History Main / FreakinessShame

A character has some fantastical characteristic, such as [[WingedHumanoid wings]], [[HornedHumanoid horns]], or a tail, of which [[CursedWithAwesome they are deeply ashamed]]. They may have been [[LegoGenetics born with them]], they may have [[{{Shapeshifting}} transformed]] for [[InvoluntaryShapeshifting one]] [[ShapeshifterModeLock reason]] or [[EmergencyTransformation another]]. More often than not, [[HideYourOtherness they tend to hide it.]] Later, some other character (commonly, her love interest) catches a glimpse of these and assures the character that their wings,[[note]]In fact, [[WingedHumanoid wings]] are perhaps the most common go-to for this trope, as they're visually-inhuman while still allowing the character to be conventionally attractive.[[/note]] horns, tail, or whatever, [[CharmPoint are not in fact ugly]] but [[SexyFlaw very attractive]].

A character has some fantastical characteristic, such as [[WingedHumanoid wings]], [[HornedHumanoid horns]], or a tail, of which [[CursedWithAwesome they are deeply ashamed]]. They may have been [[LegoGenetics born with them]], they may have [[{{Shapeshifting}} transformed]] for [[InvoluntaryShapeshifting one]] [[ShapeshifterModeLock reason]] or [[EmergencyTransformation another]]. More often than not, [[HideYourOtherness they tend to hide it.]] Later, some other character (commonly, her love interest) catches a glimpse of these and assures the character that their wings, or horns, or tail, or whatever, [[CharmPoint are not in fact ugly]] but [[SexyFlaw very attractive]].

Often, the Freakiness Shame sentiment plays a great role here: she [[IJustWantToBeNormal wants to be "normal"]] and have a normal romance but she somehow got deformed; she immediately becomes ashamed of her body because it isn't ''normal''. And it's not until her love interest points out that she is still beautiful despite (or even due to) not being normal that she suddenly sees this, too.

* In ''Film/TheLittleMermaid2018'', Elizabeth was afraid to let Cam see her transform from a human into a mermaid (he thought her mermaid appearance was just a costume). She ran and lept into the water out of his sight. Cam decided to jump in the water after her and sees her in her mermaid form, proving to him she's a real mermaid. Elizabeth says he's afraid of her like everyone else. Instead, Cam is just bewildered by the indisputible proof mermaids exist as well as not understanding why Elizabeth is forced to stay with the sorcerer Locke.

** In "Steven's Birthday", [[Characters/StevenUniverseStevenQuartzUniverse Steven Quartz Universe]] becomes worried when he realizes on his fourteenth birthday [[OlderThanTheyLook he hasn't physically aged since he was about eight years old]]. Fearing this will alienate him from his human friend Connie, Steven tries to fake a growth spurt with his Gem powers of shapeshifting, only to strain himself and end up [[FountainOfYouth accidentally turning into a baby]] for much of the rest of the episode.

* Sylphiette from ''Literature/MushokuTenseiJoblessReincarnation'' has green hair. Because such color is characteristic of the Superd Tribe (a race that's TheDreaded for both humans and their fellow magic/demon races alike), she gets bullied for most of her childhood, until she is saved by Rudeus. Rudeus knows of the reputation of the Superds, but he doesn't see anything wrong with the color of her hair, and they soon become friends.

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Subtrope of AppearanceAngst. See also BeautifulAllAlong, SexyFlaw, FreakyIsCool, and NightmareFetishist. Can be considered a DistaffCounterpart to BeastAndBeauty (although neither trope is actually strict on which gender it can be applied to--see the quote above). Also related to FetishesAreWeird. Compare BeautyToBeast. Compare and contrast TransformationHorror.

* ''Literature/{{Another}}'': The first time Mei shows Kouichi what is under her eyepatch, he is already somewhat unnerved and confused, but the second time she shows him he remarks that the [[spoiler:fake eye her mother made is oddly beautiful, and that she should go without the eyepatch more often.]]

* ''Manga/CaseClosed'':
** It's revealed that one of [[TheWatson Dr. Agasa's]] childhood friends was a half-Japanese girl named Fusae Campbell Kinoshita. She was very self-conscious of her hair color; her fondest memory of her childhood is Dr. Agasa claiming that he liked her hair.
** This is true in real life, too. In Japan, [[ValuesDissonance a culture that often values conformity]], having oddly colored hair is sometimes seen as "disruptive" by school officials, or just viewed as an unpleasant tendency to stand out. Some half-Japanese schoolchildren ''dye their hair'' to avoid this. Supposedly the stigma is becoming smaller over time but is still strong in many of the less cosmopolitan areas.
*** The inverse is also true, of course: it's become not uncommon for Japanese students to bleach or dye their hair so that they stand out ''more''. But where in the West this would be viewed as a fashion statement, in Japan people who do this are often assumed to be [[DelinquentHair very rebellious or even dangerous]], though this stereotype is also fading a bit.
* ''Manga/ACertainScientificRailgun'': Dolly screams when Misaki sees her bare chest, because she has ugly cybernetic implants keeping her alive. [[TakeOurWordForIt We never see them]], but Misaki is shocked speechless. Dolly's previous friend, Mi-chan, saw the implants and ran away. [[spoiler:Actually, Mitori saw the implants and realized the researchers were lying about what they were doing with Dolly; when she tried to stop them from experimenting on her, they threw her in a cell and left her there for months. Dolly was told that Mi-chan didn't want to see her any more, and Mitori was only let out after Dolly died. Dolly's new body doesn't have the cybernetics, since it was always intended as the stable control instead of a constant experiment]].

