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Duplicate Trope: Bishonen

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    Original post 
Pretty Boy and Bishōnen are very similar tropes. Both deal with male androgynous characters (skinny, cleanshaven, ect.) being treated as attractive. The main difference being, of course, that one is only found in Eastern media... right?

The wick check I did shows an estimate as follows:

  • 4% of Bishōnen examples and 7% of Pretty Boy examples are good examples with decent amounts of context showing that the character is androgynous, is considered attractive in-universe, and is an Eastern (in the case of Bishōnen) or Western (in the case of Pretty Boy) work.

  • 8% of Bishōnen examples (zces included) are on Western pages, while the same applies the other way.

  • 86% of Bishōnen examples and 64% of Pretty Boy examples are zero-context or vague potholes.

  • The remaining 2% of Bishōnen wicks and 21% of Pretty Boy wicks are various other forms of misuse (Fandom gushing and "A character gets called "Pretty Boy", respectively).

So, not only are Bishonen and Pretty Boy pretty much interchangable according to wiki editors, but it also seems that both tropes suffer from a lot of Zero-Context Example issues. If an obvious and functioning trope can be salvaged out of one of them, I can't see it. My only proposed option is to have them, and their redirects, redirect to A Pretty Boy Index, which houses all the relevant subtropes.

Wick Checks

    Bishonen checks (50/50) 

Correct usage: A boyish and slender attractive man, treated as such in the Eastern or Eastern-styled work he is from (3)

  • Fate/Grand Order - Sabers N to Z: He was famed for his beautiful face, to the point that entire armies on both sides would stop to gaze at it. To earn their respect as a warrior, he hides it behind a demonic mask, and it's even weaponized as his Noble Phantasm. (On a different example): He has a very lithe physique suiting his Bishōnen appearance [...]
  • Sekirei Participants Of Sekirei Plan: He's extremely pretty with an androgynous face, MUCH to Yukari's delight.
  • Jewelpet Happiness: Intentionally drawn as femininely attractive and with a lean figure.

Misuse: The character is from a Western work (6)

  • TwoKinds: Mystical White Hair: In both forms, though she's got a lot more hair in her wolf form. She inherits this from her father, who is a white wolf Keidran in his natural form and a white haired Bishōnen in his human form. (Under Raine's folder)
  • Nancy Drew: Sonny Joon, of all people, turns out to be this when you meet him for the first time in The Shattered Medallion.
  • HonorHarrington.Tropes A To F: Victor Cachat, repeatedly described as cute, and Jeremy X, who was literally genetically engineered to be one, to fit his intended role as a jester.
  • Fate: The Winx Saga: Pretty Boy: He quite resembles a real-life Bishōnen.
  • Northwest Smith: Yarol. This is apparently typical of people from Venus. (Slashed with Pretty Boy)
  • TakeThatScrappy.The DCU: One of the (many) controversial decisions made during the New 52 was Lobo being reintroduced as a slender, clean-shaven Bishōnen instead of the grungy, musclebound slob fans had come to know and love.

Misuse: The audience/Troper finds the character pretty (1)

Unclear (Zero-context, vague potholes) (63)

Other

    Pretty Boy checks (50/50) 

Correct usage: A boyish and slender attractive man, treated as such in the Western work he is from (4)

  • Gone: In the first book, he is described as being "pretty, like a girl". (Under Peter's heading in the Perdido Beach folder)
  • The Outsiders: Soda is often described by Ponyboy as looking like a movie star or a Greek God.
  • WorldOfWarcraft.Tropes M To R:
    • Blood Elves, such as Kael'thas Sunstrider (who wasn't quite so pretty the second time). And how! One of the silly lines for playable Blood Elves is "Don't you wish your girlfriend was hot like me?
    • Also applies to the High Elves, who are a separate political faction of the same race; what minor differences exist between the two are based on their different approaches to satisfying their magic addiction.
    • Lampshaded aboard one of the ships traversing the Great Sea. One of the female sailors complains that the male high elf first mate is prettier than her. (This and above bullet should be merged)

Misuse: The character is from an Eastern work (5)

Misuse: The audience/Troper finds the character pretty (4)

Misuse: Trope name used as a stock phrase (5)

  • Marvel Comics: Quicksilver: Depending on the art, Quicksilver is usually not a pretty boy except for X-Men Evolution cartoon. However, in one X-Factor issue, he was called 'Pretty Boy' by his inmates when he was put in prison for vagrancy. (Under Quicksilver's folder - seems kinda stock phrasey)
  • Characters/Quasar: Depending on the artist, the most prominent example is when Greg Capullo draws him in several issues of the solo series. In one issue, he was even called 'Pretty Boy' by a villain. (Also stock phrasey)
  • Trans Ponies: Tex isn't feminine but he's softer looking than Rainbow Dash and Big Macintosh. Rainbow outright calls him a "pretty boy" (Also stock phrasey)
  • Destiny Child: Ho Yay: The young master himself has mentioned that Frej is hot, as well as Rufus. He also refers to Tristan as a Pretty Boy.
  • Airlocked Round Two: He takes great offence when Kip calls him one, but it's true.

Unclear (Zero-context, vague potholes) (36)

Other (2)

Edited by MacronNotes on Oct 31st 2022 at 1:09:53 PM

AbsoluteRainbow Absolute Rainbow & the tales between worlds from Hanoi, Vietnam Since: Jul, 2023
Absolute Rainbow & the tales between worlds
#101: Dec 17th 2023 at 8:20:05 PM

[up]Johnny Cage and Nightwing are two of the physically-older examples we could recognize.

