Bare Your Midriff



"Now a lot of you might be wondering, "why didn't I put Belle on there?" Well, it's not that she wasn't beautiful, smart, and a well-developed character. It's just that, well... she didn't show her navel, and on this countdown that earns you 20 more points."

- The Nostalgia Critic, Top 11 Hottest Animated Women (referring to why just Jasmine and Ariel were 2nd)

Midriff-baring outfits are popular in Real Life, and have been for centuries, although until recently, it was just in certain cultures and, within those cultures, certain occasions. It's more like 60 years that it's been widely considered acceptable. Even belly-dancing outfits weren't midriff-baring before the "cabaret style" began with the most famous "Little Egypt", a dancer who performed at the Chicago World's Fair in 1893.

But since then, they've been a hit, with outfits ranging from tube tops to two-piece swimsuits. So this is a trope about costumes showing the curvy area around a woman's waist.

Note that simply showing the belly and a little skin around it, like a slightly open shirt, does not count. But a dress with a large section around the belly cut out does.

Western Animation in particular seems to love this, since it's an easy form of Fan Service that the radar invariably misses. Within the past decade, the belly shirt seems to have become some kind of visual shorthand for "teenage girl". Or in some cases, just "girl", period.

Need we mention that this is a form of Fan Service and Fetish Fuel?

This is mostly a female trope, but it can sometimes apply to male characters, if their lower torsos are really, really amazing. Bare midriffs on men can also be a sign that the man is Camp Gay or a Wholesome Crossdresser.

Automatically comes with a Fur Bikini, Seashell Bra, Black Bra and Panties. Can come with a Mini-Dress of Power, Chainmail Bikini, or Sexy Santa Dress, if any of them is a two-piece. It can also be a Walking Swimsuit Scene as long as the bathing suit's either a two-piece bikini or a topless monokini. A woman wearing a Loin Cloth also qualifies.

Compare Foot Focus, Absolute Cleavage, Underboobs, Showgirl Skirt, Zettai Ryouiki (has a similar effect, but lower on the body).

Advertising

 * The woman working out in this commercial for Worx Energy.
 * In this commercial for Washington Sports Clubs: The young woman being peeped in on by her out-of-shape neighbor.
 * Quite a few advert leaflets and such in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in England have a sexy woman in them. In many of those cases, their midriffs are bared.

Anime & Manga
"Setsuna: Chamo! What's the meaning of this!? Chamo: It's a costume. It looks good too. Setsuna: My stomach is showing!"
 * Sisters Patty and Liz in Soul Eater.
 * Mizune sister combination.
 * Blair sometimes.
 * Male example: Sai in Naruto.
 * Ino in Shippuden also shows her midriff.
 * Prior to Shippuden she subverted the trope. She wore a separate top and bottom that left her midriff exposed... but covered that with form-fitting wraps.
 * Uncertain example: The seven tails-host.
 * Karin is a partial example: her lab coat hangs all the way down on the sides, but goes up towards to middle to the point that you can see part of her belly.
 * Sakura bares hers in the entirety of the third Naruto movie, Guardians of the Crescent Moon Kingdom.
 * Lampshaded in Koihime Musou, by Aisha, Rinrin and even Shuri, commenting that almost all the generals from the Wu kingdom are showing their bellies.
 * Another male example would have to be Ichigo Kurosaki, whose street clothes always seem to expose his belly if he does so much as lift his arms.
 * Female examples for Bleach: Halibel, Neliel, Mila-Rose, Lilynette, and Loly.
 * Cures Black, Dream (and Dark Dream), Milky Rose, Berry, Sunshine, and Melody.
 * However, Cure Black's outfit in Max Heart covered her midriff, causing no small amount of consternation in some parts of the fanbase.
 * Cure Dream also covers up in Go!Go!, but that seems to be a consequence of the dresses' new layer.
 * Subaru's Barrier Jacket and all of Arf's outfits in Lyrical Nanoha. Also,  in Magical Record Lyrical Nanoha Force.
 * Kurausoras' outfit during her final duel with Argent in Iono the Fanatics.
 * Tokiko's swimsuit in Busou Renkin. Much to her displeasure.
 * She's the only one.
 * Mahou Sensei Negima has one of these somewhere, amidst all the other various forms of Fan Service.


