History Main / ThePrettyGuysAreStronger

* In ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'', the undisputed strongest member of the [[TrueCompanions Band of the Hawk]] through most of the Golden Age arc is its [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking commander]], the slender bishonen Griffith, and the petite woman Casca can outfight any man in the army except Griffith and Guts. Averted when Guts finally beats Griffith in a duel most of the way through the arc, but then played straight again [[spoiler:post-Eclipse after Griffith gets a massive supernatural power-up.]]

** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX2'''s Trema, the resident BonusBoss of Via Infinitio, a dungeon full of increasingly ugly monsters, is a perfectly normal-looking Unsent.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX2'''s Trema, the resident BonusBoss of Via Infinitio, a dungeon full of increasingly ugly monsters, is a perfectly normal-looking Unsent.
* In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'', the MegaCorp Shin-Ra has two types of soldier working for it. The first is the ordinary guy with a rifle and a [[FacelessGoons full-face helmet]]. The second is a willowy, funny-haired {{Bishonen}} with a sword. Guess what type is the SuperSoldier?

* In the episodic computer game ''VideoGame/TimeRunners'', the main character (a teenager from Earth) travels through time and dimensions to fight monstrous "Chronodemons": a robot, a cyborg, a sentient spider, a necromancer, a mutated human and a zombie pharaoh. For the final duel, is pitted against the creator of the Chronodemons: an exact lookalike of him.
* ''VideoGame/StreetFighterII'': the Sonic Boom user was Guile who has a very angular face, chiseled jaw, and huge flattop. He needed both hands to use the move. Then ''VideoGame/StreetFighterAlpha'' came and Guile was replaced with Charlie who wears glasses, has a more handsome face and can do the move one handed. Then ''VideoGame/StreetFighterIII'' gave us the bishonen Remy, who can do the move one handed high and low.
* ''VideoGame/Fallout3'': Super Mutant Behemoths are 20-foot tall DumbMuscle brutes with ScaryImpracticalArmor who only wield fire hydrant hammers as weapons. ''Broken Steel'' adds Overlords, which are closer in size and intelligence to the standard Mutants, but with HP near that of a Behemoth and much deadlier weapons such the Tri-Beam Rifle and Gatling Laser.

* ''VideoGame/GearsOfWar'': The leader of the orc-like, reptilian Locust horde is Queen Myrrah, who looks like [[http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/gearsofwar/images/c/c3/Queen_Myrrah_Gears_3_Art.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/1000?cb=20120124065908 an attractive human woman.]]
* In ''VideoGame/{{XCOM 2}}'', the strongest alien type is the [[spoiler:Avatar]], which looks just like an androgynous human with a mask. It is made from an artificial body using human genes after all.

* In ''LightNovel/VampireHunterD: Bloodlust'', the rival group of vampire hunters includes multiple huge, muscular, heavily armed hunters, (who mostly get their asses handed to them) and a sickly bishie named Grove who is bedridden. When Grove takes the right drugs, he creates an astral projection of pure energy that can blast entire armies into ashes without really trying.

** From the same game and ''Tabletop/WarhammerFantasy Battle'', men devoted to the hedonistic god/dess Slaanesh tend to take a much more feminine appearance (and are outright hermaphrodites for the most blessed), especially compared to the muscular brutes devoted to the WarGod Khorne. Thinking them weaker is often the last mistake you'll make, as their god-given enhancements are along the lines of enhanced senses and reflexes... much to the irritation of aforementioned muscular brutes, who see them as hedonistic wimps.
** Subverted by Lucius the Eternal, 40K's Champion of Slaanesh. Once the handsomest FightingNarcissist of the Emperor's Children Legion (itself composed of PrettyBoys), he received two scars that could not be healed, and after the Legion fell to Slaanesh worship, he continued to scar himself to the point where his head is a hideous mass of scars.

* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX2'''s Trema, the resident BonusBoss of Via Infinitio, a dungeon full of increasingly ugly monsters, a perfectly normal-looking Unsent.

* ''Franchise/{{Terminator}}'': The terminator 800 and 850 are based on large muscular human males. The successor to the 800 series models (the [[Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay T-1000]] or [[Film/Terminator3RiseOfTheMachines T-X]] depending on which timeline you are in) are based on much slimmer and prettier humans yet are stronger and more resilient than the 800s.

* ''Manga/YuYuHakusho''. Based on the RandomPowerRanking of demons, we start from very animalistic and brutish E and D Class demons to the semi-humanoid C Class with all shorts of [[YouGottaHaveBlueHair technicolor hair]] then taking a huge jump in {{Bishonen}} with the B Classes who's only differences from humanity is their height or a hair of a different color, leading to a downgrade where the A Classes look like grotesque alien freaks, and finally ending with S Classes which could be best described as humans with the occasional horn, extra ears or different hair/skin tone.

