Town Girls

♫ My older sisters: Isabela and Luisa.
One strong, one graceful, perfect in every way! ♫

Town Girls is a trio of female characters, consisting of one who is butch, one who is femme and one who is neither. Butch and femme are lesbian identities for gender expression; in this case, it is referring to masculinity displayed by a female beyond what would be considered typical of a tomboy and femininity beyond what would be considered typical of the Girly Girl. The femme one is like a fashionable uptown girl. The butch one is like someone whose rude behavior could be excused by saying that she is from out of town — maybe a Country Mouse. The one who is neither butch nor femme is like a Street Smart girl from downtown. Thus the Town Girls are from uptown, downtown and out of town. Bonus points if the geography is literal.

The one who is neither butch nor femme is usually the smart, friendly and well-intentioned Girl Next Door. She can also be more free-spirited, either with her mind or her body. The butch character is likely a tough chick but might be more of a Femme Fatale or be sexually aggressive. The Femme one is either high-maintenance, romantically assertive or neither.

If they're love interests, then the easiest one to be with will be the middle one like Betty in Betty and Veronica. Might overlap with Beauty, Brains, and Brawn (in which the brawn is usually butch, the brains is usually neither, and the beauty is usually femme), Blonde, Brunette, Redhead, or Big, Thin, Short Trio (in which the big one is usually butch, the thin one is usually neither, and the short one is usually femme). An exaggerated example would include a Princess Classic, Hot Librarian, and The Lad-ette.

Compare Masculine, Feminine, Androgyne Trio, a configuration of characters of any gender where one member is masculine, one member is feminine, and one member is androgynous or of Ambiguous Gender. See Four-Girl Ensemble.

---

Examples:

Anime and Manga

• Ah! My Goddess: Out of the three main goddesses, Belldandy is sweet and loving, Urd is a half-demon trickster, and Skuld is an aggressive and tech-savvy.
• Attack on Titan: Ymir (butch) and Krista (femme) are usually a duo, but they can also be seen hanging out with Sasha (neither) from time to time. By the end of the series, though, Krista/Historia is the only one still alive.
• Cat's Eye: Out of the sisters, Ai is a tech-savvy tomboy, Rui is elegant and fashion forward, and Hitomi is neither.
• In Charlotte Yusa has this dynamic with her twin and friend Nao. She's innocent and cheery (femme), whereas Misa is tomboyish and brash (butch), and Nao is usually stoic and cunning (neither).
• Digimon:
  • Digimon Adventure's trio of girls are Sora (butch), Mimi (femme) and Hikari (neither).
  • The dynamic is repeated in Digimon Tamers with Ruki, the Aloof Ally Action Girl tomboy (butch), Juri, the girly girl and the hero's Love Interest (femme) and Shaochung, the Tagalong Kid who's just too young to be either.
  • The three main girls from Digimon Fusion also qualify although, in this case, each of them have a more prominent role than the other depending on the season. The story starts out with Akari, the reliable genki gamer chick, as the butch. It continues with Nene, the mysterious antiheroine who gets a Girliness Upgrade in seasons 2 and 3 without losing much of her tough edge, as the the neither. The final season introduces Airu, the Bitch in Sheep's Clothing who is only interested in cute Digimon and has a way more feminine design than both Akari and Nene, as the femme.
• Dragon Ball:
  • In the original series, Bad Lunch is a violent, trigger-happy criminal (butch), Good Lunch is a naïve Shy Blue-Haired Girl (femme), and Bulma is spunky and adventurous (neither).
  • In Dragon Ball Z, Videl is a tomboyish crime-fighter (butch), Bulma is a stylish non-combatant (femme), and Chi-Chi is a housewife but also strong and able to fight (neither).
  • Out of the daughters of the Z fighters, Pan loves martial arts and has a boyish way of dressing (butch), Bra/Bulla gets her Valley Girl traits from Bulma (femme), and Marron is feminine but less of a Valley Girl than Bra (neither).
  • To go with the girls above, their respective mothers also fit the trope in the same roles. Videl is a tomboy like Pan (butch), Bulma is a Valley Girl like Bra (femme), and Android 18 is a serious Action Girl who also enjoys shopping (neither).
• FLCL: Mamimi (femme) is always seen in a dress and spends much of the series just playing hooky and pining for Tasuku who's off in America playing baseball, Haruko (butch) who's very much willing to get rough and physical in going after what she's gunning for and never wears a dress unless she's deliberately playing up her sexuality for some hidden goal, and Eri Ninamori (neither) sort of ends up as a mix of the previous two's extremes between her helplessness at her family situation vis a vis her marriage-in-trouble parents but also a willingness to take initiative in trying to solve them like with the political finagling over the class play.
• In Fruits Basket, main character Tohru Honda has this dynamic with her two best friends Arisa Uotani and Saki Hanajima. Tohru herself is gentle and traditionally feminine (Femme), Uotani is a tomboyish former delinquent (Butch), and Hanajima is a stoic Goth (Neither).
• Gals!:
  • Ran is the Butch. She's the tough, brash, reckless Action Girl of the show, and has a violent temper.
  • Aya is the Femme. She's intellectual, soft-spoken, and Prone to Tears. In the main trio, she's the only one with long hair and the only one who is not a fighter.
  • Miyu is the Neither. She's sweet and cute, but like Ran, she can fight, used to be a violent criminal in the past, and has Boyish Short Hair.
• Highschool of the Dead:
  • Rei Miyamoto is a spear martial artist, Saya Takagi is a Brainiac, and Shizuka Marikawa is a ditzy school nurse.
  • Saeko Busujima is more or less a one-woman group of Town Girls, being both a Lady of War and the kendo club's captain
• Jewelpet
  • Jewelpet (2009): Aoi is an Ojou, Minami is a tomboy, and Rinko is shy but snarky.
  • Jewelpet Sunshine: Hinata is shy and understanding, Shouko is a delinquent tomboy, and Kanon is haughty.
  • Jewelpet Happiness: Nene is a Proper Lady, Ruruka is a tomboy, and Chiari is clumsy and cheerful.
• The main characters of Magic Knight Rayearth; Hikaru is a boisterous tomboy (Butch), Fuu is a bookish smart girl (Neither), and Umi is a long-haired, graceful Ojou (Femme).
• Ojamajo Doremi: Out of the original trio, Aiko is the athletic Deadpan Snarker (butch), Hazuki is a shy, rich, and sweet girl (femme), and Doremi is a clumsy Genki Girl (neither).
• Outlaw Star: Melfina is a sweet and gentle non-fighter bio-android, Aisha Clan Clan is a hot-tempered, hard-drinking Ctarl Ctarl Cat Girl always looking for a fight, and "Twilight" Suzuka is an elegantly dressed and graceful assassin.
• Pokémon: The Series:
  • Between the Sensational Sisters, Lily is the younger yet assertive butch, Daisy is the Brilliant, but Lazy neither, and Violet is the beautiful femme.
  • The first three female traveling companions also fall into this with Shorttank Misty (the youngest in the family that also includes the aforementioned Sensational Sisters) being the butch, optimistic big eater May being the neither, and Nice Girl Dawn being the femme.
  • The female trio in Sun and Moon: short-haired prankster Lana serves as the butch, and Mallow takes up the role of the Team Mom femme, leaving studious Shrinking Violet Lillie as the neither.
  • The remaining three girls, two of whom are traveling companions: Iris is an athletic, battle-oriented girl, as shown by her climbing and leaping between trees, and swinging on vines; Serena is an experienced Performer who excels at traditionally feminine things such as cooking and dancing, and yet she has plenty of experience with riding Rhyhorn (which helps her out in a Performance round when one of the challenges was to tame a Rhyhorn); Chloe Cerise is undecided with her goals, while currently attending school.
• Pretty Cure: The pink leaders are not so much a straight example as they are a sliding scale of this. Nagisa Misumi, Saki Hyuuga, Hibiki Hojo and Sora Harewataru are on the butch side of the scale; Nozomi Yumehara, Miyuki Hoshizora, Haruka Haruno, and Nodoka Hanadera are on the femme side; and Love Momozono, Tsubomi Hanasaki, Mana Aida, Megumi Aino, Hana Nono, Hikaru Hoshina, Manatsu Natsuumi, Yui Nagomi and Komugi Inukai are all neithers.
• Puella Magi Madoka Magica:
  • Madoka is a Naïve Everygirl Neither, Hitomi is an Ojou Femme, and Sayaka is a butch Tomboy-type with short hair and willingness to get physically rough.
  • There's also a secondary "trio" with Homura as the Neither, Mami as the Femme older sempai-type who fights with elegance, and Kyoko as the Butch rough-talking street rat who eats a lot at the end of the series when those are the three Magical Girls who are left alive.
• Ranma ½:
  • Out of the Tendo sisters, Akane is a hot-tempered tomboy who likes martial arts (butch), Kasumi is a calm and gentle Yamato Nadeshiko (femme), and Nabiki is a snide, sarcastic Manipulative Bitch (neither).
  • Akane herself is the neither of Ranma's three main fiancess. Alongside Sweet Polly Oliver Ukyo (butch) and the seductive Shampoo (femme).
• Sailor Moon:
  • The Outer Senshi consist of the crossdressing Haruka (butch), the beautiful and elegant Michiru (femme), and the Setsuna who is not acting as a contrasting counterpart to either of them (neither).
  • Among the Inner Senshi, Usagi plays a different role in each of two such trios: she's the femme to Ami's neither and Rei's butch, and the neither to Makoto's butch and Minako's femme. Rei is herself the neither to Ami's femme and Makoto's butch. Interestingly, in the Usagi-Ami-Rei triad, Usagi is a borderline case: she's more romantic than Ami, but Ami was herself very shy at one time before befriending Usagi, who is the more outgoing of the two.
  • In the manga, Minako is butch, while Rei is femme, and Makoto is neither.
  • Of Usagi's Social Circle Filler, short-haired, casually-dressed Kuri is butch, long-haired, fashion-loving Yumiko is femme, and average Nice Girl Naru is neither.
• Sally the Witch: Out of Sally's best friends, there's Shorttank Yoshiko "Yocchan" Hanamura (butch) and Ojou Sumire Hasegawa (femme). Sally herself is the middle ground, being a Rebellious Princess and a Girly Girl with a Tomboy Streak.
• Amu's guardian characters in Shugo Chara!; Miki is the Butch as she's the most tomboyish of the three despite her interest in art, Suu is the Femme since she's the most feminine and ladylike out of all of them, and Ran is the Neither as she's girlier than Miki but she's also into sports.
• Tomo-chan Is a Girl!: Of the three main female characters, Tomo is the Butch (being the most tomboyish and athletic of the three), Carol is the Femme (being very girly and often wearing cute, feminine clothing), and Misuzu is the Neither (she's more feminine than Tomo, but unlike Carol she's very aloof and sarcastic).
• Urusei Yatsura:
  • Benten is tomboyish, bad-mouthed and violent, Oyuki is calm, demure and feminine, and their best friend, Lum, is neither tomboyish nor girly though she has more girly traits.
  • Out of the three most prominent girls in Ataru's class, Ryuunosuke looks and acts very masculine due to being Raised as the Opposite Gender, Shinobu considers herself a responsible and ladylike Japanese girl, and Lum is a feisty Genki Girl.
• Venus Wars: Miranda is The Lad-ette, Maggie is a sweet and shy nurse girl, and Sue is rather fashion forward, but more gung ho than Maggie.