* ''Literature/{{Durarara}}'':
** Celty is understandably ashamed of her lack of a head, but Shinra not only doesn't care, he thinks it's rather sexy. There's no accounting for taste.
** A darker example in the case of Shizuo and Saika: Not only is Saika's the only declaration of love Shizuo's ''ever had in his life'', but it's for the very reason he's been ostracized and come to hate himself for: [[InLoveWithYourCarnage his uncontrollable strength and violent temper]]. [[spoiler:Given that Saika is an {{Empathic| Weapon}} {{Evil| Weapon}} {{Yandere}} [[EvilWeapon Weapon]], Shizuo wisely rejects the offer in favor of the opportunity to finally use his power for good -- namely, kicking Saika's ass.]]
* ''Manga/ElfenLied'': this is generally the first step towards befriending a Diclonius, as prior to developing their vectors they're often persecuted because of their unusual horns. Then they start using their vectors to get revenge/follow their instincts and there's a ''new'' reason they're hated.
** Fans watching montages of Nyu moments on youtube tend to mistake the horns for cat-ears. It's probably intentional that they look like that since Nyu saying Nyu also makes her sound like a cat.

* ''Manga/HungryJoker'': Self-described {{Ojou}}-sama Vivian [[IronLady "The Iron Woman"]] is ashamed of her [[ExtraOreDinary metal-manipulating powers]] because they aren't "proper" (her skin becomes metallic and spikes pop out of her arms and legs) and [[ParentalAbandonment her parents didn't have any use for an improper child]] no matter how valuable she is. When [[GravityMaster Haiji]] pretends to be a hostage so he can observe her power he tells her it's beautiful (for [[TinMan a guy who claims to only see people as research subjects]] he always knows the right thing to say). Prior to that, she'd been [[TsunDere putting up a front]] about how much she didn't care about her "horrible power" and that she [[IWorkAlone always works alone]].
* ''Manga/InuYasha'': The title character's UnusualEars mark him as a HalfHumanHybrid, but what does his LoveInterest do upon seeing them for the first time? ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zseoPxveIS8 Tweak, tweak!]]'' The gag is repeated with Kagome's mother and brother (evidently it runs in the family), except this time [=InuYasha=] is awake, not sealed to a tree. In general, he's less bothered by his youkai side than his human one, and his full-youkai half-brother ironically looks more human than he does, at least until he comes out of SleepModeSize and into the giant dog their father was, and he gets pretty defensive about it in early arcs. Especially big, sweet, horse-faced Jinenji whose home village abused him roundly. And the arc with the cute little half-bat youkai with cruel neighbors ''and'' an abusive bat youkai grandfather. Clearly had a HalfBreedDiscrimination thing going on, he just preferred the strong option to the powerless one.
** On the other hand, note that WhatMeasureIsANonHuman is in effect in his personal moral structure, and he never feels guilty for killing demons but beats himself up for offing even really evil humans. Presumably because they're defenseless against him. So, there's ambivalence going.

** Zombina is a rather odd case in that she seems ashamed that she is not freaky ''enough'', which makes her freaky in a different sense. She confides to Kimihito that since zombies are just humans who caught a strange disease she considers herself as barely counting as an [=extraspecies/monster girl=].

* ''Manga/OnePiece''

** Later we meet [[spoiler:Charlotte Pudding, who is mocked and called a monster for having three eyes. In fact, their plan to kill [[ChivalrousPervert Sanji]] relied on her revealing her third eye, shocking him so much that they could shoot him. But the instant he sees her third eye he calls it beautiful, causing her to break down in tears and start to [[BecauseYouWereNiceToMe fall for him]].]]

* ''Anime/PrincessTutu'': [[DarkMagicalGirl Princess Kraehe]] (aka Rue) was raised her entire life believing that she a [[AlwaysChaoticEvil raven]] born in a "disgusting human body", and thus too pathetic to be loved by either humans ''or'' ravens (apart from Mytho, on the basis that he's a FriendToAllLivingThings and thus loves everyone by default). Thus it comes as a complete surprise to her when Autor insists that not only does he love her, but enough to die for her.
* ''Literature/PsychicDetectiveYakumo'': The titular character was ostracized because of his [[MagicalEye ghost seeing red eye]]; by the point of the story, he's been hiding it with a contact lens that matches the color of his other eye.

* ''Literature/{{Slayers}}'': Zelgadis Graywords is a chimera, being a third demon and a third golem, giving him bluish skin with studded stones across his body, as well as wiry, stiff hair. Despite [[CursedWithAwesome the immense powers and stamina he gained]] as a result of his transformation, he hates his appearance and [[IJustWantToBeNormal spends most of his time between seasons searching for a cure]]. Most of the cast, Lina and Gourry included, don't find him unappealing at all (and he is rather handsome), and Amelia, who he is [[ShipTease somewhat attracted to]], finds his appearance "cool".
** The fifth season of the anime reveals that he can cope with his appearance in the long run; rather he is angry that the one who transformed him, Rezo, used him as a guinea pig for his own personal gain.

* ''Manga/TokyoMewMew'': Ichigo with her {{catgirl}} transformation. She constantly worries that her eventual love interest will hate her when he finds out, but when he does he's perfectly okay with it.
* ''Manga/{{Trigun}}'': Meryl and Millie accidentally walk in on Vash with his shirt off, and shockingly learn that his entire body is CoveredWithScars due to his ActualPacifist lifestyle. He laments that it's not the kind of thing he wants girls to see, as he believes it would scare them, but Meryl [[{{Tsundere}} sheepishly disagrees.]]
* ''Anime/TheVisionOfEscaflowne'' {{Genderflip}}s the usual situation, when [[{{Bishounen}} Van]] first shows his wings to Hitomi. Apparently, he was ashamed of them all along (because they marked him as a descendant of the Atlanteans, who are universally disdained in the setting) but Hitomi (who comes from another world altogether) just finds them beautiful. Also noteworthy is this is the former TropeNamer ("But Your Wings Are Beautiful")

