A very specific list of books and movies with unconventional looking/conventionally unattractive heroines
Some good examples for ugly heroines are featured in this article (x)
“Ever notice how most heroines in novels just happen to also be devastatingly gorgeous? As if their long, flowing hair or sparkling eyes somehow make them more worthy of the title of heroine? Of course, given that so many classic popular novels about women were written about [sic] men, it kind of makes sense that literature would be so full of idealized versions of women that dude authors kind of wish they could hook up with.
It’d be nice if the occasional lady in literature was just, you know, a person, rather than some silk-skinned goddess or one of the other many adjectives that plague the women of literature who are just trying to go about their business of surviving whatever cruel plots the author has devised for them. I mean, there are plenty of male heroes in literature who get by with the looks of Cyrano de Bergerac, or Quasimodo, or Oscar Wao, or, more often than not, with no idea at all as to their general attractiveness. So, where are all the “ugly” ladies in literature?”
This article also makes some good points about the importance of ugly heroines. (x)
And here is my personal list (in no particular order):
Books
The mother of all ugly heroines.
The heroine perceives herself as unattractive. After being cursed
she spends the majority of the book as an old woman.
The heroine is certainly not as attractive as her beautiful best
friend who gets her own interesting plot line.
The protagonist starts out as unattractive, later she undergoes a transformation of
her appearance which represents a turning point in her character development.
This book has lots of female characters of all shapes and sizes.
The main heroine is plain and a bit overweight. Another important
famale character is dead and looks the part. Both have very
attractive love interests.
Very masculine looking heroine (hairy).
She’s plain.
Other characters in this book are baffled by the interest of
the very attractive male protagonist in the heroine.
-
Radiance (Wraith
Kings, #1) – Grace Draven
This heroine is actually very attractive by human standards.
Unfortunately the male protagonist isn’t human and he finds her
appalling and he’s just as ugly to her. The like each other from the
start.
The heroine spends her time around
(mostly) human looking and extremely attractive trolls. She’s not
quite up to their standards.
The heroine is almost a cyborg. Her extremities were replaced by
completely overpowered prosthetics after a horrific assault while
working as a government agent. She’s traumatized, in pain, doesn’t
have full control of her new body and hasn’t come to terms with her
new menacing look. The rock star demon elf protagonist is very much
into her. Yes, really. This book uses and often subverts every trope
known to fantasy and science fiction.
-
Herb-Witch (Lord
Alchemist Duology, #1) – Elizabeth McCoy
Within the world described in this book the heroine’s look is not only considered
ugly but also shameful as it reveals her barbarian heritage.
The protagonist starts out as rather plain, later she undergoes a transformation of
her appearance which represents a turning point in her character development.
The heroine is fat. She does lose weight while trying to survive
on a hostile alien planet though. The lizard man protagonist is
interested in her either way. All kinds of trigger warnings for this
book: violence, rape, gore, death. It’s also over 900 pages long.
Crazy.
This one stands out as it’s the only book written by a man. It’s
also one of my earliest conscious encounters with an unattractive
female protagonist. For me that was a formative experience. Rather on
the hard side of science fiction the narrative follows the good
looking male protagonist who is a kind of emissary from a culture that values
aesthetics to the extreme coming to a planet where people live by a
more practical approach to life. The female protagonist assigned to him as his assistant is so ugly to him that he can’t
stop staring. After some culture clashing they get married.
Books I haven’t read yet:
Movies / TV series
I’m always looking for more of my beloved ugly heroines. They are quite difficult to find. So if you know of a book or a movie, please let me know! Reblog this with your suggestions, chat me up, ask or submit. All suggestions are welcome.
TAG: On my blog I use the “unconventional looking / conventionally unattractive heroine” tag.
Weiterlesen
suggested for Brienne and Jaime (I haven’t read ASOIAF, so I don’t know how they are described in the book but Brienne and Aria from the TV series are certainly great unconventional looking female characters.)
Features a heavily scarred heroine.
Thank you for your suggestions. I hope there are still more books, movies and comics out there with conventionally unattractive heroines.
Monsters and Villains 