History Main / TheChick

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!This trope is [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=16703605710.30017300 under discussion]] in the Administrivia/TropeRepairShop.
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[[quoteright:350:[[Film/ANewHope https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Luke_Leia_Han_3817.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:If you're traveling with a cowboy and a farmboy, you'd better bring a princess.]]

The "[[TokenGirl feminine]]", "[[CloserToEarth spiritual]]", and "[[TheHeart heart]]", aspect of the FiveManBand... and generally the only woman.

It's the people she gathers and keeps at her side who'll do a lot of the heavy lifting. She'll encourage loyalty and teamwork, give them the courage or hope to [[TimeToUnlockMoreTruePotential unlock their true potential]], be a TokenGoodTeammate that [[MoralityChain keeps her friends]] from JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope. She's usually a [[NiceGuy Nice Girl]], but her demeanor can go anywhere from shy and demure, to brave and adventurous. She is rarely {{The Hero}}ine of a story.

Her functional role will often be TheHeart, the social influence of the group. Sometimes this means she'll serve as the TeamMom, taking care of the smaller details, both within the group and in the world outside. She looks after innocents, delivers [[AnAesop The Aesop]], [[TheKirk mediates the arguments]], and [[GetAholdOfYourselfMan slaps some sanity]] on TheLancer before he ends up [[DarkerAndEdgier getting too dark]]. It's not the coolest job in the world, [[StandardizedLeader but it's helpful.]]

Yes, we understand that a male can fill this role, but this trope is a component of a FiveManBand, which specifically uses women for this role. Examples of male characters acting in this way can be found in TheHeart.

