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Beauty Brains And Brawn / Video Games

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Beauty, Brains, and Brawn in Video Games:

  • Apex Legends:
  • A Rare Male Example with the first three protagonists of Assassin's Creed:
    • Altair - Brains; Inquisitive, who spent his life harboring the most knowledge and lore of the brotherhood.
    • Ezio - Beauty; Initially vain and vengeful, but later learns to value his relationships as he ages.
    • Ratonhnhaké:ton/Connor - Brawn; Brutal and tribalistic, who gets taught the importance of responsibility.
  • The Battletoads are a rare male example, especially in the 2020 reboot:
    • Rash - Beauty; He's the flashiest of the three and tries to keep up appearances.
    • Zitz - Brains; Leads the group and invents much of the high-tech weaponry.
    • Pimple - Brawn; Has the strongest melee attacks in the game.
  • BlazBlue:
    • Noel Vermilion - Beauty. Although all three of them are certainly good-looking, Noel probably embodies this aspect the most, being the most outwardly feminine, with girly interests and an endearing Moe demeanor. She's also the one who is played for Fanservice the most.
    • Tsubaki Yayoi - Brains. Back in the Academy days, Tsubaki got the highest academic scores and acted as the brains of the trio. Her fighting style seems to make use of graceful attacks and Ars Magus, emphasizing her intellect.
    • Makoto Nanaya - Brawn. Being a Beastkin, Makoto is extremely physically strong by human standards. Her fighting style also emphasizes this; twin-tonfas and punches as opposed to Noel's Bolverk and Tsubaki's Izayoi.
  • Chrono Trigger
    • Ayla - Brawn; she's The Leader of the cave people because Asskicking Leads to Leadership. She fights barehanded because she has the muscles to do so.
    • Lucca - Brains; an inventor who wears glasses. She can fix Robo.
    • Marle - Beauty; the princess who occasionally wears a Pimped-Out Dress.
  • Criminal Case
    • The three female members from the Criminal Case: The Conspiracy lab personel.
      • Brains - Cathy the Tech Expert of the team. Formerly being a professional hacker in Season 1 before officially joining the police force in Season 5.
      • Brawn - Rita the Weapons Expert of the team. Serving as the tomboyish tough girl of the team and a former Cattle Groomer.
      • Beauty - Martine the Coroner of the team. Outside of being a coroner, she is also a model and a proud beauty. She returns in Season 8 where she is now an editor for a beauty magazine.
  • Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair: After Mikan's execution, the three remaining women could be categorized into one of each category.
    • Chiaki - Brains (The Ultimate Gamer, a constant source of often odd and useful information and among the most active students in the class trials, to the point of assisting Hajime in most of them.)
    • Akane - Brawn (The Ultimate Gymnast, an impulsive figure in the group who prefers to use her fists and tends to go by her emotions and loyalty over reason.)
    • Sonia - Beauty (The Ultimate Princess who is a very Nice Girl and arguably the most considerate of the entire group, and the one most outspokenly affected by the losses of the other students.)
  • Disgaea: Hour of Darkness
    • Etna - Brawn; the aggressive one.
    • Flonne - Beauty; a pretty girl teaching about love.
    • Jennifer - Brains; she's a scientist
  • Dragon Age:
    • Dragon Age: Origins has this with the female companions.
      • Leliana - Beauty (She's the Nice Girl of the group, and in the past has worked as a spy who frequently ensnared targets with a Honey Trap thanks to her attractive features and beautiful singing voice.)
      • Wynne - Brains (She's a bookworm White Mage with healing abilities and grandmotherly counsel.)
      • Morrigan - Brawn (She's also a mage, but her spells are much more oriented for combat than Wynne's, and if she's built well her damage output can be exceptional.)
    • Dragon Age II has female Hawke and her first two female companions:
      • Bethany - Beauty (The youngest Hawke sibling, she has the sweetest disposition, and multiple characters comment on her attractiveness.)
