For the moment, it's pretty much been decided that a
Five Man Band has more male members than female members. That trope is undergoing
a lot of cleanup
and the various all-female teams will eventually be cut, despite how well they otherwise fit. While there are many all-female
Ensembles, there is as of yet no trope to cover groups of five girls.
The
Five Man Band dynamic of
The Leader,
The Lancer,
The Smart Guy,
The Big Guy and
The Chick works very well in every medium or genre. Likewise,
Ensembles consisting entirely of female characters are very common. It may be due to an
Improbably Female Cast, it may be an
Amazon Brigade, or it may just be a group of girls who happen to be working together.
In a
Five Man Band,
The Chick is traditionally an example of
The Smurfette Principle or else one of
Two Girls To A Team, so it is still a male-dominated group. However, when
everyone on the team is a girl, you get a
Five Girl Band. The key roles are still pretty much the same, though:
- The Leader is still the team leader and usually The Hero, who may be a mastermind, charismatic, levelheaded, headstrong or a combination thereof. She may also have qualities of any of the other roles, but as The Leader by default, she cannot be classified as anything else.
- The Lancer is still The Leader's counterpart. She is still usually Number Two and the most likely to cause tension in the group. May have shades of Defrosting Ice Queen or Lovable Alpha Bitch. She and The Leader are Foils to each other. They have either a very close friendship or some conflict between them. Or both.
- The Smart Girl is still the brains of the group. She is usually a female Nerd with a lot of book smarts, and is often somewhat shy and withdrawn, but may just be wiser, saner or more mature than the others.
- The Big Girl is still the muscle of the group. Although there are exceptions, The Big Girl is usually not so much "big" as physical. Most of the time, she's an athletic Tomboy. Sometimes more of a Genki Girl, who is "big" in terms of presence. If the team does actual fighting, though, expect her to be very good at it.
- The Chick is still a caring, emotional or mediating girl. On an all-girl team, she might be less of a representation of the "feminine" than usual, depending on how feminine the others are. She typically has aspects of The Heart, The Cutie or The Ditz.
A
Five Girl Band also has the same basic rules as a
Five Man Band. It must have all five key roles, there must not be too many people in the group, and no character can cover more than one role. It is called a
Five Girl Band for a reason.
They must work as a team. Just because a work happens to have five female main characters doesn't mean it's an example. Their status as a team can be unofficial, but at the very least, they all have know each other, and they all have work together at some point without extra people involved.
Finally, the characters must not be
shoehorned into their roles. A short explanation as to why they fit their roles
may be necessary, but keep it brief and relevant. The more you have to justify why they fit their roles, the less likely they are to be a
Five Girl Band.
Compare
Four Girl Ensemble. Contrast
Five Bad Band.
Examples
Anime and Manga
Sailor Moon
Tokyo Mew Mew
Film
Sucker Punch
| The Leader | Babydoll (the leader and protagonist) |
| The Lancer | Sweet Pea (the voice of caution and dissent) |
| The Smart Girl | Amber (shy and in charge of transport) |
| The Big Girl | Blondie (tough, ruthless, ferocious, carries the biggest weapons) |
| The Chick | Rocket (emotional personality-type, determined to hold the girls together) |
Music
Spice Girls
| The Leader | Geri "Ginger Spice" Halliwell (regarded this way by fans) |
| The Lancer | Melanie "Scary Spice" Brown (regarded as a secondary leader; allegedly, there was some conflict between her and Geri) |
| The Smart Girl | Victora "Posh Spice" Beckham (fashion/society smart image) |
| The Big Girl | Melanie "Sporty Spice" Chisholm (tough and athletic image) |
| The Chick | Emma "Baby Spice" Bunton (cute, sweet and innocent image) |
Western Animation
Winx Club
| The Leader | Bloom (leader of the Winx Club) |
| The Lancer | Stella (Bloom's best friend, supports her the most) |
| The Smart Girl | Tecna (very smart technology expert) |
| The Big Girl | Musa (her powers are very destructive and hard hitting) |
| The Chick | Flora (the conscience, usually the one to stop the others from doing something bad) |
| Sixth Ranger | Aisha (Season 2 addition) |
WITCH
Tropeworthy? 
replies: 11 
