Stupid Sexy Flanders - Television Tropes & Idioms

It feels like I'm wearing nothing at all! Nothing at all! Nothing at all!

I fly to Los Angeles. I am seated across the aisle from Kurt Russell. Now, listen: I am a happily married man. But I am not embarrassed to say that Kurt Russell is an EXTREMELY HANDSOME MAN. And apparently he grew his eye back since he escaped from New York.

— More Information Than You Require

You certainly aren't gay. But, y'know, once in a while someone else looks very nice or is outright distracting, and you just say the wrong thing that sounds bad out of context. Indignation (not that) follows.

If writers actually plan to out a character later, this can become foreshadowing. In some of these cases, this may be caused by a Closet Key. If it's taken seriously but isn't a set up for a reveal about the character's sexuality, it can sometimes lead to If It's You, It's Okay.

Nearly all Wholesome Crossdressers, and many Bifauxnen are subject to this gag at least once. (The "It's a Trap" internet meme is often used to refer to characters who cause this trope in audience members.) Occasionally, the "victim" is given peace of mind by discovering their totally platonic (really!) crush is really Sweet Polly Oliver.

This is Truth In Television, with women being much more open about it. Quite frankly, if a guy were to say something like that to another, more often than not, the response would be, "What are you, gay?" However, gay men are generally more likely than lesbians to joke about who they would switch teams for.

Trope Namer (and the picture above) comes from one of Homer Simpson's

quotes from The Simpsons. While he's attempting to recall his skiing lessons, his mind shifts to a skin-tight ski suit-wearing Ned Flanders moments prior, who waggles his buttocks while exclaiming the suit makes it feel like he's "wearing nothing at all". Cue Squick from Homer and the trope invoked.

The term "GAR" (always in capitals) is used to describe a male character who induces this through sheer badassery.

Compare Dude Looks Like A Lady, Gay Moment.

Examples:

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Anime & Manga

Stupid.. pretty...GRIFFITH!!! Even GUTS blushed when he saw him naked! The man looks nowhere near like a man.
- Guts himself, hes so damn manly and yet so poetic and tender..and those eyes!
In episode 12 of Seitokai No Ichizon Ken is afflicted with a case of Stupid Sexy Flanders when Nakameguro shows up.
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.
Several instances in Sailor Moon even after Haruka Tenoh is revealed to be a woman.
In the harem comedy Ai Kora, Handsome Lech protagonist Maeda is freaked out to learn that New Transfer Student Haiji Kikuno is a bisexual Love Freak who has the hots for him because of his "pure heart". Maeda is further freaked out when he learns Haiji has his ideal butt.
Kamina. The short "Viral's Sweet Dream" is pretty much all about Viral's issues with this.
Viral: Why was I dreaming of Kamina!? Well, I guess I'm allowed to have sweet dr-NO, NO! NOT SWEET! NOT SWEET!
- Most male fans understand this perfectly.
In Ranma 1/2, most of Ranma's classmates find themselves attracted to his female form, even though they know that he's really a guy. The reason for this is most likely that he's susceptible to extreme Clothing Damage, especially in his female form, and that his curse actually gives him the real body of a girl.
- To quote one chapter of the manga, "We don't care! She's still hot!" ... much to the disgust of the female classmates.
Also present in Urusei Yatsura, most notably with Ryuunosuke, who gets hit on from both ends... the girls, who know damn well she's a girl, love her because she cuts the figure of a bishonen man so well, and the guys love her... well... because they're horndogs, and know that she has an impressive-sized bust when her boobs aren't tied down.
Domon Kasshu, from G Gundam. He and his fellow Gundam Fighters get a seriously Fanservicey Transformation Sequence (Stock Footage, even) and Latex Space Suit duds much like the Trope Namer's ski outfit. The relief of heterosexual male fans was palpable when a female Gundam Fighter was introduced with her own Transformation Sequence.
- Nothing at all! NOTHING AT ALL!!
Lockon Stratos of Gundam 00 had the Fan Nickname "Stupid Sexy Lockon". Take that as you will.
- Also, Tieria Erde, who sparked Viewer Gender Confusion even after he started talking and asserted his masculinity.
- Episode 8 of season 2 DID NOT help matters any, as Tieria donned a wig, a dress and BREASTS. Forget what the fangirls say, Tieria is a man and he's ours.
  - Word Of God is that Tieria was originally going to be a woman, but something changed in the creative process.
Alucard from Hellsing has caused this reaction in a few straight males, and not just in his loli form.
- Stupid sexy Schrodinger!
- And not to forget Integra who has done this for a large number of female fans. It doesn't help that she's Sir Integra Wingates Fairbrooks van Hellsing.
Basically the entire premise of Maria Holic, in which the lesbian protagonist transfers to a girl's school so she can be around a lot of pretty girls - and is very very annoyed when the prettiest girl turns out to be a cruel, rude, crossdressing boy.
Girls Bravo: In one episode,the main character Yukinari is forced to dress up as a girl, in order to host a gaming tournament. His disguise is so convincing that even the local pervert Fukuyama mistakes him for a pretty girl. This makes for one of the most humorous scenes in anime when Fukuyama finds out his true gender. Watch the moment of truth here.
No Bra is a delightful little manga about two male childhood friends who move away from each other and don't see one another again until they're all grown up... The protagonist stays largely the same as he was before, just taller, but his friend Yuki...◊
If one only knows about Lady Bat via "her" Villain Song, they'll probably fall into the trap.
Shuichi Shindou, the example of the uke stereotype, is probably a victim: He never shows or proclaims any interest in other men than Yuki, and in the manga, shows some moments of interest in women and takes care to remind others of his bisexuality several times.
Hatake Kakashi is widely suggested to be handsome underneath his mask. It's enough to make a ramen waitress, and her father, blush.
- Some fanboys with crushes can still be found trying to deny that Deidara's a man.
  - The same goes for Haku.
Akito from Fruits Basket... many fangirls were disappointed (and even angry) to learn that "he" was, in fact, a "she".
- Same can be said for Kyo. Yuki is, obviously, a no-brainer, as well.
- Double can be said for Ayame. I mean with his white hair, eccentricity, tendency to crossdress, and being a major producer of Bishie Sparkle, it's not hard to see why.
Everyone's lesbian for Hungary.
- And for Ukraine, too.
  - Ukraine's breasts have a fan community.
Yusei Fudo of Yugioh 5D's has been causing a few of these as of late.
- As has Jaden/Judai Yuki during the last season.
  - And Yami Yugi, of course.
Kenichi the Mightiest Disciple: Upon meeting Natsu Tanimoto, Kenichi spends as much time worrying that he'll steal Miu as he does just being utterly floored by his good looks.
Kenichi: Oh my god, I can see roses.
Katekyo Hitman Reborn: Stupid Moe Tsuna.
- With the Art Evolution making every single male character in the series appear prettier than most of the females Stupid Sexy Flanders moments are inevitable.
Stupid Sexy Fujimoto... With his whale boat and striped shirt and looking all like David Bowie...
In Skip Beat, Kyouko inflicts this on one of her female co-stars while acting as Natsu, prompting this exchange between said co-star and her friend after the co-star gazes off into the distance with Love Bubbles.
"What is this, this ticklish and itchy feeling?"
"Love?"
"AAAAAARGH!"
Everyone is Momo for Aizen.
- Seconded
- Aizen's far from the only one. Among others, there's also Grimmjow, Ulquiorra, Byakuya, Renji, Kazeshini, Hisagi, Urahara, Ichigo, and Ggio for the guys, and Yoruichi, Rukia, Orihime, Cirucci, Rangiku, Haineko, Sode no Shirayuki, Harribel, and Nelliel for the girls.
Hideyoshi Kinoshita from Baka To Test To Shoukanjuu who looks like a girl, speaks like an old samurai and (tries to) act like a guy, all but insists he's male but has about as much success in convincing people as Bridget or Ranmaru. This leads to quite a few awkward moments, especially when he gets chosen to be the official "round girl" for the summoning war in episode two of the anime. One joke is that "Hideyoshi" has become its own gender designation within the story as both men and women object to him changing in the men's room, and Hideyoshi himself refuses to enter the women's room..
Konori Mii from To Aru Kagaku No Railgun provoked this from everyone in episode 13 while in her swimsuit, including Kongo Mitsuko's snake. No small feat, considering the other girls were already strutting some nice guns in their swimsuits, and let's not get into Kuroko's Barely There Swimwear...
Damn you...Haruhi!
- And everyone is Itsuki for Kyon!
Applies to more than one Haruhi. Just look!◊ So cute, When She Smiles especially.
Bakemonogatari: At one point, Psycho Lesbian Suruga admits she'd totally date Koyomi if he didn't already have Senjogahara.
In one episode of Natsume Yuujinchou, Natsume gets possessed by a female youkai who occasionally surfaced through his voice and mannerism. Kitamoto and Tanuma can't help but find the result uncomfortably attractive. There's also the time where, without any sort of supernatural aid, he managed to fluster a lesbian.
Hinoe:...Dammit, you look so much like Reiko! Why do you have to be a man!?
Bakura, oh so much...
One Piece: Nami calls Kalifa a sexy secretary before remembering she's not a Dirty Old Man. The yuri fandom rejoiced.
- Then there's Ivankov. DEAR SWEET MOTHER OF GOD. See here◊. What's wrong with that, you may ask? Well, that's only Iva-sama when he's in a "feminine mood." When he's a guy, he's... well, the one in the middle. Note that he is wearing the same clothes◊.
Kaworu. Just... Kaworu.

