History Main / ButYourWingsAreBeautiful

[[redirect:FreakinessShame]
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[[quoteright:313:[[{{Durarara}} http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Headless_4623.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:313:Shinra's [[NightmareFetishist kinky]] like that.]]

->'''Hitomi:''' And about wings... I really like them, Van. They're pretty.\\
'''Van:''' You and [[ClingyJealousGirl Merle]] are probably the only people who'd say that.
-->-- ''VisionOfEscaflowne''

A character has some fantastical characteristic, such as [[WingedHumanoid wings]], or horns, or a tail, of which [[CursedWithAwesome they are deeply ashamed]]. They may have been [[LegoGenetics born with them]], they may have [[{{Shapeshifting}} transformed]] for [[InvoluntaryShapeshifting one]] [[ShapeshifterModeLock reason]] or [[EmergencyTransformation another]]. Later, some other character (commonly, her love interest) catches a glimpse of these and assures the character that their wings, or horns, or tail, or whatever, are not in fact ugly but very attractive.

Often, the IJustWantToBeNormal sentiment plays a great role here: she [[IJustWantToBeNormal wants to be "normal"]] and have a normal romance but she somehow got deformed; she immediately becomes ashamed of her body because it isn't ''normal''. And it's not until her love interest points out that she is still beautiful despite (or even due to) not being normal that she suddenly sees this, too.

The most common explanation is that the character believes themselves to be some kind of "freak", thinks HumansAreTheRealMonsters, and is scared of being tracked down by a TorchesAndPitchforks mob and/or a MadScientist, [[ForScience for]] [[TheydCutYouUp obvious]] [[PlayingWithSyringes reasons]]. Sometimes it's justified when, say, a character now looks like the enemy or [[FantasticRacism another reviled species]], or their culture involves torching anyone with a tail. Only if these attitudes are consistent with the world they inhabit however - unless the point is that the character is being too pessimistic about people's capacity for tolerance. Sometimes they'll look for a "cure". Ironically, if they manage to remove the fantastic feature they [[FlowersForAlgernonSyndrome won't become happy]], and tend to feel like a BrokenAngel instead.

See also BeautifulAllAlong, FreakyIsCool and NightmareFetishist. Can be considered a DistaffCounterpart to BeastAndBeauty. Compare BeautyToBeast and the UncannyValley.
----
!!Examples

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Anime]]
* Celty from ''{{Durarara}}'' is understandably ashamed of her lack of a head, but Shinra not only doesn't care, he thinks it's rather sexy. Of course, a missing head is a far cry from wings, but there's no accounting for taste.
** There's also a darker example in the case of Shizuo and Saika: Not only is Saika's the only declaration of love Shizuo's ''ever had in his life'', but it's for the very reason he's been ostracized and come to hate himself for: [[InLoveWithYourCarnage his uncontrollable strength and violent temper]]. [[spoiler:Given that Saika is an {{Empathic| Weapon}} {{Evil| Weapon}} {{Yandere}} [[EvilWeapon Weapon]], Shizuo wisely rejects the offer in favor of the opportunity to finally use his power for good -- namely, kicking Saika's ass.]]
* In ''DetectiveConan'', it's revealed that one of [[TheWatson Dr. Agasa's]] childhood friend's was a half-Japanese girl named Fusae Campbell Kinoshita. She was very self-conscious of her hair color; her fondest memory of her childhood is Dr. Agasa claiming that he liked her hair.
** This is true in real life, too. In Japan, [[ValuesDissonance a culture that often values conformity]], having oddly colored hair is sometimes seen as "disruptive" by school officials, or just viewed as an unpleasant tendency to stand out. Some half-Japanese school children ''dye their hair'' to avoid this. Supposedly the stigma is becoming smaller over time, but is still strong in many of the less cosmopolitan areas.
*** The inverse is also true, of course: it's become not uncommon for Japanese students to bleach or dye their hair so that they stand out ''more''. But where in the West this would be viewed as a fashion statement, in Japan people who do this are often assumed to be very rebellious or even dangerous, though this stereotype is also fading a bit.
*** This entry sponsored by AnimeHair.
* In ''Manga/BlackButler'', Madame Red ''hated'' her red hair... until Earl Phantomhive (Ciel's father) told her he liked it. That it was beautiful, and really suits her. Unfortunately for [[UnrequitedLove her]], he still chooses to marry her older sister...
* In ''{{Trigun}}'', Meryl and Millie accidentally walk in on Vash with his shirt off, and shockingly learn that his entire body is CoveredWithScars due to his ActualPacifist lifestyle. He laments that it's not the kind of thing he wants girls to see, as he believes it would scare them, but Meryl [[TsunDere sheepishly disagrees.]]
* Setsuna Sakurazaki, who is half-Tengu and [[HeroicAlbino albino]], in ''MahouSenseiNegima''. To her defense, she was cast away by her fellow demons because of her albinism, which probably didn't improve her self-image.
-->'''Asuna:''' ''What'' is ''wrong'' with you, girl?! Don't you know how ''cool'' having wings is...?
** To say nothing of the reaction of Setsuna's [[spoiler:[[SchoolgirlLesbians partner]]]] upon being rescued shortly after.
-->'''Konoka:''' They're beautiful. You look like an angel.
* In ''ElfenLied'', this is generally the first step towards befriending a Diclonius, as prior to developing their vectors they're often persecuted because of their unusual horns. Then they start using their vectors to get revenge/follow their instincts and there's a ''new'' reason they're hated.
