History Main / LadyLooksLikeADude

* ''Series/{{Glee}}''[='=]s Season 2 (and on) football Coach Shannon Beiste, and a good amount of her characterization is owed to the real-life experiences of Creator/DotMarieJones who portrays her.

* ''Series/TheWalkingDead'': Kelly can easily be mistaken for a young man if her voice isn't heard or her name and gender explicitly said, given her very masculine clothing style plus her short hair. The only exception is her earrings (although of course some guys wear them too).

* Creator/KarenGillan shaved her head to play Nebula in ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'', and she said the only downside was being mistaken for a man because she's so tall. When it came time for the sequel, she convinced the producers to let her keep ''some'' hair.

* Agent Kimberly [=McManus=] in ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBros'' is a husky-voiced woman with a strong jawline who typically wears armor that hides her curves and long hair but [[SamusIsAGirl looks quite feminine without it]].

--->'''Haley:'''Four people on the street have accidentally addressed me as "young man" since we got here. I think some flaunting is in order.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'': Adel. The only clue that she is a she is that she is called a sorceress.

* Percy in ''WebAnimation/EpithetErased'' is mistaken for a man by a Banzai Blaster whom she calmly corrects. The Blaster is [[EvilHasStandards genuinely apologetic for his blunder]] but Percy doesn't mind as she tells him to continue with his threat.

* Done in ''WesternAnimation/TheLorax''. The title character is about to open a can of fury on a relative of The Once-ler's, who objects saying:

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[[quoteright:300:[[Webcomic/BeyondBloom https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_wipujty.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:300:When boyish good looks go too far.]]

* Dodoria in ''WebVideo/DragonBallZAbridged'' and its spin-off series ''WebAnimation/{{HFIL}}'' sits at a weird nexus between this and BizarreSexualDimorphism. [[GenderFlip Having been a male in the canonical series]], the fact she looks like a tubby-yet-muscular, broad-featured pink monster with spikes all over her arms and head, and speaks in a very deep baritone voice, means people are [[FemaleMonsterSurprise quite surprised]] to learn that she was the WorldsMostBeautifulWoman on her home planet. Vegeta was so surprised upon learning the truth, however, that he [[DeadlyEuphemism repressed it]] in order to maintain his sanity.
* ''WebAnimation/ManiManiPeople'': [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPoKItcnVk8 Dan]] was raised to be a boy in her family who lives in a patriarchal society. When her family gave birth to her brother, she was discarded and was adopted by Sonoka. Sonoka didn't realize that she was a girl until she revealed it to him.

* Takako Bilda, from ''The Level 999 Villager'', is a muscular behemoth who everyone mistakes for a guy at first. Her ability to deliver a FastballSpecial via arm strength alone doesn't help clear things up.

* ''ComicBook/{{Jubilee|MarvelComics}}'' has been hit with this a few times over the years, much to her chagrin. Notable incidents include when she had to go undercover at a boat party with [[Characters/MarvelComicsPsylocke Psylocke]] and the ComicBook/BlackWidow. They went as partygoers in slinky dresses; Jubilee was disguised as a delivery boy. A little while later, on a visit to the Savage Land, she encountered a local tribe of dinosaur riders; after she defeated one of them in combat, they welcomed her as a male warrior and attempted to marry her to one of their young women.

* In the ''Lady and the Tramp'' one-shot ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/6151816/1/Just-A-Little-Walk Just A Little Walk]]'', Lady gets rescued by a large Samoyed and Golden Retriever cross with a blue bandana tied around her neck. Lady mistakes her for a boy until she hears her voice. She's a female named [[TomboyishName Sam]].

* ''Fanfic/TheNewAdventuresOfInvaderZim'': In the non-canon spinoff ''New Adventures: Mature Edition'', it's established that as a [[AgeLift teenager]], Gaz is so [[ACupAngst flat-chested]] and lacking in any other significant curves that she's [[RunningGag repeatedly]] mistaken for a boy. [[BerserkButton This really pisses her off.]]

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* One of the most bizarre recurring gags in the ''Film/{{Airplane}}''-style spoof film ''Film/HotShots'' concerns Kowalski, a pilot who is considered by all the other pilots (including the film's [[IdiotHero protagonist]]) and even her drill sergeant to be a man, even though she's obviously a woman, and a pretty one too. Her feminine appearance, her feminine voice, and the fact that she wears a bra during roll call while all her fellow pilots are barechested are still not enough to convince anyone due to RuleOfFunny; everyone assumes she's just a small man who has trouble sucking in his chest. (Of course, it doesn't help that throughout the movie she is [[LastNameBasis always referred to by her gender-neutral surname]].)

* Referenced in ''Film/TheLordOfTheRingsTheTwoTowers''. Gimli, a Dwarven man, tells Éowyn, a human woman, that Dwarf women tend not to leave their [[UndergroundCity Underground Cities]], and the ones who do are often mistaken for Dwarf men, since they look and act very similar to the men. Aragorn whispers "It's the beards".

