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Beauty, Brains, and Brawn

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Cquote1

Blossom, commander and the leader

Bubbles, she is the joy and the laughter

Buttercup, she is the toughest fighter
—The Powerpuff Girls ending theme
Cquote2
Beauty brains brawn 02 9796

From left to right: The one who fires off glorious magic spells, the one who builds the best gadgets, and the one who punches things real hard.

Related to Tomboy and Girly Girl or Sensitive Guy and Manly Man, a type of unisex Power Trio where one is smart, one is tough, and one is conventionally pretty, popular or feminine. It's fairly common for the "Beauty" to act as the Team Mom, The Kirk, or the mediator when the other two get into their frequent fights, so they have something to do other than just be pretty. Often, to give "Beauty" a useful skill, she is the one who is socially adept and empathetic, while "Brains" has technical skills but is nerdy and socially awkward.

The personalities might also be what the Freudian Trio used to be described as: body or the impulsive, pleasure-seeking one (the brawn), mind or the academic, reasonable one (the brain) and heart or the one who ties them together, as the calming, healing influence (the beauty). In other words, the Brawn represents the Id, the Brain represents the Superego, and the Beauty represents the Ego.

Often Colour-Coded for Your Convenience as the Brainy Brunette, the Fiery Redhead and the beautiful but Dumb Blonde. Although it can be switched around. Contrast though as the Blonde, Brunette, Redhead tend to be portrayed as flaws while Beauty, Brains, and Brawn are good.

As a counterpart to this trope, men can qualify here just as much as women can be. The stereotypical (and often overrated) Manly Man, who are mostly all action and not interested in anintelligent conversation serve as the Brawn. The clever Chessmaster and the guy with all the plans, that is always experimenting and learning in solitude serves as the Brains. Leaving the polite, refined and often well-spoken man to serve as the Beauty.

See also: The Hecate Sisters, The Three Faces of Eve, Four-Girl Ensemble, Four-Man Band, The Three Faces of Adam.

Examples of Beauty, Brains, and Brawn include:


Anime and Manga[]

  • Axis Powers Hetalia
    • Ukraine: Beauty (the most emotional and sensitive)
    • Liechtenstein: Brains (sensitive as well, but more stable and said to be a techie in the author's notes)
    • Hungary: Brawn (the Action Girl,'nuff said)
  • Among Fem England and her daughters:
    • Fem England: Brains (very serious and logical Tsundere)
    • Fem America: Brawn (a Tomboy with little inhibitions)
    • Fem Canada: Beauty (docile yet strong at heart)
  • The Fem Axis girls mirror the same roles as their male counterparts:
    • Fem North Italy: Beauty (Has a warm and welcoming heart, brave but still accident-prone)
    • Fem Germany: Brawn (The butch girl who is no-nonsense like her male version)
    • Fem Japan: Brains (Curious of the west and very stuck in her countries traditions.)
  • Marmalade Boy
    • Arimi Suzuki - Beauty
    • Miki Koishikawa - Brawn
    • Meiko Akizuki - Brains
  • Ikki Tousen
    • Gentoku Ryuubi - Beauty
    • Kan'u Unchou - Brains
    • Ekitoku Chouhi - Brawn
  • Sailor Moon: First Two Arcs of the First Series
    • Usagi/Moon - Beauty
    • Ami/Mercury - Brains
    • Rei/Mars - Brawn
  • Sailor Moon: The Outer Senshi
    • Michiru/Neptune - Beauty
    • Setsuna/Pluto - Brains
    • Haruka/Uranus - Brawn
  • Sailor Moon: The Sailor Starlights
    • Yaten/Star Healer - Beauty
    • Taiki/Star Maker - Brains
    • Seiya/Star Fighter - Brawn
  • The Daughter of Twenty Faces - According to Koito, the Detective Girls are as followed:
    • Chiko - Brawn
    • Tome - Beauty
    • Koito - Brains
      • Unfortunately, it doesn't completely work, because Chiko is probably more clever than Koito...
  • Kaleido Star: Half-first season Power Trio
    • Sora - Beauty
    • Mia - Brains
    • Anna - Brawn
  • Et Cetera
    • Mingchao - Beauty
    • Fino - Brains
    • Benkate - Brawn
  • Ojamajo Doremi: At the start, at least.
    • Doremi - Beauty
    • Hazuki - Brains
    • Aiko - Brawn
  • Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha ViVid
    • Vivio - Beauty (Attracts friends with ease in addition to being royalty)
    • Corona - Brains (Bookworm type Squishy Wizard Marionette Master and the least brawny of the three)
    • Rio - Brawn (Skilled martial artist who created her own style and the least bookish of the three)
  • Similar dynamic with the original trio.
    • Nanoha - Beauty (A Messiah by means of Defeat Means Friendship)
    • Fate - Brawn (Does the most up close fighting of the trio and has the skillset to match)
    • Hayate - Brains (Least able to go one on one according to Canon, gained magic by being plugged into a Magical Tome. Becomes a Commander and Big Good in the series following her debut)
  • Futari wa Pretty Cure Max Heart
    • Hikari/Shiny Luminous - Beauty
    • Honoka/Cure White - Brains
    • Nagisa/Cure Black - Brawn


