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Misused: Transgender Fetishization

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    Original post 
Note: This thread was proposed by Admiral Akbar 1.

Similar to Everybody Wants the Hermaphrodite above, Transgender Fetishization suffers from a major problem of naming and scope. The text of description mainly focuses on how trans or gender-nonconforming (GNC) characters are more likely to be fetishized or portrayed as sexual deviants by a work, and the impressions/stigmas that it causes. However, its broad definition means it's just used as a catch-all for any sexual situation involving a trans, GNC, or genderbent character, even when those are already covered by other, more specific tropes.

Based on a wick check:

  • Cis character with a trans fetish: 22%
  • A trans or GNC character who's overtly sexual: 12%
  • Other in-universe trans or GNC fetishization: 4%
  • Fanservice of a trans character: 10%
  • Fanservice of an intersex, androgynous, or other GNC character: 10%
  • Fanservice of a cis character transformed into opposite gender: 12%
  • Fanservice of a cis crossdresser: 6%
  • Fanservice of a shapeshifter: 8%
  • Literally just Trans Character, Cis Actor: 4%
  • Cis-trans relationship, not enough context: 4%
  • Other or ZCE: 8%

Or to break it down by broader categories:

  • In-universe trans fetish or sexualization: 38%
  • Fanservice of a trans or GNC character: 20%
  • Covered by other tropes: 30%
  • Other, Partial, or ZCE: 12%

As you can see, it's used to describe a wide variety of cases, few of which have to do with each other. Barely any of them fit the description and specify whether they're sexualized more heavily than cis characters. Additionally, there are several cases where there's already tropes covering it.


Potential solutions:

I would recommend disambiguating it into the following:

  • "Trans Chaser": in-universe fetishization of transgenderism (whether by an individual or a society)
  • "Trans Equals Hypersexual": trans characters are depicted as being more horny, sexualized, deviant, etc. than everyone else
  • "Trans Fanservice": fanservice of trans or gender non-conforming characters

Meanwhile, the rest can be relocated to other categories:


Wick check:

This is to examine the scope of Transgender Fetishization and see its breakdown between trans and other gender-nonconforming characters, sexualization by the creators vs. by characters, and whether there's any redundancy or overlap with other tropes.


    open/close all folders 
    Cis character with a trans/GNC fetish (11/50) 
  • Characters.El Goonish Shive Main Characters: (Ashley) Her favorite Manga is Ranma ½, and while she already had an interest in Elliot earlier, she crushes on him really hard after witnessing his transformation into a girl.
  • Characters.The Revenge Of The Old Queen: (Ray Ammbo) Steve catches him watching a transsexual stripper on his TV.
  • Film.Funeral Parade Of Roses: The gay boys at the Genet seem to do this for a living, with the club being a quasi-brothel in which businessmen flirt with and pick up the gay boys. The interview segments do this as well, with the filmmakers showing a prurient interest in the lives of the gay boys.
  • Film.Tangerine: An In-Universe example. Razmik is exclusively attracted to transgender women, to the point where he insists a cisgender prostitute he has hired leave and berates her for working his usual block.
  • Literature.Nevada: James H. enjoys reading pornography that heavily fetishizes the transgender experience.
  • Recap.Family Guy S 8 E 18 Quagmires Dad: Despite his concerns, Quagmire begins to fully support Ida near the end, though his Raging Stiffie is supposedly more okay with it.
    Quagmire: Sorry, sorry! Damn thing can't tell the difference.
  • Series.Broad City: In "Citizen Ship," Ilana predicts that everyone on the boat is into women with penises because "Lawyers love 'em."
  • Series.Pose: Elektra's lover Dick's insistence on her remaining "a girl with extra" rather than allowing her to transition on her own terms is what makes her break away from him.
  • Webcomic.Thinking Too Much To Think Positively: In "Mystery Men", Xan discusses the phenomenon of her and other trans women being followed by creepy men on Twitter whose likes are full of trans smut. She even discusses the possibility that these men consider being trans a fetish and they think that the women they follow will eventually admit they have a fetish and start posting trans porn themselves.
  • Webcomic.Trans Girl Next Door: Sometimes discussed. For example, one comic describes some guys trans women meet during online dating, including a guy who only sees trans women as a fetish for "discreet hookups" and a guy who wants to "experiment" despite having "experimented" several times before.
  • WebVideo.Con Man: Sean Maher's character mistakenly believes that Wray's convention booker Bobbie (a cis woman) is male, then translates Wray's garbled explanation to mean that she is transgender. He immediately finds her "courageousness" attractive to the point of fetishizing her and desiring sex with "the real you". It does not help that Bobbie plays along.

