Troperville
Playthings
Troperville
Playthings
Show Spoilers:
Night Vision:
for more options ]
Other Categories
Topical Tropes
Sensitive Guy and Manly Man
You need to
to do this.
if you don't have an account
John: They take every chance to lampshade Matt?s queerness or lack of traditional masculinity, He?s prissily-exasperated in a very period coded-gay way. He?s the pansy foil to Basil St. John?s mysterious yet alluring swashbuckler.
I like when Basil shows up in Puerto Rico and is
—, "We Watched Brenda Starr (1989)"
What makes
odd is that they pit together people with conflicting personalities in hopes that . A common variant is to have two male characters that are .
One guy will be your everyday Macho Man. He's rough, aggressive, and strong (). He loves sports, cars, power tools, and general physical activity. The other guy in contrast will be much . He loves poetry, literature, art, and is generally more .
Occasionally these personality traits extend to their looks. The Macho Man will be tall and well-muscled. The Sensitive Guy will be slender. Anime usually gives him a
look while Western production might go for a more nerdy one. If the characters are attractive, the manly guy will often be a , and the sensitive one will often be a .
They may have an
or will be
in an ensemble cast. More frequently they are
or even enemies, especially in schoolyard settings. This is because the Manly Man may see the Sensitive Guy as a "wuss" for not displaying stereotypical masculine behavior. Similarly, the Sensitive Guy may resent the Manly Man for . This is very apparent if the two are caught in a
as the female will theoretically choose which of them she sees fulfilling the role of "man" best, and they are probably in a male version of a
dynamic, although who plays each role is relative.
These two tend to get into a lot of
which drives
wild. If they're an , they'll get
comparisons too. Related to
with the Manly Man almost always Red and the Sensitive Guy almost always Blue. Also related to
with the Manly Man usually the id and the Sensitive Guy usually the superego.
would be their , especially if there's only .
The "sensitive guy" need not be a , nor need the "manly man" be a . On a , to some degree everyone will be a "manly man". As you want the characters to be likable, you do want most of them to have some characteristics of a "sensitive guy". And so on. The point of the trope is in the contrast between the pair. Often also used as a way to indicate that works relying on
still have room for more than one stereotype per gender.
Expect the
to be a Manly Man and the
to be a Sensitive Guy in an . Compare
and . When the Manly Man happens to be a woman it is a case of . Contrast
where they combine. Compare with , where the Noble Male is still considered to be "manly" in a
Important Note: While this is usually a straightforward trope, examples can still get subjective in regards to whether or not one of the guys is sensitive enough, the other is manly enough, or whether they're different enough. .
The two guys do not have to be physically stronger or weaker than the other to fit this trope.
This trope applies to personalities as much as physical strength or appearance. Two guys can be strong and if one acts sensitive and the other acts manly, then they fit.
When you post an example be sure to explain how one is a sensitive guy and how the other is a manly man.
&&&&open/close all folders&
&&&&Anime and Manga&
Chibitalia and Holy Roman Empire. Chibitalia is a meek artist who . HRE is an ambitious warrior who wears men's clothes. Holy Roman Empire actually mistakes Chibitalia for being a girl and tries to protect him from perceived threats.
Sweden and Finland qualify. Sweden is a tall, intimidating and stoic man while Finland is a short, approachable and expressive boy. In the dub, Finland even refers to himself as "a delicate flower."
Canada and Cuba are definitely this. Canada is a soft-spoken and
boy with a slender physique. Cuba is a loud and aggressive man with noticeable muscle. Played with though, in that Canada can get
and that Cuba's a
when he's not around .
Played with between Germany and Austria. Both characters read, cook, and have stern personalities, but Germany is a virgin and a soldier with competent fighting skills, while Austria is a sexually experienced
who needs protection from his lover, .
: Guts and Griffith. The two were best of friends and while Guts is possibly the manliest man you'll see in any manga, Griffith is poetic, attuned to the emotions of people, and is described as "beautiful". Guts is a person who would just kill the problem with his sword as soon as it's a possibility.
It's too bad that Griffith later betrays Guts and his other comrades in order to become a perfect demon that is powerful enough to be in the
Ichigo is passionate, aggressive, rough and physical and spent years courting a jerkass
and delinquent reputation. He solves problms fists first. Uryuu is quiet, reserved and one of the two main stars of the sewing club. He has excellent tailoring skills, although the men he tailors for tend to view his designs as too feminine. Together, the pair are , with Uryuu trying to get Ichigo to think more in battle and Ichigo getting impatient with Uryuu thinking too much.
Before Ichigo met Uryuu, Ichigo's oldest male friend is Sado. Sado is a huge, physically powerful man who can shrug off motorcycle collisions and falling steel girders even when powerless. However, he is extremely , refuses to fight to , and adores cute animals and teddies. Ichigo therefore fights to protect Sado, who only ever fights to make sure Ichigo (or any other friend) doesn't get too badly roughed up in battle.
Ganju is a rough, aggressive boistrous man, who rides boars for fun and fights with every dirty trick he can think of. Hanatarou is a gentle healer, a mouse of a man who shies away from combat, and whose
is a sword that heals injuries before it can strike just once. Together, they actually make a good team... in a brawn-and-brains sort of way.
Hisagi has a flair for the rebellious image. He's covered in tattoos, loves to fight dirty, to the extent of hiding bombs in his armbands. He even once got in trouble with the captains for bringing a motorcycle back from the World of the Living and causing trouble with it in Soul Society. Kira, is a gentle, constantly-worrying poet who believes . However, during the Fake Karakura Town battle, the pair are forced to confront an
Yumichika. Hisagi takes the Sensitive Guy route of attempting to talk Yumichika down. Kira doesn't bother and simply
Yumichika into unconsciousness, disapproving of the way a fifth seat is talking to a lieutenant.