** Fans watching montages of Nyu moments on youtube tend to mistake the horns for cat-ears. It's probably intentional that they look like that, since Nyu saying Nyu also makes her sound like a cat.
* {{Genderflip}}ped in ''VisionOfEscaflowne'', when [[{{Bishounen}} Van]] first shows his wings to Hitomi. Apparently, he was ashamed of them all along (because they marked him as a descendant of the Atlanteans, who are universally disdained in the setting) but Hitomi (who comes from another world altogether) just finds them beautiful.
* ''SaiKano'', pretty much all of it. Considering that said wings and other destructive capabilities are in fact a bad thing, it makes sense for Chise to be ashamed of them.
* [[DarkMagicalGirl Princess Kraehe]] (aka Rue) from ''PrincessTutu'' was raised her entire life believing that she a [[AlwaysChaoticEvil raven]] born in a "disgusting human body", and thus too pathetic to be loved by either humans ''or'' ravens (apart from Mytho, on the basis that he's a FriendToAllLivingThings and thus [[LoveYouAndEverybody loves everyone]] by default). Thus it comes as a complete surprise to her when Autor insists that not only does he love her, but enough to die for her.
* ''ShinMazingerZero'': After ''[[Anime/MazingerZ Kouji]]'' finishes utterly ''trashing'' a ten-foot robot with his bare hands in front of his girlfriend Sayaka, he freaks out and asks her [[IAmAMonster if she was as terrified of that sudden show of inhuman ability as he was]]. [[http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Shin_Mazinger_Zero_C01_34img.jpg Sayaka's response]] can be summed up as, "Hell no! That was both completely awesome ''and'' hot."
* Short-term in PrincessAi: at the end of volume 1, Ai begins to grow wings, and thinks they're hideous. And yeah, the initial sprouts aren't that attractive. But her boyfriend, Kent, insists her wings are beautiful. A volume later, and her wings have grown, BeautifulAllAlong has kicked in, and the wings take a back seat to other, more pressing issues, like stopping a race war in her homeland.
* InuYasha's UnusualEars mark him as a HalfHumanHybrid, but what does his LoveInterest do upon seeing them for the first time? ''Tweak, tweak!''
** The gag is repeated with Kagome's mother, except this time InuYasha is awake, not sealed to a tree.
** Probably doesn't count, seeing as its his ''human'' side that InuYasha is ashamed of. OTOH, its because he has a human side at all that his ears look like that instead of coming to a point, (his half-brother is bimorphic but usually wears a form that [[BishounenLine looks more human than Inuyasha]]) but still, InuYasha never seems to really mind his appearance.
** He got pretty defensive about it in early arcs. Especially the one with that big, sweet, horse-faced hanyou whose home village abused him roundly. Clearly had a HalfBreedDiscrimination thing going on; just preferred the strong option to the powerless one.
** On the other hand, note that WhatMeasureIsANonHuman is in effect in his personal moral structure, and he never feels guilty for killing demons but beats himself up for offing even really evil humans. Presumably because they're defenseless against him. So there's ambivalence going.
* Ichigo with her {{catgirl}} transformation in ''TokyoMewMew''. She constantly worries that her eventual love interest will hate her when he finds out, but when he does he's perfectly okay with it.
** Retasu, too, though her fishgirl transformation isn't tied to any particular physical feature (besides the marking that identifies everyone from the Mu Project) and she doesn't worry about any love interest hating it. ''Her'' most strongly hinted love interest was in charge of the whole project anyway.
* ''EurekaSeven'' during the last episodes, [[spoiler:when Eureka's Coralian attributes begin to manifest themselves, she grows a pair of green, butterfly-like wings. At first, she is worried Renton will reject her new form, but Renton admires her new wings and thinks she has become even more beautiful. Of course, her fear here is pretty justifiable, seeing as her entire left side during a previous transformation broke out in [[BodyHorror luminous green boils]]. Even in the form where she grows wings, her left arm has become translucent and green, with some weird purple... thing roughly tracing where the bones should be. And some of the skin on her neck/face (and one assumes, the rest of the left side of her body) is similarly colored, though it doesn't quite look infected anymore.]]
* Zelgadis Graywords of ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}'' is a chimera, being a third demon and a third golem, giving him bluish skin with studded stones across his body, as well as wiry, stiff hair. Despite [[CursedWithAwesome the immense powers and stamina he gained]] as a result of his transformation, he hates his appearance and [[IJustWantToBeNormal spends most of his time between seasons searching for a cure]]. Most of the cast, Lina and Gourry included, don't find him unappealing at all (and he is rather handsome), and Amelia, who he is [[ShipTease somewhat attracted to]], finds his appearance "cool".
** The fifth season of the anime reveals that he can cope with his appearance in the long run; rather he is angry that the one who transformed him, Rezo, used him as a guinea pig for his own personal gain.
* Manga/PlusAnima are discriminated against because of their partial animal-like features. Some kids hate their anima, some like how useful it is but are self-conscious about the scar-like marks it leaves, etc; and then there's some people who think an anima is the coolest thing since sliced bread (looking at you, Cooro) and make this trope come into play a few times. (However, interestingly, it does ''not'' apply to the main character, who has black wings and is often called an angel of death, but has [[AngstWhatAngst zero angst]] about it [[spoiler:until the last volume, anyway]].)
* In ''NatsumeYuujinchou'', most people found Reiko Natsume's [[EyesOfGold yellow]], [[HellishPupils slit-pupil]] eyes ([[ISeeDeadPeople among other things]]) to be creepy. Hinoe, on the other hand, [[WhatBeautifulEyes thought they were beautiful]].
