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Duplicate Trope: Bishonen

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    Original post 
Pretty Boy and Bishōnen are very similar tropes. Both deal with male androgynous characters (skinny, cleanshaven, ect.) being treated as attractive. The main difference being, of course, that one is only found in Eastern media... right?

The wick check I did shows an estimate as follows:

  • 4% of Bishōnen examples and 7% of Pretty Boy examples are good examples with decent amounts of context showing that the character is androgynous, is considered attractive in-universe, and is an Eastern (in the case of Bishōnen) or Western (in the case of Pretty Boy) work.

  • 8% of Bishōnen examples (zces included) are on Western pages, while the same applies the other way.

  • 86% of Bishōnen examples and 64% of Pretty Boy examples are zero-context or vague potholes.

  • The remaining 2% of Bishōnen wicks and 21% of Pretty Boy wicks are various other forms of misuse (Fandom gushing and "A character gets called "Pretty Boy", respectively).

So, not only are Bishonen and Pretty Boy pretty much interchangable according to wiki editors, but it also seems that both tropes suffer from a lot of Zero-Context Example issues. If an obvious and functioning trope can be salvaged out of one of them, I can't see it. My only proposed option is to have them, and their redirects, redirect to A Pretty Boy Index, which houses all the relevant subtropes.

Wick Checks

    Bishonen checks (50/50) 

Correct usage: A boyish and slender attractive man, treated as such in the Eastern or Eastern-styled work he is from (3)

  • Fate/Grand Order - Sabers N to Z: He was famed for his beautiful face, to the point that entire armies on both sides would stop to gaze at it. To earn their respect as a warrior, he hides it behind a demonic mask, and it's even weaponized as his Noble Phantasm. (On a different example): He has a very lithe physique suiting his Bishōnen appearance [...]
  • Sekirei Participants Of Sekirei Plan: He's extremely pretty with an androgynous face, MUCH to Yukari's delight.
  • Jewelpet Happiness: Intentionally drawn as femininely attractive and with a lean figure.

Misuse: The character is from a Western work (6)

  • TwoKinds: Mystical White Hair: In both forms, though she's got a lot more hair in her wolf form. She inherits this from her father, who is a white wolf Keidran in his natural form and a white haired Bishōnen in his human form. (Under Raine's folder)
  • Nancy Drew: Sonny Joon, of all people, turns out to be this when you meet him for the first time in The Shattered Medallion.
  • HonorHarrington.Tropes A To F: Victor Cachat, repeatedly described as cute, and Jeremy X, who was literally genetically engineered to be one, to fit his intended role as a jester.
  • Fate: The Winx Saga: Pretty Boy: He quite resembles a real-life Bishōnen.
  • Northwest Smith: Yarol. This is apparently typical of people from Venus. (Slashed with Pretty Boy)
  • TakeThatScrappy.The DCU: One of the (many) controversial decisions made during the New 52 was Lobo being reintroduced as a slender, clean-shaven Bishōnen instead of the grungy, musclebound slob fans had come to know and love.

Misuse: The audience/Troper finds the character pretty (1)

Unclear (Zero-context, vague potholes) (63)

Other

    Pretty Boy checks (50/50) 

Correct usage: A boyish and slender attractive man, treated as such in the Western work he is from (4)

  • Gone: In the first book, he is described as being "pretty, like a girl". (Under Peter's heading in the Perdido Beach folder)
  • The Outsiders: Soda is often described by Ponyboy as looking like a movie star or a Greek God.
  • WorldOfWarcraft.Tropes M To R:
    • Blood Elves, such as Kael'thas Sunstrider (who wasn't quite so pretty the second time). And how! One of the silly lines for playable Blood Elves is "Don't you wish your girlfriend was hot like me?
    • Also applies to the High Elves, who are a separate political faction of the same race; what minor differences exist between the two are based on their different approaches to satisfying their magic addiction.
    • Lampshaded aboard one of the ships traversing the Great Sea. One of the female sailors complains that the male high elf first mate is prettier than her. (This and above bullet should be merged)

Misuse: The character is from an Eastern work (5)

Misuse: The audience/Troper finds the character pretty (4)

Misuse: Trope name used as a stock phrase (5)

