History Main / TheTwink

* Light Yagami often gets this treatment due to his PrettyBoy looks and FoeRomanticSubtext with L

->''"Teenage, White, Into No Kink"''

%%* [[Film/HighSchoolMusical Ryan Evans.]] Every time. No exceptions.

As he adapts to the [[WhereEverybodyKnowsYourFlame gay scene]], he will begin to realize the power he holds over other men with his youthful looks and [[AcquiredSituationalNarcissism might become full of himself]]. If the story has a darker tone, his life may devolve into a hedonistic spiral of sex and drugs, especially if he was already on the road to addiction ''before'' coming out. If the story covers enough time, he'll hopefully be brought down to earth sometime in his 30's, when his maturity kicks in and/or his boyish looks start to fade. At which point, he begins to morph into some other [[QueerAsTropes gay trope]].

* Hasta from ''LightNovel/NyarukoCrawlingWithLove'' is blond, looks really young, and positively smitten with Mahiro.

[[quoteright:350:[[Series/QueerAsFolk https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/813692a97d4b2b6fcbd19c688ab5460b.png]]]]

* ''Series/QueerAsFolk'': Justin (Nathan in the UK version). The series opens with him going to [[WhereEverybodyKnowsYourFlame Babylon]] for the first time where he meets the older Brian, who takes his virginity. Their on-and-off relationship serves as the backbone of the series. The original idea for the closing scene in the series finale was to show a brand new baby gay come of age by visiting Babylon the same way Justin had, showing that the main characters' lives as gay people were just a few of many.

%%* Richie in the first season of ''The Secret Life Of Us''.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

-->-- '''Urban Dictionary Definition'''

** Ser Loras Tyrell fits the physical description to a tee, but the trope is somewhat subverted in his romance with Lord Renly Baratheon (who is an [[TheBear "otter"]]): Renly is both older than Loras and the brother of the King Robert; in the cultural context of Westeros, this higher social status could lead to a more dominant role in the relationship. However, Loras is one of the most skilled fighters in the Seven Kingdoms, and this more explicit masculinity makes him the emotionally dominant partner, whereas Renly is more of a politician and statesman.

** Ser Loras Tyrell fits the physical description to a tee, but the trope is somewhat subverted with regards to his romance with Lord Renly Baratheon (who is an [[TheBear "otter"]]) because Loras is the emotionally dominant partner in their relationship despite being a few years younger.
** It was unclear in Season 3 what Olyvar's sexual orientation was, but it's confirmed in "Breaker of Chains" that he's gay.
* Arguably, all the gay boys from ''Series/{{Glee}}'' fit the bill given their age and being at a point of self-discovery, but Kurt and Sebastian are the closest in characterization, albeit in different ways.

* ''Series/{{Oz}}'': Timothy Kirk. Pretty well summarized by Reverend Cloutier, after Kirk makes a sexual advance on him: "You've made a lifetime out of being adorable, sexy in a lost-little-boy kind of way, but ... it's time for you to be a man." Kirk may be bisexual though, since he was involved with women outside prison (he's in there after leaving his baby to die).
* Justin from ''Series/QueerAsFolk'' (Nathan in the UK version). The series opens with him going to [[WhereEverybodyKnowsYourFlame Babylon]] for the first time where he meets the older Brian, who takes his virginity. Their on-and-off relationship serves as the backbone of the series. The original idea for the closing scene in the series finale was to show a brand new baby gay come of age by visiting Babylon the same way Justin had, showing that the main characters' lives as gay people were just a few of many.

* Maxxie of ''Series/{{Skins}}'' fits the description in appearance, but in personality he seems to be a bit savvier. We think. [[ButNotTooGay He never gets enough screen time for us to really tell.]]

* Jack from ''Series/WillAndGrace'', in the episodes which flash back to his teens.
* Brandon Wright and Dante from ''Series/TheWire'' are both twinks, but played in slightly different ways; Brandon is more the naive and easily led type, while Dante shows signs of arrogance and a tendency to try to manipulate Omar, with his jealousy being one of the factors to drive a wedge between them.
* Todd Grimshaw in ''Series/CoronationStreet'' is a self-centred twink who has used his attractiveness to break up a heterosexual relationship involving the older Marcus, a bisexual who tried to go straight with a girl, only for Todd to take pleasure in wrecking it. Todd is not a nice boy to know.
* Discussed in ''Series/HowToGetAwayWithMurder'' - Oliver accuses Connor of treating him like "a disposable twink". Connor rebuts this accusation saying Oliver [[DramaticallyMissingThePoint is too old to be a twink anyway]].
* Kenny, the main character of ''Series/TheRealONeals'', is an Irish-Catholic teen who has recently come out and is struggling to fit in on the gay scene. While he does has his moments of self-centeredness, mostly he's just awkward, and since he's still in high-school, a sexual relationship is still out of the question.

* Discussed in ''Series/HowToGetAwayWithMurder'' - Oliver accuses Connor of treating him like "a disposable twink". Connor rebottles this accusation saying Oliver [[DramaticallyMissingThePoint is too old to be a twink anyway]].