    Trans/GNC character who is overtly sexual (6/50) 
  • Characters.Demon Lord Retry: (Yukikaze) Yukikaze, a "girlish boy", is introduced licking a long popsicle, makes constant sexual innuendos and Double Entendres and is very forward about the things he wants Kunai to do to his "holes". He is by far the most sexually-charged character in the series. Even the title of an episode frames Yukikaze's sexual advances as an "attack" on Kunai.
  • Characters.Koihime Musou Visual Novel: (Kada's assistants) They're transgender women and wear way less clothing than the many cisgender women in the giant cast.
  • Characters.Maken Ki Venus Academy Members: (Celia) Syria is revealed to have originally born male before she obtained her powers, along with the ability to transform into a girl. As a girl, she is considered extremely beautiful and sexy—partly because she's American, but even in her homeland she's a Teen Idol. She also becomes one of the girls most aggressively pursuing Takeru.
  • Characters.Menage A 3: (Senna) Even given the common hypersexualization of characters in the series, Senna stands out due to being extremely forward and eager to anally deflower men.
  • Characters.Welcome To Demon School Iruma Kun Other Characters: (Poro) He is very flamboyant, often refers to himself as a lady, and has even imagined having Delkira's child.
  • Series.Transparent: Averted during the first season, where Maura was the only character who wasn't engaging in raunchy sexual behavior. Then, it became an Enforced Trope in season 2, after trans writer Our Lady J took the reins. It became her mission to sexualize Maura, but not turn her into an object.

    Other in-universe Trans/GNC fetishization (2/50) 
  • BioShockInfinite.Burial At Sea: One of the posters in Rapture's porn shop has "Gender Bender" proudly displayed as the title, with the pictured protagonist, Chris, appearing to have breasts and a moustache, while wearing masculine clothing and make-up. This is another part of the shop that's intended to demonstrate Rapture's sexual mores, defying the heteronormative standards that would have been present on the surface at the time (while also exploiting non-heteronormative sexuality/gender to make a profit).
  • Cyberpunk2077.Tropes S To Z: Seen on a street advertisement for the in-universe soft drink ChroManticore depicting a female model with a very noticable penis bulge, with the slogan "mix it up". The developers stated that the ad is there to show that, by 2077, transgender people became sex symbols in mass culture. The openly transgender character you actually get to interact with, Claire, isn't fetishized or sexualized in this way.

    Fanservice of a trans character (5/50) 
  • Anime.Ixion Saga DT: Mariandale is transgender, and as revealed during the Beach Episode, she is popular with both genders.
  • Characters.Corpse Party: (Miyu) A transgender woman, she also gets one of, if not the most sexualised deaths in the entire franchise.
  • Characters.Final Fight 1: (Poison & Roxy) Poison and perhaps Roxy are highly sexualized trans women in Stripperiffic outfits.
  • Recap.Tales From The Crypt S 7 E 1 Fatal Caper: Miss Fiona Havisham is an attractive transgender lawyer played by Natasha Richardson.
  • WebVideo.Contra Points: The trope is discussed in the "Autogynephilia" video, in which she points to J. Michael Bailey's "The Man Who Would Be Queen" as popularizing the trope for modern audiences. In the book Bailey and his assistants refer to trans women as unnaturally attractive (to the point of Uncanny Valley), and with a natural affinity toward sex work.

    Fanservice of an intersex, androgynous, or other GNC character (5/50) 
  • Characters.Haganai: (Yukimura) Yukimura was born a girl, but thinks they're male and wants to become a "true man". They're very cute, causing confusion among the guys who think Yukimura is male. Just for further fetish, Yozora makes Yukimura dress as a Meido and later a butler, looking very attractive in both outfits. Yukimura also puts on a girl's swimsuit and has at least one bath scene.
  • Characters.Kono Suba Antagonists: Sylvia is a chimera that appears as an attractive and buxom woman, although she mentions she has male sexual organs as well. The anime gives her a lot of Male Gaze and Adaptational Skimpiness.
  • Characters.Nier: (Kaine) Played with. While she's intersex, the story means for the player to realize how unsettling the fanservice of her character is supposed to be. She still ends up being a sexy and attractive woman, but she does so of her own choice to assert her feminity.
  • Characters.Sekirei Izumo Inn: Homura identifies as male, but that doesn't stop the manga from showing the audience his breasts nearly as frequently as those of the actual girls.
  • Characters.UQ Holder Touta Konoes Ministra Magi: (Kuroumaru) Kuroumaru is a demihuman with No Biological Sex who looks like a pretty young girl. Kuroumaru gets just as many Fanservice scenes as any girl in the series, being frequently shown partially or completely naked and forced to wear cute dresses several times.

