List of animated series with crossdressing characters
This is a list of animated series featuring characters who cross-dress, whether LGBTQ+ or not. This includes some characters listed on the list of animated series with LGBT characters page, drag kings, drag queens, tomboys, and others who cross-dress.
Crossdressing generally runs counter to established gender norms and can be seen as a form of transgender behavior but it doesn't always indicate such an identity, even though popular media often "lump crossdressing and homosexuality together."[1] There is also the phenomenon of "situational crossdressing" where heterosexual characters crossdress as a plot device or "other non-gender-expressive reasons," especially superheroes and supervillains.[2][3]
History
Harry Benshoff and Sean Griffin write that animation has always "hint[ed] at the performative nature of gender" such as when Bugs Bunny puts on a wig and a dress, he is a rabbit in drag as a human male who is in drag as a female.[4] This was proceeded by cross-dressing in motion pictures began in the early days of the silent films. For instance, Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel occasionally dressed as women in their films. Even the beefy American actor Wallace Beery appeared in a series of silent films as a Swedish woman. The Three Stooges, especially Curly (Jerry Howard), sometimes appeared in drag in their short films. The tradition has continued for many years, usually played for laughs. Only in recent decades have there been dramatic films in which cross-dressing was included, possibly because of strict censorship of American films until the mid-1960s.
Drag queens and drag kings
Character debut date | Title | Characters | Notes | Country |
---|---|---|---|---|
2004 | As Told by Ginger | Nikki LaPorte (born name: Nicholas) | Nikki LaPorte is actually a guy named Nicholas as a drag queen. She/he sabotages Lois and Dr. Dave's wedding until Noelle exposes Nikki's identity.[5] | United States |
June 6, 2006 | Ouran High School Host Club | Ryōuji "Ranka" Fujioka | Haruhi's father Ryouji is bisexual and works in a gay bar as a drag queen under the name Ranka.[6] Ryoji still deeply loves his deceased wife, Kotoko, and declares that he works as a cross-dresser because he will never truly love another. | Japan |
September 19, 2006 | Gin Tama | Madame Saigou Tokumori | Saigou Tokuori was a past Joui fighter who had a wife and son. However, when his wife passed away, he decided to raise his son as a woman and man and for this purpose became an okama, a Japanese slang term for a man who crossdresses as a woman, and acts as a drag queen.[7] He also expresses comfort in acting and dressing as a woman and also defends his fellow okama. | Japan |
August 15, 2015 | Gatchaman Crowds | DD | A minor character and a commentator on The Millione Show, replaces O.D.[8][9] Described as a "star rookie in the drag queen world" and meets O.D., who teases them.[9] | Japan |
November 9, 2018 | Super Drags | Donizete, Patrick, and Ralph | The series follows the adventures of Donizete, Patrick, and Ralph, three friends working in a department store who are also drag queen superheroes.[10] Scarlet Carmesim, Lemon Chifon, and Safira Cyan are the Super Drags, responsible for protecting the LGBT community. | Brazil |
June 5, 2019 | Carole & Tuesday | Mermaid Sisters | This capella group of performers call themselves "not men or women" and a "new kind of human" when they perform their expletive-heavy song, "Galactic Mermaid."[11] They physically threaten Catherine, the head judge for Mars' Brightest, and the other judges, who rejects them from the quarter-finals due to their lyrics. | Japan |
LGBTQ+ crossdressers
Character debut date | Title | Characters | Identity | Notes | Country |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
October 10, 1979 | The Rose of Versailles | Oscar François de Jarjayes | Genderqueer | Oscar is a young woman raised as a soldier, dressing and behaving as a man, whose former love interest is one of the series protagonists, Marie Antoinette.[12] She also has a relationship with André, a childhood friend, who is only able to share one passionate night with Oscar. | Japan |
October 2, 1983 | Genesis Climber MOSPEADA | Yellow Belmont / Yellow Dancer | Genderqueer | A male soldier who disguises themself as Yellow Dancer, a female singer.[13][14] In the OAV, Sorji is living with Yellow in a cabin in the woods.[15] | Japan |