* In ''FruitsBasket'', the Zodiac family members often have odd hair and eye colors that correspond to whatever spirit is possessing them. This often leads to accusations that they dye their hair, or to be mercilessly bullied. Tohru, being the sweet girl she is, is constantly awed and impressed by these features, finding them very attractive. In a flashback, we also see that Yuki liked Kyo's orange hair (though he never gets a chance to say so).
* Referred to in ''Anime/MawaruPenguindrum''. [[spoiler:Yuri Tokikago was once [[GoodScarsEvilScars heavily scarred]] thanks to [[AbusiveParents the physical abuse]] that she got from her MadArtist father, and often was seen covered in bandages. Out of all the people that know about her scars, apparently only Momoka Oginome wasn't either shocked or repulsed, and still found Yuri to be beautiful no matter what.]]
* In OnePiece Chopper believes he is a monster, and is ashamed it until Luffy and co come along and find it TOTALLY AWESOME! SEVEN TRANSFORMATIONS! JOIN MY CREW! It helps that after he joins he realizes Luffy is much weirder than he is. But this leads up to him eventually being proud of being a monster, because of how it can help his friends, and because his {{nakama]] think it's cool.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* To a certain extent this applies to Mina's scars in ''TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen'', the legacy of being attacked by Dracula. She's deeply ashamed by them and covers them with a scarf. She's convinced Allan is repulsed and only relaxes when he says they're part of what makes her special.
** In an interesting variation, Allan is initially shocked to see her scars after they made love for the first time, and Mina thought he was repulsed by them. He later assured her the reason for his reaction; his second wife, whom he had loved very much, also had scars on her neck due to a fire accident. He reacted in surprise because it meant that the two women he loved most in his life(his late second wife and Mina) both had similar scars.
** This is one of those cases where Mina's fear is more reasonable. Unlike, say, angel wings, having huge scars all over your neck isn't likely to be attractive to many people.
* [[FantasticFour The Thing]] once believed that if his blind girlfriend Alicia Masters could see him in his orange rocky glory she would run screaming for the hills. Given how sensitive her fingers were (she's an accomplished sculptor, and even made sculptures of him at one point), it came as no surprise that she pretty much knew what he looked like and still loved him. Which caused Ben [[{{Wangst}} to think that she'd stop loving him if he ever became normal]]...
** Again, Ben has a lot of issues about his appearance. Being turned into a giant rock-monster will do that to you, especially when everyone around you just gets cool powers.
* In the ''UltimateXMen'' comics, when Angel joins the team, pretty much the entire team stops and stares at him when he walks through the door. He is afraid that his wings are responsible, when Storm informs him that they all were staring because he's drop-dead gorgeous.
-->(Angel walks in the door)\\
'''Shadowcat:''' (eyes bulge) ''Dibs''.\\
'''Storm:''' ''Stop it, Kitty.'' (but she can't take her eyes off him, either)
** Seriously, it turns out as a Crowning Wallbanger Of Funny - this guy can't tell that every woman in sight of him wants to eat him alive with chocolate syrup?
** Clearly, his childhood was abnormal.
** This guy is also queer in some continuities.
* In Malibu Comics' ''[[TheUltraverse Firearm]]'', Alec Swan runs into a [[WingedHumanoid woman with wings]] who's planning on committing suicide [[IJustWantToBeNormal over not being normal]]. Alec spends the rest of the issue talking the woman, Ellen, down, telling her that her wings are beautiful. Later on, it's revealed they got married off-panel.
* PrincessAi pretty much goes "Oh no, I hate my wings." "But your wings are beautiful."
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fan Fic]]
* This trope has spawned a subgenre of {{fanfic}} appropriately called [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin wingfic]], one early example of which is the TropeNamer.
* [[http://www.populli.net/thewritegirls/afrai/wingfic.html This parody.]]
* Subverted in one RealPersonFic. Rather than complain or feel shame about them, [[AmericanIdol Simon Cowell]] gloats to [[TopGear Jeremy Clarkson]] that now he has wings ''and'' a [[CoolCar Bugatti Veyron]].
** [[FridgeLogic Did Clarkson ask how he'd be able to fit himself and his wings into that sleek little vehicle?]]
* [[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6073592/1/ This Star Trek (2009) fic]], based on a challenge, pairs Uhura's Orion roommate, Gaila, and Spock Prime and also uses this trope. It's odd but quite well written.
* A popular [[Anime/{{Pokemon}} Rocketshipping]] fic series called "Feathers and Foxtails" had James gain a pair of wings via Mewtwo's power as punishment for trying to capture him.
* [[Fanfic/PastSins Nyx]] is an alicorn, which in the universe of WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic means she's a PhysicalGod. In an interesting twist, she hides her wings because (a) she thinks they'll make other ponies jealous and (b) she happens to be [[BigBad Nightmare Moon reincarnate]].
** One genre of MLP:FIM fictions features Twilight facing this trope after getting wings herself; wings or a horn are normal, but combined see above for Nyx.
* Subverted in ''Fanfic/WithStringsAttached'', in that after growing wings, John goes through WhatHaveIBecome angst for about half a day, until he flies; then he loves his transformation, and he becomes furious with Paul for suggesting that he have the wings removed. (Whether Paul is genuinely worried that they'll ruin John's life on Earth, or just jealous, is a question for readers to ponder.)Later, when he calms down, he acknowledges that Paul is right (while still loving his condition), and worries a lot about what will happen when he goes home like that.
-->The circus wouldn't just start up again; the clowns would eat him whole.
