Super Sentai Stance



"Pose as a team, 'cause SHIT JUST GOT REAL."

- Problem Sleuth

A subtrope of the Asskicking Pose, performed by a team, usually involving a high degree of either synchronization or symmetry -- often both. As the name suggests, the Power Rangers and Super Sentai teams may be the ur-example. Tends to look strangely awesome, even if it should -- by all rights -- look silly. Generally speaking, you need at least 5 people to pull this off, though more is better -- and some have managed to pull it off with as little as 3.

The trope originated with Sentai and is never played straight outside of a Sentai work; examples outside Sentai works are almost always Affectionate Parodies. Even within works, it's Lampshaded sometimes. For fun, is usually coupled with In the Name of the Moon.

Compare: Asskicking Pose, Angels Pose, V-Formation Team Shot and Attack Pattern Alpha.

Anime and Manga
"Kid: Just look, Patti! Your stance is off again!"
 * Sailor Moon spearheaded the female variant.
 * The Ginyu Force of Dragonball Z is a rare villainous example parody. They got pissed when they realized that the heroes had killed off too many of their numbers to pull it off anymore.
 * And they've earned something of an Ensemble Darkhorse fandom because of it, despite the fact that they were supposed to look genuinely stupid.
 * Meanwhile, Gohan tries to pull off something similar as the Great Saiyaman, but since he only has one partner and he's a massive dork to begin with, it just ends up looking ridiculous.
 * Hell, the Ginyu and Saiyaman could be a Deconstructive Parody of this trope. It's stupid as hell, and the people who do it are just that eccentric, but they can one-shot your ass in seconds, so you let it slide.
 * The ending theme of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya ends up with the cast in such a pose, closing the Hare Hare Yukai choreography.
 * The Baka Rangers in Mahou Sensei Negima had a way of doing this for fun. If that weren't enough, the School Festival arc had a group of entertainers called the Mahora Sentai who did this during their shows.
 * The Samurai Pizza Cats parody this, of course.
 * Kon from Bleach has to become Karakuraizer (in Ichigo's body, of course) in two Filler episodes. And he even gets a Five-Man Band to back him up consisting of Tatsuki, Chizuru, Keigo, Ururu, and Don Kanonji.
 * Also remember The Great Desert Brothers/Three Brothers/Neldonde Bandits (Nel, Pesche and Dondochakka)
 * Tomo gets Chiyo to Strike one of these in the third supplemental chapter of Azumanga Daioh
 * The several victory poses Kogarasumaru pulls off in Air Gear. Parody examples of course.
 * The five dream-warriors of Yumeria did this as well, in a moment of Genre Savvy, with the Red Ranger commenting that she's always wanted to be a Bishoujo Senshi.
 * The Children of Zettai Karen Children absolutely love doing this. They even include multicolored smoke in the background! Now THAT'S dedication.
 * Koi Koi 7 has one by the Amazon Brigade it shares its name with. Though according to Ascended Fangirl Akio, the team was formed minutes before they appeared, so how they managed to work out such a synchronized pose is another matter entirely.
 * Yotsuba&!, Daddy and Fuuka strike one of these at the beginning of the second part of the Beach Episode
 * In Soul Eater, Death the Kid and his twin guns Patti and Liz will often go into a symmetrical formation (given Kid's Super OCD) in which Kid will be on his knees with his arms low to the ground, Patty will be standing over him with her hands behind her head and Liz above both of them with her arms outstretched like wings. Sometimes, whenever this formation is less symmetrical (such as one point during their debut episode, when Patti was off to one side), Kid would get mad and shout at them.


 * This image from Pokémon qualifies as this combined with V-Formation Team Shot. (from left to right: (Gliscor, Monferno, Ash Ketchum, Pikachu, Buizel, Staraptor and Grotle)
 * Parodied in Buso Renkin, where entrance to the LXE headquarters requires both a password AND the people seeking entrance to strike a pose. When the heroes attempt to get in, they do the same thing (to Tokiko's great reluctance)...only to realize that even if they did know the password, it'd be rather stupid for the LXE to just let any random people into their secret headquarters (leading to a flustered Tokiko to just get pissed and bust the door down.)
 * While the Super Sentai Stance is utilized within the Pretty Cure franchise (combined with Back-to-Back Badasses when a team is made of just two girls), Pretty Cure All Stars DX 2 lampshaded this when five teams of Pretty Cures pull this off when they're all first gathered. Cure Blossom and Cure Marine are more than a little awkward (more Blossom than Marine) by it all.
 * Smile Pretty Cure takes it one step further - when the united five strike their first Super Sentai Stance... the monster hits them with a soda missile.

