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5[[quoteright:350:[[Webcomic/DangerouslyChloe https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dangerously_chloe_awful_excuse.jpg]]]]
6
7In RealLife, the process of transition for UsefulNotes/{{transgender}} people is often a long, complicated process, which may or may not involve numerous different procedures including psychological counseling, hormone replacement therapy, and a variety of plastic surgeries, spread out over several years. The exact path the transition takes is different for every individual, and so are the results.
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9In fiction, this process is frequently boiled down to one quick and easy procedure. Most commonly, it consists of a single readily-available surgery which takes a few hours at most, allowing a character to waltz into a hospital and leave the same day looking like their new gender. Less commonly, they may only need to take hormones, which will take effect impossibly quickly and have much more dramatic effects on both their mind and body than in real life.
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11Either way, the result will almost always be an AttractiveBentGender, possibly played by a different actor or actress. Surgical scars are rarely seen. Exceptions to this will usually be from works by less trans-supportive creators who want to portray the results of the surgery as unconvincing, ugly, and/or frightening.
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13Sex change surgery that is ''reversed'' is another common signifier of the Easy Sex Change. In stories with easily-undone sex changes, even characters who aren't transgender may choose to have one in order to hide their identity, treating it as simply the next level of being DisguisedInDrag.
14
15This trope is also common in video games with CharacterCustomization. If a game allows you to change your character's gender, the process will rarely be more complicated than talking to a certain {{NPC}} and paying a small fee. Sometimes, it may even be as simple as opening the "edit appearance" menu.
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17This is usually a form of MagicPlasticSurgery. Often followed by OldFriendNewGender. Not to be confused with GenderBender, which involves sex changes that (usually) are even ''easier'', and driven by magic or AppliedPhlebotinum. This trope is more about idealized (occasionally ''highly'' idealized) versions of RealLife SRS.
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19Contrast TransTribulations, which can include a more realistic portrayal of the difficulties of transitioning.
20
21----
22!!Examples:
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24[[foldercontrol]]
25
26[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
27* ''Manga/BackStreetGirls'': The entire premise is about three Yakuza men being forced to undergo reassignment surgery to become pop idols. This happens over the course of a quick trip to Thailand, followed by a year's worth of idol training. By the end, the three are indistinguishable from any other woman, with enough good looks to sell plenty of merchandise.
28* ''Manga/FrankenFran'' has Fran switch the sex of a boyfriend and girlfriend at her high school - literally swapping their torsos and genitalia - because the girlfriend was attacked once and is now afraid of men. Possibly justified by Fran quite frankly being crazy enough to do it, especially since she performs any surgery she thinks is warranted regardless of later psychological issues and {{b|lueAndOrangeMorality}}elieves "alive but in unimaginable, incurable psychological torment" to be preferable to "dead". Oddly enough, it's one of the few "happy" endings (though the couple in question is later revealed to have broken up after cheating on each other).
29* In ''Manga/HesDedicatedToRoses'', the main heroine briefly (but seriously) contemplates getting a sex change operation seeing how her crush is in [[LovesMyAlterEgo love with her cross-dressing alter-ego]] and she doesn't want to hurt him by letting him know she's actually a girl. This idea is quickly shot down and isn't brought up again.
30* In ''Anime/TheVisionOfEscaflowne'', it is revealed that [[spoiler:Dilandau]] used to be an innocent little girl, [[spoiler:and Allen Schezar's little sister]] at that. Although it's implied that there was a long, drawn-out process of ''some'' type required involving Emperor Dornkirk's "Fate Changing" experiments, which possibly involved some kind of probability-manipulating, extra-dimensional/quantum physics weirdness, but at the end, [[spoiler:Dilandau reverts back to Celina and it's implied that she stays that way.]] This is not addressed in either the movie or the manga; in the movie, [[spoiler:Dilandau]] is biologically male the entire time, and in the manga, the character is female and stays that way the whole time.
31* Subverted in ''Manga/KyouKaraYonshimai''. Kashiwa comes back from college specifically to save money on dorming due to her transitioning. One of her sisters even elaborates how expensive it is. Kashiwa's sisters at first think she had already gotten "the surgery" but she tells them she wouldn't do that without coming out to them first.
32* It's vague exactly how Yukari and Sora from ''Manga/FamilyCompo'' transitioned. It's implied they're both non-op and likely are not on hormones (Sora still menstruates and they have some UnsettlingGenderReveal moments involving their genitalia and chests) but are able to pass perfectly nevertheless. It's to such an extent that, when Masahiko requests them to dress as their assigned genders during his university welcoming, [[RightForTheWrongReasons everyone assumes they're transvestites]] because Sora and Yukari look so masculine and feminine, respectively, compared to when they show up later in their preferred clothing and the same crowd is none the wiser.
