[[quoteright:200:[[{{Tsukihime}} http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cit_tsukihime_hisui_meido.jpg]]]]

-->''Everybody ought to have a maid,''
-->''Everybody ought to have a serving-girl,''
-->''A loyal and unswerving girl,''
-->''To putter around the house.''
-->-''AFunnyThingHappenedOnTheWayToTheForum''

-->''"A maid is a 'mythical being' that all of us have heard about, but have never seen."''
-->-[[{{Touhou}} ZUN.]]


In anime, the housekeeper is a young, attractive woman with a ribbon or bow in her hair, and wear French maid outfit of variable taste. In {{seinen}}, the main difference is how much [[CostumeInertia shorter and more outlandish]] the skirt will be.

Humorous maids are usually very (violently) dedicated to their jobs and (willfully) oblivious to whomever they look after. Others will have crushes on their bosses, who they usually call ''goshujin-sama'' or ''{{ojou}}-sama''.

Sometimes a female character will inexplicably wear an outfit which vaguely resembles a maid outfit, with no explanation. The chance of this increases dramatically if she is shown doing any housework. Also, more and more often, a maid is also a RobotGirl.

If the meido in question happens to be an ActionGirl, as well, she gets instantly promoted to NinjaMaid.

Maids are a quick and semi-plausible excuse to introduce a character into a household, domestic experience notwithstanding.

{{Meido}} are of particular interest, insofar as they and nurses are among the very few MoeMoe items that attract both Japanese and Westerners.

Compare to FrenchMaid, the (occasionally) HotterAndSexier origin of this trope. See also MaidRPG, which is a game built around the concept of this type of Maid.
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'''Examples:'''

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder: Anime and Manga ]]