April 16, 1994 | Sailor Moon | Haruka Tenoh | Genderqueer, Lesbian | One of the Sailor Soldiers who is a swordfighter and acts like a charming boy, though she is really a cross-dressing girl, to get the romantic attention of Michiru Kaioh, with their relationship kept in the English re-release of Sailor Moon.[16][17] | Japan |
May 13, 1994 | Akazukin Chacha | Doris | Gay | Dorothy's brother Doris is a male but cross-dresses to get the attention of Seravy who loves Dorothy.[18] | Japan |
March 4, 1995 | Sailor Moon | Fish-Eye | Gay | An effeminate cross-dressing man who is romantically interested in men.[19][20] | Japan |
April 2, 1995 | Fushigi Yûgi | Nuriko | Bisexual | Nuriko initially dresses and acts as a woman named Kang-lin, one of Hotohori's concubines because Kang-lin was his twin sister who died and he wanted to keep her memory alive.[21] He enjoys cross-dressing[22] and is in love with Hotohori, but later also grows to love the main heroine Miaka.[23] | Japan |
November 2, 1996 | You're Under Arrest | Aoi Futaba | Trans woman | Aoi Futaba was initially male but once had to go undercover as a woman in a sting operation to catch some male molesters targeting women.[24] However, she went "native" and has since considered herself and has been treated by her colleagues as a woman. Though her romantic preferences are made unclear, she seems to prefer men.[25] | Japan |
June 18, 1997 | Rurouni Kenshin | Honjō Kamatari | Gay | A crossdresser and member of the Juppongatana, they are gay and are in love with Shishio Makoto.[26] They tend to dress as a woman but know they will never be as loved like the female Yumi or Shishio's right-hand man since Sojiro is far more skilled.[27] | Japan |
August 26, 2001 | One Piece | Mr. Bon Kurei | Genderqueer, Gay | Mr. Bon Kurei, also known as Bentham of the Wild, is a man who dresses effeminately and whose shapeshifting powers allow him to change his form to whomever he wishes. Inazuma is also an okama that can change from a man to a woman and serves under Ivankov.[28] | Japan |
October 12, 2004 | Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo | Peppo | Gay | Peppo is a boy who enjoys cross-dressing as a girl[29] and is gay. He develops feelings for Albert. | Japan |
August 5, 2006 | Happiness! | Jun Watarase | Gay or Trans woman | Jun is alluded to being either an androgynous gay boy who crossdresses to appear as a girl or a transwoman largely due to the fact that in the OVA she was happy to have been turned into a girl.[30][31] | Japan |
May 4, 2007 | Kirarin Revolution | Izumi Amakawa | Bisexual | Izumi is Kazama Hiroto's childhood friend, who she kisses in one episode, and crossdresses.[32] In later episodes, she gains a mutual relationship with Tsukishima Kirari.[33] | Japan |
October 14, 2007 | Moyashimon: Tales of Agriculture | Kei Yūki | Gay | He is Tadayasu Souemon Sawaki's childhood friend whom he reunited with during the show.[34] Kei loves to cross dress and admits to having romantic feelings towards Sawaki. | Japan |
November 7, 2009 | Fairy Tail | Bob | Gay | Bob is the founder and Guild master of the Blue Pegasus Guild.[35][36] He tends to wear dresses and makeup and act flirtatious around young male mages but does have a more serious and angry side. | Japan |
January 13, 2011 | Wandering Son | Shuichi Nitori | Lesbian Trans Woman | Shuichi Nitori, otherwise known by Shu (シュウ, Shū) and Nitorin (にとりん), is a lesbian transgender woman and often dresses to assume the role of the female gender, and is often described as cute, able to appear as a girl while cross-dressing, which is encouraged by their friends Yoshino Takatsuki and Saori Chiba.[37] Later on, they exhibit signs of gender dysphoria and displays an outward attraction to two characters in the series—Yoshino, a transgender man, and their female classmate, Anna Suehiro.[38][39] The latter date for a shirt time, until the relationship is broken off, and later resumed. | Japan |
January 20, 2011 | Makoto Ariga | Straight Trans woman | Makoto, known as Mako for short, was assigned male at birth like Shuichi, expressing a desire to be a straight trans woman primarily due to her love of men and crossdressing like Shuichi.[40] He even dreams of entering into a relationship with a cool adult man. | ||
July 9, 2014 | Love Stage!! | Izumi Sena | Bisexual | Izumi dresses up as a girl, and when Ryoma, the man he loves, finds out, he gets angry.[41] | Japan |