Comic Books

• Archie Comics:
  • Of the original main girls, Midge is a short-haired softball player, Veronica is a Lovable Alpha Bitch, and Betty is the Girl Next Door with a mix of tomboyish and girly hobbies. Originally, all three were girly girls, but later years changed that.
  • In the Gender Flip issue (Archie #636), the female counterparts of the three main boys fit. Reggie's counterpart, Regina, happens to be Reversedale's premier Alpha Bitch, while Archie's own Archina is a rather typical girl, and JJ, female counterpart of Jughead, is some big eating Snark Knight!
  • Josie and the Pussycats: Valerie is a Wrench Wench, Melody is a Dumb Blonde, and Josie is a Standardized Leader.
  • Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie Comics): Out of the girls who are Sonic's three most notable love interests in this continuity, Sally, Amy and Fiona fit. Despite her violent temper, Amy is obsessively romantic when it comes to Sonic, wears a skirt and hair decorations, and enjoys typically girly interests like shopping and fashion when not fighting evil. Sally is a Tomboy Princess whose character is particularly divergent from any female stereotypes and does not hesitate to jump into rough or messy situations, and she has a very boyish appearance despite her regal status. Fiona has a rough attitude and no particularly feminine interests, but she's more girly than Sally, because of her role as the Femme Fatale, the fact that she has a slightly more girly appearance (the bow, skirt, and especially her older design), and also because she is more prone to using her feminine charms to manipulate male characters (like she's done with Tails).
• Gen¹³: Rainmaker is a Lipstick Lesbian, Fairchild is a Generic Girl, and Freefall is a Street Urchin.

Fan Works

Crossovers

• Yolanda, Alice and Collete in Prehistoric Earth: sweet-natured Kindly Vet Yolanda as the femme, Brainy Brunette Action Girl Alice as the neither and aloof Action Girl Collete as the butch. The latter two are also the Tomboy to Yolanda's Girly Girl.
• Transformers: MHA has three of them:
  • Among the Autobots, Arcee is the femme, Strongarm is the butch, and Windblade is the neither.
  • Among the Decepticons, Swift is the femme, Nightra is the butch, and Shadow Striker is the neither.
  • The girls of Class 1-B, who later find out about the Cybertronian war, has Ibara as the femme, Itsuka as the butch, and Setsuna as the neither.

Luca

• Luca's three most prominent female classmates in The Story of Apollo, Daphne and Luca: An Italian Tragedy: Hot-Blooded, outspoken and adventurous Fiery Redhead Giulia (Butch), sweet and romantic ingenue Rosa (Femme) and aloof, level-headed and snarky Bianca (Neither).
• The three most prominent female characters of Too Much Too Much consist of energetic and brash Giulia (Butch), haughty and refined Serafina (Femme) and plucky yet sweet and coy Vallea (Neither).

Marvel Cinematic Universe

• The "hair club" in Infinite Coffee and Protection Detail: Silk Hiding Steel token civilian Pepper Potts, psychologically-savvy Action Girl Natasha Romanoff, and Ladetteish Action Girl Maria Hill.

Total Drama

• Team Easy Breezy from Total Drama Legacy consists of Storm Jackson-Wilkins (butch), Serena McGrady (femme), and Katherine Hoffmann (neither).

Films — Animation

• A Bug's Life: Gender-flipped. Among the group of circus bugs, there's the trio of Francis (butch), Slim (neither), and Heimlich (femme). Francis, being a ladybug, is constantly mistaken for a female by anyone he doesn't know, typically leading to him losing his temper with them and threatening them. Of course, you'd certainly do that if you were burdened with being mistaken for the opposite gender of what you are, so him being the Manly Man is certainly justifiable. Slim, meanwhile, is a snarky, neurotic Butt-Monkey who is used as a prop as a result of being a stick insect, and Heimlich is a plump, soft-hearted caterpillar who is the most emotional of the three and shows a longing to become a "beautiful butterfly".
• Coco: The three females of the dead Rivera relatives include: the fierce, strong-willed Imelda who knows how to wield a shoe (butch), the bubbly, kind and good-hearted Big Fun Rosita who's the only one that wears pink (femme), and stoic level-headed Victoria (neither).
• Despicable Me: Margo as the neither (the oldest, smartest and more level-headed one), Edith as the butch (the middle one who could well be One of the Boys) and Agnes as the femme (the youngest, sickeningly cute one).
• Julieta and Agustín's three daughters in Encanto. Oldest sister Isabela is the picture of femininity, as she is beautiful, ladylike, and floral. Middle sister Luisa is characterized by her toughness and strength. Youngest sister Mirabel, the heroine, is the 'normal' Audience Surrogate; she's klutzy and sweet but also spirited and strong-willed. As a result of Mirabel's intervention, Isabela and Luisa both move away from perpetually being considered pretty and strong respectively by the end.
• Inside Out: Of Riley's female emotions, Joy is a bossy and fun-loving Genki Girl with Boyish Short Hair who goes barefoot and gets enthusiastic about ice skating (butch), though she does wear a simple dress. Disgust is a snotty fashionista with high standards and impeccable taste (femme), while Sadness is a bookish and melancholy Dork in a Sweater (neither).
• Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School: The girls attending Miss Grimwood's school — Elsa and Winnie are the tomboys, Sibella and Tanis are the girly-girls, and Phantasma, having features that qualify for both, is in-between.
• Toy Story:
  • Of the three main female toys, Jessie is a rambunctious Badass Adorable cowgirl (butch), Mrs. Potato Head is a devoted housewife (femme), and Bo Peep is a Proper Lady who Took a Level in Badass in Toy Story 4 (neither).
  • In Toy Story 3, where Bo is absent, the neither role is covered by Barbie, a fashionista who is also an Action Girl and Girly Bruiser.
• In Turning Red, at first glance it might seem that Abby is the Femme, Priya the Neither and Miriam the Butch, but in reality it is much more complex than that since as indicated in her own character pages, Miriam is externally masculine but internally feminine, while Abby is outwardly feminine but inwardly masculine. However, Priya is clearly in the middle of the two, being into both boy bands and gothic vampire novels.

