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Not to be confused with removing an ice superpower from someone who already has one.
At first glance, this character may appear to be a Rich Bitch; she's beautiful but also proud, haughty and insufferably arrogant. Or is she? In time, the icy facade gradually thaws, and it turns out that she's not so bad after all; maybe she was just mistrustful, or preoccupied with Saving The World, or simply unused to mixing with people outside her own class/culture/race. Either way, there's a 90% chance of her ending up in bed with the hero.
This was the original meaning of the term tsundere, but over time, that term has mutated to a more Slap Slap Kiss sort of meaning.
Very common in movies. Reversal of gender roles in this trope is rare, but not unheard of.
Compare: Tsundere, Jerk With A Heart Of Gold, Broken Bird, Lady Of War and The Woman Wearing The Queenly Mask. Dont You Dare Pity Me may come into play in the early stages.
Examples
Anime
- Sara Werec of Soukou No Strain is a main character like this, starting with the second episode.
- Motoko Aoyama from Love Hina.
- Eri Sawachika from School Rumble, though slightly subverted.
- Sesshoumaru of Inuyasha is a male example of sorts, starting out supremely arrogant, concerned only with his own status and power, and willing to kill anyone who gets in his way; by the end of the series he is... still supremely arrogant, but has acquired a Morality Pet and developed into an Anti Hero with a habit of conveniently just passing through.
- Layla Hamilton from Kaleido Star seems at first to be an arrogant, ultra-perfectionist bitch who loves treating newbies badly at the beginning, but soon we see that she's as hard (if not more) on herself as she is with others and that she loves the Kaleido Stage as much as Sora does. To the point of sacrificing her circus career to gain the Kaleido Stage back from Yuri Killian and foil his revenge on Kalos Eido.
- Another male version: Tieria Erde from Gundam 00. He's shown as a cold, reserved Deadpan Snarker with not a lot of regard for others, but after his fellow Gundam Meister Neil "Lockon Stratos" Dylandy saves his life, he starts showing more and more emotions and becomes extremely devoted to Lockon. After the four year time skip, he seems to even enjoy having conversations with his and Lockon's partner Setsuna F. Seiei, someone he often used to imply he wanted dead. So it seems he's pretty much grown out of it unless he has to communicate with Neil's brother, Lyle — then he just frosts up. Understandable, to some degree: Lyle is Neil's twin brother who has taken up the "Lockon Stratos" mantle in Celestial Being... four years after Neil's tragic death, which affected Tieria greatly.
- Rue from Princess Tutu. Arguably Fakir, as well.
- Marlene from Blue Gender.
- Temari from Naruto. She starts out as a pretty cold and scary character who shows no remorse for others. But this was mostly due to growing up in a crazy family with a brother who had no qualms about killing her. As her family life improves, she shows more signs of being a warm and caring person. Her relationship with prospect love interest Shikamaru also seems to thaw her.
- Natsuki Kuga from Mai-HiME. The ice that she uses as a weapon doesn't defrost, though.
- Sheryl Nome of Macross Frontier is the archetypal example. She starts out as the "Galaxy Fairy," an Idol Singer loved by all, tremendously arrogant and haughty. However, her meetings with Alto Saotome (who refuses to take any of her crap) and Ranka Lee (whose innocence and optimism rub off on Sheryl) change her outlook on life, making her a much more sympathetic character. Of course, the series goes one further by giving her a fatal illness and doing everything possible to Break The Haughty, which only makes her even more human.
- The Wolkenritter of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, which Shamal mentions as having really changed after meeting Ill Girl Hayate, particularly Signum who used to never ever smile. The Pensieve Flashbacks in supplementary materials show just how much they've defrosted, being cold-blooded warriors in the past.
- Miss Haruhi Suzumiya, of course. More than an ice cold queen, though, she's a cheerful but borderline sociopathic Jerk Ass without any real concept of human interaction; Her Character Development is all about having her start learning what friendship is.
- Ai Shinozaki from Corrector Yui starts as the local Daria, snarky and aloof and really disliking to team work. Slowly, we get to see how she was a Cheerful Child until her dad's death, how her mother's accident affected her, and how Yui's persistence and optimism is slowly thawing her...
- Boa Hancock. Just...Boa Hancock.
Comic Books
- Princess Kiku in Usagi Yojimbo seems to be a Rich Bitch to Usagi. After being attacked by ninjas and going on the lam, they eventually see that they're Not So Different, as she is nervous about going into an Arranged Marriage while Usagi is upset that his beloved Mariko has married his rival. They briefly contemplate running away together, but after they're rescued Kiku decides to err on the side of duty and honor and the two part forever in a Bittersweet Ending.
