History Main / FairestOfThemAll

* SelfDemonstrating/DoctorDoom is a rare male example of this trope (Type 2), although it's only one aspect of the many-layered GreenEyedMonster that drives his hatred for Reed Richards.

* Literature/SnowWhite's WickedStepmother, [[TropeNamers of course]]. ''Modus operandi'': Hitman; when that didn't work, strangulation; when ''that'' didn't work, poisoned comb; and last but not least, [[HowDoYouLikeThemApples poisoned apple]]. In the Grimms' first edition, she was a wicked ''mother'' instead.

* In Creator/CSLewis's ''Literature/TillWeHaveFaces'', it's implied that some of the misfortune in the story is caused by the goddess Ungit being jealous of the princess Istra's beauty. It's a retelling of the story of Cupid and Psyche from GreekMythology example.

* In the ChildBallad ''Literature/YoungBeichan'', when the porter declares that the heroine is more beautiful than any woman he's seen, the bride's mother in some variants is in a snit because he didn't except her, not the bride.

* In Zenescope's ''GrimmFairyTales'', one story focuses on a cheerleader's step-mother who is told [[{{Grimmification}} a darker, more violent]] version of Literature/SnowWhite. It turns out that the step-mother has been poisoning her daughter because she's jealous of both her beauty and her fame on the school's cheerleading squad (back in her youth, the step-mother was the best cheerleader).

* In "Literature/KateCrackernuts", the stepmother has her stepdaughter's head turned into a sheep's head, because she was more beautiful than her own daughter.

* In ''Comicbook/TheMightyThor'', Amora The Enchantress is considered the WorldsMostBeatifulWoman, but she often gets jealous of female superheroes and the girlfriends of male ones, seeing them as threats.

* In ''Anime/DigimonFrontier'', the villainess Ranamon is considered the

* In ''TheTwelveKingdoms'', the former Queen of Kei banished all the other women from her kingdom so that she would be the most beautiful and there would be [[{{Yandere}} no chance of Keiki paying more attention to them than to her]]. Those that would not or could not leave were executed.

* In Zenescope's ''Grimm Fairy Tales'', one story focuses on a cheerleader's step-mother who is told [[{{Grimmification}} a darker, more violent]] version of Literature/SnowWhite. It turns out that the step-mother has been poisoning her daughter because she's jealous of both her beauty and her fame on the school's cheerleading squad (back in her youth, the step-mother was the best cheerleader).
* DoctorDoom is a rare male example of this trope (Type 2), although it's only one aspect of the many-layered GreenEyedMonster that drives his hatred for Reed Richards.

* ''{{Shrek}}'' parodies this with Lord Faarquad asking a Magic Mirror, "Mirror, Mirror, on the wall, is this not the most perfect kingdom of them all?"

* Psyche was so beautiful that people started worshipping her instead of Aphrodite, the goddess of beauty herself, who naturally became extremely jealous. She sent her son, the god of love, to make her fall in love with a horrible person or creature. Instead, her son fell in love with Psyche. Oops.

* An interesting variant in Gail Carson Levine's Fairest, with voice being the desirable quality.
* In Creator/CSLewis's ''TillWeHaveFaces'', it's implied that some of the misfortune in the story is caused by the goddess Ungit being jealous of the princess Istra's beauty. It's a retelling of the story of Cupid and Psyche from GreekMythology example.
* Famously parodied in ThePrincessBride, where there is apparently a list of the land's most beautiful women, and it is revised every year. Much of the narration about Buttercup's adolescence is about her progress up the list's rankings.

* Done twice on ''AreYouAfraidOfTheDark'': First, by a witch who ran a beauty salon and had to kill 3 of her young female employees every so often in a ritual to keep herself young and beautiful. The second woman just stole girls' faces and enslaved them.

* Partly gender-flipped in an episode of ''TalesFromTheCrypt'', in which a man stole women's beauty by taking molds of their faces, to transfer to [[MummiesAtTheDinnerTable his dead and decaying wife.]]
* Used by ''FridayThe13thTheSeries'', in which a cursed mirror could steal a person's beauty, killing them in an accident shortly thereafter.

* ''{{GURPS}}'' 4th Edition ''Magic'' supplement has a spell called "Steal Beauty".

* One villainess from an early {{Ravenloft}} module became one because she became insanely jealous of a fellow priestess who was slightly more beautiful (Cha 18) than she (Cha 17). Apparently being more beautiful than 98% of humanity just wasn't enough for her, so long as someone even better-looking existed.