The anime plays straight with Ikkaku (manly man) and Yumichika (sensitive guy) solely through a considerable softening of Yumichika's character. However, they're subverted in the manga and : Ikkaku's good at meditation and inner communion and is more in touch with Kenpachi's feelings than Yumichika. Yumichika's true idea of beauty is that only flowers are beautiful and people can only achieve it at the moment they're torn to death. While Ikkaku tells some slackers they're idiots for getting caught, Yumichika tells them he'll kill them if they don't do a perfect job. Lampshaded when Yumichika and G Ganju observes how sadistic Yumichika's personality really is.
Love is a rough, physical guy who wallops his way through his fights with a giant club and who tackles his problems as aggressively as possible. Rose is a poet and musician who doesn't so much as fight as engage in an "artistic performance". Rose won't make a move if he can't do something artistically. Love just crashes through life without a care.
and , respectively.
In this case, the characters' relative appearances are inverted, with Goku being taller and more physically imposing than Vegeta, who's shorter than his wife.
: there are --, and .
blurs the line between this and
with Iori and Masaru. Iori is extremely feminine in appearance and manner, and Masaru is a typical boy who plays sports and
because he has four obnoxious sisters.
Then they're both turned into magical girls by aliens who mistook Iori for a girl. Naturally, Masaru has a huge problem with that.
Simon and Kamina are like this at the start of . By the end of the series, Simon grows into the Manly Man role fantastically. Kamina even says that Simon's become more of a man than him during Simon's time in the .
plays this straight for laughs early on. Two terrorists seize a building, one of them an effeminate "sensitive guy" and the other one more traditionally manly, despite being an alien.
Hubb and Quent in .
Sort of inverted in
with the doubles pair of Ohtori and Shishido. Choutarou Ohtori, the taller, physically stronger of the two, is sensitive and nice (he even plays classical violin and wishes for world peace), while Ryou Shishido is
and much more butch (he even has the scars to prove it!).
Another subverted example would be Seiichi Yukimura and Genichirou Sanada. The first is polite, soft-spoken, with a frail health and long hair...; the other is very tall, stern and the
in a tennis setting. The subversion comes from Yukimura being the captain of their team as well as a
when it comes to tennis, and Sanada being extremely devoted to Yukimura - like a Samurai's devotion to his feudal lord (and yes, they're one of the most popular
couples ).
Hiroshi Yagyuu and Masaharu Nioh play it a bit more straight... unless you count the manga, where they impersonate each other perfectly)
It can be said that every doubles pair, rival pair and/or captain and vice-captain duo plays around with the trope in different degrees. Tezuka and Fuji, Tezuka and Oishi, Oishi and Eiji, Momo and Ryoma...
: Played with with Suzaku and Lelouch, especially in the sound dramas. Lelouch is much more feminine in his tastes and appearence while Suzaku is far more masculine. Yet of the two, Suzaku seems much more kind and sensitive than snarky, aloof Lelouch. Of course,
it is, this gets deconstructed. As children, however, they played this trope straight as Suzaku was rough, boisterous, and a bit cruel whereas Lelouch was sensitive, sheltered, and more gentle.
From , Roberto is , , and is generally . Johan is , , and
Why do they even associate with each other? Johan likes to
to kill people and ruin their lives during those pesky times when he's too busy
or his sister
or otherwise , while Roberto is
with Johan.
Ryu and Joe in , sort of. Ryu is definitely the softer-hearted of the two but is far from "in touch with his feminine side". Joe is definitely a guy's guy but in a more grizzled way rather than oozing testosterone. Ken and Joe's dynamic is
Ken only looks the part of the doe-eyed sensitive one, but it's his repression of emotions that leads to some rather ugly outbursts.
In fitting with their girlfriends being the
of , motorcycle-riding boxer Hamasaki Masahiro and
Shiroi Nagisa are Manly and Not, respectively.
Badass thief Ray/Noir and emotional aristocrat Florian from the manga .
From the original
are Char Aznable and Garma Zabi in Zeon. Char is an
(who also happens to be hell-bent on avenging himself on the Zabis) and one of the best warriors in Zeon. Garma is softer and very in love with his girlfriend, and feels inadequate next to both his siblings and Char. He's also the Zabi who is probably least deserving of Char's retribution.
George de Sand is the sensitive guy to Chibodee in . George is a
with a strong code of chivalry (and the pilot of Gundam Rose). Chibodee is a
who leaps without looking and uses both boxing and gunslinging as his method of fighting.
has Quatre and Trowa. Quatre is a
who always tries to negotiate before he has to kill his opponents and wants to bring peace above all else. Trowa, although very kind beneath the surface, is cold and calculating in battle.
in . As well as their counterparts (King Touya and High Priest Yukito) in .
While we're on the subject of TRC, we can't forget Fai and Kurogane and ...
seem to be into this trope.
characterization plays a lot with this, Watanuki is a
most talented at cooking, knitting and housekeeping, while Doumeki is a
archer that mostly serves as his . Despite this, Doumeki is more emotionally mature, doesn't seem to have any problem whatsoever with the fact that he used to dress in girl's kimonos
and is also strongly hinted to be
What, people? Have we forgotten , as well as ?
Sorata and Kamui also fit the bill, albeit in a platonic way - despite Sorata's penchant for commenting on Kamui's good looks and his tendency to invade his personal space, but well, .
While we're listing them, , as well as .
Sensitive Eagle Vision and Manly Lantis from .
This is probably the reason there are so many
in his spare time, with
and white hakama as his most remarkable outfit) and Sanosuke (immature,
, former professional brawler, appropiately ). It doesn't help that
Negi Springfield and his best friend and rival,
Kotarou Inugami.
has this with troubled, sensitive musician Matt and
soccer player Tai respectively.
Mamoru, a.k.a. Tuxedo Mask, is the Manly Man to his
friend Motoki's Sensitive Guy.
While Tiger Eye and Hawk Eye were way too
to really fit in, they deliberately invoked the trope
when they decided to pursue Minako at the same time and get a shot at . Hawk Eye disguised himself as the sweet and sensitive
and artist Mr. Takano, meanwhile, Tiger Eye's facade was that of the handsome
Torashima, who wooed Minako .
