foot-tall, intimidatingly powerful [[HumanoidAliens Mahjarrat]] [[HighPriest Azzanadra.]] |
| 100 | |
| 101 | * In the Hazbin Hotel AU fic “Love Is Never Ugly.” https://archiveofourown.org/works/32308114/chapters/80084377, Charlie and Alastor play the main roles in this darker and more mature retelling of the classic fairy tale in which the beast is born monstrous-looking and driven to cannibalism by an evil fairy’s curse, and the beauty is a lonely maiden who seeks to redeem him with love and compassion. It’s a tale that embraces the elements of horror and fantasy, giving it an atmosphere that is scary yet whimsical. |
| 102 | * ''Fanfic/TheHeartTrilogy'' is about an InterspeciesRomance between Kathryn, a red-headed and purple-eyed human {{Seer|s}} and [[Film/TheHobbit Smaug]], the gigantic and dangerous red dragon. |
| 103 | * ''FanFic/TotalDramaLegacy'' has Link and Katherine. He's a mutant colossus with a tail, and she's a kindhearted girl who loves him for who he is. Ella even compares them to Literature/BeautyAndTheBeast. |
| 104 | [[/folder]] |
| 105 | |
| 106 | [[folder:Films -- Animation]] |
| 107 | * ''Animation/{{Boxballet}}'': the short shows what happens when a rude, big, ugly boxer falls in love with a frail ballerina. Realistically, their worlds are too different... but living in them is [[CrapsackWorld very hard, sometimes unbearable]], so both boxer and ballerina find support on each other. |
| 108 | * ''WesternAnimation/BrotherBear2'': {{Subverted|Trope}} with Nita and Kenai. Kenai is a bear (a literal beast), and Nita is his childhood friend. [[spoiler:In the end, ''she'' transforms into a bear (courtesy of the spirits) so they can be together.]] |
| 109 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{The Hunchback of Notre Dame|Disney}}'': Quasimodo and Esmeralda. She ends up with Phoebus in the end, but it is indicated that she and Quasimodo remain good friends. An absolute subversion of [[Literature/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame the original story]], in which Esmeralda is just as revolted by Quasimodo's looks as everybody else. [[WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDameII The sequel]] plays it straight all the way with a girl named Madellaine hooking up with Quasimodo. |
| 110 | * ''{{WesternAnimation/Megamind}}'': Roxanne is a spirited, brave reporter who’s not interested into the handsome, beloved-by-everyone superhero Metroman. Megamind is a bald, big-headed, blue-skinned alien who became a villain to earn attention and respect, but is not truly evil. She slowly brings the best out of him, unaware that the man she is dating is Megamind in disguise; when Roxanne finds out the truth, she rejects him not because of his appearance, but because of his crimes, especially Metroman’s murder. She forgives him later, after learning that Metroman is actually alive, but mainly because she realizes that Megamind's efforts to atone are sincere. |
| 111 | * ''WesternAnimation/AMonsterInParis'' - a non-romantic example. Francoeur is a flea accidentally transformed into a GentleGiant with an angelic voice because of a chemical explosion caused by Raoul, the supposed-to-be protagonist. Lucille, a beautiful singer, is the first person to realize that Francoeur is not a monster, but they're more LikeBrotherAndSister. Besides, Lucille already has a crush on Raoul. |
| 112 | * ''Animation/MySweetMonster'': Barbara is a lovely princess that dreams of freedom and love, while Boogey is the furry, horned, down-to-earth [[NatureSpirit protector of the woods]]. In spite of her good heart, Barbara initially bosses around everyone that is not her dad, until Boogey teaches her humility. The movie is subtitled as "The Cutie and the Beast". |
| 113 | * ''WesternAnimation/ThePrincessAndTheFrog'' has a grand time playing with this. Charlotte adores the fairy tale and wishes that she could find a frog prince, while Tiana finds the entire thing disgusting. Later, when Tiana meets the transformed Prince Naveen, she is visibly creeped out and none too impressed with him. She doesn't fall in love with him (or he with her) until both have transformed into frogs. |
| 114 | * ''Franchise/{{Shrek}}'': |
| 115 | ** Shrek and Princess Fiona, with a few interesting twists: Fiona is the one with the curse that turns her into an ogre after dark. When Shrek gives her TrueLovesKiss, instead of Shrek turning into a prince, Fiona turns into an ogre. She takes this rather well considering her already ogre-like behavior. It comes back again in [[WesternAnimation/Shrek2 the first sequel]] when Shrek takes a potion that makes him a handsome human and restores Fiona's form... and when given the chance to make this permanent, she passes it up because they were both happier as ogres. |
| 116 | ** The "original" Beauty and the Beast from the fairy tale exist in this same universe too, according to a tie-in guide to the world of the films published by Dorling-Kindersley. It seems that these two had a twist to their relationship too, given that the book comments that they usually share a "glittering palace" in Far Far Away, but the Beast still has a spacious kennel to indulge his animal instincts in as well, implying that he never changed into a prince and Beauty's just fine with that. |
| 117 | ** They also have the Frog Prince variant with Fiona's parents, although her dad turns back into a frog and his wife is just fine with it. |
| 118 | * In ''WesternAnimation/StrangeMagic'', Marianne, a fairy princess, falls in love with [[spoiler:the Bog King, a haggard goblin]]. Slightly subverted as the movie shows that his standard of beauty leans towards his race -- according to his culture, Marianne is the one who would be seen as beastly. [[Heartwarming/StrangeMagic They fall in love regardless.]] |
| 119 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheSwanPrincess'': Princess Odette is cursed to become a swan by day and in moonless nights by the evil sorcerer Rothbart, because she refuses to marry him and make him king. Of course, prince Derek's love can break the curse, but here's the subversion: they were childhood 'friends' (at least that's what their parents wanted), so Derek knew how Odette looked before she was cursed. Double-subverted because he is so shallow that he can't find a reason to love her besides her beauty; also, he almost kills Odette when she is in her swan form. So, although Odette is still pretty as a swan, Derek has to learn to see beyond appearances. |