May 11, 2016 | Super Lovers | Seiji Takamori / Kiyoka | Gay | Seiji, better known as Kiyoka, dresses in woman's clothes and appears to prefer men, having once confessed to Haru and been turned down.[42] He also has transgender friends.[43] | Japan |
August 17, 2016 | The High School Life of a Fudanshi | Yūjirō Shiratori | Gay | Yūjirō is a gay effeminate crossdresser with a liking toward men.[44] | Japan |
July 9, 2017 | Fate/Apocrypha | Astolfo (Rider) | Genderqueer / Bisexual | Astolfo, while genetically and biologically male, he likes to cross-dress, and identifies in this official Fate/Grand Order bio as "gender: unknown" or "le secret". He is willing to allow other characters to believe him to be either gender without objection, and has had relationships with women in the past, while also harbouring romantic feelings towards the series' male protagonist, Sieg.[45] | Japan |
July 25, 2019 | Demon Lord, Retry! | Yukikaze | Gay | A B-rank adventurer who is accompanied with fellow adventurer Mikan. He is often been described as a "girlish boy" because of his feminine appearance, crossdressing as a girl.[46] He is deeply infatuated with the Demon Lord Kunai after being saved twice by him. | Japan |
Heterosexual crossdressers
Character debut date | Title | Characters | Notes | Country |
---|---|---|---|---|
1939 | Bugs Bunny cartoons | Bugs Bunny | Bugs appeared in ladies garb or crossdressed in at least 40 cartoons.[47] Other characters such as Elmer Fudd, Daffy Duck, Wile E. Coyote, Porky Pig, and Sylvester Cat also crossdressed. As Chuck Jones put it, they put Bugs in drag because it was "funny" with people not thinking that a male character turning was turning into something "inappropriate," with audiences liking it.[48] | United States |
October 2, 1983 | Genesis Climber MOSPEADA | Yellow Belmont / Yellow Dancer | Yellow Belmont is a male soldier, who disguises themself as Yellow Dancer, a female singer.[13][14] In the OAV, Sorji is living with Yellow in a cabin in the woods.[15] | Japan |
July 15, 1985 | Dirty Pair | Kei | A hot headed, aggressive woman who is the first to open fire, often with a short temper.[49] She is a tomboy who is attracted to manly, muscular men, while her fellow team member, Yuri, is more feminine, preferring cultured, refined men.[50] | Japan |
October 6, 1995 | El-Hazard | Makoto Mizuhara | Makoto has an uncanny resemblance to Princess Fatora Venus.[51] So as to not ruin alliances, he crossdresses as her for six of the seven episodes of "The Magnificent World" OVA. Some characters like Shayla-Shayla call him a pervert for doing so,[52] while Alielle tries to have sex with him thinking he is Fatora.[53] After his true identity is revealed to the royal court in the sixth episode,[54] he wears his usual school clothes (a formal suit and tie) for the rest of the original OVA, "The Magnificent World." In the next OVA, "The Magnificent World 2," he puts on woman's hair and pretends he is a sister of Fatora, which Fatora uses to her advantage so she can kiss Shayla-Shayla.[55] | Japan |
April 1, 1997 | Pokemon | Ash Ketchum | In one episode, Ash crossdresses in order to disguise himself to get into the Celadon Gym since he had been banned from there in the past for causing a fuss.[56] He also crossdresses in other episodes as "Juliet",[57] in a maid outfit,[58] as "Ashley" at a theater,[59] and as a female nurse.[60] | Japan |
April 8, 1997 | James | He has a tendency to cross-dress, impersonating Nurse Joy, Officer Jenny, and Jessie, along with famous celebrities.[61] | ||
December 2, 1998 | The Powerpuff Girls | Him | A mysterious, sinister, effeminate, and supernatural demon who has lobster-like claws, red skin, pointed ears, a hooked nose, yellow/green eyes, a long curled beard, wearing makeup, a woman's red jacket and skirt, and black boots.[62] Him's plans are usually psychological in nature, and often consist of manipulating events to either drive the Powerpuff Girls insane or drive wedges between them.[63] | United States |
September 6, 1999 | Cybersix | Cybersix | Throughout this series, during the day Cybersix dresses up as a male literature teacher under the alias "Adrian Seidelman" who teaches at the Meridiana High School in the fictional city of Meridiana.[64] At night, she switches back into her usual attire: a leather outfit, cape, and hat, fighting villains. She is aided by her brother, Data 7, and Lucas Amato, her colleague, friend, and love interest. Cybersix only reveals her dual identity to Lori Anderson, a student who is infuated with Adrian. | Canada |
