History Main / BizarreSexualDimorphism

* ''WebOriginal/{{Serina}}'': The [[https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/0c179c95-0957-4392-987e-8c3acdcf3b56/dbwh3ya-21f6ac3d-6e38-4a45-861f-ca499fca4d56.png/v1/fill/w_1024,h_527,q_75,strp/thepolymorph_by_sheather888-dbwh3ya.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJpc3MiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwic3ViIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsImF1ZCI6WyJ1cm46c2VydmljZTppbWFnZS5vcGVyYXRpb25zIl0sIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiIvZi8wYzE3OWM5NS0wOTU3LTQzOTItOTg3ZS04YzNhY2RjZjNiNTYvZGJ3aDN5YS0yMWY2YWMzZC02ZTM4LTRhNDUtODYxZi1jYTQ5OWZjYTRkNTYucG5nIiwid2lkdGgiOiI8PTEwMjQiLCJoZWlnaHQiOiI8PTUyNyJ9XV19.Wx-KWNIWr4qvLQasKEq-6JtswQpKVHlyLp_u3-4qDGQ Polymorph Birds]] are a species of softbill bird that have different morphs of male similar to the [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Side-blotched_lizard Side-blotched lizard]], each with their own distinct appearances and behaviors.
** The Ardor is only slightly larger than the female and is a monogamous breeder who will assist his mate in rearing their offspring.
** The Keeper is [[HugeGuyTinyGirl twice the size of the female]], are very aggressively territorial and keep harems of females.
** The Tramp is very similar to the female in size and appearance and will use this to sneak into the territories of Keepers in order to mate with his harem before taking off.
** The rarest morph is the Bachelor, they are nearly as large as the Keeper and much less aggressive but their most unusual trait is that they form mostly homosexual pair bonds with either other Bachelors or Ardors and will either steal or adopt the eggs of other Polymorph Birds to raise as their own.

** ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter2004'': Downplayed with Rathian and Rathalos. Their designs and abilities are similar enough, but the Rathian is usually green while the Rathalos is red(they also come in [[PinkGirlBlueBoy pink and blue]] or gold and silver), and they have different elemental weaknesses (Rathian is more vulnerable to Thunder attacks, while Rathalos is more vulnerable to Dragon attacks). They also have very different tactics: Rathians prefer to fight low to the ground at close range with fire blasts and a venomous tail, while the Rathalos tends to keep airborne and attack with its fire breath and venomous talons.

** Also some species have ACTUAL sexual dimorphism, as in visual differences in the same species based on gender, starting in the fourth generation games. Most of them are tiny differences (such as female Rattata having shorter whiskers) but a few species are very different. Hippopotas/Hippowdon are quite different in color. Male Unfezant have more colorful plumage than the brown-and-gray females, and a trailing red crest. [[PinkGirlBlueBoy Male Frillish are blue, females are pink]]... and when they evolve the male Jellicent gets a huge Pringles mustache while the female gets a [[PimpedOutDress fluffy collar]]. And then there's Meowstic, which takes it up another notch- the offense-oriented females and support-oriented males not only have different enough fur patterns to be two separate species, they also have different Hidden Abilities and learn different move sets. Another example is Pyroar, where the male sports a huge mane, while the female has a long, flowing mohawk. In some cases it's even applied retroactively to such classics as Pikachu: starting with Gen IV, there's a notch in the end of a female Pikachu's tail.

*** Some of these body modifications can also result in some forms of artificial sexual dimorphism, based largely on those same cultural expectations. In a few examples, the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kayan_people_(Myanmar) Kayan people]] of Burma have women who wear stacked brass coils that appear to greatly elongate their necks (it is also said that these also provide protection against the bites of tigers (and, we assume, Vampires)). In China, the notorious practice of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foot_binding foot binding]] meant that a good proportion of Chinese women had feet shaped differently than the males. This can even include things such as earrings and tattoos. Traditionally, earrings were seen as something only women wore and a woman with tattoos was seen as unseemly. While these may no longer apply in modern Western cultural standards, there are still some exceptions (for example, men don't normally wear earrings in both ears or large earrings like the giant hoop variety, and a woman with a fully tattooed arm is generally seen as unusual or noteworthy).

