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Sensitive Guy And Manly Man / Video Games

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  • A3 has Tsumugi and Tasuku as the Sensitive Guy and Manly Man respectively. Tsumugi is a gentle, Nice Guy who is also a Caring Gardener and best known for his subtle and delicate acting, whereas Tasuku is a blunt, stoic fitness nut who is a Mr. Fixit and best known for his bold acting. Tsumugi is also slim, whereas Tasuku is muscular and strong enough to give Tsumugi a Bridal Carry.
  • Bully has Petey play the sensitive guy to both Gary and Jimmy's manly men.
  • Zigzagged and downplayed in Death Stranding, with Sam and Deadman. Sam is a Working-Class Hero, who trecks through dangerous terrain and fights BTs on the regular, while Deadman is an eccentric scientist who never leaves Capital Knot City and can't fight. When the two are whisked away by a time supercell that puts them on a World War II era battlefield, Sam has to do the actual fighting to get them back home, while Deadman can only hide and wait in fear. It gets subverted when it comes to their personalities and emotions: Sam is very shy and submissive in pretty much all social interactions, he's prone to crying and immidietly bonds with the BB he travels with, and while Deadman isn't emotionless, exactly, he's way more subdued and rational, especially at the start of the game.
  • Dragon Quest V: Pankraz and Sancho. Pankraz is a brooding, stoic swordsman who tries to keep his emotions in check for his son's sake. His servant and friend Sancho is a pugdy, kind-hearted man who wears his heart on his sleeve at all times.
  • Ensemble Stars! has Kuro and Shu: Kuro being a rough-speaking, reserved, karate-performing former delinquent, and Shu being a fussy, elitist, and prissy fashion designer. However, don't mistake sensitivity for kindness - while Kuro looks intimidating, he's a very caring big brother figure, while Shu is an arrogant Jerk with a Heart of Gold. The two are Childhood Friends, and naturally, a fairly popular ship. Less obviously, Keito could also qualify as a Sensitive Guy to Kuro's Manly Man - he's more gender-neutral than feminine, but he's far less physically fit than the other members of his unit and is just as fussy and particular as Shu when it comes to rules, not to mention being far more easily swept up in emotion (albeit to his own embarrassment).
  • Fallout: New Vegas and All Roads in particular casts Benny and Swank like this. Benny is scheming to take on Vegas, Swank is worried about the extremes he'll go to... and about him getting cigarette burns on the carpets.
  • The Jin brothers from the Fatal Fury series. The sensitive guy of the brothers is Chonshu since some people think that he's a girl, plus he has a feminine voice. The manly man is Chonrei, who is a Knight Templar Big Brother.
  • Fire Emblem:
    • Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade:
      • Eliwood and Hector are the most prominent example. Whereas Eliwood is the most polite of the two and prefers to solve problems without resorting to violence if possible, Hector is far more blunt and direct. This is also shown in their reactions to the deaths of Elbert and Uther: while Eliwood openly cries his heart out after his father dies, Hector does his best to put up a strong front for his friends' sake, even trying to keep them from finding out about his brother's death (to the point Lyn decides to cry for him if they have an A-Support in the final chapter).
      • Dorcas and Bartre show this dynamic in their support conversations: Bartre is a Hot-Blooded Boisterous Bruiser whose solution to every problem is punching things in the face, while Dorcas is calm, paints as a side hobby and fights to earn money to support his sick wife. Interestingly, both are Axe Fighters, the archetypal "manly" class in the series.
    • Fire Emblem: Three Houses:
      • The Golden Deer house has the merchant-born childhood friends Raphael and Ignatz. Raphael is a Boisterous Bruiser who is passionate about building his muscles, wants to protect everyone, loves jumping right into the fray, and deeply wants to become a knight. Ignatz is shy, artistic, awestruck by beauty, prefers more refined fighting styles, and it's implied he's only becoming a knight instead of a professional artist because his family expects him to. Even in Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes when he does become a knight, he is repeatedly questioned whether he really wants to be there. He also reveals in his Three Hopes support with Marianne that he was dismayed to learn that only women could be Pegasus knights, because he wanted to as a child.
      • The Black Eagle house has another set of childhood friends in Caspar and Linhardt, whose fathers are ministers who often butt heads. Caspar is brash, Hot-Blooded, and always wants to be a hero even if it gets him in trouble. Linhardt openly admits to being unsuited for battle, hates violence, and would rather stay home to sleep or read if at all possible. Caspar also sports more masculine haircuts and fashion than Linhardt's, and the latter is one of the game's few male Gay Options.
  • Galaxy Angel II: When Roselle Mateus shows up in Mugen Kairo no Kagi, he and Kazuya Shiranami quickly develop this dynamic, with Kazuya as the sensitive guy and Roselle as the manly man. This actually causes a problem in Anise and Kahlua's routes since Roselle's manlier qualities attract Anise and Tequila, Kahlua's alter-ego, and indirectly causes a problem in Apricot's route due to Kazuya's insecurity about the issue, but does not become an issue in Lily's and Nano-Nano's routes.
  • God of War (PS4): This game gives out a father/son example in the form of Kratos (manly) and his son Atreus (sensitive). Kratos, as shown in the games he appeared in is a reckless and angry demigod who has killed a lot of gods and is very impulsive, even though in the reboot, he is trying to work on his temper. Atreus is a young boy who is not very comfortable with killing unless if he is helping his dad fight monsters.
  • Parodied in Grand Theft Auto IV with the television show "The Men's Room With Bas And Jeremy", Jeremy St. Ives being an effeminate pacifist who's main advice usually revolves around "rectal marital issues" and "colon cleansing", and former ultimate fighter Bas Rutten (as he is portrayed in this game) being a hyper-masculine, borderline Ax-Crazy who's every sentence eventually devolves into violence sprinkled with gore.