Films — Live-Action

• Alien: Resurrection is the only film in the Alien series to feature this. Call is the butch — with Boyish Short Hair and being revealed as a robot. Hillard is the femme — in a relationship with Elgyn and the most delicate of the team. Ripley is the neither — she's a half human-half Alien hybrid.
• Bachelorette has the tomboyish Gena, the over-the-top sexy Katie and the elegant yet intimidating Regan.
• In Black Christmas (1974), there's the snide, snarky, chain smoking and hard-drinking tomboy Barb, the pretty, soft-spoken and long-haired Jess and the geeky bespectacled Nice Girl Phyl.
• Charlie's Angels (2000): Dylan is a reckless Fiery Redhead who likes rock music (butch), Natalie is a blonde, Genki Girl (femme), and Alex is a sophisticated Go-Getter Girl (neither).
• Crossroads (2002) has Mimi (butch), Kit (femme) and Lucy (neither).
• Definitely, Maybe: Emily is demanding, April is free-spirited, and Summer is aggressive.
• The Duff has sweet-natured fashionista Jess as the femme, tough-as-nails hacker/athlete Casey as the butch, and smart honor student Bianca as the neither.
• Dumb and Dumber: Mary Swanson (femme), the "Athletic Beauty" (neither), and JP Shay (butch).
• The three female protagonists of The Faculty. Snarky goth Stokeley is the butch, Alpha Bitch Delilah is the femme, and Country Mouse Marybeth is the neither.
• Fear Street:
  • Part One: 1994 gives us the tomboyish out and out lesbian Deena (butch), her closeted girly-girl of a cheerleader girlfriend Sam (femme), and ambitious drug dealer and High-School Hustler Kate (neither).
  • Part Two: 1978 revolves around aggressive, drug taking Alice with Boyish Short Hair (butch), responsible goodie-two-shoes Cindy who fusses about her ruined clothes (femme), and "the weird girl from Shadyside" Ziggy (neither).
• The Halloween franchise has done this dynamic a few times:
  • In Halloween (1978): There is the Final Girl and her two friends. Laurie is a bookish, soft-spoken responsible girl who prefers to do things like study and babysit who isn’t anything like her two friends personality wise. Annie is a snarky smart mouth with a rebellious streak, has significantly shorter hair and a relatively tomboyish wardrobe compared to the other two girls. Lynda is the most glamour-obsessed of the three as she mentions being a cheerleader, normally speaks like a valley girl and is first introduced admiring herself in a compact mirror.
  • In Halloween (2007), Laurie, Lynda and Annie still fit this trope but change places: Laurie is now the Girly Girl of the trio, being smart, sweet, put-together, good-natured and responsible. Lynda is much more snide, abrasive, snarky and bitchy in this version which makes her the most tomboyish of the three. Annie barely qualifies for either role.
  • Halloween (2018): Laurie now forms this dynamic with her daughter Karen and granddaughter Allyson: Laurie is an alcoholic Action Girl and Tank-Top Tomboy who has taken a major level in badass since we last saw her in 1978. Karen could be best described as a motherly, soft-spoken Silk Hiding Steel who detests her mother's paranoia and the way she raised her (their relationship makes them form an inverted version of Feminine Mother, Tomboyish Daughter, this is most noticeable from their parenting methods). Allyson is an average everyday person and a kind good-natured high school student.
• Heroic Trio: The eponymous trio consists of a young girly girl, a dark Anti-Hero, and their motherly leader who seems to be somewhere in between in terms of femininity.
• High School Musical: While all three dress in a feminine manner, Gabriella, Sharpay, and Taylor fit the trope. Taylor is a driven, outspoken Sassy Black Woman who looks down on jocks and cheerleaders (butch), Sharpay is a vain, rich, and spoiled primadonna (femme), and Gabriella is a sweet and nerdy Shrinking Violet (neither).
• Leviathan (1989) has no-nonsense Olympic runner Williams (butch), sexy redhead secretary Bowman (femme) and Corrupt Corporate Executive Martin (neither).
• Marvel Cinematic Universe:
  • Thor has Action Girl Sif (butch), scientist Jane (femme) and Plucky Comic Relief Darcy (neither).
  • There have been three females in the Guardians of the Galaxy so far, and they fit this trope. The Femme, Mantis, is the innocent Nice Girl of the team whose power is emotion. Gamora, the original female to the team and a Defrosting Ice Queen, is the Neither, as she's quite the Action Girl and is very effective in battle but is also quite graceful and becomes the moral compass to the team after emotionally connecting with them. That leaves Nebula the cyborg as the Butch. She's almost always The Stoic, and when she's not that, she's angry, vicious, and even a bit sadistic at times, and usually has motives dominated by her urge for revenge against those who wronged her.
• Mean Girls:
  • The Plastics (Femme), edgy emo Janis (Butch) and naive wholesome Cady (Neither). Cady's Chickification becomes one of the major plot points.
  • The Plastics are all Alpha Bitches who love hair, make-up, shopping, etc., but even they fit this trope. There's dominant, aggressive, snarky Regina as the Butch (who uses her aggressiveness to become a Passionate Sports Girl at the end), utterly sweet-natured and submissive Karen as the Femme, and in-between Gretchen as the Neither.
• The three main female characters of The Nutcracker and the Four Realms. Sugar Plum is the hyper-feminine, bubbly and high-pitch voiced regent of the Land of Sweets (femme), Mother Ginger is the regent of the fallen Land of Amusement, has a masculine-looking outfit and is a tough heroic rebel who carries around a whip (butch) and the protagonist Spirited Young Lady Clara is the brainy, strategic, scientifically skilled and book smart leader of the Four Realms (neither).
• Scooby-Doo (2002) appears to have the set-up with asexual Brainiac Velma as the butch, Damsel in Distress Daphne as the femme and Cloudcuckoolander Mary Jane as the neither.
• Scream:
  • In Scream (1996), there's main character and Final Girl Sidney "Sid" Prescott who is a badass Action Survivor and Genre Savvy that has engaged in the most combat against the antagonists (butch), attractive blonde Tatum Riley who has the most feminine style and sense of fashion (femme) and career-oriented Gale Weathers, the determined news reporter and author who has an obsession with the Woodsboro murders (neither).
  • In Scream 2, Sidney and Gale are still "Butch" and "Neither" respectively with Hallie McDaniel, who is a Sassy Black Woman who dresses in bright and feminine clothing, taking Tatum's role as the "Femme".
  • In Scream 3, the "Femme" position is taken over by Jennifer Jolie, an actress who wears pink and purple outfits, with Sidney and Gale playing the same roles as before.
  • In Scream 4, there's short-haired lad-ette Kirby (butch), sexy, stylish and charmingly bitchy Olivia (femme) and Jill, who initially presents herself as a girly high-school student but later turns out to be a cunning, ruthless and murderous Bitch in Sheep's Clothing (neither).
  • Scream (2022): Tomboyish and Former Teen Rebel Sam (butch), her petite and more girly sister Tara who dresses in bright colors (femme) and Meta Girl horror-film buff Mindy (neither).
• Zombieland: Double Tap: Witchia (butch) is a tough-as-nails emotionally mature Action Girl as well as a snarky con artist who dresses in dark masculine clothes, Madison (femme) is a pretty and ditzy blonde Valley Girl who dresses from top to bottom in pink clothes and Nevada (neither) is the runner of an Elvis-themed hotel.