October 9, 2003 | Yami to Bōshi to Hon no Tabibito | Yōko Sumeragi | In the show's second episode, she crossdresses as a male diplomat as a form of protection.[65] | Japan |
May 29, 2004 | Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch Pure | Lady Bat | One of Michel's servants, he cross-dresses as a female.[66] | Japan |
April 5, 2006 | Princess Princess | Toru Kouno, Yuujirou Shihoudani, Mikoto Yutaka | The three boys were selected to be the "princesses" at the all-boy school they attend.[67] They crossdress as girls, which is a tradition with the purpose of breaking up the monotony of life surrounded by nothing but males.[68][69][70][71] They are expected to encourage others at school, and cheer at school events.[72] Other people, including council president Shuya Arisada, were princesses too, in the past.[68] In one episode, Kouno says he wants to hang out with Shihoudani, which he calls a date, so they try to pick up "good-looking girls" instead.[72] This fails, so they end up spending time together, telling each other their personal stories, while Shihoudani teases Kouno about his "loving message," saying he only wants platonic love with Kouno. | Japan |
April 4, 2006 | Ouran High School Host Club | Haruhi Fujioka | She cross-dresses as a boy so she can work in a host club to pay off a debt she owes to the other members.[73] Her father is also a cross-dresser. This cross-dressing is later exploited by the Host Club, which struggles to keep her true gender secret.[74][75] | Japan |
September 19, 2006 | Gin Tama | Saigou Tokumori | Saigou Tokuori was a past Joui fighter who had a wife and son, also known as Mademoiselle Saigou, is the father of an okama club, where he works as a drag queen.[76] | Japan |
November 30, 2007 | Kodomo no Jikan | Rin Kokonoe | Rin crossdresses as a boy to get skin contact from Daisuke Aoki.[77] He discovers this was the case by the end of the episode, but still Aoki apologizes to Rin, with Rin slapping him, then hugging him, lovingly. | Japan |
March 29, 2008 | Shugo Chara | Nagihiko Fujisaki | He cross-dresses as his "twin" Nadeshiko out of family tradition and he crossdresses in his transformation into Yamato Maihime.[78] | Japan |
January 4, 2009 | Maria Holic | Mariya Shidō, Shizu Shidō | Mariya is a cross-dressing boy who attends Ame no Kisaki, a Catholic-based all-girls academy, as a girl as a means to win the chairmanship of both the all-male and all-female schools.[79] When Kanako first meets Mariya, she is instantly attracted to his playful femininity and kind attitude. He often teases Kanako by playing with his long blonde hair, speaking in a soft voice, and smiling sweetly, but Mariya turns out to be quite sadistic in nature. | Japan |
October 7, 2009 | Whispered Words | Masaki Akemiya | Masaki likes Sumika, but when he notices that she likes Ushio he cross-dresses in order to catch her attention.[80] After his younger sister finds out, she sends pictures of him to a magazine and pictures of him start appearing in magazines under the alias Akemi Yamasaki. Ushio sees the pictures and develops a crush on Akemi and wants to meet 'her'.[81] | Japan |
November 22, 2009 | The Cleveland Show | Kevin Tubbs | Cleveland learns in one episode that Kevin Tubbs adopted a female persona named "Auntie" Momma years earlier because she felt that her niece Donna did not have a strong female role model in her life.[82] Bil Browning of the LGBT blog, The Bilerico Project, criticized the character as not transgender but only "a deep-voiced man pretending to be a woman"[83] while GLAAD called the episode Kevin premiered in as "problematic".[84] | United States |
October 2, 2010 | MM! | Tatsukichi Hayama | He enjoys cross-dressing, which induces his female alter-ego "Tatsumi Antoinette XVI" to appear, with this alter-ego having a superiority complex, attacking Mio's breast size and arguing over Taro's affection.[85][86] He is troubled at the start when Taro, who does not know of Tatsukichi's hobby, becomes infatuated with his female alter ego. | Japan |
October 15, 2010 | Princess Jellyfish | Kuranosuke Koibuchi | He is the son of a rich political family and loves to cross-dress in women's clothing and makeup, appearing in various fashionable outfits throughout the series, as well as several different wigs.[87][88][89] He uses the alias "Kurako" in front of the other Amars to hide his gender. | Japan |