Films

The Distant Finale of Billy Elliot, where he's flexing and limbering up, ready to go on stage. Just... Whoa.
Victor/Victoria, a musical about a woman who poses as a female impersonator, features a gangster who agonizes about his attraction to the title character's "male" persona.
- Sort of a subversion, since he never for a second believes that she is really a man, and spends most of the film trying to prove otherwise.
How many of you out there thought Didier the French exchange student in Son Of Rambow was a rather cute girl until he spoke?
Played for laughs in Orgazmo:
Dave the Lighting Guy: Dude, I don't wanna sound like a queer or nothin', but I think you got a hot ass!
Dave the Lighting Guy: I don't wanna sound like a queer or nothin', but I think unicorns kick ass!
Dave the Lighting Guy: I don't wanna sound like a queer or nothin', but I'd kinda like to make love to you!
From True Romance:
"Elvis looked good. I mean, I ain't no fag, but Elvis was prettier than most women, you know? [...] You know, I always said if I had to fuck a guy [...] if my life depended on it, I'd fuck Elvis."
Norm MacDonald's character in Dirty Work "understands why women find Sean Connery sexy," and steals a From Russia with Love poster from the site of one of his schemes.
Aragorn, of The Lord of the Rings, has been known to induce this effect directly in nominally straight male fans. Especially when he knocks open the doors to Helm's Deep. Sigh.
- To be fair, that was a Manly, MANLY scene.

Literature

Seregil of the Nightrunner series is a Bishounen with a tendency to cause these moments among his male friends, either while he's disguised as a woman or dressed provocatively. For one friend in particular, the awkward moments are indeed foreshadowing for subsequent gayness.
Raziel is very prone to giving Biff some of these in Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff. Sure, Biff hasn't been laid in about 2,000 years, but sometimes you have to wonder. There's even a scene Biff demands to see his angel-junk before the straight part of his brain realizes when he's doing and makes him stop. He insists it was purely curiosity. We completely believe him on this.
Harry Potter himself has a lot of Stupid Sexy Flanders moments when Bill Weasley is around, and when watching Tom Riddle in the Pensieve.
- And at least one moment with Cedric Diggory.
Terry Pratchett very explicitly lampshades the "man cross-dressing is beautiful" trope in Jingo before utterly and wonderfully subverting it.

