History Main / PsychoLesbian

* ''Film/FutureWorld2018'': The Drug Lord, a ruthless and unhinged drug trafficker, is attracted to Ash, ordering she be reprogrammed to serve as her lover. Upon finding Ash and Lei together after having sex the previous night, she reacts in a jealous rage, ordering Ash's [[LaserGuidedAmnesia memory be wiped of this]]. She's no worse than the male Warlord though who also clearly wanted Ash, so it's all {{downplayed}}.

* From ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'', we have secondary villain Tsukuyomi. She starts as a mere PunchClockVillain with shades of PsychopathicWomanchild and a crush on her [[SempaiKohai ex-sempai]] Setsuna Sakurazaki, but as time passes, she becomes [[StalkerWithACrush really, *really*, creepily obsessed with Setsuna]]. And also seems to derive sexual pleasure from murder. And it gets more explicit. She's also probably the only villain in the series who's evil with no AntiVillain tendencies or FreudianExcuse for her actions, which just makes her even creepier than most other bad guys. Other lesbians in the series (including Setsuna) are considerably more stable and likable, so it is clear that Tsukuyomi is a psycho who happens to be a lesbian, rather than being psycho because she is a lesbian.

** Urara starts off as a possessive yandere towards her club president. After Momoka [[LoveAtFirstPunch beats her up]], she becomes the new target of desire, resulting in a lot of unwanted groping.

* Semmerling from ''Anime/RidingBean''. Add to that the fact that she's a shameless pedophile and a ManipulativeBastard (maybe even a MagnificentBastard; she also displays elements of TheChessmaster), and she's well on her way to fitting every negative stereotype of the screen lesbian.

* ''Series/AvocadoToast'': Omnira, the leader of a therapeutic cult, turns out to groom and have sex with her patients. She tries this with Elle, and has already got her hooks in Naran.

%%[[caption-width-right:349:[[WesternAnimation/TheBoondocks "I like ya, and I want ya. Now we can do this the easy way, or we can do this the hard way, the choice is yours."]]]]

%%[[caption-width-right:349:]]

[[caption-width-right:349:[[WesternAnimation/TheBoondocks I like ya, and I want'cha. Now we can do this the easy way or we can do this the hard way. The choice is yours.]]]]

* Miharu from ''LightNovel/BakaAndTestSummonTheBeasts'' is crazily in love with Minami. Her solution to anyone who happens to get between her and Minami is to try to MurderTheHypotenuse.

* In ''The Disappearance of LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya'', [[spoiler: the Ryoko Asakura of the AlternateUniverse]] ''seems'' to have somewhat Psycho Lesbian tendencies towards [[spoiler: Yuki Nagato. Given to that she's a normal human, yet ''still'' ends up stabbing Kyon to protect Yuki.]] She even waits for her at the school at 4:00 AM.

This trope carries uncomfortable subtext: [[MoralMyopia go straight or go crazy]]. Or ''at least'' [[UnfortunateImplications have the decency of being bisexual]] so the male audience [[GirlOnGirlIsHot can have something they can enjoy watching.]] For years, a cocktail of censorship and bigotry rendered all lesbian characters on screen exclusively "crazy" and villainous. UsefulNotes/TheHaysCode-era requirements that "deviant" characters (and that included all gay characters of any gender) must not be made sympathetic or rewarded meant that such characters [[BuryYourGays would almost inevitably be toast]] before the final credits rolled - and this convention has persisted long after the demise of the Code itself.