The few episodes where the Tsukino males play a major role reveal them to be this way.
Kenji is all about protecting his loved ones and he .
Shingo is more nerdy and he has been seen enjoying things like cuddly pets and dolls (not that he likes to admit it).
Hilarious and endearing subversion in .
Takumi Tokiha and his buff roommate Akira Okuzaki fit perfectly in the archetype, and they even have a group of girls as their , but Akira is actually
who's pulling a
to fulfill her Hime mission better. And later, Takumi
as he accidentally sees Akira undressing, doesn't mind the truth... . .
Played a bit more straight with
, who's the Sensitive Guy to
and the Manly Man to
The blood brothers Toki and Raoh from
have this kind of relationship, with the former being a healer who treats the sick and the latter a tyrannical conqueror. Of course, Toki can kick as much ass as his brother Raoh, its just that he's more reserved about it and only does it when necessary.
Played with in . Iwashida, the sensitive guy, is fairly typical since was the weakly kid who was always victimized by the
in his school. He's also all about being loyal to his newfound friendships. The manly man is
who is crass, arrogant, routinely beats up delinquents, and has a . He's also a "swot," someone who studies way too much, and is initially dismissed as a harmless nerd,
is the more macho of the duo, whereas
takes the sensitive guy role as he increasingly gains .
Again, there are many partnerships/rivalries/brother duos that play with this concept to different degrees: Shun and Hyoga, Shiryu and Seiya, Seiya and Jabu, Aiolos and Aiolia, Asterion and Moses, Hyoga and Isaac, Kanon and Saga, Milo and Camus, Mu and Shiryu, Shiryu and Ohko, Aphrodite and Deathmask...
Professor Go (sensitive guy) and Chujo (manly man) from . Professor Go is always getting overcome with emotion and crying, but Chujo keeps walking along as a stoic paragon of masculinity. Naturally the two are best friends.
Mikael and Raphael from
mostly play it straight - visually, Mikael is of slight build, feminine looking and Raphael is more muscular and manly looking in comparison. In terms of personality though, they have lots of shades of their opposite spectrum - Mikael is mostly cold, stubborn and shows that he can be pretty aggressive and determined when the need arises, while Raphael has rather mellow and carefree attitude and shows lots of kindness towards not only Mikael, but also Noelle and Natsumi. That said, the last episode plays it straight again, though - in the climax scene, it shows that Mikael is totally dependable on his teacher and helpless without his help, while Raphael appears as a strict and unbending, leaving his student to clean up the mess his responsible for.
of the Hakushuu Dinosaurs. Interestingly, they are both
who share an obsession with physical strength and power and serve as
M the difference is in their appearances and attitude, with Gaou being a beefy lineman who loves direct assault for its own sake, while Kisiragi is a mincing
In , Yuuen is the
and Emba is the
Death the Kid is the sensitive guy to Black*Star's manly man in . This is most easily noticeable in the episode where they go to find Excalibur together, and Kid winds up riding on Black*Star's back, so as to avoid the water on the floor. Oddly enough, this is the episode where they become friends.
Two sets from :1st
The latter are a bit similar in that Cross seems to have a softer side, but he tries to keep his in check. Said he laughs at Tiedoll's being openly sensitive, and affectionate with his pupils, even though it's said by Hoshinon he thinks Allen is cute. So, seems Cross may see Tiedoll as a bit overly openly emotional-possibly a crybaby, And Tiedoll, thanks to Cross' , or possibly being a
he seems to find Cross to be a hoodlum. And while Cross hates the Order, Tiedoll has been known to blow it off in favor of what he feels are other matters. While Winters and Klaud returned to HQ before the others with no issues.
Sion is the sensitive guy to Nezumi's manly man in . Sion is a
while Nezumi is a
. They also have a lot of
between them.
Hayato Kazami (sensitive guy) and Naoki Shinjyo (manly man). While Hayato is generally polite and energetic when it comes to racing, Shinjyo is more moody and has a more focused approach in his skill.
For side characters,
and Bootsvorz and Osamu. Katagiri plays the sensitive guy to Shinjyo's manly man.
The eventual alliance between
comes off as a twisted version of this trope, with
as the Sensitive Guy and
as the Manly Man. While neither one actually cares about each other, they genuinely seem to enjoy one another's company and make a very effective duo.
In , Edward Elric is tough and short-tempered and his brother Alphonse is a sensitive .
Both of the
partners in
are this, with the Ashikabi as the Sensitive Guys to their Manly Man Sekirei.
Minato is gentle and deeply emotional, and looks up to Kagari as a "cool guy". Kagari is a chain-smoking
and a , and remains the more traditionally masculine of the pair even after
his unstable state results in him becoming a .
Mikogami and Mutsu are a villainous example, playing the trope completely straight. The former is , and highly emotional while the later is a quiet, serious .
: Shouma is the polite, expressive,
sensitive guy to Kanba's blunt, stoic, playboy manly man. It extends to their appearance as well - Shouma has , visible eyelashes, and longer hair, while Kanba has
and shorter hair.
Subverted with Kaneki Ken and Hideyoshi Nagachika from , at first it was played straight where Hide is more brash and loud compared to the more shy and quiet Kaneki. But later in the series, Kaneki becomes
after his transformation and Hide is a .
has , , and his sidekick, er, summoner, Waver Velvet.
&&&&Comics&
The superheroes
(the originals) would qualify.
, Apollo being the sweet-natured, long-haired beauty and Midnighter being the gruff, leather-clad . They're both extremely badass, though, and come across as equally .
Also implied in the backstory with the meek, amicable Captain Metropolis and the brutal, violent Hooded Justice.
has Dilton and Moose.
Even Archie and Reggie.
