History Main / InformedDeformity

* ''Literature/RedDragon'' plays with this InUniverse in the context of Francis Dolarhyde's self-perception. He was born with a cleft palate so disfiguring that his mother had to be sedated to stop her screaming; she subsequently abandoned him, and he moved between an orphanage and multiple abusive homes. By the time the story takes place, surgery has reduced his deformity to a small scar on his lip and subtle speech difficulties; in fact, women tend to find him attractive, especially due to his impressive physique. But his traumatic upbringing has irrevocably convinced him that he's a freak, which explains why he becomes a SerialKiller ''and'' why the only person he feels comfortable around is a {{blind|AndTheBeast}} coworker.

* ''Literature/RedDragon'' plays with this InUniverse in the context of Francis Dolarhyde's self-perception. He was born with a cleft palate so disfiguring that his mother had to be sedated to stop her screaming when he was born; she subsequently abandoned him, and he moved between an orphanage and multiple abusive homes. By the time the story takes place, surgery has reduced his deformity to a small scar on his lip and subtle speech difficulties; in fact, women tend to find him attractive, especially due to his impressive physique. But his traumatic upbringing has irrevocably convinced him that he's a freak, which explains why he becomes a SerialKiller ''and'' why the only person he feels comfortable around is a {{blind|AndTheBeast}} coworker.

* The titular character of the ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}}'' films is said to be MirrorCrackingUgly to the point that he is feared by everyone around him. This generally isn't shown in his actual design; he mostly just looks like a thickset, somewhat overweight, green-skinned man with tube ears. The closest thing he has to properly ugly features is his rather crooked teeth. The scale might be somewhat tipped, though, by his BadIsGoodAndGoodIsBad approach to hygiene (washing himself in thick mud, for instance), which isn't evident to the audience.

* In LifetimeMovieOfTheWeek ''The Bride He Bought Online'', the BigBad--played by [[http://media.hollywood.com/images/691x1000/7201596.jpg this guy]]--is repeatedly described by an AlphaBitch as an unattractive {{geek}} that no girl would want to even kiss. [[SarcasmMode Rrrrriiiiight]].

* At the beginning of ''Manhua/GoddessCreationSystem'', Xiaxi is treated like some hideous troll, but the worst you can say is that she doesn't put much effort into her clothes, has unflattering glasses, is ''slightly'' chubby, and *gasp* has freckles.

* In ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaBreathOfTheWild'', several characters will note that Link's body is [[CoveredInScars littered with faint scars]], with one character even requesting he strip down and show them to confirm that he is in fact Link. None of this appears on his character model.

* Parodied in ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooStageFright'' which has heavy references to ''Theatre/ThePhantomOfTheOpera'', including a phantom "haunting" an old opera house. When the gang encounters the Phantom, he rants about how hideously deformed he is and only begrudgingly lets them see him without his mask. Once he takes it off... he's completely normal. Nothing special, but not bad either. It turns out the only mirror he had was an old funhouse mirror that greatly distorted his appearance. When Daphne lends him her compact for a more accurate reflection, he declares himself an Adonis.
* ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooMysteryIncorporated'':
** Early in the show, Velma is mistaken for a boy even after her gender is pointed out. While nowhere near as shapely as Daphne, Velma does have a feminine figure, not to mention wearing a skirt and hairclips. In fact, this is one of her more feminine-looking incarnations.
** In another episode, the gang meet a band of wastelanders who think beauty and ugliness are the opposite. They call their one normal-looking member Ugly Jimmy, and it later becomes InformedAttractiveness when they start calling him Handsome Jimmy after his face gets busted up from falling off a cliff.
* Not a ''deformity'', but at least a distinctive trait: In "A Menace In Venice", one of the last episodes of ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooWhereAreYou'', the gang's friend Antonio is said to have green eyes, just like the paintings of his ancestors in a museum. But the style of animating faces from early ''Franchise/ScoobyDoo'' is such that '''everyone's''' eyes are just half-circle lines and black dots. A few shots show Antonio's black dots with a pale center, suggesting light-colored eyes, but neither his nor the ancestral portraits show any actual ''green''. [[spoiler: Better yet, when the culprit is revealed to be a distant relative with the same distinctive eyes, he takes out one of the contact lenses he'd supposedly been using to hide their color and thus his identity. "Real color" exposed, his eye looks ''exactly the same as when he was wearing the contact''.]]

* ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' and ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2SonsOfLiberty'' has Solid Snake being told by others that he "hasn't aged well." Snake is in his thirties and despite having a bit of a grizzled look, Snake has a well-built body, a [[GutturalGrowler deep voice]], and, by the second game, a mullet. It isn't until ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid4GunsOfThePatriots'' that Snake is actually aged significantly to look like he's in his seventies or older, despite biologically being in his forties. Said {{rapid aging}} is due to him being designed as a Big Boss clone with a limited lifespan.

* ''VideoGame/BanjoKazooie'': [[AllThereInTheManual According to the manual]], Mumbo Jumbo's mask is the horrific result of a curse cast on him by Gruntilda. Looking at his model, he is UglyCute at worst.

* L in ''Manga/DeathNote''. WordOfGod states that he's meant to be the "Anti-{{Bishonen}}": He's gangly, lacks eyebrows, scruffy, wears baggy clothes he probably slept in, and has black, dull eyes with prominent dark circles. Many fans believe he is the most attractive character.

* ''Series/HouseOfTheDragon'': In Season 1, Daemon Targaryen, who never bothered to consummate his marriage to Lady Rhea Royce, hasn't seen her in years and ReallyGetsAround all the time, says that sheep of the Vale are more attractive than she is. When she actually appears onscreen a couple episodes down the line, Rhea is played by the attractive Rachel Redford. Granted, [[UnreliableNarrator Daemon hates her]].

* The first ''Film/{{Gidget}}'' film is a slight example. The nickname "Gidget" stands for "girl midget", and the title song is all about how the singer is attracted to Gidget despite how short she is--but (although TeensAreShort is in effect) Gidget is not significantly shorter than her friends of the same age. At one point her mother makes a gesture that suggests that Gidget (then absent) is about half a foot shorter than she actually is once she appears.

* ''WebVideo/ContraPoints'' discusses this in a video on "incels" ('''in'''voluntarily '''cel'''ibate men), mentioning how a lot of those guys consider themselves physically repulsive even though they look perfectly normal. The show's host Natalie Wynn mentions how incels share selfies and pick each other's appearances apart for minute flaws that they perceive, then compares this to her experience with a community of fellow UsefulNotes/{{trans|gender}} women on Website/FourChan who irrationally convinced themselves and each other that they looked too masculine to ever pass as female.

In animated or drawn media, it might be the result of GenericCuteness, OnlySixFaces or both. HollywoodHomely and InformedAttractiveness are subtropes. The inversion, where nobody notices a character's actual deformity, is an UnusuallyUninterestingSight.

* ''Anime/CrayonShinChan'''s mother, Misae, was supposedly "old and haggard", with wrinkles all over her face and an oversized tummy, but her artwork (and animation in the TV Series) looks no different from most other adult female characters. Though it ''could'' be Shin-Chan blowing things out of proportions intentionally to piss her off.

* At the beginning of ''Manhua/GoddessCreationSystem'', Xiaxi is treated like some hideous troll, but the worst you can say is that she doesn't put much effort into her clothes, has unflattering glasses, is ''slightly'' chubby and *gasp* has freckles.
* In ''Manga/HayateTheCombatButler'' characters often say that Hayate looks "poor" or "seedy" but to the viewers [[{{Moe}} he looks pretty similar to the other characters]]--in fact he IS thought of as attractive [[AttractiveBentGender when dressed as a girl]].