** While he loves the wings, he doesn't love the associated problems (which the story does deal with) of having to sit in backwards chairs, wear backwards vests (or nothing at all), and wear a magical cloak to hide the wings from view.
** Also in ''Strings'', a minor subversion with “Beagle John” in New Zork; he has small wings that are useful only for “attractin' birds,” and he calls himself the “Eagle Beagle.”
* In a ''Literature/HarryPotter'' fic called ''Flare'', an unusual interaction with a dark curse caused Harry to grow a pair of oversized, strangely-colored phoenix wings. Draco, who apparently had a bit of a wing fetish, kept trying to convince Harry that he was beautiful.
* In ''VideoGame/TheWorldEndsWithYou'' fanfic, ''FanFic/ErisGame'', the titular character gives Shiki this saying [[spoiler:about being in her body]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Film]]
* The movie version of ''Film/GhostRider'' has Roxanne finding out that Johnny Blaze is the titular hero. He is sad about letting her see him this way, but Roxanne still likes him.
** Another case where his fear is fairly reasonable. After all, he's a vengeance demon whose appearance is probably intended to cause fear. [[WreathedInFlames He's also a bit volatile to touch]].
*** But apparently averted in that Roxanne touches his flaming skull without being burned which causes him to revert to human form. Since the demon's purpose is to punish the guilty, perhaps the flames don't harm innocent people?
**** In some continuities it is/was the case that the fire wasn't harmful to the "pure of heart"
* In ''GoodLuckChuck'', one of the "one night stand" quickies Charlie has didn't want to bare her chest. At the end of the movie, we find out that she has three breasts. Of course Charlie's best friend, a cosmetic surgeon specialising in breast enhancement, goes completely wild for this when he finds out.
* In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' Magneto wins over Mystique and several of the other mutants by accepting and reveling in their mutations rather than preferring them to be mainline. Internal Categorization at its finest as he even prefers Beast with a more extreme mutation while Beast is self loathing.
** This is also how Xavier ends up adopting Mystique as a sister. She's the first mutant he meets and is amazed that there are other mutants in the world. This is also seemingly what Beast and Mystique bond over when they form a relationship (rather than mock his large feet, she is impressed by his reflexes and stands up for him), but ultimately subverted on Beast's part when he says that he finds Mystique's human form attractive but not her true form.
** Magneto's opinion of Mystique gets brutally deconstructed in ''Film/XMenTheLastStand'' when she [[spoiler: loses her powers.]] Despite at least 20 to 40 years of mutual loyalty, Magneto immediately abandons her to incarceration or worse. [[BatmanGambit Unless he was planning on her retaliation to further his plans, which worked]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* The relationship between Hiroto and Rega in T.S.Hana's ''Dawn of Craven: The Alchemist'' mirrors this, in which Hiroto's mountain lion true form is considered a [[TheClan family problem]] as he was known to be attracted to mortals, not animals, therefore making his love life difficult. However despite it being [[spoiler:the reason Hiroto killed his first girlfriend, as she hated it]], Rega finds little to nothing wrong with it.
* Used as a metaphor in ''TheGlassMenagerie'': Laura's glass unicorn's horn gets broken off.
* In ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'', Bella feels this way about Edward's sparkling. In the movie he retorts, "This is the skin of a killer, Bella!"
** [[ItMakesSenseInContext Not as ridiculous as it sounds;]] the sparkling ''is'' kind of inconvenient, as it happens whenever he's exposed to direct sunlight and tends to strain TheMasquerade. It's also only the tip of the iceberg with regards to Edward's issues.
* [[WingedHumanoid Hawk]] in S.L. Viehl's StarDoc series is revealed to have a full-sized pair of wings, courtesy of part-alien heritage. How did he hide them, you ask? By strapping them down to his back, under his clothing, so tightly that he was in constant pain. The resulting crouched posture and uncamouflagable hump on his back caused the main character to assume he had a horrendous spinal birth defect instead. Upon finally being let in on the secret, a stunned and enchanted Cherijo utters this trope practically to the letter. (Then again, Hawk wasn't hiding his wings so much because he was ashamed of them as because they could get him in trouble with the [[HumansAreTheRealmonsters Earth]] [[FantasticRacism government]]. [[spoiler:As if being a [[TransparentCloset closet]] [[StraightGay case]]—and having [[DepravedBisexual Rico]] take advantage of his feelings—wasn't bad enough.]])
* Jame in P.C. Hodgell's ''ChroniclesOfTheKencyrath'' is extremely ashamed of her retractable-clawed fingertips, and wears gloves to hide them almost all the time. Since their appearance at age 7 got her thrown out by her father, this is kind of understandable. In book 4, ''To Ride a Rathorn'', the instructors and cadets at Tentir (the military academy) discover them, and almost uniformly think they are extremely cool and useful, much to Jame's confusion.
* CharlesStross's ''[[TheLaundrySeries The Jennifer Morgue]]'': When half-[[Creator/HPLovecraft Deep One]] assassin [[spoiler:Ramona Random]] drops the illusion protecting her true, fishy appearance, she expects protagonist Bob Howard to be repelled. He's anything but.
** From a practical point of view, this is mainly because she's part of a subspecies ''specifically'' engineered not to be repulsive to humans, because the Deep Ones do have an occasional need to interact with them.
* The relationship between [[Literature/VorkosiganSaga Admiral Miles Naismith]] and [[SuperSoldier SGT Taura]] started out equal parts this and an inverted ScarpiaUltimatum (gallant young officer, suicidal CuteMonsterGirl, these things happen).