| 120 | * ''WesternAnimation/WallE'': Inverted in both ways. WALL•E is an ugly and outmoded robot, but also the kind and sensitive one, whereas EVE is an extremely attractive and state-of-the-art robot but is the insensitive and hot-tempered one, and WALL•E is the one that calms her down and teaches her to be more caring. |
| 121 | [[/folder]] |
| 122 | |
| 123 | [[folder:Films -- Live-Action]] |
| 124 | * ''Beauty and the Beast (1962)'' is the first English language adaptation of the fairy tale, although it has a completely different plot. Lady Althea pays a visit to Duke Edward Marc, her fiancé and heir of the throne, but finds out he transforms every night into a werewolf, because of a curse tossed by an alchemist that his late father killed many years ago. She decides to help him break the curse, but a rival of Edward discovers his secret and [[TorchesAndPitchforks stirs the townspeople against him]]. It’s not hard to guess what happens next. |
| 125 | * ''The Bride and the Beast'' is a '50s BMovie about a woman who was a gorilla in a past life. The gorilla her new husband keeps caged in the basement (for unclear reasons) seems to recognize this and is oddly drawn to her. Later, when she and her husband go hunting in Africa, she is repeatedly pursued by gorillas, and the movie ends with her being willingly carried into a cave by one of them. |
| 126 | * ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'' has a villainous example: Bane and Talia Al-Ghul. He's a hulking brute with a permanent gas mask, while she's a high-society seductress. |
| 127 | * ''Film/Deadpool2016'': Post-disfiguration Wade as the Beast and Vanessa as the Beauty. He's a scarred-up, unkillable mutant HeroicComedicSociopath who is disturbingly good at stabbing people; she's a beautiful HookerWithAHeartOfGold. Fitting the cheerfully cynical tone of the movie, however, the Beauty is not idealized - Vanessa is beautiful and reasonably good-hearted but also a very snarky GoodBadGirl. |
| 128 | * Subverted in the exploitation ''Film/DearGodNo''. The sasquatch is befriended by the MadScientistsBeautifulDaughter and turns up to massacre the outlaw biker gang that raped her. [[spoiler:The sasquatch then kills the daughter as well, showing it to be just a brutal monster.]] |
| 129 | * In ''Film/{{Freaks}}'', Hans is a dwarf who performs in a traveling circus despite being heir to a small fortune. He develops a crush on a beautiful trapeze artist named Cleopatra, but he's too blinded by this trope, his excitement over getting with a "big person", and his own [[IJustWantToBeNormal his own self-hatred]] that he can't see that she's only interested in his money, barely hides her disgust for him and the other "freaks", and is planning to murder him so she can inherit. |
| 130 | * ''Film/HowTheGrinchStoleChristmas2000'' has the Grinch and Martha May Whovier. The Grinch is, well, TheGrinch, except [[CharacterExaggeration even more manic depressive]] than in [[Literature/HowTheGrinchStoleChristmas the original book]] and [[WesternAnimation/HowTheGrinchStoleChristmas TV special]], and [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer alienated from his peers for his odd looks and behavior]]. Martha is a MsFanservice who has always had a crush on the Grinch since childhood but couldn't admit it until the movie's end when they finally get together. A more platonic example that takes up significantly more of the movie's run time is the Grinch and Cindy Lou Who, the latter who's an innocent 8 year old girl struggling to find the meaning of Christmas and thinks she can find it by helping him. No matter how much the Grinch [[{{Tsundere}} tries to scare her]] and convince her he's a CardCarryingVillain, she never gives up on seeing the good in him, and he eventually becomes a welcome citizen of Whoville after his HeelFaceTurn. |
| 131 | * ''Film/{{Hulk}}'': Hulk and Betty Ross. |
| 132 | * ''Franchise/KingKong'': |
| 133 | ** ''Film/KingKong1933'': Kong and Fay Wray. In this case, it's deconstructed: the Beauty most emphatically ''doesn't'' love or redeem the Beast. He dies because of her rejection. |
| 134 | --->'''Police Lieutenant''': Well, Denham, the airplanes got him.\ |
| 135 | '''Carl Denham''': Oh no, it wasn't the airplanes. It was beauty killed the beast. |
| 136 | ** This is emphasized in [[Film/KingKong1976 the 1976 remake]], which plays the whole thing with a peculiar sense of eroticism and has Denham specifically referring to Kong as having "tried to rape" the heroine Dwan. |
| 137 | ** In Creator/PeterJackson's ''Film/KingKong2005'', the two actually communicate through actions several times. WordOfGod is that the affectionate interactions between Ann and Kong were based on the story of Koko, the gorilla, and her pet kittens. |
| 138 | ** Downplayed in ''Film/KongSkullIsland'' as the human heroine, Mason Weaver, ''does'' form a connection with Kong, [[spoiler: who even rescues her at one point after she saves him]], but it is not the focus of the story, nor is it remotely sexual or romantic. Furthermore, we don't get any sense that he is forever changed by meeting her, the way Ann changed the original Kong. |
| 139 | ** In ''Film/GodzillaVsKong'', the ''Skull Island'' version of Kong eventually forms a much stronger, life-altering bond with a human being, a native Skull Islander girl named Jia, who - like him - is [[LastOfHisKind last of her kind]]. Jia, being a child, their relationship is emphatically non-sexual, and she seems to see him almost as an older brother. |
| 140 | * ''Film/{{Ladyhawke}}'': Etienne of Navarre and Isabeau d'Anjou are StarCrossedLovers cursed by a [[CorruptChurch corrupt Bishop]] rejected by her. She becomes a hawk by day, and he turns into a wolf at night, so they can only see each other (as humans) briefly when the sun rises. Even non-sentient in his wolf form, Navarre is protective of Isabeau, and she calms him down, keeping him from attacking Phillip, the young thief who helps them. |