* Yura of ''Manga/HoneyHunt'' is mentioned by people around her, namely her teachers and peers, to be very plain. However, when she loses the glasses, fixes her hair and wears more flattering clothes she's actually quite attractive.
* In ''The Imperial Poisonous Concubine'' we are informed, even in the summary, about how incredibly ugly the main character is. Never at any point is there the slightest sign of this, aside from a [[MinorInjuryOverreaction tiny facial scar]], which gets removed after a few chapters. Yet until that point she is treated like a pariah by people much uglier than her.

* In ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'', Sakura is often said to have a very big forehead. However, when you compare it to the other characters, it looks to be completely normal. This is mostly a case of changing art styles. Originally, she did have a big forehead. Her character design just changed, and the jokes almost complely stopped.

* In ''Webcomic/OnePunchMan'' while PlayedForLaughs, Terrible Tornado is a 28-year-old woman that apparently looks like a child. It's a personal BerserkButton for her and she is sometimes teased by Saitama [[note]]Who is probably the only character who can get away with it without being beaten within an inch of their life[[/note]] for it. While Tornado ''is'' short, she also has [[MaleGaze distinctly]] womanly curves that should put that notion to rest. This is also a case of AdaptationalAttractiveness in relation to the original webcomic, where Tornado really ''could'' be mistaken for as child.

* This trope and a case of AdaptationalAttractiveness happens with Therru in ''Anime/TalesFromEarthsea''. In the book, Therru is hideously disfigured due to burns (in fact, on one hand her fingers have melted together, leaving her with something described as "a lobster claw"). Although the film still mentions how strange looking she is, her burns have been reduced to a faint pink splodge on her cheek that you have to ''squint'' to see properly.

* In ''Theatre/AVeryPotterMusical'' and its sequel, Hermione gets this treatment. She's often called hideous, and is called a "night troll", though the actress is rather pretty in reality. Ginny gets the same treatment, and is often called a {{Butterface}}. It's PlayedForLaughs in both cases, however.

* The first ''Film/{{Gidget}}'' film is a slight example. The nickname "Gidget" stands for "girl midget", and the title song is all about how the singer is attracted to Gidget despite how short she is--but (although TeensAreShort is in effect) Gidget is not significantly shorter than her friends of the same age. At one point her mother makes a gesture which suggests that Gidget (then absent) is about half a foot shorter than she actually is once she appears.

* In ''Film/MortalEngines'', when Tom first sees Hester Shaw's face completely uncovered he reacts with a look of pure horror, and later when being sold as slave her appearance is mocked by Wreyland. This is in spite of the fact that Hester's "disfigurement" consists of a couple of lines across her cheek that are barely noticeable.
* In ''Film/Penelope2006'', it is said that she had the face of a pig, and every every eligible bachelor she meets throws himself out of a window to avoid marrying her. She doesn't have a pig's face, and while she does have a pig's nose, she is not ugly, let alone throw-yourself-out-of-a-window hideous.

* The short story ''The Scarf'' is about a woman who was in a bad car accident, and never goes out without a scarf covering her horribly disfigured face. The paperboy gets curious about this, and eventually breaks into her house and pulls the scarf off. Shocked at what he sees, he trips and hits his head, knocking himself out. The woman then [[DontLookAtMe kills him by smashing his head against the floor.]] She then prepares to call the police with a story about how he assaulted her, but not before replacing the scarf...[[spoiler: over her face which is totally unmarked except for one tiny faded scar on her forehead.]]

** Blackadder from 2 on constantly insults Baldrick for being ugly and gross. This isn't entirely unfounded as Baldrick dresses himself in saggy dirty clothing and looks like he hasn't bathed in a while, but he isn't as ugly/dirty looking as Blackadder makes him out to be. This may have more to do with Blackadder a jerk than Baldric's actual appearance.

** "A Christmas Carol", although in this case it's more of an Informed ''Illness''. Abigail Pettigrew is said to be seriously ill with a counter tracking how many days she has left to live. She shows no visible signs of illness at any point in the episode, is capable of fully independent movement and still has [[Music/KatherineJenkins her]] strong, operatic singing voice despite supposedly being 24 hours away from death.

