Scarf of Asskicking



There are many ways to show someone is Badass. Oneliners, getting an Awesome Yet Practical power, and knocking everyone down one rank in terms of power. There is also... the scarf. It can be any color, although it's frequently red, yellow or black. And it seems to always be flowing in the wind.

Can occasionally be replaced with a sash or a headband. Is often, but not always, a Shout Out to Kamen Rider, one of the earlier uses of the trope and quite iconic in Japan-land. Frequently part of an Adventurer Outfit.

May require serious MST3K Mantra when you realize that a long bolt of cloth wrapped around your neck is one of the first things you should take off before a fight.

A Sister Trope to Badass Cape, Fedora of Asskicking.

Anime and Manga

 * Sayoko of Code Geass when in kickass ninja mode.
 * Kouji Kabuto from Mazinger Z was going to wear a scarf, but Go Nagai removed it when Kamen Rider premiered because he did not want people thought he was ripping it off. Tetsuya Tsurugi, from Great Mazinger, wears one constantly, though.
 * Go Mifune/Speed Racer wears a scarf-like neckerchief.
 * The main nine cyborg characters of Cyborg 009. Since they were created by the same artist as, you guessed it, Kamen Rider, this is hardly surprising.
 * In G Gundam, Domon Kasshu and Master Asia exemplify the alternatives to this trope respectively.
 * Hell, Master Asia IMPALES and destroys mobile suits with his scarf.
 * Getter Robo: Ryoma Nagare, Hayato Jin and Musashi Tomoe all have them on their outfits. Getter Robo: Armageddon even has the titular robot itself use a scarf as an impromptu weapon.
 * Yoko in Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann wears one... and little else.
 * Viral picks one up after the time-skip as well - his Super Galaxy costume is a Shout Out to Hayato Jin.
 * Garyuu of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, in what may possibly be a nod to Kamen Rider considering how he's a humanoid insect.
 * Subaru also has the flappy headband variant.
 * Mai in Mai-HiME, and though the scarf only shows up in the opening animation, she's the lead, and her Empathic Weapon CHILD has more or less the capabilities of a nuke.
 * Lisa Lisa from Jo Jos Bizarre Adventure uses a long yellow scarf as weapons.
 * Her son, Joseph, had one too.
 * Justimon from Digimon Tamers, who was basically a Digimon Kamen Rider.
 * Before Justimon came to be, one third of him, Ryo, wore a red scarf while roaming in the Digital World.
 * Another notable example of this trope is the digimon Pandamon, who is more of a parody of this trope than an example of it.
 * Wolfmon/Lobomon of Digimon Frontier has one too.
 * Kai Hiwatari from Beyblade wears a white one, his asskickness is Lampshaded in the series by Takao.
 * Appears as a Kamen Rider homage in Bleach, where one of the Vizard, Mashiro, wears a scarf in human form, along with a Tokusatsu-esque white bodysuit. Naturally, her Hollow mask looks suspicously like a Kamen Rider helmet.
 * Naturally, she attacks using "Mashiro Kick" as a homage to Kamen Rider's "Rider Kick".
 * Byakuya wears one as well. Bonus points: His scarf is actually a status symbol, indicating that he is the generational head of his family. According to the extras in the ninth tankobon volume, its proper name is ginpaku kazanohana usuginu - "silver-white windflower silk gauze" - and it costs as much as ten houses.
 * And now . No idea why he has it, but some may argue that it just makes him look even more Badass Adorable.
 * Haruko of FLCL wears a scarf quite often. Since her main mode of transportation is a supersonic Vespa, it makes a bit more sense than most... until you remember she doesn't use it or her goggles while flying.
 * In Kino's Journey, Kino usually wears a scarf, although it's most notable during the winter scenes or when driving her moterad in bad weather.
 * Pretty much the entire cast of Cyborg009.
 * Vincent Valentine's long red scarf is one of the major blooms of color for a few scenes of Final Fantasy VII : Advent Children, and looks quite Badass through all of them, even if he doesn't actually kill much.
 * It's a cloak. In Final Fantasy VII Cid wears one as does Yuffie in Kingdom Hearts.