* From the ComicBook/FantasticFour, The Thing once believed that if his blind girlfriend Alicia Masters could see him in his orange rocky glory she would run screaming for the hills. Given how sensitive her fingers were (she's an accomplished sculptor, and even made sculptures of him at one point), it came as no surprise that she pretty much knew what he looked like and still loved him.
* To a certain extent, this applies to Mina's extensive, horrific scars in ''ComicBook/TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen'', the legacy of being attacked by Dracula. She's deeply ashamed by them and covers them with a scarf. She's convinced Allan is repulsed and only relaxes when he says they're part of what makes her special.
** In an interesting variation, Allan is initially shocked to see her scars after they made love for the first time, and Mina thought he was repulsed by them. He later assured her the reason for his reaction; his beloved second wife also had scars on her neck due to a fire accident. He reacted in surprise because it meant that the two women he loved most in his life both had similar scars.
* ''ComicBook/Spiderman2099'': In the finale of the third volume, Miguel tells his girlfriend Tempest that [[spoiler:he finds her armored wasp form]] sexy. She asks him if he's nuts but in turn he asks her if she'd rather he hated it. She amends the point.
* In the ''ComicBook/UltimateXMen'' comics, when Angel joins the team, pretty much the entire team stops and stares at him when he walks through the door. He is afraid that his wings are responsible when Storm informs him that they all were staring because he's drop-dead gorgeous.
-->(Angel walks in the door)\\
'''Shadowcat:''' (eyes bulge) ''Dibs''.\\
'''Storm:''' ''Stop it, Kitty.'' (but she can't take her eyes off him, either)
* In Malibu Comics' ''Firearm'' from the ComicBook/TheUltraverse, Alec Swan runs into a [[WingedHumanoid woman with wings]] who's planning on committing suicide [[IJustWantToBeNormal over not being normal]]. Alec spends the rest of the issue talking the woman, Ellen, down, telling her that her wings are beautiful. Later on, it's revealed they got married off-panel.

* During a [[BreatherEpisode cuddling break]] in ''Fanfic/ABridgeOnceBroken'' Loki and Jahanna manage to have a mutual one, with him ashamed of being a Jotunn, and her of her [[WesternAnimation/{{Wakfu}} eliatrope]] wings.
* Harshly deconstructed in the ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''/''Creator/{{Marvel}}'' crossover ''[[http://www.tthfanfic.org/story.php?no=27501 Blue Belle]]''. Cordelia tells Michelle that her natural form (which is basically a 16-year-old Mystique) is beautiful but she's not attracted to Michelle's preferred form (because it resembles Willow) or her original form ([[GenderBender Xander]]). As a result, Michelle angrily compares it to loving someone only if they change nearly everything about themselves. This motivates her to date Gwen instead who is attracted to all three forms.
* In ''Fanfic/ACharmedLife'' Ryuk is well-aware that he's perceived as quite ugly by human standards of beauty but Light still finds him to be "cute" and even attractive in an exotic and alien way. Light likes Ryuk's wings among [[DoubleEntendre other things.]]
* ''Fanfic/TheChildOfLove'': In the one-shot “Gifts” Shinji and Asuka's daughter Teri does not like her PsychicPowers and is afraid that other people will think she is a freak if they discover her abilities. When her friends find out, though, they think her powers are cool and are supportive.

* In ''VideoGame/TheWorldEndsWithYou'' fanfic, ''Fanfic/ErisGame'', the titular character gives Shiki this saying [[spoiler:about being in her body]].
* In a ''Literature/HarryPotter'' fic called ''Flare'', an unusual interaction with a dark curse caused Harry to grow a pair of oversized, strangely-colored phoenix wings. Draco, who apparently had a bit of a wing fetish, kept trying to convince Harry that he was beautiful.
* ''Fanfic/{{HERZ}}'': Asuka thinks she is an ugly freak due to her scars and nobody would love her. Shinji assures her that she is beautiful and he loves her.
* In ''Fanfic/LeCommencementDuDiableBlanc'', Remy bears a huge chip on his shoulder about his TechnicolorEyes since people often reject him (calling him a freak and devil) when they look at him. His adopted family doesn't actively like them, but they like ''him'', scary red eyes and all. He also hates his powers due to his former guardians abusing him for being abnormal and his PowerIncontinence growing worse with time. Pr Xavier was the first person whose primary reaction to his abilities was wonder.

* A popular [[Anime/PokemonTheSeries Rocketshipping]] fic series called [[https://web.archive.org/web/20041221054026/http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/armenia/28/faf1.html "Feathers and Foxtails"]] had James gain a pair of wings and Jessie gain a fox's tail via Mew's power as punishment for trying to capture Mewtwo.
* [[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/6073592/1/ This Star Trek (2009) fic]], based on a challenge, pairs Uhura's Orion roommate, Gaila, and Spock Prime and also uses this trope. It's odd but quite well written.
* Several ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' fanfics have Garak positively reacting to the news that his friend Julian Bashir was illegally augmented -- either the Cardassian doesn't see why it would mean discriminating against the good doctor, or he's impressed by Bashir's ability to hide secrets.
* In ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/1504488/1/The-Third-Side The Third Side]]'' fanfic, [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Shinji Ikari]] is working on a restaurant after Thid Impact. One of his co-workers is a purple-haired girl who dyes her hair because she is ashamed of it. When Shinji finds out she thinks he'll get freaked out, but Shinji tells him he doesn't understand why it is an issue and reassures her it looks pretty. She was pretty surprised cause it (of course, she doesn't know he had lived with a woman with purple hair, fought beside a girl with blue hair and [[HeroesWantRedheads he is in love with a girl with red hair]], which is very unusual hair color in Japan).
* ''Fanfic/ThousandShinji'': The first signs of [[BloodKnight Asuka]] was transforming into a ''[[TabletopGame/Warhammer40000 Khornate]]'' [[TheBerserker berserker]], were the white of her eyes becoming red and her crying blood tears. She tried to hide it and thought it meant that she was a freak, but [[AntiHero Shinji]] told her that it was a gift and not something to be ashamed of... and [[HeroesWantRedheads he]] [[AmazonChaser still found her hot]], no matter what.
* In ''[[http://archiveofourown.org/works/3385085/chapters/7405448 Wear A Flower in Your Hair]]'', Bella Baggins's dark secret is that she can grow a beard. It is difficult to shave each day on the journey, and Bella tries to hide her stubble with a scarf. When the beard is revealed, she is horribly embarrassed and thinks the dwarves are mocking her when they suggest a celebration. Only they're not, they think she's gotten more beautiful. When Thorin witnesses her attempt to shave, he thinks she has done something so shameful that she has to ''punish'' herself by shaving ... hilarity ensues.
* Subverted in ''Fanfic/WithStringsAttached'', in that after growing wings, John goes through WhatHaveIBecome angst for about half a day, until he flies; then he loves his transformation, and he becomes furious with Paul for suggesting that he have the wings removed. (Whether Paul is genuinely worried that they'll ruin John's life on Earth, or just jealous, is a question for readers to ponder.) Later, when he calms down, he acknowledges that Paul is right (while still loving his condition), and worries a lot about what will happen when he goes home like that.
-->The circus wouldn't just start up again; the clowns would eat him whole.

