History Main / ButNotTooWhite

* When he first debuted, Wrestling/TheUndertaker was very pale as well; combined with his dyed black hair, dark clothes, and mannerisms, it made him very creepy. Being a natural redhead, he was probably also naturally that pale.

* Wrestling/BryanDanielson has taken a lot of heat for his paleness over the years and addressed the issue in a promo during his [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/roh-h.html ROH World Heavyweight Title]] reign. As usual for Bryan, he [[RealMenWearPink turned a trait perceived as unmanly]] into TestosteronePoisoning in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iu6KQx6ibsY this video]]:
--> "I'm getting sick and tired of all these people giving me crap about what color my skin is. Do you know what? Yeah, I'm ''pale'' -- what's the big deal? Wrestling/SamoaJoe made a big deal about it in Connecticut, Wrestling/{{Christian}} made a big deal about it in Long Island, but you know what? It doesn't matter what color my skin is, because I'm the best wrestler in the world! I beat Homicide, I beat everybody that Wrestling/RingOfHonor has put in front of me! And d'you know what? THAT is what makes me a MAN! And do you know what's ''un''manly? All these idiots talking about my skin color, going and sitting in front of a bunch of fluorescent lights with goggles and a Speedo!"
* Wrestling/{{Sheamus}} plays up his Irish heritage with his pale skin. This makes him stand out amongst almost every other Caucasian Wrestling/{{WWE}} wrestler, most of whom have tanned skin. Of course, Sheamus's skin is often poked fun at on wrestling online forums. Sheamus has said in interviews that he actually ''tried'' to get a tan early in his pre-WWE career, but would just turn red then back to white. Realizing that his pale skin and red hair gave him a unique look, however, he decided to just go with that. On an episode of ''Raw'', Wrestling/JohnCena referred to him as a big tub of mayonnaise. Also mentioned in NXT. Wrestling/{{Edge|Wrestler}} has also gotten a chance to poke fun at Wrestling/{{Sheamus}}'s paleness, remarking that ''Raw'' had apparently "been taken over by an evil Ronald [=McDonald=]!" As has Wrestling/SantinoMarella in a few hilarious segments, joking about Sheamus's "lack of skin pigmentation.
** He's nicknamed "The Great White". Not the great white anything, just the Great White. Although a fan once held up a poster with Sheamus' name and a drawing of a shark fin.

* [[Wrestling/KatarinaWaters Winter]] from Wrestling/{{TNA}} is a pale-skinned German-raised English-born woman who frequently gets "get a tan" chanted at her from crowds. However many fans do find her attractive so she might count as a subversion.
* Subverted with Wrestling/{{Aksana}} who is a pale skinned Lithuanian. Old photos from her Fitness competition days show her tanned and looking rather unnatural compared to how she looks now. Next to all the other girls on the roster, she's quite pale but the announcers don't acknowledge this and talk up how attractive she is. Photos from her fitness competition days will make her look unnatural. Because of the incredibly harsh lighting (and the fact that darker skin highlights muscle tone better), most fitness athletes use several layers of a very dark sunless tanner (like Pro-Tan or Dream-Tan) to darken their skin to bizarre levels. They'll look normal on stage but backstage will look like they're covered in rust. Look up photos of any fitness model or bodybuilder, and there will be a mix of onstage, backstage, and off-season photos that will show this. There are pictures of her from her modeling days as a blonde, though.
* It's a staple of Pro Wrestling that many wrestlers will have to tan when competing on shows as the lights in the arenas will make them appear more pale than they actually are, as Sheamus demonstrates. This is especially glaring (no pun intended) in larger arenas where high-intensity lights are needed and are thus not flattering to those with pale skin. According to Wrestling/MariaKanellis, the wrestlers in WWE previously just used fake tan but when they switched to HD they had to start tanning naturally. Wrestling/RandyOrton [[InJoke mocked]] Wrestling/{{Christian}} for continuing to use fake tanner in the HD era, as it makes his skin appear yellow.

* In an episode of ''Series/HappyEndings'', when Brad hears that Dave's new girlfriend wants to make a sex-tape, he warns Dave that he's very white, "like the ghost of Tilda Swinton."
* Joked with in an episode of ''Series/WKRPInCincinnati'' when Venus, Andy and Andy's visiting sister get to talking about skin color:
-->'''Venus:''' You know, I'm not really black, I'm sort of cocoa brown. '''[points to Andy]''' And you're beige. '''[points to Johnny Fever]''' But that dude is ''white.''
* On ''Series/DegrassiTheNextGeneration'', Paige and her boyfriend (who is also [[HotForStudent her teacher]]) are in the park enjoying themselves and they ridicule a guy's pale white legs -- and then they later find out it's her other teacher Mr. Simpson.