| 141 | * ''Film/{{Lili}}'' : Played with. Paul, the puppeteer, is attractive, but he doesn't see himself as such because of his bad leg. His bitterness and self-hatred take him to be very harsh to Lili, so it takes a loooong time for her to see the best in him (actually, their interactions remind a lot [[WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast Belle and Beast]], before Beast's change of heart). To not leave doubts, Paul [[spoiler: tells Lili he is like his puppet Golo, the oger: ugly and yearning for love]]. |
| 142 | * In ''Film/TheLostSkeletonOfCadavra'' (2004), a BMovie spoof, the DamselInDistress faints at the sight of the alien mutant who carries her off in a MarsNeedsWomen fashion, only for her to be returned unharmed. |
| 143 | -->"It looked at me, with those eyes, those ugly eyes, and they looked deep into me, deeper than any human ever has, with a kind of understanding that frightened me to my very soul." |
| 144 | * ''Film/{{Maleficent}}'': Though both are female and the relationship resembles mother and daughter, Maleficent and Aurora fit this. The first is a winged, horned fairy who loses faith in love and curses the latter, who, through her sunny personality, inadvertently teaches Maleficent how to love again. |
| 145 | * In ''Film/{{Mask|1985}}'' (no, not ''Film/TheMask''), the main character Rocky has a disorder that causes his skull to be very enlarged and twisted, looking like a mask. He falls in love with blind girl Diana Adams, who he met at a summer camp for disabled teenagers. He teaches her how to "see" colours by using various objects to represent them. She still stays with him even after she feels his face and sees how deformed he is. |
| 146 | * '' Film/MeridianKissOfTheBeast'': A 90s darker, erotic version with RomanticizedAbuse. Catherine, a "modern" girl moves to the Italian castle she inherited from her family. Along with her best friend, she is [[DudeShesLikeInAComa drugged and then raped]] by the twins working in a nearby circus. Both are cursed to transform in beastmen and Catherine falls for the "good" twin. |
| 147 | * ''Film/TheMummyReturns'' has a villainous example with Meela Nais and Imhotep. She's the reincarnation of Anck-su-namun, who was Imhotep's lover when he was mortal, and he's a {{mummy}}. Note that Imhotep becomes fully human much sooner than most examples of this trope. |
| 148 | * ''Film/Penelope2006'' with Creator/ChristinaRicci as a blue-blood woman with an inoperably deformed nose {{Gender Flip}}s the story. |
| 149 | * ''Film/ThePolarBearKing'': King Valemon, a king who has been placed under a curse by a sorceress he refused to marry, was turned into a polar bear and told he must [[spoiler:marry within seven years]] to be human again. [[spoiler:He becomes human temporarily at night, but only if his face is not seen. If it IS seen, he'll be trapped in the curse forever.]] |
| 150 | * ''Film/QueenOfOuterSpace'': Turns out this is not a GenderInvertedTrope. Queen Yllana hates men because her face was hideously disfigured by radiation in a war. However, she secretly [[IJustWantToBeLoved just wants to be loved]] and implies that she might give up her gendercidal ways if the hero becomes her HotConsort. Instead, he recoils in horror. In fairness, Yllana is too bitter and angry to show a different side to her personality that Laird would be attracted to. |
| 151 | * ''Film/TheScorpionKing'': Non-romantic example with Enkidu and Amina in ''The Book of Souls''. He is a clay golem created to protect her and gets very pissed off if someone so much lifts a finger on her, while she is the only one capable of calming him down. |
| 152 | * ''Film/TheShapeOfWater'', about the romance between a [[FishPeople Fishman]] and a human woman, puts a few twists on this trope. For one, the "Beauty" is a fair bit older than most of these other examples, though still very beautiful, and for another, the sexual aspect is ''not'' glossed over. They ''definitely'' have sex. [[spoiler:Furthermore, the ending implies she [[AmbiguouslyHuman may not have been wholly human]] herself, when the Amphibian Man's kiss gives her gills so they can live together under water, inverting the "MagicKiss makes the Beast human again" part of the trope.]] |
| 153 | * ''Film/{{Slither}}'': {{Subverted|Trope}}. Grant and Starla are married, Grant is forced to share a body with the head alien and ends up with BodyHorror in the extreme. [[spoiler:She ultimately rejects him]]. |
| 154 | * ''Film/X2XMenUnited'' has a ShipTease between the beautiful [[Characters/MarvelComicsStorm Storm]] and the Demon-esque mutant [[Characters/MarvelComicsNightcrawler Nightcrawler]] who is blue, scaly with MoreTeethThanTheOsmondFamily. In a slight subversion, he is the [[NiceGuy kind]] and [[NonActionGuy gentle pacifist]] [[spoiler: when he's not BrainwashedAndCrazy that is]], whilst she is more likely to [[ActionGirl kick some serious ass]] [[MamaBear if she feels her fellow mutants are in the slightest danger]]. |
| 155 | [[/folder]] |
| 156 | |
| 157 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 158 | * ''Series/BeingHumanUK'': Played with in the case of Nina and George. While George is a werewolf, he's a normal person most of the time. Nina still loves him after learning what he is though, [[spoiler:and later episodes reveal that even as a werewolf, George is capable of recognizing Nina as his "mate" and refraining from attacking her]]. |
| 159 | * ''Franchise/{{Buffyverse}}'': |
| 160 | ** In the third season episode of ''Buffy'', "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS3E4BeautyAndTheBeasts Beauty and the Beasts]]", a fledgling MadScientist takes a [[PsychoSerum potion]] which results in him transforming into a monster. His girlfriend is the only one who can calm him down. In a subversion, he's a murderer and the relationship is abusive. |
| 161 | ** On the other hand, Buffy's relationships with Angel and Spike both played this fairly straight. Although Buffy also abused Spike, which might make it better or worse depending on just how jaded you are. |
