Trap

Trap is a slang term used in English-language online anime communities to describe a biologically male character with an attractive andrognynous or feminine appearance, and is often performed by voice actresses. In Japan, a term called otokonoko (literally meaning "male daughter") is used to refer to a real-life or fictional man who expresses himself in a culturally feminine manner and appearance. Note that in order to be called a "trap", the character must be explicitly described as biologically male; characters whose gender is officially unconfirmed or have no biological sex do not count.

The word trap carries unfortunate implications however, as it implies that their femininity is used to "trap" (i.e. deceive) men into becoming an object of their desires, only to find out that the "girl" they want is a man all along, which makes them "gay" - and therefore undesirable. It doesn't help that many of the archetype's examples are highly sexualized by both creators and fans. The term gained some controversy in Reddit when the moderators of a highly-upvoted subreddit called /r/Animemes banned the usage of the word "trap", essentially treating the word as a slur. Naturally, the decision was met with near-universal derision from its users.

In the context of this wiki, traps have historically performed well in the International Saimoe League tournament because of their highly moe characteristics that are normally attributed to females. In fact, the 2014 male exhibiton was exclusively contested by traps in a 32-man single-elimination bracket, which was won by Hideyoshi Kinoshita, an iconic example of the archetype and a 2-time runner-up prior to the 2014 edition.