 * Of course, that has nothing on the... "outfit"... Asakura wears in the Magic world.
 * And then there's Theodora...
 * Yue's outfit bares her midriff after the fight in the Governor's ball.
 * Eva from Karneval bares it. And damn she bares it well.
 * Gareki occasionally bares his too.
 * Fullmetal Alchemist
 * Envy wouldn't seem nearly as androgynous without its bared midriff.
 * Winry in her mechanic clothes.
 * Rosetta Passel in "Kaleido Star".
 * Divergence Eve and it's second season has Kotoko, both the piloting outfits she wears are very Stripperific starting just below the chest area.
 * Mobile Suit Gundam 00's Nena Trinity... in addition to ridiculously short shorts.
 * But then, one might argue that Nena walks around in her underwear, when not busy killing innocents.
 * Johann also does this... though Nena shows more for the purpose of Fanservice.
 * Nami, and to a degree Robin, of One Piece are prime examples.
 * Almost all of the female characters in "One Piece" get this trope.
 * Michiko from Michiko to Hatchin does this a lot, drawing attention to the big tattoo on her stomach.
 * Nadie's outfit in El Cazador de la Bruja.
 * Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water: Nadia's acrobat outfit.
 * Another male example would be Van Flyheight's outfit after joining the Guardian Force in Zoids: Chaotic Century
 * Faye Valentine and Ed from Cowboy Bebop.
 * Serial Experiments Lain makes it very clear this is not "Present Day Present Time!" when you see Lain's friends in midriff-baring outfits, smoking and drinking at the club.
 * In Sailor Moon, Ves Ves, Cere Cere, and Jun Jun (known better in the anime as Besu Besu, Cele Cele, and Jun Jun) of the Amazons Quartet wear outfits that predominantly bare their midriffs. Only Palla Palla (Para Para) has hers obscured.
 * The Sailor Starlights and a good chuck of the female Monsters of the Week do this too.
 * Early concept art which had the original five with more individual costumes, had this for all of them save Mercury. Moon and Venus with shirts that stopped just short of the belts, Mars with a similar one, though the material was long in the front to pass the waist, and Jupiter going all out with basically a halter-top and the V-waistline.
 * In the Sonic the Hedgehog OVA, the president's daughter Sara wears a high-cut jacket and yellow tube top in the first half, before switching to a midriff-covering wedding dress in the second.
 * In Galaxy Angel, Ranpha initially wears a Chinese dress with a large section cut out to reveal her midriff. In sequels Galaxy Angel Z, A, etc., however, this section is covered up.
 * The outfits of both Lily C. Sherbet and Anise Azeat of the Rune Angel Troupe.
 * Obviously, Lum from Urusei Yatsura, whose Memetic Outfit is a tiger-print bikini'.
 * Weda from Haré+Guu wears a similar outfit to Lum's.
 * Villagers Rebecca and Addy wear midriff-baring outfits as well.
 * Played with by Guu herself. She always wears the same long pink skirt and yellow tube top, but it only shows off her midriff in her adult-form.
 * Mink from Dragon Half.
 * Amalla Su from Love Hina: her default outfit is rather revealing tribal garb. Kaolla Su (and later the rest of the girls) wears a similar outfit for her wedding dress.
 * Misty's default outfit from Pokémon anime is a yellow midriff-baring top, cutoff jeans, and suspenders; she shows a lot more skin in one of the manga series, donning a higher-cut shirt and lower-cut shorts.
 * In the Pokémon Special manga, Misty wears a tube top and shorts as her default outfit as well.
 * When Black and White gets attacked by, her shirt suffers the most damage, resulting in this trope.
 * Jessie's outfit from the anime.
 * Don't forget Flannery as well.
 * May in two episodes.
 * Rebecca from Pokémon: Destiny Deoxys.
 * Lizabeth from Pokémon Ranger and The Temple of The Sea.
 * Male example: Harley.
 * Pokémon pretty much takes this trope and runs with it.
 * Yoko from Gurren Lagann wears a bikini top and shorts.
 * She actually wears so little that during the Beach Episode, her swimsuit covered more skin than her usual outfit. Ms. Fanservice indeed.
 * Also, Leyte. Her Fan Nickname is even "Professor Midriff".
 * Kallen Kozuki Terrorist Version wears this early on in the first series. Complete with giant belts, straps, obvious breasts, and Zettai Ryouki!
 * Juri from Yu Yu Hakusho wears a one-piece outfit with a large section around her belly cut out.
 * Raichou's Magical Girl costume in Kyouran Kazoku Nikki has a big gap, through which she shows off her stomach. In one episode she dresses up Kyouka in a costume that reveals even more in that department.
 * Another male example: although Fay's default outfit doesn't include this, he shows his belly multiple times in Hanshin and Piffle outfits. If I Recall Correctly, Sakura applies too.
 * Ahiru in Princess Tutu wears a midriff-exposing sweater when she's not in her school uniform—although on her it has more of a silly effect than a sexy one. The Dark Magical Girl, Kraehe, also has a dress that covers her chest (barely), but not much else, including exposing her navel.
 * Pico in the first OVA of the Boku no Pico series.
 * Female Ranma ties the bottom of her tank top into a midriff-baring knot for absolutely no reason in the second Ranma ½ movie, Nihao My Concubine. Oversized or not (it's sized for her male side) it certainly didn't stop the Gainaxing. She did the same thing twice in the manga, tying her tank top and trousers (or boxer shorts) into the shape of a bikini purely for Fan Service's sake.
 * Kirara in Samurai 7. As well as a most of the women from their village
 * Malik from the Yu-Gi-Oh anime adaptation. Some found his lilac belly top "simply fabulous".
 * The power of his midriff compels you!
 * Seriously, I bet you could grate cheese on those abs!
 * Also, Amelda/Alister.
 * Tea and Mai wear outfits that do this too.
 * Another male example would be Shugo Chara's Ikuto's first Character Transformation.
 * Also, Amu's Amulet Heart
 * Both Yunyun and Alphard from Canaan dress this way, although in Yunyun's case it stresses her tomboyish nature, whereas with Alphard it is used more to emphasize her extreme badassery.
 * As often as not, Tina Foster in Ai Yori Aoshi. Miyabi wore a midriff-baring halter top (often under an even shorter "jacket" and with a miniskirt) early in the manga, including her first appearance.
 * Éclair from Kiddy Grade shows off her midriff through a cross-shaped opening in her costume—which also makes it an example of Impossibly Cool Clothes.
 * Erza Scarlet from Fairy Tail has the ability to change into different armors, many of them showing off her stomach (which some might describe as 'taut').
 * Most of Lucy's outfits count as well as Clothing Damage.
 * Cana wears a bikini top.
 * Mirajane before the death of her sister used to wear this.
 * Juvia after being possessed by Vidaldus Taka.
 * And if it not exposed already it will be.
 * Somewhat Lampshaded in Magic Knight Rayearth: The ship from Chizeta is full of young women wearing such an outfit. When Umi is captured, since her clothes disappear (offscreen, unfortunately), she's given the same kind of outfit, which makes her complain about her bare tummy.
 * Hellsing's Doktor, who, apart from being a male example, is also a Nazi. What is most disturbing to fans is that he pulls it off remarkably well.
 * Shirin from Harukanaru Toki no Naka de wears a midriff-baring kind of outfit.
 * Zakuro and Kisshu from Tokyo Mew Mew fit this trope a little too much.
 * Konata from Lucky Star did this once. Her dad didn't like it because young, impressionable Yutaka might imitate her.
 * In the live concert, Aya Hirano got a two piece cheerleader outfit for "Kaishite Knee Socks" and "Motteke Sailor Fuku".
 * .hack has Ouka, Mimiru, BlackRose, Rena, Subaru, Helba, Pi, Bordeaux, Tabby, and as a rare male example, Haseo.
 * Bertuccio from Gankutsuou.
 * Another male example, Arthur from Tears to Tiara. This is somewhat bizarrely mixed with Pretty in Mink.
 * Morgan as well, though she's really not wearing much more than a handkerchief, really...
 * Mimi Tachikawa in Digimon Adventure 02. This might have something to do with being in the US for a few years.
 * Persiamon, Rosemon, Angewomon, Ophanimon, Mervamon, Minervamon and Kazemon also bare their midriffs.
 * Similarly, Momoko Asuka in Ojamajo Doremi...though it's a bit risque for a fifth grader.
 * Revy from Black Lagoon.
 * Elie from Rave Master.
 * The girls of Hidamari Sketch rarely wear outfits that do this outside the context of swimwear, but one time, when they were taking pictures of each other with Sae's new used Polaroid camera, Hiro lent Yuno an outfit that showed her tummy. Sae was surprised she even had something like that (with a skull and crossbones on it), but Miyako guesses that Hiro wanted to be bold, so she bought it, then decided she couldn't wear it.
 * Yoshinoya-sensei wore a midriff-baring outfit on stage during the opening ceremony in volume 4, and later to her class, helping her illustrate the three elective enrichment classes available to second-year students. She invited the ones who had already decided to touch the part of her that indicated the class they wanted: her tummy for 2-D, her breasts for 3-D (!), and her head for information.
 * While the girls of Ichigo Mashimaro don't seem to wear these in the main story outside of swimsuits, Nobue and Miu do on some episode pages and interstitial pages.
 * In Gakuen Alice, the main character (10 years old) has a midriff-baring cheerleader's costume in the OP, and bared it again in a I Dream of Jeannie-style costume for the School Festival.
 * In Cardcaptor Sakura, Sakura Kinomoto has a midriff-baring outfit in 3 episodes.
 * In Angelic Layer, Tamayo Kizaki bare with her casual clothes and a blue swimsuit.
 * Misaki Suzuhara did not bare her midriff in the anime, but she bared with her another swimsuit in the official anime picture that shows a group picture of her, Tamayo, Hatoko, Sai, and Kaede in their swimsuits.
 * The round girls of this anime wore a midriff-baring outfits.
 * A cameo of Misaki who appeared in the episode 10 of an anime Kobato. wore a midriff-baring blue promotional outfit during the end of an exam along with Tamayo. This is the first appearance of Misaki Suzuhara who bare her midriff in the other CLAMP anime.
 * Urd, Peorth, and Hild's loli form in Ah! My Goddess have all worn midriff-baring outfits.
 * This outfit worn by Sylia Stingray in the Bubblegum Crisis OVAs, sometimes with a suit jacket over it. The first episode was released in 1987, but with the passage of time her fashion starts looking less and less ridiculous.
 * Tsume from Wolf'sRain. Fangirls are pleased.
 * Lisa Sakakino from éX-Driver.
 * In Eureka Seven, Gidget, Hilda and Talho all have outfits that bare their midriffs to various degrees. Talho, however, switches to a full-body costume later on.
 * Yumekui Merry: Merry, one of the more recent examples. Notable in that they're not trying to "sneak" anything past the radar—in fact, the animators appear to be actively trying to put in as many shots of Merry's bellybutton as they can.
 * Infinite Stratos: Ichika and Charles' IS suit is like this.
 * Runo Misaki and Julie Makimoto in the first series of Bakugan.
 * Julie continues to do it still.
 * Mitsudomoe clearly has a crowning moment of awesome where this trope is demonstrated on several extremely memorable occasions.
 * Zoey from Dinosaur King.
 * Male example: Shuichi from Gravitation.
 * Kureha and Sakura from Tokko.
 * Sylvie in Ashita no Nadja
 * Tayune in Inukami!
 * Many characters in Star Driver. Including men.
 * THE iDOLM@STER - A few of the girls' stage outfits, specially Miki's, Hibiki's and Mami's.
 * Mayor Gathermoon in Gundam SD.
 * In A Little Snow Fairy Sugar, the woman who plays in the play "The Bear Pianist" wears a midriff-baring tank top normally.
 * THE iDOLM@STER - A few of the girls' stage outfits, specially Miki's, Hibiki's and Mami's.
 * Mayor Gathermoon in Gundam SD.
 * In A Little Snow Fairy Sugar, the woman who plays in the play "The Bear Pianist" wears a midriff-baring tank top normally.

