Star-Spangled Spandex



"Mickey: [Regarding Zatanna's dress] Are those stars?! Zatanna: Maybe. Mickey: Those are real %&$#ing stars!"

Humans like shiny stuff. Humans wear shiny stuff. Humans become shiny stuff.

This trope is for people who (whole or in part) appear to be "made of stars". They may appear to be "cut out" of the real world, revealing distant stars and nebulas. It's usually because they are wielders of the Power Cosmic or are Energy Beings. Occasionally, they just have a really good tailor.

Basically, these characters are wearing natural camouflage for deep space.

A Sub-Trope of Symbol Motif Clothing.

Compare Chrome Champion, Celestial Body (if someone wearing this actually has stars within them). In live action or animation, this may become a variant of Unmoving Pattern.

Not to be confused with Wearing a Flag on Your Head or Captain Geographic.

Comics

 * Eternity from the Marvel Universe. Quasar (who is the Champion of Eternity... Well, actually Infinity, but they're the same being or... something) tends to have this weird effect with his cloak.
 * Genis-Vell had a similar deal going with the blue portion of his uniform.
 * As did Captain Mar-Vell in Paradise X.
 * It comes with the Uni-Power. Even Spider-Man, when he briefly had the power, had this in his uniform.
 * Star Boy in The Legion of Super Heroes seemed to have this a number of Re Tools back, although it was clear from context that it was just a normal shirt which looks like it's made of stars.
 * Now, it's a map of the multiverse.
 * The Legionnaires duplicate of Laurel Gand, Andromeda, wore a starfield outfit. In reboot continuity, so did her alleged ancestor Lar Gand (M'onel).
 * Donna Troy, Wonder Woman's former Sidekick, has an outfit made out of starfield fabric. Some artists even give her Star Spangled Hair! (like in the image)
 * The current version of Supergirl villain Reactron wears a suit like this. He claimed it was "made from a region of space", but later admitted this was untrue. The Pre-Crisis version wore a purple outfit with big five-pointed stars all over it.
 * In The Sandman, at times Morpheus' cape appears to be made out of the night sky.
 * Green Lantern Kyle Rayner used one of these during his more recent time as Ion.
 * At times, you could see stars on the costume of Marvel UK's Dark Angel (originally Hell's Angel.)
 * Her costume was made out of The Fabric of the Universe.
 * And let us not forget the Ur Example, the original Star-Spangled Kid from DC.

Literature

 * Zandramas, Big Bad of David Eddings' Malloreon. This was a plot point.
 * Boogiepop's cloak sometimes appears to be lined with nebulae.
 * Derk's original cape as Dark Lord has a lining made of a miniature universe.
 * Fence, chief wizard of the Secret Country, wears star studded robes as in astronomical stars complete with galaxies and nebula. It is not wise to look to closely at said robes as one is likely to get motion sickness.

Live-Action TV

 * Kamen Rider Meteor.

Music

 * Peter Gabriel at the end of the "Sledgehammer" video?
 * "Building a Mystery" by Sarah McLachlan has a dress like this. It's made with real stars.

Oral Tradition, Myth and Legend

 * Egyptian god Ptah sometimes has this effect in his eyes.

Tabletop Games

 * The god Ao in the Forgotten Realms setting gets around like this.
 * Dungeons & Dragons has a cloak that looks exactly like this. A player can [grab stars from the cloak and throw them like they're shurikens. Sadly, said shurikens are underpowered for the level the player would be at when they typically get one of these cloaks.

Video Games

 * Final Fantasy VIII's final transformation of the final boss, Ultimecia, has a huge cloak of stars against a starry background like she is absorbing the universe.
 * The appearance of Metal Slug 5's completely-unrelated-to-the-rest-of-the-game Final Boss is that of a demonic silhouette literally made of space. With a skull vaguely emerging from the belly.
 * Kingdom of Loathing: The player can battle constellations which are Unusual Euphemisms for certain body parts made of stars, collect the stars and lines and turn them into weapons and clothing.
 * There are a number of Subeta wardrobe items that look like this.
 * The Titan herald Agalon the Observer in World of Warcraft has stars all over his body.
 * The Celestial Steed is a mount made of the same stuff Algalon is.
 * In Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, the Shadow Queen looks like this. In Super Paper Mario, the inside of Count Bleck's cape looks like a starry void.
 * Not to mention the miniboss Monstar from the first game. Justified though in that.
 * In Super Mario Galaxy, the Cosmic Mario race opponent looks like stars in a dark blue sky.
 * A subtle example from the 11th Touhou game, Subterranean Animism. The Final Boss is a hell-raven girl sporting a white cape and large black wings. The cape normally drapes over her folded wings - when they are spread open, the cape trails behind and you can the see the inside resembles a field of stars. Probably related to her having the "power of the Sun" (read: nuclear fusion).
 * It looks even cooler in . The design on the inside of her cape actually moves around.

Web Comics

 * Caprice in A Miracle of Science has starlit hair.
 * Word of God indicated that this was a Martian personal ornamentation... thingy.
 * Namely artificial gemstones and antigravity beads for that floaty look. Yes, even Martian jewelry uses ubertech.
 * In Gene Catlow, the leaders of the Feline Family, Big Momma and Big Daddy, have galaxies inside them, due to wielding Cosmic Power.
 * Homestuck more typically combines this with Scary Shiny Glasses, but it's played in the usual sense with Snowman of The Felt, and by extension Jade Harley's Three in the Morning Dress, which was alchemised using a poster of The Felt and an 8-ball (ie Snowman). Doc Scratch takes this one step further, in that he's constantly flashing through different points in space to represent his temporal-spatial instability, including a field of stars.

Web Original

 * This was the chosen uniform of the Neumans, a family of superheroes from the Global Guardians PBEM Universe.
 * Supervillainesses Urania and Star also dressed in star-covered black leotards.

Western Animation

 * Alien X from Ben 10 Alien Force fits.
 * Bob wound up like this due to an accident in one of the ReBoot movies.
 * Nocturne of Danny Phantom.