----
!!Examples

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* Azmaria in ''Manga/ChronoCrusade'', the TokenMiniMoe with spiritual powers that allow her to heal others and fly...and not much else. In the anime she's mostly there to [[DistressedDamsel look cute and get in trouble]], although she does serve as a peacemaker of the group. In the manga she behaves this way at first, but through CharacterDevelopment she slowly becomes stronger and more determined--enough that, during the final battle, her ability to stay calm under pressure holds the rest of the team together during a crisis and her spiritual knowledge serves a key part in stopping the BigBad and his plans.
* ''Manga/FairyTail'' has Lucy, who is rare in that she has the PointOfView of the story and is a SupportingProtagonist. She is also useful in battle, but indirectly kicks ass through SummonMagic. The other girl of the team, [[ActionGirl Erza]], is TheBigGuy.
* ''Anime/GoLion'''s Princess Fala takes the role of both this, and the Blue lion Pilot after [[spoiler:the demise]] of Takashi.
* Kanzaki Nao from ''Manga/LiarGame'' is this in a canon all about social and psychological manipulation. This is {{lampshade|Hanging}}d in the prelims to the 4th round, where Nao's CodeName is literally "The Chick".
* Caro in ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaStrikerS'', who manages to fit this role in [[ImprobablyFemaleCast a mostly female cast]] by being a ten-year old who has {{Status Buff}}ing as one of her specialties and is generally less action-oriented compared to everyone else. Of course, since this is ''Nanoha'', where [[LittleMissBadass small and female]] [[BewareTheNiceOnes are traits you should run away from]], her other specialty is [[SummonMagic summoning]] [[OurDragonsAreDifferent dragons]]. [[{{Kaiju}} Big dragons]]. [[PersonOfMassDestruction Approach chick with caution]].
* Nami of ''Manga/OnePiece'', though she too has [[TookALevelInBadass Taken A Level In Badass]] as of late. Nami and Robin seem to share this role as of the formers acceptance in the crew. Both pull double duty as TheSmartGuy most of the time.
* "G-3" Jun the Swan from ''Anime/ScienceNinjaTeamGatchaman''. A TropeCodifier for Anime/Manga characters. Primarily, the TokenGirl from being on an all male team. She can be seen as either an ActionGirl who is self-sufficient from owning and running her own snack bar and a skilled fighter that can knock thugs unconscious with the same ease of her male companions, or a victim of {{Chickification}} and occasional DistressedDamsel when the story calls for it to give Ken/Joe some hero spotlight moments. Also, since she's the technical and demolitions expert of the team, she is arguably better at being TheSmartGuy than the show's actual smart guy.
* Sakura of ''Manga/TsubasaReservoirChronicle'' is both a straight example and a subversion, since that character had already appeared in another work by the same authors, where she was TheHero. She kept exactly the same personality, but with a serious downgrade in magic abilities and three fighting experts as companions she transformed into a Chick. She also regularly lampshades the fact that she feels useless in the group because of her inability to fight. Later she upgrades to being an ActionGirl once she gets her hands on some guns and ADayInTheLimelight. She also doubles as TheEmpath, the OracularUrchin and a MessianicArchetype. Later, in Infinity country, once a certain member of the group has left, she arguably becomes TheHero and (literally) TheChessMaster.
* Botan, Keiko, Yukina, Shizuru and Atsuko from ''Manga/YuYuHakusho''. All five have needed to be saved at some point (manga-only, in Atsuko's case), but are generally side characters ''just'' outside of the CompetenceZone. They're all tougher than the normal Chick ([[HealingHands Botan, Yukina]] and [[MySignificanceSenseIsTingling Shizuru]] have more-or-less useful powers too) and can hold their own against humans, but they still can't reach BadassNormal level when facing demons. Or can they?
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* Both Silk Spectres from ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}''. They're {{deconstruct|orFleet}}ions of both The Chick and MsFanService.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Film]]
* Judy in ''Film/{{Night of the Living Dead|1968}}'' is rather noteworthy in that her character was created specifically because the crew were enchanted by how cute the actress was.
* In ''Franchise/StarWars'', both Princess Leia and her mother Padme Amidala are the ActionGirl version of the Chick.
