History Main / SchoolIdol

* Hinagiku Katsura of ''Manga/HayateTheCombatButler'', it's even called out on, particularly during the Valentines Day and White Day arcs, and a lampshade is hung during her birthday arc.

* The whole student council in ''Manga/SeitokaiNoIchizon'' is more or less this as the members are chosen via popularity poll, except for the MC.

* Miki Nakayama from ''Hakaiou Noritaka''. Strong yet beautiful. She is the desire of every male in her high school including the protagonist. Though she is more noticed for her busty chest as both the star of the boxing team and even the male judo team just want to get close to her bosoms.Even the black boxer Ken Jackson considers making out with her after his fight with the protagonist.
* Ayaka from ''Manga/AnoKiss'' has quite a few similarities to Rin Tohsaka, being always pretty, talented, kind and helpful at school but lacking any sort of tact outside of it. It comes partly from her mother expecting her to be a perfect student and putting an unreasonable pressure on her, but she's proud of being the school idol nonetheless (hence her distress when [[BrilliantButLazy Yurine]] beats her in the score ranking). Chapter 22 lampshades that even if she's number 2 in grades, everyone still loves her, while Yurine is gifted but too socially inept to qualify.

* ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'': [[AlphaBitch Chloé]] ''thinks'' she's this, frequently insisting that "everybody loves me" and apparently being deluded enough to actually believe it, but in actuality almost the entire school hates her for being a petty bully.

* ''Anime/StarTwinklePrettyCure'' has two school idols at Hikaru's middle school: Elena Amamiya, known as "the Sun of Mihoshi Town", and Madoka Kaguya, known as "the Moon of Mihoshi Town". Elena is extremely popular for her cheerful, friendly personality and athletic abilities, while Madoka is the StudentCouncilPresident and is admired for being highly skilled at piano, archery, flower arrangement ''and'' tea ceremonies.

* ''Manga/NogizakaHarukaNoHimitsu'' has [[TheOjou Nogizaka Haruka]], who is an idol at her school. She's an otaku but hides it out of fear of a repeat of the humiliation she suffered at middle school, where she was an idol until then. Her little sister, Nogizaka Mika, who attends an all-girls middle school, is an idol there.

* ''Manga/OniisamaE'' actually has ''three''. The first is StudentCouncilPresident Fukiko "Miya-sama" Ichinomiya, an elegant and beautiful [[spoiler: and very unstable]] {{Ojou}}; the second is [[spoiler: Fukiko's half-sister]] Rei "Hana no Saint-Juste" Asaka, a kind yet troubled {{Bifauxnen}} who's also a musician and ex-sportswoman; and the third is Kaoru "Kaoru no Kimi" Orihara, a sports idol {{Ladette}} and the ClassRepresentative for Nanako's class.

This trope is frequent in Japanese media, where the character is often TheOjou, functioning as something of a School Princess. While the notion of "most popular student(s)" exists in the standard Western HighSchool setting as well, {{Alpha Bitch}}es and {{Jerk Jock}}s are generally portrayed [[PopularIsDumb in a much less positive light]], and as such rarely have a similar cult of personality to the school idol. A possibly helpful distinction: is the student an ''idol'' (as in, is he or she ''idolized''?), or "merely" wildly popular?

* Miki Nakayama from Hakaiou Noritaka. Strong yet beautiful. She is the desire of every male in her high school including the protagonist. Though she is more noticed for her busty chest as both the star of the boxing team and even the male judo team just want to get close to her bosoms.Even the black boxer Ken Jackson considers making out with her after his fight with the protagonist.

* ''VideoGame/Persona5'' deconstructs this in an interesting way; most of its female party members have character archetypes that would traditionally slot them in for this trope, but are instead social outcasts for those reasons. Ann Takamaki is a quarter-white part-time model whose exotic beauty just makes her the target of multiple undesirable rumors, Makoto Niijima is the intelligent and studious StudentCouncilPresident who's seen by her schoolmates as nothing more than a TeachersPet and AcademicAlphaBitch, and Haru Okumura is the wealthy heiress who has trouble connecting with others precisely because she realizes most people are only interested in her for her family's wealth.

* Yukiko Amagi is vaguely hinted to be one of these in ''VideoGame/{{Persona 4}}'', but Naoto Shirogane actually makes the local news as the "Detective Prince". Amusingly enough, despite being a TeenIdol, Rise Kujikawa doesn't appear to become a school idol once she enrolls.
* ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}'':
** Mitsuru [[TheOjou Kirijo]]. Granted, her status as something of a YakuzaPrincess thanks to being the heiress of a MegaCorp involved in shady activities that makes generous donations to the school allows her to practically run Gekkoukan High regardless of what others may think of her, she still has quite a reputation and more than a few fans among the student body.
** Yukari Takeba is quite popular among the student body as well. Hell, she's even been called "the famous Yukari Takeba" in-game.

