History Main / BrainlessBeauty

* April from ''Theatre/{{CompanySondheim}}''. One of her first lines is "I'm very dumb."

* Skwisgaar, Dethklok's lead guitarist, in ''WesternAnimation/Metalocalypse''. Handsome, tall, slender, blonde, absolute god of guitar, absolute idiot at literally everything else.

The Brainless Beauty can be any gender. Female examples (who are usually also TheChick) tend to be classic [[DumbBlonde blonde idiots]]; male examples, often called "himbos", are {{Hunk}}s (if overlaps with DumbMuscle) or more rarely {{Pretty Boy}}s. Neither [[ChickMagnet has much difficulty]] [[HeadTurningBeauty getting the attention of the opposite sex]]. The Brainless Beauty is rarely the hero; they tend to be {{foil}}s for more intelligent (though less successful romantically) characters. Some are [[KindheartedSimpleton sympathetic good-natured dullards]], others are presented as annoying obstacles for our heroes. Either way, expect a smart but [[HollywoodHomely plain]] character to be left fuming at the unfairness of it all.

The Brainless Beauty can be any gender. Female examples (who are usually also TheChick) tend to be classic [[DumbBlonde blonde idiots]]; male examples, often called "himbos", are {{Hunk}}s or more rarely {{Pretty Boy}}s. Neither [[ChickMagnet has much difficulty]] [[HeadTurningBeauty getting the attention of the opposite sex]]. The Brainless Beauty is rarely the hero; they tend to be {{foil}}s for more intelligent (though less successful romantically) characters. Some are [[KindheartedSimpleton sympathetic good-natured dullards]], others are presented as annoying obstacles for our heroes. Either way, expect a smart but [[HollywoodHomely plain]] character to be left fuming at the unfairness of it all.

* Grif's sister from ''Machinima/RedVsBlue''. Sure, we don't actually know what she looks like [[SamusIsAGirl due to wearing all that body armour]], but the impression we are given from the characters is that she ain't half-bad (especially when [[spoiler:she is seen naked on a surveillance camera]]). Oh and she's dumber than a rock as well.

%%* Brace Channing from ''Film/MyFavoriteMartian''.

* ''LightNovel/KonoSuba'': Aqua has the looks of [[WaterIsWomanly an elegant water goddess]] and you expect her to act like a graceful lady just because she has healing and purification powers, right? Turns out Aqua is not only a {{Womanchild}}, but also [[PowerfulButIncompetent an incompetent]] [[IdiotHero and dim-witted]] LoserDeity who would throw [[ProneToTears overexaggerated crying fits]] like a SpoiledBrat.

** Daki is a villainous take on this: She looks very attractive, but is ''also'' prone to act without thinking twice. [[spoiler:Muzan only kept her around due to [[HighClassCallGirl her Oiran disguise]] being profitable after Gyokko's pots and even admitted that her KnightTemplarBigBrother Gyutaro would be better off without her as an Upper Rank Kizuki.]]

* Malty Melromarc from ''Literature/TheRisingOfTheShieldHero'' is a rare BigBadWannabe example. She's absolutely beautiful at first glance, but is ''also'' StupidEvil, only acting out of petty and psychotic impulses. [[spoiler:Her lack of quick-wittedness would eventually bite her in the ass (and ''fatally twice'' in the web novels).]]
* ''LightNovel/KonoSuba'': Aqua has the looks of [[WaterIsWomanly an elegant water goddess]] and you expect her to act like a graceful lady just because she has healing and purification powers, right? Turns out Aqua is not only a {{Womanchild}}, but also [[PowerfulButIncompetent an incompetent]] [[IdiotHero and dim-witted]] LoserDeity who would throw [[ProneToTears overexaggerated crying fits]] like a SpoiledBrat.

* Malty Melromarc from ''LightNovel/TheRisingOfTheShieldHero'' is a rare BigBadWannabe example. She's absolutely beautiful at first glance, but is ''also'' StupidEvil, only acting out of petty and psychotic impulses. [[spoiler:Her lack of quick-wittedness would eventaully bite her in the ass (and ''fatally twice'' in the web novels).]]

* All the male models (except for David Duchovny's hand model - they're different from the face and body boys) in ''Film/{{Zoolander}}''.