[[folder:Tabletop games]]

* ''VideoGame/KanColle'': Abyssal destroyers, the weakest enemy warship in the game, are vaguely whalelike. Abyssal cruisers tend to be humanoids with varying levels of BodyHorror, ranging from Glowing Eyes of Doom under the broken helmet to giant turret-carrying tentacles growing out of the waist; Abyssal battleships and fleet carriers look even more human-like. The strongest enemies, Abyssal demons and princesses, which are nearly indistinguishable from human apart from UndeathlyPallor and maybe a {{Horn|ed Humanoid}} or two.

* ''VideoGame/KanColle'': The weakest Abyssals are vaguely whalelike, with stronger types tending to some sort of BodyHorror mutant that is somewhat humanoid. The strongest types are nearly indistinguishable from human apart from UndeathlyPallor and maybe a {{Horn|ed Humanoid}} or two.

%% Please see thread to discuss a new image.

[[quoteright:350:[[Manga/{{Bleach}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/162szayelaporros_fraccion.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350: [[ImAHumanitarian There's a very good reason the monster-men follow the effeminate, bespectacled guy.]]]]

* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}} 3''. Super Mutant Behemoths are 20-foot tall DumbMuscle brutes with ScaryImpracticalArmor who only wield fire hydrant hammers as weapons. ''Broken Steel'' adds Overlords, which are closer in size and intelligence to the standard Mutants, but with HP near that of a Behemoth and much deadlier weapons such the Tri-Beam Rifle and Gatling Laser.

* ''VideoGame/KantaiCollection'': The weakest Abyssals are vaguely whalelike, with stronger types tending to some sort of BodyHorror mutant that is somewhat humanoid. The strongest types are nearly indistinguishable from human apart from UndeathlyPallor and maybe a {{Horn|ed Humanoid}} or two.

* Followed by ''Manga/ZatchBell''. Weakest mamodo opponents encountered at the beginning mostly look like humans with cosmetic differences, then much less human-like mamodo, up to and including gigantic dragons, make their entry, yet the first two {{Big Bad}}s, Zophise and Zeon, look like humans with cosmetic differences, and the final one, Clear Note, is virtually indistinguishable from a human, save from his monstrous BattleAura. Then subverted, when he is revealed to have an OneWingedAngel uber-form after all.

* Larger Tyranid creatures of ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'' [[FourLegsGoodTwoLegsBetter become bipedal]], if remaining ugly. The Magus of a Genestealer Cult ''does'' appear almost entirely humanoid but is one of the most dangerous and inhuman members of the cult.
** From the same game and ''Warhammer Fantasy Battle'', men devoted to the hedonistic god/dess Slaanesh tend to take a much more feminine appearance, especially compared to the muscular brutes devoted to the WarGod Khorne. Thinking them weaker is often the last mistake you'll make, as their god-given enhancements are along the lines of enhanced senses and reflexes... much to the irritation of aforementioned muscular brutes, who see them as hedonistic wimps.

* In the episodic computer game ''Time Runners'', the main character (a teenager from Earth) travels through time and dimensions to fight monstruous "Chronodemons": a robot, a cyborg, a sentient spider, a necromancer, a mutated human and a zombie pharaoh. For the final duel, is pitted against the creator of the Chronodemons: an exact lookalike of him.

* The TallDarkAndHandsome [[TheProtagonist Tsunashi Takuto]] of ''Anime/StarDriver'' is one of his school's top Heartthrobs. and he's also the most powerful [[TitleDrop Star ]][[HumongousMecha Driver]] among the ones in (a rather literal) TheMasquerade of the [[EverythingsBetterWithSparkles Glittering Crux]] by simply [[IAmNotLeftHanded holding back]] on ''[[OncePerEpisode every]]'' battle so each time, he catches the VillainOfTheWeek off guard and defeats them. he's [[DualWielding no slouch]] [[WoodenKatanasAreEvenBetter in battle]] outside his mech though.

->''"He can even do that? That's what separates us from hot guys, dang it!"''
-->-- '''Finral''' referring to '''Yuno''', ''Manga/BlackClover''

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/162szayelaporros_fraccion.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350: [[ImAHumanitarian There's a very good reason the monster-men follow]] [[Manga/{{Bleach}} the effeminate, bespectacled guy.]]]]

[[folder: Film]]

* In ''[[Fanfic/RyuugisTheGamesWePlay The Games We Play]]'', Grimm grow steadily larger and more monstrous the more powerful they get. Then there's [[spoiler:Gilgamesh]], who is human-sized, looks very much like one, and one of the strongest ever. ''And'' then there's [[spoiler:Malkuth, their creator and master]], who is ''the'' strongest being in the story, and [[spoiler:if Jaune is any indication]], he looks perfectly human.

** Something similar sometimes applies to the human characters. The Band of Seven includes a giant, a VillainousCrossdresser, and what looks like a bizarre medieval cyborg, but the band's leader, Bankotsu, is the youngest of the group and also the most conventionally attractive, being a braided {{Bishonen}} who looks very short next to his {{BFS}}. He's still the strongest out of all of them.

* Larger Tyranid creatures of ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40K}}'' [[FourLegsGoodTwoLegsBetter become bipedal]], if remaining ugly. The Magus of a Genestealer Cult ''does'' appear almost entirely humanoid but is one of the most dangerous and inhuman members of the cult.