* ''Franchise/TokimekiMemorial 1'' 's HighSchool, Kirameki High, has three School Idols dominating the campus: Saki Nijino, "[[CuteSportsClubManager The Idol of Kirameki High's Sports Clubs]]"; Mira Kagami, "[[AlphaBitch The Madonna of Kirameki High]]", and Shiori Fujisaki, "[[TheAce The Superstar of Kirameki High]]". Their {{Iconic Item}}s (Saki's home-made "[=NijiBen=]" lunch box, Mira's earrings, and Shiori's hairband), are, according to [[BromanticFoil Info Man]] Yoshio, the most valuable items among the boys in the school, and getting one of them is considered as a feat and a proof of close relationship with the girl.

* Similarly, Rin Tohsaka is VisualNovel/FateStayNight's most popular girl in school. This is achieved by being very good looking and keeping up an honor student facade, but she's actually quite a short tempered {{Tsundere}} (more evident in the original VisualNovel than the anime).

* Ayaka from ''Manga/AnoKiss'' has quite a few similarities to Rin Tohsaka, being always pretty, talented, kind and helpful at school but lacking any sort of tact outside of it. It comes partly from her mother expecting her to be a perfect student and putting an unreasonable pressure on her, but she's proud of being the school idol nonetheless (hence her distress when [[BrilliantButLazy Yurine]] beats her in the score ranking). Chapter 22 lampshades even if she's number 2 in grades, everyone still loves her, while Yurine is gifted but too socially inept to qualify.

* Ayaka from ''Manga/AnoKiss'' has quite a few similarities to Rin Tohsaka, being always pretty, talented, kind and helpful at school but lacking any sort of tact outside of it. It comes partly from her mother expecting her to be a perfect student and putting an unreasonable pressure on her, but she's proud of being the school idol nonetheless (hence her distress when [[BrilliantButLazy Yurine]] beats her in the score ranking).

* Ayaka from ''Manga/AnoKiss'' has quite a few similarities to Rin Tohsaka, being always pretty, talented, kind and helpful at school but lacking any sort of tact outside of it. It comes partly from her mother expecting her to be a perfect student and putting an unreasonable pressure on her; she's proud of being the school idol nonetheless (hence her distress when Yurine beats her in the score ranking).

* Miki Nakayama from Hakaiou Noritaka. Strong yet beautiful. She is the desire of every male in her high school including the protagonist. Though she is more noticed for her busty chest as both the star of the boxing team and even the male judo team just want to get close to her bosoms.Even the black boxer Ken Jackson considers making out with her after his fight with the protagonist

* Multiple School Idols have shown up in various ''Franchise/KamenRider'' series. In ''Series/KamenRiderDecade'', [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Tsukasa]] sides with the put-upon photography club against the evil popular kids (and they are literally evil, being [[EvolutionaryLevels Orphe]][[BackFromTheDead nochs]]). Various examples also come and go in ''Series/KamenRiderFourze'', though the most notable is [[TheHero Gentaro]] [[IdiotHero Kisaragi]] himself, who has so far made good on his pledge [[ThePowerOfFriendship to befriend everybody at his school]].

For other kinds of idols, see TeenIdol and IdolSinger.

* In ''[[Franchise/LoveLive Love Live! School Idol Project]]'', the term ''School Idol'' is actually used for [[IdolSinger female musical performers]] who are still in high school (i.e. not professionals), and are affliated with/advertising for their school. However, Eli Ayase can be considered as one in the traditional sense of the trope, for her stunning good looks, talent in ballet (and dancing in general), and being the StudentCouncilPresident.

* In ''[[Franchise/LoveLive Love Live! School Idol Project]]'', the term ''School Idol'' is actually used for [[IdolSinger female musical performers]] who are still in high school (i.e. not professionals), and are affliated with/advertising for their school. However, Eri Ayase can be considered as one for her stunning good looks, talent in ballet (and dancing in general), and being the StudentCouncilPresident.

* Haruka Morishima in the ''VideoGame/{{Amagami}}'' franchise. She even ''[[Creator/ShizukaIto sounds]]'' like Hinagiku above.

* ''{{Amagami}}'''s very own Haruka Morishima who is also explicitly called, "Man-Killing Phenomenal Queen" in their school. She [[GenkiGirl doesn't]] act like one though.

* Mari from ''Manga/InsideMari'', prior to her [[BodySnatcher possession by Isao]], was one of these. She was a popular, straight A student who was respected by her classmates. There are hints that this might just be a facade she puts in order to interact with others. Once she gets possessed by Isao he fails to live up to this as he's constantly skipping school, ignoring Mari's friends, and acting like a socially awkward weirdo.

* ''Literature/DearDumbDiary'' has Angeline, who is seen by the narrator as a mixture of the AlphaBitch and this trope. It's played almost completely straight in the eyes of the rest of the school.