  • Guilty Gear: Sol Badguy the eternally-pissed off rogue Gear with his Heroic Build, mouth like a Marine and heavy smoking is a sure-fire Manly Man to Ky Kiske, a dutiful knight who collects tea-cups and dearly loves his Cute Monster Girl wife Dizzy. That said, Ky is no weakling or pushover, and Sol is a Heartbroken Badass once you get past the tough-guy image.
  • Legacy of Kain: Brusque warlord Kain is a Manly Man while thoughtful, angsty Raziel is a Sensitive Guy. This trope can also apply to Manly Man Vorador (callous, violent, has a harem) and his sire Sensitive Guy Janos Audron (kind, understanding, hermetic).
  • Link and Prince Sidon from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Link is a short, slim Long-Haired Pretty Boy Hylian boy who looks very pretty when Disguised in Drag. Sidon is a tall and muscular Zora man. Inverted personality-wise as Link is The Stoic with occasional elements of Jerk with a Heart of Gold while Sidon is very charismatic, expressive, and always acts as a Nice Guy even when chastising Muzu for his anti-Hylian prejudice. Link is also a powerful knight, subverting the "weak" cliche.
  • Mass Effect 3 has James Vega as the "manly man" and Steve Cortez as the "sensitive guy". James is a Boisterous Bruiser full of macho bravado who refuses to show sadness (although he has plenty to be sad about). Steve Cortez is emotionally drained but far more level-headed shuttle pilot (although he can hold his own in combat), and at one point openly weeps in front of Commander Shepard. Steve is also less built than James, but not by much.
  • Mega Man (Classic) and Proto Man, with Mega Man being the Sensitive Guy and Proto Man being the Manly Man. Also Mega Man X and Zero. This last one is particularly interesting in that the one who viewers have sometimes mistaken for a girl isn't X but Zero, the Manly Man of the equation. Likely because his creator saw it fit to give him flowing, hips-long hair and such other characteristics.
  • Solid Snake (manly man) and Otacon (sensitive guy) from Metal Gear Solid are made of this trope, although Snake's more philosophical and Otacon's sexual history is significantly more important to the plot than Snake's. And both are as emotionally needy as each other, although they show it in different ways.
  • Zigzagged in Persona 4 with Ryotaro Dojima and Tohru Adachi. At work, Dojima is the grizzled, hard-boiled Manly Man to Adachi's goofy and bumbling Sensitive Guy. However, they switch places off the clock; Adachi is the snide and antisocial Manly Man to Dojima's soft-spoken and paternal Sensitive Guy.
  • Pokémon:
  • Radiant Historia features protagonist Stocke and his best friend Rosch. Rosch is the big, burly Captain and Supporting Leader, while the slim, Bishōnen Stocke is The Confidant and The Ace. Despite his demeanor, Stocke is also a ridiculously nice guy who's surprisingly good with people, even helping Rosch with relationship problems.
  • Street Fighter has Claw as the Sensitive Guy and Boxer as the Manly Man.
  • Super Mario Bros.:
    • Mario and Luigi, to some extent. Mario has a quick-to-act get-up-and-go fearless attitude, while Luigi has a hesitant, cautious, and timid demeanor. "Mario" even means "manly".
    • Then there's aggressive, Hot-Blooded Manly Man Bowser that Mario becomes a Sensitive Guy to.
    • On Super Mario RPG, we have the free-spirited, stoic Geno as the manly man and the emotional, energetic Mallow as the sensitive guy.
    • One of the partners in the Paper Mario series follows this trope too. Kooper is the Manly Man, who is more adventurous, brave, and being much more fearless, in comparison to Koops, being the Sensitive Guy who is much more shy, timid, and clumsy.
    • Count Bleck of Super Paper Mario is a melodramatic cape-swooping bad guy whose entire villainous motivations stem from his emotions towards losing his only love. To contrast him, O'Chunks is a loud Violent Glaswegian who acts as one of his villainous enforcers. And he usually leaves the scene by farting away.
  • Twisted Wonderland: Vil Schoenheit is an effeminate Pretty Boy who's a famous actor and model, and as such has a high sense of professionalism and maturity. He mentors Epel Felmier, a younger and more immature boy who has a misguided and old-fashioned view on masculinity, and often tries to be hyper-masculine.
  • Undertale has skeleton brothers, Sans and Papyrus. Sans is lazy and secretly cynical, loves pranking others, spending time in bars and sleeping and is insanely powerful and willing to kill you over and over again if you go too far, making him the manly man, while his younger brother Papyrus is a cheerful and egotistical sweetheart and optimist who loves creating puzzles, cooking spaghetti, and while still powerful, he is far less powerful than Sans and he is not willing to kill you, no matter what- he in fact SPARES YOU immediately on Genocide Run, where you killed everyone before him just to help you become a better person and on Pacifist/Neutral run, he specifically wants to capture you, not kill you and will end the fight if your HP drops to 1- making him more sensitive of the two.
  • Wild ARMs has Rudy and Jack. Rudy is a kind hearted and idealistic hero who will do anything to help and protect others while Jack is a cynical Jerk with a Heart of Gold who gets very aggressive when dealing with the demons attacking the world.
  • In World of Warcraft we have the King of Stormwind Varian Wrynn as the manly man, and due to his characterization from the third expansion onwards, his son, Prince Anduin Wrynn, as the Sensitive Guy. Of course, Rule of Drama extends this dichotomy to cause them to have a rather dysfunctional father and son relationship, and opposing views on how to solve the ongoing conflict with the rival faction of the Horde.

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