** Also, human male penises are [[GagPenis gigantic]] compared to other primates (yes, even your TeenyWeenie is massive compared to a gorilla's; "hung like a gorilla" is not a compliment), leading some to believe that before the advent of clothing they, like human breasts now, served as a [[BuxomIsBetter sexual display]] in addition to their other functions.

** Other examples: In the [[Anime/{{Pokemon}} anime]], a Latias produced a Latios egg like the Volbeat/Illumise thing. Some species also have sexual trimorphism: Only male Kirlia can evolve into Gallade, but both genders can evolve into Gardevoir. Only female Snorunt can evolve into Froslass, but both can evolve into Glalie. Combee and Salandit can be both genders, but only females evolve into Vespiquen and Salazzle respectively, males do not evolve.

Tends to go hand-in-hand with BizarreAlienBiology, MoreDeadlyThanTheMale (When females are the only ones looking and acting like predators), and AlienGenderConfusion can easily result when different dimorphism schemes interact. See also CuteMonsterGirl, OneGenderRace, HumanoidFemaleAnimal, MisterSeahorse, TheUglyGuysHotDaughter and BeePeople. For a (relatively speaking) more subtle sex difference, see TertiarySexualCharacteristics.

* ''Franchise/StarWars'': Supplemental material revealed this to be the case with Sarlacs, the tongue and mouth visible from the ground being part of the female and the male being a subterranean parasite that devours and merges with the female until the matted pair spews eggs out into space to hatch on distant planets.

** Draenei, and by extension the eredar, are the most dimorphic playable race. Aside from a significant amount of SexyDimorphism, males have bony crests on their foreheads and a WeirdBeard of tentacles, while females instead have large curved horns, and sometimes (DependingOnTheArtist) small tentacles behind their ears and a very small forehead ridge. There's no in-universe explanation, but the meta reason is to give a stereotypical HornyDevils look for [[TheCorruptor eredar]] to fulfill and [[IncorruptiblePurePureness draenei]] to subvert.

Tends to go hand-in-hand with BizarreAlienBiology, MoreDeadlyThanTheMale (When females are the only ones looking and acting like predators), and AlienGenderConfusion can easily result when different dimorphism schemes interact. See also CuteMonsterGirl, OneGenderRace, HumanoidFemaleAnimal, MisterSeahorse, UglyGuysHotDaughter and BeePeople. For a (relatively speaking) more subtle sex difference, see TertiarySexualCharacteristics.

* Regular Octarians in ''Franchise/{{Splatoon}}'' look like anthropomorphic octopus tentacles, and generally males and females look no different from each other. However, Octolings, who are Octarians capable of VoluntaryShapeshifting between an octopus form and a humanoid form, are all female in the Hero Mode campaigns. In contrast, both male and female Inklings can change between squid and humanoid form, and look not too different from each other. Ulimately averted, as [[spoiler:one Sunken Scroll implies that their leader DJ Octavio is actually a male Octoling]], and starting with ''VideoGame/Splatoon2''[='s=] Octo Expansion, you can play as a male Octoling yourself.

** The Seltas is a monster that resembles an enormous rhinoceros beetle. The Seltas Queen is much larger, flightless, and more resembles a scorpion with its squat body and pincered tail.
** Downplayed with Rathian and Rathalos. Their designs and abilities are similar enough, but the Rathian is usually green while the Rathalos is red(they also come in [[PinkGirlBlueBoy pink and blue]] or gold and silver), and they have different elemental weaknesses (Rathian is more vulnerable to Thunder attacks, while Rathalos is more vulnerable to Dragon attacks). They also have very different tactics: Rathians prefer to fight low to the ground at close range with fire blasts and a venomous tail, while the Rathalos tends to keep airborne and attack with its fire breath and venomous talons.
** Teostra and Lunastra downplay this as well. Like the Raths, their designs are similar to one another but they're dimorphic enough to warrant their own classifications (Teostra is red and has smaller horns while Lunastra is blue and has larger horns). They also have different weaknesses (Water for Teostra, Dragon for Lunastra) and different tactics (Teostra can apply Blastblight, Lunastra creates firey hazard areas).

