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It's not men, it's just...him. —Ianto Jones of Torchwood, discussing Captain Jack Harkness
The male form of Hello Nurse and polar opposite of The Leisure Suit Larry. A (usually) male character who is so good-looking and unintentionally charming that he becomes a babe and stud magnet. Straight guys hate him, not only for stealing their women but for causing Stupid Sexy Flanders... all the time. Some of the other characters may question his sexuality and he'll keep them guessing, which results in comedic Ho Yay... unless, of course, he is the love interest.
The only thing that saves him from becoming a Casanova or harem manager is his complete obliviousness to his power to make women's knees go weak and men's eyes glittery. If he's aware of it, which is more likely if he's the main protagonist, he'll treat it as more of a curse than a blessing and be a staunch Chaste Hero or Celibate Hero; or, if he's Big Boss, he won't really care one way or the other.
Essentially the Chick Magnet taken Up To Eleven. Occasional cause is Dude Looks Like A Lady (if the guys fall for him because they actually think he's a girl, that's Dropped A Bridget On Him), though a polar opposite cause could be his sheer masculine appeal.
Has the distaff counterpart of Even The Girls Want Her.
Can lead to the character becoming a Memetic Sex God. And it can also lead to the admirer(s) Jumping The Gender Barrier.
If his "admirers" include much younger characters as well as both sexes, he may be the series' Stacys Mom.
Examples:
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Comics
- Check out the Marvel Star Wars comics. In one issue, there's a species, the Zeltrons, who are attracted to Force-sensitives. So when Luke Skywalker is on Zeltros, he naturally gets a legion of fangirls. And one fanboy
 ◊.
Films
Literature
- Thomas of The Dresden Files is a supernaturally-sexy White Court Vampire, and this is a good thing in his usual circles but causes problems when he must walk among Muggles. When he brought up how hard holding down a job was given what happened to women when they got around him, Dresden says something to the effect of "At least it was a woman that time." An apparently straight male character once said of him (when believing him to be Dresden's lover) "it's okay, even I notice how good he looks."
- Hikaru Genji from Tale Of Genji is Older Than Print, and was known to inspire men to weep from his beauty. Of course, Everyone Was Bi back in the Heian era, so it wasn't as much of a big deal.
- Dorian Gray from The Picture Of Dorian Gray. Considering it was written by Oscar Wilde, what can you expect?
- Raziel of Lamb The Gospel According To Biff. Even the decidedly straight male protagonist who hates the angel's guts admits that he's probably the prettiest thing he's ever seen.
- D from the Vampire Hunter D novels is regularly described being so jaw-droppingly beautiful that he entrances all women and even makes men stare. He's described this way so damn often it actually gets downright irritating.
- Read any scene that contains Nightwing in a Batman novel by Devin Grayson. The textual mooning over D's beauty, grace, and attractiveness will look positively restrained.
- Cedric Diggory from Harry Potter. Okay, so this one's probably unintentional, but both Ron and Seamus refer to his "good looks" more than once. Plus the narrative describes him as handsome, and when you consider that the narrative basically presents things from Harry's opinion...
- And, with that in mind, consider how often Tom Riddle is described in physically flattering terms...
- Sirius Black. Harry can't refer to his teenage self without dropping the word handsome and I'm fairly certain pretty much anyone that recalled him from the past (excluding Snape, of course) mentioned his good looks.
- Every fanboy is gay for Bill Weasley's rugged charms.
- Dustfinger. Men, women, animals, fairy-tale creatures, fire, DEATH. Quite impressive for an excellent fire-eater and a run-of-the-mill Loveable Rogue.
- Francis Crawford of Lymond in Dorothy Dunnett's Lymond Chronicles. His male lackeys always seem to fall in love with him, even his sister wants him, and in one book he screws half the French court.
Live Action TV
- Captain Jack Harkness of Doctor Who/Torchwood. He's also rampantly omnisexual, though, so it's okay with him.
- Justified: In the Series 2 episode "Fragments," Jack tells Ianto that the aftershave-like smell is actually 51st-century pheromones.
- This easily goes for his actor, John Barrowman, as well. The straight James Marsters (aka Spike, John Hart) is on the record as saying he's a better kisser than Sarah Michelle Gellar.
- Ianto Jones gets this a bit, however he seems to only draw the attention of men in the show. So either destiny is making him bi, or the writers think he's too much of a pansy to attract a woman.
- Red Dwarf's "Ace" Rimmer (What a guy!) uses this to establish him as The Ace.
Bongo: I know that this prob'ly won't interest you, but I'd hate myself for the rest of my life if I didn't at least suggest it.
Ace: Suggest what?
Bongo: If you're interested, I'll be in my quarters at lunchtime, covered in taramasalata.
Ace: I didn't know your bread was buttered that side, Bongo.
Bongo: It isn't. I've been happily married for 35 years. It's just, a chap like you can turn a guy's head.
Ace: I'm sorry, Bongo. Lunch is... on Mellie.
Bongo: Would it make any difference if it was... hummus?
Ace: I'm sorry, Bongo. I'm strictly "butter-side-up."
Bongo: Understood. (Ace leaves the office) What a guy!
- Cat is so vain that he is convinced he's an example.
Lister: You're being a little bit cocky for a guy who's never actually met a real woman before.
Cat: I've seen mirrors! I have eyes! Let's face it, buddy — I have a body that makes men wet!
- In Angel, Doyle has this discussion about the eponymous vampire.
Doyle: He likes playing the hero. Walking off into the dark, his long coat flowing behind him in that mysterious and attractive way. Cordelia: Is this a private moment? 'Cuz I could leave you alone. Doyle: I'm not saying I'm attracted... (later, Angel leaves the building, walking off into the dark, his long coat flowing behind him) Doyle: Maybe I'm a little attracted.
- It bears pointing out that Doyle passed his visions to Angel in one alternate timeline, and the only way we've seen visions passed on is kissing.