* Geryon in ''Autobiography of Red'' is ashamed of his wings and often hides them under a trenchcoat. Much later, [[spoiler:Ancash marvels at them enough to even start the final sideplot to throw Geryon into a volcano and see if he lives]]. Literally or metaphorically.
* Bonnie, from "Dragons In Our Midst" is ashamed of her dragon wings for the entire series. She even hides them in a specially made backpack to go to school, etc. Her destined love interest, Billy, finds them lovely.
** The backpack also had something to do with making sure she didn't advertise her existence to the dragon slayers.
* In ''Dragon's Keep'', through complicated plotting an infertile queen managed to get pregnant using some weird potion involving a dragon's egg. The queen's daughter was born with one scaly, clawed draconic finger, which had to be trimmed and hidden with a glove so that no one would know. When the princess actually get kidnapped by some dragons, they turn out to be related to the egg which went into the potion, and the one dragon finger is all that was left of the dragon child. It's also the one feature of the princess's that the dragons don't find to be repulsive.
** [[spoiler:Said claw also has a part in the prophecy about the protagonist, so when it's finally revealed and someone makes the connection it becomes less of a deformity and more of a sign of future peace between humans and dragons.]]
* In RobinHobb's [[RealmOfTheElderlings Liveship Traders]] trilogy, there's a mutual version of this: the people from the Rain Wilds are deformed by the "strangeness" that runs down the river. Reyn Khuprus hides his face from Malta Vestrit, who is horrified the first time she sees him unveiled, because [[spoiler:she's ashamed of the "scar" on her forehead from a previous head injury]] which turns out to be [[spoiler:a scaly red crest, a sign that they're both becoming Elderlings as a result of their association with [[OurDragonsAreDifferent Tintaglia]].]]
* In ''DragonsCanOnlyRust'' and ''Dragon Reforged'' by Chrys Cymri, Gonard the [[OurDragonsAreDifferent robot dragon]] is convinced he's hideous. Itsa is astonished to learn this and thinks he is very beautiful.
* In ''Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town'', Mimi has a pair of leathery, bat-like wings that she hates. Quite reasonably too, as she lives in a "real" world rather than some fantasy setting where things like wings could be explainable. Her first boyfriend "helps" her by periodically cutting them off with pruning shears. (They grow back.) Her second boyfriend is a freak like her (he can grow back limbs and other things) who gets a hard-on just thinking about her wings and refuses to cut them off.
* Linnea Sinclair is fond of this trope; usually one half of the designated couple will have some supernatural or technological abilities that everyone else considers subhuman. The other half will start out believing the propaganda, but will eventually get to know them, fall in love, and consider their abilities superhuman.
** ''Gabriel's Ghost'' uses this especially: [[spoiler:In the first edition, Gabriel Sullivan is a Ragkiril, or telepath, and when using his abilities he literally grows wings. In this universe, halos are angelic and wings are always demonic; the fact that angels used to be portrayed with wings is brought up as a counterpoint to his supposed inherent evilness. In the new, revamped edition, Ragkiril merely glow with "unholy" light when using their abilities, but the angelic/demonic comparisons are kept. In both versions, Chaz's acceptance of who and what he is helps him to heal and see himself as someone worthy of love.]]
* ''HavelokTheDane'' has the titular character with a light emanating from his mouth, as well as a scar shaped like a cross. In some versions he is ashamed of this, in other versions people spotting the signs wonder what's going on, to hear [[spoiler:that Havelok is [[TheChosenOne destined]] to become king of England and Denmark.]]
* Edmond Hamilton's "He That Hath Wings" averts this, hard. Ruth makes it clear that she can't see [[WingedHumanoid David]] as completely human (much less as a potential love interest) unless he consents to have his wings—which are fully functional and stated to be beautiful—amputated. [[spoiler:([[LoveMartyr He does it]]. [[TearJerker It doesn't]] [[DrivenToSuicide end well]]. [[TheWoobie Poor guy]]...)]]
* Played with in the ''Literature/SymphonyOfAges''. After passing through the flame at the center of the world, Rhapsody's body was transformed. Combined with her latent insecurities from her time as a prostitute, the stares she receives from everyone she meets afterward convinces her she's hideous. Ironically, the stares and odd treatment are because she's now so ethereally ''beautiful'' that half the people she meets think she's some sort of spirit or angel. Only Ashe can convince her of the truth.
* ''WickedLovely'': Niall thinks that his excessive scarring is unattractive. Leslie (and the {{fangirl}}s) disagree with him.
* AnitaBlake: Asher, like in the example above, hates his scars. Anita has no problem with them, especially in sexual situations. They're "just another texture to play with" or something along those lines.
* Jasmine, a character from the [[ForgottenRealms Finder's Bane]] duology. She had previously been "blessed" with a wish by [[LadyLuck Tymora]] in mortal guise in the form of an idle conversation. Jasmine said that if she could have any one thing, it would be to be able to fly away from all her problems. Tymora somewhat reluctantly [[LiteralGenie grants this wish]], giving Jasmine a set of [[CursedWithAwesome beautiful, but permanent wings]]. The other main characters she meets in the books assure her that her wings are beautiful, but to her, they're missing the point. It's not the fact the wings themselves are ugly, but the fact that they're there in the first place. For someone who's a hairsbreadth shy of a ShrinkingViolet, they only serve to make her the center of attention wherever she goes. In fact, she manages to make her home in [[{{Planescape}} Sigil]] for several months, simply because it's one of the only places where a girl with wings won't stand out.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* On ''Series/BeingHuman'', George and Nina bond over their shared self-image problems - Nina has horrible burns on her abdomen from an unexplained incident in her past, and George... is a werewolf. Neither quite goes to the extreme of calling each other's scars beautiful, but their revealing and accepting them is a heartwarming moment.