  • Puella Magi Madoka Magica could decieve you into thinking this was the case. It doesn't last long.
    • Mami - Beauty
    • Madoka - Brains
    • Sayaka - Brawn
  • Sket Dance mixed things up a bit:
    • Bossun - "Intuitive" Brains
    • Himeko - Beauty and Brawn
    • Switch - "Technological" Brains and Beauty
  • Digimon Xros Wars Bad guys Mixed version.
    • Beauty - Lilithmon
    • Brains - Tactimon
    • Brawn - Blastmon
    • Beauty - Aoi
    • Brains - Kurumi
    • Brawn - Haruka
  • Naruto:
    • Team 7:
    • Team 10:
      • Beauty- Ino
      • Brains- Shikamaru
      • Brawn- Choji
    • Team 8:
      • Beauty- Hinata
      • Brains- Shino
      • Brawn- Kiba
    • Team Guy:
      • Beauty- Tenten
      • Brains- Neji
      • Brawn- Rock Lee
    • The other Konoha Jonin:
      • Brawn- Guy
      • Brains- Asuma
      • Beauty- Kurenai
    • Team Hiruzen (aka The Sannin):
    • Team Konohamaru:
  • FLCL
    • Beauty - Mamimi
    • Brains - Ninamori
    • Brawn - Haruko
  • Outlaw Star
    • Beauty - Melfina
    • Brains - Suzuka
    • Brawn - Aisha
  • Yu-Gi-Oh!
    • Beauty: Shizuka Katsuya/Serenity Wheeler
    • Brains: Anzu Makazi/Tea Gardner
    • Brawn: Mai Kujaku/Valentine
    • Across Series:
      • Beauty: Anzu/Tea (Dueled the least)
      • Brains: Asuka/Alexis (Won through strategy, also subverting Dumb Blonde)
      • Brawn: Aki(za) (Has the most duels of the three, and was a scary and hard opponent)
  • Ranma ½: When you boil them down to the characteristics most people associate them with, the Tendo sisters fit this.
  • Fullmetal Alchemist
    • Beauty: Winry
    • Brains: Alphonse
    • Brawn: Edward
    • Alphonse and Winry could actually be switched: Winry is tech whiz so she fits nicely in Brains, whereas Al is a softspoken Gentle Giant so he has a good share of Beauty as well.
  • Prison School: The Underground Council:
    • Beauty: Meiko Shiraki
    • Brains: Mari Kurihara
    • Brawn: Hana Midorikawa.
  • Street Fighter Ibuki has different 3 female associations but when it comes to comics:
    • Beauty: Ibuki
    • Brains: Elena
    • Brawn: Makoto
  • There is also the Back To School Special where Ibuki once again is in a 3 female group
    • Beauty: Sakura
    • Brains: Karin
    • Brawn: Ibuki
    • When it comes to the Rival School ladies Akira was the Beauty, Yurika was the Brains and Zaki was the Brawn.

Comic Books[]

  • Birds of Prey
    • Black Canary - Beauty
    • Oracle - Brains
    • Huntress - Brawn
  • Josie and the Pussy Cats
    • Josie - Brains
    • Melody - Beauty
    • Valerie - Brawn (It could be made out that Valerie could be both brains and brawn, while Josie is just the leader).
  • SHIELD
    • Maria Hill - Brawn
    • Sharon Carter - Beauty
    • Victoria Hand - Brains


Film[]

  • The Sound of Music: The three oldest Von Trapp daughters
    • Liesl - Beauty
    • Brigitta - Brains
    • Louisa - Brawn
  • Home on the Range:
    • Grace - Beauty
    • Mrs. Calloway - Brains
    • Maggie - Brawn
  • Beauty and the Beast: The Beast's servants
    • The Feather Duster - Beauty
    • Mrs. Potts - Brains
    • The Wardrobe - Brawn
  • UglyDolls: The Spy Dolls

Literature[]

  • Occurs in Noel Streatfield's Ballet Shoes.
    • Pauline - Beauty
    • Petrova - Brains
    • Posy - Brawn (while not the stereoptypical Brawn, she is certainly the best dancer of the three)
  • The Wheel of Time
  • The prominent professors in Harry Potter:
    • Albus Dumbledore - Beauty (The most caring of the teachers, wise but also sympathetic and good at reading the emotions of others.)
    • Severus Snape - Brains (A very strict and serious Potions Master, who cleverly played both sides between Dumbledore and Voldemort.)
    • Minerva Mcgonagall - Brawn (A strong-willed and opinionated teacher, who always tried to do the right thing despite whatever mishaps came her way.)