 * Konohamaru from Naruto has never been seen without a scarf, though it didn't help him much in the way of asskicking or popularity. Still he stayed the course and in the last arc at last
 * Killer Bee also has a white scarf, and wears it well.
 * Tobi wears a scarf, at least in his first appearance (if he is wearing it after that is hard to tell, because it would be covered the Akatsuki cloak he starts to wear when he became a full member).
 * Akatsuchi also wears a large yellow scarf, though he actually wears it in the front.
 * Not technically in-universe, but do an image search for "Kakashi ANBU" on Deviant ART. At least 40% of the pictures will involve the Giant Red Scarf of Badassery -- and the funny thing is that no-one seems to know where it came from.
 * Natsu from Fairy Tail is rarely seen without his trademark scarf. It Was a Gift from his foster father, Igneel.
 * He's without it for a total of 5 panels. Four with him as a small child in a flashback before he got the scarf, one when he makes Lucy wear it hoping she'll be mistaken for him by Erza.
 * Knightwalker and Romeo  also wear one.
 * Hime from Yozakura Quartet.
 * Mr. Chang's scarf in Black Lagoon doesn't serve any practical purpose other than increase the coolness of his outfit (which, itself, is a homage to John Woo's The Triads and The Tongs movies) tenfold. Needless to say, he is extremely, over-the-top badass.
 * Dogby gets one in the second volume of Dogby Walks Alone
 * In Asu no Yoichi, Yoichi wears a long green scarf and tends to kick ass (when not confronted by women). Of course, the scarf is also sometimes used to drag him away from another one of his "misunderstandings".
 * This is one of Psychopathic Manchild Russia's trademarks from Axis Powers Hetalia. According to the manga, it's a gift from his older sister Ukraine.
 * Holland gets a nice black, blue and white one in the second sketch
 * A lot of Yusei's monsters in Yu-Gi-Oh 5 Ds wear this kind of scarf (Junk Synchron, Junk Warrior, Tuningware, Scrap-iron Scarecrow).
 * Previously, in Yu-Gi-Oh GX a character wore one of these while imitating Yugi.
 * Afro Samurai does something similar with the Number Two headband. Actually, anyone with one of the headbands gets this effect.
 * Being a Ninja, Kaede of Mahou Sensei Negima naturally wears the tattered rag she received as her Artifact like a long, flowing scarf.
 * And on the villain side, Tsukuyomi sometimes wears a scarf as part of her Impossibly Cool Clothes.
 * In Soul Eater, Black Star gets one as of chapter 62.
 * Also Tsubaki.
 * And in Masamune form Tsubaki and Black Star's shadows BECOME this.
 * Busou Renkin as well. Kazuki looked pretty cool when he used the fabric from his kakugane as a scarf to hide his face. (It didn't work, but it was still cool.)
 * Yuzuriha of the Crane, a Silver Saint from Saint Seiya the Lost Canvas has a scarf that literally kicks ass (through its wearer's telekinesis).
 * In chapter 19 of Karneval,.
 * Sakura from Get Backers brings it up to Improbable Weapon User levels.
 * How can we forget Lin Xiao Li (aka Number X) from Black Cat? He wields a feather mantle made out of Orichalcum that can cut just about anything. To top it all, he's scarily effective in battle.
 * In Change 123 the protagonist is an Otaku fan of the Kamen Raider series (a Shout Out to/LawyerFriendlyCameo of Kamen Rider). At one point, he goes into action dressed up as a raider, including the standard issue scarf. And, of course, since he is such a clumsy nerd, he steps on this scarf and stumbles.
 * Shiina in Angel Beats!
 * Lots in Tegami Bachi. It helps that it's part of the letter bee uniform.
 * Lavi in D Gray Man wears a long orange, later red, scarf.
 * Ririka, heroine of Nurse Angel Ririka SOS, sports a scarf that looks rather like a pair of wings when she assumes her Magical Girl Warrior form.
 * Saya of Blood Plus wears one during her final battle.
 * Tandoji of Sacred Seven has one of these. And makes it live up to the "Ass-kicking" part, by turning it into a lethal Whip Sword.
 * Space Medafighter X/Uchuu Medarotter X uses one in Medabots, since his outfit is an entire Shout Out to Kamen Rider.

