History Main / SuperGenderBender

* Inverted in ''Manhwa/PhDPhantasyDegree'', where the set of RingOfPower MacGuffin allows the user to switch their gender, but decreases their power greatly.

** Although Phantom from ''Anime/HappinessChargePrettyCure'' already has powers, he spent one fight transformed into an (also female) EvilKnockoff of Cure Lovely.

* ''Manga/MissKuroitsuFromTheMonsterDevelopmentDepartment'' has two examples:
** Wolf Beta, the first monster developed in the series, has a male mind but, due to ExecutiveMeddling, a female body.
** Yuuto / Magia Zwart is a guy who turns into a MagicalGirl. His partner is annoyed that he becomes [[MostCommonSuperpower bustier]] than she is.

[[folder:Animation]]
* ''Animation/BoBoiBoy'': Played with. In [[Recap/BoBoiBoyS1E5WithGreatPowerComesACatch episode 5]], Probe's SuperMode gets activated while the robot is DisguisedInDrag. He turns into "Super Mrs. Probe", changing from purple to a [[PinkIsFeminine pink, lady-themed]] battle robot. He doesn't seem intimidating at first, but he can launch a MacrossMissileMassacre from his handbag, shoot kitchen knives, and wield a giant spiked rolling pin, among others.
--> '''Adu Du:''' Hey, what's wrong with you?!
--> '''Super Mrs. Probe:''' Um, sorry. Mommy's still stuck in character!
[[/folder]]

* ''Anime/SailorMoon'':
** The Sailor Starlights are a subversion and inversion in the 90s anime. They're male most of the time and transform into females to use their Sailor Guardian powers, but it's eventually shown the latter were their original forms--their princess is surprised to see they've chosen male civilian forms. In the [[Manga/SailorMoon manga]] they were female the whole time, merely dressing as boys while in their civilian identities.
** The French dub tries to [[HideYourLesbians cover up]] Sailor Uranus loving another woman by [[ShesAManInJapan changing the character]] from an [[{{Bifauxnen}} androgynous woman]] to an [[{{Bishonen}} androgynous man]] who turns female to become a Sailor Guardian.
** Guardians of Order's ''Sailor Moon'' tabletop RPG (released in 1998) establishes this as a trait of male Sailor Guardians, with one author playing Yuuichirou as "Sailor Nebula". Why? The writers got their wires crossed regarding the Starlights, believing them to be guys whose female forms are an aspect of their Sailor Guardian powers.
* ''Anime/PrettyCure''
** {{Subverted}} with Itsuki Myoudouin from ''Anime/HeartcatchPrettyCure'': [[{{Bifauxnen}} She looks and dresses like a (pretty) boy]] and has a Cure form just as girly as the others. However, Itsuki not only fully identifies as female, she's actually much more feminine than she presents herself, but thinks [[RealWomenDontWearDresses a masculine front is needed to show strength]] as the HeirToTheDojo. Working as a Cure made her realize otherwise. Considering that her designated nemesis is an AmbiguouslyGay guy with a penchant for fashion, this might be a stealth [[GayAesop queer aesop]].
** Although Phantom from ''Anime/HappinessChargePrettyCure'' already has powers, he spent one fight transformed into an (also female) EvilKnockoff of Cure Lovely.
* Inverted in ''Manhwa/PhDPhantasyDegree'', where the set of RingOfPower MacGuffin allows the user to switch their gender, but decreases their power greatly.
* An interesting variant in ''Manga/BirdyTheMighty''; where the protagonist doesn't really turn into a female superheroic version of himself, but is instead forced to be [[FusionDance fused]] with a female {{Human Alien|s}} superheroine after she accidentally destroyed his original body. As a result, the two actually are separate characters, but [[SharingABody share the same body]] and can switch between their respective appearance according to the situation.
* ''Mahou Shounen Majorian'' is about two boys given MagicalGirl powers by aliens. Their sexualities become pretty confused in short order. Especially since one of them thinks GirlsHaveCooties in response to being the [[ResentfulOutnumberedSibling only boy in a household of bossy older sisters]].