** In ''Film/AttackOfTheClones'', Padme frees herself from capture by the Geonosians and takes part in defending the Jedi against the droid army attack and the pursuit of Count Dooku.
** Leia is in firefights in all of the original trilogy's films, and tries to rescue Han Solo from Jabba the Hutt, later killing Jabba by herself.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* While ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'' fans have had some trouble agreeing on who's actually The Chick, Rachel has never been a contender. She's beautiful, her hobby is gymnastics, and she loves both shopping and her boyfriend, but she's TheBigGuy, an ActionGirl who becomes a BloodKnight.
* Jacyl from ''Literature/BlackDogs'' is extremely fond of clothes and beauty products, and one character remarked that she was found while her house was burning down, and that she was trying to rescue her wardrobe. Naturally she's one of the more levelheaded and pacifistic characters in the book.
* In ''Literature/TheFamousFive'' books, Anne is so much of The Chick she verges on being a YamatoNadeshiko. Oddly though it is Dick though that takes the role of TheHeart.
* Being The Chick may be all that is consistent in Trillian across all versions of ''Franchise/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy''. Creator/DouglasAdams admitted that he didn't write her as a well-rounded character because he never really understood women.
* ''Literature/JourneyToTheWest'' features a very... odd subversion of this trope - the monk [[TheLoad Xuangzang]] is so perfect an example of The Chick he's (note the masculine) sometimes even ''portrayed'' as such. This, of course, leads to ''tons'' of HoYay with the other main character of the story, [[TheLancer Sun Wukong]]. Given his overall uselessness, stupidity, and propensity to be captured by anything under the sun, it's no wonder why most everyone who reads the story [[TheScrappy kinda really hates him]]. In a double subversion, it's also as become common to protray Wukong [[GenderBender as the girl]], just to make him (her?) seem more awesome.
* Jenna Heap from ''Literature/SeptimusHeap''. She is usually the one who cares about people and prevents the others from ignoring them in their actions.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live Action TV]]
* Detective Irene Daniels of ''Series/TheCloser'', who isn't seen in too much physical combat (although she can certainly hold her own), and is much more girly than the rest of the all-male Priority Homicide Squad (besides, of course, [[TheHero Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson]]). However, she is apparently brilliant at forensic accounting - tracking down relevant documents relating to murder victims and suspects.
* Sweet Dee from ''Series/ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphia'' is "the useless chick" according to Mac's breakdown of the FiveManBand. She certainly seems to be the most emotional member of the Gang, but that may be because she's also the ButtMonkey.
* Kimberly from ''Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers'' is the typical ValleyGirl with a crush on the SixthRanger. In the pilot episode she teased that she didn't want to join the group because of "helmet hair." Trini on the other hand, despite having a few chick-like elements, has more in common with TheLancer and TheBigGuy.
** Kim's SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute Kat ended up not much different from her, but as a whole the female Rangers have drifted to all {{Action Girl}}s even while generally keeping the TomboyAndGirlyGirl dynamic.
* Gwen from ''Series/{{Torchwood}}'' prior to becoming second-in-command to Captain Jack. Even before then she could hold her own in combat.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Radio]]
* Robin Quivers of ''Radio/TheHowardSternShow.''. Her official position is to deliver the news, yet often she's the heart of the show.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* Rika of ''VideoGame/PhantasyStarIV'' is The Chick for most of the game once all of the permanent, non-optional members are in-- she's even briefly The Chick in a PowerTrio. However, she's much more well-balanced than the typical RPG example: all of her magic-- ''all of it''-- is healing or status magic, but she's a powerful melee fighter and her physical attacks are second only in damage output to [[TheHero Chaz]] once he gets the [[InfinityPlusOneSword Elsydeon]]. Before that, they're about equal.
* Princess Peach from the ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' games. Even in her solo game, ''VideoGame/SuperPrincessPeach'', her abilities are very stereotypically feminine. More evident in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl'' - in ''The Subspace Emissary'' she makes herself useful by breaking up fights and turning potential enemies into friends, mysteriously producing tea, in contrast with the {{Action Girl}}s Samus and Sheik.
[[/folder]]