Art

 * Some real-life statues in the world do contain women in midriffs, though less common than women in birthday suits. This monument in Kerala, India, built by Indian Communists, of all people, shows a bare-chested worker raising a hammer and a female peasant holding a sickle to form the hammer and sickle logo. Even though the woman is rather ugly, her attire is somewhat a Fetish Fuel by Dirty Communists, for Dirty Communists.

Comics

 * Powers has Deena Pilgrim, who as a detective is allowed to come up with her own dress code. As she remarks to her pissed-off partner Christian Walker early on, while trying to get him to forgive her for going through his things (she thought he had powers): "And I wear these little belly shirts. That's gotta do something for you, right?" It's far less Stripperific than normal for a comic book, but she wears midriff-baring shirts almost exclusively. Some of the regular heroines of the Powers world go for the more traditional comic book heroine outfits, though.
 * Huntress in Birds of Prey bared her midriff despite a full body costume and cape. Hey, if you did 700 situps a day to maintain those gorgeous abs, wouldn't you?
 * An irritant for many fans who remember the time Huntress got shot four times in the stomach.
 * The belly window varies Depending on the Writer and artist, and Simone recently said that her costume is going to be changed to not include it a few issues into the 2010 relaunch. Unfortunately, the title was unceremoniously cancelled mid-story.
 * The Scarlet Witch wears one during the Kurt Busiek/George Perez era of The Avengers. They attempted to lampshade it with her saying she was going back to her gypsy roots, yet the outfit would have easily made her ancestors blush.
 * Stargirl from the JSA has worn a belly shirt since her first appearance in her short-lived solo book.
 * Several female Teen Titans as of late seem to be going this route.
 * Supergirl in her most recent incarnation in The DCU.
 * Marvel Universe examples from the Main U. (616).
 * X-23, the Canon Immigrant female clone of Wolverine exemplifies this trope. Just about every thing she's worn, give or take a few outfits, shows her belly. It came to the point where when the third incarnation of X-Force was formed, she was the only girl in the team whose uniform had this. Good thing she didn't inherit Wolverine's propensity for chest hair.
 * Notably, the only time where she had a uniform that isn't an example of this trope (other than her origin story where she was only about 13 or 14) was when it wasn't her creators Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost writing her (it was Chris Claremont instead) so this might be due to Author Appeal.
 * The new(er) Scorpion, Carmilla Black has had some form of belly baring in all variations (though the variance isn't much) costumes she's worn.
 * Callisto of the Morlocks, maybe one of the pioneers of this look...
 * Elsa Bloodstone, especially her original costume (since it was based off her fathers, but since his bared his chest, and being a Marvel Comic they couldn't really bare hers anymore than they already were, the midriff was left more open seemingly to compensate.).
 * Dagger, as in: Cloak &, always had that dagger shape in the front of her costume that puts her navel prominently on display.
 * Jean Grey in Ultimate X-Men.
 * Rachel has a nearly identical outfit now.
 * The Regan Wyngarde version of Lady Mastermind. Though hers is more in the "Dagger" style.
 * Julie Power (Lightspeed, formerly of Power Pack), who SOMEHOW was allowed to age while the rest of Marvel (I'm looking at you Franklin Richards) is stuck in eternal agelessness, wears no material between her ribcage and her belt.
 * One of the many unpopular things about the Kelley Armstrong issues of the Angel comics was Kate Lochley's new midriff-baring costume, which was both out-of-character for someone who had previously dressed fairly professionally, and stupid for a non-powered human character in a canon full of hand-to-hand combat using edged weapons and claws.
 * In the French-Canadian comic book Les Nombrils, as could be guessed from its title, bared midriffs are a definite feature of the title girl trio.
 * Empowered: Sistah Spooky and Ninjette have baring-midriff Stripperiffic costumes. Same thing for Emp's hypermembrane as soon as it start getting shredded... that is, most of the time.
 * Van von Hunter's perpetually amnesiac sidekick, whose outfit consists of a vest that covers her up top to the diaphragm, low-cut trousers with panty-flash splits, boots, and of course The Gloves of Lifting.
 * Hawkgirl and/or Hawkwoman, Post-Crisis at least. Appropriate, given Hawkman's status as a FlyingShirtlessScene.
 * In the Star Wars Expanded Universe, throughout Tales of the Jedi several male alien Jedi wore midriff-baring shirts, most notably Memit Nadill and Odan-Urr.
 * Gemini Storm's Elizabeth Rose.
 * Dinah from Blacksad has this and
 * Ashleigh from Scion. All of the time.