* ''Sé Lo Que Hicisteis'': The myriad "shorty" jokes on Ángel's expense fall flat when you realize he's actually ''above-average'' height (albeit only by a little) and the other men in the cast aren't all that tall, either, yet they still threat him as if [[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame he only lacked the beard to be a dwarf]].

* In ''Series/{{Martin}}'', Martin Pain is often teased by Pam to be "too short" for a man, although Martin isn't all that short, and while he isn't much taller than the female characters, he certainly isn't as tiny as Pam loves to make him out to be, especially compared to Cole, who is the shortest male character in Martin's group of friends (yet Cole is commented more on his stupidity rather than his height) with Tommy being the tallest and looming over everybody. A more common insult that seems to be very well-known by all the other characters on the show is that Marty-Mart is always stated to have such very big ears that stick out a lot, and while they do noticeably stick out, his ears don't stick out so much as people exaggerate them to be. Funnily enough, whenever Martin and his girlfriend Gina are about to kiss, he always tells her to grab his ears before they do so, or if Gina is talking to him on the bed she might playfully tug at one his ears.

* In ''Series/{{Dollhouse}}'', Doctor Sanders is described as horrifically disfigured, even though her scars are barely visible (most of the time--their visibility tends to fluctuate episode by episode). This seems weird and unjustified in Season One, since she's played by Creator/AmyAcker. [[spoiler: In Season Two, we find out that she's a doll, and it makes more sense--a doll with facial scars, even if they don't actually make her ugly, would be pretty useless ''as a doll''.]]

* ''Series/KindredTheEmbraced'': the Nosferatus become this through AdaptationalAttractiveness. In [[TabletopGame/VampireTheMasquerade the game this series based on]], they are [[TheGrotesque all hideously deformed to such a degree they can in no way pass for humans]]. The show depicts them as merely bald with longer lobes, but otherwise fairly human-looking... which makes it really strange when the show acts as if they were just as deformed as in the game.
* TheReveal in one episode of famous episode of ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959''. Throughout the episode, a doctor attempts to fix a woman's horrible disfigurement, which is distressing to her and the other people working in the hospital, before he declares it impossible and sending her to live in a colony of people like her. [[spoiler:The doctor, and everyone else on the [[LikeRealityUnlessNoted assumed-to-be-Earth planet]], looks quite alien, with features including a pig nose and hooked upper lips. The woman, on the other hand, as well as the man who takes her away to the colony, are both quite attractive.]] The episode was, fittingly, entitled "The Eye of the Beholder".

* Wrestling/CodyRhodes's "[=UnDashing=]" gimmick was based on him believing himself horrifically deformed after having his nose broken by Wrestling/{{Rey Mysterio|Jr}}. He wore a protective mask and often came to the ring with a hood or towel over his head amidst dimmed lighting. In reality Rhodes looked exactly like he did before the accident, suggesting his narcissistic character had been so traumatized by the mere idea of losing his good looks, he had developed Body Dismorphic Disorder. The announcers were not sure how to treat it. Sometimes they acted like he was legitimately ugly, but other times they treated the deformity as being mostly in his head.
* When his mask was ripped off, Wrestling/{{Hunico}} was subjected to this treatment by an overly-dramatic Wrestling/BookerT. Booker exclaimed, "He's hideous! No wonder he was wearing that mask!" Wrestling/MichaelCole called him out on over-reacting.

* In ''Theatre/UncleVanya'', Sonya is described as "plain" (plain enough that the women at her church pity her and her step-mother can only say she has lovely eyes), but the actresses playing her range from average to gorgeous.

* In ''Theatre/{{Wicked}}'', any character seeing Elphaba for the first time tends to recoil in shock at her uglyness, simply because she's green. Even her lover only calls her beautiful because he's "looking at things another way". In actual fact, Elphaba is a young and beautiful woman (with none of the uglyness of the [[Film/TheWizardOfOz Wicked Witch of the West from the movie]], no crooked nose or warts) who only looks unattractive at the beginning of the musical because she wears her hair in a boring braid, glasses, and conservative clothes (but this is clearly not what people find ugly about her).