April 15, 2011 | Aria the Scarlet Ammo | Kinji Tohyama | Similar to Kinichi, Kinji crossdresses at times as Clomaetel Belmondo, a cute, tall girl with red eyes and long hair black hair going down to the waist with a feminine face similar to Kana.[90][91] | Japan |
May 9, 2011 | The Amazing World of Gumball | Richard Watterson | Richard is one of the main characters in The Amazing World of Gumball. He serves the role of the father in the Watterson family. He is portrayed as childish and very effeminate, as he is shown enjoying dressing like a woman in a number of episodes.[92][93][94] In addition, he reveals that he has a persona of an old woman in "The Lady" to befriend some older women though he didn't have to. He admits in the same episode that he feels he is not that good at being a man.[95][96] | United Kingdom |
July 1, 2011 | Aria the Scarlet Ammo | Kinichi / Kana Tohyama | Under the influence of Hysteria Mode, Kinichi crossdresses as "Kana" with long braided brown hair and wears a female Butei uniform, long black stockings, and brown lace-up boots.[97] In addition, his physical appearance become more feminine with large eyes and soft facial features like many female characters in the series.[98] In Volume 27 of the manga he marries Patra, an Egyptian descendant of Cleopatra VII. | Japan |
July 7, 2011 | Mayo Chiki! | Subaru Konoe | Female protagonist of the story and a second year high school student who works as a butler for the Suzutsuki family. She has to cross-dress because Kanade's father has allowed Subaru to be his daughter's butler only if she can spend the entire three years at school with her true gender undiscovered. Her physical features allow her to fool everyone into believing her to be a boy until Kinjirō accidentally discovers her secret in the show's first episode.[99] Her cross-dressing is a major theme for the rest of the show. | Japan |
July 18, 2013 | Gatchaman Crowds | Rui Ninomiya | Getting powers from Katze, Rui, has a strong intellect, is trilingual, and developed the social network “GALAX," often crossdressing as a woman in punk rocker fashion named "LOAD."[100][101][102] Rui is called male by Hajime Ichinose, surprising Sugane Tachibana, who thinks he is female, while other characters don't presume a gender at all or call Rui "buddy."[103] She is often identified[104] as male and described by one character as girly in one episode.[105] | Japan |
November 4, 2013 | Steven Universe | Steven Universe | In "Sadie's Song," Steven sings on stage, wearing Sadie's outfit with a dress and makeup, the "mystery guest" singing a song at the town's Beach-a-Palooza, saving his friend Sadie from embarrassment.[106][107] Additionally, in the episode "Familiar,"[108] Steven wears his mom's dress to impress the Diamonds with a huge ball, which he also wears in the episodes "Escapism"[109] or in part of "Change Your Mind".[110] | United States |
July 7, 2014 | Himegoto | Hime Arikawa | He crossdresses to join the Student Council which promises to pay off the debt created by Hime's parents.[111] In the same series, Hime's brother, Kaguya, HIro Toyotomi, No. 1, and Mitsunaga Oda, all of whom are against the Student Council, also crossdress. | Japan |
October 11, 2014 | I Can't Understand What My Husband Is Saying | Mayotama | Mayotama is a cross-dressing boy and Hajime's androgynous younger brother. He has the appearance of a high school girl and loves to write Boys' Love manga. He has a crush on Miki, who is believed to be male, hinting that Mayotama is gay.[112] | Japan |
October 5, 2016 | Nanbaka | Hitoshi Sugoroku | Hitoshi Sugoroku is an effeminate male crossdresser who looks, acts and behaves like a woman. He is the younger brother of Hajime Sugoroku, supervisor of Nanba prison.[113] | Japan |
November 26, 2017 | Blend S | Hideri Kanzaki | Hideri is a 16-year-old waiter who fulfills the idol trait. Hideri is actually a boy who dresses as a girl and aspires to become an idol.[114] While he acts like a "cute" girl all the time, he can unintentionally become manly. Although friendly and energetic, he is also incredibly vain, and believes himself to be incredibly cute, often bragging about how much his alleged fanbase admires him. | Japan |
See also
References
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