Films -- Animation

 * The Little Mermaid: Ariel, although that's technically "bra only"—she doesn't seem to wear anything on her fish half.
 * Aladdin: Jasmine's outfit, as seen in the picture.
 * Nakoma in Pocahontas has a kinky little midriff.
 * Chel in The Road to El Dorado.
 * Averted in Mulan, right up until it's played straight later on. And crossed with Bandage Babe.
 * Rare male example: Dr. Facilier in The Princess and the Frog.
 * Another rare male example: Gideon the cat in Pinocchio.
 * Lola Bunny from Space Jam.
 * Moses' future wife in The Prince of Egypt and technically she was also made a Go-Go Enslavement too.
 * Linda from Rio in her Carnival costume.
 * Crysta from Fern Gully
 * Kida from Atlantis: The Lost Empire, except at the end of the film.
 * Daphne in Aloha Scooby Doo and it is baleived she is wearing a bikini underneath her midriff shirt and skirt. Aslo in Camp Scooby Doo, where she wore a camper outfit, showing her cute navel in a knot shirt.
 * Nani from Lilo and Stitch.
 * Jane Porter at the end of Tarzan.
 * Shanti from The Jungle Book 2, who is depicted here with a ponytail, a yellow tube top, and a purple skirt (in the first film, she wore pigtails and a strapless purple dress with a pink sash at the waist).
 * Princess Teegra from Fire and Ice (animation)/Awesome, where she wore a microkini in the Ice Age.
 * Arcee from Transformers: The Movie where her Gray part resembles a Square Navel, which means it was the only time when Autobots had navels.
 * Harley Quinn Batman: Assault on Arkham], based on the Arkham games, and more like a crazed version of Lollypop Chainsaw.
 * Silver Banshee Suicide Squad when she showed an epic belly since she just wore a Silver Leotard.

Films -- Live-Action

 * In Bill and Teds Excellent Adventure, Bill S. Preston wears a sweatshirt cut to expose his midriff.
 * Star Wars
 * Leia's metal bikini.
 * Amidala due to convenient Clothing Damage—when it isn't simply a part of her outfits.
 * Aayla Secura was pretty famous for this because Jedi are usually known for wearing concealing robes. Her choice of clothing is a balance between Jedi convention and traditional garb for female Twi'leks, which is even more revealing (although Aayla is more modest in personality than most Twi'leks anyway).
 * This seems to be the only other form of fanservice in Bollywood besides Wet Sari Scene, because anything else would be too controversial.
 * Crosses over into Real Life, since a highly popular traditional dress in India is the saree, which leaves the midriff partially exposed on one side.
 * In I Heart Huckabees, Naomi Watts spends the majority of her screen time wearing clothes that reveal her midriff, among other things. For example...
 * Near the end of Goodfellas, we briefly see Lorraine Bracco's belly as she hides a gun in her panties.
 * Milla Jovovich
 * In Ultraviolet her midriff is the star of almost every other scene.
 * The Fifth Element.
 * It took until Resident Evil Apocalypse for this trope to kick in (for the covers, at least).
 * In The Lady Eve Barbara Stanwyck wears a dress like this as she seduces the leading man.
 * Pharaoh Ahkmenrah from Night at the Museum wears a rather minor version by not showing his navel.
 * Thelma and Louise: Visual symbolism of Thelma's descent into crime involves her starting to wear a midriff-baring shirt.
 * In The First Power Rangers movie Kimberly Hart got stuck wearing a midriff baring skating outfit when Zordon called her and the rest of the Rangers on a mission and she never had time to change out of it.
 * Also Dulcea wears a bikini like piece of clothing too.
 * Pretty good looking for a gal that's as old as Zordon.
 * In Spy Kids 2, Carmen wears a midriff-baring top prior to and during the dinner scenes, and also during the credits.
 * In the flashback sequence halfway through Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Jen and Lo's Slap Slap Kiss phase of their relationship culminates in a passionate love scene that treats the viewers with a lingering glimpse at Jen's bare midriff.
 * In Yesterday Was a Lie, Chase Masterson's character exposes her midriff through the middle-to-late portion of the film.
 * In Mighty Aphrodite, Mira Sorvino, as prostitute Linda Ash, bares her midriff in the scene where she and Woody Allen, as Lenny, the adopted father of her child, first meet in the film. In that scene Linda has made Lenny comfortable at her apartment, thinking that he is just another client of hers.
 * In the Bring It On series, the cheerleaders do this often, in uniform and out of uniform.
 * In Death Proof, while riding the hood of the car, Zoe Bell's t-shirt rides up, giving us a brief shot of her midriff.

Literature

 * A notorious cliché of the covers of Urban Fantasy novels featuring Action Girl protagonists.
 * Masha from Robert Asprin's Myth Adventures books aims to prove that one doesn't need a slim figure to wear a bare midriff outfit. Many other characters really wish she wouldn't.
 * In the first Kingdom Keepers book, Amanda is noted to dress this way. Charlene's Virtual Magic Kingdom avatar dresses this way as well.
 * In Animorphs 'In The Time Of Dinosaurs' Rachel discusses the 'bare midriff look.'
 * Jarlaxle is a male example, for his first couple of appearances at least. It helps that the Underdark has a fairly constant temperature.