* Parodied in ''[[JungleWaItsumoHaleNochiGuu Haré+Guu]]'' with Bell, Weda's creepy lesbian maid.
* ''PaniPoniDash's'' Media is a prime example of this, seen wearing an maid outfit in just about every one of her appearances during the series.
* One of the ''HappyLesson'' teachers usually wears a maid-like outfit at home, and naturally does much of the domestic chores.
* Speaking of creepy lesbian maids, ''KannazukiNoMiko'''s resident maid had a crush on Chikane.
* The lead girls in ''{{Magikano}}'' and ''{{FLCL}}'' posing as maids clearly have no experience doing; it's an excuse for [[PrettyFreeloaders free room and board]].
* ''KamenNoMaidGuy'' subverts, parodies and basically dials the concept of "maid" up to 11. As the title says, Kogarashi is a Maid ''Guy'' - a crossdressing HeroicSociopath. The series also includes Shizuku and Tsurara, who are {{Ninja Maid}}s.
** The more straight version of this trope, Fubiki, who only subverts this in two ways: first, she has a tendency to beat Kogarashi with a giant spiked club when he misbehaves; second, she sometimes goes overboard with her maid duties, even becoming embarrassed when the other cast members catch her ''in normal clothes.''
* After a (relatively) humorous breakdown, Motoko in ''LoveHina'' tries her hand at being domestic, including full maid regalia. Considering her [[HugeSchoolgirl unusual size]], it's a bit confusing where she got the outfit.
** In the manga she stole it from Kitsune, in the anime Haruka apparently had a maid outfit lying around.
** Ken Akamatsu then went on to make the girls of his next series ''MahouSenseiNegima'' wear maid outfits for sometimes no reason at all; primarily with the, as is common, RobotGirl Chachamaru (the rest of the cast once broke into her wardrobe).
*** For Chachamaru there's justification, she ''is'' [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Evangeline's]] [[NinjaMaid servant]]. The other girls, well the excuse was that thay'd just taken a bath and wanted clean clothes (they were in [[NobleDemon Evangeline's]] resort at the time).
*** During the TournamentArc, Setsuna and Asuna get pressganged into wearing maid outfits to appeal to the crowd, mainly because they don't really have any pulls (like "last years champion", etc.)
**** Then later, while half the cast was TrappedInAnotherWorld, she dressed up several of the remaining classmates because she was bored. Evangeline seems to just have a thing for the Maid/[[ElegantGothicLolita Gothloli]] look.
**** Then some of the girls who were in the magic world, they ended up [[GoGoEnslavement sold into slavery, complete with maid outfits.]]
* ''VictorianRomanceEmma'' is a rather straight take on the idea, down to Emma's mundane outfit (for Victorian England, anyway).
*''{{Mai-Otome}}'' was originally going to be called "Mai-Maid" (based on Fumi's role in ''{{Mai-HiME}}''). The series actually has a {{meido}} proper in royal court servant Aoi.
* Very nearly the ''entire cast'' of ''HanaukyoMaidTai'' are maids.
* ''HandMaidMay'' is a RobotGirl maid called a Cyberdoll.
* There's an entire ''army'' of Catgirl maids in ''UFOPrincessValkyrie''
* ''{{Chobits}}'' has a character who also has a cadre of RobotGirl Persocom maids.
* ''{{Mahoromatic}}'' features a RobotGirl battle android who has one year remaining to live, and choses to spend it as the maid of her late Commander's son.
* Roberta of ''BlackLagoon'' is currently employed as a maid but occasionally has need of her ''other'' skillset as an ex-Cuban-trained assassin ''par excellance''. Her equipment is of both worlds and includes such interesting combination items as a shotgun-umbrella, incendiary grenade-bustle, and an armored portmanteau with integrated machinegun. However, she's not a very good ''maid''.
** Fabiola Iglesias is an actual housemaid working for the same family, serving directly under Roberta. A younger, more comic-relief character, she is still very good with blades and martial arts, although she admits her gun skills need work. While Fabiola also mentions that she is the only one of the Lovelace maids being trained by Roberta for combat, Revy still wonders if the entire Lovelace Plantation was a BadAss [[NinjaMaid maid force]] that could storm the Iranian embassy if they wanted to. (All portents point to "Yes.")
* Taeko in ''AiYoriAoshi''.
* Minto in ''TokyoMewMew'' has her own squad of more traditional maids.
