Tag: unconventional looking / conventionally unattractive heroine

Ugly Badass Girls Getting the Hot Guy in Fantasy and Science Fiction

fuck-yeah-monsters-and-villains:

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
    Darkangel     (the Darkangel Trilogy, #1) – Meredith Ann Pierce

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

Update:

@dasfeministmermaid suggested:

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.)

Written by the wonderful @liberlibelulaart. I think everbody in the Reylo fandom knows her beautiful and often hilarious art.

Booktrailer:

Very cool to also have a manga on the list of unattrative heroines!

@amamymayer suggested:

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. 

Ugly Badass Girls Getting the Hot Guy in Fantasy and Science Fiction

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
    Darkangel     (the Darkangel Trilogy, #1) – Meredith Ann Pierce

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.

What? It’s not realistic to have an attractive male protagonist fall in love with an unattractive/flawed heroine???? No way!!!???!

Ok, first of all you can fuck off with your realism in my escapism. And secondly what about all the boring, average and often even annoying male self insert characters? Nobody bats an eye at some Gary Stu getting the gorgeous girl in the end. That was actually pretty much the standard plot line for a long time in mainstream media. And I’m sick and tired of it.

I’m also sick and tired of over-abundance of stunningly beautiful girls and women in genre fiction. As if being unattractive or even only average looking makes you undeserving of being the heroine and falling in love. Oh wait, I’m being unfair. The romance genre actually offers a wealth of books with flawed heroines. Just google it! There are book lists on amazon and goodreads for every bodily imperfection (including disabilities) imaginable.

The romance genre in general is great in catering to the female
gaze. There is just one problem. I’m not into it. This is my
personal preference. In no way do I think that one genre is superior
to another. I love romance in my fantasy and science fiction but I
don’t want it to be the main focus of the story. I’m picky like
that.

On a personal level the reason for the wish to read about
unattractive, flawed or just average looking heroines is certainly
the identification factor. Do I think I’m ugly? No, but I’m also
not devastatingly beautiful and I’m totally ok with that. But there
was a time in my life when I wasn’t so confident, when I felt
unattractive. Some part of me will always feel like an awkward,
insecure teenager. That part of me needs to be stroked from time to
time. But I guess I’ve always been this way even before the crippling
effects of puberty. Even when I was I little girl I imagined stories
with normal (=like me) looking girls who were smart and capable and
often had to help some beautiful but useless princess. Guess who the
prince fell in love with at the end.

Apart from using an unattractive heroine as my self insert I just
think a hot guy falling in love with a girl or woman for her
character rather than her physical appearance is THE MOST ROMANTIC
THING EVER!!! It’s not that deep. Or is it? Beauty is worshipped in
our society. The pressure to be beautiful and therefore lovable is
much higher for girls and women than for men. As if a woman is only worthwhile if she is also considered physically attractive. The fact that there are
so few conventionally unattractive heroines in fiction actually
proves the point.

I’m talking strictly as a reader here but I guess having someone
fall for an unconventional looking woman is certainly more difficult
to write convincingly. Explaining and describing why someone would
fall for an average looking or conventionally unattractive woman
demands that the focus is on love rather than lust (I don’t mean
that it can’t or shouldn’t be sexy). The pay-off is also so much
sweeter. A declaration of love where the male protagonist says
something original instead of just stammering about the heroine’s
beauty is also much more satisfying.  Making the woman beautiful
often feels like a shortcut to me. Actually I’m now at point where I
need exceptional characterization to make me still care about a
beautiful heroine. That sounds petty and maybe it is but look at the
above list. It’s quite short compared to the tons of media
featuring physically flawless girls and women.

Oh, and as I’m already bitter let me talk about two tropes that I
hate with a passion: “The Makeover”. It’s most often found in movies
and goes as following. Unattractive coded (think glasses and
comfortable clothes) girl or woman played by a beautiful actress
learns how to use make-up and dons a skimpy dress and suddenly the
male love interest deems her worthy of his affection. Boom, true
love. NO, THANKS.

Yes, I’m aware that sometimes heroines undergo a physical
transformation that mark a turning point in their spiritual journey.
If that’s the case I’m usually okay with the beautifying effects of
character development.

The other trope is having a heroine that is described as unattractive within her world but is actually conforming to beauty standards of our world. For example the poor girl is ostracized because she’s a little bit too tall and rather thin. Tragic. She’d be a supermodel in our world. Or the heroine’s breasts are too round and her hips are too pronounced. So ugly. What a terrible fate to look like Nicky Minaj.