| 162 | ** Willow and Oz count in a way, as he was a [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent werewolf]]. The above-mentioned episode also focused heavily on Buffy/Angel and Willow/Oz to focus on different possibilities and aspects of this trope. |
| 163 | ** After Buffy and Angel break up, this also applies to Angel and Cordelia. |
| 164 | * ''Series/DoctorWho'': An "intelligent and cynical beast" example: When lovely young Clara Oswald first meets the humanoid alien Doctor in Series 7, he's in [[Creator/MattSmith his youthful, boyish, amiable eleventh life]] and they quickly bond. Then he regenerates into a ''much'' [[Creator/PeterCapaldi older-looking man]] whose gaunt, grim appearance (particularly his BigOlEyebrows and {{death glare}}s), pricklier, more pragmatic personality, and [[NoSocialSkills lack of social skills]] are off-putting to everyone he meets, including Clara for a significant chunk of Series 8. Even as she travels with him, she is also romancing a handsome fellow schoolteacher close to her own age. Gradually she comes to understand and accept Twelve and remains his MoralityChain. His biggest BerserkButton is the prospect of her being harmed or killed, whereupon he's willing to go to desperate lengths (verging on UnstoppableRage) to save her or have vengeance. After [[spoiler: her boyfriend dies (and the Doctor tries, unsuccessfully, to save him)]], their relationship becomes more affectionate and his personality and appearance soften. Sadly, the final stretch of Series 9 has [[spoiler: her Killed Off For Real]], in part because their personalities have become too similar and she has developed his ChronicHeroSyndrome. When this is followed by horrific torture being inflicted on him, his full potential for beastly behavior is revealed as he temporarily becomes a WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds [[spoiler: in hopes of bringing her back]]. When all is said and done they are separated forever. |
| 165 | * ''Series/ForeverKnight'' Nick and Natalie, vampire and human. |
| 166 | * ''Series/GameOfThrones'': |
| 167 | ** Brutish burn victim Sandor Clegane seems to equally hate and love Sansa for being a pretty little idealist. |
| 168 | ** Jaime and Brienne, the handsome knight with a bad reputation and the ugly woman with a stubborn code of honour. |
| 169 | * ''Series/{{House}}'': Creator/HughLaurie compared Gregory to both the Beast and ''Literature/ThePhantomOfTheOpera''. Any of his LoveInterests might contend for the role of the Beauty/Christine analogue, but [[TheHeart Cameron]] is the most straightforward choice -- female, [[WideEyedIdealist idealistic]], [[MoralityPet bringing out the best in him]] ([[JerkWithAHeartOfGold relatively speaking]]), and [[YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre able to see the good in House even when no one else can]]. |
| 170 | * ''Series/Lucifer2016'': Lucifer Morningstar is the Devil himself. He's hedonistic, cynical and [[MrFanservice doesn't miss the chance to display his sculpted body]], but this is a façade to hide his longtime (read millennial) family issues. Deep down, he is a decent guy (differently from [[ComicBook/{{Lucifer}} his comic counterpart]]) who despises the worst of humanity. Chloe Decker is the no-nonsense, incorruptible detective that reluctantly accepts his help to solve the MysteryOfTheWeek. She helps him to change for better, but that doesn't keep him from showing his horrifying devilish form to whoever he thinks deserves it. |
| 171 | * Deconstructed in the ''Series/{{Millennium}}'' episode "Somehow Satan Got Behind Me". A demon starts a relationship with a stripper, who accepts him even though he eventually reveals his true form to her. Just when the demon looks like he's going to make a love confession, he instead dumps her in a humiliating fashion so she's DrivenToSuicide and [[TheFarmerAndTheViper he can claim her soul]]. He then expresses his contempt for the PunyEarthlings who need to form such connections out of physical and emotional need. |
| 172 | * ''Series/OnceUponATime'': Mostly {{deconstructed|trope}} and {{subverted|Trope}}. |
| 173 | ** In the first season, Rumplestiltskin is the beast, and while he softens a bit, love does ''not'' redeem him; the Evil Queen Regina is ''more'' then happy to point out all the AMatchMadeInStockholm implications of the setup as an EvilPlan to ruin him; and Belle almost de-powers him trying to cure him. He sends her away and the Queen gloatingly tells him that her superstitious village [[DrivenToSuicide locked her up and tortured her until the poor girl threw herself off a tower]], leaving our "beast" bereft with only a single chipped teacup as a TragicKeepsake. [[spoiler: Of course, her Majesty was lying about the suicide part, but Belle's real-world counterpart is locked in a BedlamHouse.]] |
| 174 | ** In season two, [[spoiler:Belle, her]] IdentityAmnesia removed, reveals that [[spoiler:she was actually abducted by Regina ''before'' the curse, kept alive as a trump card]] in case Regina ever decided that she needed to do something against Rumple since [[spoiler: he still has his powers]]. So the whole situation ends up being awful for both parties involved, even if they do love each other. |
| 175 | ** Played straight in season three when Rumple [[spoiler:tells Belle that her love gives him the strength he needs to [[HeroicSacrifice kill Peter Pan]]]]. |
| 176 | * ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' uses the "appearances" of this trope, but without the "redemption by love" aspect, in the ''Canon'' Pairing, Troi/Worf. |
| 177 | * ''Series/TalesFromTheCrypt'': Deconstructed in the most twisted way possible in "[[Recap/TalesFromTheCryptS2E1DeadRight Dead Right]]". Kathy is a beautiful GoldDigger (played by Creator/DemiMoore) who marries Charlie, an obese, sloppy, gluttonous man because a FortuneTeller told her he would inherit a large amount of money and die violently. As months pass, she can't stand to be in the same room as him, but Charlie doesn't die, to her total frustration. [[spoiler: Then she suddenly wins millions in a lottery and dumps him, but he kills her in a rage. The prophecy is fulfilled, for Charlie inherits Kathy’s money and dies violently in the electric chair for her murder.]] |