%% [[folder:Web Animation]]
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[[folder:Webcomics]]
* In ''Webcomic/NoRestForTheWicked'', November is both very fragile and the person holding the entire group together. Then again, she's also ''TheHero.''
* Zoe from ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'', by virtue of being the only character who thinks playing with dimensional portals, TomesOfEldritchLore, and powerful explosives is a bad idea.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/CodenameKidsNextDoor'', Kuki (aka Numbuh 3) is TheDitz of the team, constantly happy and serving as the team doctor.
* Elisa and later Angela on ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}'' both hold The Chick role (Angela moreso than Elisa). They are both highly competent in combat though.
* Daphne Blake of ''Franchise/ScoobyDoo''. Subverted in [[Film/ScoobyDoo the movie]], where she's still The Chick of the group but has additionally [[TookALevelInBadass Taken A Level In Badass]]. (Being played by [[Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer Sarah Michelle Gellar]] pays off.) Since Daphne's a clear-cut Chick, Velma is TheSmartGuy as another woman.
* April O'Neil in ''Franchise/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles''. Note that her characterization differs according to the movies or series.
* Daizy from ''WesternAnimation/WowWowWubbzy'' is the demure, feminine member of the four friends, contracting with Widget's more tomboy-ish personality.
[[/folder]]

!!Examples of The Chick who doubles as another member

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* In ''Manga/Cyborg009'', Francoise aka 003 generally senses danger so the big strong men can deal with it, [[PromotionToParent holds the psychic baby]] and is usually the one who bemoans the fact that their duty as cyborgs keeps herself and the others from living peaceful lives. Yet she ''always'' joins the team in battle when they need her abilities no matter what horrible things she has to see or sense to aid them, keeps her cool when it's needed, gives [[TheLancer the bratty Lancer]] of the group [[GetAHoldOfYourselfMan verbal beatdowns]] ''more than once'' without flinching, is [[TheProfessor Dr. Gilmore]]'s most reliable assistant, and when necessary she proves that she is [[ActionGirl fully capable of defending herself and even occasionally saving the day singlehandedly]]. Thus, she doubles as The Chick and TheSmartGuy, with some dashes of TheLancer when on her boldest.
* ''Franchise/SailorMoon'':
** Sailor Moon herself is pretty firmly The Chick, despite being the main character ''and'' TheMessiah. She acts as the team's moral and emotional pillar, and is least often the one to take frontal assault duties when fighting various enemies, generally doing her best to simply survive until she has a chance to whip out a FinishingMove. This also makes sense when you consider that Sailor Venus was originally the leader in some incarnations.
** Ami (Sailor Mercury) is sweet, shy, bookish and has defensive abilities based on [[KillItWithWater water]] and [[AnIcePerson ice]], so you'd expect her to be a secondary Chick after Moon. Instead, she's TheSmartGuy, since she also happens to be a TeenGenius.
* Hiro in ''Manga/WaGaNaWaUmishi''. Technically a full member of Nanba Salvage, her main duties seem to be cooking, bitching at the guys, [[FanService walking around in her underwear]] and, occasionally, data collection.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* Sapphire from the ''Franchise/{{Disgaea}}'' series is a rare AxCrazy chick. Has elements of TheBigGuy.
* Amy Rose of ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' starts out playing the trope straight, but starting with Sonic Heroes has become an ActionGirl, gaining elements of TheBigGuy like Sapphire above.
* In ''Franchise/MassEffect'', both [[WrenchWench Tali]] and Liara serve as both The Chick and The Smart Guy. In the sequel, Tali and [[PhantomThief Kasumi]] both serve as Smart Guys, [[TheMole Miranda]] serves as The Lancer and a bit of The Smart Guy and [[PersonOfMassDestruction Jack]] serves as one of The Big Guys.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* Katara, the TeamMom and [[CharacterDevelopment original]] [[TheMessiah Messiah]] of ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', combines the roles of The Chick and TheLancer.
* Mira Nova from ''WesternAnimation/BuzzLightyearOfStarCommand'': A princess, so definitely The Chick, but a well-rounded heroic type who contrasts Buzz, so also TheLancer.
* As implied by her name, Gadget from ''WesternAnimation/ChipNDaleRescueRangers'' is TheSmartGuy. It can even be said that since Gadget very rarely acts girly, the team has a woman but no Chick.
* ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'' has Jazz. She doesn't join the team at first, but she remains a kind and compassionate person who sees the good in others and drives them to better themselves throughout the series, even if others can be a ''tad'' annoyed with her because of it.
* ''WesternAnimation/SilverHawks'': Emily Hart, a.k.a. Steelhart, is somewhere between TheBigGuy (BoisterousBruiser) and TheSmartGuy (she's somewhat smarter then her brother).
[[/folder]]

* In ''Franchise/MassEffect'', both [[WrenchWench Tali]] and [[HotScientist Liara]] serve as both The Chick and The Smart Guy. In the sequel, Tali and [[PhantomThief Kasumi]] both serve as Smart Guys, [[TheMole Miranda]] serves as The Lancer and a bit of The Smart Guy and [[PersonOfMassDestruction Jack]] serves as one of The Big Guys.

* In ''Manga/{{Cyborg009}}'', Francoise aka 003 generally senses danger so the big strong men can deal with it, [[PromotionToParent holds the psychic baby]] and is usually the one who bemoans the fact that their duty as cyborgs keeps herself and the others from living peaceful lives. Yet she ''always'' joins the team in battle when they need her abilities no matter what horrible things she has to see or sense to aid them, keeps her cool when it's needed, gives [[TheLancer the bratty Lancer]] of the group [[GetAHoldOfYourselfMan verbal beatdowns]] ''more than once'' without flinching, is [[TheProfessor Dr. Gilmore]]'s most reliable assistant, and when necessary she proves that she is [[ActionGirl fully capable of defending herself and even occasionally saving the day singlehandedly]]. Thus, she doubles as The Chick and TheSmartGuy, with some dashes of TheLancer when on her boldest.

* ''Manga/{{Cyborg009}}'', Francoise aka 003 generally senses danger so the big strong men can deal with it, [[PromotionToParent holds the psychic baby]] and is usually the one who bemoans the fact that their duty as cyborgs keeps herself and the others from living peaceful lives. Yet she ''always'' joins the team in battle when they need her abilities no matter what horrible things she has to see or sense to aid them, keeps her cool when it's needed, gives [[TheLancer the bratty Lancer]] of the group [[GetAHoldOfYourselfMan verbal beatdowns]] ''more than once'' without flinching, is [[TheProfessor Dr. Gilmore]]'s most reliable assistant, and when necessary she proves that she is [[ActionGirl fully capable of defending herself and even occasionally saving the day singlehandedly]]. Thus, she doubles as The Chick and TheSmartGuy, with some dashes of TheLancer when on her boldest.