Comic Books

 * Pulp-era hero The Shadow. Probably the earliest example of this trope in fiction.
 * Mina Murray in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, although her asskicking is generally more mental than physical.
 * And she wears a scarf to cover her
 * Ms. Marvel's original costume. Her current costume still retains the visual element, but now it's a waist sash.
 * The Little Prince wore one. It flutters when appropriate. This was mentioned in the book as well, although the poor kid doesn't do much asskicking.
 * Rorschach from Watchmen. But he keeps his scarf tucked into his Badass Longcoat.
 * Rascal from Strikeback! had a striped red-and-white scarf he could morph into things like frying pans, chainsaws, baseball bats, etc.
 * Rogue's most recent costume from the pages of the X-Men.

Film

 * Many of John Woo's heroes (usually played by Chow Yun-Fat) in his early Heroic Bloodshed movies wore white scarves to their black Badass Longcoats. Think Mark Gor from A Better Tomorrow and Ah Jong from The Killer, for example.
 * The original film of The Lady Killers had Professor Marcus sporting a very long scarf.
 * Really weird scarf/Squick hybrid: In The Cell, a journey into a serial killer's mind, one of the manifestations of his psyche is a huge man with metal rings set into his back, and velvet cloth hanging from the rings. When he stands up and walks forward, the velvet is dragged along behind him like a bridal train ... and the velvet curtains in the background all start to rise at once, as they're actually part of the extremely long scarves linked to his back. Creepy as freakin' hell.
 * A scarf is worn by Charlton Heston as treasure-hunter Harry Steele in Secret of the Incas, one of the primary inspirations for Indy and his outfit.
 * Knives seems to acquire an incredibly long black and white knitted scarf for her battle outfit during the climax of Scott Pilgrim.
 * She even uses it to disarm Gideon Graves during that final battle.

Literature

 * Mat Cauthon of the Wheel of Time series constantly wears a black silk scarf from book four on. It's to cover up the
 * Joshua of Trails in The Sky starts rocking one of these in the game's second chapter.
 * Ryan Cawdor of the Deathlands series has a white silk scarf weighed at the ends, for the entirely practical reason that no-one suspects it's a useful garotte.
 * Skulduggery Pleasant usually takes a scarf with him whenever he goes out in the first few books. Being a skeleton, it's not to protect him from cold but rather to cover his face if he needs to hide from Muggles. Eventually he gets a magical disguise which removes this need.