* [[spoiler: Ruth Vigers]] in ''Affinity'' (1999) by Sarah Waters. [[spoiler: An Evil Mastermind con artist who gets her jollies preying on young girls while dressed as a male spirit. It's implied she's something of a control freak with her girlfriend, femme moll Selina, who herself is an experienced con artist.]] Perhaps an attempt at [[DeconstructedTrope deconstructing]] this trope, by putting it in a social context. The protagonist of the book, whose lesbian impulses are tightly repressed, is mentally disturbed in other ways.
* The first book in Literature/TheBeeboBrinkerChronicles, ''Odd Girl Out'' (1957), stars Laura, who transitions from a self-loathing neurotic mess into a full-blown StalkerWithACrush who manipulates the pseudo-butch Beth into continuing a borderline [[TheMasochismTango Masochism Tango]] romance.
** The third book has Beebo [[spoiler:kill a dog in order to keep Laura. It doesn't work. She wakes up to herself in the fourth book, by which time Laura has married Jack--although both of them remain gay--and had a daughter. Fortunately, Beth is there for Beebo]].
* [[spoiler:Ktarka Zamlon Torin]] in ''Beyond Varallan'' (2000), the 2nd book in S.L. Viehl's ''Literature/{{Stardoc}}'' series, is the first person in her planet's known history to have homosexual tendencies ''at all''. [[spoiler: The first lesbian in Jorenian history turns out to be a drug-fueled rapist and murderer with oddly vague reasoning for her infatuations...]]
* One of the more uncomfortable subplots of Creator/TomClancy's ''[[Literature/JackRyan The Cardinal of the Kremlin]]'' (1988) features an American female rocket scientist who essentially hands her male co-worker over to [[UsefulNotes/MoscowCentre the KGB]] in order to (clumsily) attempt to [[ComfortingTheWidow seduce the guy's wife]].
* Literary classic example with ''Literature/{{Carmilla}}'' the female vampire obsessed with protagonist Laura and [[KissOfTheVampire drinks]] her while she sleeps in multiple occasions, even biting her breast. Many forget Carmilla predates ''Literature/{{Dracula}}'' by 26 years.
* One of these features as a villainess in the Literature/JudgeDee novel ''The Chinese Maze Murders'' (1957).
* Averted: ''Literature/CiaphasCain''[[note]]'''HERO OF THE IMPERIUM'''[[/note]] has Corporal Mari Magot, whose most common description from the protagonist is 'cheerfully sociopathic' (a characteristic which is not particularly extraordinary for the setting). She deliberately avoids promotion so she can [[InappropriatelyCloseComrades stay in the same squad as Sergeant Grifen]]; but their relationship is never portrayed as being abusive or anything but mutual and genuine. She reserves all of her murderous impulses for the enemies her squad faces.
* Parodied: In ''Daemon in Lithuania'' (1973), some characters put on a play that contains [[JustForFun/TropeOverdosed half of all the old-fashioned clichés ever invented]]. Kinga is found to be pregnant, and: "Enter the Lady-in-Black. She nourished a tragic passion for Kinga, and heaped the most terrible reproaches on her head, striding up and down the stage and drawing on her [[FreudWasRight long cigarette holder]]. Finally, she tossed it on to the ground, [[GroinAttack stamped on it]], and flung herself on to her frivolous friend's couch, intending to strangle her..."
* Creator/RobertWestall's ''Literature/FuturetrackFive'' (1983) has a mild parody; Dronfield Biological Warfare Research Centre is staffed entirely by female Techs. All of the male Techs believe them to be Psycho Lesbians.
* Invoked: Lisbeth Salander is portrayed as this by the Conspiracy attempting to discredit her in ''[[Literature/MillenniumSeries The Girl Who Played with Fire]]'' (2006).
* {{Averted}} in ''Literature/GirlsDontHit'' (2014). Though Joss is a hitwoman who feels no remorse at all, there's no suggestion that this has any correlation with her being a lesbian; indeed, her only real feelings are toward her female lovers and her interactions with them are the most humanizing things about her.
* UsefulNotes/LizzieBorden has inspired many writers to speculate about why she killed her parents, and psycho lesbian motivations are among the lot. Evan Hunter's novel ''Lizzie'' (1984) portrays her as driven to murder after having been seduced by an aristocratic lesbian in Europe, returning home in a state of sexual frustration and being surprised in a tryst with the maid by her parents. Another novelization, ''Lizzie Borden'' (1990) by Elizabeth Engstrom, has the title character in an incestuous relation with her father and sharing a bisexual lover with him.
* An example from 1895 is Mary Wilkins Freeman's story "The Long Arm" (probably inspired by the sensationalistic media coverage of the Mitchell/Ward murder case in 1892). Here, Phoebe Dole, a terrifying, powerful, manipulative woman, has been maintaining another woman in subjection for years, and when this woman finally takes steps to leave her for a man, Phoebe bloodily [[MurderTheHypotenuse murders the hypotenuse]], pinning the crime with diabolical cleverness on an innocent party. She attempts to justify her crime (in a VillainousBreakdown) by saying that she's defending her domestic happiness, but this "happiness" is presented as perverted. She's described as physically monstrous as well as morally — she's the one with the abnormally "long arm" of the title — as one critic put it, "a desperate figure of lesbian evil, a hypocritical, sick, self-absorbed carnivorous flower."
* Creator/JosephineTey's ''Miss Pym Disposes'' (1948) is set in a women's college of physical culture, where Miss Pym, an amateur psychologist, is paying a visit. At the start of the book, she has a conversation with Desterro, another outsider, a sophisticated woman with many male lovers, who tells her that the college's stressed students are sexually undeveloped or misdeveloped since they have crushes on their female teachers and intense friendships with one another. The naive Miss Pym thinks that she's never seen anything so normal and healthy as these students in her life.
-->'''Desterro:''' Oh, Beau. She is a strong-minded creature, and so has suffered less, perhaps. But would you call her friendship for Innes quite normal? ''Nice,'' of course (''she added hastily''), quite irreproachable. But normal, no. That David and Jonathan relationship. It is a very happy one, no doubt, but it (''she waved her arm to summon an appropriate word'') -- it ''excludes'' so much.
-->'''Pym:''' Do you suggest that Miss Nash is not normal?
Sure enough, by the end of the book, not only is it clear that there is a lot of psychological mess at the college, but it turns out that Miss Nash has committed murder for Miss Innes's sake.
* Creator/AgathaChristie had one of these as the murderer in ''Nemesis'' (1971). The lady couldn't accept her 'protege' leaving her for a man.
* Kathryn Hulme's ''The Nun's Story'' (1956) strongly implies that the Archangel Gabriel (an inmate in an insane asylum) is one of these, not least because [[spoiler: her assault on Sister Luke appears to be an attempted rape.]]