- Buffy The Vampire Slayer in universe has Andrew having fantasies of a shirtless Spike making out with Buffy, and plenty of cooing whenever Spike's in the room.
- Xander as well has shown attraction to Spike, with the immortal line uttered after Xander was explaining why Buffy would sleep with Spike, "I'm not sleeping with Spike! But I'm begining to think you are!".
- Not to mention the time when the Love Dodecahedron of the previous series was explained to a newcomer, who protested "Is there anyone here who hasn't slept with everyone else?" Cut to shot of Spike and Xander looking awkwardly at each other, then away.
- If Youtube is any indication, Rudy from Generation Kill may be the next Big Boss. The quote "I love you, Fruity Rudy!" does little to assuage this, as it invites repeating from viewers in unrelated situations.
- Lampshaded when the Marines try to invert it by telling the reporter, "It doesn't make you gay if you think Rudy's hot. We all think he's hot. Jesus, you're beautiful." (He says this because he notices the reporter staring at Rudy, clearly captivated.)
- From The Killer Elite, the non-fiction book on which Generation Kill was based:
Sgt. Rudy Reyes, 31, from Kansas City, Missouri, has stripped off his shirt and is washing his chest with baby wipes, every muscle gleaming in the flickering light of a nearby oil fire. Reyes doesn't quite fit the image of the macho brute. He reads Oprah's magazine and waxes his legs and chest. Other members of the unit call him "fruity Rudy" because he is so beautiful. "It doesn't mean you're gay if you think Rudy's hot. He's just so beautiful," Person tells me. "We all think he's hot."
- In the film, Reyes — played by Reyes himself, reportedly because no actor was hot enough (riiiight!) — is initially nude for the scene, then gets dressed.
- There's a hilarious scene in Boston Legal when Brad senses that Jeffrey is competition, so he tells him that in this office, Brad is the guy who all the girls wanna sleep with. Jeffrey goes, "I can tell that — even I want to sleep with you."
- Supernatural: Dean Winchester. In addition to hitting on and being appreciated by all females in the area, has had several... suspect interactions that generally end with "I don't swing that way."
- In-universe example: Dr. Sexy, MD. Ask Dean about it.
- Two And A Half Men: Charlie is quite the womanizer and has had several flings throughout the course of the show. Also, there was one episode where he attracted the attentions of a gay guy named Greg who called Charlie "pretty" and another instance when a male lifeguard shows up at his house (he had saved Charlie from drowning earlier in the episode) who clearly had developed an interest in him, and he asks Charlie out. Charlie ends up agreeing.
- Black Books: an author of travel novels reduces Fran to a giggling schoolgirl - as well as Manny. Curmudgeonly Bernard Black marches over to give the author what for and ends up just as charmed as the other two are.
- 30 Rock: Jamie, the cute coffee boy. Frank, of all people, has a crush on him.
- Mad TV: "My Gay Dad Always Steals My Boyfriends Even Though They Say They're Straight Because He's Just So Irresistible They Can't Help Themselves And I Hate It!"
- Saturday Night Live's Mango. Though, based on the Ellen DeGeneres episode, it might just be that everyone subconsciously perceives him as a woman (considering he's only been pursued by straight men and lesbians).
- The Doctor of Doctor Who, with his enormous list of, er, "companions", male and female, almost all of whom would go to the ends of the universe for him, and that's before considering his epic, centuries-long (for them) Foe Yay with the Master.
- Happens in Merlin in surpisingly Russell T Davies fashion, when the (male) Villainofthe Week in Sweet Dreams takes a little time out from his hectic evil schedule to go all reluctant fangirl over Arthur:
"Every woman in the land is attracted to this boy! I'm almost attracted to him myself..."
- Julian from Trailer Park Boys. Male characters including Jim Lahey, Officer George Green, Randy, and Conky have all commented on his sexy black t-shirt and/or resemblance to Patrick Swayze. This trope is particularly prominent in The Movie: Countdown to Liquor Day.
- Enver Gjokaj. He also has a twin brother.
- Vince Noir from The mighty boosh somewhat subverted in the fact that everyone wants to bang Vince Noir, even pandas, foxes, creepy old men, straight men, all women, in fact, everything that moves seems to want to bang Vince Noir- in the episode called 'Party' Vince says:
'Of course you do (fancy me) all men do. I'm the confuser, oh, is it a man? is it a woman? I'm not sure if I mind'\\. It helps, of course that he's played by Noel Fielding, voted sexiest man alive by NME and the target of much obsessive stalking by girls and boys alike
Manga & Anime
- Zero No Tsukaima: Saito. Even though he and Louise are in love with eachother that doesn't stop most of the women in the show from expressing interest in Saito at one time or another, most notably Siesta and Kirche. In addition to that, after his victory over Guiche, Saito becomes popular with the commoners and some nobles in the school, both male and female. Marto, the school's head cook is especially in awe of Saito for his victory and gives him free food because of it. He also affectionately calls him "Our Sword", embraces and even attempts to kiss him on multiple occasions. Later, in the last episode of season 2, Saito gives a sleeping Louise to Julio, who promises to watch her while Saito's out doing battle. Saito tells him he's fighting for Louise's sake because he loves her, and Julio is so touched by this that he says to him with much adoration: "I wish to tell you I love you too." Oh, and then there's Scarron, a Hard Gay inn manager, who has also taken a liking to Saito, saying that he is "just his type."
- Gankutsuou: The Count. Albert clearly has a huge mancrush on him. And then there's Albert himself. His best friend Franz is secretly and desperately in love with him. And it's likely that the Count eventually felt something for Albert too, considering that it was the power of Albert's kiss that made the Count return to being human.
- Bertuccio is also implied to be gay and in love with the Count. Even if you disregard his Hard Gay clothing (which might be just for show), he gives the Count a few ambiguous looks. There's also the fact that he throws a rose on the ruins of the Count's base in the last episode, with what might be interpreted as a lovestruck gaze.
