Fashionable Asymmetry: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

Symmetry is supposed to be a natural attractive feature, and any deviation seen as ugly. Apparently, no-one told these guys, or their fans. They take [[Impossibly Cool Clothes]] to a whole new level. Why constrain yourself to pant legs of one length, or stockings that match, when you can wear one short and one long? It must be kept in mind, of course, that fashion is a fickle thing, and largely a matter of perspective. For every outfit listed here, some will fight to the death to say it looks cool, while others think it looks, in the words of [[The Mean Brit|Simon Cowell]], atrocious. Keep squabbling about whether it's a "hot" or a "not" to yourselves, fashionistas.

For extra bonus points, why not have [[Artificial Limbs|mismatched body parts]]? Nothing [[Red Right Hand|says Evil]] like a [[Hook Hand]], a horn on one side of your head, or an [[One-Winged Angel|angel with one wing]]! And it doesn't have to be that complicated: both good and evil can enjoy the duality that [[Mismatched Eyes|heterochromia]] implies.

 

{{examples}}

* Several of Sakura's outfits in ''[[Cardcaptor Sakura]]'' have one short and one long stocking.

* Raphael in ''[[Tenshi ni Narumon]]'' is a single-winged angel.

** The title character has that [[Useless Accessory|functionless]] spiral tie thing his pre-[[Time Skip]] outfit has on the left shoulder.

** Guren (anime only) of the Three-Tailed Beast arc wore a green [[Badass Longcoat]] with a long left sleeve and a short right sleeve. Probably due to the fact that she was (from what the troper can gather) predominately right-handed and the Crystal Style Jutsu she used would have torn up the clothing she wore when she activated Crystal-Arm-Blade-Mode.

* Mira, the [[Token Girl]] of ''[[Bakugan|Bakugan: New Vestroia]]'', wears a [[Spy Catsuit]] that goes halfway past the knee on the left side and barely past the waist on the right. This explains a lot about why they usually show her from the right side when not showing her from the front.

* Kisara from ''[[Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple|Kenichi the Mightiest Disciple]]'' wears jeans with one leg cut off. Maybe somewhat [[Justified Trope|justified]], because her fighting style [[Extremity Extremist|revolves around high kicks]] that would probably split her jeans constantly... but the [[Fan Service|real reason]] is pretty obvious.

* Same with [[Super OCD|Chiri Kitsu]] of ''[[Sayonara, Zetsubou-sensei|Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei]]'', who has naturally curly hair, but straightens it and panics if it's off by a hair.

* The flight suits worn by the ''[[Simoun]]'' Sibylla feature one bare shoulder and a large off-center gem.

* Iceman Hotty from ''[[Basquash]]'' wears shirts and pants with sleeves and legs of different lengths and a glove on one hand. {{spoiler|The shirt and glove may be to hide his cybernetic left arm.}}

* ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]''

** Ku Fei gets this when she takes one glove [http://www.mangafox.com/manga/mahou_sensei_negima/v29/c261/16.html off her party outfit].

* Éclair from ''[[Kiddy Grade]]'' usually wears one legging. She also wears one cross-shaped earring.

* With the same haircut, Lain of ''[[Serial Experiments Lain]]''.

* ''[[Digimon]]''

** To say nothing of Delirium.

** It's eventually established that {{spoiler|fashion has nothing to do with it. When she finds her face "fixed" Mazikeen swears vengeance on the good Samaritan}}.

* ''[[Hellboy (comics)|Hellboy]]'': Hellboy's massive right hand of stone.

* Several characters in ''[[Strontium Dog]]''. Johnny has a big pad one one shoulder, to which is attached his blasterbelt that goes across his chest to his over hip. Wulf has the same arrangement, and in an early strip starts also wearing a Gronk's skin across the ''other'' shoulder. Middenface has a big tartan pad over one shoulder. Evans' mutation means that one of his arms is in the right place, but the other is attached directly to the side of his head.