- It's a double Bittersweet Ending: The whole story is a flashback sparked by Usagi hearing Kiku's name as her entourage approaches. As it passes, Usagi wonders if she remembers him, and stares straight at Kiku's palanquin while the rest of the townspeople have their heads down. When nothing happens, he accepts that she probably doesn't remember him anyway and walks away... just as Kiku drops a chrysanthemum flower (her namesake) out of her palanquin door.
- Veronica Lodge from Archie Comics is a rich bitch, but has gotten enough Pet the Dog moments in her time that she qualifies for being defrosted.
- This troper's favorite heroine, the female Dr. Light, during DC's Crisis on Infinite Earths. It's particularly interesting — and personally amusing — to note that, of the 562 characters featured in this all-encompassing Crisis Crossover, which include the renouned Superman and Batman, she is the only one who received any Character Development.
- Snow White in Willingham's Fables.
- XXXenophile uses the trope rather literally in the "Orgasm Lass" story, describing the heroine's encounter with the Ice Queen.
Film
- Leia from Star Wars may be the archetypal example. Compare her character in the original movie to her subsequent appearances in Return of the Jedi, cooing over the Ewoks.
- Many Bond girls, at least for the brief period before they melt into James' arms.
- Male Example: In the film I Heart Huckabees, the character Brad first appears to be a sexy, smug, condescending corporate manipulator. However, as the film moves to its denouement, it becomes clear that Brad is desperate to be liked — and convinced that being a male Stepford Smiler is the only way he can get people to like him. By the end of the film, the defrosting has already begun.
- Arguably, Robert in Enchanted is another male example.
- Young Frankenstein. Elizabeth, although it's more a case of getting hit with a blowtorch.
- Every Hitchcock blonde. Dude had serious issue with women.
- Megara aka Meg from Hercules combines this with The Daria.
Literature
- Maid Marian in some versions of the Robin Hood legend.
- In a Norse Myth, the god Freyr fell in love with an ice giantess named Gerd. His love managed to melt her heart, etc. (Although a lackey threatening her with a magic sword was required first.) This makes this trope Older Than Dirt.
- A very literal example of this can be found in the fairy tale Heart of Ice. In this tale, a young man goes on a quest to defrost a young princess's heart, without which he can only be friends.
- There is a non-sexual example of the trope in the fairy tale The Snow Queen, where the titular character freezes the heart of a young boy, making him Not Himself, until he is defrosted by his childhood girl friend's love.
- Calling Perry Rhodan 'literature' seems inappropriate but his love interest, the icily beautiful and scornful Thora of Arkon definitely qualifies for this trope - she ends up his devoted wife.
- Male example: Mr. Darcy of Pride And Prejudice. In fact contrary to the claim that role reversal is unusual with this trope, the man with the cold and unfeeling facade who is melted by the love of a good woman is extremely common in romance novels.
- Rachel in No More Dead Dogs. She initially thinks that Wallace is a dumb jock, but warms up to him later and by the end, a letter from a Genre Savvy Julia Roberts tells her that she's practically fallen for him.
- Played with in Twilight. Rosalie Hale looks like she's warming up to Bella, but it's only because Bella's pregnant, which Rosalie can never be. She even encourages Bella to not have an abortion, even when the baby's killing her.
- Hermione Granger from the Harry Potter series started off as a goody-two-shoes know-it-all. By the end of the series, she's still the resident genius, but doesn't flaunt it as much and cares as little as anyone else about breaking school rules.
Live Action TV
Theatre
- The title character of Puccini's opera Turandot.
- Except probably because Puccini died before he could finish the last act, the defrosting feels rather unconvincing.
- Title character of Gilbert and Sullivan's Princess Ida is a strong, educated woman, who has forsworn all men (largely because all the men in her family are either nasty sarcastic buggers or utter idiots). The plot throws her in with the man she had been married to at birth, who is disguised as a woman for most of it. It parodies a poem by Tennyson, and does have some unfortunate Victorian Values in it, but better than a lot of portrayals of the time.
- Arguably the plot of Shakespeare's The Taming Of The Shrew, which has in turn inspired many other versions.
Video Games
- Metal Gear Solid's Solid Snake goes from gruffly agonising about the battlefield and trying to avoid revealing he's falling in love to making speeches about love and how beautiful caribou are. He's not quite as sappy in his later appearances, but much more emotionally-open and compassionate than he was at the start.
- Demon Princess Rozalin from Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories. A partial subversion of the standard-issue Fairytale princess with an unbearably arrogant (and murderous) attitude - and a hand-held gatling-gun. It's downright impressive how many chapters she lasted before falling into the arms of the handsome, red-headed, fist-fighting hero, really...