* ''Series/{{Oz}}''.
* Beecher in his relationship with Keller
** Also, Timothy Kirk, though he's a much more minor character. Pretty well summarized by Reverend Cloutier, after Kirk makes a sexual advance on him: "You've made a lifetime out of being adorable, sexy in a lost-little-boy kind of way, but ... it's time for you to be a man." Kirk may be bisexual though, since he was involved with women outside prison (he's in there after leaving his baby to die).

Not to be confused with [[VideoGame/PaperMario64 Princess Peach's infant star helper]], "{{Twinking}}", a gaming term referring to lower level characters using hand-me-downs from their higher level characters that are still enough to make them overpowered, or {{God Mod|e}}ing.

* ''WesternAnimation/QForce'' has-- who else?-- Twink, a former circus artist turned master of disguise who happens to be very, very flamboyent, and very, very into men.

* {{Fanon}} example: [[Film/InglouriousBasterds Utivich]] is almost ''always'' portrayed this way in FanFic (unless it's a MarySue story) because he is generally accepted as the youngest and certainly most {{Bishonen}} of the Basterds. It sometimes happens to Omar, too.

The etymology of the word is a little ambiguous, but it's generally agreed to refer to the snack food Twinkies, because they're [[DumbBlonde go]][[ButNotTooWhite ld]], delicious, and full of cream, but have [[BrainlessBeauty absolutely]] [[TheDitz no nutritional]] [[TheIngenue value]]. Similar terms include "cub" for young [[TheBear bears]], "baby dyke" for lesbians, and "baby queer" as a more general term. This is essentially the caterpillar to the butterflies of the other gay archetypes. See {{Uke}} for the rough [[{{Yaoi}} Japanese]] equivalent. Arguably the gay SpearCounterpart to TheIngenue.

A young gay man, usually in his late teens or early twenties, getting his first taste of gay life. He might still be a closet case or he might have been out and proud since he was 12, but he has only recently started prowling the gay scene as a legal adult, especially if he's in college and away from his parents' watchful eyes for the first time. He starts out naive, and risks being exploited by the [[{{Seme}} older men]] around.

* Discussed in ''Series/HowToGetAwayWithMurder'' - Oliver accuses Connor of treating him like "a disposible twink". Connor rebuttles this accusation saying Oliver [[DramaticallyMissingThePoint is too old to be a twink anyway]].

Appearance-wise, he's stereotypically [[PrettyBoy rail-thin with a boyish face and minimal facial and body hair]]. If white (and he usually is, where fiction is concerned), he'll be bleached-blonde with skin that's either pale or artificially tanned. He tends to buy all his clothing from Hollister, Old Navy, Abercrombie & Fitch, and the like, and will wear flip-flops regardless of the weather. [[note]]It's important to point out that the twink aesthetic and the twink persona are not the same; a person can be one without the other.[[/note]]

* Hasta from ''LightNovel/HaiyoreNyarkoSan'' is blond, looks really young, and positively smitten with Mahiro.

* ''Series/DaysOfOurLives'': Will Horton discovered his sexuality through walking around shirtless, copious weeping, flirting with his incredibly hot and wicked stepfather EJ and bonding with eventual boyfriend/husband and StraightGay Sonny.

* Kenny, the main character of ''Series/TheRealONeals'', is an Irish-Catholic teen who has recently come out and is struggling to fit in on the gay scene. While he does has his moments of self-centeredness, mostly he's just {{Adorkable}}, and since he's still in high-school, a sexual relationship is still out of the question.

As he adapts to the [[WhereEverybodyKnowsYourFlame gay scene]], he will begin to realize the power he holds over other men with his youthful looks and [[AcquiredSituationalNarcissism might become full of himself]]. Or he'll tire of the "Meet cute, fuck fast, bye-bye" routine and slow down before he risks ending up with an STD or drug addiction. If the story covers enough time, he'll hopefully be brought back down to earth sometime in his 30's, when his maturity kicks in and/or his boyish looks start to fade. At which point, he begins to morph into some other [[QueerAsTropes gay trope]].

* ''Series/GameOfThrones'': Ser Loras Tyrell fits the physical description to a tee, but the trope is somewhat subverted with regards to his romance with Lord Renly Baratheon (who is an [[TheBear "otter"]]) because Loras is the emotionally dominant partner in their relationship despite being a few years younger.

* Beecher in his relationship with Keller in ''Series/{{Oz}}''.
** Also, Timothy Kirk, though he's a much more minor character. Pretty well summarized by Reverend Cloutier, after Kirk makes a sexual advance on him: "You've made a lifetime out of being adorable, sexy in a lost-little-boy kind of way, but ... it's time for you to be a man."

* ''WebVideo/NeedsMoreGay'' has an episode about this, comparing and contrasting twinks and [[TheBear bears]]. It also comes up in a review of the gay porn parody film ''[[Literatur/{{Twilight}} Twinklight]]''.