Live-Action TV

 * Cerie in 30Rock. Yeah...
 * Dark Angel did this a lot.
 * Jeannie's outfit on I Dream of Jeannie. (Although, rather infamously, lingering prudery caused creator Sidney Sheldon to have Barbara Eden's actual belly button concealed.)
 * Stargate SG-1: Samantha Carter, once. To be fair with her, she was Not Herself.
 * Also Vala, in "Bounty".
 * Stargate Atlantis: Teyla Emmagan, quite frequently in her "civilian" clothes.
 * Doctor Who: The RTD Series dalek can open up its middle section to reveal the mutation. Might not be counted as fanservice...
 * Star Trek: The Original Series:
 * Sufficiently primitive civilizations would frequently use this kind of costume.
 * Also sufficiently advanced civilizations.
 * Famously, Uhura in "Mirror, Mirror".
 * Interestingly, they got around the Moral Guardians of the day, who didn't allow female navels on TV (like Jeannie) by taking the Guardian supervising the episode out to lunch and getting him drunk. True story.
 * Also in the same episode, the mirror version of Marlena Moreau.
 * Hell, try any mirror universe episode (e.g. Star Trek: Enterprise "In a Mirror, Darkly")
 * Star Trek: The Next Generation:
 * Briefly, Tasha Yar in "The Naked Now". She was intoxicated, of course.
 * Guest character Brenna Odell in "Up The Long Ladder".
 * Ginger and Mary Ann of Gilligan's Island had to hide their belly buttons, despite wearing bare-midriff clothing. They managed to get away with it now and then.
 * In The Sarah Connor Chronicles, about half of Cameron's wardrobe consists of shirts that do this.
 * The Curb Your Enthusiasm episode "The Bare Midriff" features a woman, who always does this, despite being pudgy, which disgusts Larry.
 * The fitness TV show, **Shimmy**, features lots of belly exposure.
 * Jennifer Aniston did this quite a bit the first couple of seasons on Friends.
 * In a recent episode of Burn Notice, Fiona (in a blouse and slacks) interrupted Barry (their clever accountant and money launderer) talking to a potential client. Fiona lifted her shirt and exposed the large gun in her waistband, along with a large amount of really superb midriff. The client was scared away and Barry said "That was a potential client. On the other hand, it was really hot!" (which it was).
 * Buffy the Vampire Slayer. An early Halloween episode had Willow, who up to then was always in very drab, conservative outfits, in a sexy midriff-baring costume and looking quite fit indeed.
 * Karone's midriff is exposed the entire time in Power Rangers Lost Galaxy when she takes the place of a fallen ranger. (Plus she's wearing tight leather the whole time.)
 * Kris Munroe and Julie Rogers on Charlie's Angels regularly wore bikinis. Usually in a Beach Episode.
 * The pilot episode of The X-Files features this trope: Scully finds marks on her back similar to ones found in the case they were investigating while getting ready for a shower, and so she runs over to Mulder's hotel room in her bath robe. He lets her in, and she drops it so he can check what they are. This after only knowing each other two days. Mulder is understandably befuddled.
 * Happens rather often on Dance Moms with the girls' practice outfits (which tend towards crop tops and bootie shorts), and many of their competition costumes as well, despite the oldest girl being only 13/14.
 * Farscape: In "Back and Back and Back to the Future" (only the third episode), Aeryn Sun's outfit is quite midrifferific. More frequently, Jool's second costume. And Sikozu, a lot. And many single-episode characters, most obtrusively the female locals in "Look at the Princess" and "Thanks For Sharing".
 * Chiana maybe. It's not clear if that really is her midriff or just cloth.
 * Speaking of Aeryn, how can you leave out the Cher costume from Season 4's "Kansas?"
 * Smallville covers (or more appropriately doesn't) this a lot with their girls but not limited to the following: Lana Lang, Chloe Sullivan has several outfits like this, Lois Lane, and Star Girl.
 * A lot of female contestants on America's Got Talent wear outfits like this because two of the judges are males and they hope they can get by by using their toned abs.
 * A lot of outfits for the girls in Toddlers and Tiaras do this too.
 * The Charmed Ones did this pretty often.
 * Done by Paige in seasons 1 and 2, then Manny in seasons 3 and 4 on Degrassi the Next Generation.
 * Done by all of the girls on the S Club 7 tv show. Justified since it was always hot wherever they stayed, and they frequently hung out on the beach.
 * Kelly Bundy was a practitioner of this trope in Married... with Children.
 * The girls of Saved by the Bell did this at various times throughout the series, but Kelly showed her tummy the most often.
 * In the Danger Island serial on The Banana Splits, Leslie Hayden, the plucky daughter of Professor Hayden, wears a red blouse tied at the bottom of her bust, thus exposing her midriff, along with white slacks that never got dirty despite all the action she was in.
 * Gabrielle in Xena: Warrior Princess since the second season, Callisto and various Amazons.
 * In a recent episode of So Random Zora dressed up as some sort of bellydancer.
 * Fanservice? Or are they trying to make me throw up?
 * Sarah Walker wears a belly dancing outfit in Chuck
 * In this segment on Good Day America, reporter Anna Gilligan strips down to a bikini at Action Park to try out the Tarzan rope swing.
 * An out of uniform 1LT Colleen McMurphy wore a half shirt all throughout one episode of China Beach.

Music Videos

 * A few characters in the Vocaloid series have that kind of outfit.
 * Shania Twain has this as one of her trademarks in almost every video.
 * Janet Jackson
 * Britney Spears. Knotting up the schoolgirl outfit blouse to expose her midriff in the "Baby One More Time" video was her idea.
 * Madonna in the '80s.
 * Shakira, being a trained belly-dancer, does this in most of her videos to show off her amazingly toned abs.
 * Most female singers since The Nineties, in their Three Minutes of Writhing video clips.
 * Japanese guitarist Teru of Versailles is a male example.