-->'''Albert (played by the ultra-pale Brent Spiner, aka [[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration Data]]):''' No, actually, I'm always this pale. My ex-wife used to say she could tell when I was embarrassed because I'd turn off-white.
-->'''Lilith:''' I can empathize. Sometimes after a late night, I cover my under-eye circles with Liquid Paper.
* A big part of [[Series/TheTonightShow Conan O'Brien's]] self-deprecating humor is the act of mocking his porcelain skin. In the ''Pale Force'' cartoons shown in ''[[Creator/ConanOBrien Late Night with Conan O'Brien]]'', O'Brien and comic Creator/JimGaffigan are superheroes whose powers derive from their blinding pastiness.

* ''Series/BurnNotice'' features Creator/GabrielleAnwar [[FakeIrish playing]] a tanned, sun-worshipping ''Irishwoman'' living in Miami. The odds are [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Irish#Hair.2C_skin_and_eye_colour_statistics_in_Ireland pretty good]] that any ''real'' Irishwoman living in sun-soaked Miami and wearing the clothes she wears would look like [[http://www.irishcentral.com/news/Irish-skin-cancer-rates-surge-from-foreign-sun-vacations-93356114.html an overgrown lobster]].
* ''Series/{{Dexter}}'': More as a way of venting her disgust, Deb uses Lilah's paleness as one way of insulting her, asking Dexter what kind of person is pale in Miami. "A pale, English, titty vampire." Dexter, however, responds, "You just described my ideal woman." Batista also comments favourably on her porcelain, china doll complexion.
* ''Series/{{Glee}}'' frequently draws attention to Kurt's fair skin. Not only does he have a mildly obsessive skincare routine, but when he asks [[TheNicknamer Coach Sylvester]] to stop calling him 'Lady,' his new nickname becomes '[[LampshadeHanging Porcelain]].' Emma also called him "an eleven-year-old milkmaid" a few times.

* ''Series/MohawkGirls'':
** Anna, angry at being mistreated for being [[HalfBreedDiscrimination half white]] and acting differently from what's expected among most Mohawks, says she's more Mohawk than most of them due to many looking much more white. Bailey (who could pass for white herself), rebukes her for this, retorting that Mohawks come in all shapes and sizes. Anna had also earlier mistakenly thought that white people were in the bar, noting happily they got along with the Mohawks there... until she's hotly told all of them are Mohawk. Later on, she learns the band citizenship is determined through blood quantum, which means members have to be 50% Mohawk at least through ancestry, which Anna isn't (she has a white mother, and her dad has a non-native ancestor as well, thus she can't be a tribal member, which devastates her).
** Zoe's own mother laments (to her face) that she has more white looks than she expected, as Zoe's father has some white ancestry.

* In an {{inver|tedTrope}}sion, Creator/RobertPattinson and Creator/KristenStewart from the ''Film/{{Twilight}}'' movies have been praised for their pale looks and many hope they can lower the skin cancer rates for teens due to excessive tanning.

* Bromley from ''Film/{{Daybreakers}}'' mentions that Edward looks good with a tan after he [[spoiler: turned back into a human.]]

* When Francis of ''Webcomic/PvP'' takes off his shirt to attach mechanical arms to his back, his pale complexion becomes a point of mockery and amusement for those observing.

* In ''WebAnimation/TheGrosseryGang'' webseries arc "Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous", Meathead, while coaching the newly rich Ricardo on how to look the part, says he's too pale and needs a tan, because "rich people love their fake tans", though it ends up a real tan in Ricardo's case...and a very streaky one at that.

* Creator/DianaWynneJones's ''Literature/TheToughGuideToFantasyland'' warns to look at the tan -- the more tanned the more Good.

* Red Rodney, an American jazz trumpeter, played in a quintet with Music/CharlieParker from 1949 to 1951. He was the only white member of the group; at the time, prejudices in the South ran high against mixed-race musical acts. To get around this problem, Parker billed Rodney as "Albino Red" and passed him off as a black man with very light skin.

* On ''Series/{{Degrassi}}'', Paige and her boyfriend (who is also [[HotForStudent her teacher]]) are in the park enjoying themselves and they ridicule a guy's pale white legs -- and then they later find out it's her other teacher Mr. Simpson.