* Mia Clementis in ''YoakeMaeYoriRuriiroNa''.
* Ayanokouji Yaito of ''Rockman.EXE'' has, in the anime, a personal army of twenty-odd maids in full French maid regalia, all attractive and with varying hairstyles. In any later episode featuring her, the viewer is usually treated to a montage of various maids about the town doing whatever task she's set them.
* Kasumi from ''[[RanmaOneHalf Ranma 1/2]]'' wears a maid-like apron at all times, and is generally sweet, domestic, and clueless.
** Akane once disguised herself as a French maid (with bonnet and everything) to infiltrate the house of Picolet Chardin, who had taken female Ranma to make her his bride. Then [[NightmareFuel Soun disguised himself the same way]].
** Female Ranma ''also'' [[PaperThinDisguise disguised herself as a French maid]] in order to [[RunningGag thwart Ryoga]], who was [[TwoTimerDate trying to entertain both Akari and Akane (separately) at his home]].
* Mikuru, the [[MoeMoe Moe-blob]] from ''SuzumiyaHaruhi'', is picked by Haruhi as the SOS Brigade's maid.
** In the episode "Live Alive", Tsuruya-san and a couple of other school girls are dressed as maids and serve noodles and tap water for the Arts Festival.
* Wilhelmina in ''ShakuganNoShana'' [[VerbalTic ~de arimasu]] (even though she's terrible at cooking).
* In ''{{Gravion}}'', the entire staff of Klein Sandman's castle other than his BattleButler is composed of maids. Servant maids, Guard maids, [[NinjaMaid commando maids]], hacker maids, mechanic maids, and even one member of the central SuperRobot team. [[spoiler:Who of course turns out to be a ''[[RidiculouslyHumanRobots Robot]]'' Maid]]
* Fiore from ''ChronoCrusade'' fits this trope to a T.
* The Lamperouge household's maid Sayoko from ''CodeGeass'' does housework, looks after the IllGirl and occasionally [[NinjaMaid battles cyborg assassins with ninja martial arts]]. She's got her FanNickname of "the Sayocopter" for a reason.
* Sent up in ''LuckyStar'', where [[OccidentialOtaku Patty]] wishes she had a Meido to do her chores so she could spend more time watching anime...that's specifically a Meido, not a housekeeper. There's a difference!
* Maika in ''ToaruMajutsuNoIndex''. Academy City, where the story takes place, has maid ''schools''.
* The whole point of ''HeIsMyMaster'' is to put two teenage girls (and later three) into [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kerai/1141794515973.jpg fetish maid outfits]]. At first reluctant, they end up warming to the idea, and by the end of the series actually enjoy it.
** The first enjoys wearing it, the second hates wearing it, and the third [[LesYay enjoys the second one wearing it]].
* ''FruitsBasket'' has the, er, lively character Mine who dresses in costume out of pure enjoyment-and insists that every other girl she meets does the same
* ''HayateTheCombatButler''. Maria. This. PerverseSexualLust. [[SharmHedgehog A guy sitting at his computer editing this page right now.]] Need I say more? Also, sadly, ''Hayate'' is shown wearing a maid dress thanks to a curse.
** [[EvenTheGuysWantHim Sadly?]]
** The [[http://www.watchanimeon.com/hayate-no-gotoku-s2-episode-20/ Maid Episode]]
* Pai in ''GOnRiders'' wears maid outfit after her {{Heel Face Turn}} and causes some utterly funny scenes forgetting to change and going to school.
* Fumi Himeno in ''{{Mai-HiME}}'' fits this trope to a T, in addition to being a [[NinjaMaid Ninja Maid]]. [[MaiOtome Mai Otome]] is ''built'' on this trope, with an on-camera lecture devoted entirely to "the correct way to greet your master".
* Amu Hinamori (''ShugoChara'') has a maid, Amulet Clover, as one of her three primary [[TransformationSequence charanari]].
* Himeko wears a maid outfit during the school festival in ''SketDance'', since her class is doing, unsurprisingly, a maid cafe. The costume makes a reappearance in a later chapter, in which Himeko agrees to do anything Bossun says as an apology for breaking his hand. This includes dressing up as a maid, calling him 'master' and hand feeding him. Of course, HilarityEnsues.
* Shannon from UminekoNoNakuKoroNi. Not quite a NinjaMaid - she's closer to a StaffChick.
* In ''PokemonSpecial'', Latias disguises herself as a maid to help out Emerald in the Battle Pyramid. Later on she disguises herself as a news reporter, then a nurse.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Music ]]

