History Main / PerkyGoth

* Tim Burton’s films, when not being plain-old-gothic (the Batman films or Film/SweeneyTodd), are this in terms of overall tone (Film/BeetleJuice, Film/EdwardScissorhands, etc.). It’s even the caption on his creator page!
* ''Film/TheWorldsEnd'' has a male example in the form of Gary King, a cheerful, lively middle-aged fan of classic Goth band Music/TheSistersOfMercy who wears a black trenchcoat and fingerless gloves. The character of Gary King is actually a parody of the way an older Perky Goth would be perceived by the rest of the world outside of the Goth subculture: as irresponsible and immature, with an adolescent attitude well into adulthood. He's also a {{Deconstruction}}, as his manic attitude is eventually shown to be covering for a deep depression at never having achieved anything in his life. [[spoiler:It is also revealed that he has been hospitalized for attempting suicide at least once.]]

* The Franchise/HarryPotter films portray Bellatrix Lestrange as a villainous example of this. She wears worn, tattered-looking black dresses with tight leather corsets and black high-heeled boots,a necklace in the shape of a bird's skull and has thick, dark hair and dark undereye circles. She's also very much a PerkyFemaleMinion to Voldemort, with very childlike mannerisms- to the point of excitedly cheering and jumping up and down after ''lighting a house on fire.''

* [[spoiler:Death]] in the webcomic ''Webcomic/FindersKeepers'' seems to be this.

* Jennifer "Jen" Tate, main character of ''VideoGame/{{Primal}}''.

* [[TheDragon Misery]] from ''VideoGame/CaveStory'' -- most of the time.

* Luste Teuber from ''{{VideoGame/Rosenkreuzstilette}}''; she also gets {{Stripperific}} and TokenMiniMoe bonus points.
* [[RobotGirl Ashlotte]] from ''VideoGame/SoulCalibur IV''.

* ''Series/LawAndOrderOrganizedCrime'': Well, more like perky punk, but she's fond of checkered pants, Doc Marten-style boots, and leather jackets. Season 2 sees her dressing style resemble [[Series/TheAddamsFamily Wednesday Adams's]] wardrobe more closely (a probable {{actor allusion}} since [[Creator/AinsleySeiger her actress]] portrayed that character on stage before).

* ''WesternAnimation/InsideJob2021'': During her investigation of Brett, Reagon discovers that he was both a goth ''and'' a jock at the same time in high school, which she uses as proof that his backstory is insane and possibly fabricated. Turns out it's simply a result of him being [[LoveHungry completely desperate for approval and willing to change everything about himself to get it]].

* Lash from ''VideoGame/AdvanceWars'' is a Perky Goth villain. In the "defeat" conversation at one point in the third game, she even growls, "No more miss nice perky goth!"

* Dave Vanian of Music/TheDamned. A vampire who's not above exchanging some light hearted banter wth the fans and his band mates.

* Baron Samedi from UsefulNotes/{{Voudoun}}. God of death, dresses like an undertaker (the person around corpses, not the wrestler), wanders the graveyards as a skeleton, and enjoys his "life" to the fullest. His wife Maman Brigitte also counts.

* Pretty much all the main and many minor characters in ''Webcomic/BetweenTheLines'' are gothic, though not everyone dresses in stereotypical completely black. They have the range of personalities you'd expect from a group of people.

* Apoptygma Berzerk, originally rooted in dark [[{{Industrial}} EBM]], made a LighterAndSofter turn with ''Welcome To Earth'' and ''Harmonizer'', then turned the perkiness UpToEleven with their {{New Sound Album}}s ''You And Me Against The World'' and ''Rocket Science''. Piston Damp, the spinoff band founded by Stephen Groth's brother Jonas, also embraces this trope.

