Braids of Action: Difference between revisions

 

{{examples}}

* Misao of ''[[Rurouni Kenshin]]''. Watsuki's [[All There in the Manual|character notes]] mention that one reason he put it was to emphasize her movements.

* Miu from ''[[Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple]]'' may seem like an example of this trope (her resemblance to Cammy from ''[[Street Fighter]]'' is probably [[Expy|not a mere coincidence]]), but the main reason why she wears her hair in a single braid (and wears glasses) is to tone down her appearance in school. More straight example happens during the [[Tournament Arc]], where she wears her hair in multiple braids, some of them even looped.

* [[Fiery Redhead|Hikaru]] in ''[[Magic Knight Rayearth]]'' has a [[Rapunzel Hair|heel-length braid]] that probably inspired a lot of aforementioned examples.

* Gender-flipped with Gundam pilot Duo from ''[[Mobile Suit Gundam Wing]]'', complete with the stylistic flowing movement.

 

== Comic Books ==

* Rick Jones' granddaughter Janis in ''[[Incredible Hulk|Hulk]] Future Imperfect''. She grew her hair long, tied it into a braid and wrapped it around the top of her head so when she needs to, she can untie it and use as a whip.

{{quote|"It takes a long time to dry after washing it, but it's worth it."}}

 

== Fan Works ==

* Cathy Rockford in ''[[The Gift (fanfic)|The Gift]]'' is a judo instructor and "motorcycle enthusiast". She wears her two braids around her head, like a [[Badass]] crown.

 

* Jessie from the ''[[Toy Story (franchise)|Toy Story]]'' series films.

* Astrid and Ruffnut from ''[[How to Train Your Dragon (animation)|How to Train Your Dragon]]''.

* Played for laughs in the first ''[[Shrek]]'' movie, where Fiona takes on a band of ruffians in the forest all on her own, martial-arts style, and actually knocks one of them out with her braid.

* Saya from ''[[Blood: The Last Vampire|Blood the Last Vampire]]''.

* ''[[Million Dollar Baby]]'': [[Hilary Swank|Maggie]] wears her hair in a single braid, as do most of the female boxers.

* [[Star Wars|Princess Leia]], as one of the earlier examples of the modern [[Action Girl]], did her most impressive action feat while sporting a very long braid.

* ''[[Downfall (film)|Downfall]]''. The female [[Child Soldier]] manning the 88mm gun has twin braids hanging down from under her steel helmet. In this case, the braids work more to emphasize her youth.

* ''[[Avatar (film)|Avatar]]'' has many of these, with all the Na'vi having braids that are their psychic USB cables to most of the other creatures on Pandora. Apparently they are also how they have sex, which leads you to wonder what the animals are thinking when they are connected...

 

== Literature ==

* In [[Patricia C. Wrede]]'s ''The Raven Ring'', the Cilhar—who are warriors, one and all—wear their hair braided as a matter of course, with a special braid pattern for when they expect to be heading into battle.

** In the ''[[Enchanted Forest Chronicles]]'' by the same author, [[Badass Princess|Cimorene]] wears her hair in a braid.

 

== Live-Action TV ==

** This is likely linked to the Dothraki custom of warriors braiding their hair and decorating them with bells. A warrior adds bells to his braid for each victory, and, should he be defeated in battle, the braid would be cut off so the world can know his shame. Daenerys takes to adding bells in her hair when she triumphs in later books.

 

* WWE Diva [[Sable]] in her first run in the company always had her long blonde hair tied back in a braid whenever she wrestled. It was safe to say that if her hair was down then she wouldn't be wrestling.

* Jacqueline Moore frequently braided her hair whenever she wrestled as well though there were some times when she would wear it down.

 

== Video Games ==

* Yuna sports a very long (nearly to her feet) braid in ''[[Final Fantasy X-2]]'', to show her development from [[Yamato Nadeshiko]] to [[Action Girl]]. However, given that only two years have passed in between the games, one has to wonder if it's [[Wild Mass Guessing|not an extension]] (we never do see it unbraided).

* Sophitia and Seong-Mi-Na in the ''[[Soul Series]]'' iconically use the one long braid style, and Taki uses two short braids.

 

== [[Web Comics]] ==

* SKO from ''[[Elf Blood]]'' wears her (otherwise particularly long) hair like this when on-duty.

 

== [[Web Original]] ==

* From the ''[[Global Guardians PBEM Universe]]'', Chimera, Forceful Leaf, and Zephyr all wear their hair in single braids. Matrix is a male example from the same setting.

 

== Western Animation ==

* Rose from ''[[American Dragon: Jake Long]]'' probably qualifies.

* Granny Smith of ''[[My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic|My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic]]'' used to have these when she was a [[Plucky Girl|plucky filly]] who {{spoiler|became one of the founders of Ponyville by venturing into [[The Lost Woods|the Everfree Forest]] at night on her own so she could replenish the dwindling food supply of her family.}}

 

== Real Life ==

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Expository Hairstyles]]

[[Category:Long Hair Is Feminine]]

[[Category:Tomboy]]

[[Category:Hair Tropes]]