* Candace Crush in ''VideoGame/HuniePop2'' is an attractive woman who works as a stripper, and is also downright stupid. Indeed, two of her Baggage traits are "Forgetfulness" and "Intellectually Challenged", and some of the gifts the player can give her also happen to be toddler toys made for a "slow learner" like her.

* In the short-lived sitcom ''How To Be a Gentleman'', the lead character dated an underwear model played by Desi Lydic who he at first believed to be clever and funny because he was constantly DistractedByTheSexy while talking to her. It was only when he heard her over the phone that he realised she was an airhead.
* ''Just Say Julie'' - Literally! Julie Brown interviewed moronic (and fictional) model Lake Arrowhead and after posing a 'difficult' question Lake's brain exploded out of her head from the pressure of thinking. Luckily Julie found the brain (which was about the size of a wadded-up piece of chewing gum), but Lake (who seemed exactly the same despite now having no brain at all) left to go on a date without bothering to put it back in. Julie then absentmindedly ate it.

* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' series.

* ''Literature/SecondApocalypse'': Serwe is almost superhumanly beautiful and is the least intelligent person in the series, falling utterly for Kellhus's manipulations without a moment's resistance.

* Olivia Ryan from ''Literature/TheClique'' is described as a naturally beautiful blond that lots of guys in her grade like but she is considered the dumbest girl at their school.

* In the ''Literature/TalesOfTheFiveHundredKingdoms'' series, unicorns are breathtakingly gorgeous and head-thuddingly stupid. There seems to be an in-universe law that beautiful magical creatures are usually dumb as rocks, while intelligent ones are seldom beautiful.
* Subverted in Creator/DianaWynneJones's ''[[Literature/DarkLordOfDerkholm Year of the Griffin]]''; minor character Melissa is both beautiful and dumb, but rather than trade on her looks she's working to learn magic, even though it's hard for her.
* Rosemary Barton from Creator/AgathaChristie's ''Literature/SparklingCyanide''. Rosemary is so beautiful that virtually every male character is instantly attracted to her but so dumb that none of them can stand to be around her for very long. Pretty much all of her love interests end up with women with less beauty but more intelligence.
* In the ''Literature/{{Uglies}}'' series, the surgery that makes you pretty at age 16 turns basically everyone into these.
* Michael's crush, Rosamund, in the ''Literature/KnightAndRogueSeries''. He and [[LoveTriangle her crush]] seem to be the only two not to realize she's not the sharpest tool in the shed.

* Keifer Porter of ''Literature/ABrothersPrice'', as well as being [[BeautyIsBad all-around nasty]]. One of his wives claims she's met ''dogs'' smarter than him; another of them recalls how when he'd throw tantrums and hurl names around, they were always "childishly simple".

* Subverted with Daisy in ''Literature/TheGreatGatsby''. She may be indecisive but she is no fool and she knows how miserable her life is. She invokes this trope as a StepfordSmiler as a coping mechanism.
* In ''Literature/WhyWeTookTheCar'', Tschick accuses Tatjana of being this. Whether he's right or not is never confirmed.
* Miss Harriet Smith from ''Literature/{{Emma}}'' is extremely pretty and becomes popular in Highbury once Emma takes her under her wing, but she's silly, not at all clever, and unable to decide for herself about anything. Emma puts ideas in her head that she has a right to get married well because of her looks, and she falls in love quite easily.
* The ''Literature/EddieLaCrosse'' series has Callie, a minor but recurring character who works as a barmaid at the inn where Eddie bases himself. She's very attractive and very sweet, but not too smart.
--> Even dressed in winter clothes that covered her from chin to ankle, Callie’s beauty could melt icicles at ten paces. It was a shame those same icicles could probably outthink her.

* Princess Blaze from ''Literature/WingsOfFire'' is said to be the most beautiful of the [=SandWing=] sisters in the war. But she's also shown to be quite idiotic and gullible, [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen not good traits for a queen]].
* If [[Literature/RizzoliAndIsles Jane Rizzoli]] isn't assuming a beautiful woman is a bitch, she's usually assuming she's this.
* In the backstory of ''Literature/{{Holes}}'', Elya Yelnats spent much of his time trying to woo Myra Menke, the most beautiful girl in town. His mentor, Madame Zeroni, continually cautions him, noting that "her head is as empty as a flowerpot." Myra proves Zeroni correct, as when she's given the choice between an ugly, dimwitted pig farmer [[MayDecemberRomance who's forty years older than her]], and a handsome and muscular young man who genuinely loves her, she decides to use the method of "I'm thinking of a number between one and ten!" After she does this, Elya realizes she isn't worth it and leaves.
-->"Can she push a plow? Can she milk a goat? No, she is too delicate. Can she have an intelligent conversation? No, she is silly and foolish. Will she take care of you when you are sick? No, she is spoiled and will only want you to take care of her. So she is beautiful. So what?"

