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It's not easy being geeky.
We pan to a beautiful woman: platinum blonde with a huge rack. She is the Hottest Woman in the World, but she wears glasses because she is the Smartest Woman in the World.
— Michael Bay's "Rejected" Dark Knight Script
Despite however many typically-sexy female characters are in a series, a common gag is to have the male characters fixate instead on some inconsequential minor female character. The character may only be cute in a "plain" way, but the men will all happen to find her uniquely charming.
Very common with girls who wear glasses. Different from the Hot Librarian in that the "librarian-ness" is what makes them attractive.
Incidentally, no putting yourself on this list. This means you! We all know being a troper automatically makes you twice as sexy, no need to further document the phenomenon.
See also Hollywood Geek, Hot Scientist, Geeky Turn On, Nerdcore, and Give Geeks A Chance.
Examples:
- Pretty much any Meganekko who features predominantly in her series (Read Or Die, Victorian Romance Emma, etc.) Lampshaded in the Emma manga omake, which reproduces the scene where Emma takes off her glasses, only for the cast to loudly insist she not remove her Charm Point.
- Though to be fair an Anime Meganekko does not have to be a prominent character and still often deemed quite attractive. (As Prima/Lorelei from Pokemon is a great example.)
- Nadia The Secret of Blue Water featured an entire on-board fanclub for an obscure, plainly cute nurse character.
- Nodoka and Yue of Mahou Sensei Negima tend to fit this, sometimes described as flat-chested and not attractive in a "Sexy" way, They're both also two of the series' most popular characters (they may even subvert First Girl Wins).
- Unless you consider Anya, Nodoka is the First Girl, due to Asuna being Negi's aunt.
- Haruna could also count, although she's more on the Otaku end of the Nerd Spectrum.
- Chisame/Chiu also falls under the very deliberately Otaku end (even falling in with Haruna at various conventions.) Word Of God seems to be pushing her up the ranks of "those who most like Negi", much to her chagrin.
- There are also Chao Lingshen and Hakase (not as popular, but with Mad Scientist appeal) - with Loads And Loads Of Characters, there's bound to be an abundance.
- In Suzumiya Haruhi, Yuki seems to have a large "fanbase" within the story, exactly because Nerds Are Sexy. Kyon finds her appealing too, although not at the scale of Mikuru.
- Jou Kido from Digimon Adventure 02. He was really awkward as a 12-year-old in season one, but damn if he didn't grow up well! Also, Koushirou. Not only are shorter people smarter, they're hotter, too!
- Matsu from Sekirei, but then again, it is Sekirei. That, and she wears an outfit similar to a Cheongsam.
- Bleach's Ise Nanao, 8th Division Vice-Captain.
- Don't forget Uryu Ishida, ranked #1 in Karakura High in terms of academics. Chicks must dig capes...
- Fate Stay Night technically has Rider when she's in her 'at home' mode
- Psycho Busters has Joi.
- Irie Shouichi of Katekyo Hitman Reborn can be considered this, if you get past his light awkwardness when he's not playing The Dragon He's pretty much a Meganekko. The fans were pleased when they saw this
 .
- Ami Mizuno/Sailor Mercury is consistently rated the most popular character in Sailor Moon by a long shot.
- Even Dragonball runs into this trope, as a number of girls in Orange Star High (particularly Erasa) spend much of their screentime trying to undress Son Gohan with their eyes. Jerk Jock Sharpener isn't very pleased to learn that he's runner up to "Nerd-Boy".
- Naruto's Hinata Hyuuga is a classic shrinking violet-type nerd and one of the main love interests of the title character. She's also a moe lust object for a hell of a lot of fans,despite being terminally shy and always bundled-up in a parka or jacket,because it fails to disguise her Most Common Superpower.
- Gertrude Yorkes of Runaways is somewhat chubby and an insufferable nerd. But her boyfriend adores her.
- Kitty Pryde. Nerdy, sexy ninja.
- She had a male counterpart in Doug Ramsey, too. They used to date! Then he died.
- Amadeus Cho, the 7th smartest person on Earth (as verified by a soap company - oh, and Reed Richards). Managed to win the heart of a Perky Goth Amazon Gorgon girl.
- Caitlin Fairchild from Gen 13.