Live Action TV

Probably the best example of this is Ace Rimmer from Red Dwarf "What a guy!"
Captain Picard from Star Trek The Next Generation.
- As illustrated in this strip of Web Comic Three Panel Soul.
Early plans for Buffy the Vampire Slayer included having one of the Scoobies come out as gay (logically, either Willow (who eventually did) or Xander (who didn't)). The former's chances became markedly increased with occurrences of this trope after her Evil Doppelganger episode, in which Real Willow comments, "I'm so evil and skanky. And I think I'm kinda gay."
- From the same verse: In one of the early episodes of Angel, this bit of dialogue occurs with Doyle, otherwise shown to be straight:
  Doyle: Just look at him, going out to fight evil, his long coat swinging behind him in a mysterious and attractive manner...
  Cordelia: Do you need a moment?
  Doyle: I'm not saying I'm attracted, but...
  (Angel comes into the office, says some heroic-sounding stuff, and marches off with his coat swinging in slo-mo.)
  Doyle: Maybe I'm a little attracted.
  - Of course, given it's David Boreanaz, can ya blame the man?
  - No.
  - Hell Yes.
  - Depends on whether it's the early-on skinny David or his latter-day Elvis state.
  - Just because he had to beef up to play an FBI agent doesn't make him less hot.
- In "Superstar", everyone in Jonathan's world is hot for Jonathan. Buffy, looking for clues, asks Giles if he has a Jonathan Swimsuit Calendar. He replies "No! ...yes. It was a gift!"
- Xander: No one is judging you. It's understandable— Spike is strong and mysterious, and sort of compact, but well-muscled... Buffy: I am not having sex with Spike! But I'm starting to think that you might be!
- Andrew: (watching Spike have sex) He is so cool! I mean, the girl's hot, too.
  - Andrew practically sneezes glitter, so that's hardly the best example.
iCarly: Carly and Sam agree: Tasha's hot.
Scrubs: Carla fantasizing about a future life with Elliot (including the "tender sex"), Elliot hitting on women after lemon drops, Dr. Kelso tattooing the name "Johnny" on his ass, J.D. implying he'd have sex with Harrison Ford...
- Look, if dudes are gay because they wanna bang Harrison Ford you might as well start handing out rainbow bumper stickers at his movies.
  - Yeah, to Gay Dudes...
Chandler's reaction to a photograph of Tag in an episode of Friends. "Wa-ha-how! Don't show this picture to Monica! And please don't tell her about the 'Wa-ha-how!'"
- Also in Friends, once when they found out that Phoebe spoke French, Rachel said, "Oh! You're so sexy!"
- In another episode, Phoebe was stunned upon seeing Monica in lingerie, saying that she had "the breasts of a Greek goddess."
- There's also one episode where Denise Richards plays Ross's cousin, and all the guys are turned on by her. Every time she shows up on screen, there's cheesy-sexy music playing on the backgroud, while her hair floats. The episode ends with her showing up at Phoebe's house, who opens the door, has the exact same reaction as the guys (cheese-sexy music, etc), and having an inner monologue that ends with Go for it! She's not YOUR cousin!
One episode of Will and Grace has a woman causing this reaction in Camp Gay Jack. (Turns out, to his relief, that it was a male crossdresser.)
- If it's the episode I think you're referring to, it was actually a transitioning transsexual (if in fact you're referring to Jack getting an erection from the stripper cop during Will's friend's bachelor party), who was "Karla from the waist up, and Karl from the waist down" until The Operation.
There are a good few lesbians on the official Colbert Report forum who feel very strongly about this trope. Stupid Sexy Stephen.
- This is especially funny given that the character he plays is sometimes portrayed as being deeply in the closet, for example in his utter bewilderment at the re-appearance of Fight Club (and thus half naked Brad Pitt) in his player every week after throwing out another copy the week before.
- One of his threat-down's was "threats to his heterosexuality" and number 1 on the list was "attractive men" such as Johnny Depp and Brad Pitt. As he puts it, "I'm not gay, but I'm human."
- There are also some otherwise straight guys who end up swooning from him.
In one of the countless Keen Eddie bromance gags, Monty encourages Eddie to to yet again stand up their intimidating boss Superintendent Johnson, and says, "It kind of scares me, but I like it." He adds that it's what he's looking for in a relationship, and that he thinks he's attracted to Eddie. Later, during the confrontation in Johnson's office, Monty tries to make a quick exit before the shit hits the fan, and means to tell Eddie "I'll leave you" on his way out. But, it comes out, "I love you.".
Quantum Leap featured a variation: the first time Sam leaped into a woman, Al was quite disturbed to find himself attracted to his friend's new body. One possible explanation given was "latent homosexual tendencies," which he immediately dismissed. Oddly enough, it never happens again despite Sam leaping into a few other women over the course of the show.