      • Hawke - Brains (No matter their class, gender, or personality, Hawke is the de facto leader of their group and makes all the decisions.)
      • Aveline - Brawn (She's tall, muscular, and wields a sword and shield; there's also a running joke about her being able to lift a cow.)
    • Dragon Age: Inquisition has this with the three female leaders, although Cassandra steps down from leadership after the first act of the game.
      • Josephine - Beauty (She's a lovely and classically educated noblewoman who functions as the organization's diplomat, exuding charm and finesse.)
      • Leliana - Brains (She's still attractive, but now she's become the calculating spymaster who has a contingency plan for almost every possible event.)
      • Cassandra - Brawn (She's a literal Warrior Princess who has slain dragons and may be described by the player character as "kind of a force of nature" due to her ferocity in combat.)
  • Between the female companions of Fallout 4:
    • Piper Wright - Beauty. The silver-tongued Newspaper Journalist, who is dangerously curious of the Commonwealth's secrets.
    • Curie - Brains. An academic machine, who despite gaining a much more beautiful form later, defines herself with her knowledge in medicine and scientific curiosity.
    • Cait - Brawn. The burly Irish Brawler who is a rebel and a bitter junkie who holds grudges.
  • Final Fantasy:
  • Fire Emblem:
  • Freedom Planet 2 has Lilac and Milla oscillate between each other, while Carol and "newcomer" Neera are firmly set.
    • Lilac: Beauty - she sits in the middle of the Badass Adorable spectrum between the other two, and tries to keep the group both spirited and balanced
    • Carol: Brawn - the most direct of the trio when it comes to fighting, and easily the most fight-happy
    • Milla: Brains - she spent the last few years refining her chemistry and alchemical knowledge, and makes potions to enhance the group's performance; she also uses her powers the most in actual combat
    • Neera: Brains - she serves as the supervisor of the team and takes a cold, calculating approach to the operation; what keeps her from being Brawn like Carol is that her strikes are more deliberate
  • Genshin Impact: The three main five-unit female units within Sumeru have this dynamic going on.
    • Beauty- Nilou, as she is a Nice Girl that enjoys dancing.
    • Brain- Nahida, as since she is the God of Wisdom, this is pretty much a given for her.
    • Brawn- Dehya, as she is a Hot-Blooded tomboy who works as a mercenary.
  • In Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas the leaders of the Loco Syndicate are a Gender Inverted version of this trope.
    • Jizzy B. - Beauty. He's a pimp and a Smug Snake who surrounds himself with prostitutes whom he verbally abuses. Lampshaded by Jizzy himself.
    Jizzy: "What you think? What, what, what you and Mike think - I'm just a pretty face to y'all? Is that y'all game?"
  • Honkai Impact 3rd
  • Honkai: Star Rail: Between the three female Stellaron Hunters
  • Hyperdimension Neptunia
    • Compa - Beauty (Nurse-in-training wielding a giant syringe)
    • IF - Brains (Guild member who travels around the world)
    • Neptune - Brawn (Loves to fight. Goes with being a goddess)
  • The King of Fighters with its original Women's Team:
    • Mai: Beauty. The resident Ms. Fanservice, often talks about how she's Japan's No. 1. She was the first KOF character to be crossed over into Dead or Alive for a reason.
    • Yuri: Brains. She has mastered the basic moves of Kyokugenryu karate in a short period of time, and is also known to copy moves just by observing them (case in point: her imitating Street Fighter character's moves). Often calls herself a genius.
    • King: Brawn. She's the tomboyish Muay Thai fighter as well as the Team Mom, and is the most serious of the trio.
  • Live A Live has a Rare Male Example with three of the protagonists who originate from Japan:
  • Mass Effect:
    • Mass Effect:
      • Liara - Beauty. Could also be considered the Brains because she’s an archeologist and information broker that ultimately becomes the shadow broker, but she is the Creator's Favorite, and is the only character to have a romantic interaction with Shepard in all three games note 
      • Tali - Brain. Shes the resident Wrench Wench that comes from a highly advanced spacefaring race that is the reason AI research is banned in Council Space.