Video Games

 * Classic example here, Tifa from Final Fantasy VII. But who was looking at her midriff when everybody's eyes were turned more... upwards? Also Yuffie, though admittedly her midriff-baring is more noticeable.
 * Dynasty Warriors and Samurai Warriors: Goodness, is there a female character who doesn't have a Stripperific, midriff-baring main or alternate outfit?
 * Lu Xun is a male example.
 * Ginchiyo Tachibana would be the female subversion. In fact, she's the only female character that wears full chain and plate in the games, which should be noted here if only for the rarity value.
 * Pepper Box in Evolution Worlds
 * Suzuka from Super Robot Wars OG Saga: Endless Frontier, even so far as it being her only source of sex appeal, because as far as her chest goes... she's got nothing.
 * Claire Redfield's outfit in Resident Evil Code: Veronica features this.
 * And Ashley's bonus outfit in Resident Evil 4.
 * Rebecca's bonus outfit in Resident Evil Zero, too.
 * Several Neverwinter Nights outfights fit this trope. One community expansion, the Shadowlords/Dreamcatcher/Demon arc, has a female character (Anera for those following along at home) whose favored suit of armor is a ragged scale mail shirt that leaves her stomach exposed.
 * Jade Empire has Silk Fox, whose civilian outfit exposes her belly.
 * Then there's the Player Character Wu.
 * The King of Fighters: Athena likes to do this, particularly in more recent games. Also Blue Mary, Leona and Benimaru. In fact, in KOF 97, those three has a special ending picture as "Bellybutton-showing team".
 * The whole cast of the Fanservice-loaded Shantae series. Even some of the mooks dress this way. Ironically, only the protagonist really has an excuse, seeing as she's a genie and works as a belly-dancer for her "day job".
 * BlazBlue has both Makoto Nanaya and Mu-12 doing this as well as NPC Kokonoe, but the originator was Bang Shishigami, a rare male example.
 * Princess Sara in the remake of Final Fantasy III. Additionally, Refia's Thief outfit. It's the only job that has clothing for her that fits this trope. So if you find yourself wanting to keep her a Thief despite the availability of statistically-better jobs, well, you're not alone.
 * Another job that fits is Dancer in Final Fantasy Tactics.
 * Talking about that, let's list the jobs in Final Fantasy Tactics Advance and Final Fantasy Tactics A2: there's the Viera Archers, Elementalists, and the Gria Raptor.
 * The Elite Beat Divas.
 * And their Ouendan counterparts.
 * Etna from Disgaea has an outfit that prominently displays her navel, but then it's hard not to when you're wearing what amounts to a two-piece.
 * Male warriors from the first Disgaea game. Second game, they are shirtless.
 * Hanako wears a white tube top and pink shorts which also prominently display her belly.
 * Advance Wars has Sami, Lash and to a lesser degree Rachel wearing outfits that show their bellybuttons, as well as a male example in naval commander Drake.
 * Of course, Drake's belly button has more to do with his paunch and not caring about niceties like tucking in shirts than Fan Service.
 * Lin in Days of Ruin also shows her stomach off.
 * The Space Marine player character from Doom is usually depicted as having the abdomen area of his uniform ripped off by demons(same goes for his knee). Because the most well-known image of him is in DOOM's low-res title screen, most people think that his uniform and armor were issued with an abdominal cutout (which common sense ought to quickly identify as a profoundly stupid design for military gear).
 * Shiki Misaki, as least as long as . Nao. Some of the female shopkeepers (Tigre Punks at Molco and Edoga the Shop at 104, to name a couple. Many of the other NPCs.
 * Judith in Tales of Vesperia.
 * And Luke in Tales of the Abyss.
 * Natalia's and Guy's swimsuit.
 * Reid from Tales of Eternia, as well. Luke and Reid's cases were lampshaded in an extra DVD with Tales of Fandom 2, in which the main characters of various Tales games competed to see which was the greatest hero. Luke suggested the exposed navel as a mark of the best hero (Reid and himself having been noted for it).
 * Innes in Tales of Hearts. This is not lampshaded nearly as much as what's immediately above.
 * Much like Judith above, the very busty Myuria from Star Ocean: The Last Hope.
 * In MySims Kingdom, your character's friend Lyndsay wears an outfit that bares her midriff. Your character, if female, can earn outfits over the course of the game, including a duplicate of Lyndsay's, which does the same for that character. On the other hand, it seems that nobody has navels, which may be something to contemplate.
 * From the Mario series, Peach and Daisy both wear midriff-baring jerseys in the Mario Strikers games.
 * From the somewhat-related Wario Ware series, Mona's first outfit.
 * Tiny Kong's grown-up redesign shows off her midriff as well.
 * Talim from the Soul Calibur series. And (considering the series) not in a Stripperific way either, surprisingly enough.
 * Seung Mina does this too.
 * Tira in III, as well as Xianghua and Ivy in IV.
 * Lilica of Arcana Heart, especially in one of her win poses where she whips off her vest/sleeveless jacket thing, leaving her clad only in her sports bra and cycling shorts.
 * And Scharlachrot from Arcana Heart 3 has a midriff baring outfit.
 * Most characters in the Golden Sun series don't even show their elbows and knees. Fanservice is probably the only good explanation for Karst's choice in outfit.
 * Interestingly, in the Fire Emblem series, this occurs not only with female characters but often with males of the Thief or Assassin classes, like Sothe (FE 9-10) and Jaffar (FE 7).
 * Final Fantasy XII: Fran takes it straight into Stripperiffic territory. Vaan probably shouldn't be fighting with most of his torso exposed. Even Basch has a ridiculous outfit that goes out of its way to expose his potholder nipple. In Revenant Wings, Penelo now has a severely midriff-baring outfit as well.
 * And Penelo's midriff was also bare at Final Fantasy Tactics A2.
 * And Revenant Wings. Vaan's brother Reks has a bare midriff, too.
 * Kisala and Lilika from Rogue Galaxy.
 * Most of the female characters in the Jak series.
 * Joanna Dark's outfit when she is in the fucking snow in Perfect Dark Zero.
 * Final Fantasy X-2. Most dress spheres contain varying levels of Stripperiffic-ness. Rikku and Paine's default outfits show their navels for all to see.
 * World of Warcraft's armor sets will sometimes alter slightly depending on the gender of the wearer, most often in the case of showing off a little midriff for female characters. Of course, a select few sets of armor take this a step further.
 * Sakura leans toward crop-top versions of her seifuku in the various Street Fighter games.
 * Juri wears a half tank top.
 * Karin shows a little bit of her bellybutton in some of her moves, and official artworks.
 * Elena wears naught but a bikini.
 * Rose's DLC gypsy outfit in SF IV.
 * Darkstalkers has Felicia, who bares her midriff and a WHOLE LOT more.
 * Morrigan in her mini-skirt and crop top outfit win pose.
 * Viola from Eternal Sonata.
 * Leafos from Viva Pinata. (However, while her bellybutton shows in the manual, it doesn't in the actual game.) The post office worker. The hunter, Gretchen Fetchen. Petula, of Paper Pets.
 * Albel Nox of Star Ocean: Till the End of Time is a male example, which, combined with his bi-color Anime Hair and douchebag personality, makes for some serious Mr. Fanservice.
 * Crash Bandicoot: Tawna in Crash! Boom! Bang!, Liz the Trophy Girl in Crash Team Racing and Coco Bandicoot starting with Crash Nitro Kart
 * Yukari and Mitsuru's swimsuit costumes in Persona 3, consisting of a bikini top and either daisy dukes or a sarong, respectively.
 * Dark Cloud 2's Monica can earn costumes such as a Catgirl bikini (with tiger stripes) or her own Princess gown, which is something out of Arabian Nights.
 * In Oni, some of Konoko's outfits are like this.
 * Try to guess what all three commando units from Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3, Yuriko Omega(Empire) Special Agent Tanya(Allies) and Natasha Volkova (Soviets) have in common.
 * In the remakes of Pokémon Gold and Silver (though they're more like Crystal remakes), HeartGold and SoulSilver, Sabrina from Pokémon changed to casual wear. *enter internet backdraft here*
 * Not to mention Flannery, Gardenia, Lucy, Dahlia, Phoebe, Skyla, Shelly (and all female Team Aqua Grunts), Female Swimmers, Battle/Crush Girls, Beauties in Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, Misty in Pokémon Red and Blue/Yellow and FireRed/LeafGreen, and Karen in HeartGold/SoulSilver.
 * Rui of Pokémon Colosseum has it in the Japanese version.
 * In Pokémon Ranger we have Pinchers Admin Blue Eyes in Guardian Signs and Sinis Trio member Lavana in Shadows of Almia. Tiffany from the original, however, is a subversion.
 * Krystal in her first appearance in the Star FOX series.
 * She also reverts back to this in one of Command's alternate endings but there's a high probability of that game becoming Canon Discontinuity should a new installment of the franchise be made.
 * Zola in Blue Dragon. Combined with low-level Gainaxing because she wears a tube top without a bra.
 * Oerba Dia Vanille of Final Fantasy XIII.
 * Oerba Yun Fang and Lebreau as well. Lightning even shows her midriff at times, where she's shown to have a navel piercing.
 * Curly Brace from Cave Story.
 * In RuneScape, clothes that fit a slightly larger male character slightly loosely used to, when transferred to a slightly smaller female character, suddenly be short of fabric in a way that exposes the midriff. This was changed later.
 * Aida from Unreal 2: The Awakening. Her outfit combines Bare Your Midriff with Absolute Cleavage. You can see this here.
 * Jade from Beyond Good and Evil
 * Brutal Legend: Pretty much every female character except the Razor Girls - Ophelia,, Lita, the Zaulia (and how!), even a Male example in Lars.
 * The Gerudo Warriors in Zelda all bare their midriff's, wearing stereotypical eastern-arabian clothes. (Since they are desert amazones). I would add The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess Midna to the list as well... wouldn't she be baring even more than just her midriff...
 * Midna herself isn't the only addition to this. Iza, who runs the boat rental shop also wears something exposing her stomach. And there are even male examples of this too. The aforementioned Iza has a brother named Coro who exposes his midriff as well, and while the next example isn't as pleasant, Fyer and Falbi also pull this off.
 * The Legend of Zelda Majoras Mask has the Gerudo as naval amazons, but for another example, there's the Treasure Chest Shop girl. They textured her belly button even though you can only see it if you clip your face through the counter.
 * Carmelita Fox, in the Sly Cooper games. Note that this is Inspector Carmelita Fox, who is apparently on duty and possibly in uniform—and who has been called 'hag' by more than one NPC, which implies she's no spring chicken despite being the love interest of a guy presumably in his early 20s. Neyla shows hers too, but she's only a constable at the beginning, backstory says she was recruited straight out of university, and it doesn't look like she's supposed to be wearing a uniform.
 * A minor plot point in Project Origin, where Lieutenant Stokes wears a lightweight tactical vest, and the shirt underneath it doesn't quite extend far enough down cover up her midriff. The plot comes at the end of the game, where
 * Lara Croft in Tomb Raider.
 * Morrigan in Dragon Age, combined with Absolute Cleavage on her utterly ridiculous vaguely scarf-like construction that she wears in lieu of a shirt.
 * More realistically, the Dalish armor, as worn by females.
 * Some of the outfits in We Cheer.
 * Phoenix' Peace Officer uniform and her clubbing outfit in Culpa Innata.
 * Basically the every major female character and many minor female characters in Shantae.
 * 'Xenosaga: Shion Uzuki ditches her minidress uniform for a high-fashion outfit with a shortish shirt and low-rise slacks in Episode II, then, after quitting in time for episode III, goes straight-out Stripperiffic with her outfit, featuring tight shorts and a very brief top, more emphasised than moderated with a short fur-collared jacket.
 * Sonic the Hedgehog has a few examples. Tikal the Echidna from Sonic Adventure, in Sonic Riders Rouge the Bat has an alternate outfit which invokes this trope, and similarly Blaze the Cat has an alternate outfit in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games.
 * Kuja from 'Final Fantasy IX.
 * The Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion's infamous Huntsman's Shirt does this for males and females, though the female version swings more to Fur Bikini.
 * Etrian Odyssey III: The Drowned City has several examples, but one standout is the astrologist Hypatia. Like all Zodiacs, she wears a full coat... but hers is inexplicably open in the front, giving everyone a clear view of her bare skin.
 * Male examples in 'Final Fantasy II: White Mage Minwu and The Hero Firion, in some renditions of the character.
 * In 'Sengoku Basara, it was originally the guys who were the majority on the chest/midriff-baring front, aside from Kasuga who sports Absolute Cleavage all the way down past her navel. She was recently joined by Magoichi, who adds this to her list of assets.
 * In Ace Attorney Investigations, Kay Faraday wears a T-shirt who shows her navel in case 4. (It's a flashback case, so she's a little bit younger than she was in the rest of the game.)
 * Courtney Gears in Ratchet and Clank Up Your Arsenal.
 * Crimson Viper, Sakura, Juri, and Rose (in one of her alternate outfits), in Street Fighter.
 * Minagi Tohno when when she gets hit in the upper area or in her crouching postion, it show a bit in the Doujin Game, Eternal Fighters Zero.
 * A rare male example is Riku, from Kingdom Hearts, whose navel is the only thing revealed in his outfit.
 * Musashi himself in Musashi: Samurai Legend. Another rare male example.
 * Valencia in Adventure Quest.
 * In Adventure Quest Worlds, an MMORPG made by the same people who made Adventure Quest, some armors do this to female heroes.
 * Warp Force, an expansion to Adventure Quest, Erith Kesai also bares her midriff.
 * In the upcoming doujin game Rosenkreuzstilette Freudenstachel, Sichte's top has been ripped at the bottom, exposing her navel. Karl Palesch is also a (male) example.
 * The titular Iris and Nel from Atelier Iris 3.
 * Natasha from Rusty Hearts wears a midriff-baring corset.
 * In another male example, Seifer, originally of Final Fantasy VIII fame, bares the lower half in Kingdom Hearts II.
 * Solatorobo also provides a male example in Calua, who wears armor over his chest, legs, and tail, but forgets to cover his belly. Then there's the Queen of the Race photo, in which Chocolat drags a reluctant Elh into dressing like a cheerleader, much to Red's amusement.
 * The iDOLM@STER 2 - Several of the costumes sport this.
 * Saya Kho from the X-Universe.
 * Most of the female Mortal Kombatants.
 * Fiora and Sharla's default outfits do this in Xenoblades Chronicles, you can also buy a bikini or just have them take off the armor/shirts and just have them walk around in a bra and whatever else.
 * Pointy-eared, artificial girl Luca from the Star Gladiator series (specifically Plasma Sword) exhibits an extreme case of midriff baring.