- Those later episodes also indicate that Al sees Sam as Sam, not the person he leapt into, while the opposite was true in the episode mentioned above. Fanon guesses that the "disturbing attraction" incident led the Project to fine-tune the connection between Al and Sam so it wouldn't happen again.
The 30 Rock episode "Believe in the Stars" has Tracy dressing up as a white woman to prove a point. When he runs into Frank and Toofer, he asks, "Do ya think I'm sexy?" in a high girly voice. Frank laughs, "C'mon Tracy, we know it's you," then swallows hard and says, "And yes."
- When Liz guesses (wrongly) that Elisa's dark secret is that she is a man, Elisa retorts 'Do you want to see me naked?" Liz's response? "Sort of." Of course, Elisa is played by Salma Hayek.
- In another episode, Liz and Frank fall for the same delivery boy, leading Frank down a journey of self-discovery.
  - From the same episode:
  Liz: No, that's not a thing, you can't be gay for just one person... unless your a lady... and you meet Ellen.
In A Bit of Fry and Laurie, a character is showing off his fascist uniform:
Hugh Laurie: You look absolutely great! If I was homosexual I'd want to buy you a drink, at the very least.
Fascist: Thanks. If I was homosexual I'd have a pint of lager.
(awkward pause)
Hugh: As it is, I like birds.
Fascist: Me too!
Remember, you're not gay if you think Rudy is hot.
Phoebe, during her brief time as The Empath, nearly had to flee the room during one episode of Charmed because of a man who had the hots for her sister Piper.
In "Tommy's Not Gay" of Titus, Titus has a moment in the neutral space where he talks about how everyone has had at least one moment where they are flipping through a Muscle Magazine "'cause you're a man" and upon seeing a well-toned man, he talks about his large biceps, ripped abs, and he briefly starts swaying his hips before he realized what he was doing. Throwing the magazine while screaming, he quickly did five push-ups and walked off, talking about going to a strip-club.
An episode of the American Breakfast Time had Suzanne Whang interview Talisa Soto when the Mortal Kombat film came out; when they sit down on the couch, Suzanne does a double-take, is momentarily rendered speechless and says "OH! I'm sorry, I was startled by how beautiful you are!"
In later seasons of That 70s Show, F ez obviously had a man-crush on Kelso. To the point that, in one episode, he saw an erotic dream about Kelso, too disturbing even for him (and for Kelso too, after he learns) . As Fez later mentions, his admiration of Kelso's looks is "purely aesthetic".
Mr. B Natural
Joel: (swooning) Oh, Mr. B...
- Partial aversion since Mr. B is played by a woman.
- Yup, looks like Joel became Sweet On Polly Oliver.
Cory in the House: Cory finds himself lusting after a pair of chiseled legs in a pair of Daisy Dukes, only to find, to his eternal Squick, that they belong to one Jason Stickler.
During Lita's run as a color commentator for WWE, she invoked this when Molly Holly (who was known for dressing conservatively) came out in a relatively low-cut top. Of course, Lita sounded wooden and completely uninterested - even moreso than usual - which ruined the effect.
Screw the Divas. World Wrestling Entertainment is a bonanza of this when it comes to male Superstars. Just look at all the scantily-clad, muscular guys they've had in recent years just waiting to be gazed at longingly: Chris Jericho (before he cut his hair), Shawn Michaels, Eddie Guerrero, Randy Orton, Edge, John Morrison, R-Truth - and, if you like 'em big 'n' dumb, John Cena, Batista, and The Great Khali.
In the comedic Supernatural Season 5 episode "Changing Channels," the Trickster starts throwing Sam and Dean into different TV shows (and each is a thinly-veiled Affectionate Parody of an existing TV show and/or genre) in an attempt to get them to "play their roles" in the Apocalypse. He first tosses them into Dean's Guilty Pleasure show, Dr. Sexy, M. D., which is a nice Take That to Grey's Anatomy. When Dean sees Dr. Sexy walking down the hallway, he immediately gets all flustered and embarrassed and looks at him in an admiring and slightly flirty way. It turns out to be the Trickster in disguise and Dean figures it out because "what makes Dr. Sexy sexy is that he wears cowboy boots, not tennis shoes!"
Byron Gordon from Babylon 5. 'Nuff said.
How could we forget Michael Scott's epic mancrush on Ryan the Temp on the U. S. version of The Office? He gives Ryan the "Hottest Office Member" Dundie award, openly admits he'd sleep with Ryan (in "The Fire"), and calls Ryan "sweetcheeks" once in Season 3. And there are many more examples.
Seinfeld - George gets all anxious and upset after he gets a massage from a male therapist...when someone mentions Evander Holyfield and how he's a good-looking man, George gets worse...then more so seeing a poster of Holyfield.