I want my heroines to be real woman. I love it when they are fat, extremely short/tall, have plain faces, have saggy breasts and huge thighs, when they are truly imperfect, when they are like me. Those fictional girls and women helped me learn to love myself.  

Why We Need “Ugly” Heroines

“I want something better than this for women. Intelligence, compassion, integrity, persistence, the ability to look beyond oneself — these are qualities that we should encourage all genders to value and embrace, both in themselves and others, from a young age. But the assumption that heroines need to be good-looking creates a corresponding assumption about women who are not. Books have the power to combat the idea of appearance as defining currency. Books can show us that admirable and interesting women come in all shapes and sizes.“

Very good article on female beauty standards in genre fiction. This topic is very close to my heart and I agree with most of it. The author is unfortunately a bit dismissive of women having romantic plot lines and I get where she’s coming from. Still, I don’t agree with her.

Of course we need to see heroines who have other worries besides their love interest but she makes it sound as if a romantic love diminishes the female protagonist and takes away from the realistic depiction of a character. Romantic love is for most people a very important part of our daily life and I love to read about it in my fantasy and science fiction novels. 

Why We Need “Ugly” Heroines

STOLEN SONGBIRD (Malediction Trilogy, #1) by Danielle L. Jensen

For five centuries, a witch’s curse has bound the trolls to their city beneath the mountain. When Cécile de Troyes is kidnapped and taken beneath the mountain, she realises that the trolls are relying on her to break the curse.

Cécile has only one thing on her mind: escape. But the trolls are clever, fast, and inhumanly strong. She will have to bide her time…

But the more time she spends with the trolls, the more she understands their plight. There is a rebellion brewing. And she just might be the one the trolls were looking for…

Check out this book on Goodreads: Stolen Songbird (The Malediction Trilogy, #1) https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17926775-stolen-songbird
_______________________________

Very romance driven YA fantasy book that features an Usurper as the male main protagonist and a heroine that comes close to the Holy Mother/Queen archetype as described by @ohtze in her fantastic Kill the King and take the Crown meta ( https://fuck-yeah-monsters-and-villains.tumblr.com/post/169112732992/kill-the-king-and-take-the-crown-kylo-ren-rey ) about the Reylo dynamic in TLJ.

The book itself is not my favourite as it’s a little bit too teen oriented (mostly character descriptions) for someone as ancient as myself. The premise is fantastic though and being a sucker for the good old girl going underground trope I still enjoyed it.

fuck-yeah-monsters-and-villains:

THE DARKANGEL (DARKANGEL TRILOGY #1) by Meredith Ann Pierce

Aeriel is kidnapped by the darkangel, a black-winged vampyre of astounding beauty and youth. In his castle keep, she serves his 13 wives, wraiths whose souls he stole. She must kill him before his next marriage and comes into full power, but is captivated by his magnificent beauty and inner spark of goodness. Will she choose to save humanity or his soul?

Check out this book on Goodreads: The Darkangel (Darkangel Trilogy, #1) https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/92717.The_Darkangel

You think this is your average YA novel? Think again! First published in 1982 it came long before the supernatural love interest was trending. I read this book as an adult and I never once had the feeling that I couldn’t relate to the young heroine. This trilogy features incredibly imaginative worldbuilding, a wealth of interesting secondary characters and universal themes including love, friendship and betrayal. I was crying by the end and I mean crying, like actual salt water leaking from my eyes.

Do you have a REYLO VIBE recommendation? Submit or contact me!💙💙💙

Occasional self reblog.

RADIANCE by Grace Draven

THE PRINCE OF NO VALUE

Brishen Khaskem, prince of the Kai, has lived content as the nonessential spare heir to a throne secured many times over. A trade and political alliance between the human kingdom of Gaur and the Kai kingdom of Bast-Haradis requires that he marry a Gauri woman to seal the treaty. Always a dutiful son, Brishen agrees to the marriage and discovers his bride is as ugly as he expected and more beautiful than he could have imagined.

THE NOBLEWOMAN OF NO IMPORTANCE

Ildiko, niece of the Gauri king, has always known her only worth to the royal family lay in a strategic marriage. Resigned to her fate, she is horrified to learn that her intended groom isn’t just a foreign aristocrat but the younger prince of a people neither familiar nor human. Bound to her new husband, Ildiko will leave behind all she’s known to embrace a man shrouded in darkness but with a soul forged by light.

Two people brought together by the trappings of duty and politics will discover they are destined for each other, even as the powers of a hostile kingdom scheme to tear them apart.

Check out this book on Goodreads: Radiance (Wraith Kings, #1) https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24473763-radiance

Fluffy fantasy romance about two people who look like monstrous nightmares to each other.