* Souji Mitsuka from ''Literature/GonnaBeTheTwinTail'' doesn't just change genders whenever he becomes Tail Red, he actually goes from a teenager to a prepubescent child, thus inverting the OlderAlterEgo trope.
* ''Ore to hero to Mahou Shoujo'' is about a man whose TransformationTrinket was supposed to turn him into a HenshinHero, but ended up turning him into a pint-sized MagicalGirlWarrior due to a mixup with a wand trinket. Later chapters show that the other trinket is in active use by a musclebound man in armor, causing the main cast to shudder at the thought of a little girl being his alter ego. [[spoiler:It was another man; the girl who needed the original trinket shows up separately as an opposing force.]]

* ''Magical Girl Kakeru'' is about a boy in middle school who accidentally gets MagicalGirlWarrior powers meant for his younger sister, which turn him female while in use, and becomes the youngest member of a magical girl team. In a twist, these abilities are powered by femininity, initially making Kakeru barely any stronger than when he was male. To be able help out, he has to spend long stretches of time still in female form, [[ThirdLawOfGenderBending dressing and acting like a girl]] under his teammates' tutelage.
* ''Manga/LifeWithAnOrdinaryGuyWhoReincarnatedIntoATotalFantasyKnockout'': When Tachibana becomes a woman, his new form takes AttractiveBentGender [[CharmPerson to the point of being a literal superpower]], able to elicit marriage proposals from men just by standing there and, at one point, causing an entire gang of bandits to take ''themselves'' out due to fighting over him.

* From Philippine comics, ''ComicBook/ZsazsaZaturnnah'' is an effeminate homosexual and the proprietor of a small town beauty salon. He has a huge spiky stone that physically transforms him into a superhuman woman whenever he ingests it and shouts the word "Zaturnnah!". His female form is [[WonderWomanWannabe similar in both powers and appearance to Wonder Woman]] (as well as to ComicBook/{{Darna}}, another notable Filipina superheroine, whose stone-swallowing transformation was parodied by Zsazsa's character).
* Mantra from ''ComicBook/TheUltraverse''. Originally a male warrior, he gained magical powers after his soul was transferred into the body of a woman.
* In ''ComicBook/TheSavageDragon'', the power to turn into Mighty Man, a [[ComicBook/{{Shazam}} Captain Marvel]] {{Expy}}, passed on to Ann Stevens, a nurse who becomes a tall, blond, male superhero when she taps her wrists together (a transformation method that's a nod to another [[ComicBook/CaptainMarvelMarvelComics Captain Marvel]]).
* In Creator/AlanMoore's ''ComicBook/{{Promethea}}'', one of the former Prometheas was a male comic book artist called Bill Woolcott.
* The HERO Dial in ''ComicBook/DialHForHero'' will, very rarely, turn a man into a female hero or a woman into a male hero; in the case of "Shocking Suzi", formerly Joe, he lost the dial before he could turn back and remained a superpowered woman for the rest of his life. Though he was also slowly losing his powers, meaning he'd eventually be just a regular woman.
* ''ComicBook/GreatLakesAvengers'': Goodness Silva, AKA "Good Boy", is a teenage girl whose super-power is the ability to turn into her [[UsefulNotes/FurryFandom "fursona"]], a hulking blue ''male'' wolf-man.

[[folder:Fan Work]]

* ''Literature/NemesisSeries'' plays with this trope, Danny Tozer is a very closeted trans girl who is still presenting as male to most of the world. However, she happens to be present when the world's greatest superhero Dreadnought dies, his last action to [[BequeathedPower pass his powers on to her]] - one of the side effects of this power is for it to turn you into your idealised version of yourself which shifts Danny's body to match her gender identity (previous holders of the mantle of Dreadnought had all been cis guys who just got taller or regrew lost digits). Unfortunately her parents are massively transphobic and do not react well to this revelation.
* ''Literature/OtoXMaho'' is a story about a boy named Kanata that becomes bound by a MagicallyBindingContract to become a MagicalGirl. It's a bit of a [[SubvertedTrope subversion]] since despite getting the outfit, he remains physically male, though [[DudeLooksLikeALady he looks so feminine and has such long hair]] that it's hard to notice. The only case where he'd end up [[GenderBender turning into a girl for real]] is as punishment for breaking contract, i.e. when he ''stops'' being a MagicalGirl.

