Line #3 Main/UsedToBeATomboy


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2	%% Image taken from the comic ''Blushing Girl'' from ''Yuri Hime Wildrose'', an NSFW spinoff of Magazine/YuriHime.
3	%% This means that ''Blushing Girl'' is NOT allowed per the content policy.
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7	[[quoteright:258:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/m003_7947.jpg]]
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9	An AlwaysFemale trope where a feminine character is shown to have been more boyish when they were younger.
10
11	If the character is not introduced in this way, it'll often come in the form of a flashback or other form of reveal. It's typical for her to be on extremes of the gender expression scale -- going from [[LadyLooksLikeADude very butch]] and [[{{bifauxnen}} androgynous]] to a GirlyGirl.
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13	A common variation, especially in comedies, is OldFriendNewGender. Sub-trope of ShesAllGrownUp and related to GirlinessUpgrade. The inversion is TomboynessUpgrade. Compare FormerTeenRebel and TomboyAngst.
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15	----
16	!!Examples:
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18
19	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
20	* In ''Manga/AsteroidInLove'', Ao is introduced as a tomboy with BoyishShortHair and a relatively masculine speech pattern to the point that Mira mistook her as a boy. Puberty turns her into a girly girl ([[GirlyGirlWithATomboyStreak mostly]]); at present day she is quiet, demure, and wears GirlishPigtails.
21	* In the YuriGenre one-shot ''Blushing Girl'', a girl meets her old friend Ichigo (pictured above), who moved away in early middle school. She was a trouble-making DirtyKid but when they meet four years later she's much more feminine than before, has grown her hair out, and is more polite. She's still a LovableSexManiac though.
22	* The protagonist of ''Manga/BokuNoFutatsuNoTsubasa'' is surprised to find her cousin, Makoto, appear as a teenage girl. She knew her as a boy when they were younger. Turns out she was mistaken for a boy because she was born with [[{{hermaphrodite}} a penis]] and was raised as a boy until puberty hit.
23	* ''Manga/BokuraNoHentai'':
24	** Miki used to be OneOfTheBoys and had a boyish look. When she hit puberty early her male friends stopped playing with her. By middle school she had grown out her hair and became more feminine over all.
25	** [[spoiler:Yui]], [[spoiler:Ryousuke's deceased older sister]], was a tomboy until she [[spoiler:became a model]] in late elementary.
26	** Akane has shades of this. As a toddler she used to loathe skirts. She still plays the [[TomboyAndGirlyGirl "tomboy" to her best friend Marika]] however [[TomboyWithAGirlyStreak has multiple stereotypically feminine qualities as well]].
27	* Sora Takenouchi from ''Anime/DigimonAdventure'' is a mix of OneOfTheBoys and TeamMom. In the sequel ''Anime/DigimonAdventure02'' (where most of the previous Chosen Children are teenagers), she has become a GirlyGirl, and more or less keeps it in ''Anime/DigimonAdventureTri''.
28	* In ''Anime/DirtyPair'' when Yuri was a little girl she is shown playing in mud and catching frogs and lizards with her bare hands, as an adult she is much more feminine but she can kick a lot of ass if she needs to.
29	* ''Manga/FairyTail'': Lucy is shocked to learn that Mirajane, the titular guild's resident SilkHidingSteel TeamMom used to be a punk girl who was bitter rivals with ActionGirl Erza. It's explained that this happened due to [[spoiler: the apparent death of Mirajane and Elfman's younger sister, Lisanna.]]
30	* Inverted with ''Manga/FamilyComplex'''s Fuyuki. She was first introduced as demure and feminine, sporting GirlishPigtails and wearing dresses. As she grew up and got over her shyness, she cut off her hair and started wearing boyish clothes, becoming a {{Bifauxnen}} instead. When she reappears in the manga's sequel ''Manga/PrincessPrincess'', Akira's friends mistook her as Akira's brother.
31	* Played with in ''Manga/FamilyCompo'', somewhere between this and OldFriendNewGender. Masahiko once met a boy at a grave site years ago, who played a joke on him and he is bitter towards the memory even years later. It turns out that was his cousin Shion. Shion looks feminine most of the time but is implied to be [[UsefulNotes/{{Transgender}} genderqueer]] and sometimes still dresses as a boy.