* In the first ''Franchise/AceAttorney'', the actor Will Powers is frequently referred to as [[FaceOfAThug ugly or scary-looking]], to the point where one person suspected him of murder based only off his looks. In his art, he's a big guy with somewhat harsh features, but he isn't bad-looking.

* [[TheAtoner Brigid Tenenbaum]] from the first ''VideoGame/{{BioShock|1}}'' game is stated to have greasy hair, wear grubby clothes, and be unusually tall and thin. While she doesn't have a unique model in-game, you'd never guess from her [[https://bioshock.fandom.com/wiki/File:Tenenbaum-Fitzgeral-Comp.jpg radio portrait, which is even based on Hollywood actress Geraldine Fitzgerald]], though it's possible she had it touched up. However, in ''VideoGame/BioShock2'' she finally gets a unique model, and looks exactly as she is described in the first game.

** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake'', several NPC characters remark that Cloud has the sort of appearance of someone who does not get enough sleep, particularly his deep eyebags. On screen he has a few undereye wrinkles but otherwise looks very pretty and blemishless. There’s also multiple [=NPCs=] such as Don Corneo's {{mooks}} who call Aerith (''yes that Aerith'') plain and “With a little work could clean up nicely” despite the obvious fact Aerith is so naturally beautiful she could be wearing rags and still look gorgeous.

*** Noctis is described as being scrawny in appearance and a bit on the flabby, unfit side due to his sickly upbringing, lazy streak and crappy diet. He looks like a slim, sturdy youth with nice, even muscle tone. In ''Kingsglaive'', he has serious abs, too.
* In a support added to ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Echoes: Shadows of Valentia]]'', the remake of ''Fire Emblem Gaiden'' Jesse is described as ugly and thuggish in appearance by the character, Silque. Jesse, [[https://fireemblem.fandom.com/wiki/File:Jesse_Echoes.png pictured here]], is blonde, clean-shaven, smooth faced and trim; standing in clear contrast to the actual bandits, pictured [[https://fireemblem.fandom.com/wiki/File:Brigand_Boss_Full_Portrait.png here]], who are unshaven, messy haired and {{Gonk}}ish.

* Mileena throughout the ''Franchise/MortalKombat'' is called ugly for her [[MoreTeeththantheOsmondFamily Tarkatan teeth]] and considered a complete ButterFace by heroes and villains alike, and sure there's [[SlasherSmile some truth]] in that. However thanks the games making her ProgressivelyPrettier, calling Mileena "hideous" in ''[[VideoGame/MortalKombatX MKX]]'' [[https://i.redd.it/yszokjabbi521.jpg compared]] to her previous appearance is really pushing at straws. The fans on the other hand believe in BeautyIsNeverTarnished with her and ironically Mileena is considered MK's MsFanservice anyway.
* The [[CharacterCustomization Character Creation]] mode of ''Videogame/SoulCaliburVI'' features sixteen different fantasy races to choose from. One of these races is known as ''Outcasts'', which is described as a forgotten race of people who are descendants of those cursed by the gods and are constantly [[FantasticRacism persecuted]] by the rest of the world due to the their fearsome forms. these "fearsome" forms just so happen to be [[LittleBitBeastly normal looking humans with animal ears]].

** In a milder example, June mentions that Clover has better skin that her. Both characters have perfectly clear anime skin.

* Disco Bear, a main character in ''WebAnimation/HappyTreeFriends'', is constantly portrayed as unfit and quite overweight. While he's occasionally shown with a noticeable gut and [[FanDisservice man boobs]], he otherwise seems no less pudgy than his targets, Giggles and Petunia, who often mock or ridicule Disco Bear. Despite showcasing unhealthy habits, Disco Bear seem to be somewhat athletic, given he's a dancer after all.

* One complaint leveled at ''Alex Ze Pirate'' is the [[SweetPollyOliver "Alex looks]] [[LadyLooksLikeADude like a guy"]] RunningGag, which made sense in the beginning when she looked more androgynous, but far less so when she was eventually given a more feminine makeover, complete with a far more noticeable bust.