  • Marvel Comics: Quicksilver: Depending on the art, Quicksilver is usually not a pretty boy except for X-Men Evolution cartoon. However, in one X-Factor issue, he was called 'Pretty Boy' by his inmates when he was put in prison for vagrancy. (Under Quicksilver's folder - seems kinda stock phrasey)
  • Characters/Quasar: Depending on the artist, the most prominent example is when Greg Capullo draws him in several issues of the solo series. In one issue, he was even called 'Pretty Boy' by a villain. (Also stock phrasey)
  • Trans Ponies: Tex isn't feminine but he's softer looking than Rainbow Dash and Big Macintosh. Rainbow outright calls him a "pretty boy" (Also stock phrasey)
  • Destiny Child: Ho Yay: The young master himself has mentioned that Frej is hot, as well as Rufus. He also refers to Tristan as a Pretty Boy.
  • Airlocked Round Two: He takes great offence when Kip calls him one, but it's true.

Unclear (Zero-context, vague potholes) (36)

Other (2)

Edited by MacronNotes on Oct 31st 2022 at 1:09:53 PM

Eievie Since: Feb, 2014
#51: Sep 16th 2022 at 7:18:21 PM

I moved the quotes from Bishonen to Pretty Boy, so I think that page can go now?

ShayanthanYuhanthan345 Since: Sep, 2022 Relationship Status: I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me
#52: Sep 18th 2022 at 8:51:45 AM

Honestly, either make this an examplles, fan-speak only trope, or just delete it entirely. I don't really see much value this trope holds. tongue

Edited by ShayanthanYuhanthan345 on Sep 18th 2022 at 8:51:58 AM

Yindee Just stoic wisdom. from New England Since: Jul, 2016
Just stoic wisdom.
#53: Sep 18th 2022 at 9:01:21 AM

[up] They decided on what to do with this trope back in March.

Vehicle-Based Characterization | Grief-Induced Split | Locker Mail
ShayanthanYuhanthan345 Since: Sep, 2022 Relationship Status: I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me
#54: Sep 18th 2022 at 11:53:32 AM

[up]I mean....If that's the case shouldn't this thread be locked by this point?

kundoo Since: Sep, 2010
#55: Sep 18th 2022 at 11:55:25 AM

[up]It's not cleaned up yet.

ShayanthanYuhanthan345 Since: Sep, 2022 Relationship Status: I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me
#56: Sep 18th 2022 at 12:00:10 PM

[up]Man.....The poor fellas who're spending their lifetime removing examples. sad

kundoo Since: Sep, 2010
#57: Sep 18th 2022 at 12:01:00 PM

[up]You can help, if you want. It's voluntary and anyone can do it.

GastonRabbit Sounds good on paper (he/him) from Robinson, Illinois, USA (General of TV Troops) Relationship Status: I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me
Sounds good on paper (he/him)
#58: Sep 18th 2022 at 6:12:39 PM

We already made Bishōnen a Fan Speak page. Examples are only allowed for Pretty Boy; the wick cleanup is for moving valid in-universe examples of Bishōnen to Pretty Boy.

Patiently awaiting the release of Paper Luigi and the Marvelous Compass.
Eievie Since: Feb, 2014
#59: Sep 21st 2022 at 11:34:05 AM

I moved the contents of Quotes and Image Links to Pretty Boy (pruning them slightly along the way). Since we don't need the old pages anymore, I added them to the Cut List—but they did not get cut. Could someone give me a hand on that?

Edited by Eievie on Sep 21st 2022 at 11:34:35 AM

Adept (Holding A Herring) Relationship Status: Having tea with Cthulhu
#60: Sep 21st 2022 at 5:49:11 PM

[up]Perhaps the mods just haven't got around doing it yet.

Edited by Adept on Sep 21st 2022 at 8:02:37 PM

WarJay77 Discarded and Feeling Blue (Troper Knight)
Discarded and Feeling Blue
#61: Sep 21st 2022 at 5:50:44 PM

Nah, in this case they really were just not cut.

Currently Working On: Incorruptible Pure Pureness
MacronNotes (she/her) (Captain) Relationship Status: Less than three
(she/her)
#62: Sep 21st 2022 at 6:09:00 PM

I am not sure why they were declined but I think you can re-submit them again.