32	* ''Manga/HenkyouNoRoukishiBardLoen'': As a child, [[TomboyPrincess Lady Aidra Tersia]] was inspired to become a warrior, but gave up on that dream, along with that personality, after wandering into the forest nearly getting herself killed by a wild Kijiel.
33	* Hungary from ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'' was shown to have been a {{Bifauxnen}} CuteBruiser who thought she was a boy when she was a child. As an adult she's a TeamMom who wears frilly dresses and sports hair decorations. Noticeably the series averts the common cliche that they get [[RealWomenDontWearDresses weaker]] when they become more girly, in that Hungary actually got TookALevelInBadass when she grew up: as a tomboy she got defeated at least twice off-screen, while as a GirlyBruiser she's ''never'' been defeated.
34	* ''I'm A Fool'' is a YuriGenre oneshot that revolves around a woman meeting the '[[{{bifauxnen}} prince]]' of her old high school, who has grown out her hair and looks more conventionally feminine. She only noticed her due to her distinctive beauty mark on her ear. The woman is noted not to be terribly comfortable with stuff like wearing stockings yet.
35	* ''Anime/IsabelleOfParis'' has a hilarious example. The titular Isabelle begins the anime by announcing that she has left her tomboy habits in the past and is now going to be a refined ProperLady, like her sister, as she's a fifteen year old Bourgeoisie {{Ojou}} and must act the part. Then, France falls to the forces of UsefulNotes/{{Prussia}}, so Isabelle cuts off her hair and disguises herself as a boy to help LaResistance.
36	* Played with in ''Manga/KemonoJihen''. Haruka wore baggy clothes and kept her hair short when she met Robara as a kid, but while she wears openly girlier clothes now, her mannerisms remain the same.
37	* ''Anime/LoveLiveNijigasakiHighSchoolIdolClub'': Fashion model and [[TheTease rather flirty]] Karin Asaka was a mischievous tomboy back when she was a little girl on her home island. As shown in ''[[Webcomic/{{Nijiyon}} Nijyon Animation]]'', her interest in models and desiring to be a CoolBigSis in a big city is what lead Karin to becoming the girl she is in the present day.
38	* ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'': Ino, known for being the biggest GirlyGirl out of the Konoha 12 and being TheFashionista as well, was a tomboy a few years prior to the series beginning. She was a short-haired, confident BullyHunter and the tomboy to Sakura's shy and unconfident girly girl. By Part 2, their roles have been reversed.
39	* Yuki from ''Manga/NoBra'' is in love with her childhood friend Maa-kun. It turns out her friend wasn't Masato, but really [[spoiler:Kaoru]] who is a girl [[spoiler:and is Masato's girlfriend]].
40	* Inverted in ''Manga/PokemonAdventures'' with Sapphire. She wore a pink lolita dress as a little girl and was very feminine. [[spoiler:She decided to change after Ruby got hurt saving her.]] The opposite happened to Ruby--who used to be more rough and tumble as a kid, but is now an effeminate guy whose primary interest is fashion design--making them a MasculineGirlFeminineBoy duo.
41	* The protagonist from ''Manga/{{Prism}}'' is stuck in the past about a boy she spent time with one day in late elementary and [[PuppyLove fell in love with]]. On her first day of high school she gets hugged by a random girl. This girl, [[GenderBlenderName Hikaru]], tells her she was the "boy" she met all those years ago.
42	* Riku from the oneshot ''Tender Tear'' was a [[HugeSchoolgirl tall]] LesbianJock with BoyishShortHair in high school. Because [[OneGenderSchool her school had no boys]] many classmates [[SituationalSexuality were drawn to her]]. After high school she grew out her hair, began wearing dresses, and learned how to use make-up. Riku notes that after she stopped being androgynous suddenly straight girls didn't take notice of her anymore.
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45	[[folder:Comic Books]]
46	* It's revealed in ''ComicBook/ArchieComics2015'' that the "[[NoodleIncident Lipstick Incident]]" between Archie and Betty is due to this. [[spoiler:Archie was afraid his tomboyish girlfriend Betty was starting to become more feminine. They got into an argument on a date and ended up breaking up after over [[ChildhoodFriendRomance ten years together]].]]