** The adult females of some species of firefly are virtually indistinguishable from the larvae (i.e., grubs), while only the males are the elongated beetles we all know and love.

** Humans' sexual dimorphism isn't as great as that of our near relatives (men are usually about 5" taller and 45lbs heavier than their sisters). Gorilla and orangutan males are enormous compared to the females, while male and female gibbons sport different colors of fur, plus an inflatable throat pouch for males of some species. It's even more extreme in the larger monkeys, such as baboons, mandrills, or proboscis monkeys.

** In ''Today, Mom'' there are genetically engineered sphinxes: lion-sized sentient beings created to survive on Venus to terraform it to human-habitable conditions. The males were working on Venus, the females were kept hidden on Earth. One day males revolted, declared independence and smuggled females to Venus. They were very shocked to learn that [[spoiler:the females are ordinary, non-sentient domestic cats]]. At one point a sphinx shows his family portrait with his mom and two sisters.

The females, on the other hand, almost all stay small and grublike, and after a certain time are carried by the pig-like males to the trees, and are ''impregnated by said trees'' via pollen. Then, when the young they're carrying are ready to be born, they ''eat their way out of their mother''. In addition, the occasional female will develop into a pig-like form like the males to serve as a matriarch, and eventually also be vivisected to become a "mothertree", which holds all the young and nourishes them with its sap.]] "Bizarre sexual dimophism" doesn't even ''begin'' to cover it.

* "The People" in ''Webcomic/{{Digger}}'' are a race of bipedal, sapient Spotted Hyenas. They most certainly share the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spotted_hyena#Reproduction_and_development real life sexual dimorphism of Spotted Hyenas]], and their culture revolves around it: the girls are LargeAndInCharge, but have horrific infant mortality rates. In particular, firstborn children are considered to "belong to the goddess" — like actual hyenas, the first pregnancy is almost always fatal to the child. A firstborn who survives is seen as an omen and a lucky charm, a blessed person who was ''given back'' by their deity. The author, Ursula Vernon, based a huge amount of the work on the real-life characteristics of the anthropomorphized animals; while the mythology is taken from real world myths and legends. Definitely someone who [[ShownTheirWork did the research]], and did it well. It helps to know that Ursula was an anthropology major in college and a post-grad student of Weird Knowledge in real life. For those who don't feel like checking [[Wiki/{{Wikipedia}} The Other Wiki]], [[DontExplainTheJoke that means]] Blood [[LoveMakesYouCrazy Eye's]] ExoticEquipment looks ''almost exactly'' like [[TheWoobie Ed's]] with any size-difference being negligible.

* Downplayed example, in ''VideoGame/GranblueFantasy'', Female and Male Draphs both share visually similar characteristics with their horns and pointed ears. But while average male Draphs are large, hulking brutes at around 220cm tall, physically larger than the rest of the other races; Female Draphs are positively ''[[http://i.imgur.com/2QgqZjU.jpg tiny]]'' in comparison, averaging at only 130cm, the only race shorter than them being the Dwarfish Harvins. But what makes them stand out compared to the other races is how the cup size of female Draphs ranges from ''[[WorldOfBuxom G all the way to L]]'', shown [[https://i.imgur.com/SAEWG9v.jpg here.]] Many of the Female Draph characters are also [[BoobsOfSteel strong, physical fighters]].

* Regular Octarians in ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon}}'' look like anthropomorphic octopus tentacles, and generally males and females look no different from each other. However, Octolings, who are Octarians capable of VoluntaryShapeshifting between an octopus form and a humanoid form, are all female in the Hero Mode campaigns. In contrast, both male and female Inklings can change between squid and humanoid form, and look not too different from each other. That said, [[spoiler:one Sunken Scroll implies that their leader DJ Octavio is actually a giant male Octoling]], and ''VideoGame/Splatoon2''[='s=] Octo Expansion allows you to play as a male Octoling.