Live-Action TV

 * Sherlock in BBC's Sherlock wears a blue scarf.
 * Kamen Rider, in its earlier incarnations, has the hero with a scarf. Just having it makes them Badass. Much homaged and referenced in Japanese media, as stated above and seen throughout the article. The tradition was dropped in 1987's Kamen Rider Black and didn't return until 2009's Kamen Rider Double, but the following Mythology Gags have cropped up in later shows:
 * In Kamen Rider Agito, Sixth Ranger Another Agito (technically not a Kamen Rider) has two scarves; in fact, his entire design is a Mythology Gag: he looks like an organic version of Kamen Rider 1.
 * The Big Bad of Kamen Rider Faiz, the Arch Orphnoch, is a Rider-like monster (in fact, his insectoid theme makes him more Rider-like than that series' Riders) with a bifurcated cape that resembles a pair of scarves.
 * Lampshaded or subverted, depending on your point of view, when the Evil Twin from Kamen Rider Blade is only distinguishable by the fact that he's wearing a scarf.
 * In early episodes of Kamen Rider Den-O, the protagonist wears a red scarf in his street clothes as part of a Shout Out to his predecessors; ironically, the monster possessing him throws off the scarf before he starts kicking ass in the first episode.
 * When the aforementioned monster appears in Kamen Rider Decade, anybody possessed by him spontaneously gains a red scarf along with the usual effects of his possession (spiked hair with a single red lock, red eyes, voice change, muscle mass increase).
 * As mentioned above, Kamen Rider Double gains a scarf, but only when he uses his Cyclone powers; in The Movie, when Kamen Rider Decade splits Double into two whole beings, the CycloneCyclone Double has two scarves. Also, the recurring antagonist Nasca Dopant has a bifurcated scarf.
 * Kamen Rider Kabuto pays homage to this in a chapter where Tendou Souji shows up wearing a scarf just before transforming. It's also the Kamen Rider anniversary chapter.
 * A similar homage occurs in Kamen Rider OOO when Hino Eiji receives a red scarf as a gift.
 * Super Sentai series, particularly those before Dynaman, used scarves. However, they had to change into scarf-less spandex because it was a lot safer to do with stunts.
 * Doctor Who: The Badass Bookworm Fourth Doctor. In at least one episode he actually used it to trip up enemies.
 * One interesting note: the Fourth's very, very, very, VERY long scarf was originally intended to be of just ordinary length. But apparently the costume designer brought the knitter hired for the job ten times the amount of wool needed...and she knitted all of it. "Witty little knitter" indeed. Also, it was shortened after "The Sontaran Experiment" when its length caused Tom Baker to trip and break his collarbone on location, requiring a double to take his place in long shots (!).
 * And tripping enemies wasn't the only use for absurdly long and iconic accessory.
 * Early on, he made the throwaway comment that it was knitted by Lady Nostradamus.
 * And now Amy Pond, the Doctor's companion, has one too. Admittedly, its not half as long as Four's.

Mythology

 * In one of the variations of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Gawain gets one of these at the end to cover a newly received scar on his neck. As a show of solidarity, the other knights wear scarves as well.
 * And possibly an Older Than Steam occurrence of Misaimed Fandom, as Gawain's scarf and the scar it covered were a reminder of his cowardice and shame. Either he chose not to tell that part of his story to the court, or else they chose to hear it differently than he intended.
 * Another variation has a green shash. After Gawain tells the other knights about everything that happened, King Arthur laughs, and decides that all the Knights of the Round Table should wear green shashes as well, in honor of his cousin's adventure.

New Media

 * Lampshade Hanging in Bob and George, with Protoman's and Bob's ever-flowing scarves.
 * Gaia Online has several items like this that your avatar can wear. Most are limited-edition and highly sought by collectors, like the Nitemare Scarf.
 * Several NPCs also wear scarves. Labtech X was famous for adding a tattered scarf to his Labtech Uniform to hide his face . The "Chyaku Norisu Scarf," a popular limited edition item, is worn by high ranking members of the Chyaku Norisu Clan (namely Kin, though two other NPC concepts have been seen wearing similar scarves).
 * Dominic Deegan's iconic scarf. It even helps him in mental battles!
 * Jenny Everywhere usually wears a scarf to go along with her aviator goggles.
 * In Homestuck, Rose Lalonde (albeit only briefly) and her mother both wear these scarfs.
 * Eridan Ampora also wears one.
 * Rose later made a new dress that seems to use the scarf as a belt.
 * Troy McKelski of A Loonatics Tale. Also, the Mysteelion military uses scarves as ranking indicators, so the scarf of, say, a combat-hardened sergeant, most likely is a literal Scarf of Asskicking.
 * Kaito of the Vocaloid cast has a blue scarf that he's quite known for.
 * Nhazul, the protagonist of..well..Nhazul's stick flashes from 3008-present, sometimes sports a rather magnificent one (for one worn by a stick figure).

Theater

 * In Rent, Mark Cohen's character wears a blue and grey scarf throughout most of the show. During filming, Mark's actor wanted to wear the same scarf he had worn while performing on Broadway, but the colors didn't work so well on camera, so a substitute was made (with the real scarf possessing a place of honor on the set at all times).