Music

Roy Zimmerman's song Dick Cheney (Sexiest Man Alive) is about this trope.
I'm not gay... but there's always the one guy.
- Ahem. EW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
A song by Draco and the Malfoys titled "Tom Felton's Kinda Hot" embodies this particular trope.
And even though I'm straight, I'm not ashamed to say: Tom Felton's kinda hot.
The band Gay For Johnny Depp (http://www.gayforjohnnydepp.com/)
The Of Montreal's song Tim, I Wish You Were a Girl

Stand-Up Comedy

LouisCK has a routine about having this reaction to Ewan McGregor.
JamieFoxx has an extended routine exploring this happening when he met Prince. While ice skating.
Ron White has a routine about pointing this tendency out to a homophobic ~~friend~~ cousin.
Ron: Look, we're all gay. It's just different degrees.
Ray: No way, man! I'm not gay.
Ron: Okay, do you like watching porn?
Ray: You know I love porn.
Ron: Do you only watch the kind that's two women?
Ray: No way, man! I like watching a man and a woman makin' love.
Ron: Okay, do you like it best if the man is tiny and flaccid?
Ray: No way, man! I like big, hard, throbbing... huh. I did not know that about myself.
Jimmy Dore realized he was gay for Jude Law when he saw The Talented Mr Ripley.
Jimmy: Remember that other guy in it, Jude Law? Well, ever since I saw that movie...I think...I could be queer for him. And have never had a homosexual feeling ever in my life (that I ever acknowledged). I mean, he was beautiful, he was prettier than the girls in that movie! And it caught me surprise; I'm watching the movie and I find myself going, "I wonder what he's gonna wear in the next scene. I hope it's linen. Ooooh, it's a pancake hat on a scooter! FRICKIN' HOT, THIS GUY!"