      • Ashley - Brawn. The tough as nails Space Marine. To drive the point home, in the party selection screen she’s the only one with pure Combat strength. Wrex, the Krogan companion is split between Combat and Biotic.
    • Mass Effect 2 has these as much more clearly defined:
      • Beauty - Miranda. Shes the Femme Fatale, Ms. Fanservice in a skin-tight Spy Catsuit. Could also be considered the Brains, because of her role as The Illusive Man's right-hand woman.
      • Brain - Tali, returning from the first one
      • Brawn - Jack. her recruitment mission is on a prison ship where the guards, other prisoners, and even the warden speak of her in fear while she’s in cryogenic stasis. Once you release her she goes berserk, destroyed four mechs that are basically walking tanks to the player that were specifically guarding her cell, blows her way through anyone and everyone between her and the Normandy, only stopping once she sees that it’s a Cerberus frigate.
  • From Mega Man X and Mega Man Zero, there's Zero's main female helpers and possibly Ship Teases as well.
    • Iris: Beauty, she works mostly as a navigator and tries to mediate between her brother and Zero. Her mediative behavior often makes her prone to get very pained by conflict and war.
    • Layer: Brawn, mainly works as a navigator but she's also totally playable from her debut. She's skilled with the saber and despite getting easily flustered she's quite interested in Zero. (Even if he doesn't notice)
    • Ciel: Brains, the main leader of the Resistence, a human who takes care of other reploids. She's a scientists who works to develop a new energy system and is technically speaking Zero's commander and main dispatcher.
  • Metal Gear Solid
    • Mei Ling - Beauty (Snake's Radio Support and among the cutest girls of the series.)
    • Meryl Silverburgh - Brawn (One of Snake's more sensitive comrades and rookie soldier at the time.)
    • Naomi Hunter - Brains (A secretive support of Snake, who turns out to be a lot more manipulative than the cast thought.)
  • Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door: The Shadow Sirens neatly fall into this until Vivian's defection:
    • Vivian - Beauty (Outright has a move that charms opponents, and looks downright cute for a Living Shadow.)
    • Beldam - Brains (Weakest attacks, but applies status effects and steals energy from opponents. She also sets the events of the plot in motion and tricks almost every other major villain, including her supposed boss Grodus, to successfully revive her true master.)
    • Marilyn - Brawn (The powerhouse of the team who can only say "Guh" and her part of the group's introduction, as well as the biggest.)
    • Of the partners, Vivian could qualify as the Beauty, being a timid Nice Girl noted for her cute appearance and even having a skill to infatuate enemies, Goombella is the Brains, being a sassy academic with an Enemy Scan ability, and Flurrie is the Brawn, being a confident former theater star who can body slam opponents. Ms. Mowz could also qualify as Beauty and Brains, being an extremely flirtatious Intrepid Merchant with a love of romance, attracting certain partners' attention and giving out a primer for each partner's abilities.
  • Persona:
    • Persona 3's female cast is a little debatable (again, discounting Fuuka, the Mission Control character and Metis, since she's an extension of Aigis anyway, and also fills the same role):
      • Aigis: Definitely the Brawn, being a superpowered Robot Girl (and one of two characters who only has physical-type offensive skills.)
      • Yukari: Could be the Beauty, due to being the healer of the group, and because her trying to go back to the fight against Nyx again to try and save the Protagonist in The Answer causes the group to splinter.
      • Mitsuru: The Brains, being the smartest of the group, but also shares the Beauty role with Yukari, being an Ojou and Team Mom.