Video Games

 * The main protagonist in Cave Story.
 * Ataru Hori from Mr. Driller
 * Lukus from The Magic Obelisk.
 * Ryu Hyabusa of Ninja Gaiden wears one in his more recent games.
 * May Lee from the The King of Fighters 2001 has a "Hero Mode," which amounts to her throwing on a scarf, as a homage to Toku hero, Kamen Rider.
 * Isaac from Golden Sun. If a 17-year-old kid told you he was out to save the world, would you believe him if he was wearing a bright yellow scarf? Well, neither did Saturos, Menardi, Agatio, or Karst. Or anyone else outside your party, for that matter.
 * Speaking of Menardi, her Sash of Asskicking also fits the qualifications of this trope.
 * Isaac's scarf has been passed down to his son, Matthew for the threequel. And yes, he wears it well.
 * Proto Man in the Mega Man series is never seen without his trademark yellow scarf.
 * Then again, considering that he was heavily inspired by Kamen Rider...
 * Also, in Mega Man X Command Mission X is redesigned and given a plasma scarf that activates when he moves.
 * Boktai has Django wearing his father's crimson scarf, which becomes wings when he turns into a vampire.
 * Laharl of Disgaea has one, too. Almaz in the third game has a scarf too but, considering his Chew Toy status, the "of Asskicking" part is debatable. The lead Prinny in Prinny: Can I Really Be the Hero? wears a red scarf that also prevents him from randomly exploding as Prinnies tend to do. Or rather, there's one scarf which is shared between a thousand Prinnies and passed down whenever one die and the main character is whoever is currently wearing the scarf.
 * And then there's Adell and his Necktie of Asskicking, a unique variant also borne by
 * Ash of Phantom Brave.
 * Too many games with ninja in them, such as the Shinobi games.
 * Shinobi on the PS 2 gets special mention - the story goes that a programmer turned the scarf's length Up to Eleven as a joke, and it was so popular it was increased again before release.
 * Emeralda from Xenogears.
 * Gruntilda in Banjo Kazooie.
 * For his appearance in Marvel vs. Capcom, Strider Hiryu gained a scarf which he's kept ever since.
 * The Wild Arms series is in love with this trope. Every game has a major character wearing a long flowing scarf. Wild Arms 1 has Zed, 2 has Knight Blazer, 3 has Jet, 4 has Arnaud, 5 has Dean, and XF has Rupert.
 * Both Hattori Hanzo and Galford of Samurai Shodown wear scarves. The scarves were short in the first two games, but when SNK redrew their sprites for SS3, they became tripping hazards.
 * Zul'Jin, the troll leader of War Craft.
 * Rose of the Street Fighter series, being based off of Lisa Lisa, uses her scarf to kick your ass. It's especially evident in Street Fighter IV - just ask Gen.
 * From Street Fighter III, there's Makoto. This may be a subversion, as the scarf in question is said to be an oversized Hachimaki worn around her neck according to some sources. Makoto, on the other hand, is not a stranger to five-star beatdowns. Ouch, Fei Long.
 * Viewtiful Joe, being a parody of tokusatsu shows in general, gives Joe a scarf as yet another Shout Out to Kamen Rider. It's pink, but that arguably makes it even cooler.
 * It's a cape.
 * A random encounter in one of the recent Castlevania games (Aria of Sorrow) had a skeleton wearing nothing but a Kamen Rider style red scarf, who attacked Kamen Rider style, with flying kicks.See here for more.
 * It never shows up on your sprite, but on occasion the Kicker Skeleton will drop its scarf of asskicking as an item.
 * From the same game, check out Julius Belmont's character art: he's got a red scarf on, too, though it's much smaller and less dramatic than the Kicker Skeleton's scarf.
 * Hector from Curse of Darkness wears one right above his belt. Kinda got the wrong place, but it still looks badass.
 * In the PSP remake of Rondo of Blood, Dracula X Chronicles, all of the characters were redesigned. Richter Belmont's (the main playable character) new design includes a similar scarf to Julius', but it's white instead of red.
 * Appears in Super Robot Wars, no surprise there. The third Dynamic General Guardian, Dairaioh, has one since it's, that's right, yet another homage to Kamen Rider.
 * Iku Nagae of Scarlet Weather Rhapsody not only wears a scarf, but actually uses it for many of her attacks, utilizing it as a whip or even a drill.
 * Parsee in Subterranean Animism wears a dainty pink/white scarf, and is a pretty impressive foe with spellcard mechanics typically used by Touhou endbosses, such as an attack that follows you around on the screen... in her Stage 2 midboss fight. This establishes SA's status as "That One Game" in the minds of a lot of Touhou fans.
 * Sakuya for definite sports one of these in Perfect Cherry Blossom. However that IS because it's winter during the Incident.
 * Rita Mordio in Tales of Vesperia uses scarves/sashes as weapons when not using a chain. She even justifies their use as weapons in one of the game's skits by stating how she makes the "aer" in their weaves more dense in order to make them rigid. Or something like that.
 * Tales of Symphonia Dawn of the New World has Emil Castagnier in his 'Ratatosk Mode.'
 * In the first game, we have Lloyd, though it's more like "long, white Hachimaki wrapped around the neck" of asskicking.