* ''[[Literature/{{Xanth}} A Spell for Chameleon]]'': Wynne is very beautiful and very dim. It's ultimately revealed that [[spoiler:this is part of her magical power. Her beauty and intelligence are always at an inverse, and she slowly goes from one extreme to the other and back]].
* The theme of "[[Literature/TheStoriesOfJohnCheever The Chaste Clarissa]]" by John Cheever. Clarissa is a sexy redhead but pretty dim—she thinks that rocks can grow, and when the protagonist, a seducer named Baxter, gets her to open up, she expresses a lot of pretty vapid, cliched opinions. All of Baxter's attempts to seduce her fail, until he says "You're so intelligent"—Clarissa is so self-conscious about being dumb that Baxter's flattery is what finally succeeds in getting her to have sex with him.

* ''Literature/DavidCopperfield:'' Dora Spenlow, David's [[spoiler:first]] wife. She's completely uncomprehending, for instance, that they need to make ''money'' to maintain their standard of living.

* PlayedForLaughs in the second ''Series/NightAtTheMuseum'' movie. Creator/AugusteRodin’s ''The Thinker'' can’t come up with a coherent thought without showing off his muscles to a beautiful lady.

** Annie then proceeds to sing about how she has no idea how Christmas works. With her intelligence dropping throughout the song. She dresses in a [[CatholicSchoolGirlsRule short-skirted costume]] and begins her song with an affected cutesy-dumb attitude remarkably unlike her usual intelligent, straight-A personality. This then devolves into increasingly childish behavior, until she's [[UpToEleven flopping on the ground spewing baby-talk.]] Even the insatiably horny Jeff is incredibly turned off by the number she intended to use to seduce him.

->''"It was as if some god had said, 'Sorry, kid, you're going to be thicker than a yard of lard, but the good news is, it isn't going to matter.'"''
-->-- '''Sergeant Angua''' (on Tawneee), ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'', ''Literature/{{Thud}}''

See also: PopularIsDumb. It is a reasonably good rule of thumb that [[TheCheerleader most cheerleaders]] will be presented as being Brainless Beauties unless the movie or show is actually focused on them. The same applies to jocks [[LovableJock especially the nicer ones]]. An AsianAirhead is probably one of these. In a HighSchool setting the AlphaBitch usually has one of these characters in her GirlPosse though the AlphaBitch ''usually'' isn't one herself because she needs a certain amount of craftiness to maintain her position.

* Amber from ''WesternAnimation/Brickleberry'' - the embodiment of this trope. She is the most attractive character to have ever appeared on the show, and her stupidity rivals that of Steve, who is the least intelligent of the main cast.

** Hato Higashikata from ''Manga/{{JoJolion}}'' is as beautiful as she is dumb. [[spoiler:[[CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass Don't underestimate her a fight]], however, something Tamaki [[CurbStompBattle learned the]] [[KarmicDeath hard way]]]].

** The [[ComicBook/ArchieComics2015 2015 reboot]] of the Archie titles pushed Melody away from this trope and more into a GeniusDitz who happens to be ravishingly beautiful. A more straightforward example of this trope in the modern comics is Cheryl Blossom. She isn't as cartoonishly stupid as Melody or Suzie where but she frequently comes across as an airhead who's convinced she's brilliant, from her inability to recall the names of Archie's friends even while trying to ''bribe'' them ('Jug Handle', 'Betsy') to her attempts at staging a rescue to impress others ([[BadBadActing "wake up man, whose name I don't know!"]].) In #17 Veronica has to point out to her that [[spoiler: her father's company being bought out by Hiram Lodge doesn't actually make the Blossoms poor.]]

* In Creator/AlanMoore's ''Lost Girls'', Dorothy recounts losing her virginity to a farmhand whom she describes as attractive, but not very bright. He's the equivalant of the Scarecrow from ''Literature/TheWizardOfOz''.