* Subtext in Nella Larsen's ''Literature/{{Passing}}'' (1929). The egotistical, needy, manipulative Clare, a practiced seducer, uses her beauty and charm to fascinate Irene before setting out to take over Irene's life and husband. [[spoiler:Irene eventually murders Clare while still attracted to her.]]
* In Junichiro Tanizaki's novel ''Quicksand'' (1928), Sonoko Kakiuchi, a bored, wealthy housewife, is seduced by Mitsuko Tokumitsu, who proceeds to insinuate herself into Sonoko's life and utterly wreck it.
* Mrs. Danvers from Daphne du Maurier's ''Literature/{{Rebecca}}'' (1938) is deeply devoted to the titular Rebecca years after her death, tries to psychologically break the main character for daring to try to "replace" Rebecca, and ultimately burns down the Manderley mansion at the book's end.
* In ''Literature/ThatHideousStrength'' (1945) by C. S. Lewis, the Big Bad is an organization that employs, among other baddies, a sadistically fascistic head of security named Miss Hardcastle, who is strongly implied to be lesbian.
* [[spoiler:DI Jan Shields]] in Val [=McDermid=]'s ''The Torment of Others'' (2006) is a particularly nasty example who [[spoiler:uses MoreThanMindControl on a succession of mentally-challenged young men to force them to kidnap and torture prostitutes for her viewing pleasure.]]
* Mary Whitaker from the Literature/LordPeterWimsey mystery ''Unnatural Death'' (1927); though Sayers also presents a lesbian couple in an earlier generation, Agatha Dawson and Clare Whitaker, as not psycho and as having a successful relationship.
* ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'' has Galina Casban (introduced in 1994), leader of the Aes Sedai's [[DoesNotLikeMen markedly male-averse]] Red Ajah [[spoiler:and secretly a high-ranking servant of the Dark One]]. She had a reputation for using her authority to pressure other Aes Sedai into relationships, has some highly questionable dealings with Accepted students under her authority, and takes a break from brutally torturing [[spoiler:Rand]] to ogle a woman nearby. [[spoiler:She later gets some [[BreakTheHaughty vicious]] SexualKarma from Therava, another Psycho Lesbian who enslaves and utterly dominates her.]]
* [[spoiler:Sally Pringsheim]], the BigBad in Tom Sharpe's ''{{Literature/Wilt}}'' (1976), turns out to be one, as Eva Wilt finds out the hard way. She gropes Eva under the guise of 'Touch Therapy' and makes her dress in sexy outfits while on a barge holiday. Although she is married to a man, it's purely because he has a plastic fetish, and she doesn't hesitate to try and kill him after Eva escapes from their barge.
* Esme and Liza, [[spoiler: the so-called Beard Killers]], in Alex Grecian's ''The Yard'' (2012). They were DrivenToMadness after Esme was brutally assaulted by UsefulNotes/JackTheRipper.
* Andrea from ''The Zone'' series (1980 - 2007) of WorldWarIII novels by James Rouch, is certainly ([[SociopathicSoldier psychopathic if not psychotic]]) and is widely assumed to be a lesbian by the other soldiers because of her contempt for men. Eventually however she forms a sexual relationship with Major Revell.

