Statuesque Stunner

Big Barda's a whole lotta woman.

Axel Foley: "What would you say if I said a six-foot blonde works here?"
John Taggart: "... Six-foot blonde women grow on trees in California."
Billy Rosewood: "He's right. They're everywhere."

—Beverly Hills Cop II

Women, on average, are shorter than men. And a good number of men find petite women charming. Because of this, in our society, tall girls and women often feel awkward and out of place, and some men will feel uncomfortable when it comes to having a relationship with a woman who towers over them, similar to someone stronger than them.

But then there are some women for whom this trope applies. These are the women whose overall charm comes from their height. Even if they themselves don't acknowledge it, the story and/or characters make it clear that her height is one of her distinguishing charms. Also, in fiction, tall women tend to be Tomboys and sometimes fall into the Action Girl archetype. Due to their extreme height, they will often have nice, long legs.

They are also quite common in the Superhero genre and often accompanied by the Most Common Superpower. And as with Most Common Superpower, sometimes tall heroines are so much the norm that they have to be extremely tall to really stand out. Looking at published Canon references like DC's Who's Who and Marvel's Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, one gets the impression that the average height for female characters is something like 5'10" or 5'11" (and that for male characters, it's about 6'3").

There is some Truth in Television to this trope as well: in Real Life, models are usually quite tall (the better to show off their clothing, for one, and to have a more impressive presence).

Please note that for a woman to qualify for this trope, she needs to fulfill two criteria:

  1. She must be either taller than most men in her setting or stand at least 5'8" (172 cm) tall.
  2. She must either be considered attractive in-universe or be accompanied by Fan Service tropes (Stripperiffic, Male Gaze, etc.).

Not to be confused with Tall, Dark and Bishoujo, a character trope mainly used to describe women who are aloof, in addition to often having long, dark hair, and being tall, but not necessarily to the point of inclusion under this trope. They can overlap, though. Also not to be confused with Taken for Granite.

Some Statuesque Stunners are also Amazonian Beauties. Compare and contrast Huge Schoolgirl, compare Tall, Dark and Bishoujo.

Examples of Statuesque Stunner include:

Anime and Manga

  • Half of the premise of Lovely Complex is Risa Koizumi, a girl taller than average. The other half being Atsushi Ootani, a boy shorter than usual.
    • An older manga (and anime; from the same studio, no less) called "The Kabocha Wine (The Pumpkin Wine)" has a similar premise.
  • Makoto (Sailor Jupiter) from Sailor Moon is the tallest and strongest of the Inner Senshi. Haruka (Sailor Uranus) takes it to even more drastic levels.
  • Fuyumi Kujirakawa from Great Teacher Onizuka.
  • In Airmaster, the eponymous streetfighter—real name, "Maki"—is this, as well as a Huge Schoolgirl and an Action Girl. During the opening, she's seen walking through an average, crowded Tokyo street—heads and shoulders above everyone else. Most of her height is in her legs, which is handy since they're also her main weapon. As for being "stunning"... well, several guys in the show seems to think so, at least.
  • Viletta Nu, Cornelia Li Britannia, Rakshata Chawla, and Milly Ashford from Code Geass.
  • Sakaki from Azumanga Daioh, is simply huge for a 16 year old japanese girl at 1.74m. This troubles her a lot as she's very shy and obsessed with everything small and cute.
  • If we tried to list all the examples in Claymore, we'd be here all day, so it's easier to list the exceptions. Miata, and that's pretty much it.
  • Rangiku Matsumoto of Bleach skirts the line at 5'8", but her height is most definitely not her most noticeable trait.
  • Rider from Fate/stay night, so very much. Also voiced in the anime by the same woman who VA'ed Sakaki, above.
  • Noi of Dorohedoro is very tall (according to the Japanese Wikipedia, she's about 6'10"). She's quite buxom as well. Despite Most Common Superpower, she's been mistaken for a man numerous times by other characters, and most readers tend to get a Samus Is a Girl moment when they see her maskless for the first time. Fan art tends to depict her carrying her partner Shin in her arms.
  • Sakura from Urusei Yatsura.
  • In the manga Walkin' Butterfly, the protagonist bemoans the fact that she's super-tall until she realizes that most models are actually quite tall.
  • Mai Kujaku/Valentine of Yu-Gi-Oh! stands almost eye to eye with Katsuya Jounouchi/Joey Wheeler.
  • An excellent example from One Piece: Boa Hancock, whose official height is a whopping 191 cm (that's over six feet three inches), yet she is very obviously beautiful both to readers and in-universe characters. In fact, she's called the most beautiful woman in the world at one point. It fits, since she's the empress of an island of amazons.
    • Nico Robin is only one inch shorter than her.
    • The mermaid princess Shirahoshi takes this Up to Eleven, as she has many admirers, and is utterly gigantic.
      • There's also a un-named female Marine in the very literal "Giant Squad", who's fairly attractive.
  • The gender flipped version of Russia in Axis Powers Hetalia is a very beautiful, long-haired Winter Royal Lady who easily is the tallest of the Nyotalia girls.
    • Also, the genderflipped version of Sweden is a Lady of War with glasses and just as long hair. We're not sure of how exactly tall she is, but consider that the original Sweden is at least 6'0"...
  • Urd and her mother Hild of Ah! My Goddess.
  • Hikaru Ohno of Take On Me. Quoting the character intro, she's "Six foot one of fun fun fun!"
  • Milly Thompson from Trigun.
  • Naga of Slayers is every bit as tall as she is busty. Which is to say, very much so.
  • Mahou Sensei Negima gives us several: Kaede (181 cm), Chachamaru (174 cm), Mana (184 cm), Akira (175 cm), Ayaka (173 cm), and Chizuru (172 cm). All regularly wear Stripperiffic clothing or nothing at all and the only potential Love Interests for them are 10. Lampshaded by Chisame on how her class is so abnormal in every aspect including beauties, breast size, and height.
  • Kagari Ayaka from Witch Craft Works. The male protagonist Honoka barely reaches her chest (although the size seems to change from chapter to chapter), making her at least 6 feet tall. She is also a Tall, Dark and Bishoujo Kuudere with G-cup breasts, dark, thigh-long hair (except when she is in battle, where it becomes fire-like), and a very nice body. It shows in the many, many, many instances where she carry Honoka bride style.
  • Tsubaki Natsukasa from Soul Eater.
  • Brioche from Dog Days.
  • Angel from The Big O is 5' 10".