* Pavi Largo from ''Film/RepoTheGeneticOpera'' is this by way of inverted InformedDeformity; despite being horribly scarred and wearing masks made of other people's faces, his admirers consider him beautiful. The "brainless" part is not up for debate. His sister Amber Sweet has had multiple cosmetic surgeries and is more conventionally beautiful. She's not as brainless as Pavi, but she's also not smart enough to know when to stop. [[spoiler: Near the end of the movie, her recent surgery causes the skin to slide off her face. She has another surgery to replace it, while her former face is saved and auctioned off to the highest bidder... Pavi.]]

* ''Literature/DavidCopperfield:'' Dora Spenlow, David's [[spoiler: first]] wife. She's completely uncomprehending, for instance, that they need to make ''money'' to maintain their standard of living.

* ''Roleplay/SurvivalOfTheFittest'' v4 character Hermione Miller is often described this way. She's an aspiring fashion model, so of course, she's gorgeous. Unfortunately, she's also not very intelligent, or at least is BookDumb. Eventually {{deconstructed|Trope}} when she realizes that people would always secretly treat her with disdain and disrespect due to her foolishness, [[spoiler: which leads her to [[DrivenToSuicide pulling her collar.]]]]

** Regina Berry, child-like lion tamer who enraptures [[EvenTheGirlsWantHer everyone around her.]] [[spoiler:Totally innocent.]]

* Grif's sister from ''Machinima/RedVsBlue''. Sure, we don't actually know what she looks like [[SamusIsAGirl due to wearing all that body armour]], but the impression we are given from the characters is that she ain't half-bad (especially when [[spoiler: she is seen naked on a surveillance camera]]). Oh and she's dumber than a rock as well.

* Ty Lee from ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' although she also gets by on her super fighting skills. She's always happy, pink, and perky, flirting successfully with everyone. However, she is shown to have some HiddenDepths; she purposely does everything to get noticed after being [[FreudianExcuse ignored in her childhood]] and it appears that her overly cheerful demeanor is to avoid being hurt by Azula. At the end [[spoiler: she is shown to be a loyal brainless beauty who sacrifices herself to save her friend Mai.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'': The members of Sev'ral Timez, the boy band from the episode "Boyz Crazy", are all very good-looking, and can't even figure out how to drink water from a glass. Then again, this is possibly justified by [[spoiler: the fact they are ''clones''. They have been genetically created to be the perfect boyband in terms of appearance, singing, and dancing talent, but are treated like performance animals by their Boss, Bratzman. They live in a large hamster cage and Mabel eventually releases them into the wild.]]

* Miracle from ''WesternAnimation/SitDownShutUp'' is a parody of this. She literally got her high school science teaching job because of her good looks. [[spoiler: She didn't even have a high school diploma.]]

** Daki is a villainous take on this: She looks very attractive, but is also a ''very'' emotional, bratty, and reckless {{Womanchild}}. [[spoiler:Muzan only kept her around due to [[HighClassCallGirl her oiran disguise]] being profitable after Gyokko's pots and even admitted that her KnightTemplarBigBrother Gyutaro would be better off without her as an Upper Rank Kizuki.]]

* Malty of ''LightNovel/TheRisingOfTheShieldHero'' is a rare BigBadWannabe example. She's absolutely beautiful at first glance, but is ''also'' StupidEvil, only acting out of petty and psychotic impulses. [[spoiler:Her lack of quick-wittedness would eventaully bite her in the ass (and ''fatally twice'' in the web novels).]]

** Daki is a villainous take on this: She looks very attractive (even by Demon standards), but is also a ''very'' emotional, bratty, and reckless {{Womanchild}}. [[spoiler:Muzan only kept her around due to [[HighClassCallGirl her oiran disguise]] being profitable after Gyokko's pots and even admitted that her KnightTemplarBigBrother Gyutaro would be better off without her as an Upper Rank Kizuki.]]

** And then there's Daki, who looks very attractive (even by Demon standards), but is also a ''very'' emotional, bratty, and reckless {{Womanchild}}. [[spoiler:Muzan only kept her around due to [[HighClassCallGirl her oiran disguise]] being profitable after Gyokko's pots and even admitted that her KnightTemplarBigBrother Gyutaro would be better off without her as an Upper Rank Kizuki.]]