Basic Trope: Nerd characters are attractive on account of being nerds.
- Straight: Alice is into science and tabletop games. As a result, her peers generally consider her attractive.
- Exaggerated: Alice plays in the marching band, is taking several advanced classes in STEM, has a part time job repairing computers, plays tabletop games in her free time, and uncoincidentally, is universally considered the most attractive of her peers.
- Downplayed: Alice plays Dungeons and Dragons occassionally, and a few of her peers find it mildly attractive.
- Justified:
- Nerdiness and intelligence are seen as corresponding, and all else equal, Alice's peers would rather be with someone intelligent.
- Alice's peers are also nerds, and they are attracted to her because of their similarities.
- Alternatively, Alice's peers don't fit many of the "nerd" boxes, and think her positive traits compliment theirs well.
- Inverted:
- Nerds are unattractive.
- Alice is generally considered attractive, which leads to her perception as a nerd, not the other way around.
- Subverted:
- Alice is hit on regularly, with suitors citing her nerdier qualities, but it turns out they were using her for help on homework.
- Alice acts very nerdy, but it turns out that was mostly done to get attention.
- Alice is seen as more attractive after joining the nerds, but it turns out her nerdiness doesn't have to do with it.
- Double Subverted:
- It turns out, Alice's suitors really do find her attractive, and simply failed to realize they were taking advantage of her kindness.
- After feigning nerdiness long enough, Alice decides she actually fits into the nerd label quite well.
- ...in a direct way. Indirectly, by joining the nerds, they got to know her better and become attracted to her more than would have happened had she not befriended them.
- Parodied: In both appearance and personality, Alice remains virtually unchanged. Despite this, Alice goes from a social pariah to the "hottest girl in town" the moment she gets a job fixing computers.
- Zig-Zagged: Alice is consistently a nerd, but her perceived attractiveness fluctuates over time.
- Lampshaded: "Yeah, I definitely have a thing for nerds."
- Enforced: "Our target demographic is pretty nerdy, let's throw them a bone."
- Averted: There is no significant correlation between nerdiness and attractiveness.
- Invoked: Alice's friend, Bella, feels bad that her friend wants to start dating but lacks any suitable partners. In turn, Bella talks up Alice's neediness as a positive so she has an easier time finding someone.
- Exploited: Alice, hoping to be more isolated, puts on a less nerdy persona.
- Defied: While Alice's peers notice her become nerdier, general consensus is that this doesn't change their opinions of her.
- Discussed: "What's up with you Bob? You've been a lot nicer to Alice since she took up D&D."
- Conversed: "OK, I understand nerds being hot, but so is everyone else! You think they'd mix it up more often."
- Implied: Nerdier characters are more likely to be in a romantic relationship, but no clear reason is stated for this.
- Deconstructed:
- While Alice gets many suitors due to her "nerd appeal", she finds them more of an annoyance than anything else.
- If nerds are generally more attractive, others are less attractive by comparison, much to their chagrin.
- Reconstructed:
- Among Alice's suitors, however, is her eventual significant other, with whom she's in a happy relationship.
- While some people who aren't nerds never find the relationship they were looking for, many learn to be happy without one, while others are less afraid to show their nerdy side, due to a decline in stigma.
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