Web Comics

 * Princess Pella Brightwing from Twice Blessed shows off her midriff in her forest green two-piece outfit.
 * MAG-ISA: Lucia's costume.
 * Topaz from Monsterful does quite a nice job wearing her pajamas on this page, plus two of her friends a Spider-lady and a Mermaid do the same.
 * Lily Osiris when she's possesed by Lawrence on this one.
 * There's even a male example with Nick Claus.
 * Fiona from Supernormal Step is fond of midriff-baring t-shirts.
 * The Order of the Stick
 * Celia's original shrine guardian outfit.
 * Haley's original outfit, although her resistance fighter uniform is more concealing, and her new outfit since the desert arc has been... well, more concealing of her stomach, at any rate.
 * Julia Greenhilt, too.
 * Gwynn from Sluggy Freelance bares her midriff and more in an attempt to give Doc Schlock a heart attack.
 * Zoe also seems to favor the bare-midriff look when she's not planning on seeing anyone.
 * Several of Zeetha's outfits in Girl Genius fit this.
 * In Terinu this is Gwen's default condition when she's not wearing her CyberGlider uniform. Though almost every female in the main cast (Joleen excluded) shows their bellybutton at least in the gallery pictures.
 * Comparatively common in fashion in the Drowtales world along with Detached Sleeves, especially among the Sullisin'rune clan. When both Quain'tana and Ash'waren showed up with bare midriffs in one scene (spoilers!) the fandom nearly imploded from the Les Yay, and a poll was set up to see who had the best belly (Ash'waren won).
 * Kin from Goblins. It looks like Goblinslayer was forcing her to wear that, because as soon as she practically can she grabs a modest neck-to-waist coat.
 * Jodie from Loserz, all the time.
 * Angelika from Our Little Adventure, though lately she's donned a chain shirt that doesn't bare the midriff. She doesn't like the new armor much though.
 * She 'returned to the classic costume design' when they returned to Huckleton. She now wears a Mithril chain shirt that looks like leather and is brown.
 * When she's not wearing a painted-on black dress, Miriam from Out There often favors a tank top or T-shirt that extends down to about mid-ribcage. Her friend Sherry, who usually dresses far more modestly, occasionally rocks the belly button as well.
 * The Inexplicable Adventures of Bob: Bob's shirt gets torn and he ends up baring his midriff. He reflects that he liked it a lot better when it happened to Natalie Portman.
 * Hel the teacher from Brat Halla.
 * Despite her tomboyish tendencies, Shelly of Wapsi Square is rarely seen in an outfit that does not bare her midriff.
 * Nadine from Demolition Squad

Web Original

 * Gaia Online got an interesting inversion after the recent Art Shift. Unpopular Island Girl Sasha got a more modest look—and suddenly she has fans.
 * Most female Gaia characters still play the trope straight.
 * A subversion comes every year around Halloween these days, though, when little old lady Agatha dresses up as Medusa, including the world's saggiest metallic bra...
 * The Rappelz online banner ads likely on this page feature plenty of nice tummy shots.