** Also in ''Strings'', a minor subversion with “Beagle John” in New Zork; he has small wings that are useful only for “attractin' birds,” and he calls himself the “Eagle Beagle.”

* ''WesternAnimation/Shrek1'' has Princess Fiona, who'd been human by day/ogress by night, dismayed to find that upon the spell upon her being broken she's now [[spoiler:permanently in ogre form]]. And Shrek is more enamored with her than ever. Shrek refers to himself at one point as a "hideous ogre" (though he doesn't seem to be terribly ashamed of it), but he's actually not all that bad-looking, being more "ugly cute" than just ugly. It probably helps that he's far enough from normal human appearance to be well past the UncannyValley.

* In ''Film/TheShapeOfWater'', the villainous Strickland monologues briefly about how offensive he finds the [[FishPeople Amphibian Man]]'s appearance ("We're made in The Lord's image. You don't think The Lord looks like that, do you?") but Elisa, at least seems to find the creature ''[[InterspeciesRomance extremely]]'' attractive. Also, both Giles and [[spoiler: Dimitri]] express an aesthetic appreciation for the Amphibian Man, with Giles even gasping "He's beautiful!" upon first seeing him.
* ''Film/SuicideSquad2016'': Subverted. Harley rants about how everyone on the Squad is pretty on the outside but ugly on the inside--except for Killer Croc. "'Cept for him. He's ugly on the outside too." Croc is a green, scaly beast that looks and acts more like an animal than a man, but he just laughs.

* In ''Film/XMenFirstClass'' Magneto wins over Mystique and several of the other mutants by accepting and reveling in their mutations rather than preferring them to be mainline. Internal Categorization at its finest as he even prefers Beast with a more extreme mutation while Beast is self-loathing.

* Jame in P.C. Hodgell's ''Literature/ChroniclesOfTheKencyrath'' is extremely ashamed of her retractable-clawed fingertips, and wears gloves to hide them almost all the time. Since their appearance at age 7 got her thrown out by her father, this is kind of understandable. In book 4, ''To Ride a Rathorn'', the instructors and cadets at Tentir (the military academy) discover them and almost uniformly think they are extremely cool and useful, much to Jame's confusion.

* The relationship between Hiroto and Rega in T.S.Hana's ''Literature/DawnOfCravenTheAlchemist'' mirrors this, in which Hiroto's mountain lion true form is considered a [[TheClan family problem]] as he was known to be attracted to mortals, not animals, therefore making his love life difficult. However, despite it being [[spoiler:the reason Hiroto killed his first girlfriend, as she hated it]], Rega finds little to nothing wrong with it.

* Creator/CharlesStross's ''Literature/TheJenniferMorgue'': When half-[[Creator/HPLovecraft Deep One]] assassin [[spoiler:Ramona Random]] drops the illusion protecting her true, fishy appearance, she expects protagonist Bob Howard to be repelled. He's anything but. (From a practical point of view, this is mainly because she's part of a subspecies ''specifically'' engineered not to be repulsive to humans, because the Deep Ones do have an occasional need to interact with them.)
** In the later book ''The Nightmare Stacks'', the protagonist Alex Schwarz has severe hang-ups about his vampirism despite the combo platter of benefits it nets him, mostly because the way vampirism works in this universe means whenever he drinks someone's blood, he's doomed them to death by rapid-onset dementia. Sure, the Laundry sources his blood from terminal cancer patients in hospitals and the like, but he still feels complicit in shortening their lives even just by a few hours.
* ''Literature/JourneyToChaos'': Kallen's true form is a large four-headed chimera because she was mana mutated as a child. She dislikes transforming into it and is ashamed of it. When she does a partial transformation [[Literature/ManaMutationMenace to help Eric come to terms with his own mutation]], he is fascinated by it instead of horrified.
* The titular character of R. A. Salvatore’s ''Literature/TheLegendOfDrizzt'' series experiences a lot of prejudice and shame because of his dark elf heritage; however, in later books when the romance arc with [[spoiler:Catti-brie]] comes into play, she makes it very clear that his dark skin, strangely colored eyes, and white hair are one of the things she loves about him. She hints that she found him attractive long before there was actual romantic tension between them.