33[[/folder]]
34
35[[folder:Comic Books]]
36* In ''ComicBook/JudgeDredd'', this happens to one of the judging panel members of a TV TalentContest by the application of a particular drug, changing the individual from a frail woman to a hulking, muscular man in a matter of minutes. However, the shock of the transition kills the individual several minutes later.
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38
39[[folder:Fan Works]]
40* In the Linkin Park fanfiction ''[[http://www.lpfiction.com/story.php?id=15032 Does it Really Matter?]]'', "Chessi" Bennoda becomes a completely passing young woman with the help of a makeover in one day. The fic is loaded with pretty offensive misconceptions about being transgender. [[HilariousInHindsight Hilariously enough]], the writer is a trans man that wrote it before he identified as such.
41* ''FanFic/InThisWorldAndTheNext'': Gender reassignment surgery is performed on an unconscious Ron without his knowledge and he wakes up a woman.
42[[/folder]]
43
44[[folder:Film]]
45* A subversion of this trope is central to the premise of the off-Broadway play and movie ''Film/HedwigAndTheAngryInch''. Hedwig's surgery is done with little preparation by a shady East German doctor, leaving Hedwig with the "Angry Inch" of the title.
46* Invoked in the Creator/AdamSandler version of ''Film/TheLongestYard''. Adam's team, the underdogs of the movie, replace someone on the guards' team's steroids with female hormone pills. Not more than two days later, said guy is bawling and weeping, supposedly acting feminine because of the hormone. To make a long story short, [[ArtisticLicenseMedicine hormones do not work that way]]. A more likely outcome from suddenly taking a huge dose of estrogen would simply be getting very sick, in various "normal" ways (headache, nausea, etc.) Emotional side effects are possible, but would probably require testosterone-blocking medication to be taken at the same time.
47* In ''Film/MyraBreckinridge'', the character Myron Breckinridge has sex reassignment surgery that works so well that his new persona as Myra completely convinces everyone that she's been female all along... which she should, being played by Raquel Welch (with Rex Reed as Myron who tags along as Myra's more-or-less imaginary friend). Justified, as it turns out the whole movie is a dream the closeted Myron is having.
48* While not as "easy" for the patient as most examples, a dark take in ''[[Film/LaPielQueHabito The Skin I Live In]]'' is similarly unrealistic, as [[spoiler:a surgeon does an involuntary sex change on [[RapeAndRevenge the guy who raped his daughter.]] He also keeps him/her in isolation and uses him/her as a guinea pig for developing artificial skin.]]
49* Subverted in ''Film/BadEducation2004''. Ignacio is prevented from having one because he doesn't have enough money. All he manages to get are breast implants, and he still looks like a man in spite of that.
50* ''Film/TheAssignment2016'': It's unclear just how long, but within very little time Jane performs a full set of sex reassignment surgeries on Frank, altering his cheeks, throat, nose, and genitals. This isn't possible, willing or not, as he'd need time for recovery from each one. There's no indication that he was held very long, however. Of course, since he's played by Creator/MichelleRodriguez, he comes out with her appearance (which is also quite implausible).
51* In the Italian comedy ''Film/LeComiche2'' the two main characters cause the main recurring {{chew toy}} character to undergo an undesired breast augmentation first and a sexual reassignment surgery later. The movie completely glosses over the psychological implications and trauma of an undesired sex change. After the breast augmentation, the character is shown behaving and living as male, embarrassingly hiding the fact he has breasts and wearing a bra due to circumstances. Once his male genitals are removed, they are completely accepting to be a woman.
52* A retroactive example in ''Film/{{Alien}}'': the character Lambert is identified as transgender in a text profile that appears in the background of a scene in the sequel ''Film/{{Aliens}}''. In an example [[JustifiedTrope justified]] by future medical technology, the profile states that she was identified as transgender and underwent sex reassignment at birth.
53[[/folder]]
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55[[folder:Literature]]
56* In ''Literature/EightWorlds'', it's very easy to get one's body [[MagicPlasticSurgery altered]], sometimes dramatically, to the point that the default assumption is that everyone's at tried out another sex at least once, and anyone who spends their life as just one is considered a little weird; population control laws are "one person, one child". Someone can change sex at a tattoo parlor or a beauty shop, so often people will do so just to suit a particular outfit or to facilitate a relationship. The lead of ''Steel Beach'' decides that after years of being a man, they want to be a woman again, and has various options to get it done quickly, including accepting pre-set configurations for various features and returning to the way they were born, but instead has a new body custom commissioned so as to be [[AttractiveBentGender as attractive as possible]]. At the end of the book, they choose to be feminine-null but keep their custom vagina on file for the next time they want one.