* Variation: In ''HerculesTheLegendaryJourneys'', Hercules makes it clear that he doesn't judge ''any'' hideous and/or non-human person by appearance, and is often angered when he meets people who discriminate.
** He has direct experience that the gods, while beautiful, were [[JerkassGod dicks]], [[FridgeLogic so why should he judge anyone from their looks]]?
* ''Series/TheOuterLimits'' episode "Music of the Spheres" has aliens subjecting the whole of humanity to an EmergencyTransformation into bald golden-skinned creatures, so that they can survive an impending shift in the sun's radiation. The female lead's boyfriend still thinks she is beautiful.
* In ''TrueBlood'', Sam's brother tells [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Jessica]] this about her fangs, and no, they are not {{cute little| fangs}}. It's unclear whether he was just flirting or not, either would be entirely in-character. [[spoiler:Especially since he was raised as a fighting dog]]. A woman who can take care of herself in a fight is a good thing to him.
** Hoyt also tells Jessica this when they make out for the first time.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Music]]
* Big Girls are Beautiful by Mika. Sum guys really dig fat chicks.
* Asian Kung Fu Generation's "After Dark" (from the anime {{Bleach}}).
* RudolphTheRedNosedReindeer. Although this is more along the lines of "But Your Wings Are Useful".
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Theatre]]
* In the musical production ''Theatre/{{Wicked}}'', the green-skinned 'wicked' witch Elphaba tells her lover Fiyero that she wishes she could be beautiful for him. He assures her that she is beautiful; she tells him not to lie, but he tells her that he's "not lying", but "looking at things another way." She [[MeaningfulEcho repeats his words to him]] when [[spoiler:he turns into the Scarecrow.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* In video games, nobody takes top credit with this trope better than ''BreathOfFire''. In the second game, one of your party members- this game's incarnation of recurring character Nina- has black wings. Wyndians, the race she comes from are all WingedHumanoid types, though their wings are white. Nina angsts over her wings because she's been ''prophesied to destroy everything her people have ever worked for.'' She's also the princess of her people, or at least, ''should'' be, but was kicked out for having black wings- probably the only reason she wasn't killed at birth was that [[ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem her father was the king]]. Then this Trope gets used for full credit- not by the mute hero, but by the DumbMuscle CatGirl, who is appropriately named Katt. "I like your wings, Nina! I think they're beautiful!" A very well done JustifiedTrope.
* Inverted in ''BaldursGate II'', where Aerie suffers serious self-image problems because of losing her wings, since apart from the scarred back, this loss makes her look like an ordinary elf rather than an Avariel she is. Inverted even further if your PC is romancing Aerie: you can tell her that she is beautiful even without her wings to reassure her.
** There's no option to tell her that you like the scars, though (which would be perfectly reasonable, given the protagonist's pedigree).
* Similarly, in ''PlanescapeTorment'', the [[CuteMonsterGirl tiefling]] Annah is sensitive about her tail, but if you decide to compliment her on her appearance, one of your points is that it's nice.
* Ritz from ''FinalFantasyTacticsAdvance'' dyes her hair red in the real world, because it's naturally white and she hates it. In the fantasy world, though, there's the Viera, a OneGenderRace of [[CuteMonsterGirl rabbit]]-[[PettingZooPeople women]] who regard white hair as a divine gift. Her viera companion tells her it is beautiful and that she is blessed for having it.
* The trope name is invoked in ''CrisisCore: FinalFantasyVII'', where [[TheObiWan Angeal]] [[TheReveal states dramatically]] that [[WhatHaveIBecome he's become]] [[IAmAMonster a monster]] (since he's grown a wing), and Zack contends that's the wing of an angel. Which it does look like.
** Considering that [[HitlerAteSugar the ''other'' folks with the single wings were villains]] who [[OneWingedAngel turned quite monstrous in the end]], Angeal's worries may not have been completely unfounded.
*** They were also his two best friends. And Sephiroth hadn't gone off yet, since he was made by a different process and wasn't ''dying''. (Genesis might have been a little more positive about the mutation if it hadn't come with a ''bitch'' of an autoimmune disorder.)
-->''"Wings symbolize freedom for those who have none. They don't symbolize monsters."''
** The effect is somewhat mitigated by Zack being a total hypocrite. After a few bad encounters with Genesis's forces, he grumpily remarks at the concept, "If humans had wings, they'd be monsters." It's not until he finds out about Angeal that he basically goes, OhCrap, and alters his stance.
*** Well, that is complicated by the fact that 'monster' (said in English even in the Japanese audio) is a technical term for the various mutants that experimentation and mako pollution cause in the setting, so what Zack says is correct. But when Angeal uses it he's giving it a distinct moral weight, as the English 'monster' and Japanese 'bakemono' normally carry, and it's that sense Zack is attempting to deny. Given his beloved mentor is saying things like "well, don't monsters usually want either world domination or revenge?" he's got reason to argue the point.
** Angeal ultimately goes into one of the ''ugliest'' OneWingedAngel forms in the series in the effort to get Zack to [[ICannotSelfTerminate off him]]. He does so, but he stays pretty pro-wings for the rest of the game, including asking to borrow Angeal's in a hallucination before breaking out of Hojo's mako tank, and when being absorbed by the Lifestream at the end, when it appears Angeal's ghost came to pick him up.