 * In Samurai Shodown, Galford D. Weiler is always seen with a scarf. According to the data books, this scarf is his most prized possession, given from his master after graduating from ninja school.
 * Bethany, Merrill, and Aveline all wear Scarves Of Asskicking in various colors in Dragon Age II.
 * Konoha of Arcana Heart, another Ninja. Her long red scarf is large enough (and her small enough) to be used as an impromptu glider.
 * The earlier Final Fantasy games with concept art by Yoshitaka Amano are heavily loaded with characters wearing dozens of scarves and sashes. Later Final Fantasy games by Tetsuya Nomura switched from the scarves and sashes to belts and zippers.
 * Male Mimic class in Final Fantasy Tactics wears a scarf, and a Mimic is one of the game breakers when being used right.
 * Faize of Star Ocean the Last Hope gets one of these partway through the game. The scarf's presence
 * Micaiah and Sothe of Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn wear these.
 * Volke, from both Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn, sports a pretty nifty scarf, which only serves to add to his general intrigue.
 * Nils in Blazing Sword, too. Doesn't make sense until
 * Bang Shishigami wears one. It's as manly as he is.
 * Jak gets one of these in Jak II and Jak 3.
 * Nathan Drake seems to be following in the footsteps of the former Naughty Dog protagonist in Uncharted 3.
 * Captain Falcon has one in Super Smash Bros and Melee, but it's fully shown in Brawl.
 * Kisuke in Muramasa: The Demon Blade. He has a blue scarf, is a Ninja using a sword style specifically created to kick the ass of everything from other Ninja to gods of thunder with a metal blade. Oh and the blade he uses? It was made by the spirit of one of the greatest swordsmiths of all time from the souls of his defeated enemies.
 * Kay Faraday wears a long scarf with the end cut into a bird-wing shape in Ace Attorney Investigations. She also pins a home-made Yatagarasu symbol broach to it.
 * Flowing scarves are included as an alternative to capes in City of Heroes.
 * Nel Zelpher, ninja wizard special forces agent in Star Ocean Till the End of Time, wears a thick striped scarf - the only whimsical touch on an otherwise rather practical costume (by video game standards, at least).
 * Ovan of the .hack//Roots anime and //G.U. games has a light blue scarf that often covers the bottom part of his face. Along with a Badass Whitecoat and Scary Shiny Glasses, he's exactly as powerful as his accessories would suggest.
 * Braig of Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep.
 * All three main characters in Pokémon Diamond/Pearl/Platinum have scarves, as do their manga counterparts.
 * There are also scarf items that serve this purpose for your Pokemon: the Silk Scarf gives a 20% power boost to your Pokemon's Normal-type attacks, while the Choice Scarf increases your Pokemon's Speed by 50%, although it is locked into the first move it uses until it is switched out.
 * In Pokemon HeartGold And SoulSilver, Gym Leader Pryce has one of these, cementing his status as a Badass Grandpa.
 * Koga wears one. His daughter follows this tradition when she takes over the Gym three years later.
 * Ryoji Mochizuki wears a yellow one in Persona 3.
 * Yosuke's initial Persona Jiraiya has a red one.
 * From Devil Survivor 2, the Main Protagonist has a white one in concept art.
 * Although he only wears it into battle with a special costume, Akihiko is the biggest Ass Kicker in the series and has an awesome red scarf to match in his winter clothes.
 * Arawn gets a red scarf in the beginning of Tears to Tiara. The scarf is something like a crown to the Gael tribe he leads.
 * Gunstar Green wears a blue one at the start of the Seven Force battle.
 * Doing a hardcore ascension as a Sauceror in Kingdom of Loathing gets you a scarf. Made of stainless steel , meaning that whoever wears it is either a total badass or stupid. Or both.
 * 2008 Prince of Persia has two. Technically they're a turban, but the majority of the fabric is around his neck and they come off his shoulders, and they flow awesomely while he does all the parkour and stylized duels, so they count.
 * Racer Bomber from Bomberman Land 2 wears a pretty badass yellow scarf http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLOQH 744 LI 8&feature=related
 * Adol Christin seems to have picked one up in Ys: The Oath in Felghana, and continues on to wear it in the seventh game of the series. It makes you wonder why it took so long for the developers to give it to him.
 * Maximo wears a scarf and kicks the undead's ass. What more can you say?
 * Yun of Mana Khemia 2 Fall of Alchemy has a sash variant tied around his waist.
 * Jin Saotome of Cyberbots and it defies gravity
 * The hero in Nitrome's Sky Serpents.
 * Jude in Agarest Senki 2 abuses this with flair in his battle animation, and his victory pose.
 * Garen in League of Legends has one. Possibly other characters as well.
 * Fubuki Shirou, the icy ace striker of Hakuren, wears one. Also a Tragic Keepsake.
 * Prince Alexander in King's Quest VI wears two scarves, (orange and purple) as a Shout Out to Robin Hood Prince of Thieves.
 * The standard Star Fox flight suit since Star Fox 1 has distinctive colored scarves to augment already Badass character designs. They appear on at least some main characters in every game except Star Fox Assault.
 * Every character in Team Fortress 2 can wear a scarf.