| 178 | * ''[[Series/{{V1983}} V (1983)]]'': Wherein all the aliens look human but are really reptiles. |
| 179 | ** The alien Willie (played by a pre-Freddy Creator/RobertEnglund) is a kindly, nerdy bumbler who strikes up a relationship with a human woman named Harmony. When [[TheReveal she learns the truth]], the horrified look on her face as his fake hand is ripped open was one of the most poignant scenes in the mini. Later, they hook up again as she admits that she didn't fall for his looks in the first place. Unfortunately, she is tragically killed in the end. |
| 180 | ** This mini also subverts the trope on a routine basis, but the nastiest example is with the character of Robin Maxwell. Long story short, she falls for one of the aliens but it turns out she was only being manipulated into sleeping with him to conceive a hybrid child, and their night together technically counts as rape. After she gives birth to two children, one mostly human and the other mostly reptilian, she murders the father with a bio-weapon engineered from the blood of the less human child. |
| 181 | %%* ''Series/TheVampireDiaries'': Damon and Elena. |
| 182 | [[/folder]] |
| 183 | |
| 184 | [[folder:Music]] |
| 185 | * A popular practice in GothicMetal and SymphonicMetal bands is [[SopranoAndGravel to perform a duet of a male growler and a female soprano singer]]. They're often given the roles of "The Beauty" and "The Beast" in song's lyrics. Examples include "Devil and the Deep Dark Ocean" by Nightwish, "Nyphetamine" by Music/CradleOfFilth, "As the Shadows Dance" by Music/TheatreOfTragedy, among many others. |
| 186 | * Invoked in Music/{{Lordi}}'s song "Would You Love a Monsterman?", and also with Mr. Lordi himself. His backstory has him perpetually searching for his One True Love, and his music videos often having him/the band pursuing or aiding a young (human) woman. |
| 187 | * Music/StevieNicks' "Beauty and the Beast". |
| 188 | * The theme song for Disney's ''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast'' of the same title, sung by Mrs. Potts in-universe and out of 'verse by Music/CelineDion and Peabo Bryson. |
| 189 | * "The French Passion of Animality Opera" by Music/{{Foxy Shazam}} seems to tell a beauty/beast story, though it's [[IndecipherableLyrics hard to]] [[WordSaladLyrics tell.]] |
| 190 | -->''I am a Beast and I'm pretty sure that there is no cure, but then again I could be..''\ |
| 191 | ''[[SuddenlyShouting WRONG, I COULD BE WRONG,]] [[CarefulWithThatAxe I COULD BE WRONG, I COULD BE WRONG]]'' |
| 192 | * Music/{{Meat Loaf}}'s "I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)" video uses a Beauty and Beast motif. |
| 193 | * The Music/{{Vocaloid}} song [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9wdfJKbHa0 "The Wolf that Fell in Love with Little Red Riding Hood"]] is about this. |
| 194 | * The Creator/SeananMcGuire song "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOuNgvUUbo8 Creature Feature]]" is about a classic movie monster (some verses imply he's a FishPerson, others a werewolf) falling in (presumably one-sided) love with a human woman, who's terrified and disgusted by him (at least at first). The song ends on a hopeful note, with him waiting at a movie theater for her. |
| 195 | [[/folder]] |
| 196 | |
| 197 | [[folder:Myths & Religion]] |
| 198 | * [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Greek Mythology]]: |
| 199 | ** Hephaestus, son of Zeus and Hera, was so ugly he got thrown off Mt. Olympus as a baby and was crippled upon landing (or was defenestrated because he was born crippled). When the goddess of love, Aphrodite, needed a husband, all the unwed gods (including Hephaestus) were lined up for her to make her choice. Zeus chose Hephaestus for her -- and she was completely and utterly ''un''faithful to him. |
| 200 | *** In one version of that story, ''she'' chose ''him''. |
| 201 | *** In another version, Hephaestus built a chair that trapped Hera in it, and he refused to free her unless he could marry Aphrodite. |
| 202 | *** In yet ANOTHER version, Hera set Hephaestus up with Aphrodite to make up for throwing him from Olympus. And, being the goddess of marriage, she told him what to tell her so that she'd agree to marry him when she wouldn't marry any of the other gods: "I work late." So really, he had to know what he was getting into... |
| 203 | ** Hades and Persephone could also fit this trope -- though Hades is not always depicted as physically monstrous, he is the God of the Dead, which tends to give everyone else an aversion to him. And true, Persephone was kidnapped against her will, but still ends up Queen of the underworld. They're also one of the ''very few'' HappilyMarried pairs in the entire pantheon. And by the usual standards of the Greek Gods, Hades was actually quite fair. A common {{Fanon}} theory (which may or may not be true, given Ancient Greece's ValuesDissonance) is that they loved each other ''before'' Hades abducted her, and the kidnapping was orchestrated because [[MamaBear Demeter]], Persephone's mother, wouldn't let them be together. |
| 204 | ** The story of Psyche and Eros fits most of the same elements of the tale, but acts as a whopping subversion: Psyche was considered to be as pretty as/prettier than Aphrodite. But she found it difficult to find a husband for plot reasons. An oracle deemed that she was to be left on the side of a mountain as a bride to a "monster that neither gods nor men can resist." Psyche was taken to a beautiful palace, attended to by invisible servants, and her husband would come by night, but not stay until morning. In the darkness, she could not see his face. Her sisters convinced her that her husband was a terrible beast that meant to devour her and their unborn child, and to hide an oil lamp and a knife for the next time he comes to visit. Turned out, her unseen husband was anything ''but'' a beast -- Aphrodite's own son [[LoveGod Eros]] had [[ProphecyTwist decided to marry her]]. |