Live-Action TV[]

  • Arrow
    • Laurel — Beauty
    • Felicity — Brains
    • Sara — Brawn
  • Charlie's Angels (the original series)
    • Sabrina - Brains
    • Kelly - Brawn
    • Jill - Beauty
  • Charmed
    • Prue - Brains
    • Piper - Brawn (She started using her brains more when she got promoted to eldest sister)
    • Phoebe - Beauty (Became brawnier when she started using She Fu)
    • Paige - Beauty (She had the least experience)
  • Degrassi
  • Seasons 1-8
    • Manny - Beauty
    • Liberty - Brains
    • Emma - Brawn (In the Feminist Save-the-Planet Independent Tomboy way, less so physical strength.)
  • Season 7-11
    • Mia (S7-8) then Fiona (S9-11) - Beauty (Model and Fashionista)
    • Holly J - Brains (Student Council President going to Yale)
    • Anya - Brawn (LAR Ping battle Princess turned Military recruit)
  • Felicity
    • Julie — Beauty
    • Felicity — Brains
    • Elena — Brawn
  • Firefly
    • Kaylee - Brains
    • Zoe - Brawn
    • Inara - Beauty
    • River - A bit hard to define, although she seems to have all three being a child prodigy/genius (enough to have Psychic Powers), expert at Waif Fu, and not to mention played by Summer Glau
  • The Goldbergs
  • Magic Attic Club:
    • Beauty: Heather Hardin (Fashionable and fanciful).
    • Brains: Rose Hopkins (Logical and analytical).
    • Brawn: Alison McCan (Athletic and competitive).
  • The Nanny (The Sheffield household)
  • Step by Step
    • Dana- Brains
    • Karen- Beauty
    • Al- Brawn
  • Two seasons of Survivor (Cagayan and Kaoh Rong) used this as their theme. The former was won by a Brawn, the latter by a Beauty.
  • Wizards of Waverly Place - Only in the episodes where Juliet was present
    • Juliet - Beauty
    • Harper - Brains
    • Alex - Brawn
  • Young Sheldon - The three Cooper children
    • Sheldon - Brains (The smartest of the siblings, but incredibly awkward and antisocial)
    • Missy - Beauty (Vain, sarcastic but also manipulative when she wants to be)
    • Georgie - Brawn (The dim-witted Jock, who is only good at physical work)


Music[]

  • The song "Gangsta Bitch"
    • Eve - Brains
    • Da Brat - Brawn
    • Trina - Beauty


Video Games[]

  • Fire Emblem 6 - The Pegasus Knight sisters
    • Yuuno - Beauty
    • Thite - Brains
    • Thany - Brawn
  • Fire Emblem 7 - The other Peg Knight sisters
    • Florina - Beauty
    • Fiora - Brains
    • Farina - Brawn
  • Fire Emblem - The original Peg Knight sisters
    • Palla - Beauty (Eldest and most level-headed.)
    • Catria - Brains (Portrayed as fairly clever in her (limited) characterization.)
    • Est - Brawn (Powered straight through enemy lines to bring the allies a Cool Sword.)
  • Project Justice - Seijyun Girls High School
    • Akira - Brains
    • Yurika - Beauty
    • Zaki - Brawn
  • Persona 4
    • Chie - Brawn
    • Yukiko - Brains
    • Rise - Beauty
    • Optionally replace Yukiko with Naoto.
  • Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time/Darkness/Sky - Team Charm
    • Lopunny - Beauty
    • Gardevoir - Brains
    • Medicham - Brawn
  • Blaz Blue
    • Noel Vermilion - Beauty
    • Tsubaki Yayoi - Brains
    • Makoto Nanaya - Brawn
  • Lost Odyssey
    • Ming - Beauty
    • Sarah - Brains
    • Seth - Brawn
      • (though Ming, Seth and Cooke can also can be the Brains too)
  • Tales of Vesperia
    • Estelle - Beauty
    • Rita - Brains
    • Judith - Brawn (also Beauty, but her role tends to be as Brawn instead)
  • Jade Empire
    • Dawn Star - Beauty (Brains before Silk Fox's arrival)
    • Silk Fox - Brains (also Beauty)
    • Wild Flower - Brawn (when Chai Ka/Ya Zhen is in control)
  • Dragon Age Origins
    • Leliana - Beauty
    • Wynne - Brains
    • Morrigan - Brawn (at least personality-wise. She could technically fit all three)
      • Alternatively, Shale as the brawn, who is an even better fit for that role.
  • Sonic The Hedgehog: The Sonic girls:
    • Marina the Racoon & Sticks the Badger - Brawn
    • Amy Rose, Cream the Rabbit & Rouge the Bat - Beauty
    • Blaze the Cat & Wave the Swallow - Brains
  • Pokémon Red and Blue - The female gym leaders:
    • Erika - Beauty. She isn't called "the nature-loving princess" for nothing.
    • Sabrina - Brains. The master of psychic Pokemon, themselves associated with brains, literally uses her noggin to communicate with her Pokemon in combat against trainers who come by.
    • Misty - Brawn. Not only is she explicitly called a tomboy on the signpost outside of her gym, she uses powerful Pokemon that can easily thrash your Pokemon if you're not prepared.
  • Pokemon Black 2 and White 2 - The female gym leaders:
    • Roxie - Brawn. The loud and passionate Rocker, who is known for her relentless poisonous themes.
    • Elesa - Beauty. Known as "The Shining Beauty", a very calm and stoic Fashion Model who utilizes the striking designs of her Pokemon.
    • Skyla - Brains. Though chipper and outgoing, is also a Pilot and capable of controlling aircraft in her free time. Most of her Pokemon are birds, suitable as birds are often seen as very intelligent creatures.
  • The Beauty and the Beast Unit from Metal Gear Solid 4:
    • Laughing Octopus & Screaming Mantis: Beauty.
    • Crying Wolf: Brains.
    • Raging Raven: Brawn.