British Kid's comics usually work on the "schoolyard rivals" model. Dennis the Menace bullies Walter the Softy, Bully Beef is regularly outsmarted by Chips, Smudge refuses to be clean like Percival Prim, Tough Nut picks on Softy Centre etc. Which character the reader is supposed to root for varies from story to story, but it's often the tough kid, further perpetuating the stereotype.
(manly) and
(sensitive), except when the Robin is .
This is reversed in 's
series, where
(for the ) and Damian Wayne becomes Robin (kicking Tim Drake out of the mantle).
is this to himself. "Carter Hall is a man of culture who enjoys fine wine, yet Hawkman is a barbarian who you can only be happy is on your side" as described by the Atom once.
Power Ring and Deathstorm in . Power Ring is a huge coward that hides behind his
while Deathstorm is a stoic that calms Power Ring when he gets scared.
and Obelix, although their roles aren't what you'd think by looking at them. Asterix is smaller and physically weaker, but has a hard-headed, mature and quite sneaky personality. He is a good swordsman, enjoys one-upping the Romans but doesn't mess with them outside of an actual need to, and is more flirtatious and in-control around women than Obelix. Obelix is larger and stronger, but is mostly written to show off his cute, innocent traits, with even
coming from a place of genuine, childlike appreciation for how much fun it is rather than any sadism. He also has a sweet little dog that he's dedicated to, and tends to cry and fall in love easily.
&&&&Fan Works&
In , Tapper is the
Sensitive Smurf bartender who likes talking to his customers and speaking to them about , dressing in a
and , while Duncan McSmurf (the
of Gutsy from
films) is the
Manly Smurf who wears , whose hobbies involve physical sports and knocking Smurfs on their tails, especially if they happen to call him . Both Tapper and Duncan happen to be friends with each other, with Duncan serving as the superego in the
of himself, Hefty (ego) and Tuffy (id).
Subverted in . Connor is , which makes him both more emotionally open and more overtly badass than Murphy, while Murphy is more quiet and withdrawn, but also nicer and more compassionate than Connor.
&&&&Films — Animation&
had Phoebus, the manly , and Quasimodo the .
Manolo is the , aspiring musician Sensitive Guy to rough-and-tumble soldier Joaquin's Manly Man. They're best friends since childhood, but also rivals for the same girl, and the contrast shows itself in how they try to impress her.
The Candlemaker is the fun-loving, humble Sensitive Guy to Xibalba's rascally, gambling Manly Man.
&&&&Films — Live-Action&
is a subversion of this, as Jack Burton is a tough-talking manly man (played by ) and Wang Chi (Dennis Dun) is sentimental and very much in love with
Miao Yin. But when the fighting starts, Wang turns out to know kung fu, while Jack's
are almost completely ineffective.
The Narrator and Tyler from
at first appear to be this to a certain extent, then we realize fairly soon that they are
in terms of their attitude toward society and life in general, and this is before we find out that Tyler is actually the narrator's split personality.
and . This trope is sort of in place by default.
, even if the sissy boy is the ladies' man.
Murder By Numbers has Richard Haywood and Justin Pendleton. Richie's a
womaniser (though with a metrosexual streak a mile wide) who seems to be mostly interested in sex, money, showing off, and driving his Mustang. Justin's big on literature and being intellectual, as well as fanboying over , and is
They have an... odd friendship, possibly forged on the exclusive basis of
version of this is in the original
film with his character Col. Jack O'Neill and James Spader's version of Dr. Daniel Jackson. The series downplays this quite a bit, with Jack turning out to be much
and Daniel .
Goodspeed and Mason in .
Played with in . At first it looks like
Allen (Will Ferrell) is the sensitive one and cynical Terry who wants to be
() is the manly one. But then again, Allen is the ladies man with anger management issues while Terry is the one who knows ballet and how to play the harp (which he insists he learned as a kid in order to make fun of the sensitive guys who actually liked that stuff).
and Loki are an extreme version of this until
Serge and Fran?ois in Les Roseaux sauvages (Wild Reeds). Serge: he's good at math and bad at French, he's macho, good at sports, into girls, and he's a country lad who wants to work on his parents' farm. Fran?ois: he's good at French and bad at math, he's quiet, he has a heart condition that means he can't play sports, he's into film and literature, his best friend's a girl, he introduces Serge to the Big City (Toulouse, in this case) and he's into guys. Fran?ois falls in love with Serge, who cannot reciprocate.
Comes up in Trevor. Thirteen-year-old Trevor likes Diana Ross, musical theatre and writing in his diary. He falls in unrequited love with the star of the intermediate baseball team.
: The rule-abiding,
Iceman juxtaposes the rebellious,
Pyro. At the museum's food court, John is being rude to a young man who asks to borrow his lighter, and Bobby tells his friend to knock it off, plainly disapproving of John's annoying behaviour. When the police order the mutants to get on the ground, Drake immediately obeys, but Allerdyce attacks the officers with giant fire balls.
: Charles Xavier is the Sensitive Guy to Erik Lehnsherr's Manly Man. They display this dynamic in their personalities ( vs. ) and physique ( vs. ) as well as their philosophies and methods ( vs. ).
: Charles in 1973 is more accurately an Overly Sensitive Guy with Wolverine taking over the Manly Man role. Logan has to act as the "glue" which barely holds the emotionally fragile Xavier together in order to complete their mission. Their opposite natures are most directly contrasted in the Pentagon kitchen scene, where Charles attempts to persuade the guards that he and his partner have a valid reason to be there, while Wolverine just knocks them out with a frying pan.
gives us the
variant on this trope when introverted, tormented Bruce Banner and snarky show-off Tony Stark hit it off as soon as they meet.
Cameron James (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and Patrick Verona (Heath Ledger) in .
In , Simon is shy and reserved, while James gets into fights and probably sleeps with half of the women in the movie.
