History Main / GenderMisdirection

* Alluka from ''HunterXHunter''. Turns out that the second youngest "brother" in the Zoldyck family is a girl. Not important to the story, but it had fans in an uproar.

* Alluka from ''HunterXHunter''. Turns out that the second youngest "brother" in the family is a girl. Not important to the story, but it had fans in an uproar.

** Similarly, Yoruichi is initially present in the form of a black cat with a very masculine voice, and Urahara doesn't use gendered pronouns during their introduction. It takes a while, but Yoruichi is eventually revealed to be a very buxom ''woman'' who shapeshifts into the form of a cat.

* Alluka from ''HunterXHunter''. Turns out that the youngest brother is a girl. Not important to the story, but it had fans in an uproar.
** Alluka is the second youngest.

* In ''{{Otherland}}'' by Tad Williams, Orlando Gardiner and Sam Fredericks only know each other through their online role-playing personas, which are both male. Later it is revealed that "Sam" is in fact a girl.

* In ''MassEffect'', you don't see "Jack", the deadly Subject Zero, until the end of the mission. You've heard a number of people in the nightmarish prison Purgatory refer to Jack in terror up until this point. When you release Subject Zero from the cryogenic cell the notorious criminal's been sealed in as a safety measure, most players were probably a little surprised to find that ''she's'' a small young woman in her twenties. Unless, of course, you [[TrailersAlwaysSpoil followed the trailers diligently]].

* Similarly on ''LasVegas'', famed Casino Host Samantha Marquez is referred to as "Sam," and thus assumed to be a man by Danny.

See also SamusIsAGirl, which is the same but with a character who has appeared on screen prior to the reveal, and contrast with GenderNeutralWriting.

* ''BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'': Batman believed the terrorist known as "Red Claw" to be a man until they met.

* In ''MetalGearSolid'' we hear about Dr. Clark, who turned Gray Fox into the Cyborg Ninja. In ''MetalGearSolid4'' we discover that Dr. Clark is a woman, Para-Medic from ''MetalGearSolid3''.

* In the first ''Series/{{Stargate SG-1}}'' episode Captain Samantha Carter is intentionally referred to as Captain Sam Carter so that O'Neill can shoot his mouth off about having 'some new guy' added to his team as she walks in behind him.

* In ''{{Bleach}}'', the heroes talk about the rumored Kuukaku Shiba as a guy until they discover, err, proof of the contrary.

* In ''Film/TheAvengers1998'', the head of the Ministry's codename is "Father"... but she's a woman.

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* In ''GhostBusters'' Gozer is assumed to be a man but appears in the form of a woman.

* In the first ''StargateSG1'' episode Captain Samantha Carter is intentionally referred to as Captain Sam Carter so that O'Neill can shoot his mouth off about having 'some new guy' added to his team as she walks in behind him.

* In one episode of ''HowIMetYourMother'' Marshall and Barney keep on telling Ted stories about a wild coworker named Jenkins. Jenkins is purported to have done many things, like telling bawdy stories, drinking heavily, and participating in eating contests. Since the show is narrated from Ted's point of view, the scenes involving Jenkins show an enthusiastic, overweight, and middle-aged man (presumably what Ted imagines Jenkins to look like). Of course, later on, Jenkins is revealed to be a young woman, and when Ted replays the scenes in his head with the real Jenkins, they take on an entirely different tone.

[[AC:Literature]]

* In {{Tekken}} 6, the character Leo seems to deliberately invoke this trope. (It's short for Eleonore/Eleonora)

* In the ''PhineasAndFerb'' episode "Oil On Candace", Dr. Doofenshmirtz is awaiting a visit from his old [[CardCarryingVillain evil science professor]], "the mighty [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Dr. Gevaarlijk]]!" No pronouns are used to refer to Gevaarlijk before she appears, and she turns out to be a diminutive older lady.

* Neville's dog in IAmLegend is referred to as "Sam" throughout until Neville yells out "Samantha" when she is injured and infected trying to protect him. The reveal makes the scene extra sad.

* In an early episode of ''[[ThirtyRock 30 Rock]]'' Jack sets up Liz with a friend of his named Thomas, who turns out to be a female named Gretchen Thomas. Jack thought Liz was a lesbian.

* In the 1998 film ''The Avengers'', the head of the Ministry's codename is "Father"... but she's a woman.

* In the TV series ''Series/TheAvengers'', steed's boss, codenamed "Mother" (or some variations on "grandma" in translations), is a man in a wheelchair.

* Alluka from Hunter x Hunter. Turns out that the youngest brother is a girl. Not important to the story, but it had fans in an uproar.

* In ''{{Bleach}}'', the heroes talk about the rumored Kuukaku Shiba as a guy until they discover, err, [[IfYouKnowWhatIMean proof of the contrary]].

* During most of the first season of ''{{Alias}}'', Sydney and SD-6 run up against an organization led by a mysterious character referred to as simply "The Man." In the season finale it is revealed that The Man was a woman... [[spoiler:Irina.]]