47	* [[ComicBook/WonderWoman1987 Initially]] ComicBook/WonderGirl [[Characters/WonderGirlCassieSandsmark Cassie Sandsmark]] was a tomboy, who kept her hair cropped short, wore baggy clothes and geeked out over getting to meet her hero Franchise/WonderWoman. In her later appearances, especially in ''ComicBook/TeenTitans'', she seems more like a stereotypical girly boy-obsessed cheerleader type who wears a skintight cleavage showing and midriff revealing outfit.
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50	[[folder:Fan Works]]
51	* ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/42532302/chapters/112726895 Back to 1987]]'': When a time-displaced Jolyne Kujo and 5-years-old Haruno move to Sardinia, they encounter Trish Una. Rather than the feminine appearing teen she was in ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureGoldenWind'', she's a brash tomboy that gets into fight with the boys who try to make fun of her for her fatherless background. Jolyne is quite surprised to learn that this was the past of the famous pop diva whose songs helped her in her teenage years.
52	* Happens to Helga Shortman (née Pataki) in ''[[Fanfic/AfterTheJungleSeries After the Jungle]]'' (by [[Creator/Flowerprincess11 Flower princess11]]). Everyone remembers her as this [[{{Tsundere}} hot]][[LovingBully headed]] {{tomboy}} [[TomboyWithAGirlyStreak (with some girly interests)]] back in the original series, but she mellows out a lot as she gets older (especially after she and Arnold get married and have children) and also becomes girlier and more feminine as time goes on--but she still retains some of her more tomboyish traits and can also still be rather aggressive and also has really strong protective instincts towards her loved ones.
53	* The LDD-fanfic, ''Fanfic/BridgeToTerabithia2TheLastTime'', reveals that Leslie took a further GirlinessUpgrade, even more so than the [[Literature/BridgeToTerabithia 2007 film adaptation]], where as a teenager she starts growing her hair past her shoulders, wearing makeup and lipstick, and becoming even more feminine in Jess' presence. The fact that her supposed death in the original story was retconned as [[spoiler: being abducted by a human trafficking syndicate and subsequently cut away from society until she was rescued 5 years later, before eventually returning to Lark Creek and reuniting with Jess as a teenager]], might be a contributing factor to her massive change in personality.
54	* In the ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' fancomic ''WebComic/HowIBecameYours'', set some years after the conclusion of the series, regular tomboy Toph has become more feminine with growing up, wearing dresses and makeup and developing a (relatively) more romantic temperament. The example is a somewhat downplayed one, however, since she still retains a lot of [[TheLadette her rough personality]] under the polished surface.
55	* Ashley in ''Fanfic/GlitterReunion'' isn't as tomboyish as she was 20 years ago as a teen.
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58	[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
59	* ''ComicBook/{{Asterix}} vs. Caesar'': Asterix mentions in passing that the beautiful feminine Panacea used to be quite the tomboy as a child.
60	* ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994'': Nala was a mischievous cub who could beat Simba in every fight. She was also very adventurous and restless. She loses her tomboyish traits as an adult and becomes more regal and mature, although she's still as capable a fighter as ever.
61	* ''WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1989'': Teenage Ariel was a rebellious TomboyPrincess. In the [[WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaidIIReturnToTheSea sequel]] she acts quite queenly, becoming the GirlyGirl to her daughter's {{tomboy}}.
62	* ''WesternAnimation/TheSwanPrincess'': As a child, Princess Odette is a tomboy who could keep up with Derek and Bromley. She becomes more of a girly girl as a teen and adult.
63	* ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory2'': Jessie's previous owner Emily went through a cowgirl phase, and loved horses, cowgirl hats, and Wild West things. As she became a teenager, her interests shifted to makeup, music, and colorful '60s posters.
64	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Up}}'': Ellie was shown to have been a tomboy in flashbacks to her childhood. In her adulthood she was more feminine-looking.
65	* Yuki from ''Anime/WolfChildren'' as a young child she loved to get dirty, fight with other animals and hunt them, and collected snakes, bugs, and animal bones, however once she began to go to school she freaked out the other girls with her hobbies and wolf tendencies, so in order to fit in she begins to act more girly and wear more fashionable dresses, she also rejects her wolf side.
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68	[[folder:Literature]]
69	* In ''[[Literature/SherlockHolmes The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes]]'' story "The Noble Bachelor," Hatty Doran is mentioned to have been a tomboy who liked to explore the California wilderness as a child.