* Rider from ''PuyoPuyo'' is very shy and ashamed of her long ears and the horns on her head, and the situation is not improved when many other characters refer to her as an imp. In Puyo Puyo 15th Anniversary, she meets [[spoiler:the bishounen Satan, who also has horns, and realizes how beautiful horns can be.]]
* In the ''LegacyOfKain'' series, Raziel's character sprouts wings before SoulReaver that play with this trope: No one really pays attention to the wings, except for Kain who destroys them out of jealousy [[spoiler:to knowingly start a StableTimeLoop, turning Raziel into the UnwittingPawn.]]
* Kyrie grabbing and holding Nero's Devil Bringer arm at the end of ''DevilMayCry 4''.
-->'''Nero:''' Kyrie... If I'm a demon, and not a human anymore... is this what you want?\\
'''Kyrie:''' Nero, you're you. And it's you I want to be with... I don't know anyone who is as human as you are.
* The original ''StarOcean'' has an odd case of this: during a certain Private Action you can find a nervous [[WingedHumanoid Ioshua]] surrounded by girls {{Squee}}ing over his 'beautiful wings'. Turns out it's the attention makes him deeply uncomfortable rather than having wings.
* Micah, the protagonist of RuneFactory3, has this reaction to [[spoiler:Raven, after she reveals her phoenix form.]] Of course it would take much more than that to freak him out, since he's a HalfHumanHybrid.
* The ending of ''[[SoulSeries Soul Calibur V]]'' has [[spoiler:Patroklos holding his sister Pyrrha's demonic right arm]].
* Non-romantic ([[LesYay I think]]) example from ''BlazBlue''. [[CuteMonsterGirl Squirrel beastkin girl]] Makoto Nanaya has a rather large and bushy squirrel tail, and due to engrained FantasticRacism, she is ashamed of it. Her best friend [[{{Moe}} Noel]] finds her tail extremely attractive, and often asks to fondle it.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Visual Novels]]
* A large proportion of ''VisualNovel/KatawaShoujo'''s fan base frequently make statements to this effect.
* For Ciel from ''VisualNovel/{{Tsukihime}}'', her [[{{Immortality}} immortal body]] (being a mix of types II and III) causes her to feel deeply ashamed of it (in general, not of just a single specific feature) until Shiki tells her how beautiful she is in her route. Given, it's a bit of stretch, so it may not count.
** She is also conscious of her body because, [[spoiler: as Roa, her body was used to violate more guys and girls than you can count. Apparently a big deal in visual novels since most heroines in that media tended to start out as virgins]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* In ''DominicDeegan'', Luna suffers from "[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin tuskmouth]]", but is good-looking despite this... yet was [[AbusiveParents abused by her mother]] into believing otherwise.
** Although you couldn't tell, since 1) she is not exactly drawn any different from anyone else (except for the fangs) and 2) most every one that is not a protagonist or ally still treats her as ugly as sin.
*** Given the typical racist sentiments against orcs present in laypeople who aren't the saintly main characters...
** Having tusks is pretty repulsive at first glance. When you get to know a person or if you've trained yourself to look past things like that, you can get over it, but the first reaction is likely to be 'yike!' from perfectly reasonable people, and it makes a good target for anyone who doesn't like her. (And for crying out loud, it's not everyone. Most of Barthis, a decent segment of Quirral, and the audience at the Battle for Barthis concert are all examples of large groups of reasonable people. Plus remember the world tour.)
*** It doesn't help that Luna keeps getting involved in war and politics, wherein you have very spiteful people who don't know you forming strong opinions.
*** Plus the king is evil.
* Lei'ella from ''Inverloch'' hides her ears from the world, especially Varden when she learns of his dislike of elves. He accepts them, though.
* In ''TheInexplicableAdventuresOfBob'', Bob is at first appalled when he learns the beautiful [[GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe Princess Voluptua]] is [[AFormYouAreComfortableWith actually]] a giant insect, but is mollified to find she is a gigantic butterfly, and therefore still beautiful in a completely different way.
** [[OurDragonsAreDifferent Hibachi]]: [[http://bobadventures.comicgenesis.com/d/20100313.html "You fly on wings like unto the stained glass of a cathedral."]]
* Brutally deconstructed in ''{{Fans}}''. While nobody in particular is freaked out about Zaha, she feels very uncomfortable being a {{Catgirl}}. She considers this kind of attitude extremely selfish because the people who show interest in her only see the cat ears and tail and not her, as a person, and feels offended anytime someone says anything good about them. [[spoiler:She eventually becomes full human after switching bodies with someone who likes this kind of attention. The only person who would do that is a DumbBlonde AttentionWhore, a {{furry| fandom}} and a {{fan|girl}} of ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'']]. Also doubles as an AuthorTract.
* This trope is used in [[http://www.crfh.net/d/20050114.html this]] strip from ''CollegeRoomiesFromHell''. Marsha seems to think that the wings she recently grew make her look monstrous, but Mike is even more turned on by her than usual. [[FridgeLogic Of course, Marsha happens to forget that Mike's left arm is a tentacle.]]
* In ''{{Minion}}'', as a kid Meryl was taunted about her odd ears, [[WhiteHairedPrettyGirl hair]] and [[RedEyesTakeWarning eyes]] by [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer the kids at school]], who usually started at "mutant" and went downhill from there. Gin, in the other hand, thought her eyes were really cool.
* ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'' had a mild case. Grace worried about her "monstrousness", until she discovered that the only reaction Sarah and Elliot ever show is blaming Tedd (due to [[BalefulPolymorph specific experience]]), while Tedd ogles her in hybrid form even more eagerly than in human form. Even after the remark about "[[http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2002-05-09 furry fetish and a half-cat girlfriend]]" she [[http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2007-02-14 had a fit of concern]] about her three-tailed omega form. As if there ''could'' be any problem.