- Ninomiya Shungo. He's in a Love Triangle with Mayu and Reika and a group of girls in his school sexually harass him on a daily basis because they think his troubled face is very cute. Also, one episode features Reika enlisting the help of her family's special forces (an army of muscular men) who dress up in maid costumes, gowns, and bunny costumes to intimidate Mayu. However her plan goes awry when Shungo comes to save Mayu and each time the weird muscular guys ignore Mayu in favor of Shungo. They crowd around Shungo and swoon with accompanied leering, even touching him flirtatiously, saying such things like, "Ooh, a very pretty boy!", "You must join our bunnies boot camp and become one with us in mind and body!", "This master here is my type!", and "We have to accompany you in any way we can. All of you." Needless to say, Shungo is understandably horrified.
- Also, Mayu's older brother Mikihiro really likes Shungo and often goes out of his way to playfully tease him by getting in his face (literally), cornering him when no one's around, holding him close to his body so he can't get away when dragging him off to train, and even stalking him. To a lesser extent, Shungo's friends Yoshida and Inoue act like fanboys around him sometimes, are fond of ambushing Shungo and tying him up without his consent, when they want him to participate in one of their many schemes, and hold very deep admiration for Shungo because of his kindness and Badassness.
- There's the attraction that Hanagata has for Otaru in Saber Marionette J though it's not shared. As well as Otaru having a Unwanted Harem of about three marionettes all who are head over heels in love with him.
- Jack Atlus of Yu-Gi-Oh 5Ds, idolized by men and women everywhere to the point where he has his own action figure within the show itself... and it's shown in the loving possession of a young male cast member.
- Judai of Yu-Gi-Oh GX, not enough to be a Boys Love show but nonetheless impossible to escape.
- Don't forget Duke Devlin from Yu Gi Oh The Abridged Series. This is what Joey Wheeler says of Duke: "What does he have that I don't got?... Besides the fangirls?... And the pretty hair?... And those gorgeous green eyes?" Duke then reminds Joey about his "sweet ass," and Joey admits, "Yeah, and a sweet ass too! But other than that, he's got nothing."
Narrator: Warning: This episode contains copious amounts of Duke Devlin. Women with heart conditions are advised to not look directly at Duke Devlin. This also applies to women without heart conditions; he's very pretty. See? See how pretty he is? He's very pretty. I'd like to run my fingers through his hair, and I'm just a voice.
Yami: "Mustn't... look... directly at his face... so beautiful! No words to describe it... they should have sent a poet!"
- "Who hasn't had dream sex with Kaiba?"
- It was even Lampshaded by Duke himself in abridged episode 38: "I know how she feels. Guys are proposing to me all the time!"
- Mamoru Chiba of Sailor Moon was surprisingly nice when Fisheye came on to him. Also, the plot of the Sailor Moon R Movie centered around a male alien's (Fiore) obsession with him.
- Subverted in the episode of Princess Tutu, "Crime and Punishment". Femio thinks that everyone including pretty-boy Mytho is absolutely in love with him, but it's actually all in his head — Mytho was miming the "I Love You" mime as a way to fight against the Raven's blood tainting his heart.
- Kyohei from The Wallflower, who has a history of losing jobs due to his bosses — both male and female — sexually harassing him, and his headmaster at his school also came on to him once.
- In an episode of Naruto dedicated to what is underneath Kakashi's mask, seen when he takes off his mask and proceeds to eat. Though Kakashi's face is not shown, it is clear that the serving waitress is clearly stunned by his beauty, as well as the male waiter a few steps to the right.
- Naruto himself is more of a fandom example of this trope, but take into consideration the number of male Nakama he gains as a result of Defeat Means Friendship and his Messiah persona, then add on to that all the original Foe Yay he had with them along with the ridiculous amounts of Ho Yay. Hell, even Orochimaru and Kabuto have described Naruto as "cute" on more than one occasion. And there was another instance in Part I where Jiraiya was training Naruto (who was just wearing his boxers) and while Naruto was concentrating on his chakra energy Jiraiya stares at him for a bit before saying, "You're quite sexy when you get naked."
- George from Paradise Kiss makes both genders look at him more than once.
- In Haunted Junction, Akamanto Kamen/Red Mantle is a very attractive male ghost who charms all the girls of Saitou High on mere sight, except for School Council girl Mutsuki (she has a thing for younger males instead). When he takes off his mask to save a bunch of Brainwashed And Crazy boys from a curse cast by his rival and long-lost younger sister, the ghostly Femme Fatale Blue Spot Girl, even guys (included Haruto and Kazumi from the Saitou HS council) fall in love with him. Hilarity Ensues.
- In Gundam 00 fandom, Lockon Stratos (the first one; real name Neil Dylandy) has caused such a strong impression in the show's male fanbase, that several Gundam fanboys have been witnessed saying things like "I'm male and straight, but if Stupid Sexy Lockon was real, I'd go on my knees and service him without any hesitation!"
- After episode 25, maybe it's not that much of a fandom thing only. It can be argued that Tieria Erde may have been in love with Lockon, or at least could empathize with him enough to be "defrosted". "Finally... I can go to the place where you are... Lockon..."
- This may have been played with in the second season, specifically during episodes 3 and 4. Lyle, the twin brother of the former Lockon and his sort-of successor in Celestial Being, calls Tieria "cute" (to his face, even) and is later seen stealing a kiss from Feldt Grace, a young girl who was quite fond of his brother Neil.
- Kazuki in Get Backers verges on this. Most members of his
harem gang seem to have some kind of crush on him, and walk that very thin line between love and hate. Ban says it's a waste because, if you cover up the guy parts, he makes a really hot girl. Ginji agrees, at least until Juubei loses patience with them and starts throwing needles...
- Griffith of the Berserk manga/anime is described as being "too beautiful to be a man" by guys and girls alike.
- From Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, Dio Brando. His insane level of charisma gets a lot of people to serve him, female and male alike. Joseph even mentions that this makes him very dangerous, as his minions are extremely loyal.