70	* Iria Gai from ''Literature/AliceGirlFromTheFuture'' was raised as the ultimate tomboy by a WhyCouldntYouBeDifferent father. Later, she married and became a girly enough mother, though her old skills are still there for MamaBear mod.
71	* ''Boys and Girls'' by Creator/AliceMunro; the main character starts out as a masculine farmhand, but soon comes to realize that [[StayInTheKitchen she's "just a girl" and will never amount to anything because of it]].
72	* ''Literature/{{Haganai}}'': The first oblivious offense of Kodaka the male protagonist. He does not remember the cool loner beauty Yozora from their time as children having played together before long period of separation. He thinks his friend, nicknamed Sora, was a boy.
73	* In ''Literature/NorthangerAbbey'', Catherine Moreland's backstory states she was a tomboy as a child.
74	* In ''Literature/StrikeTheBlood'', Kojou and his UnwantedHarem find out that long lost friend, Yuuma Tokoyogi, is returning. The girls look at a picture of Kojou and Yuuma when they were kids and seem relieved at what appears to be a boy in a basketball jersey.. But when Yuuma actually shows herself later, she's grown into a very mature, very feminine, very beautiful young woman.
75	* ''Literature/WutheringHeights'': Catherine goes through a GirlinessUpgrade during her visit to the Lintons. When her childhood friend Heathcliff sees her again, he's all freaked out because he remembers her as a tomboy with whom he explored the countryside and had barefoot running contests. Ultimately, this change is portrayed as Catherine betraying her true self, and during her ultimate [[spoiler: mental breakdown]] she yearns desperately for her past as a tomboyish child, "half-savage and hardy, and free."
76	* ''Franchise/TolkiensLegendarium'': Galadriel. Her mother-name, Nerwen, literally translates to "man-maiden", and she first came to Middle-Earth as a sword-swinging ActionGirl in her uncle Fëanor's entourage, ready to conquer herself a nice little chunk of the world to rule. By the time ''Literature/LordOfTheRings'' rolls around, she's had a few millenia to mellow out.
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79	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
80	* Penny from ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'' was a tomboy, going so far as being the Junior Rodeo Champ, because her father wanted her to be a boy. After she got her first push up bra, she became a cheerleader and adapted the girly, low cut wardrobe and boy crazy attitude she has attitude she had at the series. However, she still has flashes of her roots, mainly in being able to do traditional "manly" activities like holding her own in a sports discussion, or gutting fish when her nerdy guy friends can't.
81	* Robin from ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'' was a tomboy growing up due to her father wanting a son.
82	* In ''Series/PrettyLittleLiars'' in the episode Shadow Play, Aria tells Paige that she used to be a tomboy, and spent more time in trees than in her own room; she went on to say that she grew out of it once she fell in love for the first time. All of the four girls are feminine snappy dressers, including still tomboy and [[LipstickLesbian resident gay gal Emily.]]
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85	[[folder:Music]]
86	* In "Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen" by Music/NeilSedaka, one of the lines is "My little tomboy now wears satin and lace".
87	* Invoked in "One Of The Boys" by Music/KatyPerry. The protagonist is trying to become less tomboyish and more of a GirlyGirl to attract a boy.
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90	[[folder:Radio]]
91	* Spoofed in ''Radio/JohnFinnemoresSouvenirProgramme'' in a sketch about ''Literature/TheFamousFive''. A now-adult Julian runs into George (now going by Georgina) and repeatedly offends her by expressing surprise at how "feminine" she comes across, since he'd always assumed that she was either lesbian or trans. Georgina irritably responds that her tomboyish style was a completely ordinary prepubescent phase, but that she's now married (to a man) with three kids and is a full-time housewife. The sketch also hints at an inversion of this trope, since it's mentioned that Anne grew up to be far less ultra-feminine than Georgina, and is in fact a slightly unhinged artist with a recent history of [[BloodKnight vigilante violence]].
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94	[[folder:StandUpComedy]]
95	* Discussed and parodied in one of Paul F. Tompkins' routines, "Tomboy", where he notes that nearly every "bee-yootiful Hollywood actress" will mention this in interviews as a humanizing moment.