57* ''Literature/VorkosiganSaga'': Within ''A Civil Campaign'', the saga of Lady Donna's sex change to Lord Dono shows that sex changes are relatively easy and painless with futuristic genetic technology, although Lord Dono comments that it does take time and his guy parts are still growing in. No mention of therapy is made although the character did go to Beta Colony, a planet known for pervasive (sex) therapy, and in fact, Dono's stated reason for the change ([[spoiler:LoopholeAbuse in highly patriarchal Barrayar's inheritance laws]]) is at best highly dubious. It's possible that [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation Dono deliberately avoids mentioning any mandatory therapy]] since a) he is seeking public office, b) his family is not known for their mental stability, and c) on Barrayar, therapy carries a stigma of presumed [[InsaneEqualsViolent violent insanity]]. The process is also apparently quite possible to ''reverse'', which would lead to some relaxation of the rules.
58* The book ''Literature/TransSisterRadio'' has Dana ([=AMAB=]), a college professor, get their surgery done to become female over the summer so that she can come back in the fall as female. (At the time the book was written, one was supposed to live as the other gender for a year before surgery even gets done, which Dana doesn't do. The effects of her hormone replacement therapy are also much more rapid than in real life.) The author seems to have sped up the process for drama, especially since Dana's girlfriend is a public-school teacher and thus everyone in town objects to them. At one point in the book this trope is played straight, as a doctor discusses another [=MtF=] sex change (that he didn't perform) where the man's wife decided she was a lesbian, so he had a sex change to stay with her, only to be then dumped because the wife decided she wasn't a lesbian after all.
59* Creator/GeorgeAlecEffinger's ''Literature/MaridAudran'' series takes place in the Budayeen, a RedLightDistrict of a 23rd century {{Cyberpunk}} Muslim/Arab city. In this setting, sex changes, while expensive are still easy and commonplace. Also quite effective, though not quite to the point of being a true GenderBender treatment. AttractiveBentGender is the norm, not the exception.
60* Discussed heavily in ''[[Literature/SonchaiJitpleecheep Bangkok 8]]'', where Dr. Surichai brags about his artistry in turning Ussiri into [[spoiler:Fatima]], who is perfectly feminine, but he admits that a lot of time, money, and effort went into this transformation.
61* In ''Literature/TalesOfTheCity'', [[spoiler:Anna Madrigal]] went under the knife as soon as the option became available, and by the 1970s, nobody seems to be able to tell that [[spoiler:she is a trans woman]].
62* Because the Igors in the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' novels are crazy talented at all kinds of surgery, including plastic, this is taken to its logical extreme in ''Literature/MonstrousRegiment'' where an Igorina is not only able to pass as an Igor with almost trivial ease, but she is able to ''physically reconfigure herself'' between the curvy and beautiful [[MadScientistsBeautifulDaughter Igorina shape]] and the ugly and hunchbacked [[TheIgor Igor shape]] in a process that might as well come with ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'' sound effects, all by apparently flexing a few specific groups of muscles.
63* In a metaphorical sense, the anti-transgender kids' book ''Literature/JohnnyTheWalrus'' is meant to be an {{allegory}} for gender transition and the harm it can cause to children, but the process happens so impossibly fast that it [[BrokenAesop makes the story's message fall apart]]. When Johnny's mom shares videos of him pretending to be a walrus online, she is pressured to take him to a doctor so he can transition into a "real" walrus. A "Woke Doctor" forces Johnny to wear makeup, eat worms (which come in a pill bottle labeled "Wormones"), and even schedules a surgery to amputate his feet, all after a single check-up and without any input from Johnny himself. In reality, the process of medical transition, especially of a minor, would start with a several-months-long psychological evaluation during which it would quickly become evident that Johnny doesn't actually identify as a walrus (as he vocally complains about how much he hates the transition and wants it to stop).
64* ''Literature/WarformedStormweaver'': In the second book, Jasper mentions that when she was born, she was identified as the wrong gender due to "a silly thing between my legs." There is no sign she had any trouble transitioning. [[SubvertedTrope However]], Haruto points out that she had a supportive family and access to the best doctors and medicine money could afford, in a world that is far more medically advanced than our own. The implication being that trans children ''do'' still have various problems, she was just privileged enough to be able to avoid them.
