The himbo trope : exploring definition, character design, narrative significance and fan reception in media

Abstract

Tropes and archetypes are an important part of media studies. They help better create, analyse and understand any media that includes characters or a storyline. New tropes are emerging all the time, which leads to some of them being generally unfamiliar or underexplored, and that prevents media experts from utilizing those tropes in their work as effectively as they could. One of those tropes is "himbo".

Etymologically, the definition of a himbo is “a male version of ‘bimbo’”. The definition one most likely comes across when using Google Search is something along the lines of “an attractive, but unintelligent young man”. However, there seems to be more to it than just that, since the definition is nuanced and evolving. This thesis focuses on defining the trope, analysing its significance and the way it is perceived in modern fandom spaces, and creating a coherent set of guidelines that could be potentially used for creating or identifying himbo characters in media. The thesis also attempts to explore the character design aspect of the trope and determine the possible visual cues that are commonly utilized when designing a himbo character. The main objectives of the thesis are to redefine the term "himbo" to better fit what it is actually used for right now and attempt to design a character that could be read as a himbo.

To meet the objectives of the thesis, research on the following topics has been conducted: history of the term, possible definition and how it could be altered, fan reception and behaviour around himbo characters, narrative significance of those characters and if (and how) it might have changed over the years. To further proceed from the theoretical research part, the practical part was delivered in three parts: a questionnaire to gather information and opinions from fandom spaces on social media and the results analysis; a set of guidelines; and a character design project (a reference spreadsheet as well as other visual/textual exploration).