* Apoptygma Berzerk, originally rooted in dark [[{{Industrial}} EBM]], made a LighterAndSofter turn with ''Welcome To Earth'', then turned the perkiness UpToEleven with their {{New Sound Album}}s ''You And Me Against The World'' and ''Rocket Science''. Piston Damp, the spinoff band founded by Stephen Groth's brother Jonas, also embraces this trope.

&& * ''Music/{{Voltaire}}''. No, no, not the [[Creator/{{Voltaire}} eighteenth century French author]]; Aurelio Voltaire Hernandez, the twenty-first century songwriter, author of humorous perspectives on being a Goth, and occasional stand-up comedian. ''That'' Voltaire. He also does music for the Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, so that makes him doubly cool.

* ''WebVideo/TheMusicVideoShow'' has the host wearing black nail polish, skull hats, black clothing (with a skull tank top in season four) and cracks jokes constantly at the videos she's watching. Taken [[Main/UpToEleven further]] with her twitch [[https://www.twitch.tv/kiarastrings streams.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'': Sam Manson is very clearly one of these. By outward appearance, she's your stereotypical Goth girl. But she's actually quite happy with the way life is! She often tries to be a stereotypical edgy, brooding goth, but it never lasts long. It generally appears as though Sam considers herself a Goth because she likes the style... or because she wanted to rebel against her parents. Gets amped UpToEleven during the Christmas season; she becomes so [[GenkiGirl cheery and full of holiday spirit]] that it unnerves everyone around her!

* Singer Heather Baron-Gracie and drummer Ciara Doran of Music/PaleWaves

* singer Heather Baron-Gracie and drummer Ciara Doran of Music/PaleWaves

[[folder:Real Life]]
* Cassandra "[[Creator/ElviraMistressOfTheDark Elvira]]" Peterson built an entire career out of being cheerful, sexy and dark. The character she was an {{Expy}} for, Vampira, was also sexy, but otherwise a more "traditional" style of {{Goth}}.
* As one website owner maintained, Salvador Dalí.
* Photophobia didn't bother the late Church of Satan founder Anton Le Vey, either. After he got rolling, the witty religious rebel played off and played jokes on, off, and with his own image and reputation to a level you'd expect out of (irony noted) the Devil. This was even noted in a interview with him prior to his death undertaken by the pornographic publication High Society magazine.
* ''Music/{{Voltaire}}''. No, no, not the [[Creator/{{Voltaire}} eighteenth century French author]]; Aurelio Voltaire Hernandez, the twenty-first century songwriter, author of humorous perspectives on being a Goth, and occasional stand-up comedian. ''That'' Voltaire. He also does music for the Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, so that makes him doubly cool.
* Creator/TimBurton and his ex-girlfriend, Creator/HelenaBonhamCarter.
* Creator/TheLeagueOfGentlemen, in particular Reece Shearsmith.
* The Lady of the Manners, webmistress of the [[http://www.gothic-charm-school.com/ Gothic Charm School]].
** Who, although she'll probably never admit to it, has shown some distinctly [[SnarkKnight mopeygoth]] leanings in the past.
** She's also the real life inspiration for [[Webcomic/DorkTower Gilly]].
* [[http://www.zazzle.com/goth_girly_skull_tshirt-235082362946970820 This t-shirt]].
* [[http://www.leepresson.com/ Lee Presson and the Nails]], a Gothic Swing band.
* Creator/GreyDeLisle (the voice of [[WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom Sam Manson]]) abuses this trope, going into "Are you sure she's really goth?" territory.
* Creator/NoelFielding, especially apparent on Series/TheGreatBritishBakeOff as he frequently dresses and describes himself as goth, yet is very helpful and encouraging to the bakers and maintains a goofy, optimistic demeanor and smile.
* Creator/ChristinaHendricks in high school.
* Creator/TaylorMomsen
* Music/AvrilLavigne is more punk than goth, but definitely fits the perky part.
* Creator/NeilGaiman.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_NqVd5Wqv0 Whitby Gothic Style!]]
* Z Brewer, writer of ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfVladimirTod'' and ''Literature/TheSlayerChronicles.'' They wear purple-highlighted hair and black clothes, and they calls their fans "Minions."
* Creator/ChristinaRicci has this reputation after playing [[Film/TheAddamsFamily Wednesday Addams]], [[CreatorBacklash much to her chagrin]].
* And just like her NCIS character, so is Creator/PauleyPerrette (see page image, in her mid-40s, no less).
* Comedian Iliza Shlesinger is a GenkiGirl and MotorMouth who tends to dress in a darker fashion at times, with dyed hair and healthy amounts of black clothing. She herself pokes fun at this, referring to herself in one routine as looking like a "nineteen-year old lesbian manager of a Hot Topic."
* AJ [=McLean=] of Music/BackstreetBoys started out as the group's "Bad Boy", but his personal style has evolved into a more goth-like look (his Twitter and Instagram handles even have "skull" in them), and his cheerful personality, it's a little odd to see him performing songs like "I Want It That Way" alongside his bandmates.
* Kyra Schon, the little girl from Film/NightOfTheLivingDead1968. The "ghoul next door" makes [[https://www.etsy.com/people/StoneHouseArts spooky jewelry]] and has cheerfully posed with tattoos of her face at conventions.
* British art historian and TV presenter Dr Janina Ramirez.
[[/folder]]