* In ''[[SesquipedalianSmith Merona Grant]] [[CharacterNameAndTheNounPhrase and the Lost Tomb of Golgotha]]'', Merona was mistaken for a man in the past.
-->'''Merona:''' You punched me in the face the first time we met.\\
'''[[HuskyRusskie Sasha]]:''' It was dark! And I thought you were man who owe me money.
* Literature/{{Discworld}}:
** The regiment in ''Literature/MonstrousRegiment'', who spend most of the book being girls pretending to be boys, at one point get back into dresses to pretend to be washerwomen and are mistaken for [[HarmlessLadyDisguise boys pretending to be girls]], because of their short hair and how much they've fallen into acting like men.
** Salacia from ''Literature/{{Thud}}'' is a short-haired [[FriendlyNeighborhoodVampire vampire]] who appears about sixteen ([[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld she's actually about 80]]). Vimes' narration notes that she ''"looked, if not like a boy, then like a girl who wouldn't mind passing for one."''
** On the Disc, female [[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame Dwarfs]] look almost exactly like males (they have beards and wear thick leather and chain mail as everyday dress like the men so you can't see their body shape) and more importantly are expected to act like males, including having masculine[=/=]gender neutral names and using male pronouns. Some modern Dwarf girls try to look more feminine by doing such things as braiding their beards, wearing chainmail skirts or welding heels to their iron-shod boots.

* Jaime Lannister gives [[BrawnHilda Brienne of Tarth]] a lot of shit for this in ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', specifically during the third book. At one point, he even suggests that she might be UsefulNotes/{{transgender}}.

* Dana from ''Literature/WaysideSchool'', at one point, worries about being mistaken for a boy due to a bad haircut and her GenderBlenderName.

* Dodoria in ''WebVideo/DragonBallZAbridged'' and its spin-off series ''WebAnimation/{{HFIL}}'' sits at a weird nexus between this and BizarreSexualDimorphism. [[GenderFlip Having been a male in the canonical series]], the fact she looks like a tubby-yet-muscular, broad-featured pink monster with spikes all over her arms and head, and speaks in a very deep baritone voice, means people are [[FemaleMonsterSurprise quite surprised]] to learn that she was the WorldsMostBeautifulWoman on her home planet.

* Parodied in ''WebVideo/DragonBallZAbridged''. Dodoria looks and sounds like a man, but is actually female, much to everyone's surprise and Vegeta's disgust.

* Dodoria in ''WebAnimation/DragonBallZAbridged'' and its spin-off series ''WebAnimation/{{HFIL}}'' sits at a weird nexus between this and BizarreSexualDimorphism. [[GenderFlip Having been a male in the canonical series]], the fact she looks like a tubby-yet-muscular, broad-featured pink monster with spikes all over her arms and head, and speaks in a very deep baritone voice, means people are [[FemaleMonsterSurprise quite surprised]] to learn that she was the WorldsMostBeautifulWoman on her home planet.

* In ''Series/{{Miranda}}'', this happens to the title character on a fair few occasions. It even got to the point where in one episode she was ''mistaken for a man dressed as a woman''.

* ''Film/BelowHerMouth'': Dallas could be easily mistaken for male from a distance and in dim light.

* ''Film/RomeoMustDie'' has a scene that combines this trope with SuddenlyEthnicity. Han (Creator/JetLi) is attacked by a faceless biker who looks reasonably masculine in appearance and who is presumably black (Han's Chinese family has been fighting with the black gangs in Oakland). Once he's chased the biker down, the biker takes off "his" helmet and exposes "himself" as a Chinese woman. It signals a major turning point in the plot since for the rest of the movie Han is battling a rival ''Chinese'' gang. (Han is also [[WouldntHitAGirl uncomfortable fighting her]] and has to get his love interest Trish to take her on by guiding her hands and feet)

* ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda'' has Master Tigress who, unlike Master Viper, lacks TertiarySexualCharacteristics to indicate any femininity (even her voice actress was initially confused), in addition to a low voice. Taken UpToEleven in the animated series, where her being mistaken for a man (despite her name obviously indicating otherwise) is a RunningGag and she is often subject to FemininityFailure.

* UpToEleven in ''Series/SisterSister'' where Rhonda, formerly an AlphaBitch towards Tia and Tamera, re-appears in the season 4 episode "You Are So Beautiful" looking and sounding rather masculine.

* Mai from ''WebAnimation/PorkchopNFlatscreen'' takes this UpToEleven: she can go around ''topless'' in the men's locker room and not draw attention.

** On the Disc, female [[OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame Dwarfs]] look almost exactly like males (they have beards and wear thick leather and chain mail as everyday dress like the men so you can't see their body shape) and more importantly are expected to act like makes, including having masculine[=/=]gender neutral names and using male pronouns. Some modern Dwarf girls try to look more feminine by doing such things as braiding their beards, wearing chainmail skirts or welding heels to their iron-shod boots.

* In ''Film/SkyHigh2005'', Royal Pain is thought to be a guy because of the voice modulator. It is later revealed that she is a she when she finally puts her evil plan into action.