65* Invoked in ''Literature/JanitorsOfThePostapocalypse''. An alien whose species changes from male to female with age finds out that humans don't inherently do this and says it seems stifling. The human she's talking to says actually it's quite simple to use Krakau-standard medical technology to change sexes or mix and match aspects to suit, one of the few strong positives of being the Krakau's ServantRace.
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67[[/folder]]
68
69[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
70* Invoked in an episode of ''Series/TheLoveBoat'' where a woman assumes that a man on the cruise is traveling for a sex change operation because he has a dress in his room (among other misunderstandings) because [[FridgeLogic obviously he would be traveling and living as a man right up until he gets the operation and jumps into womanhood all at once]].
71* ''Series/WonderShowzen'': Mother Nature cuts off her own lady parts with a knife, then puts them in a bucket. She dies as a result of attempting surgery on herself. Then another puppet has sex with the bucket of bloody lady parts. [[GrossOutShow It's just that kind of show.]]
72* ''Series/NipTuck'' had an episode with an MTF transgender person becoming male again after realizing he really felt more comfortable being a gay male. Christian Troy does the surgery ASAP, without any of the prerequisites. Even assuming that Troy is an unscrupulous and unethical doctor, sexual reassignment surgery still doesn't work that way.
73* The ''Series/{{Psych}}'' episode "[[Recap/PsychS01E07WhoYaGonnaCall Who Ya Gonna Call]]" has [[spoiler:a man with three alternate personalities: a woman who wants to have SRS, a confused normal guy, and a psychopath who had murdered the doctor]] to prevent his imminent surgery, although he isn't taking hormones or undergoing any other precursors to SRS.
74* The sitcom ''Series/{{Soap}}'' had almost the perfect example of this trope. In an early story arc, Jodie (Creator/BillyCrystal) decides to have a sex change to please his boyfriend. Despite no real-life experience (aside from a bit of cross-dressing), no hormonal therapy, no psych evaluation, still looking like what he is (a man), he gets admitted to a hospital to have his outie turned into an innie, and they're apparently quite willing to do it. [[spoiler:He does not go through with it.]]
75* In the "Nobody's Perfect" episode of ''Series/KarenSisco'', Karen hunts fugitive Louis [=DiNardo=]. Eventually, it turns out that Louis has had surgery to become "Lois". The timeline is a little vague but certainly not enough time has elapsed for the requirements of ethical SRS medical treatment. While easy, the surgery is also thorough (Lois specifically mentions that she no longer has a penis and that she "doesn't miss it"), and quite successful. While Louis is played by a cisgender male actor, Lois is played by Alexandra Billings, an {{attractive|BentGender}} UsefulNotes/{{transgender}} actress.
76* ''Series/DegrassiTheNextGeneration'' set themselves up to sidestep this whole part of the issue by putting Adam in [[TeenGenius Grade 11 at age fifteen]], meaning he's on schedule to graduate from HighSchool and therefore the show before he turns 18 and can begin physical transitioning. He was retconned into a sophomore in the second half of Season 10 and then [[spoiler:killed off while he was still pre-hormones]].
77* Subverted in an episode of ''Series/PrivatePractice'', where a patient is told that their procedure will have to be delayed because Sheldon suspects that although the desire for the operation is genuine, there are psychological issues that need to be addressed to ensure everything goes smoothly. [[spoiler:He turns out to be right when the patient attempts suicide upon being given this news, and offers to help them get through these issues so she can complete the process of becoming a woman]].
78* In the ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' episode "[[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS06E23ProfitAndLace Profit and Lace]]", Quark is forced to pretend to be a woman and conduct a meeting with an important Ferengi businessman (on the subject of women's rights on Ferenginar) while his mother is out of commission. Apparently, 24th-Century technology allows them to [[WeWillNotUseStageMakeupInTheFuture perform a complete sex change operation]] on him in just a few hours and then change him ''back'' to a man the following day (presumably they kept his... male parts in bio-stasis or something). The only nod to reality is a quick gag at the very end where his hormones are temporarily out of balance, and it makes him emotional. Granted, this is ''Franchise/StarTrek'', where plastic surgery to make someone look like a different ''species'' is apparently an outpatient procedure.[[note]]This level of technology was demonstrated in the previous ''[=DS9=]'' episode "[[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS05E01ApocalypseRising Apocalypse Rising]]", in which the main characters were surgically altered to look like Klingons, who have pronounced ridges on their foreheads, in addition to noticeably darker skin tones than some of the characters who underwent the procedure.[[/note]]
79* In the ''Series/{{Torchwood}}'' episode "[[Recap/TorchwoodS1E7GreeksBearingGifts Greeks Bearing Gifts]]", Jack claims that he started paying closer attention to his co-workers after a male colleague began "acting strange" right before going on several weeks leave and returning as a woman named Vanessa. Since Jack only mentions this in passing, it's possible that [[GenderBender sex changes are handled differently]] in the 51st century, and it's always possible that Jack is ''[[CaptainOblivious just that oblivious]]''.