    Fanservice of a cis character transformed into opposite gender (6/50) 
  • Characters.Kami Katsu Working For God In A Godless World: Bertrand's good looks as a girl (whether sexually or modestly) are put in jarring contrast with her discomfort at having become a woman.
  • Characters.Nura Rise Of The Yokai Clan Other Yokai Groups: (Awashima) Even though he identifies as male in either form, his female form is shown naked at the hot springs and later is subjected to some Clothing Damage at the hands of the 72-faced demon.
  • Characters.Ranma One Half Ranma Saotome: (Ranma) Despite identifying as male to the core, Ranma is often made to wear very appealing outfits when he's in his girl form. Even the covers and Side-Story Bonus Art will put his girl form in sexy clothes.
  • Characters.Yamada Kun And The Seven Witches The Main Couple: A large part of the series' Male Gaze and fanservice doesn't derive from actual girls, but instead from Yamada whenever he swaps bodies with a girl (i.e. not an actual transgendered person, but still a boy in a girl's body).
  • Literature.Kampfer: While transformed into a girl, Senou is considered one of (if not the) most beautiful women in his school. The show loves to put him into sexual/fanservice situations while in that form, moreso than any other girl. The show also has a very cagey depiction of lesbianism which furthers the trope: the characters outright define "lesbian" as girls who have feelings for each other during puberty, and the droves of adoring male and female admirers have no real interest beyond fetishizing him (this is Played for Laughs) with Senou's serious Love Interests almost all preferring his male form. The sole exception is Sakura, who is only interested in Female Senou but is later revealed to fall into the Psycho Lesbian and Manipulative Bitch tropes.
  • Manga.Kanojo Ni Naru Hi:
    • Mamiya shows off a skimpy bikini in the Beach Episode, Justified in-story as an indication of Mamiya's desire to show that she's still the calm, cool, always-in-control person she was before despite her Gender Bender and hidden illness, something she only admits indirectly several chapters and many years later when she confesses to Miyoshi that she refused to change or bathe with the other girls during that trip.
    • Mamiya wears a Naked Apron in Chapter 14. Justified in-story as an attempt by the hypercompetitve Mamiya to fluster Miyoshi for a change so she can regain the upper hand in their relationship. Her ambivalence is lampshaded by the fact that she retains her underwear (though she makes sure Miyoshi can't see that.)

    Fanservice of a cis crossdresser (3/50) 
  • Characters.Baka And Test Summon The Beasts: (Hideyoshi) He's sexually androgynous and he gets more Fanservice scenes than the girls themselves, much to his annoyance.
  • Characters.Guilty Gear XX: (Bridget) Zig-zagged. In the XX era, she was subject to a lot of fanservice tropes, especially her combat animations. But upon coming out as trans in -STRIVE-, these animations are either toned down or removed.
  • Characters.Nananas Buried Treasure: (Daruku) Daruku is in fact a boy dressed like a maid. That doesn't stop the animators from showing him in suggestive poses and giving him a Bathtub Scene.

    Fanservice of a shapeshifter (4/50) 
  • Marvel Comics: Mystique: One of the most prominent fanservice characters in comics, and her gender-bending powers are often fetishized and sexualized.
  • Characters.Runaways Title Team: (Xavin) Or rather genderfluid. Initially created to act as a romantic/sexual partner for a lesbian character, although Characterization Marches On indeed as the comic progresses. Otherwise, considered very attractive in their default human form.
  • Characters.UQ Holder The Organization: (Sept) Similar to Kuroumaru, Sept is a being with no gender who can grow breasts just to be naked with the female characters at the Public Bathhouse Scene.
  • Characters.Xenoblade Chronicles XNLA: (Erio) Like all of her race, she is Ms. Fanservice. If Erio chooses to live as a male, she and Lyvia are set up as possible romantic interest for Female Rook. She and Lyvia get an entire sidequest about it, in fact.