| 205 | ** Another subversion can be found in the story of the giant cyclops Polyphemus and his [[AllLoveIsUnrequited unrequited]] love for the beautiful nereid Galatea. While Galatea accepts Polyphemus ''as a friend'', she ultimately falls for Acis who is the [[DivineParentage son of Pan]]. [[MurderTheHypotenuse Polyphemus doesn’t take it well]]. Played straight in the versions of the story where she does accept his love. |
| 206 | * Myth/ArthurianLegend: Gender inverted where the handsome Sir Gawain must marry Dame Ragnell, who is cursed into the form of the Loathly Lady, in order to gain the answer to the question "What do women want the most?" Interestingly, a kiss is able to break half the spell: she can be beautiful only by day or by night and Ragnell tells Gawain he can choose which it will be. The spell is only fully broken when Gawain gives her the choice instead, thus standing by the answer to the riddle which is that what women want the most is their own will. |
| 207 | * The European fairy Melusine was cursed by her mother into turning half-serpent on the Saturdays, until she married a man who would respect her privacy. She eventually married the nobleman Raymondin, promising him she would make him wealthy and famous as long as he left her alone on the Saturdays. Both fulfilled their promises until Raymondin's family talked him into spying on her on her bath in the forbidden day. She leaves him, returning only to visit her children or to fulfill her obligations related to the curse - to warn death or predict fortune. |
| 208 | * Another gender inversion can be seen with the Chinese myth ''Legend of the White Snake'', where a powerful snake spirit named Bai Suzhen falls in love with a man named Xu Xian when she assumes the form of a human. However, the romance trope is subverted when Xu Xian [[spoiler:dies of shock when he sees Bai Suzhen's true form]], but later played straight when he maintains his love for her [[spoiler:after coming back to life]]. |
| 209 | |
| 210 | [[/folder]] |
| 211 | |
| 212 | [[folder:Roleplay]] |
| 213 | * In ''Roleplay/TheGamersAlliance'', Omaroch is a demon warrior and Delora ia a human cleric. Despite their opposite alignments, they bond and learn valuable lessons from one another, and eventually get married. |
| 214 | [[/folder]] |
| 215 | |
| 216 | [[folder:Theater]] |
| 217 | * ''Theatre/CyranoDeBergerac'' has the ugly WarriorPoet Cyrano fall in love with his beautiful [[UnluckyChildhoodFriend childhood friend]] ([[KissingCousins and cousin]]) Roxane but never tell her until his deathbed, instead setting her up with the handsome-but-tonguetied Christian. When Roxane tells the dying Cyrano that she loves him, he jokes that he won't be magically made handsome and brought back to life like the Beast in "Beauty and the Beast". |
| 218 | -->'''Roxane''': Live, for I love you!\ |
| 219 | '''Cyrano''': No, In fairy tales\ |
| 220 | When to the ill-starred Prince the lady says\ |
| 221 | 'I love you!' all his ugliness fades fast--\ |
| 222 | But I remain the same, up to the last! |
| 223 | * ''Theatre/{{Wicked}}'' has a gender-flipped version of this with Elphaba and Fiyero. At one point in the show, Elphaba says to Fiyero: "I wish I could be beautiful for you". |
| 224 | [[/folder]] |
| 225 | |
| 226 | [[folder:Video Games]] |
| 227 | * ''VideoGame/{{Bronze}}'': A darker retelling of the classic fairy tale. Beast is morally ambiguous and Beauty must decide if she'll save or kill him. |
| 228 | * ''VideoGame/ChibiRobo'': Mort is a shy, melancholy mummy action figure who literally kills every plant he touches, and who dearly wishes he could properly express his feelings for the princess doll Pitts. Unfortunately, Pitts is ''terrified'' of anything even remotely monstrous. [[spoiler:However, she's so touched by the kindness Mort shows her that she begs Chibi to help her overcome her fears. In the end, they get HappilyMarried, and live happily in Mort's shoebox under the bed with their children.]] |
| 229 | * ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'': The furry, horned, and cloven-hooved satyr/Giant Maduin and the human woman Madeline. They even had a [[HalfHumanHybrid half-Esper half-human]] daughter, Terra. There is a minor subversion though, as it turns out HumansAreTheRealMonsters who drive them apart, leading to the deaths of the lovers and the capture of the infant Terra. |
| 230 | * ''Videogame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade'': Gonzalez becomes a bandit after being rejected by his fellow villagers due to his monster-like appearance, only to join the heroes once Lilina talks to him, as [[BecauseYouWereNiceToMe she's the first person to speak to him kindly]]. Both are even able to upgrade their RelationshipValues. |
| 231 | * ''VideoGame/JakAndDaxter'': A variation: Daxter meets a girl who falls in love with him, despite him being a two-foot-tall [[WeaselMascot ottsel]] (he was originally a [[RubberForeheadAliens humanoid]] just like her). Inverted in that ''she'' does most of the protecting, indirectly by giving the powerful weapons she makes to his {{Heterosexual Life Partner|s}} Jak and threatening hell on anyone who harms him. In [[VideoGame/Jak3Wastelander the third game]], [[spoiler:Daxter finally gets the chance to become normal again, but he decides against it. But it works out, when the girl in question gets turned into an Ottsel herself shortly afterward]]. |
| 232 | * ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'': |
| 233 | ** A non-romantic example with the champion Kindred, the Eternal Hunters who are actually ''two'' characters; [[TheGrimReaper an incarnation of death itself]] that was so lonely that he supposedly [[LiteralSplitPersonality split himself in two with an axe]] so [[IJustWantToHaveFriends he would always have a friend.]] The result was Lamb, a female embodiment of [[FaceDeathWithDignity accepting death with dignity]] who is gentle, beautiful, and calm (but still deadly), and Wolf, a male embodiment of the futility of trying to escape your fate who is ferocious, savage, cruel and impatient (and also deadly). To make it even more apparent, Lamb is a [[BeastMan white, furry humanoid, like a cross between a person and, well, a lamb]], while Wolf is a black, floating, disembodied wolf's head. |