Video Games

Archer, of course — he's the character the term "GAR" was invented for. In story, Tohsaka gets turned on by Saber at a few points.
Bridget's third ending in the story mode of Guilty Gear XX involves him (a boy in a nun habit) fighting Johnny, a lady's man who flirts with everything remotely female in his path. Johnny flirts with Bridget before the fight... and then collapses in abject horror afterwards, on realizing what he just did.
- And Bridget is famed for causing this in fans. Everyone's gay for Bridget!
  - And has his own trope for it, as seen above.
This is apparently a problem for players of Metal Gear Solid, which carried over to Snake's appearance in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. The fact that his Final Smash does end up putting his ass in your face doesn't help (neither does the fact that the section about it on Nintendo's official site actually has a screenshot paused on that one moment).
- Oh come on. On the Brawl official site, there's one shot of him manhandling Ike in an ambiguous manner, one shot of him posing serenely while fondling the rocket launcher resting between his legs, and one shot of him kicking at the camera with what probably qualifies as 'upskirt'. Four of the other screenshots have his incredibly shapely buttocks right at the focal point of the picture, as well as his "Congratulations!" screen when you beat Classic mode, and his pose on the character scroll in the opening cinematic, and his pose whenever he loses a match. For a manly male character, he does a lot of cheesecake.
  - In the MGS series' case this applies to both playable incarnations, Naked Snake and Solid Snake. Coincidentally, while Brawl's version is apparently meant to be Solid Snake, he uses Naked Snake's head, camouflages (for alternate outfits), and MANLINESS~
  - Echoed again, the finale for MGS1 features a ridiculously toned Snake and Liquid fighting topless on top of a giant robot laden with phallic implements. MGS4 follows this with a stupidly toned 70 year old Liquid Ocelot fighting you topless. And lots of close ups of Old Snake's skin tight costume.
  - Raiden in MGS4 is a sexy little bitch too...
  - Otacon doesn't give us a lot of fanservice, but in universe he can prove to be quite distracting...especially if Snake thinks enough of him to take pictures of softcore porn in the enemy locker rooms. This is usually play for laughs. And to prove he is straight. On this note, has no one mentioned that Everyone is gay for Big Boss?
For some bizarre reason, a certain Image Board with a not-hidden gay crush on Snake also has this problem with the Medic from Team Fortress 2.
In an odd femme jealousy subversion of this, Serra from Fire Emblem: Blazing Sword starts trying to lay out terms of being around the camp to this beautiful blond girl who just joined their ranks. During the conversation Serra discovers this beautiful blond girl is a Monk by the name of Lucius, and Lucius is quite certain he is in fact a monk, and male. However, given he looks like this◊ it's hard to blame her for her conclusion.
- There are a lot of characters who face the viewer in their official art. They do not, however, follow Legault's◊ method of planting a smirk on his face and looking like he enjoys the attention. And posing rather seductively.
  - Mother of— * Ahem* . Yeah. That bastard.
Link from The Legend of Zelda has caused this in a few straight male fans. The pantslessness of some incarnations of him only adds to it. Perhaps not coincidentally, he's a very popular target for Gender Bender art.
- Beyond that, he was even voted by "Out" Magazine as the Hottest Video Game Character, complete with this quote: "When darkness enshrouds the land, Nintendo's sexy farm-boy-turned-wolf sets out to save the day in this upcoming game. His weapons: a sword, a bow, arrows and kick-ass grooming skills." Cue the insecure fanboy cries of "~~I'M~~ LINK'S NOT GAY, DAMMIT!"
  - That damn Shirtless Scene for the sumo training in Twilight Princess...
- And on the girls' side we have Sheik. Many a fangirl were not happy to find that Princess Zelda Dropped A Bridget On Them. The infamous Gannon Banned website even has, "not accepting that Sheik is a most epic Reverse Trap," as one of their Gannon-Bannable offenses.
In Mask of the Betrayer, a male PC with a high enough Charisma stat can catch Gann in one of these.
Stupid, sexy Elite Four Karen. Dark-Type, indeed. "I find their wild, tough image to be so appealing," indeed... It doesn't really help that she's wearing a Little Black Dress (or belly shirt and low-cut pants in Gen IV), either...
Ellis. Just... Ellis.

Web Comics

According to the rules of El Goonish Shive, any straight Gender Bender becomes bisexual for the duration. Also, the "Female Variant Five" setting (and Ellen's 'Venus' beam based on it), in addition to turning men into exceptionally beautiful women and making women more, er, "womanly", makes the victim extremely attractive to any non-relative, whether they like girls or not, for 48 hours (of a 30-day duration). Unsurprisingly, these two things lead to lots of Stupid Sexy Flanders moments, most notably when the revelation that it only lasts the first 48 hours causes a lesbian to come out of denial. And then there's Tedd without his glasses, a borderline Wholesome Crossdresser (albeit an unintentional one). However, Justin, who is gay, doesn't actually think he's attractive to him (or other gay men).
- As explained in the comic, Ted is TOO girly for gay men to find attractive. Straight men, on the other hand...
- It's hard to say if this version from El Goonish Shive is a subversion, inversion, reversion, or just plain weird. female!Elliot objects to his girlfriend ogling male!Susan, leading to the following exchange:
  Sarah: I'm sorry, Elliot, but look at him!
  female!Elliot: ...yeah, I guess he is hot.
  female!Tedd: Um, dude...?
  female!Elliot: What? I'm wearing a skirt, and I have boobs. I'm not going to start worrying about my manly image now.
As Fur Will Fly points out, the opposite◊ is definitely possible.
Aragorn assuming Legolas was a ridiculously sexy woman was something of a Running Gag in DM of the Rings:
Aragorn: Your character is seriously hot. She's hawt with a capital "HAW".
Legolas: My character is a man!
Aragorn: Your character portrait says differently. ME-OW!
- I'd argue he's just attracted to elves, full stop; sure, he didn't mistake Elrond or Celeborn for hot ladies, but he didn't pay attention in any of their scenes. He did pay attention to Haldir's arrival at Helm's Deep, and assumed him to be a sexy spy for Saruman, leading to the line:
Theoden: Aragorn, we are in no position to turn away friends, no matter how disturbingly attractive you find them!
Chrono became the butt of this gag when the Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Fan Web Comic Nanoha R'r portrayed Yuuno as pretty enough for guys to have crushes on him. Observe◊.
Kano from Kagerou. Granted, Dude Looks Like A Lady... or is that Dudes Look Like A Lady?
In Dominic Deegan Kiya has a Stupid Sexy Reinhold moment. That he is a man is not so much of a problem here, but the fact that he is a Calanian.