* Reagan Hall in ''Film/AssassinationNation'' is a less heroic example. She dyes her hair blue and is usually seen in dark colors... and is also TheCheerleader and an AlphaBitch who expresses no sympathy when her classmates are the victims of a massive data hack, and even partakes in it by [[spoiler:sharing nude pictures of another girl with the rest of the school. Said girl responds by [[BatterUp bashing Reagan's head in with a baseball bat]].]]

* ''WesternAnimation/RandyCunninghamNinthGradeNinja'' gives us Julian, an endearingly gothic CloudCuckooLander who's apparently based on Noel Fielding.

* Music/TheCure are a band mostly known for their dark, gloomy songs and equally gloomy image and are regarded as one the most iconic GothRock bands out there. But this is of course the same band that wrote [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcUza_wWCfA "The Lovecats"]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=mGgMZpGYiy8 "Friday I'm In Love"]].

* Piper Gray of ''Series/SomeAssemblyRequired'' dresses in dark clothing and hair, enjoys scaring people who annoy her, but is almost always smiling, and has an incredibly outgoing personality.

* ''[[Franchise/FridayThe13th Friday the 13th: Carnival of Maniacs]]'' had an odd example. Pamela Voorhees possesses a teenage goth named Gloria Sowici (nicknamed Glo). So we end up with a woman with a borderline TastesLikeDiabetes attitude inhabiting the body of a girl described as pretty dour and unpleasant to look at. Suffice to say, characters, such as the guy who picks up the hitchhiking Pam-Glo, remark on the contrast.

* Ditto Triana Orpheus in ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers'', in sharp contrast to the unrelenting weirdness surrounding her home life. Her dad, despite being a major contributor to the weirdness, is also as perky as his wardrobe is somber. And he's always offering homemade snacks to anyone who visits.

* A straightforwardly villainous example is Sonya in ''Film/TheBabysitter''. Her clothes are all black and white, and of the cultists, she indulges in the creepiest behavior of all of them. She's not at all gloomy, though, and is having as much of a blast killing people as the rest of the cult, while also being [[TheFashionista very sharply dressed]] in her black-and-white clothes.
* Similar to the ''Film/TheBabysitter'' example listed above, the {{Franchise/HarryPotter}} films portray Bellatrix Lestrange as a villainous example of this. She wears worn, tattered-looking black dresses with tight leather corsets and black high-heeled boots,a necklace in the shape of a bird's skull and has thick, dark hair and dark undereye circles. She's also very much a PerkyFemaleMinion to Voldemort, with very childlike mannerisms- to the point of excitedly cheering and jumping up and down after ''lighting a house on fire.''