- Some of his followers want him that way too. Yep, much like Bridget, Dio can make you gay. NO EXCEPTIONS.
- Germany's most evil bishonen, Monster's very own Johan Liebert, has been described as beautiful by more often by men than he has by women.
- And then there's Roberto's huge Bodyguard Crush on him. Seriously, whenever the man talks about Johan you'd think they were lovers or something...
- Johan is basically a walking Ho Yay generator. Throughout Monster we meet several different men with fanatical emotional attachments to him, whom Johan Mind Raped into killing people for him and then either killed or drove to suicide. These men tend to describe Johan as "beautiful" and as having given their life meaning. It's never explicitly stated how Johan gets their undying loyalty, but what he does to Jan Suk in canon proves that he's nothing if not resourceful.
- Ladios Sopp from The Five Star Stories manga & the anime movie it spawned has one of these moments in just about every volume in which he appears. To be fair, he is a god in disguise. His true form, Amaterasu the God Emperor of Light sometimes gets this as well, but most people are too intimidated or outright terrified by him to say anything about it.
- Yuki Sohma from Fruits Basket is popular among both males and females at his school. His older brother Ayame was also very popular with both genders in his school times.
- Vampire Hunter D's leading character, D, is often called on his otherwordly beauty, with both genders commonly propositioning him. D's grandfather also has these effects on people.
- One-shot character and Charm Person Kotaro Ijuuin in Rosario To Vampire Capu2. Not only did his voice captivate nearly every girl in earshot, when Ginei attempted to stand up to him, even he was smitten.
- Already the opening credits makes it clear that Ichiro from Nerima Daikon Brothers is coveted by women, men and animals alike. Naturally, he works at a host club.
- Ikki from Air Gear. Just ask Akito.
- There's also Aeon Clock who wants Ikki just because he's Ikki and the leader of the AT team. So basically his manly charms and good looks combined with his AT ability led to this trope.
- If his rare mild Ho Yay (if not interpreted as bromance) moments with Kazu are of any indication then he indeed belongs to this trope.
- The eponymous character of Hayate The Combat Butler is known to have androgynous features and has induced many a Stupid Sexy Flanders moment among guys every time he is forced to crossdress. This has actually made a fellow male combat butler, Kotetsu Segawa, become something of a persistent suitor even after he found out Hayate was actually a guy.
- Yukito from Cardcaptor Sakura had Sakura, Syaoran, and Sakura's brother Touya vying for his affection. Also the wacky Genki Girl Akizuki, seemingly. She really wants his power, and doesn't particularly care that if she takes it, he'll die. Of course, Everyone Is Bi in the CCS universe anyway.
- Train from Black Cat had three girls who fell for him, and, ironically, the man who fell for him is the one whose feelings for him are the deepest and most obsessive.
- Akio from Revolutionary Girl Utena, and for very different reasons, Touga. It's no real surprise when they start doing each other after Akio's first couple of appearances.
- Claus Valca from Last Exile, especially notable in the episode "Fairy Chess", receives varying forms of potentially romantic attention from Lavie, Tatiana, Sophia, Dio, and Gale.
- Masao Kirishima from Mars quickly attracts the attention of male and female students alike.
- Sousuke Sagara from Full Metal Panic. Kaname, Tessa, Ena Saeki, Grace Weissman (AKA Gray, who is implied to have a crush on, or at least be attracted to him), and (in the novels) Nami are all in love with him... And several girls at his school also show that they find him extremely handsome (and are just too scared to approach him, but nonetheless fangirl and drool over him) and apparently Sousuke managed to attract unwanted attention from Gauron ever since he was twelve. Seriously — when Gauron first saw him, he literally did a double take, parked his jeep, and tried to pick him up. Your Mileage May Vary, but Zaied also quite possibly felt a bit more than friendship towards Sousuke. Especially considering the frequent, really Gaussian Girl-esque memories he had of playing half-naked in the water with young Sousuke. Or how, in the short amount of time he was shown, he's always constantly thinking about Sousuke and whispering his name. Not to mention that, although Sousuke doesn't hesitate to kill him, he ends up unable to bring himself to shoot Sousuke when he has the chance. And Zaied wasn't the only guerilla that worked with Sousuke that probably wanted him — in the novels, it's made clear that Sousuke was aware that the other guerrillas he worked with treated him unusually nice, and many times it seemed likely that they would "attack him in his sleep" just because he was so darn pretty.
- In the novels, Lemon seems to be Bi The Way towards Sousuke. Sure, he has a crush on Nami... but she also did a whole lot more to warrant it (stripping jokingly in front of him, offering to prostitute herself for money from him jokingly, holding his arm while her breasts press against him, and putting him in a situation where he accidentally found himself groping her breast). And then there are the numerous times he's shown to have a strong attraction to Sousuke, despite Sousuke not even doing much besides being good looking and simply being there. When he first saw Sousuke, he thinks to himself that Sousuke is very good looking and "charming," despite Sousuke being completely emotionless (read: "eye candy"). Later, after Sousuke wins a tournament that helped win back Lemon's money, Lemon hugged Sousuke with "more passion than a french kiss would warrant," making Sousuke slightly uncomfortable. And later still, Lemon gets drunk, and subsequently invades Sousuke's personal space by hugging and groping him while blushing - which irritates Sousuke to no end.
- In an episode from Fumoffu, a Camp Gay male trio from the Music Club challenges him to a bet — if he can pick up a girl, they'll pay for his meals, but if he can't, he has to... swim in a lake, naked, while they watch. It should be noted that when the Music Club announced this bet, numerous male students actually happily yelled out, "All right, Music Club!" He loses the bet (due to acting overly scary and violent), and they are way too eager to see him naked, chanting for him to "strip!" (and they're even shown leering and having slight blush). The other school girls watching are shown to be really excited to see his body, too.