Literature

• The Baby-Sitters Club:
  • Out of the original neighbors, we have brash Passionate Sports Girl Kristy (butch), boy-crazy fashionista Claudia (femme), and quiet Naïve Everygirl Mary Anne (neither).
  • Mary Anne and her two best friends: Kristy is still the Butch, Mary Anne is the romantic and sensitive Femme, while Dawn is the Neither, a Granola Girl who is not as ladylike as Mary Anne but not even athletic like Kristy.
• Black Jewels: Silk Hiding Steel hearth witch Marian is the femme, Friend to All Living Things Girly Girl with a Tomboy Streak Jaenelle is neither, and snarky Surreal is the butch.
• The Cinder Spires: The three girls in the hero group are an excellent subversion. Bridget, a six foot tall, immensely strong butcher's assistant from The City Narrows would usually be the Butch, five foot, doll-faced noblewoman Gwendolyn the Femme and smart, friendly apprentice etherialist Folly the Neither. However, Bridget is a Kindhearted Cat Lover who loves all things cute and hates violence, and Gwendolyn is a Hot-Blooded soldier and duelist, as well as a Wrench Wench who knows what there is to know about airship power cores (her family owns the factory that makes them). Folly, meanwhile, has none of the grounded nature the Neither usually has, being... not quite all there, having the dress sense of Pippi Longstocking and only being capable of communicating with the outside world through a jar of spent light crystals.
• Tamora Pierce's Circleverse series (composed of three series so far: A Circle of Magic, The Circle Opens, and The Circle Reforged) has a trio of Town Girls: girly-girl Sandrilene fa Toren; aromantic asexual Tris Chandler, who states openly in the later books that she's not interested in either men or women; and blacksmith Daja Kisubo, the tallest and physically strongest of the Winding Circle quartet and the one who, initially, has the most experience with physical combat, thanks to Traders teaching their kids how to use staffs in fights.
• The Ember Blade: Orica is a beautiful Sard lutist and singer with her own personal bodyguard (Femme). Fen is a fiercely independent hunter who is lethal with a bow (Butch). Vika is a druid who is an expert in magic and herbs, but is a seasoned traveller who knows her way around Ossia (Neither). The group is later joined by Mara, a tough as nails teacher of young women, but is more of a strategist than a fighter (also Neither).
• The Great Gatsby has tomboyish Jordan Baker, girly-girl Daisy, and sexy but hardly girly Myrtle.
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix introduces eccentric and spacey Luna to be the neither to goody two-shoes Hermione's femme and athletic Ginny's butch. The three of them remain close friends for the rest of their lives.
• James and the Giant Peach: James's female companions include an Action Girl of a spider (butch), a Team Mom of a ladybug (femme), and a glowworm and a silkworm who mostly stay out of the picture (neither).
• Matilda: The three prominent adult women in Matilda's life. Miss Trunchbull is a brutal, sadistic Brawn Hilda (butch), Matilda's mother is a vain, vapid Dumb Blonde with an addiction to soap operas (femme), and sweet teacher Miss Honey serves as the levelheaded in-between woman and it's evidenced by her interactions with the other two.
• Nancy Drew: George, Bess, and Nancy in all incarnations. Also a good example of Blonde, Brunette, Redhead and Beauty, Brains, and Brawn, though not respectively. George's status as the "butch" Town Girl is made rather literal in the latest comic adaptation. Not that this hadn't been fanon for decades.
• In Phenomena are the 3 main girls Mijam (Femme), Millian (neither), and Ilke (Butch).
• In Rose Daughter, Robin McKinley's second Beauty and the Beast retelling, uses this trope for the three sisters: fiery tomboy Lionheart (butch), feminine yet sharp-witted Jeweltongue (neither), and gentle rose gardener Beauty (femme). This is a contrast to the same author's earlier Beauty: A Retelling of Beauty and the Beast, where Beauty is the Tomboy and her sisters are both Girly Girls.
• Spy High: Lori, Cally, and Bex.
• The Wheel of Time gives Rand one each in his harem: Aviendha is butch, Min is neither (or rather, both), Elayne is femme.