- Not Another Teen Movie has Jamie who is supposedly nerdy even though all she really does is paint, wear overalls, wear glasses, and have pigtails.
- There is a scene in a used bookshop in The Big Sleep: Humphrey Bogart spends an afternoon in an antiquarian bookshop with the clerk (Dorothy Malone). An unexpected rainstorm, a bottle of rye, and the line "I'd rather get wet in here", transforms Malone from book-worm to babe, who closes the shop an hour early (and the film fades to black).
- Ben Campbell, played by Jim Sturgess, in the movie 21.
- A variation of this was also done in the Life Time Movie Of The Week Where The Heart Is where Natalie Portman's character falls for the "library guy".
- Catherine Banning (Rene Russo) in the late 90s remake of The Thomas Crown Affair starring Pierce Brosnan. She's an insurance investigator who hunts down art thieves. The audience's introduction to her starts with her legs. Here is evidence of her hotness, but the video may be NSFW depending on how uptight your coworkers are. Yes, she is wearing nothing under that dress.
- Youtube think the video is NSFW, as it has been removed.
- In How To Marry A Millionaire, Marilyn Monroe's character avoids wearing much-needed glasses as long as she can to retain her beauty. When her love interest finally persuades her to put them on, he immediately says, "You're crazy." Your Mileage May Vary, but this troper for one agreed that Marilyn Friggin' Monroe looked even hotter with glasses.
- "This one time at band camp..."
- Maggie Gyllenhaal in pretty much everything she does, but Secretary in particular.
- This Troper is all about Annie Potts as the secretary, Janine in Ghostbusters.
- Except she's not really a nerd. However she is attracted to them so I suppose that counts.
- Tanguy is a nerdy intellectual but he manages to chat up attractive girls (mostly Asian ones) with ridiculous ease.
- In The Hunt For Red October, it is stated that Jones, the sonar technician of the USS Dallas, because of his nerdy looks and knowledge, gets enough action on the beach to "wear down a squad of marines".
- Princess Marya in War And Peace. Her eyes are described as being most beautiful whenever she smiles, but otherwise she's quite plain and Nikolai has no clue at first why he likes her.
- Spark, the petite glasses-wearing deviser girl at Whateley Academy in the Whateley Universe. Even the fact that all she does is obsess about building devises doesn't keep Reach from pursuing her.
- Doctor Who as portrayed by David Tennant, known for his Geek Chic suit, tennis sneakers and glasses. He's the first actor to play the role who has so far been popular enough to challenge Tom Baker for the title of Best Doctor Ever.
- Arguably Peter Davison's Doctor as well.
- Lampshaded in the mini-episode "Time Crash" when the Tennant & Davison Doctors meet. Tennant expresses his admiration for Davison (semi-in character) gushes that he got the idea for wearing glasses he doesn't need to look smarter from Davison's incarnation.
- Doctor Who spinoff Torchwood had Toshiko Sato, who dealt with everything technological, and although she is every bit the awkward nerd, she somehow gets at least as much action as the others in the team. Even Jack. And that's saying something.
- Project Runway Season 5. Two words: Leanne Marshall.
- And to kick it up a notch: Diana Eng from Season Two. Girl actually used the words 'rotating polarity' in a dead serious context on a fashion runway. A guaranteed cute nerd girl first.
- Not to mention that when the girl gets liquor in her...she becomes Dirty Diana.
- Smallville's Chloe Sullivan definitely falls under this trope. Also helped by the fact that the main Love Interest doubles as The Wesley and the actress playing Chloe is at worst Hollywood Homely.
- Seriously, the actress has made it onto one or two "Hottest 100 celebrities," lists. Not bad for a supporting actress on Smallville.
- Not to mention, she's one of the best characters of the entire show (that says something, trust me). She almost became a Canon Immigrant into the comics, but they just couldn't find a way to fit her in there.
- Allison Mack also does the voice for Power Girl in the animated Superman/Batman: Public Enemies movie. Hot.
- The Myth Busters. Kari included.
- This troper has been told that someone finds both the Mythbusters and Alton Brown of Good Eats sexy, specifically because of their nerdiness. Yes, even Grant.
- This troper finds Grant utterly adorkable and would happily get Head Tiltingly Kinky with him.
- Even discluding the robots, Grant is sexily geek. One must wonder how his place on this page could possibly be disputed.