     Cis-trans relationship, not enough context (2/50) 
  • FamilyGuyFanon.Tropes Q To Y: "Peter Pan" has Meg gets a transgender boyfriend that was originally a male named Lucas who now goes by the name "Rosalie", identifies as a female. And the episode portrays Rosalie as extremely attractive, especially to Meg—who ends up having sex with her and loses her virginity for the first time after that episode.
  • Fanfic.A Picaresque Royale: Kamoshida becomes rather attracted to Ren upon finding out she's trans.

    Literally just "trans character cis actor" (2/50) 

    Other or ZCE (4/50) 
  • Characters.Fools And Drunks: Both Subverted and Invoked: as a colt/filly, Snails/Glittershell is sexually rather shy, and has an unfortunate tendency to wind up in sexually-embarrassing situations. It doesn't help that Snips wants to get Snails laid, and that Sweetie Belle, Ermie Lightning and (arguably) Ruby Gift find him attractive as a colt (even if they know he's actually a filly).
  • Characters.Super Mario Bros Assorted Nasties: (Birdo) Played With. Due to not being humanoid, Birdo isn't exactly a character designed for Fanservice, but she is portrayed as extremely confident in her appearance and very flirtatious with other characters, especially Yoshi and Popple.
  • Recap.Mystery Science Theater 3000 S 08 E 12 The Incredibly Strange Creatures: Or this.
  • WebOriginal.The Moore Twins: Averted. The trans characters are no more sexualized than anyone else in the main cast.

Edited by GastonRabbit on Dec 28th 2023 at 9:59:31 AM

GastonRabbit MOD 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)
#51: Dec 24th 2023 at 3:54:44 PM

I just noticed the crowner was still unlocked; looks like I overlooked that when I called it. That's been fixed. (In the event that any ratios contradict the results I previously posted about, the results I previously posted about reflect what the crowner's status was when it was called.)

Patiently awaiting the release of Paper Luigi and the Marvelous Compass.
GastonRabbit MOD 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)
#52: Dec 25th 2023 at 6:16:09 AM

I hooked a crowner to see whether we should keep the drafts' original titles as-is, in case there's already support. Vote up if you want to keep the original titles for the final page(s), and vote down if you want the name for the final page(s) to be different.

Patiently awaiting the release of Paper Luigi and the Marvelous Compass.
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)
#53: Dec 25th 2023 at 6:17:21 AM

Mod hat off to say that I upvoted both because I don't see anything wrong with the original names.

Patiently awaiting the release of Paper Luigi and the Marvelous Compass.
AudioSpeaks2 He/Him (Greenhorn) Relationship Status: Oh my word! I'm gay!
He/Him
#54: Dec 25th 2023 at 6:18:20 AM

[up] Neither do I

Both are good, clear, and concise [tup]

Not so much witty, but that's always been tertiary

Art Museum Curator and frequent helper of the Web Original deprecation project
shadowblack Since: Jun, 2010
#55: Dec 25th 2023 at 7:36:33 AM

For future reference, where do we report any typos in Sandboxes? For example, on Sandbox.Trans Chaser there is this bit in the description:

that having sex with someone with someone
The second "with someone" seems like it should not be there, but I am a little hesitant about simply editing the page to remove it.

WarJay77 Discarded and Feeling Blue (Troper Knight)
Discarded and Feeling Blue
#56: Dec 25th 2023 at 7:37:45 AM

It's a sandbox; anyone is at liberty to make edits.

Currently Working On: Incorruptible Pure Pureness
shadowblack Since: Jun, 2010
#57: Dec 25th 2023 at 7:40:59 AM

[up]Thanks, just wanted to make sure.

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: Dec 27th 2023 at 5:33:58 PM

The crowners will be ready to call soon, and since the consensus is in favor of keeping the working titles as the final titles (one option is unanimous and the other is very close to it), the plan is to move the sandboxes to Main/, index the new pages, and disambiguate Transgender Fetishization between the two new tropes. We could sort out Transgender Fetishization's wicks after that's done.

Edited by GastonRabbit on Dec 27th 2023 at 7:34:24 AM

Patiently awaiting the release of Paper Luigi and the Marvelous Compass.
GastonRabbit MOD 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)
#59: Dec 28th 2023 at 12:30:47 AM

Calling in favor of the following:

I'll move the pages soon; I'll take a break first.

Patiently awaiting the release of Paper Luigi and the Marvelous Compass.
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)
#60: Dec 28th 2023 at 12:50:22 AM

OK, the new pages are live and the old page has been disambiguated.

Not too many wicks to sort through.

Patiently awaiting the release of Paper Luigi and the Marvelous Compass.
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)
#61: Dec 28th 2023 at 1:11:24 AM

I crosswicked Trans Chaser's on-page examples, and now it has a healthy wick count. I'm going to take a break before doing the same with Trans Equals Hypersexual.