80* In the final season of ''Series/{{Glee}}'', Coach Beiste's gender transitioning surgery from ''Shannon'' Beiste to ''Sheldon'' Beiste took up several episodes, forcing Sam to temporarily coach the football team himself.
81* That's what Barbara of Babs' Cabs the lady of ''Series/TheLeagueOfGentlemen'', wished to go for and she would have if it wasn't for one small, insignificant detail at the very last minute. She has been for some years into the process ("I've only been on the hormone treatments eighteen months. Me nipples are like bullets.") dressing and presenting herself as a woman, despite leaving many things that pointed to the contrary unchanged such as the voice and the hair. At the first series finale, she is about to make the big step and we last see her lying in the operation bed preparing for the moment only to be informed by the nurse that the surgeon isn't available but his replacement will take over. And then we see that [[spoiler:''Doctor Chinnery'' is the replacement and as the drug takes effect, everything fades away including the ''shears'' that he gets out.]]
82* In ''Series/MendolIkemen'', the manager Saeko apparently had one. But the characters keep referring to her as a man after TheReveal, suggesting she's merely a CreepyCrossdresser (or, perhaps, that the characters are just really insensitive?)
83* The Alex-to-Alexis transition in ''Series/UglyBetty'' took quite a long time and involved several episodes featuring Alexis wrapped up in bandages while recovering from the surgery. On the other hand, she ''did'' come out looking like Creator/RebeccaRomijn, so...
84* ''Series/TheOrville'': Topa is given female-to-male sex reassignment surgery, then has this reversed later. In both cases it appears to be a very brief, outpatient procedure that can be done in an hour so, as by the show's future this kind of surgery has advanced far beyond the much more involved process that would happen today.
85* One episode of ''Series/LookAroundYou'' shows off a sex change machine, which can swap a person's gender in a mere five minutes simply by spraying them with hormones. This doesn't stand out too much from the rest of the show, though, as it's a setting where RealityIsOutToLunch.
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88[[folder:Music]]
89* Played with in the NOFX song "My Vagina", which is sung from the perspective of a trans woman who went through an operation. The singer complains about remembering to put the seat down when she uses the toilet and having to be more thorough in cleaning herself, but considers it worth it to be able to hang out with lesbians.
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92[[folder:Professional Wrestling]]
93* In the Japanese promotion Wrestling/{{FMW}}, we have the strange case of Gosaku, who underwent a sex change and became Asuza Kudo. Then she decided to get changed back and somehow became the [[HalfHumanHybrid half-spider]] Bio-monster DNA in the process. Japanese wrestling is weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeird.
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96[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
97* In ''TabletopGame/HcSvntDracones'' GRS is a relatively simple gene therapy procedure, however the perceived ease has made it more difficult for trans individuals who can't afford it [[spoiler: like Cassi in the module "Hope"]] to find acceptance in society.
98* ''TabletopGame/{{Shadowrun}}:'' Due to advances in cybertech, biotech, and genetech, sex changes have become relatively cheap, easy to perform procedures. To the point that notable runner Plan 9 has apparently had so many sex change operations that [[GenderBender they can't remember which sex they started out as]], over the course of just a few years.
99* In ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS}} Bio-Tech'', gender reassignment is so straightforward and thorough by [[TechLevels TL10]] that it's considered reasonably normal for a married couple who want more than one child to take turns.
100* ''TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade'': A sex change is one one the many applications of the Tzimisce's signature Viccisitude discipline, also known as fleshcrafting. The catch is that any vampire who knows Viccisitude is more likely to [[BodyHorror far more]] than just change a person's sexual equipment.
101[[/folder]]
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103[[folder:Video Games]]
104* In ''VideoGame/{{BioShock|1}}'', Dr. Steinman states in an audio diary that [[AppliedPhlebotinum Adam]] makes it easy to change your look, sex, or race.
105* ''VideoGame/Borderlands3'': Discussed. Apparently the physical process of a sex change is as easy as stepping into a Quick-Change Station (the same stations you use to re-spec your skills and change your skins), but Lorelei notes that there's a lot more to it than that. Since she's in the middle of a war, she doesn't have time for all the stuff that would come after and therefore chooses not to get the sex change yet.