Film

 * In Kung Fu Panda, the Furious Five do this at the tournament to choose the Dragon Warrior. Accompanied by a gust of wind from Crane.
 * In Vampires Suck, the werewolves do it in a very gay way.

Live Action TV

 * Trope Namer: Super Sentai, its American adaptation Power Rangers and all their countless variants, of course. At least Once an Episode.
 * At the end of several Super Sentai series, the last episode inevitably involves the rangers having one last pose together out of uniform for one reason or another, (sometimes their powers are completely lost, sometimes they just feel like doing it out of uniform, sometimes they do it helmetless, etc.) and then finishing the Big Bad off for good. The feeling of Screw Destiny and Nakama in some of these cases is so powerful it's downright moving.
 * Interestingly, when different teams of Rangers team up, they do their roll call poses but the final team shot is of all 10-12 with their arms at their sides (as there's a big explosion in the background, followed by Ranger-colorcoded smoke clouds. Well, PR gets the smoke clouds.)
 * Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger arguably pokes fun at this with Gokai Green, who (as the Comic Relief) tends to do very odd poses like giving himself bunny ears. Even this was lampshaded in one episode where the team fought Evil Twins and, upon seeing his own role call pose, Green complains that it looks like he's wiping his hands on his pants after peeing; Yellow and Silver say that it's always looked like that.
 * Don also has a hard time pulling off some of the more complex poses; look closely when the team is doing another Sentai's pose and you can often see him stumbling around.
 * Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon did this alot once all the scouts were introduced. Each one in a group would start their In the Name of the Moon speech and pose, and then cut away to a group shot with them all finishing it in sync.

Video Games
"Gene: "...douchebags!""
 * Among the many, many Shoutouts to classic Japanese series, Ralf and Clark from The King of Fighters used to have a special intro pose mirroring the Cross Changer from Chojin Sentai Jetman.
 * The YuRiPa team of Final Fantasy X-2 engage in this a few times during the course of the game, most notably in the intro sequence, and often involving the Angels Pose.
 * The Meatball Brigade does this in .hack//ROOTS.
 * In Katamari Damacy, cousin Kuro regularly attempts a solo version of this. He's a huge Sentai fan and an Ineffectual Loner.
 * The Prism Rangers of Disgaea, being a straight (except for Prism Violet) Super Sentai parody, made good use of this trope.
 * Parodied in God Hand with the Mad Midget Five (a parody of sentai teams, of course). Their pose is to lie on the ground in a V-shaped formation... with their legs sticking up in the air in a V-shape.


 * When defeated, they go into "Formation... C!" Which is turning to the side and grabbing each other's hips.
 * "D- did you see that? A real Handsome Pose!"
 * The main character of Suisei Tenshi Primaveil Zwei, the captain of a parody super sentai team, exults in the first ever defeat of the Magical Girl senshi parody, unconsciously strikes a Victory Pose as he cheers. His subordinates enthusiastically join him in turn. They never speak of this again.
 * Mother 3 has the Barrier Trio, whose weakness depends on WHICH Super Sentai Stance they're in and which of the Trio is leading the Stance. When they're defeated, exhaused, they strike one last Barrier Pose. It was spectacular.
 * One optional Quest in Divinity 2 has a group of people in rags approaching the PC, instantly switching into armor and weapons and striking such a pose. By the way the camera focuses on each one as their amor appears in a beam of light and they shout their names, you know it's a parody of this trope.

Web Comics

 * Problem Sleuth: "Pose as a team, 'cause SHIT JUST GOT REAL."

Western Animation

 * Xiaolin Showdown uses this trope, in the form of 'Dragon Ex Kumai Formation'.
 * Early episodes of Transformers Prime had the Autobots doing this almost every time they came through a ground bridge portal. They've since (mostly) gotten over it.
 * The acclaimed Futurama episode "Godfellas" has a sect of four unassuming astronomy monks suddenly take on a Sentai Stance when Fry threatens to use their telescope without permission.

Real Life

 * In circuses, at the beginning and the end, the members of an act usually come up and make a pose. (And if their act IS a difficult pose, then their starting pose is often a simple one, not related to the pose that is actually their act.)
 * Michael Jackson incorporated these with his backup dancers in his live shows. It looks cool, and it's a good time for him to catch his breath.