Misuse: Bifauxnen

The trope is getting alot of misuse in its non-Japanese sections.

The trope is Girl dresses up in a guys outfit and becomes a Bishōnen Pretty Boy [1] get Even the Girls Want Her (even a few guys might like them better like that) or at the very least make it look good. A Reverse Trap to use Internet Memes.

Most of the examples are "She looks like a dude" or standard Androgyny.

Just mistaken for a man isnt the trope, as well as characters like Pat from Saturday Night Live are NOT this.

The just standard Androgyny examples probably should go into a super trope.

edited 5th Aug '11 9:25:03 AM by Raso

This trope is treated like a Distaff Counterpart of Dude Looks Like a Lady. This means people will think that examples of women looking like men belong there.

Yeah, I noticed this, we're missing a super-trope here, the distaff version of Dude Looks Like a Lady.

Uhh...Girl You Look Like A Man?

...

Oh god the laconic... Laconic/Bifauxnen

edited 5th Aug '11 9:30:01 AM by Raso

How is the trope OP describes different from Sweet Polly Oliver?

Sweet Polly Oliver: "A female character dresses up as a man to accomplish some end."

Bifauxnen: "A female character dresses up as a man and looks incredibly hot (as a man)"

^^ A Sweet Polly Oliver is deliberately disguising herself as a male in order to achieve some goal. She's seriously intending and trying to pass as a male.

^^^ Oh, god, that was so very wrong. I changed it just to get the abomination off the page. I think this is better, but is it good enough?

"A female character who looks like, generally acts like, and may be treated like, a male."

edited 5th Aug '11 9:48:27 AM by Madrugada

So if I'm understanding things correctly, this character must also be attractive to other females in the story.

Yes, one of the requirements is that ostensibly straight women need to find the character attractive when they are dressed as a man.

Shouldn't there be a "and is attractive because of it" on the end? My impression is that it's a physical attractiveness trope.

Yes, the physical attractiveness is the most important aspect. Women dressing as a man, in general, is not a trope (unlike men dressing as women), its the how and why they do it that makes it a trope. In this case, the trope is "Woman dresses in male clothing, looks like an attractive male to others"

They can also be a Sweet Polly Oliver, or an Attractive Bent-Gender, but not necessarily.

edited 5th Aug '11 10:05:14 AM by SakurazakiSetsuna

^ and ^^ that's why I asked. I wasn't sure that I'd gotten all of the important parts.

Changed to:

"A female character who looks like, generally acts like, and may be treated like, a male, and is attractive to other females because of it. "

edited 5th Aug '11 10:14:30 AM by Madrugada

We should remove the quote as well, shouldn't we?

It's not uncommon for guys to find her attractive in the outfit too leading to some funny stuff but it does happen (Persona 4's Kanji comes to mind, Murky though since they mess with the viewers opinion if he is straight or gay. Massive sigh in relief from him after the reveal.

And things like Kaede in Negima for the ball she decided to wear a striped suit for the ball (vs 1000 actual gowns.) and played the "man" dancing with the girls. Had the all fans screaming this trope. (Setsuna did the same thing (Dragged into Drag) and got comments from Negi and girls on it.)

edited 5th Aug '11 11:59:16 AM by Raso

You mean "not uncommon"?

I think the thing is that Bifauxans look androgynous. They get identified as male because of their clothes, and are assumed to be a Pretty Boy (which is why girls like it).

Oops sorry... Thanks.

It's a bit more complex than that. Different standards for "Pretty Boy" that cross over into Dude Looks Like a Lady a bit. So an inversion has the same intended effect. (They can actually get by with long hair too if dolled up in the right way.)

edited 5th Aug '11 12:09:15 PM by Raso

A Bifauxnen is Exactly What It Says on the Tin: A Bishounen who is (surprise!) actually a chick. For all intents and purposes they are treated by the show as an actual bishounen, most of the time.

It's not that complicated a concept, but most Western cases probably won't fit because girls who look like guys are still treated like girls in them for the most part.

edited 5th Aug '11 12:58:26 PM by NoirGrimoir

Speaking of misusage, a lot of the examples in the anime and manga folders are also not this trope as they're just Lady Looks Like a Dude.

The poster child for this trope is Amara/Haruka from Sailor Moon.

Before it's revealed she's a chick◊.

Umm... Lady Looks Like a Dude is a redirect of Bifauxnen so that might be why.

I know this unrelated to the current topic... but how the hell does the name of this trope work??

Bi=2 Faux=Imitation or false Nen=??. Together=???? Am I breaking it down wrong?

No, its a Faux Bishōnen.

A Girl who dresses like a Guy but is beautiful enough to be treated as a Bishōnen by girls and is Even the Girls Want Her... even if they do know its a girl.

edited 28th Aug '11 7:46:55 PM by Raso

Yeah, in works with bifauxnen, the Bifauxnen effectively, for all intents and purposes IS a Bishounen, in looks, behavior and treatment of the story, besides being female. Like they might as well just be a guy, in most instances, except for The Reveal part.

Um, since we already have Even the Girls Want Her and Attractive Bent-Gender, perhaps we should just change the definition to be Lady Looks Like a Dude?

It's Lady who looks like a beautiful dude.

This is really one if those Weird Japanese Thing s. They are really only wanted because they look like a Bishōnen and look cool. The second they are in a dress its meh or treated as crossdressing. (the outright gender inversion of this would be Hideyoshi in Baka Test and boy does it come off weird but awesome) basically a girl who is treated like a boy who looks like a girl.

Entire shows are based on this like Mayo Chiki. (Subaru is the only reason to watch the show.) major characters in Persona 4, Infinite Stratos (see Hidden Buxom for a good visual example), Heartcatch Precure etc.

They are NOT Butch Lesbian types.

Lady Looks Like a Dude should be a supertrope to this with that name (the name of this trope describes this one thing and should stay.)

edited 28th Aug '11 10:11:13 PM by Raso