| 234 | ** Gender-flipped with [[CuteMonsterGirl Evelynn]] and [[TheGambler Twisted Fate]] - a female demon and a male human, respectively - that were formerly in a relationship. While Evelynn is [[HeadTurningBeauty quite shockingly beautiful]], despite being clearly inhuman, she was also very AxCrazy. Weirdly, she was the one who ''broke up'' with him and he took it very poorly. [[DrowningMySorrows Drunkenly so]]. |
| 235 | * ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots'': In the ending, [[spoiler:Raiden makes this comparison between himself and Rose. Rose fiercely denies this, saying that he is ''not'' a beast -- he is their son's father as well as the man she loves]]. |
| 236 | * ''VideoGame/OdinSphere'': Cornelius (ShelteredAristocrat cursed into Pooka, a rabbit-like creature) and Velvet ({{Stripperiffic}} princess). [[spoiler:Just like the Shrek example, Velvet also turns into a Pooka. However, if the bonus ending is achieved, both turn human again.]] |
| 237 | * ''VideoGame/Persona4 Golden'': The [[CombinationAttack tag-team combo]] Kanji and Naoto have is named Literature/BeautyAndTheBeast. Appropriate in that Kanji is over six feet tall, bulging with muscle, has a delinquent look going on, is feared by his peers as a bit of a brute, and is a grappler/brawler character with some of the most brutal physical skills in the game. Naoto on the other hand is absolutely tiny and exudes an androgynous charm that makes her very popular with the ladies and quite a number of guys (including, naturally, Kanji). Turns out that Kanji's actually a really nice guy, whereas Naoto starts as something of an apathetic jerk before the CharacterDevelopment kicks in. |
| 238 | * ''VideoGame/PlanescapeTorment'' plays with this trope: [[TheHero The Nameless One]] looks the beast part, being horribly scarred due to every kind of possible damage inflicted on his body, while his two romantic options [[BettyAndVeronica Fall-From-Grace and Annah]] are also incredibly attractive. The catch is that they have [[CuteMonsterGirl fiendish heritage]] themselves, but other than Annah having a long tail and Grace having demonic wings, they are otherwise indistinguishable from humans. |
| 239 | * ''VideoGame/{{Warcraft}}'': |
| 240 | ** Although it's unofficial, the orc warlord Thrall and the human mage Jaina are implied to be an example of the trope. Though that's more on the fact that Thrall is considered a NobleDemon among [[OurOrcsAreDifferent his kind]]... |
| 241 | ** There's also the more canonical example of Thrall and Tabetha Foxton. |
| 242 | ** Also played with Tyrande Whisperwind and Malfurion Stormrage. He's starting to grow antlers, but she's the more zealous one. |
| 243 | * ''VideoGame/{{Xenosaga}}'': Ziggurat 8 (Ziggy) and MOMO, a killer cyborg and an adorable RobotGirl. Their relationship is parental in nature, however. |
| 244 | [[/folder]] |
| 245 | |
| 246 | [[folder:Webcomics]] |
| 247 | * Webcomic/MeganKearneysBeautyAndTheBeast is a retelling of the fairy tale with references to the Disney movie and deep CharacterDevelopment of both protagonists. Differently most versions of the fairy tale and movies, however, Beast's past is very detailed. |
| 248 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheBrideOfTheFox'' : Nubia is a pretty, selfless princess from the Thandiwe kingdom that has serious self-esteem issues. Taiga is a LittleBitBeastly [[AsianFoxSpirit Kitsune]] she saves from drowning. He is also the king of the Makai Kingdom, a mystic world, and sees himself as unable to love because of his DarkAndTroubledPast. Guess what? |
| 249 | * ''Webcomic/TheFlowerAndTheNose'': An interesting [[https://tapas.io/episode/8252 gender-flipped version]]. Lani is cursed with a humungous nose by a flower that blooms once every thirty years. She builds a very successful perfume industry thanks to her keen sense of smell, but the bitterness caused by her appearance makes her drive people away. Until she meets a handsome, mysterious man who is surprisingly interested on her. |
| 250 | * ''Webcomic/KevinAndKell'' reversed this in every way imaginable -- not only are the genders reversed, the "beast" is the ''Human'' since the comic takes place in a world of {{Funny Animal}}s. It all, of course, culminates in a perfect replay of the [[http://www.kevinandkell.com/2002/kk0707.html ballroom scene]] from Disney's ''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast''... with the only difference being who is the Beauty and who is the Beast. |
| 251 | * ''Webcomic/CountMickeyDragul'': Count Mickey Dragula and Mina Murray are this, although, uncharacteristically, it's Mina who ends up [[ILoveYouVampireSon turned into a vampire]]. |
| 252 | * ''Webcomic/{{Drowtales}}'': The original version had this set up with Ariel and Rik, with Rik eventually growing [[{{Yandere}} selfish and possessive]] and betraying everyone so he can have Ariel for himself. The remakes retconned this, turning Rik into a StalkerWithACrush who tried to rape Ariel twice and had a [[DroppedABridgeOnHim bridge dropped on him]] the second time, taking all potential future plot he was meant to be implied in with him. |
| 253 | * ''Webcomic/{{Erma}}'': The title character, a half-human StringyHairedGhostGirl, and Connor, her human classmate, have a gender-inverted PuppyLove variant. |
| 254 | * ''WebComic/SlightlyDamned'': The "beast" (a demon) is told an in-universe variant of the trope-naming story. He doesn't like it, since even if he is loved by his "beauty" (an angel), he'll never stop being a demon. [[InterspeciesRomance This becomes less and less of an impediment as the story progresses]]. |
| 255 | * ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'' has a [[MoralityPet platonic]] version between [[DoesNotKnowHisOwnStrength Equius]] and [[BadassAdorable Nepeta]]. Equius is a {{Fantastic Racis|m}}t [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold With a Heart of Gold]] who builds robots so he can beat them to bits with his bare hands. Nepeta spends most of her time roleplaying and being a ShipperOnDeck for all their friends. Equius specifically mentions that he's scared of what he might be without Nepeta tacklepouncing him and making him talk about his feelings. |
