# Looking for BEAUTY & THE BEAST type stories in which Beast wins without a makeover. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 24, 2012, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-beauty-the-beast-type-stories-in-which-beast-wins-without-a-makeover/626158 "2012-06-24T17:25:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2012, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-beauty-the-beast-type-stories-in-which-beast-wins-without-a-makeover/626158/1 "2012-06-24T17:25:10Z")
In case the thread title is not clear, here is what I mean. I’m looking for stories in which a beautiful/handsome person competes with an ugly/monstrous person for the affections of a third, in which the beloved chooses the ugly person WITHOUT the latter receiving any sort of makeover, transformation, or she-was-pretty-all-along revelation at any point. Stories like the B&B fairy tale, in which Beauty comes to love the Beast and the Beast is ultimately returned to normal, do NOT count. Only stories in which the Beast wins the affections of Beauty and yet remains physically repellent (or at least unpleasant) throughout. Suggestions? Anyone who mentions Andrew Lloyd Webber will be beaten with this stick, incidentally. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2012, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-beauty-the-beast-type-stories-in-which-beast-wins-without-a-makeover/626158/2 "2012-06-24T17:31:52Z")
Shrek? I guess its debatable if that fits or not since the “other guy” is also somewhat physically challenged. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2012, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-beauty-the-beast-type-stories-in-which-beast-wins-without-a-makeover/626158/3 "2012-06-24T17:33:29Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > Shrek? I guess its debatable if that fits or not. I’ve only seen the second sequel, so I’m not sure. Does Shrek have a rival for Fiona’s affection in the first movie? (And isn’t she in her ogre form for the vast majority of that movie anyway?) ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2012, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-beauty-the-beast-type-stories-in-which-beast-wins-without-a-makeover/626158/4 "2012-06-24T17:36:52Z")
There was no love triangle involved, but in Robert R. McCammon’s _Gone South_, protagonist Dan Lambert is initially put off by the enormous mulberry birthmark on Arden, a girl he gives a lift to in the middle of the night (as are most other people). He thinks it’s especially sad since the other half of her face is so “achingly perfect.” After they’ve shared a hair-raising journey together and she’s found the faith healer she was looking for, he sees her through completely different eyes and realizes that the birthmark itself is, in its own way, beautiful too. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2012, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-beauty-the-beast-type-stories-in-which-beast-wins-without-a-makeover/626158/5 "2012-06-24T17:37:52Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > I’ve only seen the second sequel, so I’m not sure. Does Shrek have a rival for Fiona’s affection in the first movie? (And isn’t she in her ogre form for the vast majority of that movie anyway?) No, in the first movie, she mostly looks like a beautiful human, and she’s being aggressively courted by a prince who’s about 4’6" tall. The movie makes lots and lots and lots of short jokes at his expense. Because outward appearances don’t matter - except for height. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2012, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-beauty-the-beast-type-stories-in-which-beast-wins-without-a-makeover/626158/6 "2012-06-24T17:40:11Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > I’ve only seen the second sequel, so I’m not sure. Does Shrek have a rival for Fiona’s affection in the first movie? (And isn’t she in her ogre form for the vast majority of that movie anyway?) Lord Farquad, and no, she spends most of the movie as a human, only being an ogre during one nighttime scene, and at the end after she and Shrek have gotten together. In fact the only real reason Farquad was a serious rival for Shrek was that she was hoping that she could get rid of the ‘turn into an ogre’ curse by marrying him - but actual love for Shrek won out over that. (And got rid of the curse, just making the Ogre part the permanent form, not the human.) ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2012, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-beauty-the-beast-type-stories-in-which-beast-wins-without-a-makeover/626158/7 "2012-06-24T17:46:44Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > I’ve only seen the second sequel, so I’m not sure. Does Shrek have a rival for Fiona’s affection in the first movie? (And isn’t she in her ogre form for the vast majority of that movie anyway?) Spoiler’s for Shrek I: The ogre thing is a reveal late in the movie. She’s a human during the day, and believes she’ll be turned into a human permanently when she’s married. Shrek’s rival is a prince, whose comically short, but otherwise handsome, and is explicitly more handsome then Shrek, whose supposed to be hideous and is initially physically repellent to the Princess. But the choice she makes is more about whether she wants to be beautiful or not then about the appearance of her suitors. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2012, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-beauty-the-beast-type-stories-in-which-beast-wins-without-a-makeover/626158/8 "2012-06-24T18:32:42Z")