Patiently awaiting the release of Paper Luigi and the Marvelous Compass.
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)
#62: Dec 28th 2023 at 5:56:50 AM

OK, Trans Equals Hypersexual's on-page examples have been crosswicked. Now things need to be done in the other direction, with Transgender Fetishization's wicks being sorted through and changed to at least one of the two new tropes if possible, and the wicks that are kept added to the on-page example lists.

Patiently awaiting the release of Paper Luigi and the Marvelous Compass.
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: Dec 28th 2023 at 6:30:22 AM

Main/'s done, and now both of the new tropes have wick counts that are healthy even for tropes that aren't new (these are new, but this future-proofs their wick health).

The old page is down to 81 wicks (though one being on Ambiguity Index and another being on Split Tropes means a small amount will stay), so dewicking shouldn't take long. I might work on this later, but I'm taking a break after handling Main/.

Edited by GastonRabbit on Dec 28th 2023 at 8:31:34 AM

Patiently awaiting the release of Paper Luigi and the Marvelous Compass.
Admiralakbar1 Admiral Ackbar from none of your business Since: Dec, 2013
Admiral Ackbar
#64: Dec 28th 2023 at 6:45:46 AM

Would there be any opposition to removing the image of Poison from Trans Equals Hypersexual, or would that have to be brought up with Image Pickin? As others have pointed out in this thread, she's not a particularly good fit for the original trope (she's not confirmed as trans, and there are cis characters just as or more sexualized than her), and the image makes even less sense for the new one.

Edited by Admiralakbar1 on Dec 28th 2023 at 9:46:05 AM

Admiralakbar1 Admiral Ackbar from none of your business Since: Dec, 2013
Admiral Ackbar
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)
#66: Dec 28th 2023 at 7:54:08 AM

[up][up]Reverted it because I wasn't 100% sure myself, especially because I'm not familiar with the original work, and I didn't participate in the thread that chose it for the original page.

[up]Adding to disambiguation pages is a free action, but I'll go ahead and add them.

Edit: Neglected to remove crosswicking Trans Equals Hypersexual's on-page examples after I did that earlier, since the only crosswicking left is adding on-page examples for any wicks that are kept, as opposed to how I added wicks for on-page examples that were added to the sandboxes before the move to Main/.

Another edit: I neglected to change the page types for the new tropes from "subpage" to "trope" (the former being the default for most non-Main/ namespaces, including Sandbox/, which initially stuck after the sandboxes were moved to Main/). That's been fixed. Also, I noticed that the image revert for Trans Equals Hypersexual isn't showing up in the page history (my null edit explaining the revert, which linked to the post that suggested the revert, shows up, but there's no entry for a "system" mod revert).

Edited by GastonRabbit on Dec 28th 2023 at 10:15:56 AM

Patiently awaiting the release of Paper Luigi and the Marvelous Compass.
Admiralakbar1 Admiral Ackbar from none of your business Since: Dec, 2013
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: Dec 29th 2023 at 12:14:37 PM

[up]Looks like I missed that. I cut them.

Patiently awaiting the release of Paper Luigi and the Marvelous Compass.
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)
#69: Dec 30th 2023 at 7:13:27 AM

I saw that Transgender Fetishization has a deity in the Pantheon, so as we usually do with Pantheon deities for deprecated tropes, I notified the thread of the change and asked them to look into whether to remove or replace the wicks (there are five wicks to sort through).

Edited by GastonRabbit on Dec 30th 2023 at 9:14:23 AM

Patiently awaiting the release of Paper Luigi and the Marvelous Compass.
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)
#70: Dec 30th 2023 at 8:25:17 PM

Done here, so locking up.

Patiently awaiting the release of Paper Luigi and the Marvelous Compass.
Add Post

Trope Repair Shop: Transgender Fetishization
25th Dec '23 6:14:10 AM

Crown Description:

Consensus was to split off a Trans Chaser trope (which was drafted using the Sandbox.Trans Chaser sandbox) for cisgender characters who have strong sexual interest in transgender or gender-nonconforming people. The name would be decided with a separate crowner, as well as replace Transgender Fetishization with the trope that was drafted on Sandbox.Trans Equals Hypersexual. The name would be decided with a separate crowner. Should the names used by the sandboxed drafts be used, or should new names be chosen? Vote up to keep the names used by the sandboxes, and vote down to choose a new name.

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