* Neil Young's song "A Man Needs a Maid" is pretty self explanatory. The lyrics, which include "I was thinking that maybe I'd get a maid/Find a place nearby for her to stay./ Just someone to keep my house clean,/Fix my meals and go away," pretty much define this trope.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Tabletop Games ]]

* The Japanese [[TabletopGames Tabletop Game]] ''MaidRPG'' needs to be [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=2so50vs6vgkqyvk70rwm4ntp&page=1 mentioned]]... OrSoIHeard.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]

* ''{{Mother 3}}'' has [[http://earthbound.wikia.com/wiki/Ms._Marshmallow Ms. Marshmallow]], a robotic maid [[spoiler:who takes care of Porky Minch's toy room in Thunder Tower]].
* Hisui of ''{{Tsukihime}}'' [[spoiler: has a crush on Shiki, more or less obvious depending on what path is chosen. She is also hugely dedicated and caring towards him.]] There's also Kohaku, who is [[spoiler: seemingly]] very devoted to her job, and [[spoiler: has a scary obsession with...guess who...Shiki!]]
** They become {{Ninja Maid}}s in ''MeltyBlood''. Supposedly because of the RealityWarper effect of the BigBad.
*** In keeping with this trope, in the goofier parts of the game Kohaku has built multiple RobotGirl versions of Hisui. Mech-Hisui also makes an appearance in ''BattleMoonWars'', a fan-made {{Nasuverse}} crossover game.
* Samantha of ''{{Killer7}}'' is both an example, and an aversion, due to a SplitPersonality. One is a typical maid, and the other is...[[AxeCrazy less than ideal]].
* Noel in ''TriangleHeart3SweetSongsForever'' is also a RobotGirl. She appears in ''MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha'' with a sister, another maid.
* Nene in ''ToukaGettan''. There's a bunch of other {{Meido}} shown, but none of them are named.
* One random {{NPC}} in ''TheWorldEndsWithYou'' in more-or-less PresentDay Shibuya, Japan wonders to himself if a girl he saw dressed up as a Maid was working at a {{Cosplay}} bar. This lead to him wondering if there are ''any'' maids who dress that way to actually clean houses.
* Lynette from ''SoulCalibur III'' is dressed like this, but sells clothing at various stores instead of cleaning houses.
* Sakuya Izayoi from ''TouhouProject'', as the head maid of a vampire's mansion, leads a small army of (pretty incompetent) fairy maids. She can also [[TimeStandsStill stop time]] and is [[KnifeNut very, very good with the knives]]. [[OrSoIHeard I heard]] that she used to hunt demons and vampires before that.
** Reimu Hakurei in the PC-98 games also had a robot maid, although since it is a PC-98 game, we have no idea what happened to the nuclear-powered maid who only showed herself in one scene.
*** Then there's [[http://touhou.wikia.com/wiki/Mugetu two]] [[http://touhou.wikia.com/wiki/Yumeko other]] maids, also from the PC-98 games, that [[IsntItSad no one seems to remember]] ...
** Konpaku Youmu is formally a gardener of Hakugyokurou, but she's also its only staff. She cooks, cleans, babysits (her mistress Yuyuko is something of a {{Cloudcuckoolander}}), does household shopping, acts as security ...
* Daniella in ''HauntingGround'' is an AxCrazy homonculus maid.
*[[NinjaMaid Iroha]] from ''SamuraiShodown''.
* Persephone is a rather infamous CuteMonsterGirl appearing in the DS ''[[{{Castlevania}} Castlevanias]]''. Described in the bestiary as "a demonic maid in the employ of an earthly baron", Persephone resembles a traditionally-uniformed, frilly-capped little lady that will politely bow down before you and then will attacke you with some kung fu moves.
* In ''Super PaperMario'', the first time the player sees Mimi (outside of the first scene in Castle Bleck, where she only appears in the forms of other characters), she is dressed in a french maid outfit and claiming to be working as a maid for Merlee. Once the FinalBoss is defeated and most of Count Bleck's minions did {{Heel Face Turn}}s, Mimi can be found in the mansion again, this time as a legitimate maid.
* A sidequest in ''TalesOfSymphonia'' has Colette acting as a maid at Meltokio Castle, complete with the archetypal outfit.
** Maid outfits are often used as an alternate costume in the TalesSeries. [[TalesoftheAbyss Tear]] and [[TalesofVesperia Judith]] get maid costumes to use. The latter woman can ''[[LethalJokeItem sweep the enemy to death]]'' if she has this costume and equips the reccurring JokeItem Deck Brush
* This is an outfit in ''AnimalCrossing City Folk'', which this editor uses to scare his friends.
* Fiona from ''ArcanaHeart'' goes into battle wearing a maid costume.
* [[{{Phantasy Star}} Phantasy Star Universe]] has the Amorel gear ([[http://psupedia.info/images/0/01/Female_Parts.jpg left-most picture on the bottom row]]), a set of parts for female [=CASTs=] (I don't know if there's an equivalent set of clothes for female Humans/Newman/Beasts). Given the fact that a CAST is a robot...
* ''LunarKnights'' gives us [[RobotGirl Carmilla]]. Frilly headpiece and everything.
* In ''{{Persona 3}}'' the Main Character's ever-original classmates decide to do a café for their SchoolFestival. [[TheChick Yukari]] dreads it from the depths of her spirit because [[AllMenArePerverts it means wearing a maid uniform]]; [[IdiotHero Junpei]] and the rest of the male schoolmates look forward to [[FetishFuel this cherished event]]. Alas, a typhoon rips through Iwatodai and the SchoolFestival is canceled, to the endless grief of said schoolmates (and the Main Character is also asked if he mourns the loss.)
** In the ''[[UpdatedRerelease Persona 3 FES]]'' release, the surveillance camera skits show Yukari in her dorm room; she had indeed [[FetishFuelStationAttendant procured an authentic maid uniform]], not a costume, and gripes loudly about how everyone wanted to see her in it. [[spoiler: Eventually, she gives in to curiosity and wears it, and pantomimes serving a costumer. When [[ShrinkingViolet Fuuka]] catches her, Yukari cheerfully ropes her into the game and dresses her in a spare uniform.]]
** There's also a series of "Maid Uniform" costumes [[PlayingToTheFetishes for the female members of the party to wear during the Dark Hour]], as rewards for Elizabeth's requests. [[RobotGirl Aigis]] will find it odd if you ask her to wear one, but Yukari and [[TheOjou Mitsuru]] will chew you out considerably for it. And of course, you can get [[RuleOfFunny all three of them in the party at the same time, wearing those outfits]].
* In ''SisterPrincess'', the family is taken care of by "oyaji", who is actually a fetching young lady. She acts as the butler, the chauffeur, the cook...basically, any off-screen job involved in the upkeep of Promise Island. (In the animated adaptation, "oyaji" is now a middle aged man in similar roles.)

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Webcomics ]]

* Volume 1 of ''VanVonHunter'' features a psychopathic Cockney maid named Miriam who cleans floors ''with a knife''.
* Yuki Sonada, in ''MegaTokyo'', dresses up as this to follow Piro into a meido cafe, disguising herself as one of the staff.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Other ]]

* [[{{Wikipedia}} That Other Wiki]]'s [[AnthropomorphicPersonification Anthropomorphic]] [[MoeMoe Moe]] [[AnthropomorphicPersonification Personification]]s [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Wiki-sisters.png Wikipe-tan (center), Commons-tan (left), and Quote-tan (right)]] are all designed with maid outfits.
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