Angels Pose

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.
The originators of this very trope.

When a team, generally young women, pose in a distinctive style in the midst of battle. It looks pretty good on camera and it conveys teamwork. The general appearance is usually dependent on a symmetrical three person shape, the two on the outside have their body positions turned away from the center person. A silhouette is optional. But there is also a two-person variation of them standing back to back. Often done in a Montages.

No actual firearms are (usually) involved though.

Originated by the famous poses of Charlie's Angels

It is often used as a Stock Parody. Compare the Super Sentai Stance.

Examples of Angels Pose include:

Anime and Manga

Films -- Live-Action


Live-Action TV

  • Happens during any game of Film, TV, and Theater Styles where Charlie's Angels is one of the styles.
  • It was done in at least one episode of That '70s Show which of course actually had Tanya Roberts who was one of the Angels on it.
  • The title sequence for Funky Squad, an Affectionate Parody of 70's cop shows.
  • In the Flight of the Conchords second-season episode "Prime Minister", the Prime Minister of New Zealand wants a photo like this. With a Barack Obama impersonator (who he thought was actually Obama).
  • Done unintentionally in Whose Line Is It Anyway? when Robin Williams was a guest.
  • The late 70s Hardy Boys TV show's third season opening featured a silhouette of Frank & Joe in action.


Music

  • Destiny's Child did this a lot when performing their smash hit "Independent Woman (Part I)" (don't ask about "Part II", just don't). Makes sense, considering that it was for the Charlie's Angels soundtrack.


New Media

  • Most any picture on the internet featuring multiple (non-model) girls with guns. Though, these usually feature all the chicks in the picture brandishing some sort of firearm.
  • Or, for that matter, just about any picture of two or three women under the age of thirty on any social network; guns are generally faked with their hands.


Tabletop Games


Video Games


Web Comics

Western Animation

  • Done in X-Men: Evolution in the Bayville Sirens episode, though it's hard to catch as it only appears on a television screen for a few moments.
  • The title logo of Codename: Kids Next Door, a clear parody of the Charlie's Angels one. Its intro animation actually shows them jumping into the logo one by one.
    • This logo was then parodied in the book Fat Camp Commandos.
  • Done at one point in the original opening theme of Totally Spies!
  • The animated kids' show Mickey Mouse Clubhouse does this for a brief moment in a spy-themed episode with Minnie, Daisy, and uh... Mickey.
  • Parodied by The Ember Island Players in Avatar: The Last Airbender, as an homage to the fan term Ozai's Angels.
  • Dexter's Laboratory gave us G.I.R.L. Squad, with an opening montage ending in one of these.
  • Space Ghost Coast to Coast used the pose in their episode parodying detective series of the 1970s. Animator C. Martin Croker said he drew Zorak's silhouette to look as though he was explaining directions to someone rather than preparing a karate chop.
  • The opening title sequence of Beavis And Butthead Do America parodies this and every other 70's cop show. Butt-Head states in an interview that it's because the 70's are the last time Mike Judge got laid.
  • The 90's chapters of Secret Squirrel used it on the opening credits of one episode.
  • In the Phineas and Ferb episode "Phineas-and-Ferb Busters!", Candace does this with her friends Jenny and Stacy after putting them through a Training Montage.