 

 

* Luke Skywalker's single black glove in ''[[Return of the Jedi]]'', as a result of his prosthesis getting shot on Jabba's sail bark and him not having the time to repair/replace the burned-of synth skin.

* ''The Tall Blond Man with One black Shoe'' and its remake, ''[[The Man With One Red Shoe]]''.

* One piece of Alex's attire in ''[[A Clockwork Orange (film)|A Clockwork Orange]]'' is a set of fake lashes on one eye.

 

== Literature ==

* ''[[Star Trek]]'' has several examples of this:

** ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series|The Original Series]]''' episode "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield" gave us the Cheron people, who are all painted white on one side and black on the other... and get into a genocidal civil war over which side they're painted on.

*** Judging from General Martok, missing eyes seem to be the [[Badass]] asymmetry of choice.

*** ''Deep Space Nine'''s final season introduces the Breen ships, which use asymmetry in their design to look as alien as possible.

 

== Tabletop Games ==

** The Third Edition Player's Handbook uses asymmetrical outfits for the iconic characters representing the Paladin, the Ranger, and the Sorcerer.

** Agents of the Order of the Emerald Claw in ''[[Eberron]]'' wear half-helms as part of their uniform that cover the right half of their faces, leaving only an eye-hole.

* ''[[Assassin's Creed]]''

** Ezio Auditore da Firenze, protagonist of ''[[Assassin's Creed II|Assassin's Creed 2]]'', has a comparatively subtle example with his assassin attire. Over his left shoulder he wears a half-cape, with the opposite shoulder not similarly covered. His left hand, meanwhile, is bare; his right is gloved. It goes even further than that; the bracer of the first blade is on his right arm, decorated with the assassin crest, and worn over the sleeve. The blade on his right arm is silver and with a finish that makes it look like a feather. The second hidden blade's bracer is concealed under the sleeve on his left arm, and the blade has a black finish.

** In ''Brotherhood'', Machiavelli's outermost garment is missing a right sleeve.

* Maeda Keiji from ''[[Sengoku Basara]]'', who is rather eccentric to say the least, wears [http://media.photobucket.com/image/maeda%20keiji%20sengoku%20basara/Prince-Of-Wei/Basara%20Renderz/Keiji.png an almost completely asymmetrical outfit] that would make any ''Final Fantasy'' character proud.

** Isabela in the second game has light armour on her left arm while her right arm is mostly bare.

** The Champion Armor for the Mage!PC has Hawke's right arm completely unarmored. [[Justified Trope|This allows for full motion for casting spells.]]

* ''[[Pokémon]]''

** The [http://wallpapers.latestscreens.com/makeThumb.php?dir=1024x768&game=pokemoncolosseum&file=pokemoncolosseum-01.jpg protagonist] of ''[[Pokémon Colosseum]]''. Partly justified, as that is actually the machine used to snag shadow Pokémon on his arm.

* ''[[Our Little Adventure]]'' example: The uniforms for the followers of [[Path of Inspiration|Angelo's Kids]] look this way. Angelo himself wears a pimped out version that makes him look like a mashup of Super Dave, [[Michael Jackson]], and someone from [[Kingdom Hearts]].

* Maxim, the [[Bishonen]] Jäger from ''[[Girl Genius]]'', wears a glove and a spiked shoulderpad on one side.

 

 

* ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2003|Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'': In the 2000s animated series, the Shredder's wrist-worn blades are on one hand only.

* Wilt, of ''[[Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends|Fosters Home for Imaginary Friends]]'', has one wonky eye, and one arm waaaay shorter than the other. This is explained in the season four TV movie, and in the pilot he mentions it may freak people out.

* On another continent, Venger from ''[[Dungeons and Dragons (animation)|Dungeons & Dragons]]'' has the one-horn thing going.

* A number of [[Transformers]] have transformations that give them asymmetrical robot modes, but some are asymmetrical just to be stylish even though their transformation does nothing to prevent symmetry, including all of the Transmetals 2 from ''Transformers: [[Beast Wars]]''.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Costume Tropes]]

[[Category:The Utterly and Completely Definitive Guide to Cool]]