* Mitsuru [[TheOjou Kirijo]] of ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}''. Granted, her status as something of a YakuzaPrincess thanks to being the heiress of a MegaCorp involved in shady activities that makes generous donations to the school allows her to practically run Gekkoukan High regardless of what others may think of her, she still has quite a reputation and more than a few fans among the student body.

* Prefect Klaus Goldstein in ''VisualNovel/ShallWeDateWizardessHeart'' is the most famous and most influential student at [[WizardingSchool Gedonelune Royal Academy]]. He comes from a prominent family famous for creating magical items, and has enough pull at the school that the faculty have foregone naming a second prefect (as they normally would have) because there are no candidates that Klaus would accept. Despite still being a student, he doesn't have a curfew and is allowed in areas normally forbidden to students, and even occasionally teaches classes when instructors are unavailable. His fellow students call him "the Emperor" and he's a popular subject of admiration and gossip.

* The guys from ''YamatoNadeshikoShichiHenge''. Kyohei is a total jerk, but the other three aren't as prickly as he is and every bit as popular.
* Similarly, Rin Tohsaka is VisualNovel/FateStayNight's most popular girl in school. This is achieved by being very good looking and keeping up an honor student facade, but she's actually quite a short tempered {{Tsundere}} (more evident in the original VisualNovel than the anime.)

* Haruka Morishima in the ''VideoGame/{{Amagami}}'' franchise. She even ''[[Creator/ShizukaIto sounds]]'' like Hinagiku above.
* ''OniisamaE'' actually has ''three''. The first is StudentCouncilPresident Fukiko "Miya-sama" Ichinomiya, an elegant and beautiful [[spoiler: and very unstable]] {{Ojou}}; the second is [[spoiler: Fukiko's half-sister]] Rei "Hana no Saint-Juste" Asaka, a kind yet troubled {{Bifauxnen}} who's also a musician and ex-sportswoman; and the third is Kaoru "Kaoru no Kimi" Orihara, a sports idol {{Ladette}} and the ClassRepresentative for Nanako's class.
* ''Manga/AiOreLoveMe'' features Akira, the "Princess" of the all-boys High School ''he'' attends; and his ''girlfriend'' Mizuki, the "Prince" of the all-girls school ''she'' attends.
%%* ''Manga/PrincessPrincess'' features three boys who are idolized at their all-boys school as "Princesses".
%%* ''Anime/RevolutionaryGirlUtena'' Tenjou, among middle schoolers, Touga Kiryuu among high schoolers.
* ''Manga/MakenKi'': Haruko is introduced as being the most popular girl at Tenbi Academy and as the vice-president of the student council. She's especially popular with the first and second year female students, who look up to her for her strength and girlish charm.

* Yuno Gasai from ''Manga/FutureDiary'' is often described as the school idol, being on the outside a pretty girl with excellent grades that is very nice to everyone around her. The reader soon realizes the truth is [[AbusiveParents a]] [[AxCrazy bit]] [[StepfordSmiler more]] [[{{Yandere}} disturbing]].
* Discussed [[ConversationalTroping like everything else]] in ''LuckyStar'': Konata wonders who the school idol of Ryouou is, but the other girls just look at her quizzically.
* Taro Hanaukyo in ''Hanauyko Maid Tai'', as the recent inheritor of the fabulous Hanaukyo fortune, has a lot of servants (most of whom appear to genuinely be fond of him as opposed to just sucking up to the boss) who do everything they can to make him instantly popular at his new school by making him appear to be a star athlete, genius student, etc.
* Ami in ''LightNovel/{{Toradora}}'' had a lot of bad experiences as one, turning her into the BitchInSheepsClothing that viewers see her as when she's first introduced.
* In ''[[Franchise/LoveLive Love Live! School Idol Project]]'', the term ''School Idol'' is actually used for [[IdolSinger female musical performers]] who are still in high school (i.e. not professionals), and are affliated with/advertising for their school. However, Eri Ayase can be considered as one for her stunning good looks, talent in ballet (and dancing in general), and being the StudentCouncilPresident.

* Mari from ''Manga/InsideMari'', prior to her [[BodySnatcher possession by Isao]], was one of these. She was a popular, straight A student who was respected by her classmates. There are hints that this might just be a facade she puts in order to interact with others. Once she gets possessed by Isao he fails to live up to this as he's constantly skipping school, ignoring Mari's friends, and acting like a socially awkward weirdo.
** Isao himself wanted to be this during his High School years, and thought that if he became a model student people would flock to him. His hopes were shattered when, after becoming a very good student, he found himself lonely and with no friends. This led him to quit school altogether in college, and he became a shut-in hikikkomori.

* The whole student council in ''SeitokaiNoIchizon'' is more or less this as the members are chosen via popularity poll, except for the MC