- What about Jamie? I mean, just look at that moustache!
- Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Although Xander, Willow, and Wesley are all sexy nerds in their way, it's Giles who's sexy because he's a nerd. Or, as a love interest put it, "a sexy fuddy-duddy".
- Played with later in the series when Xander comments that smart girls are hot, and Willow who at that point is a lesbian mournfully asks him why he couldn't have figured that out when they were in 10th grade (i.e. during the time Willow had the hots for Xander).
- 'Cause heaven forfend she not still be interested.
- And actually, they did hook up once in season 3. However, due to Whedonitis they were technically cheating and had to make amends to their partners, which took the rest of the season, in addition to staying separate from each other. This despite the fact that they'd been making "googly eyes" at each other since season 1 and each one's relationship had only really happened because they couldn't admit they were into each other. Thank you, Joss Whedon, for throwing characters the emotional Idiot Ball.
- Angel also had Fred (Winnifred), the nerdy yet cute science girl who joined the cast late in the second season. During the third season, her sexy nerdiness had two of the male leads fighting over her for half the season.
- Stargate SG-1 presents an Alternate Reality Episode in which Samantha Carter is a frumpy, awkward nerd. Alternate O'Neill still thinks she's hot.
- You mean she's not a frumpy, awkward nerd with a bizarre resemblance to Hillary Clinton in the normal show?
- An earlier Parallel universe introduces Doctor Carter, where she didn't join the Air Force. Being a long haired Nerd not in the military means the USMCJ doesn't apply. So the Cannon Ship goes all the way, with O'Neill and Carter being married. At least till Alternative O'Neill got blown up.
- On NUMB3RS, Charlie asks Amita on their first date after she solves a particularly tricky mathematical analysis. Later they find out that math is really all they have to talk about, but this doesn't seem to be a problem since they're still together.
- And FBI agent Megan has a relationship with professor Larry.
- CSI:NY- Lindsay Monroe has a relationship with Danny. Stella attracts stalkers.
- Drake And Josh: One of Drake's earliest Girls Of The Week.
- And now that Josh Peck has hit himself with the pretty stick...
- NCIS. Abby. That is all.
- ...only if you somehow forgot about 'McGee'!
- Palmer is pretty damn hot too when he's seen briefly shirtless.
- Daniel Faraday from LOST, who even has a fanclub called 'A.D.O.R.K.A.B.L.E'.
- One episode of Flight Of The Conchords has Murray get a crush on his office's tech support woman. And then sing a song about her, naturally.
- The eponymous character in Chuck.
- Also his ex, what's her name. The one from Stanford.
- The X Files. Gillian Anderson became the pin-up of choice for straight male nerds everywhere. David Duchovny did the same for the ladies.
- Ivy of the Dollhouse. Subverting the Igor trope since 2008.
- Lampshaded in The IT Crowd when Roy and Moss make a Nerds Are Sexy calendar and it ends up being less "hot supermodel with glasses" and more "fat bloke with his shirt off".
- Maybe it's for This Troper only, but Eric Forman, and his actor, both fit into this category.
- Real Life example: Hannah Arendt.
- And Tina Fey. She's arguably several times hotter with her glasses on, and I don't know why.
- Kari Byron from Mythbusters.... Mrrrowww!
- Dr. Fotini Markopoulou-Kalamara!◊
- Seth Meyers and Bill Hader◊, SNL's resident dreamboats. They write comic books. Case closed.
- After
helping Oxford's Corpus Christi College win single-handedly winning the 2009 series of University Challenge for Oxford's Corpus Christi College (till they got disqualified for fielding an illegible player in the final), Gail Trimble got asked to do a "tasteful" photoshoot for a lad's mag. She declined the offer.
- Masi Oka. Fluent in three languages, does charity work for One Laptop Per Child, has a BS in Computer Science from Brown, was nominated for an Emmy, is a former programmer/computer animator for Lucasfilm, and, at least in This Troper's humble opinion, pretty darn sexy.
- Carol Vorderman certainly qualifies, but Rachel Riley has killed this troper's ability to think, let alone play along with Countdown.
- Maggie Gyllenhaal◊, Zooey Deschanel◊, Judy Greer◊, Amber Benson◊, Melanie Lynskey(Kiwi nerd!)...◊
- Felicia Day.