-->'''Quentin''': Who believes in faeries these days?\\
'''Toby''': Two words: Alien autopsy.
* In Creator/RobinHobb's ''Literature/RealmOfTheElderlings''' Liveship Traders trilogy, there's a mutual version of this: the people from the Rain Wilds are deformed by the "strangeness" that runs down the river. Reyn Khuprus hides his face from Malta Vestrit, who is horrified the first time she sees him unveiled, because [[spoiler:she's ashamed of the "scar" on her forehead from a previous head injury]] which turns out to be [[spoiler:a scaly red crest, a sign that they're both becoming Elderlings as a result of their association with [[OurDragonsAreDifferent Tintaglia]].]]

* [[WingedHumanoid Hawk]] in S.L. Viehl's ''Literature/{{Stardoc}}'' series is revealed to have a full-sized pair of wings, courtesy of part-alien heritage. How did he hide them, you ask? By strapping them down to his back, under his clothing, so tightly that he was in constant pain. The resulting crouched posture and un-camouflageable hump on his back caused the main character to assume he had a horrendous spinal birth defect instead. Upon finally being let in on the secret, a stunned and enchanted Cherijo utters this trope practically to the letter. (Then again, Hawk wasn't hiding his wings so much because he was ashamed of them as because they could get him in trouble with the [[HumansAreTheRealmonsters Earth]] [[FantasticRacism government]]. [[spoiler:As if being a [[TransparentCloset closet]] [[StraightGay case]] -- and having [[DepravedBisexual Rico]] take advantage of his feelings -- wasn't bad enough.]])

* In ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'', Bella feels this way about Edward's sparkling. In the movie, he retorts, "This is the skin of a killer, Bella!" [[ItMakesSenseInContext Not as ridiculous as it sounds;]] the sparkling ''is'' kind of inconvenient, as it happens whenever he's exposed to direct sunlight and tends to strain the {{Masquerade}}. It's also only the tip of the iceberg with regards to Edward's issues.

* In an episode of ''Series/AndyRichterControlsTheUniverse'', Keith is ashamed to tell Wendy about his [[spoiler: small feet]]. She only convinces him that it can be a good thing when it enables him to go out on a window ledge and rescue a cat.
* On ''Series/{{Being Human|UK}}'', George and Nina bond over their shared self-image problems - Nina has horrible burns on her abdomen from an unexplained incident in her past, and George... is a werewolf. Neither quite goes to the extreme of calling each other's scars beautiful, but their revealing and accepting them is a heartwarming moment.

* On ''Series/LawAndOrderSVU'' a guy finds women with one missing leg very attractive (his secretary is missing a leg due to cancer and [[spoiler: he paid a few prostitutes so that he could cut one of theirs off; unfortunately for the last one he's a dentist, not a surgeon]]; sadly the person who caused this attraction [[spoiler: his mother, who when he was a teen was disabled in a car accident that also killed his father]] [[DrivenToSuicide didn't feel the same way]].
* ''Series/TheOuterLimits1995'' episode "Music of the Spheres" has aliens subjecting the whole of humanity to an EmergencyTransformation into bald golden-skinned creatures, so that they can survive an impending shift in the sun's radiation. The female lead's boyfriend still thinks she is beautiful.
* In a sketch on ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' guest host Woody Harrelson and the guys are at the beach. He encourages the others to take their shirts off to enjoy the sun, but they all have freakishnesses to be ashamed of: weight, hairiness, outie belly button, Man Boobs, external baboon heart. He talks each of them into taking their shirts off and being proud of who they are, but everyone else on the beach is squicked out by them.

* Big Girls are Beautiful by Mika. Some guys really dig fat chicks.
* Asian Kung Fu Generation's "After Dark" (from the anime Manga/{{Bleach}}).
* "Literature/RudolphTheRedNosedReindeer". Although this is more along the lines of "But Your Wings Are Useful".
* [[Music/HidetoMatsumoto hide]] is widely recognized as one of ''the'' most beautiful VisualKei artists, as well as one of the most fashion-forward and talented in regard to styling and makeup - to the point where imitating him is often a rite of passage for Visual Kei artists, especially other guitarists and electronic musicians. Sadly, though, in life, he saw himself as absolutely ugly, hopelessly fat, and deformed, most likely as a result of being an obese child and teenager and being repeatedly abused and ostracized for his weight until he became thin, alongside ''how'' he became thin - the eating disorder bulimia.

* In the musical production ''Theatre/{{Wicked}}'', the green-skinned 'wicked' witch Elphaba tells her lover Fiyero that she wishes she could be beautiful for him. He assures her that she is beautiful; she tells him not to lie, but he tells her that he's "not lying", but "looking at things another way." She [[MeaningfulEcho repeats his words to him]] when [[spoiler:he turns into the Scarecrow.]]

* Not officially confirmed as a romantic example, but oh well. In ''VideoGame/BlazBlue'', [[CuteMonsterGirl Squirrel beastkin girl]] Makoto Nanaya has a rather large and bushy squirrel tail and squirrel ears, and due to ingrained FantasticRacism, she is secretly ashamed of them. Her best friend [[{{Moe}} Noel]] [[CutenessProximity Vermillion]] finds her tail extremely attractive and often asks to fondle it. The buckets of LesYay in these scenes are not helped by the fact that Makoto is all but confirmed to be bisexual.

