History Main / MaleSunFemaleMoon

* ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'' plays it straight at least for human ones during this edition with Amaunator (male) as solar deity and Selûne (female) as a lunar one. However during 3rd Edition and earlier on there was no solar deity as such, at least human, in the setting as Amaunator was presuned to be dead and the people of the Anauroch desert worshipped At'ar the Merciless, a ''female'' Sun deity.

* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'': Katara is a girly-girl waterbender and her power becomes stronger under a full moon. At the end of Book 1, she faces off against Zuko after he infiltrates the Northern Water Tribe. He is a masculine firebender who draws strength from the sun. Katara initially has the upper hand, but Zuko is able to overpower her once the sun starts rising.

* ''VideoGame/MarioParty6'': Twila and Brighton are the sun and moon, taking the forms of wizard-like creatures with the moon and sun, respectively, as their heads. Twila is female, and Brighton is male. Interestingly, they get turned into ShesAManInJapan in the German version of the game, because, as mentioned below, the German word for sun is feminine and the one for moon masculine, so are the characters.

** This can also occur outside of Sun & Moon if Solrock & Lunatone are male and female respectively.

* ''VideoGame/{{Tamagotchi}}'': The Tamagotchi Connection Version 5 introduced Sunnytchi, a Tamagotchi shaped like the sun, and Mikazutchi, a Tamagotchi with a crescent moon head. While both characters could originally be either gender, later toys make Sunnytchi strictly male and Mikazutchi strictly female.

* ''Literature/KitWilliamsMasquerade'': The Sun and Moon here are portrayed as male and female respectively. The book kicks off with the Moon falling in love with the handsome Sun but being unable to approach him due to their natures in the sky. So she sends Jack Hare off with a gift to declare her intentions.

* ''Literature/LoneWolf'': Ishir is a female Moon goddess and Kai is a male Sun god.

Perhaps, because of that, pairing a male character with a sun motif and a female character with a moon motif continues to be a common trope. A male character associated with the sun may be a fierce, strong yet warm-hearted fighter while a female character associated with the moon may be a beautiful ProperLady with an air of mysteriousness and an aloof demeanour. Since the sun is a fiery ball of energy and the moon controls the tides, leading to association with {{fire|IsMasculine}} and {{water|IsWomanly}}, characters of this sort may also have fire and water (or fire and ice) powers to set them apart from each other. They may also have a contrasting color scheme where the male character wears warm colors and the female character wears cool colors, such as red and blue, [[OrangeBlueContrast orange and blue,]] black and white, or [[YellowPurpleContrast yellow and purple.]]

This is '''not''' universal - in fact, throughout human culture as a whole there are more examples of female suns and male moons than the other way around. The sun can be considered light-giving, warm, and nurturing, traits seen as feminine, where the moon can be seen as cold and distant, traits often seen as masculine. There are also several mythologies that did not assign a male/female gender dynamic to the sun and moon at all. However, some of the cultures which became most ''dominant'' (such as Myth/ClassicalMythology) followed the male sun / female moon pattern, which leads to them being strongly represented in Western media, which often looks to those sources for inspiration.

** Night elves worship the moon goddess Elune, and have a matriarchal society. Meanwhile, blood elves have a strong association with the sun (although their actual religion is very rarely discussed) and are largely patriarchal. Enforcing the contrast, night elves only have female guards in their cities while blood elves only have male, unlike every other race which has a mix.

* ''WebVideo/FeedingTheTrolls'': [=CuteFuzzyWeasel=] expresses confusion at this idea in his episode on Spirit Science, believing that it makes more sense the other way around, since the sun brings life while the moon is cold and dead.

* In Spanish, the sun (''el sol'') is a masculine noun, while the moon (''la luna'') is a feminine noun. Some other romance languages also follow this trope; in French, the sun and moon are ''le soleil'' and ''la lune''; in Latin they are ''sol/solis'' and ''luna/lunae''; in Portuguese, they are ''o sol'' and ''a lua.'' On the contrary, in Nordic mythology, the sun (Sol) is female, while the moon (Mani) is male, and this is also present in linguistics, like German Sonne (feminine) and Mond (masculine).

In many cultures around the world, the sun has been associated with masculinity and the moon with femininity since ancient times. The sun can be considered fierce, harsh, and blazing, traits usually seen as masculine, while the moon can be considered delicate, gentle, and beautiful, traits usually seen as feminine. Additionally, the moon goes through [[MenstruationTropes monthly cycles]], while the sun [[RagingStiffie rises every morning]]. Many ancient religions that worshipped the sun and moon personified them as gods and associated those traits with them.