- Us.
- Jennifer. Jason. Leigh.
- Seth Green. Siiiigh...
- Danica Mc Kellar. Remember Winnie from The Wonder Years? She graduated summa cum laude from UCLA, majoring in mathematics, co-authored a scientific paper and has her name attached to the "Chayes-Mc Kellar-Winn theorem". And judging from the covers for her books "Math Doesn't Suck" and "Kiss My Math"(aimed at middle-school girls to encourage math proficiency), she's still pretty damn attractive.
- Gordon Freeman. Even Action Girl Alyx Vance gets shy around him.
- For that matter, Alyx herself - remember Dog, the minivan-sized robot that follows her around? Her father built him as a puppy-sized companion. Everything since that is her work.
- Most Harvest Moon games have a librarian or some other girl with glasses as a potential bride. Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life is the only one that has a girl with glasses that you can't marry. This editor does not think it is a coincidence that it's also amongst the lowest-regarded in the series.
- Playing as a female, there have also been options such as Rick, Louis (practically a male Meganekko), and Jin.
- Don't forget the Doctor (Trent or Alex, depending on the game) — smart, serious, studious, and sexy. This troper about cried when he came pre-married in Island of Happiness.
- Nerdy to the core, being both an engineer AND an anime otaku, Otacon of the Metal Gear series is a profoundly woobie fan favorite. He swaps out his glasses for contacts halfway through Metal Gear Solid 4, but since he does so for such an endearingly nerdy reason (a pretty girl told him to!) this doesn't bother many people (it helps that a big part of his character development is swapping the contacts back for glasses). With his glasses on, it should be noted that even his step-sister wants a piece of him.
- The Sorrow may be a little creepy, but if The Boss gave birth to his child, he must be one sexy, sexy man.
- Lucca from Chrono Trigger is the poster girl for sexy nerds in video games. A brilliant literally fiery, purple-head meganekko, wielding a pistol and a hammer. Complete with a woobie-ish backstory and a motherly side. Nice!
- In an unusual twist, though, her looks aren't really noticeable until the helmet comes off - not the glasses.
- Shad, the resident nerd in The Legend Of Zelda: Twilight Princess, is as popular with fans of that series who love geeks as Otacon is with fans of MGS.
- Patchouli Knowledge of Touhou. Being Really Seven Hundred Years Old and a Hikikomori in her library for over a hundred years with a penchant for Magitek, this trope is the entire basis of her popularity.
- Ryusei Date is the epitome of otakuness, having more interest in the features of whichever Fembot was currently in the hangar than real girls. Nevertheless, Latooni Subota and Mai Kobayashi fall for him, the former going as far as imitating his geeky speech out of affection. Ryusei himself doesn't seem to mind, though.
- Philia Felice is a really nerdy priestess, complete with nerd glasses, who have a penchant of inventing self-made bombs. However, that turns out to be one of her charms (she also admits that if she's plain looking without her glasses), including her nice personality as well as her voice.
- If that don't work, use MORE gun.
- Naoya from Devil Survivor is a programming Bishounen.
- After finding out about this, Jason Fox once tried to make himself as least nerdy as possible because Girls Have Cooties.
- Alice from Loserz thinks so. See this strip.
- And Adam from the same strip actually is a sexy nerd (although he usually hides it - being a gaming nerd, not being sexy). See here.
- Tales Of MU takes this to the logical extreme — Amaranth is a physically perfect nymph, naked except for her glasses, who believes in science in a world of magic-based technology. Beyond the mere nudism, nymphs in MU follow the more open version in regards to sex and sexuality (the ultimate origin of the term nymphomania) — although Amaranth treats it as an enjoyable part time job / chore more than anything.
- It's later discovered this is because of a teenage geek messing with the process that created her, creating the ultimate geek fantasy girl — a confident, polite nudist who will put up with ANYTHING and literally can't get enough sex. Oh, and she's a geek, too. Unfortunately, he was too shy to talk to her afterwards, which left her in the dark about the whole thing.
- The Cyantian Chronicles: Chatin and Twinky.
Music
- Lupe Fiasco. Just listen to some of his songs.
- John Linnell of They Might Be Giants, for some.
- ffffffffff yes. He may be old enough to be my dad, but that wouldn't stop me floating along after him with hearts percolating from my head.
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