The ingénue is a stock character; generally a girl or a young woman who is endearingly innocent and wholesome. The term comes from the French adjective ingénu meaning "ingenuous" or innocent, virtuous, and candid. Typically, the ingenue is beautiful, gentle, sweet, virginal, and often naïve. The ingenue stereotypically has the fawn-eyed innocence of a child, but subtle sexual appeal as well.
