"Not Wearing Pants" Dream: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

 

A stock dream where the subject finds themselves in a familiar social institution (usually school or the workplace) wearing only their underwear, or sometimes nothing at all. This is often coupled with a high-pressure task (such as an examination or a deadline), and the thought that you have somehow ''forgotten'' to get dressed this morning.

 

{{examples}}

* One of the "Windows 7 was my idea" ads features a student [[Not Wearing Pants]].

* Target also capitalized on this dream for an ad.

 

* In ''[[Little Ego]]'', Ego has a dream where she ges to a party only to discover she had forgotten to put her dress on under her cape. While hiding from her hosts and the other guests, she meets a man who had forgotten to put on anything other than his bow-tie.

* In ''[[Batman]]'', Tim Drake once commented that ''normal'' people have nightmares about accidentally heading to school in their underwear. He doesn't. His nightmares involved accidentally going to school in his Robin uniform.

* A cartoon in ''[[Punch]]'' shows a man, naked from the waist down, riding the bus, while explaining cheerfully to a horrified elderly woman that this is simply a recurring dream of his in which he always wakes up before reaching a particular stop.

 

* Part of Shrek's baby nightmare in ''[[Shrek|Shrek the Third]]''.

* The Live Action [[Show Within a Show]] dream sequence [[Osmosis Jones|Ozzy]] watches features Frank appearing in his daughter's classroom and getting called out for being in his underwear...and getting laughed at by ''everyone'', from the kids, to his coworkers, to his rival in the chicken-wing-eating contest he plans to attend.

* In ''[[Bull Durham]]'', Nuke LaLoosh had a nightmare about playing naked. When he wakes up on the team bus, wise veteran Crash Davis tells him "it's OK, I have that dream all the time too." Writer/Director Ron Shelton really did play minor league baseball, and this is one of the many parts of the film that are evidently [[Truth in Television]].

* A ''[[High School Musical]] 3: Senior Year'' blooper had the entire basketball team somehow forgetting their pants.

'''John''': ...but that ''too'' is a criminal offense! }}

* In ''[[New York Minute]]'', Jane has a nightmare that she gives a speech naked.

 

* Chris Van Allsburg's storybook ''The Sweetest Fig'' involves self-centered Parisian dentist Monsieur Bibot receiving two figs as payment for a tooth extraction. The lady who gives him these figs says that all of his dreams will come true. Not believing so, Bibot eats one of the figs. The next day ''his preceding dream comes true''; he walks his dog Marcel in his underwear ''without knowing it'', and the Eiffel Tower ''droops over'' as if it were deflated of air.

* In ''[[Bridget Jones|Bridget Jones's Diary]]'', Bridget has a nightmare where she has to take A-level French while wearing nothing but her [[Naked Apron|Domestic Science apron]].

 

* Sam Axe in ''[[Burn Notice]]'' seems to have a thing for pantslessness, especially in season 1.

** In Episode 2 of Season 1 while Sam is detailing Michael on a cover ID.

{{quote|Oh no! Is this a dream? Am I going to have to sit an exam with no pants on in a moment?}}

 

 

* Happens in the beginning of ''[[The Longest Journey]]'' when April sees a "dream" about Arcadia. Justified, as she actually ''did'' unconsciously travel to Arcadia while sleeping in her bed (and she didn't sleep fully-clothed, naturally). It happens again much later, when she has to flee after being awakened at night and arrives to Arcadia in just her undies.

* ''[[Dreamfall]]'' does this again whenever Zoe arrives to Winter (she gets a brand new suit of clothes upon every arrival to Arcadia, though). And no, this time it isn't justified by anything, so it must have been an [[Author Appeal]] all along...

* ''[[Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas]]''. Due to appropiately-programmed cutscenes it's quite possible to have the main character attend any number of serious situations, such as a business meeting with his sister, in his underwear. Or any other clothes one can acquire, including a gimp suit.

* A comment Hawke can make to Merrill during his/her final talk to the companions in The Last Straw quest of ''[[Dragon Age II]]'' when she asks if it all feels like a dream: "In a moment, I'll look down and see that I have no pants on."

{{quote|'''Merrill''': (giggles) The Champion of Kirkwall going into battle naked! [[Covert Pervert|Why can't I ever have that dream?]]}}

* Implied, but ultimately subverted, in one ''[[Sam and Max]]'' game. Various characters are living out their worst nightmares, and one is the paranoid Bosco, who is naked, on a stage, and has everyone looking straight at him. Later turns out that it was the "everyone looking straight at him" part that he disliked; he actually doesn't mind being naked in public.

 

* [http://buttersafe.com/2008/11/06/at-school-no-clothes/ This] ''[[Buttersafe]]'' comic, complete with a [[Lampshade Hanging]] on the whole phenomenon.

* ''[[Ansem Retort]]'': Pants are for the weak!

'''TJ''': Hey, this is my dream, so she's still bangin'. }}

 

* In the ''[[Whateley Universe]]'', one story has Phase going through a long series of nightmares. (Can superhero characters have PTSD?) One nightmare is her naked in the school cafeteria. At which point her [[Gender Bender|physical peculiarity]] is visible, and the rest of the [[Super-Hero School]] tries to kill her.

 

* In an episode of ''[[Aladdin (Disney film)|Aladdin]]'', Iago and Abu are magically transported to the land of the dead, which gives them the ability to visit living people in their dreams. They manage to convince Aladdin and the Sultan that they're dreaming by pointing out that they aren't wearing pants.

* In ''[[Futurama]]'', Fry has a dream about being in his old underpants in front of his Ancient Egyptian Algebra class. The dream then turns into an advertisement for Lightspeed Briefs, a much cooler brand of underpants. He then learns that advertisements in the 31st century can be beamed directly into people's brains.

{{quote|'''Richard:''' This is just like one of those dreams where you go to school naked!}}

* In an episode of ''[[Jackie Chan Adventures]]'', Jade enters Jackie's dream, and has to point out Jackie isn't wearing pants.

 

* A little [[Fridge Brilliance]] over ''why'' everyone seems to keep having these dreams: not necessarily because of psychological factors or whatever, but what are we usually wearing when we sleep? Either loose-fitting pajamas, underwear, or even nothing at all. We're wearing the same clothes in our dreams, just in different situations!

** This might explain why some of us who tend to sleep in our clothes don't have those kind of dreams.