&&&&Literature&
make this trope .
loves this trope (as Louisa May Alcott loves ):
: Mr. Darcy is the
(the Bad Boy of his time), and his best friend Mr. Bingley is perfect, charming, agreeable, and too easily swayed by others.
has shy, sweet Edward Ferrars and world-weary ex-soldier Colonel Brandon whose favourite hobby is "suffering quietly".
there's Mr Knightley, the very organised authority figure who always speaks his mind (in a way that could potentially be misconstrued as rude) and Frank Churchill, who loves parties and dancing at balls.
has two brothers. The elder, Captain Tilney, is a soldier who likes 'sowing his wild oats,' whereas his younger brother Henry is a clergyman who likes reading novels.
In , Philip and Enoch are this respectively, though neither is a caricature. Enoch is described as a bold and dashing sailor, confident, and physically strong (but not reckless, and a caring family man). Philip cries more easily as a boy, and in his
he is very gentle and sensitive to her feelings (but he also works hard in his mill, and he bottles up his feelings for years after Annie marries Enoch).
In , Beckram is an irresponsible ladies' man, while his twin brother Erdrick is rather shy, likes do read, and is described as "coward" by their cousin Ward, the protagonist. Then there is Ward, who is loud, brutish and stupid, and his brother Tosten who is sensitive, easily startled, and a talented harper and bard. Only that Ward's stupidity is an act, he's actually a , who is able to talk quietly if he wants to.
' Ralph is the sensitive guy to Jack Merridew's manly man. Red-haired Jack is aggressive, even downright brutal and loves confrontation, compared to fair-haired Ralph who dislikes violence and is much more of a pacifist. They even practice different activities, as Ralph usually stays in the same place, watching over the younger boys and trying to assure them their safety, while Jack runs around the entire island and is obsessed with hunting and killing animals.
To an extent, Crowley and Aziraphale from
fit this trope, although this might also be because they are a Demon and an Angel, respectively. It should also be noted that the reason they each like the other so much is because Crowley sees Aziraphale as being just enough of a bastard to like, and Aziraphale sees Crowley as just enough of a good person not to hate, much to both of their chagrin.
In , the brunette Sirius Black is witty, temperamental and loudmouthed (manly man), while the sandy-blond Remus Lupin is calm, quiet and collected (sensitive guy).
Boromir and Faramir, sons of the Steward of Gondor, fit this trope to a "T": Boromir is a mighty warrior and military leader, interested in warfare and little else, Faramir loves poetry and lore (although he's also a soldier). In this case, the difference is mostly one of attitude- Boromir loves fighting and being a soldier for its own sake (though he's guided by a strong sense of honor and duty) while Faramir views soldiering as a service he must render for the good of his people even though he's a scholar by inclination.
And to a lesser extent, Sam seems to be tougher and has a bigger inclination towards violence than Frodo, but this might be due to the ferocity with which he protects .
Nick and Alan in
by Sarah Rees Brennan. Since they're brothers it also makes them a case of .
Njáll and Gunnar in . Gunnar is the stereotyped Viking . Njáll is a wise sage, and a clever lawyer and interclan diplomat.
C.L. Moore's
and Yarol the Venusian provide an interesting variation on the trope. While Smith is a rugged, muscular space cowboy and Yarol is a delicate-looking young man who resembles a choirboy, the former occasionally displays flashes of sensitivity whereas the latter doesn't possess a shred of kindness or decency.
books use this for Frank and Joe. Frank is the more intellectual, cool-headed brother who likes art, literature, and strategy. Joe is the athletic hot-headed sports-fan who likes to charge in head first. While this only showed up in faint traces in earlier books, in more recent series, after a small bit of Flanderization, it's become much more prominent, with the boys actually arguing about which is the better tactic when in comes to solving a case.
Katniss begins to see potential loves interests in two guys, Peeta, the baker's son who decorates the cakes and Gale, her hunting partner. Gale is angry with the Capitol for making them participate in the games while Peeta is reflective on how he can maintain his identity in the games despite the Capitol using them.
In , Falkland is the Sensitive Guy to Tyrrel?s Manly Man. Manly Tyrrel is furious at being unseated by ?this Frenchified rascal.?
Played with in Darkfall by . Two supporting characters are introduced early on, the meek-looking, bowtie-wearing Nevetsky and the tough, mean-looking Blaine. Jack Dawson assumes Nevetsky is the Sensitive Guy and Blaine the Manly M in reality, the big and tough Blaine is the kind and gentle one while the less intimidating-looking Nevetsky is the loudmouthed, antagonistic brutish one.
in . Skylar is mellow and thoughtful while Rafael is quick to settle arguments with his fists. In a subversion, though, Rafael likes art, romance, and fairy tales, while Skylar likes baseball and slasher flicks.
In , Hornblower and his , Bush, are this kind of pair. Hornblower is a broody, self-loathing mess when he's not being a brilliant naval captain and can't stop thinking about the prospect of death and mutilation in battle even if he never shirks from it. Bush is a stolid and
who's unfazed by hardship but also lacking in Hornblower's genius.
The submissive, always crying
and the gruff, impatient
In "De skandal?sa" by , Gabriel Gripklo (seemingly roguish) and his friend Ossian Bergman (nerdy and noble) have this kind of dynamic.
In , Sniff is so cowardly and delicate, that Moomin and Snufkin have no problem looking manly in comparison.
A rather down-played example in : Maik is politer and nicer in general, , while Tschick is rather rude, bold and steals cars.
Best friends Ishmael and Razz from . Ishmael is quiet, sensitive, at one point faints due to nervousness and avoids conflict to the extent that he lets bullies walk all over him. He prefers writing to physical activity. Razz is very loud, athletic, loves attention and while he doesn't intentionally hurt people, he sometimes makes very insensitive comments. The contrast between the two is shown in a scene where Ishmael refuses to watch a video of
undressing (that was recorded without her knowledge), while
tries to persuade Ishmael to watch it.
