Discussion Main / DistaffCounterpart

Maybe this is just me Not Getting It, but from the page description, it seems like "Distaff/Spear Counterpart" refers to specific characters who are expies that differ only by gender. In that case, it would make sense to have examples that are characters, or works based around such a character—but not tropes.

Example: I got here from Gentleman Thief/ Classy Cat Burglar, which are described as distaff/spear counterparts. But unless one of those tropes was actually created as a counterpart of the other, does that really apply here? It seems like, based on the "it would be an exact duplicate" argument below, the only difference between spear and distaff versions is that one is male and the other female; therefore, if two tropes are spear/distaff counterparts of one another, there's no real need to have two separate pages. Going back to the example, Gentleman Thief and Classy Cat Burglar *aren't* actually counterparts—the page for Gentleman Thief actually starts out by describing how they're different (besides gender).

(I would also argue that the whole Spear/Distaff Counterpart concept is unnecessarily binary and therefore not representative of how we currently understand gender, but that deserves its own discussion.)

TL;DR Based on the trope description, tropes themselves can't be spear/distaff counterparts—only characters or works can be.

Edited by fynnkaterin

Are Clint Squint and Tsurime Eyes anywhere close to being counterparts? Based on their descriptions they have nothing to do with each other:

• Clint Squint: A character's badassery is expressed by their squinty eyes.
• Tsurime Eyes: Anime/Mana/Animesque style of eyes being slanted upwards.

I think they should be removed from the list, since they're completely unrelated, and only similar because they have to do with a character's eyes.

Pulled this:

• Martian Manhunter was created to be one for the Black Orchid, a female superhero who had the same abilities as Manhunter but fell into disuse during the comic cold years. When a revival came about, they wanted to have more science and space themed heroes, and thus Martian Manhunter was created as a counterpart and legacy character of sorts to the Black Orchid.

This is simply incorrect. Martian Manhunter was created in 1955, Black Orchid in 1973. Moreover, I'm not really convinced they're that similar beyond having a grab-bag of powers that includes shapeshifting in the Martian's case, and Mistress of Disguise for the plantgirl.

Edited by 86.138.208.252

Is anyone else slightly baffled by this?

• Played with in The Sarah Jane Adventures, a spinoff of Doctor Who. In the first episode, Sarah Jane acts exactly like the Doctor. After years of travelling with him, she's spent the last few decades very alone and very traumatized by being left behind by him, and she refuses to let new people into her life. By the end of the first episode, she decides to adopt a lost child, and subsequently regains her humanity and starts acting less like the Doctor again.

It seems to be saying that Sarah not letting new people into her life is Doctorish, and hanging out with younger people with whom she can share the wonders of the universe isn't. Which is ... very much not the case.

Edited by DaibhidC Hide / Show Replies

Okay, can we delete the Badass<—->Action Girl example? It's implying that if a female character isn't an Action Girl, she can't be a badass. If you're among those who aren't seeing how that isn't a problem, consider this: Guile Hero, Badass Pacifist, and various forms of the Xanatos Gambit. Also, badass isn't a male-exclusive (or even mostly male) trope, so we should delete it altogether from this page. Action Hero worked better, if only in that it usually referred to males in action movies who kick ass.

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And here I thought distaff counterpart was because they don't have a staff....

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The following examples are totally unrelated franchises:

• Kenshin Himura — Ran Tsukikage.
• Vash the Stampede — Rushuna Tendo.
• Eikichi Onizuka — Kumiko Yamaguchi.
• Guts — Clare.
  • Cattleya also counts too, minus Guts' background.
  • Satellizer can also be added to that list.
• Dark Schneider — Kurohime.
• Domon — Kallen. Complete with similar faces and hairstyles, fighting styles, and issues with their fathers and falling in love with someone with daddy issues themselves.
• Tatsuhiko Shido — Rin Asogi.
• Kitano — Sawako
• Roberto — Roberta.
• Mariya — Kanade
• Orochimaru and Kabuto — Medusa
• Souther —- Menace
• Claymores are essentially gender-flipped Witchers.
• A downplayed example: Keima — Tomoko.[[note]]Both are Dating Sim Otakus, but while the former is trying to steer himself away from real life by immersing into games, the latter tries to invoke such game tactics in order to gain friends (and possibly, get laid). Unfortunately for both, they seem to be fulfilling the desires of the other.

Edited by 216.99.32.45

• Master Chief shares the armored look of Samus Aran.

the same thing to the Space Marine in Doom- and the two franchises(Halo and Metroid) are totally unrelated.

Removed this:

• The Men in Black ↔ Woman In Black

They're really not. One is about an organisation that may or may not actually wear black and almost certainly isn't entirely male. The other's about a significant female clothing choice.

Edited by DaibhidC

Why does Spear Counterpart redirect to Distaff? Aren't they technically opposites, and shouldn't Spear have its own page? Or am I missing something?

O'Reilly is not amused. Hide / Show Replies

Ok, are Boobs Of Steel and Balls of Steel really counterparts of eachother? Based on their respective descriptions they have nothing to do with eachother:

• Balls of Steel is a guy who's unaffected by Groin Attack for whatever reason, not about the strongest male of cast having the largest balls.
• Similarly Boobs Of Steel is when the phsysically strongest female character has the largest breast size on the cast, and not about a female who's immune to Breast Attack.

I think they should be removed from the list, since they're completely unrelated, and similar In Name Only.

Edited by Werebazs Hide / Show Replies

I would like to label Jo from Burst Angel as a Distaff Counterpart to Dante from Devil May Cry. They both weild twin handguns, wear red trenchcoats, and have silver hair.

Edited by deltanine

Nevermind.

Edited by SpookyMask

If Spear Counterpart is now the same trope as this one, shouldn't it actually recieve a description too? Because all it has now is two sentences.

It's supposed to be a spinning wheel? I always thought the male and female symbols were like a simplified representation of the reproductive organs(with the 2 "arms" of the Holy Hand Grenade that is the female symbol representing the Fallopian tubes or similar.)

This troper has recently received a copy of 'the Book of Knights and Ladies' for the Pendragon RPG, which gives expanded character creation rules. Differing character templates are given for males and females of various pseudo-historical cultures. How is the Cymric culture (which is prevalent to the setting) defined? By giving the males the special skill Spear Expertise and females Distaff. SRSLY.

Edited by 94.214.8.68