- And then in the manga there's a substitute swim teacher who takes an immediate interest in Sousuke and his abilities — an interest which apparently involves blushing, drooling, and having thoughts which are WAY too suggestive to not be taken as Hot For Student. And he is shown to be very obviously jealous and shocked when he interprets Kaname's "I work well with Sousuke because we have a bond" as being that they've done it.
- Also, there's the elderly janitor for the school that is shown having a fantasy of having a threesome with Sousuke and Tsubaki. It was the most disgusting and disturbing images shown, ever. Brain Bleach will be needed for anyone who sets eyes on that.
- Numerous times, in the novels, Sousuke's Bishonen features are given much attention (including one instance in End Of Day By Day where it described him as a young, pale, small-built asian boy that even men would be attracted to).
- Allen Walker from D Gray Man, along with being a Chick Magnet. Rohfa is infatuated with him, Road claims to love him, and there are suggestions in the second novel that Lenalee may have a secret crush on him. Another interpretation is that For may have a crush too. And then he's shown to be able to manipulate Komurin - a robot - by turning up his charm (complete with Bishie Sparkle) which makes Komurin fall for him. Oh, and Tyki Mikk really really likes Allen.
- There's also Jeryy, the Camp Gay cafeteria manager in the Black Order, who flirts with Allen and calls him "cute".
- And Lavi, who takes every opportunity to drape himself over/touch Allen. It is heavily implied that Lavi has increasingly romantic feelings for him.
- That's very much of a YMMV; with his extroverted persona, Lavi regularly invades the personal space of many characters, and his feelings towards Allen are those of friendship according to the official fan book.
- Kimihiro Watanuki from xxxHolic. The Love Triangle he thought he was in? Well... he is interested in Himawari Kunogi and she kinda likes him back, but it turns out his "love rival" Shizuka Doumeki isn't interested in Himawari like he believed, but in Watanuki himself. LOL CLAMP.
- Also the shy little spirit, a fox dragon thing and maybe Yuuko.
- Oh, and you know Zashiki Warashi, that cute girl that's completely shy and has a huge crush on Watanuki? In all likelihood, "she" is a "he," according to a CLAMP interview where they say that her being female is not necessarily the case. Coupled with the fact that Zashiki Warashi spirits are normally described as being young boys and rarely being girls, along with how Ame-warashi usually says "this child" when referring to Zashiki Warashi instead of actually using a gender...
- Neon Genesis Evangelion: Ultimately subverted by Shinji. For all his low self confidence and psychological issues, both the anime and the manga give him lots of Ship Tease moments with Misato, Asuka, and Rei, all of whom have genuine affection for Shinji... unfortunately, because of their own psychological issues, none of these develop in healthy ways. He also seems to attract quite a bit of attention from Kaworu Nagisa, especially in the manga, although given what Kaworu is, none of it can be literally interpreted, and it really turns out badly for Shinji.
- On the other hand, Ryoji Kaji jokingly(?) flirts with him in Rebuild 2.0 — and, in Shinji Ikari Complementarity Project, Shinji gets unwanted attention from both Kaworu and Gendo.
- Fans will often note that Shinji's father Gendo apparently has a similar talent with the ladies, and in particular attracts plenty of Hot Scientists. In addition to the three we know he's scored over the series, there's been raised eyebrows about his relationship with his second-in-command, and implications that when he might have gotten around more before he met his wife. Of course, being the Puppet Master, he turns this ability to his advantage, not caring if he messes up the women involved. Notably, he and Shinji resemble each other quite a bit.
- Tsuna from Katekyo Hitman Reborn. Besides the obsessive devotion that Gokudera has for him, there is also the good number of Bishonen guys that surround him and who strive to protect him. Also, Rokudo Mukuro apparently copes with his insanity and horrible past by being a Stepford Smiler Nietzsche Wannabe, especially noticeable when he continues smiling, even when he stabs his own eye out. Of course, Tsuna manages to get him to break part of that facade, at least momentarily. Make what you will of Mukuro's subsequent attachment and obsession with him...
- Mukuro as well. Ken and Chikusa are crazed fanboys over him (and pretty much only care about him and nobody else) and it's been hinted that Chrome might like him too.
- Tetsunosuke attracts this kind of attention in Peacemaker Kurogane when he joins the Shinsengumi as a page, and develops relationships with all of its "male" members, most of which are smothered with Ho Yay subtext. For example, both Hijikata and Heisuke constantly fawn over Tetsunosuke and tell him how cute and adorable he is. His brother Tatsunosuke is way too over-protective of him and tends to take it to Ho Yay levels. And his rivalry/friendship with Susumu develops to the point where he attempts to strangle Tetsunosuke when he feels overwhelmed by all these "confusing feelings" that Tetsunosuke instills in him (because he's a ninja and he's dedicated himself to being stoic and is not supposed to show emotion); later he suddenly grabs Tetsu's hand and holds it in his own when needing comfort and blushes when Tetsunosuke calls him his "friend". As well the fact that Tetsunosuke is pretty much the only person he can relax around and after becoming friends he involves himself more in Tetsunosuke's life, even taking it upon himself to bring Tetsunosuke out of a particularly bad Heroic BSOD state when no one else could do so.
- In the manga, Suzu plays this trope to its hilt whenever Tetsunosuke is involved. He even pretty much comes out and says, after another character asks him why he hates and obsesses over Tetsunosuke so much, that "this isn't hate - this is love". He also has Tetsunosuke's every action monitored, and becomes jealous and scared when Ryoma decides to take Tetsunosuke away with him, taking drastic action to kill Ryoma and frame it on Tetsunosuke so Tetsunosuke won't be able to get away from him.
- Both played straight and played with in the case of Hijikata. He's portrayed, as in history, as extremely popular with the ladies, and even one major (male) villain in the manga was clearly attracted to him; however, in one conversation between Suzu and Tetsunosuke, when they are lampshading the similarities between their respective masters, Suzu goes into fanboy mode over Yoshida's attractiveness and sexual prowess, complete with an imagined Yoshida flaunting his sex appeal. Tetsunosuke, with a similar mental image of Hijikata, just seems disturbed by the thought.