| 256 | * ''Webcomic/MKsTheStrangeCaseOfDrJekyllAndMrHyde'': Hyde (a troll) and Lucy (a human) are definitely this, but Lucy wants nothing to do with Hyde romantically unless he overcomes his commitment issues and is willing to take the relationship seriously rather than treat it as another escapade. |
| 257 | * ''Webcomic/TheNonAdventuresOfWonderella'': Wonderella gets kidnapped to be the "beauty" part of a parody on the Disney classic. She opts instead to reassure the Beast that there's a fetish for everything, and [[spoiler: hunts down the enchantress who cast the spell, as the enchantress also cursed the completely innocent castle servants]]. |
| 258 | * ''Webcomic/SpinaCage'' is a retelling of Beauty and the Beast in modern times with an attractive young man named Adrian in Beauty's place. |
| 259 | * In ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'', this is gender-flipped, well... ''[[GenderBender usually]]'', with Grace and Tedd. Grace's default form is furry, has a large tail, and two furry antennae sticking out of her head. She's a shapeshifter so other than the antennae (which can be disguised as hair, and, later, morphed away entirely) she can pass as human. However, Tedd loves her regardless of her form and this is even more so the [[SingleTargetSexuality case with her]]. |
| 260 | * ''Webcomic/CursedPrincessClub'' has a gender-inverted example with Gwendolyn and Frederick. Princess Gwendolyn of the Pastel Kingdom [[FaceOfAThug looks more like a witch or a goblin than a princess]], while Prince Frederick of the Plaid Kingdom is a handsome blond boy. Their respective fathers set up an ArrangedMarriage between them -- as well as between Gwen's (more conventionally pretty PrincessClassic) sisters and Frederick's brothers -- but Frederick is initially very resistant to a union with such an ugly and frightening girl (the fact that several [[PoorCommunicationKills misunderstood conversations]] with Gwen makes him think she's trying to hex him doesn't help). The "Beast" part of the dynamic is downplayed, as Gwendolyn's [[NiceGirl personality]] isn't remotely beastlike -- if anything, she does more to help Frederick overcome his insecurities than he helps with her's, making her a better fit for the "Belle" archetype despite how she looks. |
| 261 | * ''Webcomic/DemonKing'' is about the relationship between Toru Akujin, a disfigured quarter-demon with a history of problems with humans, and Aya Chihiko, a normal human high schooler. They start off just being friends but as the story goes on, it becomes clear they have deeper feelings for one another. |
| 262 | [[/folder]] |
| 263 | |
| 264 | [[folder:Web Original]] |
| 265 | * ''WebAnimation/MysterySkullsAnimated'': Lewis is a muscular, vindictive ghost whose head is a floating skull, who wants to take revenge on his former best friend Arthur for killing him; also, he is still in love with his former girlfriend Vivi, a cheerful, naive girl who took Lewis' place as the leader of their paranormal investigator group. The point is, neither she or Arthur (who was [[DemonicPossession possessed]] when he committed the crime) remember Lewis' death and don't even guess that the ghost that terrified them is their dear friend. |
| 266 | * The animated music video from DAT's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vJf38Lp5CI "Showtime"]] depicts a depressed devil that falls in love with an eccentric woman. He eventually decides to become human, or at least less demonic, since his horns and wings just get small, but [[spoiler:he can't remain in this form much long and painfully turns back into a full devil. With the woman's consent, he erases her memories of him as he cries, before they have a last dance [[StarCrossedLovers and he leaves her for good]]]]. |
| 267 | [[/folder]] |
| 268 | |
| 269 | [[folder:Real Life]] |
| 270 | |
| 271 | * The story of Petrus Gonsalvus (1517-1618) probably served as inspiration to Gabrielle de Villeneuve conceiving Beauty and the Beast. He was a Guanche, an indigenous tribe of the Canary Islands, with a rare medical condition called "hypertrichosis", which covers one's face and body entirely with hair. Because of this, he was captured at a young age and given to Henri II of France as a "wild man". Henry II, however, soon noticed that Petrus was actually calm and docile in spite of his captivity, and decided to have him transformed in a true gentleman. Petrus learned to speak and write French as well as social manners; after Henri II's death, his wife Catherine de Medici decided to marry him out of curiosity, to check if his children would be hairy, too. The chosen one was one of the the prettiest ladies of her court, who was also called Catherine and had no idea to whom she was marrying until the bridal night. Legends say that she fainted when she saw Petrus for the first time; however, as it was said before, he was a good, patient man. They had seven children; four of them were born with hypertrichosis and thus sent as gifts to European courts, so the story of Petrus and Catherine is far from being happy. The registers hint that they truly loved their children, and there is an image were she is represented touching Petrus' shoulder as a sign of affection, which was very unusual in couple portraits. |
| 272 | |
| 273 | * Percilla Lauther (1911-2001) and Emmit Bejano (1915-1995) lived a true love story in spite of their adversities. She had hypertrichosis and two rows of teeth and he had a calloused skin that earned him the nickname of "Alligator Man"; but she was also a graceful woman with an enchanting singing voice, while he was gentle and kind. They saw past their physical differences and lived together for many years, until Emmit's death. |
| 274 | |
| 275 | [[/folder]] |
| 276 | ---- |
| 277 | ->''Tale as old as time...\ |
| 278 | Song as old as rhyme...'' |
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