Western Animation

 * The G3 Mooks in Sym Bionic Titan have scarves, to go along with the rest of their appearance, which is a homage to Kamen Rider and other late-70s Toku.
 * Mako from The Legend of Korra has a long red scarf that doubles as a Tragic Keepsake from his father and is pretty solidly badass; how he keeps it from catching fire is unknown, but it's probably just one of those things you don't question.
 * Korra actually uses Mako's scarf in one episode to beat up an Equalist thug and throw him into a steam vent.
 * Mister Twister in Young Justice becomes an Adaptational Badass while sporting one of these in the third episode.

Real Life

 * Probably the Trope Maker--a likely source is the romantic image of World War One fighter pilots, and later motorcyclists, who needed the scarf partly against the wind, but mostly to keep their neck from chaffing against the collars of their leather jackets when they turned their heads.
 * Silk scarves also served a practical purpose, especially for wartime pilots: they could be printed with maps that wouldn't be ruined if they got wet. Useful in case of a crash.
 * They also worked well to clean those aviators goggles in a hurry. Front-mounted, exposed (for air-cooling) engines that frequently leaked oil, combined with open cockpits, made for very messy flights with early planes of the era.
 * In April 2010, Mizuki Ichiro appeared on a certain show sporting an absolutely magnificent Real Life example of this trope. The song's pretty damn funny, too.