    • In Persona 4, if you discount Mission Control Rise, (who would otherwise be a secondary Beauty), then you get:
      • Chie: Brawn (Tomboyish Kick Chick)
      • Yukiko: Beauty (feminine, elegant, in charge of healing magic)
      • Naoto: Brains (the most intelligent of the group, but also incredibly shy)
      • Also a genderswapped version for Yu's male allies: Teddie (in his human form at least) being the Beauty, Yosuke (being one of the more strategic and helpful members) as the Brains, and Kanji (the big scary strongarm capable of throwing around folded chairs) as the Brawn.
    • Persona 5: Once again, if you discount Mission Control Futaba (who would have be the secondary Brains) and the Royal-exclusive party member Kasumi/Sumire (who would be a second Brawn), then you get:
      • Ann: Beauty (A fashion model who serves as the Ms. Fanservice of this game)
      • Haru: Brawn (A little debatable as while she may be a Beauty at first, her Blood Knight tendencies could make her a Brawn instead)
      • Makoto: Brains (The Student Council President who makes excellent grades at her school)
      • A gender-inverted version of this trope for Joker's male allies if you exclude Akechi: Morgana (the Mentor Mascot who happens to know a lot about the Metaverse) being the Brains, Ryuji (who is very loud and impulsive) as the Brawn, and Yusuke (who is very obsessed with art) being the Beauty.
  • Pokémon:
    • The Kanto female gym leaders
    • The Johto female gym leaders
      • Jasmine - Beauty. She is a Shrinking Violet innocent girl with a caring heart who abandons her gym to ensure that the Ampharos in the lighthouse is taken care of when it falls ill.
      • Clair - Brains. The second-greatest dragon master on the Johto-Kanto continent, second only to her cousin Lance, which is a Pokemon type that takes a considerable degree of skill to train and use.
      • Whitney - Brawn. Her two Mons are a lot tankier and are mostly physical in the way they take you on, especially her Miltank.
    • The Hoenn singular female gym leaders
      • Winona - Beauty. A Lady of War who commands beautiful flying-type Mons with grace in battle.
      • Roxanne - Brains. She is known as an honor student and is considered the best graduate of the Trainer School next door to her gym.
      • Flannery- Brawn. She's a Hot-Blooded Fiery Redhead who can rain hell on unprepared trainers with powerful "hot moves".
    • The Unova female gym leaders. (Black and White)
      • Lenora - Brawn. Known as "An Archeologist with a Backbone" for good reason.
      • Elesa - Beauty. The creative yet still emotionally-mature Model.
      • Skyla - Brains. An accomplished Pilot who's bubbly but talented.
    • The Galar female gym leaders (Sword Version)-
      • Nessa- Beauty. Ms. Fanservice and a super model in her day job.
      • Opal- Brains. An experienced veteran, who makes her challangers take quizes, in order to prove themselves.
      • Bea- Brawn. A martial artist who specializes in fighting type Pokemon and demonstrates Super Strengh herself on occasion.
    • The Sinnoh lake guardians
      • Mesprit - Beauty. In-universe, they are known as the representation of emotion.
      • Uxie - Brains. The representation of knowledge.
      • Azelf - Brawn. Represents willpower, and also the one with the highest attack stat in the trio and the most offensive moves.
    • The Loyal Three from The Teal Mask DLC are a Rare Male Example, as all three are male-only.
      • Beauty: Fezandipiti, a Fairy-type with a graceful appearance.
      • Brains: Munkidori, a Psychic-type whose brain was enhanced by the poison chain he wears.
      • Brawn: Okidogi, a Fighting-type with a big, bulky body.
    • Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers has Team Charm, whose members (Lopunny, Gardevoir and Medicham) explicitly refer to themselves as the beauty, brains and brawn of the team, respectively.
  • In Puyo Puyo (1992) and Nintendo and Sega's Dolled Up Installments, Kirby's Avalanche and Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine respectively, the three Final Bosses form this trio.
    • The Dark Prince fulfills the role of Beauty, a handsome Bishōnen devil prince who is the most affable of the three, and prefers to execute stylish combos.