In Barbara G. Walker’s _[Feminist Fairy Tales](http://www.amazon.com/Feminist-Fairy-Tales-Barbara-Walker/dp/0062513192)_ there’s a short story called “Ugly and the Beast” about a good natured but unattractive woman who falls in love with the kindly beast. His true form is the beastly one, and Ugly is fine with that. IIRC the beast tells her he is able to use his magic to take on the form of a handsome man and that he’d done this for the sake of a woman he had previously been involved with, but things hadn’t worked out with her. I think the other woman never could get over knowing he wasn’t “really” handsome. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2012, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-beauty-the-beast-type-stories-in-which-beast-wins-without-a-makeover/626158/9 "2012-06-24T18:34:02Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > In Barbara G. Walker’s _[Feminist Fairy Tales](http://www.amazon.com/Feminist-Fairy-Tales-Barbara-Walker/dp/0062513192)_ there’s a short story called “Ugly and the Beast” about a good natured but unattractive woman who falls in love with the kindly beast. His true form is the beastly one, and Ugly is fine with that. IIRC the beast tells her he is able to use his magic to take on the form of a handsome man and that he’d done this for the sake of a woman he had previously been involved with, but things hadn’t worked out with her. I think the other woman never could get over knowing he wasn’t “really” handsome. Does the Good Natured But Unattractive Woman have a handsome suitor? ---
**Author:** ![Feyrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/fbc32d/32.png) [@Feyrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Feyrat)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2012, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-beauty-the-beast-type-stories-in-which-beast-wins-without-a-makeover/626158/10 "2012-06-24T18:37:04Z")
Robin McKinley’s Rose Daughter has the happy ending, and yet the Beast remains a Beast. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2012, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-beauty-the-beast-type-stories-in-which-beast-wins-without-a-makeover/626158/11 "2012-06-24T18:39:33Z")
And of course there’s still a makeover, just one of Beauty matching Beast rather than Beast matching Beauty. (EDIT: That in reference to _Shrek_) One sort-of example with the genders swapped is _Real Genius_. The protagonist is, shall we say, courted rather aggressively by the conventionally-hot blonde, but in the end winds up with the nerdy and less-attractive-by-Hollywood-standards girl, who remains nerdy and does not alter her appearance. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2012, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-beauty-the-beast-type-stories-in-which-beast-wins-without-a-makeover/626158/12 "2012-06-24T18:46:26Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Does the Good Natured But Unattractive Woman have a handsome suitor? I don’t remember, but the _Beast_ had two women interested in him (albeit not at the same time) – the beautiful one for whom he made himself look like a handsome man, and the unattractive one who accepted him the way he was. FWIW I believe the idea of the Beast having a rival for Beauty’s affections was invented for the 1946 Cocteau film _La Belle et La Bete_. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2012, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-beauty-the-beast-type-stories-in-which-beast-wins-without-a-makeover/626158/13 "2012-06-24T18:50:35Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > I don’t remember, but the _Beast_ had two women interested in him (albeit not at the same time) – the beautiful one for whom he made himself look like a handsome man, and the unattractive one who accepted him the way he was. I noticed that. I wouldn’t quite count that, though, because the Beast’s previous lover was not competing with the other. ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2012, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-beauty-the-beast-type-stories-in-which-beast-wins-without-a-makeover/626158/14 "2012-06-24T19:19:43Z")
Masha, from Robert Asprins MythAdventure series is courted by General Badaxe. She is very fat, and loves high fashion clothing in garish colors. I do not remember if General Badaxe has any women chasing him, but it is certainly plausible that he does, given that he is a man of power. They eventually marry, in fact. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2012, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-beauty-the-beast-type-stories-in-which-beast-wins-without-a-makeover/626158/15 "2012-06-24T19:32:53Z")