106* ''VideoGame/CircuitsEdge'', the 1989 CRPG based on Creator/GeorgeAlecEffinger's ''Literature/MaridAudran'' series (see Literature, above), likewise features several characters who have had Easy Sex Changes (though it's not an in-game option for the player/Audran himself.)
107* Discussed in ''VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition''. Apparently magic makes it fairly easy to physically transform one's sex. The problem is that magic is heavily stigmatized in non-[[TheMagocracy Tevinter]] nations throughout Thedas, and even many Tevinter citizens are still incredibly wary of magic. Case in point: transgender character Krem (who is Tevinter) admits that he would never let magic go near his body to change "all the way".
108* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Lj-9npanOI A documentary]] about Poison's (from ''VideoGame/FinalFight'') gender identity as a trans woman jokes about her being stated to be a new half (the term for pre-op trans women with male genitalia) in Japan but post-op with female genitalia in the USA with a cartoon segment. In said segment, Poison is on a flight from Japan to America, and upon reaching American territories, a doctor rushes up to her with a syringe and surgical tools to change her sex before they land.
109* With tongue firmly in cheek, one of the fake radio ads in ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas'' advertises this sort of thing.
110** ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoViceCityStories'' features Reni Wassulmaier, the CampGay film director, who is on his THIRD sex change. In Reni's final mission, he undergoes a fourth sex change operation to become a woman.
111* ''VideoGame/IWasATeenageExocolonist'': Downplayed. On the one hand, befriending Tangent implies that the setting's gene therapy based process still takes a significant amount of time and spells out that her puberty is milder than that of someone born with a female body. On the other hand, the mere fact that the physical part of the process has been wrapped up by the time she's nine years old indicates that gender-affirming care significantly progressed compared to the present day.
112* Adventure in The Sleazy Back Alley of ''VideoGame/KingdomOfLoathing'', and you may run into a clinic where you can get a sex change for 500 Meat and 1 Adventure, and be on your way the same day. Do it often enough, and you become eligible for a trophy. What's the meat for? You don't want to know. [[note]][[DontExplainTheJoke Meat is the currency of [=KoL=]. It's not used for anything in particular]].[[/note]]
113* ''VideoGame/RuneScape'': The Makeover Mage will change your character's sex for a small price. One quest has a boss that can't be beaten by a male character and so you are forced to get a sex change to complete it. If you were male at the start of the quest then the quest giver will reimburse you for the sex change and give you a coupon to change you back for free when the quest is finished. The Mage themself frequently swaps their own gender.
114* ''VideoGame/SaintsRow'': Starting with ''VideoGame/SaintsRow2'', you can get a sex change for just five hundred dollars at the [[MagicPlasticSurgery plastic surgeon]]. And not only is it cheap, but it's also instantaneous! (You can also go from white to black, or black to Hispanic, or white to Asian, [[AmazingTechnicolorPopulation green or blue]], change from being skinny as a nail to morbidly obese, or anything else you can think of.) In ''VideoGame/SaintsRowTheThird'', this is necessary if you play as a female Boss, as one mission requires you to get plastic surgery in order to impersonate [[BigBad Cyrus Temple]] and infiltrate a ship. [[VideoGame/SaintsRow2022 The 2022 reboot]] takes this a step further by making all body customization completely free and available from anywhere, letting you swap between male, female, and anything in-between (the game's customization options are fully gender-neutral) whenever you please
115* ''VideoGame/TheSims'':
116** After a patch to ''VideoGame/TheSims4'', partially or even fully changing a Sim's sex - to the tune of dramatic body and voice changes and adding/removing the ability to become pregnant and impregnate others - can be done at a mirror or dresser by any teenage-or-older Sim at any time.
117** ''Videogame/MySims'' did it by simply not assigning a gender variable.
118* This trope is used in a very really bizarre (and squick-inducing) way in the Japanese-exclusive game ''Han-Seimei Senki Andorogynus'' for the MSX and PC-88 at the half of the game: After the titular, male-looking, protagonist is fatally wounded, he is [[WeCanRebuildHim "rebuild"]] as a beautiful woman, which she doesn't look like her previous male form ''at all''. Keep in mind his previous male form was [[http://www.mobygames.com/game/han-seimei-senki-andorogynus/cover-art/gameCoverId,382242/ this]] and her new female form is [[https://www.gamefaqs.com/msx/935994-andorogynus/images/180786 now this]]. The squick part came out with the fact ''we can see almost all of the sex-change surgery in its gory detail'' (especially in the PC-88 version, when the character had both his face pulled and his brain ''extracted from his head'' in order to rebuild his body; the narration also leaves nothing to the imagination).
119* ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' used to charge $15 USD to change a character's gender, as part of a broader appearance change service. In a nod to their trans playerbase, as of the ''Shadowlands'' expansion, characters can now change their appearance, which includes character gender, at any in-game barber for a nominal sum of in-game gold.
120* ''Videogame/XenobladeChroniclesX'' allows you to change your character's gender once you complete a side mission. Since [[spoiler:your body isn't human but rather a mimeosome]], Yardley's machine is easily capable of changing every appearance, including gender.
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123[[folder:Webcomics]]
124* ''Webcomic/BallerinaMafia'' has a sex change performed overnight as an [[http://ballerinamafia.net/index.php?pid=20110401 April Fool's joke]].
125* A RunningGag in ''Webcomic/CollegeRoomiesFromHell'' is the horrifying side businesses of the Hot Dog Man, which include "quick and effective sex-change surgery".
126* In Tailsteak's ''Webcomic/{{Forward}}'' the sociological concept of "gender" is dead[[note]]all humans use the singular "they", while robots are "it"[[/note]], but if you want to change reproductive organs or other sexual characteristics it only takes a month; and the actual surgery takes only an ''hour''. The rest is lead time for [[CloningBodyParts growing the replacement parts]] and healing after the procedure, both of which take two weeks each; still incredibly quick compared to real life.
127* Aversion in ''Webcomic/HighMaintenance'', a comic centering on a transgender vigilante and her transitioning friend/sidekick. It might help that the writer ''is'' transgender.
128* One of the many possible modifications offered by [=GavCorps=] Diversity Engineering division in ''Webcomic/SchlockMercenary''. Somewhat justified given the already established medical technology in the 31st century- quite a few characters have had new & different bodies regrown from just their severed heads. When Elf had her legs regrown, she got longer legs than before and a larger chest during the same procedure. The machine in question was military grade, with plans available on the hypernet and "fabbed" onboard. The doctor [[https://www.schlockmercenary.com/2011-12-28 here]] tells about how her third pass through "the can" shifted her from male to female, giving a brief synopsis of the process; the change happens on the ''genetic'' level as well as higher ones.
129* ''Webcomic/ThinkingTooMuchToThinkPositively'': In [[https://comicsbyxan.com/comic/sexchange-student/ "Sexchange Student"]] Xan recounts how stories of gender affirming surgery she heard as a child were exaggerated in this fashion. Child Xan imagines a magical procedure called a "sex change operation" that apparently transforms men into women overnight.
130* Comes up a lot, sometimes subverted, sometimes played straight, in ''Webcomic/UnicornJelly'' and other works by Creator/JenniferDianeReitz, who is herself transgender. Played straight in ''Webcomic/ToSaveHer'', thanks to Kaye's Mover containing incredibly advanced medical technology. For a machine that can grant immortality and resurrect a dead [[HalfHumanHybrids human-crystal hybrid]] after an explosion tore her to pieces, something like a sex change is piece of cake.
131* Presented mostly realistic for ''Webcomic/VenusEnvy'' (by a transgender author). Though Zoe has been on hormone treatment for months she has yet to develop any substantial breasts and wears a padded bra instead. Plus the rest of her "equipment" is still intact, which occasionally causes problems... In fact [[CerebusSyndrome back when there were jokes]], the common gag was for Zoe to be hit with a ball in her new developments and her [[GroinAttack original equipment]], reacting to both with realistic (and comedic) levels of pain.
132* ''{{Webcomic/Spacetrawler}}'': Chiphu is able to transition to male gender simply by going through the spaceship's medbot. The social and mental aspects of the transition also get passed over, given that there's only two other humans within light-years.
133* Downplayed in ''Webcomic/NextSoundOfTheFuture''. Body mods are common among the RidiculouslyHumanRobots of the setting, which includes things like breast modifications, but they still cost money. However, voice modifications are illegal, which means any trans android would have to either risk going to an unlicensed doctor or voice train to alter their voices. Gumiya was able to get surgery to flatten his chest fairly quickly and painlessly, but only once he had saved up enough money for it and convinced the surgeon to actually flatten his chest and not just give him a reduction. His facial structure is also noticeably more masculine in the present, which implies he was able to get other surgeries as well.