96	-->"'I know, it's hard to believe because I'm so beautiful, but I was a tomboy! I used to walk around in overalls and a baseball cap, carried a slingshot, and I was constantly catchin' frogs!' [...] Everybody loves it, but [[InTouchWithHisFeminineSide nobody is on board with the reverse]]. Nobody is excited if -- you know, like, Brad Pitt was on some interview and, like, 'Oh, what was I like as a boy? Oh, I was a sissy. Yeah, I was a total sissy. Threw like a girl, took violin lessons... uh, I was hurt by the sun. Um, played with dolls... let's see... yeah, I wore a little short-pant velvet suit everywhere I went. Big straw hat, streamers off the back. Why, yes, I ''did'' have a giant lollipop, thank you for asking.'"
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99	[[folder:Video Games]]
100	* ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' ''inverts'' this twice:
101	** In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'', it's revealed in Cynthia's conversation with Severa in the DLC map Harvest Scramble that Cynthia she used to be way girlier before her parents died when she was young and became determined to become a great hero like they were. Though she's only a tomboy in the sense that she likes being a dashing hero and fighting for justice - otherwise [[TomboyWithAGirlyStreak she still dresses, looks, and sounds incredibly girly]], plus she begins in a traditionally female fighting class (Pegasus Knight) that only became unisex in the following game.
102	** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'' has Princess Hinoka, who used to be a ShrinkingViolet before the Avatar was taken away and her father was murdered. She decided to cope by training hard and becoming an ActionGirl.
103	* This happens to Ann in ''VideoGame/HarvestMoon1'' if you marry her. She grows her hair out, trades her [[TankTopTomboy tank top]] and pants for a dress, and becomes a housewife. She keeps her WrenchWench habits though. This situation is {{averted\|trope}} in ''VideoGame/HarvestMoonMagicalMelody'', where the wives aren't {{Palette Swap}}s after marriage anymore.
104	* Jennifer Pleasant from ''VideoGame/TheSims1'' had an identical personality to her older brother and was dressed in full soccer kit as her standard outfit. In ''VideoGame/TheSims2'', set 25 years later, Jennifer re-appears as a suburban wife and mother dressed neutrally in a tank top, mid-length skirt, and heels. Her bio states that she gave up on her childhood aspiration to be a soccer superstar, and now wants to be fashionable and stylish instead.
105	* ''VideoGame/TokyoXanadu'' downplays this with Sora Ikushima. She's still by far the most tomboyish girl in the party, training in a karate club and wearing BoyishShortHair. However, when Kou meets her for the first time since elementary, he's shocked by how much she has changed, remarking that she now even ''wears a skirt''.
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108	[[folder:Web Comics]]
109	* In ''Webcomic/LeagueOfSuperRedundantHeroes'' it's revealed that in elementary school Buckaress was quite the sports star, and as a result she got bullied for not being girly. By high school she'd changed her shtick so thoroughly to girliness that in the present day she's not much of a superhero. [[spoiler:Until another female superhero starts training her.]]
110	* In ''Snowflake & Flower'' it's shown that as a kid Himawari had BoyishShortHair and was a tomboy. After her KnightTemplarBigBrother beat up some boys for teasing her she stopped having male friends, due to her brother scaring her, and became more feminine.
111	* Yoona from ''Webcomic/WelcomeToRoom305'' was the [[MasculineGirlFeminineBoy tomboy to her sensitive little brother]] and at least once beat up other kids in order to protect him. She became somewhat more feminine with age, and her brother less attached and less of a crybaby, but she kept her temper and [[BigBrotherInstinct over-protectiveness]]. As the webtoon goes on her [[TheLadette ladette]] qualities become more obvious.
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114	[[folder:Western Animation]]
115	* Almost everytime we get a FlashForward in ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'', Francine is presented as much more feminine looking than she is currently.
116	* ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'': Mishti, an old friend of Baljeet's from when he and his family were still living in India, comes to visit him in America for the first time in the Titanic-themed episode. When they were younger, they often roughhoused and played in the mud together, and Baljeet is looking forward to her visit--and then she shows up in a gorgeous red dress and makeup. He panics at his old friend having "turned into" a girl and escapes.
117	* Parodied in a mock FlashForward in the ''WesternAnimation/ThePowerpuffGirls1998'' episode "The City of Clipsville". The tomboyish Buttercup is portrayed as a feminine, boy-obsessed ValleyGirl (along with her sisters) as a teenager. The scene in question is a joke about the fandom's typical older versions of the girls at the time.
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