- In Mirai Nikki the male lead, and Cute Shotaro Boy Yukiteru is constantly pursued by the absolutely psychotic Yuno. Apparently he has also elicited similar feelings of the Ho Yay variety in Akise Aru. In the spin off, Akise goes as far to say that he's not gay, just Yukki-sexual.
- Handsome Lech Hachibei Maeda in Ai Kora, has a few girls in his harem that are either in love with him or grow to love him later on. Also, Haiji fell in love with him because Maeda has a "pure heart".
- Outlaw Star has Gene who initially has a thing going with his partner Hilda, gains the affections of the lovely Melfina, has Ship Tease moments Suzuka, as well as Fred Luo having a yaoi crush on him.
- Midori No Hibi: Seiji. Besides being a Chick Magnet, in the manga a rather cute boy named Kota falls in love with him as well.
- In America, very few men have been accused of being promoted only because their (male) executive superiors wanted to have sex with them. In The Rolling Bootlegs, Firo Prochainezo is shown to be one of them.
- Yami No Matsuei: Everybody wants Tsuzuki... it's not just Muraki.
- An episode of the second Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei anime series shows even the boys in Nozomu Itoshiki's class would jump at the chance of a romantic relationship with him. Much to his despair, of course.
- Tamahome from Fushigi Yuugi. Canonically, Nakago has a one-sided obsession with him, Yui is in love with him to a Yandere-like degree, and he and Miaka are very much in love with each other.
- Yu Yu Hakusho: Kurama. He has a psychotic male stalker after him named Karasu.
- Also Yusuke himself. He's pretty much neck deep in Foe Yay with every single one of his (male) enemies.
- Saiga Tatsumi. Ginza's obsessed with him, Kagura falls in love with him (and he with her), and his friend Bob openly crushes on him.
- Kuroshitsuji has Sebastian Michaelis. Not only do Ciel's aunt and maid want him, so does a male shinigami. Yaoi Fangirls claim Ciel wants him too. Hell, in the anime, Sebastian takes this to a whole new extent: Even the DOG and an angel want him.
- Ciel has this issue a lot. He doesn't attract girls much, though. Just perverted cultists. And stalkers. And demons who want his soul. All male, with the exception of the women cultists.
- Nodame Cantabile: Chiaki. Okuyama certainly wants him. Unfortunately for Okuyama, so does Nodame.
- The eponymous Inuyasha. Not only is he in the middle of a Love Triangle with Kagome and Kikyou, but Villainous Crossdresser Jakotsu is explicitly and obsessively in love with him.
- Lelouch Lamperouge. Milly, Shirley, Kallen and Kaguya are head-over-heels in love with him. (As well as 108 other girls. And maybe C.C). And let's not even get into where Nunnally fits here...Then there's the love and psychotic devotion that Rolo has for him and very possibly Suzaku...
- Kitano from Angel Densetsu has three girls who fall for him, and one male underling that starts crushing on him after Kitano beats him in a fight.
- Kenshiro is so manly and badass that not only women want him (Yuria, Mamiya, Lin), Mr. Heart is all but gay for him too.
- Suzumiya Haruhi: Everyone is Itsuki for Kyon!
- It's perfectly easy to make the case that everyone in the SOS Brigade, even Itsuki (what with the sheer amount of Ho Yay), has a thing for Kyon. In Itsuki's case he has a habit of standing a bit too close for comfort to Kyon for Kyon's tastes when talking. He also has several lines in the novels that seem to be outright flirtatious, and he makes it quite clear that he trusts and likes Kyon. According to Itsuki, if he didn't act gay towards Kyon, Haruhi would unconsciously use her reality warping powers to make it happen anyway, but we know how much Itsuki likes to lie, and considering he only does it when Haruhi isn't around, that doesn't help his case any.
- Ritsuka from Loveless. Soubi, Yuiko (one of Ritsuka's female classmates), and his older brother Seimei are all in love with him. It's also pretty Squicky because Seimei's love for Ritsuka falls very deeply into incest territory. It's also implied that his ( much older) psychologist has a crush on him — she takes him out on a "date" in an early volume.
- Kei/Megumi Yosikawa reluctantly filled this role in the The Day Of Revolution and all bets are off after he Jumps The Gender Barrier and his (now her) nakama are no longer subject to that particular inhibition. After Kei becomes Megumi it's poor Mikoto's turn in the barrel.
- It's interesting to note that Kei/Megumi and Mikoto's similar experiences resisting unwanted male advances is what actually draws them together in the first place.
- Makoto from School Days gets his Chick Magnet status even more cranked Up To Eleven (and his worse traits are toned down, thank God) in the OAV. LOL, Taisuke!
- White haired pretty boy Ukitake Jushiro from Bleach. Despite never using his looks to his advantage (being a nice guy), he still has both women and men fussing over him in equal measure. One fainting spell on the beach has everyone instantly hovering anxiously around him. His subordinates dote upon him (Kiyone is madly in love with him) and even the other captains are quite taken with him. There's Kyouraku (who he's effectively got wrapped around his little finger) calling him "iro otoko" which means "lover, lady-killer, sexy guy" (make of that what you will), Soifon of all people pinning him to a tree with daggers and cutting his haori and kimono jacket to shreds while his 3rd seat took photos, and Amagai jumping him. It was the sake, sure.
- Seto No Hanayome has Masa. Nagasumi stares at him whenever he shows up.
Music
- A traditional English folk song (Child Ballad #100; it has many variations with different names, among them "John Barbour", "Tom the Barber", and "Willie O'Winsbury"), about a king's daughter who falls for a sailor and the king's disapproval, contains the following lines, where the king changes his mind:
Then he called his sailors all / By one, by two, by three
John Barbour was the first he called / But the last came down was he.
When he came a dancing down, / He was clothed all in white
His cheeks were like the roses red / And his teeth were ivory bright.
He paid their wages with a smile / And to John Barbour he did say
If I was a woman as I am a man / My bed fellow you would be.
