An index of tropes pertaining to transgender and nonbinary people. See also Gender-Blending Tropes. Subindex of Queer as Tropes.
Tropes:
- Adaptational Gender Identity: A character is cisgender in the original source but transgender/nonbinary in the adaptation, or vice versa.
- Adopting the Gender Binary: A member of a Non-Human Non-Binary or One-Gender Race transitions gender to a binary gender.
- Ambiguous Gender Identity: The work is ambiguous about whether a character is supposed to be cis or trans.
- Easy Sex Change: Physically transitioning requires only one quick, unrealistically easy operation.
- Everybody Wants the Hermaphrodite: Androgynous/nonbinary characters are attractive to people of a variety of genders and sexual orientations.
- Multi-Gendered Outfit: Nonbinary and gender-nonconforming characters wear a combination of strongly masculine and feminine clothing.
- Non-Human Non-Binary: A nonhuman (alien, robot, etc.) who does not identify as male or female.
- Old Friend, New Gender: A new character turns out to be someone from the past, who transitioned offscreen.
- Otherworldly and Sexually Ambiguous: A supernatural creature who defies gender binaries.
- Raised as the Opposite Gender: A child is raised by their parents as a gender other than the one they were assigned at birth.
- Sobriquet Sex Switch: The tendency of characters who change their gender presentation to keep their original name or switch to a direct opposite-gendered equivalent.
- Supernaturally-Validated Trans Person: A form of magic works on a trans person based on their gender.
- Trans Audience Interpretation: A character who hasn't been canonically said to be trans is interpreted as trans by the audience.
- Trans Chaser: A cis character has a fetish for transgender or gender-nonconforming people.
- Trans Equals Gay: A character or work assumes that trans people are "really" just cis gay people, or that gay people are all secretly transgender.
- Trans Equals Hypersexual: Transgender or gender-nonconforming characters are depicted as having an Extreme Libido, no sexual boundaries, bizarre kinks, or otherwise over-the-top sexual proclivities.
- Trans Nature: Someone doesn't identify with part of the identity they were assigned at birth.
- Trans Relationship Troubles: Being trans heavily impacts a character's love life.
- Trans Tribulations: Being trans serves as a source of hardship for a character.
- Unsettling Gender-Reveal: A character is shocked and horrified to learn another character's gender or sex.
- "Which Restroom?" Dilemma: While not always a transgender trope, the choice between which restroom to use can cause strife for a transgender character — in particular someone else assuming they are in the wrong restroom or someone forcing them to use the wrong restroom — especially since gender-neutral restrooms are rarely a thing in fiction.