Comics

Film

  • Singer/actress Grace Jones fits this trope in real life and her film roles, most notably A View to a Kill and Conan The Destroyer
  • Real-life supermodel Amber Valetta in Hitch, especially compared to her suitor Kevin James.
  • Avatar: Technically any female Na'vi; Dr. Grace (Sigourney Weaver) towers over most of her coworkers.


Literature

  • Cimorene of the Enchanted Forest Chronicles is mentioned to be as tall as most men.
  • Honor Harrington, who at her 188 cm (6'2") is one of the taller characters in the series. The fact that she considered herself a Huge Schoolgirl in her youth, with attendant self-esteem issues, had large implications in the early books.
  • In the Discworld - stripper Tawnee is over six feet tall. We also have the Amazonian policewoman Precious Jolson, a woman her diminutive patrol partner claims to have the muscles of a troll on her.
  • Evelyn, the narrator and protagonist of "Paper Chains" by Jane Langton, is a six-foot red-head. And her parents have always encouraged her not to slouch.
  • Lanfear of The Wheel of Time, who is consistently stated to be the World's Most Beautiful Woman and stands almost as tall as the 6'6" Rand al'Thor.
  • Many female characters in The Dresden Files, both human (Charity, Molly, Georgia, etc.) and otherwise (Gard, Lara, Lea, etc.), to the point that Author Appeal is strongly suspected.
    • However, notably averted with the most prominent female of the series: Karrin Murphy is five feet even.
    • On the other hand, they are almost all blonde. And curvy.
  • Galadriel of The Lord of the Rings et al. is this. She is said to be 6'4" and one of the most stunning beauties in Middle Earth.
  • Lizzy of the web-novel Domina is described as bronze-skinned, golden-eyed, and over six feet. Sounds like the description of a Greek goddess.

Live Action TV

  • Ellie and Sarah from Chuck.
  • C.J. Cregg from The West Wing. No doubt inspired by her actress, Allison Janney.
    • Lampshaded when the White House decorator tries to get her to redecorate her office to be more like Dolley Madison's.

Decorator: But it's lovely, and feminine.
CJ: Dolley-with-an-E Madison was maybe 5'3.
 Decorator: Yes...?
CJ: (stands up and stares down at her)
Decorator: ... Of course.

  • The eponymous character of Xena: Warrior Princess.
  • Mini from Skins fits all the requirements of this trope, with Freya Mavor, the actress who plays her, being a 5'10" blonde with light eyes, freckles and wavy hair.
  • Laura Prepon, who played Donna Pinciotti on That '70s Show, is 5'10", and throughout the series, was touted as the single hottest girl in Point Place.
  • Barbara Feldon on Get Smart had to slump a bit next to star Don Adams.
  • Catwoman, as played by Julie Newmar on Batman, was 5'11". Wearing heels, she even towered over her own henchmen.
  • Ghost Whisperer: Andrea Moreno (Aisha Tyler), Melinda's six-foot-tall Black Best Friend who was killed off at the end of the first season.
  • The actress who plays Sansa Stark in A Game of Thrones is still in her early teens, and is already taller than most men, made easier by several of the adult male actors not being particularly tall. The actress who will play Brienne of Tarth is absolutely gargantuan, but is far more attractive than the character described in the novels.
    • Word of God has it that part of what won her the role of Brienne is that she showed up to her audition done up to look as homely as Brienne does in the books.
  • Number Six of Battlestar Galactica Reimagined, played by fanboy-endorsed Tricia Helfer who stands at 5'11". Especially in the miniseries she towers over 5'8" James Callis (Baltar).
  • Companion/miniskirt enthusiast Amy Pond of Doctor Who, portrayed by the 5'11" Karen Gillan.
  • Blake Lively is somewhat taller than her Gossip Girl co-star Leighton Meester (she's a touch over 5'10", Leighton... isn't) and many of the rest of the cast, a point acknowledged in "The Magnificent Archibalds":

Aaron: Serena's life is complicated?
Dan: Yeah. I don't know about you but the Serena I know has long, flowing blonde hair, towers over both of us?


Tabletop Games

Video Games

Web Comics


Web Original


Western Animation

  1. ↑ And when you do take these into account, she's the tallest playable character in the main Final Fantasy series (the offline games, at least).
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