-->'''Grace:''' I didn't scare you, did I?\\
'''Tedd:''' (visibly spaced out) ''so''... hot...
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* Beast from {{Disney}}'s ''Disney/BeautyAndTheBeast'' certainly fits, at least for the fans; even outside of the FurryFandom, the general consensus is that the Beast's monstrous form is better and more attractive than his human form, so much so that it's easy to [[CompletelyMissingThePoint wrongfully declare]] the movie's [[BrokenAesop Aesop broken]], as a result.
** What's the difference between Beast's beast form and his human form? The one gets to show his face in society and in public, the other cannot. It's much better being an ordinary human, than an attractive beast!
** In a more traditional use of this trope his eyes are [[WhatBeautifulEyes consistently portrayed as being attractive]] and after his transformation back to human is how Belle recognizes him.
* One episode of ''DragonTales'' took this literally where the main characters actually befriend a dragon who has no friends because she had oversized wings.
* Subverted in an ImagineSpot spoofing "Mask" in ''FamilyGuy'': The blind girl feels Rocky's face, and is repulsed by it.
* This is a recurring theme in Fry and Leela's relationship in ''{{Futurama}}''. Leela is extremely sensitive about her huge single eye, due in large part to being made fun of while growing up in the Orphanarium. In fact, her eye continues to be her BerserkButton into adulthood. Fry had always been attracted to Leela, eyeball and all, and vehemently objected to her getting plastic surgery to make her look "normal". Unusual for this Trope, Leela's insecurity regarding her eye continue through the series.
** Subverted by the RuleOfFunny in the first episode, though:
-->'''Police Officer:''' Hey, keep your big nose out of this, ''eyeball''.\\
'''Leela:''' ''No one'' makes fun of [[InsultMisfire my ''nose!'']]
* The Mutates eventually come to this realization in ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}''.
* ''{{Shrek}}'' has Princess Fiona, who'd been human by day/ogress by night, dismayed to find that upon the spell upon her being broken she's now [[spoiler:permanently in ogre form]]. And Shrek is more enamored with her than ever.
* Nonromantic example in ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'', in a fifth season episode showing how the team met. Cyborg's used to people being cruel towards him because of his robotic body, but when Beast Boy first sees him, he exclaims "Cool!" {{Justified}} in that Beast Boy grew up in the presence of another robot.
** Lets not forget the episode where Starfire turns into a chrysalis, her species own version of puberty apparently, and Robin chases after her, even after seeing all her weird changes. Later when he meets up with her again, he tells her he would have come for her even if she hadn't changed back to looking perfectly normal. Daww...
*** Inverted in the very same episode, when an alien tells Starfire she is beautiful, solely for the fact that said alien race's sole diet is chrysalis and more chrysalis.
* While Nightcrawler is initially ashamed of his appearance in ''{{X-Men Evolution}}'', he soon seems to become more relaxed about it around other mutants (understandably, since the fans already know blue + fuzzy = adorable). He's still afraid of letting normal people see his true face, constantly wearing a device that projects a hologram around him to make him look like a normal person in public, but this trope is invoked when [[spoiler:the girl who likes him, Amanda Sefton, convinces him to turn off his image inducer, then happily reassures him - "blue is my favorite color". To her, "your fur is ''adorable''!"]]
** Kitty Pryde said the same thing in a comic book spin off of the show.
** In a nonromantic example, a later episode has a researcher capture Hank [=McCoy=] after mistaking him for Bigfoot. When he finds out that [=McCoy=] is intelligent, he is amazed and does his best to save him from overzealous hunters. When he runs into the other mutants, he is not hostile but is genuinely interested in learning more about them.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Real Life]]
* TruthInTelevision: As sex columnist Dan Savage can attest to, there are many couples where one partner is embarrassed about an abnormal physical feature, sexual fetish, or mundane hobby, only to find out that [[ConvenientlyCommonKink the other shares this interest]], or is at least not turned off by it.
* In many larger cities there are specialty clubs and bars for people with unusual traits and their admirers. Goddess Bars for {{big beautiful wom|an}}en, and Bear Dens for [[TheBear very hairy men]] are just a couple of the many types available. These clubs are founded on the fact that someone out there finds that unique trait very beautiful.
** There are also specialty websites dedicated to people with unusual traits and their admirers. These take many forms from {{Imageboards}}, to discussion groups, to even entire dating sites full of admirers shouting "But your ___ is beautiful!"
** On the flip side of this trope though, there can be people who are unable to make peace with their problem (be it minor or major) and having someone specially appeal to it can actually make them even more disdainful of their own body.
* Many people have to get used to unusual physical features in others before they can see beautiful aspects of scars, birth conditions, etc. As in fiction, it also helps to be in love with someone before you discover whatever it is. Likewise, people who continue to find their loved ones attractive after a disfiguring accident, while strangers are often more disturbed.
* The farmer who owned the infamous [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_the_Headless_Chicken Mike the Headless Chicken]] reported female chickens continued to be attracted to him, which is partially understandable, given that he was now 4 times heavier than most of the chickens there, as well as the oldest. The art for his merchandize as well [[http://www.miketheheadlesschicken.org/merchandise_2010_shirt.htm also depicts him as a headless stud]]. Mike, however, being blind, had no idea how desirable he was.
[[/folder]]
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[[redirect:FreakinessShame]]