History Main / GenderMisdirection

Gender Misdirection happens when an unseen character is referred to by gender-neutral nouns and honorifics (Doctor, President, Judge), or also nouns generally associated with one specific gender, causing the viewers to assume the character is male when they are actually female or vice versa. TheReveal that they are the opposite sex is generally treated as a surprise by the other characters, and if the twist is done correctly by the writer the reader/viewer should have the same reaction.

* ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'' the leader of GREMLIN is only ever referred to as either One Eyed Odin or One Eyed Othinus, named after a male god from Myth/NorseMythology, which makes it quite surprising when she's revealed to actually be a 14 year old girl.

* ''Anime/HaloLegends'' has the short "The Babysitter" with a Spartan II named Cal-141. She spends the entire short [[spoiler:until her death scene]] in her PoweredArmor with her helmet on without speaking, making the reveal that she's a woman all the more surprising to her comrades. Presumably "Cal" is short for something like Calliope.

* The Quarters series by TanyaHuff often refers to minor or background characters by their occupation — "two guards," "a secretary" — a few lines before the gendered pronoun is used. The reader then realizes that the guard or secretary to which s/he had unthinkingly assigned the "conventional" gender is, in fact, just the opposite.

See also SamusIsAGirl, which is the same but with a character who has appeared on screen prior to the reveal, and SheIsTheKing, where the character has a title associated with a specific gender, but is the opposite gender the title implies. Contrast with GenderNeutralWriting. CastAsAMask may also be used to obscure a character's real gender, especially if the character is not actually seen on screen.

* ''Film/{{S.W.A.T.}'' features Chris Sanchez, who was one of the members of the SWAT Team, who was thought to be named Christopher, turns out to be a woman named Christina. Most women named either Christina or Christine (especially younger women) tend to go by either Chrissy, Christy or Christie these days.

* In ''Film/{{Ghostbusters}}'' Gozer is assumed to be a man but appears in the form of a woman.

* ''WesternAnimation/WhatsNewScoobyDoo'': The gang once went to an amusement park without knowing anything about its owners than their names (Chris and Terry) and their fame obtained by building the park's rides. The gang (mostly Shaggy) expected Chris and Terry to be men but it turns out they're girls.

* ''Series/MarriedWithChildren'': Al works at Gary's Shoes & Accessories For Today's Women. Al worked there for 20 years before finally meeting Gary and learning Gary is a woman.

* In 1988, British girls' comic ''Bunty'' ran a story called "The Seven Sisters", in which a young girl named Emily travels around Victorian England searching for her six siblings, the oldest of whom is named Pat. For most of the story, Emily believes Pat is short for Patricia - and the title leads the reader to make the same assumption. However, in the final instalment, Emily and her sister, Mary, meet a young man named Patrick who turns out to be the missing sibling.

* The true identity of the Imperator Librarius in ''Videogame/BlazBlue'' turns out to be a female, [[spoiler:Jun and Ragna's long-lost sister Saya]] a fact disguised by the masculine sounding title. Less so in the original Japanese where the title is the gender-neutral "Mikado."

* Alluka from ''Manga/HunterXHunter''. Turns out that the second youngest "brother" in the Zoldyck family is a girl (or possibly a male to female {{transsexual}}). Not important to the story, but it had fans in an uproar. Made more confusing by the fact that one of the actual brothers, Kalluto, is a case of DudeLooksLikeALady, so fans were already used to expecting a feminine looking figure, especially in that family, to actually belong to a boy.

* In ''Dandelions Among Lillies'' when Kanae's older sister asks if she could come over with someone she is surprised to see it's a girlfriend, not a boyfriend.

* ''LightNovel/ACertainMagicalIndex'' the leader of GREMLIN is only ever referred to as either One Eyed Odin or One Eyed Othinus, named after a male god from NorseMythology, which makes it quite surprising when she's revealed to actually be a 14 year old girl.

[[folder:Comics]]
* In 1988, British girls' comic ''Bunty'' ran a story called "The Seven Sisters", in which a young girl named Emily travels around Victorian England searching for her six siblings, the oldest of whom is named Pat. For most of the story, Emily believes Pat is short for Patricia - and the title leads the reader to make the same assumption. However, in the final instalment, Emily and her sister, Mary, meet a young man named Patrick who turns out to be the missing sibling.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]

* In ''Franchise/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]].

* ''Series/{{Alias}}'': "The Man," who is in charge of yet another private terrorist group/espionage agency, turns out to be Sidney's (heretofore presumed dead) mother.

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* TwoKinds: Ladies and Gentlemen, "King" Adelaide of the Western Basitin republic.
[[/folder]]

* TwoKinds: Ladies and Gentlemen, "King" Adeliade of the Western Basitin republic.

* In-universe, Irene Vincent chose the alias "Larry" to disguise that she was a female bounty hunter. When ''Anime/GunsmithCats'' was dubbed into English they apparently missed this and translated her name as "Rally" due to the [[SpellMyNameWithAnS L/R confusion]] in Japanese, but the intent was there to have it be this trope.

* In-universe, Irene Vincent chose the alias "Larry" to disguise that she was a female bounty hunter. When ''Anime/GunsmithCats'' was dubbed into English they apparently missed this and translated her name as "Rally" due to the [[SpellMyNameWithAnS L/R confusion]] in Japanese, but the intent was there to have it be this trope.