* ''VideoGame/CrisisCore: VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' has Angeal [[TheReveal states dramatically]] that [[WhatHaveIBecome he's become]] [[IAmAMonster a monster]] (since he's grown a wing), and Zack contends that's the wing of an angel. Which it does look like.
** Considering that [[HitlerAteSugar the ''other'' folks with the single wings were villains]] who [[OneWingedAngel turned quite monstrous in the end]], Angeal's worries may not have been completely unfounded.
*** They were also his two best friends. And Sephiroth hadn't gone off yet since he was made by a different process and wasn't ''dying''. (Genesis might have been a little more positive about the mutation if it hadn't come with a ''bitch'' of an autoimmune disorder.)
-->''"Wings symbolize freedom for those who have none. They don't symbolize monsters."''
** The effect is somewhat mitigated by Zack being a total hypocrite. After a few bad encounters with Genesis's forces, he grumpily remarks at the concept, "If humans had wings, they'd be monsters." It's not until he finds out about Angeal that he basically goes, OhCrap, and alters his stance.
*** Well, that is complicated by the fact that 'monster' (said in English even in the Japanese audio) is a technical term for the various mutants that experimentation and mako pollution cause in the setting, so what Zack says is correct. But when Angeal uses it he's giving it a distinct moral weight, as the English 'monster' and Japanese 'bakemono' normally carry, and it's that sense Zack is attempting to deny. Given his beloved mentor is saying things like "well, don't monsters usually want either world domination or revenge?" he's got reason to argue the point.
** Angeal ultimately goes into one of the ''ugliest'' OneWingedAngel forms in the series in the effort to get Zack to [[ICannotSelfTerminate off him]]. He does so, but he stays pretty pro-wings for the rest of the game, including asking to borrow Angeal's in a hallucination before breaking out of Hojo's mako tank, and when being absorbed by the Lifestream at the end, when it appears Angeal's ghost came to pick him up.

'''Isabela:''' Not a one. And the pictures are different—usually breasts.\\

* Similarly, in ''VideoGame/PlanescapeTorment'', the [[CuteMonsterGirl tiefling]] Annah is sensitive about her tail, but if you decide to compliment her on her appearance, one of your points is that it's nice.
* Lidelle from ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyo'' is very shy and ashamed of her long ears and the horns on her head and the situation is not improved when many other characters refer to her as an imp. In ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyo15thAnniversary'', she meets [[spoiler:the bishounen Satan, who also has horns, and realizes how beautiful horns can be.]]
* Micah, the protagonist of ''VideoGame/RuneFactory3'', has this reaction to [[spoiler:Raven, after she reveals her phoenix form.]] Of course it would take much more than that to freak him out since he's a HalfHumanHybrid.
* The ending of ''[[VideoGame/SoulSeries Soul Calibur V]]'' has [[spoiler:Patroklos holding his sister Pyrrha's demonic right arm]].
* The original ''VideoGame/StarOcean1'' has an odd case of this: during a certain Private Action you can find a nervous [[WingedHumanoid Ioshua]] surrounded by girls {{Squee}}ing over his 'beautiful wings'. Turns out it's the attention makes him deeply uncomfortable rather than having wings.
* ZigZagged in the weirdest ways possible in ''VideoGame/TouhouSeirensenUndefinedFantasticObject'': Nue Houjuu is a CuteMonsterGirl with red and blue misshapen wings that look more like scythes and arrows than anything else... and in an inversion of the trope, it's the part about looking like a cute girl that she's ashamed of: She really wishes that her ShapeShifterDefaultForm actually looked like a horrifying monster, to the extent that she's even been using her power of [[YouCannotGraspTheTrueForm Non-Identification]] to distort people's perception of her, appearing as a MixAndMatchCritter for the last couple of hundreds of years. The trope is then played straight when [[{{Miko}} Sanae Kochiya]] lays eyes on Nue, [[TheKnightsWhoSaySquee starts gushing about how cool she is,]] decides that they're going to become best friends and completely refuses to accept that Nue is a youkai... and Nue, keeping with the inversion of the trope, ends up feeling that Sanae's lack of fear of her validates her Freakiness Shame.
* Occurs in ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles1'', though in regards to a WalkingSpoiler. [[spoiler:After they're finally reunited, Fiora explains some of the perks with her new [[RobotGirl mechon body]] and starts getting insecure, telling Shulk he can walk away saying [[ThatManIsDead the Fiora he knew died in Colony 9]] and she wouldn't blame him. Shulk shuts her down immediately, caring far more about her as a person than what body she was [[UnwillingRoboticization forced into]].]]

** Nimmel Phoenix was blinded in one eye and suffered extensive facial scarring while defending fellow students from the Infernomancer. The werewolves he ended up hanging out with a few arcs back, being a ProudWarriorRace, thought it was ''awesome'' when they found out what he had under those bangs.

* ''Webcomic/EmergencyExit'' has two examples. [[spoiler:Bob]] has a variety of triggers for his curse, most of which change him into a quarter demon named Nefarious (who's in control also varies). [[spoiler:Bob]] hates this, because he resents everything about the curse, but nobody else finds him hideous and [[spoiler:Saya]] actually [[FreudianSlip lets slip]] that he looks like a "hunk" as Nefarious.

* Deconstructed in ''Webcomic/{{Fans}}''. While nobody in particular is freaked out about Zaha, she feels very uncomfortable being a {{Catgirl}}. She considers this kind of attitude extremely selfish because the people who show interest in her only see the cat ears and tail and not her as a person and feels offended anytime someone says anything good about them. [[spoiler:She eventually becomes full human after switching bodies with someone who likes this kind of attention. The only person who would do that is a DumbBlonde AttentionWhore, a UsefulNotes/{{furry| fandom}} and a {{fan|girl}} of ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'']]. Also doubles as an AuthorTract.
* {{Inverted|Trope}} with the Unstoppable Higgs from ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'', who [[spoiler: [[https://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20200221#.YaRR8MfMLt8 turns out to be the only Jaeger to not mutate in any way after taking the Draught]]. While retaining his human appearance has proved quite useful for his role as the Heterodyne spymaster, he's still apparently a little ashamed of his lack of mutations.]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
* In ''Roleplay/LegendariesLost'', Gwen is very upset about her [[AnIcePerson ice powers]]. At least partly because they were forced on her by Kyurem. [[{{Robosexual}} Z]], however, finds that the physical coldness and stiffness makes her seem more robotic, which makes her end up [[LesYay attracted to Gwen,]] resulting in a bit of a crisis of sexuality.
* Parodied in the article [[http://the-toast.net/2014/04/29/protagonist-flaws/ Flaws Only A Protagonist Could Have]], by Daniel Mallory Ortberg.