Live-Action TV

• 7th Heaven: Naïve Everygirl Lucy (femme), tomboy Mary (butch) and the youngest sister Ruthie is in-between.
• In season one of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., The Team has sweet Genki Girl biologist Jemma Simmons (femme), snarky hacker Skye (neither), and stoic badass Melinda May (butch).
• On The Amanda Show, there was a sketch called Bridget's Slumber Party. The sketch had sweet, soft-spoken Ingenue Gail (Femme), tough, scary Goth Claudia (Butch), and outspoken, boy-crazed, Genki Girl Bridget (Neither).
• Are You Afraid of the Dark? has the three main girls during Seasons 3-5: Tomboy Kiki who does not like dresses or shopping (butch), Samantha who has the boys crazy for her and tells the more girl-centered stories (femme) and Betty Ann who is a Nice Girl and Nightmare Fetishist (neither). Before Kristen was replaced by Sam, she filled the femme role — she frequently dressed up for her stories and was referred to as "Miss Perfect" by the other characters.
• Arrow: The three prominent female Team Arrow members plays with this. Thea Queen is a Socialite, effectively making her the femme. However, the middle class born Lance sisters are both feminine tomboys making them literally more butch than neither, while the formerly Goth Felicity Smoak who came from Rags to Riches is now more feminine (and richer) than Thea to even qualify as a butch.
• The Big Bang Theory has adorable girly Bernadette (femme), Brainy Brunette Amy (neither) and The Lad-ette Penny (butch).
• Bomb Girls has tomboyish Betty, girl-next-door Kate, and uptown Gladys.
• The Boys (2019): in Season 2, when there are now three females on The Seven, they correspond to these roles. Stormfront has a partially shaved head, is abrasive and ball-busting, and has a very tomboyish image (butch). Starlight is the former pageant queen, with beautiful blonde hair and a very wholesome persona (femme). Queen Maeve is an Action Girl, but leans closer to a Lady of War and is also bisexual - later facing Vought's pressure to make her the femme in a Masculine–Feminine Gay Couple with her girlfriend Elena.
• The Brady Bunch: The three Brady daughters — Marcia is the most feminine, Jan is the most tomboyish and Cindy is somewhere in-between. This is most noticeable in Seasons 2 through 4.
• Brooklyn Nine-Nine has Alpha Bitch dance enthusiast Gina Linetti (femme), Go-Getter Girl Amy Santiago (neither), and grumpy Badass Biker Rosa Diaz (butch).
• Bunk'd:
  • In seasons 1-2, there is the three most prominent female counselors of Camp Kikiwaka: Lou is a thrill-seeking and hard-working country girl who grew up on a farm and has mostly tomboyish/outdoorsy interests, Emma is an upper-class city girl who loves fashion, magazines, personal grooming, selfies and jewelry and Hazel is a nutty aggressive Stalker with a Crush who can hardly be considered a "Tomboy" or a "Girly Girl".
  • In season 4, there is the three girls living in Woodchuck Cabin: Destiny (a pageant girl who dresses in clothes that are pink, fashionable, glittery or all of the above), Ava (a snarky street smart girl who grew up in a rough neighborhood in a big city, hates socializing with people, lives with multiple older brothers and has ragged on typical feminine interests on more than one occasion) and Gwen (an Outdoorsy Gal who has been homeschooled and tries to fit in with other kids in modern society).
• In Charmed when the sisters are turned into the Greek Goddesses, they fall into these roles (which they don't normally). Paige is now Goddess of War (butch), Phoebe Goddess of Love (femme) and Piper Goddess of Earth (neither).
• Cobra Kai: Season's two and three utilise this trope through its three most prominent young female characters. Daniel Larusso's daughter Sam is the neither. She's an accomplished Karate expert, can get quite aggressive when provoked, and she's part of the school soccer team, but she also indulges in various girly pasttimes (particularly in the earlier seasons) and is a bit of a spoiled rich girl. Her main rival Tory (butch) is a bit of a ladette, given her drinking habits, rebellious streak, and generally rough and aggressive personality. Moon is Sam's closest friend but she is not a Karate student. In fact, she completely detests violence and would rather everyone on both sides would just get along. She is easily the most feminine of the three, given her soft, peaceful and loving ideology. This extends to the way they dress. Tory generally wears jackets, pants, and sneakers. Moon (femme) wears pretty dresses and a lot of jewelery and accessories. Sam does have feminine highlights in her wardrobe (like her fashionable high heel boots) but she does tend to dress practically for the most part, and certainly a lot more modestly than Moon (usually a shirt or vest combined with pants/jeans, but she may wear the occassional dress).
• Community: Confrontational and rebellious activist Britta (butch), dedicated housewife and Team Mom Shirley (femme), and innocent, studious, Plucky Girl Annie (neither).
• Cruel Summer: Out of the three main girls, Mallory is alternative and rebellious (butch), Kate is the rich, pretty, and popular girl (femme), and Jeanette is a Bespectacled Cutie who wants to be popular (neither). Their dynamic can be seen as a Darker and Edgier version of Mean Girls, with Mallory being an Expy of Janis, Kate being a nice version of Regina, and Jeanette being an evil version of Cady.
• Dawson's Creek: In early seasons, Joey is a snarky tomboy who always hangs out with guys (butch), Jen is the hot blonde Dude Magnet with many boyfriends (femme), and Andie is a quirky Go-Getter Girl (neither).
• Season one of Degrassi: The Next Generation has queen Bee Paige, nice girl Terri, and top dog Ashley. Although Ashley was fairly feminine in the first season, but starts being much less girly in season 2 after she stops hanging out with Terri and Paige, cuts her hair, and becomes a goth.
• Dexter: Debra is The Lad-ette Action Girl (butch), Rita is The Heart and The Ingenue (femme), and Married to the Job LaGuerta is neither.
• The Flash (2014): The three female Team Flash members also play with this. Iris is the tough chick daughter of a cop (butch), Caitlin is the levelheaded scientist (neither), and Jesse is the Ojou (femme). However, Iris dresses neither too feminine nor tomboyish, Caitlin wears the more elegant clothes, and Jesse immediately ditches her elegant dress for Shorttank outfits after escaping from Earth-2.
• Friends has spoiled rich girl Rachel (femme), bossy Hot-Blooded Monica (butch), and in-between Granola Girl Phoebe.
• Full House: Middle sister Stephanie is nosy, sarcastic, and tomboyish (butch), oldest sister D.J. is the mature and popular good girl (femme), and youngest sister Michelle is the mischievous but cute Cheerful Child (neither).
• Fuller House: Even as adults, D.J. and Stephanie keep their respective roles, with D.J. being a stable and feminine mother (femme), and Stephanie being The Lad-ette who used to work as an international DJ (ironically, given her sister's name). Since Michelle is Adapted Out, fun-loving Genki Girl Kimmy serves as the neither.
• Game of Thrones: The three main young girl characters throughout the show fit this. Arya is a tomboy and a trained fighter/assassin (butch), Sansa is a beautiful Naïve Everygirl who evolves into a Silk Hiding Steel (femme), Daenerys rides dragons, and is very tough and powerful but usually not involved in physical fights, being a tactician rather than a swordswoman, and is a classic feminine beauty but doesn't go much in for frills except to impress (neither).
• Girl Meets World: Snarky, tomboyish Tsundere Maya (Butch), sweet, naive, girly, and innocent Wide-Eyed Idealist Riley (Femme), and brainy, Plucky Comic Relief Smackle (Neither).
• The Good Place: Eleanor is The Lad-ette (butch), Tahani is the Proud Beauty socialite (femme), and Janet is the bubbly Hyper-Competent Sidekick (neither).
• H₂O: Just Add Water:
  • The first two seasons have sweet naive Cleo (femme), level-headed Emma (neither) and rebellious tomboy Rikki (butch).
  • In season 3, Rikki is still the butch, Idol Singer Bella takes over the femme role, and Cleo becomes the neither.
• House of Anubis has sweet fashionista Amber (femme), level-headed Nina (neither), and hot-tempered Patricia (butch).
• How I Met Your Mother has Raised as the Opposite Gender Robin (butch), shopping-holic Lily (femme) and the nerdy mother as the in-between.
• Jessie: Jessie Prescott is a fiery Action Girl who was raised by a military dad. Emma Ross is completely obsessed with things like fashion and make-up. Zuri Ross is started off as a stuffed animal loving Genki Girl but later became a money hungry and sassy preteen.
• Last Man Standing has girly girl Mandy, in-betweener Kristin, and tomboy Eve.
• Little Lunch has Naïve Everygirl Melanie (femme); The Smart Guy Debra-Jo (neither); and Lovable Jock Tamara (butch).
• Lizzie McGuire: Kate is a stereotypically high-maintenance Alpha Bitch (Femme), Miranda is a very blunt Deadpan Snarker with a deep voice and a punk style (Butch), and Lizzie is a nice Naïve Everygirl who also likes flag football and doesn't mind getting dirty (Neither).
• NCIS: Lined up chronologically, the three main female agents consist of sarcastic but dutiful and business-like Kate Todd (femme); seasoned Defrosting Ice Queen Ziva David (butch); and brilliant blonde Eleanor Bishop (neither).
• Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide:
  • Moze is One of the Boys (butch), Suzie is the trendy popular girl (femme), and nerdy Lisa is the neither.
  • Out of Ned's three main love interests, Moze is the butch, Alpha Bitch Missy is the femme, and girly yet athletic Suzie is the neither.
• Never Have I Ever: Devi's best friends make up the first two: prosaic robotics captain Fabiola (Butch) and excitable drama club member Eleanor (Femme). They both dress very differently; Fabiola dresses like "the janitor's nephew" while Eleanor is always in eclectic, colorful, patterned outfits. Devi herself is the Neither, not fitting in either extreme, with her dress style too intermediate between them.
• Once Upon a Time's three female leads only in the first season. Tough cookie bail bondsperson Emma Swan (butch), sweet wholesome school teacher Mary Margaret Blanchard (femme) and the mayor Regina Mills (neither). This is only the latter two's Storybrooke personas.
• One Tree Hill: Despite being all cheerleaders, the three main girls fit this in early seasons. Peyton is an angsty Emo Teen who listens to punk and rock music (butch), Brooke is a bubbly, boy-crazy Lovable Alpha Bitch (femme), and Haley is a smart, studious Girl Next Door (neither).
• Orphan Black:
  • The original Clone Club trio has Femme Fatale Con Artist Sarah (butch), cultured Suburban Soccer mom Alison (femme) and scientist Cosima (neither).
  • The official Clone Club additional trio are Tyke-Bomb Psychopathic Man Child Helena (neither), fashionable Valley Girl Krystal (femme) and elusive hacker M.K. (butch).
• Pixelface has the bubbly dance host Kiki (femme), aristocratic Action Girl Alexia (neither), and the Survival Horror waitress turned zombie killer Claireparker (butch).
• Power Rangers Mystic Force has Tomboy Vida as the butch (though ironically also the Pink Ranger), Shrinking Violet Madison as the femme and The Mentor Udonna as the neither.
• Punky Brewster has Punky, a tomboy who wants to be an astronaut and loves her big dog (butch) and her two female friends: Nice Girl Cherie who has both tomboy and girly girl traits (neither) and Lovable Alpha Bitch Margaux who loves pink frilly clothes and jewelry (femme).
• Sabrina the Teenage Witch:
  • In the first season, Naïve Everygirl Sabrina is the neither to Jenny's butch (a rebel who prides herself on being different from other girls) and Libby's femme (Alpha Bitch). Averted in seasons 2-4 that lack the butch character, after Jenny is replaced by shy wannabe cheerleader Valerie.
  • Seasons 5-7 have sorority girl Morgan (femme), well adjusted Sabrina (neither) and punk Roxy (butch).
• Saved by the Bell:
  • The three girls in Zack Morris's life: Kelly (femme) Nickie (neither) and Tori (butch).
  • Among the main characters, Jessie is butch, Lisa takes the femme role and Kelly slots into neither.
• In Smallville, Lana Lang is the femme, Chloe Sullivan is in between and Lois Lane is the butch.
• Sonny with a Chance has narcissistic Tawni (femme), optimistic Sonny (neither) and dangerous Zora (butch).
• The first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation had butch head of security Lt. Tasha Yar, Dr. Beverly Crusher (neither), and Counselor Deanna Troi (who was required by the showrunners to wear custom-made, cleavage-baring outfits until a one-shot guest character required her to dress more professionally).
• Seasons 1 through 3 of Star Trek: Voyager have the sweet unofficial nurse and aspiring botanist Kes, the maternal and protective Captain Janeway, and the conflict-prone half-Klingon engineer Lt. Torres.
• Step by Step has Valley Girl Karen (femme), athletic tomboy Al (butch), and intellectual Straw Feminist Dana (neither).
• Supergirl has no-nonsense DEO agent Alex (butch), fashionable media mogul Cat Grant (femme) and alien Kara/Supergirl (neither).
• Taina had high-maintenance attention hog Maritza (Femme), loud, tough, aspiring comedian/rapper Renee (Butch), and the eponymous title character Taina as the sweet but feisty Naïve Everygirl Neither.
• Tattooed Teenage Alien Fighters from Beverly Hills brought use rich girl Nicole, tough girl Drew, and in-betweener, Lori.
• That '70s Show: Donna is One of the Boys and often mocked by Jackie for being too masculine (butch), Jackie is a rich, vain, and prissy cheerleader (femme), and slutty Bitch in Sheep's Clothing Laurie is the neither.
• Victorious has the sweet, naive and innocent Cat (femme), the creative, responsible, and friendly Tori (neither), and the dark, sarcastic and rude Jade (butch).
• The Wonder Years had the three female characters in All-American Boy Kevin Arnold's life—his mom, Norma, his sister, Karen, and his on-again/off-again girlfriend, Winnie. Norma is the maternal, traditional Femme, Karen is the rebellious, combative Butch, and Winnie is the average, everyday Girl Next Door (literally) Neither.
• Zoey 101
  • The first season has boy-crazy Nicole (femme), bright and friendly Zoey (neither), and aggressive tough girl Dana (butch).
  • In Season 3 and 4, aspiring actress Lola takes over the femme role, Bungling Inventor Quinn can qualify as the butch, and Zoey is still the neither.