Edited by MacronNotes on Sep 21st 2022 at 10:18:06 AM

Macron's notes
GastonRabbit Sounds good on paper (he/him) from Robinson, Illinois, USA (General of TV Troops) Relationship Status: I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me
Sounds good on paper (he/him)
#63: Sep 21st 2022 at 7:15:25 PM

I cut them.

Patiently awaiting the release of Paper Luigi and the Marvelous Compass.
Eievie Since: Feb, 2014
Ayumi-chan Aramis from Calvard (Apprentice) Relationship Status: Serial head-patter
#65: Nov 12th 2022 at 5:37:21 AM

Im gonna bump it thread, cause it hasn’t been seeing much activity (though I’ve started to clean up any examples I can find).

She/Her | Currently cleaning N/A
venturasarah984 Since: Feb, 2022
#66: Nov 13th 2022 at 5:51:09 PM

How about we make Pretty boy YMMV?

Amonimus the Retromancer from <<|Wiki Talk|>> (Sergeant) Relationship Status: In another castle
the Retromancer
#67: Nov 13th 2022 at 6:19:13 PM

[up] It's way too late for that, and you need to provide the supposed definition of the YMMV trope. (Yes, "Pretty" can be subjective, but we don't want to list every character the readers find hot.)

TroperWall / WikiMagic Cleanup
GastonRabbit Sounds good on paper (he/him) from Robinson, Illinois, USA (General of TV Troops) Relationship Status: I'm just a poor boy, nobody loves me
Sounds good on paper (he/him)
#68: Nov 13th 2022 at 6:21:38 PM

[up][up]It's too late to do that. It's already In-Universe Examples Only (meaning it's for what another character thinks instead of what the audience thinks).

Edit: Ninja'd.

Edited by GastonRabbit on Nov 13th 2022 at 8:21:58 AM

Patiently awaiting the release of Paper Luigi and the Marvelous Compass.
Ayumi-chan Aramis from Calvard (Apprentice) Relationship Status: Serial head-patter
#69: Nov 13th 2022 at 6:36:20 PM

Besides, just the idea of "Audience finds this character hot" seems a bit chair-sy, unless theres a very specific reason for it (Like Evil Is Sexy)

She/Her | Currently cleaning N/A
RandomTroper123 She / Her from I'll let you guess... (Not-So-Newbie) Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
She / Her
#70: Feb 12th 2023 at 9:09:08 AM

So, I've been cleaning some wicks. And, just to make sure, this entry from The Fighter's section in Characters.Dragons Crown would be misuse of Pretty Boy right?

  • Bishounen: Played with; despite being a Top-Heavy Guy and having an intimidating appearance when fully armored, taking his helmet off reveals that his face is surprisingly pretty.

EDIT: Never mind, I didn't realize PB was In-Universe Examples Only at the time. [down]Thanks anyways.

Edited by RandomTroper123 on Mar 26th 2023 at 10:03:08 AM

Adept (Holding A Herring) Relationship Status: Having tea with Cthulhu
#71: Feb 12th 2023 at 4:23:53 PM

[up]nothing in that entry suggests that the character is considered pretty in-universe.

Yindee Just stoic wisdom. from New England Since: Jul, 2016
themayorofsimpleton Now a lurker. Thanks for everything. | he/him from Elsewhere (Experienced, Not Yet Jaded) Relationship Status: Abstaining
Now a lurker. Thanks for everything. | he/him
alnair20aug93 🍊orange fursona🧡 from Furrypines (Long Runner) Relationship Status: Chocolate!
🍊orange fursona🧡
#74: Jun 15th 2023 at 8:07:21 PM

Bumping this. The dewicking process has stalled a bit. There are still 5,992 wicks as of this writing, and 1,289 from its "Bishounen" redirect.

ᜇᜎᜈ᜔ᜇᜈ᜔|I DO COMMISSIONS|ᜇᜎᜈ᜔ᜇᜈ᜔
Berrenta How sweet it is from Texas Since: Apr, 2015 Relationship Status: Can't buy me love
How sweet it is
#75: Jul 11th 2023 at 8:37:59 PM

5.7k now. No change in redirect.

I did encounter one page with the wick during Man on Fire cleanup, and took care of that.

she/her | TRS needs your help! | Contributor of Trope Report

Trope Repair Shop: Bishounen and Pretty Boy
13th Mar '22 12:57:18 PM

Crown Description:

What should be done with Bishounen and Pretty Boy?

Total posts: 112
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