* In Roman Catholicism, Jesus is sometimes associated with the sun and the Virgin Mary to the moon. This is meant to symbolize how moonlight is a reflection of sunlight, and the Mary is an intercessor for Jesus.

** Apollo is the god of the sun while his sister Artemis/Diana is the goddess of the moon. Apollo was originally just God of light, however, over time it shifted to him becoming God of the Sun and thus his sister gained the Moon.
** Originally Helios was the Titan and personification of the Sun, whilst his sister Selena was Titan and personification of the Moon.

This is '''not''' universal - in fact, throughout human culture as a whole there are more examples of female suns and male moons than the other way around. The sun can be considered light-giving, warm, and nurturing, traits seen as feminine, where the moon can be seen as cold and distant, traits often seen as masculine. There are also several mythologies that did not assign a male/female gender dynamic to the sun and moon. However, some of the cultures which became most ''dominant'' (such as Myth/ClassicalMythology) followed the male sun / female moon pattern, which leads to them being strongly represented in Western media, which often looks to those sources for inspiration.

This is '''not''' universal - in fact, throughout human culture as a whole there are more examples of female suns and male moons than the other way around. The sun can be considered light-giving, warm, and nurturing, traits seen as feminine, where the moon can be seen as cold and distant, traits often seen as masculine. However, some of the cultures which became most ''dominant'' (such as Myth/ClassicalMythology) followed the male sun / female moon pattern, which leads to them being strongly represented in Western media, which often looks to those sources for inspiration.

* The Alola arc of ''Manga/PokemonAdventures'' (which corresponds to the ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon'' game) has the male protagonist named Sun, and the female protagonist named Moon.

* Myth/ChineseMythology: In the story of Houyi and Chang'E, the husband is the god of archery whose most prominent feat is shooting down 9 of the 10 suns that were scorching the Earth, while his wife is the lunar deity who was banished to the moon after taking the whole of the immortality potion (or pills, depending on the version) that was supposed to be shared between the couple.

In many cultures, since ancient times, the sun has been associated with masculinity and the moon with femininity. The sun can be considered fierce, harsh, and blazing, traits usually seen as masculine, while the moon can be considered delicate, gentle, and beautiful, traits usually seen as feminine. Additionally, the moon goes through [[MenstruationTropes monthly cycles]], while the sun [[RagingStiffie rises every morning]]. Many ancient religions that worshipped the sun and moon personified them as gods and associated those traits with them.

Perhaps, because of that, pairing a male character with a sun motif and a female character with a moon motif continues to be a common trope. A male character associated with the sun may be a fierce, strong yet warm-hearted fighter while a female character associated with the moon may be a beautiful ProperLady with an air of mysteriousness and an aloof demeanour. Since the sun is a fiery ball of energy and the moon controls the tides, leading to association with {{fire|IsMasculine}} and {{water|IsWomanly}}, characters of this sort may also have fire and water (or fire and ice) powers to set them apart from each other.

[[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/e49fe8aa_fc2c_4f0b_bc2a_ebfde6861d6b.jpeg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[[ThePowerofLove Love makes the world go round.]]]]

* In Spanish, the sun (''el sol'') is a masculine noun, while the moon (''la luna'') is a feminine noun. Some other romance languages also follow this trope; in French, the sun and moon are ''le soleil'' and ''la lune''; in Latin they are ''sol/solis'' and ''luna/lunae.'' On the contrary, in Nordic mythology, the sun (Sol) is female, while the moon (Mani) is male, and this is also present in linguistics, like German Sonne (feminine) and Mond (masculine).

** Solgaleo and Lunala, associated respectively with the sun and moon, are said to be the male and female evolutions of Cosmog. In game, however, all three are genderless in-game.

* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' Tidus unlocks his Celestial Weapon with the Sun Crest and Yuna unlocks hers with the Moon Crest.
* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV'', the Xaela of the Azim Steppe worship the Dawn Father Azim and the Dusk Mother Nhaama, the god of the sun and moon respectively. According to legend, Azim and Nhaama created the Au Ra as their soldiers to wage war over who would rule the new world until the Au Ra learned to set aside their differences and love each other. Similarly, Magnai, the current leader of the Oronir clan, believes himself the mortal incarnation of Azim. Meanwhile, Sadu, the leader of the Dotharl clan who favors Nhaama, is a woman in her present incarnation.