- The defrosting of Squall Leonhart in Final Fantasy VIII makes up most of that game's plot.
- Arguably, Mitsuru Kirijo from Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3. Although she's the ojou instead of a Rich Bitch, she doesn't seem very adept in social situations and has a few trust issues, namely withholding key information on the origin of the Shadow threat from her teammates until confronted by one of them. She begins to warm up to the party after her father, who had been her primary reason for fighting, is shot dead in front of her and Yukari snaps her out of her subsequent depression.
- Ice Witch/Queen Blanc Neige from Shining Tears definitely count. Frequently partnering with her will make her actually lessen her haughty attitude and smiles for the first time, if you can hook up with her.
- Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn's Soren would qualify as a male example, even if a portion of said defrosting occurs during timeskip. Notable in that gender roles aren't actually reversed; the cause of the defrosting is the male protagonist. I'm sure you can see where this is going.
- Fire Emblem has another male example in Jaffar, thanks to the influence of his best friend (and possible love intrest through supports) Nino.
- Bastila Shan from Knights Of The Old Republic.
- Adrian Andrews in Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: Justice for All. She is smart, calculating, and is pretty much straight to the point. She doesn't like to waste time with trifling details and will shut you down if you try to talk to her about topics that don't get her attention. However, all of this is just a mask. She only acts cold because she is pretending to be tough and independent. Celeste Inpax, her mentor, was her strength and when she committed suicide, Adrian tried to do the same as well. Her cold demeanor is to hide the fact that she can't live on without depending on other people. By Trials and Tribulations, she is a much more cheery person.
- Also Lana Skye in in the Bonus case of the first game. When Phoenix first meets her, she seems devoid of emotion, but once the case has been won, she can smile at last.
- Lucian does this to Lenneth Valkyrie in Valkyrie Profile.
Web Comics
- Hayasaka Erika of Megatokyo.
- For Shanna Cochran in Fans! it's not so much her heart that needs defrosting as her imagination. Partly owing to her Back Story (insane mother, father who abandoned her), she's so determined to be 'normal' that she's suppressed her sense of fun and wonder to the degree that she's grown up to be uptight, unimaginative and hopelessly mundane. As well as her continued exposure to her friends in the Science Fiction club and the various weird things she encounters, her imagination is freed further by a series of psychological tortures she is put through over the course of the strip which, although designed to break her, ironically only serve to make her stronger by allowing her to free her imagination and outwit her captors. The romantic angle is not entirely absent, of course, since this also has the beneficial side-effect of warming her heart as well; she gradually falls in love with Will, who eventually returns her feelings, after which Shanna is able to help him overcome his own tragic childhood.
- Due to her unusual upbringing Annie from Gunnerkrigg Court starts off as a Spock Speaking killjoy, unable to communicate comfortably with her peers and oddly passive-aggressive towards those older than her. Mostly due to her best friend Kat she’s gradually moved away from this, to the point where it’s unusual for her not to be smiling.
- Carrie from Loserz.
- This troper believes that she still has some ice left to go before she completely qualifies
Western Animation
- Cornelia Hale in the animated version of WITCH is a pretty good example, starting out as rather hostile even to her own friends, she softens up a bit once she hooks up with Badass Normal Caleb in the second season. The original comic version of Cornelia was never like this.
- In the first season (especially the first episode) of Drawn Together, it looks like Princess Clara will go this way. Ultimately, however, they end up taking her in the other direction.
- Cheerleader Liz Allan from The Spectacular Spider Man Animated Series shows signs of doing this; she is kind and encouraging to Peter, but immediately turns into The Libby around the Jerk Jock Flash...and she looks like she regrets the quasi Face Heel Turn. By mid-season, she's pretty much completely defrosted, having broken up with Flash and directly expressed interest in Peter.
- Gwen from Total Drama Island, mainly helped along by her relationship with Trent.
- In Avatar The Last Airbender, Katara can make and shoot ice, but Toph's the one with the hard, stone-cold exterior. She takes a while to warm up to any of the heroes, and has to adjust to the cooperation expected in a group of equals. She never gets any less sarcastic or self-reliant, but she learns to trust and confide more. Somewhere along the line she develops a crush on Sokka (despite knowing he's already got a girlfriend), who up to that point had been the most frequent target of her snarking and pranks. Marking her as a true, old-school Tsundere, he continues to be the most frequent target of her snarking and pranks, while she keeps her affection totally secret.
- She shows similar affection toward Zuko toward the finale, indicating that Sokka isn't that unique a case for Toph (though her crush on Zuko most likely ends after spending "the worst field trip ever" with him.)
- Mai. Just Mai.
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