* Judy in ''Film/NightOfTheLivingDead'' is rather noteworthy in that her character was created specifically because the crew were enchanted by how cute the actress was.

* ''Literature/JourneyToTheWest'' features a very... odd subversion of this trope - the monk [[TheLoad Xuangzang]] is so perfect an example of The Chick he's (note the masculine) sometimes even ''portrayed'' as such. This, of course, leads to ''tons'' of HoYay with the other main character of the story, [[BadAss Sun]] [[TheLancer Wukong]]. Given his overall uselessness, stupidity, and propensity to be captured by anything under the sun, it's no wonder why most everyone who reads the story [[TheScrappy kinda really hates him]]. In a double subversion, it's also as become common to protray Wukong [[GenderBender as the girl]], just to make him (her?) seem more awesome.

Yes, we understand that a male can fill this role, but this trope is a component of a FiveManBand, which is specifically four guys and a girl. Examples of male characters acting in this way can be found in TheHeart.

The "[[TokenGirl feminine]]", "[[CloserToEarth spiritual]]", and "[[TheHeart heart]]", aspect of the FiveManBand... and the only woman.

The "[[TokenGirl feminine]]", "[[CloserToEarth spiritual]]", and "[[TheHeart heart]]", aspect of the FiveManBand.

* ''Manga/SailorMoon'':

* There are a variety of psychology/morality puzzles that involve four people who get themselves into a situation where a series of events occur, usually culminating in tragedy, and the listener is charged with putting the characters in order from who acted the most "right" and who acted the most "wrong". Of the four, only one will ever be female, she will ''always'' be The Chick, and usually she's the one who suffers the tragedy. Where the listener places her in the morality spectrum represents their views on women, regardless of what she does in the puzzle story; the other three usually represent specific virtues or behaviors, but the female represents only women as a whole. With most of these puzzles, putting the female character at anything lower than the Most Right (or, less often, Second Most Right) will label you a misogynist.

* Sakura of ''Manga/TsubasaReservoirChronicle'' is both a straight example and a subversion, since that character had already appeared in another work by the same authors, where she was TheHero. She kept exactly the same personality, but with a serious downgrade in magic abilities and three fighting experts as companions she transformed into a Chick. She also regularly lampshades the fact that she feels useless in the group because of her inability to fight. Later she upgrades to being an ActionGirl once she gets her hands on some guns and ADayInTheLimelight. She also doubles as TheEmpath, the OracularUrchin and TheMessiah. Later, in Infinity country, once a certain member of the group has left, she arguably becomes TheHero and (literally) TheChessMaster.

->'''Sally''': Why am I "The Woman"?\\
'''Dick''': [after a {{beat}}] ''Because you lost.''
-->-- ''Series/ThirdRockFromTheSun'' {{pilot}} "Brains and Eggs"

* Katara, the TeamMom of and the [[CharacterDevelopment original]] [[TheMessiah Messiah]] of ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'', combines the roles of The Chick and of TheLancer.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Silverhawks}}'': Emily Hart, A.K.A Steelhart, is somewhere between TheBigGuy (BoisterousBruiser), and TheSmartGuy (she's somewhat smarter then her brother).

* Inoue Orihime from ''Manga/{{Bleach}}''. She [[TheMedic heals]] [[BarrierWarrior and build barriers]], is sensitive and nurturing, cries the name of the main hero, she gets saved, she's part of a five-man band made up of [[TheHero Ichigo]], [[TheSmartGuy Uryu]], [[TheBigGuy Chad]], herself, and [[TheLancer Rukia]] (Yes, Rukia is also a girl - but while she can be pretty girly sometimes, [[ActionGirl she's quite more action-oriented]]).

* Curly Brace from ''VideoGame/CaveStory'' is both this and ActionGirl. In-battle, she's only slightly less dangerous than the protagonist (on-screen at least). Outside of battle, she adopts orphaned Mimigas, and a kind word from her is enough to make a member of the QuirkyMinibossSquad completely forget (if only briefly) that he's supposed to kill her.