&&&&Live Action TV&
has McGee, who is more or less a , and Tony, who, hiding behind the , constantly derides him for it. Interestingly, McGee's 'soft side' te Tony, more of a slick
by nature, often sticks his foot into his mouth by making fun of McGee's feminine tendencies in front of sympathetic ladies. It's also played with in that, while Tony is a tough guy type, more physically capable and stereotypically masculine than McGee (he's a street-smart athlete to McGee's academia and noodle-arm), he's also a dedicated follower of fashion where McGee wore the same suit for his first four seasons. He makes fun of McGee for moisturising, but he spends $100 on a tie.
. Tim was a tool-loving manly-grunting man and Al was the sensitive and overly emotional type (though still very burly and masculine-looking). Being a real man was one of the show's main themes and Al's sissy-ness was the butt of many jokes but Al was shown to be much smarter than Tim. In addition, they were united as an
by their mutual love of craftsmanship. Tim was also contrasted with his neighbor Wilson, an introspective .
likes to contrast manly man Ron Swanson with overenthusiastic New Age health nut Chris Traeger.
: Will is the cool ladies man (manly) and Carlton is a studious
dork (sensitive).
was the humdrum,
while the Fonz was?well, the Fonz.
British cop shows love this. In the late 70s and early 80s,
had the rough, tough, SAS-trained Bodie and the more gentle and sophisticated Doyle.
borrowed from this trope and had the ,
Sam Tyler working with the
, Gene Hunt.
In the follow-up series
the roles are delegated to
Chris and Ray.
the greedy thug Jayne, is hostile toward the classy doctor Simon. Their contrasting personalities are best seen in Jaynestown where Jayne feel comfortable in the rough, poor world and Simon clings to being proper. Their rivalry is best seen in Ariel when Jayne demands that Simon be left on the core planet after being stabbed by Simon's sister. Mal then deals with Jayne's defensiveness and Simon's concern for his sister.
and Tyler the
in the early episodes of .
The two brothers on
fulfill this stereotype to the letter. Charlie is arrogant, hedonistic and , Alan is a neurotic
who's awkward with women.
appears to be a textbook version of this trope, but hard-drinking and -playing, gun-happy 'Manly Man' Dean is more often in a
, and will unashamedly cry where his family's concerned. While Sam's more likely to cry even for strangers and prefers nonviolent paths, he becomes single-minded enough to forsake his characteristic empathy .
and Ted, the , from . Marshall qualifies as the sensitive guy as well. This might be more of a
thing though.
ESPN's Mike and Mike in the Morning show uses this trope, with Mike Golic (a former NFL defensive lineman) as the manly man and Mike Greenberg as the Sensitive Guy. One of the features of their column in ESPN the Magazine is the "Manly/Metro tip", with Golic's "manly" tip accompanied by an icon of a beer mug and Greeny's "Metro" tip accompanied by an icon of a martini glass.
Noah (sensitive) and Wade (manly) from . Also, to an extent Junito (sensitive) and Ricky (though Ricky's "manly" tends to be sexually aggressive and detached).
. Peter Pascoe is the modern, thoughtful, psychologically-trained police officer, Andy Dalziel is pure .
: Chandler (sensitive) and Joey (manly). Generally Joey will sleep with girls for a night and Chandler will make them breakfast the next morning.
Played with in one episode: Phoebe was dating two guys at the same time, a manly fireman named Vince and a sensitive teacher named Jason. She tries to break up with Vince, but discovers that's he's also sensitive and artistic to boot ("He has access to lots of charcoal"). She tries to break up with Jason while he's fixing up his apartment, and he's totally hunky. In the end, both break up with her after they meet and learn the truth.
Also played with in : From their first appearances, Morgan and Reid seem set up to be this trope (Morgan is playing a vaguely "educational" drinking game with a , whereas Reid, the , is interrupting mentor/team leader Gideon's lecture on profiling and tailing him like a puppy). As the series goes on, though they both display examples of following the trope (e.g., Morgan is the team's designated door-kicker and likes portraying himself as either a ladies' man or strong enough to handle anything, while Reid prefers trying to talk unsubs down from confrontations, very visibly has trouble with some cases, is a , and can barely talk to a woman outside of his mother or the context of work), and going against it (e.g., Reid takes cases personally hard, but has had to work at making himself more sympathetic and tactful toward victims and persons of interest, while Morgan often ends up in a nurturing role towards other team members, especially Garcia and Reid). One typically masculine trait both of them share? Although Reid's emotional responses to situations are more visible, more often than not, .
stars twin boys where Cody loves school and cooking while Zack is the more cool brother.
Zack does have his sensitive moments though especially in "On Deck" most notably in "Flowers and Chocolate" when he is seen bawling during a romantic film.
: Almost right down to a T: Frank Hardy, Manly (Parker Stevenson being the muscled prep-school jock into surfing). Younger Brother Joe, Sensitive (Shaun Cassidy, slender teen-idol musician). Interesting to note, this is the absolute opposite of the way things were in the books: usually Frank is the intellectual one more likely to enjoy art, and Joe is the more athletic jock. Though the show occasionally played with it by having Frank shove Joe out front in dangerous situations:
(as the brothers are about to step into a crypt containing god-knows-what)
Joe: Well...you're the oldest.
Frank: Yeah, but you're more agile on your feet—and stronger.
Joe: Since when?
Frank: Since right now.
has the cigar-chomping Starbuck and the mild-mannered Boomer.
On the series
there are the Adama brothers,
Howard and Raj on . Raj is sensitive and utterly
while Howard is the .
nice guy (sensitive) and Hyde the
"bad boy" (manly).
foreign kid (sensitive) and Kelso the dumb narcissistic ladies man (manly).
Kenneth Parcell and
Tracy Jordan in .
: Fabian is the sensitive one, being an
, while Eddie is a bit . Same story with Fabian and
Also with Manipulative,
Jerome (manly) and
Alfie (sensitive).