Newspaper Comics

• Peanuts: Peppermint Patty is a tomboyish Passionate Sports Girl (butch), Lucy is vain, cares about her appearance, and is the only one who wears a dress (femme), and Marcie is a soft-spoken bookworm (neither). Also seen in the way they act towards the boy they have a crush on: Peppermint Patty would never admit she likes Charlie Brown, Lucy is very open about her Mad Love for Schroeder, and Marcie occasionally shows her feelings for Charlie Brown but not obsessively like Lucy.

Professional Wrestling

• The 2015 Divas Revolution storyline saw three sets of alliances forming in the women's division, each of them slotting into one of the archetypes. PCB represent the Butch - as all three members are tomboys, with hard-hitting wrestling styles. Team Bella represent the Femme - all three are model-turned-wrestlers leaning towards She-Fu moves. And Team BAD represent the Neither - the stable is not particularly masculine nor feminine.
  • Notably within Team BAD itself, the members fit the archetypes. Tamina the Brawn Hilda is the Butch, Sasha Banks the 'ratchet' is the Femme and Naomi is the Neither.
  • Team Bella could also fit the trope. Despite the trio being generally more feminine than Team BAD, relatively speaking the girls fit. Brie is Femme, considering she is the girly twin out of the Bellas and dresses very femininely. Nikki is the most Butch of the three, being a Tomboy with a Girly Streak with a tendency to wear more casual clothing, and has a power based offence compared to her sister's aerial one. Alicia Fox is in the middle, since she has had a history of being part of Girl Posse groups and playing a Beta Bitch and has her fair share of feminine qualities, but she isn't as outright girly as Brie Bella.
  • Team PCB is a more debatable example, as you could argue Paige and Becky could possibly swap. Charlotte is obviously the Femme of the three, as despite being a tall and bulky lady and quite aggressive in her own right, she is still the most feminine in appearance and tries her best to look quite glamorous when coming out to the ring. Paige is the Neither, as despite being the brawn in the Beauty, Brains, and Brawn dynamic between the three and having a dark, edgy look and personality, she also has plenty of girly qualities like being a perky goth, and having a fondness for make-up and cute animals. She also plays the role of Alpha Bitch in the group, constantly trying to scheme behind Charlotte and Becky's backs after she became jealous that Charlotte became the champion and the centrepiece of the women's division instead of her, only liking it when she's leading the charge against the Bellas. Becky Lynch is therefore the Butch, as she is the one with the least girly traits, and she's just a fun loving steampunk/rocker girl who enjoys being there and kicking ass. However, the latter two zig-zag a little because of Paige's rough attitude and brutal fighting style, and Becky's relative meekness back then (years later, she would become much more aggressive and dominant with her "The Man" gimmick).
• On NXT, the Beautiful Fierce Females were designed like a sorority, but ultimately fell into these roles. Charlotte Flair, with her more muscular build and focus on athleticism and submission skill was the butch. Summer Rae was the glamorous Diva and also appearing as Fandango's dance partner, making her the femme. Sasha Banks had not fully adopted the colourful hair or sparkly accessories of 'The Boss' persona yet, making her an underling to both, and the neither.

Video Games

• In BlazBlue, Noel, Tsubaki and Makoto were in the NOL academy and even fit the geographic part. Noel was adopted into a minor noble family, Tsubaki came from a noble family, and Makoto was a squirrel beastkin who came from the countryside outside the cities.
• Siskier (femme), Aegina (neither), and Medoute (butch) in Blaze Union.
• DanceDanceRevolution:
  • Neither: Emi and Rena.
  • Femme: Yuni, Alice and Jun.
  • Butch: Jenny.
• Final Fantasy:
  • Final Fantasy IX: Freya is a Burmecian dragon knight, Garnet is a Princess Classic, and Eiko is a Bratty Half-Pint.
  • Final Fantasy XII: Fran is a Proud Warrior Race Girl, Penelo is a soft-spoken dancer, and Ashe is the leader of La Résistance.
• Out of the 3 main ladies from Final Fight, Jessica is the Femme, Lucia is the Butch, and Maki is the Neither.
• Fire Emblem:
  • Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance: Out of the Greil Mercenaries' female members, Mist (femme), Mia (neither), and Titania (butch).
  • In Fire Emblem: Awakening, Sumia (Femme), Sully (Butch) and Cordelia (Neither).
• Karnov's Revenge added Yungmie as the neither to Feilin's femme, and Ryoko's Butch.
• The King of Fighters:
  • The original Women's Team has Mai Shiranui as the Femme, King as the Butch, and Yuri Sakazaki as the Neither. Most of the other incarnations of the team has someone else replacing Yuri as the Neither, such as Kasumi Todoh (96) and Blue Mary (2003).
  • In 97, Mai becomes the Neither, with Chizuru Kagura being the Femme of the team. Likewise, in XV Athena Asamiya is the Femme, with Yuri becoming the Butch and Mai becoming the Neither.
• The Legend of Zelda:
  • The Zeldas serve as an example of this. Ocarina of Time, Wind Waker, and Spirit Tracks serve as the butch, Breath of the Wild, Twilight Princess, and Minish Cap are the neither, and the rest all fall into the femme category.
  • The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild: Princess Zelda is the nerdy, gentle neither to Mipha's graceful femme and Urbosa's strong-willed butch.
• Parappa The Rapper has Katy Kat (neither), Sunny Funny (femme) and Lammy (butch).
• Snowboard Kids:
  • The three girls of Snowboard Kids 2 are Linda as the Alpha Bitch (femme), Nancy as shy and adorkable (neither), and Wendy as a tech savvy Wrench Wench (butch).
  • The Snowboard Kids Plus trio has Nicole as the Rich Bitch (femme), Pamela as the Naïve Everygirl (neither), and Kaede as the Ninja girl (butch)
• Street Fighter has an interesting example with Ibuki, a girly ninja who has two different eras of gal pals. Her SFIV trio consist of Makoto and Elena (Elena sometimes substituted for Sarai, a fellow ninja). Ibuki herself is the girly girl of the group, liking cute objects and being a love seeker. Makoto is the tomboy in this case, often her clothes style make her gender ambiguous (although she hates being mistaken as a boy). Elena is the in between, she is friendlier than even Ibuki but her clothing style and speaking pattern is more unisex, she is also much taller than both Ibuki and Makoto. Sarai is more down to height to the first two girls and is a more down to earth than both other girls, isn't as feminine as Ibuki but still more than Makoto and enjoys mental activities and climbing trees. The sequel game has Ibuki in a new girl trio in its story mode with Karin and R. Mika. Karin is a very feminine character and R. Mika being a Tomboy with a girly streak still does most of the heavy lifting (and is taller than Karin and Ibuki), Ibuki herself plays the in-between role.
  • Street Fighter Alpha 2 has Sakura (Butch), Rose (Femme) and Chun-Li (Neither).
• Streets of Rage: The 4th game gives us returning classic character Blaze Fielding, who wears a red dress and is the most outwardly feminine of the three (femme), Adam Hunter's daughter Cherry, who is a punk rock chick but still likes to dye her hair pink (neither), and DLC unlockable and boss character Estel who is a tall and muscular, tough cop (butch).
• In Super Mario Bros., there is the sweet, comforting and prissy diva Peach who is obsessed with beauty, Rosalina who is the mature and headstrong queen of the Lumas and Daisy who is the sassy, smart, affectionate and brash tomboy.