** The M.U.T.O.s in ''Film/{{Godzilla 2014}}''. The male has four legs and wings but is relatively small in size compared to Godzilla (about the size of a hawk if Godzilla was human-scaled), while the female is Godzilla's size and has six legs but cannot fly. However, in a subversion, the two are pretty much identical in appearance and recognizable as the same species. This is very similar to real-life insects, especially parasitic wasps, glow-worms, and lubber grasshoppers.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Chowder}}'', both the titular character, Chowder, and his "love interest" Panini, are said by WordOfGod to be the same species of [[MixAndMatchCritters bear, cat, rabbit...]] [[BuffySpeak thingies]]. Despite this, the former is grey and bares no obvious rabbit features, while the latter is pink and could be mistaken for a full-blooded rabbit at first glance. Though they do have similar tails and sharp teeth.

* In ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'' Yordle females look like tiny women with blueish-purple skin and long, pointed furry ears — quite squat and with rather wide faces (depending on the artist) but basically humanoid. Yordle ''males'' on the other hand vary from looking like short gnome-like fellows with massive facial hair (but not blue skin) to resembling bipedal ''hamsters'' — either way they look nothing like the females. Compare [[https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/leagueoflegends/images/2/29/Tristana_OriginalSkin.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20170615231509 Tristana]] with [[https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/leagueoflegends/images/3/3b/Teemo_OriginalSkin.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20170615230642 Teemo.]] This largely stems from them originally being two separate races (Yordles and Meglings) who were [[{{Retcon}} retconned]] into one. However, as time progresses the ''League'' art team is making an effort to make female yordles more outwardly furry, including giving Tristana and Lulu obvious fur texutre in ''Wild Rift'' shorts.
** It's not just the Yordles either. [[https://ddragon.leagueoflegends.com/cdn/img/champion/splash/Alistar_0.jpg This]] is Alistar, a male Runeterran [[OurMinotaursAreDifferent minotaur]]. While he's an exceptionally-large member of his species, for comparison and scale [[https://img.rankedboost.com/wp-content/plugins/legends-of-runeterra/assets/unit-and-champion-artwork/01NX036-full.png here]] is the Minotaur Reckoner, a more conventional male minotaur. Finally, [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/leagueoflegends/images/9/98/04NX010-full.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/2000?cb=20210301040840 this]] is Lady Aelana, a female minotaur- and [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/leagueoflegends/images/9/98/04NX010-full.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/2000?cb=20210301040840 here]] she is beside other humans for scale, showing that female minotaurs are still considerably taller than the average human (although there particularly large men can still be taller) but absolutely ''petite'' compared to their males.

* The Orfa, an alien race from ''VideoGame/{{Ascendancy}}'', have a staggering ''[[UpToEleven 17 distinct sexes]]''. The game theorizes that the only reason that they even evolved to sapience was the extreme sexual competition that arose from their ridiculously complicated mating system.

* Male rotifers (a type of freshwater zooplankton) are barely a quarter the size of females, and are so single-mindedly dedicated to mating that they don't even have mouths. The males starve to death after only a day or two, whereas the females (which eat algae) last a week or more after hatching. To make it [[UpToEleven even more extreme]], a certain class of rotifers, the Bdelloidea, completely abolished all males. It is an entire class with around 450 described species (it is hard to count because there are no shared genetic pools, so we have to rely on morphological differences), reproducing exclusively through parthenogenesis.

** In ''[[Film/InvasionOfAstroMonster Godzilla Vs. Monster Zero]],'' the female Xilliens all look exactly alike (which is to say, like Kumi Mizuno).

** In ''Film/GodzillaVersusTheAstroMonster,'' the female Xilliens all look exactly alike (which is to say, like Kumi Mizuno).

* ''VideoGame/DragonBallOnline'' and ''VideoGame/DragonBallXenoverse'' has the Majin race, which was introduced in the former. They were born when the good Majin Buu read one of Mr. Satan's pornographic books, decided that he wanted companionship, and created a wife; after a while they made a baby, which resulted in the proliferation of an entire race of beings like them. Male Majins take after [[https://dragonball.wikia.com/wiki/Good_Buu Mr. Buu]], having fat bodies and silly faces, while females take after [[https://dragonball.wikia.com/wiki/Miss_Buu Miss Buu]], resembling human women but lacking noses and having head tentacles instead of hair.