In , Will Graham is a scruffy loner who likes fishing, drinking, and dogs, while Hannibal Lecter is an erudite European socialite whose hobbies include art, composing for the harpsichord, and gourmet cooking. . Unusual in that the more outwardly masculine of the two is also the more emotionally sensitive and mentally fragile, to the point where it's the
he has to wield against Hannibal.
On , best friends Rob and James fit this pattern. Rob is what passes for a manly man at their age: he's the , cocky and self-important, and claims his basic neccessities are "food, a roof, weed, pussy, and Mars bars!". James, meanwhile, is introverted and introspective, waxes poetic about the countryside (when he's not being , that is), says things Rob deems "cheesy", and is an all-around sensitive soul.
: Walter White and his brother in law, Hank Schrader,
Hank is brash, crude and boisterous, an avid sports fan and gun enthusiast, and his work as a DEA agent often puts him in danger. Walt is a mild-mannered and milquetoast high school chemistry teacher, much more of an intellectual and something of a dork. As the show progresses however, they both shift around the spectrum: Hank reveals an increasing amount of emotional problems and insecurities, as well as some
while Walter becomes increasingly cold, ruthless and dangerous.
Walt (gruff, stoic) and Jesse (emotional) also have this going on.
Womanizer rocker Drake and nerdy shy guy Josh from
: with the
Starsky and the
Hutchinson.
On , best friends Tom Paris and Harry Kim. Paris is an extroverted,
ex-con who' Kim is the musically inclined, duty-bound officer with a steady girl back home (well, at first, before he goes full-on ).
&&&&Puppet Shows&
In , the soft-spoken music geek Eddie Watts is best friends with the brash, outdoorsy Jake Hamilton-Jones.
&&&&Radio&
Gravelly-voiced Dusty and sonorous, gentle Lefty from the cowboy sketches on the radio show .
&&&&Tabletop Games&
The elegant and aristocratic
and the burly, short-tempered
had one of the closest relationships in a family of 18 brothers. Until, literally, all hell breaks loose and civil war breaks out with the Horus Heresy, and Fulgrim
kills Ferrus. Fulgrim still doesn't take it well, in the end.
&&&&Theater&
has Felix,
and , and Oscar, a man's man.
In Mozart's ,
tend to come across this way, though how much depends on the production. Ironically, Tamino, the Manly Man (even though he faints at the sight of a big snake), is a light tenor role, while Papageno, the Sensitive Guy, is a baritone.
&&&&Video Games&
: Mario and Luigi, to some extent. Mario has a quick-to-act get-up-and-go fearless attitude, while Luigi has a hesitant, cautious, and timid demeanor. "Mario"
Then there's aggressive,
Manly Man Bowser Mario becomes a Sensitive Guy to.
Solid Snake (manly man) and Otacon (sensitive guy) from
are made of this trope, although Snake's more philosophical and Otacon's sexual history is significantly more important to the plot than Snake's. And both are as emotionally needy as each other, although they show it in different ways.
Parodied in
with the television show "The Men's Room With Bas And Jeremy", Jeremy St. Ives being an
pacifist who's main advice usually revolves around "rectal marital issues" and "colon cleansing", and former ultimate fighter Bas Rutten ( ) being a , borderline
who's every sentence eventually devolves into violence sprinkled with gore.
and Proto Man, with Mega Man being the Sensitive Guy and Proto Man being the Manly Man. Also
and Zero. This last one is particularly interesting in that the one who
isn't X but Zero, the Manly Man of the equation. Likely because his creator saw it fit to give him .
: Brusque warlord Kain is a Manly Man while thoughtful, angsty Raziel is a Sensitive Guy. This trope can also apply to Manly Man Vorador (callous, violent, has a harem) and his sire Sensitive Guy Janos Audron (kind, understanding, hermetic).
and All Roads in particular casts
like this. Benny is scheming to take on Vegas, Swank is worried about the extremes he'll go to... and about him getting cigarette burns on the carpets.
features protagonist Stocke and his best friend Rosch. Rosch is the
and , while the slim,
and . Despite , Stocke is also a
who's surprisingly good with people, even helping Rosch with
Archie and Maxie, the villains from , give this impression, with Archie being the manly man and Maxie being the sensitive guy.
we have the King of Stormwind
as the manly man, and due to his
from the third expansion onwards, his son,
, as the Sensitive Guy. Of Course
extends this dichotomy to cause them to have a rather dysfunctional father and son relationship, and
on how to solve the
with the rival faction of the Horde.
has Vega () and Balrog ().
The Jin brothers from the
series. The sensitive guy of the brothers is Chonshu, since some people think that , plus he has a feminine voice. The manly man is Chonrei, who is a .
&&&&Web Animation&
Would the relationship between
count? It's more antagonistic though, with Strong Bad making Strong Sad's life as miserable as possible. But there are instances of them getting along.
If you line up Jaune Arc and Lie Ren from , you'd think that Jaune is the Manly Man and Ren is the Sensitive Guy based on their appearance, but it's quite the contrary. Jaune is generally more expressive, and despite that armor he wears isn't that great of a fighter at the start. Ren is , puts up quite a fight even after losing his weapons, is said to be the "best student", and even sports the manly deep voice of .
&&&&Web Comics&
Elan and Roy in .
In an inversion of the usual stereotype, "manly" Roy is the brains and leader of the group, and "sensitive" Elan is a .
John and Dave of . John is an
who staunchly believes in the power of friendship. Dave is a
The trope is reflected even more strongly their respective biological fathers Dirk and Jake. Dirk is a stoic, aggressive asshole and probably the most traditionally masculine ch while Jake is shy and unassertive, likes wearing short shorts and cries easily.
Chopin and Liszt, -style.
Jack (Sensitive) and Zill (Manly) from . Jack is quiet, shy and interested in outer space while Zill is the outgoing popular guy. They're also best friends.
gives us two examples:
Orville (Sensitive) and Roy (Manly): Orville is a quiet, well-mannered squirrel who dreams of flying while Roy is a mischievious prankster raccoon.