Absolute Rainbow
AudioSpeaks2 He/Him (Greenhorn) Relationship Status: Oh my word! I'm gay!
He/Him
#102: Dec 17th 2023 at 8:22:12 PM

[up][up] My guess is someone who is Really 700 Years Old would still count because they look youthfully pretty despite their age.

I'll also say Pretty Boy is a widely used term in media, so I'm in favor of keeping it.

Edited by AudioSpeaks2 on Dec 18th 2023 at 12:22:28 AM

Art Museum Curator and frequent helper of the Web Original deprecation project
AbsoluteRainbow Absolute Rainbow & the tales between worlds from Hanoi, Vietnam Since: Jul, 2023
Absolute Rainbow & the tales between worlds
#103: Dec 17th 2023 at 8:39:48 PM

[up] What if they're physically kinda old by human standards?

Ok, then if you insist, no rename.

Absolute Rainbow
AudioSpeaks2 He/Him (Greenhorn) Relationship Status: Oh my word! I'm gay!
He/Him
#104: Dec 17th 2023 at 8:41:38 PM

[up] Well, even if they are pretty old by human standards but still give off that Youthful beauty vibe without crossing into Silver Fox territory, yeah I'd say they could count. Basically an Older Than They Look situation. But remember, it still needs In-Universe acknowledgement.

Edited by AudioSpeaks2 on Dec 18th 2023 at 12:41:55 AM

Art Museum Curator and frequent helper of the Web Original deprecation project
jandn2014 Very Spooky from somewhere in Connecticut Since: Aug, 2017 Relationship Status: Hiding
Very Spooky
#105: Dec 17th 2023 at 9:01:54 PM

[up][up] Pretty Boy isn't age-exclusive in any way; the crux of the trope is simply "male character is attractive in a feminine manner".

Edited by jandn2014 on Dec 17th 2023 at 12:02:37 PM

back lol
GastonRabbit MOD Sounds good on paper (he/him) from Robinson, Illinois, USA (General of TV Troops) Relationship Status: I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me
Sounds good on paper (he/him)
#106: Dec 17th 2023 at 9:16:10 PM

Folks, let's focus on cleanup instead of religitating a decision we made months ago. Pretty Boy is not being renamed (especially because it's a preexisting term), and the trope itself is In-Universe Examples Only and requires a character to comment on the pretty boy character's appearance. The ship has sailed on deciding how to make changes, and has been focused on enacting changes that were already decided on for a while.

Edited by GastonRabbit on Dec 17th 2023 at 11:20:34 AM

Patiently awaiting the release of Paper Luigi and the Marvelous Compass.
AudioSpeaks2 He/Him (Greenhorn) Relationship Status: Oh my word! I'm gay!
He/Him
#107: Dec 17th 2023 at 9:16:59 PM

[up] Yeah, we're good. Anyways, I'm just finishing up on the Bishounen redirect. I mostly need to clean out Manga/ and Video Game/

Art Museum Curator and frequent helper of the Web Original deprecation project
AudioSpeaks2 He/Him (Greenhorn) Relationship Status: Oh my word! I'm gay!
He/Him
#108: Dec 17th 2023 at 10:24:07 PM

Aaaand we're done.

I've cleaned out the Bishounen redirect. The only thing left is the example wick on the locked page On Manga.Lychee Light Club, I requested it in the Locked pages thread to change the wick to Pretty Boy.

  • Bishounen: The club believes even their innards are beautiful, although it's more like they believe their bodies are somehow purer than disgusting adults. Zera is very disappointed when the blood starts flowing and he's not that different from a normal human inside or out.

After that, we can close.

Art Museum Curator and frequent helper of the Web Original deprecation project
Ayumi-chan low-poly Shinri from Calvard (Apprentice) Relationship Status: Serial head-patter
low-poly Shinri
#109: Dec 17th 2023 at 10:33:17 PM

[up] Done that (though I had to edit twice because my phone autocorrected it).

Anyways, we can now close this bad boy up. So big thanks to Audio for the wick cleaning.

Edit: Spelling errors.

Edited by Ayumi-chan on Dec 18th 2023 at 2:33:44 AM

She/Her | Currently cleaning Char Clone
AudioSpeaks2 He/Him (Greenhorn) Relationship Status: Oh my word! I'm gay!
He/Him
#110: Dec 17th 2023 at 10:33:52 PM

[up] Thanks for cleaning up that page.

Edited by AudioSpeaks2 on Dec 18th 2023 at 2:35:09 AM

Art Museum Curator and frequent helper of the Web Original deprecation project
AbsoluteRainbow Absolute Rainbow & the tales between worlds from Hanoi, Vietnam Since: Jul, 2023
Absolute Rainbow & the tales between worlds
#111: Dec 17th 2023 at 11:58:08 PM

[up] And it's done. It's time to lock this thread.

We're done. We did it.

Absolute Rainbow
Ayumi-chan low-poly Shinri from Calvard (Apprentice) Relationship Status: Serial head-patter
low-poly Shinri
#112: Dec 18th 2023 at 12:04:03 AM

Alright, locking as resolved.

She/Her | Currently cleaning Char Clone
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Trope Repair Shop: Bishounen and Pretty Boy
13th Mar '22 12:57:18 PM

Crown Description:

What should be done with Bishounen and Pretty Boy?

Total posts: 112
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