* ''BanjoKazooie'': Gruntilda the witch sought to be the most beautiful person in the world, and created a "beauty extractor" to that end. She then set off to kidnap the fairest maiden in the land--who turned out to be the hero's little sister: a cross between Goldilocks and a bear.

* ''TotallySpies'': The girls uncover a modeling agency that steals the most beautiful parts of other girls to make their models perfect, including Clover's legs, Sam's teeth, and Alex's hair.

* ''{{Animaniacs}}'': ''SnowWhite'' was no better than her WickedStepmother. She had the dwarves abduct Dot for being the cutest of the all. [[spoiler:In the end, after Snow is defeated, Dot had the MagicMirror covered so it'd be no longer able to have anyone DrivenByEnvy]].
* ''SofiaTheFirst'': When Sofia arrived at the castle, Prince James told Princess Amber she'd no longer be the fairest of them all.

* Spectra from ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom''. In her first episode, she feeds off children's misery so that she'll remain looking youthful. Her second apperance is similar to the ''Totally Spies'' example above, except she used the parts for a body for herself.

* Spectra from ''DannyPhantom''. In her first episode, she feeds off children's misery so that she'll remain looking youthful. Her second apperance is similar to the ''Totally Spies'' example above, except she used the parts for a body for herself.

* Literature/SnowWhite's WickedStepmother, [[TropeNamer of course]]. ''Modus operandi'': Hitman; when that didn't work, strangulation; when ''that'' didn't work, poisoned comb; and last but not least, [[HowDoYouLikeThemApples poisoned apple]]. In the Grimms' first edition, she was a wicked ''mother'' instead.
* In "[[http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/authors/jacobs/english/laidlyworm.html The Laidly Worm of Spindleston Heugh]]", the stepmother, [[FairestOfThemAll out of jealousy at her beauty]], turns her stepdaughter into a dragon; she is disenchanted by her brother.

* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'': "[[AllThereInTheManual Did Ozai scar his son so he wouldn't be a threat to his good looks? No one can be sure what goes on in the twisted mind of the Firelord]]."

** The Anime Adaptation ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shirayuki_Hime_no_Densetsu Shirayuki Hime no Densetsu]]'' (''The Legend of Princess Snow White'') has her trying a GrandTheftMe instead... And it's not her first time.

* In Creator/CSLewis's ''TillWeHaveFaces'', it's implied that some of the misfortune in the story is caused by the goddess Ungit being jealous of the princess Istra's beauty.
** It's a retelling of the story of Cupid and Psyche (see the GreekMythology example, above,) so that's no surprise.

* Subverted in ''Film/SnowWhiteATaleofTerror''. Claudia isn't so much wanting to be fairest in the land as to be more beautiful than Lilli for two reasons: first, because she can surpass the shadow of Frederich's first wife, second, because her beauty is all she has left as a wife after a stillbirth leaves her barren.

* Done twice on ''AreYouAfraidOfTheDark?'': First, by a witch who ran a beauty salon and had to kill 3 of her young female employees every so often in a ritual to keep herself young and beautiful. The second woman just stole girls' faces and enslaved them.

* Countess ElizabethBathory reputedly [[BloodBath bathed in the blood of young women to gain their beauty.]]

* ''{{Smallville}}'': A girl who was ugly until she got plastic surgery, and then her mother -- like Cinderella's WS -- went around attacking girls at her high school who were naturally good-looking.
* ''PowerRangersLostGalaxy'': Trakeena had a monster go around stealing girls' beauty and putting it in a jar in the form of gold dust, which left their skin covered in purple and yellow squares.

* ''AvatarTheLastAirbender'': "[[AllThereInTheManual Did Ozai scar his son so he wouldn't be a threat to his good looks? No one can be sure what goes on in the twisted mind of the Firelord]]."
** [[MrFanservice It didn't work very well, then.]]

* [[ThePictureOfDorianGray Dorian Gray]] wished he would remain young and [[{{Bishonen}} beautiful]] forever while his new portrait aged instead. BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor...

* Literature/SnowWhite's WickedStepmother, [[TropeNamer of course]]. ''Modus operandi'': Hit man; when that didn't work, strangulation; when ''that'' didn't work, poisoned comb; and last but not least, [[HowDoYouLikeThemApples poisoned apple]]. In the Grimms' first edition, she was a wicked ''mother'' instead.