Matt (Sensitive) and Ricky (Manly): Matt is a hopless romantic who constantly picks flowers while Ricky is basically an
of Roy from the original Orville comic.
Guy and Jay in . Guy is an introvert and Jay likes to roughhouse.
&&&&Web Original&
The short-lived
archive Fanlib failed after leading a particularly offensive and ill-advised marketing campaign starring "Pink Guy" and "Blue Guy." After apparently mistaking its primarily queer female audience for heterosexual teenage boys, "Pink Guy" and "Blue Guy" appeared in an ad promoting Fanlib as manly and powerful/attractive and non-Fanlib as feminine and weak/unattractive.
and The Other Guy (Doug and Rob Walker) seem to go for this trope, with Critic being quite girly and The Other Guy much more in control. Or it could be that Doug is the younger brother who is very often either being
or a total limelight-loving flirt while Rob stays in the background.
A twofer in
with Donnie DuPre and Carl Copenhagan, and Tacoma Narrows and . Donnie was a
queerball who had no complaints with wearing eyeliner and lipstick, while Carl used to work with
and thought everything could be solved by shooting at it. Tacoma was a
whose voice gets mistaken for his mother's sister, plus he was delighted to hear that he didn't look bad in a dress, while Quinn was a purely Irish
Ian and Anthony of Smosh. Ian (sensitive) is slightly more emotional, gets insulted more easily, and has even cried on camera for real. Anthony (manly) is the more vitriolic friend, makes fun of Ian more than Ian makes fun of him, and has never really shown a sensitive side, although his girlfriend claims he DOES have one.
Matt and Pat in . Matt likes games like , while Pat likes games like .
For a reinforcing double-reference to , see
Then again, Pat turns out to be a .
Inverted AND Played for Laughs when they both flip their respective personalities, with Pat being the Wuss and Matt being the tough guy when they play
's Jeckel and Hyde routine is done like this, with Jackson being a typical soft-spoken nerd with a dislike of loud music, and Holt being a loud-mouthed disc jockey with flaming red hair.
As of season 3, Clawd and Deuce.
hosts Rich "Lowtax" Kayana, a bossy , and Dave "Shmorky" Kelly, a
&&&&Western Animation&
has sensitive
becoming friends with manly man
Dr. Venture and Brock Samson from
(although "sensitive" isn't exactly the best term to describe ), as well as the titular brothers Hank and Dean.
and Sokka in , to an extent, as well as Sokka and .
can go a long way towards this trope.
Interestingly enough, Sokka switches roles depending on who he's partnered up with. He is manly in comparison to the happy and playful Aang, but sensitive compared with the emotionally-repressed Zuko. But all good male characters in Avatar: The Last Airbender show a sensitive side to some degree.
Bolin and Mako from
follow this trope similarly. Bolin is , yet he's also the most naive and emotional, compared to
Zapp Brannigan and Kif Kroker from . Zapp is a classic
Captain, and sees himself as a manly courageous stud. Kif on the other hand starts out as a weary
but grows more into the Sensitive Guy mold through his relationship with Amy.
A lesser example would be the Fry the
and Bender the boisterous .
Buck Tuddrussell (macho) and the Larry 3000 (sensitive) on
— in the first seven episodes of season one, at least. From the episode "Larry Upgrade" to the series finale ("Orphan Substitute"), the pairing went from "Macho Man and Sensitive Guy hanging out with an orphaned eight-year-old history buff" into Larry and Buck acting like a married couple/foster parents to Otto. It doesn't help matters that the Larry 3000 comes off as
at best and
Ben (a male version of ) and Kevin (the stereotypical bad boy who averts ) in .
Bart and Milhouse in
are a pre-teen example, with nerdy, sensitive Milhouse being the foil to brash, extroverted mischief-maker Bart.
(and his ) working with the Pink Panther. The Pink Panther even shows a degree of manliness too. The episode 7 Manly Men, a
which was a wholly blatant shout-out to
and contained , was built on this trope - 6 manly men and a sensitive . The
(albeit in Spanish, but the 1995 Pink Panther episodes are hard to find, so
applies, and there is currently no DVD of the full 1993 - 1995 series, only Season 1 from 1993, .
: This trope is primarily played with the naive and idealistic Butters to the sadistic and aggressive Cartman.
Adding on to this, the main characters generally form two pairs for who is sensitive and manly respectively. Stan is an animal lover and usually prefers making peace rather than fighting while Kyle holds the highest morals in the group and is generally the most compassionate of his friends (although, he has one hell of a temper) (Sensitive Guys). On the other hand, Cartman (despite his fondness for tea parties) is forceful, aggressive, and sadistic as mentioned above while Kenny is primarily interested in sex and drugs and perhaps has been seen crying the least among his friends (Manly Men). Butters tends to be the Sensitive Guy to the rest of the main characters in general.
has a son/father example with Steve and Stan.
features a meekly mouse and a manly dog
The Mouse No, not again, please, not again! Oh sir, I beg you to spare me the indignity.
The Dog Shyedup! and get to work.
has Pete, the deep-voiced, dominating, aggressive, bold, easy-to-anger
who likes to hunt, camp, and play "real" sports, and PJ, the high-voiced , submissive, passive, shy, vulnerable
who likes to engage in casual sports and write and listen to poetry. Pete is PJ's father, and
Mike Chilton and Chuck appear to be this in , although Mike, while still the leader of the group and very strong, is actually the group's
and is quite sensitive.
&&&&Real Life&
Orderly and sensitive
and his friend and former bandmate
respectively. Of course, Paul was known for his loud and boisterous shows, while John favored the more sedate route.
The sensitive and charismatic blues musician Jimmy Reed and his tough and hard-boiled manager Al Smith.
Phillip and his dad, Phillip and Ryan, Phillip and Marcus, Phillip and Matthew, Ryan and Chris, Matthew and Ryan, Austin and Matthew
Alternative Title(s):
Manly Man And Sensitive Guy}