* [[spoiler: Teased but ultimately averted]] in the ''Series/MurdochMysteries'' episode "Double Life". [[spoiler: It is first suggested that Dr Grace's girlfriend Lillian Moss killed her ex, Gladys, and Gladys's husband, then - once it turns out Gladys is FakingTheDead - that Gladys killed her husband and later shot Lillian for rejecting her. It eventually transpires that the only psycho in the case is Gladys's husband, who Gladys ''thought'' she'd killed to protect Lillian, and who later returned, killed Lillian, and tried to reclaim Gladys at gunpoint.]]

* From ''Manga/KomiCantCommunicate'', we have Yamai Ren, who develops a crush over Komi, and can't bear to see her with someone else, specifically Tadano, that she [[StalkerWithACrush stalks Komi]] like a typical {{Yandere}}. [[spoiler: In fact, she even calls him trash and kidnaps him in her room along with [[ImpliedDeathThreat threatening to kill him]]. However, Yamai later [[HeelFaceTurn reforms herself]] after Komi finds out about what she has done to Tadano when she is invited to Yamai's house. She also mistook Komi's communication problems for hate and [[DrivenToSuicide tries to kill herself]] at school in front of everybody when Komi still wouldn't use her voice to communicate, though she learns about it not long afterwards]].

* From ''Manga/KomiCantCommunicate'', we have Yamai Ren, who develops a crush over Komi, and can't bear to see her with someone else, specifically Tadano, that she [[StalkerwithaCrush stalks Komi]] like a typical {{Yandere}}. [[spoiler: In fact, she even calls him trash and kidnaps him in her room along with [[IpliedDeathThreat threatening to kill him]]. However, Yamai later [[HeelFaceTurn reforms herself]] after Komi finds out about what she has done to Tadano when she is invited to Yamai's house. She also mistakened Komi's communication problems with hate and [[DriventoSuicide tries to kill herself]] at school in front of everybody when Komi still wouldn't use her voice to communicate, though she learns about it not long afterwards]].

** Kosame's lust for Kirie is played up [[GirlOnGirlIsHot for fanservice]] and [[BlackComedyRape as comedy]]. Particularly during the [[CatFight "Girls Fight!"]] [[TournamentArc competition]] and a later episode where she chases Kiriei around the house, while calling her [[BigSisterAttraction "big sister".]]

* ''{{Film/Thelma}}'': Deconstructed all over the place. Thelma has some terrifying powers and the ending possibly shows her embracing their ControlFreak potential. Except...Thelma genuinely [[IJustWantToBeLoved only wants to have friends and romantic connections]], it's impossible not to sympathize with how lonely she is, and [[spoiler:even if she ''did'' pull Anja towards her, she didn't do it knowingly.]] In fact, it's heavily implied that this is because of Thelma's sexual awakening - her lesbianism is just who she is.

Very often motivated by [[WomanScorned an unrequited love]] for a [[IncompatibleOrientation straight woman]] that she wants to herself, which can result in [[MurderTheHypotenuse assassinating the competition]], sometimes even [[WouldHurtAChild getting rid of her desired lover's kids]]. Such a character often doesn't check consent nor the feelings of the woman she's after, all that she wants is that woman to love and desire her back. The more benign versions might stop at [[StalkerWithACrush stalking their beloved]], but most examples are more a case of IfICantHaveYou. Extreme cases are downright predatory in their pursuits, but it'a rare sub-type.