Visual Novels

• Out of the heroines of the three routes in Fate/stay night, Sakura is shy and domestic Femme, Rin is a competitive overachiever Neither, and Saber is a stoic fighter Butch.

Web Animation

• The Most Popular Girls in School: From the cheerleaders, we have the ditzy kindhearted Trisha Cappelletti (Femme), snarky part-time model Mackenzie Zales (Nether), and the grudge-holding violent Brittnay Matthews (Butch).

Webcomics

• Megan Kearney's Beauty and the Beast uses this trope with the three sisters: sweet, motherly, problem-avoidant Virtue (femme), brutally honest intellectual Temperance (butch), and Beauty herself (neither), who serves as the family peacemaker by striking a balance between her sisters' temperaments.

Web Original

• Looming Gaia: Out of the three female Freelance Good Guys, Linde is a feminine fashionista who prefers to fight with magic (Femme), Elska is a strong and stoic warrior with not that many feminine features (Butch), and Alaine is a skilled physical fighter, but also a musician and collects jewelry (Neither).

Western Animation

• 6teen: Caitlin is a fashionable girly girl, Jen is a smart, sensible girl, and Nikki is a sarcastic punk-rocker. Interestingly, while Caitlin acts more like the uptown girl and Nikki the out of town girl, Caitlin is the one who is technically from out of town since she is the newest member of the group.
• Adventure Time: Out of the three girls in Finn's life, Princess Bubblegum as the Femme, Marceline as the Butch, and Flame Princess as the Neither.
• Out of the Chipettes from Alvin and the Chipmunks, Brittany is vain, Eleanor is athletic, and Jeannette is a Cute Bookworm.
• The Amazing World of Gumball includes three female characters with flight ability (two of which are the girlfriends of the main duo, and one was a faux girlfriend briefly in season one), and they fit this trope. Carrie, Darwin's girlfriend, is a floating ghost who's also a punk rock chick who likes hardcore music, gross smells, pranks and haunted house parties (Butch). Masami the cloud is a flying cloud who was initially a Rich Bitch and an Alpha Bitch before character development who is into romances and is a typical popular school girl (Femme). That leaves Penny (Gumball's love interest), the rational, relatively level-headed Lovable Jock every girl as the Neither.
• Amphibia: The Calamity Trio consists of sassy Lovable Alpha Bitch Sasha as the femme, cheerful Gamer Chick Marcy as the butch, and feisty yet caring Anne as neither.
• Angela Anaconda: Angela is a wild and tough tomboy with a morbid imagination (butch), Nanette is a spoiled rich girl (femme), and Gina is a nerdy and responsible Big Eater (neither).
• Of the 3 main female characters in Arcane, Vi is a very masculine, athletic tomboy with Boyish Short Hair (butch), Caitlyn is a Girly Girl who was literally raised "uptown" in the upper city of Piltover (femme), and Powder/Jinx had a similar upbringing to Vi and is still mostly a tomboy but also wears makeup and nail polish (neither).
• Arthur has the athletic tomboy Francine (butch), prissy rich girl Muffy (femme), and mischievous snarker D.W. (neither).
• As Told by Ginger has two trios of girl characters that fit the trope:
  • There's Ginger and her friends, Dodie and Macy. Peppy, boy-crazy, Motor Mouth Genki Girl Dodie is the Femme. Short-haired, frumpy, Deadpan Snarker Macy is the Butch (in a subtle sense since she's quite mousy and also the Team Mom of the trio), and pony-loving but awkward, nerdy Girl Next Door Ginger is the Neither.
  • There's also the show's Girl Posse: Courtney, Miranda, and Mipsy. Sheltered, pampered Courtney is the Femme, aggressive, caustic Sassy Black Girl Miranda is the Butch, and in-between Jewish American Princess Mipsy is the Neither.
• Avatar: The Last Airbender:
  • Katara (Femme), Toph (Butch) and Suki (Neither).
  • The quiet Mai is the Neither, the ruthless Azula is the Butch, and the perky Ty Lee is the Femme.
• Baby Looney Tunes: Lola is an athletic girl who loves basketball and badminton (butch) , Petunia is a quiet and sweet girly girl (femme), and Melissa is blunt, outspoken and a bit bossy, but not as sporty as Lola (neither).
• Beverly Hills Teens:
  • Bianca is spoiled and snobbish (femme), Larke is friendly and easygoing (neither), and Shanelle is athletic and sly (butch).
  • Another trio of girls involves Blaze as the rough and tumble cowgirl (butch), Tara as a sweet and delicate Southern Belle (femme), and Nikki as a lover of fitness who is also fashion forward (neither).
• Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels: Out of all the Teen Angels, Dee Dee is a gutsy Go-Getter Girl (butch), Brenda is a cowardly Shrinking Violet (femme), and Taffy is extremely fashionable, but nowhere as meek as Brenda (neither).
• Codename: Kids Next Door: Numbuh 3 is sweet, cheerful, Rainbow Monkey loving Genki Girl (Femme). Numbuh 5 is a Deadpan Snarker with little interest in anything girly (Butch). Numbuh 86 is a Fiery Redhead, outwardly loud and mean but has a secret passion for the same girly things as Numbuh 3 (Neither)
• Daria:
  • Out of the three main characters, Jane is an edgy Goth artist (Butch), Quinn is a Fashionista (Femme), and Daria is brainy and plainly dressed (Neither).
  • As for minor characters, we have Brittany as the bubbly cheerleader (Femme), Jodie as the hard working Teen Genius (Neither), and Andrea as the Emo Teen (Butch).
• Ed, Edd n Eddy: Nazz is a sweet, pretty cheerleader. Sarah enjoys playing with dolls but is also very tough. All three Kanker Sisters live outside the Cul-de-sac and are very aggressive.
• Exo Squad: Nara Burns is a pacifist soldier, Maggie Weston is a Wrench Wench, and Rita Torres is a bad girl sergeant. Although Rita doesn't have a skinhead haircut like Maggie, the nose ring made a statement.
• Futurama: Leela is the Butch, Amy is the Femme, and La Barbara is the Neither.
• Gravity Falls has Mabel and her two friends Grenda and Candy (introduced in "Double Dipper"), who are Femme, Butch, and Neither respectively. We also have Wendy, Pacifica, and Mabel: In this dynamic, athletic, axe-wielding, Ladette-ish Wendy is the Butch, vain Alpha Bitch (later Lovable Alpha Bitch) Pacifica is the Femme, and hardy, adventurous Girly Bruiser Mabel is the Neither.
• In Grojband, there's the three main female characters: The bratty, popular, diary-writing and boy-crazy Valley Girl Trina Riffin who loves all things cute, pink and girly; the rough, spunky, fearless and short-haired Little Miss Snarker Laney Penn who is part of a garage band of mostly boys; and the submissive nerdy Dork in a Sweater Mina Beff.
• Harvey Street Kids has Audrey as the butch, Lotta as the femme, and Dot as the neither.
• Hey Arnold! has Helga, Phoebe, and Lila. Cute Bruiser Helga is Butch, nerdy Phoebe is Neither, and Proper Lady Lila is Femme.
• The Misfits from Jem initially consisted of Stormer (femme), Pizzazz (neither), and Roxy (butch). In season 2 Sixth Ranger Jetta was added to the group, and she's another 'neither'.
• Jimmy Two-Shoes: Jez is the Femme, Saffi is the Butch, and Heloise is the Neither.
• Lady Lovely Locks: While Maiden Fair Hair is sweet and gentle, Maiden Curly Crown is brave and energetic, leaving the title character in the neither category.
• The Life and Times of Juniper Lee:
  • Barbara is the fantasy forbidding mother (femme), Juniper is the sworn in Te Xuan Ze who would rather live a normal life (neither), and Jasmine is the elderly baddass who enjoys extreme sports and riding dragons (butch).
  • June still becomes neither when contrasted to her friends: the super chatty Genki Girl, Jody (femme), and the gothic Deadpan Snarker, Ophelia (butch).
• The Looney Tunes Show: The three main love interests. Tina is tough, snarky, and not into girly things (butch), Lola is an obsessessively romantic, rich girl (femme), and Petunia is a sweet, generic Girl Next Door (neither).
• The Loud House:
  • Femme: Lori, Leni and Lola.
  • Butch: Luna, Lynn and Lana.
  • Neither: Luan, Lucy, Lisa and Lily.