    • Doctor Robotnik takes on the role of Brains, a demented scientist whose plan is to roboticize all of the beans for his nasty plot of taking over the world, and he performs efficient combos that overwhelm the player and is hard to escape from.
    • King Dedede represents the Brawn, a overweight penguin king who wants to defeat Kirby with brute force. Being the strongest of the three, he shakes his side of the board whenever he places a piece.
  • Rival Schools - Seijyun Girls High School
    • Akira - Brains; the transfer student who's been through a similar situation before
    • Yurika - Beauty; the incredibly girly Elegant Gothic Lolita that fights with music
    • Zaki - Brawn; the delinquent gang leader who's experienced with local gang conflicts
  • Snowboard Kids 2:
  • Street Fighter:
    • Street Fighter Alpha 2
      • Rose- Beauty (An elegantly dressed Italian fortuneteller.)
      • Chun-Li- Brains (A detective who travels the world in search of M Bison.)
      • Sakura- Brawn (An energetic tomboy mimicing Ryu's fighting style.)
    • Street Fighter III
      • Ibuki- Brains (The most girly) and the leader of the group. Comes up with the ideas of her gal-tourage and is the most finese fighting based of the three
      • Elena- Beauty (the most skimpy) of the three, as her outfit reveals more about her than most of the other girls of the franchise. She also is the friendliest of the three.
      • Makoto- Brawn (the strongest physically) she uses brute force compared to the other two and can send a giant man flying high in the air with a single punch.
    • Street Fighter IV
  • In the Super Mario Bros. franchise, all three of the main Princesses represent this trope quite well, though each fall under Beauty in their own ways:
  • Super Smash Bros.: The original three females of the series has this trope going on.
    • Peach - Beauty; she fights with traditionally feminine "weapons" (such as a Frying Pan of Doom), daintily floats, and has a non-damaging final smash.
    • Zelda - Brains; most of her special moves are based on magical/psychic powers and in her source material she represents wisdom.
    • Samus - Brawn; she generally fights in heavy armor and her special moves are an arsenal of weapons, and is also the one who is always an Action Girl in her source material.
  • Namco's Tales Series has many female party members who fit into these categories. For specific examples:
  • The main three female characters from Undertale
    • Toriel is beauty. She is a gentle and caring maternal figure to the player character.
    • Undyne is brawn. She is a Hot-Blooded captain of the royal guard who enjoys fighting and even takes cooking extremely seriously.
    • Alphys is brains. She is a royal scientist who helps the player character get through Hotlands and Core with her technological knowledge.
  • Xenosaga
    • MOMO - Beauty (The realian who acts as a Magical Girl)
    • Shion - Brains (The robotics genius with the status of Magic Knight)
    • KOS-MOS - Brawn (The powerhouse Robot Girl capable of delivering all kinds of beating towards the Gnosis)
    • It has a gender-inverted version in Ziggy (Brawn, being the physically strongest in the party), Jin Uzuki (Beauty, due to his beautiful appearance, the fact that he wears ornate kimonos instead of more practical armor and graceful fighting style) and Jr. (Brains, due to him being erudite in various sciences and often quotes classical literature).
    • chaos is all three: Beauty in that he's a bishonen, Brains in that he's contemplative and mature, and Brawn in that he has a great power inside himself.
  • Ys VIII: Lacrimosa of Dana: The segments set in the past where you play as Dana imply this between Dana and her friends, during their days as maiden candidates.
    • Sarai - Beauty (The gentle and even-tempered one.)
    • Olga - Brains (The level headed one who takes everything seriously)
    • Dana - Brawn (The impulsive and daring one.)
    • Dana also fits a trio of this type when she joins the party:
      • Laxia - Beauty (An elegant and classy Lady of War)
      • Dana - Brains (Has more knowledge of the island and the primordials than the rest of the team)
      • Ricotta - Brawn (A Cute Bruiser)

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