** [=Davan MacIntire=] has induced Meg-level horror (in some ''very'' shallow people, admittedly), but is not substantially uglier than the average cast member. And there are some truly horrific looking cast members. Of course, this is very likely to be intentional, considering how much of a SadistShow S*P is. Notably, this happened less as he became less of an AuthorAvatar.

** Bob Belcher is repeatedly mocked by others as fat, this includes his youngest daughter, his father and [[SelfDeprecation he himself]]. However, while he's not exactly fit, he's nowhere near as out of shape to warrant the constant stream of fat jokes, especially since other characters like Hugo, who makes these same comments on Bob, are clearly chubbier than him.

** Early episodes sometimes had minor characters act as though [[TheSnarkKnight Daria]] was hideously ugly, though in reality she's fairly average, save for her refusal to ever ''try'' to be pretty. In this case, it may have been more to showcase the shallowness of the other characters.

** Likewise Mandy and on one occasion Grim have referred to Irwin as being ugly, though on Mandy's part this is probably because she doesn't like him and wishes he would stop trying to ask her out.
* An interesting case in ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold'' is Helga Pataki. While she actually does look very odd (she has a BigOlUnibrow, a bulbous nose, billy goat-like ears, a large overbite and a scrawny build) [[CastOfSnowflakes so do most of the other characters]] (the title character has a football shaped head for crying out loud!). Yet Helga is always the one who is called out for being ugly. She's even mistaken for a boy a few times, despite the fact that her [[LimitedWardrobe standard outfit]] is a [[TomboyWithAGirlyStreak pink dress]]. There's even some HypocriticalHumor with Harold making fun of Helga's unibrow even though he has one too and is overall far less pleasant to look at than Helga is.

** Homer Simpson at times. He's obviously fat, bald and unshaven, but the show is inconsistent over characters calling attention to it. Marge is shown to find him attractive despite his flaws. It's probably because Homer would be attractive (for the show) if he took better care of himself. An early episode had Homer grow his hair and dress nicely, and Patty and Selma were stunned at his looks. Herb Powell is Homer with hair and no pot belly, and he's also considered pretty attractive in-universe.

** There was one character who was supposedly the "ugly child" in school, but actually looked like everyone else.

** Japan's traditional burakumin caste has no physical differences from other social strata. Their "deformity" was historically considered spiritual in nature, associated with their "impure" occupations like butchering animals and disposing of corpses. They're also metaphorically associated with physical degradation via a derogatory gesture of holding up four fingers, because it's easy to [[{{Fingore}} lose a finger]] through the sort of dangerous labour to which burakumin are often relegated, and because four fingers = four legs = animals. (This is also a big part of why FourFingeredHands tend not to show up in Japanese media.) The lack of any actual identifying traits meant that in the pre-Shogunate era it was possible for them to assimilate into higher castes (some even becoming samurai) if a daimyō found their services valuable enough to conceal their heritage, but the Tokugawa Shogunate cut off this avenue of advancement by making all of the castes more rigidly hereditary. Unsurprisingly, many of the burakumin ended up joining the {{Yakuza}} because [[EqualOpportunityEvil it didn't care about castes]]. To this day, a large majority of Yakuza are thought to be of burakumin descent.
*** The Japanese government does recognize these's one thing the burakumin have in common: their ancestors lived in a number of segregated neighborhoods before Meiji Restoration. So what they do is declaring it a crime for anyone to ''know'', or facilitate others to know, where these communities are these days, other than a small number of workers handling welfare. This way, together with increasing urbanization (Tokyo has ''no'' historical burakumin communities), will make the burakumin label go the way of the Cagots (see below).

* In the original ''WesternAnimation/JimmyNeutronBoyGenius'' movie, the characters mocked Jimmy for being short. Never mind the fact that ''anyone'' can see that he's taller than all of them, although it's mostly thanks to his huge head.