(Note: Though all four possess beauty in their own way, their tactics vary during combat.)

Webcomics[]

  • Angel Moxie:
    • Riley - Brains
    • Tristan - Brawn
    • Alex - Beauty
  • Last Res0rt:
    • Jigsaw - Brawny Brunette
    • Daisy - Brainy Redhead
    • Adharia - Beautiful Blonde
  • El Goonish Shive:
    • Nanase - Brawn
    • Grace - Brains (of the Genius Ditz variety)
    • Ellen - Beauty
      • Although all three of them would probably count as Brawn in any other setting.
  • The girls from Cucumber Quest
    • Princess Nautilus - Beauty
    • Peridot - Brains
    • Almond - Brawn
  • the main trio of Moonlace
    • Holly - Beauty
    • Moccha - Brains
    • Jennifer - Brawn

Web Original[]

  • Sailor Nothing
    • Himei/Sailor Nothing - Brawn
    • Aki/Sailor Beauty - Beauty
    • Shin/Sailor Truth - Brains


Western Animation[]

  • My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic - Cutie Mark Crusaders
    • Apple Bloom- Brains
    • Scootaloo- Brawn
    • Sweetie Belle- Beauty
    • Alternatively, the Mane 6 can be divided into two per section, as well.
      • Beauty - Rarity and Fluttershy
      • Brains - Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie
      • Brawn - Applejack and Rainbow Dash

(The later addition of Starlight Glimmer makes an interesting balance of Brains (intelligent and rationality) and Beauty (socially adept and even open-minded).)

  • Avatar: The Last Airbender [1]
    • Azula: Brains. The second season finale and the Day of Black Sun are triumphant examples of this.
    • Ty Lee: Brawn, by virtue of being able to beat down dozens of grown men. With her bare hands.
    • Mai: Beauty, through her elegant design and the fact that she's the only one of the three to have a boyfriend.
      • Alternately, it could also be:
      • Azula: Brawn. She's one of the most powerful firebenders around.
      • Ty Lee: Beauty. She's the girl everyone wanted to be with in the episode "The Beach".
      • Mai: Brains: She's the oldest and wisest out of the three girls, including being smart enough to exploit Azula's weakness of being too overconfident in the end of the episode "The Boiling Rock Part 2".
  • Can also apply to the three girls in the Gaang, though they are all well-rounded enough to have aspects of each category.
    • Katara: Beauty, she's a powerful waterbender, and not unintelligent, but she's also the one who turns the most heads.
    • Toph: Brawn, because of the three she relies the most on brute strength and guts when fighting.
    • Suki: Brains, by virtue of being leader of the Kyoshi Warriors she has the best leadership skills and is good at planning strategy.
  • Doug - the main three females
    • Patti: Brains
    • Beebe: Beauty
    • Connie: Brawn (as seen in "Doug Throws a Party")
  • Teen Titans
    • Starfire: Beauty
    • Raven: Brains
    • Terra: Brawn
  • Vampirina
    • Poppy: Beauty
    • Bridget: Brains
    • Vee: Brawn
  • The Loud House
  • Leni, Lori and Lola - Beauties
  • Luan, Lucy, and Lisa - Brains
  • Lana, Luna, and Lynn - Brawns
  • Wonder Pets:
  • Beauty: Tuck
  • Brains: Linny
  • Brawn: Ming-Ming

Fan Works[]

  1. ↑ Well, technically Azula fits all three, and the other two also fit at least one other category, but they have their specialties
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