Berezkin Analytical Catalogue · Motif
F96 — Becoming handsome.
Source data for narratives and traditions is drawn from Berezkin’s Analytical Catalogue. If you use this data, please acknowledge and link to it: Ю.Е. Березкин, Е.Н. Дувакин. Тематическая классификация и распределение фольклорно-мифологических мотивов по ареалам. Аналитический каталог.
Summary of motif
OverviewA girl or wife rejects an unattractive man. He becomes handsome (usually after encountering a supernatural being), and those who treated him badly are punished.
Berezkin category: Gender and sex
This is of motif type Adventures and tricks and is part of group 10, Adventures.
Top 10 motifs with similar dispersal patterns
Phylogeny| Motif | Similarity | Motif summary |
|---|---|---|
| J60 | 98.11% | A woman conceives twins from two different fathers. |
| J3 | 97.54% | A woman conceives a son or twins in a way that is incomprehensible to her; the reason is that when she sits on the ground, a male character (animal) creeps under the ground and fertilises her from below. |
| J58 | 97.02% | Characters shoot arrows (darts) that stick into each other and form a chain. They usually climb up the chain to the upper world. |
| D13C | 96.94% | Two companions or brothers live together. The older one has a wife, whom he hides. To discover her, the younger one, left alone in the house, makes her laugh. |
| I28A | 96.94% | Large animals that are hunted go underground and cause earthquakes. |
| F44 | 96.89% | In the community of the first ancestors, women and men quarrel, leave, kill, maim each other, etc. |
| B13A | 96.85% | A stream of water (with a predator in it) rushes after a character who is trying to escape from it. |
| F42 | 96.34% | Feeling wronged, men leave their wives or sisters. |
| L63 | 96.12% | The character eats food with the womb or anus. See motif F9A. |
| L9A | 96.03% | The character's leg is crippled (intentionally or accidentally) or originally pointed. He uses the pointed bone for hunting, fishing or killing people. |
See the 100 most similar distributions →
Map of motif dispersal
DistributionDrag the map to pan, use the scroll wheel to zoom — choose a texture or projection below
Traditions
16 recordedThis motif has been recorded in 16 traditions: Shone (Shona, =Mashona, =Karanga), Makoni (Shoni dialect), Remba (=Hungwe, Wahungwe); Zezuru, Rozwi, Ndau (Vandau), Inland Tlingit, Haida, Blackfoot, Sarsee (Tsuu T'ina), Arikara, Sicuani, Juruna, Xipaya, Parintintin; Villa Bella (tribal affiliation unknown), Mundurucu, Curuaia, Kayabi, Iranxe, Mataco, Chorote, Halkomelem (Snaymuk)
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How to cite: Fielder-White, J. (2026). The Folklore Database. https://folkloredatabase.com
0009-0006-1672-4451
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