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1[[quoteright:349:[[Franchise/CodeGeass https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cg_princess_empress.jpg]]]]
2 [[caption-width-right:349:Such a sweet and innocent princess.]]
3
4Along with the common stereotype is that WomenAreDelicate, beauty is associated with delicacy. There's an assumption that something powerful or tough enough to take care of itself or destroy things must also be physically scary or intimidating to boot.
5
6However, like all identity labels, this one is not absolute.
7
8While it's usually delicate females who are beautiful, males who are delicate (rare as they are) can be beautiful as well.
9
10[[Administrivia/ExampleSectionectomy No Examples, Please]]. This is meant to only be a collection of subtropes.
11----
12!!List of associated tropes.
13[[index]]
14!!!Played Straight
15* BeautifulSlaveGirl: She's beautiful, but forced into servitude to invoke the audiences' (and TheHero's) sympathy.
16* {{Bishonen}}: Literally means "beautiful boy", a male character in Asian media who has delicate features in order to accentuate his beauty.
17* BrawnHilda: Enforces and downplays this trope by portraying tougher/larger women as either unattractive and muskly or very attractive and beautiful.
18* CoyGirlishFlirtPose: A more delicate and graceful pose to attract a romantic interest.
19* DamselInDistress: Women are often kidnapped in fiction to provide a power fantasy for men and a danger fantasy for women.
20* ElegantClassicalMusician: The delicate touches of classical music are considered more elegant or "beautiful", and the musician's look complements it.
21* EnglishRose: The English archetypical beauty; usually a fair-haired, fair-skinned woman with a regal nature, delicate nature, and posh sophistication.
22* GoGoEnslavement: Pushes the above even further by having the kidnapper sexualize the kidnap victim. (Can be gender inverted, though.)
23* TheHighQueen: When the PrincessClassic ascends.
24* IBrokeANail: Used either to show that the speaker isn't an ActionHero or that being an ActionHero has aesthetic consequences.
25* InnocentFlowerGirl: A delicate girl is associated with the beautiful and equally-delicate flower.
26* LoveGoddess: Most mythic pantheons have at least one. Also, the wife of the TopGod is usually connected to matrimony or family in some way.
27* MasculineLinesFeminineCurves: Curves are more delicate to draw and more "beautiful", so they're associated with women.
28* MenAreStrongWomenArePretty
29* {{Moe}}: Moe is this trope distilled into an art form. The entire point of it is to instill feelings of protectiveness and sympathy for the adorable character.
30* NoGuyWantsAnAmazon: The direct subtrope to this.
31* PrettyBoy
32* PrincessClassic: The beautiful princess as the epitome of grace, poise, delicacy and beauty.
33* ProperLady
34* SouthernBelle: The American South archetypical beauty; usually motherly, delicate, kind, and fiercely devoted to family and tradition.
35* SuicideByPills: Women are overrepresented in the depictions of this trope likely because it is [[BloodlessCarnage less gory]] than other forms of ChoosingDeath and because it preserves the beauty of the victim, making this both WomenAreDelicate and Delicate Is Beautiful.
36* VanityIsFeminine: This trope creates the perception that those who overly care about their appearance are feminine.
37* VictorianNovelDisease: Why a disease that made you more delicate was considered attractive.
38* WaterIsWomanly: Women are associated with water because it is a symbol of beauty, fluidity, and tranquility.
39* YamatoNadeshiko: The archetypical Japanese beauty; usually expected to be demure, modest, and well-mannered and fiercely devoted to family and tradition.
40
41!!!Averted
42* AmazonChaser: Sometimes, a woman defies delicacy in preference for violence and this character still considers her attractive, or even prefers her that way.
43* AmazonianBeauty: A strong and powerful-looking woman can be beautiful or attractive.
44* BishonenLine: Involves a character becoming stronger (and uglier) with successive transformations, but ultimately subverting this trope by assuming a most powerful form which is more beautiful and delicate-looking than the ones before.
45* {{Hunk}}: A strong and powerful-looking man can be beautiful or attractive.
46* StatuesqueStunner: Since height is generally not considered a sign of delicacy, a woman who is tall and attractive usually doesn't fit into this trope -- or at least not as well as she otherwise might.
47
48!!!Zigzagged (not quite straight examples or aversion)
49[floatboxright:
50Subcategories:
51+ DaintyCombat\
52A softer and more delicate style of combat--usually considered "beautiful".
53]
54* BeautyIsNeverTarnished: Seems to be a subversion since the focus of the trope is likely an ActionGirl. However, through improbable measures, she still manages to maintain a delicate beauty.
55* CuteClumsyGirl: She subverts the perception of women as graceful, but this only serves to make her more endearing because she appears more vulnerable than usual.
56* DanceBattler: When something beautiful and ginger (like ballet) is used as an offensive weapon.
57* GirlyBruiser: An interplay of delicate femininity and pure destructive badassery.
58* KickingAssInAllHerFinery
59* LadyOfAdventure: While not necessarily physically adept herself, she doesn't shy away from danger or risk, but still strives to be beautiful and ladylike. Whether it averts or enforces this trope depends on the example.
60* LadyOfWar: More physically potent than her Adventure counterpart, but attempts to be no less ladylike.
61* LadyLooksLikeADude: Tends to depend on how "dude like" she is and how attractive she's considered. A {{Bifauxnen}} is still feminine and delicate like a {{Bishonen}} would be, but the stereotypical {{tomboy}} eschews any feminine traits which take time, effort and care to maintain because it isn't practical.
62* SheFu: Usually involves flourishes and beautiful acrobatics.
63* SilkHidingSteel: She uses her beauty and guise of delicacy as a smokescreen to conceal that she's a physical threat.
64* {{Swashbuckler}}: Used in romantic fiction because of its aesthetic value.
65* VasquezAlwaysDies: Involves a cast possessing one {{Tomboy}} and one more delicate and feminine character and the Tomboy always being the one killed. Hollywood usually [[EnforcedTrope enforces this]] because their leading ladies are beautiful, relatable and a better selling point than the secondary character and make the danger feel more potent.
66* WaifFu: Played straight in physical beauty, but subverted in physical toughness. The point to this trope is the irony of a delicate flower perform acts of aggression that seem improbable given her size.
67[[/index]]
68----

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