134* ''Webcomic/{{Killstagram}}'': Considering that Doyeon had previously undergone a botched double-eyelid surgery that ruined her family and reputation, leaving nothing to her name, it's a wonder that she was able to get a sex reassignment that turned her into the very attractive Doha. The English translation [[DubInducedPlothole removes the depictions of the transition]], making it look like Doyeon became Doha through copious use of makeup.
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138* The round robin story ''H! Flash'' had this very heavily implied to have happened to a character at the end of one of the chapters. The next writer, however, hated this trope and had "the operation" turn out to simply be exploratory surgery in preparation for the theoretically more realistic reassignment surgery to follow. The author of the previous chapter was not well pleased.
139* In their crossover review of ''Myra Breckinridge'', WebVideo/TheCinemaSnob and WebVideo/DiamandaHagan discuss the sex change with (unhappy to be cameoing) trans activist WebVideo/ZinniaJones, who notes that a) telling Myron ''right before the surgery'' that once the penis is gone it's gone for good is rather late to be mentioning that, and b) given that Myron's still presenting as a man (complete with facial stubble) she would have thought Myron was FTM rather than MTF.
140* ''Literature/WhateleyUniverse'': [[ZigZaggedTrope Zig-zagged]] with Grace Goodkind. While the [[AppliedPhlebotinum Devisor drug treatment]] she got was less intrusive and more effective than conventional SRS would have been, it still took several weeks, and included several additional rounds of plastic surgery to bring it to her desired form - which was not so much female but intersexed in any case. Furthermore, it came at the end of several years of gender therapy and secret use of hormone suppressants, and the treatment itself was ''incredibly'' dangerous. Grace has stated that the only reason she took such a drastic approach was that she knew how the family would react, and needed to do it as quickly and silently as possible to avoid them stopping her.
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144* The ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' episode "[[Recap/SouthParkS9E1MrGarrisonsFancyNewVagina Mr. Garrison's Fancy New Vagina]]" doesn't specify how much time passes from the operation to "her" first public outing (after which he went home to Mr. Slave the very same night), but it can't have been very long. As one might expect from such an overnight sex change, Garrison never really looks much like a woman, let alone a supermodel. He ''does'' somehow get curvy hips and a pair of breasts as part of his new configuration, even though developing those typically require years on hormones and/or other surgical procedures, and they don't come automatically with GRS.
145* In the ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' episode "[[Recap/FuturamaS4E13BendHer Bend Her]]", Bender becomes a woman to cheat at the Olympics. The procedure involves changing out his male oil for female oil and snipping off his antenna. The operation also involves hitting his body with a hammer until it looks vaguely feminine. To be fair, Professor Farnsworth ''does'' give Bender some disclosure, about the danger of Bender's being "trapped forever between the ''already'' [[LampshadeHanging ill-defined robot sexes]]." Plus, y'know, he's a ''robot''.
146* ''WesternAnimation/AquaTeenHungerForce''
147** In ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force {{Colon|Cancer}} [[TheMovie Movie Film For Theaters]]'', this happened with Frylock. The fact that [[AssPull he clearly identified]] [[RuleOfFunny as a guy before the movie]].
148** Frylock also performed a sex-change operation on Carl (against his will) to prevent him from getting his dick cut off. ItSeemedLikeAGoodIdeaAtTheTime. Or rather, it didn't. The exact line was something like, "I have an idea, but it's not very good." ''Ripped'' off. Ouch. It also hurts for Carl.
149* A flashback in the ''WesternAnimation/{{Superjail}}'' episode "Jailbot 2.0" shows that Alice underwent a rather ''quick'' hormonal transition to try to become an attractive woman, in hopes of finally getting to date her old warden. However, she then found out that he was a gay man, and once he discovers she changed, he fired her. Subverted a bit in that Alice is still visibly brawny, deep-voiced, and hasn't "gotten it removed" (as she states in the season 2 finale).
150* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'': In "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS8E18QuagmiresDad Quagmire's Dad]]", Ida, the titular character, goes in for surgery, and comes out a few (onscreen) minutes later looking like a mannish woman. No time needed to heal, and ready to have sex with [[UnsettlingGenderReveal an unknowing Brian]] right away! Just before that, Peter proposes doing a CostumeTestMontage but with different genders instead of outfits, which (had it actually happened) would have involved Ida undergoing ''multiple sex reassignment surgeries in less than an hour''.
151* ''WesternAnimation/UglyAmericans'': Callie gets a sex change to get a job as New York Ambassador to {{Atlantis}}. At the end of the episode, just as suddenly as she changed into a man, she's mostly back to normal, but, in bed, Mark mentions her needing "a few more surgeries." From then on out, though, [[RetCon she's back to normal]].
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