Any romantic comedy with Gerard Depardieu? Cyrano de Bergerac. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2012, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-beauty-the-beast-type-stories-in-which-beast-wins-without-a-makeover/626158/16 "2012-06-24T19:47:49Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > Any romantic comedy with Gerard Depardieu? > > Cyrano de Bergerac. :dubious: Have you ever actually _read_ Cyrano, or seen it performed? Cyrano, asked to help the inarticulate Christian woo the lovely Roxane, does so, and succeeds in sending the woman he loves into the arms of his rival. Why? Because he’s a nincompoop, that’s why. Anyway, Christian dies of a bullet or the plague or excess hair product or something, and Roxane retreats to a convent to mourn him; there she either has no sex at all or a great deal of sex, depending on the sort of convent it was. She only finds out that Cyrano wrote all of Christian’s letters to her and that he was always loved her when he is on his deathbed, and he, still being a nitwit, denies it to the end. He denies with nothing but his panache. Well, that and his virginity. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2012, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-beauty-the-beast-type-stories-in-which-beast-wins-without-a-makeover/626158/17 "2012-06-24T19:58:45Z")
There’s a webcomic, YAFGC which has recently started a new storyline that I suspect will go in that direction, more or less. Though the creator keeps surprising us. Link to first strip in the current story. > **[Yet Another Fantasy Gamer Comic](https://www.yafgc.net/?id=2200)** > > Your everyday, black and white, fantasy gaming satire webcomic ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2012, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-beauty-the-beast-type-stories-in-which-beast-wins-without-a-makeover/626158/18 "2012-06-24T20:13:58Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > One sort-of example with the genders swapped is _Real Genius_. The protagonist is, shall we say, courted rather aggressively by the conventionally-hot blonde, but in the end winds up with the nerdy and less-attractive-by-Hollywood-standards girl, who remains nerdy and does not alter her appearance. I’m going to have to re-watch that. Because I don’t even remember the conventionally-hot blonde, but I remember having a terrible crush on the nerdy girl. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2012, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-beauty-the-beast-type-stories-in-which-beast-wins-without-a-makeover/626158/19 "2012-06-24T20:23:46Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > :dubious: > > Have you ever actually _read_ Cyrano, or seen it performed? > > Cyrano, asked to help the inarticulate Christian woo the lovely Roxane, does so, and succeeds in sending the woman he loves into the arms of his rival. Why? Because he’s a nincompoop, that’s why. Anyway, Christian dies of a bullet or the plague or excess hair product or something, and Roxane retreats to a convent to mourn him; there she either has no sex at all or a great deal of sex, depending on the sort of convent it was. She only finds out that Cyrano wrote all of Christian’s letters to her and that he was always loved her when he is on his deathbed, and he, still being a nitwit, denies it to the end. He denies with nothing but his panache. Well, that and his virginity. [http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/cyrano/summary.html[spoiler]Cyrano](http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/cyrano/summary.html%5Bspoiler%5DCyrano) removes his hat, revealing his heavily bandaged head. Roxane exclaims that she loves him and that he cannot die. But Cyrano draws his sword and engages in one last fight with his “old enemies”—falsehood, prejudice, and compromise—slashing at the air insensibly. Then he collapses and dies, smiling as Roxane bends over him and kisses his face.[/spoiler]From the OP: > [@](#): > > Only stories in which the Beast wins the affections of Beauty and yet remains physically repellent (or at least unpleasant) throughout. ---
**Author:** ![Reno\_Nevada](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Reno\_Nevada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reno_Nevada)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2012, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-beauty-the-beast-type-stories-in-which-beast-wins-without-a-makeover/626158/20 "2012-06-24T21:23:01Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > Cyrano de Bergerac. While, as has been pointed out, _Cyrano_ does not count, the sort-of remake _Roxanne_ does. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-beauty-the-beast-type-stories-in-which-beast-wins-without-a-makeover/626158.md?page=2)