Works that believe Vanity Is Feminine are just about guaranteed to have at least one Vain Sorceress running around in such works, male characters who act this way are usually Sissy Villains. This again goes back to her vanity: the presence of other, younger females that spend most of their time with the good-looking heroic opposition means that putting them down and preserving her top spot is naturally a high priority. If there isn't, she'll mock the White Magician Girl's naivete. If there's a Black Magician Girl in the hero's party, the Vain Sorceress will mock her unrefined, tomboyish look and intentionally flirt with the hero to make her mad. If the Vain Sorceress can't achieve her desired beauty via her own power, she may bargain with a greater evil to receive it in exchange for services rendered. In any case, they have to be the Fairest of Them All. They may even go so far as to pull a Grand Theft Me, stealing a younger, prettier body to act as the vessel for their soul. Evil sorceresses tend to be far more obsessed with the perfection of their appearance and go to further lengths to maintain it than good ones will. The Vain Sorceress's youthfulness is often related to a specific power, where the character has to maintain their appearance by sucking energy from the young - if not be an outright vampire. This is especially true for female mages who are associated with big strong virile warriors as their tanks the difference between a good mage and the Vain Sorceress is only about 30% less clothing and 30% more purple dye. The Vain Sorceress might just be a particular version of the rapidly-vanishing rule that in fantasy stories, all female main characters must appear youthful in appearance regardless of age. It should be noted that some female characters do act this way as well, but they're going for the obvious smart-alecky hag gimmick, which only in recent years has become popular enough to be taken seriously. Many of them may actually be trying to purposely cultivate the "wizened old man" look to inspire respect or get their enemies to underestimate them. They will also be far less likely to fly off of the handle when called "Old man" or "Gramps", even when they have no grandchildren. While any sorceress who looks over 40 runs the risk of being ridiculed for her less than perfect looks, ancient-looking wizards, Warlocks, and male magic users are rarely subject to the same kind of ribbing. Whereas the female variant is usually a witch using magic to keep herself young and beautiful (human sacrifices optional), the male variant is more often a sexy but bloodsucking ''bad boy'' vampire as first made famous with the Byronic Hero Lord Ruthven in John Polidori's 1819 "The Vampyre", which pioneered the male vampire as the Spear Counterpart to the Vain Sorceress.
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