- There is a song by the English band Federal Drugs Administration called Rampant Russell, where the singer complains about how unfair it is that he's the ONLY one who hasn't slept with Russell Brand. He ends the song with "And I'm not even gay!"
- David Bowie.
Mythology
- In the Older Than Dirt Greek myths, the Spartan prince Hyacinth was so handsome and athletic that both the wind god Zephyrus (who was married to his sister Iris) and the Sun god Apollo (one of the biggest Casanovas in the Greek pantheon — after Zeus, that is) had HUGE Stupid Sexy Flanders over him and fought over his attentions. With deadly consequences for the poor guy: thanks to Zephyrus, he got his skull open with a flying discus for choosing Apollo. OUCH. Well, at least Apollo used Hyacinth's blood to create the hyacinth flower, so...
- The preceding apparently ignores the conventional assumption about Greek myth, that Everyone Is Bi — or more accurately, that young men are suitable sex objects for mature men.
- The Nala episode of the Mahabharata opens with a lengthy description of Nala's virtues, including the fact that he was "desired by both men and women."
- Remember Thor, the God of Thunder? All buff and manly and stuff? He's supposed to have been confused with Freya, the most beautiful goddess, by a needy giant. Who almost married him. Of course at that time, Thor was in a dress, and pretending to be said goddess, but...
- Loki, also from norse myths, likes to crossdress and turn into females from different species now and then. A horse falls for him. A HORSE.
Tabletop Games
- The dark splatterpunk roleplaying game KULT features a bunch of disadvantages and curses for PlayerCharacters, amog which is the flaw "Sexy" (with the prerequisite that the character needs to have a high Charisma score before the player can select it). Any character having this disadvantage exudes massive sexual magnetism, which transcends cultural norms, gender or sexual orientation. As the rulebook puts it, the character will have to live with the fact that anyone he or she meets will not listen to a word (s)he says but stare at his/her ass, crotch or breasts (respectively) and launch a massive seduction attempt, whether the character wants to have sex or not. Of course, this being KULT, "seduction attempt" can easily mean groping or rape. In fact, it doesn't matter if the character is chaste like a saint or a shameless rake, (s)he is still fresh meat on the market, figuratively speaking.
- You don't want to know what happens when "fresh meat" is meant literally. "Cannibalism" is another flaw entirely.
- GURPS allows the enhancement Universal to be added to various levels of Appearance making it so that no only do the guy and girl like you but anything sentient will find you attractive.
Video Games
- Metal Gear Solid: This is pretty much the source of the Everyone Is Gay For Big Boss meme on 4chan. The character in question has a rather profound effect on both female (EVA) and male (Ocelot) characters thanks to sheer masculine sex appeal. This carried over to the fanbase - every now and again someone will pop up on the aforementioned image board and declare their wonderful gay love for him. Metal Gear Solid 4 took it to the extreme by perfectly seriously revealing that the events of the entire timeline were caused by a very large amount of people being gay for Big Boss.
- This is pointed out in this page of The Last Days Of FOXHOUND, in which Liquid Snake comments, "Were any of you not attracted to my dad?" to a starry-eyed rest of the group (minus Mantis and Raven).
- Leon from Resident Evil 4 falls victim to this as well sometimes. The male co-host of X-Play even admitted that if he were ever to have a gay experience, it would have to be with Leon.
- In the RPG Fable, an NPC's romantic interest in the (male) player character is represented by a pink heart above their head. If the player ups his Attractiveness enough, those pink hearts will start to appear above some of the guys as well as the girls. It is possible to propose to and marry these guys, too.
- In SNK vs. Capcom, the narcisstic Spanish Ninja Vega pretty much tells Kyo Kusanagi he's the only male fighter who's almost as handsome as Vega himself, much to Kyo's embarrassment and annoyance. Also, Vega and Benimaru will both do opening poses normally reserved for female opponents if facing one another.
- The Legend Of Zelda: Chick Magnet Link even has a male character go on about how handsome he is in the adult timeline of Ocarina Of Time. A not-inconsiderable number of real-life fans — male and female — would agree with him.
- Bridget from Guilty Gear, as in "Everyone's gay for..." And it isn't pure Memetic Mutation: any discussion on the character will have multiple male fans saying "I don't care, *she's* still hot." Of course, being a crossdressing Bishonen, a girl finding Bridget attractive is in the same "trap."
- Fanart of Bridget as an actual girl doesn't go over well at all. Apparently, even his male fans prefer Bridget just the way he is, confusion and all.
- Subverted in Tales of Symphonia: Knight of Ratatosk. Decus certainly thinks that his (putrid) cologne has this effect.
- In The Sims 2 expansion "FreeTime", one of the rewards for a life well lived is a magic lamp containing a genie. If the Sim chooses "Give Me Beauty" as one of the wishes, s/he is granted automatic maximum chemistry with any Sim of his/her preferred gender, and all the Sim needs to do to activate this trope is to "Flirt... Check Sim Out" at least one Sim from each gender. A bug in the code then causes every NPC and their sister to ring the Sim's doorbell at all hours of the night, making a good night's sleep all but impossible but guaranteeing a gigantic stable of friends and/or lovers. Be Careful What You Wish For.
- Ike from Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance/Radiant Dawn has paired endings with two guys, Elincia seems to have a crush on him in Path of Radiance, Lethe is tsundere for him, Mia is in love with his carnage, and Sothe worships Ike so much that Micaiah even lampshades the Ho Yay.
- Cloud from Final Fantasy VII is actually stated to be this in Ultimacia Omega Guide. "One look at Cloud in drag gets Corneo very excited. Do Cloud’s charms enslave even members of the same sex?"
- Jecht in Dissidia. Come on, accept it. Even in the game he is described as a "bronzed god".
- Klavier Gavin from Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney. When he and Apollo first met he (Klavier) states that he's used to girls drooling over him, but that he has "never felt this way with a man before".
- Everyone is xeno for Garrus. Half of /v/, certainly.