"That’s good thing," he said.''

* A recurring theme with Kevin throughout the ''{{WesternAnimation/Ben10}}'' franchise. Although he is not ashamed of his energy-absorbing powers, he is quite sensitive about being considered a "freak", cuasing him to be jealous of Ben, whose "cool watch" allows the latter to transform and turn back to normal without apparent collateral effects, and the insanity caused by constant absorbing doesn't help. When he is turned into an amalgam of the Omnitrix aliens and unable of turning back in "Framed", he [[SanitySlippage grows berserk]], [[NeverMyFault blaming Ben]] for [[TragicMonster his fate.]]
** Even after his HeelFaceTurn in ''{{WesternAnimation/Ben10AlienForce}}'' , he still has this. He freaks out when Vulcanus encases him into a hideous taedenite shell in "Kevin's Big Score", and when Gwen frees him, he clutches on her in a HeroicBSOD. It gets a lot worse in the season 3, after Kevin is turned into an amalgam of the matters he absorbs. He retains his human form this time but is quite depressed and starts drifting away from Gwen, although she insists she doesn't care about his appearance. Fortunately, he turns back to normal in the last episode, when the Omnitrix (which was keeping him in that form), is destroyed, gaining a "victory kiss" from Gwen.
** On the other side, Gwen is freak-shamed by her own mother, Natalie, in''{{WesternAnimation/Ben10UltimateAlien}}''. In "It's Not Easy Being Gwen", she asks her mom if she'll invite her Anodyte relatives to their family reunion. Natalie answers that "polite people don't glow."

* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/DragonTales'' took this literally where the main characters actually befriend a dragon who has no friends because she had oversized wings.
* Subverted in an ImagineSpot spoofing "Mask" in ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'': The blind girl feels Rocky's face, and is repulsed by it.
* This is a recurring theme in Fry and Leela's relationship in ''{{WesternAnimation/Futurama}}''. Leela is extremely sensitive about her huge single eye, due in large part to being made fun of while growing up in the Orphanarium. In fact, her eye continues to be her BerserkButton into adulthood. Fry had always been attracted to Leela, eyeball and all, and vehemently objected to her getting plastic surgery to make her look "normal". WordOfGod says Fry's acceptance of her was a reason Leela eventually fell in love with him. Unusual for this Trope, Leela's insecurity regarding her eye continues through the series.
** Leela apparently has other mutations that she is ashamed of, like elbow talons she trims and also a boil that grows on her butt and sings show tunes. However, she gets over the latter when Fry posts a video exposing her secret and people pick on her for a time before eventually growing bored and not caring. Unlike her eye, these are only seen in one-time appearances.
** In one episode, Leela, much to her horror, undergoes a genetic condition that causes her to transform into a squid. Fry, who is by this point actually her boyfriend, remains as in love with her as he always is, promising her this condition won't impact his love for her. He keeps this promise throughout the episode, even when she reluctantly suggests they end their relationship, not believing Fry is sincere. However, Fry promises her he will always love her no matter what. She is clearly touched and thanks him. He kisses her to confirm his devotion to her.
** Subverted by the RuleOfFunny in the first episode, though:
-->'''Police Officer:''' Hey, keep your big nose out of this, ''eyeball''.\\
'''Leela:''' ''No one'' makes fun of [[InsultMisfire my]] ''[[InsultMisfire nose!]]''
* The Mutates eventually come to this realization in ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}''.
** Elisa comes to this conclusion about Goliath over time. In the episode "Cloud Fathers", Elisa's sister Beth encounters Goliath and Angela for the first time, and comments on them as she sees them glide away;

* In ''WesternAnimation/JohnnyBravo'', Johnny at least ''tries'' to be this in the episodes supervised by Van Partible. The most notable is the episode "Wolf in Chick's Clothing," in which the woman he dates turns out to be a werewolf, who considers herself hideous when transformed, with Johnny continuing to date her as such.
** This would be a subversion though, as there is no secret that Johnny only dates her because he finds her human form attractive. And he [[spoiler:dumps her when he finds out that she has yet another problem: on Wednesdays, she will turn into a bald fat middle-aged man who collects stamps]]!

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': [[Characters/FriendshipIsMagicDiscord Discord]], the Lord of Chaos, has this in "Discordant Harmony", after some ponies comment how odd is his friendship with Fluttershy. Afraid that she will end up thinking the same, he gives his house and himself an extreme make over to make Fluttershy comfortable. That backfires terribly. Not only she is disappointed, but Discord's efforts to be "normal" make him [[FadingAway fade away]], forcing her to create some chaos so he will become solid again. She tells him that maybe their friendship makes no sense for others, but it works perfectly well for THEM.
* In ''WesternAnimation/SheRaAndThePrincessesOfPower'', [[Characters/SheRaAndThePrincessesOfPowerHordak Hordak]] is ashamed of his deformities caused by a genectic disease, which caused him to be cast aside by his creator. When Entrapta finds out, she not only is not repulsed, but comforts him saying that "Imperfections are beautiful." She also confesses him that she sees herself as a failure because of her social inabilities (she is canonically autistic). Hordak repays Entrapta's kindness telling her that all those who discount her are "utter fools".