Do you have a REYLO VIBE recommendation? Submit or contact me! 💙💙💙

fuck-yeah-monsters-and-villains:

WINTERSONG by S. Jae-Jones

Beware the goblin men and the wares they sell.

All her life, nineteen-year-old Liesl has heard tales of the beautiful, mysterious Goblin King. He is the Lord of Mischief, the Ruler Underground, and the muse around which her music is composed. Yet, as Liesl helps shoulder the burden of running her family’s inn, her dreams of composition and childish fancies about the Goblin King must be set aside in favor of more practical concerns.

But when her sister Käthe is taken by the goblins, Liesl journeys to their realm to rescue her sister and return her to the world above. The Goblin King agrees to let Käthe go—for a price. The life of a maiden must be given to the land, in accordance with the old laws. A life for a life, he says. Without sacrifice, nothing good can grow. Without death, there can be no rebirth. In exchange for her sister’s freedom, Liesl offers her hand in marriage to the Goblin King. He accepts.

Down in the Underground, Liesl discovers that the Goblin King still inspires her—musically, physically, emotionally. Yet even as her talent blossoms, Liesl’s life is slowly fading away, the price she paid for becoming the Goblin King’s bride. As the two of them grow closer, they must learn just what it is they are each willing to sacrifice: her life, her music, or the end of the world.

Check out this book on Goodreads: Wintersong (Wintersong, #1) https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24763621-wintersong

I really like this book. It reads a little bit like Labyrinth fan fiction. Of course it features original characters. But the author is actually pretty upfront about it.

Occasional self-reblog.

Original story, strongly influenced by the movie Labyrinth.

Do you have a REYLO VIBE recommendation? Submit or contact me! 💙💙💙

THE DARKANGEL (DARKANGEL TRILOGY #1) by Meredith Ann Pierce

Aeriel is kidnapped by the darkangel, a black-winged vampyre of astounding beauty and youth. In his castle keep, she serves his 13 wives, wraiths whose souls he stole. She must kill him before his next marriage and comes into full power, but is captivated by his magnificent beauty and inner spark of goodness. Will she choose to save humanity or his soul?

Check out this book on Goodreads: The Darkangel (Darkangel Trilogy, #1) https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/92717.The_Darkangel

You think this is your average YA novel? Think again! First published in 1982 it came long before the supernatural love interest was trending. I read this book as an adult and I never once had the feeling that I couldn’t relate to the young heroine. This trilogy features incredibly imaginative worldbuilding, a wealth of interesting secondary characters and universal themes including love, friendship and betrayal. I was crying by the end and I mean crying, like actual salt water leaking from my eyes.

Do you have a REYLO VIBE recommendation? Submit or contact me!💙💙💙

COBWEB BRIDE (Trilogy) by Vera Nazarian

Many are called…
She alone can save the world and become Death’s bride.

Cobweb Bride is a history-flavored fantasy novel with romantic elements of the Persephone myth, about Death’s ultimatum to the world.

What if you killed someone and then fell in love with them?

In an alternate Renaissance world, somewhere in an imaginary “pocket” of Europe called the Kingdom of Lethe, Death comes, in the form of a grim Spaniard, to claim his Bride. Until she is found, in a single time-stopping moment all dying stops. There is no relief for the mortally wounded and the terminally ill….

Covered in white cobwebs of a thousand snow spiders she lies in the darkness… Her skin is cold as snow… Her eyes frozen… Her gaze, fiercely alive…

While kings and emperors send expeditions to search for a suitable Bride for Death, armies of the undead wage an endless war… A black knight roams the forest at the command of his undead father … Spies and political treacheries abound at the imperial Silver Court…. Murdered lovers find themselves locked in the realm of the living…

Look closer — through the cobweb filaments of her hair and along each strand shine stars…

And one small village girl, Percy—an unwanted, ungainly middle daughter—is faced with the responsibility of granting her dying grandmother the desperate release she needs.

As a result, Percy joins the crowds of other young women of the land in a desperate quest to Death’s own mysterious holding in the deepest forests of the North…

And everyone is trying to stop her

Check out this book on Goodreads: Cobweb Bride (Cobweb Bride Trilogy, #1) https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17727308-cobweb-bride

A determined young woman and a dark knight who will redeem himself try to save their world from total annihilation.
A dead princess and her murderer may find happiness together.
A many-faced Hades will try to win his twisted, mad Persephone back.
Three couples, many reylo feels…

Do you have a REYLO VIBE recommendation? Submit or contact me!💙💙💙