An index of tropes related to crossing or bending the line between male and female or men and women.
Not to be confused with Unisex Tropes (which are trope names that seem gender specific when they are not) or Transgender Tropes (which are tropes about trans characters or character traits).
Subcategories:
- Crossdresser
- Tomboy: A masculine female.
- In Touch with His Feminine Side: A feminine male.
- Agent Peacock: A cool and Badass feminine male. (A feminine male who has a masculine streak.)
- Alien Gender Confusion: A member of one race has trouble distinguishing the genders of another.
- Ambiguous Gender: Characters whose true gender is kept deliberately ambiguous.
- Ambiguous Gender Identity: Characters whose gender identity is left vague.
- Animal Gender-Bender: An animal has sexually dimorphic traits that don't apply to their gender.
- Lactating Male (although there are human examples)
- Egg-Laying Male
- Insect Gender-Bender
- Peacock Girl
- Attractive Bent-Gender: A character looks attractive when disguised as a member of the opposite sex.
- Bifauxnen: A woman who could, from the way she looks and dresses, pass for an androgynously attractive man.
- Bishōnen: Beautiful but somewhat androgynous men.
- The Cover Changes the Gender: A song cover changes the gender of the original song's viewpoint character.
- Creepy Crossdresser: A character who does not look good in drag.
- Crosscast Role: A role that is played by an actor of the opposite gender.
- Crossdresser: Dressing in clothing of the opposite sex.
- Crossdressing Voices: Voice actors playing characters of the opposite gender.
- Cross Player: A person who likes roleplaying as the opposite sex.
- Different for Girls: A character who is Gender Bender or Disguised in Drag has no idea how to act as the opposite gender.
- Disguised in Drag: A man disguises himself by dressing up as a woman.
- Distaff Counterpart: A new character that's similar to the original character, just the opposite gender.
- Drag Queen: A man who wears women's clothing only on special occasions.
- Dragged into Drag: A man who is forced into women's clothing.
- Dude Looks Like a Lady: A male character gets mistaken as female despite putting no effort to look feminine.
- Easy Sex Change: Unrealistically fast and easy sex change.
- Estrogen Brigade: A female sub-fandom of a male-targeted media.
- Gender Bender: Being transformed into a member of the opposite sex.
- First Law of Gender Bending: Male-to-female gender changes are more common and more permanent than the opposite.
- Second Law of Gender-Bending: A character who has their gender changed will start to enjoy their new life.
- Third Law of Gender-Bending: Characters undergoing a gender change usually take on stereotypes of their new gender.
- Gender Bender Angst: A gender bender character who is not happy with their new sex.
- Sex Shifter: An individual that changes sex regularly.
- Super Gender-Bender: A character gains superpowers that also changes their gender.
- Gender-Bender Friendship: Character befriends their Love Interest while masquerading as the opposite sex.
- Gender-Bent Alternate Universe: An Alternate Universe where everyone's counterparts are of the opposite gender.
- Gender-Blender Name: Character's name is typical for the opposite gender.
- Gender-Concealing Voice: A character changes their voice when disguised as another gender.
- Gender-Concealing Writing: A character is referred to using gender-neutral language to conceal their gender.
- Gendered Outfit: When an Opposite-Sex Clone, Distaff Counterpart, or Gender Bender wears an opposite-gender version of an established outfit.
- Gender Flip: Re-envisioning a story with one or more characters as the opposite gender.
- Gender-Inclusive Writing: The avoidance of any use of gendered pronouns or any references to the gender identity of a character for the sake of inclusiveness.
- Harmless Lady Disguise: A man disguises himself as a lady to avoid suspicion.
- Hermaphrodite: A character who is both genders.
- Historical Gender Flip: A historical or mythical character is depicted as the opposite gender in a work of fiction.
- Incredibly Conspicuous Drag: A man in drag who doesn't look like an attractive woman.
- Intersex Tribulations: A character is troubled due to being intersex.
- Jumping the Gender Barrier: A character's sexual preferences change when they undergo a Gender Bender.
- Lady Looks Like a Dude: A female character who looks like a male.
- Light Girl, Dark Boy: During gender flipping, girls will have lighter hair and skin, and boys will have darker features in contrast.
- Makeover Torment: A masculine guy is humiliated by being given a girly makeover.
- Man, I Feel Like a Woman: A male character changes into a female and perversely examines their new body.
- Man in a Bikini: A man wears a woman's bikini.
- Masculine, Feminine, Androgyne Trio: A masculine character, a feminine character, and an androgynous character are grouped together.
- Masculine–Feminine Gay Couple: Same-sex couple where one partner is more masculine/feminine than the other.
- Masculine Girl, Feminine Boy: A feminine male and a masculine female are featured together.
- Mister Seahorse: A male character becomes pregnant.
- Multi-Gendered Outfit: Nonbinary and gender-nonconforming characters wear a combination of strongly masculine and feminine clothing.
- Multi-Gendered Split Personalities: A character has a split personality that is featured as the opposite gender.
- No Biological Sex: A character does not biologically have a sex, but may still identify as one gender.
- Old Friend, New Gender: An old friend that you haven't seen in a while has had a sex change.
- Omegaverse: A setting where humans have a secondary sex (alpha, beta or omega).
- Opposite-Sex Clone: A character has a clone of themselves that is the opposite gender.
- Otherworldly and Sexually Ambiguous: A demon, god, or otherworldly being or creature who has no defining gender.
- Otokonoko Genre: A Japanese genre for men, focusing on romantic or erotic situations involving Attractive Bent-Gender male Crossdressers.
- Raised as the Opposite Gender: A character is raised as if they were the opposite gender.
- Real Men Wear Pink: A masculine male who has a feminine streak.
- Recursive Crossdressing: A character or actor disguises their gender.
- Reincarnated as the Opposite Sex: A character reincarnates in a body of the opposite sex they were in their past life.
- Rule 63: For every character there is a gender flipped version of that character.
- Samus Is a Girl: A character who wears bulky armor or baggy robes is revealed to be female.
- Shapeshifting Squick: A shapeshifting character uses their powers to improve their love life, which can often lead to squicky situations.
- She's a Man in Japan: A translation of a work changes a character's gender.
- Sobriquet Sex Switch: A character, whether it be gender bending or crossdressing, goes by a name derived from their old one.
- Sweet Polly Oliver: A woman disguises herself as a man to achieve a certain purpose.
- Sweet on Polly Oliver: A male is attracted to a girl pretending to be a guy.
- Testosterone Brigade: A male sub-fandom of a female-targeted media.
- Trans Nature: A character is uncomfortable with whatever role they've been born into or assigned to and wish to change it.
- Twelfth Night Adventure: A character becomes a Wholesome Crossdresser to integrate himself/herself into the setting.
- Unplanned Crossdressing: A character ends up crossdressing through desperation or ignorance.
- Unsettling Gender-Reveal: A character has a negative reaction upon finding out the true gender of the person they were romantically attracted to.
- Viewer Gender Confusion: The result of a character with an ambiguous or misleading appearance confusing the casual audience as to the character's true gender.
- "Which Restroom?" Dilemma: A character can't decide to use the men's or the women's restroom, or doesn't know which is which.
- Wholesome Crossdresser: Crossdressing characters who are presented in a positive way.
- Wrong Genetic Sex: A character's genetic sex doesn't match their actual gender.
- Your Tomcat Is Pregnant: A pet that is thought to be a boy turns out to be a girl...and pregnant.