* ''Webcomic/SparklingGenerationValkyrieYuuki''. The protagonist is an average male OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent chosen to become a [[MagicalGirl Valkyrie.]] However due to the fact that all Valkyries are female, he got transformed into a female to access those powers. He gets two new identities: one as a female version of his other self, and the other as an idealized MagicalGirl version of that new self.
* Exposure to Virus-X gave the T-Girls of the RemixComic version of ''Webcomic/JetDream'' low-level super powers (enhanced agility, strength, and endurance). Their exposure was accidental, but a voluntary procedure for recruiting new T-Girls is also described.

* Played with in ''Webcomic/MagicalBoy'': Max's MagicalGirl transformation does not make him change sex because he's a UsefulNotes/{{transgender}} boy who has not transitioned medically. However, it does put him in a hyper-feminine outfit, and even destroys his chest binder. As Max is very anxious about his gender, partly because [[WantedAGenderConformingChild his mother is very unsupportive]], this flat-out traumatizes him at first. As he gets better control of his power, he manages to make his transformed outfit more masculine.

* {{Downplayed|Trope}} on ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'': [[BigFun Amethyst]] fights in wrestling matches as "the Purple Puma", using her VoluntaryShapeshifting to become a larger, beefy man. For the most part this is just a PaperThinDisguise so her teammate wouldn't learn about her career. Amethyt has mostly the same powers in any form, but at least once Amethyst turned into the Purple Puma for an actual fight (it's also an attack in ''VideoGame/AttackTheLight''). The fact that she switches gender is pretty much incidental[[note]]Incidentally, she has also transformed into a male police officer, Steven, Greg, and [[ShowWithinAShow Dogcopter]] at various times. However, these are more gags than instances of transforming for power.[[/note]], and given how Crystal Gem [[NoBiologicalSex biology]] and [[NonHumanNonbinary culture]] works, she didn't really have a gender or biological sex ''to'' flip in the way humans understand the term.

* ''Manga/MagicalGirlOre'' {{Gender Flip}}s the usual trend by making the heroine turn into a very toned man to activate her powers. It's eventually revealed that other girls have made that same gender-bending contract, and her crush [[LovesMyAlterEgo falls in love]] with ''him'' during a RescueRomance.

* Played with in ''Webcomic/MagicalBoy'': Max's MagicalGirl transformation does not make him change sex because he's a UsefulNotes/{{transgender}} boy who has not transitioned medically. However, it does put him in a hyper-feminine outfit, and even destroy his chest binder. As Max is very anxious about his gender, partly because [[WantedAGenderConformingChild his mother is very unsupportive]], this flat-out traumatizes him at first. As he gets better control of his power, he manages to make his transformed outfit more masculine.

* ''Manga/OtoXMaho'' is a story about a boy named Kanata that becomes bound by a MagicallyBindingContract to become a MagicalGirl. It's a bit of a [[SubvertedTrope subversion]] since despite getting the outfit, he remains physically male, though [[DudeLooksLikeALady he looks so feminine and has such long hair]] that it's hard to notice. The only case where he'd end up [[GenderBender turning into a girl for real]] is as punishment for breaking contract, i.e. when he ''stops'' being a MagicalGirl.

* In ''Literature/MagicalGirlRaisingProject'', not all magical girls are female in civilian form. La Pucelle is actually a young boy named Souta Kishibe. He's secretly a magical girl fanboy and jumped at the chance to become a real magical girl. He turns into an [[OlderAlterEgo teenage girl]] when he becomes La Pucelle.

* An interesting variant in ''Anime/BirdyTheMighty'', where the protagonist doesn't really turn into a female superheroic version of himself, but is instead forced to be [[FusionDance fused]] with a female HumanAlien superheroine after she accidentally destroyed his original body. As a result, the two actually are separate characters, but [[SharingABody share the same body]] and can switch between their respective appearance according to the situation.

* ''ComicBook/GreatLakesAvengers'': Goodness Silva, AKA "Good Boy", is a teenage girl whose super-power is the ability to turn into her [[UsefulNotes/FurryFandom "fursona"]], a hulking blue ''male'' werewolf.