** In "Steven's Birthday", [[Characters/StevenUniverseStevenQuartzUniverse Steven Quartz Universe]] becomes worried when he realizes on his fourteenth birthday [[OlderThanTheyLook he hasn't physically aged since he was about eight years old]]. Fearing this will alienate him from his human friend Connie, Steven tries to fake a growth spurt with his Gem powers of shape-shifting, only to strain himself and end up [[FountainOfYouth accidentally turning into a baby]] for much of the rest of the episode.
** In [[WesternAnimation/StevenUniverseTheMovie The Movie]], there's Spinel. Originally an [[NonIronicClown adorable entertainment Gem]], the trauma of [[spoiler:being abandoned by Pink Diamond for 6000 years]] caused her to take on a much more menacing physical form, with darker colors and sharper angles. After her HeelFaceTurn, she is shown to be ashamed of her form, thinking that there is no way anyone will want her looking the way she does. Luckily for her, [[spoiler:the Diamonds find her new form to be [[CreepyCute adorable.]]]]
* Non-romantic example in ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'', in a fifth season episode showing how the team met. Cyborg's used to people being cruel towards him because of his robotic body, but when Beast Boy first sees him, he exclaims "Cool!" {{Justified|Trope}} in that Beast Boy grew up in the presence of another robot.
** Inverted in the episode where Starfire turns into a chrysalis, her species' own version of puberty, when an alien tells Starfire she is beautiful, solely for the fact that said alien race's sole diet is chrysalis and more chrysalis.

* While Nightcrawler is initially ashamed of his appearance in ''WesternAnimation/XMenEvolution'', he soon seems to become more relaxed about it around other mutants (understandably, since the fans already know blue + fuzzy = adorable). He's still afraid of letting normal people see his true face, constantly wearing a device that projects a hologram around him to make him look like a normal person in public, but this trope is invoked when [[spoiler:the girl who likes him, Amanda Sefton, convinces him to turn off his image inducer, then happily reassures him that "blue is my favorite color". To her, "your fur is ''adorable''!"]]
** Kitty Pryde said the same thing in a comic book spin-off of the show.

* Miss Martian on ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice2010'' normally appears as an attractive, green-skinned teenage girl, but in reality, she's not a Green Martian like her uncle, Martian Manhunter, she's actually a ''white martian'', a disenfranchised underclass on Mars who don't look anything [[https://68.media.tumblr.com/98fe44d38ba1224b51f656a3049d4d92/tumblr_o3laytVJih1sh87v9o3_400.gif close to human]], and is deeply ashamed when a psychic attack from Psimon exposes her true form. The team is surprised at first but quickly accepts her.
** PlayedWith: WordOfGod is that her inhuman appearance is actually standard for all Martians, including her uncle, and that the difference between White and Green Martians is [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything only the color of their skin]].

* The farmer who owned the infamous [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_the_Headless_Chicken Mike the Headless Chicken]] reported female chickens continued to be attracted to him, which is partially understandable, given that he was now 4 times heavier than most of the chickens there, as well as the oldest. The art for his merchandise as well [[https://web.archive.org/web/20120127043640/http://www.miketheheadlesschicken.org/merchandise_2010_shirt.htm also depicts him as a headless stud]]. Mike, however, being blind (and, y'know, a ''chicken'', one missing most of even what little brain chickens normally have at that), had no idea how desirable he was.

* ''Gabriel's Ghost'': [[spoiler:In the first edition, Gabriel Sullivan is a Ragkiril, or telepath, and when using his abilities he literally grows wings. In this universe, halos are angelic and wings are always demonic; the fact that angels used to be portrayed with wings is brought up as a counterpoint to his supposed inherent evilness. In the new, revamped edition, Ragkiril merely glow with "unholy" light when using their abilities, but the angelic/demonic comparisons are kept. In both versions, Chaz's acceptance of who and what he is helps him to heal and see himself as someone worthy of love.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'': Discord, the Lord of Chaos, has this in "Discordant Harmony", after some ponies comment how odd is his friendship with Fluttershy. Afraid that she will end up thinking the same, he gives his house and himself an extreme make over to make Fluttershy comfortable. That backfires terribly. Not only she is disappointed, but Discord's efforts to be "normal" make him [[FadingAway fade away]], forcing her to create some chaos so he will become solid again. She tells him that maybe their friendship makes no sense for others, but it works perfectly well for THEM.
* In ''WesternAnimation/SheRaAndThePrincessesOfPower'', Hordak is ashamed of his deformities caused by a genectic disease, which caused him to be cast aside by his creator. When Entrapta finds out, she not only is not repulsed, but comforts him saying that "Imperfections are beautiful." She also confesses him that she sees herself as a failure because of her social inabilities (she is canonically autistic). Hordak repays Entrapta's kindness telling her that all those who discount her are "utter fools".

** One episode reveals that Amethyst feels this way because she took longer than most gems to emerge, resulting in her being about half the size of most Quartz soldiers (the purpose she was created for); she thus becomes obsessed with taking down Jasper, "the perfect Quartz". Moreover, because she was created on Earth, she feels guilty about only existing because of Homeworld's invasion. Pearl manages to comfort her by saying, "You're the one good thing that came out of this mess."
** In "Steven's Birthday", Steven becomes worried when he realizes on his fourteenth birthday [[OlderThanTheyLook he hasn't physically aged since he was about eight years old]]. Fearing this will alienate him from his human friend Connie, Steven tries to fake a growth spurt with his Gem powers of shape-shifting, only to strain himself and end up [[FountainOfYouth accidentally turning into a baby]] for much of the rest of the episode.

* ''WesternAnimation/TotalDramaRevengeOfTheIsland'': Throught the season, [[TheMentallyDisturbed Mike]] is ashamed of his SplitPersonality disorder and he is afraid that by telling the truth to [[LoveInterest Zoey]] she will reject him. In "Grand Chef Auto" when she does find out, it turns out she isn't even in the slightest bothered by it, as she actually [[FreakyIsCool loves "oddballs"]].

** Manako is a ShrinkingViolet because she believes the world is disgusted by her [[{{Cyclopse single, large eye]]. In this case, she belives the UncannyValley is to blame; that being a normal person aside from one giant eye makes her more disturbing than more fantastical monster girls.