Web Comics
- Tedd from El Goonish Shive, without his Nerd Glasses, occasionally runs into this... and just thinking about it tends to weird him out.
- Abel, of Dan And Mabs Furry Adventures. Everyone is gay for Abel. Even if you don't know who he is.
- The Fan Web Comic Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha R'r took the Viewer Gender Confusion of Yuuno to its logical conclusion. While he's not very lucky with the ladies, he's incredibly popular with the guys◊ even before he got smacked with a Gender Bender.
- Marius from My Life In Blue is an androgynously handsome transguy with admirers of all sexes and sexual orientations. He tends to get annoyed when lesbians hit on him, though. Alex also has the habit of making people question their sexuality in his presence.
- The human form of Artie from Narbonic achieves this status, as Dave is forced to admit.
- Tip from Skin Horse, by the same author, is so attractive that even male dogs want him. When he himself is turned into a wolf, anyway.
- [1] One strip of Exterminatus Now was basically Lothar confessing his mancrush on Ron Perlman.
- Remember that guy on The Adventures Of Dr Mc Ninja, and all the ladies were swooning and then that guy stood up and declared "I'm homosexual now?" Yeah? Remember that? That was great.
Western Animation
- Hinted about Pete Klesko from O'Grady.
- Chip Skylark from The Fairly Oddparents. One of his biggest fans is none other than Timmy's father.
- Parodied on an episode of The Simpsons, like everything else. Homer flirts hopelessly with a "sensitive but rugged" manatee lover, completely failing to understand why Marge isn't in love with him.
- In the American cartoon adaptation of Darkstalkers a running gag would have people tell Rikuo that he is "strangely attractive" for a fish man. Mostly it was the guys who said this.
- Justin in Total Drama Island. Owen, particularly, won't stop talking about how hot he is. Neither will Chris, the host, who seems to think Justin's last name is "McGorgeousness" and objected to Justin being voted off. Justin's so handsome he entered the talent competition with "being handsome" as his talent.
- Lampshaded in The Xtacles, when President Stan wants a new statue design that won't end up being raped by Rape Ape. One candidate redesign has so much Ho Yay factor that Stan objects by saying, "I practically want it!"
- In a Family Guy episode, Peter Griffin is so taken with Bill Clinton that he ends up damaging his relationship with Lois, his wife. By the end of the episode both of them have been physically seduced by Clinton as well, both saying afterward, "You're a very persuasive guy."
- The episode "Peter's Got Woods" is made of this trope. James Woods and Peter become good friends after Brian gets a girlfriend and they start spending a lot of time together. However, this causes James to become very obsessed with Peter to the point of acting jealous of Brian.
- In one episode of Spongebob Squarepants, Squidward suddenly became handsome and he was chased around town by men and women who wanted to look upon his handsomeness.
- And what about the large amount of Ho Yay that Spongebob has for Squidward? Seriously. "Sleep tight my little angel..." "Squidward smells...good." "I like Squidward." *blushes*
- Yes, but normally, no one but Spongebob thinks that of Squidward; In every other episode, he's an example of Only The Sponge Wants Him.
- A comb salesman on The Marvelous Misadventures Of Flapjack was so gorgeous that he had to wear a mask so that people would pay attention to his combs rather than his face. When his face is revealed, men and women (but mostly men) chase him around town and throw money at him.
Real Life
- Men have been known to develop man-crushes on other men. It's usually viewed as being completely platonic, a result of admiring and respecting another male greatly, but we all know there is a hidden Ho Yay behind it all.
- A study of 1950s and 1960s hazing at fraternities, on athletic teams, and in the military which claimed that the beautiful boys tended to receive a disproportionate amount of teasing and (back when hazing was physical) paddlings. The study speculated that the hazings were a form of socially acceptable Ho Yay but also a form of playful revenge for the annoying confusion the straight boys felt over feeling desire for another guy. Your Mileage May Vary.
- An article about Ryan Reynolds in the June 2009 issue of ELLE Magazine contained a quote from Jeff Daniels about seeing Reynolds with platinum blond hair and in a classic Golden Age cape and unitard while working on a film with him: "I looked at him and thought, 'I'm not gay, but...'"
- David Bowie. To give you an idea at his power, the Institute of Areaology (that is, the infamous website that propelled Bowie's Area to Memetic Sex God status) was created by a straight man who just couldn't help but be distracted by the man's crotch. He can even derail DVD Commentaries of entirely unrelated shows into conversations about how much everyone wants to bang Bowie.
Taliesin Jaffe (Hellsing Ultimate Commentary): I'm sure I've said this on commentaries before, but vampires are all about sexual oppression, because every vampire story we have usually involves whatever sexual taboo of the time...and The Hunger is all about the perversion of wanting to have sex with David Bowie. I think we're all a little bit that way.
- From the 1/23/09 issue of Entertainment Weekly:
Gil Junger, director, 10 Things: Heath [Ledger] came in to read, and he exuded a sexuality so uncommon for a man of that age. As soon as he left, I stood up and said, "Ladies, I have never wanted to sleep with a man, but if I had to, that would be the man. Please hire him immediately."
- Both Gyllenhaals have rather large followings in the gay communities for their respective genders. In English, guys want him, and chicks want her. It's not uncommon to find yourself crushing on both of them, regardless of your usual orientation.
- Michael Wincott. The man sounds as though he were gargling with sex.
- Freddie Mercury. No exceptions.
- Liam Neeson.
- Johnny Depp. No doubt about it.
- Jon Stewart, interviewing Simon Baker on The Daily Show: "Now, I am not a gay man, but even I am undressing you with my eyes."
- Gackt. He's gone on many a Japanese tv show hosted by men, only to have them remark how beautiful they find him and how good he smells. The most extreme example was a show he did in 2009 where there were about six interviewers, all male, and every single one of them commented on his sex appeal. One went as far to say that if Gackt kissed him, he would gladly have sex with the guy.
- For more examples...
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