Western Animation
"Kim's mom: As a board-certified neurosurgeon, I've got to say, it's just not possible to swap brains. Ron-in-Kim's-body: Point taken, Dr. P, but how else do you explain my bare midriff?"
 * Avatar: The Last Airbender: Ty Lee full time, Mai and Azula in the beach episode, Katara and Suki when trying to blend in with Fire Nation clothes, and most female Fire Nation guards. Player Ty Lee wears this in "The Ember Island Players" play The Boy in the Iceberg, but it does not work so well because the actress is overweight.
 * Hawkgirl switches to a midriff-baring costume, much like her comicbook counterpart's, in season 2 of Justice League Unlimited. Previously, she had worn a Leotard of Power.
 * Almost any young female character in Danny Phantom. Sam and Paulina mostly.
 * Kim Possible did this all throughout her first season, but by the last all of her outfits had changed to avoid this.
 * Her dad also comments on it in the episode where she gets her new mission outfit (her classic mission outfit being the final piece of midriff-baring clothing to go), saying "It's been my dream to see you save the world without baring your midriff." before revealing a large, cumbersome suit of Powered Armor for her to try.
 * Also commented by Ron (in Kim's body) during the Freaky Friday Flip episode:

"Palladium: Before we can send you, we have to suit you up in the appropriate attire. You see, the weather on Sparx is quite brutal, so I'm afraid open-toe shoes and exposed midriffs simply will not do. Griselda: If I had my way, this would be the year-round dress code. Faragonda: Oh, Griselda."
 * Bare midriffs come in handy for the inevitable Kim is turned into a female centaur fanart.
 * Kim's not the only one showing off her navel, Bonnie and the rest of the cheerleading squad, and other background female characters are like this too.
 * Frankie Foster in Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends.
 * Supergirl in Superman: The Animated Series. She is joined in this trope by Stargirl in Justice League Unlimited.
 * Starfire, Terra, Bumblebee and Blackfire (Briefly) in Teen Titans.
 * Raven in one episode due to Clothing Damage.
 * Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Ahsoka, which while not quite as abnormal as it might be for a Jedi considering what's worn by Aayla Secura, still stands out, especially when you consider her age.
 * Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2003): April O'Neil's initial outfit includes this, and is in fact apparently considered appropriate attire for her job as a lab assistant. Plus is here true nature, if idiots hadn't messed with her image.
 * Either Stockman sees her as a Bunny Ears Lawyer, or he is too busy  to notice.
 * The Jetsons: Judy Jetson.
 * Yumi Ishiyama and Sissi Delmas of Code Lyoko, in both variants of their usual outfits, their sport gears and some party clothes too. In general, crop tops are popular with the female students at Kadic. This trope is even commented on by Tamiya in episode 5, "Big Bug".
 * Even Odd falls victim to the crop top... though he wears a shirt underneath. Except when the animators forget to color the shirt.
 * Winx Club loves this. Nearly every female member of the main cast wears a midriff-baring outfit as either their default clothes, their transformation clothes, or both. This is later commented on by one of their professors, who expresses disdain for the look:


 * That quote was only in the 4Kids dub. It's ironic that out of all companies, this one would blatantly address, given that they've tried to cover it up before, notably giving Nico Robin in One Piece an undershirt...
 * And then the Enchantix went and took the last one who wasn't in a mini-dress, Techna, and did it to her too. And made the others' clothes skimpier than before.
 * Weird example with Totally Spies!! Being the kind of show it is, it had midriff-baring outfits left and right, but the artists didn't think to give anyone bellybuttons until the third season.
 * My Life as a Teenage Robot: Jenny is designed to look like a teenage girl in a tube top and short skirt complete with an exposed belly and screw-shaped bellybutton.
 * It's even made a plot point in one episode, "Around The World In 80 Pieces", being that her "belly bolt" is the one piece that holds the rest of her body together; without it, she quite literally falls apart.
 * Disneyfied Queen La in the Tarzan animated series.
 * Several female characters on Total Drama Island, notably Heather.
 * Mike from Mike Lu and Og
 * WITCH's Will, Taranee and Hay Lin's Guardian forms have exposed midriffs.
 * Hay Lin's Season 1 Outfit sorta counts, although you can't see her navel. In Season 2, the girls give up their Limited Wardrobe and each get a couple of trope-relevant outfits.
 * Hyena in Gargoyles ended up with a permanently bare midriff after she became a cyborg. Demona and (in the comics) Angela also tend to go around bare-midriffed.
 * Princess Amalia in Wakfu.
 * Amy Wong in Futurama. Her default outfit is a sweatsuit with a short-cropped top.
 * Nearly all of of Leela's outfits, aside from her default tank top and pants, have cut-out windows exposing at least her belly button. Even her formal wear tends to have these.
 * In "A Tale of Two Santas", Amy wears a midriff-baring Santa suit. In the episode "Cold Warriors", the crew goes ice-fishing, and she wears a parka that exposes her belly button.
 * Haley from American Dad.
 * Vicky from The Fairly OddParents.
 * Several of the female students in Dimmsdale Elementary are like this too, the school has rather lousy dress code for ten year olds walking around with their belly buttons revealing.
 * Triana Orpheus in The Venture Brothers in a nice low-key goth girl way.
 * Luanne in King of the Hill.
 * Most of the girls have one such set of street clothes in X-Men: Evolution. Jean has three.
 * Princess Lana of Captain N: The Game Master.
 * And Princess Zelda when she appeared in it.
 * Strangely enough, Beachcomber from Transformers Animated is colorized in a way that makes him look like he's bearing his midriff. Whether this was intentional or not, he's still the only character in TFA to do so. No wonder he has such devoted fans.
 * Most versions of Arcee have a similar look, though it's less prominent in their cases because, unlike Beachcomber, none of them are drawn to look like they're wearing jeans.
 * Joan of Arc in Clone High.
 * Jessica in The Bremen Avenue Experience.
 * Quinn in Daria. Also Kevin, in a rare male version, and Stacy to a lesser degree.
 * Avengers Earths Mightiest Heroes During Gamma World, Wasp and a female SHIELD agent mutate after being exposed to Gamma radiation, causing their costumes to conveniently tear in mid-riff exposing areas.
 * Actually Wasp's civilian outfit does this.
 * Chelsea in Batman Beyond.
 * Maxine in one episode.
 * Triplicate girl in The Legion of Super Heroes, and Duo Damsel for part of season two.
 * Artemis on Young Justice.
 * Mera, like she did on Justice League, only more mature.
 * Tula in The Pirates of Dark Water.
 * Sabrina in Sabrina the Animated Series.
 * Alt!Candace from Phineas and Ferb: Across the Second Dimension. Not that anyone would complain...
 * Regular Candace has several outfits like this as well.
 * We also see Doof in a croptop in one episode, though this is more like Fan Disservice. Perry is justifiably horrified at the sight.
 * Stacy has several outfits like this during the "Disco Minigolf Superstar" number.
 * Many female Trollz in Trollz, as their bellybuttons have magical gems that are the source of their magic.
 * Cheetara and Wilykit in Thundercats 2011.
 * Lion-O in the original series is a male example.
 * Grown up AndrAIa in Re Boot.
 * Meg's post-makeover outfit in the Family Guy episode "Don't Make Me Over".
 * Ty'Rahnee Duck Dodgers in the 2000's that was the most attractive, smarter, and greater warrior than Daffy.
 * A few background characters on Jimmy Two-Shoes.
 * Portia in Friends and Heroes.