** Soi-Fon also displays instances of this whenever Yorouichi is brought up. It's to the point where she's only seen being genuinely nice to Yorouichi or anyone related to her. The "psycho" is primarilly directed at [[GreenEyedMonster Urahara]] and PlayedForLaughs when he's not involved.

* Examined and deconstructed by name in "[[https://web.archive.org/web/20170916100908/http://www.susanmeslerevanswrites.com/2017/05/the-psycho-lesbian-and-you-or-why-this.html The Psycho Lesbian and You, or, Why This Trope Needs to Die]]." Including a reference to Wiki/ThisVeryWiki!

* Subverted in ''Fanfic/KaraOfRokyn''. [[{{Kayfabe}} Jara]] threatens to beat the crap out of the main character during their upcoming wrestling match if [[ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} Kara]] refuses to sleep with her. Kara does, so Jara does. However, it's made clear that Jara's jerkassery has nothing to do with her sexuality and everything to do with her crappy childhood, fear of solitude, and zero social skills. Kara herself doesn't think of her rival as evil but merely an asshole, and later she helps Jara out and makes peace with her when she finds out what kind of life her rival has led. The next time Jara makes an appearance, she's a far more pleasant person who unapologetically likes women.
* ''Fanfic/{{Infinity}}'': Amaterasu seems to have focused her, ahem, intentions on Signum. During their battle in Chapter 22, she takes the battle seriously, almost decapitating Signum in her first attack; a few moments later, she tells Signum, "I won't rest until you acknowledge my feelings for you and agree to become my personal kitten!" Signum is not amused.
* Subverted with Ryuko Kiryuin in ''Fanfic/NaturalSelection''. Her sexuality doesn't have anything to do with the fact that she's TheCaligula of Honnouji Academy. In addition, she's an OfficialCouple with Mako, and their relationship is depicted as one of her most humanizing qualities, as she will tone down her negative traits just to make Mako happy.

* ''Film/FutureWorld2018'': The Drug Lord, a ruthless and unhinged drug trafficker, is attracted to Ash, ordering she be reprogrammed to serve as her lover. Upon finding Ash and Lei together after having sex the previous night, she reacts in a jealous rage, ordering Ash's [[LaserGuidedAmnesia memory be wiped of this]]. She's no worse than the male Warlord though who also clearly wanted Ash, nor Lei (the woman who Ash slept with willingly), so it's all {{downplayed}}.

* ''Film/{{Compulsion}}'': Saffron possibly, assuming she's genuinely attracted to Amy, not simply using her. [[spoiler:They have sex, then she asks Amy to kill and eat her (off-screen). Amy agrees.]]

* A one shot yuri manga by the name of ''Rapunzel'' turns it UpToEleven with not one, but two of them. [[spoiler:One cuts off the hair of the other in a fit of [[{{Yandere}} jealous rage]], and then the one who had her hair cut [[{{Squick}} cuts out]] [[EyeScream the eyes]] of the other [[DisproportionateRetribution as revenge]]. To top it off, the girl who did the cutting of the hair ''let her eyes be cut out'' '''while smiling'''. At the very end, they're both shown smiling and holding each other's hands in the conclusion. LoveMakesYouCrazy indeed.]]

-->[[WesternAnimation/TheBoondocks "Yo gonna make me ruin da butt]] [[Series/{{Dateline}} Chris-]] [[WesternAnimation/TheBoondocks Imma... Imma a WA-RI-A!"]]

->[[WesternAnimation/TheBoondocks "Yo gonna make me ruin da butt]] [[Series/{{Dateline}} Chris-]] [[WesternAnimation/TheBoondocks Imma... Imma a WA-RI-A!"]]

* From ''Manga/KomiCantCommunicate'', we have Yamai Ren, who develops a crush over Komi, and can't bear to see her with someone else, specifically Tadano, that she [[StalkerwithaCrush stalks Komi]] like a typical {{Yandere}}. [[spoiler: In fact, she even calls him trash and kidnaps him in her room along [[IpliedDeathThreat threatening to kill him]]. However, Yamai later [[HeelFaceTurn reforms herself]] after Komi finds out about what she has done to Tadano when she is invited to Yamai's house. She also mistakened Komi's communication problems with hate and [[DriventoSuicide tries to kill herself]] at school in front of everybody when Komi still wouldn't use her voice to communicate, though she learns about it not long afterwards]].