* ''Film/TheAssassinationOfJesseJamesByTheCowardRobertFord'': The narration informs us that Jesse James suffers from granulated eyelids, which make him blink more often than normal. This is accompanied by a lengthy shot of Jesse gazing unblinkingly into the horizon. Over the course of the film, he seems to blink less often than normal.

* In LifetimeMovieOfTheWeek ''The Bride He Bought Online'', the BigBad--played by [[http://media.hollywood.com/images/691x1000/7201596.jpg this guy]]--is repeatedly described by an AlphaBitch as an unattractive {{Geek}} that no girl would want to even kiss. [[SarcasmMode Rrrrriiiiight.]]

* ''Literature/ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents'' plays this for laughs when the kids visit a rinky-dink carnival and everyone in TheFreakshow is just a normal person who's self-conscious about minor quirks: Colette is a {{contortionist}}, Hugo the "hunchback" just has slightly awkward posture, and Kevin is ambidextrous. Kevin probably plays it the hardest; he considers it a more significant deformity than having two heads. In the Netflix adaptation, he's even given a good-looking actor, making his angst all the sillier.

* ''Series/AllInTheFamily'': One episode other people describe Archie in terms that make him sound morbidly obese to the point where he'll drop dead if he doesn't start dieting immediately. While he's definitely on the heavyset side, he's nowhere near that fat.

* Peggy Olson of ''Series/MadMen'' is repeatedly criticized and bullied for her appearance in the earlier seasons. Elizabeth Moss, and the character of Peggy for that matter, are at worst in the high range of average in appearance. To add to the irony, one of her main tormentors eerily resembles Pee-wee Herman [[spoiler: and is her baby daddy]]; [[DoubleStandard Could likely be referencing how men can traditionally get away with being less than dapper and movie-star esque, even in a profession that is known for promoting a rigid standard of beauty and appearance for women as a way to sell products]].

** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIIRemake'', several NPC characters remark that Cloud has the sort of appearance of someone who does not get enough sleep, particularly his deep eyebags. On screen he has a few undereye wrinkles but otherwise looks very pretty and blemishless. There’s also multiple [=NPCs=] such as Don Corneo mooks who call Aerith (''yes that Aerith'') plain and “With a little work could clean up nicely” despite the obvious fact Aerith is so naturally beautiful she could be wearing rags and still look gorgeous.

* Ryder in ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas'' is always being called a midget by several characters even though the cutscenes show him being the same height as every other character in the game.

** PlayedForLaughs with Ugly Bob. Apparently he's absolutely hideous by Canadian standards, but to others (except Saddam Hussein) he just looks like every other Canadian. A later episode shows that he's moved to America to take advantage of this fact.

* In ''Film/Adaptation'', a RunningGag is that screenwriter Creator/CharlieKaufman, played in the movie by Creator/NicolasCage, keeps getting described by other characters as fat, despite the fact that we can see Cage is not. We're led to assume the movie is implying the ''real'' Charlie Kaufman is fat. [[TrollingCreator He isn't.]]

** The characters comment on how old Lotus is. She's 40 and doesn't really "look" old. Though you could argue that the ones who comment on it the most ([[TheHero Junpei]], [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Santa]], and [[TheBigGuy Seven]]) are simply doing with it to mess with her. Junpei actually seems a bit... overwhelmed by her presence when he first meets her, and at one point June laments that she knows guys would prefer someone who looks like Lotus over herself. It should be telling that she manages to pull off a {{Stripperiffic}}, BareYourMidriff harem-girl outfit at 40.

* The eponymous VideoGame/{{Hades}} sometimes calls Zagreus scrawny, and Artemis echoes the sentiment by insisting Zagreus doesn't have enough meat on him to be worth hunting after he slights her in a Trial of the Gods. This would seem less comically petty on their part if Zagreus didn't literally have the body of a Greek god.

* Done InUniverse in the ''Webcomic/{{Oglaf}}'' strip "Suspenders", with a puppet show where the "ugly stepsister" puppet looks no less pretty than the "beautiful heroine" one. When called on this, the puppeteer explains that [[SelfFanservice he only makes puppets he can jerk off over.]]