Web Original

Spider-Man, but only if you watch him dance, apparently.
The PPC agent Drake, when being introduced at an Official Fanfiction University by his partner Naomi, caused a male staff member to ask "Er, when you say he's a he, do you mean in the sense of 'girl taking boy-pills for impending operation'? Or maybe the other way round?" Said staff member started to cry upon receiving a negative answer.
This happens in Darwins Soldiers, to which Aimee mentions how she can see how Hailey thought that Subject 19 was cute.
In his Independence Day review, The Nostalgia Critic has this with Will Smith.
* slapping himself* BOOBS! You like BOOBS!

Western Animation

Ned Flanders in The Simpsons, as described above, although the fact that he's a chiseled male specimen is highlighted in more than one episode. The trope's name comes from a line uttered by Homer in the episode "Little Big Mom".
- Also happened in the episode "Lisa the Tree Hugger".
Homer: This is all your fault, with your non-threatening Bobby Sherman-style good looks! No girl can resist your charm!
Jesse: This was her choice Mr. Simpson.
Homer: I'm sorry, I wasn't listening, I was lost in your eyes.
The Futurama classic "War Is the H-Word" features Leela posing as a man, "Lee Lemon" in order to join the military and prevent Fry and Bender (who had earlier enlisted for the military discount on chewing gum) from getting killed. Their commander, Zapp Brannigan, has always had a disastrous and non-reciprocated (except for that one time) attraction to Leela, and finds himself intrigued and attracted to Private Lemon, leading him to bring up seemingly non-sequitur topics of conversation (such as a documentary about the ancient Greeks). Finally, Leela reveals herself in the middle of halting Zapp's attempt to stop her insubordination, causing Zapp to proclaim, "I've never been so happy to be beaten up by a woman!"
In Clone High, this happens when Joan of Arc disguises herself as 'John Dark' to get closer to Abe by joining the basketball team. This backfires when JFK starts to question his orientation...
- Lampshaded as thoroughly as possible:
Joan of Arc (in an obviously fake deep voice, wearing an obviously fake moustache but still otherwise a teenaged girl): "My name is John Dark."
George Washington Carver: "As in Jeanne d'Arc, the French name for Joan of Arc?"
Joan: "No, nothing like that" (shifty eyes).
In SpongeBob SquarePants, when Squidward tries to picture his rival, Squilliam, in his underwear (in order to face Squilliam face to face), he realizes that "Oh no, He's hot!"
Owen couldn't stop staring at Justin in the first season of Total Drama Island. Then again every girl on the show couldn't stop either.
The US-made Darkstalkers cartoon made a Running Gag of nearly all the other characters, of either gender, saying Rikuo/Gallon was "curiously atractive".
- ...for a fish man.
The Fairly Oddparents: Upon seeing Mr. Turner in a speedo, Dinkleberg remarks "Hey, looking good Turner!"
- Not to mention from the Ms. Dimmsdales pagent.
Catman: "Say, think I can get her phone number?"
Timmy: "That's no she, that's my Dad!"
Catman: "So you have it then?"

Real Life

A Truth In Television. According to some studies hardly anyone is completely heterosexual or completely homosexual, and so it can happen that someone who mostly prefers people of the opposite sex can have sexual fantasies about people of the same sex.
U.S. Olympian Nate Holland must be a fan of that particular Simpsons episode.
Music producer Steve Binder expressed this regarding Elvis:
Steve: "I'm straight as an arrow and I got to tell you, you stop, whether you're male or female, to look at him. He was that good looking. And if you never knew he was a superstar, it wouldn't make any difference; if he'd walked in the room, you'd know somebody special was in your presence."
I'm not gay but David Bowie doesn't count.
Neil Patrick Harris. Damn that man and his voice.