Lois Lane: I hear he's nothing but Gotham trash: rich, spoiled, and...
[Bruce Wayne steps off the plane]
Lois Lane: ... absolutely gorgeous!
[Bruce Wayne steps off the plane]
Lois Lane: ... absolutely gorgeous!
A character is being spoken of by another character. Suddenly, the person being talked about walks through the door and the complainer is utterly awestruck mid-sentence. This happens most often at some sort of formally arranged event (especially dress parties where everyone is in cocktail gowns and tuxedos, or something similar), with friends joking that a friend of the opposite sex would be completely out of place, only to find out that She Cleans Up Nicely.
A Sub-Trope of Distracted by the Sexy. Related to Love at First Sight, but only when the characters haven't met before. Sometimes caused by the strange energy field emanating from The Pornomancer.
Often happens to the Deadpan Snarker, the cynic, a Jerkass, or someone similar, who you wouldn't expect to act that way. This also often sometimes happens between friends, especially if the two characters are long-term Just Friends.
Frequently accompanied by Revenge of the Nerd. For other tropes about someone showing up just as they’re being talked about, see And Here He Comes Now and Right Behind Me.
Examples:
open/close all folders
Anime & Manga
- The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (2016): Midna's so blindsided by Link's human appearance that it inspires her “What? Say something! Am I so beautiful that you've no words left?” line from the game when she reveals her own true form. And also distracts her long enough for Rays from Heaven to set her on fire.
- Revolutionary Girl Utena: In "The Night of the Ball ", Touga only has eyes for Utena as soon as she arrives at the ball wearing the dress he sent her, and comments that she looks even better in it than he imagined.
Comic Books
- The Amazing Spider-Man (Lee & Ditko): In issue #40, Peter reluctantly agrees to go on a blind date with the daughter of one of his aunt's friends. He avoided it for weeks beforehand, assuming that the girl needed to go on blind dates because something was wrong with her. He talks to his aunt as he opens the door... only to gasp as he sees a red-headed model, Mary-Jane Watson, for the first time.
Comic Strips
- FoxTrot: this is pretty much Paige's reaction when, dragged along to see The Lord Of The Rings, she first sets eyes on Legolas.
Fan Works
- The Story of Apollo, Daphne and Luca: An Italian Tragedy: When Luca moved to Genoa and started to go to school, Vincenzo, once he knew that he was a sea monster, feared to find in front of his a massive and ferocious beast and it was quite a surprise for him to find a tiny, cute and adorable boy instead of the ravenous, blood-thirsty monster he imagined.
Film — Live-Action
- A Cinderella Story: When Sam walks into the dance hall, no one recognises her because they assume she wouldn't have been that attractive.
- The Devil Wears Prada: Happens to Emily while she's snarking about Andy's lack of fashion sense. Unfortunately for Emily, Andy undergoes a Makeover Montage when nobody's looking.
Literature
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: Harry's stunned reaction to the dressed-up Hermione right before the Christmas Ball.
- A Tale of Two Clocks: Major Quillan is lost for words the first time he sees Trigger wearing the daring Beldon gown (less a single piece of clothing, more a collection of exquisite ribbons) that he bought her.
Live-Action TV
- Firefly: Inara's priceless reaction to Mal and Kaylee arriving at the ball in "Shindig".
- Friends: Joey tricks Monica into going on a date with some guy; when they arrive at the bar, Monica finds out that Joey had never actually met the guy in question.
Monica: For chrissakes, Joey, for all we know, this guy could be horribly—
[handsome guy walks in]
Monica: —horribly attractive. I'll be shutting up now. - iCarly: Carly and Sam keep making fun of Freddie's AV friend, Shane. Until they actually meet him and find out he's Mr. Fanservice.
- Jessie: In "Break-Up and Shape-Up", Jessie brings up an ex-boyfriend of hers from high school, Ted Hoover, whom she describes to Emma and Zuri as "heavy, hairy in the wrong places, [and] slightly smelly". Emma informs her she's invited him over, and Jessie is shocked to find out that he's become stunningly handsome.
- Sechs Auf Einen Streich: Anton starts saying "How ugly the princesses must...", only for twelve gorgeous princesses to appear in the windows and on the walls of the castle. He lamely finishes "...be" when it's clear he's already giving Amanda a Longing Look.
- Scrubs: This is how Jordan Sullivan is introduced. When J.D. is assigned to treat an influential member of the hospital board, he thinks that it's going to be a grumpy, unpleasant, elderly man. His narration abruptly changes when he discovers the board member is actually a highly attractive late-30s woman.
- Three's Company: Mr. Roper asks Jack to go on a date with his niece Karen to show her around town. Jack turns him down and shares a good laugh with Janet and Chrissy about what a girl with Mr. Roper's homely looks would look like — then Karen shows up and turns out to be a stunningly beautiful blonde. Jack immediately changes his mind about not taking up Mr. Roper's request.
Theatre
- A Very Potter Musical: The song "Granger Danger" begins with Ron talking about how ugly Hermione is, only for her to walk into the room mid-sentence and stun the room with how She Cleans Up Nicely. This song was actually the inspiration for the entire play.
Web Animation
- Gamer Poop: After someone brags about his wealth, house, and sexual prowess, a character dressed in revealing tavern clothes walks by, accompanied by sensual music. As this is Gamer Poop... it's a man.
- Helluva Boss: Downplayed in the episode "Ozzie's". Blitzo begrudgingly invites Stolas to attend the titular club with him, since the bouncer said it was "couples only", and largely sees the "date" as a means to an end. Despite this, he's clearly a bit stunned upon seeing Stolas arrive in an absolutely magnificent suit and cape.
Webcomics
- The Dark Lord's Confession: Inverted with Dmitriy. Mapharam, hearing murmurs, expects a good-looking someone and turns around only to find Dmitriy dressed in an absurdly garish outfit. Everyone is baffled by his clothes, and Mapharam can't stop wheezing like a maniac.
Western Animation
- The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius: When Jimmy shows up in a tux for a wedding, Cindy gets slaw-jacked at his handsomeness. Libby has to snap her out of it.
- Glenn Martin, DDS: Played for Laughs. Glen develops a "man crush" mid-sentence on an environmentalist he figured would be a dirty bum.
- Hazbin Hotel: A variant in the episode "Scream Rain". Husk isn't directly talking about Angel, but he does revel in the fact that, at the casino, he can just kick back and relax with none of the Hotel members wanting anything from him whilst listening to "a song sung by a lovely broad". Cue said "broad" turning out to be Angel in drag. Husk is immediately both flustered and enthralled.
- The Spectacular Spider-Man: When prom is approaching, Aunt May insists to Peter he should take Mary Jane Watson, who she describes as having a "wonderful personality", even getting Betty Brant to turn down Peter's request to go with him due to their age difference. Once Peter meets her at the end of "The Invisible Hand", he goes from worried to being awe-struck by how attractive she is.
- Spider-Man: The Animated Series: In "Return of the Spider Slayers", Peter reluctantly agrees to go on a blind date with the niece of one of Aunt May's friends, Anna Watson, only after everything he planned to avoid it falls through. He hears his aunt talking about the girl and opens the door... only to gasp as he sees a red-headed model, Mary Jane Watson, for the first time.
- SpongeBob SquarePants: In "The Two Faces of Squidward", Squidward has his face smashed in. When healed, everyone goes gaga for him with a great many variations on "So... handsome..."
- Superman: The Animated Series: In "World's Finest", Lois Lane criticizes Bruce Wayne while waiting for him to arrive in Metropolis, and is lovestruck the moment she sees him.