  • Out of the other three girls, Jordan is a more or less typical Girly Girl, Stella is One of the Boys but also rather nice and wears a skirt, and Ronnie Anne is a rough and tough tomboy.
• Milo Murphy's Law: Among the teenage characters, there's the energetic, fearless and athletic, lacking in 'Femergy' Melissa Chase as the Butch, the neurotic perfectionist Amanda Lopez as the Neither, and the cheerful, drama loving Valley Girl Lydia as the Femme.
• Monster High: Abbey is a sarcastic exchange student (butch), Cleo is a royal super diva (femme), and Frankie is an average, everyday girl (neither).
• My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic includes the following:
  • The Mane Six, with Fluttershy as a submissive, shy and animal-loving femme, Rarity as a fashion-loving, elegant lady, Pinkie Pie as a party-loving Genki Girl, Twilight Sparkle as just a bookworm, Applejack as a hard-working farm girl, and Rainbow Dash as a snarky and brash butch.
  • The Cutie Mark Crusaders, with Sweetie Belle as kindhearted, Apple Bloom as plucky, and Scootaloo as tough.
  • The Princesses, with the peaceful and serene Big Good Celestia as the femme, all-loving Rebellious Princess Cadance as neither, and Luna as the butch because she has a violent streak with Hair-Trigger Temper.
• The Owl House: Luz is butch, Amity is femme, and Willow is neither (at least initially— by the end of the series Willow really straddles the line between butch and neither).
• Phineas and Ferb: Out of three main teenage girls, Stacy loves shoes and shopping at the mall, Candace has plenty of feminine qualities but is also loud mouthed, aggressive, rude and usually prefers busting her brothers, and Vanessa is a snarky, dark clothed goth who doesn't really have a lot of girly interests.
• In The Powerpuff Girls (1998): The girls serve as this in different aspects:
  • Activities: Bubbles loves playing with stuffed animals, primarily her Octi (femme); Buttercup who enjoys playing rough and loves sports (butch); and Blossom (the "smart" one) who is usually more into education-oriented activities (neither).
  • Hairstyle: Bubbles wears pigtails (a female-dominant hairstyle), Buttercup wears a short bob cut (a male-dominant hairstyle), and Blossom wears a ponytail (a gender-neutral hairstyle).
  • Color: Played with, as Bubbles wears blue/cyan (color(s) that is/are traditionally feminine, yet could also represent softer masculinity), Buttercup wears lime green (a color not often associated with femininity or masculinity), and Blossom wears red/pink (color(s) that is/are traditionally masculine, yet could also represent stronger femininity).
• The Raggy Dolls: Princess wears a ragged dress and dreams of being the royal figure she was intended to be (Femme). Dotty wears dungarees, is splattered with paint and tends to boss the other dolls around (Butch). Lucy wears a plain dress with an apron and tends to be shy and nervous due to her stitching meaning it is all too easy for her to literally fall apart (Neither).
• Regular Show has three love interests for its main duo: Margaret, CJ, and Eileen. Margaret, who's giggly, somewhat demure, and seen dressing up the most often, is the Femme. CJ, who's aggressive and competitive, plays dodgeball and video games, likes making gross dares, and used to race motocross, is the Butch. Right in the middle as the Neither is nerdy, science-loving Eileen, who isn't as giggly or girly as Margaret yet not as aggressive as CJ.
• Rugrats: Lil is The Pig-Pen who likes mud and insects, Angelica is spoiled and likes dolls, and Susie is a smart and nice girl. A similar case applies for the mothers, Betty (Butch), Charlotte (Femme) & Didi (Neither).
• From Sanjay and Craig, we have four main female characters; Megan Sparkles, Belle Pepper, Chido, and Sam Lastnamè.
  • Between Megan, Belle and Chido, Chido is the boorish and aggressive Butch, Belle is the sweet Femme, and Megan is the girly but hotheaded and tough Neither.
  • Then there's the dynamic of Megan, Chido, and Sam; Chido is the Butch, while Megan is the pageant-loving, but fiery and strong Femme, and Sam is the sports-loving, yet tender and emotional Neither.
• Sky Dancers: Jade is a ballerina raised by successful parents, Camille likes Jazz and is a creative thinker, and Angelica is a Southern rocker with sarcastic demeanor.
• In SpongeBob SquarePants, this applies with Sandy as the Texas tough Butch, Pearl as the Girly Girl Femme, and Mrs. Puff as the caring but stern Neither.
• Star vs. the Forces of Evil: Star (femme), Jackie Lynn (neither) and Janna (butch).
• Steven Universe:
  • The "main 3" Crystal Gems: Pearl (Femme), Amethyst (Neither), and Garnet (Butch)
  • The Crystal Gem "B-team": Lapis Lazuli (Femme), Peridot (Neither), and Bismuth (Butch)
  • The living members of the Great Diamond Authority: Blue Diamond (Femme), White Diamond (Neither), and Yellow Diamond (Butch).
• Stōked is the Expy of 6teen, with Emma as Downtown, Lo as Uptown, and Fin as, well, Out-of-Town.
• In Strawberry Shortcake, Raspberry Torte is The Fashionista, Lemon Meringue is a beautician, Orange Blossom is a country store workaholic, and Plum Pudding is a practical jokester, leaving the title character with Blueberry Muffin in the neither group.
• Teddy Trucks:
  • The series has truck driver Bella (Butch), cafe owner Rosie (Femme) and Dusty the company's Sassy Secretary.
  • There is a gender inversion with the male drivers. Gerry is a Lovable Coward and Friend to All Living Things (Femme). Jacko is a football fanatic with a dash of Men Are Uncultured on the side (Butch). Wilson is plays football with Jacko but also likes music and ballet (Neither).
• Teen Titans: Starfire is sweet, naive, and girly, Raven is a level-headed bookworm, and Terra is a tomboyish new girl.
• Tiny Toon Adventures: In the main female trio, Babs is a sassy and energetic trickster (butch), Fifi is very flirty and romantic (femme), and Shirley is a Granola Girl with Psychic Powers (neither).
• Total Drama:
  • The girls on the Mutant Maggots team in Revenge of the Island are the masculine Jo, the feminine Anne Maria, and Zoey, who is in-between the other two.
  • In Total Drama Presents: The Ridonculous Race, there is the final three female competitors in the race: The roguish impulsive lad-ette MacArthur (butch), her partner Sanders (neither) is smart, law-abiding, level-headed and well-meaning and one of their main enemies Josee (femme) is a skirt wearing ice dancer and snobby Attention Whore who dresses in flamboyant pink-and-purple colors and wears brightly-colored eyeshadow.
• Totally Spies!: The Butch, Femme, Neither trio are represented by Alex, Clover, and Sam.
• Transformers: Prime: In Team Prime, there are 3 female characters who vaguely fit. Arcee is the tough robot girl of the team, is quite emotionally repressed and stoic (at least at first, before Character Development), is very serious and is quite prone to rushing in and dishing out brutal beatings to her enemies in battle. She also objects to the idea of having more pink in her colour scheme in one episode (Butch). Miko is the first human girl to join the team, and shows quite the enthusiasm for getting stuck into the action and fighting alongside the Wreckers, and is very boisterous and loud to boot. But she wears a lot of pink, can sometimes be brought to tears when placed in dire situations and has some hidden emotional fragility. She's also a bit of a Phoneaholic Teenager and Kindhearted Cat Lover (Neither). That leaves June Darby, Jack's mother, who is a nurse and serves as the protective (or as Arcee and Miko sometimes view it, overprotective) moral figure of the team, being the one least involved in the action and most concerned about the safety of the young children getting involved in robotic warfare (Femme).
• X-Men: Evolution: Out of the initial X-girls, Rogue is an Emo Teen, Kitty is a Valley Girl and Jean Grey is The Ace.
• The three main female characters in The ZhuZhus, Frankie, Pipsqueak, and Num Nums are neither, butch, and femme respectively.

---